Therefore, to be possess’d with double pomp,
To guard a title that was rich before,
To gild refined gold, to paint the lily,
To throw a perfume on the violet,
To smooth the ice, or add another hue
Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light
To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish,
Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.

Salisbury in Shakespeare’s King John (IV.ii.9)

Horoscopes for 10-10-23

Mars enters Scorpio 10/11 11:05 PM
Solar Eclipse 10/14 6:06 AM 16°41’Libra

Questions? Catch me live…

Libra

There was a social media feed question, “Is gray hair sexy?” I looked at my Libra date, thought about answering, posting a picture as proof, and decided against any action. Not taking action insures that there will be action. No-win, win scenario. In some situations, the best action is no action, which then supposes more action later. Sounds a bit reductive, but then, this is the height of the eclipse season, the relative motion of Mars into its home in Scorpio, and the thought that if I do nothing now, don’t post, no pictures, nothing, then I will get appreciative action later. From a Libra. Win-win.

Scorpio

The passage I read? Think it was in a novel, too, but the passage was something about “Gilding the lily,” and how that expressions was incorrectly attributed to Shakespeare.

As noted above, “To gild refined gold, to paint the lily” so I hope the facts check out, and now we know. With the big deals being made about astrological — and astronomical — events, in Scorpio-land? What this means?


I chased down a quote, and then searched, and frankly, I’m not really very good with most of the King John play. Kind of lesser-known, might’ve been a collaboration, and I don’t think I’ve seen it. I’ve heard it read aloud several times, but even then, my knowledge of that one play is kind of dubious, at best. It’s one of the reasons I make a sincere attempt not to use it as a source. In this situation, though, there it is, in plain print, text form, not “gilding the lily,” but “to paint the lily,” and that’s only if we are trying to tribute the expression to Shakespeare. I went digging for an obscure fact, and got to the source itself. For Scorpio? Dig in. Just because someone looks like he or she might be knowledgeable? That doesn’t stop Scorpio from digging into it to see what the real story is.

Sagittarius

When I first happened across the tag line, “A lot of work goes into making this look effortless,” I swiped it. I’ve embraced it, echoed it, and used it, over and over, especially in the last few decades. It’s a term that resonates with me, and one that, a solo operation, makes sense. True, I’ve automated much of the work flow, but there is still a great deal of effort on my part that makes all of this look like a seamless, easy j0b. Your challenge, this coming season? No one gets it. “Man, you’ve got it so easy; you barely work!” Your Sagittarius self knows what our response should be, right? “A lot of work goes in making this look easy.” Which also brings us back to the way the Moon gets directly in the way of the Sun, and lends an occultation. Eclipse, to some. Unstable, unreal alignment, that ultimate, not bad, just not — other signs don’t get it. We make it look easy, am I right? Just because it looks easy, though, that doesn’t mean that it easy. There’s a lot of work that goes into this, and that’s what we’re doing this week, and next — what we’re doing in Sagittarius — the hard work that goes into making this look effortless.

Capricorn

Show up early. Work late. Flag as many hours as possible, and get this done with. Finish it. For this career, I’ve been “freelance,” or an independent contractor. If the show is over 6, but there’s no one there at 5:30? I pack up and leave. I’m a cranky old man. I’m not Capricorn. Stay until close, there’s always that last one, an emergency. I’m certainly less willing to do this, but looking at your stars? Show up early. Stay late. Go the extra distance in this given scenario however it plays out, as that pays off in the years to come. You might not see an actual reward more than a few bucks, in the immediate future, but long-term? Show up early. Stay late. Be loud. I knew that last exhortation was missing from the first two iterations, but it applies, as well. Show up early. Stay Late. Be loud.

Aquarius

There’s a funny notion about buying books. I like books. I like tangible, tactile sensory overload that comes from a bookstore. I like the way it feels, and I enjoy the sentiment that I get when I walk in a store, a with a display rack of current bestsellers, staff picks, and what’s most poplar. Each store has a different flavor. Books are the source of knowledge, and unlike any other media, I can open a text from a hundred years ago, and be instantly swept into the moment. The serious challenge with the democratization of the publishing and printing process? Too much crap, not enough of substance. Some of the classics, I find exceptional. However, some don’t seem to age well. Remember: this is also where I am, as a reader, and what I bring with me, my tastes, preconceptions, prejudices, and morals. So some of it doesn’t work but this is a good time for The Aquarius to be exploring. The best place? Bookstore, library, something with a nod towards knowledge that has been codified, and printed out in an immutable manner. Looking for stuff that is “Engraved in stone,” and that does not mean that Aquarius has to believe it. Just that it was, at one time, fact.

