- “To follow the logos in all things is to be relaxed and energetic, joyful and serious at once.”
- Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Book 10, chapter 12a
Libra: Brief trip down my memory lane. I remember, I was much younger, and I was living in the desert. I was working at a restaurant, that prided itself on fresh food, fast. Sort an early archetype for more modern places. I peeled a huge number of avocados, back then. Walking to work, early in the morning, pre-dawn, the coldest time of the day out there, I was toasty in a heavy leather jacket, and the spirited walk to work in the dark, that just seemed lonely and peaceful at the same time. I’d start at 5 or 5:30 in the morning, and by 2 or so in the afternoon, I’d be done. Enough time to lounge and nap, read, and so forth, then do it all over again. There was peace I kept thinking about, looking at your chart, the Libra chart, a peace that comes from that early morning walk, the solitude and yet, being done with the day’s labor by a little after noon. Work early. Work hard. Get the day’s labor done as early as possible. And for a moment, in that pre-dawn dark? Realize that there’s happiness here.
Scorpio: I was grabbing a keyring out of the drawer. There was a tiny split ring on it, and that caught my finger tip. Tiniest of punctures, but I spilled blood everywhere. Right in the ball of my fingertip. Later, same day, I was slicing veggies for a snack. Just a small paring knife, not really a big deal, but I do like my cutlery nice and sharp. Almost cut the top of another finger off. Not quite, as I caught it before it went deep. Still, it hurt, and blood was everywhere. Most damaged? My pride. Remember Mars?
Mars makes us do stupid things like slice a fingertip, or poke a pin into our thumb. Mars makes us clumsy around sharp, pointed objects. If it can hurt, like cut, poke, serrate, or pierce, then Mars drives into our soft flesh. This is merely a warning. I did revert to using nothing but plastic silverware, like, picnic style, for the duration of my Mars transit. I’d suggest the same for Scorpio.
Sagittarius: Fears and food go together well. There are emotional triggers that scare a Sagittarius, and some of those, especially of the irrational variety, some of those fears are creeping up into our conscious mind. Still the fear isn’t exactly based in reality. I tend to see this as one of “Reality’s” cousin, or something. So there’s that part of the issue. Then there’s food. If it is moving, or, for the vegans, if it was growing, we want to capture, cut, and cook. Or have it raw. Something, anything. The fear reaction frequently triggers food cravings. Food represents stability, wealth and safety. I figure, taking this apart, looking at the nuts and bolts of the issues, the problems. The fear, the cause of the fear, the real root? Sometimes that can alleviate the problem. If not? There’s always a good chicken-fried steak, or whatever comfort food you want, available.
Capricorn: I was standing on the pier, fishing. I had two, almost identical fishing poles with me. One had a jerk-bait, looks like a plastic worm. Salt-infused with garlic and bacon, the flavors fish crave. The other had a hard-body crank-bait. Rip that crank-bait through the water, watch as it causes a reaction strike. Fish bite it, I’m pretty sure, just to shut it up. The other is more like, float it past the fish, twitch it a little see if it looks like a tasty morsel. Two poles, two rather different approaches. Fast, hard, loud compared to gentle, sweet, soft and tasty.
Near identical fishing poles, same make, same model, both 7-foot, different reels, but that doesn’t matter in this illustration. Call the first pole, “Plan A;” call the second pole, “Plan B.” Takes more than one approach to get the job done. Before you go down to the dock to go to work? Have both a Plan A and Plan B, ready. One’s bound to work. Or, there’s Plan C, live bait works, too.
Aquarius: I watched, I’d be horrified, but I’m used to it, I watched, as a smoking, belching decades-old mini-van lurched across rush-hour traffic to a right-hand exit from the left lane. Regrettably, this is more common of an occurrence than I’d care to admit to. Call it “San Antonio Drivers,” but I’m sure, no matter where you are, you’ll find something similar. Houston. Dallas. Austin. Oh, Austin has it much worse. This isn’t about drivers who are either good or bad, this is about a lurching, belching, smoking driver — or similar obstacle — making a three-lane exit right in front of you. Slam on the brakes. I was a passenger, so my right foot reflexively hit the floor. Didn’t do any good, my driver? “Saw that coming, always something.” As an Aquarius, you’re with me, riding shotgun. Mars — and the Moon — line up and next week. Square, really. Tension. Stomp on the floorboard, like I did. Doesn’t really accomplish anything, but I felt better. Watch for, it’s going to happen. Maybe grit your teeth, but no, no action is required and it will pass.
Pisces: Wade fishing is different from any other type of fishing I’ve ever done. The water is anywhere from ankle deep to waist deep, even chest deep in places. Usually it’s the brackish, dense, inter-coastal waterway bays, rich and fertile. While I have a tackle container of sorts when I wade fish, I’ve found that I like attaching just one lure, one bait, and letting it go at that. I’ll work a shoreline, up and back, with that single lure. What’s important is picking the right bait to attach to the pole I’m going to use. I prefer a lighter, easier to handle pole and set-up for this kind of fishing. Makes it fun, but, while I’m in the water, I really don’t want to be changing out baits. Pare down the Pisces picks to just one. Might not be right, but it makes it much easier to stick to the Pisces goal. Pick one. Pare it down to just one.
