THE THEME: I’m recycling an old theme this week because it feels appropriate. The Pool! Chiron stations this Sunday, a potentially somber moment when we all may find ourselves at the deep end of an emotional pool. I can’t really think of anything better to do than float.
ARIES
There was one main outdoor public pool in the town where I grew up. It was called City Park Pool. At the time I didn’t think much about the name, but when I look at those words together now it sounds so literal, like a mythical place in a fictional town, Anywhere, U.S.A. As I was thinking about your card for the week Aries, I had a sudden memory of laying on the hot cement just after having pulled myself out of pool. It was almost impossible to keep my eyes open more than a sliver because the sun was so bright and the water on my eyelashes amplified the light. The tiny stones in the cement also sparkled. Later I would share a melted chocolate bar with my best friend.
Aries, they say heaven sometimes comes in slices. This week you may be served a large bite, just a taste to keep you moving towards the rest of the pie.
(9 of Cups/ The World Is Yours- Nas)
TAURUS
Growing up and going to the pool, my friends and I would play and invent different underwater games. One was kind of like underwater charades, except without the language of clues that charades includes (e.g. 2 words, 3 syllables, first word etc). Instead, we would go underwater, wave our arms and scream and shout. Needless to say I don’t think anyone ever understood anything anyone was saying, but somehow that became part of the game. I think it was really just an excuse to do underwater what we weren’t allowed to do above. “Okay okay okay! One more try, one more!” we’d say, pinching our noses and plunging back below the surface.
Taurus, you may feel this week like no one really understands you. Keep in mind this may have something to do with Chiron stationing this week in Pisces. Due to this transit we all may be feeling rather isolated and alienated from one another right now. But also consider what else this wound could be pointing out to you. Are you standing next to a speaker? If that is the case, you might not be able to hear yourself either. Maybe you are feeling overwhelmed by emotion and as a result it is difficult to translate your feelings into words. This moment of underwater isolation could also benefit you expressing yourself in ways you don’t feel comfortable with on land.
(Shaman of Swords Rev/ Cab Fare- Souls of Mischief)
GEMINI
Like lots of kids, I loved swimming. I was like one of those wind up toys, you ‘d lower me into the water and I’d immediately start swimming across the pool. I was very aware that there were things you could do in water which weren’t possible on land. The underwater world was muffled, blue and slow which suited my nature quite well. “She just LOVES the water,” my mother would tell other adults. “I think she must be part fish.”
Gemini, you may be enjoying yourself this week, not because you are doing anything differently, but just because you may be exploring another part of yourself. Similar to the childhood fish-part of myself, this part of yourself may have only now been discovered because you finally put yourself in the element which coincides with your discovery.
(2 of Cups/ They Don’t Know - Tracy Ullman)
CANCER
The locker room at the public pool where I grew up was a symbolic portal between two worlds. There was a row of florescent lights, but they seemed to provide little or no illumination. The floor was slick like snot underfoot and littered with strands of hair. It smelled, but only of wet cement and sunscreen. Still, I found myself breathing threw my mouth as I stuffed my belongings into a locker. Before you could walk through the teeth of the turnstile to get to the pool area you had to take a shower. The shower already delivered the promise of the pool because the sunlight managed to reach a few rays around the cinderblock wall.
Cancer, don’t get lost in the locker room this week. If you find this moment difficult or unpleasant remember that it is in fact a passage way between two points. If you aren’t sure where you are headed, look for the sunlight.
(Son of Discs Rev/ I’m On My Way- Barbara Dane)
LEO
As a kid, one of my least favorite games other kids played was dunking one another underwater. It didn’t seem like a game at all. I was sure someone would get killed. The few times it happened to me, I did almost drown. But in the 80s and early-mid 90s at least, it seemed an inevitability, so after the first time it happened I learned to surrender and time my breathing according to when I surfaced, between plunges. This was a strange form of surrender, because when you surfaced you also had the opportunity to escape which required effort.
Leo, I still think the idea of dunking people underwater, wherever it originated, was a horrible invention. This week, however, it may be an appropriate analogy for the difficulties you could encounter. Try to find the points of surrender and effort required in this struggle in order to come out in, perhaps, an even better place than when you went under.
(5 of Wands/ Keep On Keeping On- Ruby Johnson)
VIRGO
As a kid it was usually an adult who was first to point out, “Your lips are looking blue, I think it’s time to get out of the water.” I was often too busy playing to notice that my body was no longer enjoying the experience. As I got a little bit older I would ask, “Are my lips blue?” Eventually, I stopped ignoring my body and knew that when I was cold, it was time to get out of the water and lay on the baked cement. I learned to enjoy those moments of repose too so it didn’t seem quite so disappointing to have to abandoned whatever game I’d been playing.
Virgo, this week you may be asking, “Are my lips blue?” Perhaps you are coming to a realization about the next move you need to make and that move may be to climb out of the water. But the process of coming to this understanding is important. Try not to rush yourself out of the water before you’ve taken note of all the sensations you are currently experiencing which may eventually urge you toward your next decision.
