ARIES (March 21-April 19): In 2018, your past will undergo transformation. Your memories will revise and rearrange themselves. Bygone events that seemed complete and definitive will shimmy and shift, requiring new interpretations. The stories you have always told about how you became who you are will have to be edited, perhaps even rewritten. While these overhauls may sometimes be disconcerting, they will ultimately be liberating.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In 2018, people will be drawn to you even more than usual. Some will want you to be their rock—their steady, stable source of practical truth. Some will ask you to be their tonic—their regular, restorative dose of no-nonsense. And others will find in you a creative catalyst that helps them get out of their ruts and into their grooves. And what will you receive in return for providing such a stellar service? First, there’ll be many opportunities to deepen and refine your integrity. To wield that much influence means that you’ll have to consistently act with high-minded motivations. And secondly, Taurus, you’ll get a steady supply of appreciation that will prove to be useful as well as gratifying.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Influences that oppose you will fade as 2018 unfolds. People who have been resistant and uncooperative will at least partially disengage. To expedite the diminishing effects of these influences and people, avoid struggling with them. Loosen the grip they have on your imagination. Any time they leak into your field of awareness, turn your attention instead to an influence or person that helps and supports you. Here’s another idea about how to collaborate with the cosmic rhythms to reduce the conflict in your life: Eliminate any unconscious need you might have for the perversely invigorating energy provided by adversaries and bugaboos. Find positive new ways to motivate yourself.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I predict that in 2018 you will figure out how to get your obsessions to consistently work for your greatest good. You will come to understand what you must do to ensure that they never drag you down into manic self-sabotage. The resolute ingenuity you summon to accomplish this heroic feat will change you forever. You will be reborn into a more vibrant version of your life. Passions that in the past have drained and confused you will become efficient sources of fuel for your worthiest dreams.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Just because you have become accustomed to a certain trouble doesn’t mean that you should stop searching for relief from that trouble. Just because a certain pain no longer knocks you into a demoralized daze for days at a time doesn’t mean that it’s good for you. Now here’s the good news: In 2018, you can finally track down the practical magic necessary to accomplish a thorough healing of that trouble and pain. Make this the year you find a more ultimate cure.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Have you ever nursed a yearning to speak Swahili or Chinese or Russian? The coming months will be an excellent time to get that project underway. Do you fantasize about trying exotic cuisines and finding new favorite foods? I invite you to act on that fantasy in 2018. Is there a form of manual labor that would be tonic for your mental and physical health? Life is giving you a go-ahead to do more of it. Is there a handicraft or ball game you’d like to become more skilled at? Get started. Is there a new trick you’d like to learn to do with your mouth or hands? Now’s the time.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Before the 15th century, European nations confined their sailing to the Mediterranean Sea. The ocean was too rough for their fragile, unadaptable ships. But around 1450, the Portuguese developed a new kind of vessel, the caravel. It employed a triangular sail that enabled it to travel against the wind. Soon, exploratory missions ventured into the open sea and down along the coast of West Africa. Eventually, this new technology enabled long westward trips across the Atlantic. I propose that we make the caravel your symbol of power for 2018, Libra. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you will find or create a resource that enables you to do the metaphorical equivalent of effectively sailing into the wind.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The Aztecs were originally wanderers. They kept moving from place to place, settling temporarily in areas throughout the land we now call Mexico. An old prophecy told them that they would eventually find a permanent home at a site where they saw an eagle roosting on a cactus as it clutched a snake in its talons. There came a day in the 14th century when members of the tribe spied this very scene on an island in the middle of a lake. That’s where they began to build the city that in time was the center of their empire. I bring this to your attention, Scorpio, so it can serve as a metaphor to guide you in 2018. I suspect that you, too, will discover your future power spot—the heart of your domain for years to come.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Not every minute of every day, but when you have had the time, you’ve been searching for a certain treasure. With patience and persistence, you have narrowed down its whereabouts by collecting clues and following your intuition. Now, at last, you know its exact location. As you arrive, ready to claim it, you tremble with anticipation. But when you peel away the secrets in which it has been wrapped, you see that it’s not exactly what you expected. Your first response is disappointment. Nevertheless, you decide to abide in the presence of the confusing blessing and see what happens. Slowly, incrementally, you become aware of a new possibility: That you’re not quite ready to understand and use the treasure; that you’ll have to grow new capacities before you’ll be ready for it in its fullness.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Soulful beauty will be a major theme for you in 2018. Or at least it should be. But I suppose it’s possible that you’re not very interested in soulful beauty, perhaps even bored by it. Maybe you prefer skin-deep beauty, expensive beauty or glamorous beauty. If you choose to follow predilections like those, you’ll lose out on tremendous opportunities to grow wilder and wiser. But let’s hope you make yourself available for a deeper, more provocative kind of beauty—a beauty that you could become more skilled at detecting as the year unfolds.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Let your freak flag fly” was an expression that arose from the hippie culture of the 1960s and 1970s. It was a colorful way to say, “Be your most unique and eccentric self; show off your idiosyncrasies with uninhibited pride.” I propose that we revive it for your use in 2018. I suspect that the coming months will be a favorable time for you to cultivate your quirks and trust your unusual impulses. You should give yourself maximum freedom to explore pioneering ideas and maverick inclinations. Paradoxically, doing so will lead to stabilizing and enduring improvements in your life.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In accordance with the astrological omens, I suggest that you start compiling a list entitled, “People, Places, Ideas and Things I Didn’t Realize Until Now That I Could Fall in Love With.” And then keep adding more and more items to this tally during the next 10 months. To get the project underway in the proper spirit, you should wander freely and explore jauntily, giving yourself permission to instigate interesting mischief and brush up against deluxe temptations. For best results, open your heart and your eyes as wide as you can. One further clue: Act on the assumption that in 2018 you will be receptive to inspirational influences and life-transforming teachings that you have never before been aware of.

