2001 Overview

To: astronet.com
From: astrofish.net
Subject: Year 2001 Overview

"Modest doubt is called/The beacon
of the wise."
Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida [II.ii.15]

There are a couple of big things happening
this year, things to watch out for, things like retrograde planets. While just
about every planet appears to go backwards at one point or another during the
year, last year [Y2K] was unusual because there was not as many retrogrades
as typically occur in a year. This year makes up for it. Call it 2001, the space
oddity.

The year in a Texas-sized pecan shell:

Aries [3. 21 – 4. 19]: The planets
just all seem to be stacked against you and love in the first half of the
year. That’s bad news. No two ways to avoid that. There are, amongst the faithful
readers of FGS, precious few Aries who will escape the dour, downturn, and
despair which all seem to do with romance, especially in the first half of
the year. But wait, before you loathe me too much, look at it this way, maybe
it’s an old fling back to revisit some of the old feelings. Or maybe you just
want to take it easy with the romance section of your sky, and concentrate
on something else, like business. Making money. Earning extra income. Establishing
something good for yourself. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, "Money
won’t buy love — but I understand you can rent it for a little while…."
Not that I’ve found a good place to rent love, but I understand — from my
professional acquaintances — this can be done. Now, with that thought, let
us turn our attention to what happens about the time Leo starts, say late
July and early August: the Mars thing, the stuff he stirred up, all that mud
begins to settle some, and in the river which looks like the Aries life, you
can see the bottom, the water is clearing, and it’s not bad at all. In fact,
for a few months, you’ve got two area of your life: work and romance, which
flow together pretty good. Then, all that money you were making — and saving
— in the first part of the year? Now’s the time to dipping into your cash
reserve, and have some fun with romance. Work slowly grinds to halt as the
year closes out, but the love stuff which left you heartbroken? That mends
itself, thanks to Mr. Mars.

Taurus [4. 20 – 5.20]: It could be worse, I mean, there have been worse years
for Taurus, as a whole. And in particular, there have been worse seasons.
The Venus retrograde thing, in the first portion of the year promises to really
make you uncomfortable as it won’t just bring up the usual stuff, but it will
also bring up some unusual stuff, deep secrets, dark secrets and so forth.
I used to keep a personal, written journal on my computer. Then, one time
when I was out of town, my girlfriend at the time got to poking around on
my machine, and she discovered the journal. She was not happy about some of
the things she read. Hey, some of that stuff was pure fantasy. Some of it
was recollections. Not all of it was factually true. But it gave her enough
ammunition to really build a good case of "Mr. Fishing Guide to the Stars
guy is scum." And then she did fire away. The point of this tale is not
about how sorry I was about having my diary be public, but a cautionary moment
to remind you not to commit anything to print — or any other media — don’t
write it down if you don’t want it seen by someone. Can really get sticky.
Can really get uncomfortable, especially during the Venus backwards time.
After that? Things begin to look up. As long as you make it through the Venus
period without doing something you’ll regret for the rest of the year, then
you’re good to go. Work and bosses, on the flip side of coin I never tossed
at you, but the work scene continues to improve, although, there’s not the
exponential improvement you were hoping for. Still, it’s better and better
all the time.

Gemini [5.21- 6. 20]: You can just gloss over the Venus problem, that’s just
not enough of an influence to worry about. But the Mars thing is going to
sting a little because Mars is opposite you on the wheel, and the Mars going
backwards in the sky will hit like a [little] truck, backing into your relationship
arena. "Arena?" sure, for a Gemini, relationships all involve a
certain amount of performance art, right? Only, don’t plan on much performance,
not during your birthday months. The other big problem this year is the preponderance
of Mercury Retrogrades in Air Signs. That’s not going to make you happy, not
at all. Nothing is worse for a Gemini than to have the correct answer, and
not being able to get anyone to listen to you. It’s frustrating when I know
that you’re right. I figure you’ll be equally frustrated because no matter
how hard you try, during those three Mercurial Mercury Retrograde times, during
the worst of them, just follow this simple advice from my heart to you, just
two simple words: "Shut up." Now, before you start to squeal like
a porcine companion with its hindquarters stuck in the sausage grinder, hear
me out: if you zip it, cap it, put a lid on it, and just shut up, you will
appear to be the wise and wonderful Gemini that you truly are. But failing
to keep you Gemini mouth shut at those times indicates problems. Doesn’t matter
that you were/are right, doesn’t matter. Mercury is determined to make you
appear wrong. So, plan on keeping your communications to yourself during those
times, and then, at the end of the year, plan on sending me a meager portion
of all the money you make because you did keep your mouth shut. Hey, it’s
only fair.

