Free Will Astrology

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): A medical research journal reported on a British woman who accidentally swallowed a felt-tip pen. It lay there in her stomach for 25 years. When surgeons finally removed it, they were surprised to find it still worked. I am not suggesting that anything remotely as exotic or bizarre will be happening to you, Virgo. I do suspect, though, that you will soon have an experience with certain metaphorical resemblances to that event. For example, you may retrieve and find use for an element of your past that has been gone or missing for a long time.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): "Sapiosexual" is a relatively new word that refers to a person who is erotically attracted to intelligence. Urbandictionary.com gives an example of how it might be used: "I want an incisive, inquisitive, insightful, irreverent mind. I want someone for whom philosophical discussion is foreplay. I want a sapiosexual." In the coming weeks, Libra, I suspect you will be closer to fitting this definition than you've ever been before. The yearning that's rising up in you is filled with the need to be stimulated by brilliance, to be influenced by wisdom, to be catalyzed by curiosity.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In 2007 the band White Stripes did a tour of Canada. One of their final gigs was outdoors in St. John's, Newfoundland. They came on stage, played one note — a C-sharp — and declared the performance over. It was the briefest rock show in history. Judging from the current astrological omens, Scorpio, I'm thinking it would be a good time for you to do some almost equally pithy things. You have the potential to be extremely concise and intense and focused in all you do. I urge you to fulfill that potential. Pack every speech, gesture, and action with a concentrated wealth of meaning.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Your redesigned thrust vectoring matrix is finally operational. Love those new nozzles! Moreover, you've managed to purge all the bugs from your cellular tracking pulse, and your high-resolution flux capacitor is retooled and as sexy as a digitally-remastered simulation of your first kiss. You're almost ready for take-off, Sagittarius! The most important task left to do is to realign your future shock absorbers. No more than a week from now, I expect you to be flying high and looking very, very good.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The plot twists will be intriguing. The actors may be unpredictable, even erratic. Blossoming and decay will be happening simultaneously, and the line between wisdom and craziness could get blurry. There's not nearly enough room in this little horoscope to describe the epic sweep of the forces working behind the scenes. Are you willing to confront uncanny truths that other people might regard as too unruly? Are you brave enough to penetrate to the depths that others are too timid to look at, let alone deal with? I hope you are, Capricorn, because that will give you the power to ultimately emerge from the drama with your integrity shining and your intelligence boosted.