—O, pardon me, my stars! doth the inconsiderate take salve for l’envoy, and the word “l’envoy” for a salve?

Don Adriano de Armando in Shakespeare’s Love’s Labor’s Lost 3.1.45

Summer Equinox is June 20, 5:34 PM (Austin/San Antonio, TX)

Horoscopes starting 6.16.2016

Gemini:

One of my favorite signs, and I’ll admit, I stole it from a fishing camp at the coast, “The lower the latitude, the better my attitude.” When I started to analyze this week’s starry array, I kept thinking about midsummer mania. The higher latitudes get these days that add a layer crazy on top of the usual summertime madness. Nothing is wrong with Solstice induced insanity, however localized this might be. Embrace the mania; indulge your Gemini selves. Not long after this weekend, the time to get back to work will be upon our Gemini selves, and the fun will be over. Not totally over, just sort of a quieter time. So between now and the day the Sun hits his high point? Enjoy the goodness of the planets’ largess.

Cancer:

Night fishing. Two words, simple instructions for the Cancer Moon children with our birthdays occurring even now. “Night fishing.” The effect of the moon, the lunar cycles, all of that pushes and pulls on the Cancer psyche. Best use of time? Night fishing.

One guide I know, he’ll head out after midnight, and he’s just drifting back in when the rest of us are heading out, first light. He’ll have a cooler full of flounder they’ve speared. He’s got a half dozen spotlights and old car batteries rigged up for his night fishing. Works for him, flounder gigging, in the night. For me, I was thinking more along the lines of fishing the pier, usually a lighted pier with an underwater light that attracts small fish who then attract larger fish and so on with the food chain. From midnight until 2 AM? Not much is happening, but sometime in the darkest part of the night, the fish start biting. Maybe this is only a Texas Gulf Coast kind of event, but the idea is sound. The nights are shortest at this time of the year (Northern Hemisphere), and the short nights are the time with that moonlight? Time for the Cancer to get what he or she wants most. My suggestion? Night fishing.

The Leo:

No. Not now. Not yet.

None of my Leo friends accepts that as an answer, but as this energy unfolds, you’ll find that I was making a correct admonishment for the majestic Leo.

No. Not now. Not yet.

It’s three different versions of a negative response, but sometimes, a negative is positive. I tend to see this as a negative that will lead to a very positive outcome for wonderful Leo, given enough time, and that’s all I’m trying to buy at this moment, buy a little Leo time. Buy some Leo patience. Buy some Leo distraction so that you don’t see that there is stuff underfoot that will blossom in a very good way, in a bit. Right now? This next few days?

No. Not now. Not. yet.

Soon. How soon? Very soon. But?

No. Not now. Not yet.

Virgo:

Got to a point that Austin’s traffic ascended unto legendary status. Austin, to be sure, is a Virgo-compatible town, and the traffic, I was looking over some rather dated material, I realized that traffic has been this bad since — over thirty years. Closer to forty years, if I’m counting correctly. So this is not a new issue. Surely, in my years, I’ve seen Austin’s population grown from under a half-million to over a million, with the greater metropolitan area supporting even more. Lots of cars. Lots of driving. Lots of traffic.

But it’s always been like that.

I can recall driving a girlfriend’s mini-van down the freeway, back in the day. Legendary traffic, even then. So this is firmly “not new” info.

You can complain, loud, long and bitterly, about Austin’s traffic, but that won’t change it. Instead, why not avoid it? I always suggest the time shift, go in earlier or stay later, and avoid the crushing hours. There’s something magical about 5 PM when everyone has to be on the road, and in the summer? This is worse.

“The long days have screwed up my internal clock, so can I come in later and stay later?” Good choice. The other option, when I was facing that legendary traffic with its delays? “Books on tape.” Find a way to make the best use of useless time. For me, I wanted to say I had heard all of Shakespeare’s canon, and sitting in Austin’s traffic? I have, all the way through.

Libra:

One of the joys of most of the Apple products I’ve used over the years? One of the greatest joys is that there are no “User serviceable parts inside.” This full moon triggers two parts inside of Libra. The first is a desire to “hardware hack,” like those old Apple bits and piece of hardware, “There are no user serviceable parts inside.”

“If I could just modify it like this, or do that, instead,” suggests the Libra. No, no you can’t. Great idea, but sometimes? It’s done like that for reason, and opening it up, it voids the warranty, and it is what it is, just like that. “I wish I could replace the battery.” Is the battery dead yet? No? Then why worry about an event two years, or more, into the future? I’ve got one iPhone that still holds a charge and the phone is close to seven years old.

Then, too, there’s the “Ah-ha!” moment when the warning makes perfect sense. “I went to replace my battery on my x-brand phone, and I broke it, now I have to buy a whole new phone.” There are times when “No user serviceable parts inside,” there are times when “leaving it alone?” That benefits the Libra, to just leave it alone.

Scorpio:

Like a prehistoric bug stuck in rock-hard amber, Mars suggests “Immure abeyance.” Plain language, please? “Put it on hold for a moment.” Put the problem, the issue, the thing that’s bothering you so much and you’re itching to take Scorpio (Mars) inside action against? Put it on hold. In the US, we’re going into our July 4th Holiday season.

Put that Scorpio “We must act now, or all is lost” attitude? Yes? Know what I’m talking about? Put all of that into a separate container of some sort. Put it all in a box. Put it in an air-tight mason’s jar. Get some canning wax, set some sealant, get some good silicone adhesive compound. Caulk. Anything, just seal that thing up for the time being. I prefer, for “immure abeyance,” I prefer latex caulk because, in a week, or three, we will want to unseal that jar, that container, that issue, and in a little while, about three weeks, maybe longer, we’ll have a much more effective way to deal with that thing. For this next few days? Put it on hold. My best line, doled out so you may use as need be?

