For the Week of: 5/22-28/2003
“A good man’s fortune may grow out at heels.”
Shakespeare’s King Lear [II.ii.160]
Mercury may not be “retrograde” but that doesn’t suggest he’s actually out of his own shadow. Give matters a few days for the dust to settle.
Gemini: So a friend of mine wandered into a local place of business. According to my buddy, his accountant told him to, “Go spend some money,” as his business was doing pretty well. My buddy, ordered to spend, went looking to redecorate his offices. The sales clerk at the office store didn’t take him seriously and brushed him off. I mean, he was looking to spend some serious money. He was also dressed in what we call “formal wear” around here, shorts, sandals, grubby band T-shirt.
You get the picture? Now, on his way out of the store, he runs into a business associate, a local, high-powered, marginally famous lawyer. They exchange pleasantries, promise to have “your people call my people,” and after my bud had left, the lawyer gets stuck explaining who the bum was. Not a bum, but successful local personality.
That clerk, misjudging a Gemini, missed redecorating two offices, plus the home office, so everything would match. You know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but this applies over the next few days, are you like that clerk? Or are you like my buddy? Just because Mercury is no longer backwards doesn’t mean there isn’t room for some misunderstandings.
Cancer: Lycanthropy. Know the term? It’s a lot more palatable than it’s more common phrasing, “werewolf.” In the mythology of Lycanthropy, a person turns into a wolf or wolf-like critter, during the Full Moon. Play some eerie music now. Listen for a howl. I tend to write for a week at time, but as I was looking forward to what you’ve got coming up, it’s a lot like that werewolf thing.
Not now, not this weekend, not next week, but at the next full moon [around Friday the 13th?]–you’re going to go through a radical transformation. Seeing as how I’m a cat person, I don’t find anything attractive about dogs, pure bred, mutts, poodles, or wolves. I do feel a certain kinship for coyotes, but those guys are usually pretty small. You’re upcoming transformation can either be good or bad, depends on what you do to prepare. However, there’s no time better than now to start getting ready for the lycanthropy transformation. It’s a lunar thing, and you do understand that.
Leo: I’ve been from one tip of Texas to the other. From the northern extreme to southern extreme, Amarillo to Harlingen. Not long ago, I did the East-West shuffle, too. From Deep East Texas [Louisiana] to El Paso, I’ve traveled by rail, by old truck, by plane. Personally, I prefer planes. That kind of distance? Planes only make good sense. “It’s five hours in truck, or it’s 45 minutes on a commercial jet.” So my choice is obvious. With the way airports are these days, I’ve found that it helps to have something to occupy my time, while I’m waiting in the lines.
Watch people. Watch how they travel. There’s always one business suit person, trying to fit a week’s worth of clothing, a full briefcase, a computer carry-all, a newspaper, and a cup of high-powered airport coffee, all into a single carry-on package. Doesn’t work. Truly seasoned pros, like myself, we’ve got it down to the simplest, most direct way to travel. But I’m always watching, shopping for ideas. If there’s an easier way to do this, I want to know. I’m suggesting that you take time to pause, stop what you’re doing, and look around. Observe. What I’ve discovered so far, I always carry a toothbrush with me. Don’t need much else, but having that item is helpful. That and the computer. The real trick is to see how little you can get by with. Take time out to observe your fellow travelers and see what you can pare away. No need to add extra stuff to your baggage.
Virgo: I’m tempted to dig up an old “Holy Grail” allusion now. It would be so perfect. I’m not talking about British comedy, either, but the original tales about the Grail, and the knights who went gallivanting all over the place trying to find said grail. And then, there’s the epic poetry, descended from the medieval French stuff, which was written about the knights all traipsing across the countryside, in search of that grail. Good stuff, but a bit to steeped in romantic notions for our purpose.
Yes, you’re looking for a Virgo Grail, and yes, you might just find it in the next week or two. One of the myths about the Grail talks about a virtuous knight who did find the grail, and he failed to ask the right question at the right time. Don’t let that happen to you. You might think your own questions are annoying, but you could blow a good chance to learn, and help, someone else–as long as you ask the right questions. The Virgo Quest is on. Go and get yourself a holy grail of some kind. At least, go looking.
Libra: I’d predict, balls-out, wide open, good stuff for you guys, but there’s a catch. The catch is only the phase of the moon, and she’s not being kind. But other than the slightly emotional tone to the times, other than creeping sentimentality, there’s a goodly amount of wonderful stuff happening all over the place. Structure is an important part of this equation. There are certain rules that are in place for a reason. There’s a reason why certain conventions must be followed.
I thought about this as a decent Libra sent me a note, letting me know what was going on, and that Libra had a correction for me. Following a tried and true Libra convention, the note was polite, funny, witty, and grammatically correct. I was called to task for errors, but it was so well put, that I didn’t mind it all.
When events and people conspire to ruin a perfectly good period of Libra time, follow the tried and true convention about Libra, and how you guys are always supposed to be so nice all the time. See if that doesn’t get you what you want–a whole lot faster than hollering, yelling screaming and getting upset.
Scorpio: There’s a local restaurant, a place where the mythology and marketing hype far outstrip the quality of the food or the strength of the margaritas. One of their self-effacing slogans, emblazoned on the wait staff’s shirt, “Where quality is only a slogan.” It’s a tricky marketing point of view, because, frankly, I’ve always judged the whisky to be a little watered down, the food, while it’s okay, their grub has never lived up my expectations. It’s not that fiery, nor, for that matter plentiful. Just okay.
