No, truly, ’tis more than manners will;
And I have heard it said, unbidden guests
Are often welcomest when they are gone.

• Duke of Bedford in Shakespeare’s Henry VI, part 1, 2.2.52-5

Horoscopes for 10.1.2020

Libra

One word for the special Libra birthday times, now and upcoming, just a single word: gift card. OK, so that’s really two words, but it’s a single idea. With Mars, like he is, the ability of Libra to make a sound judgement-call about some topic, some decision process, that is normally quite good, clear-eyed, and of right mind? Might not be the case. Hence the idea, the answer, “gift card.” Helps prevent the idea of “I was going to get one of these, but then I looked at the color, and it didn’t seem to be the same shade as it was in the picture.” Same shade, same style, same fit and finish, something isn’t quite right. Perfect solution? Gift card. Mars is backwards and opposes you, Mercury is opposite Uranus, and the Moon was full, then waxing into nothingness. Other than fishing, that would be really good this week, but other than that? Think along the lines of delayed gratification. Put it off until the muddy waters begin to clear.

Won’t be long, now, but yeah, perfect, single word answer? “Gift Card.”

Scorpio

Seems like, anymore, the hero of post-modern fiction tends to be the anti-hero. In more modern mythology, like TV and films, this shows up as the rugged individual who does the right thing, rather than living by the letter of law. Pick any super-hero who operates above the law, kind of the idea. However, in more recent times, the trend is now towards the “anti-hero,” as the hero. What this means for Scorpio, especially this week?

Means you have a new model to follow. A new way to think, act, and new character to draw inspiration from, an anti-hero for Scorpio to emulate. I’m looking at two M planets. Mercury (in Scorpio) and Mars (retrograde in Aries), and while we’re looking at that, Mercury winds up opposite from Uranus. No joking. So the answer? The unsung hero, unless you read a lot of the same books I’ve read, the always popular in fiction, the anti-hero. In real life? Yeah, we don’t get the credit we deserve, but given the way things are going? Maybe that’s not so bad.

Scorpio: as the anti-hero? You know what do, right? Follow that moral compass.

Sagittarius

Last week was about getting that dry-erase board ready for new ideas. This week is about sketching out some rough-draft ideas. Bullet headings tend work best, just the phrase, headline-type of sound bite. There was, at one time, a science to writing a good headline, and that’s what these ideas are about. Another buddy calls it “throwing darts at the board.” The result is to see what sticks, but I don’t like the idea of throwing metal-taped darts at the freshly-erased dry board, and if it’s really a slate chalkboard? The darts will bounce right off. Again, think in terms of metaphor rather than actual darts. Throw a bunch ideas at the board, see what works. The idea is to generate some new ideas. The way this is done? Write down a whole bunch of phrases. Then look at them.

I like to use a phone’s camera to grab a quick image, because, as soon as I erase about half the ideas, I want to go back to one I just erased.

“What did that say? Quick, check your phone.”

Capricorn

I started wearing Hawaiian Shirts as a summer uniform one year. Never gave up, although I don’t work at that job, and haven’t for a long time, I joke about as the shirts I tend to wear are loud, colorful, frequently some supper or hot sauce blends into the pattern, and no one is the wiser. Un-ironed, the patterns tend to excuse my sloppy, slovenly style. What this is about? I know, we’re past the Fall Equinox, but where I’m from, it’s still “mighty warm,” and the uniform holds up well. When I reach into my closet to grab something to wear, I’m faced with an almost limitless set of choices, and to keep my life simple? I just start at one end and grab the next shirt. Color, style, pattern, it won’t match anything I’ve got so it matches everything that I’ve got. No thought is required. Hides what I had for lunch, pretty well, too. Not that it matters, but BBQ sauce or picante? All blends with the colors. This is about making it simple, for Capricorn. There’s a strong tendency to overthink a situation, and like me trying to choose which shirt to wear? I just grab the next one. Goes right down a line, and requires zero thought, and therefore, zero effort. Simplest solution works best, especially now, and especially for a Capricorn who might have a tendency to overthink an answer, right?

