For the Week of: 9/25-10/1/2003
“I be waspish, best beware of my sting.”
Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew [II.i.210]
I just saw a rather engaging performance of Taming of the Shrew, in London’s Shakespeare’s Globe. What made it it even funnier, despite some of the frankly sexist leanings of the play, was the fact that the entire cast was female–one of those touches that just adds another layer of irony. Mars is headed into a more orderly direction, but it might take a few extra days to let him catch up with the rest of of us. Between Mercury and Mars, it’s a little like watching an all-female cast doing a play like Taming of the Shrew.
Show your support for Fishing Guide to the Stars — live at the Body Mind Soul Expo in Austin, this weekend.
Libra: Fishing lures–especially name brand bass lure–come packaged with an informational flyer. One of my favorite brands has a set of instructions on how to attach the enclosed lure to the end of some monofilament line. New Age, high-tech fishing line requires different knots than the regular stuff. It’s not the way I learned to attach a lure. Now, sitting in the prow of bass boat, hands shaking from a little too much coffee, and maybe the morning chill, I’ve never been able to figure out how that one knot in the pictures works. There’s a little set of arrows, pointing this was and that, loop the line over the lure this, and then pull the end through that hoop, and so on.
Looks good on paper, doesn’t work, not for me, in the real world. I have a modified version, though, that does work pretty well. I set out to follow the instructions, then something happens. Maybe my hands are shaking, maybe I miss a step, but whatever I wind up with, never the same thing twice, it seems to work pretty well, even if I do say so myself. “Kramer’s Knot again?” Right–works for me. It will also work for my Libra friends, during this next couple of days. Make an effort, a sincere effort, to follow the instruction printed in the manual. If you accidentally deviate from the instructions, and even if that accident is a little odd, it might just work as well, if not better. Make an effort, though, to follow those instructions, first.
Scorpio: “Ah, shoot,” I muttered to myself when I finally got around to detailed analysis of the week’s Scorpio astrology chart. I didn’t like what I saw. It’s not big stuff–it’s just little events, occurrences and problematic problems. That’s not it either, not exactly, but that’s a lot closer. It’s a series of “life lessons,” and frankly, I hate being the one to remind you of this. I was fishing, last weekend? Might have been two or three weeks ago. It’s not exactly the best time to fish. But then, it’s not the worst, either. Weather’s suitable, the fish are less agreeable. By midmorning, it was obvious that we weren’t going to catch anything of merit. Not even some of the fish that were close to memorable.
My buddy caught one tiny fish. I reached for the camera, and he was busy unhooking the baby bass, “Don’t even think about taking a picture,” he was saying, “that’s not really a fish, more like bait.” So what were we doing out there, the rest of the afternoon? “Practicing casting,” was his response. This is more a function of Mars than any other symbolism in your chart, and the idea that there’s a life lesson going on is important. In your Scorpio heart, though, you should know that there is some pleasure to be gained from an otherwise futile exercise–consider that you’re doing the same thing we were doing that fine fall morning, practicing your casting. Or whatever it is that Mars is serving up.
Sagittarius: I was discussing various merits of Bass Fishing versus going out on boat into the Gulf Mexico, or even just tossing a line off one of the piers, that dot our coast. Which one is better? Why? When I’m hunting bass, it’s a known target, a fighting fish with a degree of response, and the knowledgeable bass fisher person knows exactly what to look for. What bait usually works, what lures, that sort of knowledge.
” On no, sea fishing is better. You never know what’s going to come up on the end of your line. Much more fun!” Tired analogy time, “if life is like a box chocolates, then….” then the Sagittarius life at this point is like sea fishing. Or a box of chocolates. All depends on what you’re looking for, but there’s still a little bit of this unusual energy that’s just floating around, and making life more and more interesting. It’s true, on one lake, I’ve caught some decent-sized brim and perch on bass lures. But that’s unusual, not the norm. Be willing to embrace the different events that are approaching, you never know what will be on the end of that Sagittarius line.
Capricorn: I was dining out with my favorite Capricorn the other evening. She always drags me around to fancy places where shoes and shirts are required, not just optional attire. I ordered up something from the “special” menu, a dish called “gleaming mussels.” I don’t know exactly what it was supposed to be. Near as I can tell, it’s some of sort of French or European dish that’s exotic, tasty and difficult to prepare.
