This week's horoscope.

Nina Simone (a fellow Piscean) sang, so beautifully: "Like a flower waiting to bloom, like a light bulb in a dark room, I am sitting here waiting for you to come home and turn me on." That made me think of you, because this kind of longing is a powerful force in your life right now. I envy you, actually. There's someone special who's patiently waiting for you to come turn them on, or vice versa. That's a lucky and rare thing, sweetheart. Wherever that person is?that's home. Go home, baby. Go home.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

The smoky lenses of your perception have steadily darkened all winter, leaving your world shrouded in layers of frigid cynicism. Luckily, the springy lightness of your essentially hopeful nature has retained a hint of green, even while buried under snow and ice. Now, with spring imminent, the load of doubt weighing you down will melt, giving you the chance to send forth new shoots, and new branches and new leaves, ready to soak up sunlight, love and the other things that nurture you. They're also able to generate buds that will, in time, burst open abundantly into exotic blooms the likes of which you've never seen before, let alone produced. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. This week, find your neglected hope and start nurturing it. When the glacier pinning you evaporates in the coming weeks, I want you to be ready to explode with new growth and innocence.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

You're a hippo in a deliciously cool mud wallow. That's not some weird commentary on your weight; I'm referring to your state of mind. You have immense reasons to be content, comfortable, at ease. No one's going to mess with you right now, and you've got everything you need at hand. So why wander from the wallow? You'll be missing something soon enough and have to return to the hunt, or the search, or a familiar state of longing. Why go there prematurely? Enjoy what you've got, and don't pollute it with the greed of wanting more. Got it, Taurus? It's quite simple. Just wallow.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

Don't be too zealous about guarding your personal space this week. Astrological influences indicate you're going to have to just deal with elbows in your side on the subway or unwelcome hangers-on at the office or kids in leech mode, or go quite mad trying to fend them all off. Hey, it's inconvenient, but it could be worse. People want and need to be close to you; it's unfortunate that it's closer than you'd like, but you have to admit it's still better than everyone giving you a wide berth and not approaching you at all. In other words, try to see it this way: a little too much is better than none at all.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

With this week's full moon in Virgo, you've got an amazing opportunity to set up your next seven steps in any direction, and a reasonable assurance that all will conform exactly to design. Seven steps may not seem like much to most people, but you and I know that your ability to accurately plot into the future has been extremely limited lately, so more than a half dozen stages of a plan going precisely right is an incredible luxury. Recent distractions have made you fall behind the schedule you created for yourself at the beginning of the year. Now's your chance to catch up and get back on track. Don't waste it.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)

Have you lost hope? Fuck, don't let those arguments (masquerading as realism) convince you that to persist now would be like throwing tons of time and energy into a black hole from which nothing will ever, ever emerge. They're wrong, so don't let this kind of thinking reach infinite mass and drag you down forever. Fighting it head-on, however, would also be a mistake. There's only one way to move through the powerful gravitic forces of these insanely heavy thoughts?surrender to them, but keep a tight grip on the psychic-silk dragline to your determination and hope (no matter how "unrealistic"). Say: "You're right. This will probably all end in tragedy. But I'm going for it anyway, full-on, in case there's a chance it won't." That chance does exist?but only if you believe in it.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Virgo Macy Gray sings: "Sugar wishes don't change what is real, or how it feels?" That's your mantra this week, sweet baby. It's good to have hopes and delicious desires, but just dreaming of them ain't going to make them a reality, at least this week. You've got to deal with what's real, and possibly work quite hard to make your fondest fantasies manifest. In other words, you get to do just what you're good at; roll up your sleeves and sweat to make things happen?and consequently enjoy them more fervently and fully when they do.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

The evening news is all about fear. Start noticing that their nightly message is a litany of new things for you to worry about or be afraid of. The vast majority of these things will never happen to you, and fretting won't make them less likely, in any case. Cut the newscast?and anything else that adds to the sum total of your fears?from your psychic diet. Make absolute fearlessness your goal. Anything that doesn't fall under the lean guideline of "reasonable caution" is health-destroying mental fat, so eliminate it. Then go have fun, because what else is left to do?

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

You sometimes feel like you're on a mighty lonely journey, eh, Scorpio? That you've been walking solo for just ages now, and the only people you pass are going in the opposite direction. But you're not alone?you're just late. All your sweet soul companions have arrived, just ahead of you, at the oasis you're approaching, and are patiently waiting for you to get there. Don't expect huge crowds, only an elite few. But take heart?there's a high likelihood that when you catch up to the group, you'll find a remarkable and fascinating companion or three, to accompany you along the next stretch.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

Obsession. It's a mental trip you Sags are all but immune to, at least compared to most of the other signs. However, when it strikes you, it's just as intense as it is for those singleminded Aries or nervous Virgos. You're teetering on the edge of that precarious and all-encompassing state, so tread carefully right now. You need the sun you're drawn to. You crave its warmth and beneficence. But you also need some protection from it, or you'll go blind with longing. So take a careful step back, don some shades, slather on some psychic sunscreen, and go bask in deliciousness, instead of frying in ridiculousness.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

It's not that you don't have an emotional side?something you're often ridiculously accused of lacking. This is because it sometimes seems that way, because of your exceptional ability to temporarily bypass even the most intense feelings to get shit done when necessary. However, the wisest of us never doubt for a second that you're as deep as they come. While you could do without those idiots who think otherwise, it's still in your best interest to not present such a stoic, practical face to the world. Emote. Let your softest, fuzziest side show. You might be amazed at who reaches out to touch it.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

If humans survive for another 10,000 years, at least segments of our species will be so transformed that they'll be virtually unrecognizable as human. They will call into question exactly what it means to be human; whether our species is what it is because it retains a certain shape, or a certain method of thought, or certain philosophies. I got into this train of thought because I was thinking of how you're going to wrap your mind around this week's conundrums. The things you desire (and possibly need) are likely to be presented to you in unfamiliar shapes and packages. So what do you want, Aquarius? The present itself, or does the wrapping matter, too?

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