Free will astrology for the week of March 6, 2019

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Genius inventor Thomas Edison rebelled against sleep, which he regarded as wasteful. He tried to limit his time in bed to four hours per night so he would have more time to work during his waking hours. Genius scientist Albert Einstein had a different approach. He preferred 10 hours of sleep per night, and liked to steal naps during the day, too. In my astrological opinion, Aries, you’re in a phase when it makes more sense to imitate Einstein than Edison. Important learning and transformation are happening in your dreams. Give your nightly adventures maximum opportunity to work their magic in your behalf.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The Danish flag has a red background emblazoned with an asymmetrical white cross. It was a national symbol of power as early as the 14th century, and may have first emerged during a critical military struggle that established the Danish empire in 1219. No other country in the world has a flag with such an ancient origin. But if Denmark’s Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who’s a Taurus, came to me and asked me for advice, I would urge him to break with custom and design a new flag—maybe something with a spiral rainbow or a psychedelic tree. I’ll suggest an even more expansive idea to you, Taurus: create fresh traditions in every area of your life!

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): On June 7, 1988, Gemini musician Bob Dylan launched what has come to be known as the Never Ending Tour. It’s still going. In the past 30-plus years, he has performed almost 3,000 shows on every continent except Antarctica. In 2018 alone, at the age of 77, he did 84 gigs. He’s living proof that not every Gemini is flaky and averse to commitment. Even if you yourself have flirted with flightiness in the past, I doubt you will do so in the next five weeks. On the contrary. I expect you’ll be a paragon of persistence, doggedness and stamina.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The otters at a marine park in Miura City, Japan are friendly to human visitors. There are holes in the glass walls of their enclosures through which they reach out to shake people’s hands with their webbed paws. I think you need experiences akin to that in the coming weeks. Your mental and spiritual health will thrive to the degree that you seek closer contact with animals. It’s a favorable time to nurture your instinctual intelligence and absorb influences from the natural world. For extra credit, tune in to and celebrate your own animal qualities.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Between 1977 and 1992, civil war raged in Mozambique. Combatants planted thousands of land mines that have remained dangerous long after the conflict ended. In recent years, a new ally has emerged in the quest to address the problem: rats that are trained to find the hidden explosives so that human colleagues can defuse them. The expert sniffers don’t weigh enough to detonate the mines, so they’re ideal to play the role of saviors. I foresee a metaphorically comparable development in your future, Leo. You’ll get help and support from a surprising or seemingly unlikely source.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Imagine a stairway that leads nowhere; as you ascend, you realize that at the top is not a door or a hallway, but a wall. I suspect that lately you may have been dealing with a metaphorical version of an anomaly like this. But I also predict that in the coming weeks some magic will transpire that will change everything. It’s like you’ll find a button on the wall that when pushed opens a previously imperceptible door. Somehow, you’ll gain entrance through an apparent obstruction.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Not all of the classic works of great literature are entertaining. According to one survey of editors, writers, and librarians, Goethe’s Faust, Melville’s Moby Dick, and Cervantes’ Don Quixote are among the most boring masterpieces ever written. But most experts agree that they’re still valuable to read. In that spirit, and in accordance with astrological omens, I urge you to commune with other dull-but-meaningful things. Seek out low-key but rich offerings. Be aware that unexciting people and situations may offer clues and catalysts that you need.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Many of you Scorpios regard secrecy as a skill worth cultivating. It serves your urge to gather and manage power. You’re aware that information is a valuable commodity, so you guard it carefully and share it sparingly. This predilection sometimes makes you seem understated, even shy. Your hesitancy to express too much of your knowledge and feelings may influence people to underestimate the intensity that seethes within you. Having said all that, I’ll now predict that you’ll show the world who you are with more dazzle and flamboyance in the coming weeks. It’ll be interesting to see how you do that as you also try to heed your rule that information is power.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sagittarian actress and producer Deborra-Lee Furness has been married to megastar actor Hugh Jackman for 23 years. Their wedding rings are inscribed with a motto that blends Sanskrit and English, “Om paramar to the mainamar.” Hugh and Deborah-Lee say it means, “We dedicate our union to a greater source.” In resonance with current astrological omens, I invite you to engage in a similar gesture with an important person in your life. Now is a marvelous time to deepen and sanctify your relationship by pledging yourselves to a higher purpose or beautiful collaboration or sublime mutual quest.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In 1997, a supercomputer named Deep Blue won six chess matches against Chess Grand Master Gary Kasparov. In 2016, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) device called AlphaGo squared off against human champion Lee Sodol in a best-of-five series of the Chinese board game Go. AlphaGo crushed Sodol, four games to one. But there is at least one cerebral game in which human intelligence still reigns supreme: the card game known as bridge. No AI has as yet beat the best bridge players. I bring this to your attention, Capricorn, because I am sure that in the coming weeks, no AI could out-think and out-strategize you as you navigate your way through life’s tests and challenges. You’ll be smarter than ever. P.S.: I’m guessing your acumen will be extra soulful, as well.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): At regular intervals, a hot stream of boiling water shoots up out of the Earth and into the sky in Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park. It’s a geyser called Old Faithful. The steamy surge can reach a height of 185 feet and last for 5 minutes. When white settlers first discovered this natural phenomenon in the 19th century, some of them used it as a laundry. Between blasts, they’d place their dirty clothes in Old Faithful’s aperture. When the scalding flare erupted, it provided all the necessary cleansing. I’d love to see you attempt a metaphorically similar feat, Aquarius: harness a natural force for a practical purpose, or a primal power for an earthly task.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Who was the model for Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic painting Mona Lisa? Many scholars think it was Italian noblewoman Lisa del Giocondo. Leonardo wanted her to feel comfortable during the long hours she sat for him, so he hired musicians to play for her and people with mellifluous voices to read her stories. He built a musical fountain for her to gaze upon and a white Persian cat to cuddle. If it were within my power, I would arrange something similar for you in the coming weeks. Why? Because I’d love to see you be calmed and soothed for a concentrated period of time; to feel perfectly at ease, at home in the world, surrounded by beautiful influences you love. In my opinion, you need and deserve such a break from the everyday frenzy.

