Free Will Astrology

Week of November 14

Credit: Chris Brennan

ARIES

(Mar. 21-Apr. 19): You may be on the verge of the breakthrough I prophesied a while back. Remember? I said you would be searching for the solution to a boring problem, and on the way, you would discover a more interesting and useful problem. That exact scenario is about to happen. I also predict that the coming weeks will be a time when you tame an out-of-control aspect of your life and infuse more wildness into an overly tame part of you. I will speculate on one further stroke of good fortune: You will attract an influence that motivates you to be more passionately pragmatic about one of your key dreams.

TAURUS

(Apr. 20-May 20): It’s time for some friendly warnings that will, if heeded, enable you to avoid problematic developments. (1) An overhaul in your self-image is looming; your persona requires tinkering. (2) Old boundaries are shifting and, in some places, disappearing. Be brave and draw up new boundaries. (3) Familiar allies may be in a state of flux. Help them find their new centers of gravity. (4) Potential future allies will become actual allies if you are bold in engaging them. (5) Be allergic to easy answers and simplistic solutions. Insist on the wisdom of uncertainty.

GEMINI

(May 21-June 20): To honor and celebrate your melancholy, I’m turning this horoscope over to Gemini author TH White and his superb formulation of the redemptive power of sadness. He wrote: “The best thing for being sad is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.”

CANCER

(June 21-July 22): A Massachusetts woman named Andrea Martin loves chickens so much she treats them as family. A few years ago, she took pity on one of her favorites, a young bird named Cecily, who had been born with a damaged tendon in one of her legs. Martin arranged to have the limb amputated. Then she made a prosthetic device on a 3-D printer and had it surgically grafted onto Cecily’s body. Success! The $2,500 cost was well worth it, she testified. I propose we make Andrea Martin one of your role models for the coming weeks. May she inspire you to take extra good care of and shower bonus blessings on everyone and everything you love. (PS: This will be really good for your own health.)

LEO

(July 23-Aug. 22): Once a year, the city of Seoul in South Korea stages a Space-Out Festival. Participants compete to do absolutely nothing for 90 minutes. They are not allowed to fall asleep, talk, or check their phones. To test how well they are banishing stress, burnout, and worries, their heart rates are monitored. The winner is the person who has the slowest and most stable pulse. If there were an event like this in your part of the world sometime soon, Leo, I’d urge you to join in. I expect the winner would be a member of your astrological tribe, as you Leos now have a high potential for revitalizing relaxation. Even if you don’t compete in a Space-Out Festival, I hope you will fully cash in on this excellent chance to recharge your spiritual batteries.

VIRGO

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22): My favorite Virgos love to learn. They are eager to add to their knowledge. They have a highly honed curiosity that is always percolating, continually drawing them toward new comprehension. On the other hand, some of my favorite Virgos are inefficient at shedding long-held ideas and information that no longer serve them. As a result, their psyches may get plugged up, interfering with their absorption of fun new input. That’s why I recommend that you Virgos engage in regular purges of your mental debris. Now would be an excellent time for one of these sessions. PS: The futurist Alvin Toffler said that a key to intelligence is the ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn. I invite you to act on that counsel.

LIBRA

(Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I endorse Libran tennis star Serena Williams’s approach to self-evaluation — especially for you right now. She testified, “I’m really exciting. I smile a lot, I win a lot, and I’m really sexy.” I’m convinced you have the right to talk like that in the coming weeks — so convinced that I suggest you use it as a mantra and prayer. When you wake up each morning, say what Williams said. When you’re asking life for a sweet breakthrough or big favor, remind life why it should give you what you want. Feel free to add other brags, too, like, “I’m a brilliant thinker, a persuasive negotiator, and a crafty communicator.”

SCORPIO

(Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You are entering a phase when you can acquire more mastery in the arts of self-care and self-sufficiency. I hope you will become more skillful in giving yourself everything that nurtures your emotional and physical health. Have you gathered all you need to know about that subject? Probably not. Most of us haven’t. But the coming weeks will be a favorable time to make this your main research project. By the way, now is also an excellent time to kick your own ass and unbreak your own heart.

SAGITTARIUS

(Nov. 22-Dec. 21): My father was a big fan of the military. As a young man, he served as a lieutenant in the army and for a time considered making that job his career. I’m the opposite of him. I keenly avoided becoming a soldier and have always been passionately anti-war. I bring this subject to your attention because I think now is an excellent time for you to get clearer than ever about how you don’t resemble your parents and don’t want to be like them. Meditate on why your life is better and can get even better by not following their paths and ways. There’s no need to do this with anger and blame. In fact, the healthiest approach is to be lucid, calm, and dispassionate.

CAPRICORN

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19): At age 49, James Patterson retired from his job as an advertising writer. Until then, he had produced a few novels in his spare time. But once free of his nine-to-five gig, he began churning out books at a rapid pace. Now, at age 77, he has published more than 305 million copies of 200-plus novels, including 67 that have been number-one New York Times best-sellers. Would you like to make an almost equally memorable transition, Capricorn? The coming weeks and months will be an excellent time to plan it and launch it.

AQUARIUS

(Jan. 20-Feb. 18): The Breakfast Club was an iconic 1985 film about teenagers coming of age. Critics liked it. At the box office, it earned 100 times more than it cost to make. Aquarian director John Hughes wrote the screenplay for the 97-minute movie in two days, on July 4 and 5 of 1982. I predict that many of you Aquarians will have a similar level of productivity in the coming weeks. You could create lasting improvements and useful goodies in short bursts of intense effort.

PISCES

(Feb. 19-Mar. 20): Ben & Jerry’s is a wildly successful ice cream maker that sells its products all over the world. Its founders are two Pisceans who met in 7th grade. Over the 45 years since they launched their business, they have become renowned for their wide variety of innovative flavors and their political activism. When they first decided to work together, though, their plans were to start a bagel business. They only abandoned that idea when they discovered how expensive the bagel-making equipment was. I suspect that you are near a comparable pivot in your life, Pisces: a time to switch from one decent project to an even better one.

Homework: Can you feel less anger about a person who wronged you? It would be good for your health to do so. Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com