Horoscopes for 1-4-2022

“Methoughts I saw a thousand fearful wracks;
A thousand men that fishes gnaw’d upon;
Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl,
Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels,
All scatt’red in the bottom of the sea:
Some lay in dead men’s skulls, and in the holes
Where eyes did once inhabit, there were crept
(As ’twere in scorn of eyes) reflecting gems,
That woo’d the slimy bottom of the deep,
And mock’d the dead bones that lay scatt’red by.

• Clarence in the Tower in Shakespeare’s
  King Richard the Third (I.iv.24-33)

Capricorn

It’s a simple skull image, from the bottom of the sea, but at the top of Scene 4 (1st Act). Listening to it again? I was struck by the very vivid imagery of skulls on the ocean’s floor, the detritus of sea battles, the wreckage of those who underestimate the fury of nature, and in example, the power of Neptune, Poseidon. Clarence has a lovely soliloquy, then he gets murdered by some hired thugs. Not a pretty sight, but makes for good theatre, depending on the execution. As we crawl through the new year, there’s that question, and in the situation, what Capricorn must weigh? Do the ends justify the means? Or is there a better way? At first, I was struck by the imagery of the skulls, the sea’s floor, and jewels in eye sockets, all rendered in a black and white motif. The question, then, as we approach these next few days? Do the ends justify the means by which that goal is achieved? If history provides any perspective?

Aquarius

“Work from home,” or “remote work,” none of that is new to me. The pandemic didn’t cause much shift in my style. Age and other factors, as in I travel much less these days, there is that. But I’ve worked remote for most of this career, so other than cutting back on appearances, and much less time spent hoping on and off commuter air? Not much difference. So I have a tip or two, for those who have moved from a traditional office, to work from home, or work remote, or whatever the case might be? As we start out, there are some adjustments, and if you haven’t made these before, then now is a time to think about it — moving forward, ever upward?

I keep handy reference books in my workspace, and for the last half-dozen years, I have had an empty picture frame hanging on the wall. There is nothing in the frame, the wall is clearly visible behind the glass. Empty frame. No personal images, no pictures of the cat, nothing like that. Just an empty frame, and reference books. Astrology references, a King James Bible, couple of copies of Marcus Aurelius, two or three ephemeris, and some Shakespeare texts. The trick is to have a corner for “work,” wherein there is no serious distractions. No family picture, no vacation dreams, just boring stuff. Makes it easier to concentrate. Need to concentrate, and removing personal touches and distractions helps — and every Aquarius could use a little help.

Pisces

A statistically skewed number of my friends all require lessons to be learned “the hard way.” Just an observation — not a condemnation. The usual question, once their collective butts are on fire? “What did a I do?” My suggestion tends to be the same, “I warned you, and I told you, and you didn’t pay attention,” and “blah-blah-blah.” What the take-away message and this is tailored specifically to that Pisces element in an astrology chart, but the message is simple. It’s possible to learn from painful experiences and make it a lot less painful by simple observation. Or listen. I might try and warn you, and if you ignore me? A statistically skewed number of my friends all require lessons to be learned “the hard way.”

Aries

Ever get an idea stuck in your head, then can’t shake that thought? It was a simple suggestion from many long years back, really reaching on this one, but the idea that got stuck? Those “Pre-paid” reply envelopes? In the upper right corner, “No postage necessary if mailed in the United States?” The original idea was that the companies that send those out? They have to pay the return postage on that envelope, that was my understanding, and then what I would do, the gas card would have offers and advertising, and I would put that in the cable’s advertising envelope and mail it back to them. I kept hoping it would reduce the amount of crap I get. Never seems to stem the flood of junk mail, free offers, or deals on new credit cards that I don’t need. I was always careful, though, I made sure there was no return address. But you would think? And anyway, that’s an example of notion, stuck in my head that I can’t shake. As an Aries amenable astrologer, I understand how that idea gets stuck. I don’t have a way to untick the idea, but it might do well to examine it again, anyway.

Taurus

Last fall, one last coastal fishing trip, the little bay boat, we parked just at the edge of the jetty. The Gulf of Mexico was sending in low rollers, just a gentle swell to some, but as I was baiting and then fishing, my concentration waned, and I felt a low rumbling. I started to get seas-sick, as the waves were only three or four feet, but just enough, as I was hungry, it was first light, and there was nothing but bad coffee in my belly. Just as I sat down and concentrated on the jetty’s outline, I felt that light tap-tap, I set the hook, and my momentary discomfort was forgotten. Decent redfish, from a light tap that takes certain finesse to feel. That finesse, the gentle tap-tap, wham, for the fishing? Works on all aspects of Taurus, moving forward. Ignore temporary discomfort, like a little motion sickness from the swelling morning waves. Or waves of morning swells. Listen — feel — the gentle Taurus tap-tap that means a bite. Maybe, too, stay away from gas-station coffee.

