by Rob Brezsny | September 8, 2026 (newcity.com)

Photo: Brooke Lark

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Cheetahs are the fastest land animals, but they can maintain top tempo for only about twenty to thirty seconds before overheating. When they’re hunting, they usually get just one speedy dash to catch their prey. They must spend far more time stalking and positioning than running. The velocity is sensational, but their patient and prolonged strategy is even more essential. In the coming weeks, Aries, I urge you to be like the cheetah as you pursue want you need and want.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov said that true mastery means performing with complete intensity while making the movement appear effortless. Behind the grace lies years of disciplined practice. Is there an aptitude or practice you cultivate that fits this description, Taurus? I hope you’re ready to showcase it, flaunt it, and use it to your maximum benefit. It’s time to capitalize bountifully on skills at which you excel. Your well-deserved rewards are more likely to arrive than usual.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “Dear Oracle: I have contracted a severe case of too-many-tabs-open. My brain has nineteen windows running at once, and it’s hard for me to determine which thoughts are the truly important ones. Everything seems equally urgent and equally trifling. Any tips on how I can better figure out what actually matters the most? —Overstimulated Gemini.” Dear Overstimulated: The secret to fixing this dilemma is to consult your body. Focus your attention on your gut and ask it to send you sweet clues about which yearnings it resonates with most. Check in with your feet and seek their wise counsel about which direction they want to lead you. Pat yourself lovingly on the butt a few times and request its loving guidance about what will make you feel most grounded.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): For some people, laughter is like a spiritual practice. A lot of them are Leos, Aquarians and Sagittarians. They crack up more often and for longer stretches than most, and they tend to howl at ironies everyone else takes too seriously. I bring this to your attention, dear Cancerian, because you’re in a time when you could and should laugh often in wild, liberating ways. I invite you to explore the weirder areas of your sense of humor and work earnestly to expand what you find funny. PS: There’s credible evidence that laughter can reduce stress physiology, ease anxiety, lift mood, strengthen social connection, and even raise pain tolerance.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The astronomer Johannes Kepler spent years trying to prove that planetary orbits were perfect circles because he believed the universe should behave that way. Once he abandoned his cherished assumption, he discovered the truth: The planets travel in ellipses. That revision transformed astronomy forever. With this in mind, Leo, I will ask you: Is there an elegant belief you have outgrown? A theory that was once fun and interesting but now limits your vision? The coming weeks will favor corrections. Changing your mind will show you that reality is even more interesting than you previously understood.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Master chefs say that diners first taste food with their eyes. The visual presentation is key to the whole experience. But the beauty must arise from craftsmanship rather than empty decoration. I believe you Virgos are in a phase when this is an important metaphor. Your outer style and inner substance are ready to become better collaborators. Some suggestions: Wear clothes that influence you to feel vividly alive. Relax your face and posture. Beautify your workspace. Polish your presentations. And please make sure the dazzling appearances reflect equally nourishing contents.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I just finished a delicate peace mission to the contested inner landscape where your nightmares have been causing a big ruckus. In response to my diplomacy, they have agreed to drop their weapons and release their captives. In exchange, they are asking you to sit with them for a while as they rant and sob, and maybe offer them a few kisses and affectionate embraces. Drawing on my long years of coaxing unruly spirits back into semi-sanity, I conclude that a key reason they turned so dramatic and extreme was that they have been starving for your attention. I am very sure that with just a little effort, you can tame their reckless restlessness.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You’re poised at a threshold between what’s comfortably familiar and excitingly possible. A certain reliable part of your life has served you well for a long time but is now ripe for evolution. The paradox is that letting go of a serviceable asset can feel more difficult than shedding what’s obviously harmful. So here’s the riddle I hope you will meditate on: What good old thing could you relinquish so as to attract and make room for a great new thing in your life?

