HOW I LOST MY SANITY

I spent two years working part time, two days a week designing vocational rehabilitation programs at a forensic psychiatric hospital. I wanted to get to know that population. A year had passed when I got my first big break to finally delve into the clients. Rehab was responsible for holiday activities and Halloween was about to happen. “Wouldn’t it be fun if you were our fortune teller this year?” Dolores (my boss) inquired. I named myself “M”, ‘palmist’, dressed in satin robes with sun, moon, pentacles (five-pointed star), and a hand-crafted silver hand hung round my neck.

Caricature by Chris Wynter

Within moments of examining each a patient’s hands, I pinpointed their behavioral issues, current obstacles, and major life challenges. Most reacted, “Hey, you’re for real!” or “You really know me!”. I carefully tailored my words to their ability to understand. Most competent readers know that it’s not what you see, but what you say and how you say it that matters. Inadvertently, Dolores had set me up as a confidant. You never know what you’ll hear or what you’ll say when a person you’re talking to believes you already know their secrets and future. Word of my abilities spread quickly. I soon gained many new recruits who became regulars.

Mohamed was ‘a lifer’. He’d been given enough Thorazine to sedate a small army. As a giant sized middle-aged black man, he looked like a dark blend of Muhammad Ali and Bob Marley. As one of the most popular patients in the hospital, Mohamed had been a Hell’s Angel, cocaine addict, and cold-blooded murderer. He found `religion’ during solitary confinement. I began receiving Plain Truth magazine shortly after I met him. He had placed me on their mailing list. I learned about contraband from Mohamed. Patients with money got marijuana, alcohol, extra cigarettes, Sanka, and a myriad of other illegal stuff smuggled through security.

One not to notice occurrence was the way large quantities of office and recreational supplies would arrive and vanish quickly. I began hoarding yellow pads, pens, and pencils, hiding them in my desk before they disappeared. Staff were getting away with whatever they could. Even office machines vanished. When I asked a friend in a nearby hospital what was happening, she replied that it was “par for the course”.

Many people who work for government agencies have a chronic poverty consciousness that makes them feel inferior, underappreciated, and entitled to get away with whatever they can. Most workers in helping professions give too much and don’t ask enough for themselves.

Nothing was as it appeared. One security staff member who habitually acted friendly with patients, said to me in confidence, “I’d shoot every one of them in the head at night while they slept if I could get away with it”. I pretended he was joking but was really shocked and awed. Watching patients pretending to be what and how they believed staff wanted them to be was a spectator sport. When backs were turned, patients would give staff their middle finger or spontaneously contort their faces. Staff often behaved similarly to patients and each other.

Sometimes it was `Show Time’. An organization whose job it was to inspect state hospital social service programs was called `XYZ’. The ‘powers that be’ at the top of the mental health food chain got plenty of notice from XYZ. Inspectors showed up to lots of hustle, bustle, and productivity. We ran smoothly, like ‘Timex’ when observers were around. Everyone was active and cooperative, and everything was orderly and `spic and span’. In truth, we were scuzzy, and programming ran unpredictably… you know, the kinds of things inspectors need to see.

The state allots monies for capital improvements and program development each year. Unspent monies are removed from the following year’s budget. A $100,000.00 surplus needed to be spent quickly. A scam that affected me was the creation of a woodworking and refinishing shop. The cabinet approved purchasing expensive woodworking equipment for the Rehab Dept. They failed to inform us that the patients would ‘never’ be permitted to use the tools as they were ‘much too dangerous’.

I questioned Billy (other half of my position) about who was going to operate the equipment. He told me that he and I would initially do the machining, but eventually certain patients would be trusted. I disagreed. None of our conjecture mattered, because when the fiscal year was over, the cabinet scrapped the shop. Now they could ask for more money next year. You’ll appreciate this picture of me and Billy at the annual Xmas party. Even Santa was a lunatic!

I figured if everyone else was getting away with things, so could I. `Gigolo’ worked maximum security at the secure entrance. When no one was around, he’d wave me past the bag check and metal detector. Even the director of the hospital was scanned and checked daily. I took advantage of his trust by waiting outside the hospital entrance until no one was in the foyer. I became ‘Smiley’, who always entered the security area with a big smile on my face. Gigolo would wave me through. In my briefcase was a camera, tape recorder, and extra tapes. I began recording patient songs and stories. I could and so I did.

Virginia was abandoned by her mother at birth. Fished out of a garbage can, Virginia grew up in orphanages. She had a grade school education and never developed work skills. Virginia ventured out into the world on her own. She became pregnant as an adolescent and a magnet for one co-dependent abusive spouse after the other. Virginia prayed her children weren’t forsaken by God, but they were. They were homeless and starving. She loved them too much to watch them starve to death. So, she killed them. What else could she do?

Virginia’s haunting voice expresses the agony of her soul. I saw her as a cross between Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. I found her tunes and lyrics profoundly poetic and deeply disturbing. She asked me to share one of my choosing.

“CRIES OF PAIN, CRIES OF JOY

SCREAMS OF TORMENT WITHIN

SILENTLY WHISPERING INNER FEAR

A WALL OF PRETENSE TO HIDE

BITTER REALITY WITH NO REMORSE

CHANGING MOODS, ALWAYS DENY

TRUTH IN A WORLD OF UNENDING STRIFE

REACHING OUT THE LAYER OF LIFE

DREAMING OF THE EVERYDAY CHARADE

MOVING FACES IN A MASQUERADE

REVEALING THE UNRELENTING SOUL

OF A TIRED AND LONELY BEING

HIDDEN QUALITIES SOARING BENEATH

THE EXTERNAL EXISTENCE ABOVE

COULD THE ENERGY EXIST TO FIGHT

THE SHADOWY SILHOUETTE OF I?”

“Have you ever seen a hand that frightened you?”

I often hear that question. It was a sweltering day. A chill entered my soul as I touched Manuel’s hot sweaty palms. His huge reddish balls of thumb were full (like they’d been stuffed with extra-large eggs) and smooth with no lines. The image on the left is simulated. The ball of thumb on the right is mine. Many significant relationship lines lie within my lifeline. I love lots of people. Manuel had no lines. Manuel had a mega-dose of desire, lust, and passion; nourished by fear, anger, and hatred. Unfortunately, Manuel had zero ability to have intimacy with other human beings. He allegedly kidnapped eight little boys, took them to rooftops, raped, murdered, cut their penises off, and carved crosses in the bases of their skulls.

Manuel pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. He was committed to a maximum-security forensic hospital for the criminally insane. When I met Manuel, he had been dying of kidney disease. He’d been on dialysis machines for five years. His kidneys were shot. There would be no donor for a child serial killer. Manuel’s time was running out. He wanted to tell his story and asked me to record it. Before accepting Manuel’s word, I examined his hospital records and psychiatric treatment plans. Dozens of articles about the murders were recorded on microfilm in the news section of the public library.

Although the evidence was circumstantial, Manuel fit the profile. The media had generated a public frenzy. Hundreds of detectives and policemen were on the case. The first suspect had to be disguised as a policeman in order to not be lynched by the public.” It took over two hundred police, some wearing riot gear, to prevent over 1000 angry people from storming the xxx police station in the mistaken belief that a suspect in the mutilation murders of four young boys was inside the building.”

