CANCER (June 21-July 22)
While listening to the
sound collage radio program Over the Edge on KPFA, I learned that a
new primary color has been detected. Quite different from red, yellow,
or blue, it has its own distinct hue that’s impossible to describe. You
really have to see it to appreciate its essence. The discoverer of this
marvel is Dr. Wohan Squant, who has named the color “squant.” I wish I
could predict you’re about to create or find something equally
revolutionary, Cancerian, but I can’t go quite that far. Nevertheless,
you’ve entered a phase when you have the power to tinker with and even
transform fundamental laws of your universe. So who knows? Maybe you’re
on the verge of a shift almost as revolutionary as the discovery of
squant.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)
Are you feeling the sting
of disappointment, railing at life for reneging on one of its promises
to you? Are you in the throes of unleashing a great accusation,
suffering the twisty ache that comes from having your pet theories
disproved? Maybe you should consider the possibility that you are simply
getting an opportunity to correct a misunderstanding — that life isn’t
being mean to you and you’re not being punished. I’d like to propose
that you are, in fact, in the first phase of your healing. Listen to
Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore: “We read the world wrong and say
that it deceives us.”
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
“The more one dwells on
oneself,” says psychoanalyst Adam Phillips in his book Going Sane, “the
more one is likely to suffer.” He thinks people need encouragement to
avoid excessive introspection. “My project as a psychoanalyst,” he
writes, “is to free them to not have to think about their lives so
much.” While I feel he overstates the case, I do suspect his message
would be good for you to heed in the coming weeks. For maximum success
and robust mental health, take a generous portion of your attention off
yourself and focus it on living your life with compassion, curiosity,
and concern for others.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
“One must choose in life
between boredom and suffering,” proclaimed author Madame de Stael
(1766-1817). I beg to differ with her, however. As evidence, I present
the course of your life during the next few weeks. After analyzing the
astrological omens, I expect you will consistently steer a middle course
between boredom and suffering, being able to enjoy some interesting
departures from the routine that don’t hurt a bit. There may even be
pain-free excursions into high adventure mixed in, along with a
fascinating riddle that taxes your imagination in rather pleasurable
ways.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
I accompanied a friend
and his family to a small fairground where a local school was having a
fundraiser. There were rides and games for younger kids. Right away we
came to a challenging activity that involved climbing a ladder made out
of rubber and coated with some slippery substance. One girl, about seven
years old, was having a moment of rowdy bliss as she tried to ascend.
“It’s impossible — but fun!” she cried out to her mom. Your assignment
in the coming week is to find an adventure like that: one that’s
impossible but fun.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
“It is not always
needful for truth to take a definite shape,” wrote Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe. “It is enough if it hovers about us like a spirit and produces
harmony; if it is wafted through the air like the sound of a bell, grave
and kindly.” With this quote, I’m alerting you to the fact that a new
truth is now floating into your world, Sagittarius. It’ll be misty and
sparkly, yet somehow also decisive and lucid. It will comfort you and
yours, but also be a bit shocking. It will be sharply tonic, like good,
strong medicine that has a pungent yet oddly delicious flavor you’ve
never tasted before.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
If there were a
useful Website with the domain name AmIAGoodPersonOrNot.com, I would
advise you to go
check it out. The same is true if there were Websites like
AmIAuthenticOrNot.com, AmIEnlightenedOrNot.com, AmIYummyOrNot.com, or
AmIAGorgeousGeniusOrNot.com.
What I’m trying to tell you, Capricorn, is that this would be an
excellent time for you to find out more about yourself from objective
sources — or any other kind of sources, for that matter. Solicit
feedback, my beautiful darling. Ask for updates on how you’re doing.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
Ninety-six percent of
all adults say they would change something about their appearance if
they could. That statistic is one factor that leads philosopher Jonathan
Zap to make this observation: “Suffering associated with body image has
reached such epidemic proportions in our culture that it must be
counted as one of the greatest spiritual plagues ever to be visited upon
mankind.” That’s the bad news, Aquarius. The good news is that the
coming months will be an excellent time for learning to be at more peace
with how you look. I invite you to formulate a three-point plan that
will help you come to a perspective in which you will love your body
exactly the way it is.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)
On her website
Reuniting.info, Marnia Robinson reported on a discovery she made that
may be useful to you. Wandering around a county fair, she went to a
reptile exhibit where she encountered an animal trainer who had an
alligator resting serenely on his lap. She asked him why the creature
was so well-behaved. “I pet it daily,” he said. “If I didn’t, it would
quickly be wild again, and wouldn’t allow this.” Apply that lesson in
your own life, Pisces. Bestow regular tenderness and loving touch to the
feral, untamed, primitive influences in your life — including any that
may reside within you.
ARIES (March 21-April 19)
It’s my observation that women find it easier than men to tune into their natural rhythms. The menstrual cycle helps cultivate that ability. We men experience less dramatic physical shifts, and that seems to give us license to override messages from our bodies for the sake of ambition, laziness, or convenience. Having acknowledged that, I must say that I know men who are highly sensitive and responsive to somatic cues, and women who aren’t. Whatever gender you are, I believe that in the coming weeks it’s crucial for you to be acutely aware of what’s going on inside your beloved flesh-and-blood vehicle. This is one time when you need to be intimately aligned with its needs.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
One of the greatest kings of the ancient Persian Sassanid Empire was Shapur II (309-379). Shortly after his father died, he was made king while still in his mother’s womb. Since he could not yet wear his crown, officials set it upon his mother’s pregnant belly. He ruled from then until the day he died, 70 years later. I’m naming him your patron saint for the second half of 2011, Taurus. My sense is that the seed of some great accomplishment is already germinating within you. It may take a while to be fully born, but I suggest we consecrate its bright future now.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
I’ve got no problem with the real world. I spend a lot of time there, enjoy its chewy riddles, and take it quite seriously. But I also consider myself a militant lobbyist for all the Other Worlds — the domain of everything that’s invisible to the naked eye and irrelevant to the schemes of the rational ego. These alternate realities consist of the unconscious, the dreamtime, the spiritual sphere, the intelligence of nature, and the realm of the ancestors. In my astrological opinion, you’re due for a major upgrade in your relationship with these dimensions in the next 12 months. Now would be a good time to get started.
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.