For the Week Starting: 7/17-23/2003
“The summer’s flower is to the summer sweet”
Shakepsare’s sonnet 94 [9]
Latin translation service — “ibam ibi, feci id.”
Cancer: There’s a grudging form of respect that is owed to all Cancer folks. The sign of the Crab is getting stuck with a sordid mess. Life is not good, and the daily toil seems like such an uphill battle. It feels like the odds are against you. But astrologically, the odds really aren’t so bad.
You’ll find that if you get over the heavy sense of burden, toil and despair, you’ll see that good things can happen to you. If you let go of the some of the overbearing sense of burden, life isn’t so bad. I’m pretty much a “catch and release” fisherman. I do it like that for a reason. It’s easier, better, less work at the end of the day. Toss the fishing rods back into the boat and think about spot of oil for the reels, maybe some night this week. Done deal.
But Cancer’s are not so inclined. It begins with getting ready, then tossing and turning the night before you fish, then worrying that the fish you catch won’t be as good as they could be, plus you’re dreading the very thought of having to sit in the backyard and scale all of those fish you just caught. All of this, before you ever leave the house, all of this stuff passes through your mind. So when I say “let it go,” what do I mean? Instead of pushing for something too hard, instead of “pre-worrying” a situation to no end and creating a difficult spot for yourself, think about taking a picture, and tossing that big bass back in the lake. Makes for a much better fishing trip.
Leo: Good stuff, right up ahead. However, I must beg of your Leo eminence to be patient with me, for just a little longer. “What do you mean be patient?” Look here, most excellent sign, there’s a lot of stuff piled up, both in your sign and coming up soon. But it’s not quite here for the duration of this week’s scope. It’s so very close, you can tastes it, feel it, almost even see it, but not quite. So close, and yet, seven days? It feels so very far away. Plus, there’s that recurrent theme about Mr. Jupiter, the gaseous giant of planet, making merry in your sign — already.
What do you want to do about that? Me? I know you want to plant your Leo foot firmly on my backside and push me off the dock and on into the water. But before you shove me, or anything else, off the dock and out of your Leo way, think about it. Maybe that isn’t exactly the most correct course of action. Why not try and be the regal personage that you really are? “Huh?” you ask. Look, you can kick us out of your way, but you might want our assistance later. So what you might want to try? Point out that yes, I do deserve a good, swift kick, but you’re not going to do it, not in the next few days. You can always save it for later, if you really must.
Virgo: Growing sense of frustration? Avoid confrontations. I was recently reading, for pleasure, some American history material, mostly just vague background scholarship about the colonization of the eastern seaboard then the expansion westward. It was 18th century stuff, the pioneers and so forth. America certainly is full of its little quirks, that’s for sure. One part that interested me was the way the Kentucky [don’t correct me if I’m wrong, I’m doing this from memory] woodsmen developed into fighters. Part of the influence was culture, part was the nature of the forests they were “taming,” but part of the influence was also the nature of how to survive a conflict. Instead of using the British Army method of marching forward as a uniformed rank and file, the Kentucky woodsmen were good at “guerilla warfare.” Hiding in the dirt, the leaves, behind trees and picking off the opposition, one at time with frighteningly accurate rifles.
Open confrontation is not the best method of going about solving the problems in Virgo land. Take a hint from those early pioneers, find a method of picking off the troubles, one at a time, and keep an eye on staying alive. You’ll be surprised how effective this is at getting through the next couple of days. Mars is almost a dead stop in Pisces, opposite you. Open battlefields are to be avoided.
Libra: I’m in Texas. It’s summertime. The popular pastime is perspiring. This is not something you want to hear as your delicate Libra balance is being upset by the overwhelming heat. “No man, I like hot weather, no, really, I do.” Sure, so do I. Feels like I’m purging toxins from my system. Or that I’m sweating like a piece of brisket that’s been sizzling over the coals for the last six hours, and I’m not sure which one is more accurate. Balance is ever important to the Libra portion of the sky. For the time being, and for the rest of this week, though, everything is going to be out of whack. That’s a highly technical, astrological term I use.
” Out of whack” means that it feels like something just ain’t right. For a while, the term, “whacked” was popular in the vernacular, sort of shorthand way of addressing the issue of being off-balance. More than likely, not limited to, but most probable, it’s your relationships that seem to be so off-center. You can always make a valiant attempt to address and redress the problems, but from my way of looking at things, I’d suggest you just let some of this slide. I watched one particular Libra, Pa Wetzel, as he dealt with just such a problem. He gave a resigned shrug, a look that nothing was going to work right, and then the long face. But moments later, I could detect that mischievous glint in his eyes, and a wry grin. Might want to try his way of dealing with this imbalance.
