Horoscopes for 10-14-2021

Hopeless and helpless doth Egeon wend,
But to procrastinate his liveless end.

• Egeon in Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors 1.1.157

Looks like Mercury slows to a barely perceptible crawl and then stops back sliding backwards entirely 10.18.2021 around 9 in the morning, local time. Maybe closer to 10 AM?

99-cent bookstore — including the Portable Mercury Retrograde…

Libra

Some of the best money I ever spent? Lawyer. The “internet” was a new thing, and it was all a lawless arena. When I was first contracted, it was that simple, handshake affair, but once money got involved, and I was earning a respectable amount of traffic? That first contract was a thing of beauty, from a purely predatory viewpoint. Essentially, and the sands of time erode most of the memory, but recent rock’n’roll “Tell-All” prompted this memory of that contract. “Sign here, and you’ll get paid, look, here’s a good faith bonus to start. Now sign here…” I would have surrendered my rights to all my written work, all texts, present and forthcoming, and my name. While demonstrably of bad faith, in the times, and the hallowed halls of the entertainment business, this isn’t so uncommon. Mercury goes un-retrograde but there are two points: one? Deep recall of past learning instances. And two? What was that lesson all about? Oh yeah, get someone who knows something about it to look it over.

Scorpio

Pregnant pause. I’m not even sure what a “pregnant pause” is, but the expression is perfect for this week’s Scorpio. It covers a whole raft of possible interpretations. The Full Moon highlights discomfort. Older, perceived slights. “That fool hurt me, and I’m just waiting.” What I’d suggest?

I suggest Scorpio keep waiting, I know the full moon and all urges a hurried approach, but no, especially not with that full moon in a compatible Martian sign (Aries). One definition of a pregnant pause is dead air filled with almost limitless possible ramifications, and outcomes. Again, let that momentary pause hang there, and let the other people, the non-Scorpio folks, let them decide how to interpret it. The recipe for Scorpio success? The pregnant pause.

Sagittarius

Have to remove ourselves from a situation. Get back to basics, like, taking a step backwards? One of my secret, guilty pleasures is fishing off a pier, along the Gulf Coast. Not a big, deal, just smelly “live” bait, a simple fishing pole, and not much else. When I was much younger, I could spend a whole afternoon, clad in nothing but shorts, and sunglasses, idly flipping bait into the murky waters, and reeling in an assortment of fish. Biggest was over three feet long, with the smallest maybe just three inches. I would tend not to keep the fish, as there’s cleaning, then cooking required, but for a break, for a moment’s joy, the tug of an unknown quantity on the end of the fishing pole? Guilty pleasure, secret guilty pleasure as most of the “real” fishermen prefer a handy craft to fish from. Why I called this a secret, guilty pleasure, one that doesn’t require much effort. Until all of this mess is over? Just after the Full Moon, the Sun and the Moon are in the daytime sky, and that’s a good week to fish. Remove yourself and enjoy a guilty pleasure.

Capricorn

There are any number of examples, sometimes, especially cinematically? Quicksand. The quicksand in movies or on TV is far more dramatic than the real stuff. I’ve encountered a little bit of it along the shorelines in the bays, but I know enough to not struggle. Don’t fight it. Float, and everything is just fine. I want you to float through this week, but I doubt that will happen. However, remember, like in the movies or on TV? When you struggle with the quicksand? It just swallows you up, eaten alive. If that’s how you see this going, then that’s probably how it will be. With real quicksand, again, I’m thinking of the old days on TV, but the real issue? Struggling. The more you fight with it, the worse it gets. Don’t make it bad, or, don’t make it worse, in other words, stop struggling with it. The sooner you stop struggling? The easier it is to float past the troubles.

Aquarius

Course correction. It’s another course correction. I use that expression, and with a fishing trip coming up, I remember the idea of the “course correction.” We start at the marina, as a place to launch, and the usual spots are straight across, but this last time? The current off-shore breeze, and going at an angle was easier. More like it was smoother, and less of pounding on my butt. A simple course correction smooths out the route ahead for my Aquarius friends. There’s a twin series of influences, mostly good, but all of them suggest a separation from the established route. How you get there from here, the way you usually go? For Aquarius, varying from “normal” to “new normal,” or just a route that might be strictly an experiment? See if changing the course doesn’t help. I didn’t suggest a new trajectory, just a new way to get there.

Pisces

Just as a suggestion, look for the healthiest item on this week’s menu. Pisces is always faced with a myriad of choices, and I know that I’m no paragon of virtue, so I’m not suggesting you follow my every action, but this week? Full Moon and so forth? Mercury untwining itself? Look for the healthiest option. This varies, place to place, and I’ve got one friend, deep in South Texas, his very Pisces version of healthy? He’ll order a margarita with no salt on the rim of the glass. “Citrus, germ-killing alcohol, sure, and no salt? Health drink.” So when I’m suggesting the healthiest option, work that out, according to your internal guidelines. Varies from Pisces to Pisces, but the idea? Healthiest option you got. Humor me, and try that for a the next day or two.

