Free Will Astrology

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In summer, the pickleweed plant thrives in the saltwater marshes around San Francisco Bay. In many places, bright orange patches of the dodder plant intermingle with the pickleweed's sprightly jade green, creating festive displays that suggest nature is having a party. But there's a secret buried in this scene. The dodder's webby filaments are actually parasites that suck nutrients from the pickleweed. In accordance with the astrological omens, Aquarius, I'll ask you if a situation like that exists in your own life. Is there a pretty picture that hides an imbalance in the give-and-take of energy? It's not necessarily a bad thing — after all, the pickleweed grows abundantly even with its freeloader hanging all over it — but it's important to be conscious of what's going on.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): "That in a person which cannot be domesticated is not his evil but his goodness," said the writer Antonio Porchia. I invite you to keep that challenging thought close to your heart in the coming days, Pisces. In my astrological opinion, it is an excellent moment to tune in to your wildest goodness — to describe it to yourself, to cherish it as the great treasure it is, to foster it and celebrate it and express it like a spring river overflowing its banks.