Scorpio: It’s been noted before, and I’m sticking to my story, I have poor fashion sense and obviously, no rhythm. This isn’t a problem, as a Caucasian male, I understand my place in the world. I was at a concert, not long ago, and the music itself begged folks to dance. Unfortunately, I was standing behind several white women who, being of an age, really shouldn’t be “shaking their booty.” It’s just not a pretty sight. I enjoy looking at women’s parts. I enjoy a decent dance. But some of us have to understand our place in the world, and this is a fine example of how not to move.
It’s important to understand that I’m not one who can be a fair judge of this, but frankly, that motion tends to be a little frightening to some non-Scorpio people. Your Scorpio self gets a chance to shake your most excellent Scorpio backside. Here’s the caution: make sure your physical activity is in place where it won’t scare — or harm — the rest of us. Might save you some disappointment, too. No need to scare the rest of us with your enthusiasm.
Sagittarius: Someplace in the middle of Sagittarius is a happy place. I like overhearing snippets of conversations, and some of the stuff is really amusing when taken out-of-context. I was either in a bus terminal, boarding an airplane, or listening to the folks behind me in a restaurant while I was having some chicken-fried lunch. Don’t ask which one it really was, as my notes are not that complete. What I heard, though, I did jot down, “I think every businessman needs a chaplain these days.”
I was thinking about that comment, and I came back to it, because the problem with the rest of the Sagittarius types, other than those happy few in the middle, the problem seems to be a moral compass that is leading us astray. Our little indicator of what is right, what is wrong, what is wrong but a lot of fun, all of that gets confusing. Oh yes, there’s also the category of, “It’s wrong, and it’s not a lot of fun, not if we caught.” That’s what us Sagittarius folks need to look out for.
Temptation is fine, and some temptation can be resisted for a long period of time. Others are not so easy to resist. We have a unique ability to say the best possible thing at the worst time, and we have unique ability to lead ourselves astray, and usually with an excellent outcome. Over the next few day, though, that moral compass, that guiding principle in our Sagittarius lives, that very bastion and bedrock of our foundations is going to get a little suspect. I’m hardly the one to be suggesting this, but right now? It’s a good time to stick to doing the right thing, as opposed to do the wrong thing and expecting a lot of fun.
Capricorn: As one of my red-headed Capricorn friends once observed, “I’m always worried when things go smoothly.” Yes, but exactly which red head was that? And are things going smoothly? The problem with generic horoscopes that are allegedly supposed to cover 1/12th of the population is that I can’t hit all of you at the same time with the exact same thing. A few of you are upset. Upset with me, upset with a significant other, or upset with your lack of a significant other. The rest are doing just fine. To be sure, there’s a battle or two that you want to wage, but that doesn’t mean you have to fight.
Honor and glory are okay, but some fights are best left for other people. If you’re of that smallest percentage of Capricorn’s, face-to-face with certain situations right now, then yes, I’m going to suggest that you instigate a change. That’s up to you, though. Through my long years on this planet, I’ve discovered that some battles aren’t worth the effort. Sometimes, it’s better to cut my losses and get out of situation by removing myself. “Turn tail and run? No way!” the few, the proud Capricorn’s exclaim. But before you engage that situation, before you sally off to do battle with the perceived problems, think it through. I’d like to recommend that running away is sometimes a far more effective solution.
Aquarius: I accompanied a friend to the doctor’s office as she needed some moral support or something. As I didn’t have much else planned for the day, and it was a friendly gesture, I went along for the ride. I don’t much mind sitting in a waiting room, not in a situation like that. It wasn’t life-threatening, no emergency, no problems, no dire news. I watched a mother with her brood of children, and the mother was a little harassed by three kids, but she’d thoughtfully furnished toys for her offspring. I’m guessing the ages to be between 3 and 7, but I’m not too strong in that area.