Homework: Think of the last person you cursed, if only with a hateful thought if not an actual spell. Now send them a free-hearted blessing.

Here we are in a Mercury retrograde, under Pisces (two fish hiding behind ferns), and at the beginning of Lent (40 days and nights of purifying our elementals). Pisces is the sign of the world savior, the sign that “saves the world.”

Our world at this time is in the heart of the Kali Yuga, which is a time of darkness. The Kali Yuga is a time when truth is obscured and humanity becomes confused. This darkness is allowed so humanity can begin to discern light from dark, truth from untruth, moral from the immoral, and goodness from evil. The darkness is thus purposeful for humanity’s upward evolution. Pisces is esoterically known as the “Light of the World.” The Pisces light ends forever the darkness (ignorance, cruelty, hopelessness, evil, etc.).

Pisces is known for its saviors, for sacrifice, and sense of dying to the world. Saviors appear periodically on Earth, dying to their state of paradise, sacrificing themselves to help in the struggles of humanity. They are Bodhisattvas, promising to remain on earth until all have awakened. Their words, the keynote of Pisces, “I leave the Father’s House (heaven), I return to Earth, in order to serve (in Aquarius) and save humanity (in Pisces).” Christ (archangel from Sirius, overshadowing Jesus of Galilee) was our last and present (Pisces/Aquarius) savior and world teacher. This is his season, the season of Lent. We stand with him in the desert for 40 days and nights. Lent is a time of preparing our elementals (the stuff our bodies are made of) for a new year, a new season (spring equinox), when the sun enters Aries. And this year, it is also the Aries solar festival, when the forces of restoration stream into the Earth. Lent prepares us for the resurrection festival, which we call Easter (April 21).

