“Puppet”? Why so? Ay, that way goes the game.
Now I perceive that she hath made compare
Between our statures: she hath urg’d her height,
And with her personage, her tall personage,
Her height, forsooth, she hath prevail’d with him.
And are you grown so high in his esteem,
Because I am so dwarfish and so low?
How low am I, thou painted maypole? Speak!
How low am I? I am not yet so low
But that my nails can reach unto thine eyes.

Hermia in
A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream
(3.ii.289-98)

Horoscopes for 1-7-2023

• 1/11/23 Mars goes direct at 8° Gemini
• 1/12/23 Pluto gets to 28° Capricorn
• 1/17/23 Mercury goes direct 8° Capricorn

Is the glass half-empty or is the glass half-full? The tired, trite, typical Capricorn reaction? There’s a long sigh, or a roll of the eyes, and a deflated noise. “There’s almost no water, and we’re on the verge of a drought.” Sad noises. But is it really that bad? I’m suggesting, looking at that Capricorn water container, I’m guessing that there’s about half of it, and it’s not bad, more than enough, at least, for now, and times being what they are? That is one way to see this week. Yes, Mercury, and yes, Pluto, and yes, etc., etc., etc. heard this all before, and for a birthday crowd, you do seem to be bit of a glum lot. There’s a chance to let this material grinds you down, but the Mercury Retrograde didn’t sneak up, it was expected. The way this all grinds forward at a hesitant pace? Half-empty? Half-full? Maybe just too big for what we’ve got on hand, Capricorn.

The Aquarius New Year starts in about a month, maybe two or three weeks away. You good with that? This is series of false starts, hopes, dreams, and miscues. Not necessarily mistakes, exactly, but either half-a-beat too fast or usually, about beat too slow. Early, late, great ideas, lacks substantiation. Best example I can think of?

That perfect, snarky retort. Sarcasm, dry, trenchant wit, loaded with meaning and metaphor? Cuts close but not too close? You get the perfect response in mind, only? The target is already walked away. That spells out how this next week rolls along. Perfect comeback line, only, the intended party can’t hear it, when you finally get that formed. This is not life-threatening. This is not a permanent situation, but for now? Understand that the timing will be off, and the best course of action is to write down that riposte so you can use it, maybe in a few weeks — but not now.

Pen, or “pen and ink,” now, as a good Pisces, compare that expression to “pencil and paper.” Similar terms, and similar methods of communication, but different methods of presentation. It’s the notion of permanent marks as opposed to a frankly erasable and changeable version. You know which one I’m going to suggest? Given the way this material leaks out at the start of the new year? It’s merely a calendar year, the new Pisces year probably won’t start until next month, and with that in mind? My simple way of dividing up this week’s Pisces portions? Compare two terms, “Pen and ink” to “pencil and paper.” Which one is really the best one to use? Hint: pencil and paper is useful more useful ,as it can easily be changed. “Pen and ink” is so permanent. Do we really need the now?

If it isn’t broken? Then the operation is not sufficiently complex. I’m sure you’ll agree with that feeling, Aries. The expression most people expect? “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” However, I was toying with the various influences, and figuring a way to make this more educational and entertaining for Aries, and what I came back with? “If it’s not broken, then it’s not complicated enough.” I’m not Aries, but I’m certainly Aries compatible. Looking at the array of stars, played out, and especially with the Capricorn pieces in play? If the situation is too easy to fix? Then there needs to be an Aries inspired complication.

Some spammy “social media marketing” person contacted me. Not unusual, and the self-named “expert” offered services. In a fit of pique, I responded with my counter-offer of 15% of any paid services that clearly carried the marketer’s referral. What happened next was a long series of useless, to me, correspondence about intangible benefits, advertising hype, and basic salesmanship. “But if you had hundreds of new followers on social, you’d have it made.” I’m too old, too tired, and frankly, don’t care enough to pursue the course of action. Besides, here’s where the rubber meets the road, if the deal is so good, why won’t the marketer spend his/her own money for a percentage? It’s about value of what is being sold. No one understands value better than good Taurus. Have to ask if the value received is worth the price. Simple, Taurus equation, value versus price. Is it worth it, to you?

The challenge with this kind of Mercury Retrograde (in Capricorn)? Forgetting the mistakes of the Gemini past only erases the lessons learned from making those mistakes. While I have several graphic examples, and I can push up a sleeve to show real scars, what I was thinking? One of my favorite, classic novels? My original copy is a creased-spine, dog-eared, fading cover edition. It’s been beat-up, passed around, and the wear shows. Shows its age with pride? Sure. Now, the challenge with the Mercury material moving forward, or not moving, as the individual Gemini situation appears? Think about the historical context, and the lessons from the collective past are guides for our future. Look at the cover of that paperback, lessons learned, not mistakes, just time on the planet. Don’t erase your knowledge by trying to forget the past.