Manuel’s ball of thumb is the star of his story. Manuel came to the USA from Puerto Rico at age thirteen with his father and brother. He had great aspirations, but says he got hooked on drugs (marijuana) and headed downhill after that. Manuel said to me, “Drug addiction was in my genes. From the first time I tasted drugs, I never stopped”. A huge round ball of thumb symbolizes sensuality, compulsion, and indulgence. A paradox is that a large ball of thumb can also symbolize a huge appreciation of nature, children, art, music, and all things beautiful, along with abundant generosity and warmth. Manuel’s low set thumb and very stiff fingers and life and head line closely tied together at their start symbolizes that Manuel’s patterns and habits were deeply embedded.

Many thieves and pick pockets have inwardly curving pinkies. Hooked on heroine, Manuel resorted to stealing drugs to support his habit. He hung out with prostitutes and criminals. Meanwhile, his mother died of brain cancer, his sister died of cirrhosis of the liver, his half-brother died of a drug overdose, and his other brother was locked up for murdering their crazy father. Manuel’s tale would make an extremely dark TV sitcom.

Manuel dealt heroine to support his habit. When he turned sixteen, he was arrested for drug dealing. In “Purgatory’s tombs”, Manuel began banging his head against the wall. He was sent to a minimum-security outpatient mental hospital to detox and six months later he believed his habit was broken. Manuel discovered he had talents in arts and cooking. He tried living with a woman at seventeen, but he couldn’t stay out of trouble. While in and out of prisons and mental hospitals, Manuel managed to get his common-law wife pregnant three times; two daughters and a son. One daughter had to be on dialysis for failed kidneys.

Manuel spent five years in a state penitentiary while his family survived on welfare. The prison system tried to rehabilitate Manuel by teaching him several different trades. He had the best of intentions but was unable stay out of trouble. Next, he found religion and went to live in a church. Becoming fundamentalist and fanatical, Manuel began preaching from the bible to his family, friends, and strangers on the street. He claimed he tried to stay away from drugs, but even a drag from a cigarette or sip of beer would rekindle his addiction.

A combination of drugs and religion led to grandiosity. I was greater than God. I really believed I was Jesus Christ”. Manuel took medication for his hallucinations. On drugs, he could temporarily cope. If he forgot, he’d become mentally and physically ill. Manuel began taking speed and cocaine again. His delusions and hallucinations became more grandiose. One forensic psychiatrist described Manuel as a “walking time bomb”, a violent psychopath destined for evil and a forensic lifestyle.

Several authorized and unauthorized exits from QRS, a low security mental hospital, coincided with the mutilation deaths of young boys. Manuel was seen preaching on the streets near the scene of one crime. He was connected to other murder locations because of relatives who lived nearby. Manuel denied killing the boys. A court appointed defense attorney talked him into copping a plea of insanity. Manuel claimed he didn’t know anything about the legal system and just followed his lawyer’s advice.

“I was sold down the river. Everyone needed a murderer, and I was him”. Manuel was declared criminally insane. There were no more mutilations of children after he was put away. I secretly believed Manuel committed those crimes. I also felt compassion for him. He was born on the short end of a very hard thorny stick in both the nature and nurture departments.

I was repulsed by him, but I also realized that Manuel might have been a very different person had he had real love and nourishment in his childhood. Manuel could have had a healthier and happier life with the right nurture.

I read almost every hand in the hospital, but never shared anyone’s secrets with anyone else. Rehab staff considered me harmless. They were more neurotic than the patients. Many had overdeveloped superegos. Most of them did what they knew they could get away with. Most patients had huge ids with no superego. They did what they thought they had to do, never contemplating the consequences of what they did. They saw only one solution to a problem. Patients generally had fewer peripheral lines in their palms than staff who were more confused.

I published an appeal to patients interested in participating in something creative and fun.

I was `M’, the fortune teller at our Halloween celebration. Mark is my name. I came here as a vocational instructor. Many of you know me as part-time art therapist. I’m actually an industrial designer. I design products for manufacturing companies and teach design at local colleges. I sometimes offer workshops to help creative people and inventors manifest their creations.

One year ago (this week), I began working here. I hoped I could motivate many of you to nourish your natural talents and abilities. I planned to offer guidance and support on projects of your creation. I assumed you’d be inspired by an opportunity to work on your own projects. Over the past year, I‘ve heard many reasons why you can’t or don’t want to be involved.

You’ve become so used to circumstances being hard that you can’t imagine anything else. Disappointment is too painful. You’re afraid to be enthusiastic. You’re afraid to trust anyone. Your self-esteem is too low. You’re not worthy or capable, but I assure you, you are.

I’m appealing to anyone who feels inspired or curious about their potentials and is willing to make a commitment to a weekly schedule to work under my direction. You must be accepted to participate in my class. A brief interview with Mr. Cartozian, the Rehab Counselor, will be required. His approval, along with the support of your treatment team will determine your eligibility. If you want my help, you’ve got it.

I promise to dedicate myself to helping class members make their projects a reality. Any project you choose is fine as long as it’s possible. Twelve students will participate in classes. There will be two work / study groups with six students each. Each will meet twice per week; one session on Tuesday and one session on Wednesday.

Here’s my vision: We’re motivated about our projects and willing to do whatever it takes to make them happen. We’re sharing in healthy constructive ways and learning a lot from everyone’s projects. We’re learning to draw and make things in our workshop. Many projects are happening; works of art, music, writing, and producing practical items like furniture, magazine racks, floral planters, and boxes of all shapes and sizes. If you can envision yourself in my class, please speak with me directly in the Rehab Department on a Tuesday or a Wednesday over the next several weeks.

I began preparing for my vocational classes. Some of my favorite patients were ready to sign up. Others I’d tried to interest remained apathetic. I published an appeal for my ‘vocational classes’ in the ‘Scene’, the patient newspaper. The response was better than I expected. It’s what happened as a result of my choices and actions that drove me out of my mind.

Stay tuned.

i~Hermes

i~HERMES

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

Alchemy is not transforming lead into gold. Hermes turned Saturn (Lead) into Sun (Gold) by building stable structures on solid foundations, being disciplined, and focusing on his metaphysical quest to prepare mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to connect to any and all others at any and all times. Alchemy is a set of magical formulas, tools, and esoteric instruction for becoming healthier, happier, and more fulfilled in life. Alchemy is the mastery of mental forces by transmuting one mental vibration into another. Our Sun passing through Gemini ~ May 21st to June 21st is a perfect time to share our selves on a soul level with anyone and everyone who is able!

Every thought is made up of individual cells; physically, mentally, and spiritually connected to all other cells on all other planes at the same time. Our brains are our cell communication hardware while our minds transmit and receive messages. Relationships between cells cause energy and matter to vibrate on different planes of reality at different times and places. Combining physical, mental, and spiritual planes, enables us to connect any with any and every being at any and every time and place. We can achieve wholeness by letting go of fear, taking a leap of faith, making connections, tuning our links, and creating nourishing environments.

