"More matter for a May morning."
Shakespeare’s 12th Night (III.iv.80)
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Taurus: A song lyric got trapped in my head, leftover music from decades ago. I’m pretty sure I’m remembering the lick the way I want to remember it — instead of the real words. "There’s a new moon on Monday," which, to be precise, isn’t when the new moon really is, but it’s close enough for this week’s look.
Getting to Monday is a chore. Getting a fresh start on the year ahead for Taurus is a joy. The Taurus year ahead looks good. It’s not without a few stumbling points, but more, or less, the year looks a little easier than the last year. The salient point has to do with change. Adapting to, getting comfortable with, adjusting, making, undoing what’s been done, and rebuilding. It’s all about change. As the moon gets skinny and goes dark, over the next couple of days, it’s time to think about what changes you want to make in the coming year. The last of the Taurus birthdays, plus that moon-phase-thing all point to sweeping changes in Taurus-land. Now, what changes do you want to make? And what’s your first step in getting those done?
Gemini: I easily get distracted by bright, shiny objects. As one fishing buddy is prone to say, "Focus, Kramer, focus." Another shopping buddy has just left me in the fishing aisle, since I’m obviously distracted by the bright, shiny lures. Which might not work on fish, but sure seem to work on fisher-persons, like myself. But those poignant words, look, I can explain, the last time?
I was telling an extended story, and halfway through the story, I felt a fish getting interested in the bait. Interrupted my tale. Fish didn’t choke down the bait, so I didn’t have proof, just that little fishy head-bump that deep cover bass do. Which is why my buddy didn’t get that I was focused, only not on the story, but the fishing. With shopping, it’s clear, the bright shiny objects that catch my attention will also catch the attention fish. But to someone, not of our Gemini ilk? They won’t get it. So there’s that other person, not a Gemini, telling you to focus. Seems like you’re drifting a little off-course. Happens. It’s going to feel like Gemini starts early this year. You get the benefit of a New Moon and Mercury, warming up the Gemini corner. Use it. Don’t be perturbed if folks exhort you to "focus," you are.
Cancer: I was out, for a spring evening walk. I also had business to attend, as I had a collection of charts for an extended birthday reading, locations, maps, year ahead kind of reading. It’s what I do. I also wandered by the post office. There was a small check in the mail, really, an overdue amount from a client. Better late than never, and better something than nothing. So I went to meet the client, and the client didn’t show, and after 15 minutes, I called, to check, and there was a sad excuse, lamentable problems, and we had to reschedule. Wasn’t a complete loss, as I’d had a chance to chatter with a friend about work-related issues, and I did have the small payment fetched up from the mail box.
So I headed over towards a bank-in-the-box, to deposit the check. I pulled out the card, and tried to slide it into the slot, but the ATM screen-of-death was up, and it wouldn’t accept my offer to give it money. Thwarted on several accounts. It was, at that point, I called it all a loss and hiked home. Not so much a loss, though, as thwarted plans. Nothing was backwards, no real problems, just minor annoyances, and instead of being down. I still had received the monies, and the client did want to meet, just at a different time. It’s all about how one perceives the profit and loss from a day. It’s about how Cancer is willing to deal with minor — yet annoying — problems. Or maybe. they weren’t problems, not really.
Leo: "Man, if I can just get you to Monday," I was telling a Leo, "it’ll be better by then." There was an over-weaning sense of loss and frustration with that one Leo, and as such, I was trying to give a little sympathy. There was a weird line-up with a couple of planets, and that triggered the ennui in Leo. Perhaps a sense of loss, maybe just a sense that something isn’t quite right. Not that I could fix the problem, nor, for that matter, is the problem really "fixable," in as much as it was situation that had to be endured.
This is now all but behind us now, like so much of a bad memory. I’ve long since learned never to underestimate the Leo capacity for compassion, forgiveness, and certain inability to forget past grievances. Forgive? Sure. Forget? Doubtful. That ennui and taciturn frustration of late? It’s all but past by now. And as the weekend draws to a close, there’s a new found sense of drive and determination. I’m thinking that the Leo camp will a little less willing to succumb to the sucker bets that proffer themselves in the near future. You’ll enjoy a little more clarity.
