Here’s sport indeed! How heavy weighs my lord!
Our strength is all gone into heaviness,
That makes the weight. Had I great Juno’s power,
The strong-wing’d Mercury should fetch thee up,
And set thee by Jove’s side. Yet come a little—
Wishers were ever fools—O, come, come, come,
(They heave Antony aloft to Cleopatra.)
And welcome, welcome! Die when thou hast liv’d,
Quicken with kissing. Had my lips that power,
Thus would I wear them out.
Cleopatra in Shakespeare’s Antony & Cleopatra (IV.iv.32-40)
Named character, dead at the end of Act IV. As it applies to this week’s stars?
Horoscopes for 8-29-2023
- 8/29/23 Uranus turns retrograde at 23° Taurus
8/30/23 8:36 PM Full Moon at 7° Virgo/Pisces
9/3/23 Venus turns direct at 12° Leo
Twenty years and counting? Then think: thirty years ago.
Labor Day Weekend Sale
Virgo
Some decades back, I stayed in my Sister’s apartment — think it was Seattle — her place had a giant, claw-footed tub, ringed with a shower curtain, and an admonishment to make sure the curtain was tucked in to prevent flooding. Tub easily fit two, not that it matters. Ever since then, I’ve had a lingering desire for a bathroom with a claw-footed tub, but unsure of the rest of the details. Not long ago, I was in a rental that had shower, over a claw-footed tub, and I now know this is no longer an acceptable arrangement for me. Looks great, farmhouse chic, and in that setting? Worked really well. But in my own home? To use on a regular basis? Just not a great idea. Staying in a rental that had what I thought was ideal? Great idea. Rent it. Try it out. Discover that arrangement of water flow doesn’t really work as well as our Virgo selves thinks it should. Try before you buy. Most near killed myself clambering in and out of that tub. Cool looking bathroom design, though.
Libra
It took years to realize what the problems were, and it took me a little longer to realize that there are certain irrefutable guidelines for these times. It’s a pattern. Shows up with amazing regularity. This is one of those times. Yes, Mercury, yes, yes, yes.
And for gentle Libra? You know where this is?
Mercury is currently retrograde in Virtuous Virgo, a sign that precedes gentle Libra. That means this is churning, burning, and groaning along in the Libra 12th Solar House. Means there’s a sense that something is spinning out of our control even at this moment. Let it spin. If our Libra selves can’t control it? Maybe we shouldn’t try to control it.
Scorpio
Just about every Scorpio I know? Just about every one of them? “When I find peace and happiness? Then I’ll rule the world!” There’s a trailing thought, though, “I won’t find peace and happiness until I rule the world.” Not everyone gets it. But the good Scorpio understands, “I know, right?” This is our problem, dear Scorpio, this is it. You will find peace and happiness as soon as you rule world. But you can’t rule the world until you find peace and happiness.
Sagittarius
The hoisting of Antony aloft always presents an interesting staging issue. I’ve seen it done a couple of different ways, never really to my satisfaction, although, I’m sure, it was okay in some settings. There’s the weight of Antony’s body itself, with armor on and so forth, makes for decisions. We want to know that the lovers fly off to heaven together, and live happily ever after in their afterlife, whatever that might be, according to the Roman Gods as interpreted for an Elizabethan audience. The play itself, Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra, it has “tragedy” in the title, no surprises. We all know the story itself, as well, fated lovers, just didn’t work out. Right person, wrong time, and I’d suggest, wrong era for those lifetimes. The times, being what they are, and the planets, being where they are? There’s the added dead weight of an actor either Sagittarius actor or other, being dead weight in the middle of the stage, and the guards have a time hoisting this dead weight to the heavens. Makes for a bit of play-acting, and the staging can vary, but you get the idea, right?
Capricorn
There’s a quote, and I thought I had it in my collection, but I couldn’t place my hands on it. “Even the Devil can quote scripture when it suits him.” Not sure, and, as always, I’m too lazy to fact-check. So I don’t have an actual source, but it surely sounds literary, correct? More amusing, in most tarot decks I’ve worked with, the Devil Card, #15 of the Major Arcana, is a Capricorn Card. No judgment, just an observation. So, even the most malignant and evil of enemies can use the Holy Scripture to get a point across. What to watch for? The bending, twisting, and malignant use of a source in order to get a desired outcome that might be at cross-purposes to either the Capricorn goal, or where a situation might be placed at the Capricorn disadvantage. It’s why I favor the King James Version of the Bible, the language is cooler sounding, and it I can always fire a quote back when some devilish person tries to quote scripture. Makes for amusing wordplay, but do watch out for it.
