“When valor preys on reason,
It eats the sword it fights with.”
Enobarbus in Antony and Cleopatra [II.xiii.198]
Mercury RX this week….
And Feb. 26 is St. Porphyry’s Day, a saint known for her crusade against the idolatry in ancient Rome. It’s said that statues of Venus — often prayed to by love struck girls — crumbled when Porphyry passed by.
Everyone loves a good quiz question. Where was the first indoor swimming pool West of the Mississippi? E-mail a correct answer into headquaters here in Austin, and we’ll see about lining you up with a free, abbreviated FGS Style astrology chart report. Here’s a hint: the answer is actually linked off the home page hotlinks.
Aries : Take a quick breath or two. Maybe move this quick breather into a some deep breathing exercises. In fact, try sitting down for a minute to catch your breath. It’s not an upper respiratory problem right now, it’s just Mars, or maybe it’s Mercury, but the problems are still there. You just have a tendency this week, and this tendency only gets stronger, to act in a rash and hasty manner. Normally, this is a good thing. The problem with this week, and the problem with having Mars in your sign is that your normally very good hasty actions turn into hasty reactions about now. There’s a subtle difference between an action and a reaction. Make note of that difference , and be careful about what you say and do. Don’t be flying off in some new direction before you’ve had a chance to properly assess what the situation really is.
Taurus : I desperately want to promise there is something good going to come out of this week. But unless you’ve done your Saturn homework, and unless you’re just simply doing too much right now, then I can’t promise that there is a lot of good things coming along. Venus winds up the week in a difficult spot for you. Unless you’ve completed the assignment for Saturn Homework. See, Venus is associated with the good things in Taurus, and Venus and Saturn end up with a rather difficult angle between them. Doesn’t bode well. So whatever that assignment was that you missed, that’s probably going to be back this week, and you’re going to get to a chance to review your previous errors so you can get it right this time. Only, you’re going to be like me, and you’re going to be stuck feeling like there just isn’t enough time to properly prepare.
Gemini : You don’t much like me or my forecasts right now. Please, I’m just the messenger, and that’s no reason the beat me mercilessly about the face and neck. Although I might enjoy it. You never can tell. And as long as Mercury is starting tailspin in his current position, you are going to be frustrated to no end this week. He slows down, and that doesn’t slow down your thinking. But it does cause some trouble with your delivery. It’s like talking on an old style cell phone — you keep feeling like your message is fading in and out. Not much to do about that. It’s going to be a long week where there are intermittent periods when you just feel that what you are delivering, the information, just isn’t making it through to the other side. Make notes, and keep them around to refer back to later. You’re going to need to keep some of your wonderful Gemini ideas around for a while.
Cancer : There are Mercury Retrogrades, and then there are Mercury Retrogrades which rank up there with times in your life when there ain’t nothing going right and there is no hope in sight. But the way this one starts out, and the relative position of the Sun to your sign, this isn’t going to be too bad. I mean, the usual warnings all still apply, but this is more like a hint of things to come. In order to properly look at the future with a chart, you occasionally have to delve into the past to see where you’re going. This Mercury Retrograde period is like that. It’s just a little bit of a cosmic review, a chance to figure out just what it is that doesn’t work, and it’s also a chance to begin making plans for the future. These are the edited version of the plans, the one which have been through the copy desk to make sure all your facts are correct. Don’t implement just yet, but do start getting your notes in order.
Leo : I have to combine different schools of astrological thought to arrive at the best prognostication possible. It’s a very unusual scenario for my dear Leo friend. The best thing you can do this week is to accept the fact that things ain’t going to go as you plan them. That’s the sorry side of this scene. The good news is that something is going to go rather well for you. The problem with having something go well, is that it’s not where you expect it to be. It’s not what you think it’s going to be. It’s an unusual situation, sort of like planning a picnic and having it rained out, only to move yourself to different, indoor venue, and have that work out to be the most perfect scenario possible. It could happen this week, just like that. It’s not impossible to ask a Leo to be more flexible, but it is a big jump. And in the long run, it’s worth it, too. This week is going to be weird and full of surprises, but I’m sure most of the surprises are good.
Virgo : This isn’t a time when you should be working with other people. Yes, Mercury does his usual little Retrograde Tango, and this is going to slow down some of the progress you’ve been making lately. In fact, this is a cosmic review period. You know, this close to the start of the new year, I mean, we’re only about seven weeks in the Year 2K, you should be considering making a review of the original plans for the new year, and consider what you want to do for the immediate future. There are a number of good things which might be happening, but you need to go back over your original set of plans for this year and amend your goals. Look at what you wanted to accomplish and consider if that’s really the way you want to go. There have been some changes, and you can refine, fine tune, and generally get a better idea about what you want now. Don’t be afraid to give yourself a little review session.