Cancer [6. 21 – 7. 22]: The big noises being made about Venus going backwards,
in her apparent position, as compared to where we are down here on Planet
Earth, that means something to you as it provides a chance to assess your
present relationships, decide whether it’s really worth it or not, and then
do something about it all. I’ll just warn you not to do anything while Venus
is retrograde, other than think about it. And then you don’t want to do anything
while Mars is backwards, either, therefore…. wait. The rest of the year?
Heck, that just plain looks good for you guys. There is a final, pesky little
Moon and Sun dance, oft times referred to as an eclipse, coming up right at
the end of the year, but that’s just bringing in a degree of closure to some
recurrent problem you think you’ve had, and you get to finally slam the door
on the face of the problem. I suppose I should write about Jupiter in your
sign. True story: I was looking at girl’s chart, saw what Jupiter was doing,
and I said, "So you’ve put on a little weight lately…." The result
brings a new interpretation to the term "getting hit on." One might
say her comment was punctuated with a fist. "It doesn’t show, does it?
It’s only two pounds." Personally, I didn’t notice it all. I was examining
the chart, not her. But you get the idea. If you’re worried about it, see,
Jupiter means expansion. Doesn’t have to be weight. But you get the idea,
right? Sure you do. Plan on starting to expand your horizons for the latter
months of the summer, after your birthday and all. More than one, new avenue
opens up, and be prepared to take it. Travel, hey, that looks good. For you
Cancers not in Texas, consider a trip down here in the fall — after it cools
off some, and when you’re less inclined to hit me.

Leo [7. 23 – 8. 22]: The dynamic duet between two other fire sign retrograde
actions, one would be Ms. Venus in Aries, the other would be Mr. Mars in Sag,
that little rear guard action is going to feel a lot like it’s the early 1980’s
all over again. Not that I’m one to relive old glory days, but to be honest,
the results were rather gory, not glory. The tone of the spring, and early
summer, as far as gentle Leo is concerned, is none too good, not at first.
I mean, the year starts out okay, then Middle March, everything seems to go
upside down. Some Leo’s accept this. Others find it less to their liking.
I’d suggest, since you have the foresight to read this, then you’re one of
the ones who will not take kindly to the upside down nature of the coming
spring time and early summer events. Tough. Then, there’s also that pernicious
little Mercury thing in February, and since it’s directly opposite you, even
though it’s not really in your sign, you’re not going to like that whole month.
So most of February is shot, part of March, on into April, then mid-May through
July. Shut up for a second, before you start bemoaning your fate, remember,
I’m Sagittarius, I have it worse than you, so stop whimpering. See: about
the time the Leo birthday party season rolls around, about the time you begin
to think everything is gone for the whole year, you get a break, and all that
stuff you’ve been struggling with for so long ceases to be a struggle. From
there, forward, nothing but good times. And because the little retrograde
windows are small planets, and since the times are smaller than what you expect,
it won’t be that bad. But don’t complain, some of the other Fire Signs get
it worse than you do. Just make sure you have your back up plans in place
before the first of this starts, means, enjoy January, then get ready for
a long, twisting slide down the mountain.

