“Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look,
He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.”

Caesar in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (I.ii.194-5)

• Mercury Direct 12/15 6° Sag.

Sagittarius

I kept thinking I used that quote before, and I might’ve, but the quick search didn’t give me a location. I know I used that quote, off and on, in presentations and especially in readings. One of the best versions of the play I’ve seen? It was in the summer stock, University of Texas Winedale, and the actor playing Cassius was a woman. Her stage appearance captured a layer to the character I’d never seen, and frankly, hadn’t read into the play, but added that special touch. Cool, maybe cold, calculating, and politically evasive. There’s a warning, too, as we move forward, got to watch those over-thinkers. The ones who appear to think too much? Those people are dangerous.

Capricorn

This came to me from military training, and I have no way to know if it accurate. From what I’ve seen, and with current events? I doubt this is really what is taught, and that’s too bad, as it would be a great technique. It would also benefit a number of managers, and the corporate/business side would receive great boons from employees, if this simple axiom was followed. Alas, probably regulated to the ideas and memories of some of us, and left by the wayside. Thus noted?

“Lead by example.” In a slightly different explanation, don’t tell me how to do something, show me, how it’s done. Perform the onerous task alongside me, and I’ll be a better worker. In other words? “Lead by example.” The missing piece? The whole reason we “Lead by example” in these uncertain times? There are days, weeks, and maybe just the whole month of December, for Capricorn, when the best example is a gentle reassessment of conditions and looking at the terms. Formulate a plan, and ask the help for assistance with the new plan.

Aquarius

“Things change,” and that’s the simplest explanation I’ve got. There’s corollary, “Things fall as apart,” but I don’t like that one, as well. In this second half, what I’ve seen happen, my own observations from inside and outside? The “things that fall apart” tend to be great relationships that have run their course. Now, in my context, and for Aquarius? The term “great relationships” can easily refer to business partnerships, alliances, close confidante friends, romantic, sexual, or “other.” Always like the “other” category in Aquarius. In this situation, similar, analogous to Aquarius current conditions? A dear friend “un-friended” me. Got pissed off over a perceived slight, stroked out with much drama, and never spoke to me again. My intention was never to hurt, and I didn’t. My motives were pure, and they were, and the situation was based on perceptions. I would never intentionally cause pain like that. I let it go. Over the years, and the time in between? Turns out I was correct, but that’s a hollow victory. Understand that people make choices, humans make human choices. Not all of those are the best, and sometimes, there’s more at work than we can reasonably understand. Two guidelines? “Things change.” And? “Things fall apart.” None of this is set in concrete.

Pisces

Times are tight in gentle Pisces, and the best answer? Snuggle. Snuggle down into a comforting blanket. Bury yourself in an interesting story, online, on TV, or in a book. There is an incredible wave of emotions, mostly in passing, that washes over delicate Pisces, and there’s no reason to get involved in the actual wave itself. Look at it. Watch it. It washes over, and then? Recedes. Washes back to the ocean, taking some of that with it. Is it the end? No. Is a new start? Not yet. What is the best solution? We get a few days here when it’s cold, and the best thing to do? Snuggle down into that comforter and read a book. Or watch a favorite show. Sounds a lot like doing nothing, and some days, some weeks, like this week, doing nothing might be in your own, enlightened best interest.

Aries

For many years, my favorite way to keep track of stuff I wanted to get done? I kept a short stack of blank envelopes, the kind that bills arrived in and with? Those spare pieces of paper served as the perfect scratch pad, ideas, notes, and at one point, I was traveling a lot at the time, I transitioned to using an airsick bag and a sharpie. Whatever works, right? These were disposable forms of taking notes. Sketches, ideas, short-term goals, ideas, and half-baked thoughts, all there. Eventually, I moved to using a different format, but only after I honed the system of the daily goal in which I have no deeply vested interest in the completion of the goal. The trick is? Goal for the day, and if that goal is not accomplished, doesn’t matter, set a new target for the next day, on the next day, not before. This keeps material from hanging over the Aries head, and that is the grand secret to surviving the holiday season. Nothing hanging over your head, from each day to the next.

Taurus

When I started writing horoscopes, I already had a certain body of information I was familiar with. I carried with me my experiences, my hopes, and my dreams. Over the years, all of that shifts, and I’m no longer the same person I was, but that doesn’t stop me from doing what I enjoy. I’ve been waiting, patiently, for some years, for this next year to happen. It will be filled with changes. Some good. Some bad. Some change for the sake of change, and I wonder about that, but, you know, “Whatever” (followed with a shrug.) This fickle Full Moon phase allows a moment of very Taurus introspection. What was. What is, and what might be. I’d suggest we get a jump on the new year, and start looking at alternative new ideas, different routes, and specific goals that seem a bit lofty in our Taurus aspirations, just at the moment. You’ll be surprised, in a few weeks, a lot of stuff becomes way more available.

Gemini

I recall, the exact location, if not the precise time, when I noticed a shift, a perceptible change in human behavior as the Moon shifted signs. Over the years, I’ve watched this happen, the moon will go into another sign, and then atmosphere, the feelings, the background noise in the room, it all changes. The specific time I’m thinking about, the Moon shifted around 1 in the afternoon, and I went from no clients to busy as I could be, like someone flipped a switch, and astrologically, that’s the best example. Now, astrologically, that’s what happens, but this isn’t like the Moon shifting signs, and with all that’s gone before us? I’d give this until the end of the year. There’s a generalized slow-down, and it behooves your Gemini selves to take this for what it is, a generalized slow-down, and chance to re-evaluate situations that might, or might not, need to be changed.

