ARIES
Once I decided to make my way up the “mountain” I was fueled with both the energy of anticipation and coffee. I had my phone so I could take pictures and listen to music if I wanted to. As I turned the corner and started up the first small incline it suddenly dawned on me that I had more and much larger rises to tackle up ahead. My pace slowed slightly at the thought. I quickly pulled up an Annie Lennox song on my phone synchronizing my stride with the strength of her voice.
Aries, this week, you may find that your normal pace (typically full speed ahead) is hampered not only by potential physical barriers, but also by what your mind may create before you even reach those barriers. The actual peaks you have to climb are real, but how you experience them may be quite different from the way your mind anticipates them. Consider throwing out your past associations and think about those associations which might actually help you move at the pace you are most comfortable, the pace of strength.
(Shaman of Discs L/ Higher Ground- Stevie Wonder )
TAURUS
’ve often been asked how one distinguishes between fear and intuition. The answer I’ve read is that intuition is received in a monotone, without any emotion attached. Fear, it has been said, is the opposite. As I was walking down a portion of the sidewalk on my journey, a large dumpster maybe 15 ft long and 7 or 8 ft high was parked in the street along the sidewalk to my right. On the left was a cinderblock retaining wall holding in the hillside. As I passed through this narrow corridor I saw a man walking briskly towards me from across the street. I felt my whole body flinch and instinctively crossed the same street to where another man was preparing to climb a ladder. In retrospect I do not think that the man who had crossed the street towards me had any intention of causing me harm, yet my body had moved away from the situation without forethought. And the man on the ladder was so physically similar to the man who had crossed the street that, were I to describe them to you now in words, it would seem I was describing the same person, even their clothes were similar. But somehow I had felt…perhaps intuitively, a difference.
Taurus, this week you may be tempted to actively ignore your intuition. While the situation might not be anything like the one detailed above, it could still cause you to question whether you are answering to fear or intuition. Don’t brush away your instinctual responses because they seem in the present moment illogical. The logic may present itself later.
(II High Priestess Rev/ Ain’t That Peculiar- Fanny)
GEMINI
Because I had embarked on this journey as an experiment and not just for exercise or to give my dog a walk, I carried with me a sense of possibility and adventure I probably would not have experienced otherwise. I even shared a few words with strangers where I normally would have just hid behind my sunglasses and headphones. I even discovered a few fruit trees I’d passed before on other walks without noticing their bounty.
Gemini, this week you may be walking the same streets, or perhaps new ones, but what has really changed is your approach. You are much more open to the road, perhaps because that was the whole idea in the first place and for this reason you are likely to get the adventure you were hoping for.
(0 Fool/ A Glorious Dawn- Carl Sagan ft. Stephen Hawking)
CANCER
Alright, I’m cheating a little bit Cancer, I’m about to tell you a story from a long time ago, but I did remember it on my walk. I was coming down the hill and the boughs of a blood orange tree were hanging low enough that I could pluck a couple fruits. Blood oranges look like they are blushing and this personification reminded me of a painting my best friend when I was six had hanging in her kitchen. I loved the painting and when I asked my friend about it, she said, “it’s a still life.” I had never heard of a still life before so I assumed that it was, like this particular painting, a portrait of fruit. I figured that the requirement for a still life was that whatever was depicted in the painting had to have been alive at one time or another. A plant could be a still life, according to my definition, but a teapot could not.
Cancer, this week you may feel a bit like a still life by my six year old definition. The full moon in your sign this past weekend may have alerted you to changes you would like to make in your life. But what also may have been illuminated was an understanding of just how much these changes demand of you. You are absolutely capable of their achievement, but you might want to take this week to get comfortable with the idea before you make any modifications.
(6 of Wands Rev/ Teatime in Tokyo- Helmut Zacharius Orchestra)
LEO
Coming down the other side of the “mountain” I wasn’t sure of my path. Typically, I just walk back down the hill the way I came, but I wasn’t looking for a typical walk. Instead, I followed the path water would take were it running down the hill, walking along the gutter and stopping for weeds. Suddenly I rounded a bend and realized that I had been this way before, but I hadn’t recognized it from this angle, I was used to walk up, not down. The moment of familiarity is a strange feeling, especially when it is a place. With people you can always say, “Oh, I didn’t recognize you out of context!” But a place is always in context and it is you who are out of it or coming to it from a different place.
Leo, this week you may be slow to realize that the path you are walking, you have walked before. This is likely because you are entering the situation from a different angle, but it is in fact the same going up as it is coming down. And it is often important to see something from all sides before you can extract the wisdom from it.
(9 of Wands/ Please Please- Goldie and the Gingerbreads)
VIRGO
Half way up the incline there was a cement chair which I think was actually intended to be some sort of plant podium. In all honesty it looked like a stone toilet. Either way it seemed to serve the same purpose for those making their way to the peak, it was a chance to catch your breath, to look back at how far you’d come and let go of any discouraging thoughts that you didn’t want to carry with you to the top. It also had an incredible view which reminded me of a dog I used to walk who would only poop when he got to the most picturesque point on our journey.
