For the Week starting: 10.18.2007

For the Week starting: 10.18.2007

“Draw, you rogue, or I’ll so carbonado your shanks.”

Shakespeare’s King Lear (II.ii.24)

Scorpio: To make the picture more incomplete, Mercury ‘exeunt’ Scorpio. What’s worse, though, is such a movement places Mercury and its mercurial influence in the Scorpio’s 12th (solar) House. House of secret enemies. While I’ve successfully dealt with “12th House issues,” that doesn’t mean that it’s pleasant. Nor is it enjoyable. Which doesn’t mean that the next week is going to be bad, but I’d be a little more prepared than usual. No one expects you to come out of this unscathed. Which, as soon as I posit that as a theory, you’ll emerge just fine. Something about how tricky a Scorpio can be. But one of the reasons you’ll emerge unscathed is because I helped warn you about the little Mercury slip. As that occurs, what you’ll want to do is be extra prepared. There’s a little hint that doubling up on action can save you some reaction time. I was trying to land a piece of bait in an exact spot in the lake. Mercury was backwards, I kept flailing away, like the fishing rod was a buggy whip and I was working a demon horse. First try, no avail, second try, overshot it by several feet, third try and so on. So when I suggest doubling the effort, you could do like I was doing that afternoon, practicing on how not to land the bait. Eventually, I did get it right.

Sagittarius: Did get it right? Or didn’t get it right? Depends on who was talking and how you read last week’s missive. I’m inclined the think it was okay, realizing what sort of mayhem is about to unleashed on our Sagittarius heads. AS much as I’d like to think it’s merely a mercurial situation, that’s really not the case. This is also a long-haul question. Has to do with the way Saturn is positioned in our charts. I was thinking about Saturn and Virgo as I was reacting to the way the dock felt. I’d been on boat all morning so when I landed on the dock, I was still bending my knees, and swaying with the waves, even though the dock was firmly rooted. I was still swaying, adjusting my posture and balance, bracing against the waves, then rolling some. Watching the incoming breakers, I instinctively adjusted my position and posture for each wave — that impact was never received like I thought it would be. The dock never moved. However, like Saturn and Mercury, never hurts to be prepared. I realize that I probably looked like a drunken maniac, out on the dock that afternoon, but with those two planets? Never hurts to be prepared, one way or another.

Capricorn: “One way or another, I’m going to get you….” I think those are the lyrics. Old school song. Way old school. Before my time, even. I just hear it on the classic stations, these days. I was thinking about those lyrics, when I was tweaking the Capricorn chart since the way the planets are, something will get you in the next couple of days. Can’t be avoided. Can’t be dodged, unless you’re really a particularly artful; dodger. And while your Capricorn self might be good at a number of things, I’m unsure how good you’ll be at getting away. Unless, of course, that wasn’t really the plan. Might be, you want to be caught? Another line from a different song? I made good run, but I run too slow… (they over took me down in Juarez Mexico).”

Aquarius: Ya’ll ain’t a lost cause, but I’ll tell you what, there’s not a lot to look at right now. That was the first round of words that popped up when I was flipping around your chart. Not that this is long term problem, but in the short run, there’s not a lot going on that’s going to work well, not for you. The function of several combinations, but what it all amounts to is that there’s a growing sense of frustration that no one is paying attention to the importance of the tasks at hand. Herein is the problem. And the solution? There really isn’t one.

Pisces: This is a long one. I was in a T-shirt, tourist store. The usually over-priced shirts were on sale and I was going to buy a few, trinkets for the upcoming seasons. I came into a conversation a little late, so I don’t know what the introduction was, but it was an elderly man, conversing with a sales clerk clearly 20 years younger than him, and the subject was infidelity and divorce. “I was married 37 years to that jerk, and I got married when I was fifteen, too. Now what will I do?” That was the clerk’s complaint. The older guy was there with his, guessing from the dynamics, son. “C’mon pop, let’s go, you’ve had your fun, back into the cage.” There was a flatly ironic yet strained tone to the son’s voice. Sotto voce, I asked if the dad was a real ladies’ man. “Oh yeah, the soon replied, “he’s a real mac-daddy.” Roll of the eyes. We looked over. The clerk was enthralled with the older man’s story, both being treated badly by apparently cheating spouses, not trying to get too much detail here, but there was the usual components of a country music trope, romance manqué, and the two characters were hitting it off pretty well. In the most unlikely of spots, too. The way I’d like to see it, if no one else would, is that the one, or the other, of the two wronged characters is Pisces. And that’s what this is really all about. Where you don’t expect it, when you don’t expect it, from a corner of the universe wherein you really can’t expect to find it, there it is. Perhaps, early in life, a 29-year offset in ages might be remarkable. But as we get older — some of us refuse to mature — but as we get older, there’s a sense that there’s still a connection. And what’s wrong with hitting on someone like that? Like parties? Similar backgrounds? Same complaints? Let them have their way, what I say.

Aries: You can’t say this little Mercury period caught you unaware. Can’t say you got blind-sided by this one. Nope, there are no good excuses. Not that an Aries would spend any time making excuses, but there’s that question — and its answers — that keep coming up. How did you miss this one? Mars is in Cancer. Cancer is a Cardinal sign, like Aries. So that’s a sharp angle. Mercury slides back into Libra by the end of this scope. Libra is Cardinal sign, opposite Aries. So there’s a square and an opposition going on. Tough little annoying points in the charts. And in the Aries life. How annoying is this going to be? Only as bad as you let it be. Understand that the irritations are there, present. Can’t be overlooked. Can’t be avoided. It’s all about how you react to the irritation.

