Category Archives: AIDS

HOW I LOST MY SANITY3

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After six to eight working days, I’d met most of the patients. There were five men’s wards and one women’s ward. The wards traveled around the hospital escorted by SHTA’s. One, two, or three wards at a time would meet in the rehab department for recreational/religious services. Many patients found religion while incarcerated. Evangelists, fundamentalists, and self-styled ministers attended every service, along with agnostics, atheists, and heretics. I counted four Jewish patients in the mix. Jewish services were most ludicrous of all. Patients of every shape, size, color, and religious denomination wore yarmulkes (skullcaps) and pretended to chant pigeon Hebrew. For attending religious services, patients received extra rewards such as cigarettes, tea bags, and candy. They also hoped to earn a few brownie points with God and the Forensic Committee when they came up for evaluation.

The next several months were both enlightening and frustrating. It was obvious I needed more clinical training specific to a forensic population. I reached from the Rehab department to make allies on the treatment teams and in the cabinet. Unfortunately, protocol and position are guidelines in public service. If you go directly to someone outside of your department on your own initiative, it can be misconstrued as a breach of faith or as a failure on the part of your supervisor to control her staff. Employees generate truckloads of surplus paperwork and ask permission for everything in writing. Dolores was reprimanded. I felt dejected.

My initial impression of patients was that they were generally dull and apathetic, motivated by bribery or extortion. Cigarettes (nicotine), candy (sugar), tea bags (caffeine), and little packets of Sanka rewarded good behaviors. I believed they were ultimately harmful and destructive. Extortion was punishment for bad behaviors. Having no rewards, no activities, temporary isolation, or mandatory drug treatments is really `Pavlov 101′ in practice.

There were two types of patients. Nearly all had committed acts of violence. Some were there for psychiatric evaluation. Others were assigned for long term care by the court system because they were unfit to stand trial or too mentally and emotionally disturbed to be in a normal prison setting. There were several mass murderers and serial killers. You’d never know it as they appeared meek, apathetic, and ordinary. As they grew to trust me, they revealed hopes, dreams, fears, and tales of intrigue and horror.

I was steadily earning the trust and respect of the rehab staff. I’d read Dolores’s hands. Within a month, I was asked by other staff members to share my insights and observations about them. The rehab staff was caring and well meaning. I observed unhealthy doses of neurosis combined with fear, paranoia, and overdeveloped senses of responsibility, obligation, and guilt. Public service feels thankless and hopeless to many of the staff. I tried to be constructive, helpful, and leave everyone feeling hopeful.

I suggested to Dolores that she practice saying “NO”. I advised Zandor not to react negatively to criticism, even if it’s personal. I nagged Billy (Skinny) to lighten up and see reality as it is and not how he wants it to be. I encouraged Luscious Lips to let go of his guilt, cultivate good habits (like controlling his indulgences), and begin to schedule activities to look forward to in his life. I applauded Barbara’s ability to maintain clear boundaries and thanked her for her honesty with herself and everyone else. I cheered Maya’s energy and enthusiasm. I let her know I supported whatever she wanted for herself. I wanted Janice to clearly see and express herself creatively.

My reputation as a hand analyst spread quickly. Soon, I was in the hospital director’s office reading her hands. Dr. Helga presented a caring and friendly demeanor, but after examining her hands for a couple of minutes, I was positive it was an act. She had the stiffest hands and fingers I’d ever felt, inwardly curving pinkie fingers, and a clear simian line in her dominant hand. Knotty fingers and long index fingers were well suited for a detail-oriented directorship. Helga’s father had been a German SS or gestapo who ran a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. There was no place for emotion in Helga’s formative years. She was calculating, ambitious, and couldn’t tolerate disobedience. She ordered me to never discuss what I saw with anyone and told me in no uncertain terms to stay away from patient hands. I gained insight into the cabinet by reading several members directly and by carefully listening and observing body language at meetings and in casual exchanges without permission.

It took six months to learn the ropes while generating and accumulating huge masses of paperwork and proposals. I was ready to present my syllabus for prevocational classes to the cabinet when the hand of fate unexpectedly intervened. A quirky thing happened. Dolores accidentally caught Janice, the art therapist, in the art supply closet with her skirt up around her ears. She was dispensing her own personal form of emotional and physical therapy to one of the male patients. Janice was fired instantly.

Janice had self-destructed. I’d lucked out. There was no art therapist. I was the only staff member qualified to fill in until another was hired. I knew about art. I didn’t know the first thing about art therapy or forensic psychology. That didn’t seem to faze anybody. I was thrilled to put everything aside to be the new substitute art therapist. I’d finally get to meet patients. Nearly all the patients frequented the art room. It was a chance to play with art materials and express themselves creatively. They could sculpt with clay, draw and paint, make collages, write poetry, and play music. I’d examine their hands, astrology, and experiment with tarot on them. This was an important lesson in human nature and my nature that I’ll never forget.

The art room was small and private (14’X 14′). I was happy about that because in addition to having the potential for intimacy, I was required to inventory every pencil, crayon, scissor, and even staple. These were all considered potentially dangerous weapons. Everything in Rehab was either bolted down or fastened together with special screws and nuts that required special tools to unfasten. Every precaution was taken to protect us from patients and patients from each other and themselves.

One very crazy patient who seriously creeped me out was James. After James’s mother would visit him, staff would find him mutilating his genitals with a paperclip, staple, or whatever he could find that caused damage. James eventually died of AIDS after repeatedly letting other male patients have their way with him sexually. I stayed away from James’s hands, but I do remember ugly brown tobacco stains between the tips of his index and middle fingers from letting cigarettes burn to ash without taking a puff.

I was cautious around patients. I tried to be helpful. I spoke little except when spoken to. I’d sometimes sketch patients. They saw me drawing and sculpting and began asking for artistic advice. I happily provided tips and tricks. It took over six months to locate a new art therapist. During this time, I’d meet a dozen patients who would influence my destiny.

Stay tuned to meet the patients…

Author’s note: If you’ve read the first episode of ‘How I lost my Sanity’, you know my writing is a combo of fact and fiction. Using the same voice as my non-fiction writing may create some confusion. I break rules of grammar and syntax. A generous helping of political and social incorrectness sheds darkness on my protagonist. Made up names and characters from movies parody and give faces to characters in my story. If you have any thoughts, ideas, feelings, suggestions, advice, or whatever about my writing and story, feel free to comment.

How I Lost my Sanity 2

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“The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of understanding.” Hermes

This is a tale of how I tempted fate and lost my sanity. You may think you know your dark side, or you may know someone who has been devoured by theirs, but until you’ve been seduced into madness, breached your sacred boundaries, and tasted the forbidden fruit; you won’t experience the boundless breadths and desperate depths of darkness in your psyche along with the stark realization that you can’t turn back.

Black and white are metaphors for oppositions that fuel our awareness and allegories that guide us between our whitest whites and blackest blacks. Love and hate are extremes of the same basic substance. Like and dislike are varying degrees of gray between black and white. If insanity is black and sanity is white, where does happiness end and misery begin? When does pleasure stop and pain begin?

As a life-long student of craziness, I coveted the opportunity to serve criminally insane people. I might never get another chance. Back in college, I studied Industrial Design. I minored in bizarre psycho-ideologies and isms. As an active member of a twice weekly study group at a Gestalt psychology institute for two years, I whetted my appetite for more knowledge and understanding of human behavior. I finally had a real chance to explore authentic craziness incarnate.

Criminal minds fascinated me. I learned from my study of astrology that each of twelve sun signs has its own unique criminal style. Take this with a grain of salt, but here are a few gross generalizations. Gemini / Mercury rules con artists and pickpockets. Taurus / Venus commits sex crimes and breaches of trust from petty theft to grand larceny. Aries / Mars loves warfare and commit crimes of passion. Sagittarius / Jupiter wears white collars. Capricorn / Saturn rules master criminals. Aquarius / Uranus rules arsonists, terrorists, and unexpected bad shit happening. Pisces / Neptune rules drug dealers and users. Scorpio / Pluto rules seduction, rape, murder, and betrayal. Pluto lustily awaits you at your final destination.

Our outer planetary pictures provide a karmic backdrop for past and future generations of actors and actresses striving to learn their roles. Life is a play of plays. Unconscious creates drama. Subconscious directs plot. Consciousness is stage manager. Sun enlightens. Moon reflects. Mercury connects. Venus senses. Mars energizes. Jupiter expands. Saturn limits. Uranus disrupts, Neptune dissolves, and Pluto destroys. ‘God’ is Master Playwright.

