Author Archives: paul

What is great about Capricorn is their integrity. When they say they will do something, they do it. When they make a promise, they keep it. Unless they lack respect for you, in which case they do not give a damn. They are, however, committed to the game of life and the rules it goes by because they have every intention of winning the game and taking home whatever prizes are given. They realize that no matter what anyone has to say, you cannot argue with success.

Failure is anathema to these people. They fear it and they do everything in their power to see that it does not occur. If it does, it is best never to mention it to them, because it will only create an embarrassing moment.

What is surprising about Capricorns is that they have a great sense of humor. Thank God that they do, as the weight they carry calls out for something to offset it. Although they are inherently tough and they grow stronger year by year, they know how to enjoy life, especially once they have scaled the mountain they have chosen to climb. When the peak of attainment has been reached, when they have captured a secure place in society and when they have amassed material power on some level, Capricorns aim for spiritual power. To them, this entails mastery of the body and an ability to stay healthy and vital until the day they leave the planet.

Capricorns put their faith and trust in what they see before them and this is the reality they are here to serve. They can become somewhat rigid and have difficulty letting go because they want their life to be sufficiently structured so that it seems to be invincible. If their complementary opposite sign, Cancer, is the most receptive to the light, then Capricorn is the least receptive. Like the diamond, Capricorns can reflect light, however, their desire for a permanent bastion that upholds their value causes them to harden at their core. The principles that determine how they run their lives can become so hermetically sealed, that it is useless to convince them of anything other than what they have chosen to believe. They become externally focused to the extent that they give more power to matter than the material world merits. It is one thing to honor the foundation that holds a society together and supports all of its members. It is quite another to believe that the present reality will always be the only game in town. Is it not sheer hubris to think that our story on the earth within this vast cosmos is so significant that it will last forever, when in truth nothing in the material world does? Capricorns think in terms of making the things in their life permanent. While the physical reality that they give most of their attention and allegiance to is currently important and necessary, the energy and information we carry in our souls is even more important, as they are the parts of us that are indestructible and everlasting.

Capricorns ideally want the structure they build to be in the shape of a pyramid, with themselves naturally at the top. The next sign Aquarius, however, will come along and attempt to flatten the pyramid so that everyone operates on equal terms. For all their strength and restraint, deep down inside Capricorns harbor a fear that one day they could lose it all. No matter how substantial they make their life, a fear such as that never goes away and that is what keeps Capricorns working around the clock until the end of their days.

Sagittarians think in terms of possibilities and of what should be. The Sagittarian mind rambles as it leans toward the abstract: its perspective is vertical rather than horizontal, its vision is telescopic and its intuitive sixth sense can be amazing. It is the truth seeker, always on the verge of discovery of something that can elevate its consciousness and increase its understanding. Sagittarians are interested in uplifting the world around them and discovering a better place then they have ever known before. Their lofty aspirations may never materialize, which is why the universe created the next sign, Capricorn, who can be much more reliable when it comes to delivering the goods.

Even when they miss their mark though, Sagittarians keep searching just like their ancient symbol, the centaur, who was half beast and half human and who spent his time shooting arrows into the great unknown. These are the explorers of life who are restless when settled in the here and now and who come fully alive when moving on to bigger and better things. They want to rise above their animal nature and ascend to a higher plane of existence. Many metaphysicians believe that Planet Earth exists for this very purpose.

The Sagittarian propensity to extrapolate and extend the present as far as the eye can see and the mind can roam makes these individuals persuasive in selling new ideas. Their wholehearted enthusiasm, their jovial optimism and their happy-go-lucky attitude convinces potential buyers that Sagittarius is on to something.

Due to their impatience with routine and their desire to go far and wide to learn about the world first hand, Sagittarians are the long distance travelers of the zodiac. They generally have no resistance to entering unfamiliar territory and adapting to different ways of living. To Sagittarius, this is what enables a person to grow and become more than they were before and it is also what endows someone with wisdom.

