""My way of learning is to heave a wild and unpredictable monkey-wrench into the machinery,"" wrote Gemini author Dashiell Hammett. But I recommend that you use his approach very rarely, and only when other learning methods aren''t working. Most of the time, your best strategy for getting the lessons you need is to put lubricating oil into the machinery, not a monkey-wrench. That''ll be especially true in the coming weeks. I suggest that you turn the machinery off for a while as you add the oil and and do some maintenance. Halloween costume suggestion: repair person; computer techie; machine whisperer.

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YOU NEED MAGIC EVERY DAY. You constantly have to wade through a relentless surge of soul-less facts. The experience tends to shut down your sense of wonder. Every day, you''re over-exposed to cynical narratives that have been sucked free of delight and mystery. That''s why you have to make such strenuous efforts to keep your world enchanted.

I like to think I can contribute to the sacred cause of feeding your sense of wonder and enchantment. In fact, that''s one of my prime motivations for offering you the free weekly horoscopes you read in this newsletter.

If you ever want more of that good stuff, and think it''s worth paying for, please consider trying out my EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES. They''re four-to-five-minute meditations on the current state of your destiny.