SCORPIO

The Scorpion - Oct. 23-Nov. 21

“At every crossroad, be prepared to bump into wonder,” wrote Scorpio poet James Broughton. I believe that’s perfect advice for you to keep in mind during the coming weeks. Broughton’s words inspired me to come up with a corollary for you to heed, as well: “At every turning point, be ready to stumble into an opportunity disguised as a...

LIBRA

The Scales - Sept. 23-Oct. 22

In her high school yearbook, Libra-born Sigourney Weaver arranged to have this caption beneath her official photo: “Please, God, please, don’t let me be normal!” Since then, she has had a long and acclaimed career as an actor in movies. ScreenPrism.com calls her a pioneer of female action heroes. Among her many exotic roles: a fierce warrior who...

VIRGO

The Maiden - Aug. 23-Sept. 22

Virgo poet Mary Oliver was renowned for giving herself permission. Permission to do what? To become a different person from the self she had been. To shed her familiar beliefs and adopt new ones. To treat every experience as an opportunity to experiment. To be at peace with uncertainty. I think you’ll be wise to give yourself all those permissions in...

LEO

The Lion - July 23-Aug. 22

At times in our lives, it’s impractical to be innocent and curious and blank and receptive. So many tasks require us to be knowledgeable and self-assured and forceful and in control. But according to my astrological analysis, the coming weeks will be a time when you will benefit from the former state of mind: cultivating what Zen Buddhists call “beginner’s...

CANCER

The Crab - June 21-July 22

Some readers wish I would write more like Cormac McCarthy or Albert Camus or Raymond Chandler: with spare simplicity. They accuse me of being too lush and exuberant in my prose. They want me to use shorter sentences and fewer adjectives. To them I say: It ain’t going to happen. I have feelings similar to those of best-selling Cancerian author Oliver...

GEMINI

The Twins May 21-June 20

I’ve got a message for you, courtesy of poet Lisel Mueller. I think her wisdom can help you thrive in the coming weeks. She writes, “The past pushed away, the future left unimagined, for the sake of the glorious, difficult, passionate present.” Of course, it’s always helpful for us to liberate ourselves from the oppressive thoughts of what once was in the...

TAURUS

The Bull - April 20-May 20

“The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious,” says businessperson and entrepreneur John Sculley. You Tauruses aren’t renowned for such foresight. It’s more likely to belong to Aries and Sagittarius people. Your tribe is more likely to specialize in doing the good work that turns others’ bright visions into practical...

We interrupt your regularly scheduled horoscopes to offer insights about the virus-driven turning point that the whole world is now experiencing.

As you’ve probably guessed, all of us are being invited to re-evaluate everything we think we know about what it means to be human. I refer to this unprecedented juncture as The Tumultuous Upgrade or The Disruptive Cure. It’s fraught with...

PISCES

The Fish - Feb. 19-March 20

If you’re like most of us, you harbor desires for experiences that might be gratifying in some ways but draining in others. If you’re like most of us, you may on occasion get attached to situations that are mildly interesting, but divert you from situations that could be amazingly interesting and enriching. The good news, Pisces, is that you...

AQUARIUS

The  Water Bearer - Jan. 20-Feb. 18

Please don’t imitate or repeat yourself in the coming weeks. Refrain from relying on formulas that have worked for you before. Resolve to either ignore or rebel against your past as you dream up fresh gambits and adventures. Treat your whole life like an improvisatory game that has just one purpose: to attract and stir up useful novelty. If...

CAPRICORN

The Goat - Dec. 22-Jan. 19

Fifteenth-century Italian metalworker Lorenzo Ghiberti worked for 28 years to turn the Doors of the Florence Baptistry into a massive work of art. He used bronze to create numerous scenes from the Bible. His fellow artist Michelangelo was so impressed that he said Ghiberti’s doors could have served as “The Gates of Paradise.” I offer...

SAGITTARIUS

The Archer - Nov. 22-Dec. 21

Sagittarian composer Ludwig van Beethoven was inclined to get deeply absorbed in his work. Even when he took time to attend to the details of daily necessity, he allowed himself to be spontaneously responsive to compelling musical inspirations that suddenly welled up in him. On more than a few occasions, he lathered his face with the...

SCORPIO

The Scorpion — Oct. 23-Nov. 21

In his novel Zone One, Scorpio author Colson Whitehead writes, “A monster is a person who has stopped pretending.” He means it in the worst sense possible: the emergence of the ugly beast who had been hiding behind social niceties. But I’m going to twist his meme for my own purposes. I propose that when you stop pretending and shed fake...

LIBRA

The Scales — Sept. 23-Oct. 22

Every time my birthday season comes around, I set aside an entire day to engage in a life review. It lasts for many hours. I begin by visualizing the recent events I’ve experienced, then luxuriously scroll in reverse through my entire past, as if watching a movie starring me. It’s not possible to remember every single scene and feeling, of course,...

VIRGO

The Maiden Aug. 23-Sept. 22

Shogun is a bestselling novel about an Englishman who transforms himself into a samurai warrior in seventeenth-century Japan. Written by James Clavell, it’s over 1,100 pages long. Clavell testified that the idea for the story sprang up in him when he read one line in his daughter’s school book: “In 1600 an Englishman went to Japan and became a samurai.” I...

LEO 

July 23-Aug. 22

Let’s check in with our psychic journalist, LoveMancer, who’s standing by with a live report from inside your imagination. What’s happening, LoveMancer? “Well, Rob, the enchanting creature on whose thoughts I’ve been eavesdropping has slipped into an intriguing frontier. This place seems to be a hot zone where love and healing interact intensely. My guess is that...

CANCER

The Crab - June 21-July 22

Here are your fortune cookie-style horoscopes for the months ahead. JULY: Acquire a new personal symbol that thrills your mind and mobilizes your soul. AUGUST: Reconfigure the way you deal with money. Get smarter about your finances. SEPTEMBER: It’s time to expedite your learning. But streetwise education is more useful than formal education. Study the...

GEMINI

The Twins - May 21-June 20

I prefer live theater over movies. The glossy flawlessness of films, accomplished by machines that assemble and polish, is less emotionally rich than the direct impact of live performers’ unmediated voices and bodies and emotions. Their evocative imperfections move me in ways that glossy flawlessness can’t. Even if you’re not like me, Gemini, I invite...

TAURUS

The Bull - April 20-May 20

I invite you to explore the frontiers of what’s possible for you to experience and accomplish. One exercise that might help: visualize specific future adventures that excite you. Examples? Picture yourself parasailing over the Mediterranean Sea near Barcelona, or working to help endangered sea turtles in Costa Rica, or giving a speech to a crowded...

ARIES

The Ram March 21-April 19

A mushroom shaped like a horse’s hoof grows on birch trees in parts of Europe and the U.S. If you strip off its outer layer, you get amadou, spongy stuff that’s great for igniting fires. It’s not used much anymore, but it was a crucial resource for some of our ancestors. As for the word “amadou,” it’s derived from an old French term that means...

LIBRA

The Scales Sept. 23-Oct. 22

When Warsan Shire was a child, she immigrated to the UK with her Somalian parents. Now she’s a renowned poet who writes vividly about refugees, immigrants, and other marginalized people. To provide support and inspiration for the part of you that feels like an exile or fugitive or displaced person, and in accordance with current astrological omens, I...