Sagittarians adapt well to different cultures. They do not expect a foreign land to be just like home, nor would they want it to be. They usually like the experience of exotic locales and strange customs. What happens on the ground scarcely bothers them because their heads are primarily in the clouds. The same approach operates when they are on more familiar territory–if a situation becomes murky; they rise above it. They are the counterforce to Scorpio, who can get stuck endlessly probing into the motives of others. Sagittarians already know, or at least think they know, what motivates other people. While they can be intolerant of people whom they befriend and who, in their opinion, later resort to shabby standards of conduct, they are open-minded in their attitude toward strangers. Live and let live is their philosophy– when in Rome, they do as the Romans do.

These are the people who love and demand their freedom, and while they can be welcoming and gregarious, they refuse to be tied down. They, in turn, grant that freedom to others. No wonder people love this sign. They are positive, generous, high-minded people and a lot of fun to be around. They lay their truth on the line in a forthright manner, yet they mean no harm when they call it as they see it.

Sagittarians generally enjoy sports and the great outdoors but mainly they want to keep in motion. Confinement of any kind is an agonizing thought, so they keep busting loose from anything or anyone that tries to contain them. When they tie the knot with a partner, somewhere in the back of their mind, it is the other person that is married.

Arrogance is a quality they may have to battle in themselves. They are not the most committed of folks, but they are committed to being right. They might recall the opening scene in the musical film “Carousel”, where the star keeper in heaven summons this man named Billy Bigelow into his office and offers him a chance to return to earth for one day and redeem his life. When Billy expresses his feeling of unworthiness (because he died while falling on his knife during a robbery he attempted), the star keeper assures him by saying, “How do you know how we look at things from up here?”

When Scorpio likes something, it adores it. When it dislikes something, it abhors it. The more evolved types, however, grow to realize that their intense likes and dislikes do not matter to anyone but themselves. Thus, they are wise when they keep their personal opinions quiet, becoming as shrewd as a serpent and as harmless as a dove. The more Scorpio remains silent about their strong feelings, the better off they are and the better off we all are.

To understand Scorpio, it helps to take a look at Pluto, the planet said to be this sign’s ruler.

The planet that rules a sign is the one that has the greatest affinity with that sign. As one astrologer put it, the planet likes to be there. Since Scorpio is about power, the transformational kind, then Pluto must be about transformation as well.

Indeed Pluto is. How interesting that a group of astronomers disqualified Pluto as a member of the planetary family. The selected group of scientists decided that the planet furthest from the Sun was too small to stand alongside the other planets and occupy the same category. An enormous backlash resulted that only made Pluto loom larger in the mind of the masses. Those astronomers underestimated how much people value the planet at the end of the line. Yes, Pluto is a comparatively small body in space; however its astral reality is far greater than its physical size.

In mythology, Pluto was the god of the underworld. Pluto’s realm is where the souls of the dead are tentatively laid to rest after Charon (also the name of one of Pluto’s three known Moons) rows them across the River Styx. Pluto’s mythological name is Hades, a word meaning hidden wealth. It is not the coin of the realm that Pluto is hiding, however, because who needs money after they are dead.

Pluto holds the mystery of life and death in his hot little hands.

More than any other sign, Scorpio has special access to this knowledge only it keeps things under wraps and shares its secrets only with the greatest discretion. Nevertheless, Pluto does not object to revealing part of his mystery because many of us already know that death and immortality are one and the same.

Pluto is a symbol for the magician who has discovered the secret of living forever. This does not mean his current body is permanent but that he can create another body, as soon as he figures out what he wants to do next. Of course, the individual life that reincarnates is not going to be the same as the personality that just died. Nonetheless, as the separate ego disintegrates, Pluto lives on.

At the bottom of every soul, there is a little bit of Pluto. His energy is the core of existence that continues to morph into new materializations. His message is that at the root of being, there is only one life.

Now once you know that at the core you are an eternal spiritual being with magical powers, you really have nothing to worry about.

Scorpios have a passionate desire to beat death at its own game because then they feel they can overcome fear. What they struggle most of their lives to realize is that the sole antidote to fear is love. Not just to desire to incorporate the energy of another, but to love without even having to think about it.

If you are lacking in love, the body you create and the journey you take will be one of deprivation. This is not obvious though. Some people with the greatest amount of material riches are among the most deprived and some who have little in material goods are among the most fulfilled.