“While ALL is in “The ALL”, it is equally true that “The ALL” is in ALL. “To him who truly understands this truth hath come great knowledge”. The inner nature of “The ALL” is unknowable and indefinable. That’s why humanity needs anthropomorphic gods and institutionalized religion. Spirit is the essence that embodies “ALL”. Spirituality requires the recognition, realization, and manifestation of Great Spirit within and without.

Hermes Seven Laws

Law of Polarity”: “Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.”

“The Secret” is only a secret to the uninitiated. The ‘Laws of Attraction’ work best when you know what you desire, and your intentions are clear. Polarity is spiritual magnetism.

Anyone can turn negative thinking into positive circumstances by letting go of fear, having clear intent, choosing a worthy quest, and doing the work. See how the ‘Law of Polarity’ transformed trash into treasure!

GURU of GARBAGE (Click for short video ~ Good Day NY)

Opposites are extremes of the same basic substance with varying degrees between. Where does heat end and cold begin? Where does darkness leave off and light begin? What about positive and negative, hard and soft, sharp and dull, noisy and quiet, high and low? The same principle operates on a mental plane. Love and hate are simply degrees of the same thing. In the middle are shades of like and dislike. Vibrations of hate can be transmuted into vibrations of love through the art of polarization, a phase of alchemy known and practiced by ancient and modern masters.

Hermes other Six ‘Secrets’

Correspondence, Mentalism, Vibration, Rhythm, Cause, Effect, and Gender are Hermes other six Laws. Practicing metaphysical principles enabled Hermes and enables anyone to explore, examine, and explain the unexplained, and to execute any and all thoughts, ideas, and visions.

Having inner and outer wisdom has helped critical thinkers throughout history to unlock mysteries using Hermetic thought and principles. Hermetic masters possess knowledge of transcendental astronomy called astrology, transcendental chemistry called alchemy, and transcendental psychology called mystic psychology. Confucius, Galileo, Plato, Pythagoras, Aristotle, Nostradamus, Leonardo Da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Joseph Campbell were all Grand Masters of Hermetic thought and principles.

Astrology is a symbolic system that compares and contrasts our heavens with affairs of man on earth. Astrology unlocks ancient and modern mysteries using Hermes second principle of correspondence “As Above, So Below, as below, so above”.

An infinite variety of characters, plots, and archetypal tales are mirrored in lots of dysfunctional humans, unable to see the forests from the trees. Too many lost souls are Idolizing gold-plated Calves on brass-plated pedestals and Worshiping Sacred Cows on the Altars of Nonsense. The human race has become a race against self-created bad shit happening. Our planet’s sixth extinction is nearing more quickly than we think.

Hermes was Greek god of wisdom, wealth, trade, luck, fertility, language, animal husbandry, thieves, travelers, sleep, and providing safe passage to death. Mercury was Hermes’ Roman version, messenger of gods and ruler of Gemini. Thoth, in ancient Egypt, was a lunar god and patron of science, literature, wisdom, and invention. Loki was the Norse god of mischief. In Tarot, Hermes, a Magician at a crossroads has crucial decisions to make and critical actions to take. Merlin, Gondolf, Harry Potter, and Dumbledore are modern Hermes. Having metaphysical tools and mystical knowledge enabled Hemes and enables ALL of us to choose our thoughts, feelings, what to do, and who to be.

Hermes was reputedly a real person who lived for 350 years in the flesh in ancient Egypt. Refusing to age, Hermes misspent much of his adolescence as a trickster and petty thief. He was ‘Puck’ in ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’. He’s Peter Pan, a Gemini, who never grows old.

A 76 year old Hermes, I’m no longer adolescent. Peter needs and depends on Wendy. My Wendy is Joanna, Aries with Taurus rising. She strongly disagrees with my assessment. I call her ‘Rambull’. I’m a Gemini with Scorpio rising. She calls me ‘a piece of work in progress’. Being born twelve years apart makes us ‘the bores’ at Chinese New Year’s parties. I’m a Pig on a Mountain. She’s a Pig in a Monastery.

Wendy is a Virgo type, a practical and responsible friend who darns Peter’s socks, sews his shadow back on, and patiently awaits his return as he flies away to Neverland whenever he chooses. Wendy brings an awareness that balances Peter’s ambiguous and ambivalent thoughts and feelings with clarity and good sense.

Michael Jackson actually lived in Neverland. Priscilla and Liz were his Wendys. Johnny Depp is Peter Pan who played Edward Scissorhands, Alice in Wonderland, Pirates of the Carribean, Charlie in the Chocolate Factory, and many other child centered characters. Hermes & Aphrodite gave birth to Hermaphrodite. David Bowie has flourished and blossomed in musical creativity, originality, and androgynous performance art.

Know thyself. Common sense without good sense is nonsense. Cultivate clear vision. Make wise choices. Nourish real relationships. Choose right uses of will power. Act decisively. Maintain positive attitudes. Balance courage, strength, wisdom, and grace with critical thinking, real feelings, and right actions. Having solid faith creates strong structures on sound foundations. We can change our destiny and the destiny of our planet on a cellular level by raising our vibration, polarity, and rhythm.

SAGITTARIUS & PSYCHE

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

GREENING OF THE PSYCHE

GREENING OF THE PSYCHE

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

Hermes was father of alchemy, god of wisdom, mentor of Abraham, Roman scribe, Mercury, messenger for gods and ruler of Gemini. As Loki, Norse god of mischief, Hermes transforms looking into seeing, listening into hearing, and believing into knowing. Hermes was reputedly a real person who lived for 350 years in the flesh in ancient Egypt. In Tarot, Hermes is a magician at a crossroads who must choose a correct path, clear vision, and pure intent. A pragmatic philosophy enabled Hermes to offer us the tools, knowledge, and wisdom to be healthier and happier and to better maintain and nourish everyone and everything.

Hermes was the real father of the Cell phone. He taught his disciples that thought is made up of individual cells, physically, mentally, and spiritually connected to all other cells on all other planes at the same time. Physical, Mental, and Spiritual planes merge to form a metaphysical Cell tower. Making Connections and tuning our links is our work. Our brains are our communication hardware while our minds transmit and receive messages.

“While ALL is inTHE ALL, it is equally true that THE ALL is in ALL. The inner nature of THE ALL is unknowable. Whoever understands this truth hath great knowledge”. An unknowable and indefinable spirit rules everyone and everything. Spirit is the essence that bonds body and soul with the whole.

Alchemy is not turning lead into gold. Alchemy is a set of magical formulas, tools, and esoteric instruction for becoming healthier, happier, and more fulfilled in life. By combining courage, strength, wisdom, and grace (gold) with patience, structure, discipline, and focus (lead), we can choose and have healthy goals, meaningful relationships, and fulfilling accomplishments. We can become more satisfied as our life choices and actions support our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual balance and growth. We can combine critical thinking, real feelings, and true faith to build sound structures on solid foundations.

Personal Spirit depends on the recognition, realization, and manifestation of Great Spirit. Focusing mental forces can transmute one mental vibration into another. Taking a leap of faith, establishing connections, and tuning our links enables us to be fully present in time and space. Focusing our minds on what we truly desire allows us to gather priceless value from thin air.

