sign of my sun

I've been a fan of astrology since my teenage years. Not astrology columns in the newspaper, but thick books that required you to do a natal chart. I loved looking up the planets and houses and wondering what I would be like when I grew up. Would I be a sensual lover like one blurb indicated? Would I be anal retentive like all the Virgo forcasts predict? How would my moon sign predict my inner life? Astrology was fascinating to read about, especially when I thought about how it was once considered so much more real and important in society. "Reading the stars" made me feel much more connected to this planet and its cycles. You know more than just studying about the planets in grade school science classes.

Once we moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico after college graduation, though, I realized I had found my astrology people. The new agey/alternative/hippie vibe there meant that people would ask about my sign all the time. Or I'd be talking to someone new and they'd just guess my sign. It was there in the free weekly alternative paper, the Alibi, that I discovered Free Will Astrology by Rob Brezsny. Most awesome astrology column ever. Modern, poetic, irreverent, intuitive and warm, these horoscopes are amazing. I'm guess that most people read them in the back of their weekly free paper by the Savage Love column or tucked in amongst the personal ads. If not you should look for it or check out his website: http://www.freewillastrology.com

Here's Virgo and Libra (myself and Shannon respectively) for this week:

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22): The ancient Greeks had words for love that transcend our usual notions, writes Lindsay Swope in her review of Richard Idemon's book Through the Looking Glass. Epithemia is the basic need to touch and be touched. Our closest approximation is "horniness," though epithemia is not so much a sexual feeling as a sensual one. Philia is friendship. It includes the need to admire and respect your friends as a reflection of yourself—like in high school, when you wanted to hang out with the cool kids because that meant you were cool too. Eros isn't sexual in the way we usually think, but is more about the emotional gratification that comes from merging souls. Agape is a mature, utterly free expression of love that has no possessiveness. It means wanting the best for another person even if it doesn't advance one's self-interest. The phase you're currently in, Virgo, is providing you with opportunities to explore the frontiers of at least three of these kinds of love.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22): America's finest news source, the newspaper and website known as The Onion (theonion.com), reported recently that President George W. Bush has hidden the nation's report card in his sock drawer. Having received a D in international relations, a D in economics, and an F in military history, the commander in chief was too embarrassed to share the evaluation with anyone. I implore you to not be like him in the coming week, Libra. It may be hard to imagine, but you will generate good luck and healthy relationships if you freely admit your mistakes and shortcomings. This is one time when power can come from revealing your vulnerabilities.