Fulfillment is what Scorpio really wants. Comfort, so important to Scorpios opposite sign Taurus, is willingly sacrificed in Scorpio in exchange for a deeper sense of satisfaction.

In addition to being the sign of death and transformation, Scorpio is the sign most associated with sexuality. It is not that Scorpios are any sexier than the other signs, although they are compellingly magnetic because so much of their power is underground.

The reason that Scorpio is linked with sexuality is that the urge to merge is strongest in them. Scorpios can become so psychologically enmeshed with another person that they take on that soul’s karma. Of course, they do so because this is how they have chosen to learn about their own inner depths. They peer into another person’s soul, as their perception carries a laser like intensity that penetrates to the very core. Innately suspicious due to their concern that if they give what they have to give, the other person may not meet them; it may take them a long time for them to open up in a space of trust. Once they do, however, they have one hell of a time letting go. In Leo, loyalty is a virtue. In Scorpio, it is an obsession.

The challenge then is in overcoming the power of emotion and become freer. When it is time to release a relationship that is no longer serving them, Scorpios must kill their desire or else that desire could eventually be the death of them. They have a toxic inclination to control and have power over all they desire. At the same time, they remain vigilant in making sure that no one overpowers them. They are extremely kind and generous to those they care about but they are resentful to those who they feel have betrayed them or are a threat to them in some way. The saying, ‘do not get mad, get even’ must have originated with a Scorpio.

Regardless of how a relationship evolves, Scorpios are never to believe that their experience is anything but subjective. What they have brought out in another is teaching them about themselves. Away from the presence of the Scorpion, the other individual might project something completely different. Scorpio’s participation in a relationship is assisting in evoking the energy the other person is transmitting to them. This is where the transformation takes place as Scorpio realizes everything they experience is a projection of the total universe that lives within them. There is nothing ‘out there’ that is not inside them as well. Ultimately, that is the lesson they are here to teach to the rest of us.

To truly grasp the mystery of life and death, a soul must journey into the underworld, the natural habitat of Pluto, and must pass through the five stages symbolized by the sign of Scorpio.

In the stage of the Scorpion, the soul is entrenched in a conscious struggle for survival and the pressure, much of the time, is close to unbearable. The Scorpion must fight for the right to live and be ready to strike at any perceived threat. Armed with a power to destroy itself with its own body, if the Scorpion senses it is at the mercy of another; it succumbs to suicide. It has been endowed by nature with the power to sting to the death and its resentment towards any other life form presumptuous enough to disturb it is going to cause the Scorpion to use that power–either on its imagined enemy or, if the enemy appears stronger, on itself.

In the stage of the Serpent, the soul sheds the old skin, used in the past for protection, that is now no longer necessary. For in the shedding of skin, the serpent taps into an inner wisdom and grows to realize that fear is the magnet for life-threatening experience. To shed one’s skin is a symbol of letting go of fear and moving into a space of love, a vibrational space so high that fear cannot penetrate it.

In the stage of the Eagle, the soul soars to lofty heights filled with a passionate commitment to master the spirit of gravity. No longer content to crawl in the dust, as it did when it was in the Serpent stage, the soul experiences the divine light flooding every cell of the body, illuminating every thought generated by the mind and enlightening every impulse coming from the heart. The eagle flies higher and higher until the light becomes too bright and the heat too intense to bear and the soul burns out and dies from an overkill of sensory indulgence.

In the stage of the Phoenix, the soul is magically and miraculously resurrected, rising from its own dead ashes. The track the soul has journeyed upon to see, feel and taste the full spectrum of what is humanly possible to experience has now been distilled down and reduced to a path of more manageable proportions. The phoenix is a symbol of self-redemption. It is the threshold stage leading to a life of service as a compassionate healer who sees into the heart of every living thing and knows exactly what needs to take place.

In the final stage of the Dove, the soul has mastered its own ego-driven desire for victory over others and no longer uses its powers of perception to engulf and devour. Instead, the soul who has entered the stage of the Dove has built up an invincible inner strength that can extract the pain from all those who come for healing, transforming darkness into light, anxiety into calm and bitterness into acceptance.