Polarity

The law of attraction works best when you know what you want and your intentions are clear. Polarity is spiritual magnetism. Opposition creates awareness, which sets destiny in motion. Negative thinking may be transformed into right actions by letting go of fear and choosing love. Vibrations of hate can be transformed into vibrations of love through the science and art of ‘Polarization’, a phase of mental alchemy known and practiced by ancient masters.

The Secret” is Hermes “Law of Polarity”. “Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different by degree; all extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled”.

Where does heat end and cold begin? When does darkness stop and light begin? What about positive and negative, hard and soft, sharp and dull, noisy and quiet, high and low? The same principle operates on mental and emotional planes. Hate is black. Love is white. All thoughts, ideologies, feelings, and beliefs are varying shades of gray.

Correspondence, Mentalism, Vibration, Rhythm, Cause, Effect, and Gender are the other six laws Hermes used to visualize clearly. Transcendental astronomy became Astrology. Transcendental chemistry was Alchemy. Transcendental psychology was mystic psychology. Having inner and outer wisdom enabled critical thinkers throughout history to unlock ancient mysteries by combining old practices with new principles. Confucius, Galileo, Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Nostradamus, Leonardo Da Vinci, George Washington, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Joseph Campbell were all Grand Masters of Metaphysical Thought.

Astrologers practice Hermes second principle of correspondence “As above, so below, as below, so above”. Astrology is a symbolic system that compares and contrasts our heavens with the characters and affairs of humans on earth. Astrology unlocks ancient and modern mysteries that reveal how every relationship changes every other relationship on a cellular level by raising or diminishing its vibration, polarity, and rhythm. A horoscope is a script. A diversity of astrological symbols embodies the cast, plots, and stories of a very disorganized and dysfunctional family we call humanity. That’s why we have anthropomorphic gods and formalized religions. Religious doctrines, rules, commandments, and laws are supposed to keep us sane, but instead are making us insane. Is it possible to be sane in an insane world?

The human race is a race against bad shit happening! An immoral and spiritually bankrupt society worships idols from amateur hours and applauds scripted survivors. Masses of meek minds are mesmerized by meaningless media. Captivated by TV courtroom melodramas, we’ve become critical and judgmental of the pettiest of behaviors. Cunning narcissists, warped exhibitionists, and pious perverts perniciously present their sleaziest selves to a desperate and depraved demand. A culture of winners and losers has become a world of more haves with more and many more have nots with less than ever.

Appallingly apparent apathy produces pandemic pathological paradigms. Where are our healthiest role models? Why do we mistake no love for tough love? We preach love and sympathy and practice hate and fear. We fixate on sex, death, violence, and disease, while fear, greed, mistrust, and shortsightedness sabotage our personal and collective psyches.

Pious philosophies, pointless partisan political paradigms, and pestilential pecuniary practices pollute higher purpose and poison our psyches. Faulty families feast frenzily on flawed feelings, vague values, and toxic thinking, copiously spiced with needless fear, desperation, and hatred. As we analyze, rationalize, and compartmentalize our insane ideologies and beliefs, we sacrifice our dignity, integrity, nobility, and virtue on the altars of nonsense.

‘Psychic Pollution’ is Mother of All Pollution. We must wake up and whiff the weirdness. There’s a huge difference between common sense and good sense. Why do we consume massive amounts of highly toxic chemicals every day in our wars with insects, rodents, weeds, dirt, stains, odors, germs, bacteria, viruses and other invisible enemies? Why are we marinating in chemicals that heat and cool us; power our transportation; provide us with products; color, flavor, and preserve our foods; and enable us to communicate on a grand scale? Why do we fight senseless energy wars? Why do we choose fossil fuel guzzling vehicles that deplete natural resources and pollute our planet? Why do we breathe, drink, wash, and apply risky substances to scalps, mouths, armpits, fingers, toes, and crotches. Must everything be bright white, squeaky clean, and lemon fresh?

Puzzlers puzzle while guzzlers guzzle. Pollution and depletion are profitable. We value our health and the health of our planet in dollars while we short-shortsightedly debate CLIMATE CHANGE. Energy, communications, transportation, pharmaceutical, apparel, and cosmetics industries are busy creating chemicals that protect us from their past, present, and future chemicals. Why do we have to screen ourselves from harmful rays from our sun? How soon will we ‘All’ need air and water purifiers? How soon will oxygen canisters be marketed like bottled water? When will designer oxygen masks and lemon scented oxygen become popular? Will we be purchasing a “breath of fresh air” at oxygen bars?

Industrialization has transformed cities and towns into malignant melanomas that fester and ooze like open sores joining veins and arteries that bleed through decaying spigots attached to our bodies and spirits. Roads and highways, shrouded in carbon monoxide and dioxide, pollute our planet’s respiratory and circulatory systems and body. Toxic streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, and oceans of negative beliefs catalyze fear and terror that endangers our well-being and the well-being of our planet. Contagious viruses contaminate the microbes of our bodies, mycelium of our earth, mitochondria of our minds, and microbiomes of our souls! We must wake up and smell the Psychic Garbage. Spiritual Cancer is Mother of all Cancers.

Vengeance is not a solution to violence. Too many minds focusing on toxic thought can catalyze self-fulfilling prophecies. Lies deceive, walls divide, boundaries detach, behavior obscures, and censorship destroys. We preach love and faith and practice hate and fear. Our most difficult challenges, greatest obstacles, and worst impediments are clearly symptoms of ideological, philosophical, and spiritual dis-ease. We can close landfills, but what do we do with malignant mind-fills and toxic emotional-spills?

How many gilded towers, glitzy gambling casinos, graven images, shark tanks, beauty queens, celebrity idols, and fired apprentices do we need? Why must we bow before self-indulgent-self-appointed emperors on bullshit plated pedestals. Moral corruption and spiritual blindness are perilous paths to the rape of innocence, bankruptcy of values, and blindness for our collective soul.

By observing our plant world, we can learn how to green our psyches. To feed a healthy mind, we must first select healthy thoughts for planting. Having positive attitudes fertilizes favorable circumstances that enable new hope to sprout. Society must have healthy nutrients and supportive environments in which to create strong roots. We need to sow seeds of positive change in the fertile soils of our personal and collective minds, hearts, and psyches. We must weed out and prune destructive and unproductive thoughts. We must eradicate and eliminate unhealthy codes, doctrines, laws, ideas, and practices that make no sense. We must pull the weeds of greed and prune the branches of power to serve humanity in the best possible ways.

Envisioning humanity as a flourishing garden insures, assures, and ensures a bountiful harvest of good health, happiness, prosperity, and peace of mind for all. We can harvest love and unity by supporting all gardens and harvests. The time is now to nurture healthy relationships and nourish healthy conditions that fortify our world. Our gardens will bud and blossom after we fertilize our crops with caring, sharing, diversity, and tolerance. Many plant species can flourish together in a garden. Many types of people can blossom, flourish, and thrive together in our world. Love, truth, and your healthy vote will disinfect, heal, and nourish everyone and everything.

