Fishing Guide to the Stars
By Kramer Wetzel
(c) 2008-2009 Kramer Wetzel for astrofish.net
For the week starting: 10/1/2009
"His gift is in devising impossible slanders."
Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing [II.i.123]
Beatrice describing Benedick.
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Libra: I pulled a big fish in, on some relatively light tackle. As the I fought/played with the fish and got it closer to the craft, I got excited and I lifted the fish up, just ready to flop it into the fishing boat. Should’ve used a net. "Oh, man, that one was big!" Of course it was huge — it got away.
Brings us to this week’s message. Have to be careful, don’t get too excited and you won’t lose the big fish. However, if you do pull a stunt like me? There’s no sense in berating yourself, over and over, for a simple error in judgment. We all make them, from time to time. Since, on that trip, it was early in the day? No problem, caught some more fish. Which were boated with a net.
Everyone learned from my experience. Which, in all honesty, I knew. But there comes a point where you learn from the mistake and then, instead of calling it a mistake? Call it a learning experience. Then too, another part of this issue? Can’t dwell in the past. You can glance back to make sure you don’t make the exact same mistake again, but you can’t dwell on it. Not allowed for now.
Scorpio: There’s a quality that I tend to admire in a Scorpio, that ability to twist anything around to suit that particular Scorpio’s situation. However, while I admire that quality, there’s catch to it this week. I say, "Push?" And you pull. I say "Duck?" And up you jump. The normal response, "It seemed like the thing to do?" That doesn’t work so well.
I’m not against Scorpio, no, rather, I’d just like it to be a bit easier for you. In order to make it easier, you have to follow the guidelines, the follow the hints, and hope that person giving the hints and directions understands what’s going on. Instead of trying to use some kind of revernse-reverse psychology, with healthy ironic flavor, I’m being pointed and clear. The directions, oh, just consider them as suggestions rather than rules, okay?
Those are all about specific directions which your good little Scorpio self should follow. The directions are clear, too. "Push," means to exert pressure away from you. "Duck" means to lower your Scorpio brain so you don’t get hit on the head. It’s very simple. We’re crawling out of a little bit of bad spot for Scorpio and the easiest way to avoid problems? Follow the proffered advice.
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Sagittarius: I was looking at some over-the-counter medication. Stuff I keep on hand to relieve symptoms of illness, and really, it’s more a comfort to have the meds on hand than to use those OTC pills. However, as I was feeling like I might need them, I checked on the label of the pills. I wanted to see just exactly how many I should I take in 24-hour period, and I was surprised.
My best estimate? My best guess? I was doubling up on the dose of that stuff. Which probably isn’t a good idea. Or maybe it is, as dizziness could be a side-effect. Or maybe I’m already a little dizzy. This really isn’t about drugs, though, it’s more about reading the instructions. Following the directions. While it might sound like fun to mix and match medications to amaze your friends, it’s not always a good idea to play around the brain’s chemistry. As a Sagittarius, we have, at best, a tenuous grip on reality as it is?
Which is why I’m suggesting, just as a suggestion, just for the next couple of days? Try reading the instructions. Try following the directions.
Capricorn: Here’s a hint: get a jump start on the new year. If I were more a self-aggrandizing, self-promoting sales jerk, I’d suggest you look at a transit report for next year, just to figure out when you’ve got your hot times, and then I’d suggest you plan and prepare. But that’s a lot of work, leafing through page after page of material just to determine what’s going to happen next year. And why are we concerned with next year?
Should you be concerned about next year? Yes. There’s a point, has to do with current employment at this moment in space and time, and at this very point, this instance, in the next few days? You’ve got a chance to start making progress towards next year. Little changes? Or big changes? Kind of depends on your happiness quotient, your rating, and how you stack up against that internal Capricorn measuring stick.
Perhaps the most judgmental of all, huh? The internal Capricorn voice.
Anyway, this is about making some plans for the future, based upon where events are right about now.
Aquarius: For me, I keep this list short, as short as possible. It’s a list of things I should do. Usually, it’s things I should do right away, too. Here’s my little kick-in-the-pants for my excellent Aquarius friends: look at your list. Take the top item? If you can, just accomplish that one goal. Just get it done, just do it. If that to item is not doable? Then skip to the next item on the list.
It’s about priorities and how you choose to go about getting things done on your list of things that must be done. Or should be done, or should be done to improve the quality of your life. Or some other entity (spouse/boss) requires your excellent Aquarius action. It’s about doing what is right, doing what may not be the most comfortable, it’s about doing the proper thing, finding the best course of action to knock that top spot down a notch — or three.
There’s all this nice stuff floating along in Aquarius. It’s just that you can get a little distracted, and then, you want to do something else, and then you forget all about what you’re doing in the first place, and you wander off to go have a beer with friends (or some kind of similar pursuit). Which is the problem. Stick to the top items on the list of things you’d rather not do, but if you get them done, at least one? You will feel much better.
Pisces: I was kicking around an advertising term to use for my own horoscopes. I was going to call it "affordable fun." I liked the way the term rolled off the tongue, I liked the sound and implications. Better yet, though, I like the way this works for Pisces. It’s what you’re looking for, these days. Affordable fun. There is such a thing, you know?
A subscription costs less than — insert your own suitable metaphor.
The examples I grew so fond of? Downtown parking rates. I had numerous images of how much it costs to park in a spot by the courthouse. From five bucks right on up to a dozen dollars — or more. I don’t know if that’s what you’re looking at, either, for affordable fun. I’d be looking for stuff that is cheap, or even free, if at all possible, I’d be interested in a cheap fun. Some diversion that doesn’t cost a lot, if anything at all. I was thinking about grabbing a fishing pole, early next week and hitting a few of the local ponds. That’s cheap fun, for example, right? Affordable fun for Pisces — however you work that.
