*by Rob Brezsny*

http://FreeWillAstrology.com

Week beginning August 19

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “Ever upstream from myself,” wrote Belgian
poet Edmond Vandercammen. “I advance, implore and pursue myself.” I
suggest you adopt that attitude, Virgo. Assume that your best self is
sailing along at a rapid clip, somewhere in the distance ahead of you, and
it’s your job to catch up. Your highest form of expression is eluding you,
but you’re hunting it down. The most beautiful possible embodiment of all
your potentials is surging toward the future, and it’s your fun job to close
the gap between you and unite with it.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In one possible scenario I could foresee for you
in the coming week, you’re sweaty and tearful, enmeshed in an extreme
state that causes an internal blockage to dissolve. The sweat is purgative,
the tears are cathartic, and you’re riding a wave of relief and release that
clears out a backlog of emotional congestion. In a second possible future,
I could see you as supernaturally relaxed and exuberant, periodically
laughing so hard that you break up an internal blockage. The calm is
purgative, the laughter is cathartic, and you’re riding a wave of relief and
release that clears out a backlog of emotional congestion. Which scenario
would you prefer?

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Last June, comedian Stephen Colbert
reported that President Obama’s big TV address to Americans about the
Gulf catastrophe was a failure because it went over the heads of too
many people. Language experts who analyzed Obama’s speech
determined that it was written at a tenth-grade level — too professorial,
scolded Colbert. I wonder what he would say about the horoscopes I
compose, which are designed for readers who enjoy thinking
metaphorically and have a high degree of emotional intelligence. In the
coming week, Scorpio, I suggest that you take the approach that Obama
and I use rather than the one Colbert (farcically) recommended. Don’t talk
down to your audience or pander to the lowest common denominator.
Raise everyone up with your appeals.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): My favorite baseball player Tim
Lincecum told *San Francisco* magazine: “I think you either get in the
canoe with your oar and control the boat, or get into it and let the
current take you. I’m kind of in between. I want to be able to enjoy the
ride but don’t want to be swept away by it. I don’t want to be
overwhelmed; I want to see what’s going on.” Whether you are
customarily the type of person who controls the boat or the type who
enjoys drifting dreamily along, I suggest you take Lincecum’s in-between
approach for now. Be half in charge and half surrendered.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The poet Jean Perrin dreamed “of marrying
the dawn with the light of the moon,” and I invite you to do the same.
The darkness you’ve been immersed in will leave you soon. As it does,
please don’t forsake the pale, moon-like radiance that has provided you
with a bit of guidance and consolation. Rather, bring along what it has
taught you as you head into the far brighter phase you’re entering. In
other words, retain some of the wisdom the dim light has compelled you
to learn.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I know two people in their 80s who have
accomplished a sensational long-running creative art project: They’ve
been happily married for 65 years. The amount of reinvention they’ve had
to dream up in order to keep loving each other is so profound that it
confounds the imagination. How could they possibly have continued to
stay closely interwoven through all the changes each of them has gone
through as they’ve aged? During the fascinating relationship tests that
will be coming your way in the weeks ahead, Aquarius, I’d love for you to
summon some of their dogged ingenuity and tenacious collaborative skills.
In fact, I predict you will be able to do just that.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): For the last 20 years, I’ve worn just one
brand of shoes — all-black Converse high-top sneakers. I’ve had them on
them at weddings and while jogging, at my daughter’s high school
graduation and while performing at my shows. Am I too set in my ways?
Definitely. In any case, Pisces, don’t be like me. Whatever your version of
covering your feet with nothing but black Converse high-top sneakers
may be, the upcoming weeks will be an excellent time to change your
ways. Break out and branch out! Try something new about how you
present yourself — the equivalent of me switching over to suede
moccasins or snakeskin cowboy boots.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the 18th century, the French Academy laid
down rules about the differences between professional and amateur
paintings. For example, it was decreed that true artists must create a
“licked surface,” hiding all evidence of their brushstrokes. The illusion was
more convincing that way; viewers could sink their attention fully into the
image without being distracted by thoughts about the artist’s process.
When the Impressionists barged into the scene in the 1870s, one of their
rebellions against convention was to reject the licked surface. By making
some of their brushstrokes visible, they declared they weren’t interested
in upholding the artifice. They wanted their audience to get involved in
their subjective interpretation of the scene that was portrayed. In the
coming week, Aries, I encourage you to be like the Impressionists. Forget
about trying to present a licked surface. Reveal the inner workings that
are whirling and humming behind your eyes.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): If your home is like a museum, a staid
assemblage of fine memories, I suggest you shake things up a bit. If your
imagination is filled with tape loops that keep running storylines you’ve
heard a thousand times before, shake things up a bit. If your daily actions
are so thoroughly possessed by the anesthetizing demons of habit that
you can’t recall your last creative innovation, shake things up a bit. On
the other hand, there’s no need for blame. Don’t berate yourself for your
sluggishness. It was an inevitable byproduct of your efforts to solidify and
stabilize your life. Just slip into a more playful mode and enjoy a bout of
experimentation.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Maybe you know a person like my friend
Joanna. She’s bright but terse, open-minded but not chatty. Like an
inscrutable Buddha, she watches everything closely and churns her
thoughts carefully. Silence is her ally. Now and then, though, when moved
by an inner prompting that has nothing to do with drinking wine, she will
suddenly erupt with a torrent of sweet talk and pithy observations and
wild explorations. I predict that for you, Gemini, the entire world — even
the parts of it that are not usually very forthcoming — will soon resemble
Joanna when she’s overflowing.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): This would be an excellent time for you to get
aggressively inventive about your education. It wouldn’t be too crazy, in
my opinion, to launch your own school, with you as the only student. You
could design your own course curriculum for the coming years. Decide
who your teachers will be. Think about where you can get the stuff you’ll
need to expand your mind, enhance your skills, and just plain increase
your intelligence. You could call your center of higher learning the
University of Wily Exuberance or the Academy of Astonishing Grace or the
Institute of Getting Down to Business.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): For the people of Finland, the word *sisu*
describes a quality they regard as integral to their national character. It
refers to a courageous strength of will that can be sustained for a long
time — a staunch ferocity that refuses to be defeated. We all could use
more of that good stuff, not only to weather our personal ordeals but
also to stay plucky in the face of the world’s lunacy. The coming weeks
will be an especially good time for you to build up your reserves of *sisu,*
Leo. How? Start by taking inventory of all the resources and allies and
skills you have at your disposal.