• Horoscopes for 4-22-2025
  “My tables—meet it is I set it down That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain!” Hamlet in Shakespeare’s Hamlet (I.v.107-9)

  Horoscopes for 4-22-2025

  Shakespeare’s Birthday (observed) 4/23 St. George’s Day 4/23

  • New Moon 7°46’ Tau. 4/27
  • Venus into Ari. 4/30

  Horoscopes for 4-22-2025

  Taurus

  A buddy picked up my phone and looked at what was streaming over the airwaves. My “favorites” list had Deep House, a techno (rave?) list, and classic country. This fairly accurately reflects what I’ve ben listening to, and the “twain shall never meet,” or some similar expression. Too tired to look it up. I’ve bragged about my weird tastes before, and yet, these dissimilar musical brands all fit cohesively into my present world. I’ve crossed a great number of genres, and I’m not really hung up on any one particular “brand” of music. I kind of like most of it, even if I don’t understand it all. “Understanding the music” is largely overrated, if one were to ask me. Borne out of an era when Austin had a little bit of it all? I learned to be cross-generational, and cross-branded. No one label fits, and that selection of playlists should be as easy an indicator as any. Little bit of this and little bit of that, and unlike a good Taurus, I claim mastery of none. Well, there’s a thin slice of out of certain years when I can identify songs, lyrics, artists, and even certain record albums, but that’s a really small subset of the available libraries. Still, this is the Taurus birthday idea, mix and find items that don’t seem to match. You’ll thank me later. Happy Taurus birthday.

  Gemini

  Looking, flipping, more like flicking, through some social feeds, one of the streams is mock-ups of Shakespeare covers for plays. Like a plays title, and then, a graphic that illustrates some aspect of the play. Hamlet centers on a king, a dead king, a crown, and a young prince. Hint: all dead by the end. Tragic. But the graphic that floated through recently? It was a simple, upside down crown, done in red. Black backing, like drop shadows, and the effect looked like it was dripping blood. Maybe. Simple, effective, and highly evocative of most of what I understand to be central tenets in that play. Likewise, as a suitable Gemini challenge? Think of an effective, simple, evocative symbol for the weeks ahead. I don’t think you can use the upside crown, or dripping blood, but whatever inspires you?

  Cancer

  I lived in Austin a long time. At the time, the city-wide mantra was “Keep Austin Weird,” and this was before it became a Chamber of Commerce type of slogan. It was weird. Not so much, anymore, and if one has to advertise weirdness, just how strange can it be? Therein is our sign of the crab, the Cancer’s solution. Weirdness. Be weird. Doesn’t have to be reflected on the outside, but on the inside? Inside that hard carapace of protection and security? Be — think, dream — as weird as you want. There’s a clue that heavens support this idyl of the Moon Children. Consider that this is a style when we’re looking for solutions to problems that might, — or might not — exist. For the week, weird works well. Strange, off-beat, out-of-context, different point-of-view, just odd. Or normal, to me, but odd to everyone else? That’s the Cancer’s solution.

  The Leo

  The old adage, and one that I oft repeat? “Separations of church and state.” I’ve used this one as an allegory, and as such, bears repeating. I make an effort not to “network,” or hand out business cards at church. That simple. I don’t approach people from my church for business. I believe in a separation of “church and state,” and the idea is that spiritual nourishment, wherever it is that I get that, I don’t intentionally advertise, solicit, or otherwise sell my wares. Whatever, however, that appears. I don’t offer my services through the “church.” While my work is largely spiritual in nature, I try to separate my own spiritual life from work. I’ll share what I’ve learned, and one important factor, rest of this week? For The Majestic Leo? “Separation of church and state.” Another version? “One best not defecate in close proximity to where one would receive culinary sustenance.”

  Virgo

  Virgo, good Virgo, is looking for testing ground. I’m lucky in that I moved in circles that embraced experimentation, and that was part of the success I enjoyed. I could try out different versions of myself to find what fits me best. A simple example is how I arrived at the idea that I wanted just two kinds of footwear in my possession: sandals and cowboy boots. That simple. Took years of toying with the ideas, testing, culling old ideas, pruning, sharpening, shaping, and living in a supportive environment where that was possible. Likewise, I have no cloth ties. If it really is an event that requires “Coat and Tie,” then I do have a number of vintage, fine art bolo ties. But no cloth ties. These are two simple examples of the results of living in a space where I can experiment until I find what works best for me. I want statements that represent who I am. How I got here? Simple enough, I found testing ground. A safe place to experiment with my own thoughts, desires, and how I would like to see myself. A trailer in old South Austin taught me enforced economy, and even now, I use that as part of how I work. Testing ground is the operative notion, for Virgo. One Virgo fishing buddy has garage with all kinds of fishing gear, and for him, that’s the testing ground. I have a curiously circumspect collection of professional peers for my testing ground.

  Libra

  How does that saying go, “Smile and the world smiles with you, frown, and you’re clown all by yourself?” I don’t know, I can’t recall, and I won’t be bothered. There is a balance point, someplace between complete denial, and manic happiness, some place in between completely befuddled, and absolute certainty, there’s a middle point. That’s what we’re all looking for, and for most of the gentle Libra that I know, it is easy enough to find. It’s the delightful, brokered peace middle area, and that’s what we are seeking. It’s about searching, balancing, growing, then smiling, then frowning again, then a quick smile scuds across your face, dispersing the clouds, if only for a moment, then the up-and-down continues. I think this works like pendulum: leave it alone long enough, and it finds that center ground, let it just swing back forth until it hits the middle spot. Might take a while. “How long does this last?” Might take a while.