I didn’t say it was bad, and some of the marketing stuff they do is pretty unusual. But still. The place doesn’t live up to its legendary status. You’ve got to be careful, when making marketing statements, you want to make sure you can live up to your legendary Scorpio status. I have nothing but absolute faith in your Scorpio self. But my absolute faith doesn’t always translate into something that works for you. I’d be extra careful about making fantastic claims these days. You don’t want to live up to a line like their shirts, “Where quality is only a slogan.”
Sagittarius: I’ve got a black, formal cowboy hat. Don’t wear it often, but when I do put it on, I tend to pull it down low over my eyes. It gives me a spooky, Scorpio look. At least, I’d like to think that it gives me a spooky, Scorpio look. After the spring arrives in Texas, though, I tend to leave the heavy felt hat on the shelf.
Unless you’re male, living in certain non-metropolitan areas of Texas, and this type of headgear really fits your style, then I doubt you’ll be donning this sort of attire. But imagine, if you will, that you’ve got a big, black felt hat on, and imagine that you’re pulling it down low over your eyes, and imagine that you’re trying for that scary, Scorpio look. You’ve got a secret, I’ve got a secret, and we both have a mysterious power, almost within our grasp. Play the poker face these days. Play it slow and easy. Play like you’re not about to show what you’ve got hidden.
Capricorn: My long-time feline companion, the cat, has provided me with an endless source of material. She’s a little different from a usual cat, in that, after years in a small trailer with me, she’s gotten quite close. At least, at times, she’s gotten quite close. As such, she’s had a behavior pattern that doesn’t quite fit a normal cat pattern. To me, she’s a little less aloof. She communicates, with her own cat language, more frequently. It’s usually just a plaintive mewling, as she wonders why the food dish is empty, or, since she’s at that point where I have to get “old lady” cat food for her, she’s been known to express displeasure about the taste.
Can’t say I blame her, either, the stuff looks lot like sawdust pellets. “But honey,” I tell her, “it’s good for your urinary tract; says so on the package.” Then she does become very cat-like, and she spends some time ignoring me. Pointedly ignoring me even though, I really do have her best interests in my heart. Look: ignoring people sometimes works really well. You might want to try the cat’s approach.
Aquarius: I’ll promise one thing, you get a little break. I’d gone to listen to some “old timer” rock show, you know, aging rock stars, guys who were obviously over the hill, and still touring, hoping to sell a few more CD’s? Halfway through the show, they all took a break. There were bottles of water, not beer bottles, not whiskey bottles, like in the days of yore, and the lead signer, for this break, he starts to walk off stage. He comes back to the microphone, and says, “If there was something you meant to do before the show, now’s the time to do it.” Then he grinned.
Okay, so I was also one of the youngest people I the audience, I was there for the historical value of the performance, and there’s a good chance these guys will never tour again. But you never can tell. So you get break, like that band, halfway through some problem, you get a break like that. If there’s something you meant to do earlier? During that break you get? That’s the time to care of the business.
Pisces: You’re inclined to have this slightly cranky disposition, especially this weekend. It’s not really you, it’s just that you get the feeling that you’re working in vacuum, and no one seems to be paying attention to you. The way they should be paying attention to your fine, Pisces self. My oh my, but you’re looking well these days. [Always have to pander to the masses that way.]
Regrettably, I’m about the only one who’s going to notice that your Pisces self is looking well. Hey, there’s a weird trigger point coming up, it’s rapidly approaching, and the rest of us? [Read; Non-Pisces.] We’re just digging out from the last Mercury thing, and we’re not all happy yet. Maybe, just maybe, this is a good time to be ignored. If you’re not transparent these days, you might wind up wishing you were.
Aries: It was a weekend, a few weeks, back, here in Austin, and I had nothing to do. Not going fishing. No readings booked, nothing. I started to look for something, like maybe some music one night or something, and there really wasn’t much playing, at least. Nothing sparked any interest.
I wandered down to a local watering hole, I had high hopes of making time with the bar keep, a comely lass of epic proportions, and she wasn’t working. However, much to my dismay, at first, there was a three-piece band warming up. Stand up bass, fiddle, electric guitar, with a banjo, sitting off to one side. Sort of an interesting combination. No drums, just a couple of “good ole boys” except, they were all rather “youngish,” with that “white boy inner city ghetto” look to them.
Personally, I think that style is more an affectation than anything else, but that could just be me. They went by some strange name, “Drive-by Bluegrass,” or something like that. Pretty cool, actually, when them kids got cranked up and running, it was an amazing, pure, sound. So as the weekend comes running up on you, don’t discount a couple of good ole boys just because they look a little odd. Wait, listen to the music. You might be, like me, uplifted by the sounds. In part, I suspect, some of the music was so good because there was an earnestness. It’s always important to be earnest.
Taurus: Tough stuff. You’re one, tough sign, if there ever was one. That’s for sure. I was trying to find a way to suggest this, without appearing overbearing, or over-generalizing, but you know, there’s just no easy way for me to explain this. At some point, in the coming days, it’s just going to feel like the whole world is against you.
I know, you just got done with a birthday and Mercury and everything, but where a lot of important planets are, their relative position to the Taurus portion of the heavens, it all leaves with a sense that everything is stacked up against you. This is like a cloud on one of those brilliant, sunlit spring days, a single cloud that obscures the light, and the view, for only a moment. And like that cloud, this sense that the whole world is against your Taurus self? That’s going to blow away. It’s drift on to bother other folks.
But: when you’re sitting under that cloud? When you’re face to face with seemingly endless opposition? Don’t panic. Don’t freak out. Slow, calm, steady, easy pacing will keep seeing you through.
