A Fat Boy Mowing The Lawn Of His House On An Elegant Suburban Street is about the need to attend to everyday tasks which both ensure social worth or respectability, and benefit one’s constitution. I think of Tom Sawyer painting his fence, or rather getting others to do it. Tom Sawyer is an archetype of Leo, which rules this oracle, at 29° Sagittarius, in a twelve fold sequence. A well maintained front lawn is meant to signal to others a certain wealth and standing, while the fat boy could use the exercise. I know another fat boy who could use the exercise and that’s me. I would love to have a lawn to mow again. I use to have acres and a push more, with no motor, which which I would trim the entire thing. It was fun. I feel disconnected from having and I wonder why it is that I don’t go in for material things as much as most people I know and love. Of course I know a lot of starving artists, but not many of them love me. I’m feeling very much at a crossroads at this point in my life. I’m not interested in those in love with their poverty, but I also can’t stand being around conspicuous consumers. I’m about to go on a sort of fantasy vacation which is so beyond anything I would ever be able to afford in this or most lifetimes, all courtesy of a very kind and loving (and wealthy) friend. I wish I looked better in my swimsuit.

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An Old Bridge Over a Beautiful Stream Is Still In Constant Use was the symbol for Sagittarius 28° which points to the enduring elements in a society which reveal its ability to significantly link the genius of its individuals to the everyday needs of the collectivity. The mastery of a few trained individuals allows the community to remain well integrated. This symbol was for this past Sunday—it’s now Thursday and I’m playing catch up. We had our show at Joe’s Pub that day and then travel and holidays and it’s a runaway train. It’s all about craftsman furthering culutre; and we also see human know-how working with and around nature. That is all.

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A Sculptor At His Work is the image at 27° Sagittarius. It’s 5:35 AM and I’m about to jump into a car to head to NYC to rehearse our holiday show so I’ll make this brief: Today is about the “ability to project one’s vision upon and to give form to materials.” If this degree is activated in the Zodiac, we see the individual creatively expressing his own particular individuality. Using materials available, one reveals ones inner life and purpose. This image is ruled by Gemini, in a twelve-fold sequence, a sign that is hinged on making an indelible individual mark, bringing something to market, that might serve to insure a small slice of immortality. Indeed, a fine piece of artwork seems imbued with the spirit of the maker, the artist pouring his life into his work, so that life might last longer than his or her own. Today is about projecting oneself into one’s work.

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Just yesterday I made an announcement regarding my resolution, a very Capricorn word, for New Year’s which falls into that sign. What it boils down to is: I want to limit my social, professional and personal sphere and experience to those who embody the Golden Rule and understand the nature of true abundance and the importance of giving (back), whilst eschewing any one or thing that smacks of self-servingness. Et voila: Today, at 26° Sagittarius, we see A Flag Bearer In A Battle who has nobly accepted subservience of the individual to collective values and goals, also known as a being a mensch. Taurus rules this image in a twelve-fold sequence and that sign embodies the power of passivity as well as giving voice to attributes of its native second house of values and goals—bull’s eye. Taurus people tend to me more obsesssed than others in terms of what they’re going for, which can make them myopic on the shadow side. But this is still a Sagittarian oracle and we must read it in that context.

The flag bearer is, of course on horseback. He represents the highest-minded ideals of the collective around which his side in rallied in battle; paradoxically, though he is unarmed. He at once the integrity of the group, and a most vulnerable target. He has laid himself open, given himself overto the experience. His life and welfare are sacrificed to the greater whole, and that sacrifice is the group’s ultimate strength, if not literally then morally. When this symbol arises in our astrology we are being asked if we are ready to accept a challenging role and do we have the ultimate willingness to consecrate ourselves to an ideal. Can we do battle for it. The Centaur in mythology is both shaman and fierce warrior, a powerfully wise but dangerous figure to those who challenge the high-minded ideal of its embodiment. That is what we are being asked to be—a combination of courage and conviction. Sagittarius is a fire sign, lest we forget, and fire equals spirt. The standard bearer is the spirit of the collective around which all others rally. This takes a purity of vision as well as a total subjugation of personal ego. Sounds like a goal to me.

