Free Will Astrology

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Even when you know exactly what you want, it's sometimes crucial for you not to accomplish it too fast. It may be that you need to mature more before you're ready to handle your success. It could be that if you got all of your heart's desire too quickly and easily, you wouldn't develop the vigorous willpower that the quest was meant to help you forge. The importance of good timing can't be underestimated, either: In order for you to take full advantage of your dream-come-true, many other factors in your life have to be in place and arranged just so. With those thoughts in mind, Virgo, I offer you this prediction for 2013: A benevolent version of a perfect storm is headed your way. now: "I have opened it!"

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Artists who painted images in caves 30,000 years ago did a pretty good job of depicting the movements of four-legged animals like horses. In fact, they were more skilled than today's artists. Even the modern experts who illustrate animal anatomy textbooks don't match the accuracy of the people who decorated cave walls millennia ago. So says a study reported in Livescience.com (http://tinyurl.com/CaveArtMagic). I'd like to suggest this is a useful metaphor for you to consider, Libra. There's some important task that the old you did better than the new you does. Now would be an excellent time to recapture the lost magic.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): After evaluating your astrological omens for the coming months, I've decided to name you Scorpios the "Top Sinners of the Year" for 2013. What that means is that I suspect your vices will be more inventive and more charming than those of all the other signs. Your so-called violations may have the effect of healing some debilitating habit. In fact, your "sins" may not be immoral or wicked at all. They might actually be beautiful transgressions that creatively transcend the status quo; they might be imaginative improvements on the half-assed way that things have always been done. To ensure you're always being ethical in your outlaw behavior, be committed to serving the greater good at least as much as your own selfish interests.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Here's the horoscope I hope to be able to write for you a year from now: "Your mind just kept opening further and further during these past 12 months, Sagittarius -- way beyond what I ever imagined possible. Congrats! Even as you made yourself more innocent and receptive than you've been in a long time, you were constantly getting smarter and sharpening your ability to see the raw truth of what was unfolding. Illusions and misleading fantasies did not appeal to you. Again, kudos!"

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): What does it mean when the dwarf planet Pluto impacts a key point in your horoscope? For Capricorn gymnast Gabby Douglas, it seemed to be profoundly empowering. During the time Pluto was close to her natal sun during last year's Summer Olympics, she won two gold medals, one with her team and one by herself. Luck had very little to do with her triumph. Hard work, self-discipline, and persistence were key factors. I'm predicting that Pluto's long cruise through the sign of Capricorn will give you an opportunity to earn a Gabby Douglas-like achievement in your own sphere -- if, that is, you can summon the same level of willpower and determination that she did. Now would be an excellent time to formally commit yourself to the glorious cause that excites you the most.