I consider myself inordinately adaptable to whatever the conditions and this allows me to have a pretty good quality of life. But what if you don’t have this skill? What if happiness is elusive? What if it is contingent upon some special circumstance or on the chance that the stars line up just so?

“I will bloom if and only if, blah, blah, blah happens…”

I think a lot of people are like this. Maybe half? A quarter? Three quarters? I’m wondering, so I’m asking.

And are you predominately a Fixed sign (Leo, Aquarius, Taurus, Scorpio)? Mutable (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces)? Or Cardinal (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn)?

Diana emailed:

The paradigm, “People never change” is commonly used, but I was wondering if it’s a frequent thought of fixed and cardinal signs. I don’t think I’ll ever hear a mutable sign say that.

Diana, probably not but the mutable signs also never change the fact they change and I’d say neither state of being is preferable. It is interesting to watch from a marketing standpoint. For example Pepsi keeps making Pepsi for the fixed crowd but constantly comes up with new flavors to interest people like me. Cherry Pepsi, Pepsi with lime, Pepsi with strawberry cream, etc. Shampoo, breakfast cereal and everything else you can think of, same thing.

My first husband had 5 planets in Scorpio and a Leo rising (all fixed). I always run with fixed people, otherwise I will mutate right into oblivion but anyway he was a Cheerio eater and back then they came out with this big innovation - Honey Nut Cheerios. Thrilled, I brought home a box: “Hey! Something new,” I said.

He was not impressed. In fact he didn’t have the slightest interest in putting one of the little pieces in his mouth and no amount of my eating and saying, yum, would budge him and this was incredibly instructive to me. I have never bothered to change a fixed sign off their brand since.

Do you switch brands often?

Dear Taurus,

You put up with it because by your nature you are very fixed. Besides having four planets in Taurus, you’ve got two in Scorpio, including the Moon and on top of that, you’re an Aquarius rising. Those are all fixed signs - so basically you’re not going anywhere until and unless you decide to move, which will probably take an act of God.

I am not criticizing you for this, just explaining. Your Gemini man has his two lives he lies about, so he’s just fine. His other woman probably has a chart that craves space or some kind of thing other than the day to day drudgery of a mundane relationship, so she is probably fine as well.

You’re not all that bad off yourself, apparently. You’re the one getting the sex which I am sure you like and you have a freedom loving streak as well which also gives this relationship appeal. Because if you do decide to leave you’ve got a built in reason, don’t you?

Bottom line: the man may love you but he is not giving up the other woman, this is clear. So stay if you want and I would only have this one suggestion: If you do stay, then just stay and don’t beat yourself up about it as in why of why or who would do this. It is okay to stay just because it’s what you do.

“I am not going anywhere because I stay.”

It is also okay to leave and go find a new field of grass to chew.

“I am tired of this grass, gonna move now.”

Either one is acceptable.

Good luck.

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It’s Ben. Scorpio with an Aquarius rising. He just bought a house after renting the same house foe 20 years! He’s moving now.

Briiiinnnng Briiiiinng!

“Ben, are you busy? Are you still moving?”

“Elsa, yes I am. I have so much stuff. There are a lot of people helping me but I just have so much stuff.”

“Well you’ve lived there a long time,” I said.

“Yes I have. But I also don’t get rid of anything. I hold on to everything.”

In my head, I recalled he is still pissed off at his parents for throwing out his toys when he was a kid.

“For example, I still have my old mailbox. The one from my house on Fremont Street, where I lived when you met me? I’ve got that.”

I laughed. That was 25 years ago.

The soldier and I were at his friend’s house last weekend. He’s a (fixed) Taurus with a (fixed) Scorpio Moon in fixed houses.

“And you gave me that sweater for my birthday,” he said.

I knew what he was talking about because he’d sent me a picture in 2003 that jogged my memory. “Yeah, I did.”

“And I still have it. And I wear it sometimes too.”

“What? You mean you kept that sweater for… it’s going on 30 years!”

“Yes, I kept it. Why would I get rid of it? I always liked that sweater so I’ve kept it.”

I stared. “What could you possibly be thinking when you put that thing on after 30 years?”

He shrugged. “I’m not thinking anything. I always liked it so why wouldn’t I keep it? It’s my sweater and you gave it to me. ”

Do you hold on to stuff like this? Is there an emphasis on the fixed signs in your chart?

Dear Fixed,

Well it sounds like he is lying to me! If in fact his friend was using his image to flirt with women and getting him in trouble with his girlfriend in the process, don’t you think he would be over to his friend’s place making him stop?

And what kind of friend would do that? And further, what kind of man would have a friend who would mislead women by putting a false picture out there in the first place?

I am sorry but your man sounds like a lying dog to me. This falls under the classification, “If you have to ask…” I think the odds he is telling you the truth are about 1% and chances are, you are only onto the tip of the iceberg here.

And because you do not have the chart of someone gullible or easily deceived,I think the reason you are still with this man is a simple one: you have a fixed grand cross in your chart and you don’t like change! So I have no idea what you’re going to do but I definitely think this guy is up to… who knows what. Probably as much trouble as he can find.

Good luck.
~~
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I’ve been thinking about Libra being able to see both sides of a coin, aka indecisiveness, versus Aries singular mind. And I can see how important it is to be able to pick a side if for example, you would like to fight a war. Nice to know which side you’re on, yes?

So considering this it’s no wonder I feel certain if I found myself in the middle of a war, I would stand up and take the first bullet I could find to hit me (The Thin Red Line and Mars Square Mars in Synastry). Such would be my pain in that circumstance. Never mind that whoever was losing, I would want to go fight on that side. Balance, right? So who can stand this going back and forth? Not me! Someone kill me now!

