HOOPLA HOROSCOPES. WEEK OF AUGUST 30

Your weekly Hoopla Horoscopes, brought to you by prophet, astrologer and natural-born storyteller, Rob Brezny.

Week beginning August 30, 2012

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In the creation myths of Easter Island’s native inhabitants, the god who made humanity was named Makemake. He was also their fertility deity. Today the name Makemake also belongs to a dwarf planet that was discovered beyond the orbit of Neptune in 2005. It’s currently traveling through the sign of Virgo. I regard it as being the heavenly body that best symbolizes your own destiny in the coming months. In the spirit of the original Makemake, you will have the potential to be a powerful maker. In a sense you could even be the architect and founder of your own new world. Here’s a suggestion: Look up the word “creator” in a thesaurus, write the words you find there on the back of your business card, and keep the card in a special place until May 2013.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): When novelist James Joyce began to suspect that his adult daughter Lucia was mentally ill, he sought advice from psychologist Carl Jung. After a few sessions with her, Jung told her father that she was schizophrenic. How did he know? A telltale sign was her obsessive tendency to make puns, many of which were quite clever. Joyce reported that he, too, enjoyed the art of punning. “You are a deep-sea diver,” Jung replied. “She is drowning.” I’m going to apply a comparable distinction to you, Libra. These days you may sometimes worry that you’re in over your head in the bottomless abyss. But I’m here to tell you that in all the important ways, you’re like a deep-sea diver. (The Joyce-Jung story comes from Edward Hoagland’s *Learning to Eat Soup.*)

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): No false advertising this week, Scorpio. Don’t pretend to be a purebred if you’re actually a mutt, and don’t act like you know it all when you really don’t. For that matter, you shouldn’t portray yourself as an unambitious amateur if you’re actually an aggressive pro, and you should avoid giving the impression that you want very little when in fact you’re a burning churning throb of longing. I realize it may be tempting to believe that a bit of creative deceit would serve a holy cause, but it won’t. As much as you possibly can, make outer appearances reflect inner truths.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In Christian lore, the serpent is the bad guy that’s the cause of all humanity’s problems. He coaxes Adam and Eve to disobey God, which gets them expelled from Paradise. But in Hindu and Buddhist mythology, there are snake gods that sometimes do good deeds and perform epic services. They’re called Nagas. In one Hindu myth, a Naga prince carries the world on his head. And in a Buddhist tale, the Naga king uses his seven heads to give the Buddha shelter from a storm just after the great one has achieved enlightenment. In regards to your immediate future, Sagittarius, I foresee you having a relationship to the serpent power that’s more like the Hindu and Buddhist version than the Christian. Expect vitality, fertility, and healing.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In Lewis Carroll’s book Through the Looking Glass, the Red Queen tells Alice that she is an expert at believing in impossible things. She brags that there was one morning when she managed to embrace six improbable ideas before she even ate breakfast. I encourage you to experiment with this approach, Capricorn. Have fun entertaining all sorts of crazy notions and unruly fantasies. Please note that I am not urging you to actually put those beliefs into action. The point is to give your imagination a good work-out.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I’m not necessarily advising you to become best friends with the dark side of your psyche. I’m merely requesting that the two of you cultivate a more open connection. The fact of the matter is that if you can keep a dialogue going with this shadowy character, it’s far less likely to trip you up or kick your ass at inopportune moments. In time you might even come to think of its chaos as being more invigorating than disorienting. You may regard it as a worthy adversary and even an interesting teacher.