Aries

Got a clue for Aries. Just shrug your shoulders, or whatever cultural equivalent works, but shrug, then? Repeat after me, “Must be Mercury in Retrograde,” which technically, isn’t a valid excuse, but you’re confronted with situations that spiraled way out of your control. Best thing to do? Shrug, “Must be Mercury in Retrograde.” What I’m thinking, it’s more like Mars in Libra, much more so than Mercury, but this still means something spins out of control, and you, being Aries and all, you want o force an issue, exercise some kind control over the problem, or just contain it all. Hint: can’t be done, no matter how strong-willed you appear to be. Not happening. Since it’s not happening? Quick easy solution? Shrug your shoulders. Look down, look at the heavens, dig a toe in the dirt, mumble, “Must be Mercury in Retrograde.” Which is not the real culprit, but never mind that now, you need an acceptable place to stick some kind of irrational, rational answer. Blame Mercury. Mars is probably the real culprit, but trying to explain that? No one gets it. Just shrug, blame Mercury.

Taurus

I am pretty much a “spit and post” writer. After near thirty years online, I’ve learned that I can usually hammer something out quickly, and be good enough with what I’ve got. In the beginning, this was a called, “spit and post.” The convergence of media, and my own, almost antiquated style? Then there are all the new additions, spell-checkers, grammar-checkers, and auto-correct, and even with that? My errors seem to slip through, and this last few weeks, that’s been even more evident. Full Moon, Mercury starting to unwind from its retrograde pattern? All of this spells out a Taurus situation where you want to “spit and post.” I admire the verve, the fire, the passion, the heady rush-to-print energy. Hint: that’s how I work. But I’m not Taurus, and given where the planets are? Draft that note, then, the next day, read it over before you post. I had a daily blog for more than 25 years, the horoscopes are approaching thirty, and I know, I’ve made these mistakes, the Taurus sense of immediacy just doesn’t pay off at the moment. Slow it down. Let it percolate. Let that idea simmer before launching.

Gemini

Grackles, or Mexican Blackbirds, swarm Central Texas. Pretty much like the old horror film, “The Birds?” Don’t know, never saw it, but I’ve frequently heard the reference. There’s a video online, of a common grackle using a tool to get food out of a glass of water. There’s other videos, search for them, of the common blackbirds using tools to gather and crack open food. As sign of intelligence, that puts the birds ahead of cats and dogs, for cognitive skills. Again, this assertion is only supported by anecdotal evidence, and certainly not fact-checked. But the grackles are also a nuisance, and, at one point, I thought a little BB Gun, or pellet pistol, would be good as a way to deter the grackles from my properties. The problem with my plan, once I figured out that those birds are as smart as dogs, wouldn’t that be liking shooting a dog? Animals with no sentience, sure, but those pestulant grackles? They might qualify as sentient beings. Therein is my Gemini riddle, wrapped in feathers. Is it OK to fire upon the birds? At this point, the whole question is largely academic because I don’t own a BB gun or pellet pistol. Not happening. So what’s the answer? Currently, I’m in favor of not shooting them, being smart and all. In addition, as it turns out, it’s illegal, but that’s never stopped anyone, has it?

Cancer

Re-examine your Cancer core values. The very material that you use to define who you are, as Children of the Moon? That essential essence, that which defines who you really are, in your heart of hearts? This time is about figuring out just what it is that makes you the way you are. Then as Mr. Mercury shifts directions in Libra, we can take those core elements, and separate beliefs, needs, and desires. Who you want to be, and what parts are still here, in part, still defining you as you are.

Heavy, metaphysical stuff.

This last few weeks dredged a furrow in your mind, in your soul, and the material that’s been turned over? It surfaces, and some of this material hasn’t seen the light of day for years and years. Some this might be as much as a decade old, or older. Yet, look, as you’ll notice, from that Mercury-Retrograde dredged row? There’s an element that you’ve used to define who you are, and now, you can address that defining moment, put it in its place, and move on, a new person. Gentle rebirth arrives with the Full Moon.

Leo

Falling down into the tunnel that seems to burrow to the center of the Earth? That’s trap, and it’s super-easy to get stuck in this trap, and it’s like falling into a bottomless pit, tumbling, head-over-heels, forever lost in that void, always waiting for the bottom. But there is no bottom, you just keep falling, forever. There’s a trick of the planets, even now, and the cautionary tale for The Leo is to not get caught in that endless loop that has no outlet but leads to a terrifying downward spiral. No way out. No exit. No respite. Once you get yourself launched into that downward spiral, I don’t know how to pull you out. So, lacking anything else, I suggest you don’t start down that hole, that pit, that opening which spirals out of control into a dismal end, or worse. OK, I have a painted a dire enough scenario for this full moon and the end of Mercury in Retrograde? Sure. So what this means? Action, any kind of good, Leo action works. Given that we’re at the tail-end of a Mercury Retrograde, keep in mind that the action might not be right. But it is right for The Leo, for right now. Inaction? We get stuck in that dismal hole of despair. Just do something, it’s ok if it doesn’t work out longer-term, for the short term, you’re safe.

Virgo

There’s a fine line, almost indistinguishable at times, between love, lust, and obsession. Not that I am any kind of an example at differentiating between the various categories, to me? All sort of get lumped together. However, that’s me, and I’m not Virgo. For the more virginal appearing Virgo? That coquettish, quiet smile? The wicked leer to the lips? Couple of factors play into this, but basically, it’s the illusion of love on the one hand, and the reality of obsession on the other hand, and what’s with the third hand? Or even fourth hand? This is at the end of a mean Mercury Retrograde, and while that is essentially over, there’s that lingering emphasis, and is it love? More like lust? Or is this a situation where you keeping checking a social media source, to see if that other person has posted, liked, or messaged you? When that behavior shows up? One Virgo buddy, he’s obsessively checking his ex-girlfriend’s online profile. Never mind how the rest of this stacks up, or that he’s sort of married now. Love? Lust? To me, and the rest of the non-Virgo people? It looks like obsession.