ARIES (March 21-April 19): How did sound technicians create the signature roar of the fictional monster Godzilla? They slathered pine-tar resin on a leather glove and stroked it against the strings of a double bass. How about the famous howl of the fictional character Tarzan? Sonic artists blended a hyena’s screech played backwards, a dog’s growl, a soprano singer’s fluttered intonation slowed down and an actor’s yell. Karen O, lead singer of the band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, periodically unleashes very long screams that may make the hair stand up on the back of her listeners’ necks. In accordance with astrological omens, I’d love to see you experiment with creating your own personal Yowl or Laugh or Whisper of Power in the coming weeks: a unique sound to boost your wild confidence and help give you full access to your primal lust for life.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough,” said Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, ex-President of Liberia. In accordance with astrological imperatives, I propose we make that your watchword for the foreseeable future. From what I can tell, you’re due to upgrade your long-term goals. You have the courage and vision necessary to dare yourself toward an even more fulfilling destiny than you’ve been willing or ready to imagine up until now.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): How did our ancestors ever figure out that the calendula flower can be used as healing medicine for irritated and inflamed skin? It must have been a very long process of trial and error. (Or did the plant somehow “communicate” to indigenous herbalists, informing them of its use?) In any case, this curative herb is only one of hundreds of plants people somehow came to adjudge as having healing properties. “Miraculous” is not too strong a word to describe such discoveries. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, Gemini, you now have the patience and perspicacity to engage in a comparable process: to find useful resources through experiment and close observation—with a hardy assist from your intuition.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Today the city of Timbuktu in Mali is poor and in the throes of desertification. But from the 14th to 17th centuries, it was one of the great cultural centers of the world. Its libraries filled up with thousands of influential books, which remained intact until fairly recently. In 2012, Al-Qaeda jihadists conceived a plan to destroy the vast trove of learning and scholarship. One man foiled them. Abba al-Hadi, an illiterate guard who had worked at one of the libraries, smuggled out many of the books in empty rice sacks. By the time the jihadists started burning, most of the treasure had been relocated. I don’t think the problem in your sphere is anywhere near as dire as this, Cancerian. But I do hope you will be proactive about saving and preserving valuable resources before they’re at risk of being diluted, compromised or neglected.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Moray eels have two sets of jaws. The front set does their chewing. The second set, normally located behind the first, can be launched forward to snag prey they want to eat. In invoking this aggressive strategy to serve as a metaphor for you in the coming weeks, I want to suggest that you be very dynamic and enterprising as you go after what you want and need. Don’t be rude and invasive, of course, but consider the possibility of being audacious and zealous.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): It’s relatively rare, but now and then people receive money or gifts from donors they don’t know. Relatives they’ve never met may bequeath them diamond tiaras or alpaca farms or bundles of cash. I don’t think that’s exactly what will occur for you in the coming weeks, but I do suspect that you’ll garner blessings or help from unexpected sources. To help ensure the best possible versions of these acts of grace, I suggest you be as generous as possible in the kindness and attention you offer. Remember this verse from the Bible: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Libra-born Ronald McNair was an African American who grew up in a racist town in South Carolina in the 1950s. The bigotry cramped his freedom, but he rebelled. When he was 9nine years old, he refused to leave a segregated library, which prompted authorities to summon the police. Years later, McNair earned a PhD in Physics from MIT and became renowned for his research on laser physics. Eventually, NASA chose him to be an astronaut from a pool of 10,000 candidates. That library in South Carolina? It’s now named after him. I suspect that you, too, will soon receive some vindication, Libra: a reward or blessing or consecration that will reconfigure your past.

