FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
by Rob Brezsny

http://FreeWillAstrology.com

CANCER (June 21-July 22): “Give us this day our daily hunger,” prayed
French philosopher Gaston Bachelard. It was his personal variation on the
“Give us this day our daily bread” line from the Lord’s Prayer. I suggest
you use his formulation as your own in the coming week, Cancerian. It’s
the high season for your holy desires: a time when your mental and
physical health will thrive as you tune in to and express your strongest,
most righteous longings.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In a recent horoscope, I wrote about Christopher
Owens, lead singer of the band Girls, and how he wore pajama bottoms
during a show he did in San Francisco. A reader named Eric was disgusted
by this, seeing it as evidence that Owens is a self-indulgent hipster. “Just
another spoiled trust-fund kid,” he said in his email, “whose excessively
privileged life has given him the delusion that he’s uninhibited.” With a
little research, Eric would have found the truth: Owens was raised in an
abusive religious cult by a single mother who worked as a prostitute to
earn a meager living. I bring this to your attention in hopes it will inspire
you to avoid making any assumptions about anyone. More than ever
before, it’s crucial that you bring a beginner’s mind to your evaluations of
other human beings.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I want to see your willpower surge and throb
and carry you to a ringing triumph in the next two weeks, Virgo. I hope to
be cheering you on as you complete a plucky effort to overcome some
long-standing obstacle . . . as you put the finishing touches on an epic
struggle to defeat a seemingly intractable foe . . . as you rise up with a
herculean flourish and put the stamp of your uniqueness on a success
that will last a long time.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The Italian word *terribilità* was originally used
by art critics to describe the sculptures and paintings of Michelangelo.
According to various dictionaries, it refers to “a sense of awe-inspiring
grandeur,” “the sublime mixed with amazement,” or “an astonishing
creation that provokes reverent humility.” In my astrological opinion,
*terribilità* is a prerequisite for the next chapter of your life story. You
need be flabbergasted by stunning beauty. Where can you go to get it? A
natural wonder might do the trick, or some exalted architecture, or the
biography of a superb human being, or works of art or music that make
you sob with cathartic joy. For extra credit, put yourself in the path of all
the above.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In a favorable review of Badger Mountain
Riesling wine, Winelibrary.com said, “The sweet succulent aromas of bosc
pears are woven with lilacs and just a hint of petrol.” Meanwhile, *Allure*
magazine named Secretions Magnifique as one of the top five sexiest
perfumes in the world, even though its fragrance is like “floral bilge.”
Petrol? Bilge? Both commentaries seem to suggest that greatness may
contain a taint — or even that the very nature of greatness may require it
to have a trace of something offensive. I’m guessing that’ll be a theme
for you in the coming week.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): During the grace period you’re currently
enjoying, you have a talent for tuning in to the raw potential of whatever
situation is right in front of you; you just naturally know how to establish
rapport with circumstances you’ve never seen before. That’s why your
spontaneous urges are likely to generate fun learning experiences, not
awkward messes. You’ll thrive as you improvise adeptly with volatile
forces. It may therefore seem like your progress will be easy, even a bit
magical. Some people may regard your breakthroughs as unearned. But
you and I will know that you’re merely harvesting the benefits that come
from a long period of honing your powers.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): A few single friends of mine use the dating
site OkCupid to meet potential lovers. One woman got the following
notice: “We are pleased to report that you are in the top half of
OkCupid’s most attractive users. How can we say this with confidence?
Because we’ve tracked click-thrus on your photo and analyzed other
people’s reactions to you . . . Your new elite status comes with one
important privilege: You will now see more attractive people in your
match results. Also! You’ll be shown to more attractive people in their
match results. And, no, we didn’t send this email to everyone on OkCupid.
Go ask an ugly friend.” According to my analysis of the astrological
omens, Capricorn, you will soon receive a metaphorically comparable
message, not from OkCupid, but from the universe itself.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): The liberation movement kindled in the
1960s wasn’t all fun and games. It ushered in expansive new ways of
thinking about gender, race, sexuality, spirituality, music, and
consciousness itself, but it was fueled by anger as well as by the longing
for pleasure and meaning and transcendence. A key focus of the rage was
opposition to the Vietnam War. The adrenaline stirred by anti-war
protests was an instrumental part of the mix that propelled the entire
era’s push for freedom. I’m hoping that the oil hemorrhage in the Gulf of
Mexico will become a similar beacon in the next ten years. Can you think
of a comparable prod in your personal life, Aquarius? A gnawing injustice
that will help awaken and feed your irresistible drive to emancipate
yourself?

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Here’s a thought from Piscean poet W.H.
Auden: “The image of myself which I try to create in my own mind in
order that I may love myself is very different from the image which I try
to create in the minds of others in order that they may love me.” If what
Auden describes is true for you, I suggest you try this experiment: Merge
the two images; see if you can make them the same. You’re entering a
phase in your cycle when you will have a tremendous opportunity to unify
the inner and outer parts of your life. (And if Auden’s description is *not*
true for you, congratulations: You are either an enlightened saint or well
on your way to becoming one.)

ARIES (March 21-April 19): “Thou shalt not kill” is a crucial rule for you to
follow, and not just in the literal sense. According to my reading of the
astrological omens, you should also be extra vigilant as you avoid more
metaphorical kinds of destruction. Please be careful not to unleash ill-
chosen words that would crush someone’s spirit (including your own).
Don’t douse newly kindled fires, don’t burn recently built bridges, and
don’t deprive fresh sprouts of the light they need to keep growing. To
put this all in a more positive frame: It’s time for you to engage in a
reverent and boisterous celebration of life, nurturing and fostering and
stimulating everywhere you go.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The baseball game was over. TV announcer
Mike Krukow was describing the “ugly victory” that the San Francisco
Giants had just achieved. The team’s efforts were sloppy and chaotic, he
said, and yet the win counted just as much as a more elegant triumph. He
ended with a flourish: “No one wants to hear about the labor pains; they
just want to see the baby.” That’s my message to you this week, Taurus.
All that matters is that you get the job done. It doesn’t matter whether
you look good doing it.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Here’s the really good news: CIA director Leon
Panetta says there are fewer than 100 Al-Qaeda combatants in
Afghanistan. Here’s the utterly confusing news: The U.S has over 94,000
highly trained human beings in Afghanistan whose express purpose is to
destroy Al-Qaeda. I bring this up as a prod to get you to question your
own allotment of martial force, Gemini. You definitely need to make sure
you have a lavish reserve of fighting spirit primed to serve your highest
goals. Just make sure, please, that it’s pointed in the right direction.