"Real love is a pilgrimage," declared author Anita Brookner. "It happens when there is no strategy, but it is very rare because most people are strategists." That's the bad news, Aries. The good news is that you have more potential than ever before to free your love of strategic maneuvering and manipulation. For the foreseeable future, I invite you to drop all romantic agendas and simply make yourself extra receptive to love's teachings. Are you ready to learn what you don't even realize you need to know?

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Somewhere there's a treasure that has little value to anyone but you, and an intriguing secret that's meaningless to everyone except you, and a frontier that harbors a revelation only you would know how to exploit. Why not go in search of those things? For inspiration, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

In the near future, I'll be pleased if you dole out lavish praise to allies who enchant you. I will celebrate if you deliver loving inspirations and lush invitations to those who help you fulfill your reasons for being here on the planet. To get you in the mood, here are some suggested provocations. 1. "Your body makes mine into a shrine; holy, divine, godtouched." —Ramona Meisel. 2. "Your luster opens glories on my glowing face." —Federico García Lorca. 3. "All night long if you want. We'll tell our secrets to the dark." —Gayle Forman. 4. "I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours." —Bob Dylan. 5. "We are each other's harvest. We are each other's business. We are each other's magnitude and bond." —Gwendolyn Brooks.

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When they say, "Be yourself," which self do they mean? Certainly not the self that wants to win every game and use up every resource and think of nobody's needs except your own.

So when they say, "Be yourself," which self are they referring to? Here’s what I think: It's the self that says "Thank you!" to the wild irises and the windy rain and the people who grow your food. It's the creator who's working to make the whole universe your home and sanctuary. It's the lover who longs to express your love of life everywhere you go.

For guidance, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

In Gemini author Orhan Pamuk's novel Snow, the main character Ka asks a woman named Ipek, "What is the thing you want most from me? What can I do to make you love me?" Ipek's answer: "Be yourself." In the coming days, Gemini, I would love you to engage in similar exchanges with those you care for. According to my understanding of the astrological omens, now is a favorable time for you and your best allies to shed all fakery and pretense so that you may be soulfully authentic with each other—and encourage each other to express what's most raw and genuine.

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Take inventory of the extent that "No" fills up your life. Notice how often you say or think: 1. "That's not right." 2. "I don't like that." 3. "I don't agree with that." 4. "They don't like me." 5. "I'm not very good." 6. "That should be different from what it is."

To be clear, I do think a certain amount of "NO!" is healthy. It can prevent people from violating your boundaries. It can steer you away from doing things you don't really want to do. But it's also crucial to your well-being that you have ready access to big supplies of the invigorating "YES!"

For help in retraining yourself to say "Yes!" at least 51% of the time, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

Are you in the mood to make extravagant gestures in behalf of love? Are you feeling an urge to move beyond your habitual approaches to intimate togetherness as you dare to engage in fun experiments? Now is a good time for such behavior with allies you trust. To spur your imagination, immerse yourself in the spirit of this poem by Nizar Qabbani: "I abandon my dictionaries to the flames, / And ordain you my language. / I fling my passport beneath the waves, / And christen you my country." Your homework: Dream up and carry out a playful and audacious venture that will energize one of your close relationships.

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How's your crusade for personal freedom going? Are you making progress in liberating yourself from your unconscious obsessions, bad habits, and conditioned responses? Have you vowed to emancipate yourself from trivial wishes, unwarranted biases, and debilitating delusions?

I'm on your side! I'm trying to perform that magic in my own life! Maybe I can provide you with some assistance and inspiration in your campaign for greater personal freedom. If you'd like to get some of that good stuff, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

I've created a list of splashy titles for stories or poems or songs or artworks or dances that you could compose for beloved allies or people you want to be beloved allies. I hope my list inspires you to get gushy and lyrical. I hope you'll be creative and marvelous as you express your passionate appreciation. Here are the titles: 1. Glistening Passion. 2. Incandescent Rapture. 3. Succulent Dazzle. 4. Molten Luminosity. 5. Splashy Fire Bliss. 6. Shimmering Joy Beams. 7. Opulent Delirium. 8. Wild Soul Synergy. 9. Sublime Friction. 10. Fluidic Gleam Blessings. 11. Throbbing Reverence. 12. Sacred Heart Salvation.

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Assume that your drive to experience pleasure isn't a barrier to your spiritual growth, but is in fact essential to it. Proceed on the hypothesis that cultivating joy can make you a more ethical and compassionate person. Imagine that feeling good has something important to teach you every day. For inspiration in practicing this approach, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

Author Eve Ensler tells us, "You have to give to the world the thing that you want the most, in order to fix the broken parts inside you." This is perfect counsel for you to carry out in the coming weeks, Virgo. Life will conspire to help you heal yourself, in dramatic and even semi-miraculous ways, as you offer the people and animals you care for the same blessings that you crave to receive. I foresee an influx of restorative karma flowing in your direction. I predict the fixing of at least some of your broken parts.

