ASTROLOGY for January, February & March 2000
--- Astrology for the Outdoorsperson
----for the walkers-of-the-earth
by Wind-on-Water
ARIES (March 21-April 19)
You are about to be hit with some shocking answers to your endless questions. Remember, the universe is indifferent. It is not out to get you. People are sometimes out to get you, but it・s really got nothing to do with you. It fills some sick need in them when they attack you. Go silently into the backcountry and stay there for a while. Take snowshoes. You・ve accidentally knocked some nice people down with your swaggering. Maybe you should take up cross-country skiing and learn some smoother kind of confidence? Quit starting over. Finish something! The world desperately needs your enthusiasm and passion. It・s just that.... well.... Actually, it will turn out OK, because as you grow older, you・ll become more a window and less a mirror (an Ansel Adams concept). You know, I・m sorry I picked on you. It must have satisfied some really sick need I had momentarily! To find out more about yourself, click here.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
You needed an old-fashioned Christmas this year; simplicity in giving, hand-made decorations, toboggan rides. No snowmobiles, no glitzy thing on the top of the tree. No lights. You should have used colored-paper and popcorn chains, things hung on the tree that have to do with memories. For the next few months, hang out in general with the past and the present. "We are (but) tomorrow・s past," Mary Webb reminds us. If the family is not together right now, keep your family in your heart and join a new family; they will welcome you. Just ask. Dust off your soul and your manners, and "family" returns. You have played hard this past outdoor season, but there really is more to life than the smell of blood, campfires, gun talk, hunt stories, old jeeps and rugged backcountry, whitewater, hard biking, fly flipping, bait tossing, deep jigging and surface pluggin・. Ah, it is easy to get hooked to be sure, but balance the roughness with refined thought and measured responses. Yes, you can. Read about another Taurus, Gary Cooper.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
Thoreau said, "All good things are cheap; all bad are very dear." It・s a radical idea you・d better take seriously. But, then, Harry Brown says you can buy your way out of any box, though sometimes the price is very high. A price is just a price. Whatever. If the box is unpleasant, pay the price to bag it. Adam Smith said, "The real price of everything is the toil and trouble of acquiring it." You realize that doesn・t say anything about its REAL value, does it? Plus, it may cost an arm and a leg to bag it! Henry George tells us that, "The value of a thing is the amount of laboring or work that its possession will save the possessor." Now, that・s right up your alley! Alas, then there・s, "He who dances must pay the piper." But, since dancing is really life・s ultimate goal, the piper must be cheap right? Going against all common sense, it actually implies that dancing is bad! And that the piper is paid dearly. What? Did you ever get the idea that there are as many philosophies, Horacio, as there are people? Rather, "There are more things in this world, Horacio, than is dreamt of in your philosophies (Shakespeare)." And, don・t forget: "All philosophies, if you ride them (all the way) home, are nonsense (Shakespeare)." Today・s teen says, "I can do anything I want; it・s the 90・s (Newsweek?)." They have an incredible capacity for the "State of Denial (Calvin & Hobbes)." These are confusing times, as all times have been in the past and will be in the future. Go back to the beginning. What works for YOU? To find out more about yourself, click here.
CANCER (June 21-July 22)
You want magic? Then you have to learn it and practice it. Even a gift needs feeding. Start using the excellent brain you were gifted with. I know, I know, it has been impaired by imbibing sweets and sausages. You know the answer. Just more discipline. Why do people continue to think they can get away with not obeying the RULES? There ARE Rules, you know! There just are; take my word for it. You don・t have to know from whence they come. There are rules for finding and keeping good mates, rules for fishing each little section of river, and for hunting the north side of the mountain, and rules for tying knots that hold up, and rules for being healthy, wealthy, and wise. You want magic? Learn the rules. Don・t worry about the gray hairs, but more B vitamins would help slow them down (especially Pantothenic Acid). Note: Remember your recent vow. You are brave and true if you stay on track. To find out more about yourself, click here.
