I've got a good feeling about your relationship with intimacy in the coming weeks. Judging from the astrological omens, I think you will have a good instinct about how to drum up interesting fun with your most important allies. You'll just naturally know what to do to make your collaborative efforts synergistic. So by all means cash in on this potential. Don't just sit back and hope for the best; rather, call on your imagination to provide you with original ideas about how to make it all happen.

Do you want further explorations of the intriguing twists and turns of your personal evolution? Would you like help in solving the riddles that confuse you? Check out your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

*

SACRED ADVERTISEMENT. The oracle below is excerpted from my book PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.
*
In the New Earth, it won't be your material wealth that will win you the most bragging points. Nor will it be the important people you know or the deals you've swung or the knowledge you've amassed or your mate's attractiveness.

What will bring you most prestige and praise in the civilization to come will be your success in transmuting the unripe, ignorant, and shameful aspects of your psyche into golden assets that fuel your power to give blessings to the world.

Would you be willing to go to extraordinary lengths to transform aspects of your life that you have felt are hard to transform? Now would be a good time to do that. Luck will flow your way if you work on healing your number one wound. Unexpected help and inspiration will appear if you administer tough love to any part of you that's addicted, immature, or unconscious. Barriers will crumple if you brainstorm about new ways to satisfy your frustrated yearnings.

Need more help in figuring out the questions life is asking you? Crave more support in your efforts to build your courage? Check out your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

*

SACRED ADVERTISEMENT. The oracle below is excerpted from my book PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.
*
Some religious traditions teach the doctrine, "Kill off your longings." In their view, attachment to desire is at the root of human suffering. But the religion of materialism takes the opposite tack, asserting that the meaning of life is to be found in indulging desires. Its creed is, "Feed your cravings like a French foie gras farmer cramming eight pounds of maize down a goose's gullet every day."

At the Beauty and Truth Lab, we walk a middle path. We believe there are both degrading desires that enslave you and sacred desires that liberate you. Do you harbor both kinds within yourself? Do you know which are which?

I bet your normal paranoia levels will decline in the coming weeks. Fears you take for granted won't make nearly as much sense as they usually seem to. As a result, you'll be tempted to wriggle free from your defense mechanisms. Useful ideas that your mind has been closed to may suddenly tantalize your curiosity. I won't be surprised if you start tuning into catalysts that had previously been invisible to you. But here are my questions: Can you deal with losing the motivational force that fear gives you? Will you be able to get inspired by grace and pleasure rather than anxiety and agitation? I advise you to work hard on raising your trust levels.

What fresh blessings will life bring you? What questions should you be asking? To explore the ripening trends further, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

*

SACRED ADVERTISEMENT. The oracle below is excerpted from my book PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.
*
Like all of us, you have desires for things that you don't really need and aren't good for you. But you shouldn't disparage yourself for having them, nor should you conclude that every desire is tainted.

Rather, think of your misguided longings as the bumbling, amateur expressions of a faculty that will one day be far more expert. They're how you practice as you work toward the goal of becoming a master of desire. It may take a while, but eventually you will get the hang of wanting things that are really good for you, and good for everyone else, too.

"Sometimes people have nothing to say because they’re too empty," writes author Yasmin Mogahed, "and sometimes people have nothing to say because they’re too full." By my reckoning, Cancerian, you will soon be in the latter category. A big silence is settling over you as new amusements and amazements rise up within you. It will be understandable if you feel reluctant to blab about them. They need more time to ripen. You should trust your impulse to remain a secret and a mystery for a while.

Want to explore this chapter of your life story even further? Dig deeper? Push harder? Consider tuning in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES.

*

SACRED ADVERTISEMENT. The oracle below is excerpted from my book PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.
*
Meditation teacher Jack Kornfield espouses an interesting method for dealing with negative and unwanted thoughts. Don't let them possess you, he says, and don't assume you have to act them out. On the other hand, don't struggle mightily to suppress them, either. Instead, try this: Bow to the offending idea. Acknowledge and admire its power. Express your gratitude and respect to it for galvanizing so much of your psychic energy.

"Insight is not a light bulb that goes off inside our heads," says author Malcolm Gladwell. "It is a flickering candle that can easily be snuffed out." Take that as a constructive warning, Leo. On the one hand, I believe you will soon glimpse quite a few new understandings of how the world works and what you could do to make it serve you better. On the other hand, you've got to be extra alert for these new understandings and committed to capturing them the moment they pop up. Articulate them immediately. If you're alone, talk to yourself about them. Maybe even write them down. Don't just assume you will be able to remember them perfectly later when it's more convenient.

