“Opinion’s but a fool that makes us scan
The outward habit for the inward man.”
Shakespeare’s Pericles [II.ii.55]
Specific quote for Halloween, you know, and I wonder about the outward habit as a reflection of the inward habit, the time when fantasies can be acted out.
Aries: Let it go. Three, simple words. Just let it go. Four words. I’d go back the first of those, the three words version. Usually, a decent little Aries like your self? You have no trouble whatsoever in moving on. Situation isn’t working out to your benefit? Drop it and move on. Usually. Normally. But Mr. Mars (better get used to this) is putting a little pressure on your Aries psyche, and you’ve got one, tiny, itty-bitty problem that you’re refusing to let out of your grasp. Looks like, to me, not only is this a work-career related issue, it’s also a problem that you should have left at the office, or, in my case, at the lake. Instead, you packed the problem up, brought it home in your backpack, or whatever you use for a briefcase, and then, you left that problem in the car, where it festered overnight, then it got worse, then you took in the house, and you spent at least one night worrying about the problem. Lot of effort for something you have no control over. Take it back to work, maybe put it to the side, and let some other sign worry about the problem. In other words, let it go.
Taurus: I was in a little town in Texas, just about 20 miles south of Austin, we’d had a big plate of BBQ, and the fall evening was almost cool out. We wandered into the local version of a coffee shop, ordered up some libations, a double espresso for me, a mocha-java-with-whip for my Taurus friend, and settled in to watch small-town Texas roll by. The local “goth” contingent showed up. That was weird enough to begin with, but add to it a few extra comic elements, and I had a hard time not laughing. Imagine, I’m guessing early high-school age, dressed in all black with the requisite black attire, and one, yet another Taurus (I asked) had the complete outfit, which was a little warm on the fall evening, but across her butt? There was a sticker from a local store, “Thanks for shopping here!” A day-glo orange sticker, with “thank you” message sort of ruined the look. Tickled my sense of the absurd, but certainly didn’t go with the flow of the kid’s outfit. Plus, it wasn’t quite Halloween yet, so the “goth” look was a more than a little out of place. That’s what you need to watch out for, with the Sun being in Scorpio and Mars being backwards in Taurus. Halloween? Sure, that, too. But there’s a hint that you would look really silly with some kind of tag hanging out, or stuck on your backside, and all I’m suggesting is that you go over your “look” more than once, just to be sure.
Gemini: You have to think like a Texas fisherman. Pretty simple, really. At this time of the year, there’s a flurry of fishing activity, then everything drops off. The fish are deep and cooling off for the year, and most of my outdoor friends, the sportsmen, they are all getting ready for deer season. So, in order to land fish, get bit while fishing, and otherwise have a good time? Take a little patience, a little planning, and one has to be on top of his (or her) game in order to succeed. Just like life in Gemini land, a little planning, some thoughtful preparation, and some lowered expectations. Instead of planning on a whole boat full of fish? One or two fish are good. Instead of planning for kicking topwater action? Be prepared to go deep, down where the fish like to sleep away the winter. Then, there’s one more trick in the tackle box, a simple weight. Lead weights are being replaced with more environmentally friendly and (really) heavier stuff. Figure on one of those, instead of something lighter. Figure you’re going to be about 18 inches from the bottom, in order to stir up something. Might not be fish you’re really looking for, but whatever your Gemini goal is? Go deep. Go long. Or, figure, the target is holding just off the bottom of the lake. Or wherever it is that you’re fishing.
Cancer: “Get in the truck. I’m a friend of your mother’s. It’s okay.” I was worried about repeating that line, but let me explain about the situation. I was ambling along South First Street, or South Lamar, or maybe even Lower Congress, and a former love of mine spotted me. She pulled over, and it’s a new truck, or newer than what she was driving when I last saw her, so I didn’t recognize the vehicle. Hairstyle’s changed, too, so I didn’t immediately recognize the driver. To an aging guy like myself, it almost sounded like fun. Plus, the relative juxtaposition of everything? Comment, car, tone, me and my pedestrian ways? It was supposed to be funny, and at the time, it was. As soon as I hopped in the proffered truck door, we had us a good laugh. “I’ve always wanted to use that line,” she said. She’s also an old friend of the family, which makes it even better because it’s all true. Look: you might not be picking up stray astrologers on the side of a busy street. You might not be taking any such action, but you did get a chance to reconnect with someone near and dear. Maybe less dear and perhaps less near, but any chance at reconnecting is good.
