Free Will Astrology

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Just for you, it is Shark Week. During this dicey holiday, you should be wary of all sharks, especially the kind that look like human beings. Don't get in their way, and don't underestimate them. On the other hand, I'm not opposed to you getting to know some sharks better. They could teach you some valuable lessons on how to get what you want. Not that you would ever be as cold-blooded and predatory as they are, of course. But it might be energizing to your ambitions if you add just a bit of shark-like thinking to your repertoire.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Visualize yourself heading out on a high adventure with interesting people — but all the while being distracted by the memory of a trivial insult you experienced earlier that day. Picture yourself getting intimate with a lover who inspires you to lose your self-consciousness — up until the point when you decide to interrupt your fun by answering a phone call from some random person. Imagine toning yourself down and holding yourself back because of misplaced politeness or unnecessary guilt or delusional fear — even though you're feeling a rushing instinct to surge and soar and overflow. Finally, Libra, understand that in getting you to envision these parodies of your current inclinations, I'm hoping to shock you into making sure that nothing like them happens.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Sometime soon you may dream of being naked at a public event like a class at school or a committee meeting. I think this would be an excellent omen, so I hope it comes to pass. It would signify that you're ready to shed the disguises that have been making it problematical for you to reinvent yourself. Who is the New You? Stripping down to the bare essentials in your dreams will help you see raw truths about your waking life.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): As you cross the great water in search of the unknown treasure, navigate by the light of the clouds. That's your dreamy oracle, Sagittarius. What does it mean? Well, the work you do to figure it out is essential to activating its potential, so I don't want to give away too much. But here are three further hints to inspire you on your quest. 1. Be willing to go a long way to find a secret you don't even know you're looking for. 2. Consider the possibility of cultivating faith in a goal that you don't quite yet grasp in its entirety. 3. Rely on shadows and reflections to give you accurate information you can't get directly from the thing that's casting shadows and being reflected.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Everyone has some kind of power. What's yours? In the coming days, I suspect there will be some crisis and opportunity regarding how you use it. Maybe you will be invited to assume more authority or exercise greater influence. Maybe your ability to wield your particular clout will be questioned or doubted, and you will be challenged to either stand up and express it with more integrity and purpose, or else relinquish it. For best results, take a moment right now to visualize the precise power you would love to command.