ARIES (March 21-April 19): In December 1915, the California city of San Diego was suffering from a drought. City officials hired a professional “moisture accelerator” named Charles Hatfield, who promised to make it rain. Soon Hatfield was shooting explosions of a secret blend of chemicals into the sky from the top of a tower. The results were quick. A deluge began in early January of 1916 and persisted for weeks. Thirty inches of rain fell, causing floods that damaged the local infrastructure. The moral of the story, as far as you’re concerned, Aries: when you ask for what you want and need, specify exactly how much you want and need. Don’t make an open-ended request that could bring you too much of a good thing.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Actors Beau Bridges and Jeff Bridges are brothers born to parents who were also actors. When they were growing up, they already had aspirations to follow in their mom’s and dad’s footsteps. From an early age, they summoned a resourceful approach to attracting an audience. Now and then they would start a pretend fight in a store’s parking lot. When a big enough crowd had gathered to observe their shenanigans, they would suddenly break off from their faux struggle, grab their guitars from their truck, and begin playing music. In the coming weeks, I hope you’ll be equally ingenious as you brainstorm about ways to expand your outreach.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): According to Edward Barnard’s book New York City Trees, a quarter of the city is shaded by its 5.2 million trees. In other words, one of the most densely populated, frantically active places on the planet has a rich collection of oxygen-generating greenery. There’s even a virgin forest at the upper tip of Manhattan, as well as five botanical gardens and the 843-acre Central Park. Let’s use all this bounty-amidst-the-bustle as a symbol of what you should strive to foster in the coming weeks: refreshing lushness and grace interspersed throughout your busy, hustling rhythm.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): As a poet myself, I regard good poetry as highly useful. It can nudge us free of our habitual thoughts and provoke us to see the world in ways we’ve never imagined. On the other hand, it’s not useful in the same way that food and water and sleep are. Most people don’t get sick if they are deprived of poetry. But I want to bring your attention to a poem that is serving a very practical purpose in addition to its inspirational function. Simon Armitage’s poem In Praise of Air is on display in an outdoor plaza at Sheffield University. The material it’s printed on is designed to literally remove a potent pollutant from the atmosphere. And what does this have to do with you? I suspect that in the coming weeks you will have an extra capacity to generate blessings that are like Armitage’s poem: useful in both practical and inspirational ways.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In 1979, psychologist Dorothy Tennov published her book Love and Limerence: The Experience of Being in Love. She defined her newly coined word “limerence” as a state of adoration that may generate intense, euphoric and obsessive feelings for another person. Of all the signs in the zodiac, you Leos are most likely to be visited by this disposition throughout 2019. And you’ll be especially prone to it in the coming weeks. Will that be a good thing or a disruptive thing? It all depends on how determined you are to regard it as a blessing, have fun with it and enjoy it, regardless of whether or not your feelings are reciprocated. I advise you to enjoy the hell out of it!

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Based in Switzerland, Nestle is the largest food company in the world. Yet it pays just $200 per year to the state of Michigan for the right to suck up 400 million gallons of groundwater, which it bottles and sells at a profit. I nominate this vignette to be your cautionary tale in the coming weeks. How? 1. Make damn sure you are being fairly compensated for your offerings. 2. Don’t allow huge, impersonal forces to exploit your resources. 3. Be tough and discerning, not lax and naïve, as you negotiate deals.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Sixteenth-century Italian artist Daniele da Volterra wasn’t very famous for his own painting and sculpture. The work for which we remember him today is the alterations he made to Michelangelo’s giant fresco The Last Judgment, which spreads across an entire wall in the Sistine Chapel. After Michelangelo died, the Catholic Church hired da Volterra to “fix” the scandalous aspects of the people depicted in the master’s work. He painted clothes and leaves over the originals’ genitalia and derrieres. In accordance with astrological omens, I propose that we make da Volterra your anti-role model for the coming weeks. Don’t be like him. Don’t engage in cover-ups, censorship or camouflage. Instead, specialize in the opposite: revelations, unmaskings and expositions.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): What is the quality of your access to life’s basic necessities? How well do you fulfill your need for good food and drink, effective exercise, deep sleep, thorough relaxation, mental stimulation, soulful intimacy, a sense of meaningfulness, nourishing beauty, and rich feelings? I bring these questions to your attention, Scorpio, because the rest of 2019 will be an excellent time for you to fine-tune and expand your relationships with these fundamental blessings. And now is an excellent time to intensify your efforts.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Michael Jackson’s 1982 song “Beat It” climbed to No. 3 on the record-sales charts in Australia. On the other hand, Weird Al Yankovic’s 1984 parody of Jackson’s tune, “Eat It,” reached No. 1 on the same charts. Let’s use this twist as a metaphor that’s a good fit for your life in the coming weeks. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you may find that a stand-in or substitute or imitation will be more successful than the original. And that will be auspicious!