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"Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show." So begins Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield. I'd like to inspire you to write -- and live! -- a story of your own that begins like that. For help, tune into your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

In Michael Chabon's novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, the character named Arthur says to the character named Cleveland, "Love is like falconry. Don't you think that's true?" Cleveland replies, "Never say love is like anything. It isn't." I propose we make that your meditation during this Valentine season, Libra. In accordance with astrological omens, you will be wise to purge all your preconceptions about love. Use your ingenuity to revive your innocence about the subject. Cultivate a sense of wonder as you let your imagination run wild and free in its fantasies about love and sex and intimacy.

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I invite you to keep a running list of all the ways life delights you and helps you and energizes you. Describe everyday miracles you take for granted . . . the uncanny powers you possess . . . the small joys that occur so routinely you forget how much they mean to you . . . the steady flow of benefits bestowed on you by people you know and don't know. What works for you? What makes you feel at home in the world? For inspiration in this noble effort, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

I'll love it if sometime soon you create a situation in which you tell an ally words similar to what author Jamaica Kincaid spoke to her lover: "To behold the startling truths of your naked body frees me to remember the song I was born from." Do you think you can make that happen, Scorpio? The astrological indicators at play in your life suggest that it would be right and sacred for you to do so. And if there is no such ally, then I hope you will deliver the same message to your naked self. And by the way, what is the song you were born from? (PS: There has never been a better time than now to learn treasured truths about yourself through your connections with others.)

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All of creation loves you very much. Even now, people you know and people you don't know are collaborating to make sure you have all you need to make your next smart move. But are you willing to start loving life back with an equal intensity? The adoration it offers you has not exactly been unrequited, but there is room for you to be more demonstrative. For help in cultivating this approach, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

I'm afraid I must be downright practical and mundane in my oracle for you. Don't hate me! I'm only reporting what the planetary omens are telling me. They say that now is a favorable time for you to practice, practice, and practice some more the fine arts hinted at by author Ivan Goncharov: "A close, daily intimacy between two people has to be paid for: It requires a great deal of experience of life, logic, and warmth of heart on both sides to enjoy each other’s good qualities without being irritated by each other's shortcomings and blaming each other for them." Be diligently positive, Sagittarius, as you work through the demanding daily trials of togetherness.

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How could you turn your challenges into opportunities? Is there a way to gain power and influence in situations that have confused or frustrated you up until now? Could you use some help in digging deeper, below the surface, to find truths that have eluded your understanding? For clues to mysteries like these, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

I'll offer you a radical idea about love from author Hélène Cixous. Although it's not always true for everyone, it will have special meaning for you in the coming months. She wrote, "It is easy to love and sing one's love. That is something I am extremely good at doing. But to be loved, that is true greatness. Being loved, letting oneself be loved, entering the magic and dreadful circle of generosity, receiving gifts, finding the right thank-you's, that is love's real work." How about it, Capricorn? Are you up for the challenge? Are you willing to expand your capacity to welcome the care and benevolence and inspiration coming your way from others?

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Grace emerges in the ebb and flow, not just the flow. The waning reveals a different blessing than the waxing. Where are you in the great cycle of your life? Could you use more guidance in figuring out the nuances of your mysterious story? For inspiration in figuring it all out, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

Actor Leelee Sobieski was mourning her romantic adventures—or rather the lack of romantic adventures. She said, "If only I could find a guy who wasn't in his 70s to talk to me about white cranes, I'd be madly in love." The good news is that Sobieski knows *precisely* what she wants, and it's not all that complicated. The bad news is that there are few men near her own age (38) who enjoy discussing the fine points of the endangered bird species known as the white crane. I bring her predicament to your attention, Aquarius, in the hope that you'll be inspired to be as exact and lucid as she is in identifying what you want—even as you cheat just a bit in the direction of wanting what is actually available.

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Whether it's your time to gather your strength in the shadows or exude your lust for life in the sun, fresh power to transform yourself is on the way. Life always delivers the creative energy you need to change into the new thing you must become. You can count on it! So be alert for it. Be receptive to it. And for more help in understanding your fascinating destiny, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

I've never offered you the wisdom of actor Natalie Portman, but her idealistic attitude about relationships is exactly what I think you should aspire to in the coming months. She said, "I always ask myself, would I want someone to do something that wasn't comfortable for them to do just to please me? And the answer is no." What do you think, Pisces? Do you suspect it might be interesting to apply that principle to your closest alliances? I hope so. If you do, the planetary energies will conspire to deepen your intimate bonds.

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You can learn to be lucky. It's not a mystical force you're born with, but a habit you can develop. How? For starters, be open to new experiences, trust your gut wisdom, expect good fortune, see the bright side of challenging events, and master the art of maximizing serendipitous opportunities. For more help in attuning yourself to life's blessings, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.