Before proceeding with my vocational classes, I need to regress and provide background material for my year of preparation preceding my choice to teach classes. It may take a couple of posts, but I promise you’ll be glad I did.

I entered the hospital from my first day through guarded locked doors, metal detectors, a bag inspection station, faded institutional beige paint, and buzzing fluorescent lights like parasites that sucked my vital essences. Hospital staff appeared to be the dregs of humanity’s helpers. Most had physical handicaps like limping, scarring, splotching, or gazing in hopeless desperation with myopic eyes. I hoped it wasn’t contagious. I had easy access to patient records and treatment plans. I could attend treatment team meetings with psychologists, social workers, and psychiatrists. It felt too good to be true and it was.

Forensic hospital life is about rules, regulations, and self-defense. There are many more don’ts than do’s. Employees are sworn to secrecy, fingerprinted, and instilled with awkward feelings of mistrust. Orientation had been designed to help new staff members understand the organizational goals, policies, and procedures affecting job safety, security, performance, and delivery of care. We filled out a lot of questionnaires, surveys, and evaluations. We were briefed on the nature, structure, and policies of the facility. We learned about patient rights and privileges, rights and privileges of staff, and hospital policy.

The largest portion of hospital staff were security called SHTA’s. They accompanied patients to every activity. I attended life safety training with them: CPR, First-Aid, and Management of Violent Patient Behavior (MVPB). A violent person could `go off’ and all we could do was to defend ourselves. We weren’t permitted to be aggressive. We were taught Judo style moves by serious martial artists and laughed heartily as we fell, flipped each other on gym mats, and got to know each other. We were encouraged to nickname one another to help us connect. Based on obvious personal peculiarities our nicknames stuck. There was `Skinny’, `Luscious Lips’, `Gigolo’, and `Tortoise’. I was `Smiley’. Forever after, we addressed each other by our nicknames.

Fighting with patients was a scary idea. Despite my comprehensive training in self-defense, I envisioned myself grabbing the nearest chair and clobbering a violent patient over the head in a crisis. I’d be instantly fired and then indicted on criminal charges. Fortunately for everyone, most of the furniture was anchored to the floor or walls with specially designed hardware to prevent that kind of violence.

When I wasn’t watching over my shoulder for violent patients, I was cautioned to be on the lookout for ‘bacterial pathogens’ which cause disease. A lot of patients have hygiene problems and are unhealthy. Samplings are taken regularly from surfaces around the hospital in order to monitor disease. There were patients with AIDS. In 1986, that was scary! What if a patient with AIDS bit a staff member? We were briefed extensively on care and prevention. This job began to seem more than a little risky.

When I first met the patients, they appeared to be the most motley crew nature had ever assembled. They looked like R. Crumb characters. Many had deranged eyes. They were so whacky that I felt like laughing. Some had been given massive doses of thorazine. I couldn’t wait to find out who had done what. I’d heard there were a few notorious celebrities in the mix.

I was given a photo I.D. (I had to wear it at all times) and keys for areas I had access to within the hospital. Keys were given upon entering the hospital and deposited before leaving. Patients observed me with random glimpses, furtive glances, and glaring gazes. They saw me as one more ‘keeper of the keys’ who was attempting to figure them out, discipline, rehabilitate, or fix them. One thing for sure, I wasn’t one of them (yet).

I was directed to sit in on patient activities, assist rehab staff, and familiarize myself with patients. The first few days were uneventful. Important goals were getting the patients to brush their teeth, comb their hair, and to try not to be generally disgusting. Another important goal was to get them to stay awake and participate in activities such as art, music, education classes, and exercise. There were no interesting conversations yet.

The rehab staff consisted of nine members. As Director of Rehab, Dolores was beaten down by too many years in state service. Her sad name complemented her careworn face. A telltale twitch made me wonder whether she was smiling or frowning. Her unhealthy-looking teeth were yellowed from too many cigarettes and too much coffee. A deep raspy voice coughed her words. I was concerned she was ineffective. I was right. Dolores was caring but couldn’t say ‘no’ to anyone. She promised me full health benefits and then let me serve my half-time position by working two ten-hour days while the hospital’s needs would have been better served if my time were spread over three days.

Respiratory, pulmonary, and circulatory health problems could be seen in her bulbous whitish nails. Her square palms and short square fingers revealed a practical nature, while her dry, reddish, dishpan skin had weathered many storms that seemed to endlessly arrive from every direction. Despite our differences, Dolores and I liked each other.

My `other half’ was a furniture maker and restorer named Billy (Skinny). Billy was tall, thin, and bony. He looked like a scruffy middle-aged Abraham Lincoln. Billy was one of the hardest working, enthusiastic, and idealistic persons I’d ever met. Like me, he’d never had ‘a job’. An eccentric renegade from societal rules and regulations, Billy maintained a furniture restoration and refinishing business on the side. Like me, Billy had a hidden agenda. His was unselfish and equally unrealistic. He believed that he could actually rehabilitate lunatics and transform them into functioning members of society.

Billy’s ‘feeling hands’ had rectangular palms and long fingers. A hardness and stiffness ruled his fingers, and knotty joints enhanced his compulsive need to control his physical and mental life. His especially long middle fingers bent towards the top of his ring fingers. Billy had an overdeveloped sense of responsibility, obligation, and guilt. An oversensitive perfectionist, Billy spent endless hours thinking about the best thing to do next.

Billy and I tried to set mutual goals, but my hidden agenda clashed with his righteous cause. Billy wanted to turn patients into furniture restorers. I wanted to help, but I wanted private time with them. Billy committed to creating a sheltered wood working shop. I chose to offer design classes to higher functioning patients. I’d also help Billy set up a workshop that would serve the entire patient population.

The Rehab staff was a smorgasbord of affirmative action. Zandor was Estonian. He was a rehabilitation counselor and second in command. Zandor should have had Dolores’s job, but upper management didn’t want a person they couldn’t control in that position. Zandor’s ‘thinking hands’ correspond to his strong handshake, firm elastic skin, long straight fingers, square fingertips, and open and frank nails. Zandor had also been abused by too many years in state service, but it didn’t break him. He had grievances pending against the Public Employees Union for obvious discrimination against him. Despite unfavorable circumstances, Zandor always presented himself with pride, integrity, and dignity. We became comrades.

Bruce (Luscious Lips) arrived at the same time as Billy and me. His meaty practical hands had square palms and short square fingers that were soft and supple with dominant plump third phalanges. His head and lifelines were tied together at their beginnings. He was a Taurus and a huge procrastinator. Bruce was in charge of recreation. He’d served state social service agencies throughout his entire work experience. Sweet and mild mannered, his desire to make a real difference had dulled from too many years of compliance to authority, rules, and regulations. Bruce had gone as high as he could in institutional politics. He was caring and attentive with the patients but seemed depressed and resigned to mediocrity the rest of the time. The only times Bruce revealed real passion and genuine enthusiasm was when we talked about gourmet food or going fishing together.

Barbara was the schoolteacher on our team. Her goal was to help as many patients as possible reach high school equivalency. She was a large boned middle aged Afro-American woman and a very kind person. I don’t remember her hands except for her large broad nails and the sparse clear lines engraved in her palms. Barbara had spent many years in state service. She was one of a very few state employees who managed to maintain a sense of humor and a life outside of her work. She complained the least of any full-time staff member and always kept her cool. Once during English class, one of the male patients pulled out his huge erect penis and started jerking off. Barbara walked over, looked him straight in his eyes and without raising her voice calmly said, “please excuse yourself and go to the bathroom”. He did. I wished I could have read her report about the incident.

Bob was the librarian. He reminded me of a Spam and Velveeta Cheese on Wonder Bread sandwich. Bob was a real life Walter Mitty. He was helpful when asked, but most of the time, gazed into the distance under thick lens wire rimmed glasses. As I think of him, I can still feel his cool damp mashed potato hand shake that confirmed a total lack of will power, energy, and enthusiasm.

Andrew was art therapist when I arrived. His tenure was short. The only thing I recall about him is that he sent his estranged daughter a gross of condoms for her sixteenth birthday. He quipped in his southern drawl, “If she’s going to do it, might as well be safe.” The new art therapist was Janice. She was an unsuccessfully aging frustrated starving artist in need of a steady income. There was a frequent staff turnover for art therapists.