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The Space Needle in Seattle, Washington is 605 feet high and 138 feet wide: a tall and narrow tower. Near the top is a round restaurant that makes one complete rotation every 47 minutes. Although this part of the structure weighs 125 tons, for many years its motion was propelled by a mere 1.5 horsepower motor. I think you will have a comparable power at your disposal in the coming weeks: an ability to cause major movement with a compact output of energy.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In 1941, the Ford automobile company created a “biological car.” Among its components were “bioplastics” composed of soybeans, hemp, flax, wood pulp, and cotton. It weighed 1,000 pounds less than a comparable car made of metal. This breakthrough possibility never fully matured, however. It was overshadowed by newly abundant plastics made from petrochemicals. I suspect that you Aquarians are at a phase with a resemblance to the biological car. Your good idea is promising but unripe. I hope you’ll spend the coming weeks devoting practical energy to developing it. (P.S. There’s a difference between you and your personal equivalent of the biological car: little competition.)

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Cartographers of Old Europe sometimes drew pictures of strange beasts in the uncharted regions of their maps. These were warnings to travelers that such areas might harbor unknown risks, like dangerous animals. One famous map of the Indian Ocean shows an image of a sea monster lurking, as if waiting to prey on sailors traveling through its territory. If I were going to create a map of the frontier you’re now headed for, Pisces, I would fill it with mythic beasts of a more benevolent variety, like magic unicorns, good fairies and wise centaurs.

Homework: Choose one area of your life where you’re going to stop pretending. Report results to FreeWillAstrology.com.

On Feb. 18, Chiron (a minor planet between Saturn and Uranus) has left Pisces and entered Aries (all things new). Chiron remains in Aries until February of 2027. Chiron was a Greek centaur, a wise, kind and noble one. He was wounded and unable to heal himself.

In our astrology charts, the symbol of Chiron represents our wound, where we may feel broken, inadequate, shamed, and rejected. Chiron, a Greek centaur—half-godlike human, half-horse—was a wise, just and noble healer, astrologer, teacher, doctor, and alchemist. Interestingly, after Chiron was struck by a poisoned arrow, he was unable to cure himself. Thus, the name wounded healer was applied.

Chiron’s symbol in our charts signifies where we hurt the most, and what we seek to heal. It is where we can feel confused, left out, injured. It is our most basic of wounds. Often it is a family wound. And, in our carrying this wound, the hope is that one of us will heal the wound forever. Over lifetimes, we each have this task.

Chiron entering Aries begins a new cycle. Chiron in Aries says, “Let’s take a new look at this wound, become aware of what it is, its origin and source. And find a way to heal it.” Chiron affects everyone, including countries and nations.

Chiron in Aries calls us to be of courage, take action, be pioneers, stand up for ourselves, and create a new story of ourselves. The wound builds in us new awareness of compassion and wisdom. On Chiron’s work we can echo Rumi in saying, “Life continues to break our hearts. ‘Til our hearts are able to remain open.”

ARIES: It’s a most important time for Aries—perhaps the most significant. A new self-identity is emerging. Like a lotus, with roots deep within the earth, growing into the loveliest of flowers, there is and will be over the next seven years a self-unfolding that can feel both painful and profound. Read Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” (from Leaves of Grass). It helps identify deeply with the lostness you have felt, and the new lotus of self-appearing.

TAURUS: You may enter into a more poetic and/or artistic way of life.