Aquarius

Buddy had problem with the lower unit on his boat. The outboard motor didn’t want to push the boat through the water at anywhere near acceptable rates of travel. The first idea was to take the unit off and inspect it. We pulled the top cowling, looked, and he started to work on the lower unit: hint it’s the propellor part. To our untrained eyes, there were no discernible broken bits. That means, there was nothing in there for us to fix. What came next was a litany of “I used to know how to fix these things before they became too complicated, and who needs a computer chip in an outboard motor, anyway?” Heard it all before, or variations on the theme, right? We zipped it back up, placed the cowling back in place, and he towed the boat off to the South Austin Marine. Aquarius is usually reliable, able to figure it out, and fix it on our own. Usually. These are not usual times. After a short, exploratory surgery, we decided to let the boat motor doctor take over. Wise choice. Cost a lot less because there was no fixing a mistake we might’ve made.

“Looks complicated.”

Leave it to the experts.

Pisces

I was looking for an inspiration to pass along to Pisces. Wasn’t much ticking along in the Pisces chart proper. There was a ton of interesting stuff happening but none of it seems destined to inspire Pisces, not once the moon is no longer full. Once we’re over that? Inspiration is limited in what we can easily lay our Pisces hands upon, and that doesn’t seem to be too much. Not easily. You know me, I’m all about whatever it take to make it easy for Pisces, right? All about the softest, gentlest way to get the message across, so that requires, this next few days, a kind subtle, nuanced approach. Look at it directly, if you want. I suggest a fairly liberal dose of “side eye,” that is, looking out the side of your eyes to see what we’re looking for. In part, there’s also that peripheral vision thing, but I was thinking in terms of Pisces intuitive peripheral vision — it’s where you think, feel, suspect you detect something at the edge of the visible light spectrum and maybe no non-Pisces people would even see it, but gifted ones do. Look with something besides just your eyes. Makes sense? I know you can see the answers, just because I can’t? I’m not Pisces, but sometimes, I am Pisces-compliant.

Aries

There’s always one guy, and you’ll run into him next week. Always one guy who spends more time talking, cajoling, fretting, philandering, and otherwise avoiding work. Typically, this is not an Aries trait. Had work, when properly directed is no problem for an Aries. The challenge is how you decide to deal with that guy who spends more time talking about what he’s going to do rather than actually doing it. If he spent less time talking, it would be done by now, but no, that’s not how he works. “Let me explain, see, I have a valid excuse….” Whatever. Comes a time when the quickest way to get this handled? Just do it your Aries self. Less time talking, more time fixing, working, walking, whatever the deal is?

“Walk the talk.”

More time doing it and less time listening to that guy tell us about how he will get all of this done by the week’s end, or next week, you know, I got these other things, and did you look at that, and, oh well, you’re done now? How did you do that so fast?

Taurus

I got to wonder. How much of this is real? How much is made up, and in the Taurus brain case alone? Even looking at the words, as they march across the screen, I realized that the problem, the problems, the perception of the problems are not as real as you would have the rest of us believe. Yes, I know you think this stuff is real, and it might be real to you, but this is like a certain ghost that you can see, but the rest of us think you’re just nuts. Doesn’t make the ghost that you see any less real — to your fine Taurus self — but without us to corroborate and verify the vision? Might make you wonder, if just a little. One Taurus characteristic that I’m so fond of? Tactile. Have to be able to touch it. So once you get to the point where you realize that the problem is one of those un-ponderable, untouchable, possibly unreal problems? Once we get to the idea that it might be all in your head? Perhaps that helps us all gain some perspective on what this perception of a problem is. Real? Or imagined? Or imaged it until it became real? No, not that. Can’t touch it? Might not be real.