SCORPIO (Oct. 3-Nov. 21): Scorpio author Zadie Smith wrote, “In the end, your past is not my past and your truth is not my truth and your solution—is not my solution.” I think it will be perfectly fine if sometime soon you speak those words to a person you care about. In delivering such a message, you won’t be angry or dismissive. Rather, you will be establishing good boundaries between you and your ally; you will be acknowledging the fact that the two of you are different people with different approaches to life. And I bet that will ultimately make you closer.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “Nothing fruitful ever comes when plants are forced to flower in the wrong season,” wrote author and activist Bette Lord. That’s not entirely true. For example, skilled and meticulous gardeners can compel tulip and hyacinth bulbs to flower before they would naturally be able to. But as a metaphor, Lord’s insight is largely accurate. And I think you’ll be wise to keep it in mind during the coming weeks. So my advice is: don’t try to make people and processes ripen before they are ready. But here’s a caveat: you might have modest success working to render them a bit more ready.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “For though we often need to be restored to the small, concrete, limited and certain, we as often need to be reminded of the large, vague, unlimited, unknown.” Poet A. R. Ammons formulated that shiny burst of wisdom, and now I’m passing it on to you. As I think you know, you tend to have more skill at, and a greater inclination toward, the small, concrete, limited and certain. That’s why, in my opinion, it’s rejuvenating for you to periodically exult in and explore what’s large, vague, unlimited, unknown. Now is one of those times.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Look into my eyes. Kiss me, and you will see how important I am.” Poet Sylvia Plath wrote that, and now, in accordance with astrological omens, I’m authorizing you to say something similar to anyone who is interested in you but would benefit from gazing more deeply into your soul and entering into a more profound relationship with your mysteries. In other words, you have cosmic permission to be more forthcoming in showing people your beauty and value.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In his Anti-Memoirs, author André Malraux quotes a tough-minded priest who served in the French Resistance during World War II. He spent his adult life hearing his parishioners’ confessions. “The fundamental fact is that there’s no such thing as a grown-up person,” the priest declared. Even if that’s mostly true, Pisces, my sense is that it is less true about you right now than it has ever been. In the past months, you have been doing good work to become more of a fully realized version of yourself. I expect that the deepening and maturation process is reaching a culmination. Don’t underestimate your success! Celebrate it!

San Francisco-based artist Lynn Marie Kirby explores the big picture in her work, offering insights into technology, perception, the flow of time and more in film and multimedia projects.

Ninety-four-year-old poet, philosopher and artist Etel Adnan, who spent decades splitting time between Sausalito and Paris, creates politically charged and culturally rich writings and paintings that draw from her life experiences and surroundings.

The two artists have collaborated on several projects for over 20 years and Kirby shares stories and work from their time together at a presentation on Tuesday, Aug. 20, at the Mill Valley Library.

“I have to say how excited I am to present work at the Mill Valley Library,” says Kirby. “Not only because it’s a beautiful site nestled in the trees, but the library has a particular significance for Etel. She was at the dedication of the granite sculpture outside the library made by Dick O’Hanlon, the husband of Anne O’Hanlon. And it was Anne who started Etel painting.”

Surrounded by an artistic community in Marin, Adnan took particular inspiration from Mount Tamalpais, walking through the park almost daily, painting the mountain many times and in 1985 writing a book—Journey to Mount Tamalpais—that delved into themes of nature, impermanence and spirituality.

Adnan and Kirby meet in the 1990s through a mutual friend, and Kirby says she was already a quiet admirer of Adnan. Between 1996 and 2000, Kirby and her family lived in Paris and spent much more time with Adnan and her partner. The two began collaborating on multi-disciplinary projects like their short video shot in Marin, Under the Linden Trees (2002), which combined projected footage of the two accompanied by live readings.

“We shot it in an alley in Ross under a group of linden trees,” says Kirby. “We bonded over linden trees because they are both in Paris and that alley in Marin.”

Under the Linden Trees will be shown in a new edit at the upcoming presentation, featuring Adnan’s readings in text. Kirby and Adnan re-edited the piece last November in Paris, where Adnan now permanently resides.

That video and the other work that Kirby will touch upon at the presentation often find the two artists reveling in the process of creation itself.

“I think that Etel and I are both quite playful and open to collaboration,” says Kirby. “I think one has to come to a project open to how it will unfold. It’s the process and not necessarily the end result that’s important; the movement.”

The other piece in the presentation is Kirby’s Transmissions (2017), a video and live-reading inspired by Adnan and incorporating the artists’ collaborative drawings and open-ended conversations about Mount Tamalpais. Transmissions will soon be published as a book.

“People know Etel’s writing and her paintings, but they may not know this other playful side,” says Kirby. “Her openness and spirit of collaboration is marvelous.”

Lynn Marie Kirby presents ‘Collaborations with Etel Adnan’ on Tuesday, Aug 20, at Mill Valley Library, 375 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley. 7pm. Free. Reservations recommended. 415.389.4292.