Rob Brezsny crop
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): For four days twice a year, the East China Sea recedes to create a narrow strip of land between two Korean islands, Jindo and Modo. People celebrate the “Sea-Parting Festival” by strolling back and forth along the temporary path. The phenomenon has been called the “Korean version of Moses’ miracle,” although it’s more reasonably explained by the action of the tides. I foresee some sweet marvel akin to this one occurring in your life very soon, Libra. Be ready to take advantage of a special dispensation.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The desire for revenge is a favorite theme of the entertainment industry. It’s presented as being glamorous and stirring and even noble. How many action films build their plots around the hero seeking payback against his enemies? Personally, I see revenge as one of the top three worst emotions. In real life, it rarely has redeeming value. People who actively express it often wreak pain and ruin on both others and themselves. Even those who merely stew in it may wound themselves by doing so. I bring this up, Scorpio, because now is an excellent time for you to shed desires for revenge. Dissolve them, get rid of them, talk yourself out of indulging in them. The reward for doing so will be a great liberation.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Just for a few days, would you be willing to put your attention on the needs of others more than on your own? The weird thing is, your selfish interests will be best served by being as unselfish and empathetic and compassionate as you can stand to be. I don’t mean that you should allow yourself to be abused or taken advantage of. Your task is to express an abundance of creative generosity as you bestow your unique blessings in ways that make you feel powerful. In the words of theologian Frederick Buechner, you should go “to the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Imagine a scenario like this: The CEOs of five crazily rich U.S. corporations, including a major defense contractor, stage a press conference to announce that in the future they will turn down the massive welfare benefits and tax breaks the federal government has been doling out to them all these years. Now picture this: The Pope issues a statement declaring that since Jesus Christ never had a single bad word to say about homosexuals, the Catholic Church is withdrawing its resistance to gay rights. I am envisioning a comparable reversal in your life, Capricorn—a flip-flop that seems equally improbable. But unlike the two I named, yours will actually unfold in the course of the next eight months. If it hasn’t already started yet, it will soon.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Matteo Ricci was an Italian Jesuit priest who lived from 1552 to 1610. For his last 28 years, he worked as a missionary in China. Corresponding with his friends and family back home required a lot of patience. News traveled very slowly. Whenever he sent out a letter, he was aware that there’d be no response for seven years. What would you express about your life right now if you knew your dear ones wouldn’t learn of it until 2017? Imagine describing to them in an old-fashioned letter what your plans will be between now and then . . . what you hope to accomplish and how you will transform yourself. Right now is an excellent time to take inventory of your long-term future.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The cosmos is granting you a poetic license to practice the art of apodyopsis with great relish. You know what apodyopsis is, right? It refers to the act of envisioning people naked—mentally undressing them so as to picture them in their raw state. So, yes, by all means, Pisces, enjoy this creative use of your imagination without apology. It should generate many fine ramifications. For instance, it will prime you to penetrate beneath the surface of things. It will encourage you to see through everyone’s social masks and tune in to what’s really going on in their depths. You need to do that right now.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I’ve got a good feeling about your relationship with intimacy in the coming weeks. Judging from the astrological omens, I think you will have a good instinct about how to drum up interesting fun with your most important allies. You’ll just naturally know what to do to make your collaborative efforts synergistic. So by all means cash in on this potential. Don’t just sit back and hope for the best; rather, call on your imagination to provide you with original ideas about how to make it all happen.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Would you be willing to go to extraordinary lengths to transform aspects of your life that you have felt are hard to transform? Now would be a good time to do that. Luck will flow your way if you work on healing your number one wound. Unexpected help and inspiration will appear if you administer tough love to any part of you that’s addicted, immature, or unconscious. Barriers will crumple if you brainstorm about new ways to satisfy your frustrated yearnings.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I bet your normal paranoia levels will decline in the coming weeks. Fears you take for granted won’t make nearly as much sense as they usually seem to. As a result, you’ll be tempted to wriggle free from your defense mechanisms. Useful ideas that your mind has been closed to may suddenly tantalize your curiosity. I won’t be surprised if you start tuning into catalysts that had previously been invisible to you. But here are my questions: Can you deal with losing the motivational force that fear gives you? Will you be able to get inspired by grace and pleasure rather than anxiety and agitation? I advise you to work hard on raising your trust levels.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): “Sometimes people have nothing to say because they’re too empty,” writes author Yasmin Mogahed, “and sometimes people have nothing to say because they’re too full.” By my reckoning, Cancerian, you will soon be in the latter category. A big silence is settling over you as new amusements and amazements rise up within you. It will be understandable if you feel reluctant to blab about them. They need more time to ripen. You should trust your impulse to remain a secret and a mystery for a while.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Insight is not a light bulb that goes off inside our heads,” says author Malcolm Gladwell. “It is a flickering candle that can easily be snuffed out.” Take that as a constructive warning, Leo. On the one hand, I believe you will soon glimpse quite a few new understandings of how the world works and what you could do to make it serve you better. On the other hand, you’ve got to be extra alert for these new understandings and committed to capturing them the moment they pop up. Articulate them immediately. If you’re alone, talk to yourself about them. Maybe even write them down. Don’t just assume you will be able to remember them perfectly later when it’s more convenient.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): After a storm, British wildlife lover Gary Zammit found a baby heron cowering in a broken nest. Its parents were dead. Zammit took the orphan under his wing. He named it Dude, and cared for it as it grew. Eventually he realized that Dude was never going to learn to fly unless he intervened. Filling his pockets full of the food that Dude loved, Zammit launched a series of flying lessons—waving his arms and squawking as he ran along a flat meadow that served as a runway. Dude imitated his human dad, and soon mastered the art of flight. Can you see ways in which this story might have metaphorical resemblances to your own life, Virgo? I think it does. It’s time for your mind to teach your body an instinctual skill or self-care habit that it has never quite gotten right.