“Saturn and Venus this year in conjunction!
What says th’ almanac to that?”
Price Hal in Herny 4.2 (II.iv.110)
Horoscopes for 1-21-2023
- 1/17/23 Mercury goes direct 8° Capricorn
- 1/20/23 Sun enters Aquarius
- 1/22/23 New Moon 2° Aquarius
- 1/22/23 Uranus goes direct 14° Taurus
- 1/22/23 Venus and Saturn conjunct 24° Aquarius
- 1/26/23 Venus enters Pisces
Aquarius
Borrow from the Libra archetype: don’t make decisions. Decisions just lead to heartache and headache. As an Aquarius, there’s no shortage of decisions to be made, and the usual Aquarius answers would normally be correct. But look: these are not “normal” times, and borrowing from another, compatible air sign, like Libra? The trick is to equivocate. See both sides; acknowledge the other point of view. Even if you don’t really understand the opposing viewpoint? Doesn’t matter, act like you do. “I get that.” Realistically you probably don’t get it, but that doesn’t matter. There’s something calming about suggesting that you’re willing to see it from another’s perspective, slanted, misguided, or just plain wrong that the opposing position might be. So, happy birthday, got good stuff ahead, but for now? Don’t make a decision because decisions just lead to heartache and headache (maybe).
Pisces
Venus creeps in like a cat. Unbidden, but welcome? Sure, there is that. I like it. I prefer cats to dogs, matter of fact, as cats seem more noble. A better word is “aloof,” but who’s counting? I like cats because, in passing, I left out a source of food and water, plus clean litter box? The cats would be fine. I could leave a cat unattended, and the only notice that I was gone? Food and kitty “bathroom breaks.” Always liked the sign, “Guard cat on duty.”
Venus is like that cat, and just when this gets all “No one cares about me” in Pisces? That cat, like the planet Venus, snuggles up with us on a cold, winter’s night. Suddenly, that cat is purring, and warming us. Mine used to snuggle into the small of my back, and sleep, only getting loud if I was getting up too early. Venus is like that.
Aries
I have variety of “list making” tools. Some are software, and some are plain paper. As an example, I keep a grocery list on my phone, divided into the warehouse store, and the local grocery. That’s for items that I don’t need right now, but I can pick up when convenient. But other lists, like I have an idea for a particular recipe, and it requires a single spice I don’t have? I’ll write that on a piece of paper, these days a fine-point Sharpie on a sticky note. I’ll attach that to the back of the phone, or just my wallet — a blatant reminder. Other lists, metaphorical and realistic? I have a paper journal I started to use, and have continued as putting single objective in print, my own handwriting, or graphics? It reminds me what I want to do, a goal, a destination. I’m not sure what list-making, goal-setting hardware/software works best for the individual Aries, as it varies. But whatever it is? Employ that, as it’s time to set some targets, and destinations. Goals. Aries goals.
Taurus
The dark of the moon introduces a kind of “confessional” energy. I suppose my first introduction to “confessional” energy would be oblique references from childhood, and seeing the phone-booth looking places in great cathedrals. I was raised lightweight (Protestant)-Xtian, as such, “confession” was between our souls and the Lord. Theology aside, it wasn’t until much later in life I encountered a poetry movement called the Confessionals (see notes). Some place between the idea of confessing one’s sins to the almighty, telling a confidante, and reading poetry, someplace in this mess is where Taurus lands. Rather than openly confessing to a particular sin, though, my simple weekly suggestion? Maybe write it down in some kind of allegorical form, names changed to protect the guilty.
The old adage? Perfect tag line?
“Asking for a friend…”
Gemini
I am nothing more than a product of my environment. Raised with a backdrop of pioneer stock, family myths, engineers, politicians, publicists, and agitators? The components, disparate that they might be, combine into that unique person that I am. Experiences, good or bad? Those shape us. This new moon, now that everything is moving forward in some semblance of an order? We can spend an inordinate amount of time considering exactly which part makes us what we are, or we can play with those strengths, and move forward. “Forward-ish?” We’re not much done with the Mars action, but the allure of looking into our past rather than looking ever-Gemini-forward? Avoid that temptation. We know, sort of, who we are. Pick a forward direction, now, and follow that new path. Old path, that looks new?
Cancer
Freakish, rogue, cold weather kills tender green things. New Moon energy makes me think about growing garden stuff, and that makes me want to plant new ideas, new thought processes, and then, new plants. It is not time for outdoor plants, not where I live. The normal, seasonal weather tends towards balmy and cool, but the nights are cold, and there is that nascent idea — New Moon — that it is time to start a new outdoor planting schedule. Schedule? Yes. Plan? Yes. Plot? Yes. Action, like buying plants and putting them outside? Not yet. Disarmingly polite January weather locally lulls us into a sense that spring has arrived, and along with that weird new moon? Don’t fall for Mother Nature’s trickery. For me, two memories loom in my mind, one, a fantasy that I would be able to break out my cross-country skies on a snow day in Texas, and two, the great freeze of 2021, with everything frozen for days. I was basically without water and power for three days. So don’t succumb to the gentle idea of starting everything fresh, not just yet. It might get brutally cold again. Or might not, you know, this one we can’t tell. But plan? Yes. Plan to plant? Yes. Plot? Sure. Take outdoor action? Maybe not yet.
The Leo
I got stuck on a single refrain, and I couldn’t shake it. While I can’t source the original? It is attributed to the mathematician and philosopher, Pythagoras.
“Athanátous mèn prota theoùs, nómo os diákeitai, Tíma.”