Gemini

With Mars, other influences, too, but let’s just blame Mr. Mars? With Mars, there’s a sense that a certain Gemini nostalgia comes over you, like the blues, or an oldie (but moldie) classic tune cycles up someplace. The memories wash over Gemini, what was, what could’ve been, what it is now, as a result of what it was, and where is any of this going? No where. That’s the trap of Mars and this wave of nostalgia. It could be a mention of something historical buried in old data, part of whatever is feeding the Gemini brain at the time. It could be something else, too, and the example, try listening to an easy-listening, used to be called “Elevator Music,” version of a song that was radical and fought the powers that be, in the song’s original condition. Sanitized, made safe, and what is wrong with our trip down the antiques side of Gemini life? Nothing, per se, but over the next week, this is a trap. Too much time spent trying to look up old girlfriends, or old boyfriends, on social media? This is a trap, and it goes nowhere. Nostalgia and visiting with our past, our history? Good for a short trip, but no Gemini should spend more than 30 seconds looking at that stuff. Not now. Mars — and his energies — can lead you down a dark path. “Man, if only…”

Cancer

There’s always a dawning, a realization a new way to grasp the data that is in front of your Moon Child self. After the Full Moon? There tends to be some more fractured individuals, people who feel like they are not whole. Whatever that means. But that fractured, perhaps even a sense of being “damaged good,” when, in all reality, nothing more than perfectly flawed humans? A lot of how this week unfolds depends on the Cancer’s attitude towards events.

Getting all riled up over a perceived sleight? Really not worth it. Not worth that emotional investment because there is no pay-off. Doesn’t lead any place too good.Therein is the problem, and my simple solution? Understand that the Full Moon gave the Children of the Moon an opportunity to see the situation in a new light. New way to see an older issue. That new (moon) “light” is one that affords a way to plot a course to your own salvation. There is a way out and your Cancer, Moon Child self can see that, now. Dawning of new ideas under the waxing moon.

The Leo

Venus exits The Tropical Zodiac Sign of Leo this week. With the rest of the planets this means there’s a certain amount of confusion plaguing The Leo. Confused? Not so much confusion as in prone to making hasty and ill-considered judgement calls. While I belong to a select group of friends, we can brag about how “Bad decisions make for great stories,” that select group? No Leo. See, a bad Leo decision is worse than a regular bad decision, by a factor of 2x to 5x. It’s a Leo thing. So with this confusion about what decision to make? Yes, no, maybe, maybe not? Maybe not is the best way to go. Or just put it all off until a later date. Not that I’m big on procrastination myself, but this is good time to not make the hasty decision, and likewise, keep from guessing the wrong answer. Not unlike a game-show on network TV? The wrong answer, the bad decision? That gets The Leo disqualified from the next round, and the next round is where we can win big. So keep that bad decision waiting in the wings, to borrow and hammer yet another theater metaphor. Never do today what we can put off until next week. Or even the week after that.

Virgo

Got this one fishing buddy, and he’s aware of my prowess, both in the back of the boat as a fisher person, and as an astrologer, all the prognostications that I’ve done for these many years. He called, the other afternoon. I know his rhythm, so to speak, and I could tell he was asking a question, aiming for a very specific answer, and there wasn’t room for any equivocation on my part. I had to answer his question with the answer he wanted, or I was clearly wrong, stupid, misguided, and pretty much just a low-life.

He had a very specific destination in mind.

The way, the phrasing, the timing, the pregnant pause which is not unlike him, and the destination he had in his mind. In this one example, I would concur with him. In this one example, in a Virgo perfect world, I would agree that his summation and obvious conclusion was, indeed, the correct answer. In this one example, he was right. This is a rare example where the question and answer line up in a good way. Alas, this was last week, and this week? Things have changed. Not by much, just by a degree, but that one answer that the Virgo wants, that one, very specific destination? Doubt we can all arrive there. With that in mind, careful about pushing for a very Virgo-perfect answer, and be willing to accept other ideas, other answers, as the situation develops.

astrofish.net/travel for appearances

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