“What tempest…threw this whale, with so many turns of oil in his belly, ashore?”
Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor [II.i.61]
Aries: Not yet. Almost, but not yet. When the planets stack up in Pisces, the last sign to precede Aries, there’s a dark and foreboding cloud that looms overhead. It’s also like you’re working in vacuum. Not a particularly happy place for the Aries. As one country crooner suggested, “Lovesick, broke and drifitin.” Is it really that bad? No. What happening, at the beginning of next week, Miss Moon is dark in your solar 12th House. Means that you’re a lot like a certain fish I keep trying to catch — with no luck. I don’t have any luck, the fish, apparently, has lots of luck. Every time I approach the shoreline and see my little buddy down there, she scoots off. The fish is spooked by my shadow, and realizes that I do have a fishing pole in my hand. Swims off to the murky depths. I’ve personally addressed that fish, let her know that I just want her to bite the bait so I can take her picture as I’m guessing she’s a good five or six pounds. I’m going to try some new bait, and I’m going to make sure that I approach with my shadow in the shade of the tree, but I’m waiting until the beginning of next when the moon is dark. I still doubt I’ll catch that one big girl, all I want is a photo-op, her picture on the web page, but until she decides it’s okay, I’m stuck. Just like Aries.
Taurus: I walked into a cigar shop that was attached to a coffee shop, not unusual for me. There was a rough looking lad minding the counter, the local excuse for a newspaper spread out before him, comics on top. Without looking up, he asked a question, “What was Ingrid Bergman’s character’s name in Casablanca?” Black T-shirt with a band’s name on it, a group I’ve seen recently. Tattoos running up and down his arms, only, his left arm’s art caught my eye. “We’ll always have Paris, and ZZ Top covered that song on one of their last albums.” Which, an observant Taurus will note, doesn’t answer the question, but at least I was in the correct arena, “and what’s the passage quoted on your arm?” “Oh, that’s from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness,” he replied. Then he pushed his sleeve up and we talked about books, and the rest of the passages he wanted to have added to the art. Rough looking, but rather erudite and well-read. Sound familiar in your world, my most excellent Taurus friend? This is one of the weeks when appearances and facts don’t always match up. Or they match up, only, first glance, and casual encounters are different. Don’t dismiss some lad because he’s heavy into body art. Look at the art, and you’d be surprised what passages might be there. It’s all about incongruities, and how you choose to deal with those little oddities.
Gemini: Oddly enough, it was a Gemini waiter, like, the other afternoon. I was having a late lunch with a client, and the client had admitted to having a crush on the waiter. Nice enough guy, I suppose, especially if you go for the good-looking, well-tattooed type. My client did. As we toyed with charts and such, that waiter was rather nice about it all. He even cut us a steep discount on lunch, which was doubly nice seeing as how we took up a booth for several hours. The deal with that one Gemini guy, he was just hitting a patch of trouble in his own chart. Sound familiar? Like him, there’s a bit of turbulence on the horizon. Or maybe you’re right in the middle of it. Either way, he had an indefatigable Gemini attitude, in subsequent conversations with out meal, “Look: we live in the greatest place in the world. Enjoy that you’ve got food. So what if it’s cold? At least you have food of your own choosing….” I’m used to a good Gemini attitude, so it was refreshing for me to hear, plus, the client? That waiter with his smile, his good looks, and his visible ink? Just made my client smile; she lit up like a neon sign. So things might be a little rough in Gemini land? Make some nice person’s day. (My client left sizeable tip plus a phone number.)
Cancer: It’s easy to predict a good weekend for Cancer, a little bit of relief considering how things have been. That’s the good news. The problem is that next Monday morning brings a weird amount of stress. I consider it astrological stress, but this type of energy tends to show up as a crick in the neck, or some lower back pain, or a stiff point in your back. Might not show up as any such pain, but this is supposedly metaphorical. One of those pains that won’t go away, and what it really requires is a good massage. Some kind of bodywork. I’ve discovered that nothing beats a good, long searing walk along the hike and bike trail. At least two hours, maybe three hours, especially if I can hit a rare afternoon when the sun’s out. A goodly leg-stretchers works out the kinks and knots better than any other activity, at least for me. I’m not sure your Cancer self can afford a good two or three hour workout Monday afternoon, but it’s worth considering, especially as Mars lines up opposite Mr. Saturn. But it’s a good idea. Low-impact, high on solitude for a few hours (and try one of my favorite tricks — leave the cell phone behind.)
