By Eric Francis
 
Aries (March 20-April 19)
The sad truth is that most people will act not based on what they want or what they think is right, but on the supposition of what they think their friends might think. You can afford to stay centered on your own values, or your own message to yourself, and make some actual decisions -- in particular about who you love, and what you want to do about that love. I suggest that for the foreseeable future, you experiment with the notion that love is not altruistic or about someone else, but is inherently narcissistic. In other words, your story is about you. If someone else fits the theme or pattern of that story, so much the better -- but these are encounters rare enough to find. Until then, the only way to send a clear signal is to be yourself, which means knowing your own desires and stating them honestly.

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Aries and Aries rising here.

Taurus (April 19- May 20)
Your fantasy life may be hotter than your physical experiences now, but I wonder what is standing between the two. What is the barrier? Is it inhibition, or is it the feeling that reality will never match the intensity of your imagination? Or is it a sense of control that you get in your mental world that could never quite happen in your 3D life? I would propose that now would be a fine time to take one thing that's existed in fantasy and take steps to grounding it in real life. You will learn something about yourself when you do: for instance, you will see how these partitions mediate between the 'separate' aspects of who you are. In actually dealing with your inhibitions, you will observe that they're there in the first place. Then maybe you will see the value of moving through several more of them.

Read your 2008 annual for Taurus. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Taurus and Taurus rising here.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)
Mercury is about to take a trip through Aquarius, and this should turn up the kink factor for you. You may currently feel bogged in the necessities of commitment. Yet those contracts only affect what you're supposed to do and feel, not what you actually want. What you want is part of a wide vision that includes having a full-spectrum existence. Be honest with yourself about what you're not getting; and claim back any ideas that you're projecting onto others about why you can't get those needs met. If you ask me, your charts are saying that you need to have the spiritual aspect of sex be on the same par as the physical one. Trading one for the other is not a deal worth making, and nobody who understands the false nature of the compromise would ever do it.

Read your 2008 annual for Gemini. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Gemini and Gemini rising here.

Cancer (June 21- July 22)
An eclipse of the Moon in Leo is here to tell you there's something vitally important that you've never admitted before. Are you ready to be absolutely honest about one of the most valuable qualities you possess? In terms of sexual relationships, the implication is that you are finding your way to your core truth about yourself, and that truth involves a simple scenario about how every relationship you have is an extension of your relationship to yourself. There's a shade of embarrassment that can arrive with this discovery, since relationships are allegedly about everyone else and not you. We all know this is a charade; that we strive to get our needs met whether we're honest about it or not. Yes, you are your lover and there are many people aware of this fact. They need the example you're setting.

Read your 2008 annual for Cancer. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Cancer and Cancer rising here.

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)
One of the strangest properties of the cosmic physical plane is how we take on one another's injuries. We also tend to project our own sense of injury onto others. New people walk into our lives and it's as if they were always there, playing out the drama that's always been played out. Events of the next few weeks will help you see these metaphysical dramas for what they are: basically, a lot of nothing. I am not sure how the rather unusual eclipse in your birth sign is going to manifest for you, but it looks like a great time to allow your sexual pain to be yours, and that of other people to belong to them. In the same gesture, claim your pleasure, and some sense of entitlement to own what you want. You may not feel the right to have that pleasure, not yet, anyway -- but you can certainly claim your right to desire.

Read your 2008 annual for Leo. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Leo and Leo rising here.

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
This strange concept we have of "possessing a self" seems to be meaningful mainly in the context of surrendering that self. We own this cumbersome set of definitions, attachments and needs and then when the time is right, we let them go, usually using an experience with a partner as the factor that induces us to melt the ego's boundaries. You may feel a profound need to do this, a craving so deep that it doesn't resemble anything you've ever felt before. This drive is being fuelled by a deep healing process, though you may not see the way that indulging in deep sexual surrender could have anything to do with helping set your life in order. In fact you may think it's the very last thing you need. The truth is you will not know either way for sure until you are deep into the experience.

Read your 2008 annual for Virgo. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Virgo and Virgo rising here.