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci filled his notebooks with sketches of machines that would not become practical until centuries later. Examples are the parachute, a helicopter-like “aerial screw,” and an armored tank. Many of his designs were simply too advanced for the materials and engineering of his era. I suspect you may experience comparable moments of visionary thinking in the coming weeks and months, Sagittarius. To some people and even to yourself, your ideas might seem overly ambitious or ahead of their time. But please don’t dismiss them. Write down your inklings and let them cavort around in your imagination.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Sofia Kovalevskaya was born under the sign of Capricorn in 1850. Early in her life, she displayed mathematical brilliance. She longed to develop her talent, but women weren’t allowed to attend college in her native Russia. So she devised a workaround: a marriage of convenience with a man who helped her leave the country and gain the freedom to study in Germany. There she eventually became the first woman to earn a doctorate. Inspired by her example, I encourage you to consider creative strategies for obstacles that seem immovable. What indirect routes might lead you to your goals better than frontal assaults? Be willing to zigzag toward your destination.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Most of us have been cursed. The sources of the bad mojo have rarely been evil sorcerers who cast literal spells. Rather, they were harsh pronouncements about our worth or our future, spoken by people we loved or trusted. For example, when I was twenty, my astrology teacher dropped an alarming verdict on me: “You will never be seen and appreciated for who you truly are.” That ugly decree became a jinx I spent years struggling with before I finally banished it. Do you carry a comparable hex, Aquarius? Maybe mommy or daddy proclaimed you would never amount to anything. Maybe an ex declared that you would never again find real love. Whatever it might have been, here’s the good news: You now have the power to at least partially dissolve that old scourge and glide into the future less burdened by it.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Ravens often cache shiny objects and interesting novelties that seem to possess no immediate practical value. They apparently delight in collecting intriguing possibilities. I recommend you channel your inner raven in the coming weeks, Pisces. Assemble an array of quirky treasures and raw materials without immediately deciding whether or why they might be useful. Like what? Like fun ideas, memorable quotations, odd facts, provocative images, curious fragments and fascinating stories. In ways you can’t imagine yet, your playful cluster will inspire imaginative innovations and delightful breakthroughs.

Homework: Name a way you think everyone should be more like you. tinyurl.com/9w9w9w9

by Rob Brezsny | September 1, 2026 (newcity.com)

Photo: K. Adams

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Most of us are surprisingly clueless about the inner workings of our own bodies. Do you know where your gallbladder and spleen actually live or what jobs they perform on your behalf? Can you trace the journey your breath takes after it slips into your lungs? Have you ever experimented to discover in detail which foods best suit your one-of-a-kind system? Do you know, from experience rather than guesswork, how much sleep you require to stay vividly awake and emotionally balanced? The current astrological climate favors you becoming a curious apprentice of your body’s gorgeous mysteries.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The English idiom “cut to the chase” comes from the silent films of the early twentieth century. When the plot dragged, directors would literally switch to a chase scene to restore audience interest. Various languages have other ways to say “get to the point” or “skip to the crux.” Spanish: ir al grano. French: aller droit au but. Italian: venire al dunque. Japanese: hondai ni hairu. In accordance with astrological omens, Taurus, I suggest you do that in the coming days. Skip the boring parts. Jump to the action scenes. You can return later and fill in the story details, but for now you’re best served by moving toward the exciting essence or the crucial core of things.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): This is one of those unusual times when laziness and apathy work in your favor. Life is organizing a relaxing renewal on your behalf, and your main job is to not interfere. So I advise you to skip the hustle and enjoy the thrill of being still. Put a pause on doing and indulge in the fine art of simply being. Please, Gemini? Set aside your ambitions for now. Hide your to-do list. Inform your chattering monkey mind that it’s on temporary leave from its usual jumping and squawking. Feel guilt-free as you immerse yourself in the most relaxed versions of feeling good and welcome whatever fresh vitality wants to flow in.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): In the seventeenth century, Dutch inventor Christiaan Huygens discovered that two pendulum clocks hanging on the same wall gradually synchronized their swings. Why? He eventually realized that tiny vibrations traveled through the wall and made the clocks influence each other. Scientists call this “entrainment.” Now is prime time for you to capitalize on this phenomenon, Cancerian. I urge you to be extra alert for how your moods, rhythms and intentions subtly affect the people around you, and vice versa. If you cultivate qualities you’d like to predominate in your relationships, you will find others unconsciously aligning with your rhythm.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Now is an ideal time to have fun cultivating the art of receptivity. Have fun being as open to influence as you can imagine. Be innocent! Be amenable! Be willing and eager to be surprised! It doesn’t mean surrendering your drive or drifting aimlessly while life happens around you. I’m talking about an active, alert sensitivity that invites wonder and transformation. You think boldly, act with purpose and radiate what’s uniquely yours, and yet you also remain humbly aware that learning never ends and that wisdom can arrive from unpredictable directions.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): You’ve been extra reasonable lately. How do you manage to be so responsible, measured and composed? I’m not complaining. I admire your integrity. But now the cosmic omens are clear that it’s time to address your soul’s needs for more wonder and awe and reverence. So I will slip you a tantalizing prod: What’s the best, most healing trouble you could provoke right now? I’m not referring to recklessness and chaos, of course. I mean twists and tweaks that stir up inspiration and liberate creativity. Are you bold enough to follow the truth and beauty that thrills and intrigues you?

