The game’s afoot!
Follow your spirit; and upon this charge
Cry, “God for Harry, England, and Saint George!”
Exeunt. Alarum, and chambers go off.

Shakespeare’s Henry 5, V.i.31-3

Getting ready for another big VD, just thought of the patriotic sense of “charge!”

Cry, “God for Harry, England, and Saint George!”

Horoscopes starting 2.8.2018

Aquarius

The ubiquity of e–books thrills me. It’s a highly fluid medium, and some books, in my mind, read better when the page just scrolls passed. Makes it much easier. Then, too, I can annotate, blog, parse, pause, and stop long enough, with a single tap of my finger, access web content about particular topic or name that seems eerily familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Yeah, Like that stuff. The readers are common enough, now.

Since “love” is the frequent topic now, I love books. I love old, musty bookstores where the process of exploration and discovery can take place. That’s less common with digital books, but the idea is similar, if not the same. Less to sneeze at with digital, too.

It’s the process of discovery that is so important, and no more so than now. Process of Aquarius discovery is important, and it cannot be emphasized enough, not with the turbulent times afoot. Process of discovery. Realistically, thought here are only two or three authors where I’ll buy both a digital copy of a book and have the hardback copy, too. However, it does occur from time time. Part of that, though, speaks to the Aquarius notion of the process of discovery, however it works for your Aquarius self.

The game’s afoot!

Pisces

Old habits die hard. Or don’t go way at all. One old habit of mine that is getting more common, these days? I carry, when I travel, doesn’t much matter when or where, I tend to carry a flannel shirt, sort of a spare. It’s like a sweater, to me, with the added advantage that most of my shirts have a breast pocket for stashing cash, phones, business cards, and other detritus — the flotsam and jetsam of post-modern life. Old habits that don’t die. Putatively, it’s a winter month.

Less of a winter, these days, but some of the mornings have been bitterly cold. My old habit is to make sure I’ve got a flannel shirt of some kind, often just tied around my waist or in the travel bag. Laptop tote bag, gear bag, wherever. Even in the middle of the summer, I’ve been stuck in some hotel conference rooms that are bitterly cold. The extra flannel shirt is a little odd, maybe out of place, but — ask your Pisces self, “At what price does comfort come?”

Simplest solutions are sometimes the best. I’m not saying you have to wrap a flannel around your waist and go everywhere with this, but certain office dwellers, those in cube farms, would do well to pack a sweater. Out of doors? Flannel, like me, or a trucker jacket. The secret Pisces ingredient to make this all work so well? You can easily peel out of the warm clothing, as need be.

Aries

Not dependent on the weather at all, the foundation of all my attire is a simple black T-shirt. Mostly professional attire, and even in the middle of the dead heat of a Texas summer, I’ll wear a black (short sleeve or sleeveless) T-shirt underneath my regular shirt.

Here’s the Aries secret: the black repels negative energy. It keeps bad stuff away from me. This isn’t a new revelation, either. Most performers, especially live performers use the exact same secret, a black T-shirt as the basis of the outfit. In cold winter months like January or February, I’ll pull a sport coat on over the black T and I’m good. In summer months, I’ll wear the T under a typical Hawaiian print shirt.

What this does? In a grander scheme of life, this little clothing secret? Makes choices much simpler. The less time I spend worrying about what I’m going to wear, the more time I can devote to reading charts and letting you know what to watch for.

The black T-shirt secret is super easy and yet, what it does it immeasurable. There’s “Psychic Protection,” and real comfort, plus, on many days, I spend very little time thinking about what it is that I’m going to wear.

With a minimum of fuss, get dressed, get ready, and go. Bonus points for being protected, emotionally, energetically, and psychically. Never hurts to make this easier for Aries.

Taurus

Variations on a theme, maybe? I tend to subscribe to the notion that the simplest answer, the easiest solution, the most direct path between two items, I favor that whenever possible. The challenge to this week’s ticklish Taurus temperaments? Simplest is still best, but that’s not always obvious.

Think about how we try to make this as simple as possible, to get from where Taurus is at to where Taurus wants to be, or with whom Taurus wants to one, or however this plays out? Next to see someone before the end of the week? Something like that?

