| One Nation, Upon the Goddess For the first time since beginning a career in journalism before high school, I am taking the news as almost exclusively a form of entertainment. Perverse, I know, but I can't just tune it out, and I can't get upset about it like I used to; besides, these have been very entertaining weeks. I've been loosely following events from copies of the San Francisco Examiner that were laying around the coffee shop at the retreat center in the California mountains where I've been camped out for the past two weeks. For one thing, the federal court system is clearly losing its mind. Two Supreme Court decisions banning death penalty practices in the space of a week? Granted, a small percentage of executions, but still in all... okay, that is more than entertaining. Innocent people will get to live to see their appeals come through. And a bunch more whom the state has no business killing will not be killed. And judges, juries and executioners will be saved that much more karma for actions they are finally starting to understand. And then, and then, the federal appeals court in the 9th Circuit bans the Pledge of Allegiance? Okay, those freaks are from San Francisco, where jurists wear tie-dyed robes and pass around reefer behind the bench. But they've got balls, you have to hand it to them. I've always been irked by the words "under God" in the pledge, which were added in 1954. "One nation, indivisible," is more than patriotic enough without getting Jehovah involved. This story has an extremely high entertainment value, for one thing because it follows one of the most raunchy periods of jingoistic lunatic patriotism in history -- the post-9-Eleven onslaught. For another, we get to see what a bunch of theocrats the bureaucrats in Washington are, praying in Congress and bursting into renditions of God Bless America. I have a unique proposal. Instead of just striking out the words "under God," we change this from a free speech lawsuit to an equal protection one. For the next 48 years, the pledge will say, "One nation, upon the Goddess, indivisible..." Then, in 2050, we can switch back to God. While we're at it, we can change the Romper Room Twinkie and Hostess Cup Cake prayer to, "Goddess great, goddess good, let us thank Her for our food, Amen." Speaking of reefer. There was that little decision a couple of days ago by the High Court, pertaining to extra-curricular activities for high school students. Drug testing to work for the student newspaper or yearbook means that only kids who use/abuse alcohol and cigarettes need apply, since you can't test to see if someone drank 15 beers yesterday, and Camels are not a drug. They are just discriminating against pot smokers, and encouraging the great dysfunctional tradition of drunk writers. Now as for the Worldcom scandal. We all know there was a coverup involved. But here is the biggest one of all. Could it be that capitalism is not profitable? We know that capitalism shreds the environment, we know it sells us things we don't need, we know it's all based on greed. But its singular virtue is supposed to be that it's profitable. What's the story, boys? Are my free weekend minutes really fucking everything up that badly?
Anyway, I am back from California mission #1; I'll be returning to the Bay Area in a couple of weeks to work with clients (if you've written to me, I am in the process of returning the contacts now), San Fran a place where, unlike Seattle, one does not need to wear long johns, a wool hat and Gore-Tex boots in June. Thanks for your patience with the late horoscope this week. It took a little dynamite to get me going, but I am indeed going, and it's good to be with you. Columns, essays and art updates forthcoming; good stuff. | | Sign dates below are approximate. They now overlap by one day. The date and time of the Sun's ingress to the new sign changes a little each year, so please check with an astrologer if you want the exact position of your Sun, and while you're at it, your rising sign -- this horoscope is written for both your Sun and rising signs. If you find that some other sign's interpretations work for you, then go for it. | | Aries (March 20-April 21) | | I don't suggest wasting any time contemplating your status in what some call the outer world. Maybe there is a lot happening out there; maybe very little. But the real action is what you are experiencing in those spaces of thought, feeling and creation that stand as proof that you're really alive. And we do need evidence of such phenomena these days. Anyway, speaking of inner space, I'm getting that you've become something of a domestic visionary, and have developed some very strong ideas about how you want your home life to be. I am not sure what kind of climate you live in, so forgive the metaphor if you live in San Diego or such: a place with a hearth, a fireplace, burning all the time, be it literal or figurative, is the clearest picture of home that I can see for you. | | Taurus (April 21-May 20) | | I was feeling lazy and asked a Taurus what advice he would like for this week's horoscope. 'Quit your job', he said. Okay, he didn't realize this is the world's unofficial Quit Your Job horoscope, but usually I say it in more subtle ways. I know you need your job and you may have a good job so that's not the point. The point is there is so much more than your job. Home is so much more appealing than the office. Love is so much more appealing than work. Fun is so much more appealing than money. Balance is necessary, but not as necessary as you may think. | | Gemini (May 20-June 21) | | The idea is to think like a child and like a parent at the same time. You have both in you, and there is surely enough energy to both expand and to contain yourself that you can tune into both of these qualities of growth and experiment with how they mix. I recognize that this is not an easy time, given the seeming contradictions you face, the outward push and the need to work within substantial restrictions that may seem to involve money but more likely involve your sense of who you are: very literally, your ideas about yourself. The outward push and the outer limit are working together to shape, form and temper you. If the universe has its way, you will come to terms with yourself, and you'll be glad you did. | | Cancer (June 21-July 22) | | It would be best to consider your entire situation as the need to express emotional energy. Your home reflects your feelings. Your feelings about your home and the condition of your living space tell us more about what you're experiencing and the way you're expressing your energy than anything