To my untutored eye, though, it looked like freshwater mussels, boiled up and served with a particular “queso” covering. I’m sure there was a hint of delicate and fine spices, but I couldn’t stop thinking that I was being treated to shellfish out of the nearby river bottom, covered in Velveeta. Never mind this was allegedly some kind of fancy Italian dish, I couldn’t help but giggle at the appearance. Although I doubt you’ll be treating a Sagittarius astrologer to dinner one night this week, you are bound, at one point, to be face to face with a similar situation. Your companion, perhaps even dining companion, is going to find something that your Capricorn self perceives as elegant, that other [non-Capricorn person] is going to miss the elegance and find it a little silly. You can be upset, but if you just try and see what it looks like from our eyes, you’ll notice that there’s some humor to found.
Aquarius: I was out dining on Tex-Mex cuisine with a friend the other evening. With an Aquarius friend, no less, and she was moaning about the way Mars [now retrograde] was treating her and her love life. “Don’t you want a kid?” she was asking me. At a table, just inside the patio’s doors, there was a pair of couples, my guess is that they were married, and those couples had, in turn, a couple of children with them. One was a baby in a carrier, another was tyke about 2 years old. Which, I might point out, probably coincides with a particular Mars transit.
So there we were, sitting the cool of evening, munching on chips, and listening to the distant echo of the kitchen, making our dinner. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, that little tyke started hammering on the window pane of the patio door with his little fist. Quite interrupted our moment of reverie. Spooked my Aquarius friend a little. Me? I always enjoy a display of Martian energy, especially when it comes from someone who I’m not responsible for. I’ll admit, it was a little disconcerting to see the child banging on the glass portion of the window, but a perspicacious mom just reached around and picked the toddler up, seemingly without losing a beat in her conversation. Seasoned pro, that mom. “If I ever say I want a kid again, remind me about that?” the Aquarius asked me, and ordered herself a shot tequila.
Pisces: A little bit of structure is a good thing. A little bit of having some sort of schedule to keep, like showing up for work at a set time, is a good idea. The Pisces life can use a little structure. You’re going to be surprised how easy it is to integrate this into your life. Alarm clocks. Schedules. Appointments. Tasks that must be accomplished by a specified time. All of that.
To the average Pisces, wait, that doesn’t work because no Pisces is average, but to the demographic I employ from time to time, that Pisces Sun in the middle of the sign of Pisces, a little structure will lend itself towards building a better future for yourself. It could be a big encounter that leads to rapid job improvement. It could be something as simple as merely showing for work a few minutes earlier than the appointed time. Could be a lot of things. I’m also looking at Mars, standing right at the entrance to Pisces, slowly arcing backwards, and I’m thinking that some folks have some unreasonable expectations of your Pisces self. Surprise them–surprise me. Show up a little early.
Aries: There’s this one Aries client, here in town, and I caught a ride with her out someplace. I don’t recall, but what happened was just as funny as could be, to me. She was in the fast lane on the interstate, cruising along, doing the “hurry up and get there” thing, when she got off on a rant about some particular topic. She started talking with one hand, gesturing and gesticulating, while keeping one hand firmly on the steering wheel. But as she got off on her rant about whatever, she started to slow down.
The rant was overtaking her mental processes, diverting attention from driving to whatever the rant was about. Probably males, males undeserving of her attention, if I recall rightly. But don’t hold me to the topic, as I’m not sure. Her car stayed on its path, straight and true, it’s just that she was in the fast lane, and her speed was slowing down. About the time she dropped to 40 MPH in the fast lane, I said something about the speed. Or lack thereof. “I was wondering why those cars were coming up so fast behind me,” she observed. She was a sterling example of what to do with the whole Libra – Mars – Mercury – Pisces -Retrograde events occurring. Slow it down. Concentrate on one topic at a time. Don’t let errant astrologers divert you from what you’re supposed to be doing. “And another thing….”
Taurus: Times are just tough. What I was going to try to do was tease you with a joke, but my obvious lack of humor and good tastes failed. So what you’ve got in your chart, right now, is a strange angle from the lucky star that would suggest that you could think of something pointedly different, as a possible solution to a nagging problem. There’s an easy way around some problem, but in true Taurus form, you’ve just been sitting on that problem, instead of exercising your brain. Because backwards Mars and awkward Uranus are so close to each other, even though they are in different signs, the two offer a chance to shed some light on this unusual way of looking at the situation you have on your Taurus hands.
