For the Week starting: 11.8.2007
"Ay, Greek; and that shall be divulged well
In characters as red as Mars his heart."
Troilus in Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida [V.ii.322-3]
Scorpio: Another happy Scorpio birthday! And another trip around the sun? What needs attention is the way Mars is going to go. For all intents and purposes, Mars is stationary, and this week sets a tone that will hold fast for at least the next few weeks, and quite possibly on into the new year.
Pick and choose carefully with the tones that you want to set. Elegiac? Comedic? What suits your humor?
Realize that this is song that you will sing for the next 6 to 8 weeks, and if you’re not carefully, you pick a song that drives you nuts, usually after the third round. This is a theme, this tone, this theme-song, if you will. Is it going to be a sad ballad about loss and failure? Or can you imagine a happier, more upbeat tune? There’s one Scorpio singer-songwriter, and to this day, he still has to sing "Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother" at every show. Imagine how that must be, for a soulful, Zen-like singer, stuck with lewd lyrics. Careful or you’ll be stuck with a similar tune, for the next couple of months.
Sagittarius: I’m not much on my celebrity gossip, so I might be wildly inaccurate, but I was thinking about a character, from TV, who shared a name with me. His character’s last name, my first name. As far as I know, the TV show is still in heavy syndication, which means he’s still getting a paycheck, albeit, greatly reduced.
Still, it’s a long, slow downhill slide. From fame to ignominy. Happened to this one actor, near as I can tell, but like I said, I’m not up on latest gossip. However, the point is taken, and the hint for Sagittarius is clear: We’ve had our glory, Mars is heading backwards. Don’t try and be glorious when Mars is backwards. It will backfire and start a slow ride into perdition. It’s not nearly as bad as I paint it to be, but there is a hint, a suggestion, that a brilliant move at this point will fail. It’s more matter of just maintaining the correct course for yourself, rather than the big changes. No dramatic moves, not now.
Capricorn: "Some women," I said, and rolled my eyes. The waiter looked at me, "Some?" he asked, "how about ‘all’?" Good point. And that’s where I’ll drop the story. The sequence of events, and the subsequent conversation with the waiter? Young for his age, but apparently, wise beyond his years? Capricorn lad, as was later revealed.
To be honest, if the problem isn’t one, but everyone of the people that you come in contact with? Is there a chance that the most common element would be your Capricorn self? Stuck between an approaching Jupiter and a reluctant Mars, yonder on the opposite side of the wheel? With those twin influences, anticipation and dread? Is there any reason whey everyone seems to be jolly, and yet the Capricorn’s glass isn’t nearly half full, it’s almost empty? That’s going to be a problem.
Woe and despair (Mars) — blind optimism (Jupiter). You get to make the call. Now, with that one waiter, because I felt like a true rapport had been established during the course of the meal? I left generous, even for me, tip. I wonder if that’s what it’s really all about.
Aquarius: I was listening to some friends, they run a small business, and I was interested in how they choose their hours. They let the clients dictate the business hours. It’s a retail store, but with the approach of the holiday, it pays to stay open later. Not so much first thing in the morning, but the later hours seemed better.
The dollars generated by opening a little later and staying open after dark? Basically, the shift only required that they adjust the times open, not the duration, but making a simple shift like that? All the difference. Made for a more stable income, and greatly enhanced the visibility of the store.
It’s a matter of making one adjustment, for the upcoming holidays, that will affect your own, internal routine. That adjustment, simple as it may be, drawn from careful observation and analysis, will pay big. Simple as looking and figuring, "No sales between 8 AM and 11 AM, for the last week, think we should try opening later?"
Pisces: I wonder, if you don’t have it figured out by now, will you ever get the clue? Harsh words, I know, but Mars and Uranus are going to be driving home a serious point for the next six months, or so it’s going to feel like that. The two planets are going to start a backwards pattern that’s intent on hammering home a point. Or two.
Most Pisces, most of the pleasant Pisces with whom I deal? Most of them are all but immune to this planet thing going on. But watch, as those not familiar with their cosmic lesson? They are going to get hammered, as this point makes itself clear, time and again. I was pondering what this all means, and I was wondering if this has to do with relationships, especially of the romantic variety?
Aries: There’s an emphasis, and this is kind of like buying a used textbook. Reminds me of it, anyway, the kind of book that’s been used by more than one college student. The kind of text that has copious margin notes, then, at the end of the semester, after the finals, the book is sold off. Only to be picked up again, and the notes further added to. Like, there’s two or three layers of notes, and that’s where the clue for the coming weeks will be. In those notes. Previous material. Already been covered.
Perhaps it’s been covered by more than one student. Maybe more than one Aries. More than one teacher. Repeating the process is part of the deal, see? It’s all about something that you supposedly have already covered, only, there’s an echo. It’s a lesson, one you’ve either learned, or not, and it’ll be thrown back in your face, more than once, in the coming weeks. Have you studied?
Taurus: November tends to be warm, at least the days are still pretty warm. I’ve seen November warm enough for a dip in Barton Springs, and I’ve also seen a November cool enough for frozen precipitation. So a warm afternoon, typically warm afternoon, one of my little Barista friends was wrapped in a wool hat, with some wool mittens. Me? I was wearing shorts. "It’s November, isn’t that when it gets cold here?" she asked. Yeah, well, maybe. Or maybe not so much.
