Free Will Astrology

ARIES (March 21-April 19): In one of your past lives, I think you must have periodically done something like stick your tongue out or thumb your nose at pretentious tyrants — and gotten away with it. At least that's one explanation for how confident you often are about speaking up when everyone else seems unwilling to point out that the emperor is in fact wearing no clothes. This quality should come in handy during the coming week. It may be totally up to you to reveal the truth about an obvious secret or collective delusion. Can you figure out a way to be relatively tactful as you say what supposedly can't or shouldn't be said?

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus actor Daniel Day Lewis will star as American president Abraham Lincoln in a film to be released later this year. Hollywood insiders report that Lewis basically became Lincoln months before the film was shot and throughout the entire process. Physically, he was a dead ringer for the man he was pretending to be. Even when the cameras weren't rolling, he spoke in the cadences and accent of his character rather than in his own natural voice. It might be fun for you to try a similar experiment in the coming weeks, Taurus. Fantasize in detail about the person you would ultimately like to become, and then imitate that future version of you.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The idea of a housewarming party comes from an old British tradition. People who were moving would carry away embers from the fireplace of the home they were leaving and bring them to the fireplace of the new home. I recommend that you borrow this idea and apply it to the transition you're making. As you migrate toward the future, bring along a symbolic spark of the vitality that has animated the situation you're transitioning out of.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): My friend Irene has a complicated system for handling her cats' food needs. The calico, Cleopatra, demands chicken for breakfast and beef stew at night, and all of it absolutely must be served in a pink bowl on the dining room table. Caligula insists on fish stew early and tuna later. He wants it on a black plate placed behind the love seat. Nefertiti refuses everything but gourmet turkey upon waking and beef liver for the evening repast. If it's not on the basement stairs, she won't touch it. I'm bringing your attention to this, Cancerian, because I think you could draw inspiration from it. It's in your interests, at least temporarily, to keep your loved ones and allies happy with a coordinated exactitude that rivals Irene's.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The moon's pale glow shimmers on your face as you run your fingers through your hair. In your imagination, 90 violins play with sublime fury, rising toward a climax, while the bittersweet yearning in your heart sends warm chills down your spine. You part your lips and open your eyes wide, searching for the words that could change everything. And then suddenly you remember you have to contact the plumber tomorrow, and find the right little white lie to appease you-know-who, and run out to the store to get that gadget you saw advertised. Cut! Cut! Let's do this scene again. Take five. It's possible, my dear, that your tendency to overdramatize is causing you to lose focus. Let's trim the 90 violins down to 10 and see if maybe that helps.