Linda Goodman's Sun Signs (2 page)

Next, the houses of the horoscope must be considered. These are mathematically computed locations in the natal chart which have influence over different areas of your life. There are twelve of them, one for each sign. The first house is always ruled by the sign on your ascendant, and so on, in counter-clockwise order around the circle which forms the horoscope. The astrologer who has carefully calculated your natal chart, based on the exact time of your birth and its geographical location, must interpret the meaning of each sign's influence on these houses—or locations—also taking into consideration the planets which fall into their specified areas. Blending all the foregoing factors in analyzing your character, your potential, and the indications of your past and future mistakes and possibilities (which are based on the aspects of the progressed and transiting planets to your natal planet positions) is called the art of synthesis in astrology. That's what takes the time, talent, effort and knowledge of the astrologer. Calculating the chart itself is a relatively simple task, once certain mathematical formulas are followed.

But back to your Sun sign, because, after all, that's what this book is about. In a way, saying that you're a Gemini is rather like saying you're from New York, which isn't the generalization it seems to be. Wouldn't it be fairly easy to spot a Texan in a New York bar—or a New Yorker in a Texas restaurant? Isn't there a considerable difference between a Georgian politician and a Chicago industrialist? Of course. A rather marked difference.

Imagine that you're a Texan, discussing a man who is about to arrive for a business meeting. Someone says, “He's a New Yorker,” and immediately an image is formed. He'll probably have faster, more clipped speech than a Texan, be less warm in his personal relationships, and will want to plunge into business without too many preliminary pleasantries. He'll probably be in a hurry to get the contracts signed and catch a plane back to the east coast. He'll be sophisticated to some degree, and probably more liberal than the Texan in his politics. Why is this instant impression likely to be pretty accurate? Because the New Yorker lives a fast life in a fast city, where slow reactions may lose him the seat on the subway or the taxi in the rain. He's constantly rubbing shoulders or elbows with the famous, so he's not easily awed. He has access to the latest plays and the best museums, so it's hard for him to remain unsophisticated. Due to higher crime rates and crowded living conditions, he won't be as hospitable or as interested in his neighbors as the Texan—his personality will be somewhat cooler.

Of course, a New Yorker can be a slow-talking Taurean or a slow-moving Capricorn, but he wouldn't be quite as slow as the Texan Taurean or Capricorn, would he? Nor would a fast-thinking and acting Gemini be quite as fast if he lived in Texas as he would if he lived in New York. It's all relative.

All right, he's a New Yorker. Now assume you discover he's Italian. Another image. He's a writer for television. A third image. He's married, with six children—and yet another dimension of the man is revealed. Therefore (although this is an analogy, and all analogies are imperfect), saying he's a New Yorker is like saying he's a Gemini, for instance, and adding the further information is comparable to knowing that his Moon was in Virgo and he had a Scorpio ascendant when he was born, etc. But even without the extra knowledge, just knowing that he's a New Yorker puts you considerably ahead of those who don't know if he's from Tibet or the South Sea Islands. In the same way, even without a natal chart, just knowing a man is a Gemini or a Leo can give you more understanding of him than could ever be possessed by those who don't know if they're coping with a fiery Sagittarius or an earthy Taurus.

It's true that a detailed nativity can infallibly reveal the finer nuances of character. It can indicate marked inclinations toward or against dope addiction, promiscuity, frigidity, homosexuality, multiple marriages, a disturbed childhood, alienation from or neurotic attachments to relatives, hidden talents, career and financial potential. It can show clearly tendencies to honesty or dishonesty, cruelty, violence, fears, phobias and psychic ability; plus many other strengths and weaknesses of inner character which may be latent for years, then burst forth under provocation during planetary progressions and transits which affect the natal planet positions for a temporary period of time. Susceptibility and immunity to accident and disease are revealed, secret attitudes toward drink, sex, work, religion, children, romance—and the list could go on and on. There are no secrets hidden from the accurately calculated natal chart. None except your own decision concerning how much of your individual free will you may decide to exercise.