One of the kids had a toy dinosaur, and I was fascinated by the way the kid played with is toy. It would fly through the air and make noises. The only part of that I found somewhat disturbing was the sound effects the kid made for the plastic model. I didn’t know this, but apparently dinosaurs were equipped with automatic weapon fire. Maybe not even real automatic weapons, but something like the sound effects on TV. I’m not sure what this says for that crop of children. We can launch into a detailed astrological analysis about Jupiter and Mercury in the sign opposite you, or we can look at children and toys. Or maybe, both. Just because I’m saddled with a scientific belief that Tyrannosaurus Rex didn’t fly, or didn’t make noises like an automatic weapon doesn’t mean that in the Aquarius imagination, this couldn’t happen. Some of the rest of the signs don’t get what’s going on in your head. That’s not your problem. Play, in whatever form, and Aquarius minds, in whatever form, are important.
Pisces: We’re off to an auspicious start to a series of frustrations. Wasn’t it Hamlet who said, “There’s nothing good nor bad, but thinking makes it so”? I’m too tired these days, a little too put out by the antics of the Mars influence to be bothered with trying to look up a quote. In a sense, though, you share my frustration. However, you’re not a Sagittarius astrology guy, so what I suggest is that you be bothered and you look up the quote yourself.
Might not be that exact quote from Shakespeare that you’re searching for, might be something else, completely different. Doesn’t matter; whatever arcane piece of information, that data you need, instead of popping something off the top of your head and suggesting that, “It’s in there, some place, I think,” instead of pulling it out of your Mars beleaguered Pisces brain, go ahead find the exact source for information. This is important. Get the facts right, and then double-check, just once to make sure that all the figures from column A line up with the figures, like they’re supposed to, in column B. Fact checking, research, making sure you’re sure about what the source for some great quote you’re laying on us, all of this is what’s an important focus. Make sure you get the data right. Then make sure you can go to the source for this information. With Mars doing his thing, you’re going to need to be able to provide proof of your claims.
Aries: Sure it’s odd, but then, I’ve been accused of being odd many times. I was watching a cartoon, not long ago, and I noticed familar theme. The cartoon character paints a tunnel, the arch-enemey, rival or bad guy goes through the tunnel, then the original character tries it and finds out it’s a just picture. Seen the gag in several animated versions, too.
Look: we’re in for a long spell like this, so get used to it. Mars is in Pisces, will be for a while. In the next few days, maybe a few weeks, possibly a month or more, but my bet is the next few days, you’re going to try a visual gag just like that painted tunnel. You paint a doorway on a brick wall, your opponent [boss, employer, client, arch-rival or significant other] walks right through that doorway you just painted. You scratch your head, then try to go through the same doorway — the very one you just saw them walk through — and you bonk your Aries head on the bricks. It’s very funny to watch, but when this is happening to you? It’s not nearly as amusing.
Taurus: There are layers and levels of interpretations. In some cases, these various levels are valid. In other cases, an object or point is just what it appears to be. No myth. No metaphor. Nothing deep and hidden. One word doesn’t stand for something else.
This isn’t, like, poetry or some other high falutin’ language arts thing where one meaning can represent a whole bunch of ideas. In plain language, explain your points. In simple terms, express what is going on. Skip the gaudy words, those three-dollar words that choke the spell-checker. Skip the stuff that’s really pretty, but doesn’t get your point across. Be direct. Be blunt, if necessary. Don’t hide, like some of us, behind those long words that no one understands. It’s a simple message. I’d blame Mars, as much as anything, for making other people, the non-Taurus folks, so uncooperative these days. Not much can be done about their collective attitude. But when it comes to what you can do, be plainspoken. Eschew inelegant and excessive verbosity.
Gemini: Mercury and the sun play a game of tag in the next few days. Basic astronomy is useful for understanding the mechanics, but that’s not the point. What this means is you’re going to be poking along one day, and you download some sort updated driver or something for computer. Then, after you install that piece of software, you discover another problem, with the directory it’s associated with. Which then leads to yet another problem, and you no sooner fix that when you’re back to having to install an update so the other update so that the first update works right. Get it?
It’s complicated. Looks like a crossword puzzle, each answer is interlocked to another answer, and you keep thinking you’ve got the key, and still, nothing is quite right. Now, it might not be your computer that gives the trouble, but you’re bound to have your Gemini attention drawn into a labyrinth-type maze as you attempt to find a solution to what should be an easy problem for you to fix. My bet, though, is it’s like an update I just did, and nothing worked the way it was supposed. I mean, everything did work right, it just took all morning, and a portion of the afternoon to finish something that shouldn’t have taken more than a few minutes. Watch your time. And if this happens to you, do like I do, blame Mercury and the Sun.