Maya was recreational therapist. She was young, very private, and a very athletic Afro-American woman. Maya managed sports activities and the patient newspaper, the Scene. All of the staff liked Maya. Patients loved her. Her powerful ‘intuitive hands‘ were well suited for sports like football, soccer, and wrestling. Everyone thought Maya was gay, but that was nobody’s business.

I was a card-carrying member of a band of misfits in search of a fit. On the whole, I liked the rehab staff and felt like I was becoming part of a team. I looked forward to our working together and began to imagine that we might actually make a real difference…

SAGITTARIUS & PSYCHE

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Collective psyche overrules personal psyche. Fate or Destiny? Nature or Nurture? Whatever your astrological symbolism says about you, a tsunami, tornado, hurricane, earthquake, flood, drought, pandemic, war, or banana peel can transform your psyche.

Twelve basic character types are featured in astrology. Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto symbolize family, friends, and enemies and embodies a collective consciousness that includes beliefs, behaviors, and interpersonal relationships. Humanity’s patterns correspond to conditions and positions of inner and outer planets that embody ideologies and circumstances that seed and catalyze outer and inner change. We can choose to see, know, and be our behavior, values, thinking, feelings, will, health, relationships, creativity, philosophy, purpose, dreams and fears, and spirituality.

A Moment in Time & Space

Astrology has endless permutations and combinations of details. Each and every detail means something, but until you’ve decided on basic character type and context, details are superficial. The meaning of any detail can change because of the question asked and the balance of elements, planets, signs, houses, and aspects. Adding stars, asteroids, and man-made points to a natal chart can make accurate interpretation impossible.

In my metaphysical practice, I examine every detail within the context of the whole picture and every other detail at the same time. Comparing and contrasting symbolic details and combinations of details is vital for observing, examining, and analyzing human behavior. One danger in interpreting isolated details out of context is in substituting one form of predetermination for another by reducing individuality to cookbook formulas. That’s what most readers do. It’s the primary reason I don’t make predictions. Free-will rules. We get to choose what we think and how we feel no matter what is happening. Canned readings may be a good place to start, but they’re no substitute for time and experience. Other people’s ideologies, opinions, and generalizations should not be taken literally or too seriously.

I’m writing this on 12/2/2022. Sun, Mercury, and Venus are comfortable in Sagittarius. A frustrated Mars is battling a lot of misinformation and dealing with too much Gemini bullshit. Mars is trying to communicate with siblings, but instead, he’s creating tension for everyone. Mars rules energy, sports, and military under Saturn’s decisions, missions, and guidance. Saturn in Aquarius is trying to choose healthy ideologies, values, and thinking.

Uranus transited Aries during the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and passed through Taurus 1935~1942. That period symbolized a destabilization of foundations, structures, economies, institutions, and values. Focusing on values forced many people to question materialism. The USA went off the gold standard. President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. Labor organized, forming unions that went on strike and engaged in sit-downs across the nation. There was strength in solidarity. Roosevelt defended the Four Essential Freedoms: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. Having Real Faith might have prevented the human race from racing so randomly, recklessly, and desperately against and toward bad shit happening.

Neptune & Jupiter are happiest in Sagittarius & Pisces. Friendship thrives where and when imagination, vision, and spirit are openly shared. Jupiter is naturally generous. He also attracts excess and greed. Jupiter can make you believe anything. His voice is designed to persuade. Neptune can be a martyr, savior, or saint. He can also be a liar, crook, or master criminal. Together, Jupiter and Neptune can heal the widening gap between haves and havenots. Neptune must shed the veil of illusion and delusion while Jupiter takes the reigns of confusion, collusion, and irresolution, and redirects us to clarity, inclusion, and resolution. Haves must share wealth with havenots for the betterment of mankind and for our world. Pluto in Capricorn will expose secrets that need to be seen. Pluto can transform business in ways that bring humans together instead of irreconcilably dividing them through partisan Politics, Business, and Religion. How can we transform fear into courage and hate into love? Is it possible to truly balance our outer circumstances with our inner worlds?

Uranus transited Sagittarius from 1981-1988. Politics became more accessible to females. Sandra D. O’Connor became the first Woman elected to the Supreme Court. Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman nominated by the Democratic Party for Vice President. Benazir Bhutto became the first Muslim female prime minister in Pakistan’s first free election since 1977.

Uranus brings sudden and unexpected upheaval and disaster. The space shuttle Challenger exploded on takeoff in 1986, while millions watched in horror on their TV screens. Ronald Reagan created “Star Wars”, an absurd and overly expensive national defense idea. Greenpeace’s flagship, Rainbow Warrior, was bombed while protesting France’s nuclear testing. George Bush Sr. was the first sitting Vice President elected as president since 1836. IBM introduced personal PCs. AT&T’s communication monopoly ended via a powerful combo of Anti-Trust Laws & the Department of Justice in 1974.

In 2018, Donald Trump announced a sixth branch of our military services that organizes, trains, and equips space forces in order to protect US. and allied interests in space and to provide space capabilities to the joint force. Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, Uranus in Taurus, and Neptune in Pisces represent fundamental conflicts and issues like ‘money vs values’ and ‘religion vs spirituality’. We must find and embrace healthy resolutions and actions for all mankind and for our planet.

Neptune transited Sagittarius from 1970 to 1984. The idealism of the 60’s turned to pessimism with a marked lack of trust in national institutions. The war in Vietnam united masses of skeptical angry protesters, who were ready for confrontation. The Arab oil embargo created a major energy crisis in 1973 to finally ‘teach’ the USA not to take energy for granted. We keep forgetting to remember to observe the handwriting on our walls!

Gas is expensive, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the economic and social consequences of unbridled public and personal abuses of precious natural resources. Raising prices is essential to increasing profits. Fossil fuel profiteers have prevented energy independence by controlling and manipulating natural resources that no private individuals should own. Controversial pipelines are endangering our environment with long range consequences for our bodies, souls, and body and soul of our planet!

SALMAN RUSHDIE

Sagittarius rules publishing and religion. In 1989, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini sentenced Salman Rushdie to death after publishing The Satanic Verses. Rushdie’s tales of good and evil incited riots in India and book burnings in England. His literary success fueled an ocean of fear and stirred teeming cauldrons of Islamic hatred! After 23 years of threats, on August 12, 2022, a man stabbed novelist Salman Rushdie multiple times as he was about to give a public lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York.

Religion without Spirituality

Donald Trump attracted and motivated masses of Evangelicals, Holocaust deniers, White supremacists, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religious fundamentalists who embraced the dark force. Having a bible in one hand and an AK in the other is not about GOD! It’s no surprise that Trump was inaugurated on Jan 20, 2017 while Uranus was in Aries.

Sun, Mercury, and Venus in Sagittarius opposing Gemini and Mars is a good time to shift our values and philosophies from profit over people to social justice and equality for all. It makes good sense to care for and nurture everyone and everything.

Neptune rules false prophets, illusion, delusion, deception, and victimization. Richard Nixon was the first President to announce his resignation while Neptune was in Scorpio in 1974. New York was the first city to be bailed out of bankruptcy by the federal government in 1975. Neptune can also be imaginary and visionary. A religious paradigm shifted when the Catholic Church elected its first non-Italian pope in four centuries. Mother Theresa accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in the name of the poor. In 1979, Televangelist Jerry Falwell founded the ‘Moral Majority’. It became an ‘Immoral Majority’ sometime prior to January 20th of 2001. Pluto in Sag brought Donald Trump to politics. A natal Mercury (11th house) square Neptune (2nd house) aspect can be interpreted as pretending to be your friend to get your money. Inwardly curved pinkie fingers confirm Donald lies. He doesn’t realize the difference. Don grifted us until Jan 6 2021 when Pluto in Capricorn, Neptune in Pisces, and Uranus in Taurus raised mass conscience, no longer permitting Don to piss on humanity.

Authors Note: Not everyone with curved pinkies is a liar. Many learned to behave in ways that worked in early childhood and are still trying to be themselves. Old habits die hard.