LIBRA & HANDS

You don’t need a Libra sun, moon, planets, aspects, or houses to be Libra. Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius are ‘thinking’ types with square palms and long fingers. Dominant Libra has low set thumbs, widely spread fingers, round and square fingertips, and loop fingerprints. Many Libras have judiciously engraved long unobstructed headlines that fork at the end. Thinking and Intuitive types dominate political, publishing, public speaking, public relations, education, legal, marketing, sales, and entertainment fields.

Note: I’m basing my generalizations on over 40 years of reading hands of every age, race, religion, education, career, politics, and long term clients. My observations are subject to other possible interpretations, which may all be right or wrong by degree.

It’s not easy for Libras to make up their minds. They see every side of an idea or situation and it’s hard to limit options. Dominant pinkie fingered folk with large broad nails communicate clearly and frankly. Strong  index fingers embody ambitious managers, powerful directors, and courageous leaders. Dominant bottom and middle finger phalanges work best in banking, real estate, and restaurants. Dominant first phalanges make the best public speakers, lawyers, directors, journalists, educators, and religious leaders. Libra can be idealistic, romantic, aesthetic, refined, manipulative, controlling, selfish, and unethical.

Widely spaced head and life lines embody spontaneity, love of freedom, need for action and personal space, and not caring what others think. Like a Samurai swordsman, Libra wields logic, tact, and diplomacy. They compartmentalize, analyze, and rationalize feelings until they achieve their desired goals. Changing a Libra’s mind is like playing mental monopoly. Be direct. Make good sense. Don’t get emotional. You’ll regret it otherwise.

Libra handshakes are firm and sincere. Pink elastic skin and long graceful heart lines flow from the pinkie to index finger, combining grace and romance. Firm elastic hands add energy and practicality to balance a sentimental nature. Branches from the heart line that touch the head line reveal one or both parents withheld emotions early in life. The child learns to rationalize, analyze, and compartmentalize difficult feelings that they are unable to verbalize. Stiff thumbs with a firm percussion under a pinkie reveal strong will, dogged determination, and unrelenting persistence. Gently curving lines following along inside life lines are lucky because they have real intimate family ties and true friends. Lines parallel within the lifeline are blessed with quality time and intimacy!

Athena, Greek archetype of Wisdom and Justice, is one of a trifecta with Aquarius and Gemini. Athena holds the ‘Scales of justice’ in one hand and a sword of thinking in the other. She balances ethics with action. Aries wins battles, while Athena rules the strategic thinking required to win wars. Odysseus (Libra), Achilles (Aries), and Theseus (Gemini) were heroes who worshiped Athena. Sometimes pictured as a handsome Goddess dressed in battle armor, Athena sports a shield of Intuition with an owl of Wisdom on her shoulder. Athena’s sword is applied with icy detachment as she cuts to the quick as she discards emotions in favor of clarity of thought.

Libra is the Autumn Equinox, 7th sign of the zodiac, and 7th house of marriage. October offers an opportunity for real partnership, sharing, and giving without expectation. Libra strives for balance, idolizes harmony, hates discord, despises confrontation, but faces conflict honestly when it’s unavoidable. Decisive when it matters, Libra is notoriously indecisive when it doesn’t matter. Questions like what and where to eat and what to wear are challenging. Libra can be aggressive and passive at the same time. Being frank and direct doesn’t understand acting and pretending. ‘Nice’ is easy. ‘Safe’ is unsatisfying. Honesty is the best policy…

Everyone has Libra in their symbolism and psyche. Twelve different characters rule our character. As ruler of our 7th and 2nd houses, Venus knows our truths, values, boundaries, and the difference between right and wrong. Two popular Libra aphorisms are “Locks keep honest people honest” and “Contracts are as good as those who make them”. 

“Even an attorney of moderate talent can postpone doomsday year after year, for the system of appeals that pervades American jurisprudence amounts to a legalistic wheel of fortune, a game of chance, somewhat fixed in favor of the criminal, that the participants play interminably.” Truman Capote…

A wealthy lawyer friend reminds me that rich people are innocent until proven guilty while poor folk are guilty until proven innocent. Wealth encourages players to shirk social responsibility, justify awful personal and social behaviors and actions, and manipulate the law. Poor folk are cursed to an eternity of scraping for pennies at the bottom of the barrel while HAVES have privilege and a birthright of those who can afford to have. Why must we lose what we value to value what we had?

Libra knows something could change an outcome, and fails to mention it. Philip Morris knew cigarette smoke was toxic. Monsanto knows ‘Roundup’ causes cancer. Bayer knows they’re murdering bees and butterflies. Politicians in Flint, Michigan, knew they were poisoning people who were depending on them for protection. GE was aware it was polluting the Hudson River. Giant companies choose profit over the health of our people and planet. Trump knows the potential of the Corona Virus, of Climate Change, and of promoting hatred. Partisan politicians rule public health. Donald deceives and exploits us by preaching poisonous political propaganda, empowering spiritually bankrupt religious fanatics, encouraging morally and ethically bankrupt business behavior, and enraging hordes of clueless gun lovers. Greta is an Athena/Artemis.

“EXPELIOSIS!”

Learning to judge hands is the most challenging aspect of palmistry. Long and firm may appear short and soft, based on context and by degree. Rigorous practice and learning to ask the right questions is key to understanding and interpreting human character as reflected in the morphology and topography of our hands. Few of us are pure types. Many of us behave contrary to our sun signs. No matter what hands say about a person, it’s not what you see, but what you say and how you say it that matters.

My brother Gary is a Pisces, a mutable feeling type. Gary may be Neptunian on the inside, but his hands reveal he’s ruled by Libra. His behavior is rooted in cardinal thinking. Supported by practical firm thumbs, healthy, smooth textured, elastic skin, and pink coloring, Gary’s analytical and logical thinking merge gracefully with his compassionate feelings and intuition. His commitment to working with frustrating clients and stressful situations reveals a natural empathy many Libras lack. They analyze, rationalize, and compartmentalize feelings rather than trust them. Gary is a loving husband and father, devoted son, generous brother, compassionate friend, and healthy human being. Gary is also an adventurous geriatric psychiatrist, practical philosopher, and prankster. I used to tease Gary that I was going to go completely crazy with age. I conjured and shared scary fantasies of how he’d be stuck with me. Lucky for both of us, as a Gemini, I decided not to get old.

Andrea, Gary’s middle daughter and my niece, is a Libra with Libra hands. Independent. likable, and easy to be with, Andrea is a giver. I read Andrea’s hands when she was young, but old enough to understand me. I mentioned how she likes getting her way and usually does. She giggled as if I had discovered her secret. Matching Sun Signs and hands can be good or bad, depending on what a person does with them. There’s no substitute for noble intent, clear choice, critical thinking, and right use of free will.

Cousin Richie, Libra extraordinaire, philosopher, sculptor, and inventor, is father of Tangle, the infinite sculpture (series of interactive interlocking elbows). Our mothers were sisters. We share the ancestral “happiness” and “seeker” genes, and we have similar existential queries. I once suggested to Richie, “If you put the same religious fervor into saving the world as you put into plastic elbows, we’d be saved”. “I am saving the world”, he replied, “one Tangle at a time.” He meant it.