Gemini

Been an interesting shift. I was digging around for a spare pen to throw in my bag, off to a day of work, and I stumbled on a really old stash of mechanical pencils. Maybe therefor four, mostly 0.7 mm with a variety of soft leads. For many years, one particulate “lead holder,” not even properly a pencil, but a draftsman’s drawing device, but for years, that one was my most important tool. I can’t sketch well. I know this. It’s not a skill set I aim to improve at, not an area of my expertise, but as a sideline, a way to remind me where I’ve been and where I want to go? It’s handy to draw my own icons. Some years in the recent past, I switched from expensive pens and pencils to cheap, disposable pens. All ink. Sharp-pointed Sharpies, mostly. Cheap. Disposable. Durable. Evocative in my broad-brushstroke style. This is about what tools you’re using, Gemini — with the relative position of Mercury and Mars bringing home a point about what you used to use, and like me, how these days? Moving forward in Gemini land? This is less about the tool, and more about what gets done. Or what gets undone.

Cancer

“Look,” I was explaining, “if you don’t hear from me soon, or if this gets lost? E-mail me again. Please.” Always leaves people with questions, like, “Can I call?” Sure, but you’ll find that I tend to not answer unknown numbers. Then, as I’ve intoned before, message me on any other platform? Please, this is like the olden time, “Always six to eight weeks for a reply.” E-mail, because it is structured like correspondence? Sort of like using a pre-formatted letter? That and its ubiquity? Just makes it easier — for me. Answer to a quick question, schedule an appointment, check-in, check-out? That’s why I tend to suggest, for me, that E–mail works best. It’s triple-filtered to remove impurities, and out of a half-dozen e-mail addresses in the last three decades, most of them resolve to one of two locations, now. Like the old Pony Express, this gets through the quickest. To me, e-mail is like its own little private network. There are two thoughts for The Moon Children, the Cancer elements in a chart. One, check and see what’s the best way to communicate with your people. Each person tends to have a preferred media. Second, with what’s immediately unfurling? Check back, check in, and double check, as need be, “Just calling to see if you got my text.”

The Leo

There’s a leftover set of images from Halloween. Part of what inspired that opening quote, and part of that quote is about what’s right in front of us, as, to some, this predicts and predicates certain doom. Mercury, Pluto, Mars, even. I’ve spelled this out before, this is about a Leo course correction. I know, most of my mighty Leo think the first course was the correct way to go. At the time? It was. The change is more data is available, and with more information, we can glean a new, more expedient way to get “there” from “here.” It’s just the stars, illuminating a new way to achieve that mighty Leo goal. Think about it as “variations on a theme,” rather than wholesale change.

Virgo

It’s an old expression, revived because it makes more sense, even now. With what’s happening, globally, locally, the way information is shaped, mutates, metastasized into an ugly mess? No good Virgo likes an ugly mess, yet the truth is harder and more difficult to discern, as what is a reliable source, and what is merely entertaining fabrication? Hard to know. Calling cadence, “your left, your right, your left, your right…” makes a kind of sense, get data from both sides. While not always the most efficient, and what good Virgo doesn’t love efficiency? While not the most expedient, it does yield the best data. Look? Don’t walk a mile in my shoes. That’s boring, and you’ll just wind up tired and only a mile away. Spend about 30 seconds in my head. That will freak you right out. Left and Right, more than one source for a healthy Virgo consensus.

Libra

Free-form structure. That one just popped up. Me? I don’t always know where this comes from, but I was trying to bend a few ideas together to make this work, and that’s the expression I got for Libra. It’s not totally clear, but out of a morass of unrelated, unfiltered, seemingly directionless material, a semblance of a coherent plan starts to emerge, and that’s the “free-form structure.” Chaos, only, it starts to coalesce and begins to move in a single direction. Watch for it, and when it happens, be ready to embrace the new directions, but it starts out as looking like another fine mess.

Scorpio

It’s just a Scorpio image, you know? “Dead men’s skulls” — just suggestive of that Scorpio sense of macabre, you know? In part, the phrasing just amused me greatly, in part, some of this I’ve seen on stage and on film, a number of times. Still, hearing it again, recently, just made that echo back to an image, perfect for Scorpio. Skulls of the dead, littered across the ocean’s floor, and in the eye sockets? Brilliant gems. The deal is, this is a dream sequence in the play. Not a real deal. Dream sequence, and that means, for Scorpio? A dream can seem real, but it’s not. Getting started in the first of the new year, with what is going on? Is a dream? Or is it real? Good question. “What’s with all the skulls and dead things for Scorpio, anyway?” Ah c’mon, Halloween, Day of the Dead, all of that is Scorpio so its inherent imagery for you guys. Not bad, just is. Like that dream sequence.

Sagittarius

Motivation arrives in the strangest of places. What’s been lacking is that striving, strenuous, Sagittarius motivation. Next few days, that drive is back, that push, that urge to get up and fix this, or address that, or whatever it is that a decent Sagittarius would like to get done? Motivation is set to arrive, a spark an insistence, an idea, a hope, and it shows up in the strangest of places, from the weirdest of motivating factors. Part of this is Mars, part of this is a rewind due to Venus in her current cycle, but that means — still — watch for it. The idea, the spark, the motivational point happens, next few days. Best if we’re ready to run with it.

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