ARIES: Much of you has, should or will go into a state of solitude and retreat for a while. This is food for you, for your soul ruler, Mercury, is now retrograde. It’s calling you to a place of intelligent contemplation so you can reflect upon the past year and make plans in the quietest part of yourself for the future (when sun enters Aries, the new spiritual year). This is a gift of time and preparation. Attend church or synagogue or a yoga or meditation retreat.

TAURUS: You find yourself constantly amid groups that need your ideas, practical direction, determined focus, and your quiet, efficient and illuminating mind. Behind all your research, knowledge and teachings is the reality that it’s time to salvage the world, and that much sacrifice must come forth from all of us to restore the plan on Earth. When you lead, everyone follows.

GEMINI: What do you think and feel is your gift as a Gemini in the repair and reconstruction of the world? What do you want to be recognized for in this lifetime? What gifts of self will you offer to the new group of world servers whose task is to impress humanity with new ideals that will create the new culture and civilization? These and other ideas new and revelatory will occur in the Mercury retrograde.

CANCER: An interesting situation is occurring. You now have the freedom to choose many paths. You can also choose to remain immovable and static. Your life becomes charged with possibilities and potentials. You will perceive complex information along with multiple levels of reality. You have entered the same brilliance Einstein saw and lived within. Ideas coming forth from the mind of God to your mind.

LEO: You might find that religious themes begin to form an important part of your life. All of a sudden altruism becomes your keynote and people begin to perceive you as philosophical, idealistic and visionary. You will have inspired insights that assist both the self and others. You imagine other lands, distant worlds. It’s good to build a boat, eat fish, swim in warm waters, talk with the devas.

VIRGO: At times you find yourself functioning in other worlds. Compassion, empathy, kind-heartedness, and intuition unfold daily. Do not be concerned with not having adequate resources, and try not to feel deprivation. There is no deprivation. There is only goodness, everywhere. Some obligations and responsibilities call. Serve like a Bodhisattva.

LIBRA: Perhaps you find yourself striving to harmonize past and present with significant others—friends, therapists, business colleagues, family, and lover(s). Harmonizing all aspects of your life allows you to become more whole. It’s painful, the razor’s edge, honing our rough edges (karma). This is the design embedded within all relationships. What is your story? Who do you love? What do you fear? What soothes you?

SCORPIO: As written previously, this is a time set aside to care for your health. Know that you are the best there is, always. Do you have a dream? A vision? Do not become disillusioned. This affects your health, which, with focus and care, you must rebuild time and again. Do not overwork or allow excessive worry. You never fail. There is no failure. Only experience, understanding and learning.

SAGITTARIUS: There are times you may struggle with disappointment concerning perhaps relationships and professional endeavors. However, in the midst of this you will find a deep strain of inner joy, creativity and then, recognition in the world. At times you’ll feel great powers still to be expressed and long to do something significant. You realize you’re talented and very lucky. And that sacrifice plays a large part. You need a bit of peace and seclusion.

CAPRICORN: You find you’re more curious than usual about the words you and others speak. You look beneath the surface of language to understand the complete picture. If one listens to communications through the question “What needs are being expressed here?” the hidden psychological messages become clear. Keep writing, creating and doing mental/imaginative work. Confide in those who listen.

AQUARIUS: You can be very generous. However, you can also be dreamy and/or imaginative about your money. You have a sense of timing and intuition concerning when things should be done, with whom, when and where. These abilities will be more easily seen in the coming months. You can tap into unusual resources. There is always the supply you need. Share it generously.

PISCES: You’re not an everyday sort of person. You don’t have the energy of Aries, steadfastness of Taurus, business acumen of Capricorn, or the relating skills of Libra. You’re in touch with other levels, with different values based on spiritual motivations. Know that in the darkest of times, you still have the ability to have gratitude. Deep within is a state of hidden joy. You need music and art and to plant many and various edible fruit, nut and berry trees.