My cousin has sold tens of millions of Tangles worldwide. A mutual friend from NYC visited a monastery in Tibet and saw a poster of the Dalai Lama playing with with a chrome Tangle. “Nothing surprises me”, I told him. When I visited Richie at the annual gift show at the Javits Center in NYC. He was selling Tangles to a conservative buyer from Wal-Mart. I leaned closer and heard him say, “Let me show you the only product in this show worth more than money”. He meant it.

Blending astrology and hands is how I view character. Few of us are pure types. Most are mutts. Richie’s fingers may seem short for a thinking type. He’s got dominant air and fixity, and very strong Aquarian energy. Richie loves new ideas and enjoys sharing his opinions with incorrigible tenacity. I might see Richie’s hands differently if I didn’t know him. Libra opposes Aries as Autumn opposes Spring. A Libra and Aries opposition is a quest for higher awareness and a journey from light to darkness and back. Odysseus fanned the flames of Jason’s inspiration on his quest for the Golden Fleece. Richie quests to untangle truth, maintain inspiration, channel passion, and harness desire. Healthy intent, right thinking, careful actions, and a handful of good luck wins the fleece.

LEO PAWS

You don’t need a Leo sun, moon, ascendant, planets, aspects, or houses to be Leo. Leo’s character and behavior can be readily seen in the morphology and topography of their paws. All three Intuitive (fire) types have long rectangular palms and short fingers. Leo’s hand shape is identical to Sagittarius and Aries. Fire (intuitive) and air (thinking) are masculine in gender. Earth (practical) and water (feeling) are feminine. Practical types have square palms and short fingers. Thinking and feeling types are long fingered. Thinking types have square palms. Feeling types have long palms.

Leo is a fixed modality. He hates change. Leo’s hands are less flexible than Sagittarius and Aries. His skin is less elastic than Aries (cardinal). Sagittarius (mutable) hands are softer and less stiff than Leo’s hands. Leo loves his pleasures and being center of attention. Sagittarius can be a self indulgent pleasure-seeking optimist. Their secret fear is that the pessimists are right! Aries acts without thinking and has to learn the hard way to take responsibility for the consequences of his actions. Clear line formations reveal clarity, resolution, choice, and commitment.

As a highly spirited enthusiastic individual, Leo hates details, needs to see the whole picture, and feel free to express himself naturally. Leo’s great ideas need to be supported by inspiration, passion, commitment, teamwork, and an occasional kick in his procrastinating butt by someone who cares about him. Leo is masculine. As an independent objective thinker, Leo must learn to set realistic goals and channel his pride and passion through the lenses of honesty, integrity, dignity, nobility, and virtue.

Leo’s eager fans await his contagious humor and compelling stories. Creative, enthusiastic, dramatic, generous, and fiercely loyal, when Leo chooses ‘you’, he lavishes you with ‘praise’, then expects you to love, admire, and worship him forever.

Closely braided beginnings of head and life lines reveal folk who care too much what others think, even though they act opposite. The longer the chain, the stronger the need to be appreciated. Once Leo’s on the defensive, it’s impossible to reason with him. He often takes what you say personally, even if it wasn’t personal. Leo needs to feel liked and appreciated. Encourage, support, and give Leo permission to be himself. Don’t allow him to let himself be taken for granted. He’ll be much happier and so will you.

Leo’s physical sense is sight. The spiritual equivalent is enlightenment. Leo must learn not to be judgmental of others, to keep his expectations real, and to choose courage, dignity, love, and truth over false pride and future losses. Leo’s most common health problems are poor eyesight, damaged heart, and poor circulation. Leo must focus his light inward to heal himself. Many multi-talented Leos spread themselves too thin. Later in life, they look back at having become a jack of all trades, master of none. 

Our character, values, thinking, feelings, will power, work and health issues, relationship potentials, creativity, philosophy, purpose, career possibilities, hopes, dreams, fears, and spirituality are waiting to be seen at the ends of our arms. A seasoned palmist can readily interpret a person’s character from their hands. Despite the accuracy of the science of hand reading, human nature cannot be defined through details. The ‘art’ of palmistry is in connecting with another being through touch, sight, dialogue, intuition, and then interpreting combinations of details. Our hands reveal our physical, mental, and emotional choices and actions, and provide context for our behavior. Palmistry is a metaphysical method of observing and interpreting human nature through knowing hands.

Cultivated Leos have strong ring fingers Rounded and square shaped tips are common. You’ll find spatulate tips on innovators and problem solvers. Balanced finger proportions with dominant second and third phalanges are common and embody a love of family, home, food, and natural style. Short straight fingers, developed second knots, and broad nails tell us “what you see is what you get”. OCD at times, everything must have their designated places. Qualities of lines such as breaks, islands, and chains show what challenges and obstacles a person has had, is having, and may have on his path to knowing his purpose. Consistency and flexibility of hands and elasticity of skin reveal three modalities. Whorl fingerprints (concentric circles and spirals) add originality, spontaneity, eccentricity, and unconventionality. Loops embody adaptability. Arches tend to be more practical and conventional with respect to the meaning of the particular finger.

Look to ring fingers for insights into artistic and aesthetic abilities, dramatic talent, versatility, salesmanship, satisfaction, recognition, and reputation. No matter what your archetype, long straight ring fingers add mental and/or emotional adaptability, creativity, and expressiveness. Cultivated Leos love beautiful things and savor their sense of taste and style. Most long ring fingered Leos are likable and they know it. Leo’s greatest weaknesses are bossiness, showiness, hubris, and gambling.

The ring finger is judged for length against the middle finger. If the tip is shorter than the middle of the first phalanx of the middle finger, it’s short. When longer, it’s long. Many actors, artists, architects, designers, craftsmen, photographers, curators, businessmen, teachers, salesmen, politicians, and diplomats have long strong ring fingers. The luckiest gamblers have very long ring fingers. Their challenge is knowing when to stop.

No matter your archetype, people with square tips and stiff knotty joints are more practical, methodical, and cautious than those without. Crooked middle fingers embody perfectionism, self-criticism, and crankiness caused by a need for personal space and not having enough of it. A widely spread pinkie is another indication of a need for personal space. Crooked pinkie fingers embody avoidance of conflict and a compulsive need to make the peace. On the dark side, it can symbolize manipulating bullies, liars, and grifters like Donald Trump and his clan.

Defective Genes Hard at Work

Healthy Leos like to shine like the sun. Their strength and courage are heroic! Leo is naturally charming, talented, and versatile. They’re natural designers with an ability to balance objectivity with creativity. Liabilities are self-consciousness, insecurity, vanity, clinging to obsolete circumstances, perpetuating unhealthy behavioral patterns, cultivating confusing situations, and nursing fruitless relationships. Leo needs an inspiring quest or risk mundanity and mediocrity. He must cultivate clear vision and enduring patience. Naturally restless, impatient, and impulsive, it’s best you stay out of his way to If you can’t help him. Don’t ever take him for granted unless you want to make him angry or scarce.

Leos are at their finest when they’re responsible, honest, patient, and natural in their behavior and relationships. Frequently accused of ‘being opinionated’, Leo’s point of view is very important. Clear and effective communication is a key to Leo’s success. Leo’s greatest obstacles and challenges are setting clear boundaries, knowing his limitations, overcoming inertia, and letting go when the handwriting is on the wall.