LEO (July 23-August 22)
Go icefishing sometime this winter. Go on a clear day, early in the morning when the fog still covers the ice and the cold makes you wonder if you were crazy! The sun will come and so will warmth, and peaceful, happy days on ice. The crack of ice-breaking like a gun going off is nerve-racking, but safe -- if the ice is three feet thick! Well, the rule is: at least three inches of solid, hard blue, clear ice (six inches of cloudy, gray ice). But, various conditions can weaken what looks like "the rule." So, take precautions. Ask nearby tackleshops about the ice・s safety before going out. And while jigging down a little hole, dream of ice-out when the big trout cruise the shorelines in April. After a day or two on the ice you can go back to the delicate balancing act you have going in your life right now. You・re going to do just fine. To find out more about yourself, click here.
VIRGO (August 23-September 22)
It・s an odd twist of the fates, but what originally attracted us to where we・ve landed and who we・re with, we often come to despise. We love opposites, the odd, we・re drawn to the rogues, the raucous, the wild, exotic, or the plain and steady, organized, precise, and inflexible, but then..... we try to "rehabilitate" it. Wrong. Continue to admire difference. Appreciate and learn. You can・t learn from what you already are and know! Sometimes, what we make ourselves to be, the identity we ourselves create for ourselves, we come to hate, also. Mistake. Simply expand on it; let it go to the next healthy step. Move ahead. "Steerageway" is possible only with movement. Can you turn the wheel easily when you・re sitting still? Corrective steering is easier with movement. Of course, steering on ice and in deep snow is definitely trickier and requires some extra skill -- which you have. Basically, go back to your center, remember how you were. Be tolerant. You are a natural leader. Put forth your most admirable self. Your New Year・s vows to hunt upland birds and ducks and geese more next season, to share more of life・s puzzles with your kids, to quit stuffing ill-health into your mouth, and to be a better hero are right on. Resolutions always are. People DO know the answers. To find out more about yourself, click here.
LIBRA (September 23-October 22)
Drama, drama, drama. As if your life doesn・t have enough, you keep creating more! You definitely need some affirmations. Repeat after me: "Every day in every way I・m getting better and better at treating myself as though I deserve the space I take up." And, "I・m getting better at not dwelling on myself, analyzing myself in confused mental circles." Try for just one hour to not think about yourself. Imagine the world beneath the lake, the crawdads scuttling along the sandy bottom, catfish sniffing, sniffing, whiskers turning. Imagine the bass shooting toward the surface to catch a grasshopper. Imagine nothing human in forever black space. Imagine the little buck deer bounding over irresistibly to watch the fight between two bigger bucks. Imagine you are sitting in camo, very still as the little deer walks right past you and doesn・t quite see you, but stops to look at your odd bulk and tries to smell you but can・t because you・re wearing a de-scenter. The bigger bucks are not too close, but not too far to shoot, but you don・t. You just watch. They are disturbingly loud in their scuffle, clacking their horns together, scarring their fur, drawing blood, hoofs thumping and dirt flying................. Feel cleaner? fresher? Feel less heavy? Yes, thoughts of YOU are weighing you down. To find out more about yourself, click here.
SCORPIO (October 23-November 21)
Some of you scorpios have a new dog, horse, or another new pet of some kind in your lives, but your personality is such that your ego gets in the way of training and relating to this pet. Be more patient; you・ll reap greater rewards from a more intelligent creature than you think it is. Did someone give you a well-deserved Dr. Seuss "Grinch" tie for Christmas? Try not to steal others・ sincere joys. If we all knew how much of ourselves we reveal to our neighbors, our red faces would light Santa・s way through the clouds. Scorpios, with all their brilliance (not from red faces, but from true and profound insight), somehow narrow their paths, and the paths of those closest to them. It・s one of those twisted mysteries. Remember: you are a leader, a teacher. Your role is to inspire not to wither. And, yes, to manage "systems." And, yes, to hunt and fish in the fall like a driven, mad creature. You were born into the fall. Someday, when you are very, very tired, you will contentedly rest in it. To find out more about yourself, click here.
