TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Astronomers have recently discovered four objects beyond the orbit of Pluto that might be considered planets. Only one, Sedna, has a formal name thus far. While awaiting their official designation from the International Astronomical Union, the others are being referred to as Santa, Easterbunny, and Xena (as in TV’s Warrior Princess). According to my meditations, these three are in cahoots with the sign of the Bull right now. So be fiercely generous, Taurus. Unleash your instinctual fertility. Fight hard for abundance. Draw inspiration from playful myths. Halloween costume suggestions: Ninja Santa, Xena Claus, Samurai Easter Bunny.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In Greek mythology, Achilles was a great warrior who, through magic, became almost completely impervious to injury. When he was a baby, his mother dipped him upside-down into the River Styx, making him superhuman except in the one part of his body that did not get immersed: his heel, by which his mom held him. To this day, the term "Achilles heel" refers to a person’s unique vulnerability or weakness. Pay special attention to your personal Achilles heel in the coming weeks, Gemini. Take vigorous measures to heal, protect, and strengthen it. Halloween costume suggestions: Achilles wearing armored boots or Athena shod with platform shoes that resemble small army tanks.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): According to an old Tibetan saying, "It is better to live one year in the life of a tiger than 100 years in the life of a sheep." I’m not saying you’re a sheep, Cancerian, but I do believe you haven’t allowed yourself to enjoy nearly enough experiences as a tiger. It so happens that it’s a perfect astrological time to make up for lost time. May I suggest that you turn into the human equivalent of a big, fast, wild feline? Halloween costume recommendations: tiger, panther, leopard.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The old days and old ways are still subtly influencing every move you make, both for better and for worse. I urge you, therefore, to revisit the life you left behind and try to recall the language you used to speak back then. Find out if there’s unfinished business that’s preventing you from claiming the freedom you need in order to pursue a future dream. Halloween costume suggestions: a time traveler, a ghost buster, an Indiana Jones-like adventurer in quest of ancient treasure.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): "There are nine different words in Maya for the color blue, but just three Spanish translations," wrote Earl Shorris in Harper’s, "leaving six butterflies that can be seen only by the Maya." This idea suggests two important implications that you should take to heart in the coming weeks. First, the words you use can actually shape your perceptions. Second, as your vocabulary expands, you become aware of aspects of reality that have been hidden from you, and you develop a greater capacity to distinguish between experiences that are superficially alike. Halloween costume suggestion: a butterfly colored nine different shades of blue.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Even though Americans comprise 5 percent of the world’s population, they use one-third of its resources and generate half of its hazardous waste. Profligacy on this scale is not only terrible for the planet and our descendants, but also bad for the perpetrators. Your first assignment this week, Libra, is to identify ways in which you personally participate in this greed and excess. Your second assignment is to analyze how it might be damaging to your mental and physical health. Your third task: Do something about it! Halloween costume suggestions: monk, nun, garbage collector, Greenpeace activist.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): I was sitting in the dingy restaurant of a bus station in Washington, D.C. A burned-out speed freak at the next table looked at me with a lunatic smile and said, "I’m King of the Universe. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing in a place like this." The dude was obviously not a Scorpio, because you Scorpios rarely suffer from delusions about your own excellence. You may imagine you’re *worse* than you really are, but not the reverse. According to my reading of the astrological omens, then, your growing confidence in your own capacities is almost certainly based on objective truth. Halloween costume suggestion: King or Queen of the Universe.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Every one of us has a monstrous side — a part of the psyche that snarls and bites, that’s ugly and irrational, that is motivated by ill will and twisted passions. That’s the bad news. The good news is that you’re in a phase when you have exceptional power to soothe and pacify the beast within you. Your first step, in my opinion, should be to get it to express its preternatural vigor in a safe setting where it can’t hurt anyone, not even you. That’s why I suggest you encourage it to dance. Put on music it likes, give it a wide berth, and let it flail and careen and whirl until it has vented all of its aggression. Halloween costume suggestion: your inner monster.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): "Happy the person who can endure both the highest and the lowest fortune," said the Roman writer and orator Seneca. "He who weathers such vicissitudes with equanimity has deprived misfortune of its power." According to my analysis of the astrological omens, Capricorn, you are currently having an encounter with the first thing mentioned in Seneca’s formula — the highest fortune. May you navigate your way through this phase of lucky abundance without falling victim to arrogance, carelessness or insensitivity. Halloween costume suggestion: a lottery winner doling out gifts.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): "Any serious writer hopes that the best of his or her product will contribute to the larger store of hope that has continually been accruing in this form, the written word, since the dawn of literate civilization," wrote Dennis Holt in his newsletter, Operation Green Candle. "Good writing is hopeful," he concluded. Your next assignment is inspired by this theory, Aquarius. Whatever your special talents are, act as if you have a duty to use them to inspire hope and feed people’s dreams. Halloween costume suggestions: Johnny Appleseed, Oprah, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Helen Keller.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In The Mastery of Awareness, Kristopher Raphael writes that the old Toltec word mitote was used to describe a chaotic marketplace where scores of people jabber at each other without listening. He says the same term also referred to the state of the average person’s mind: a multitude of voices with different agendas, each promoting its own desires while barely acknowledging the others. If you are even partially caught in the throes of this kind of mitote, Pisces, it’s an excellent time to take corrective action. I suggest you convene a summit meeting of all your various selves. Halloween costume suggestion: Be Siamese twins (or triplets), with each character embodying one of your subpersonalities. Here’s this week’s homework: Meditate on death not as the end of physical life, but as a metaphor for shedding what’s outworn. In that light, what’s the best death you’ve ever experienced?