Virgo [8. 23 – 9. 22]: There’s this perfectly horrible thing which happens
at work this spring. Something bad. I know I really shouldn’t suggest that,
and I’m not looking to get you in trouble, but dear, sweet, ever so kind and
gentle Virgo, look out. Cover your backside. If you’re a guy, make sure your
fly is closed before you go back to the office. If you’re a female, well,
I don’t have an appropriate simile for you, but you get the drift here. It’s
that Venus thing, and it’s bound and determined to make some point during
that six week hiatus, it’s bound to make some serious difficulties at work.
Naturally, you do everything in triplicate, so you’re got your notes, schedule
book, and so forth to fall back on, right? I just want you to have a gentle
landing, not a hard one. Regrettably, the planets are determined to make something
go horribly awry during this time. Deal with it. Cope. Then there’s this Mars
thing happening, and it’s like that, only maybe a little worse. No, not the
whole time, but some point during the "Mars going backwards" period,
you’ve got an uncomfortable spot coming along. Make sure it isn’t like what
happened to me, about two Mars retrogrades ago: see I was flirting online
with two girls, both worked at the same company, but it was big company, so
they didn’t know each other, right? Wrong-a-mundo, bait breath (what my name
became, afterwards). I sent them both a proposal of marriage, sent them both
a pledge of my undying and unyielding love, and those two people were in cubicles
right next to each other. Eventually, after Mars [and lots of fast talking
by me] got out of its retrograde pattern, I did succeed in rescuing one relationship.
But it wasn’t hopeful. The problem? I just copied the same message over, to
both of them, and they compared notes, and I was dirt. Don’t try my dirty
tricks. Take a lesson from me, especially during the spring fling months.
After that? Things are good.

Libra [9. 23 – 10. 22]: One of Pa Wetzel’s favorite expressions, he’s Libra
you know, one of his favorite expressions is, "Let’s put on our thinking
cap." And that’s useful expression for this year. For the whole year,
not just part of it. You’re not going to like what I have to say, but if you
listen carefully, I’ll explain it all. In fact, I’ll type slowly so you can
keep up. Mercury’s pattern this year is Air, and it ends in Libra. The eclipses,
what few there are, they are Cardinal, not good for you. The retrogrades,
one’s opposite you (Venus) and the other (Mars), well, you’ll just have to
trust me on this, it’s not where you want it to be. Imagine everything I’ve
ever written about Mercury Retrograde, the amusing mishaps and miscommunications,
but then, parts of my life are just like a comedy routine anyway. Imagine
all that wrapped up into a whole year. No, it’s not bad, not if you learn
to laugh at some of this stuff. There are no major obstacles with the year,
but there are a lot of minor ones, and all most all of this has to do with
your communications process. It’s like no one understands you. No, it’s not
like this all year, but it is like this about ten months out of twelve. "Those
are not acceptable parameters," the Libra says. Hey, I’m just telling
you, you’re going to have more trouble than usual getting people to understand
you, that’s all. So shall we now don our thinking cap, and see what we can
come up with? It means you should take out a reporter’s style notebook, and
start scribbling notes. All the time. About everything. The one piece of information
that you desperately need, that one little fact you need to lay your hands
on, you need to have it written down someplace. And given the nature of the
2001 Mercury Cycle, I would suggest pencils, not pens. Pens tend to leak ink
at the worst possible time. Hope? There’s plenty of that. While all this stuff
is going on, you’re, as my British friends say, "Bloody Brilliant!"
The catch is, about ten of the next twelve months, no one besides me understands
that. It’s okay, your day is coming. Promise.

Scorpio [10. 23 – 11. 21]: As much as you think you want to travel in this
coming year, might I suggest a different plan, a different approach? As much
as you want to get up and go, the appeal of the couch at home, the things
going on at home, and the Scorpio trailer, that all needs a little extra attention.
There’s this one trailer, I wouldn’t want to suggest it was owned by a Scorpio,
but there you have it, and this one trailer, here at Shady Acres Trailer Park,
last year, the AC unit was leaking a little, just around the seams, and just
on the top of the trailer. But this little leak had an annoying tendency to
drip water into the kitchen at the worst time, and there was that persistent
"drip pause pause drip pause drip" noise. Not so much a regular
beat, either, just something which was terribly annoying. And it didn’t do
a lot of damage, but it was a problem. Now, before the warm months get here,
like around late April, consider getting your AC repair guy out there to look
at this unit. Consider getting it fixed. Make that a priority. If you’re traveling,
and leaving the trailer at home, then you’ll never remember to get it fixed
before the big heat of the summer gets here, then you are truly, and most
egregiously in deep trouble. No AC guy — leastways, not here in Texas —
would ever think about just billing you for a regular house call when the
temperature is close to a hundred, inside and out. In fact, the amount of
the bill seems directly linked to how fast they get the place cooled down
again. So there’s this one problem, you should fix it now before it gets worse,
and since you don’t believe me anyway, you’ll put it off. Go on, go ahead,
leave the country, see if we care, but when you come back, in the middle of
the summer, be prepared to deal with home repairs you should’ve fixed before
you left. That’s what I’m here for, to remind you. After you save money by
staying home for the first part of the year? Remember me? I couldn’t afford
to get my AC fixed in the spring, and it’s getting really warm in this trailer,
and I need a little help.