  Scorpio

  I was looking through really old weblog entries, and I ran across some old hate mail. Hate e-mail. At one time, this would’ve bothered me, but as I’ve grown, I learned that it is a reflection of the person sending the note, and not always a reflection of my work. I was looking for something else in the archives when I stumbled across that old missive. I used to publish them, with an intact address, just because I could, and technically, it was legal — see the fineprint and terms — but that doesn’t matter. Dear Scorpio: are you prepared for a similar kind of attack? Someone comes in, trying to slam you with pejorative, inflammatory language, destined to try and irritate you. Do you let it bother you? If it is well-reasoned, thought-out, and potentially constructive criticism, then, sure, you can take it under advisement, but if this is just a vicious, puerile attack that lacks any merit, no factual basis for its standing? Then let me suggest you ignore it. Or better yet, just post it for all to see. I don’t do that anymore, not worth the effort. I just hit the “delete” button. That works, too.

  Sagittarius

  Know what only happens in the cartoon? Thought bubbles. What I’m thinking, what just about any Sagittarius is thinking right now? Keep that as a thought bubble. Like in the cartoons? (Right? “You can’t hear what I’m really thinking, right?”) simple guideline, and one that can get scary, if we’re not careful. “Did I say that, or just think it?” Our problem, and challenge ahead? Keep the thought bubbles as just that, thought bubbles that occur only to our Sagittarius selves. While a clever device in movies and screen presentations? Best if we keep them to ourselves. “You can’t hear the voices in my head?”

  Capricorn

  It was inadvertent, at first, but proof to myself that there is genetic, over-soul kind of situation. With a lack of substantial (astrological) pressure on Capricorn? One of my favorite suggestions is about having an altar at home. Can be the sprites and faeries of the house, the household gods, the good wishes of certain deities, saints and sinners, or whatever it is that one believes in. It’s not specific to any one religion or belief. In the last place, I kept candle burning in a nearly useless fireplace. Adorning the mantle? Like an altar? Images of family, and a few important — to me — keep sakes. Nothing of real value. One Capricorn buddy, her place in Austin was an older house, and it had one of those architectural features: a phone nook. My Capricorn buddy turned it into a make-shift Jimmy Buffett altar, an album cover, a plastic lei, an unburnt candle, sort of nostalgic, and yet, certainly saint-like. All depends. One favorite place in San Antonio, Mi Tierra, has a permanent Dia de las Muetros altar, two, in fact, both entrances, so you’ll see it, coming or going. The term “altar” will upset some religions, so think of it a sacred space in the house, the Capricorn home, a place for may be just a picture of family, maybe incense, maybe a flower, perhaps a plastic Jesus, whatever works.

  Aquarius

  I can’t place the exact moment when this happened, but it stretches across several aspects of my own life. Simple is better. The easiest example, when it comes to tools in my work? I use a “sharpie” style of writing tool. I have pens, pencils, and had, at one time, a vast array of various pencil-like instruments, watercolor pens, charcoal-like pencils, broad-leaded pencils, colored pencils, a rainbow of pens, and then, to top this off? There was a huge variety of papers, watercolor paper, high-rag cotton, stiff cardboard-like, thin tracing parchment, and the list goes on. I kept looking for the best combination that would provide me with the best tactile feedback, and then, and only then, would my world be realized on paper, like I imaged it. What I found? What I would like to pass onto this week’s Aquarius? Tools are important, but it is better to be a master of one tool, than have an assortment we’re no good with. I tend to favor a Sharpie, and I tend to favor whatever paper is at hand, usually a small notebook. There is an urge to complicate this, and right now? Simplify. Less is more, for Aquarius, less is more.

  Pisces

  A leftover cosmic gift from my parental lineage? I was, at one time, a pile organizer. I would put all the material in neat piles, each project, each distinct unit that required work, and when I was in school? Each class got a single stack. At the bottom was the syllabus, back when teachers handed those things out, then, building on that pile, the notes I took, the papers I wrote, sometimes books that were required, all kind of varied, but I lived alone, and I had enough space to spread out the piles. That was the basis of my own organization system, that, to this day, I still use. All the material, in one place, preferably in reverse chronological order. Professionally, two examples come to mind, one is the strictly for my own amusement weblog, and the other are these horoscopes. While there is no paper involved, there is a chronological order, oldest on the bottom, most recent rolls up at the top, and the old blog motors fit my style rather well. Pisces? The pile-it method works.

  Aries

  I have the benefit of having lived in several worlds. I was around the university atmospheres, and the scholastic infighting for a few years. I was in and amongst the “bit-heads,” or nerds, to some, for a while, and then, I finally decided that I didn’t want to belong to any single kind of taxonomy. As an idea, going forward in Aries? Don’t try to fit in a single category. Or perhaps, a category of just one, for Aries? Instead of trying to adjust to outside influences that don’t suit your temperament at the time? Consider forging your own — distinctly Aries — path. It’s a matter of learning to listen to what others say, taking that talk into Aries consideration, but not acting on it directly. Listen to the subtle signs, listen to the music of the spheres, but Aries? Forge your own path.

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