However, in the absence of such a complete analysis, everyone can profit from a study of Sun signs, and the knowledge can make us more tolerant of one another. Once you understand how deeply ingrained certain attitudes are in people's natures, you'll become more sympathetic toward their behavior. Learning Sun signs can help cool, poised Scorpio parents to be more patient with the quick brightness they would otherwise think was restless fidgeting in a Gemini child. It helps extroverted students understand introverted teachers, and vice versa. You'll forgive the Virgo his pickiness when you realize he was born to keep every hair straight and to untangle issues by examining each detail. It's easier to bear the carelessness of the Sagittarian when you understand he's too busy finding causes to cherish and defend to look where he's going every minute or notice whose toes he's stepping on. His frankness will cut less when you're aware of his compulsion to speak the truth, whatever the cost.

You won't be as hurt when a Capricorn doesn't “ooh” and “ah” over the gift you gave him, after you've remembered that he's deeply grateful, but incapable of showing his pleasure openly. His insistence on duty will chafe less when you know that he disciplines himself as severely as he does others. Putting up with the endless Libran arguments and hesitations is somehow more bearable with the Sun sign knowledge that he's only trying to be fair and reach an impartial decision. The Aquarian won't seem as rude when he roots into your private life if you stop to think he was created with an uncontrollable urge to investigate people's motives.

Once in a great while you may come across a Leo, for example, with, say, five or six planets in Pisces. The Piscean influences will obviously project themselves strongly, making his Sun sign harder to guess, since they'll greatly subdue his Leo qualities. But that will happen only rarely, and if you're completely familiar with all twelve Sun signs in detail, he can't disguise his true nature forever. No matter how hard the fish tries to hide the lion, that Leo Sun sign will never be totally eclipsed—and you'll catch him unawares.

Never make the mistake of skimming the surface when you're trying to recognize Sun signs. Not all Capricorns are meek, not all Leos are outwardly domineering and not all Virgos are virgins. You'll find an occasional Aries with a savings account, a quiet Gemini or even a practical Pisces. But look beyond the one or two traits that threw you off. You'll catch that flashy Capricorn peeking at the social register—the shy Leo pouting over a slight to his vanity—and the rare flirtatious Virgo buying insecticide by the case, because it's cheaper. The quiet Gemini may not talk fast, but her mind can operate at jet speed. The exceptional thrifty Aries will wear a bright red Mars coat to the bank or talk back to a rude teller—and the practical Pisces secretly writes poetry or invites six orphans for dinner every Thanksgiving. No one can successfully hide his or her Sun sign from you, if you keep your eyes and ears open. Even your pet will show unmistakable Sun sign traits. Don't move the food dish of a Virgo cat to a strange spot—and never try to ignore a Leo dog.

It's fun to practice with famous people, politicians, fictional heroes and heroines. Try to guess their sign, or what sign they most represent. It sharpens your astrological wits. You can even try comic strip characters. Good old Charlie Brown is obviously a Libran, and Lucy could only be a Sagittarius with an Aries ascendant and her Moon in Virgo. As for Snoopy, well, anyone can easily see he's an Aquarian dog, the way he wears that crazy scarf and the World War I aviator's cap, while he chases an imaginary Red Baron from the roof of his dog house. (Snoopy may also have an afflicted Neptune.) Try it yourself, and you'll have gobs of fun. But what's more important, as you play the Sun sign game, you'll be learning something very serious and useful: how to recognize people's hidden dreams, secret hopes and true characters—how to understand their deepest needs—how to like them better and make them like you—how to really know the people you know. It's a happier world, and people are pretty great, when you look for the rainbows hidden inside them.

Isn't that really life's major problem? Understanding? Abraham Lincoln said it simply and clearly: “To correct the evils, great and small, which spring from positive enmity among strangers, as nations or as individuals, is one of the highest functions of civilization.”

Start right now to study your Sun signs, use reasonable caution when you apply them, and people will wonder where you got all your new perception when you begin to unmask their real natures. In fact, understanding the twelve Sun signs will literally change your life. You're on your way to understanding people you've never even met. You'll soon feel closer to strangers, as well as to friends, and isn't that really rather wonderful?