Homework: I’d love to see your top five New Year’s resolutions. Share by going to RealAstrology.com and clicking on “Email Rob.”

Q: I’m a 30-something woman, tall and thin, whom friends describe as beautiful. Perhaps for this reason, I’m often confronted with rude social assaults by people who assume things are handed to me on a silver platter. I am financially independent, have a full-time job and own a home and car. I dress and act modestly. Yet, I’m repeatedly insulted by people who suggest I got my job and other benefits because of my looks. What can I do to avoid or deflect these demeaning insinuations?—Not Just Skin Deep

A: Inner beauty, unfortunately, only turns heads of people with X-ray vision: “Excuse me, miss, but has anyone ever told you that you have a very pretty appendix?”

Sadly, complaints about the difficulty of being eye candy in a world of eye kale tend not to engender much sympathy, and researchers haven’t helped matters. There’s a considerable pile of research that has found a “beauty premium” (especially for women)—a bias toward hiring and promoting the hotties of the workforce and, depressingly, an “ugliness penalty” holding back the more Shrekalicious among us.

But it turns out that the methodology behind this slew of findings was a bit overly broad. According to a 2017 paper by evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa and sociologist Mary Still, once you drill down into the details—control for health, intelligence and personality characteristics—you see a more nuanced result: “It appears that more beautiful workers earn more, not because they are beautiful, but because they are healthier, more intelligent.”

Sure, this probably sounds absurd—this association of good looks with intelligence, a winning personality and good health. However, take that last one. It turns out that beauty is more than nice human scenery; it’s also advertising for what’s on the inside. For example, consider the preference across cultures for faces with “bilateral symmetry.”

“Facial bilateral symmetry” is anthropologist-ese for both sides of a person’s face being a strong match. Facial or bodily asymmetry is an indicator of the presence of parasites or disease, and we evolved to be drawn to healthy people, though we just think, “What a pretty face!” and not, “There’s someone who isn’t a foster home for tapeworms!”

In another example, Kanazawa and Still speculate about the personality benefit associated with being pretty (referencing evolutionary psychologist Aaron Lukaszewski’s research): “Because physically attractive children are more likely to experience positive feedback from interpersonal interactions,” they’re more likely to develop an extroverted personality than less physically attractive children.

Getting back to you, just as previous research on “the beauty premium” failed to zoom in on the details, there’s a good chance you’re seeing your problem a little too broadly. Research on sex differences in competition by psychologist Joyce Benenson suggests it’s probably women who are doing most or all of the sneering.

Men—from childhood on—tend to be comfortable with hierarchy and openly duking it out for top spots in a way women are not. Women tend to engage in covert aggression—like with frosty treatment and undermining remarks—in hopes of making another woman dim her own shine and voluntarily relocate lower down the ladder.

The best way to combat such sniping in the moment is to go placid pokerface, treating their comments like lint to brush off.

In the long run, however, your best bet is being somebody who’s hard to hate. Research by behavioral economist Ernst Fehr suggests that it’s in our self-interest to be altruistic. This means, for example, developing a reputation as someone who’s always looking out for your colleagues’ interests—like by tipping off co-workers about opportunities and publicly cheering colleagues’ achievements.

Finally, if I’m right that women are your main detractors, consider Benenson’s observation that women show each other they aren’t a threat through sharing vulnerabilities—revealing weaknesses and problems. Ideally, of course, these should be difficulties along the lines of, “Sorry I’m late. My car’s a useless piece of tin,” and not, “Sorry I’m late. ANOTHER guy drove into a pole looking at me, and I had to wait with him for the ambulance.”