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I am asking you to give yourself slack in situations where you sometimes treat yourself carelessly or unkindly. Instead of tightening, loosen. Instead of cornering yourself, offer an escape hatch. Ask: “What if I give myself twenty percent more mercy, twenty percent more time, or twenty percent less pressure?” Maybe you’ll get an extension on a deadline or allow yourself to be a learner instead of an expert. Rather than calling yourself a failure because you’re less than perfect, you’ll decide, “It’s good enough for now.” As you slip away from the traps you set for yourself, you’ll teach your nervous system a fresh truth: You can be gentle with yourself but still be responsible.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio, you rarely need to be lighter and breezier. Your assignment is almost always to delve deeper and explore further. This is true now even more than usual. Other people might shiver and cower in the face of your intensity, but I celebrate it because it drives you to excavate the rich, messy truths and complicated feelings that really shouldn’t stay hidden. Regard this horoscope as your authorization to wield your emotional X-ray vision with precision, and to trust that the treasures you seek are often buried in places that scare others away.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In classical music, composers often develop a simple motif into a complex symphony. A short sequence of notes becomes the foundation for an entire composition. A key passage gets rearranged and elaborated in multiple ways. You will have a comparable opportunity in the coming weeks, Sagittarius: a seed of potential that seems modest at first could expand into more substantial riches if you cultivate it patiently. Your visionary aplomb and optimism can transform a core cell into a full orchestration.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You seem to be wandering in a frontier for which there are no maps. You’re hovering in liminal zones, between worlds. So for now, I guess you will have to steer without your usual guidance. That’s a good thing! What I can do is name the gifts that are likely to come your way as you explore the unknown: 1) turbo-charged intuitions about your best possible future; 2) a talent for spotting surprising connections you didn’t even know you were looking for; and 3) a provocative unpredictability that magnetizes allies who can help tease out and illuminate your hidden and buried desires.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): The placebo effect has a lesser-known counterpart called the nocebo effect: Negative expectations can create negative outcomes. If you’re told a harmless pill might cause headaches, you’re more likely to develop them. Your belief in harm creates actual harm. I bring this up, Aquarius, because I’m worried you may be nocebo-ing yourself right now. Your conviction that certain outcomes are inevitable is encouraging them to manifest. So here’s my counsel: Which negative expectations or predictions are you treating as facts? Consider the possibility that the problems you’re so skilled at identifying are being called into existence by your identification of them. And if you find that’s happening, STOP! Formulate some healing alternatives.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “Dear Rob: Your horoscopes delight me in a spooky way. They make me feel as if you’re watching me from afar, not like a stalker, but like an eccentric guardian angel who gives me a heads-up before I do something foolish, tells me about opportunities I haven’t noticed, and shakes awake the part of me that’s inclined to quit. Thanks a million times! —Deep Pisces.” Dear Deep: You have exquisite timing, because now is an ideal moment to pour out gratitude for the people who’ve lifted you up and helped you. Offering appreciation now will function as a potent prayer that will be far more effective than pleading for what you don’t have. It will set in motion an irresistible magic that draws even more blessings in your direction.