Neptune rules chemicals and drugs. The first test-tube baby was conceived without a womb when Neptune was in Leo in 1978. Genetic engineering generated new horrors for theologians, religious fundamentalists, and ideological extremists. Environmental activists protested industries creating “Acid Rain”. ‘Three Mile Island’ fiasco derailed several major nuclear energy projects in 1979. The World Health Organization announced an end to smallpox. Crack cocaine became popular. A deadly sexual epidemic was officially named AIDS in 1981. Fear of an eventual pandemic spread. Covid 19 was official on Mar 11 2020. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto were in Capricorn. Aggression and gun control dominated personal and collective psyche. A dark side of Uranus in Taurus & Neptune in Pisces is a constant flow of blame and denial from extremist ideologies that catalyzed an insurrection on Jan 6 2021.

Pluto transited Sagittarius from 1995 to 2008. Political extremism, corporate greed, religious fanaticism, white supremacy, Second amendment rights, fundamentalism, and terrorism germinated quickly in fertile soil, transforming politics, business, and religion. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing law student. Pluto was in Sag and Sun was in Scorpio. The Middle East peace process was disrupted. President Clinton resumed diplomatic relations with communist Vietnam. In July 1997, Great Britain let go of Hong Kong. Hundreds of thousands of Black Men flocked to Washington to march for freedom. It was the first time in 40 years Republicans controlled congress. Y2K was not end time. People woke up, brushed their teeth, and went to work.

Sex scandals rocked the Catholic Church in 1995. The House of Representatives impeached and later acquitted Bill Clinton for lying about his sex life. Two students killed themselves after murdering twelve students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton Colorado. The Unabomber was caught and sentenced to life in prison. Oklahoma City bombing established large-scale American terrorism on our soil. On 9/11, government power transformed, giving leaders permission to supersede human rights and civil liberties. Political machines preempted war without world consent. In 2022, lairs of corporate foxes tended hen houses while packs of political wolves herded sheep. Sacred cows gave birth to golden calves.

Saturn began his journey through Sagittarius on December 23, 2014. Pluto was visiting his siblings in eleven other homes for twenty-eight years prior to that. Astrologers predicted Saturn would wield a sobering influence on society as he transited Sagittarius to Capricorn. Saturn’s natural process is accepting responsibility, laying foundations, building structures, and being methodical, disciplined, and focused. Saturn rules bureaucracy, business, energy, transportation, education, communications, food, housing, healthcare, law, politics, and religion. Father Time asks us to remember, to be here now, and to plan as far into the future as possible.

Sagittarius rules transportation. He loves prestige, luxury, power, and status. He leaves racing for Aries and showing off for Leo. The Lords of the automobile industry must shift their paradigms of profit before people to people first. Transportation must be designed from a more spiritual perspective. Guzzling fossil fuels is unsustainable. Do we really need hundreds of horses galloping under our hoods?

Perpetuating illusions that overly expensive gas guzzling cars are glamorous, maintains delusions that it’s OK to deplete our planet’s natural resources and poison everyone and everything. Car companies pretend their products are healthy! We must rethink what healthy transportation will be for our future. Raising mass consciousness will profit humanity and our planet. We can no longer get away with substituting money for values and religion for spirituality.

Whether our planet warms, cools, floods, quakes, droughts, burns, or is blown by giant winds, fossil fuel prices still remain artificially repressed. Legislation and energy umbilical cords prevent sustainable energy minded competitors from building sound structures on solid foundations. Fuel efficient, non-polluting, practical, and economical mass transit is essential to creating a healthy world and economy. We must cut our energy demands and costs while thinking globally and acting locally. Transportation must reform and transform.

We go wherever and whenever we want in the comfort and safety of our cars. Our hidden costs are insidious, usurious, and deceitful as we guzzle gas, fight oil wars, deplete and squander finite resources, and poison Mom’s body, circulatory, and respiratory systems.

Too much carbon dioxide, monoxide, and toxic gases hover in space and time by degree. Smoke, smog, chemical, and human waste poison our oceans, reservoirs, rivers, streams, and faucets. A pandemic of pestilential pollution binds to the walls of our veins and coagulates in our arteries like cholesterol on its way to a coronary. Highways and roads are like varicose veins feeding bloated glands that nourish cancerous sores we call cities. It’s time to shift our usurious paradigms and steer ourselves clear from death and destruction toward a hopeful future characterized by clear intent, healthy values, critical thinking, honest feelings, right use of will, good physical health, honest relationships, freedom to explore and understand our fears, creativity, philosophy, purpose, dreams, and spirituality.

Greed and avarice are symptoms of poisonous partisan political philosophies, flawed fundamentalist faiths, extremist social ideologies, and too many desperate people. As we wander through barren deserts and toxic wastelands, too many unhealthy psyches with too many guns and second amendment rights are worshipping sacred cows and praying to golden calves. Why are we trading money for values and substituting religion for spirituality?

Why must we lose what we value to value what we had? Jupiter transited Sagittarius this year, shamelessly flaunting greed in capitalism and revealing present and future costs of climate change. Choosing healthy values and accepting full responsibility for being healthy and happy is Spiritual Alchemy! Our fate is unknown; however, our destiny is in our hands.

Uranus transits Taurus May 14, 2018 ~ Nov 7, 2025. Time for rebirth, to make sense, to accept responsibility, and to choose courage, strength, grace, and wisdom. Combining truth with nobility, dignity, integrity, ethics, and virtue will heal everyone and everything. How can we see the forest from the trees? Can we all become healthier in more sustainable ways? “The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of understanding”. Hermes

VIRGO~HANDS~HEALTH

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“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”  Stephen King (Virgo ~ 9/21/47)

You don’t need a Virgo Sun, Moon, planets, aspects, or planetary placements to be Virgo. Practical types (Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo) have square palms and short fingers. Virgo is a mutable modality and the most adaptable of all three types. Virgo often has strong middle and pinkie fingers, dominant middle phalanges, and square fingertips. Virgo hands are much more flexible than Taurus hands. Their skin is more pink and elastic than Capricorn with whitish flat palms and developed first knots on lean stiff closely held fingers, embodying a frugal and pragmatic character.

CROOKED FINGERS

Virgos are frequently accused of being critical. They can be, but they can also be their own worst critics. Their methodical approach and need for natural order is embodied in their square palms and fingertips. Large second knots and short fingernails add order, preciseness, utility, and purpose. Middle fingers that lean or crook toward ring fingers strive for perfection and need personal space. Fire rising or watery moon have less knotty and crooked fingers. Intuition and feeling adds passion, inspiration, and empathy to practicality. Chewed nails are self-critical and critical of others. Nails bitten to the quick embody a contrary person who chooses another side of an argument, just to make a point, even if they agree with you. Grilled lines beneath middle fingers confirm frustration and lack of satisfaction.

Famous for cleaning up everyone else’s messes, Virgo obsesses on details. Contrary to popular belief, Virgo doesn’t like details. They’re thorough and meticulous, but need to see the whole picture. Virgo is happiest and most desirable where reliable, modest, orderly, and discriminating service is required.

Short fingered folk (Practical & Intuitive) generally dislike details. Details are a nuisance. Others can do them better, but who can do them better than Virgo? Virgo selflessly rationalizes and wills herself to do what must be done. She knows her value, but asks too much of or too little for herself. Others must value and appreciate her. Virgo works hard to be useful. Never take a Virgo for granted. Virgo is symbolic of the harvest time.

Virgos who have worked hard and have been rewarded for their efforts are Agatha Christie, Leonard Cohen, Alan Dershowitz, Marcia Clark, J.P. Morgan, Warren Buffet, Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, Sophia Loren, Paul Walker, Keanu Reeves, Cameron Diaz, Michael Jackson, Beyonce’, Margaret Trudeau, Lyndon Johnson, George Wallace, Yasser Arafat, and John McCain (Taurus hands). John’s short index finger, conical tip, prominent knots between phalanges, and a thick 3rd phalanx made him a bundle of contradictions. His slightly crooked pinky with intuitive tip says ‘what you see is not what you get’. Few knew John’s secret truths.

“The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of understanding” Hermes

HERMES

Mercury, (Hermes) winged messenger, holds a caduceus (medicine). Virgo rules healthcare. Virgo is earthy, practical, and represents the technical aspects of thinking. Feminine in gender, Virgo is empathetic, logical, healthy, and helpful. Gemini is masculine, intellectual, and clever. Gemini rules communications, thinking, and wit. Imagination and thinking must be balanced through practical action. This Gemini needs Virgo friends, city, and country homes to maintain his sanity and create the balance and harmony needed now and always to overcome darkness.