You're got more strength and intelligence than you realize. For help in accessing those untapped inner resources, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

*

SACRED ADVERTISEMENT. The oracle below is excerpted from my book PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.
*
Imagine it's 30 years from now. You're looking back at the history of your relationship with desire. There was a certain watershed moment when you clearly saw that some of your desires were mediocre, inferior, and wasteful, while others were pure, righteous, and invigorating. Beginning then, you made it a life goal to purge the former and cultivate the latter. Thereafter, you occasionally wandered down dead ends trying to gratify yearnings that weren't worthy of you, but usually you wielded your passions with discrimination, dedicating them to serve the highest and most interesting good.

After a storm, British wildlife lover Gary Zammit found a baby heron cowering in a broken nest. Its parents were dead. Zammit took the orphan under his wing. He named it Dude, and cared for it as it grew. Eventually he realized that Dude was never going to learn to fly unless he intervened. Filling his pockets full of the food that Dude loved, Zammit launched a series of flying lessons -- waving his arms and squawking as he ran along a flat meadow that served as a runway. Dude imitated his human dad, and soon mastered the art of flight. Can you see ways in which this story might have metaphorical resemblances to your own life, Virgo? I think it does. It's time for your mind to teach your body an instinctual skill or self-care habit that it has never quite gotten right.

How are you going to change what needs to be changed and accept what needs to be accepted? To get some support from me, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

*

SACRED ADVERTISEMENT. The oracle below is excerpted from my book PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.
*
Imagine this scene. You're really thirsty -- so dehydrated that you're feeling faint. Yet here's the weird thing: You're walking along the bank of a wide river that's so clear you could see the bottom if you looked. But you're not looking. In fact, you seem oblivious to the surging force of nature just a few yards away.

Is it invisible to you? Are you so preoccupied with your suffering that you're blind to the very source that would end your suffering?

Up ahead you see a man. As you approach, you realize he's holding a bottle of water. You run to him and beg him to let you drink. He readily agrees. Gratefully, you guzzle the precious liquid, then thank him profusely.

As you walk away, he calls after you, "By the way, there's a lot more water over there," and he points to the river.

Do you hear him? If you hear him, do you believe him? Or do you keep walking, hoping to find another person with another bottle somewhere up ahead?

For four days twice a year, the East China Sea recedes to create a narrow strip of land between two Korean islands, Jindo and Modo. People celebrate the "Sea-Parting Festival" by strolling back and forth along the temporary path. The phenomenon has been called the "Korean version of Moses' miracle," although it's more reasonably explained by the action of the tides. I foresee some sweet marvel akin to this one occurring in your life very soon, Libra. Be ready to take advantage of a special dispensation.

Sometimes it's a challenge to try to figure out what's important and what's not important. If you'd like more of my input, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

*

SACRED ADVERTISEMENT. The oracle below is excerpted from my book PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.
*
You came into this world as a radiant bundle of exuberant riddles. You slipped into this dimension as a shimmering burst of spiral hallelujahs. You blasted into this realm as a lush explosion of ecstatic gratitude. And it is your birthright to fulfill those promises.

The desire for revenge is a favorite theme of the entertainment industry. It's presented as being glamorous and stirring and even noble. How many action films build their plots around the hero seeking payback against his enemies? Personally, I see revenge as one of the top three worst emotions. In real life, it rarely has redeeming value. People who actively express it often wreak pain and ruin on both others and themselves. Even those who merely stew in it may wound themselves by doing so. I bring this up, Scorpio, because now is an excellent time for you to shed desires for revenge. Dissolve them, get rid of them, talk yourself out of indulging in them. The reward for doing so will be a great liberation.

How well is your imagination working these days? Could it use a boost? A prod? A jolt of inspiration? Try tuning in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

*

SACRED ADVERTISEMENT. The oracle below is excerpted from my book PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.
*
Acquiring problems is a fundamental human need. It's as crucial to your well-being as getting food, air, water, sleep, and love. You define yourself -- indeed, you make yourself -- through the puzzling dilemmas you attract and solve. The most creative people on the planet are those who frame the biggest, hardest questions and then gather the resources necessary to find the answers.

Just for a few days, would you be willing to put your attention on the needs of others more than on your own? The weird thing is, your selfish interests will be best served by being as unselfish and empathetic and compassionate as you can stand to be. I don't mean that you should allow yourself to be abused or taken advantage of. Your task is to express an abundance of creative generosity as you bestow your unique blessings in ways that make you feel powerful. In the words of theologian Frederick Buechner, you should go "to the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."

Want more clues? Need further insight? For more evocative questions and pithy suggestions about your unfolding destiny, check out your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

*

SACRED ADVERTISEMENT. The oracle below is excerpted from my book PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.
*
In order to live, you've got to be a demolisher. You take plants and animals that were once alive and rip them apart with your teeth, then disintegrate them in your digestive system.