Virgo: Several evenings in a row, I encountered one of my neighbors, at the edge of the river. There, on the dock, he was sipping a Shiner, and having a sandwich. Another evening, he was eating chips out of a can (fat-free simulated potato chips), and sipping a beer. He’d pause long enough for a little idle chatter. One time, as a new fishing line got itself hopelessly snarled, he made a suggestion for different brand of line.
He commented on the bats, and the "bat hour" is usually a good time to have a line in the water. Right around dusk, the local fish seem most active then. Right around dusk, just as the light slowly leaks out of the sky and the brilliant orange sunset with its russet and magenta hues begins to light up the sky? That’s the magic hour for Virgo.
Goes on for a whole week or two, and I can’t promise something really wonderful each evening. But wait, and watch. Maybe have a line in the water. Or doing whatever it is that you like, have one ready. Then, just around sunset, the magic happens. Three nights in a row, same fish, hit my line. Same place, too. Funny how that works.
Libra: I was in line at the counter, making idle conversation with a favorite coffee-person, when a woman — girl to me — of epic proportions walked in. But what caught my attention, wasn’t the female form itself, it was the T-shirt she had on. It wasn’t what was under the shirt, no, that’s not it. It was a shirt from an obscure honky-tonk in the middle of the West Texas plains, a place of myth and legend. The little beer joint was the stuff of myth and legends, as is West Texas, so you can take that one either way.
What caught my attention was the concept that someone not intimately familiar with the landscape wouldn’t even know about the place. So how that T-shirt made its way to Austin, on that girl, was sort of far-fetched. I pride myself on arcane and obscure locations in the great state of Texas. Like mythical honky-tonks where performances of soon-to-be giants have appeared before a crowd of a dozen. Or less.
What part is myth and what part is fact? That’s obscured by the sands of time. What is sure, though, that something will catch your attention, and sure as can be, whomever you’re talking to? That person will misunderstand your rapt attention. Like that coffee-person, "He-he nice tits." Huh?
Scorpio: I was passing through downtown, on foot, and I spotted familiar visage and form, across the street, outside of a building, smoking a cigarette and talking in an animated fashion to a younger person. The person in question, the one I spotted? She never noticed me, as she had long, flowing mane of blonde hair, and she had the rapt attention of that younger man.
Whatever was being said, I couldn’t read lips or hear over the din of traffic, it was important. Highly animated with gestures, and much puffing on the cigarette. Waving arms around. I thought about it, and continued onward as I had a destination and an appointment. Whatever was being discussed? Must’ve been mightily important to those two. Age might be a factor, but I’d tend to think about hunter and prey, partially because this is a Scorpio thing.
What this is all about is observation. Mars flips into another sign, early next week. Pay attention to little details, as there’s a clue therein. As Mars slouches towards Aries, be ever vigilant. You’re going to catch an image, a sight, a little bit of useful insider information, and you can use this data. Pay attention to the details.
Sagittarius: A personal favorite song of mine is "Friend of the Devil," by the Grateful Dead. The older studio version of the song is basically done as a country ballad, with its harmony and instrumentation. Why this was never picked up by the country music groups? Just shows a certain short-sightedness on their part. If you ask me, but no one did. The song cycled up on the stereo, and I was humming along, thinking about the poetry of the lyrics, the double meaning of some of the song’s story.
It’s worth investigating, a little. Gentle music for Sagittarius ears. Which is something we could all use a little of these days. There’s an ongoing crush of rush to get things done, a mild amount of panic, and some sort of respite is called for. For me, music is a good refuge. Then there’s a little reminder, and it’s about what’s happening in Sagittarius, too, "If I get home before daylight I just might get some sleep tonight." Try and beat daybreak — we could use a little rest.
