CAPRICORN (Dec 22-Jan 19): The Swiss are building the 35-mile Gotthard Base railroad tunnel through the Alps. It’ll take another nine years to finish carving out the path, and will ultimately require the removal of 24 million tons of rock. I suggest you regard this masterpiece, as an inspirational symbol. The coming months will be the prime time for you to summon the willpower necessary to get really serious about an equally ambitious project.
AQUARIUS (Jan 20-Feb 18): I’ve got three quotes for you. I hope you’ll write them out and keep them in a prominent place for the duration of 2009. The first is from psychologist Abraham Maslow: “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be.” The second quote comes from choreographer Agnes DeMille: “Dance in the body you have.” The third is from historian Gerald Sorin: “When Reb Zusye went to heaven, God didn’t ask him why, in his life on earth, Zusye wasn’t Moses, but why he wasn’t even Zusye.”
PISCES (Feb 19-Mar 20): What would it take for you to collaborate with the forces of change? Not with a sense of defeat, wishing things could stay the same forever. Rather, what would you have to do in order to feel eager about adjusting to the ongoing shifts? Is there any way you might even learn to experience exhilaration and gratitude in the face of the eternal flux? Your assignment in 2009, Pisces, is to become an expert surfer of the beautiful, playful, blessed waves.
ARIES (Mar 21-Apr 19): It’s a great privilege to live in a free country. You’re fortunate if you have the opportunity to pursue your dreams without having to ward off government interference or corporate brainwashing or religious fanaticism. But that’s only partly useful if you have not yet won the freedom from your own unconscious habits. Becoming an independent agent who’s not an unwitting slave to his or her past is one of the most heroic feats a human being can accomplish. And you, Aries, will have more mojo to do that in 2009 than you’ve had in a long time.
TAURUS (Apr 20-May 20): American financier Jim Rogers evaluates life as many devout capitalists do: under what circumstances can he achieve the most wealth? “If you were smart in 1807 you moved to London,” he said two years ago, “and if you are smart in 2007 you move to Asia.” With that as your spur, Taurus, I’d like you to identify the driving force of your life. The next step is to meditate on the environment and the conditions that would be most conducive to you fulfilling your quest. In 2009, you’ll have exceptional potential to create the ideal context for your success.
GEMINI (May 21-Jun 20): When I was 19, I read Alan Watts’ The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. After that, I was sure there was nothing else I needed to know in order to live intelligently. My certainty eventually faded, thank Goddess. In its place came the understanding that life’s mystery just keeps getting deeper and vaster as one grows older. A healthier approach is to cultivate a capacity to be endlessly surprised. I hope you’ll do that in 2009, Gemini.
CANCER (Jun 21-Jul 22): “Dear Rob: These last few months have been absurdly full of pluses and minuses. There have been so many good things happening and yet so many obstacles, too. It often feels like we Crabs are being rewarded and punished at the same time. I’m wondering where it’s all going and when it will end? - Agitatedly Neutral.” Dear Agitated: You’re at the climax of a long balancing process. I suggest you take this opportunity to tally up the valuable lessons you’ve learned in the relentless back-and-forth. Your graduation to a less ambiguous chapter of your life story will be more robust if you work hard to extract the meaning from experiences you’ve tended to see as either random or confusing.
LEO (Jul 23-Aug 22): Fewer than 5,000 tigers are living in their natural habitats, while the U.S. alone has more than that number in zoos. Let’s use that fact as a starting point for your meditations, Leo. How much of your animal essence is in captivity, and how much is running free? Is your inner lion able to wander at will or is it trapped in a confined space it would never stay in if allowed to choose? Keep coming back to these questions during 2009. It will be an excellent time to spring the great cat in you from conditions that make it pace in neurotic circles.
VIRGO (Aug 23-Sep 22): In 2009, you’ll receive a lot of help, some unexpected, whenever you phase out your trivial desires so that you can better pursue your truly important desires. The coming months will also be a time to shed unrealistic fantasies so you can be freer to concentrate on the realistic kind. While these are not quite once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, Virgo, they may be the once-in-a-decade variety.
LIBRA (Sep 23-Oct 22): “God calls you to the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet,” wrote Frederick Buechner. You can pretend that you don’t really know what brings you deep gladness, and you can act as if the world’s deep hunger is of no concern to you. But if you hope to be proud of the life you have lived when, many years from now, you shed your mortal coil, I advise you to at least experiment with using Buechner’s formula as a working hypothesis. The coming year will be an excellent time to do just that.
SCORPIO (Oct 23-Nov 21): Studies suggest that the average person who reaches old age has been upset with some family member or another for a total of 30 years. Is that a standard you’d like to match, Scorpio? If not, you will have an excellent chance to reduce any inclination you might have to hold grudges in 2009. The coming months will bring you ripe opportunities to dissolve tensions between you and your kin. You will also be more skilled than usual at navigating your way with grace and diplomacy through complications involving the home and domestic issues.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22-Dec 21): “Dear Rob: Lately I’ve been getting strong hints from life that maybe the game is changing. More and more I’m feeling like the grasshopper in that old fable—you know, with no resources stored up and winter coming on fast—while all the steady, hard-working ants are sitting pretty. Do I really have to stop enjoying myself and get down to business, whatever that means? Are there any real jobs for grasshoppers?—Shaky Sagittarius.” Dear Shaky: If there will ever in your life be a time when you could figure out how to be both a grasshopper and ant simultaneously, it will be in 2009. Start meditating on how to get the best of both worlds.
