horoscope
The witty conceptual artist John Baldessari had a popular piece called “Teaching a Plant the Alphabet,” in which he held up flashcards to unimpressed foliage. The master suggested: “When I think I’m teaching, I’m probably not. When I don’t think I’m teaching, I probably am.” Under the instructive Virgo moon, model the behavior you want to impart.
ARIES ( March 21- April 19): You are a rescuer. By needling and kidding your loved ones, and by laughing at yourself, you will save the world from the deadly disease of selfseriousness.
TAURUS ( April 20- May 20): Settle yourself down and suddenly you will be able to observe what’s going on with very little interference from your own preferences or fears.
GEMINI ( May 21- June 21): Ambiguity doesn’t have to cause stress. Yes, there are a few different ways to read the day, but they are complimentary interpretations, whichever you believe.
CANCER ( June 22- July 22): Giving feels right to you. Most of the day will be spent caring, helping and doing. However, when presented with the opportunity to relax, don’t miss out on some well- deserved enjoyment.
LEO ( July 23- Aug. 22): You are not a tram on the road of life — an engine that moves in predestined grooves. You are free to make the turns, merge to the onramp, leave the town or country and know new lands.
VIRGO ( Aug. 23- Sept. 22): When things get a little tense, it might help to think of this as an adventure. If you take a moment to sense it, you’ll get the feeling there’s an invisible audience out there rooting for you.
LIBRA ( Sept. 23- Oct. 23): Many gifts are impossible to repay. And so you’ll go about it today in a way you know is not enough, though you can rest assured, most people don’t even attempt this at all.
SCORPIO ( Oct. 24- Nov. 21): The joys of reuniting are not possible if you never part ways. So while you can’t be with your loved ones at all times, you’ll hold in your heart the wonderful anticipation of being together again soon.
SAGITTARIUS ( Nov. 22Dec. 21): It takes many years to know yourself well enough to pace yourself. Of course, this is different depending on the particular endeavor and your time of life.
CAPRICORN ( Dec. 22Jan. 19): Plato suggested the measure of a man is what he does with power. Sometimes you don’t feel like you have enough of it to tell really, though you have more than you exercise.
AQUARIUS ( Jan. 20- Feb. 18): The dance of your daily life involves diplomacy. Want to know how people really are? Play a game. In a game, dynamics will surface and be worked out under the premise of playing around.
PISCES ( Feb. 19- March 20): How many times have you seen a winged bug crawl around? So many. Just because wings are an option doesn’t mean that flying is always the best way.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY ( Feb. 9): Your dreams swirl into a desire to be of service, producing some of your best ideas yet. The practical help and mentorship you seek in the next 10 weeks land at the intersection of usefulness, creativity and commerce. A thriving relationship will spread joy all over your life. See new places in May and August. Aries and Virgo adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 5, 40, 7, 33 and 28.
FORECAST FOR THE WEEK AHEAD: Once upon a Valentine’s Day, the entire village threw a party in the name of love, and the party featured a lottery, and singles were paired up by chance, their names being drawn together, which made about as much sense as any method concocted since. Well, maybe the day wasn’t exactly named Valentine’s Day, it was called Lupercalia. But it happened mid- February, and romance, such as it was, remained a theme, just as it is a theme this week, hundreds of years later. Love is a hard theme to beat.
The days leading up to this Valentine’s Day include a companionate and artistic Libra moon. Libra is the sign associated with partnerships of all kinds and is represented by The Lovers card in the tarot, so there isn’t a more positive moon to lead into the festivities that will be officiated in turn by the Scorpio moon which is as sizzling, tantalizing and soulful a lunar influence as could be wished for.
Things change after this week. Mars changes. Mercury goes retrograde. And whatever spells were cast, for better or worse, during the week of Valentine’s, it won’t be long before they dissipate or break. Such is the intoxication of romance!