The poetic life helps to identify the sensitivities we sense and feel. With Chiron in Aries, you realize all that you do for others before tending to the self. You tend to the poor, the ill and the sick with great care and compassion. It is most important to begin to care for the self. Something may be “malingering.” More rest, sunshine, the earth, gardens, and homeopathics are needed.

GEMINI: Call upon friends. They love you. Some friends have fallen away or are no longer available. Reach out anyway. This may prove to be difficult; however, bypass the fear and embarrassment you are feeling. Ask friends to assist you, whether for physical, emotional or psychological needs. Friends want to be asked. Allow them into your “portal” of life, no matter what changes have taken place. Know that, under Venus, you are immortal.

CANCER: It is important, like Taurus, to tend very carefully and listen to the self in terms of what needs to be healed. The messages may be very subtle. Know that there is never any failure on Earth or in heaven. Everything you do is a success. No matter what upbringing you had, no matter the parents’ expectations or yours, everything you’ve done has been a source of light, attainment and accomplishment. You are asked to humbly realize this.

LEO: What are your deepest longings and secret needs? What do you want to learn or teach? What have you never had a chance to achieve? Where do you want to travel? What people and cultures do you seek to meet? What is your religion? What are your goals? Answers to these questions allow for a potent self-healing to come forth. There is also a particular spiritual teaching from a great teacher that resonates with you. Perhaps the Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path?

VIRGO: When we love more, healing takes place and there is no more karma. There are two laws that create unity: 1. The will to good creates goodwill within all that is around us; 2. Our intentions for goodwill create right human relations. These help eliminate criticism that always hurts and harms both the self and others. Virgo, ruled by Mercury, is called to think and speak with kindness at all times. Words heal or they hurt. May all your words heal.

LIBRA: Tend and care for those close to you. Teach them what you know in kind and gentle ways. Allow them to teach you in return. Unconditional love transforms a relationship into something magical. It provides a renaissance and a protection for the relationship. We become more awakened to our responsibility in relationships, more grateful and sensitive to the hurts of those close to us. Blocks and hindrances fall away. Everything, everyone becomes valuable and sacred.

SCORPIO: A healing occurs when you take care of yourself in all ways, purifying all levels–physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. It is important to act as mentor for all those who encounter you. Everyone is looking to be taught. Scorpio, with its deep knowledge of both light and dark, can radiate the light of health, morality and ethics into the world. In this time of conflict, chaos and confusion, your light would be a light that purifies the darkness, until the darkness is gone.

SAGITTARIUS: You learn through lovers, love affairs, children, and all that you create. Learning for you is constant, lifelong, over lifetimes. You have many different careers. It looks like one, but there are many facets involved. Do you feel you haven’t succeeded in your ambitions or your creative endeavors? Do you sense you could do better or more? Is there frustration or dissatisfaction? Do you feel somewhat irrelevant? Is there a wound, a suffering or inner agony? Is there an awakening you are still waiting for?

CAPRICORN: Family, tradition, roots. Did you say recently you want to begin (or continue with) the family’s genealogy? Would knowing your ancestors help you feel more relevancy in your life? Are there memories from childhood coming forth? Are you feeling a sense that home is somewhere else? There’s a nine-part series now available on quiltmaking as a form of art, family labor, stories, lineage, purpose, and community. A picture of livingness all stitched together. I think you would like it.

AQUARIUS: There may be a sibling unavailable to you, which brings you a sadness and pain. Is communication an issue with someone? A misunderstanding or radically different point of view. Wanting to be understood may trigger a wound. Know this, and remember it. Everyone is on their own path of development. Everyone is doing their best to understand their lives. And those to whom you belong, they listen and understand you. The rest comes later.

Pisces: The other day, to a friend who couldn’t balance her monetary ins and outs and had no idea how to organize her finances, I said, “Let me help you figure out your finances, balance your accounts, so you know what you have, what you can pay back, what you can save.” Chiron in the second house has to do with finances and values. And Pisces is about helping others. With Chiron in the second, the issue is always about self-worth. Self as valuable. When we rest in this knowledge, there is security and comfort. Chiron teaches us.