“… These boiled brains of nineteen and two-and-twenty …”
Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale [III.iii.62-3]
The Shepherd, thinking that the young men are hunting, when in fact, it’s another plot device entirely.
Horoscopes by the Fishing Guide to the Stars starting 2.5.2015
Aquarius: On of the weirder “astrology-related” items I’ve been exposed to? A workbook text. While It was supposedly a textbook to learn astrology, there were copious blank pages where the reader, the student, was supposed to fill in the blanks. Kind of a short-cut, as an author, if you ask me. 200 page book with barely 50 pages of material. One of my own books is a little over 50 pages, but then the book when in printed form itself, only runs about 60 pages. No extra padding. No blank pages with a short comment, then a line that says, “How did that make you feel?”
As an Aquarius, birthdays and all, how does that make you feel? Kind of a short-cut, cop-out, if you ask me. Because it’s your birthday time, I’m not going to ask you how you feel, and I’m not going to ask you to fill in the blanks. I would suggest though, you look at a book before buying it. How much is filler, and how much is useful content?
(And then, fill in the blank, “How does that make you feel?”)
Pisces: As a fan of Mark Twain, I use a number of his familiar aphorisms. In that vein, “Nothing speaks louder than a well-timed pause.” However, we’re putting that off for the rest of this Pisces week. The top ten reasons to procrastinate? Number 10: Mars is in Pisces.
The rest of the numbers are not included. Put off filling them all in. Mars, then Venus, Moon, Neptune, all of that rolling in your sign? Best choice? Put it off. If you really need help, need a Mars-Driven goal? Consider trying to come up with the other 9 reasons to procrastinate. Might help. Not required, though. Besides, as I started with Mark Twain (Sagittarius), I might remind you that a well-timed pause works wonders. Mercury, you know, still retrograde.
Not bad, but might be mercurial. Put it off, if possible.
Aries: In the world of Recreational Vehicles, think about a trailer park in South Austin for a minute, my roots, and then think about a leveling jack. In RV circles, this is a piece of heavy-duty equipment, and to some, it’s a fancy device that travels with the trailer or motor home, wherever. Need it so that dinner doesn’t slide off the table, although, in my experience, most of the parking spots, “pads” is the term, are level. It’s not an issue.
Still, the Mercury Thing, the Uranus thing, the Pluto thing, all of that? What are we doing? Expensive, cool-looking lifts and jacks that neatly conceal into the trailer’s underbody? Yes, nice stuff. But sometimes it doesn’t work. The automatic, self-leveling feature on one buddy’s trailer? Never did work quite correctly. I don’t have a long-term cure for the unbalanced Aries sentiments, but I have a short term solution. Get out a simple scissor jack, less than ten bucks at the discount hardware store. Not elegant. Kind of ugly. Cheap, in-elegant, possibly ugly, still, more than serviceable. Which is what we’re looking for. Something that will prop matters up, level it off, keep everything on the level, even if the (temporary) fix is like one of those cheap jacks. Works. For at least one fishing buddy, the cheap scissor jack is now a permanent part of his RV experience.
Taurus: I’ve modified a familiar quote, and I’ve tailored this advice for Taurus, for this week. “Those who DO NOT remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” (Addendum: over and over.) With various planets exerting various influences, the overwhelming Taurus urge is to repeat the actions, do the same thing, over. Which results in the same outcome, over and over. This is circular. Keeps going around. In part, this is a cosmic message about checking to see if you’re paying attention, and then, too, it’s about when do you get upset with the identical results, the very same failures, with the same process?
Here’s the weekly guideline: if the same steps produce the same result, and this is a result you no longer desire, then do not repeat the same steps.
Sure, it’s obvious enough but with Mercury almost un-Retrograde in a fixed-air sign (Aquarius)?
Gemini: Buddy of mine, this isn’t an original from me, but a buddy of mine was carrying on about married life. “I’ve been married quite a while now,” he said, “best ten years of my life.” How long have you been married, I asked. “Oh, that, yeah, we’ve been married 18 years now.”
I would be remiss not to point out that he doesn’t say it like that in front of “The Wife.”
It’s funny, it’s true, and she never reads my works, so we’re safe. The Gemini message is about how you phrase what you’re going to say. Yes, Mercury is getting out of the throws of a heinous little retrograde action, and that’s confusing issues, which, in turn are compounded by Mars, then Venus, in Pisces, which makes a difficult point for you.
“Yes, best ten years of life.”
Cancer: The biggest obstacle in the last few weeks has been determining what’s a “want” compared to what’s a “need.” “Want” and “need” can be, in some terms, easier to understand.
“I want to take a nap,” compare that to, “the doctor ordered bed rest.” Think about it like this, “I’d like chicken-fried steak today,” compared to “I must eat something.” Want versus need. Been a long month here, for me. I want to to go fishing. Is that a need? Does that qualify as something that has to be done? Depends on who’s asking, and how the perceptions run. To me, it’s a need. To some other folks, it could appear to be a want. Need versus want, as a theme.
Clarity, too, now that Mr. Mercury is unspooling from his retrograde pattern that left us all confused. There’s a moment or two of clarity, see clearly now, that Mercury no longer fogs the issues. Is it something you want? Or is this an action that you need to take? Careful, as the two elements have been confused for what seems like forever. Ask before you act.
