ARIES (March 21–April 19): Electra is an action-packed story written by ancient Greek playwright Sophocles. It features epic characters taking drastic action in response to extreme events. In contrast to that text is Marcel Proust’s novel In Search of Lost Time, which draws from the author’s experiences growing up, coming of age, and falling in love, all the while in quest for meaning and beauty. Author Virginia Woolf compared the two works, writing, “In six pages of Proust we can find more complicated and varied emotions than in the whole of Electra.” In accordance with the astrological omens, I recommend that for now you specialize in the Proustian mode rather than the Sophoclean. Your feelings in the next five weeks could be as rich and interesting and educational as they have been in a long time. Honor them!
TAURUS (April 20–May 20): Researchers in Maryland have created a new building material with a strength-to-weight ratio that’s eight times better than steel. It’s an effective insulator, and in some forms can be bent and folded. Best of all, it’s biodegradable and cost-effective. The stuff is called nanowood, and it is derived from lightweight, fast-growing trees like balsa. I propose that we make it your main metaphor for the foreseeable future. Why? Because I think you’re primed to locate or create your own version of a flexible, durable, robust building block.