You can see everything in hands! This is true and not true. A hand is a small space for a large life. A seasoned palmist can see many things, but it’s not what you see, but what you say and how you say it that matters. When you’re focusing on something specific, combinations of qualities and markings will confirm your search. I began practicing palmistry in my early thirties. A young man showed up one day asking “When am I going to die?” He was a Virgo, healthy, well proportioned, energetic, smart, and multi-talented. He appeared in perfect health. His well-balanced square palms were pink and firm with short straight fingers. Pink elastic skin, resilient palms, flexible wrists, and mildly flexible finger joints revealed a healthy balance between purpose, determination, and adaptability. Basic lines were clear and deeply engraved. What a lucky man, I thought, but fate had chosen a different future for him with AIDS as his life focus.

AIDS was a death sentence at the time. I hadn’t a clue how to see the dis-ease. Nothing stood out. I lacked the experience to counsel him. “I’m sorry, only god can answer your question”, I awkwardly replied. “You’re a naturally healthy person. If anyone can beat this, you can.” I lauded his positive qualities, but he didn’t want to hear that. We chatted, like friends, about what he planned to do. He wanted to be proactive. I helped him plan a future of healthy food, exercise, sleep, honesty, meaningful relationships, and quality time management.

My curiosity and desire to make a difference inspired me to volunteer at Bailey House, an AIDS housing organization. I showed up 2X weekly for 2 years to examine hands, share astrology, and interpret tarot cards for clients and staff. Metaphysics was my lens for viewing their issues and challenges. My job was to help them choose what’s next. In the final analysis, I entertained, listened, and cared for whoever was there at the time.

I printed hands in the AIDS community monthly to monitor the progress and regress of the disease. Lack of adequate funding, limited time, and not enough statistical data made it impossible for me to be thorough or scientific. I did notice changes in skin ridge patterns on the percussion of the hand. Ridges got smoother and began to disappear as a person got sicker. People with AIDS suppress their potentials because they obsess on the harsh realities of their impending mortality. I supported their talents and strengths and inspired some to continue making positive choices and taking meaningful actions.

Anyone can learn to examine and reflect on their hands and the hands of others. Hands are mirrors that empower us be true to ourselves and each other. Once you’re good at interpreting hands, you can be your own best friend and bullshit detector. Hands are morphological and topographical maps of character. Hands reveal our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. In the days before computerized medical diagnosis, doctors combined knowledge, experience, and intuition to diagnose illness as they tasted a patient’s urine, looked into their eyes, examined their tongue, skin, and especially scrutinized their hands.

Fingernails are windows to a person’s health. Anemia, thyroid disease, malnutrition, carpal tunnel syndrome, psoriasis, eczema, liver disease, heart, lungs, colon, chronic respiratory disease, lymph system problems, diabetes, Raynaud’s disease, high blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcers, Hodgkin’s disease, and sickle-cell anemia can be seen in nails.

Few palmists actually diagnose illness. Most of us observe symptoms. When I see a potential health problem, I let the person know I’m not a medical palmist and suggest they see a specialist. Dozens of stress related illnesses and several types of cancer can be seen in the ‘dermatoglyphics’ (skin ridge patterns) of hands. Conditions of lines can indicate conditions of heart, brain, kidneys, liver, and stomach in males and females.

Health challenges are natural predispositions to specific character types. Know the type and understand the corresponding potential health challenge. The following list of health issues are gross generalizations that correspond to a person’s dominant astrological sign and hand features. You can click on links to learn more about how a finger is dominant, what that means, and about other features and qualities embodied in hands.

Dominant index finger ~ Sagittarius ~ blood disorders, liver trouble, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, problems with hips, thighs, throat, and temptations to overindulge in rich foods and drinks.

Dominant middle finger ~ Capricorn ~ skin problems, teeth with age, knees, ligaments, secretion of bile, skeletal wear, tear, and misalignment, left ear deafness, paralysis, rheumatism, gout, hardening of the arteries, hemorrhoids, and varicose veins.

Dominant ring finger ~ Leo ~ eyesight, heart, and blood circulation.

Dominant pinkie ~ Gemini ~ nervous system, bronchial, and respiratory systems, thyroid gland, headaches, memory loss, and speech impediments.

Dominant ball of thumb ~ Taurus ~ throat, lymphatic system, venereal diseases, heart, circulation, and worry.

Dominant heel of hand ~ Cancer ~ bodily fluids, stomach, tumors, female disorders, epilepsy, mucous membranes, gout, rheumatism, kidney, bladder, and mental illness.

Dominant thumb and percussion of hand ~ Aries ~ inflammations, acute fevers, blood diseases, infections, muscular disorders, hemorrhage, infectious and contagious diseases, throat and chest trouble, and high blood pressure.

Peripheral lines on heel of hand ~ Scorpio ~ reproductive system, ruptures, hemorrhoids, ulcers, venereal diseases, and problems with prostate or urethra.

Nails and qualities of lines ~ Aquarius ~ ankle weakness, anemia, cramps, heart weaknesses, nervous diseases, varicose veins, and sensitive skin.

Pointed finger tips / yellow skin / islands on health line ~ Pisces ~ problems with feet, toes, bunions, gout, colds, mucous discharges, tumors, addictions, and liver trouble.

SAGITTARIUS & PSYCHE

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Outer planets transform personal and collective psyche and catalyze corresponding outer worldly changes as they transit the signs of our zodiac. Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto revolutionized, reformed, and transformed 20th Century Sagittarius. Psycho-social paradigms of politics, commerce, and religion shifted radically and dramatically.

Uranus transited Sagittarius from 1981-1988. Politics became accessible to females. Sandra D. O’Connor became the first Woman elected to the Supreme Court. Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman nominated by the Democratic Party for Vice President. Benazir Bhutto became the first female prime minister of a Muslim country in Pakistan’s first free election since 1977.

Uranus brings sudden and unexpected upheaval and disaster. The space shuttle Challenger exploded on takeoff in 1986, while millions watched in horror on their TV screens. Ronald Reagan created “Star Wars”, an absurd and overly expensive national defense idea. Greenpeace’s flagship, Rainbow Warrior, was bombed while protesting France’s nuclear testing. George Bush Sr. was the first sitting Vice President elected as president since 1836. IBM introduced personal PCs. AT&T’s communication monopoly ended via Anti-Trust and Department of Justice in 1974.  

Sagittarius rules publishing and religion. In 1989, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini sentenced Salman Rushdie to death after publishing The Satanic Verses. Rushdie’s tales of good and evil incited riots in India and book burnings in England. His literary success fueled an ocean of fear and stirred teeming cauldrons of Islamic hatred!

Neptune transited Sagittarius from 1970 to 1984. The idealism of the 60’s transformed to pessimism with a marked lack of trust in national institutions. The war in Vietnam united masses of skeptical angry protestors, ready for confrontation. The Arab oil embargo created a major energy crisis in 1973 that ‘taught’ US not to take energy for granted. We believe gas is expensive, and yet ownership of energy sources, uses, and abuses drive western gas prices artificially lower than they should be.  Raising gas prices is essential to increasing profits and catalyzing openings of controversial pipelines that endanger our environment; however, no matter how expensive fossil fuels become; they’re cheap compared to the costs of long range consequences of their misuse for our world and souls!

Neptune rules false prophets, delusion, deception, and victimization. Richard Nixon was the first President to announce his resignation in 1974. New York was the first city to be bailed out of bankruptcy by the federal government in 1975. A religious paradigm shifted when the Catholic Church elected its first non-Italian pope in four centuries. Mother Theresa accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in the name of the poor. In 1979, Televangelist Jerry Falwell founded the ‘Moral Majority’, which became the ‘Immoral Majority’ sometime prior to January 20th 2001.

Neptune can be imaginary, illusionary, and visionary. Neptune rules chemicals and drugs. The first test-tube baby was conceived out of a womb in Leo in 1978. Genetic engineering generated new horrors for theologians, religious fundamentalists, and ideological extremists. Environmental activists protested industries that created “Acid Rain”. The ‘Three Mile Island’ fiasco derailed several major nuclear energy projects in 1979. The World Health Organization announced an end to smallpox. Crack cocaine became popular. A deadly sexual epidemic was officially named AIDS in 1981. Fear of eventual pandemic spread.