The (mighty) Leo: I’m not as majestic as a mighty Leo, not as cool as The Leo. I lack that inherent, Leo-like “presence.” While Mercury was Retrograde, you lacked your usual, innate, Leo-like majestical quality, too. Less noticed. Which wasn’t too bad as there was always, the last month, something adrift. Not quite aligned correctly, am I right? That’s changing, but we’re not all back together — yet. Give me a few moments, a few minutes, perhaps an hour or two, and your Leo self will find that the missing “presence” is returning. The problem being, this returns slowly, not all at once. I can’t get everyone around you to line and behave, bow and grovel to your — obviously — royal heritage the way they all should, the way we all should, but I can warn you that there will be at least one or two holdouts. Be courteous when dealing with those of us who fail to acknowledge that you, indeed, are right. We’re getting caught up with the messed up mire leftover from the last Mercury Mayhem, and as such, we sometimes forget to be nice to the Leo. The Leo.
Virgo: One of my favorite images, a just an idle shot that I loved, was a New Mexico, “Land of Enchantment” Historical Marker that had the innards of the sign shot out. Removed, in total. I used this image with various bits of travelogue writing, but I never really made much of it, other than it was a favorite image, a large, Historical Marker sign, with nothing on the inside the sign. Blue sky, a true “Sky Friday” type of image. The most important part of the sign wasn’t what was there, it was what was missing, just a frame, no historical bits to go with it. Spending as much time as I have, in New Mexico, I love the achingly clear, blue sky. More than one artist has commented on the quality of the light. There’s a sense of the absurd that accompanies this week’s Virgo missive from the planets. Sense of wonder, sense of awe, sense of “That’s obvious,” too. That sign, I’m sure I’ve repeated it over the years on various sites, it’s a Historical Marquee with no story. However, in that location? Maybe the story is no story. Obvious clue, right in front of you.
Libra: For many years, more than a decade, my main filing system was cardboard boxes. Envelopes with receipts, then each of back the envelopes labeled, and then, all of that, tossed into a cardboard box. The real problem is, cardboard boxes breed insects. I gradually “graduated” from cardboard boxes, sometimes of indeterminate sizes, certainly not uniform, and over the years, I’ve streamlined into a single filing cabinet. Like a real person. Or, like a real business.
The move away from less than permanent storage towards a more anchored system was brought about age, appeal, and how much I don’t like certain insects. Some would observe that this was more about “growing up,” rather than any kind of metaphor addressing planets. With the motions of other planets, not Mercury, but Mars and Venus in Pisces? There’s attention drawn to work, and work-related themes. Along with that? There’s that hint of moving towards something that is “more permanent.” Could be as simple as replacing cardboard boxes with plastic tubs.
Scorpio: There was a time when I toyed with several different word processor programs. Turns out, there’s basically one program that seems to be a default format, MS Word. I quit arguing with clients and editors about formats, styles of manuscripts, and what processor to use. I export all my material that has to be used like that, it all goes out as MS Word.
Give up and give in? Sure. Why fight this fight at all? It’s so not worth it. Which is part of this week’s point, not to belabor a point for Scorpio, but there’s a time and place where, sooner or later, and it’s now “later,” when you realize that this is the way it works best. Maybe it doesn’t go with what you think it should be, or, in my example, it isn’t what I want to do, but sometimes, this is best. Easiest. Simplest. Personally, I find that MS Word itself is bloated, buggy, and needlessly complicated. It’s not my first choice for a tool. That’s me. Still, the format that everyone wants? MS Word. That means, if that’s what they want? That’s what they get. Silly format choice, if you ask me, but I’m not being asked. As a Scorpio, you’re not being asked, either. Just send in what they want, how they want it.
Sagittarius: “If I just had one those (some object), then my life would be complete. I could (write, photograph, fish) better because it would be best.” I have many objects of lust. Most recently, it was a fishing pole that cost more than $700. Lightweight, strong, resilient, cure your dandruff, too. I’m not sure about that last part, but at that price? One would think so. The problem being, the pole, with reel and appropriate bait, need to be in hand, and then, the line needs to be in the water, and then, the fish need to be feeding, in the water, too. All has to come together. Just having the pole, that doesn’t catch fish.
In another example, I used to use a succession of cheap, point and click digital cameras, because I would have one with me at all times. The expensive gear? That would still be at home, which is why I shied away from being too much of a gear-head. Understand the fallacy of the “If I just had (some object), then I could do what I always wanted to do.” The trick to this week’s energy? Make do with what we have in our hands — really — we want for nothing.
Capricorn: Local T-Shirt, anyone familiar with the Latin communities will understand: “I’m OK, my grandmother rubbed an egg on me.” It’s traditional form of Meso-American, Amerind spiritual cleaning and clearing. Properly, it should be performed by a high priestess or cuandera, or similar “healer.” I use a similar trick, myself, involves a candle with two kinds of wax colors, usually black and red, and the markings say something like, “Reverse BAD LUCK,” or “Reversing” candle. Still digging out from Mr. Mercury’s Mayhem, we all need a good “Limpia,” a traditional form of cleaning and clearing.
This can be a traditional ceremony, your grandmother can rub an egg over you, or it would be sage and smudge. Anything. Sometimes, a little incense is all it takes. Symbolic clearing and cleaning goes a long way to make life better, this week, in Capricorn.
