TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “Dear StarMan: I want to be a famous actress like Scarlett Johansson. I know my natural talent is as good as hers, but I’m not especially beautiful. On one of those ‘am I hot or not?’ websites, I was rated 3.2 out of 10. Can you look into my future and see if I’ll ever make it big in Hollywood? And would it help if I got cosmetic surgery? – Taurus Dreamer.” Dear Taurus: It’s a favorable time for you Tauruses to explore ways you might be kidding yourselves about your destiny. So let me ask you this: Does the dream you articulated express the primal truth about your purpose here on earth? Or is it a fantasy your ego has fabricated out of a deluded longing to pursue inappropriate ambitions that won’t satisfy you in the long run? Instead of saying, “I want to be a famous actress,” try this desire on for size: “I want to be a good actress.”

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Very few raindrops are actually raindrop-shaped. A far greater number take the form of doughnuts. These doughnutty raindrops are your power objects, Taurus–your magical symbols. I hope they inspire you to look for the wide-open spaces in the middle of every stormy downpour. I trust they will alert you to the possibility that there’ll be windows of opportunities at the heart of the drizzle.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): As I meditated on your horoscope, I was driving a rented Ford Taurus 90 mph south on California’s I-5. “Give me omens about what Tauruses need to hear,” I asked the Fates. Moments later, a red Infiniti car whizzed by me on the right. The aroma of pig manure from a nearby farm pervaded the air. On the CD player, devotional musician Krishna Das launched a hair-raising hymn to the Goddess. Orange brush strokes appeared in the dusky sky over scissor-shaped mountain peaks, making me feel as if nature had painted a gorgeous canvas for my personal enjoyment. Here’s how I interpret this lush symbolic offering: As you’re gliding along, a message from eternity will speed by you from an unexpected direction. Fertility will be abundant in your life even though it may be pungent. You’ll have rousing contact with a boisterous, masculine form of spirituality. Nature will offer you a gift–a beautiful secret just for you.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Many critics consider Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) to be one of the 20th century’s best composers. He is most famous for “Bolero,” an orchestral piece that was originally written as the accompaniment for a ballet. The stimulus that served as Ravel’s major inspiration for “Bolero” was a visit to a cacophonous steel mill. He’s your role model for the coming week, Taurus. I foresee you drawing creative excitement from events that are rife with noise and commotion. May your messy encounters lead you to produce great work, interesting surprises, or both.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts,” wrote American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. “They come back to us with a certain alienated majesty.” The first part of your assignment, Taurus, is to identify other people’s brilliant creations that remind you of good ideas of your own that you’ve failed to develop. The second part of your assignment is to do something–anything!–to correct for your neglect. Get started on your own masterpiece.