Our four most recent Presidents are dominated by Leo

Bill Clinton is a multi-talented charismatic Leo. Bill’s rectangular palms and short fingers reveal Leo (intuitive) hands. Head and life lines are closely tied at their beginnings. Bill cares more than you know about what others think of him. Philandering is a common challenge of having power. Bill’s hubris undermined the power he worked so hard to acquire. I’ll bet he and Hillary had a “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” partnership. Bill wasn’t supposed to do anything stupid or get caught! Rest assured that Hillary (Scorpio Sun/Capricorn hands) gave Bill a spanking they’ll never forget!

Unearned power is a curse. People born rich or beautiful take it for granted. Many believe they actually deserve what they have. George W. Bush desperately wanted to be a ‘good old boy’ like his dad. Unfortunately, George clung to his frat boy mindset, well into his Presidency. George is a Cancer with Leo rising and Leo hands. Ego and false pride controlled George and ruled us. You can bet that George is ashamed of his poor choices and bad behavior as President. A broken mirror, Donald Trump has taught George Bush humility. He’s happy not to be the worst President.

Barack Obama is a Leo with Aries hands and Aquarius thinking. A warrior of ideas and ideals, Barack embodies many of the best qualities of Leo. He’s proud, respectful, and very loyal to family and friends who have earned his trust. Barack’s greatest challenge as President was trying to be bi-racial and bi-partisan in a partisan world. Barack should have grabbed power when Democrats ruled congress. Repuglican’t opposition has been truthless, ruthless, relentless, remorseless, and shameless.

Would you buy a used car from this man?

Donald Trump is Gemini with Leo rising. His small stiff Leo hands, braided head and life lines, and crooked pinkies reveal Donald also cares more than you know about what you think of him. While flaunting the worst qualities of Gemini and Leo, his flippant attitude toward others, ignorance of our planet, and constantly intimidating behavior is wrecking havoc on a human race against bad shit happening. How many polished brass towers, glitzy gambling casinos, graven images, beauty queens, shark tanks, celebrity idols, screwed contractors, scared people, and have-nots scraping for pennies at the bottom of the barrel does it take to screw in a light bulb? Donald’s minions have mistaken ‘no love’ for ‘tough love’. Too many horrible role models are being reincarnated every day into darkness, despair, and fear that support Donald’s emptiness!

Pestilential presidential practices and partisan political paradigms poison public psyche. Pious philosophies and prejudicial policies pollute our collective psyche. We analyze, rationalize, and compartmentalize Trump’s insane beliefs, illogical ideologies, and illicit actions, while we sacrifice our dignity, integrity, nobility, and virtue on the altar of nonsense.

The Presidency is not a job. It’s is a calling! The Presidency is a mission for a spiritual person with a balanced mind, heart, healthy attitudes, a strong need to give, and a desire to make a real difference. Donald Trump blew his golden opportunity to be truly loved by choosing to rule with fear, anger, hatred, and greed. How much tyranny, intimidation, and avarice must we endure before we lose our humanity, health, family, friends, and planet?

Donald’s failure to help humanity is a symptom of his desire to hurt humanity. His story is an allegory that teaches us not to take what we value or have failed to value for granted. In November, Donald’s humiliation, shame, and fall from grace will bring great relief and satisfaction to masses of people! Shouts of hope and joy will echo round the globe. The Trump brand will become worthless and symbolize evil in the 21st Century.

TAURUS & HANDS

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You don’t need a Taurus sun, moon, ascendant, aspects, or house placements to behave like a Taurus. ‘Taurus archetypes’ have square fleshy palms, large stiff thumbs, and short stiff fingers representing stubbornness, determination, and tenacity. Their firm, pink, elastic skin, and dense bulging percussion of hands under pinkie fingers embody their relentless persistence. Having full rosy balls of thumbs symbolizes love of family, nature, children, comfort, art, music, luxury, and all that’s refined, graceful, and beautiful. When a ball of thumb is surrounded by a long clear deep life line, that person is blessed with a healthy body and attitude. Long clear deep fate lines reflect strong purpose, goals, and destiny.

Deeply engraved life, heart, head, and fate lines and clear skin ridges are distinct paths on the topographical maps of our hands that can be navigated by anyone who wants to learn to see and interpret the cartography. Taurus has less peripheral lines than feeling, thinking, and intuitive types. Needing security and stability, Taurus feels, thinks, and intuits in practical ways. Long graceful heart lines ending under the index fingers are romantic and sentimental. Being ‘old fashioned’ comes naturally, like crying while watching old movies is typical. Long heart lines see others as they want them to be, instead of how they really are. Time is Taurus’s friend. They must make others work to earn their trust and love or risk being taken for granted.

People with closely intertwined lines of head and life procrastinate, care too much what others think, and need to feel appreciated. Being taken for granted is the beginning of the end. Fingers with loop prints and flexible first joints add mental adaptability. Arches and stiff joints embody fixity and practicality. Square finger tips represent a need for order and stability. Developed second knots are about needing everything in its place. I’ve seen folk with very large second knots stealthily adjusting something you picked up and moved a few molecules from where it had been. Middle phalanges embody practicality. Bottom phalanges embody physicality and sensuality. The hand pictured above belongs to a Pisces with a Taurus character. Dreamy, visionary, and spiritual on the inside, he’s extremely practical on the outside.

Taurus is driven by their physical senses. Responsible, practical, pragmatic, objective, dependable, and reliable, Taurus manages and maintains our material world. Taurus trusts what they can see and feel, not ideas, intuitions, or inspirations. As creatures of habit they get addicted to routine and order. The more bogged down in practical and mundane matters, the harder it becomes to access abstract abilities and imagination. A huge challenge is procrastination at beginnings and endings. It makes no sense as it opposes a basic need to get things done. Taurus needs to be stable, responsible, caring, and appreciated.

Aphrodite’s desire for comfort and beauty manifests in Taurus. She gives form to wealth and power. Venus loves family, friendships, home, food, nature, art, and music. Her need for physical security and stability drives her practical attitudes. She’s honest, dependable, trustworthy, and valued for her natural warmth and good sense.

A healthy Venus won’t bend the truth or perform a song and dance act for anyone. She’s loyal, affectionate, and charming, but she can also be jealous, controlling, and possessive. She’s charismatic, but not the best salesperson as she takes rejection personally. Taurus thrives in real estate, banking, food, and fashion. Taurus challenges are learning to trust their gut, give up control, and let go when it makes no sense to hang on. Taurus can be the best bull or the worst Minotaur.

TAURUS LEADERS

Pope John Paul ll had many positive Taurus qualities. He got the haves to share with the have-nots. He was the first Pope to visit a synagogue. He encouraged Catholics and Jews to love one another. An assassination attempt nearly killed him and yet he rose to address countless chaotic messes in the church.