“Can I get back to you on that?”

(“immure abeyance”)

Sagittarius:

Fishing with one of my friends who is substantially younger than me? We were on the water for close to 8 hours, pictures on the website someplace, and at the end of the day, he was whipped. “Weak as a new-born colt, man, I’m beat.” He moaned and groaned. I suggested we still had a lot of energy left, and he looked at me, hang-dog eyes, “How do you old guys do it?”

I wore him out. Me? I was pretty tired, too, but it was good day on the water, and I was enthused after too much time in a city to be back on the lake. I have two secrets. Coffee and a stand-up desk. So coffee is self-evident, but when we set out, I did carry a can of iced coffee in my tackle plus I started with one of those industrial-sized 44-oz tubs of convenience store coffee. Nasty stuff, but does the trick. Part of this is training, part of this conditioning, part of this is caffeine, and part of this sheer exuberance. Zest for being out on the water again. The best part? “For an old guy, you do better than me.”

My tricks that keep me on top of the younger person? Training, conditioning, and coffee. My suggestion for Sagittarius and this full moon cycle?

Training, conditioning, and coffee.

Capricorn:

Any more, communication is less and less secure. Used to be, I could send something in the regular, postal mail, and it would get there, two, three days. However, I’ve had recent experiences where mail gets delayed, or completely lost, and it’s a good thing that the cards weren’t “Mission critical.” No, and email is even less secure.

Now, I’ve been using this as my primary form of correspondence for over two decades, so I’m aware of the problem. Which is why, I tend to suggest, “If you haven’t heard from me in a couple of days, email me again.” To me, the funniest time as I sorted through the spam filter and the only message that was mis-marked was from my own family.

Communication is not secure, even if it supposedly is, and anymore, less “concrete” than ever before. Keep this in mind, and if there’s a something that has to be communicated, check back to make sure the message was received as intended. It’s that last part that can be so important. Check back to see the message was received and check back to see if the received message was as intended. Capricorn intention.

Aquarius:

Nearly all of my serious work has been written on a computer. I no longer own a typewriter. While I adore the notion of writing by hand, I can “thumb-type” on a phone faster than I can write by hand. I use the technology because it’s easier for me. I use the technology to make my goals easier to accomplish. I use the tech because it’s a way simpler way to get it all done.

Guy at the post office (Aquarius) was asking about how little mail I receive. I’ve got a half-dozen clients who pay by mail. I’ve got one client who had a super-sensitive issue and didn’t want to include the data over the wires, so that was done via mail. Other than that? Two or three statements go to the PO Box. That’s about it. Not much at all.

Send me a card, might be a while before I get around to answering, though, as I do just about everything electronically. I still use little sticky notes, though. Not so much as daily reminders but as weekly target idea. Or when I’m in a reading and the inspiration hits, I’ll make note of something for later. There are only a few of the notes on my current monitor, and one is attached to my phone’s face. I had to remember to get something at the store. With all the electronic bells, beeps and vibrations? Part old-school, and part post-modern rendition, one, or both of those ideas work. Little bit of both.

Pisces:

The first phone I had that could answer e-mail, I promised myself I would never do that. Several years later, I can practically manage my whole business operation on a phone. That’s progress. The first time I paid for an electronic document, I predicted that e–books would never replace regular, printed material. These are two predictions, over time, I’ve tried, and failed to stick to my own dictums. “Not me,” with a phone and communication, and then, “not me,” with both buying and selling e–books.

I had a layover, a 20-minute wait that turned into a 2-hour delay. On my phone, I had a copy of a book, I’ve read this text before, but it’s classic in my mind and it bears re-reading. On my phone, I started flipping through the pages. So much for a wasted two-hour delay.

As this is a weird week, Sumer Solstice and all? As this weird week unfolds, be prepared. Maybe it’s not a book on the phone, but you get the idea, right?

Aries:

You do realize that you are the architect of your own future? You do understand that? There’s going to a brief disruption in the next few days, everything is sailing along smoothly, twice as smooth, it would seem, and then, all of sudden, there’s a break. A stop. An endpoint. In my world? An unexpected period. At the end. Of some sentence. Maybe too abrupt, that’s the correct phrase, “Too abrupt.” Still, this does mark a finishing point, does mark an end, does mark a disruption to your Aries-ordered calm.

In some classic rock and roll, there’s a drum solo, or a single guitar solo, and then, half a beat, maybe a beat and half? There’s a pause with no noise, then the drums come banging in, alongside the screech of the guitar and the rhythm of the bass. All at once, half a beat of silence. Disruption. Abrupt end point that serves as aural punctuation. Before you hear from me again? There will be that pause, the moment when you’re left hanging.

Hint: it’s part of the song, that three beats where there’s no noise. That disruption? Think of it as a “Negative space.” This of that disruption as a built in “Pause for effect.” Like stage direction. Aries can use a little stage direction, some weeks: pause for effect.

Taurus:

Clean house, trust God, and keep moving forward. Very simple message, and if the “trust god” part bothers you? Insert any type of spiritual message your Taurus self likes. I prefer to trust the odd gods, as that fits my humors this week. Can be any one of a number of deities, and for some, it’s a matter of trusting that the Universe will provide.

The first part of this is what struck me as more important. Although there’s more sunlight at the middle of the summer’s eve, that Taurus energy is best served with house cleaning. Can be real. Can be metaphorical, as well. Doesn’t have to be a total overhaul. As an example, before I finished writing this down, I grabbed an old, cloth rag and I sprayed some of that dust/wax stuff on the rag. I unhooked the monitor, ran the rag across the top of the desk and put everything back in place. Simple, easy housecleaning task. Accomplished. “Clean house, trust the universe will supply all that you need.” In that order.