Libra : There will be a day or two this week when you’re “fit to be tied,” as we might say in Texas. It’s a frustrating day or two, and it probably falls in the middle of the week. You’ve got a good attitude, you’ve got all your plans in order, you’ve got on your best shirt, and you swing by someplace like the coffee shop for a quick cup of joe to get you going on the way to work. Then some fool in front of you in traffic does something stupid, and you get coffee all over you blouse or shirt. When this happens to me, I call it a day, and head to the lake. Regrettably, you’ve got a little too much to do this week, and you don’t seem to have enough time to escape like I can. The good news here, is your upcoming weekend. Suddenly, that shirt comes back from the cleaners, the guy who cut you off in traffic finds you and apologizes, and your boss suggests that you take a day off. So much for the fantasy world, can’t work in all three, but two out of three ain’t bad. So watch the other fools on the road this week, and you might want to skip trying to drive with a hot cup of coffee right now.
Scorpio : You know, despite your best efforts, it feels like there was something definitely amiss during last week’s frivolity concerning the holiday with the little hearts and arrows thing. It feels like there was something that didn’t quite line up right. That being said, what didn’t work well last week starts to work this week. It’s just further proof, in your Scorpio mind, that there is a universal guiding force, and that this universal guiding force has a bizarre (strange, twisted, unusual, sarcastic) sense of humor. One of my hard-learned lessons was to never, ever make fun of a Scorpio. This week, and with the relative movement of the planets and such, you’re going to feel like someone, someplace is mocking you. To get the record straight, it ain’t me. I know better. But if you can realize that this is gentle chiding rather than a brazen mockery, then you’ll feel a little better. If you can laugh at the way the universe is timing this surprise, then it’s really okay.
Sagittarius : The only way to face a week like this is to start out with a smile on your face and a spring in your step. The State Flower of Texas is the Bluebonnet, and it’s a lovely wildflower, and it’s a Lupine. As near as I could tell, the flower’s Latin name is derived from the word meaning wolf and that refers to the teeth-like petals of the flower. The Bluebonnets are making a weak but valiant comeback in South Texas already, and that should be a cause for joy in your Sagittarius life. Although you start out this week full of everything good, the week slowly dissolves into something that’s not nearly as much fun. It seems to fall apart. Now, the spring in your step and the spring here in Texas is something that you can carry forward, too. Just like those hearty wildflowers, you can continue with your merry Sagittarius attitude. Hamlet said it best, “Why, then ‘t is none: to you; for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so” (II.ii.360). Do those pretty little teeth bite you this week, or do you enjoy their beauty? Something with a little bite can be fun, ask a Scorpio or try my brand of coffee.
Capricorn : There are good days this week. And there are less than wonderful days this week, too. You get to make up your mind which kind of day you’re going to have, each day. The nice thing about this week is it’s very much like a computer. Every time you turn it off and reboot, it’s like starting out all over again. In theory, each day is a fresh, new day. On paper, this looks like a wonderful opportunity. The real world is often less accommodating, in my own opinion. And I’m afraid you’re going to have at least one day during this time which feels like yesterday’s troubles never went away. If you have to encounter such a situation, though, remember the computer analogy, and just start that day all over again. There is a good bit of useful energy which wraps the week up, you just have to decide that it’s useful.
Aquarius : As long as Venus is in Aquarius, and as long as Mars is in Aries, you have the most wonderful little tickle coming in from the planets. And these two little love planets are going to be doing a nice form of the Texas Two Step with your heart. Or maybe it’s not really your heart, but you still have the residual Valentine’s feelings left over. It’s a little flutter in your stomach. It’s a little sensation that you get which means that there is something going to be happening. It’s like that feeling I get when the tip of a fishing pole bends sharply, and the line gets real taut. It’s a strong indication that I’ve hooked something. Your challenge this week, in Aquarius land, is to decide which end of the pole you’re on. Are you the one getting hooked? Or are you the one reeling them in? Either scenario works, though.
Pisces : In Texas, the preferred form of transportation is a truck. A pickup truck. And it’s a thoroughly utilitarian vehicle. The bed is generally got some straw matted down, maybe some odd construction materials, and a spare tire. The older the tuck gets, usually the worse it looks. But they keep on running. This week, your truck is a question. Have you been using it too much? Does it require a little bit of Tender Loving Care? Wouldn’t it be nice to run it out to the oil change place, and get its innards all spruced up? These things are serious considerations. Failure to pay attention to your preferred form of transportation could result in an untimely failure of said transportation. The nicest thing about a good truck, though, is the fact that it is really easy to work on. I just figure a little preventive maintenance this week will go a long way to making your truck a happy camper.
