FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning November 8
Copyright 2007 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): I believe that doing the challenging
assignments I'm about to describe will put you in alignment with cosmic
rhythms, and make it more likely that you will attract grace and
synchronicity into your life. You are, of course, under no obligation to
carry them out. That's because you have free will, and are always at
liberty to choose a path that leads you away from grace and
synchronicity. With that as a caveat, here are the roles I believe you
should play in the coming week if you'd like to thrive: a catalytic X-factor;
a tender wild card; a friendly shocker; a nonviolent bombshell; an agent
provocateur who loves all you survey.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You now have a talent for seeing what
has been invisible. You're good at ferreting out secrets and uncovering
hidden agendas. In fact, you can generate good fortune for yourself by
articulating the confusing truths and unconscious feelings that have been
simmering in the shadows. There's another task for which you have an
exceptional aptitude, Sagittarius: drawing long-term cycles to a graceful
finish. You have the power to climax meandering dramas that have been
resistant to closure; you can find resolution where everyone said there
could only be messy ambiguity.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): An atheist won't be elected President of
the United States anytime soon. Polls show that every other minority is
viewed more favorably than the God-is-a-fraud crowd. I think that's a
shame. Even though I myself am a big fan of the Creator, I'm sure She
loves cynics who don't believe in her just as much as She loves the most
pious worshipers. Furthermore, I suspect that Her good will is sorely
tested by the "religious" fanatics who spread hatred in Her name. So what
does this have to do with your current horoscope? This: My analysis of
the astrological omens suggests that you'd be wise to do as I just did,
which is to declare your support for people whose ideas you disagree
with.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Last week, my STARmeter ranking on the
Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) shot up 56 percent. I don't know
why. Maybe the movie I helped make in the 1990s finally got distributed
in Eastern Europe or something. Even if you've never been involved in the
motion picture industry, Aquarius, I'm betting your unofficial STARmeter
will soon zoom up, too. The astrological omens suggest it may even be
time for your 15 minutes of fame. At the very least, you'll find yourself in
the spotlight or rising in the popularity polls or gossiped about twice as
much as usual.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The Arctic is heating up faster than the rest
of the planet. As the ice melts, the far north's oil, natural gas, and
diamonds are becoming more accessible to greedy humans. Russia has
already planted its flag on the sea floor, hoping to lay claim to territory
that has belonged to no one in particular up until now. Canada, America,
and Denmark have also become players in this modern land grab. I predict
that you will soon be dealing with a situation that has metaphorical
resemblances to this development. Frozen assets will become available,
and several parties will be caught up in a rush to appropriate them. If you
truly believe you'd make best use of those riches, by all means formulate
an aggressive action plan immediately.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Read these lines by Israeli poet Yehuda
Amichai, translated by Chana Block and Stephen Mitchell: "A flock of
sheep near the airport or a high voltage generator beside the orchard:
these combinations open up my life like a wound, but they also heal it.
That's why my feelings always come in twos." Draw inspiration from this
passage. Rather than experiencing the riddles and contradictions of your
life merely as painful schisms, think of them also as mysterious
unifications.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): During the lead up to Pennsylvania's election
of a U.S. Senator in 2006, the leftist Green Party in Pennsylvania tried
hard to get its candidate on the ballot. Facing almost insurmountable
odds to raise the necessary funds, it turned to an unlikely source:
conservative Republicans, who gladly and fiendishly contributed money in
the hope that the Green Party's nominee would siphon votes away from
their far more viable competitor, the Democratic candidate. I expect you
may be able to pull off a similar coup in the coming weeks, Taurus:
getting an adversary or opponent to aid and abet your cause.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Do you have a pet pig? If so, it'll be a good
week to imitate what Homer Simpson did in *The Simpsons Movie*: Hold
your animal friend upside-down and help it simulate the act of creeping
along the ceiling, all the while singing a "Spiderpig" version of the
Spiderman theme song. And if none of that seems meaningful or relevant
to you, please at least try to induce a lucid dream of yourself crawling
along the inside of the vault in the Sistine Chapel, or hauling your luggage
across the underside of a cloud, or gliding as slowly as a sloth out to the
end of a big limb on an oak tree. You need action that's simultaneously
high up and reversed, Gemini. You've got to be grounded yet rebellious as
you soar. Or you need to defy gravity as you take baby steps. Or
something like that.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Though Wales is at the same latitude as
Siberia, it's free of frigid tundra. Still, its climate isn't exactly balmy. Cool,
cloudy, damp days are common. That's why Welsh horticulturalists
cheered with shocked exultation last summer, when three outdoor banana
plants produced fruit at the National Botanical Garden. It was an
unprecedented miracle. I predict a comparable development for you,
Cancerian. A source that has never been more than lukewarm will get
downright tropical. An influence that has been inhospitable to your
passion will become fertile and welcoming. As a result, you will bloom in a
way you never have before.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): "A British study revealed that the average man
spends a full six months of his life staring at women in a slack-jawed
trance of frustrated desire," reported *The Week* magazine. That's the
bad news. The good news? The omens suggest you have an extraordinary
capacity right now to break any slack-jawed trance of frustrated desire
you've been oppressed by. That's true whether you're a hetero man or
any other kind of Leo. So identify the sad, unrequited longing that evokes
your most poignant disappointment, and rise up to overthrow it. You've
got the power to declare your independence.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Lieutenant General Ricardo S. Sanchez, who
was the supreme commander of U.S. troops in Iraq from June 2003 to
July 2004, thinks his government has made tragic mistakes. Citing "a
catastrophically flawed war plan," he said, "There has been a glaring
display of incompetent strategic leadership from our national leaders."
Sanchez is your role model for the coming week, Virgo. I hope he inspires
you to do one of three things: (1) raise a critique of a group or institution
you've been an instrumental part of; (2) rebel against the faulty
execution of an idea you support; (3) put your service to moral truth
above blind loyalty.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): It will be a good week to build your spiritual
prowess by dancing on burning embers without getting scorched, by
smashing bricks with your forehead without getting a headache, or by
parachuting out of a plane without scaring yourself to death. But there
are other, less physical ways to jolt yourself into a higher state of
awareness; you don't need to risk injury in order to boost your ability to
see the big picture. For example, you could push through the terror you
feel about asking for what you really want. You could overcome your fear
of being honest with people you care about. You could stride into a place
where you once experienced a defeat, and take the forceful action
necessary to render that loss irrelevant.