Sagittarius [11. 22 – 12. 21]: Aspects of my social life seem to be lived
out in various public forums, ask the sheriff. Or game warden, as the case
may be. But there are some aspects of my life which I try to keep private
and way from prying eyes. "Inquiring minds want to know," is what
one girlfriend told me. The reason for the emphasis on my social life is that
it makes a wonderful metaphorical device for the coming year. The two retrogrades
of note are Venus and Mars. Venus in a compatible fire sign (Aries) and Mars
right here in Sag. The little Venus thing, that six week period in the spring
time, that’s like a warm up, a little prelude to what the summer’s news will
be like. It’s a, euphemistically speaking, "shot across the bow"
of good ship Sagittarius. Just a little warm up, maybe a little warning, too.
The relationship arena seems to be lacking suitable players at this time.
The big deal, though, is not Venus. Shoot, she’s nothing. That’s a warm up.
She just leaves us stranded, not destitute. Mars, however, that’s whole different
story. See: Mars whacks Pluto upside the head. Then Mars begins a journey
from there, the halfway point in Sag, to the very end, right up to the 29
degree point. And from there? Could Mars slide on over in Cap? Sure. But he
doesn’t. He just sits there, and then gradually starts moving in a direction
which is opposite everything else in the heavens. So in by the end of May,
we’re thinking, "This just can’t get any worse." Yes, yes it can.
Mercury spends most of June retrograde, opposite Sagittarius, in Gemini. For
all intents and purposes, Mars goes back to the same place where Pluto started
his backwards motion in March. Get the picture? Every time you feel like you
might be getting ahead, something else crops up, and there always looks like
there is no hope. Before you get too upset, remember, I just report where
the planets are, not the outcome. So the Spring, then the Summer begins to
all sound like a modern Country and Western song, "She left me, took
the dog, and I sure do miss that dog…." Wait, there’s more. The Mars
clean up period isn’t over until the first week of September. And no sooner
does Mars finally start to bring some good stuff than, there’s another Mercury
Retrograde, the previously alluded one in Libra. Stop whining. Hits me worse
than you. The deal is, our collective, Sagittarius love lives will not be
very smooth. Fortunately, we can always adapt. Long about the end of October,
the social scene becomes a sudden blur of good stuff. Suddenly, that year
long problem with love is clearing up. But no sooner does the love life start
to turn around than the money thing hits the skids. November, remember? Jupiter…
from my old desk top publishing days, I have sign, "You can have it 1] right away 2] correct 3] cheap. Pick two." Pick two for your own Sag
life, we ain’t going to get all three.

Capricorn [12. 22 – 1. 29]: It could be because I was raised, in part, with
a traditional side of my family which is from the Deep South (Georgia). It
could be because I was born and raised in Texas. It could be the parts of
my chart which are in Capricorn, too. Means I have just enough of that weird
and wacky, droll, dry, off beat Capricorn sensibility. Even call it risibility,
too. The deal is, you’re going to spend a lot of this year looking at your
own Capricorn life, and wondering why more people aren’t as amused as you
are. The active life inside your Capricorn brain, that full featured, surround
sound, 360 degree viewscreen, that little motion picture (looks like a drive-in
to me), that inner life is rich, varied, and full of many attributes which
amuse you. More than any other sign, you guys get to laugh at this year. Might
come across as being a mean spirited laugh, where it looks like you’re taking
advantage of some else’s problem, but that’s the inherent nature of comedy:
someone always gets hurt. The trick is to pick on someone who either really
deserves it, or someone who can laugh right along with your strange tastes.
Yes, Capricorn is going to be a little weirder than usual. But unlike the
other signs, this isn’t really that bad. There’s a plodding, pedantic sense
which is often associated with this sign, your sign, Capricorn, the Sea Goat.
Your goat-like attributes, those stand you in good stead at this point. Most
of the year, to be precise. There’s the usual little ups and downs, the vagaries
associated with the little shifts in the planets, but it’s that inside life,
the interior movie projection booth, that stuff now showing on your interior
screen which works best. At more than one point, it will bring up sad times,
bad times, and then glad times. "So it’s sad, then bad, then glad?"
Not exactly, you have to understand that the subconscious is a tricky area
of life, and it’s even more tricky for you. I would never advise you to delve
into this dark side of your psyche without proper adult supervision, but you
know, you were an adult once, and you can just pretend you’ve got a guardian.
In fact, you do have a guardian angel, almost all year long. Just remember,
you’re little guardian angel has a weird sense of Capricorn humor. Laughter,
it’s your best tool — all year long.

