TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
“What
people really need and demand from life is not wealth, comfort, or
esteem, but games worth playing,” said psychiatrist Thomas Szasz. I love
that thought, and am excited to offer it up to you right now. You have
been invited or will soon be invited to participate in some of the best
games ever. These are not grueling games foisted on you by people hoping
to manipulate you, nor pointless games that exhaust your energy for
naught. Rather, they are fun challenges that promise to stretch your
intelligence, deepen your perspective, and enhance your emotional
riches.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
Is
it conceivable that you’ve gotten a bit off track? As I close my eyes
and ask my higher powers for a psychic vision, I get an impression of
you staring at a blurry image of a symbol that is no longer an accurate
representation of your life goal. Now of course there’s a chance that my
vision is completely unfounded. But if it does ring at least somewhat
true to you -- if it suggests a question worth asking yourself -- I
invite you to meditate on the possibility that you need to update your
understanding of what your ultimate target looks like.
CANCER (June 21-July 22)
From
an astrological point of view, it’s prime time for you to attend a
networking extravaganza or collaboration spree. Likewise, this is an
excellent phase in your long-term cycle to organize a gathering for the
close allies who will be most important in helping you carry out your
master plan during the next 12 months. Have you ever heard of the term
“Temporary Autonomous Zone”? It’s a time and place where people with
shared interests and common values can explore the frontiers of
productive conviviality. It might be a dinner party in an inspirational
setting, a boisterous ritual in a rowdy sanctuary, or a private festival
for fellow seekers. I hope you make sure something like that
materializes.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)
To
begin one of his performances, comedian and musician Steve Martin
ambled on stage and told his audience what to expect. “Before every
show,” he said, “I like to do one thing that is impossible. So now I’m
going to suck this piano into my lungs.” That’s the kind of brag I hope
to hear coming from you sometime soon, Leo—the more outrageous the
better. Why? Because I’d love to see you cultivate a looser, breezier
relationship with your actual ambitions. To make boastful jokes about
wacky or farfetched goals might inspire you to be jauntier and friskier
about those real ones. And that would rouse a burst of fresh
motivational energy.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
The
text for this week’s oracle comes from Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), a
great American statesman who, after escaping slavery, became a leader
of the abolitionist movement. “Those who profess to favor freedom and
yet depreciate agitation,” he said, “are people who want crops without
plowing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning . . .
The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may
be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a
demand.” Please apply these thoughts to your own situation, Virgo. You
have entered the liberation phase of your cycle.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
I’m
about to list some declarations that I hope will come out of your mouth
at least once in the next three weeks. If for any reason you’re not
finding yourself in situations where these words would make sense for
you to utter, please rearrange your life accordingly. 1. “There’s
nothing else I’d rather be doing right now.” 2. “Is it okay with you if
we take this really slow?” 3. “No one’s ever done that before.” 4.
“Squeeze my hand when it feels really amazing.” 5. “It’s like we know
what each other is thinking.” 6. “Can I have some more, please?”
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
A
political strategist told me one of her most important rules: To win an
election, you have to help your candidate choose the right fights. I
think that would be an excellent guiding principle for you in the coming
weeks, Scorpio. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you
will be getting invitations to spar, joust, and wrangle. Although it
might be exciting to leap into each and every fray with your eyes
blazing, I suggest you show careful discernment. Try to confine your
participation to those tangles that will downplay your weaknesses and
highlight your strengths.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
In
the famous children’s book The Little Prince, the hero lives on an
asteroid with three volcanoes, two active and one dormant. One day he
decides to leave home and travel to other realms. Before departing, he
meticulously scours all three volcanoes. “If they are well cleaned out,”
the narrator reports, “volcanoes burn slowly and steadily, without any
eruptions.” I recommend that you take after the Little Prince,
Sagittarius. It’s high time to attend to the upkeep of your volcanoes.
Make sure they will burn slow and steady in the coming months, even when
you’re not at home.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
One
of the classics of ancient Sanskrit literature is the Kama Sutra, which
gives practical advice about erotic love. The most popular edition of
the book offers instructions on eight kinds of kisses and 64 sexual
positions, with additional tips on styles of embracing and caressing.
This would be an excellent time for you to get inspired by information
like that, Capricorn. Your relationship with the amorous arts is due for
expansion and refinement. You don’t necessarily need to rely on book
learning, of course. You could accomplish a lot of empirical exploration
simply by getting naked and firing up your imagination.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
Singer-songwriter
Tom Waits was strongly influenced by Bob Dylan’s down-to-earth album
The Basement Tapes. “I like my music with the rinds and the seeds and
pulp left in,” Waits testifies. “The noise and grit” of Dylan’s rootsy,
intimate songs, he says, creates a mood of “joy and abandon.” That’s the
spirit I wish for you in the coming weeks, Aquarius. Wherever you are
and whatever you’re doing, get down to the gritty, organic core of
things. Hunker down in the funky fundamentals. Hang out where the levels
of pretension are low and the stories are fresh and raw.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)
You’re
not really breaking the rules, right, Pisces? It’s more like you’re
just testing their elasticity; you’re helping them become more supple
and flexible. I’m sure that sooner or later people will thank you for
how you’re expanding the way the game is played. It may take a while,
but they will eventually appreciate and capitalize on the liberties you
are now introducing into the system. In the short run, though, you might
have to take some heat for your tinkering and experiments. Try not to
let that inhibit your eagerness to try creative risks.
ARIES (March 21-April 19)
“True life is lived when tiny changes occur,” said Leo Tolstoy. I agree. It’s rare for us to undergo rapid, dramatic transformations in short periods of time. That’s why it’s delusional to be forever pining for some big magic intervention that will fix everything. The best way to alter our course is slowly and gradually, by conscientiously revamping our responses to the small daily details. Keep these thoughts close at hand in the coming weeks, Aries. Be a devotee of the incremental approach. Step-by-step. Hour-by-hour.
Go to RealAstrology.com for Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text-message horoscopes. Audio horoscopes also available by phone at 877-873-4888 or 900-950-7700.