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The first thing that strikes me about the image at 25° Sagittarius, A Chubby Boy On A Hobby Horse, is how literally Centaur-like this is. We are also back to the first sign of Aries, in a twelve-fold sequence, claiming rulership of this oracle—Aries rules the first seven years of a person’s life. And that age-group perspective is central to this symbol in that it hinges on the anticipation of powers one can only as yet pretend to. The horse is a symbol of power and the sign of Sagittarius is archetypally associated with being at full power. It’s planetary governer is Jupiter named for the king god (Greek: Zeus) who was mighter than all the other gods put together—just as all the planets in the solar system could fit inside Jupiter the largest of them all—the female archetype being his sister-wife, June, (Greek: Hera) who is queen of heaven and goddess of both women and, you guessed it, of power. In bribing Paris during his eponymous Judgment as to which of the three goddesses—Athena, Aphrodite, Hera—were most beautiful, Hera promised Paris worldly power, which was her province to bestow. Celebrating the goddess at full power was the ritualized display of lady on horseback—the ride of Lady Godiva (or Goddess-Diva) commemorated Juno’s power of blinding radiance, putting out the eyes of the peeping Tom, and, think about it, she is the very embodiment of the Centauress.

Horses are also symbols of sexual power and energy. The horse provided greater possiblity in terms of (saving) time and (expanding into) more space. The chubby boy rhythmically rocking back and forth on his horsey is also pretending to the sexuality that will some day be a powerful possession. All that stored fat will turn to fuel. The peeping Tom was actually Thomas Rhymer, his name an echoing of the rocking rhythm of the horse’s movement and that of sex. The boy maybe lost in the throes of his imagination, projecting himself into the future, when he might be riding a real horse (or lady or man for that matter.) Sagittarius is all about connecting the higher mind and imagination, symbolized by the human half of the centaur, with the wild organic nature of the body and its own dictates, symbolized by the horse. The rocking back and forth, physically, while the imagination wanders and alights on its wildest visions, is a manifestation of that electric connection taking place. Rock and roll, jazz, beat poetry, stream of conscious writing all fall under Sagittarius rule as human expression becomes one and the same with what are undercurrent energies, bipassing the too-conscious mind, and emanating more from a sort of super concious. In this way we might see that the chubby child is channeling, invoking, summoning, conjuring his future.

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Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter “the greater beneficient” associated with generosity, abundance and good fortune. At 24° of the sign A Bluebird Perched On The Gate Of A Cottage is the symbol whose keynote is: the reward which meets every effort at integrating into a social environment for those who remain true to themselves. I must remind you that these images were not divined in any order, so the fact that these past few days have developed the same scene is either mere coincidence (no) or an outcropping of the divination (yes). The bluebird of happiness is more than that as blue, a rare color in nature, especially combined with a bird, symbolizes spiritual orientation. Of course this sign is ruled by Pisces in a twelve-fold sequence, the twelfth astrological house being that of non-material, energetic “spiritual” existence—associated with the biblical archetypes of Jesus and Mary, who wore della robbia blue. The mention of the cottage speaks to the possiblity of it being one of a colony or community, such that the individual inhabitants seem to be at peaceful agreement with others, living in blissful harmony. A cottage is a humble dwelling set, typically, in a natural surrounding, thus living in concert with nature is also highlighted here. When we give ourselves just the basic things we need, we leave room for the Universe to give us the rest, meeting us halfway. Abundance is not only not always material, it is mostly immaterial and we clutter our lives with nonessential manifestations of want that block expressions, like the bluebird, of the Universe’s abundant and happy nature that is our natural birthright.

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At Sagittarius 23° A Group of Immigrants As They Fulfill The Requirements of Entrance Into The New Country is the symbol du jour. Today we focus upon consciously accepting the ways of a new stage of experience, in readiness for the opportunities it will present. There is a sense of passing through a threshold and making a mindful transition. I’m down with this image today I must say. I had one of those nights where I really didn’t sleep at all—it happens often when I’m preparing for a show wherefore I do a great deal of rehearsing in my head in bed. I am tired of doing things the old way. And repetitive or ritual experience whereby I anticipate things may’ve changed remind me that you can’t expect different results from doing the same things the same way. As we cross that threshold to a realm of new experience there will be requirements to meet, those that signal a readiness to adjust to new ways of life.