Aquarius [1. 20 – 2. 18]: The hammering starts next door, around your birthday,
and it will feel like, at some point in the summer, that this infernal racket
will never, ever let up. It will, from time to time, but then the hammering
starts again. I used to live in an apartment complex, when I was much younger
and infinitely more foolish, way up yonder in North Austin. Is this important?
Yes, because I lived above some night owls. More night owlish than me, to
be precise. It was not unusual to come out at ten in the morning, and find
the gentlemen, and their various com padres, still hanging out from the night
before, still drinking out of bottles in brown bags. Not exactly a great place
to live. Or, like the hammering thing you’ve got most of this year, it was
nothing for them to apparently decide to redecorate their place at 2 or 3
in the morning. I could always tell by the vocal tone of the discussion, it
was a spirited conversation about where to move various pieces of furniture.
Got to be I could sleep through this sort of noise. Rent was cheap, so it
was part and parcel of the location. Now, you’ve got a year, well parts of
the year, when it feels like you’re living in my old apartment complex. And
complex it is. The problem is not you, it’s the neighbors, or other outside
forces with no respect for your schedule. I’d just figure all of this was
caused by Mercury going retrograde. Several times over. You get the worst
of it at the first half of the year. After that, folks become a little more
inclined to listen to you. Therein is the good news — eventually, folks will
come around to understanding what you’re trying to communicate. But at first?
Not a chance. Instead of wasting energy like I used to, I would pound on the
floor of the apartment — the jokers underneath me would just pound back —
instead of spending a lot this year worrying about something which is completely
out of your control, try the next step. Calling the police? No, that won’t
work. No, just roll over and pull your pillow over your head. This serves
two purposes: one, it drowns out the noise and two, if the sky starts falling,
your most precious Aquarius head is protected. Quiet and clam returns late
in the year. Until then? Learn to put up with folks not doing what you think
they should be doing.

Pisces [2. 19 – 3. 20]: One thing is for sure, my name will be "Mud"
in the middle of the summer, down here in Texas. I will have a spot reserved
for me on the bottom of a certain Pisces’s list of people to avoid, throw
stones at, maybe even call me up and shout at my answering machine. Or the
receptionist. And is that really fair? It’s not me, it’s one, little planet
and all he’s doing is making your life a little more rocky than you truly
deserve. You just thought you’ve lived the blues, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Sometime, at one point, between June and August, you will lash out in anger
at someone who, at the time, you feel like rightfully deserves the full attention
and all the wrath you can muster up. I just hope I’m out of town when this
happens. Given my luck and the way the year looks for me, probably not. The
deal is Mars, and no other planet does much which is hard for you, but Mars?
He’s on a little warpath. Maybe even a big war path, never can tell. And during
that one moment in the middle of the summer, when it feels like there is a
heat wave, you get your collective Pisces dander up, you get all good and
hot, bothered and other wise distracted, and you let someone — hope it’s
not me — have it. Then you’ll mutter to yourself, "Well, Self, they
had it coming, you know…." Now, I’ve just painted a dire picture and
you’re going to think, "But what a bout the rest of the year?" The
rest of the year, you manage to escape from most of the troubles the rest
of us face. That’s why I’m looking at that one little window, it’s what is
called a "shedwater" event. What could be a better term for my favorite
Mutable Water Sign [Pisces]? Water sign, get it? Oh, never mind. Look, that
point in the middle of the summer? That’s a turning point. That’s the time
when everything changes. That’s when you get over the hump. That’s when it
all starts getting better. That’s when you are down do far that everything
is up. That’s the point when you realize, the easiest way out of the hole
you’ve just dug. the easiest way to get out is to stop digging.

(c) Kramer Wetzel, 2000, 2001