Homework: What’s the most important thing you’ve never done? tinyurl.com/v9v9v9v9

by Rob Brezsny | August 25, 2026 (NewCity.com)

Photo: Andrey Soldatov

ARIES (March 21-April 19): On the sci-fi TV show “Stargate SG-1,” benevolent aliens known as the Asgard visit Earth to seek assistance from a secret U.S. government team. The ultra-advanced, hyper-intelligent Asgard have been unable to defeat their great nemesis, another alien species called the Replicators. Their hope is that their primitive partners, the humans, might stumble onto some basic, straightforward answer that their own sophisticated minds can’t see. The gamble pays off. One of Earth’s leading physicists, who’s a naive amateur by Asgard standards, devises a rough, unsophisticated strategy that works wonderfully. Treat this as your parable, Aries: Put your faith in simple, uncluttered approaches, and don’t underestimate “beginner-level” fixes.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): During one of my visits to the annual Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert, I encountered a prankster named Mother Very Superior. This nonbinary performer was dressed like a nun and wore a prominent chastity belt. Wielding a toy whip, they gently lashed me on my shoulders and prayed over me, saying, “I absolve you of all your sins. Therefore, you are now free to commit a raucous slew of new sins.” I hope you get a similar dispensation, Taurus. To be fully available for the rollicking delights you’re eligible for, it would be wise to reduce your karmic debt.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Archaeologists studying ancient Roman shipwrecks found that sailors deliberately made their vessels heavier by stowing rocks in the hull. This reduced the profitability of their voyages, since it reduced their cargo capacity. On the other hand, it meant they wouldn’t capsize during storms. An excellent trade-off! Let’s use this scenario as a metaphor for your life right now, Gemini. I’m going to suggest that you will benefit from adding more ballast. Seemingly burdensome elements could keep you steady if conditions become unruly. Consider this: Not everything heavy is holding you back. Some of it’s keeping you strong and stable.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): During the Baroque era, Cancerian artist Artemisia Gentileschi painted powerful biblical and historical women who killed tyrants and delivered their people from violent domination. By channeling her creative passion into figures of righteous fury, she transformed her personal trauma into psychological power. I invite you to be inspired by Gentileschi as you reconfigure your own story in the coming weeks, Cancerian. Wouldn’t it be fun and potent to transform the way you imagine both the past and future plot threads of your destiny?

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In traditional sourdough baking, a small portion of fermented dough called a starter is saved and refreshed regularly. Some bakeries maintain the same lineage for years. The starter is a living culture of wild yeasts and lactic acid bacteria that feed on flour and water, producing acids and gases that leaven the dough and create bread with complex flavor, aroma and texture. Let’s use this as a metaphor for your life, Leo. What long-running resource can you use to help create situations that will empower you to thrive in interesting ways during the coming months?

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The coming months could be a legendary turning point you will celebrate in the future: a pivotal time when you finally outsmart an old adversary and untangle a knotted inheritance, clearing the way to pursue your true calling with undiluted devotion. Or, on the other hand, the days ahead could be another round in the long saga of “almost”: a decisive phase when you avoid a challenge that has been begging for your full brilliance, leaving your future without shining clues for how to further decode the ancient riddle. Which destiny will you accomplish, dear Virgo? Will you answer the call to adventure? Or ignore it until it fades away?