Libra (Sep. 22 - Oct. 23)
Creativity is not a neat process, and neither is sexual involvement. Messy does not need to mean toxic. It just means that you dance with the chaos in a way that can seem unsettling to your tie-up-the-loose-ends personality, or which can feel like finally letting yourself settle into a moment of unpredictability and chaos. If you ask me, this is the true nature of sex: it's a portal to a moment of uncertainty, where (as is the case in true art) nobody is certain what's going to be created. Forget your routines. Forget your prior expectations. Most of all, I suggest you let go of your considerable pride. Let an experience of passion be bigger than you, more complex than you can understand, and powerful enough to blow away any of your expectations.

Read your 2008 annual for Libra. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Libra and libra rising here.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
You're entitled to one moment of profound insecurity right now. But that is it. You are in the process of conquering the world, but you can't do that if you're dragging around a lot of tarnished old pseudo-self-esteem. If you can really go there, that is, if you can lay down your considerable worldly confidence and allow yourself a true moment of existential panic, you will blossom emotionally. And you may recover all that fear as a burst of erotic energy that lights up every other aspect of who you are. The thing is that few people would feel that consciously embracing fear could lead to anything productive or positive. They are clueless.

Read your 2008 annual for Scorpio. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Scorpio and Scorpio rising here.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)
It is often said that the sexiest organ is the mind. But who really believes this? Most people would choose the big bulge in the pants or the cameltoe before they went for the superlative IQ. While I'm not sure about the view in the direction of your blue jeans, I can tell you that your mind is in high gear and is definitely the thing to watch. The thing to watch out for is running rings around people. Be smart, but be physical, emotional and sensory. In fact I would stick to the sensory level and allow the brainiac stuff to stay in the background. Your intuition is far more dependable, and you will be more than noticeable for your wits. What the people around you need to know is that you're grounded in reality, and that you really care.

Read your 2008 annual for Sagittarius. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Sagittarius and Sagittarius rising here.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
You may not feel comfortable with the power with which you've recently been bestowed -- and you may not be aware of it quite yet. Try and tell me if it's true. Your words have penetrating power now. People are listening to you, and you can get their attention easily. But it's not really your words; the effect is hormonal. It's going on way below the level of the conscious mind; your process now is to make it conscious, and bring the unspoken world to the level of full awareness. You've recently acquired a new kind of sexual and emotional power, and you need to use it responsibly; and that means with your full attention. Notice how people are responding to you. Don't let false modesty get in the way of that simple observation.

Read your 2008 annual for Capricorn. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Capricorn and Capricorn rising here.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
You feel you're special, but this can be extremely distracting. Neither does it work if you pretend you're ordinary. And it does not help if you declare that everyone is special. They may be, but most people are adept at one thing at least, hiding how special they are. What I suggest you do if you are looking for deeper points of connection is to be aware of ways that you are unique; consider the ways you've been hurt in the past; and stay in contact with what you uniquely need right now. I suggest you treat every encounter with a new person you meet as the drawing back of a curtain. When you meet someone, imagine you're looking at a veil. It's only a matter of time before that veil gets drawn back; and in that moment you will see who you're talking to and be able to reveal who you are.

Read your 2008 annual for Aquarius. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Aquarius and Aquarius rising here.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)
This is one of the most visionary times of your life -- or perhaps one when you've never felt more trapped inside of a vision that you cannot manifest. I can say this: you're a lot further along in your process than you imagine. If you're developing an idea for how you want your life to be (and I do mean your most passionate erotic and creative life), then keep your focus inwardly. You have yet to discover the tipping point where what you align with in your internal world expresses itself as a tangible development in your outer life. This really is a matter of connecting deeply with the truth of who you are, which is often the first thing that we deny or evade. Let yourself be drawn to the strange, the unruly and mostly to the unknown. Gradually enter the space of the unspeakable. Make eye contact with others as you do this. Look for the people whose eyes seem to be questioning you back.

Read your 2008 annual for Pisces. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Pisces and Pisces rising here.