ARIES (March 21-April 19): “I need more smart allies, compassionate supporters, ethical role models, and loyal friends, and I need them right now!” writes Joanna K., an Aries reader from Albuquerque, New Mexico. On the other hand, there’s Jacques T., an Aries reader from Montreal. “To my amazement, I actually have much of the support and assistance I need,” he declares. “What I seem to need more of are constructive critics, fair-minded competitors with integrity, colleagues and loved ones who don’t assume that every little thing I do is perfect, and adversaries who galvanize me to get better.” I’m happy to announce, dear Aries, that in 2018 you will benefit more than usual from the influences that both Joanna and Jacques seek.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In the Scots language spoken in the Scottish Lowlands, a watergaw is a fragmented rainbow that appears between clouds. A skafer is a faint rainbow that arises behind a mist, presaging the imminent dissipation of the mist. A silk napkin is a splintered rainbow that heralds the arrival of brisk wind and rain. In accordance with the astrological omens, I propose that we use these mysterious phenomena as symbols of power for you in 2018. The good fortune that comes your way will sometimes be partially veiled and seemingly incomplete. Don’t compare it to some “perfect” ideal. It’ll be more interesting and inspiring than any perfect ideal.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In 2018, half-buried residues from the past will be resurfacing as influences in your life. Old dreams that you abandoned prematurely are ripe to be re-evaluated in light of what has happened since you last took them seriously. Are these good or bad developments? It will probably depend on your ability to be charitable and expansive as you deal with them. One thing is certain: To move forward into the future, you will have to update your relationships with these residues and dreams.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Poet Diane Ackerman tells us that human tongues, lips and genitals possess neural receptors that are ultra-responsive. Anatomists have given unsexy names to these bliss-generating parts of our bodies: Krause end bulbs, also known as bulboid corpuscles. (Couldn’t they have called them “glimmering rapture hubs” or “magic buttons”?) In any case, these sweet spots enable us to experience surpassing pleasure. According to my understanding of the astrological omens for 2018, Cancerian, your personal complement of bulboid corpuscles will be even more sensitive than usual. Here’s further good news: Your soul will also have a heightened capacity to receive and register delight.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Mise en place is a French term whose literal translation is “putting in place.” When used by professional chefs in a restaurant kitchen, it refers to the task of gathering and organizing all of the ingredients and tools before beginning to cook. I think this is an excellent metaphor for you to emphasize throughout 2018. In every area of your life, thorough preparation will be the key to your success and fulfillment. Make sure that you have everything you need before launching any new enterprise or creative effort.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Experimental composer Harry Partch played one-of-a-kind musical instruments that he made from objects like car hubcaps, gourds, aluminum ketchup bottles and nose cones from airplanes. Collage artist Jason Mecier fashions portraits of celebrities using materials like noodles, pills, licorice candy, bacon and lipstick tubes. Given the astrological configurations for 2018, you could flourish by adopting a similar strategy in your own chosen field. Your most interesting successes could come from using things as they’re not “supposed” to be used. You could further your goals by mixing and matching resources in unique ways.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I wish I could make it nice and easy for you. I wish I could proclaim that the forces of darkness are lined up against the forces of light. I’d like to be able to advise you that the opening months of 2018 will bring you a showdown between wrong and right, between ugliness and beauty. But it just ain’t that simple. It’s more like the forces of plaid will be arrayed against the forces of paisley. The showdown will feature two equally flawed and equally appealing sources of intrigue. And so you may inquire, Libra, what is the most honorable role you can play in these matters? Should you lend your support to one side or the other? I advise you to create a third side.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In 2018, your tribe will be extra skilled at opening things that have been shut or sealed for a long time: Heavy doors, treasure boxes, rich possibilities, buried secrets, shy eyes, mum mouths, guarded hearts and insular minds. You’ll have a knack for initiating new markets and clearing blocked passageways and staging grand openings. You’ll be more inclined to speak candidly and freely than any other generation of Scorpios in a long time. Getting stuck things unstuck will come naturally. Making yourself available for big-hearted fun and games will be your specialty. Given these wonders, maybe you should adopt a new nickname, like Apertura (the Italian word for “opening”), Ouverture (the French word for “opening”), Šiši (Yoruban), Otevírací (Czech), Öffnung (German) or Kufungua (Swahili).