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Some of my most useful revelations arrive in the dark. Once, while hiking in a wooded canyon at dusk, I lost the trail and had to feel my way forward by the sound of the creek. In that blind descent, an insight about a personal riddle I’d been pondering for months appeared unbidden, as if it had been waiting in the shadows for me. As I followed the stream bank to safety, I celebrated by singing Leonard Cohen’s song “Hallelujah.” The moral of the story is that some lessons can be best learned by going down: into the body, into confusing feelings, into the rich compost of mysteries we may be hesitant to explore. How about you, Libra? In my professional opinion, your next pivotal breakthroughs are lurking in the fertile darkness rather than the brilliant heights. I hope you’re brave enough to descend. The treasure is buried, as treasure often is.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In 1912, Scorpio meteorologist Alfred Wegener proposed the theory of continental drift. It’s the idea that Earth’s continents were once joined in a single supercontinent and have gradually drifted apart to their present positions over millions of years. Most scientists initially rejected his hypothesis because he couldn’t explain how the movement occurred. He didn’t live long enough to receive vindication, but decades later, his novel hypothesis was fully accepted. I’m pleased to report that your wait will be far shorter, Scorpio. Please keep your faith in the novel ideas and perceptions that others don’t understand yet. The world’s almost ready for your innovations.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): There is a kind of lightning called a “sprite.” It’s a ghostly red discharge that blossoms high above thunderstorms. I suspect you may soon experience your own personal versions of this wonder. Fleeting insights may appear in unexpected places. Emotionally rich revelations could arrive out of nowhere. Because the moments could pass quickly, it will be crucial to notice them when they arrive. They could stimulate major shifts in your understanding. Keep your perceptive powers highly attuned.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Fertility clinics store frozen human embryos. Numbering in the hundreds of thousands, they are suspended in a long, chilly pause, awaiting instructions from the people who created them. This accumulation of potential life on hold makes me think of you. If you would thaw and reclaim the neglected, untouched regions of your own imagination, you would become an even more formidable generator of focused creative power. The encouraging news is that the coming weeks will be an unusually favorable phase to expedite this process.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Some earthquakes unleash energy in violent bursts, but others are incremental commotions that unfold gradually over days or even weeks. The way they reorganize the Earth’s crust is kinder and gentler. Let’s regard these slow quakes as an apt metaphor for the initially disruptive but ultimately constructive transformations underway in your beautiful life, Aquarius. You may not see spectacular evidence that change is percolating, but I guarantee that it is. Old structures are in a transitional phase of subtle disarray, creating conditions for new dispensations you can’t imagine yet. My prediction: The rearrangement of your landscape will be healing.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The Sargasso Sea is the only sea on Earth without a land boundary. It’s defined entirely by four strong Atlantic Ocean currents that circle it. Its edges aren’t solid walls but slowly shifting rivers of water. I think this anomalous body of water is always a vivid symbol of your world, Pisces, and even more so these days. Your boundaries are currents, not coastlines. You hold your shape through movement, not through rigid definition. This is more challenging to maintain than solid borders, but it’s also a great potential strength. Use it with aplomb!

Homework: Write yourself a love letter.  tinyurl.com/FreeStuffFromMeToYou

by Rob Brezsny | August 18, 2026 (NewCity.com)