It can take on the character of a trial by fire, but it should be worth it. Our success in the new realm will in large part be dependent upon how we cross said threshold, in what state of mind and spirit we do so. In a way, this image combines the last two. We are seeking to assimilate but while retaining our original identity. I don’t know about you but there is something really right on about reading this symbol today. Sagittarius is very much about freedom, especially when it comes to freeing the mind. And as this oracle falls under Aquarian rule, we get that extra sense of entering into a new order. I want a new order. Not that the old one didn’t work, but because it worked effectively for that time. You know what I mean? We don’t necessarily transition from a bad place, but we always transition from an outmoded one. At the same time, all is transition, of course. But when we consciously cross a threshold of experience bent on marked change, we are actually acting like a mutation which is tantamount to continued evolution. That is the Aquarian energy. Evolution doesn’t happen along one continual line. Extinction does. Evolution requires mutating and branching off, deviating and diversifying. I’m ready to diversify my portfolio of life. Who’s with me?

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I know these entries haven’t been lengthy these last several days but I’m so busy I barely have time for getting anything down on “paper”. Today’s symbol at 22° Sagittarius is A Chinese Laundry and its hinged on making use of ones special racial-cultural background in order to survive and prosper in an alien environment. I have found myself being envious of those whose cultural background has afforded them special skills, not limited, of course, to the symbolic notion of a Chinese laundry. Oftentimes when people come from other places they don’t see the obstacles that natives do. I felt that the times I lived abroad. And I’ve seen some scrappy foreigners move mountains here at home. This symbol is ruled by Capricorn in a twelve-fold sequence. The Goat is a symbol of culture. Culture gods took goat form, enriching mankind’s experience. The Saturn-ruled sign of Capricorn is about preservation, time and tradition. I don’t feel as if I have a family anything to draw upon, that is of course unless I planned on being a bookie—I recently discovered that this was at least the sideline job of many of my Italian relatives. Likewise I don’t believe that I could support myself on my Irish heritage of drinking, isolating, ironing and folding laundry. Although there’s that word again.

What I always loved about businesses based on foreigner’s cultural heritage or skill was that they would create a little island of their native culture in the new environment. They created a bubble. Stepping into their shops, stores, restaurants and such was like entering into their home country. And, so, they also enriched the new environment where they’ve established themselves. I suppose, since I fancy myself some kind of metaphysician who has descended from a long line of seers, a fictionalized fact or a factual fiction, I am actually doing something that (most likely) speaks to some kind of cultural heritage. But really my calling was the stage whereupon I’ve treaded fairly lightly and never made a huge career for myself. But as I do it for the love not for fame or money, I continue to put myself up there regardless. I wonder, if I had any connection to my past heritage beyond one generation, if I would find other hambones in my family. I image I would. But this image is really about national character and I never felt as if I’ve had that despite the fact that grandparents came over on a boat from Europe.

In contrast to the previous image where we are making believe, pretending toward some sort of growth or evolution, changing our position in the social or spiritual heirarchy, this image is about preserving that heritage from which you derive and exploiting it for survival and gain and also as a means of self-containment, not having to change or evolve, but rather taking that original home with you, like some tortoise shell. Slow and steady winning the race, this image is the opposite of one having to join some kind of rat race, assilimating and climbing ladders; this is the approach that says, you’ll come to me (for business) because I provide a service and you need me; and meanwhile, I may be talking behind your back right in front of your face and you won’t even know it. This approach does not see the new world as a superior environment or group, it sees it as a wild frontier who demand what you’re supplying. And this requires hard work and a sense of humor.

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A Child And A Dog Wearing Borrowed Eyeglasses is the Sabian Symbol at 21° Sagittarius which is also ruled by Sadge in a twelve-fold sequence. The use of imagination and make believe in anticipating higher stages of development is the keynote. The image hinges on the notion that one can hasten the evolutionary process of a being—by making the dog more human, through imitation, we might be accelerating its growth. Eyeglasses symbolize intellect and, with Sagittarius, we are always dealing with the higher mind evolving out of the purely animal, the Centaur expressing this development. If we wear the mask of a god, or the vestment of a guru, we are at once pretending to be them while also invoking their power to actually be them. It’s all about learning through imagination, better known as fake it till you make it.

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Here we go with foresight again: In An Old-Fashioned Northern Village Men Cut The Ice Of A Frozen Pond For Use During The Summer is the symbol at Sagittarius 20°, ruled by Scorpio in a twelve-fold sequence (the fixed-water sign translates to ice). We see the relationship between man and nature—which is inherent in the Centaur image—the planning ahead based on knowledge of natural cycles. Using natural resources in supply of future needs. Again there isn’t much more to say about this symbol. It’s another Sagittarius it-is-what-it-is image.

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