ARIES
ROSE-COLORED GLASSES
When I was a kid I loved watching old classics. One of my favorites was “Sabrina,” with Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. My favorite part of the movie was always when Sabrina (Hepburn) went away to Paris and transformed or as she says, “Learned how to live, how to be in the world and of the world, not just stand aside and watch.” Towards the end of her stay she writes a dreamy letter home to her father and describes her experience, saying, “Someone across the way is playing “La Vie En Rose,” it is the French way of saying, ‘I’m looking at the world through rose-colored glasses,’ and it says everything I feel.” The first time I saw this movie was the first time I heard the phrase “rose-colored glasses.” As a kid I thought she was talking about an actual pair of glasses and I thought to myself, “I’m going to find a pair of those one day.”
Aries, this week you may be donning your rose-colored glasses. You are also likely to feel both “in the world and of the world.” Venus and Mars are renting rooms in your sign this week and filling your house with love, laughter, joy and passion which will definitely help you find solutions to any difficulties currently presenting themselves simply because you are looking for them and through your rose-colored glasses.
(Ace of Swords/ Any Other Way- Chuck Jackson)
TAURUS
EYES IN THE BACK OF YOUR HEAD
When I looked up this saying in the idiom dictionary it gave an example, “Parents of young children have to have eyes in the back of their heads.” When I visited my friends with kids this past summer I remember being impressed with their ability to carry on a conversation with me and at the same time avert disaster or a skinned knee. “I’m afraid I’m too spacey to be a parent,” I told my friend as we sat on a blanket with her son. She and her partner met me in the park after having rescued a 2 year old who had wandered into the middle of the street (and whose caretakers clearly did not have eyes in the back of their head). “That changes when you have a kid,” she assured me and then said something like, “You develop another kind of radar.” Or eyes…in the back of your head you might say.
Taurus, in order to make use of the eyes you have in the back of your head you might have to start by tuning into what is happening for you on a more internal level. Finding a moment to yourself may be difficult this week, but it will also be extremely important so you can see more clearly and connect more fully with your intuitive wisdom.
(IX Crone Rev/ I Am a Psychiatrist- Lee “Scratch” Perry)
GEMINI
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN
I remember learning about different ecosystems in school, the way the mountains created a barrier and that one side of a range might be green while the other could be dry or even desert. The visual in our textbook, I remember too. It showed a cartoon raincloud hitting a peak like froth on a root beer float. On the other side of the mountain the sun was beating down.
This week, Gemini, you may find yourself cautiously approaching the precipice of what has perhaps been a challenging winter. The other side of the mountain you intuitively know, and perhaps have been told, is sunny, but you may find yourself clouded by skepticism until you actually feel the sun on your face when you reach the other side.
(XIX Sun L/ I’ll Bet You- Jackson 5 )
CANCER
BLIND YOUTH
In high school while on an exchange program in Brazil, I ran away. I was later discovered in a town a few hours away by the director of the program. I was intercepted towards the beginning of my journey, but the trip I was planning covered a good portion of the entire country. Later many people asked me, “Why did you do it?” I shrugged, “I wanted to travel.” Looking back, I can now understand more easily the element of danger that others, mostly adults, saw more glaringly, but at the time I felt only the pulse of adventure.
Cancer, your card this week is the Fool. In the tarot the Fool is considered protected by her sense of adventure. In the Motherpeace deck, the Eye of Horus, the Egyptian God of Protection, watches over the Fool as she dances through life, throwing herself into new situations. The idea is that when we are brave enough to take a chance, to leave our comfort zone, we are often rewarded. Expect to hear the call to adventure this week and also know that your intuition and even your ignorance may protect you from potential difficulty or hardship along the way.
(O Fool/ Silly Billy- Poly Styrene)
LEO
STAGE LIGHTS
I don’t have much experience being on stage, but when I graduated from high school we had to walk across the same stage where I’d seen the Joffery Ballet perform The Nutcracker when I was in Kindergarten. I remember the stage lights beaming on us in our hot polyester robes. The lights were so bright you couldn’t see very well what was happening off stage. Do most people graduate on a stage? I haven’t been to enough graduations to know and is it just so your family can see you more easily or is it meant to be symbolic, as in “the next stage of your life?” Forgive me if I’m a little slow on the uptake, I honestly never thought about it until now. In any case, what I can say from having been on and in that stage, you really can’t see what is up ahead, what is beyond that stage or even your friends or family in the audience, but you know they are there.
Leo, this week you may find yourself on or in a new stage of life and leaving behind an old one. You may not be able to see beyond this point, but it’s not necessary anyway.
(Ace of Wands/ I Can Tell The World- Afrika and Roland Hayes)
VIRGO
FLOATERS
I think I’ve actually used floaters in another theme for another sign, but it is an apt description of your astrological weather this week, Virgo. Floaters are like tiny clouds that drift across your field of vision caused by degenerative changes in your “vitreous humour” (the clear gel that fills your eyeball). For the most part floaters are only just mild irritations, but they can occasionally obstruct your view. My aunt complains of floaters and she said it sometimes makes it difficult to read the paper because they sort slowly meander across the page, blocking out certain words she’s trying to focus on. The trick, she says, is to relax your eyes.