Photo: Kate Mclean

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Consider this your official alert that you’re close to getting too much of a good thing. To safeguard the lovely momentum you’ve built lately, be vigilant that genuine abundance doesn’t bloat into plain old overload. Say no to becoming indentured to your own brilliant ideas. Don’t let your victories drag you into depletion. Steer clear of grand gestures of generosity that are driven mostly by the urge to dazzle onlookers. You really can keep every delicious reward you’ve earned, dear Aries, as long as you begin installing some graceful new boundaries right now.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In 1925, Taurus astronomer Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (1900–1979) discovered that stars are primarily composed of hydrogen and helium. Famous astrophysicists of that era rejected her conclusions because she contradicted the prevailing theories. Nevertheless, she persisted in her claims and was eventually proved correct by other experts. Sound familiar, Taurus? If it doesn’t yet, I expect it will soon. Naysayers may insist you’re wrong when you know and I know you’re right. My advice: Be faithful to the truths you’ve directly observed even if they don’t match consensus reality. Your understandings are valid even if they’re inconvenient.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): You’re ready and able to commune intimately with the hidden source of power that fuels your life. Hallelujah! But first, acknowledge a humbling truth: You’re not entirely sure what that source is. You’ve made assumptions, of course. You’ve told yourself stories about where your vitality comes from: your work, your relationships, your creative projects, your spiritual practices. And while these channels do transmit energy, they’re tributaries of the ultimate spring.  In the coming weeks, you’ll have exciting opportunities to trace these streams back to their headwaters. Start this way: Be alert for mini-breakthroughs when you feel unexpectedly energized or mysteriously restored.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The GPS system requires Einstein’s theory of relativity to work correctly. Satellites in orbit experience time slightly differently than we do on Earth’s surface. Without accounting for that time dilation, your phone would be off by 6.8 miles every day. Moral of the story: The practical requires the theoretical and the mundane needs the cosmic. I bring this to your attention as a useful metaphor, Cancerian. I suspect you’ve been trying to solve ground-level problems with ground-level thinking. But your current challenges require you to factor in some relativity: to recognize that different parts of your life are operating in different timeframes, under different rules. What works in one context doesn’t necessarily work in another. In the coming weeks, refrain from trying to apply universal solutions. Calibrate for context.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In traditional textile making, the selvage is the strong edge that holds the fabric together and keeps it from unraveling. It’s braided more tightly than the rest so it can do its guarding work. I think that’s a helpful metaphor for your life in the coming weeks, Leo. Your main weave is pretty gorgeous, but the edges aren’t sufficiently taut. What should you do, practically speaking? For starters, create firm boundaries around your work time, your rest and your availability to others’ demands.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I am nursing a hopeful dream that you will give yourself a fun surprise or two in the coming days—maybe even more than two. Not necessarily the most expensive delights, but those that would inspire your nervous system to relax and your spirit to celebrate. Possible options: a few hours of free time with no obligations, a hike where you adore and praise the sky, a conversation you’ve been craving, a daring yes, or a long-overdue no. Or how about finally starting a fun project you keep postponing, or setting down a burden you’ve been carrying for too long? You might ask yourself: “If someone who loved me dearly were in charge of my rhythm, what would they arrange for me?”

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The first maps of Antarctica contained blank spaces labeled simply “unexplored.” Cartographers didn’t pretend to know what wasn’t yet revealed. This was a gift to future trailblazers, who didn’t have to overcome the confusion of false certainties. You could benefit from adopting a similar practice. Instead of explaining every mystery with confident opinions, designate a few regions of your inner world as magnificently unexplored. Your willingness to say “I don’t know yet” will be a fertile form of wisdom. The unanswered questions will be better allies than premature conclusions.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In architecture, the keystone is the central, wedge-shaped stone positioned at the top of an arch. It’s often the last piece placed, and it’s what holds everything together. If it’s removed, the entire structure collapses. But the keystone itself is held in place by the pressure of the other stones. I love the fact that it’s both the most crucial piece and yet totally dependent on everything else. This is an excellent metaphor for you right now. You’re like a keystone: holding everything together and also being held by everything. Please accept my personal thanks for accomplishing the amazing feat of being both powerful and vulnerable! The structure needs you, and you need the structure. PS: Don’t overestimate your independence or underestimate your importance.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Don’t reorganize your junk drawers anytime soon, Sagittarius. Please? Refrain from scrubbing the oven, organizing your kitchen cupboards and untangling old extension cords. I’m begging you to believe me when I urge to allocate your energy toward the most interesting and important matters. The cosmic indicators are unambiguous. You will be happiest and most successful if you: 1. dare to access secret wisdom you’ve been hiding from yourself; 2. immerse yourself in almost too much beauty and truth; 3. let your imagination run wild as you visualize future scenarios that thrill you even if they’re also a bit unnerving.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The Grand Canyon in Arizona is 277 miles long, as wide as eighteen miles, and a mile deep in some places. Through persistent erosion for millions of years, the Colorado River carved it. This massive creative project happened entirely through subtraction, not addition. I suggest you regard it as one of your role models in the coming months, Capricorn. Your goal is to wear away resistance and eliminate what’s unnecessary. The magnificence you produce will be very gradual and incremental.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In engineering, redundancy refers to the practice of building multiple layers of support into a system so that if one part falters, others keep functioning. Airplanes and spacecraft rely on this principle for safety. I urge you to adopt a similar strategy in the coming weeks. By creating backup plans or additional reinforcement, you can move forward with more daring and flair, which I highly recommend. Artful preparation will strengthen your ability to experiment and improvise.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The ocean has different layers. Each has its own temperature, pressure and ecosystem. Many sea creatures are adapted to one specific stratum and don’t wander far from their chosen realm. But there are transition zones where the layers meet, and they’re often rich in biodiversity. I propose that we use these areas as metaphors for your power spots, Pisces. You tend to thrive in thresholds and boundaries, where edges meet and overlap. That will be especially true in the coming weeks. To court good fortune and sweet delight, you should hang out at the borders where diverse influences mingle.

