I like not fair terms and a villain’s mind.

June 25 is St. Botolph’s Day in Scotland. Should I have used the Scottish Play this week?

June 27, 8:45 PM (+/-) Mars enters Aries. Saturn slides back into Capricorn July 2, around noon.

Horoscopes for 6.25.2020

Cancer

I have a small medallion on my desk. Really, it sits on the extended base of the monitor stand, but let’s just — for the sake of description — call this a medallion that sits on my desk. It’s a small memento — a reminder of past endeavors. As a chunk of metal, it’s probably not even semi-rare, I’m guessing brass, pot metal combination. Certainly wouldn’t want to stick it in my mouth.

But as a memento, as a souvenir, and as touchstone-keepsake, it carries great weight. This is purely emotional investment on my part. If it walked out the door tomorrow, I wouldn’t be heartbroken. I would miss it, but the emotional investment is still there, whether I have the item or not. “Life is short,” kind of thing; it has a Latin inscription on it. As birthdays, solstice, up and coming holidays — all of that? What’s really important? Is it the medallion itself, or what is stands for?

The Leo

Duck. Dodge. Deceive. So that last one didn’t really work, but I was looking over some of these charts, and I noticed that I have an extraordinary amount of Leo friends. Mostly female, but it’s not limited to just that. Never could figure it out, either. Or I chose to ignore the obvious reason I have so many Leo friends: they are awesome. That aside, back to my opening alliteration for The Leo — duck. Dodge. Deceive. I was unsure of the last one, but I liked the idea of the way it sounded, and to some, this will look like a deception.

It’s not deceiving, but there is a classic form of avoidance going on. Ducking and dodging the incoming arrows and other pointed barbs that are headed your way? What? Thought I could steer those away? I would if I could, but as The Leo you present a larger than life target for some folks. The way around being hit? Duck. Dodge. Deceive. The deception part is like, pretending to be one place, when, in fact, you’re elsewhere. Best example I got?

“I’ll be there soon.”
“How soon, an hour or two?”
“More like a week, maybe ten days, how’s that sound?”

Does help avoid getting hit by debris our gracious Leo selves didn’t cause.

“I’m just social distancing.”

Virgo

Mars shifts gears and that causes a cascading effect on Virgo. The shift should be gentle, but it’s probably not. Best I can do is warn you. While Venus is starting to get sorted out for the time being, the rest of this is still in a confusing array — and with no substantial data to work with? No way to plot a solid forward direction. Not the end of anything, just hard to move one’s self forward with no map that is accurate. With that in mind, for Virgo, as in, “There is no map?” With that paramount? Consider that you are blindly staggering forward, and not even sure if you’re moving forward, or sideways, or taking steps forward but backsliding so fast no one can tell. Feels like forward motion, but it might not be.

There are freakishly high numbers of people that I do readings for who all have Mercury in Retrograde in their natal charts. Statistically, that should be about 20% of population — or less. So the freakish number is an anomaly, but also, usually immune to the machinations of mad Mercury. This is a time when a number of those selfsame people will still encounter problems. Even if you’ve taken my Mercury is Retrograde tonic? Might still sneak up on us — thanks to Mr. Mars.

Libra

To me, the term is “ear worm,” but to others? I’m not sure. I do believe there is a technical name for it, when someone mentions a song, or hums a snippet of tune we all recognize, or some other musical allusion? Then that single song gets stuck in our heads, all day long. Pop classic from a bygone era? Snippets from advertising jingles? Licks from hard rock or even metallic guitar strains? Sometimes, it’s a simple country song, too. Never can tell. That kind of infectious ear worm, I have got to look up the technical term, that kind of musical loop that gets stuck in our heads? Part of the problem, and part of the solution to this week’s planets roiling influence on Libra. As an idea, when you start humming a certain tune? If the ear worm infects? The easiest way to divert it? Another tune.

“Rhinestone Cowboy.”

