Free Will Astrology


Horoscopes by Rob Brezsny


Week of September 7th, 2023

♈ ARIES

(March 21-April 19)
Aries chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov says war is “more like a game of poker than chess. On a chess board, the pieces are face up, but poker is essentially a game of incomplete information, a game where you have to guess and act on those guesses.” I suspect that's helpful information for you these days, Aries. You may not be ensconced in an out-an-out conflict, but the complex situation you’re managing has resemblances to a game of poker. For best results, practice maintaining a poker face. Try to reduce your tells to near zero. Here's the definition of "tell" as I am using the term: Reflexive or unconscious behavior that reveals information you would rather withhold.

*

All of creation loves you very much. Even now, people you know and people you don't know are collaborating to make sure you have all you need to make your next smart move. But are you willing to start loving life back with an equal intensity? The adoration it offers you has not exactly been unrequited, but there is room for you to be more demonstrative. For help in cultivating this approach, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.






♉ TAURUS

(April 20-May 20)
Raised in poverty, Taurus-born Eva Peron became a charismatic politician and actor who served as First Lady of Argentina for six years. The Argentine Congress ultimately gave her the title of "Spiritual Leader of the Nation.” How did she accomplish such a meteoric ascent? "Without fanaticism," she testified, "one cannot accomplish anything." But I don't think her strategy has to be yours in the coming months, Taurus. It will make sense for you to be highly devoted, intensely focused, and strongly motivated—even a bit obsessed in a healthy way. But you won’t need to be fanatical.

*

How could you turn your challenges into opportunities? Is there a way to gain power and influence in situations that have confused or frustrated you up until now? Could you use some help in digging deeper, below the surface, to find truths that have eluded your understanding? For clues to mysteries like these, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.






♊ GEMINI

(May 21-June 20)
Gemini author Ben H. Winters has useful counsel. "Every choice forecloses on other choices," he says. "Each step forward leaves a thousand dead possible universes behind you." I don't think there are a *thousand* dead universes after each choice; the number’s more like two or three. But the point is, you must be fully committed to leaving the past behind. Making decisions requires resolve. Second-guessing your brave actions rarely yields constructive results. So are you ready to have fun being firm and determined, Gemini? The cosmic rhythms will be on your side if you do.

*

Grace emerges in the ebb and flow, not just the flow. The waning reveals a different blessing than the waxing. Where are you in the great cycle of your life? Could you use more guidance in figuring out the nuances of your mysterious story? For inspiration in figuring it all out, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.






♋ CANCERIAN

(June 21-July 22)
Journalist Alexandra Robbins was addressing young people when she gave the following advice, but you will benefit from it regardless of your age: "There is nothing wrong with you just because you haven’t yet met people who share your interests or outlook on life. Know that you will eventually meet people who will appreciate you for being you." I offer this to you now, Cancerian, because the coming months will bring you into connection with an abundance of like-minded people who are working to create the same kind of world you are. Are you ready to enjoy the richest social life ever?

*

Whether it's your time to gather your strength in the shadows or exude your lust for life in the sun, fresh power to transform yourself is on the way. Life always delivers the creative energy you need to change into the new thing you must become. You can count on it! So be alert for it. Be receptive to it. And for more help in understanding your fascinating destiny, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.






♌ LEO

(July 23-August 22)
Author Kevin Kelly is a maverick visionary who has thought a lot about how to create the best possible future. He advocates that we give up hoping for the unrealistic concept of utopia. Instead, he suggests we empower our practical efforts with the term “protopia.” In this model, we “crawl toward betterment,” trying to improve the world by one percent each year. You would be wise to apply a variation on this approach to your personal life in the coming months, Leo. A mere one-percent enhancement is too modest a goal, though. By your birthday in 2024, a six-percent upgrade is realistic, and you could reach as high as 10 percent.

*

You can learn to be lucky. It's not a mystical force you're born with, but a habit you can develop. How? For starters, be open to new experiences, trust your gut wisdom, expect good fortune, see the bright side of challenging events, and master the art of maximizing serendipitous opportunities. For more help in attuning yourself to life's blessings, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.






♍ VIRGO

(August 23-September 22)
In honor of the Virgo birthday season, I invite you to be exceptionally distinctive and singular in the coming weeks, even idiosyncratic and downright incomparable. That's not always a comfortable state for you Virgos to inhabit, but right now it's healthy to experiment with. Here's counsel from writer Christopher Morley: “Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity.” Here's a bonus quote from Virgo poet Edith Sitwell: “I am not eccentric! It’s just that I am more alive than most people.”

*

Somewhere there's a treasure that has little value to anyone but you, and an intriguing secret that's meaningless to everyone except you, and a frontier that harbors a revelation only you would know how to exploit. Why not go in search of those things? For inspiration, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.