else presently. It may seem that the ideas and sentiments you're feeling are too large and too passionate for mere personal use, but it seems to be working the other way: unless what you are moving through, observing and learning are applied directly to your own life in tangible ways, it will all seem curiously hollow. Take initiative where it counts and larger opportunities will follow. | | Leo (July 22-Aug. 22) | | You have reached the 'failure is impossible' point, to borrow a phrase from Susan B. Anthony, one of the leaders of the early movement for women's voting rights. The emphasis is still on your career or professional life, however you choose to think of it, but in truth you are developing a skill whereby you are conveying energy through your life from many different facets of who you are, into one clear, vivid expression of your reality. One word for this is 'integration', but the way we say that now is 'integrity' -- the interweaving of the many threads into one strong fabric. But just think of these threads as made of living energy and you will get a better feel for what you are doing. | | Virgo (Aug. 22-Sep. 22) | | No problem is too large or complex to solve now, so I suggest you take on the most challenging issues you face in these days and weeks, not restricting your projects to professional matters. As the week unwinds, prospects for success or at least significant movement in all negotiation processes increase substantially, though we might want to consider why this is: and the answer is simply that you are able to focus in a way that is unusual even for you who identifies so closely with your mental talents. But you've also come to a point where you can crusade for your own cause without making sacrifices or becoming a martyr. Pretty good -- keep it up. | | Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) | | Let's see, Venus in Leo; that should bestow some popularity. Then there's Mars, Jupiter, Vesta and the Sun in Cancer, your solar 10th house -- reputation, honor, rank and so on. Promotion? A Mercury-Saturn conjunction coming in your 9th house -- spiritual affairs, higher self, scholarship, a sense of really knowing your stuff, maybe putting it into words for someone who needs to understand. Hmm, okay, what else. Quarter Moon coming early next week in your opposite sign Aries, likely to grant a good bit of clarity to a relationship situation, or more probably all your interactions with people. You have a lot to work with. But the more successful you are, the more visible you're going to be. It's more than worth the tradeoff. | | Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) | | Now that we've passed through the infamous Great Curve of 2002, I would propose that the way is clear for bigger plans and deeper commitments, but only if you think so. There are no direct astrological red lights to heed at the moment; the worst of just about everything is over, and what we experienced in the past two months was distinctly once-in-a-lifetime. It's not that there will not be other turning points, storms or stages of accelerated growth. Rather, this particular experience is over. As a result of what you've experienced, I hope you have a sense of your impact on the world and the people in it. I hope you've noticed that others really do take you as their partner, if not their equal -- but one is a big step toward the other. | | Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) | | The meeting of Mars and Jupiter, two planets that work very well together, bodes well for any kind of financial arrangements you are now making. I suggest, in all aspects of negotiation or deal-making, that you identify the parties to the contract carefully, however. The most important question you can ask is 'how does this person think?' Everyone has their own appeal and you're going to do a lot better in this game if you can tailor what you have to offer to each person. Remember, all people are not the same, they don't have the same opinions, and one is not in control of the other. This holds true for personal situations as well as business situations. When in doubt, spend time with people one-on-one and simply ask questions. | | Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) | | Work and professional matters do not need to compete, now or ever. I know this is a hard nut in a world where people tend to use one to escape from the other most of their lives. But there is great potential available in finding the meeting places where the two harmonize, and in paying attention to the issues of people who are struggling to do this. You will learn a lot from their problems and their efforts at solution. Your work is a vitally important expression of who you are and is not something you can just lay on the auction block to keep your personal relationships seemingly happy, so based on this, it would be fair to say that anyone who does not support your career does not really support you. And even in that case, competition is pointless. | | Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) | | The inner dialog that's unfolding is a kind of conception process; you are literally in the process of becoming impregnated with an idea or a brain-child. Remember that these things, or rather, beings, grow slowly. They must grow slowly so they develop properly, and that requires conscious dedication. Human babies have a way of taking care of themselves in gestation; mind babies need to be cared for almost daily, and carried through all kinds of distractions, diversions and shifts in energy. But have faith, and remember, all you need to do is a little bit every day -- as Sally Brompton once wrote, you'll discover how many small things it takes to make a lot. | | Pisces (Feb. 19-Mar. 20) | | There are ways to expand your possibilities, and it's less about knowing where to look and more about just simply looking. What may seem like factors that are hemming you in are in truth pushing you to expand your reality and, more to the point, your sense of reality. It may not seem very inviting to view these influences as your friends, but you don't really have much of a choice at this point. I would remind you that you are entering territory that your parents, particularly your father, never entered, and you may feel like you're pushing against the wall of his unlived life. But that wall is moving. Times have changed, and you are changing too. | Search | Horoscopes | What's New | Index | Consultations  Space graphic above from the Rosette Nebula in Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Sulfur.
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