(9 of Wands L/ Born at the Right Time- Paul Simon)
LIBRA
The whole point, it seemed, of going to the pool was to make obstacles out of the water, challenges which were also games. “How long can you hold your breath?” “Can you swim the length of the pool underwater?” “Can you touch the bottom of the pool in the deep end?”
You are embarking on a similar challenge right now Libra, and it may be helpful to see it as a game. Consider designating something you are trying to achieve as the end or bottom of the pool. Perhaps then it will be easier to see that what you are trying to accomplish is within reach.
(VII Chariot L/ Day Is Done- Nana Mouskouri)
SCORPIO
My memory of the event is slightly foggy so I must have been very young at the time. I remember I was standing in the shallow end of the pool. I suddenly felt something at my throat. My friend who’d been bobbing in the water next to me slowed to a stop. Her eyes locked on what I already felt. “There’s a wasp on your neck,” she said in a low voice. Her dad hastily made his way to the edge of the pool but wasn’t wearing a swim suit. “Go under!” he said urgently. I immediately knew this was not the thing to do, but I was used to obeying adults when they barked orders. I sank with my stomach below the surface of the pool and had to be retrieved by another adult after I emerged screaming.
Scorpio, trust your gut and your own intuitive awareness of how to handle a situation. The relationship you have with anything in a position to sting you is much more intimate than someone who can’t even get in the pool.
(7 of Wands/ The Queen- Big Ella )
SAGITTARIUS
In the time before cell phones, parents would leave messages for their kids by having them paged to the front desk of City Park Pool (the public pool where I grew up). More than monsters or even Freddy Krueger, I was afraid of being kidnapped. So on the rare occasion when my name crackled through the loudspeakers I’d put on a show. First I’d count to 20, then I’d loudly shake some quarters in my hand so everyone would think I was on my way to the vending machine. Once I was standing in front of the machine, my finger hovering over the buttons, I would sneak a peak out of the corner of my eye to see if anyone had followed me. If the coast was clear, I’d spin quickly to face the front desk which was conveniently located opposite the vending machines.
Sagittarius, you may have recently received an important page to the front desk of life, to the front desk of you. There are several places you may have found yourself held up in the past, counting to 20, counting change, at the vending machines, but you are now fully prepared to answer the call and commit to the reality that you are who you are and you are here.
(XV Devil R/ Walking My Cat Named Dog- Norma Tanega)
CAPRICORN
I still don’t understand how a back float works. I know what one does to achieve a back float, but I don’t totally understand the physics of it. Also I don’t really want to know. I prefer believing there is some element of magic behind it. Regardless, you are letting the water hold you, which is a very good practice for a Capricorn. A few months ago a Capricorn friend of mine was expressing worry and anxiety about something she had no control over. I suggested she put herself in water every time she felt overwhelmed by the feelings. “Because then you can feel in your body what it feels like to entrust your weight to something bigger than yourself.”
Capricorn, I suggest the same thing to all of you this week. The universe has your back on this one, if you let it.
(XX Judgement/ Somebody Bigger Than You And I- Marion Williams)
AQUARIUS
I’ve only recently managed to piece together some idea of who my mother was before I knew her. At my grandfather’s funeral her high school friend confided, “Neither of us got asked to prom. But we didn’t care, we had our own fun.” Last year my mom called me up while she was home visiting my grandfather, “I have to give a speech.” “What for?” “It’s the 50th anniversary of the synchronized swimming team, and I was one of the founding members. I was a Valkyrie,” My mother told me rather triumphantly. “Are you nervous?” I asked, my own stomach turning at an imagined stadium of parents, teachers and students. “No,” She said casually. “I’m not afraid of public speaking. I even kind of enjoy it.”
Aquarius, this week you may be swimming in a sense of self that is quite fulfilling. A piece of yourself may come back to be summarized or memorialized and others who already love you may now have an opportunity to see you in better light.
(Priestess of Cups/ Cha Cha Cha- MC Lyte)
PISCES
A game that my friends and I would play frequently at the pool was a diving game where you would throw an object, usually a coin, into the pool and then race to see who could get to it first. The problem with this game was in the throwing. The thrower usually couldn’t help but direct the coin somewhere where it would be easiest for them to get to it. And even if the thrower tried to play as fairly as possible, the other players usually didn’t trust the thrower to play fairly. This is why an outside party would inevitably be roped into the game, usually my dad. Even if a throw seemed to favor one person or another no one felt upset about it because they knew he had no real investment in the game.
Pisces, as Chiron stations in your sign, emotions could be running high. Before you make any accusations consider getting some perspective first, perhaps bounce your thoughts off of an outside party, one who has no investment in the outcome of anything you might be diving for.
(4 of Swords L/ Here, There and Everywhere- The Beatles)