VIRGO (Aug 23-Sep 22): In August 2009, 120 scientists and their helpers staged a BioBlitz in Yellowstone National Park. Their goal was to find as many new species as they could in one day. To their surprise and delight, they located more than 1,200, including beetles, worms, lichens, and fungi that had never before been identified. An equally fertile phase of discovery could very well be imminent for you, Virgo. All you have to do is make that your intention, then become super extra double-wildly receptive.

LEO (Jul 23-Aug 22): For 34 years, a diligent Californian named Scott Weaver worked on creating a scale model of San Francisco using toothpicks. Meanwhile, Eric Miklos, of New Brunswick, Canada, was assembling a 40-foot-long chain of bottle caps. And in 2006, a team of artists constructed a 67-foot-tall gingerbread house, the world's largest, inside the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. These are not the kinds of stupendous feats I advise you to get started on in the coming weeks, Leo.

LEO (Jul 23-Aug 22): During my years as a singer in rock bands, I've had a theatrical approach to performing. On some occasions, I arrive on stage from the back of the club. Dressed in leather and rags and witchdoctor finery, with a rainbow of fake eagle feathers splayed from my coiffure, I climb into a grocery cart, stand up like a politician giving the V for Victory sign with my outstretched arms, and have my bandmates wheel me through the crowd. I highly recommend that you arrange to make an equally splashy entrance in the near future, Leo.

CANCER (Jun 21-Jul 22): The great-grandson of a slave, Cancerian Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993) was America's first African-American Supreme Court Justice. According to Thurgood, a play about his life that appeared on HBO, his unruly behavior as a school kid played a role in launching him toward his vocation. As punishment for his bad behavior, his teacher exiled him to a storage room where he was instructed to study the U.S. Constitution — a document he would later be called on to interpret during his service on the high court.

CANCER (Jun 21-Jul 22): A while back I asked my readers to propose a new name for your astrological sign. "Cancer" has a bit of a negative connotation, after all. Many people suggested "Dolphin" as a replacement, which I like. But the two ideas that most captivated my imagination were "Gateway" and "Fount." I probably won't be able to convince the astrological community to permanently adopt either of these uplifting designations, but I encourage you to try out them out to see how they feel.

TAURUS (Apr 20-May 20): In order to capture the spirit of the landscapes he painted, French artist Claude Monet used to work outside in all kinds of weather. When I look at masterpieces like "Snow at Argenteuil" or "The Magpie, Snow Effect, Outskirts of Honfleur," I like to imagine he was so engrossed in his work that he barely even registered the bitter chill. I bet you'll be able to achieve a similar intensity of focus in the coming week, Taurus.

TAURUS (Apr 20-May 20): "If you wish to bake an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe," said astronomer Carl Sagan in his book Cosmos. In other words, the pie can't exist until there's a star orbited by a habitable planet that has spawned intelligent creatures and apples. A lot of preliminaries have to be in place. Keep that in mind, Taurus, as you start out down the long and winding path toward manifesting your own personal equivalent of the iconic apple pie. In a sense, you will have to create an entire world to serve as the womb for your brainchild.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): To convey my vision of how best to proceed in the coming week, I'll offer the following metaphorical scenario: Imagine that you are not a professional chef, but you do have a modicum of cooking skills. Your task is to create a hearty, tasty soup from scratch without the benefit of a recipe. You will need a variety of ingredients, but on the other hand you don't want to just throw in a welter of mismatched ingredients without regard for how they will all work together.

ARIES (Mar 21-Apr 19): In her blog, Jane at janebook.tumblr.com answers questions from readers. A recent query went like this: “Who would win in a steel cage match, Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny?” Jane said, “Easter Bunny, no question; he has those big-ass teeth.” But I’m not so sure. My sources say that Santa has more raw wizardry at his disposal than the Bunny. His magical prowess would most likely neutralize the Bunny’s superior physical assets.

ARIES (Mar 21-Apr 19): When he was three years old, actor Charlie Sheen got a hernia from yelling too much and too loud. I definitely don’t encourage you to be like that. However, I do think it’s an excellent time to tune in to the extravagant emotions that first made an appearance when you were very young and that have continued to be a source of light and heat for you ever since. Maybe righteous anger is one of those vitalizing emotions, but there must be others as well—crazy longing, ferocious joy, insatiable curiosity, primal laughter. Get in touch with them.