Free Will Astrology

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Afrikaner author Laurens van der Post told a story about a conversation between psychologist Carl Jung and Ochwiay Biano, a Pueblo Indian chief. Jung asked Biano to offer his views about white people. "White people must be crazy because they think with their heads," said the chief, "and it is well-known that only crazy people do that." Jung asked him what the alternative was. Biano said that his people think with their hearts. That's your assignment for the week ahead, Aries: to think with your heart -- especially when it comes to love. For extra credit, you should feel with your head -- especially when it comes to love. Happy Valentine Daze, Aries!

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Have you ever sent a torrent of smart and elegant love messages to a person you wanted to get closer to? Now would be an excellent time to try a stunt like that. Have you ever scoured the depths of your own psyche in search of any unconscious attitudes or bad habits that might be obstructing your ability to enjoy the kind of intimacy you long for? I highly recommend such a project right now. Have you ever embarked on a crusade to make yourself even more interesting and exciting than you already are? Do it now. Raise your irresistibility! Happy Valentine Daze, Taurus!

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Happy Valentine Daze, Gemini! After careful meditation about what messages might purify and supercharge your love life, I decided to offer suggestions about what not to do. To that end, I'll quote some lines from Kim Addonizio's poem "Forms of Love." Please don't speak any of them out loud, or even get yourself into a position where it makes sense to say them. 1. "I love how emotionally unavailable you are." 2. "I love you and feel a powerful spiritual connection to you, even though we've never met." 3. "I love your pain, it's so competitive." 4. "I love you as long as you love me back." 5. "I love you when you're not getting drunk and stupid." 6. "I love you but I'm married." 7. "I love it when you tie me up with ropes using the knots you learned in Boy Scouts, and when you do the stoned Dennis Hopper rap from Apocalypse Now!"

CANCER (June 21-July 22): This Valentine season, I suggest you consider trying an experiment like this: Go to the soulful ally you want to be closer to and take off at least some of your masks. Drop your pretenses, too. Shed your emotional armor and do without your psychological crutches. Take a chance on getting as psychologically and spiritually naked as you have ever dared. Are you brave enough to reveal the core truths about yourself that lie beneath the convenient truths and the expired truths and the pretend truths?

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): "Sex is a substitute for God," says writer Cathryn Michon. "When we desire another human being sexually, we are really only trying to fill our longing for ecstasy and union with the infinite." I agree with her, and I think you might, too, after this week. Erotic encounters will have an even better chance than usual of connecting you to the Sublime Cosmic YumYum. If you can't find a worthy collaborator to help you accomplish this miraculous feat, just fantasize about one. You need and deserve spiritual rapture. Happy Valentine Daze, Leo!