Free Will Astrology

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You're not any more narcissistic and egotistical than the rest of us, but this week happens to be your special time to make amends for being that way. Therefore, I recommend that you try the following corrective measures: 1. Every day, do three things motivated by compassion that are helpful to people you know. 2. For a few minutes each day, use your imagination to get inside the mind of someone you care about and see the world through his or her eyes. 3. Every day, take at least one action that will in some way beautify your environment, contribute to the well-being of strangers, or help save the world.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Traditional astrologers say that Sagittarians are the master travelers of the zodiac; no other sign roams as far and as wide as yours. But if that's true, how do you explain William Blake and Emily Dickenson, two of history's greatest Sagittarian poets? They barely left their neighborhoods, content to explore a narrow sampling of the planet's wonders. The answer is that they covered vast distances in the inner realms, seeking out adventures in exotic territories of the imagination. I'm thinking their approach would work really well for you in the coming weeks.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): It's an excellent time to make yourself more magnetic to blessings. You might want to experiment, therefore, with good luck charms or magic invocations – anything that you imagine might attract benevolence into your life. How about the potion that is popular in South Africa right now? It's a concoction cooked up from ground-up vulture bones. Or maybe the kind of mystic jewelry I saw advertised in one of the tabloids, a necklace made of meteorite chunks? Both of those would pale in comparison, however, to the thing I consider the very best attractor of blessings. It's the sacred metaphorical talisman that Tom Waits recommends in his song "Get Behind the Mule": Always keep a diamond in your mind.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): How do I come up with your forecasts? First I meditate on the chart of the current astrological configurations. Then I say this prayer to the higher powers: "Please help me tune in to the message that is most important for Aquarians to hear." After that I close my eyes and release my creative mind into the tidal swells of the collective unconscious, suggesting that it find an image or phrase or story that captures the essence of the next step you need to take. Right now, for instance, I'm getting a vision of you not relying on me, but rather exercising the initiative to hunt down the question that's most important for you to ask right now.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): "Don't eat any food that's incapable of rotting," says Michael Pollan in his book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. In other words, highly processed foods with a long shelf life don't contribute to your optimum vitality. I'd like to expand this rule to make it an all-purpose guideline for life. Try out this hypothesis: If you're involved with any person or situation that never decays, or if there is some part of you that never decays, that's highly suspicious and may be a problem. Like growth, rot is a natural phenomenon. Indeed, every advancement requires or brings the disintegration of whatever it replaces. You can't grow if you don't rot! The "perfection" of stasis can be hazardous to your health! So let me ask you, Pisces: What's due to rot in your world?

In addition to this column, Rob Brezsny offers EXPANDED WEEKLY AUDIO HOROSCOPES and DAILY TEXT MESSAGE HOROSCOPES designed to inspire you. To buy access, go to RealAstrology.com.