Taurus: It’s all about how you react to the irritations, isn’t it? That’s the secret to successfully evading the dreaded grasp of the Mercury problems that are, sure as can be, just up ahead. The week will be fraught with the usual bumbles and comic asides, and the true, ironic images that Mercury is often times responsible for. The inherent problems — usual Mercury mess — is compounded. Can be a couple of factors, but the most likely culprit would be Mr. Mars, and his relative — to Taurus — position. It’s all about chatter. The white noise background that fills up the eternal void of space. The chatter is the problem, and more than likely, I’m not saying that it’s Taurus for sure, but there’s a good chance that the problem is Taurus. Easiest way around this mess? Shut up. Sit on your hands. Can it. Zip it. Buy yourself a few minutes of quiet time — you being quiet — as the easiest solution to the Sun easing into Scorpio with Mercury easing backwards into Libra.

Gemini: The Sun easing into Scorpio with Mercury easing backwards into Libra? Spells disaster for some of my Gemini friends. Or spells something that could look like disasters. I was sitting next to Gemini on a short flight some place. I looked over her shoulder, at the screen on her laptop, and there was an eloquent picture of an old truck, with spilled chili peppers. Hatch, NM: famous for chili peppers. Southern New Mexico, actually close to El Paso, great peppers, and a wonderful, very evocative picture. Colorful, too, as the peppers were mostly the green-chili types, but there was a crate of the red ones, as well. It’s both sad and yet strangely joyful. The story behind the story? I can’t recall the details, but the Gemini happened upon the scene before the police arrived, and the farmer was distraught, yet there was silver lining in the tale, if I recall. However, Mercury is backwards and that will upset some thoughts. And plans. Just like that truckload of peppers.

Cancer: Just like that truckload of peppers, you’re going to come across an egregious problem, which might, or might not be, rather picturesque. I believe the original expression was “upset the apple cart,” and I’m pretty sure that must be adjusted for local condition, as I’ve never seen an apple cart in my neighborhoods. Closest thing I’ve seen? It would have to a be a truckload of chili peppers. Both green and red peppers, makes for a Christmas kind of color scheme, too. The truckload of peppers, though? That can be a problem. Too hot. Too much. While I enjoy food that is inordinately hot and spicy, I can’t say that such fare is always recommended for everyone. Particularly a Cancer, and especially this week. There’s something that looks really tempting. But like a truckload of peppers? Too much fire? Mars and Mercury inspired decisions? I’d be a little more careful. I’m not saying that it’s a bad idea, but a temper that fire with something to cool it off.

Leo: Cool it off, baby. There is nothing that we can do that will ameliorate the effect of Mercury’s relative motion. I’d just chill out. I figured a good way to explain how to work around the planets, and what to do with the Mars/Mercury/Sun relations, and I was going to explain, that, see, it’s as simple as picking up the remote, and advancing the programming. I’ve got an iPod hooked to a stereo, nice office background noise, and all I had to do to switch the tenor of the times was grab the remote, and hit the “next song” button. A perspicacious Leo will note that first I had to find the remote. Then I had to be frustrated because the remote wasn’t working from across the room, which only indicates that the battery needs to be replaced. Then there is the issue trying to figure out what kind of battery it takes, and I’ll bet it’s a size that I don’t keep on hand. And anyway, after I figured out that I didn’t like the song, and I wanted to advance the tunes, and I couldn’t achieve the desired results with electrical-mechanical devices? If I’d only followed my own advice, just cooled it, the song would’ve been over in three minutes, and I’d be a lot less frustrated.

Virgo: Be a lot less frustrated if you’d followed my advice the first time? Yes, I know the last thing you want to hear is “I told you so,” but when Mercury starts a backwards spin on the proceedings? Just like this? From water to air? Everything is going backwards, and maybe not in a fun way. I was packaging up some dead shrimp for bait. Old surf fishing trick, salt away some dead, smelly shrimp, and let them sit in salt for, oh, about 6 months is best. The shrimp meat gets tough yet retains that special flavor. Makes for a great bait. Stays on the hook until the fish start hitting it, Redfish, Trout, Flounder, they all like it. But packaging the bait up? Salting it away for future use? It’s a tasks that I save for the last day on the coast. I’ll get a couple of air-tight baggies, and a bait container, then I’ll add the salt, remove the heads, and package it all up, double-bagged. In a cooler. Safe. Sound. And then I’ll clean up. Pack fish and bait, then clean up. Do things in the proper order, try my way, works great.

Libra: Works great if you can get it to work. Nothing personal, but I wouldn’t count on getting it to work right. Not now. I didn’t say it wouldn’t work, not ever, but diligent hard work doesn’t yield the results that you’re used to. That’s sort of a problem. Or, not sort of a problem, it’s a big problem. You keep punching in one direction, and there doesn’t seem to be any verifiable, tangible results. At least, you can’t see anything. Mercury, next week, starts sliding into the trailing edge of Libra. Mercury is all about review, and there’s some part of this plan you’re working on, some piece that you need to re-think. I’m not saying that your thinking is flawed, far from that, I’m just going to suggest that you weren’t given adequate information with which to work. Doing the best with what’s available, while that’s commendable, and while it is admirable, it still won’t get the job done. That’s what this is all about, getting the job finished. I can’t make that happen any faster, nor, can I really be of much assistance. But if you’ll pause and reconsider, you might find some of the missing pieces. Nothing like a little lost data to make the picture more incomplete.