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 auditorium on a subject you will someday be an expert in. The more specific your fantasies, the better. Your homework is to generate at least five of these visions.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “We must choose between the pain of having to transcend oppressive circumstances, or the pain of perpetual unfulfillment within those oppressive circumstances,” writes mental health strategist Paul John Moscatello. We must opt for “the pain of growth or the pain of decay,” he continues. We must either “embrace the tribulations of realizing our potential, or consent to the slow suicide in complacency.” That’s a bit melodramatic, in my opinion. Most of us do both; we may be successful for a while in transcending oppressive circumstances, but then temporarily lapse back into the pain of unfulfillment. However, there are times when it makes sense to think melodramatically. And I believe now is one of those times for you. In the coming weeks, I hope you will set in motion plans to transcend at least 30 percent of your oppressive circumstances.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): You Cancerians can benefit from always having a fertility symbol somewhere in your environment: an icon or image that reminds you to continually refresh your relationship with your own abundant creativity; an inspiring talisman or toy that keeps you alert to the key role your fecund imagination can and should play in nourishing your quest to live a meaningful life; a provocative work of art that spurs you to always ask for more help and guidance from the primal source code that drives you to reinvent yourself. So if you don’t have such a fertility symbol, I invite you to get one. If you do, enhance it with a new accessory.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In my horoscopes, I often speak to you about your personal struggle for liberation and your efforts to express your soul’s code with ever-more ingenuity and completeness. It’s less common that I address your sacred obligation to give back to life for all that life has given to you. I only infrequently discuss how you might engage in activities to help your community or work for the benefit of those less fortunate than you. But now is one of those times when I feel moved to speak of these matters. You are in a phase of your astrological cycle when it’s crucial to perform specific work in behalf of a greater good. Why crucial? Because your personal well-being in the immediate future depends in part on your efforts to intensify your practical compassion.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “We are whiplashed between an arrogant overestimation of ourselves and a servile underestimation of ourselves,” writes educator Parker Palmer. That’s the bad news, Virgo. The good news is that you are in prime position to escape from the whiplash. Cosmic forces are conspiring with your eternal soul to coalesce a well-balanced vision of your true value that’s free of both vain misapprehensions and self-deprecating delusions. Congrats! You’re empowered to understand yourself with a tender objectivity that could at least partially heal lingering wounds. See yourself truly!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The country of Poland awards medals to couples that have stayed married for 50 years. It also gives out medals to members of the armed forces who have served for at least thirty years. But the marriage medal is of higher rank, and is more prestigious. In that spirit, I’d love for you to get a shiny badge or prize to acknowledge your devoted commitment to a sacred task—whether that commitment is to an intimate alliance, a noble quest, or a promise to yourself. It’s time to reward yourself for how hard you’ve worked and how much you’ve given.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio poet Sylvia Plath wrote, “I admit I desire, / Occasionally, some backtalk / From the mute sky.” You’ll be wise to borrow the spirit of that mischievous declaration. Now is a good time to solicit input from the sky, as well as from your allies and friends and favorite animals, and from every other source that might provide you with interesting feedback. I invite you to regard the whole world as your mirror, your counselor, your informant.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In January 1493, the notorious pirate and kidnapper Christopher Columbus was sailing his ship near the land we now call the Dominican Republic. He spotted three creatures he assumed were mermaids. Later he wrote in his log that they were “not half as beautiful as they are painted [by artists].” We know now that the “mermaids” were actually manatees, aquatic mammals with flippers and paddle-shaped tails. They are in fact quite beautiful in their own way, and would only be judged as homely by a person comparing them to mythical enchantresses. I trust you won’t make a similar mistake, Sagittarius. Evaluate everything and everyone on their own merits, without comparing them to something they’re not.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “I want what we all want,” writes novelist Jonathan Lethem. “To move certain parts of the interior of myself into the exterior world, to see if they can be embraced.” Even if you haven’t passionately wanted that lately, Capricorn, I’m guessing you will soon. That’s a good thing, because life will be conspiring with you to accomplish it. Your ability to express yourself in ways that are meaningful to you and interesting to other people will be at a peak.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Using algorithms to analyze 300 million facts, a British scientist concluded that April 11, 1954 was the most boring day in history. A Turkish man who would later become a noteworthy engineer was born that day, and Belgium staged a national election. But that’s all. With this non-eventful day as your inspiration, I encourage you to have fun reminiscing about the most boring times in your own past. I think you need a prolonged respite from the stimulating frenzy of your daily rhythm. It’s time to rest and relax in the sweet luxury of nothingness and emptiness.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The Blue Room is a famous Picasso painting from 1901. Saturated with blue hues, it depicts a naked woman taking a bath. More than a century after its creation, scientists used X-rays to discover that there was an earlier painting beneath The Blue Room and obscured by it. It shows a man leaning his head against his right hand. Piscean poet Jane Hirshfield says that there are some people who are “like a painting hidden beneath another painting.” More of you Pisceans fit that description than any other sign of the zodiac. You may even be like a painting beneath a painting beneath a painting—to a depth of five or more paintings. Is that a problem? Not necessarily. But it is important to be fully aware of the existence of all the layers. Now is a good time to have a check-in.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): “How prompt we are to satisfy the hunger and thirst of our bodies,” wrote Henry David Thoreau. “How slow to satisfy the hunger and thirst of our souls!” Your first assignment in the coming days, Aries, is to devote yourself to quenching the hunger and thirst of your soul with the same relentless passion that you normally spend on giving your body the food and drink it craves. This could be challenging. You may be less knowledgeable about what your soul thrives on than what your body loves. So your second assignment is to do extensive research to determine what your soul needs to thrive.