CANCER (Jun 21-Jul 22): The great-grandson of a slave, Cancerian Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993) was America’s first African-American Supreme Court Justice. According to Thurgood, a play about his life that appeared on HBO, his unruly behavior as a school kid played a role in launching him toward his vocation. As punishment for his bad behavior, his teacher exiled him to a storage room where he was instructed to study the U.S. Constitution — a document he would later be called on to interpret during his service on the high court. I foresee a version of this scenario playing out in your immediate future, Cancerian. Mischief could lead to opportunity. Blessings might evolve out of shenanigans. Bending the rules may bring rewards.
LEO (Jul 23-Aug 22): Do you mind if I call you “The Original Liontamer”? I know it sounds a bit extravagant, maybe even pretentious, but it really fits you right now. More than any other sign of the zodiac, you have the power to control the wild, ferocious forces of the unconscious. You’re the fluid flowmaster in charge of making the beastly energy behave itself; you’re the crafty coordinator of the splashy, flashy kundalini; you’re the dazzling wizard of the dizzy whirling whooshes. Here’s a tip to help you soothe the savage rhythms with maximum aplomb: Mix a dash of harmonious trickery in with your charismatic bravado.
VIRGO (Aug 23-Sep 22): You have maybe ten more days left to locate the healthiest possible gamble for the second half of 2011. I’m referring to a smart risk that will bring out the best in you, expand the hell out of your mind, and inspire you to shed at least 10 percent of your narcissism and 15 percent of your pessimism. Trust your gut as much as your brain, Virgo. It will be important to have them both fully engaged as you make your foray all the way out there to the edge of your understanding.
LIBRA (Sep 23-Oct 22): “He got a big ego, such a huge ego,” sings Beyonce in her song “Ego.” “It’s too big, it’s too wide / It’s too strong, it won’t fit / It’s too much, it’s too tough / He talk like this ’cause he can back it up.” I would love to be able to address that same message to you in the coming days, Libra. I’m serious. I’d love to admire and marvel at your big, strong ego. This is one of those rare times when the cosmic powers-that-be are giving you clearance to display your beautiful, glorious self in its full radiance. Extra bragging is most definitely allowed, especially if it’s done with humor and wit. A bit of preening, mugging, and swaggering is permissible as well.
SCORPIO (Oct 23-Nov 21): “Dear Rob Brezsny: Please, sir, if you could do me a cost-free favor and tell me something special about my upcoming future, I would be amazingly glad and would spread good will about you everywhere. My age is 34 and I am sharply eager to know in detail about my next five years at least — any big good or bad predictions. Kindly be very specific, no cloudy generalizations. – Fayyaz Umair Aziz, First-Degree Scorpio.” Dear Fayyaz: I’m happy to inform you that your future is not set in stone; you have the power to carve out the destiny you prefer. And it so happens that the next four weeks will be prime time for you Scorpios to formulate a clear master plan (or reformulate your existing one) and take a vow to carry it out with impeccability.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22-Dec 21): One of my readers sent me an interesting tale. He said the teacher Rudolf Steiner “once had a devotee who complained that after years of meditating and studying sacred texts he had not yet had a spiritual experience. Steiner asked him if he’d noticed the face of the conductor on the train on which they were riding. The man said no. Steiner replied, ‘Then you just missed a spiritual experience.'” This is a good tip for you to keep in mind in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. It’ll be a time when you could dramatically expedite and intensify your education about spiritual matters by noticing the beauty and holiness in the most mundane things.
CAPRICORN (Dec 22-Jan 19): I’ve got two bits of information for you late bloomers out there; two inspirational messages to quell your worry about how long everything seems to be taking to unfold for you. First comes this fact: While some oak trees begin growing acorns after two decades, many don’t produce a single acorn until they’re 40 or even 50 years old. Your second message is from poet Robert Bly: “I know a lot of men who are healthier at age 50 than they’ve ever been before, because a lot of their fear is gone.” Keep the faith, Capricorn — and continue your persistent efforts.
AQUARIUS (Jan 20-Feb 18): Russia has more psychic healers than medical doctors. Research done by the World Health Organization says so. While licensed physicians number around 640,000, there are 800,000 witches and wizards who use occult means to perform their cures. Personally, I prefer a more balanced ratio. I feel most comfortable when there are equal amounts of officially sanctioned practitioners and supernaturally inspired mavericks. In fact, that’s my guiding principle in pretty much every situation. I want as many unorthodox rebels who mess with the proven formulas as serious professionals who are highly skilled at playing by the rules. That helps keep both sides honest and allows me to avoid being led astray by the excesses and distortions of each. May I recommend a similar approach for you in the coming week?
PISCES (Feb 19-Mar 20): “The most frequently leveled criticism of Jimmy Fallon is that he laughs too much.” So begins a New York magazine profile of the late-night talk show host. “He laughs before jokes, after jokes, during jokes.” He is “TV’s most inveterate cracker-upper.” Cynics point to this as proof that he’s suffering from a profound character defect. But there is another possibility, says New York: “Fallon laughs so much because he’s just having a really good time.” According to my reading of the astrological omens, Pisces, you’re primed to have a Fallon-like week — a period when the fun is so liberating and the play is so cathartic and the good times are so abundant that you’ll be in a chronic state of amusement. In response, people addicted to their gloom and doom might try to shame you. I say: Don’t you dare let them inhibit your rightful relief and release.
ARIES (Mar 21-Apr 19): In the coming days you have permission from the universe to dwell less on what needs to be resisted, protested, flushed out, and overcome. Instead you have license to concentrate on what deserves to be fostered, encouraged, bolstered, and invited in. Sound like fun? It will be if you can do it, but it may not be as easy to accomplish as it sounds. There are many influences around you that are tempting you to draw your energy from knee-jerk oppositionalism and cynical naysaying. So in order to take full advantage of what life is offering you, you will have to figure out how to rebel in a spirit of joy and celebration.
TAURUS (Apr 20-May 20): “Dreams are today’s answers to tomorrow’s questions,” said the seer Edgar Cayce. That’s your thought for the week, Taurus. Not just in dreams, but in your waking life as well, you will be experiencing insights, hearing stories, and getting messages that provide useful information for the crucial questions you have not yet framed, let alone posed. I hope that by telling you this, I will expedite your work on formulating those pertinent questions.
GEMINI (May 21-Jun 20): “The most important thing in acting is honesty,” said Hollywood actor George Burns. “If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” The same thing is true about life itself in the coming weeks, Gemini. The more you dispense the raw truth — even if you have to push yourself to do it — the more successful you’ll be. Being a fount of radical authenticity might feel like a performance at first, but it’ll eventually get easier, more natural.