To make this happen, there’s a certain amount of refining that is required. Think of this like looking at a map, and we’re looking at three different routes get from Point A, where we currently are to Point B, where our Taurus selves want to be. There’s a route that follows the river road, not direct but scenic and ample opportunity for fishing. That’s my first choice. However, look at the map, there’s a single, more direct route. That simplest, easiest way to get from here to there.

“But we could stop and fish!”

Refine the idea. The expedient Taurus route is the most direct route.

Gemini

Statistics. It’s simply a numbers game, am I right? Or what?

“I’ll go with ‘Or what’ on this one, if you don’t mind.”

Buddy of mine, Gemini buddy, he maintains that life is only lived offline, outside of the world of inter-nets, despite his voluminous online presence. He was joking about a niche site he’s got, and he looked around at me and another buddy. “No way, see? Both the guys who read my site are here. All need, both my buds.”

I had ice tea, the other guy was drinking beer, we were all eating BBQ ribs, and the rest is mythology. All you need to know.

The deal is, I ran his site for a spell, and he was averaging a little over thousand hits a day. Granted, about half of that was robot traffic, and at least some of it was an angry ex-girlfriend who realized, too late, what she gave up on.

Her loss; his current wife’s gain.

But the numbers don’t lie. While he maintains that no one pays any attention to his murmurings, diatribes, rants, and raves, in fact, he’s got a small, cult-like following. I’ve seen the stats; numbers don’t lie.

Following the reasoning here, it’s possible to present an artful bit of rhetoric that suggests one Gemini “fact.”

Our problem, and I’m not offering a solution, just a reminder? The numbers don’t lie.

Cancer

If I could just get you to think about this in a new way? That might help. I’m not even sure what the individual challenges are, but the trick is to use this week’s totally weird lunar cycle to learn think in a different way.

Same problems, same issues, but a different set of eyes, or, what I tend to prefer? A different perspective.

One trick, this might work, ask. Ask friends, enemies, cohorts, lovers, spouses, or even the pet. Ask. Ask if there’s something that your Cancer self isn’t seeing correctly. Or not seeing in the right light, which might really be the case. It’s not that you’re stuck, far from that, and as soon as you can shift that perspective, the answers will be far more clear. It’s just matter of leaning, like a little to the left, or a little to right, or staying dead center, when everyone else is leaning a little to the left, or the right, doesn’t much matter. Just different.

A different perspective yields answers and solutions to perceived problems that had no answers and no solutions. The trick is a different way of looking at the same stuff.

This isn’t about romance, not this week, although it could be, if you want to read it that way. Same issue from a different point of view.

The Leo

I joke about this holiday, a Hallmark Holiday, really, too much. One Leo buddy, she swore, up and down, she never bought into the fanciful, artful, manufactured crap with hearts and flowers. Still, I know her boyfriend (husband) showed up at the appropriate time with store-bought flower, the usual material?

Underneath The Leo bluster and romance disclaimers, she was secretly thrilled he remembered.

This really is less about romance and true love, and more about an expression of energy. How that traditional energy is expressed? You can, as The Leo claim that you don’t need any of the traditional trappings of whatever.

Secretly? Traditional works really well. Think about that before going on The Leo tirade against traditions.

Virgo

There was an era when a number of authors and playwrights undertook rewriting Shakespeare’s plays. Personally, I prefer the original, in as much as the exact source of the data is mired in mythology more so than reality. Me? I prefer the original manuscripts, or facsimiles thereof, as much as any kind of new “Re-interpretation.” I like the original material, at least, as a much as we know, good and bad folios, quartos, and etc? Much better than a modern version where too much is updated.

Think: original source.

To be clear, I’ve seen updated performances, but the texts used were substantially the original Elizabethan words, just costume and staging, updated. Then, too, I’ve read several successful novels that were “based upon” the plays, but the novels were clearly derivative works, not a rewriting of the play.

Think about the play that is used for the opening quote. Suppose it had a happy ending, and they lived happily ever after? The face of history would be very different. Maybe two irreconcilable forces would be united as friends, now. A more powerful union? Anyway, that’s not what happened, and I don’t know of anyone who’s tried to rewrite Henry V.

