VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I rarely waste my time trying to convert the "skeptics" who attack astrology with a hostile zeal that belies their supposed scientific objectivity. They're often as dogmatic and closed-minded as any fundamentalist religious nut. When I'm in a tricky mood, though, I might tell them about the "Crawford Perspectives," a highly-rated Wall Street investment publication that relies extensively on astrological analysis. Or I might quote the wealthy financier J. P. Morgan, who testified that "Millionaires don't use astrology; billionaires do." That brings us to my main point, Virgo: The astrological omens suggest that the coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to put in motion plans to get richer quicker. Take advantage!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): When Libra-born Mohandas Gandhi was 19, he moved to London from his native India to study law. Soon he got caught up in the effort to become an English gentleman. He took elocution lessons and learned to dance. He bought fine clothes and a gold watch-chain. Each morning he stood before a giant mirror and fussed with his hair and necktie until they were perfect. In retrospect, this phase of his life seems irrelevant. Years later he was a barefoot rebel leader using nonviolent civil disobedience to help end the British rule of India, often wearing a loincloth and shawl made of fabric he wove himself. With this as your inspiration, Libra, identify aspects of your current life that contribute little to the soul you must eventually become.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): This might be controversial, but I suspect that for now your emphasis shouldn't be on sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Instead, your specialties should be hard-earned intimacy, altered states that are solely the result of deep introspection, and music that arouses reverence and other sacred emotions. You are entering a phase when crafty power is less important than vigorous receptivity; when success is not nearly as interesting as meaningfulness; when what you already understand is less valuable than what you can imagine and create.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You are entering a phase when you will reap rich rewards by nurturing the health of your favorite posse, ensemble, or organization. How is the group's collective mental health? Are there any festering rifts? Any apathetic attitudes or weakening resolves? I choose you to be the leader who builds solidarity and cultivates consensus. I ask you to think creatively about how to make sure everyone's individual goals synergize with the greater good. Are you familiar with the Arabic word taarradhin? It means a compromise that allows everyone to win -- a reconciliation in which no one loses face.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The good news is that America has more trees than it did a hundred years ago. Aggressive efforts to replace the decimated old-growth forests have paid off. The bad news is that the new forests have a far less diverse selection of tree species than the originals. The fresh batches are often crowded into smaller spaces, so wildfires are more massive and devastating. And because so many of the forests are young, they host a reduced diversity of plant and animal life. All in all, the increased quantity is wonderful; the lower quality not so wonderful. Is there a lesson here for you? I think so. In your upcoming decisions, favor established quality over novel quantity.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): If Pope Francis isn't traveling, he comes out to meet the public in St. Peter's Square every Wednesday. During one such event last January, he took a few moments to bestow tender attention on a talking parrot that belonged to a male stripper. I foresee a comparable anomaly happening for you in the coming days. A part of you that is wild or outré will be blessed by contact with what's holy or sublime. Or maybe a beastly aspect of your nature that doesn't normally get much respect will receive a divine favor.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): "My definition of a devil is a god who has not been recognized," said mythologist Joseph Campbell. "It is a power in you to which you have not given expression, and you push it back. And then, like all repressed energy, it builds up and becomes dangerous to the position you're trying to hold." Do you agree, Pisces? I hope so, because you will soon be entering the Get Better Acquainted with Your Devil Phase of your astrological cycle, to be immediately followed by the Transform Your Devil into a God Phase. To get the party started, ask yourself this question: What is the power in you to which you have not given expression?

ARIES (March 21-April 19): These horoscopes I write for you aren't primarily meant to predict the future. They are more about uncovering hidden potentials and desirable possibilities that are stirring below the surface right now. When I'm doing my job well, I help you identify those seeds so you can cultivate them proactively. Bearing that in mind, I'll pose three pertinent questions. 1. What experiments might stir up more intimacy in the relationships you want to deepen? 2. What could you change about yourself to attract more of the love and care you want? 3. Is there anything you can do to diminish the sting of bad memories about past romantic encounters, thereby freeing you to love with more abandon?

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The old Latin motto Gradu diverso, via una can be translated as either "Continuing on the same road, but with a different stride" or "Going the same way, but changing your pace." I think this is excellent advice for you, Taurus. By my reckoning, you are on the correct path. You are headed in the right direction. But you need to shift your approach a bit -- not a lot, just a little. You've got to make some minor adjustments in the way you flow.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): For years, Donna and George Lewis used a 33-pound, oval-shaped rock as a doorstop in their Tennessee home. Later they moved it to their garden. Then one day George analyzed it with his metal detector and realized it had unusual properties. He took it to scientists who informed him it was a rare and valuable four-and-a-half-billion-year-old meteorite. With this as our subtext, Gemini, I'm asking you if there might be some aspect of your life that is more precious than you imagine. Now is a favorable time to find out, and make appropriate adjustments in your behavior.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I've got a radical proposal, Cancerian. It might offend you. You may think I'm so far off the mark that you will stop reading my horoscopes. But I'm willing to take that risk, and I'm prepared to admit that I could be wrong. But I don't think I am wrong. So here's what I have to say: There is a sense in which the source of your wound is potentially also the source of the "medicine" that will heal the wound. What hurt you could fix you. But you must be careful not to interpret this masochistically. You can't afford to be too literal. I'm not saying that the source of your pain is trustworthy or has good intentions. Be cagey as you learn how to get the cure you need.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The prestigious New England Journal of Medicine published a study with a conclusion we might expect to see in a tabloid newspaper or satirical website. It reported that there is a correlation between chocolate consumption and Nobel Prizes. Those countries whose citizens eat more chocolate have also produced an inordinate number of Nobel laureates. So does this mean that chocolate makes you smarter, as some other studies have also suggested? Maybe, the report concluded. Since it is especially important for you to be at the height of your mental powers in the coming weeks, Leo, why not experiment with this possibility?