Homework: Upon waking for the next seven mornings, sing a song that fills you with feisty hope. tinyurl.com/a5a5a5a

by Rob Brezsny | August 11, 2026 (NewCity.com)

Photo: Lucas Chizzali

ARIES (March 21-April 19): At the post office, I mischievously plucked a crumpled piece of red paper out of the trash can. I don’t usually do such things, but I sensed some horoscope material was lurking there. It turned out to be a handwritten love note addressed to “My Lush and Luminous Aries Laugh-Lover” and signed, “Your Flawed but Fiery and Funny Provocateur.” The Provocateur had written, “Let’s be rowdy investigators of wonders and miracles. Let’s hack our way through the frontiers to discover the wildest beauty and truth ever.” I was shocked that anyone would have discarded such a tempting proposal—especially an Aries. Please avoid making comparable errors in the near future, my dear.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The ancient Romans could be obsessive perfectionists in their approach to building stuff. They were extra thorough and scrupulous. That’s why some of the roads they constructed are still usable today, 2,000 years later. Workers dug deep foundations, then layered stones, gravel and sand before placing the final surface. In the coming weeks, Taurus, I recommend that you, too, carry out meticulous groundwork as you upgrade your foundations and optimize your stability. Don’t you dare be lazy or hurried in doing this grunt work. Your dogged and ingenious attention to detail will make your future safety zone shatterproof and shockproof.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I appoint you to be the Chief Role Model in charge of showing everyone how to be a smart lover in all situations. Yes, all situations, not only those involving romance. In addition, I bestow on you the title of Chief Administrator of Amazing Grace, hoping this will inspire you to make elegant interventions in every situation where you have influence. Finally, Gemini, I exhort you to be devoted to seeing the beauty in everyone you encounter, even if you must work hard to find it. In asking you to carry out these humongous responsibilities, I’m interpreting the clues offered by the astrological omens. They have revealed to me that cultivating a generous spirit is crucial to you attracting what you want most.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I confess I have succumbed to a very modern misdemeanor: tossing the word “sacred” around more often than it deserves. To be fair, I haven’t stooped to the tacky depths of New Age hustlers hawking “sacred e-mail marketing” or “sacred dog-walking.” But still, I would prefer to invoke the word more sparingly, so that on the rare occasions I do, you will feel a genuine shiver of awe. Like now. I predict you will soon be stirred by marvelous encounters and realizations that flood you with reverent feelings and turn your inner life deliciously upside down.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Given how extra vibrant and refreshed you have been feeling, I would understand if you had zero interest in confronting The Dilemma That Refuses to Fade. Why deliberately tangle with that stale, long-term energy drain when your spirits are so high? Here’s why: At this moment, you possess a new and unprecedented advantage over The Dilemma That Refuses to Fade. You may not manage to completely vanquish it once and for all. But then again, you just might. At the very least, you can now sharply curtail its ability to siphon your energy and meddle with your life.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo mathematician Katherine Johnson (1918–2020) was known as a “human computer” who specialized in carrying out large volumes of intricate calculations. She also had an uncanny ability to translate complex problems into elegant equations, which was why NASA called on her help to guide its early space missions. She said she simply asked the right questions until the numbers disclosed their hidden patterns. Be like her in the coming weeks, Virgo. Instead of forcing quick and simple answers, focus on dreaming up the smartest questions. Well-crafted inquiries will unlock sweet insights that brute effort can’t.