My parody of original

Pluto transited Sagittarius from 1995 to 2008, transforming politics, big business, and religion. Political extremism, corporate greed, religious fanaticism, white supremacy, 2nd amendment rights, fundamentalism, and strategic terrorism flourished and thrived in fertile soil. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing law student. The Middle East peace process was disrupted. Great Britain finally let go of Hong Kong. President Clinton resumed diplomatic relations with communist Vietnam. Hundreds of thousands of Black Men flocked to Washington to march for freedom. It was the first time in 40 years Republicans controlled congress. Y2K was not end time.

Author’s Note: The NYT Millennium issue queried various metaphysical prognosticators with good reputations what will happen when 1999 becomes 2000. They published half a dozen predictions. Mine was that on January 2nd, we wake up, brush our teeth, and go to work!

Sex scandals rocked the Catholic Church.  The House of Representatives impeached and later acquitted Bill Clinton for lying about his sexploits. Two students killed themselves after murdering twelve students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton Colorado. The Unabomber was caught and sentenced to life in prison. Oklahoma City bombing established large-scale American terrorism on our soil. On 9/11, government power transformed, giving leaders permission to supersede human rights and civil liberties. Political machines preempted war without world consent. Lairs of corporate foxes tended the hen houses while packs of political wolves herded the sheep. Sacred cows birthed golden calves.

Saturn began its journey through Sagittarius on December 23, 2014, after twenty-eight years of visiting eleven other signs and houses. Astrologers predicted Saturn would wield a sobering influence on society as it transited from Sagittarius to Capricorn. Saturn’s process is about embracing responsibility and choosing structure, discipline, and focus. Saturn rules bureaucracy, big business, and established institutions including transportation, communications, food, housing, healthcare, law, politics, and religion. Father Time asks us to be here and now.  

Sagittarius rules transportation. Sagittarians love prestige and luxury and choose power and status. They leave racing to Aries and showing off to Leo. The lords of cars must shift the paradigm of profit before people. Industry must become more spiritual in its outlook and truthful in its actions. Guzzling fossil fuels is unsustainable. Do we truly need hundreds of horses galloping under our hoods?

Perpetuating an illusion that overly expensive powerful gas guzzling cars are glamorous, maintains a delusion that it’s OK to deplete our planet’s natural resources and poison our environment. Car companies pretend their products are healthy! One responsibility of transportation is rethinking the future of transportation, like creating led light, clean energy, inexpensive communications, and global good health. Raising mass consciousness is profitable for humanity and our planet.

As our planet warms, cools, floods, quakes, droughts, burns, and is blown by giant winds, fossil fuel prices remain artificially repressed, while legislation prevents sustainably minded competitors from building sound structures on solid foundations. We must cut our energy umbilical cords and think globally while acting locally. Fuel efficient, non-polluting, practical, and economical mass transportation is essential to creating a healthy world and economy. Energy, Transportation, and Communications must be transformed concurrently.

We go wherever and whenever we want in the comfort and safety of our cars. Hidden costs are usurious, insidious and deceitful. We guzzle gas, fight oil wars, deplete, squander, and waste finite resources, and poison our mother’s body, circulatory, and respiratory systems. Too much carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other toxic waste hover everywhere in space and time and by degree. Smoke, smog, and other human waste poison our oceans, reservoirs, rivers, streams, and tributaries. Pestilential pollution sticks to the walls of our veins and coagulates in our arteries like cholesterol on its way to a coronary. Our highways and roads are like varicose veins feeding bloated glands that nourish the cancerous sores we call cities. We must shift our usurious false paradigms, and steer ourselves from death and destruction toward a hopeful future characterized by clear intent, healthy values, critical thinking, honest feelings, right use of willpower, good physical health, honest relationships, and freedom to explore our creativity, philosophy, purpose, dreams, fears, and spirituality.  

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The human race has become a race against bad shit happening. Why do we wander across barren deserts and toxic wastelands? Greed and avarice are symptoms of poisonous partisan political philosophies, flawed fundamentalist religious doctrines, extremist social ideologies, and too many erratic personalities. Too many unhealthy psyches are running around with too many guns and second amendment rights. Why do we aimlessly worship sacred cows and hopelessly pray to golden calves? Trading money for values and substituting religion for spirituality has never worked. Lies are fueling humanity’s race toward bad shit happening. Loving is one answer, but beware loving too much or your frightened neighbors will nail you to a cross and make a martyr out of you.     

Hermes teaches us that our destiny is in our hands. “The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of understanding”. Jupiter transited Sagittarius this past year, unveiling the greed of capitalism and revealing the real present and future costs of climate change. Why must we lose what we value to value what we had? We must choose healthy values and accept full responsibility for being our healthiest selves while creating a healthier world for all.

Why don’t we see the forest from the trees? How can we be healthier in more sustainable ways? Uranus transits Taurus May 14, 2018 ~ Nov 7, 2025. I pray for a rebirth of practical good sense, accepting responsibility, choosing courage, strength, grace, and wisdom, and embracing truth, nobility, dignity, integrity, ethics, and virtue.

VIRGO, HANDS, & HEALTH

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“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”  Stephen King (Virgo ~ 9/21/47)

You don’t need a Virgo Sun, Moon, planets, aspects, or planetary placements to be a Virgo. Strong middle finger phalanges with square tips dominate square palms with short fingers. Virgo hands are less meaty and more flexible than Taurus  and more elastic than Capricorn, with pinkish flat palms, well- developed first knots, and very lean fingers. Virgo is the most adaptable of all three practical types.

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Virgo is known for their methodical ‘hands on’ approach to being natural. No matter the type, square fingertips, large second knots, and short fingernails add order and practicality. Strong crooked middle fingers that lean toward ring fingers at first joints strive for perfection and need personal space. Virgo is known for being critical. Many are mainly self-critical. Fire rising or a watery moon gives them inspiration, passion, and empathy. People who chew their nails are self-critical or critical of others (many lines crisscrossing beneath the middle finger). Nails bitten to the quick are contrary and will choose the other side of an argument, just to make a point, even if they agree with you.

Virgo is happiest where discriminating, reliable, modest, and orderly service is required. Famous for cleaning up everyone else’s messes, Virgo can obsess on details while being overly thorough and meticulous. Contrary to popular belief, Virgo doesn’t like details. Short fingered people (Practical & Intuitive) dislike details and prefer to see the whole picture. Details are a nuisance; something others should do, but few can do them better than Virgo, who selflessly rationalizes their distaste and drive themselves to do whatever needs to be done. They often ask too little for themselves. Ironically, they know their value, but are reticent to ask for it. Ego gratification is not their motivation. Virgos work hard to feel useful. Never take a Virgo for granted. They cherish every molecule of what they truly earn, but must be valued and appreciated. Accounting, medical, nursing, social work, maintenance, cleaning, and health food are career magnets for Virgo.

Some Virgos have worked hard and been rewarded for their efforts. Writers like Agatha Christie & Leonard Cohen; Lawyers Alan Dershowitz & Marcia Clark; Financiers J.P. Morgan & Warren Buffet; Actors Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, Sophia Loren, Paul Walker, Keanu Reeves, and Cameron Diaz; Singers Michael Jackson & Beyonce’; Political figures Margaret Trudeau, Lyndon Johnson, George Wallace, Yasser Arafat, & John McCain (who’s hands are Taurus). McCain’s stubborn short index finger, slightly crooked pinky, and intuitive tips say ‘what you see is not what you get’. Few have truly known his truths.

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Mercury, the winged messenger, holds a caduceus (medicine), ruled by Virgo (healthcare). Gemini rules communications and wit. Virgo is earthy and practical. She represents more scientific, technical, and empathetic aspects of thinking and feeling. Virgo is feminine in gender, logical and healthy. Gemini is masculine, intellectual, and cleverer. Imagination is more compatible with Gemini than practicality.

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While I was practicing palmistry in my early thirties, a virile young man showed up one day, asking “When will I die?” He was a Virgo, healthy looking, well proportioned, energetic, smart, and multi-talented craftsman. He appeared to have excellent health. Well-balanced square palms were pink and firm with short straight fingers. Pink elastic skin, resilient palms, flexible wrists, and mildly flexible finger joints revealed a healthy balance between determination and adaptability. His basic lines were clear and deeply engraved. How lucky he is, I thought, but fate had sealed a different future for him because he had AIDS.