It's nice to know you …

Linda Goodman

 

 

Have you recently met an unusually friendly person with a forceful manner, a firm handclasp and an instant smile? Get ready for a dizzy dash around the mulberry bush. You've probably just been adopted by an Aries. Especially if you found it a little tough to take the lead in the conversation.

Is he committed to some idealistic cause and angrily defending the underdog? That figures. Male or female, these people will fight what they feel is an injustice on the spot, and they're not bashful about voicing their opinions. The ram will talk back to a traffic cop or an armed gangster with equal vigor, if either one happens to annoy him. He may regret it later, but caution won't concern him in the heat of the moment. Mars people come straight to the point, with no shilly-shallying.

Aries is the first sign of the zodiac. It represents birth, as Pisces represents death and consciousness of the soul. The ram is conscious only of himself. He's the infant of the zodiac—the newborn baby—completely absorbed with his own toes and fingers. His needs come first. An infant doesn't care whether or not his parents or the neighbors are sleeping. When he's hungry or wet, he yowls in discomfort. He wants his bottle, and he wants his diaper changed
now,
and don't be pokey about it. When the Aries person has an idea or something he wants to get off his mind, he'll call you at four in the morning without a qualm. Why shouldn't you be awake to listen to him? He's awake. That's all that counts. He wants something. He gets it. Like the infant, Aries is concerned with the world only as it relates to himself. But who could call the small baby truly selfish? He's perfectly willing to lavish his smiles and favors on those who satisfy his demands. It's hard to resist a baby, because he's so totally unaware that he's causing anyone the slightest inconvenience. So it is with the ram. His innocence hangs over him and mellows his aggressiveness, like the innocence of the newborn softens his egocentricity.

This disarming naiveté is also why Aries people are so fearless. The baby fears nothing and no one, until he gets burned. Even then, he'll trustingly try again, when he's forgotten the hurt. There's not a trace of cunning wile in the ram, and he'll remain this way throughout his lifetime; forever believing with all his heart, always falling down and getting up again to try once more. Any doubts he collects along the way are immediately displaced by the next person who's kind to him, just as the baby forgets the pain of the safety pin that accidentally stuck in his leg the next time someone sprinkles the powder.

The ram can make believe from here to tomorrow, and spin fabulous dreams, but he can't lie worth a tinker. What you see before you is what he is. There's nothing hidden or complicated about him. He's just as vulnerable as the baby, and just as helpless. When stronger, more mature people force him or take things away from him, he reacts in the only manner he knows—yelling and causing so much disturbance, that people give in just to get peace. He doesn't need delicate strategy. Lung power and self-absorbed determination suffice beautifully to allow him to get his way. Perhaps helpless is not the right word. Vulnerable, yes—but helpless, no.

It's a cinch to recognize the physical appearance of the ram. Aries people have decided features, usually sharp, seldom soft or blurred. The well-marked brows often join with the narrow bridge of the nose in forming the sign of the ram, perhaps as a warning to anyone with the silly idea of trying to stop or conquer him that those symbolic horns mean business. You may notice a mole or a scar on the head or face, a reddish cast to the hair in the sunlight, and more color than average in the complexion. You may also sense invisible sparks shooting out in all directions. The movements will usually be quick and capable, with a mental process to match. Both the male and female rams normally have broad shoulders, and they may walk with the body slightly bent forward, leading with the head, so to speak, and almost always in a great hurry. (Often, they're in a hurry to get to a brick building to knock down, though their horns may get bent in the butting.) There's little that's graceful about the ram, unless it's his smooth way of handling a crisis (which never fails to surprise people who underestimate him). The bone structure is fine and strong, and few Aries people slump. Their posture reflects their supreme ego and self-confidence. If you see an Aries with drooping shoulders, he's probably a sheep type, who was badly hurt in the ego when he was young. It may take him some time to recover, if the wounds went deep, but he'll straighten up someday. You can count on it. Nothing keeps these people down forever, failure least of all.