This week's horoscope.

How far have you come, Cancer? Another birthday's gone by; it's time to honestly assess the distances you've traveled?mentally, spiritually, or even in practical terms like location or career?since this time last year. It might be disheartening if you discover that you're more or less in the same place. That's one of the tricky challenges of being a Cancer; you're rocked by such dramatic internal fluxes, you can't always tell which way you're going. There's a way to remedy that, though. Set a goal. Vagueness is your enemy here. Pick a destination, an island to swim toward regardless of the turbulent state of your emotions. Soon you'll finally stop treading water and start getting somewhere.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

Your belief-driven supertalents are waxing, Leo. It's an uncommon thing, to think yourself into a better place, and you've rarely been better at it than you are now. You can literally heal yourself?mentally and in many cases physically?with the power of your thoughts. You also have the exceptional ability to attract exactly what you need, in exactly the right amounts, merely by clearly visualizing, articulating, and asking for it. Not bad, eh? Most people have to jump through many more hoops to get what they want. Your hoops are unbelievably few. Start hopping through them, already.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Artist Taryn Simon's current work, entitled The Innocents, documents the lives of people who served time for crimes they didn't commit. She questions photography's use as eyewitness accounts, because wrongful convictions often occur from a victim's response to photographs and lineups during law enforcement's identification process. Images can blur the line between possible fiction and remembered truth, with dire consequences for the innocent people who are convicted as a result. Virgo, what you really think, feel, and remember is being skewed by local forces and concepts. Strip them away to reveal your true desires, before someone (like you) has to pay a price he shouldn't have to afford.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

You're behind bulletproof one-way glass right now, Libra, which is both empowering and limiting. You could turn on the lights and expose yourself to the world, but you might not be able to see who's actually witnessing you. Or you could watch surreptitiously and invisibly from behind your metaphorical mirror. Is it more important to you to understand how others work, or to have them see what's going on inside you? The obvious good news is that you're in a prime position to safely have either possibility. The bad news is you can't have both; you have to choose.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

You define equality flexibly. In fact, you rarely subject yourself to the same standards as those you apply to your intimates. Your philosophy, "different strokes for different folks," works for you because you know that what might be right for you may not be right for some, and vice versa. Happily, you have an unparalleled ability to get people to accept your seeming double standards (It's surprising how many Scorps get their lovers to agree to: "I'm allowed to sleep around, but you're not."). However, that power is your Achilles heel. Use it responsibly. When negotiating the different rules of your relationships, make sure they at least balance out in the end, even if all the specifics are different, because I promise: Whatever unfairnesses you get away with now will come around to bite you in the ass later?and it'll hurt.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

Nature's power thrills me. Blizzards, thunderstorms and heat waves all give me a hard-on. But I admit my love for climactic extremes is made possible by the buffering privilege of a warm blaze in the fireplace, a sturdy roof over my head or an air conditioner. You're the same way. You crave danger, adventure and hardship?but only because you're lucky enough to be protected from their worst-case scenarios. Recognize the nets between you and the hard, unforgiving bottom of the barrel, and instead of turning up your nose at those whose risks seem superficially less than yours (but in reality are much more dangerous, due to their lack of safety gear), admire their courage instead.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

In your private battles between sentimentality and profit, the latter almost always wins. Most Caps will gladly sell their childhood toys on eBay if there's enough money in it. Contrast that with those packrat Cancers who wouldn't part with their ragged teddy bears for a million bucks?literally. You actually have much in common with your average Cancer, though; neither of you usually lives in the present moment. While they're busy nostalgically rehashing their pasts, you're avidly planning your exciting future. Rewrite your experience of life. Don't make the mistake of occupying the opposite extreme and clinging to all the tattered remnants of your distant past, though. Instead, simply enjoy the teddy bears you have right now. You will, after all, be selling them soon enough.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

Make yourself up to look like you've recently suffered a black eye or a fat lip. You've got to find some way (dark humor works) of letting people know where you're at. You've been getting so beat up by the universe?but those marks don't show. Wearing some visible bruises is a tangible signal to the people who love you that you're in need of some extra nurture, guidance and sanctuary. Sound good? Whip out the eyeliner and blue eyeshadow and give yourself a shiner. All that stuff will fly your way soon enough.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

Even you notoriously kind Pisceans have had incidents in which you've accidentally made someone cry. The worst part is, those who've suffered have often deserved it least. How you've wished that misery on your bastard ex who fucked you over, instead of your good buddy whose straw broke your camel's back! I mention this because your famously long fuse is burning dangerously close to the bomb. Be careful with whom you interact this week. It'd be a shame if someone you loved pushed you over that edge and got burned in an explosion they didn't deserve.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Heartache never ends. You know this. You also know that it's simply the flip side of the coin whose other face brings some of life's chief pleasures. While it's true that you can't have the good stuff without the bad, you can unfortunately get stuck with the shittiness for years and experience simply none of the loveliness. It's dangerously simple, really: All you have to do is to cynically stop believing the loveliness is even possible, and just like that, it's not, anymore. Sucks, don't it? Since you're so close to that line of perpetual misery (you may even have just crossed over), turn back now, darling, please. Your next big love may be hard to find and forever in coming, but it'll come?as long as you don't disavow its existence.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

For the first time ever, scientists have discovered a solar system that's potentially similar to ours, revolving around a star dubbed HD 70642, about 90 light years from Earth. Out of the 100-plus extrasolar planets we've discovered so far, none of their systems had more-or-less circular orbits like ours. This is the first we've found that could very well contain an Earth-like, life-sustaining planet. Now that humanity's finally taken this scientific step toward recognizing there may be life out there we can relate to, won't you? You've been alone way too long. There's relatable life in the universe, Taurus, and it's not light years away. It might even be right next door. Go find it.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

Geminis are never dumb. You may not all be geniuses, but you're almost always some of the sharper tools in the shed. That's why it's so easy for you to get judgmental about the idiots you encounter. Unfortunately, those morons are probably not as ridiculously thick as they first appeared, and could actually have more to teach you than you think. Give people the benefit of the doubt this week. The next time someone asks you, "How come I no think much good?" do your best to help them, not make fun of them.

[Caeriel@yahoo.com](mailto:Caeriel@yahoo.com)