AIDS was a death sentence at the time. I couldn’t see his illness. Nothing stood out. I also lacked experience to counsel him. I said, “I’m sorry, only god knows the answer to your question. You’re a naturally healthy person. If anyone can beat this disease, you can.” Awkwardly, I grasped at his positive qualities, but he didn’t want to hear them. We chatted about what he planned to do. He wanted to be proactive. I helped him decide to build a regimen of healthy diet, aerobic exercise, peaceful sleep, more meaningful relationships, and more quality time management.

My curiosity about AIDS and desire to make a difference inspired me to volunteer weekly at Bailey House, AIDS housing organization. I showed up twice weekly for two years to read hands, astrology, and tarot cards for clients and staff. I used metaphysics as a lens to view their issues and challenges in a symbolic way to help them choose what’s next.

I printed hands from the AIDS community monthly to monitor the progress or regress of the disease. I began noticing changes in skin ridge patterns on the percussion of hands. Lack of adequate funding, limited time, and not enough statistical data made it difficult for me to be thorough or scientific. Most people with AIDS suppress their potentials because they obsess on the harsh realities of a very fragile impending mortality. I affirmed their talents and strengths and inspired them to continue making positive choices and taking meaningful actions. We looked forward to our weekly sessions.

Your health is in your hands. In the days before computerized medical diagnosis, doctors used their intuition, tasted a patient’s urine, looked into their eyes, and examined their tongue, skin, and especially their hands to diagnose illness. Hands reflect a person’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. I encourage seekers to examine and reflect on their own hands and the hands of people they care about. Hands are a mirror of a person.

Fingernails are windows to a person’s health. Illnesses can be seen in fingernails. Anemia, thyroid disease, malnutrition, carpal tunnel syndrome, psoriasis, eczema, liver disease, heart, lungs, colon, chronic respiratory disease, lymph system problems, diabetes, Raynaud’s disease, high blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcers, Hodgkin’s disease, and sickle-cell anemia are some of them.

Dozens of stress related problems and types of cancer can be seen in skin ridge patterns (dermatoglyphics). Conditions of lines indicate conditions of heart, brain, kidneys, liver, and stomach in male and female systems. Palmistry is prescriptive, but should never be used to diagnose or prescribe. When I observe a potential health problem in a person’s hands, I let them know I’m not a medical palmist and suggest they see a specialist.

Many health problems are natural predispositions to specific character types. Know the type and understand the corresponding potential health problems. Here’s a generalized list of health issues that correspond to a person’s dominant astrological signs and hand features. Click links to learn when and how a finger is dominant and what other qualities in addition to health are represented. The Good News is that forewarned is forearmed! Despite a person’s genetics, free will rules over fate.

Sagittarius ~ Dominant index finger ~ blood disorders, liver trouble, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, and problems with hips, thighs, and throat. A huge challenge and temptation for Sagittarians is refraining from overindulging in rich food and drink.

Capricorn ~ Dominant middle finger ~ skin problems, teeth with age, knees, ligaments, secretion of bile, skeletal, left ear deafness, paralysis, rheumatism, gout, hardening of the arteries, hemorrhoids, and varicose veins.

Leo ~ Dominant ring finger ~ eyesight, heart, and blood circulation.

Gemini ~ Virgo Dominant pinkie ~ nervous system, bronchial, and respiratory systems, thyroid gland, headaches, memory loss, and speech impediments.

Taurus ~ Libra Dominant ball of thumb ~ throat, lymphatic system, venereal diseases, heart, circulation, and nervousness.

Cancer ~ Dominant heel of hand ~ bodily fluids, stomach, tumors, female disorders, epilepsy, mucous membranes, gout, rheumatism, kidney, bladder, and mental illness.

Aries ~ Dominant tip of thumb and percussion of hand ~ inflammations, acute fevers, infections, muscular disorders, blood diseases, hemorrhage, infectious and contagious diseases, throat and chest trouble, and high blood pressure.

Scorpio ~ Peripheral lines on heel of hand ~ reproductive system, ruptures, hemorrhoids, ulcers, venereal diseases, and problems with prostate or urethra.

Aquarius ~ Nails and qualities of lines ~ ankle weakness, anemia, cramps, heart weaknesses, nervous diseases, varicose veins, and sensitive skin.

Pisces ~ pointed finger tips / yellowish skin / islanded line of health~ feet and toes including bunions and gout, colds, mucous discharges, tumors, drug addictions, and liver troubles.

Virgo & Hands

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You don’t need a Virgo Sun, Moon, planets, aspects, or placements to be Virgo. Virgo’s square palms and short fingers are less meaty and more flexible than Taurus hands and pinker and more elastic than pure Capricorn types who have whitish flat palms and well developed first knots on lean fingers. Virgo is most adaptable of three practical types. Strong middle fingers that crook toward ring fingers at first joints strive for perfection and need personal space. No matter your type, enlarged second knots, square fingertips, and short fingernails add more order and practical Virgo qualities. People who chew their nails to the quick are self-critical and critical of others (worse if many lines crisscross beneath middle finger). Bitten nails belong to contrary people who will choose another side of an argument, just to make a point, even if they agree with you.

Virgo is best where discriminating, reliable, modest, and orderly service is required. Famous for cleaning up everyone else’s messes, Virgo may sometimes obsess on details and be overly thorough and meticulous. Contrary to popular belief, Virgo doesn’t enjoy details. Short fingered people in general (practical & intuitive) dislike details and need to see the whole picture. Details are a nuisance; something others should do, but few can do them better than Virgo who addresses them and then does what needs to be done. Because they usually ask too little for themselves, Virgo must be valued and appreciated. They know their value, but are reticent to ask for it. Ego gratification is not a motivation. Never take Virgo for granted. Virgos work hard to feel useful. They must learn to cherish every molecule of what they earn. Careers like accounting, medical, nursing, social work, maintenance, cleaning, and health food are magnets for Virgo.

“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”  Stephen King (9/21/47)

Carly Fiorina, former fortune 500 CEO is a conservative Virgo. Despite bad publicity over her tenure at HP and a failed presidential attempt, Carly practices what she preaches. Whether you agree with her or not, her intuitive hands with short fingers, along with her Virgo sun are saying, “Challenge the mind and capture the heart”. Aristaeus `Guardian of the flocks and farming’ in Greek myth is a Virgo archetype. Aristaeus taught bee-keeping. He embodies the capacity to dedicate selflessly in service to others.

Virgos who have worked and been rewarded include: Writers Agatha Christie & Leonard Cohen; Lawyers Alan Dershowitz & Marcia Clark; Financiers J.P. Morgan & Warren Buffet; Actors Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, Sophia Loren, Paul Walker, Keanu Reeves, Blake Lively, and Cameron Diaz; Singers Michael Jackson & Beyonce’ Knowles; Political figures Margaret Trudeau, Lyndon Johnson, George Wallace, Yasser Arafat, & John McCain with Taurus hands, short index finger, crooked pinky, and intuitive tips that say what you see is not what you get.

 

 

 

Virgo is earthy and practical. He/she represents more scientific and technical aspects of thinking. Virgo is more logical and healthier, while Gemini is more intellectual and cleverer. Imagination is more important to Gemini than practicality. Mercury, the winged foot messenger, holds a caduceus (medicine) ruled by Virgo (healthcare) while Gemini rules communications. As a Gemini, Mercury, my ruler is in retrograde motion at the moment.

 

 

 

I’d begun to practice palmistry professionally in my early thirties when a young man showed up and asked a mind boggling question. “When will I die?” A healthy looking Virgo, he was well built, energetic, handsome, smart, and a multi-talented craftsman. He appeared to take excellent care of himself. His well-balanced square palms were pink and firm with short straight fingers. His pink elastic skin, resilient palms, flexible wrists, and mildly flexible finger joints revealed a healthy balance between his determination and adaptability. His basic lines were clear and deeply engraved. How lucky he is, I thought, but his fate had been sealed when he had contracted AIDS.

AIDS was a death sentence at the time. I was clueless how to look for AIDS in his hands. Nothing stood out. I also lacked experience to counsel him. Instead, I said, “I’m sorry, only god has the answer to your question”… “You’re a naturally healthy type. If anyone can beat this disease, you can.” I highlighted his most positive qualities, but he wasn’t interested in hearing about them. We continued to chat about what he planned to do about his situation. He wanted to be proactive. I charged no fee for his session.