Leo: It was just an e-mail note, but I kept hearing a voice in my head, repeat the words, over and over, “Hey, remember that reading you did for me about year ago?” If I was really truthful, I rarely remember anything more than a sign. Quite often, I don’t even recall a name, just a sun sign, or, in some situations a few items of interest in the chart. Maybe a moon, or some other planet configuration. Best I can do. Unfortunately, e-mail addresses are frequently aliases, and not enough information is in the address to determine who it is that sent the note. So I’ll be honest, I don’t recall the reading, per se, but I would never forget a good chart. Got it an image here? I’m not confused, I just don’t recall details and specifics, unless someone reminds me. And even then? I don’t have to worry about being called to testify because I can honestly answer “I don’t know.” I’m sure that you’re going to be haunted with some event from your recent past. Like, maybe a year ago. Like that e-mail note, “Hey, remember me?” There’s something good that will come of this, but I’m sure you’re like my self, you really don’t recall the specifics. Doesn’t much matter, once you get that chart in front of you, or whatever it is that you use to jog your capacious Leo-like memory, it will come back to you. Here’s the hint, don’t dismiss casual encounters from the past.
Virgo: I was listening to a conversation, the details about where and how really aren’t important, are they? Yes, I know you’re a Virgo, and yes, I know you like certain details, but what caught my ear was a question, nothing more. “Where was the gas tank on the General Lee? It was, like, in the trunk, right?” I’m not worried about the made-for-TV movie, or the other movie, I’m more concerned with bad television from some time in the distant past. Might’ve seen reruns on an obscure cable channel, while cruising through West Texas, but I’m unsure of that. While I marveled at the obscure reference to the vehicle used some years in the past, I was most struck with the absurdity of the question. Then, on top of that, there are a couple of my local friends who traffic in obscure trivia about that show. Just weird, if you ask me. But you didn’t. Are you going to stop everything that you’re doing right now and look this up? I hope not. But you are going to be hit with a similar question, something that just flies in from out of the blue, from no place in particular, and you’re going to get stuck with that question. Until you can plug a coherent question into a search engine, though, there’s a good chance that you won’t have an answer. I’m not saying you can’t have trivial pursuits, I’m just suggesting, unlike me, you don’t get caught worrying about weird questions.
Libra: I used to run jokes about Halloween and Valentine’s Day, getting the two confused, you know, one is when you dress up and act out a fantasy where as the other is a harvest celebration, when the veil between the dimensions is supposedly at its thinnest? That was good, once. I think I used variations on a theme more than once, but I’m too tired to poke around in the archives and find the exact wording I used before. It’s a ticklish situation, and I’m loathe to repeat metaphors. I still find that one comment amusing enough, though. Therein is the problem, too, you’re like me, you don’t want to recycle old material, but that one joke, that one metaphor, that one comment? It’s still good. It’s still funny. It still works — for your Libra self. Might not work on everybody else, though. Might irritate a few folks. I’ve found out — the most arduous route possible — about what does and doesn’t irritate readers. I’m trying to save you from repeating your Libra self, and I’m trying to keep you from repeating my past indiscretions, just so you get a chance
Scorpio: Halloween. All Saints Day. Dia de la Muertos. Squeeze in Ma Wetzel’s birthday, too, and that about covers it all. Which one is most important? I’m sure that it all depends on a frame of reference. For the pre-adolescent fantasy, or a particular age, then the Halloween might be most important. For a person with strong ties to the Central American traditions, or looking for another good party, Dia de las Muertos is pretty cool, especially the confection skulls. The All Saints Day? I’m unsure of how to celebrate that one, but I’m sure, with some backgrounds, it’s an important day. My dear, sweet, ever-much-put-out-with-her-son mother? Some would suggest, chief among those is herself, that she should be sainted. Not that I’m disagreeing, either, but I’m not sure an official religious body will recognize her good deeds as, well, good deeds. That’s the problem all over the Scorpio corner of the sky, too, what with Mars and the Sun and so forth, up to, but maybe not including Jupiter. I’ve listed three, maybe four reasons to have a good, little party. The problem being is that sanctioning bodies, like the church, or a similar group that hold some authority? Even though my dear sweet little Ma Wetzel should be exalted, I’m not sure that it will happen. Likewise, I’m not sure that this is the week when your Scorpio self will get proper recognition. I am suggesting that you get sanctified. So that’s one person — me — who recognizes your good work. I might be the only one, but I’ll still wish you a happy birthday, and I’ll still suggest that the overall outlook is bright, even though not enough people want to agree with me. I mean, besides the Scorpio corner.