♎ LIBRA

(September 23-October 22)
Do you sometimes wish your life was different from what it actually is? Do you criticize yourself for not being a perfect manifestation of your ideal self? Most of us indulge in these fruitless energy drains. One of the chief causes of unhappiness is the fantasy that we are not who we are supposed to be. In accordance with cosmic rhythms, I authorize you to be totally free of these feelings for the next four weeks. As an experiment, I invite you to treasure yourself exactly as you are right now. Congratulate yourself for all the heroic work you have done to be pretty damn good. Use your ingenuity to figure out how to give yourself big doses of sweet and festive love.

*

When they say, "Be yourself," which self do they mean? Certainly not the self that wants to win every game and use up every resource and think of nobody's needs except your own.

So when they say, "Be yourself," which self are they referring to? Here’s what I think: It's the self that says "Thank you!" to the wild irises and the windy rain and the people who grow your food. It's the creator who's working to make the whole universe your home and sanctuary. It's the lover who longs to express your love of life everywhere you go.

For guidance, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.






♏ SCORPIO

(October 23-November 21)
Scorpio novelist Kurt Vonnegut testified, "I want to stay as close on the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge, you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center. Big, undreamed-of-things—the people on the edge see them first." I'm not definitively telling you that you should live like Vonnegut, dear Scorpio. To do so, you would have to summon extra courage and alertness. But if you are inclined to explore such a state, the coming weeks will offer you a chance to live on the edge with as much safety, reward, and enjoyment as possible.

*

Take inventory of the extent that "No" fills up your life. Notice how often you say or think: 1. "That's not right." 2. "I don't like that." 3. "I don't agree with that." 4. "They don't like me." 5. "I'm not very good." 6. "That should be different from what it is."

To be clear, I do think a certain amount of "NO!" is healthy. It can prevent people from violating your boundaries. It can steer you away from doing things you don't really want to do. But it's also crucial to your well-being that you have ready access to big supplies of the invigorating "YES!"

For help in retraining yourself to say "Yes!" at least 51% of the time, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.






♐ SAGITTARIUS

(November 22-December 21)
"Where there is great love, there are always miracles," wrote Sagittarian novelist Willa Cather (1873–1947). In accordance with upcoming astrological aspects, I encourage you to prepare the way for such miracles. If you don't have as much love as you would like, be imaginative as you offer more of the best love you have to give. If there is good but not great love in your life, figure out how you can make it even better. If you are blessed with great love, see if you can transform it into being even more extraordinary. For you Sagittarians, it is the season of generating miracles through the intimate power of marvelous love.

*

How's your crusade for personal freedom going? Are you making progress in liberating yourself from your unconscious obsessions, bad habits, and conditioned responses? Have you vowed to emancipate yourself from trivial wishes, unwarranted biases, and debilitating delusions?

I'm on your side! I'm trying to perform that magic in my own life! Maybe I can provide you with some assistance and inspiration in your campaign for greater personal freedom. If you'd like to get some of that good stuff, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.






♑ CAPRICORN

(December 22-January 19)
Capricorn author Alexander Woollcott (1187–1943) could be rude and vulgar. He sometimes greeted cohorts by saying, "Hello, Repulsive." After he read the refined novelist Marcel Proust, he described the experience as "like lying in someone else's dirty bath water." But according to Woollcott's many close and enduring friends, he was often warm, generous, and humble. I bring this to your attention in the hope that you will address any discrepancies between your public persona and your authentic soul. Now is a good time to get your outer and inner selves into greater harmony.

*

Assume that your drive to experience pleasure isn't a barrier to your spiritual growth, but is in fact essential to it. Proceed on the hypothesis that cultivating joy can make you a more ethical and compassionate person. Imagine that feeling good has something important to teach you every day. For inspiration in practicing this approach, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.






♒ AQUARIUS

(January 20- February 18)
In 1963, Aquarian author Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique, a groundbreaking book that became a bestseller crucial in launching the feminist movement. She brought to wide cultural awareness “the problem that has no name”: millions of women's sense of invisibility, powerlessness, and depression. In a later book, Friedan reported on those early days of the awakening: "We couldn’t possibly know where it would lead, but we knew it had to be done." I encourage you to identify an equivalent quest in your personal life, Aquarius: a project that feels necessary to your future, even if you don't yet know what that future will turn out to be.

*

"Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show." So begins Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield. I'd like to inspire you to write -- and live! -- a story of your own that begins like that. For help, tune into your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.






♓ PISCES

(February 19-March 20)
"Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: All of them make me laugh." Piscean poet W. H. Auden said that. After analyzing the astrological omens, I conclude that laughing with those you love is an experience you should especially seek right now. It will be the medicine for anything that's bothering you. It will loosen obstructions that might be interfering with the arrival of your next valuable teachings. Use your imagination to dream up ways you can place yourself in situations where this magic will unfold.

*

I invite you to keep a running list of all the ways life delights you and helps you and energizes you. Describe everyday miracles you take for granted . . . the uncanny powers you possess . . . the small joys that occur so routinely you forget how much they mean to you . . . the steady flow of benefits bestowed on you by people you know and don't know. What works for you? What makes you feel at home in the world? For inspiration in this noble effort, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.






© Rob Brezsny 1995-2024