When I’m trying to think of something in a different way, I’ve tried a number of useful tools. I’ve sat at the computer with a cowboy hat on, I’ve tried wearing sunglasses, on occasion, I used to try and balance the cat on my lap. Didn’t work, as she didn’t take to my bare lap as a suitable perch for her considerable girth. But it was a nice try. While I’m fooling around with these items, or the cat, I get a chance to come up with a different way of looking at a problem. Give it a spin, you’ll be surprised how well your Taurus brain can work, even under these difficult astrological conditions.
Gemini: have I told you this one before? I’m not sure. I can’t recall. Anyway, when I moved into a trailer in South Austin’s Shady Acres Trailer Park [and RV campground], I found that I had too much stuff. Which reminds me of a Delbert McClinton song, but never mind that musical allusion right now. Just like living in a trailer that might, at best, have two or three hundred square feet of usable living space, your Gemini life is looking at tossing a few things out.
Maybe it’s not so you can live in a trailer about the size of a kitchen matchbox. But still. You do have a few items that you’ve been toting around with you, and now’s a good time to consider what it is that you want to shed. Extra baggage? Sure, you can get rid of that. Books you’ve been meaning to read, but will probably never get around to? Let them find a good home. Clothing you have no hope of ever wearing? Better think twice, fashion being what it is, that clothing might come back around and be cool again one day. The trick these days is to let you rule your stuff, don’t let your stuff be in charge. If the stuff is in charge, you might miss a chance to live in a fabulous, slightly used trailer in South Austin.
Cancer: I was looking at a pair of influences in your Cancer chart. One influence, perhaps the strongest, is both restricting and rewarding at the same time: Saturn. The other one, more long the lines of Mars and Mercury, is less restricting, but also tends to be less fulfilling in the long term. Let’s do a “blue sky,” okay? You have this long-term project you’ve been working on, and it’s going to require some more effort on your part in order to bring this to a successful conclusion. Got that? This is a the part of the project that requires you to work alone, long hours, low pay, not much immediate gratification. “Ah, c’mon, man, it’s been like that for weeks now!” you holler at me.
I’ll promise success if you’re willing to work. That’s the good part. Now here’s the trouble: distractions. Every conceivable distraction is going to pop up and demand your Cancer attention. Ain’t nothing I can do about that. But there is something you can do–keep your head down. Keep working on it. I was just cruising along the web–something you should not be doing–and I found an interesting article about how two old-style farmers were still making molasses the old fashioned way, turning a press, burlap filter, wood-fired boiling pot, and so forth. They used a tractor to turn the press’s wheel, these days. “Old horse balked, so we just drive around in a circle with the tractor.” Just because your Cancer horse doesn’t want to do the job, don’t let that distract you from doing what you’ve got to do. And no, I can’t find the source of that story anymore.
Leo: Considering the length of my scopes as compared to others, and considering the amount of anguish my editors are put through, I really should shorten some of this material. Stick more to the point. Get the idea across in fewer words. Not going to happen, as I’m a long-winded, verbally-oriented Sagittarius-astrologer. Besides, when the question of limiting the words in a particular horoscope comes up, the question in particular is, “Just which scope? Not mine!” However, there’s always the question of the length. Or word count. Or, in old-fashioned newspaper terms, column inches.
Must be my Leo side that’s doing all the talking these days, as I got another one of those terse notes from the editing department, “More matter with less art,” [actually, it’s from Hamlet, I.ii or II.ii, I can’t recall offhand]. But just like Gertrude, the Leo fans are asking for the same thing. More substance, less packaging. More content, but fewer words. I’d shoot for that, if I could.
Virgo: I remember one Virgo, she kept trying to tell me that she didn’t worry about details, not like a typical Virgo, or not like the astrological signature would suggest. “I’m not like that all, am I? Of course I don’t worry about details all the time, do I?” The questions, as you can imagine, went on from there. It wasn’t always a pretty sight, worrying about not worrying about the details. Eventually the argument reduces to absurdity, “I just don’t fit that mold at all, now do I?” Could be anyone of a number of different Virgo folks that I know, worrying about not worrying about the appearance of not being too critical. Get that?
Patience, and a little less worry is a good idea these days. Mars is sitting comfortably in position that’s inclined to make you ask very Virgo-like questions. Jupiter, a complete opposite from Mars, is likely to make the Virgo rather an extreme in the pursuit of certain pleasure these days. Looking at the situation, though, a little bit better judgment is called for. I’d consider running your ideas past someone with no Virgo in their charts what-so-ever before taking that big leap. It never hurts to get an unbiased opinion before jumping off on some new, exuberant adventure.