Aquarius
It’s about letting go of what you can’t control. With what’s happening, this week ahead is filled with materials that are spinning out of control, and trying to manage — to borrow from an old country singer? “It’s like driving down the freeway, and tossing the steering wheel out the window.” The Aquarius obvious answer? Don’t throw the steering wheel out of the window, but as clear an idea as that might be? There are always factors that Aquarius can’t control, and understanding what you can — and can’t — control? Get a firm grip on that. If it is yours to maintain, and you can? Then do so. But as this material all spirals out of any semblance of good order? Don’t try to coerce that which can’t be forced. “If I just had a bigger hammer, I could make this fit.” Doubtful. You’re welcome to try, but I’d concede the point — this time.
Pisces
Set tasks have to be accomplished in a specific order. I don’t make the rules. I rarely follow the rules, except when it suits me. I’m not Pisces. Looking plainly, at the current arrangement of the night’s sky? Saturn, Neptune, Saturn plainly visible? That means you want to jump from “A” to “D,” skipping in between material like B, C, E. Pisces: problem. The process, and it is a process, is set out in a specific order. Me? I’ll jump around, read the first and last page of the directions, and call it good. Jump right on in here, and agree with me, who needs each step of this stupid process, anyway? You do, Pisces, you do. Skipping the instructions, or conveniently forgetting some of the instructions?
Aries
While I was reading a novel set in New York City, the fiction and action was set in the late 1980’s, maybe 1990. I was headed back to Austin at the time. Reflecting back, I realized that the Austin I landed in, like that fictional version of New York, it is now more myth than reality. Some of the places are still there. Some of the places still have the same name. Some of the places are eerily similar, but there’s a substantive difference. What’s changed are people and attitudes. Some of the people I knew then, are no longer with us in body, having shuffled off the mortal coil. Others, like some peers, are way older now. Foggy memories about the good old days, and the substantial differences, plus, “We had it a lot easier,” and there is some truth, it was before everybody had a phone with camera. Mercury-inspired memories?
Taurus
“Ride the wave, man.” It’s a simple idea, and as the full moon crests, there’s a wave of emotional material that sweeps through. Often, mostly, usually? This wave is preceded by, “Remember when…” therein is the clue, and that is less than a wave, and more like memories that are going down the drain. It’s nice to indulge the reverie, “Remember when,” for a little while. However, dwelling in the past is a very typical Taurus problem under this lunar influence. As that wave crests, and the memories flood over you? Once that emotional flood starts to recede? Get ready to kick through the detritus left behind, then move yourself forward. By the week’s end, you’ll find that less time spent digging around in your own past is better. Look back, but don’t dwell there. Or, like I suggested? “Ride the wave,” man.
Gemini
Quick tip? You know I adore Gemini , and I would never ask anything untoward, right? But as a quick tip, looking forward by looking back? Don’t over-complicate this week. The tendency is to add a clause, then build on that unknown supposition, by further extending presumed data, and while this looks plausible enough? A much simpler answer would’ve more efficient. Maybe a simpler answer would be more honest, too, although, to be fair, it was as good as you could do, at the time, but there’s that overture present where a simple answer just doesn’t feel right — to a Gemini.
Resist that urge to over-complicate this week.
Cancer
As a Moon-Child, Crab-compliant, lover of all things Cancer person myself? I got a pretty fair idea about what’s around the corner in the next few days. For Cancer? It ain’t pretty. It’s not bad, it’s just not fair of view. Not good looking. Didn’t say it didn’t look good, just not pretty. I always look for a sign, and I found one that might help some, just next few days. Sign said, “Soup of the day is coffee.” The symbolism should be clear, even if the view isn’t.
The Leo
It was one of the “bad astrology” memes. Four levels of anger for “insert sign here…” with varying shades anger and images from 1 to 3 showing more rage, but the final level? Calm. No shades of red, just a frown face. Imagine the silent treatment. That’s the really angry, and dangerously so, anger with the calm exterior. With the planets, like they are? It’s that silent Leo that everyone should worry about. Not the usual, loud, insistent, rowdy, attention-gathering, not that Leo. The quiet Leo with a look: a fierce countenance.
For the uninitiated?
“You look calm.”
Maybe too calm?
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