Amazing how two words can evoke a notion like this…

Scorpio

Buddy of mine is putting on certain events locally. She is the promoter — and working at the events. My buddy isn’t a Scorpio — not a drop of Scorpio in her chart. At the end, she pauses, turns the lights up, turns the music down, and she thanks all the participants, with a few closing comments, usually the “We did the very best today,” and crap like that.

Doesn’t bother me, but I was thinking about her most recent closing comments, and the way she’s started doing this after every event. As a Scorpio, we all have a much different understanding, and therefore, a different approach. The proper Scorpio approach as we hit full summer broil? Just over the summer solstice? What this means? Time to roll it back in, tuck ourselves into a Crab-Like carapace and be quiet. Let our good works, let our good deeds, let our maximum Scorpio efforts rest on their own. We don’t want to call attention to ourselves at this time. Unlike my friend who always wraps the event by tying a nice little bow on top?

Sagittarius

Especially for Sagittarius? I use only premium ingredients. They all have to be fresh, free-range, never farmed or out-sourced, and this all baked from scratch so that the output of these horoscopes is completely original. It’s just better that way, am I right, or what? Hand-rolling each horoscope, though, and never using imported materials? Just factory, OEM parts? Makes this a more expensive proposition. Which is part of our problem at the time. Just looking, and as Saturn creeps backwards, it’s a time to pause and think about the current set of expenses. Long weeks ahead, and we’re trying to stretch our meager resources further. Might not work like that. However, there’s a sense that if we stick to working this up from scratch, from original building blocks of whatever it is we’re trying to construct, if we stick with the basics, and stick to good, solid materials for the foundation elements? From there? It just gets easier. Which is part of what this is about — making this easier. But it’s also about starting from scratch, not starting on someone’s else’s foundation and trying to move that forward.

Capricorn

Because of the bulk of my content, sheer volume alone, I am a target for frequent solicitations. “I saw you mentioned (X-Y-Z) in a post on (sometime in the last two decades) and I thought you would like a new article I just wrote about the same topic, you can find it here,” with links and justification, plus related material. In recent months, some of this has gotten more clever with the advertising notion of the material carefully tucked away, and the original suggestion that the site was merely an informational blog-type. Doesn’t take more than 30 seconds to scan the article, then look at the material in the sidebar, notice a single ad space — unpopulated — but still, ad space that is waiting on adequate traffic to justify its existence.

So despite the altruistic efforts, the site is really a commercial venture. Roll it in powdered sugar and it’s still not a beignet. While it was carefully crafted to look like all-natural, free-range content, it was still repackaged material looking for a way to sell something. I’m pretty upfront about how my site works, and what I do.

There are two take-away points for Capricorn: carefully examine any “altruistic” offers, and secondly, be as upfront as possible in your dealings with others. Simple. Look for the hook, and don’t have one yourself.

Aquarius

Ninety Degrees. Not Ninety-two, not “ninety-nine,” but a fairly accurate 90-degree angle is the best way to approach this week’s run-up to the holidays. Ain’t holiday time yet, but there’s an oblique manner of existence that pays off well, especially for Aquarius, and especially now. That angle, a hard, right angle is what this week is about. Ninety degrees, sharp. In person, I tend to deliver this message in a different fashion, with much arm waving, and little visual aids as I proceed forward with the analogy. But this is less about seeing me in person, and more about what all they material means, for Aquarius. Right angles. Left angles, really, for me, but that’s merely the inverse of the “right angle,” I hope. Just made that one up, not sure it works. But the idea is sound, and the direction as we get ready to get ready for the holiday? Ninety degree angle from where you’re Aquarius self is at to get to where your Aquarius self wants to be. Ninety degree turn.

Pisces

Not long ago, I had some small-batch, individually roasted coffee beans. The totally upscale, single origin, single farmer, maybe even each bag was from a single plant, I don’t know, I lost interest in the details. But the coffee beans, when I opened the sealed package, that fragrance escaped and penetrated every surface in my diminutive kitchen, even if the fragrance only lasted for a moment. Made me think, two items in my life that I know something about, BBQ and coffee. Both require a level of art that I’m not good with as I would just toss beef or coffee on the grill, in the roster, and let it sit until done. So this is not an area I’m good with, but I understand the process, whether this is coffee beans or BBQ.