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I predict that the coming months won’t bring you the kinds of opportunities that you were imagining and expecting, but will bring you opportunities that you haven’t imagined and didn’t expect. Will you be alert and receptive to these sly divergences from your master plan? If so, by September of 2018 you will have become as smart a gambler as maybe you have ever been. You will be more flexible and adaptable, too, which means that you’ll be better able to get what you want without breaking stuff and wreaking whirlwinds. Congratulations in advance, my daring darling. May your experiments be both visionary and practical. May your fiery intentions be both steady and fluidic.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Hungarian psychiatrist Thomas Szasz dismissed the idea that a person should be on a quest to “find himself” or “find herself.” “The self is not something that one finds,” he said. Rather, “it is something one creates.” I think that’s great advice for you in 2018, Capricorn. There’ll be little value in wandering around in search of fantastic clues about who you were born to be. Instead you should simply be gung-ho as you shape and craft yourself into the person you want to be.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Is there anything about your attitude or your approach that is a bit immature or unripe? Have you in some way remained an amateur or apprentice when you should or could have become fully professional by now? Are you still a dabbler in a field where you could be a connoisseur or master? If your answer to any of these questions is yes, the coming months will be an excellent time to grow up, climb higher and try harder. I invite you to regard 2018 as the Year of Kicking Your Own Ass.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In 2018, one of your themes will be “secret freedom.” What does that mean? The muse who whispered this clue in my ear did not elaborate further. But based on the astrological aspects, here are several possible interpretations: 1. You may have to dig deep and be strategic to access resources that have the power to emancipate you. 2. You may be able to discover a rewarding escape and provocative deliverance that have been hidden from you up until now. 3. You shouldn’t brag about the liberations you intend to accomplish until you have accomplished them. 4. The exact nature of the freedom that will be valuable to you might be useless or irrelevant or incomprehensible to other people.

Homework: Name 10 items that you would put in a time capsule to be dug up by your descendants in 500 years. Testify at Freewillastrology.com.

Q: I follow you on Twitter, and I was disgusted to see your tweet about marriage, “No, humans aren’t naturally monogamous—which is why people say relationships ‘take work,’ while you never hear anybody talking about what a coal mine an affair can be.” If a person finds fidelity so challenging, they should stay single.—Ethical Married Person

A: Reality has this bad habit of being kind of a bummer. So, sure, that person you married all those years ago still has the capacity to surprise you with crazy new positions in bed—but typically they’re yogi-like contortions that they use to pick dead skin off the bottoms of their feet.

That line you quote, “relationships ‘take work,’ while you never hear … what a coal mine an affair can be,” is actually from one of my old columns. I tweeted it along with this advice: “Don’t just assume you & romantic partner (will) stay monogamous. Maybe discuss how, exactly, you’ll go about that.”

From where I sit—opening lots of letters and emails from cheaters and the cheated upon—this is simply good, practical marriage- (and relationship-) preserving advice. But from some of the responses on Twitter, you’d think I’d suggested braising the family dog.

Though some men and women on Twitter merely questioned my take, interestingly, the enraged responses came entirely from men. Granted, this may just have been due to chance (who was shirking work on Twitter just then), or it may reflect research on sex differences that suggests that men tend to be more comfortable engaging in direct conflict.

However, though evolutionary psychologist David Buss, among others, finds that both men and women are deeply upset by infidelity—or the mere prospect of it—there seems to be a sex difference in who is more likely to go absolutely berserko over it. Buss, looking out over the anthropological literature, observes, “In cultures the world over, men find the thought of their partner having sexual intercourse with other men intolerable. Suspicion or detection of infidelity causes many men to lash out in furious anger rarely seen in other contexts.”

Evolutionary psychologists have speculated that the fierceness of male sexual jealousy may be an evolved adaptation to combat the uniquely male problem of “paternity uncertainty”—basically the “who actually is your daddy?” question. A woman, of course, knows that the tiny human who’s spent a good part of nine months sucker-punching her in the gut is hers. However, our male ancestors lacked access to 23andMe mail-in DNA tests. So male emotions seem to have evolved to act as an alarm system, goading men to protect themselves, lest they be snookered into raising another man’s child.

Unfortunately, aggressive denial of reality is particularly unhelpful for infidelity prevention. It’s especially unhelpful when it’s coupled with feelings of moral superiority. Organizational behaviorist Dolly Chugh and her colleagues find that people’s view of themselves as “moral, competent, and deserving … obstructs their ability” to make ethical decisions under pressure.

So, as the late infidelity researcher Peggy Vaughan advised, “a couple’s best hope for monogamy lies in rejecting the idea that they can assume monogamy without discussing the issue.” They should instead admit that “attractions to others are likely … no matter how much they love each other” and “engage in ongoing honest communication about the reality of the temptations and how to avoid the consequences of acting on those temptations.”

For example: What’s the plan if, say, marital sex gets a little sparse? If the marriage hits a rough patch? If that hot co-worker starts hitting on you when you’re drunk and a little unhappy while on a business trip?

Maybe it seems depressing to discuss this stuff. However, a wedding ring is not an electrified fence. Accepting that is probably your best bet for avoiding emotional devastation and divorce when, 25 years in, a “jug of wine, a loaf of bread and thou” still keeps the old spark alive in bed—but only when supplemented with a well-charged cordless cattle prod.