Horoscopes for 8-12-2021

Now, now, you stars, that move in your right spheres,
Where be your pow’rs? Show now your mended faiths,
And instantly return with me again
To push destruction and perpetual shame
Out of the weak door of our fainting land.

• The Bastard in Shakespeare’s King John, 5.7.74-8

Venus enters the Tropical Zodiac Sign of Libra on August 15, at 11:27 PM (local). Curse the stars, eh?

Leo

We’re smoothing things over, as best we can. Simple as that, for The Majestic Leo, we’re smoothing things over. Goes a couple of different ways, I guess, and could be seen in a number of different lights, but essentially? This is about making peace. Where there is trouble and strife, and an ex-wife? Make peace. Pretend to be nice. Yeah, I know, birthdays and all, but make nice. Be a soothing balm rather than the cause of irritation. “But…” and the rest of that injunction can be filled with all kinds of ancillary supporting evidence that you have every right to be “not nice,” but my plaintive exhortation, consider it a birthday behest? Try to smooth stuff over. This is momentary, but with the approach of the full moon, in the very near future, we’re going to want to have smooth waters to start out. This week? Smooth things over.

Virgo

Mars in Virgo likes a certain precision in action. This is further strengthened as Mercury gets closer and closer to Mars. From neat and orderly to precise, to perfected precision. Only, the Sun lingering in Leo? Besides, that’s Mercury and Mars, you know?

Analytic, (analytical) second-guessing takes over. Should or shouldn’t, or maybe, this instead of that, but would this be better, and perhaps, more correct. Paralysis by analysis. “Kramer, you’ve used that before.” Cite me chapter and verse, or, at least, show me some links? That’s the precision in action I’m referring to, and that might help prevent that frozen feeling.

Libra

Love us some Libra love, and love to spread the joy of Venus, as she enters your sign. Sure, that’s the good news. But there’s still a planetary pile-up that suggests nothing is quite ready yet. While “balance” is usually the keyword for the sign of the scales? Everything appears out of whack. It’s not really “out of whack,” but there is a sense that some of this leans a little too far one way or another. That creates imbalance, and Libra doesn’t really do well with that kind of problem. Take from this side and add to that side, and then scales swing back the other direction, and then you take some from the side you just added to, and let the scales swing back the other way, and this more like pendulum rather than a balance that settles in the middle. Be aware, as Venus creeps in and tries to get you to over-adjust, over-correct, and over-do it.

Scorpio

Me? I’m not Scorpio, and one of my super-powers is an ability to be not embarrassed to flaunt my idiocy. I’m not scared to run it out for all to see, mistakes, gaffs, blunders, and other, similar slips of the tongue. Or hand, but usually, this is spoken. I’m not bothered by such displays of my own ineptitude—but I’m a Sagittarius—not a Scorpio. So it depends. I know one Scorpio who has more Sagittarius than Scorpion, and she’ll be right there with me, being stupid in front of a lot of people. No big deal, no worries. None for me, either, as you’ve seen before, but for a more Scorpio Scorpio? That idea of a public blunder, a gaff, a mistake for all to see? That doesn’t do so well. As Mercury gets closer to Mars in these next few days? Watch for it. Check your mouth at the door, as that seems to work. “Kramer, you’re an idiot.” I know that. But telling me that while standing there with your fly down? Can’t say I didn’t try and warn you.

Sagittarius

For someone who spent his life around books, understanding the artistry of the cover completely escaped me. There was one author, I read a whole series of his works, basically a pulp series re-issued as paperbacks, and with the paperback versions? What attracted me first was the splash of artwork, and even at that, not well-reproduced, just kind of ham-fisted. Sort of a male-version of bodice rippers. The stories were good enough to keep me buying, even after I figured out that the lurid covers had little to do with the plot, other than, tangential allusions, at best. Still, it was that artwork. Years later, looking at collection of hardbacks novels from a totally different kind of author? I’ve got the same reaction to certain authors’ covers, the names in gold-foil print, titles that imply innuendo, same sort of lure. Works every time, so it would seem. With the preponderance of inner planets in Virgo, there’s time for self-examination, and then, understanding what drives our decision processes. There are a myriad of factors, but someplace, a technician figured out what pushed that Sagittarius buy-button. Varies, a little, from one to another, but we’ve all got it. Over time, my triggers points have shifted, along with tastes, and understanding. Still, careful, until the Mercury/Mars thing clears up? We’re tempted to make decisions based upon the cover of the book, not what’s in it.

Capricorn

Broad, confident strokes work for some. Under the current conditions, as the Moon gets near full? A more pedestrian, perhaps a pedantic pace benefits my Capricorn contingent. It’s about moving slowly, at a cautious pace, edging yourself forward instead of painting this scenario with broad, bright slashes of color. A more controlled, finer, detail-oriented brush is better. Avoid the loud, quick answers. I once got a gallon of cheap, outdoor paint, dumped the can out on a bare picnics table, and claimed I painted the table. It was thick in spots, and the paint didn’t quite cover the entire table. I’m not Capricorn, especially not in this situation. My broad, bold statement? Perfect example of what not to do. Likewise, for Capricorn? Broad, bold statements are not the correct route. Focused, detail-oriented work nets better results.