This week, stick to the written instruction. There’s always temptation to try and rewrite history.

Virgo: stick the written instructions, as they originally appeared.

Libra

One of my younger clients hugged me and there was the fragrant aroma of tobacco about her. I didn’t realize she was a cigarette smoker, and it amused me. “Oh, I don’t smoke all the time, but on some days, I just need a break.” There’s a certain tobacco aroma that is stale cigarette smoke, from a chain smoker who’s unable to breathe — either with or without cigarettes — then there’s the one like my little client.

One is in moderation while the other is merely habit. In that first example, the aroma wasn’t the stale ash tray blend that is profoundly unattractive, but rather the mix of all-natural tobacco, not the cloying smoker scent. It’s a subtle fragrance, one that is used when describing coffee or wine, and that was what she had about her.

The trick is moderation. The hint was moderation, I never got that yellow-stained fingers, empty — or full — ashtray suggestion from her. Just the light, but pronounced, delicate scent of a tobacco-like essence, not bad at all. Like someone opened a can of pipe tobacco in the other room.

Libra: The hint is moderation. Too much of anything is probably bad.

Scorpio

One of the great loves of my life is working with various local peppers. I use them in a variety of cooking situations, and a favorite piece of this connection? The very uneven quality of the local peppers, especially, in the winter months, the jalapeño peppers.

“Winter Jalapeños” tend to be more fruity, substantially milder, and more flavorful, with a pepper-like essence, but without the harsh burn.

However, there is a very, quite pronounced, fluctuation in the amount of “heat” in the winter peppers. Perhaps because they are shade grown, or imported, or maybe hothouse peppers, I’m not sure, or, simply, in my mind, “winter jalapeños,” but the less heat isn’t always a sure thing.

When Im working with this, what I’ve found necessary – taste test. I have no problem slicing the end off a pepper and popping it in my mouth. Some burn ferociously. Some are tart. Some are amusing. All kind of depends.

However, for Scorpio? Test. In my example, it’s a taste test, to determine actual heat quotient. Can’t assume, one way or another, that something is working. Or what it takes like, unless you really sample it.

Sagittarius

As a Sagittarius, I tend to engage in a small amount of hyperbole. Not unusual. I beg forgiveness, cf., Virgo. One of my friends, she’s totally vegetarian. Not exactly pure began, but she does lean that way. One place we both enjoy is a local restaurant with “Home Style” cooking. She’ll get a platter veggies, and I’ll have the roast, or something.

“These are the best green beans, ever!”

The beans taste so good because there’s about half a dead pig floating in the pot in the back. Been simmering with animal fats for flavor, best guess, for 24 hours or more. Great flavor. Not exactly vegan — or even vegetarian.

I’ve had the same beans, alongside a decent chicken-fried steak. Pretty sure there were flecks of bacon, floating in the mix. Not complaining, just observing.

This next few days requires our Sagittarius selves to overlook some of the details. Details like the reason those beans taste so good. No need to point that out to the delicate (pseudo) vegetarians.

Capricorn

We we’re sitting around, discussing “work uniforms.” For me, this time of year, it is pretty simple. I’m either in shorts or jeans, and if it’s jeans, then they are usually black jeans with black, long sleeve T-shirt. Toss a sport coat over it, and it’s formal — or wear a flannel shirt, and I’m casual. My friend was explaining how she used to hate housework, and what she would do?

“Dress in maid’s uniform.”

Not a sexy “French Maid” outfit, that’s part of Halloween, which is not what this holiday is about.

While I tend to do more phone readings than consultations in person, the internal markers I’ve got? I could get up and just do them, but I have to get up, clean up, shower up, tidy up, then show up.

It’s about dressing for the part.

My Capricorn friend — her tale — she would pull on old, baggy jeans, roll them up to her knees, ragged T-shirt, wrap a bandana around her head, very — very — Mid-Century American Housewife, 20 minutes to get dressed and an hour to get her house clean. If she didn’t “Dress for the part”? She could spend all day, and the house still would be only half attended to.

Two options, one is humorous I hope, and one is a serious.

Dress for the role.

Dress in a maid’s uniform.