Leo: It’s one of those items that comes back to haunt me, it was a prediction for a client, I’m guessing, about three years ago. I’d suggested a time-frame, and likely outcome for a series of Leo actions. The deal was, and I don’t recall this personally because I tend to forget whatever happens in a reading, but the Leo came back and said I was, indeed right. I popped up the chart again, looked at it, and saw what I would’ve figured for a three-year planetary deal happening, and agreed. “Only, you told me two years, not three years,” the Leo corrected me, “all the good stuff is happening, but it’s a year late.” I had to stop and think about that reading, trying to recall details, and I couldn’t. But I’m pretty sure I listed 2005 as the time when this would all come together, not last year. Don’t argue with the Leo, even if the Leo is wrong? It just doesn’t work. So there’s a promise of something you thought would pay off last year, and it looks like it will finally be resolved, in your Leo favor, this year. Don’t blame me, I told you it would take three years.
Virgo: This image is a little out of synchronization, but then, so is the timing in Virgo-land. I was passing through a little Texas town last spring. I’d stopped, presumably to read a roadside marker, hop out the truck and stretch my legs, and hopefully, soak up a little bit of local color. Quiet little town up towards the Panhandle. At one end of the main street, there was a mill. Or cotton gin, I’m not sure which. The eerie quiet was a gently punctuated with a dull “thud,” then a few seconds later, a “pop-pop.” 3/3 beat. Or, really, given the syncopation, it was really a 4/4 beat with that third beat missing. That mill, or gin, or grain elevator, whatever it was, had that dull noise which added a slow, gentle drumming, a rhythm, to the scene. I got a can of coke in the store, exchanged pleasantries, and got back on my way. But I was stuck with that weird beat in my head. There’s a gentle rhythm starting in Virgo. It indicates that something is starting up. The sounds of commerce, the wheels are turning, business is moving forward. But the beat seems to be hesitant just yet. Don’t worry, it’s just that laconic rhythm that emerges in a little town in West Texas. It’s a strange beat, almost halting at time, and then the “pop-pop” follows.
Libra: “A little less conversation and little more action” is what the theme for this week should be. The biggest obstacle facing the darling Libra contingent is that most folks are a lot more interested in talking, and lot less interested in the “action” portion of that statement. Talking is fine, and good conversation can head in many different directions. Plus there’s always revealing information uncovered in a good conversation. But it all has to lead somewhere, otherwise, it’s just wasted breath. The point is to be a little nicer, a little more even-handed when there seems to be a lot more talking and a lot less doing. There are times when a great deal of words fill a necessary void. But these days, I’d watch out for the effusive flow of words. A little less talk, and little more action, in the Libra corner.
Scorpio: I was clicking through on news, browsing the web, looking for some kind of a local update to something or other, and I stumbled on a site that I had to register my name, address, e-mail and so forth. Many publications do that now, and I’m not too worried about it. Seeing as how I’m a November Sagittarius, I lied about my year of birth and I put down the wrong date for my birthday, effectively making me a younger Scorpio. As long as that company wants to pry, I’ll let them pry. But I don’t have to answer honestly, and I hope I mess with their heads, just a little. I didn’t think about registering for that site, and how it would cascade downstream. When November rolled around, I started getting unsolicited e-mail, wishing me a happy birthday That’s why, when faced with registering on an unknown site, I tend to skew the demographics by whatever factor I feel appropriate. Some “interested party” wants you to fill out a form, and I’m suggesting a degree of caution, mixed with good Scorpio mirth, to help yourself to a degree of fun. Plus, when I started to get the birthday wishes, I knew what the source was. There is method in the Scorpio madness, but not everyone will see it that way.