Sagittarius: Right after the October and first of November birthdays, I begin to dread the rest of the month. For years, I’ve kept an online journal, and as I got to checking through it, what I found was a remarkable coincidence that seemed to be shared throughout the signs, but most notably in Sagittarius, the two or three weeks preceding the official start of Sagittarius was a time marked by frustration, self-doubt, and a liberal dose of free-floating anxiety. Doesn’t hit every one of us, and I’m little more attuned to the subtle movement of the sun, and the way it affects personalities. I looked for a reason for this, and I found that the Sun, in the 12th House, lends itself to this sort of obsessive-compulsive (sometimes pointless) soul-searching and loathsome self-deprecating humor. Or, the Sun, in Scorpio? We can tend to look at the blank screen of the word processor and think we’re supposed to be doing something great, while nothing happens. This normal mess is accentuated in my line of work because business tends to fall off until January. So I’ve got a lot more free time — but a lot less disposable income. Now, let’s compound this with Mars in his apparent backwards state. What’s the solution? I’m reminding myself that I have shelf full of books that I’ve been meaning to read, and I’m reminding my Sagittarius friend, you’ve got a shelf full of books, or something akin to that, and now’s a good time to think about it. We’ve got two more weeks of this. Settle in with a fat, juicy paperback.
Capricorn: I trust my Capricorn friends. I rely on the Capricorn corner of the sky, especially now, for their way of seeing the world. That Capricorn sense of the absurd is useful. I’m probably the only one who will understand some of the jokes. I’ll even laugh. Or, at the very least, giggle. I find the dry wit incredibly amusing, although, not unlike many of the people you face this next couple of days, not everyone will understand. A Capricorn buddy of mine picked up a habit from me, after the wonderfully acerbic witticism, he’d say, “It was a joke.” Intended humor might not reach the target audience. On more than one level. You can always run it by me, but I’m not sure that everyone will understand. The approaching New Moon is a good time to get a few little items in order. Clean up your work-space. Get out the art supplies and doodle. Express yourself in whatever form you’re used to using as a viable means of expression. As long as Mr. Mars is backwards, your, albeit strange, sense of wonder is heightened. Might not be what your used to, but there’s a way to tap into this energy, and to put it to good use. Whatever you come up with? It won’t amuse most folks, but you will find it pretty endearing. Right on.
Aquarius: Yeah, well, you get another lesson from my tackle box. Rather, this is a lesson from fishing gear. Typical fishing reel holds about 100 yards of fishing line. The trees get a few feet, the logs get a few more feet, and after a long day of losing lures, that 100 yards I started with is down to, maybe, let’s say 30 or 40 yards. One good, downwind cast? And I’m almost at the end of the line. Eventually, back in the trailer, I’m putting new line onto that reel. But I’m left with about 30 yards of still useable fishing line. I used to just throw it away. These days, I save the light line, a particularly popular line weight, and I use it for leader material. I don’t do many fancy riggings, but on occasion, I need a couple of feet of light line, just like that last 30 yards or so that I used to discard. As long as we’re dealing with Mars, and Scorpio influences, might want to think about items you used to discard, and how some of those items can be saved for future uses. Like my fishing line, or whatever else it is in the Aquarius tool-set that needs to be conserved.
Pisces: I was fishing the other afternoon. Bit breezy, I was trying a creature-feature lure on the bottom, and as I expected, a little perch nibbled at it, and when I went to set the hook (gave the pole a hard yank), the bait left that little perch’s mouth, and the hook was buried in a submersed log. It was not a fish. It wasn’t even a decent fish to begin with, but that doesn’t matter. So I’m pulling away, hoping it isn’t that one log who’s claimed a lot of my hooks, hoping that maybe I can raise the submersed object to the top, at the very least. A neighbor was walking her dog. Pisces neighbor. “Catch anything?” she mocked me. Maybe she was nice, but I was stuck with a lure on the bottom, and nothing but line to pull on. I tucked the pole under my arm and gave the line a good, hard pull with my hand. Snapped the line. The neighbor was bemused. I just looked at her, and then I addressed the dog, not wanting to look the Pisces in the eyes, “You know, some days, the fish win.” I looked up at her brown eyes, and she said, with a touch of merriment, “As it should be.” When the time is right, there are days when the bass will chomp on almost anything I throw at them. Then there are days when the fish are grumpy. Then there are days when I just practice clearing the lake of any trash that my hooks picks up. Some days, the fish win. Way it goes. Wait, you are a fish, or, at least, Pisces is the sign of the two fish, I wonder, does this mean you’re winning right now? Or are you like me, resigned to the fact that some days, the adversary wins?
