ARIES (March 21-April 19): According to Taoist scholar Chad Hansen, “Western philosophers have endlessly analyzed and dissected a cluster of terms thought to be central to our thinking,” such as truth, beauty, reason, knowledge, belief, mind, and goodness. But he reports that they’ve never turned their attention to a concept that’s central to Chinese philosophy: the Tao, which might be defined as the natural, unpredictable flow of life’s ever-changing rhythms. I’m going to say something crazy but true: I think that you Aries people, more than any other sign of the zodiac, have the potential to cultivate an intuitive sense of how best to align yourselves gracefully with the Tao. You’re now in prime time to do just that.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “Humans like to be scared,” declares author Cathy Bell. “We love the wicked witch’s cackle, the wolf’s hot breath, and the old lady who eats children because sometimes, when the scary is over, all we remember is the magic.” I guess that what she says is true. But there are so many other ways to encounter the magic, and many of them don’t require even a touch of dread. That’s exactly what I predict for you in the coming weeks, Taurus: a series of marvelous experiences — including catharses, epiphanies, and breakthroughs — that are neither spurred by fear nor infused with it.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” Author Susan Sontag made that wry comment as a way to express the fact that curiosity was at the heart of her approach to life. She traveled widely, learned voraciously, and wrote prolifically. I think her jokey aspiration would make a good motto for you in 2021, since the coming months will be a time when you will especially benefit from emphasizing the delights of exploration and expansion and education. Start making plans!
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Is there anyone whose forgiveness you would like to have? Is there anyone to whom you should make atonement? Now would be a favorable phase to initiate such actions. In a related subject, would you benefit from forgiving a certain person whom you feel wronged you? Might there be healing for you in asking that person to make amends? The coming weeks won’t be a perfect time to seek these changes, but it will provide the best opportunity you have had in a long time.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Scientists know that the Earth’s rotation is gradually slowing down — but at the very slow rate of two milliseconds every 100 years. What that means is that 200 million years from now, one day will last 25 hours. Think of how much more we humans will be able to get done with an extra hour! I suspect that you may get a preview of this effect during the coming weeks, Leo. You’ll be extra efficient. You’ll be focused and intense in a rather relaxing way. Not only that: You will also be extra appreciative of the monumental privilege of being alive. As a result, you will seem to have more of the precious luxury of time.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Adventurer Tim Peck says there are three kinds of fun. The first is pure pleasure, enjoyed in full as it’s happening. The second kind of fun feels disagreeable and troublesome when it’s underway, but amusing and interesting in retrospect. Examples are giving birth to a baby or taking an arduous hike uphill through deep snow. The third variety of fun is no fun at all. It’s irksome while you’re doing it, and equally irksome as you think about it later. Now I’ll propose a fourth type of fun, which I suspect you’ll specialize in during the coming weeks. It’s rather boring or tedious or nondescript while it’s going on, but in retrospect you are very glad you did it.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “I made the wrong mistakes,” said Libran composer and jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. He had just completed an improvisatory performance he wasn’t satisfied with. On countless other occasions, however, he made the right mistakes. The unexpected notes and tempo shifts he tried often resulted in music that pleased him. I hope that in the coming weeks you make a clear demarcation between wrong mistakes and right mistakes, dear Libra. The latter could help bring about just the transformations you need.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Home is not where you were born,” writes Naguib Mahfouz. “Home is where all your attempts to escape cease.” I propose that we make that one of your mottoes for the year 2021, Scorpio. According to my astrological analysis, you will receive all the inspiration and support you need as you strive to be at peace with exactly who you are. You’ll feel an ever-diminishing urge to wish you were doing something else besides what you’re actually doing. You’ll be less and less tempted to believe your destiny lies elsewhere, with different companions and different adventures. To your growing amazement, you will stop trying to flee what has been given you, and you will accept the gifts just as they are. And it all starts now.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “Pictures of perfection, as you know, make me sick and wicked,” observed Sagittarian author Jane Austen. She wrote this confession in a letter to her niece, Fanny, whose boyfriend thought that the women characters in Jane’s novels were too naughty. In the coming weeks, I encourage you Sagittarians to regard pictures of perfection with a similar disdain. To accomplish all the brisk innovations you have a mandate to generate, you must cultivate a deep respect for the messiness of creativity; you must understand that your dynamic imagination needs room to experiment with possibilities that may at first appear disorderly. For inspiration, keep in mind this quote from Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich: “Well-behaved women seldom make history.”
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn novelist Anne Brontë (1820 – 1849) said, “Smiles and tears are so alike with me, they are neither of them confined to any particular feelings: I often cry when I am happy, and smile when I am sad.” I suspect you could have experiences like hers in the coming weeks. I bet you’ll feel a welter of unique and unfamiliar emotions. Some of them may seem paradoxical or mysterious, although I think they’ll all be interesting and catalytic. I suggest you welcome them and allow them to teach you many new secrets about your deep self and the mysterious nature of life.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian philosopher Simone Weil formulated resolutions so as to avoid undermining herself. First, she vowed she would only deal with difficulties that actually confronted her, not any far-off or hypothetical difficulties. Second, she would allow herself to feel only those feelings that were needed to inspire her and make her take effective action. All other feelings were to be shed, including imaginary feelings — that is, those not rooted in any real, objective situation. Third, she vowed, she would “never react to evil in such a way as to augment it.” Dear Aquarius, I think all of these resolutions would be very useful for you to adopt in the coming weeks.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In June 2019, 25-year-old Piscean singer Justin Bieber addressed a tweet to 56-year-old actor Tom Cruise, challenging him to a mixed martial arts cage fight. “If you don’t take this fight,” said Bieber, “you will never live it down.” A few days later, Bieber retracted his dare, confessing, “He would probably whoop my ass in a fight.” If he had waited till now to make his proposal to Cruise, he might have had more confidence to follow through — and he might also have been better able to whoop Cruise’s ass. From what I can determine, you Pisceans are currently at the peak of your power and prowess.