Aries: I’d like to think I’m mentally balanced. Probably furthest thing from the truth, but that’s not important, not now. This isn’t about my mental poise, this is about Aries. What to do. What not to do. I was working and I had to replace a band-aid on a fingertip. That’s a different story (see Scorpio). The band-air, the wrapper, it sat on my desk, while I typed this. Imagine how hard that is. To let a piece of trash, insignificant trash, sit there, unattended, not put away, not thrown away, nothing, just sitting there. Imagine how difficult that can be. The urge, fight that urge, the urge is to get up and put it in the trash. I will, but first things first. What’s the first thing you need to do? Work on the number one item. The trash? It can wait until I’m done writing this horoscope. I know, you’re like me, this is a hard task to accomplish while that trash mocks and squeals, “Throw me away NOW!” Priorities. What’s first?
Taurus: With the ongoing “Mars” thing, I’ve implored my extra-fine Taurus friends to use a delicate hand. A deft touch, a gentle push rather than just shoving and even shouldering your way through. Makes it better. I was in a “redneck” joint to listen to some music. Band I was looking forward to hearing and seeing. I was getting a little uncomfortable, me with long locks, sure, boots and jeans, but my hair was longer than most near anyone else in the place. Clean-cut, clean pressed cowboy attire on everyone else. I felt somewhat slovenly. The band I wanted to hear didn’t start until late, and I was there early, getting more and more uncomfortable, worried it was a replay from a Charlie Daniel’s song, or worse, some movie (Deliverance, Easy Rider). Worse, these were city rednecks, probably never been around any bull except the mechanical kind. Deft touch is required. Finesse. Ease and graciousness. As the night wore on, I noticed more and more people, some with tattoos crawling out from underneath their collars and sleeves. My people were arriving, but a little late. Almost. Ease, graciousness, patience. The problem is Mars, not the rednecks.
Gemini: I have a couple of Gemini friends, I expect them to enter talking. “Enter talking,” might be the best catchphrase for the Gemini week. “Old Irish saying, if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle them with bull.” I wondered about that being a strictly Irish expression. I’ve always interpreted that as a more colloquial expression.
I was, indeed, a little shocked to find that the Irish, according to my one buddy, hear that it’s an old Irish folks saying. Long before Texas was country. Who knew? As you enter talking, my fine Gemini friend, think about the Texas, or Irish folklore. Words of wisdom. One way, or another, you can win hearts and minds. One way, or another. I would prefer to think it’s Gemini wisdom, but either product, delivered verbally, works. Enter talking.
Cancer: The phrase you’re most likely to hear, all next week?
“Don’t interrupt me.” Is this bad?
“Don’t interrupt me.” Sort of depends on your Cancer, Moon Child self, now doesn’t it?
Is it annoying?
“Don’t interrupt me.”
The deal, between Mars and Uranus, factoring in a little Jupiter and Venus, as well? “Don’t interrupt me.” It has to do with you, my fine Cancer friend, it has to do with you being too hasty, too quick, and too insightful, at the detriment of others. You’re quick, and the problem being, if you shoot your mouth off too quickly? A lot of people will be irritated. Never mind, you’re right. I’ll help. I’ll suggest tacit approval or tacit approbation, whatever the situation requires, but I’d suggest we stick with tacit. Otherwise?
“Don’t interrupt me.”
Leo: I was at a conference, not an astrology conference, but one that covered a number of technical aspects of inter-webs. One of the other attendees (Taurus), a tall, stately, oddly elegant woman, I kept guessing Sagittarius. When I finally asked, then popped her chart, not a drop of Sagittarius anywhere. That woman, the “horse sense” I kept picking up? She’s a furrier. A female furrier — horseshoes? She nails iron rings to horses’ feet? Anyway, my senses were totally wrong, but right, in one way, I guessed the horse thing. With Mars, in Scorpio, and the only planet in Leo, Venus? Consider that your best guess, like mine, will be off, but oddly enough, right. Right in my mind, wrong in delivery. (Well, she should’ve been Sagittarius Rising, but no, I was wrong — she looked like she belonged in our Sagittarius club.)
Virgo: One Virgo fishing buddy? His birthday is today, Sept. 20. Happy Birthday! The rest? That ship’s sailed. There’s a degree of precision required, now, more so than before, with communications. I typically write a horoscope all the way through, from one end to the other. Sometimes. Other times, I pick a sign and then work backwards. Or forwards. Depends. In other words, there is no real pattern to the way I get this accomplished. Sometimes I use notes, research and outlines, and other times, the meaning jumps right out of the chart and lands on the page, with almost no help from me. What works for Virgo? Any of these. All of these. Brainstorming, in some circles, is what this is called. I prefer to think about this, like my own work, you get it out, then go back and tighten it all up a little, by little. Get it out, then hone, refine, and close up the gaps. Precision communication. To my one fishing buddy? Happy birthday, dude, when do we wet a line again?