Sagittarius: I’d wandered down the street to have some chicken-fried steak. I grabbed a local paper out of the rack, settled into a booth, and it was late in the afternoon. Oddly enough, it was the “quiet before the storm” as the activity level here is just fixin’ to hit a frenzied pace. But it was quiet afternoon, sort of cloudy, but not too cool. Chicken-fried was calling to me, along with a side of greens and nice salad, plus some friend okra, perennial favorites. A pair of off-duty serving persons (waiter/waitress) was counting tickets and tips, and this being Austin, the pair was festooned with tats. I glanced over, listened to the conversation for a minute then interjected a comment of my own, then I mentioned their signs. “Wow, how did you know that?” I could spin up a tale about astute observations, but hidden on the female’s arm was a symbol that represented her sign. They guy had a similar glyph, for his sign, located elsewhere, again, visible to me. I made a passing comment about the astrology weather for each of the signs, supper was served, and I went back to my paper. The clue, the symbol tattooed in a visible spot? Obvious to patient, informed observation. That’s the secret. You can sound rather worldly wise, or just reveal all of your secrets. No need to give away the obvious, visual clues.
Capricorn: I was talking to scholar the other day. Not much on the education front, but rather well-versed in some of the classics. Not that it’s unusual, but when I stumble across a person reading something, I tend to inquire about the novel, and how that person interacts with it. I’ve got a couple of books that I’ve read more than one time, and I’m always amazed to find new meanings and insights tucked away in those passages I’ve covered before. This one scholarly type — okay, so he wasn’t a scholar by any stretch of the imagination — just another person familiar with lots of books — he had a pencil in hand. He was explaining that he couldn’t really read library books because he tended to interact with the text. In other words, it was action, not passively absorbing material, like watching TV. Mars. Jupiter. Planets transiting various trigger points in the Capricorn chart. Means action. Action is called for. Now, think about it, what I’m suggesting, “action” doesn’t mean “get up and go.” Of course it can mean that, but there’s a more relaxed, scholarly way to approach action. Reading with a pencil in hand, scribbling notes in the margin, underlining a passage that’s particularly poignant. Doesn’t matter what you’re doing, just make sure that it includes some level of interaction. You’ll be happier. Now, if I can just find where I left those notes I made….
Aquarius: Two-Meat-Tuesday achieved a certain status amongst me and some friends. It was at a local BBQ spot, and while the quality of the fare would vary, each and every time, one or two of the menu items would be delicious. But it’s matter of knowing when to say when. That’s the problem with “two-meat-Tuesday,” and by the same token the problem in Aquarius. Odd stats: more Aquarians are vegetarian or vegan than any other sign. No formal surveys to prove the point, just an observation. Which makes a BBQ place and my buddy named Bubba, a perfect way to get across a point about knowing when to say when. The deal was, All-You-Can-Eat BBQ or a two-meat platter, both with sides, for a very fair price. And I’ll promise, some times, the brisket would be a little dry, but the ribs were perfect. Or if the ribs were a tad over-cooked, then the brisket was surely tender, moist and done to a perfection. But know when to say when. Dessert is extra, and maybe it’s a good idea to stop at the entrée. Know when to say when.
Pisces: We were heading into a local eatery, me and a Pisces, and some guy in suit was just exiting the same place. Little weird, since it’s not exactly the kind of place where suits go. Not that formal business attire isn’t welcome, just not usual. He clicked his key fob, and a late-model sedan with New Jersey license plates flashed its headlights. My compassionate Pisces friend, took one look at the tags, and offered condolences, “New Jersey? You poor dear.” The suit was quick to reply, “Rental! It’s a rent car. No, really.” Then he disappeared into the night, and me the Pisces girl, we had a shared moment of hilarity. Wasn’t much and on into the night, the incident was all but forgotten. It was just the briefest of exchanges, but I remembered it because it was good for illustrating an astrological point, about appearances, and making light-hearted comments. It was funny, but the funny bits came at the expense of the guy in the car wit the NJ tags. No, we don’t have anything against NJ, not at all. It’s just that, on a balmy, spring-like evening in Austin, NJ seems like such a harsh and distant land. The suit’s response made it even better, a perfect foil. Keep it light, keep it sweet, and keep it brief with the Pisces interactions with others. It can be funny, if you don’t try and drag the joke out.