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In the art of mosaic-making, tiny fragments of stone or glass are fitted together into intricate patterns. Each piece is insignificant and meaningless on its own, but together they compose luminous images. Let’s deploy the mosaic as a metaphor for your life, Libra. I invite you to consider the possibility that you are assembling minor details and small clues into a big, beautiful masterpiece. You may not even be fully aware of how exactly you’re doing it or what it will ultimately look like and do. That’s fine. Your higher self is in charge of accomplishing this minor miracle.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Before launching spacecraft, engineers perform countless simulations of situations they hope will never happen. They repeatedly practice failures so that success becomes more likely. This is a different version of your current assignment, Scorpio. Your task is not to worry about disaster but to rehearse courage. So I encourage you to use your imagination to strengthen your resilience. Visualize yourself responding with creativity, grace and humor whenever life springs surprises and unexpected blessings. Your confidence will thrive because you will have lots of inner practice in collaborating adeptly with uncertainty.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The horizon line is always the same distance away from you, about three miles at sea level. If you walk toward it, you will never reach it because it moves with you. Now I’d like to propose that some of your personal goals work like horizons. They are orientations, not actual destinations. You’re supposed to move toward them indefinitely, never arriving. In the coming weeks, I invite you to distinguish between your horizon goals and your destination goals. Some aims are meant to be reached, while others basically guide your direction without ever needing to be attained.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Here’s my normally $600-per-hour advice, provided at a very low cost to you: Don’t get back to where you once belonged. Instead, go toward where you must belong in the future. Maybe the old place feels cozier because it’s familiar, even if it no longer fits the person you are now. But I recommend that you heed the subtle pull of the life that’s calling you from ahead. Who exactly is the even more beautiful self you’re on your way to becoming? Visualize in detail the situation where that sovereign majesty will thrive.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): If you’re single, the coming weeks will be one of the most auspicious periods in ages for cultivating your own fan club of admirers. Your allure is turned up higher than usual, and the universe seems to have decided that what once might have counted as excessive is now perfectly appropriate. If, however, you’re happily ensconced in a lively monogamous bond, don’t sabotage it with daydreams of juggling multiple lovers. Instead, conspire with your partner to expand the range of flavors inside the relationship. Try stepping into different personas together: Adopt new names, experiment with strange accents, and imagine you’re living in 1453 Italy, or 1506 Spain, or 1685 Japan, or 1721 France.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The speed of thought can zip along at over 200 miles per hour. That’s the rate at which signals travel through neurons. Electrical impulses in computers, on the other hand, may travel much faster, at half the speed of light. So your thoughts are very leisurely compared to machines. But they do what computers can’t. They’re creating meaning, not just moving data. Their slowness is where the richest reality unfolds. Remember that well in the coming weeks, Pisces. It’s extra important for your mental and physical health that you not imitate machines and algorithms. You need to ruminate and meditate and muse as gently and unhurriedly as you dare.

Homework: What blessing would you most like to receive? Visualize it vividly. tinyurl.com/9u9u9u