And I am sorry for this! I am sorry for being wishy-washy but it’s just impossible for me not to consider the other person’s position so consequently I would be a truly horrible soldier, which should be understandable considering war is the providence of Aries, the sign opposite Libra.

And this extends into politics. Occasionally someone emails to prompt me to write about astrology and politics and I can’t do it. How am I supposed to pick a position, anyway? As soon as I argue one side, I am going to see the other and there is nothing in this world I can do to stop it.

So I marvel at the people who have a position they are able to hold and I run with them too. I have spent my whole life with the Fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Aquarius, Scorpio). I particularly partner with them, there is no other way. I just desperately need this kind of energy and I wind up with very opinionated people in my life and on both sides of any equation, while meantime I stand in the middle, wide-eyed and wondering how they do it. How can they be so damned sure?

And I envy them, by the way. Must be nice to know what you think!

Do you have Aries or Libra in your chart?

Dear Man,

Can you be closer to this guy? Of course! And as for breaking up his marriage, I wouldn’t worry about that at all. People break their own marriages!

Now as far as telling you what is going to happen, I can’t. And either can anyone else at the moment. And this goes for you and anyone else with planets in the mid-degrees of the fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius), which is pretty much everyone.

See, you’re all caught up in the current Saturn Neptune opposition in the sky and I guarantee every single one of you, that you are not going to know what it going REALLY going on until June 2007, at the very earliest. And specific to your chart, it is your Venus in Aquarius we’re talking about here. Venus rules love and relationships, Saturn brings deprivation and restriction, Neptune creates longing, so there you go! It’s all constellated and there is nothing you can do. You’re in this! You can try to walk away, but I doubt you get very far. You can try to speed it up, nail it down, make threats or punch things and none of that will work either. So what will work?

Faith!!! Faith that what is best for all will manifest in the end because this is one fact in this matter, that you can rely on.

Other than that, acclimate yourself. Get used to being confused and try not to get too angry or frustrated with the mixed messages people are giving you. Because the fact is, they are as lost as you are. Get it?

It’s a Hall of Mirrors and We’re All In It.

Good luck.

~~
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Dear Aquarius,

This is for you and everyone else with planets at the mid to late degrees of the Fixed Signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius). GIVE UP. Give up trying to hold on to some piece of ground because you are not going to be able to manage this. You are alllll being impacted by the current Saturn Neptune opposition in the sky and these are forces outside your control.

All you can do is try feel the currents and move with them. It’s like the tide. The tide comes in and it goes out. When the tide is in, you know what you’re doing. You’re in the flow. When the tide is out, you’re bereft! You’re lost. You’re scared.

And what this does is force faith. When the tide goes out, you simply must move forward the best you can, trusting that your mojo is MIA rather than left the building never to return. Faith, see! This is what you are supposed to be learning.

And at times you are going to be disabled. Seriously! (A Saturn joke.) So just get that into your head (Aquarius), your heart (Leo), your groin (Scorpio) and your stubborn position (Taurus)! You are not your usual self. And you’re not going to have any clarity at all prior to summer 2007. I guarantee this, so you may as well embrace the reality.

My friend satori is a Pisces (Neptune ruled) with a Capricorn (Saturn ruled) Moon, so she has a natural affinity and understanding of these energies when they combine. She put it best when she equated this to teaching a child to swim. You put them in the pool and get all tense and frightened. And you have to get them to relax! You have to get them to believe… to have faith that if they just lie back in the water, they’ll float!

So this is what you need to do. Lie back into the water and trust the universe is taking you exactly where you need to go because it is. And so sorry for the waves, but it’s nature, yes? So what do you expect?

Good luck.

~~
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Dear Philosophical,

I don’t think you are doing anything wrong and I think it’s exactly as you say it is. You are literally coming apart like a puzzle breaking up. But this time, when the puzzle comes together, it will be an entirely different scene and better than you could have ever imagined or designed for yourself.

Here’s the astrology: your chart is challenging to begin with. It’s very complex. You’re a 500 piece puzzle rather than your neighbor, who has a mere 200 pieces to contend with. And then along comes a series of transits and you feel like going crazy. And there is no way to stop the process, or alter it in any way. You can’t speed it up, I mean. And there is no cure outside what you’re doing. But it may help if I define it for you so will.

And for the record, anyone with planets at mid-degrees of the Fixed signs (Leo, Aquarius, Scorpio, Taurus) are going through some version of this. That is, they are having a Saturn and Neptune transit their chart simultaneously which creates very challenging scenarios.

Neptune asks that you have faith. It dissolves boundaries and asks you be compassionate and serve. It often feels like a victim, ie. hanging from a cross, and consequently wants to escape, generally via addiction of one sort or another.

In contrast, Saturn begs you grow up! It insists you face reality, take responsibility, and learn something. Saturn defines things… creates boundaries, so you can see the conflict when both planets hit a chart simultaneously!

And if you read what you wrote up there, these energies are illustrated in living color. You are struggling (Saturn) to put boundaries in place. You are trying to “do the right thing” (Saturn) while simultaneously feeling victimized. And I am telling you, there is no short-term quick fix.

The best you can do is work (Saturn) not to manifest the negative expressions of these signs which are escapism in the case of Neptune and being paralyzed by fear, around Saturn.

Here are two possibilities: “I am so afraid of fucking up, or this is so hard, I guess I’ll take this pill/powder/drink and deal with it tomorrow”.

Bad idea.

Or, “I’m going to take this small step, having faith that the universe will guide me and provide me the support I require.”

Better idea.

Good luck.

~~
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