Pisces

“Write it down.” There’s a simple, this has been around for years, maybe centuries, but the idea? “Write it down.” Goals, dreams, desires, wishes, and hard targets? Write them down. I’ve heard of a number of ways of dealing with that wish list of desire, goals, and possible Pisces destinations, but whatever method one chooses? Sure. Work it. The simplest of instructions, though, “write it down.” I like scraps of paper that I might save. Or I might not save, and therein is the Pisces hint for dealing with the weirdness that is floating freely, by writing it down, in one fashion or another? That forms a potentially permanent record of what that goal, direction, tangible — or intangible — target was. Is. What it was, and then what it becomes over time. Might change in the next few days, few weeks, and down the road, so write it down, and check back, as there are changes afoot. In Shakespeare’s words? “The games’s foot!” (H5 3.1.32)

Aries

One of the greatest realization, one of the greatest emotionally-charged leaps forward? One of the biggest steps forward? It was a small lightbulb moment, but I realized that I was face-to-face with a situation that I couldn’t fix. Nothing I could do. Nothing that I could change which would make it better. No way for me to improve the scenario, no matter what I did. I could not alter the inevitable outcome, despite my best efforts, or even the efforts of those I would enlist to assist me in making changes. No way to fix it. Greatest realization, no matter what I did, that train was on its rails, headed to its inevitable doom. Now that we’ve painted that scene, looks like the no-win scenario, here’s what we can do in Aries-land: nothing. Stand off to one side, be observant, be attentive, and be ready. As much as we would like to take on the struggles, to valiantly sail into battles and be righteous? No. Stand off to one side, and be there to be a support. That’s what this is all about, being a supporting role instead the main warrior. Not your rodeo — not your bull to ride.

Taurus

Over the years, I’ve employed, or deployed, not sure which expression is most correct, but I’ve used a number of different table cloths. Table coverings, and in some cases, mostly these recent years, I just use whatever is on the table. I don’t bother with my own, not much. But I have used a number of different coverings, and frequently, I’ll get someone who fingers the table cloth with its Elvis, or planets, or signs, and the person notes how appropriate it seems to be for me. The table coverings are secondary, maybe tertiary to my work. I don’t even think about it. Most of them have been gifts, old girlfriends, Sister one time, and there is the odd one I bought myself in giant department store’s “cloth” department. Looked nice at the time. Shrug. I don’t get too invested in the covering, but Taurus? This is a time to pay attention to the material that covers your workspace, whatever that looks like. For me? I thought about changing out the tablecloth, but instead? I washed it. Just ran it through the washing machine. All it took. That was my change, and I realize, not a big deal, but it is about changes in the appearance of the workspace, and that’s what’s important for Taurus.

Don’t over-think this?

Gemini

“No one wants to know how the sausage is made,” but we all love it as a culinary art form. For me, the secret was a chorizo, either a Mexican breakfast sausage, or Central American form of food. The best of it? I can’t read the label as it’s in Spanish. But the local versions, cleaned up a little? Essentially the really good stuff looks like it was swept off the floor of the abattoir and ground into a casing. I use it for breakfast, tacos, as a secret flavor ingredient in chili, and now, sometimes, as a garnish. But no one wants to know what is in the sausage itself. “No one wants to know how the sausage is made,” is the familiar refrain. Gemini has a certain magic, but not a single one of you wants to know what goes in making this look easy.

Cancer

I favor jokes about the wavering sense of Libra. Usually, it’s humor about how the gentle Libra can’t quite decide. Reducing the challenges ahead to a simple, binary function, though, for capricious Cancer, the normally steadfast Moon Children? Boiling it down the simple, binary, “yes/no” or “on/off” process? That works. It might seem like an interconnected set of spiraling issues that go to the core, and then expand outward at an infinite rate, and yes, that is part of what’s going on, it’s not totally your imagination. Yet there is another way to work this, the phase of the moon, the moments of total darkness, and the once-in-a-lifetime series? Reduce the questions to that simplest form of an equation, as in, either it is or it isn’t. That’s where the answers are. Yes or no, but no maybe.

The Leo

Old, humorous expression, for “The Leo”? “You always tell a Leo, but you can’t tell them much.” Before you jump into my face, or smack me around? The motion of Mars exacerbates this very Leo specific issue. I’m offering a way out, goes against the grain, goes against conventional wisdom, and goes against what your normally regal Leo self thinks the way this should be. But the idea? Adopt a true Scorpio stance. Be quiet. Be circumspect. Don’t trust anyone — you can trust me — but just about anyone else? “Prove it,” is the Leo remark. Quieter is better. “Proof?” Wait and see is best. Yelling, warning, coercing, or worse? Trying to correct us? Doesn’t work. Again, borrow a line from Scorpio, “See? I told you so.” To get to that? Be quiet. Be circumspect. Don’t trust anyone without hard proof (verifiable, corroborated, fact-checked.)

Virgo

“I’m the wrong kind of person for you — I’m bad.” Didn’t believe them? Morally shattered, broken hearted, and financially bankrupt, less than a year later? “I warned you.” There is always one, bad Virgo. I know, I’ve had knack for attracting them for my whole life. Not a good quality in myself, I might add. However, as we cruise along and pick up the pieces from the birthday times? Take that comment, that set of directions, that guideline at its face value, “I’m the wrong kind of person for you.” Warnings are warnings, this week, not challenges. Heed the warnings; it is not hyperbole.