Aries: This is an exercise for this week — get a piece of paper, a blank piece of paper. Put a large letter A in the center of the paper. Good. All done?
What’s going is you just graded yourself. You just gave yourself an A. You can add a plus if you would like, but as an Aries, superlatives are not always required. You passed with flying colors, you’re good to go. As the next few days arrive and depart, there’s going to be some judgment and grading.
Instead of worrying about what others think about? Just consider what you’ve done, where you are, and how far you’ve come. Look at where you’re at — right now.
What does this have to do with anything? It’s all about where you’re at, how you’re doing, and how you react to being graded. When some outside forces start pushing on you? Look at that piece of paper from the start. Internally, you know, I’m right, you deserve the best grade. Or really good one.
Taurus: Something triggered my brain, as I was looking at the Taurus charts, for the beginning, for the end, and even some for the middle of the next couple of days. One word. I couldn’t escape this one word, it just seemed to fit: Circus.
It looks like there’s a circus going on in Taurus. In the main ring, there’s one act, on the side, there’s another act, and on the other side, a juggling act. It’s really a three-ring circus in Taurus. What are you going to do with that? There are any number of plausible solutions for Taurus. However, I have a much better idea. Instead of trying — and possibly failing — as the Ring Master? Be part of the audience. You’ll enjoy the show much more, and there’s always something to watch.
There will be a Gemini, trying to back up and correct a previous mistake. An Aries will be blithely banging his or her way forward, through the obstacle rather than around the obstacle, and then, here in Taurus? Trying to manage and juggle three acts at one time? Whatever for? While Mercury is no longer backwards, there’s still a bit of leftover tension — in other signs. Sit back, and observe. With that implacable Taurus calm? Sit back and watch. Or do like me, and be greatly amused.
Gemini: Listen to me: Mercury is not retrograde.
Got that? No more using that excuse. Now, as this week unfolds, as we hit a full moon, then the full moon fallout? You’re going to feel, your little Gemini brain will lie to you, and tell you that Mercury is still backwards because you keep running into the same kinds of problems you’ve had for the last four weeks now. I’m amused by my Gemini friends and family. I am amazed, at times. Like now.
Like, if you’ll go back and look at some of my previous advice, you’ll see I warned you — adequately — about what happens if you skip a step or take an apparent shortcut, or avoid cleaning up a little mess that needed to be cleaned up. While I’m all in favor Gemini keeping his or her hands clean? While I’m all in favor in finding the most expedient route to get through from here to there? Anything you skipped, ducked, or avoided? In the last four weeks? Something you were supposed to do and didn’t? Yeah, it’ll be back to bite you. From my non-Gemini perspective, all I can say? I told you so.
Cancer: Been some time since I’ve traveled to this particular West Texas destination, but what it amounts to? It’s about 40 minutes via commercial jetliner, and it’s about a six, maybe even eight hour drive. That’s a long way. Part of the problem is the location of the interstate and part of the problem is where I live, and part of the problem is I really don’t enjoy a six or eight hour drive like that.
If I have time to wander, meander, stop for the view, stop for a coffee break, stop and eat some local food, stop for a chicken-fried steak, stop for BBQ, stop for coffee again. Stop and get some ice cream? I could take, two, maybe three days to get there and I’d come home a different route. But I can’t afford that much time on the road and the trip, what with all those stops? It gets a little more pricey than I’d like.
It’s a matter of weighing destination versus time and factoring in enjoyment of the travel itself. Time meandering and wandering? That’s good. I enjoy that. It’s the rest of the stuff that detracts from the proposition. You get an offer. Does it justify the trip? Does the expense, in both time, money and spirit, wait, only two things, time and spirit? Is there enough money? Or is it more difficult than it’s worth? Only you can decide that. But I’d look at this next offer long and hard before taking another plunge.
Leo: I’ve lived in Austin too long. I like my steak really rare. I don’t eat meat all that often, but when I do, I like it very rare. In fact, I’d be happy if they just sliced a little piece off the cow, then sewed the flap of leather back in place, thereby not really hurting the cattle, certainly a lot less painful than hamburger, that’s for sure.
So I lived in Austin too long and I have different set of values as a result of prolonged exposure to that "Austin water." Swimming in the Barton Creek will do that. This isn’t really about how I like my steak, though, it’s about adapting to a new environment. It’s about how you change to get along in a new place. Or don’t change, that, too.
Adaptation is important. Not always a Leo characteristic, but there is a chance to change. A chance to grow. A chance to look at an existing situation from slightly skewed perspective, and maybe, just maybe, you get new handle on the old problem. Or you get a new way to pitch the old idea. Or, there’s a more apparent way to effectively deal with what used to be a problem, only, it’s less of a problem because you have a new way of looking at things. Like me, living in Austin too long and exposed to that cold water.
Virgo: Across several mythologies, the morning star is the bringer of life. Or bringer of glad tidings and/or various good things. The morning star, Venus and Mercury, align with that taskmaster, Mr. Saturn.
There’s a sense of destiny, accomplishment and still, a little bit of hard toil still ahead. Anyone who promised you a free ride, a cheap way around the problem, or a solution that was too good to be true? Guess what. It was too good to be true. Saturn and his friends will light that up, even now.
Simply put, you’ve still got a bit of hard work ahead, and that’s going to be highlighted in the next few days as those three line themselves up. Cosmic message, or just a forgotten task? Depends.