Cancer

A client was dealing with an aging parent, Might’ve been a spouse in decline, I don’t recall the specifics, but it was the need to be ready, with no notice whatsoever, to pull on clothes and rush to the hospital. Might’ve been the birth of a niece or a nephew, maybe grandchildren on their way. The situation as presented? The simplest solution? Have a go-bag ready. It needs to contain chargers and cables for all the devices, in my case, a watch, phone, and tablet. In addition, a notebook, pens, pencils, paper, maybe analgesics, allergy medicine, a little spare change, and a book to read. Not a lot, and this all fits, stays, in a shoulder bag at the ready. I looked over. I have two bags like that, packed. One is strictly for the limited amount of work I still do, and one is the emergency go-bag, out of which, I had to live for a few weeks one time. Had all the required parts, and there was nothing missing. This holiday season, for gentle Moon Children, the sign of the crab, there’s a hint that it helps to be ready. None of that stuff is mission-critical, but what was supposed to 45-minute wait for a baby to show up tuned into an overnight at the hospital, in a waiting room. The phone was charged, and the news was mostly good, I guess, but it helps to carry everything with you.

“Yeah, I need to change our appointment, I’m at the hospital. Yes, I’m fine, just had baby. No not me, that would be weird.”

The Leo

It started as a funky sign in a tourist trap kind of junk shop. The place was designed to be “beach kitsch,” bordering on trashy, but not quite? Probably mass-produced from single artist prototype, then sold in bulk, so there’s one in every beachfront tourist store between here and there. It’s just crap, but this case, it’s fun crap, and it’s fun crap that holds great significance for me. The sign, it started in a beach motel, got wiped out by a hurricane, then another tropical storm wrecked the second place, and finally, I just stole it off the wall. Borrowed? Repositioned it? Wasn’t theft, more like a souvenir, you know, “Grab anything you like; it’s now yours.” At one time in my life, I had the energy and wherewithal to grab a set of fishing poles and head toward the coast, we get an occasional warm day, suitable for a spring-like, but truly a winter’s day’s worth of fishing. The sign now hangs in my bedroom, and more reminder of good times gone by rather than many kind of deep, mystical meaning. “The lower the latitude, the better my attitude.” But it does mean I’m getting closer to the coast, and the winter sun feels warmer. Perfect for a Leo getaway. Which you need. Right now.

Virgo

The Parkes Observatory radio telescope is in Australia. For almost two decades, there were infrequent, non-replicable problems, interference, it seemed, or possibly alien transmissions we couldn’t decode. The Parkes Observatory radio telescope was a big part of the original moon landing, I mean, this weird interference was going for a long time. Spooky. After nearly two decades, though, the real problem was found to be the microwave oven in the break room. Like, the cleaning crew would show up and nuke a burrito (or whatever they eat in Australia), and that caused the anomaly. Occam’s Razor, or my version, is that the simplest explanation is usually correct. Like I said, two decades of research driven to find the location, the source of an anomalous energy burst, only to figure out it came from the break room microwave oven? As the holidays unfold, instead of looking far afield in Virgo land, the suggestion is something simple, hidden right there in front of you.

“Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate”

(Occam)

Libra

Too derivative? I picked up a novel, read the introduction, action, thrilling adventure, and then, as I started the very first chapter, short chapter at that, I realized that this was a horribly derivative plot/story. Well-executed, but seriously nothing new. There was a reason it was a free e-book. I was dragged, lulled into a sense of familiarity, as the writing was crisp and lightly stylized. I also quit two paragraphs into the second chapter. Summarily tossed it aside, forgotten. There are two possible outcomes, and one, I might get bored, or in a different frame of mind and pick that novel back up, or, more likely, I’ll skip it, and move on to other material that looks more promising. It was a clue or two in the cover art, then the intro, and finally, the set-up in that first chapter. The rest of the story and its plot was spelled out. Nice of the author to do that, but it was like something else I’ve read recently, and I didn’t want to go back down that road again. Libra: when is it OK to just put down the unfinished, unread novel, or other Libra project?

Scorpio

I seem to do a lot things backwards. “Oh, that’s why the instructions say not to do it that way, now I get it.” It’s not an infrequent comment from me. Looking at how this lines up, holidays behind us, Sagittarius in front of us, and mounting pressures on the Scorpio Psyche, it all adds up to figuring this out, hopefully metaphorically, post mortem. Hopefully, not the way it really plays out, but I’m here to save Scorpio from his or her self. Don’t follow me on this, and do it backwards. There’s a simple order, the instructions clearly call for a first part then a second part, and in that order, even though, it might not make sense at the time. Why argue with success? The plans were laid out like that for a reason, and unlike me, try following the instructions, the first time. If you want to follow me? I tend to do lot things backwards, “Oh, that’s why you were supposed to do that, first. I guess I’ll have to buy a new one now.”

• Aperture: ƒ/1.8
• Camera: iPad Pro (11-inch)
• Taken: 29 November, 2022
• Flash fired: no
• Focal length: 3mm
• ISO: 64
• Shutter speed: 1/60s