I didn’t realize she wasn’t native, and as such, unaware of our subtropical weather patterns. The vagaries of local conditions. Blame the fickle nature of the weather, but that little Taurus Barista? Prepared and all? Wooly hat? Fluffy mittens, leggings and boots? Just about any place north of here, that’s probably a good idea. But Halloween is gone, so as a costume idea, I’m not sure it fit, not exactly. However, being prepared for the winter’s blast? Even when it seems so nice out, like now? It’s not a bad idea. If I were more Taurus? I’d get ready for the winter’s blast. Now.
Gemini: Over the counter, it’s at a coffee shop I know, there’s a sign, "If you are grouchy, irritable or just plain mean, there will be a $10 surcharge for putting up with you." I’d like to suggest that my Gemini friends consider a new tattoo, with something like that comment, right across the (Gemini) forehead. Perhaps that’s a bit extreme.
Maybe a T-shirt? At the very least, perhaps grab a sign like this and hang it around your neck. Then, as you encounter the grouchy, irritable, or just plain mean people? Call their attention to the surcharge. Doesn’t always work, but it’s worth a try. The reason the sign? More than your fair share of surly and unreasonable people are going to be in your face in the coming weeks. I can’t change that. At all. It’s how you decide to handle these people who are clearly being mismanaged — that’s what’s so important. It’s your behavior, not theirs, that’s where the secret to success can be found. And just for a suggestion? I’d start with the tattoo. Or t-shirt.
Cancer: I got in a habit of "one last comment," when I was doing a lot of phone readings. I would tape the readings, and the reading would be over, and I’d go to hang up, but with the phone-microphone, and the tape still running, I could always get in one last message. More than one Cancer woman has heard me exclaim, at the end of the tape, after she’s hung up? "Gawd, I love Cancer women." So now you know, in my heart, that I have a deep and abiding affection for the sign of Cancer.
But why I was starting to address this issue, there’s a time coming up, fast approaching, most near here, and you’re going to be like me, with the recording still recording, and you’ve got to be careful about what you say. Unkind words, accidentally recorded? What do you want to say? Or what should you say? It’s that last few seconds, at the end of recording, and what you leave there? That could be the difference between, well repeat performance, or not getting called back. You can interpret this anyway you desire, but I’d start watching that comment after the machine is — supposedly — off.
Leo: There was this one song I’ve been looking for, seeking the tune for several years. Most near a decade or two, so it seems. A one hit wonder from the 80’s. Due to licensing and royalties, I’m guessing the song didn’t make it on many compilations, nor was it available online.
I was in a mall, in a department store. Places that I loathe, too urbanized, too uniform, too much marketing. I passed a stand with a two-CD set, and that song was on the second CD. Good thing its title was down at the bottom, or I might’ve missed it. In a mall, in department store, with a CD set that was branded with something that I don’t exactly support, but, the target, how important was it that I get that one song? A legal copy, at that? Pretty important.
I popped for the whole set, which, to be honest, appealed to my cheaper side because it cost less than one CD. But this all about the search for one thing, one item, an almost obsessive concern. For Leo? What the point is, to get what you’re looking for. Maybe not where you thought you’d find it, but there it is, one afternoon in November.
Virgo: "This Old Porch," sometimes just alluded to as the "Porch" song, a popular favorite with local heroes Lyle Lovett (Scorpio) and its author, Robert Earl Keen (Capricorn), one of the versions of the song? It has an ending that talks about how "I’ve known a lot of old bulls in my life and their work is never done."
That song was just ending as I was just starting your scope. I stopped the song, backed it up and played it again. That line, "I’ve known a lot of old bulls in my life, and their work is never done," that echoes the way that I want my little Virgo friends to feel. Hot, sweaty, playing hid-and-seek with that South Texas sun, sweating and remember, a Virgo’s work is never done. Not yet. Got a long haul with this one. Listen to the "Porch" song and see if you don’t feel the same was its conclusion.
Libra: Venus is like a trigger. The planet, and her obvious referents, beauty, peace, harmony? All that ties into this next few weeks. There’s a clear reference point, Libra — Mars and Venus — romantic relationships. But I was going to delve a little deeper and get to a more important message. I was thinking about a particular fish. He (she) was parked in a small, clear pool in front of me. On a nearby stream. Big bass. Looking at me. Me looking at him (her, really).
I would float an obnoxious bait past the guy. No takers. That evening, me looking at the bass, the bass looking back at me, we tried many different combinations, and no matter what I did, I couldn’t annoy the bass enough to get her to bite. Close as I got to a photo-op was him (her) sitting there in the water. I’m not a Libra. If I had been a Libra, I think a good Libra would’ve been able to tease the fish into taking the bait. I think the proper word is really cajole, not tease. Entice. Entreat. Sweetly encourage. While some of this might by out of the current Libra vocabulary, I’d like to suggest you work it back in. Much easier to get what you want. And while you’re at it? Could you talk to the fish for me, too?