Aquarius

Many many years ago, I learned a lesson in business, pretty much the hard way. That’s soft-peddling it; I ran into a figurative brick wall, and I got slammed. Rug pulled out from under me, whatever one wants to call it. Upset. Felt like I got screwed. I kept protesting, “It wasn’t my fault,” when in fact, it was. Simply put, I neglected one item in the “To Do list,” and that one item caused a cascade-like effect, and all the dominos got knocked over. Took me years to recover. Now, older and wiser, maybe not any more mature, but restrained with the additional years, I can see where I made a mistake. Small error at the time, merely an oversight, but one that had a profound effect over time. Then, listening to myself deny that it was my fault, for years, when, now I can admit, it was my fault? Such kind of clarity is available to Aquarius, even now. Just to assure you I’m not “All hat and no cattle,” let’s jump to a colloquial ranching idioms. You have a ranch and cattle, and you’re too lazy, or you forgot, to brand all of the cattle. Leaving the ranch, one day, you forget to close the gate, and the cattle escapes. The folks who round up the un-branded cattle get to keep it. Costly mistake. Seen it happen. Now, can you admit you forget, or just didn’t want to brand that cattle? And did you leave the gate open? “It wasn’t my fault, I was in hurry to see a man about a dog.”

Pisces

Lick from an old song, but the source is certainly far more universal than that. The line? “Some get spiritual because they see the light, some because they feel the heat.” Which one is it? There’s rolling, a gradual crescendo building, and you can hear it in the Pisces background, as we get closer and closer. It’s not here, yet. But it is getting closer. You have a choice, a simple, Pisces choice to make this work, you can either “Get spiritual” because you see the light, and that would be my hope, or you can “get spiritual” because you feel the heat. The flames of hell? The sounds of the gospel? Maybe that veers too far into the current milieux, and will leave some with a bad taste in their mouths. It varies from individual to individual. There isn’t just one way. However, as the summer’s torpid heat bears down on us all, and you start wondering, the heat mirages on the horizon — are they real? Is there a message? Like the old song’s lyric goes, “Some get spiritual because they see the light, some because they feel the heat.”

Aries

I’ve been at this for quite some time. I’ve had countless e-mail addresses. While I’ve worked very hard to make this simpler and simpler, what I wound up doing was abandoning a number of “back addresses.” I used them for mailing lists, and I used them for the those special, One Time Offer, and most recently, for a dribble of news. Just a single, e-mail with a sales item, and another one with just a middle of the road news summary. Plus, I guess, a number of the now-dead e-mail addresses all point to that current backstop holder. It’s a secret way to manage the incoming data. That back e-mail address? I have it set up so I can only access it one machine, and that’s at home, on the desktop-like machine. One place. While not the simplest of arrangements, it’s still an effective way, as effective as any, to manage the multiple streams of incoming data. Sales reports, website statistics, news, sales fliers, marketing crap by the bus load? Sure, all of that, goes to one email address I can only look at when I’m in the office. Makes life simpler. That’s what this is about, a simple step to make life simpler. My phone, my watch, various and sundry other devices, I can read material on all of them but that one address? It’s limited to just the office. Simplify, that’s kind of the idea. Sometimes, adding a new address, just to make this easier? it’s all about making life simpler for Aries. This is just a little backend – bookkeeping example, but it works.

Taurus

Usually, this is in a movie or a TV show, and there’s a button, a gloved pilot’s hand flips a switch and it’s go time. It’s “Turbo-Boost,” or some other similarly-named button or prop actuating device, something. Then the pilot is pushed deep into the seat as the acceleration doubles, or triples, or goes faster than light, something. In real life, there’s are afterburners on certain jet engines, and those do provide a way to increase speed, but there’s a cost in fuel burned, and the acceleration is temporary, not like it is on TV, or in the movies. Coming up, in the very near future, in Taurus, there’s the same effect as hitting that fictional “Turbo-Boost” button, or flipping the afterburners on, same sort of effect. Outcome? Depends on this week, and how you line it up so you can best use that sudden burst of juice. Pick a direction and strap in.

Gemini

To me this looks like an alchemists laboratory. Or maybe a wizard’s loft. I imagine it’s grey, rock walls, a scattering of books bound in leather, and a few pieces of glassware used to “reduce” material over a flame. Distillation of compounds, and the compound we’re distilling? The essence of Gemini, as it all gets invigorated by twin points of light. One is Mars in Virgo, which sets up a tension angle for Gemini, and the other, is that very same Mars gets a running conjunction with Mercury. Both represent a kind of extra electrical juice coursing through the Gemini veins, and both planets are in analytical, acerbic Virgo, which can be a problem because this is about energy, drive, and action. With this as a tension angle, though, this is not always well-directed. What we’re looking for, like that alchemist in his (or her) laboratory, working alone in that cell? Essence of Gemini — the essential Gemini pieces, and that distillation process is part of the way through this week’s mess.

Cancer

The swimming pool, chlorine nasal treatment. Works every time, I guess. Neighbor’s pool, he’d just treated it with chlorine, or shocked it, or whatever it was, and the summer’s atmosphere was redolent with that almost effervescent aroma of pool chlorine. I jumped in. I didn’t hold my nose, and I landed just wrong. I got a “pool water, chlorine” sinus wash. I couldn’t help but reminded of girlfriends and their “netti pots” for allergies, and sinus discomforts. That’s exactly what I had, a sinus wash, but instead of something soothing, or even a gentle saline solution, no, I got a sinus cavity full of pool water. Freshly chlorinated pool water. Water that probably bleached my hair, the bleach was so strong. I spent years in and out of pools, and Barton Creek, back in the day, so I’m used to this. A quick dip, cool off, rinse the sweat off, sure, been doing this all my life. However, and I still can’t figure it out completely, I landed wrong. I got a head full of pool water. I’m still not sure what I did. Think it cleaned out my sinus cavity, though, the harsh pool water, a heady mixture of pool chemicals, tap water, rain water, run-off, and probably urine. To keep from getting this shoved up your own gentle Cancer, Moon Child’s nose? Simply enough? Hold your nose before you jump in. Or look before you leap? There’s some cautionary tidbit I’m missing, and I still can’t figure out why, this one time, I wound up with a snoot-full of pool water.

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