Capricorn: "More matter for a May morning," it’s the opening Shakespeare quote. From one of the most enjoyable of the Shakespeare comedies, too, if you ask me. But I never claimed to be an expert, just an aficionado.
You’ve got a couple of days of rest and relaxation, and what’s wrong, is that this will be interrupted, next week, early next week, when Mars hits Aries. That forms a tension angle between your sign and Mr. Mars. So he’s going to force some action, of some kind. There’s a whole school of scholarship about the various implied meanings and double-entendres buried in that one play.
It’s been suggested, though I couldn’t find the source off the top of my head, that perhaps Shakespeare himself played Malvolio, who, at the end of the play, gives a haunting blessing, "I’ll be revenged on the whole lot of you." I’ve seen it delivered in an angry fashion, venomous, and hating, and also done as a quiet, frighteningly calm, almost understated message. Which is more scary; ever date a Scorpio? As we prepare the way for Mr. Mars to hit you? Think about what kind of Martian delivery works best for you. You’ve still got a few days to get material all in order before Mars hits, too.
Aquarius: Certain tropes and conceits show up in horoscopes. "You’ll go far," or "you’ll hear from a distant love (or family/friend)" and so on. Pretty general stuff, and what was used last week in another sign is oftentimes recycled for you, for today. I was working on this idea of tropes and conceits that are so common because you’re at a turning point wherein there is a change afoot in the Aquarius chart. Significant changes.
The confusion from the last couple of weeks is clearing out — except for a precious few Aquarius — but in general, there is less confusing material floating around. This means clarity and the clarity then imparts a clear path that needs some type of action. Forward motion. Consider that, as Mars moves into another sign, you’re going to feel a little push. This push is important, and the first action that is called for is communication.
You’ve got to open up the lines of communication. I was thinking of a mass mail approach, but that’s not quite the route I’d take. But I would consider a form letter, or better yet, a template that you could use over and over again. You leave a few spot blank, but a basic template that you can adjust as need for each individual situation? That’s going to be a big help. Pull this together before Mars gets up to speed, and you’ll be in the running for what’s up ahead.
Pisces: It was in the back lot of a recently abandoned warehouse, the place will probably paved over in another few months, turned into a fancy high-rise. But at the time, that evening, there were two kids on skateboards. In one case, they were clearly flaunting the "no trespassing" sign, but the gate was open, and the lot was empty. Off to one side, the two kids had pulled together a makeshift ramp, and they were skating at it, jumping it, doing the usual street skater antics. In a few days, a magical structure of concrete, clay and glass will rise with improbably priced apartments. Or maybe the old warehouse will be turned into fashionable "loft-style" unit, again, at a cost.
But for the time being — Pisces pay attention — that empty lot behind the empty warehouse? Great place for a little exercise. Great place to sweat and work out, and try those tricks that I can’t even dream about, getting air and slamming into the asphalt. Watch some rebel skaters some time, I get exhausted, just watching as they surf through the air with the greatest of ease. There’s an uncanny sense of balance and fluid motion in a well-executed skateboard maneuver, poise and, perhaps, some reckless abandon. Mars is with us in Pisces for a few more days. Use that energy like the skaters did that one evening. Go for it. By late next week, Mars is gone, and that’s like the parking lot, with a guard and a fence.
Aries: Cool nights, warm days. Mars is on a fast approach. Coming soon. Mars is a herald of activity. Getting through the weekend is a matter of spending a little time out of the loop, and after the weekend, plan on not just being in the loop, consider that you might be the loop.
I, for one, have never figured out where the loop term came from; however, I thought it was a good idea. While Mars is cooking in Pisces, you’re out of it, whatever the antecedent to "it" is. Mars is quickly making up for lost time, though, and he’s on his way towards your sign — be here — in fact — in a few days. So you’re going from a solo experience to a jointed or joined experience. You’re going from slow to fast in the blink of an eye. Mars is coming, prepare a way, and plan what to do with his energy, once he arrive. Think: action.