Your body is literally on fire inside, burning up the oxygen you suck into your lungs.

You didn't actually cut down the trees used to make your house and furniture, but you colluded with their demise.

Then there's the psychological liquidation you've done: killing off old beliefs you've outgrown, for instance.

I'm not trying to make you feel guilty -- just pointing out that you have a lot of experience with positive expressions of destruction.

Can you think of other forms this magic takes? As an aspiring master of pronoia, it's one of your specialties -- a talent you have a duty to wield with energetic grace.

Imagine a scenario like this: The CEOs of five crazily rich U.S. corporations, including a major defense contractor, stage a press conference to announce that in the future they will turn down the massive welfare benefits and tax breaks the federal government has been doling out to them all these years. Now picture this: The Pope issues a statement declaring that since Jesus Christ never had a single bad word to say about homosexuals, the Catholic Church is withdrawing its resistance to gay rights. I am envisioning a comparable reversal in your life, Capricorn -- a flip-flop that seems equally improbable. But unlike the two I named, yours will actually unfold in the course of the next eight months. If it hasn't already started yet, it will soon.

How much do you want to know about your life? How far do you dare to go in your quest for self-mastery? For more insight into your intriguing fate, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

*

SACRED ADVERTISEMENT. The oracle below is excerpted from my book PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.
*
In her role as DJ Debi Newberry in the film Grosse Pointe Blank, Minnie Driver defines the term shakabuku as a swift spiritual kick to the head that alters your reality forever. That's the kind of jolt you're more likely to get if you've been avoiding the entreaties of your shadow.

But if you send your shadow flowers on special occasions, or periodically give it license to blubber its horrible secrets while sobbing on your lap, it might be more inclined to deliver a whoopibuku, which is a soft spiritual stomp on the toes that inspires you to make a course correction.

Matteo Ricci was an Italian Jesuit priest who lived from 1552 to 1610. For his last 28 years, he worked as a missionary in China. Corresponding with his friends and family back home required a lot of patience. News traveled very slowly. Whenever he sent out a letter, he was aware that there'd be no response for seven years. What would you express about your life right now if you knew your dear ones wouldn't learn of it until 2017? Imagine describing to them in an old-fashioned letter what your plans will be between now and then . . . what you hope to accomplish and how you will transform yourself. Right now is an excellent time to take inventory of your long-term future.

Would you like to hear more about the hidden factors influencing your life? Do you want to uncover the secrets you've been hiding even from yourself? Listen to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

*

SACRED ADVERTISEMENT. The oracle below is excerpted from my book PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.
*
It's a great privilege to live in a free country. You're fortunate if you have the opportunity to pursue your dreams without having to ward off government interference or corporate brainwashing or religious fanaticism.

But that's only partly useful if you have not yet won the most important struggle for liberation, which is the freedom from your own unconscious obsessions and conditioned responses. Becoming an independent agent who's not an unwitting slave to his or her shadow is one of the most heroic feats a human being can accomplish.

The cosmos is granting you a poetic license to practice the art of apodyopsis with great relish. You know what apodyopsis is, right? It refers to the act of envisioning people naked -- mentally undressing them so as to picture them in their raw state. So, yes, by all means, Pisces, enjoy this creative use of your imagination without apology. It should generate many fine ramifications. For instance, it will prime you to penetrate beneath the surface of things. It will encourage you to see through everyone's social masks and tune in to what's really going on in their depths. You need to do that right now.

Do you wish you could get more clarity about the foggy, ambiguous situations you're dealing with? Want more help in exploring the Great Mystery that is your life? I discuss your coming week in greater depth in your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

*

SACRED ADVERTISEMENT. The oracle below is excerpted from my book PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.
*
In his song "Get Behind the Mule," Tom Waits tells us to "Never let the weeds get higher than the garden." That's good advice. But maybe you shouldn't go overboard and become a fanatic who acts as if weeds are evil demons from the ninth level of hell.

It turns out that some weeds are good for flowers and vegetables, protecting them from predatory insects. So say horticulturalists Stan Finch and Rosemary Collier, writing in Biologist magazine. When the bugs come looking for their special treats—the plants we love—they often get waylaid by the weeds, landing on them first and getting fooled into thinking there's nothing more valuable nearby.

So for example, when cabbages are planted in the midst of clover, flies lay eggs on only seven percent of them, compared to a 36 percent infestation rate on cabbages that are grown in bare soil with no clover nearby.

This could be a useful metaphor in working with your own versions of impurities and interlopers. Make sure there are always a few chickweed or henbit weeds surrounding your ripening tomatoes.