SAGITTARIUS (November 23-December 21)
You are capable of speaking the language of wild things. It is why you are a good communicator. Your world is even wilder now with wolf pairs scattered throughout Idaho, and cougars in your own little canyons. Listen. The sound of the wild is the lonely voices of geese, and loons. The risks you take within the man/woman-made world are as noble and worthy as the risks of wild things. Be proud, accept your strength. You will still stop and wonder, sometimes though, "Is this me doing this? " Your wisdom lies in the fact that you do not dwell on how it will be when you achieve something, you just doggedly work toward it. You don・t merely dream or stir around in the fantasy. You DO. "How can you come to know yourself? Never by thinking, always by doing (Goethe)." A caution: You are certainly ready for a very big step, but being ready is not enough. So Listen. You can trust your own inner voice. Also note: "Fashion... begins and ends in the two things it abhors the most--singularity and vulgarity (William Hazlitt)." You won・t find either singularity or vulgarity in the truly wild, only where it has been touched by "man." To find out more about yourself, click here.
CAPRICORN (December 22-January 20)
Pulling out your hair doesn・t help, but in a few more years, your ear hairs will be long enough to comb up and over the bald spots, so no harm done. Keep in mind the words of Bill Cope: "If God had wanted Lewiston (Idaho) to be a seaport, He・d o・ put a lot more tattoo parlors there..." Focus on both the good as well as the bad aspects of your recurring nightmare. A third element is needed. Look for it in the next recurrence. Do the unpredictable; you will be handed a symbolic pearl. The only thing we lose are our illusions. You are a person to whom all things come, especially if you ask for them, so thusly you get both your rewards and your "just desserts." Fingers were made before forks, but don・t be so eager to dig in. Your sign is "the salt of the Earth." Someone close to you is an Air sign. It has become difficult because Air signs seem to you as though they come from another world. You are over-extended as usual, but one of your missions is quite critical in its timing. Read about another Capricorn, A. A. Milne.
AQUARIUS (January 21-February 19)
Don・t let a pretty face turn your head unless he or she owns a kayak paddle, a compass, a .22 rifle, or some home-made fishing lures; any of which are symbolic of a free-thinking spirit with an old-fashioned heart. They will always be entertaining and loyal. The Land-Rover in your dreams will come later; have faith. You didn・t get everything you hunted and fished for this season, but you have plenty in the freezer. Turn toward the new year with thoughts of miracles. It is time to sell something. It leads to lasting, earned, smug satisfaction. By the way, your "beer belly," is actually a Pepsi-belly. Quit. All things abused lead to the usual consequences of gluttony -- corruption. Email me at: askus@idfishnhunt.com
I have some special advice for you. Put "WOW" (Wind-on-Water) in the Subject Field. To find out even more about yourself, click here.
PISCES (February 20-March 20)
Quit wearing your dog on your sleeve. She・s special, but not that special. We・re sick of hearing about her trick of leaping up in the air and catching a quail as it flew by, then letting it go unharmed when you explained to her that you could understand her instinctive reaction, but it was not the way the game is played. (I myself grabbed one flying toward me once. A young boy I took hunting leaped upon a live pheasant in a ditch once, pinning it down with his body. I more than once have dove into lakes, creeks, and the ocean! when fish wriggled free from my tackle. So, I know about that kind of instinct.) Is there a Mensa organization for dogs? Well, start one! You could have contests for: Dogs who can creatively live by different rules. Which dogs are sneakier than others about performing tasks behind your back that they・ve been taught NOT to do. Dogs who can disappear the quickest on the trek BACK to the truck. Which dogs are fully capable of looking you directly in the eye and telling you, "No, I don・t think so; not today; my feet still hurt. Then there might be some dogs even who hunt for THEMSELVES! We might find out all kinds of wondrous, mind-boggling, human-like things that dogs can do. To find out more about yourself, click here.