Virgo, this week you may feel pressured to make a decision, but it may be like trying to visually fight your way through a sea of floaters. At certain times, certain options may be obstructed, but if you relax eyes and allow the floaters to pass, another option may be revealed.
(2 of Swords/ Politicians in My Eyes- Death)
LIBRA
LOVE GOGGLES
No one escapes love goggles. Love goggles are what filters out the flaws of someone or something, flaws which are glaringly obvious to someone who doesn’t share your love. I find this is most apparent with people and their pets. I am guilty, I am almost completely blind to the flaws of my dog. In some cases I’m aware of the flaws, but I don’t see them as flaws, her putrid breath for example. And why not, your pets will always look at you through even bigger and thicker love goggles.
Libra this week, with Venus and Mars in your 7th house of marriage and partnership, you may be looking at the world through your love goggles. Which is actually a good thing even if it sometimes distorts your perception.
(2 of Cups/ Love Hangover- Diana Ross)
SCORPIO
A BLEMISH
Once in high school my friend got the biggest zit I’d ever seen on the end of his nose. It was really hard not to talk to the zit when you were trying to have a conversation with him. I remember silently thanking God that I’d never had a zit like that. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the very next day after thinking this thought, I got a zit on the side of my nose and within a few hours it had swelled to the same proportion as my friends. “God heard me and struck me down!” I thought. Suddenly I was having the same distracting conversations, but this time the roles were reversed. I could tell by my friends’ facial expressions that it was difficult to focus on the words I was saying because their eyes were naturally drawn to the zit. At first, I attempted to hide one side of my face in the shadows, but this was distracting too because people expect you to look at them directly when you are talking to them. There was nothing to do, but surrender to the situation. I started introducing the zit, like it was a friend visiting from out of town. This worked. Once the zit was acknowledged we could all move on to other topics of conversation.
Scorpio, this week you may find your way out of what could have been a difficult or awkward situation, simply by openly acknowledging the situation exists. Make friends with the difficulty and all parties may be set free.
(5 of Swords Rev/ Something Else- Kelela)
SAGITTARIUS
WHAT HIT YOU
Often times this phrase has bad connotations, but for you this week, Sagittarius I see it in a completely different light. The idea behind the phrase, most commonly heard as, “I don’t know what hit me!” is something which happens by surprise or takes you by surprise. It is similar to the thing which comes “out of left field!” This is a time to engage both sides of your centaur self, horse and head, instinct and idea. When you leave your plans at home and head out into the world empty-handed, or more accurately, open-hearted, you invite the possibility of surprise. You are forced to collaborate with life rather than adhering to script or prescription. This week you may find yourself saying quite blissfully, “I didn’t even know what hit me!”
(7 of Swords L/ Willow- Joan Armatrading)
CAPRICORN
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
If someone says, “can we talk about the elephant in the room?” it is usually the first act of a difficult conversation. But I will always be excited to dive into this conversation, because it started with my favorite idiom and a reference to one of my favorite animals. To me its like saying, “Can we talk about something you love? Actually, lets talk about two things you love, elephants and an idiom with an elephant in it.”
Capricorn, this week you may become increasingly aware of an issue or situation that needs your attention. Consider which words you might choose that will help you approach the situation from a position of love.
(9 of Wands R/ I Hear The Lambs A-Crying- Marian Anderson)
AQUARIUS
THE BOX
“The box” is a collection of socially acceptable ideas. There isn’t much room in “the box” so most people can only fit a few aspects of their life inside of it. The rest of their lives, which fall outside of “the box,” are either acknowledged or unacknowledged depending on who you are. If you are an Aquarius then you have likely embraced the territory outside of “the box,” because that is Aquarius’ domain.
This week, Aquarius, may feel like a block party outside “the box.” You may be connecting with other people who think about things in similarly unconventional ways and this is fuel for the fire and generative of new sparks which could lead to future creative projects, ideas or collaborations.
(3 of Wands/ Lose Control- Missy Elliot (with Ciara and Fatman Scoop)
PISCES
COLOR BLINDNESS
The color blindness I’m referring to is not the literal kind, where certain colors are visibly illegible, but the kind that some (typically white) people have asserted. Many are already aware that this form of blindness is problematic and a form of racism itself. The problem is that by failing (or often refusing) to notice that you are white and someone else is black or latino, you also miss the forms of racial privilege and or prejudice embedded in this position. And if we do not confront and acknowledge issues of racism and racial privilege then the problem stagnates and festers.
Pisces, this week you may encounter certain obstacles which would be best examined and confronted. The difficulty may actually be something relatively small, but by dealing with it you avoid the possibility of making a mountain out of a mole hill.
(Shaman of Discs L/ Propaganda- Dead Prez)