Virgo, you may find yourself in a similar place this week. You can see just how far you’ve come and also how much farther you have to go. Now is the time to decide what you do and do not want to carry with you on the rest of this journey.
(XVII Star L/ Don’t Let Me Down- Charlotte Dada)
LIBRA
I brought with me on my walk, a thermos with cold raspberry leaf tea. When I reached the highest peak on my path I stopped and pulled out my tea. It had been my plan. I had a vision of standing in that exact place and toasting the view. The sun was at it’s winter angle, knighting the skyline with swords of light.
Libra, this week it seems you’ve reached the highest peak or some resting place on your journey. It is time now to toast your accomplishment and enjoy the view.
(XIX Sun/ Let Me Be- The Turtles)
SCORPIO
As I said under Leo, I let myself flow the way water would down the hill towards home. On my way up the hill I saw very few other humans, but going down, there was a flurry of activity centered around one particular house where they were doing some construction. Normally when I am alone and pass a pack of men I feel on guard, vulnerable, but as I mentioned under Gemini, I was approaching this hike differently than my normal meandering through the hills. I was looking for adventure, for Something to Talk About (which is the song I listened to as I was walking up the hill) in your Tarotscopes this week. So when I passed a group of three burly construction workers I felt something inside me pivot and grow strong. They were already acknowledging me with their eyes so I nodded in reply and said, perhaps too loudly, “Hi!” They replied with a clatter of hellos. One of them looked like a greaser from the 50s with his hair slicked back and a snug t-shirt that gripped his shoulders. To myself I lamented, “How does one achieve that look successfully? I need bigger biceps.” At that moment one of the other men shouted at my back, “Your dog looks good.” I knew he probably wasn’t talking about my dog but I replied, “Thanks! I know!”
Scorpio, this week you may be finding the the point of strength in your vulnerability. Perhaps you have made a conscious decision not to make yourself smaller than you are or not to be anything other than yourself even and maybe especially with strangers.
(4 of Cups Rev/ All I Have To Offer You Is Me- Charley Pride)
SAGITTARIUS
At the crest of the hill was an older white house. I’m not certain, because the outside was pristine and looked almost new, but based on the style it was probably built in the 40s or 50s. The front door was wide open and so was the garage and sound drifted out of all the openings like a music box. I assumed the house was bustling with life. I decided the owners had out of town visitors and their children were running up and down the stairs and sliding on banisters. A few seconds after this thought, a man in heavy construction boots, holding a door frame at an awkward angle, appeared in the entry way. As he descended the stairs I could see that the house was being gutted and there was almost nothing inside and much of it was being dismantled or rearranged.
Sagittarius, you may feel a little like this house this week. On the outside no one would guess the changes you are making inside even if you think the construction is rather loud.
(8 of Cups/ Song, Sung Blue- Altered Images)
CAPRICORN
I’m a big fan of violets. When I was a kid my mom gave me a patch of garden and I planted nothing but violets. The symbolism ascribed to violets is a long list, but blue violets were traditionally given as a promise of devotion or as a suggestion to “take a chance on happiness.” On the way home, towards the bottom of the hill, I saw one plant and a small bud holding it’s petals closed in a crack between the curb and a cement staircase. I didn’t want to pick it since it was the only one, so I took a picture of it and the address of the house in front of which it was growing so I could find it again. Further down the road I came across an entire row of violets growing in front of an apartment building. “My cup runneth over!” I exclaimed, a phrase originally found in the bible, but I think I first heard it in a comedic way on Saturday Night Live or maybe in a Mike Myers movie.
Capricorn, this week you may continue to be pleasantly surprised by the love that pours in. It is your birthday season and it seems no one has forgotten what you mean to them.
(9 of Cups R/ My Cup Runneth Over- Ed Ames)
AQUARIUS
The first half of my journey was one I’d made many times before. It wasn’t ten steps before I became aware of the difficulty of trying to see something or somethings new on an old path. But since I had set this as the challenge, I permitted myself to absorb details and minutiae I had never allowed my attention to get snagged by in the past.
Aquarius, this week someone or a situation may bring to your attention something new, but on an old path. The difficulty will be in allowing yourself to see the pattern or difficulty that is being presented you. You may be certain that you’ve “seen it all,” but know that there is always a bigger or smaller picture even if you are traveling a familiar course.
(8 of Swords L/ Then Came You- Dionne Warwick and the Spinners)
PISCES
At the onset of my journey I was prepared to listen to music as I always do. I had my headphones on and my favorite song cued and ready go, but as I reached the end of my block I suddenly realized how incredible the silence of the neighborhood felt. I wasn’t sure if the neighborhood was normally this still or if it was me who had never stopped to observe its stillness.
Pisces, when Neptune in your sign and Pallas Athena in Sagittarius talk this week there is an opportunity to confront old patterns, particularly the ones that prevent you from the dream you wish to inhabit.
(XV Devil Rev/ What Makes Me Tick- Loretta Lynn)