(First worship the immortal gods as custom decrees)
Pythagoras 1
Before you get all high-horse Leo on me? Think about the metaphorical content of the statement. Not the actual, content, no, I’m not suggesting that you slaughter an animal on the altar or any weird crap like that, although, if that fits you belief system, sure — you be you. It’s about observing the order and place, and how everything has to be done in a certain order before we move forward. Place, order, first step, then second step, then on and on. One at a time. Owing as much to my education as a fear of litigation, I tend to cite my sources, whenever. I’m not shy about admitting I got this or that idea from another author. Leo: there’s an order here we must respect. Pay homage to the old gods — as custom decrees.
Virgo
One car I drove for a while? Old girlfriend’s car, a little hybrid. It had a small road ding in the windshield. A chip from a truck, best guess, just a shard of gravel, landed at just the wrong angle, and it added a pinprick of a hole in the front glass. No big deal, there are always “Chips repaired free” places around. Only I let it go. Mercury was retrograde, then Mars, and you know the rest, right? I let that chip go, and eventually, the tiny ding turned into a small crack, and over the summer’s heat, that crack became a little larger. From the driver’s seat, it as hidden behind the rearview, but plain as could be from the passenger’s seat. Eventually, I had to take half a day off work, and sit while the windshield was replaced. I mean, I didn’t have to do it, but it as nice gesture, and besides, her insurance paid for everything, I just sat in the waiting room and worked on correspondence with clients. I was a good boyfriend, at one time. That windshield, that tiny ding, could’ve been fixed the first time for free? I let it go and the maintenance wound up costing most of a day’s time, shuttling rides around, sitting, waiting, and the actual operation to replace the glass wasn’t a big deal, it was the stickers, and then letting the sealing agents dry. Good as new, old girlfriends are happy, and life moves on. What’s the Virgo lesson? Save time in the next week or two by getting it done, like, now. Not later, Virgo, now.
Libra
Got about two weeks on this particular Libra horoscopes, and it concerns a dreaded clean-up process. I’m more about process rather than actual steps used to get a Libra task accomplished because I’ve found that the process stays the same, but the individual tools vary. Steps are different, but the process starts with a thorough assessment of the situation. What this requires, pick up that year-end overview, and that year-end assessment of Libra goals, directions, and trends. There is, it looks like, a particularly unglamorous task at hand, in hand, or around the Libra corner, and we must get moving on getting it done. Finished. (Thirty)2. Unpleasant, at the outset, I have special system that doesn’t take long at all, but in my current system, year-end financials require some effort on my part. The book-keeping spits out one number, and I have to adjust, mould, and mix to get a the correct data. Like digging around in my personal, economic sewage. Has to be done. The more time spent putting it off? The worse it feels. Hold onto that thought, the more time spent putting it off, the worse it feels.
Scorpio
The “book” had engaging cover art. Slightly anachronistic, with elements that spoke to a certain age, but clear visual evidence that suggested a more modern variation? That’s what first sucked me into the novel. More amusing: the pulp-like cover-art was only for a digital display. The actual cover was more refined, and less provocative, and certainly more encumbered with keeping in line with its purported, stylistic era. Still, what sold me the book? It was the cover art — simple as that. While I would exhort not to judge a book by its cover, in this one example carefully picked for Scorpio? I did judge a book by its cover. I did as I’ve implored so many people not to do, I fell into my trap. I was idly looking for a digital book to read, as I much prefer the heavy, weighty tomes on a tablet reader rather than the book itself. So the concern here was that it was a thumbnail image, and one that was carefully constructed to look casual, again, slightly anachronistic, but more of a throw-away image than high art. I paused, I clicked, I opened the book and read a page, and from there? It was all good, and I’m sure I penned a quick note about it someplace. Doesn’t matter, for this week’s Scorpio mess? It’s OK to judge a book by its cover as long as you dig in and read the novel before passing a real judgement.
Sagittarius
I glanced back through the seemingly millions of digital images I’ve got. At one point, I was trying, through trial and mostly error, to teach myself what made a good image. The goal was ten-thousand hours. My apparent lack of concentration foiled that, but there were, there are, more than two decades worth of images, mostly digital in original, all arrayed at various points on my sites.
There were, at various times, obsessions with a single kind of image, and what I did learn was that my piteous attempts would not substitute for a real professional with a good lens, and proper lighting.
As a good Sagittarius, that’s what we’re struggling with, the limits of the hardware, and the aspects of the art that are not taught. With the photography, rather, the digital images, it’s not about what’s there, but what’s not there. The little secret I learned? Lighting. Adequate light. Took several years of mistakes to learn that the quick, oftentimes disposable cameras needed adequate lights. Front, back, sideways, all matters. It’s the simplest of elements to control yet, too much? Also spoils it. Sagittarius? Not too much, not too little, and maybe? Let the experts do their thing.
Capricorn
I can smell an upsell from a mile away. It was supposedly just an informal, “fact-finding” meeting, but what it really was? The dreaded up-sell. I’ve done this before, myself, but I met with one failure and realized that I wasn’t cut out for the resounding and abysmal numbers, what it spells out, more failures than successes3. Also made me acutely aware of the up-sell. “I see you like our product, would you like to see what else we can do?” Brace for it, here’s the pitch. “Fresher breath, whiter whites, brighter colors, and yes, it really, really works!” There’s a level where simplicity is best, and there’s a level with what works, works. These are the levels you’re striving at, if you haven’t got there, yet. It works. It isn’t broken. Capricorn: whatever is currently working, and what is currently proven to be effective? Stick with that, for now. Stick with what works.
“But if I just add this one thing…”
- “Αθανατούς μεν πρωτα θεούς, νόμο ος διακείται, Τήμα.” (Typesetting challenges)“Immortal gods first, law prevails, Tima.” ↩
- What does ‘thirty’ at the bottom mean? ↩
- Why I am not in sales. ↩