The proper and gentle application of heat is what this week’s Pisces needs to remember. Proper application of heat, and I was thinking more about the coffee beans being roasted, as it was an especially good batch. It’s not as simple as just tossing green beans into a roaster and then firing it up and setting a timer, although, I’m sure, some places would do just that. This was roasted and the flavors teased out for a period of time, over a lower heat. As a Pisces lover, of sorts, I think this is most apt metaphor for the next few days, it’s a Mars thing, and the lower heat, with a certain amount of attention required to tease out the best results. Pay attention, lower heat, and catch it just right. But the trick, Mercury and all, and think: lower heat.

Aries

For the last 6-7 years, I worked as a freelance contractor at Nature’s Treasures in Austin. A place of myth and mystery, the secret treasures of the earth unfolded, laid open for all to see. During my current tenure, I was repeatedly exposed to a variety of beliefs, and I found my career path that had come full circle. The problem I had, occasionally, some person would opt in for a reading with me, but that person would have a certain destination in mind, “Like, this boyfriend will ask me to marry him,” as an example.

Only, me, not privy to the desired destination, and looking at the current array of Aries pressure point planets, I would ask leading questions away from that single destination. When there is a specific destination, in mind, for Aries? Tell us. I won’t dissuade you if that’s where I see it going, but if there’s a warning to be had, I’m there for that specific reason. I hate to be the one to burst the illusion, but that unreasonable expectation is the source of lots of — unnecessary — Aries stress. Mental anguish over what we want to have happen but can never be. Or, in the more realistic way of looking at it, probably not this week. And next week isn’t looking too good, either.

Taurus

Some years ago, I gave a local chain of restaurants in Austin the an honorable mention for a true diner. Kerby Lane Cafe started out on Kerby Lane, Old Central Austin, then branched out and became a sprawling conglomerate of locations in Austin. May be a half-dozen? I don’t recall. There’s always a location near family, and that counts for something. As far as food goes, they did pioneer the “Farm to Table” model. However, one morning, I was in Austin for work, and I made note of something different: Kerby Lane had What-a-Burger ketchup available.

Little weird, but both are Texas-centric and iconic in their respective ways. The What-a-Burger brand of ketchup, I prefer the “spicy,” but that’s where this just got weird, even to me. Increasingly, I find it harder and harder to stand out with something that is truly “different,” odd, off-beat, or weird. In keeping with Austin’s tradition of keeping Austin weird, though, they succeeded that morning, at least, for me, they did. As we get geared up toward the holiday weeks ahead? Look around, and make note of the little touches that might get missed. Like weird stuff getting thrown together when one would least expect it.

Remember what Shakespeare said, too.

Gemini

Fog and confusion. Not long ago, I’d gone fishing with buddy, little lake near here. More a cooling pond for a power plant, but I’m not one to split differences. I was dressed in my usual summer attire — my “summer uniform” is applicable almost year-round, now. Cool. The problem being, it was a weird morning, up and out earlier than usual, and the lake’s surface appeared to have fog rising from its surface.

Wasn’t really fog, but as temperatures did whatever they do, it seemed like fog. It also meant that it was quickly running into a supersaturated kind of humidity day. By ten or so, in the morning, I’d stripped to just shorts, and not long after, I was back with just that “fishing shirt” on. Felt like I was cooler with the shirt on rather than the sun frying my pale skin. Hard to tell, as this is totally subjective, but that’s how this week goes for Gemini, it’s totally subjective. First the steam from lake’s surface looked cold, but as the summer’s sun headed towards high noon, that water heated up. I wasn’t comfortable in a shirt and I wasn’t comfortable shirtless.

Eventually, I felt like I was cooler if I had on more clothing, but this was, as I’ve previously intoned, mostly about how I felt about it at the moment. For Gemini? It’s going to change, be ready to adapt, and “things” may not be as they appear.

astrofish.net/travel for appearances

“Nothing runs on automatic.” – L.W. “Bud” Shipley, Jr.