This week's horoscope.

During your birthday season I want to remind you, with love, of the power of your internal contradictions, which you more often let baffle you than enlighten you. This coming year, keep in mind that when you are at your worst, you are also, perversely, closer to being at your best than at most other times. When you are experiencing one of life's darker moments, the veil between you and serenity is actually thinner than usual. Put it this way?the deep hole you're in at those moments is actually the hollow interior of a mountain on the other side of your inner planet. Dig through and you'll be on top your world again.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

Surrender to the primitive this week. Bang on a drum. Fuck in a tree, or a hot spring, or simply with mad animal abandon. Your power right now derives directly from your internal Neanderthal, from you-as-monkey, from your gut and your skin and your chaotic primal source. Forgive your busy brain its incessant prattling, but don't give it much heed, either. All those fluttering thoughts aren't where it's at. Obviously, you'll need to use your head often this week, just because that's what your life demands. However, please try, whenever possible?whenever there's a choice between instinct and dull, dry reason?to choose the one that makes an explosive supernova of your heart, not the one that merely makes sense.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Don't question the ease. When your half-assed efforts yield brilliant results, flow with it. That's just how your week is. I know how hard you usually have to work for things before you catch a break, so simply accept the sweet deals, the effortless lays and the winning numbers. You rarely get things handed to you on such shiny silver platters. Wear an inflamed sense of entitlement, for one week only, instead of clothes. It's all you need. One minor caveat: Don't get used to it. Come next week, you'll have to dress yourself and work for a living, just like everyone else.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

You swallowed a sword and forgot to pull it back out. Ouch! You've become so casual and offhand about devouring danger that now you're faced with that 33-inch blade working its way through your system, the hard way. I wish I'd noticed it when you still could have grabbed the hilt and extricated yourself from this edgy situation, but now it's too late. Seek out some astrological lube to swallow, quick. Not sure how to find it? It's easily identifiable?anything (or anyone) that gives your stomach butterflies. Found some? If I were you, I'd lie down at that spring and drink deep, all week long.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Like the other water signs, you're blessed with seven secret senses that the rest of us can only guess at. You'll need to rely on them, especially the equivalent of your emotional sonar and radar, since the dangers and opportunities swimming past you (or toward you) through the ether are invisible to the naked eye, disguised as people you'd never notice, let alone bat a flirtatious eyelash at. These sharks and octopussies merit your wariness and discernment, so make sure all secret systems are go. Don't believe the hype that you're stuck with the same basic sensory equipment as everyone else. Trust the fluttery sensations at the edges of sight and under your skin. This week, they're what'll keep you safe (or stimulated).

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)

With the sun swimming in the glimmery waters of the Piscean Sea you are even more inclined than usual to relish the glamour of things you can't understand, to be drawn to mystery and surrender to the unknowable. Fine. I applaud your courage, imagination and passion. Just one warning or promise, before you wade in over your head: The places you're wanting to go will probably be good for you, but may also require a huge shift of personal paradigm. What I mean is, for months or years now you've kept the royal coin of your kingdom POWER side up. If you truly want to venture into these new territories, it's time to flip that coin. The other side, of course, says: letting go.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

You can't bubble-wrap your heart through this one, baby. You've managed to protect it through a number of rough tumbles and scrapes by swaddling it in layers of insulation, but it's time to open your chest and walk around with heart on sleeve, instead of trapped and sheltered inside the cage of your ribs. Believe me, it's not as scary as it sounds; it's actually exhilarating. You'll notice colors, music, scents and flavors you'd swear you've never experienced before. And you'll be that much closer, more accessible and more available to the other delicious sensations coming your way. I can't tell you more. It'd ruin the surprise.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Don't let nostalgia fuck you; a few months pass, and suddenly your tendency to romanticize the past destroys your equilibrium. That asshole you dated and dumped last year suddenly seems "not so bad." You can't remember, quite, what compelled you to cast off that dead weight. "Maybe," you speculate, "I was being too picky." No, you weren't. Don't trust your fickle memory this week, especially if it disagrees with your diary, or your closest compadres. The antidote to all this Vaseline-lensed reminiscence? Focus on the exciting promise of the future or, better yet, making those thrilling possibilities available to you NOW.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Two key parts of the Scorpionic diet are stomach butterflies and the kind of hackle-raising shivers you get when you're terrified and walking into a haunted moonlit graveyard, or a new love, or the end of a beloved chapter of your life. Unfortunately, lately you've been starving. You're practically wasting away. Fuck, Scorpio, it's your own fault. You've been passing the seedy alleys and dark hearts that thrill and deliciously devastate you. This week, start exploring derelict places and tempting yourself with forbidden fruits. Whether or not you actually find any hidden treasure or eat any exotic produce, you'll have cured, finally, your spiritual anorexia.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

Talk about feeling torn. The forces influencing you this week may stretch you to the point of snapping. The irony is that neither enthusiastic devotee has malicious intent; it's your own popularity and desirability that's the culprit. Spare your admirers, and yourself, the destructive backlash of you coming apart at the seams, by gently loosening their grips, especially one of them. That might mean making a choice you were unprepared for, but since you were likely to spoil one or both connections with a minor breakdown, go for damage control. This way you can save one, and possibly both.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Watch out for those innocent tricksters, the Pisceans, this week, as they're liable to fool you big time without even trying. In fact, they'll be so guileless that you'll end up, if you're not careful, feeling like you fooled yourself. That could end up sending you on a bender, or at least a self-destructive wallow, and none of us needs that. There's no need to be overcautious or excessively suspicious. But when a mischievious Pisces invites you to play one of his or her sweet games (which could be hilarious fun), make sure you just play, and don't go so far that you get played.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

If anyone has hope of overcoming the bullshit True Love Programming we've all been trained to believe in and live by, it's you, Aquarius. We look to you for inspiration, this week, on how to live outside of the ridiculously unattainable expectations we've been bred with. What are the solid elements of partnership, the ones that can outlast the fickle ebb and flow of sexual desire and romantic passion? And how to find the partners who are willing to meet you there, sex or no sex? It's a tricky, slippery slope, and whether or not you ascribe to this path or philosophy in the long term, I'm confident that by spending this week paying attention to questions like these, you'll get at least one or two gems that will improve every relationship you have from here on out.

[caeriel@yahoo.com](mailtocaeriel@yahoo.com)