One of my earliest introductions to “super computing” was in the late 1980’s, maybe 89 or so. Facts are buried under a morass of dead brain cells. What I liked was a searchable version of Shakespeare’s Complete Works. In the years in between? From a dedicated processing unit the size of breadbox, that ability to carry the complete works has shrunk to a point where I think I got it on a watch. Not sure, too lazy to look. Mercury — in retrograde — brings up memories like that. The original format, and these days, I tend to keep an interactive copy of the more recent Complete Works on my phone, tablet, whatever is handy. I’m not one to miss fact checking an attribution. I was thinking about that because I was looking at the number of quotes I’ve used over the years, combining them in one place, and then? I’m not sure. I tended, by the middle of the double-aughts, to just copy the quote from a certified source. Made it easier, and no loss in transcription. That happened, once, when I mistyped Henry IV, and it should’ve been Henry VI. Shrug, it happens. And perspicacious copy-editor caught it. Why we like Virgo. But this has nothing to do with gentle Cancer, not directly. If you don’t have a copy editor, or a good Virgo? Might want to check your text and sources, make sure you got it all down correctly.

Old adage, about the good lord sending an ex back into your life, just to see how far you’ve grown. Problem being, most of the Fine Leo that I know? That notion of an ex raises a certain degree of ire. That ex is the leading cause of consternation, or commitment-phobic person who missed out on the best possible relationship — with The Leo? New year is over, world is in turmoil, and there are no easy answers, but the way Mercury grinds along, where he does? That suggests that we’re getting ready, and in order to prepare to move forward? There needs to be a certain amount of understanding of where you’ve been. Understanding, maybe not embracing previous mistakes just acknowledging that they are back there. Sure, what we hear this week, and moving forward? The rattle of the bones from the skeletons in our closets.

Two, three years ago, I got an invite for a Google fiber project that got delayed. Project was sold off to another giant telecom conglomerate. Then, just last year, more trucks in the neighborhood, digging up streets, and a different company was putting in Google fiber. So the original plan was sold off to another company, but then the idea looked good again, and they were back. No idea, as I’m not loyal to any one internet service. These days, I’ve suffered crappy customer service from all of them. Bad service, too. But I watched as the Google trucks came through, and when the asphalt cutting machine fired up, it had a larger, noises machine behind it, attached to an air hose looking thing. It was an industrial vacuum, cleaning up as it went, no dust, no mess, no fuss. Think of it as an industrial vacuum cleaner. A shop-vac for street cutters. This should be a Virgo idea, moving forward; it’s just, that giant vacuum truck? It made more noise than the pavement cutters. I still don’t have fiber internet.

The subtle consternation foisted upon Libra by Mr. Mars and his recalcitrant (retrograde) ways? That obvious pressure lessens. Besides, the cyclical churnings of Mars aren’t bad, just a graphic highlighter in the Life of Libra, more like a permanent marker that underscores where attention must be directed. We’re done with New Year. We’re face-to-face with a miserable world. In the litttle Libra slice of the sky? Figure out what that cosmic highlighter was all about. Pick a new direction. Pick an old direction with added data inputs, so it’s a new look at an old way. Pick something different. Think about merrily skipping off down the road to Libra’s happy destination.

The symbolism, and I’m staying away from the climate debate at the moment, or rising sea level, but the image? It was town like Venice, all canals and such. However, as metaphor, and then, using one dream analysis technique? The water is emotion, and the individual canals cutting through the buildings and being the main form of transportation, but still, highly regulated as in strictly structural with a grid pattern firmly established? The canals — in this situation — represent certain, pre-ordained pathways for gentle Scorpio emotions. The water flows one way. Traffic moves in an established order. The canals are set up in way to keep everything — all the water — in distinct compartments. All that emotion, carefully plotted, platted, maybe even plated, all in manageable squares, a Scorpio succinct structure. All that free-flowing Scorpio emotion channeled into easy-to-navigate pathways.

There are certain signature styles I’ve noticed, over and over. Each astrological sign has a distinct, psychological imprimatur. There is a distinct set of characteristics that are sometimes hard to quantify in strict, analytic terms. However, in the fuzzy areas of brain science, it’s easier to see. It’s easier to see when stepping back, looking at a single author’s whole canon of work, and then using a strictly astrological lens to study the material. “He is such (insert sign),” or, “she’s such a (insert sign).” Patterns emerge. There are trends, cycles, and recurrent images. Our Sagittarius selves are in a bit of a growth spurt, for lack of better terms. It’s fueled by the planets, but it also pushes us to see overarching patterns where there were just blank stares before.