My curiosity about AIDS and my desire to make a difference motivated me to volunteer twice weekly at Bailey House, an AIDS housing organization. I showed up twice weekly for two years to counsel clients and staff. I used palmistry, astrology, and tarot as lenses to view their issues and challenges and help them make decisions about what’s next.

I printed AIDS infected hands monthly to monitor the progress or regress of the disease. I began to notice changes in skin ridge patterns on the percussion of the hands, but lack of adequate funding, limited time, and not enough statistical data made it difficult to be thorough or scientific. Most people with AIDS suppress their potentials because they obsess on the harsh realities of their fragile and impending mortality. I affirmed talents and strengths and tried to inspire AIDS sufferers to continue making positive choices and taking positive actions. Everyone looked forward to our weekly sessions.

Healthcare is a mundane correspondence for Virgo. Good health is a birthright we all deserve. Everyone has physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health challenges. Our partisan government, acquisitive pharmaceutical companies, and greedy health insurance industry have transformed our healthcare system into an extortionate superstore. Gluttonous insurers care more about profit than people. Megalomaniacal money managers and materialistic managed care providers bribe prejudiced politicians to institute and enforce the rules of their game. Selfish executives prosper while dedicated doctors are forced to ignore root causes and treat symptoms with overpriced medications. Saturn was in Virgo from 9 / 2007 – 10 / 2009. Seeds for structural change to healthcare were sown and the Affordable Care Act was harvested.

Your health is in your hands. In the days before computerized medical diagnosis, doctors used their intuition, tasted a patient’s urine, looked into their eyes, and examined their tongue, skin, and especially their hands to diagnose illness. Hands reflect a person’s physical, mental, and emotional health. I encourage seekers to examine and reflect on their own hands and the hands of people they care about. There’s much to see in a mirror.

 

Fingernails are windows to a person’s health. Illnesses that can be seen in nails are anemia, thyroid disease, malnutrition, carpal tunnel syndrome, psoriasis, eczema, liver disease, heart, lungs, colon, chronic respiratory disease, lymph system problems, diabetes, Raynaud’s disease, high blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcers, Hodgkin’s disease, and sickle-cell anemia.

Dozens of stress related problems and several types of cancer can be seen in skin ridge patterns (dermatoglyphics). Conditions of lines in hands can indicate conditions of the heart, brain, kidneys, liver, stomach, and male and female systems. Palmistry is prescriptive, but when I observe a potential health problem in hands, I never diagnose or prescribe. I tell clients I’m not a health expert and suggest they see a specialist.

Many health problems are natural predispositions to specific character types. Know the type and understand the corresponding potential health problems. This is a generalized list of health issues that correspond to particular fingers. Click links to learn when and how a finger is dominant and what other qualities in addition to health are represented.

Dominant index finger ~ blood disorders, liver trouble, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, and problems with hips, thighs, and throat. One habitual challenge is the temptation to overindulge in food and drink.

Dominant middle finger ~ skin problems, teeth with age, knees, ligaments, secretion of bile, skeletal, left ear deafness, paralysis, rheumatism, gout, hardening of the arteries, hemorrhoids, and varicose veins.

Dominant ring finger ~ eyesight, heart, and blood circulation.

Dominant pinkie ~ delicate nervous system, weak bronchial and respiratory systems, thyroid gland, headaches, memory loss, and speech impediments.

Dominant ball of thumb ~ throat, lymphatic system, venereal diseases, heart and circulation, and nervousness.

Dominant heel of hand ~ bodily fluids, stomach problems, tumors, female disorders, epilepsy, mucous membranes, gout and rheumatism, kidney and bladder, and mental illness.

Dominant thumb and percussion of hand ~ inflammations, acute fevers, infections, muscular disorders, blood diseases, hemorrhage, infectious and contagious diseases, throat and chest trouble, and high blood pressure.

Scorpio types ~ reproductive system, ruptures, hemorrhoids, ulcers, venereal diseases, and problems with prostate or urethra.

Aquarian types ~ ankle weakness, anemia, cramps, heart weaknesses, nervous diseases, varicose veins, and sensitive skin.

Piscean types ~ feet and toes including bunions and gout, colds, mucous discharges, tumors, drug addictions, and liver troubles.

Bernie Serotta was a Pisces with Virgo hands and matching character. Bernie passed from the physical plane in 2004. It’s easy to see his warm, open, friendly, hardworking, and practical nature from his dominant hand. His muscular square palm and short fingers are saying, “Hello, goodbye, and I’ve got nothing to hide”. Despite my being peculiar to Bernie, I always felt honored and embraced by him.

 

Bernie was more Piscean as a child with his sense of wonder and love and appreciation of all things beautiful. As a young adult, Bernie embraced his Virgo nature as he started a family and a business. Bernie owned and operated a hardware store in Saratoga, NY for forty years. He served his family and community with dignity, grace, and humility. Bernie was retired when we met. He’d begun to explore his Pisces nature again, a second childhood. He had to let go some of some very practical habits to make space for his curiosity and creativity and engage in a more magical journey as he aged. We chatted about music and philosophy. Bernie practiced violin, enjoyed playing chamber music, and continued to do good deeds for family and friends until he passed.

Publicity Stories #6 ~ Volunteering

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volunteer-work

Volunteering has always been good for business. Being generous with my time and energies has been extremely rewarding on many levels. I get to meet other givers at charity functions. I’ve connected with some of my favorite event planners, performers, and caterers at fund raising events. Forty years later, we still recommend each other for well-paid work when we get the opportunity. Another benefit of charitable events is benefactors, who may pay $1000 or more a plate for dinner and entertainment. They also throw their own parties. I often give out business cards when asked and collect referrals for other causes and more lucrative events. I read many people at these events who have the maladies we’re working for or have family members or friends who have them. I feel grateful to be able to be there to support them.

Newspapers, magazines, books, and radio & TV were obvious ways to promote business. When I first started contributing my time and talents to causes, it never occurred to me to volunteer for the purpose of marketing or publicity. I was taught in early childhood that if you’re lucky enough to have a good life, you have a responsibility to give back in some way. I used to search for old ladies to help across the street, carry their bags, give up my seat, or open a door. I never expected anything in return.  I believe that learning to give contributed to my having a happy childhood.

These days, I sign copious petitions and donate time and money to a variety of social causes. I sometimes regret getting involved as I receive copious requests for endless causes and contributions in my mailbox. I feel like unsubscribing from everything and becoming a hermit, but I don’t. It’s impossible for me to stand by while plutocrats and bigots exploit our environment and trample our human rights under gigantic footprints.

I volunteer regularly for charitable causes like AIDS, Cancer, Schizophrenia, Cystic Fibrosis, Blindness, Healthy Environment, and Dance & Arts Education. The same organizations have called me back year after year. I ask them to pay these days, but offer a substantial discount. They’re grateful to have me and tell me that their guests ask ahead whether I’ll be there. Some of their patrons feel like old friends who like to inform me of their progress since last year’s five-minute rendezvous.

Back in the late ‘80’s, I started working with the AIDS community. It began as research. I hoped to be able to identify the virus in a diversity of hands and track its progress or regress. I printed many hundreds of immune deficient hands of people in various stages from early HIV to full blown AIDS. As I continued to print their hands, I found substantial changes over time. It was hard for me to finance my time and expenses. I tried to find a sponsor to help fund my efforts. No one seemed interested in paying for my research.

In 1994, I discovered Bailey House and met Roy Fowler. Bailey House was an AIDS housing and health organization and Roy was in charge of rehab. Roy wanted to help and hired me to read their clients’ hands, tarot cards, and astrology. I worked two afternoons a week for two years with Roy and Bailey House’s staff and clients.

Individuals with HIV/AIDS tend to suppress their potentials because they’re concerned mainly with the harsh realities of their impending mortality. I was able to identify their strengths, abilities, and talents and encourage them to have hope and make use of the time and resources they had. I played a role for many as a spiritual counselor. Just my being there encouraged some of the more despondent clients to show up at the center.

It was hard to leave, but I needed to make more money. I also hadn’t been able to gather enough hard statistics to validate my research. When I left, Roy handed me this unsolicited testimonial (below). He hoped to help me advance my palmistry work.

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