J. Krishnamurti, a spiritual guide, shared good sense with all willing to listen.

Leonardo da Vinci, an original hipster, was a great artist and inventor

Sigmund Freud fathered modern psychoanalysis

Karl Marx developed a theory of socialism

Martha Graham mothered modern dance

Katherine Hepburn was Grand Dame of American Stage & Movies

Queen Elizabeth ~ Prime Minister Tony Blair ~ Anchors ~ Great Britain

“The great mass of people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than a small one”. The darkest depths of Taurus brought humanity a Monster from Hell from 1933 to 1945.  Adolph Hitler transformed our world by inspiring and empowering anger, fear, and terror, and manipulating masses with powerful imagery of strength and unity of pandemic proportions. Adolph Hitler was responsible for over thirty million deaths.

 

Jim Jones, fanatic cult leader, led 1,000 followers to mass suicide in 1978

Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh had no remorse for his evil actions.

Saddam Hussein, (Iraqi President 1979~2006) was shamed, then slayed.

Alchemy isn’t turning lead into gold. Alchemy is balancing Saturn with our Sun. Virtue, honesty, integrity, dignity, nobility, persistence, determination, discipline, structure, and focus are keys to healthy humanism. Taking responsibility, cultivating healthy attitudes, nourishing cherished values, exercising critical thinking, promoting realistic goal setting, prioritizing planning, and choosing right actions will transform our inner and outer worlds. Taurus encourages us to find clarity in our values, embrace our best qualities, and master and manage our darkness. Everyone has Taurus in their psyche by degree. Taurus gives us the time and space to blend practicality with grace, responsibility with love, and comfort with joy. We can all be our own best friends and bull shit detectors.

AQUARIUS & PSYCHE

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Personal & Collective Psyche transform as Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto change sign. Uranus transits each sign of our zodiac for seven years. It takes eighty-four years to orbit our sun through twelve signs. Uranus entered Aquarius twice in the 20th Century. 1912 to 1919 bombarded our psyche with sudden unexpected political and social upheaval that challenged our philosophical and spiritual ideologies, faith in humanity, and trust in ourselves. Uranus transited Aquarius again in 1996. Had we chosen love and brotherhood over selfishness and convenience, we’d be building bridges instead of walls!

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

1912 ~ “Unsinkable Titanic” sunk on its maiden voyage. Karmic lesson in hubris

1913 ~ Tornadoes & Floods devastated Middle America. 3,000 dead + $100,000,000, an expensive lesson in preparedness

1914 ~ World War I ~ Hatred, Fear, & Terror levied a heavy toll on humanity

1915 ~ German submarine torpedoed British Ocean Liner Lusitania

Alexander Graham Bell catalyzed mass communications with the first transcontinental phone call made Jan 25th, 1915. A powerful concept’s time had arrived…

1916 ~ Would a wall have prevented Pancho Villa, Mexican revolutionary, from invading the USA? Woodrow Wilson retaliated by sending 6,000 troops into Mexico

Official Gazette of London published the names of 80 United States firms suspected of trading with Germany. Prescott Bush, a banker, was among them.

1917 ~ USA declared war on Germany. Hitler’s enemies became our allies. Bigotry became more bountiful, catalyzing the worst race riot in American history in Illinois

Congress amended laws that prohibited beer, wine, and liquor from being profitable

1918 ~ Daylight Savings Time. Spanish Flu was the worst pandemic since the Bubonic Plague wiped out one quarter of Europe’s population in the 14th century

1919 ~ Prohibition was ratified as the 18th amendment to our constitution. Congress failed to ratify the Treaty of Versailles. President Wilson disagreed and went on public tour to fight the decision. He died trying.

Hermes was the true father of modern medicine, communications, and the ‘Cell Phone’. Hermes knew everything is made of cells. He taught our brain is the hardware. Our job is to connect our inner with outer cells and fine tune our links. In Greek myth, Hermes was reputedly a real man, the mystic teacher of Abraham, who lived for 350 years in the flesh. As a Gemini @ 72, I’m still an adolescent, ‘Peter Pan’, in his finest hour. Joanna, my ‘Wendy’ soul mate, calls me “a piece of work in progress”, still in my first childhood.

Speaking of adolescence, male vanity and virility was popularized when Pfizer introduced Viagra in Aries of 1998. The stock market created a new form of gambling called “internet day trading”. DVDs became the fastest growing consumer electronics product in history. Bribes and drugs tarnished the Olympic Games. Our innocence and civil liberties were transformed as our ideas, illusions, and delusions about private and social security and stability dissolved. What we think of our past, present, and future matters.

Body piercing and tattoos became popular. President Clinton’s first political act of 1996 was to sign a welfare reform bill that made life harder for poor people. Havenots were deceived, divided, and demoralized, by the powers the that be. Madeline Albright became first female Secretary of State. Ellen DeGeneres was the first gay star of an ABC sitcom. Taiwan’s first democratic election was held. Four major plane crashes happened.

Neptune rules vision, illusion, delusion, and confusion. In 1998, Neptune in Aquarius represented the House of Representatives impeaching Bill Clinton for giving “perjurious false and misleading” testimony in front of a grand jury. Leo rules Bill, whose hands, sun, mercury, saturn, and pluto are Leo. Rest assured Hillary (Hera) mercilessly tortured Bill’s sorry butt when he got caught. Catholics & Protestants voted for peace in Ireland.

The US government and twenty state attorney generals charged Microsoft with anti-trust practices for dominating the Internet access market. Bill Gates has a Scorpio Sun and intuitive hands. Imagine having the power to make gigantic differences for humanity and our planet? What’s the ethical, moral, and spiritual responsibility for knowing the difference? Many poor people give more than Bill Gates, relative to their time and resources.

Neptune entered Pisces in 2012. 1% afflicted and infected the other 99% with spiritual, physical, emotional, ideological, psychological, and philosophical pathogens and dis~ease. Our illusions, delusions, and deceptions of being old, poor, sick, disabled, and/or unable to afford bad shit happening dissolved. Individual and collective hatred, fear, and terror has prevented us from transforming our inequities into equities. We must recognize and take responsibility for our behavior, values, thinking, feelings, health, relationships, creativity, philosophy, purpose, hopes, desires, fears, and spirituality.

LOOK ~ SEE + LISTEN ~ HEAR

Historians will describe the 21st Century as an era of false prophets and false profits. Neptune in Pisces symbolizes billions of individuals around the world, seeking security, stability, and spiritual answers and instead finding despair, fear, and terror.  HAVES rule have nots. Poor folk will always be at the bottom of the barrel scraping for pennies, as plutocrats skim the cream and pay partisan politicians to permit them to deplete, poison, and pollute our planet, manage our healthcare, regulate our welfare, gamble with our social security, and control our pension funds. The middle class are pawns, collateral damage, in a crooked game of chess. If freedom and slavery are opposite extremes, what shades of gray are you?

Never have so few been allowed to influence, manipulate, and control so many. The human race has become a race against bad shit happening and we’re all losing!

“As Above, So Below” Hermes

SAGITTARIUS & HANDS

SAGITTARIUS-HAND

You don’t need a Sagittarius sun, moon, houses, aspects, planets, or planetary placements in your Natal Horoscope to be Sagittarian. All Intuitive hands have rectangular palms with short fingers. Sagittarius hands have strong index fingers, flexible finger joints, pink firm elastic skin, and confident hand shakes. Sagittarius reflects a mutable personality. Pure types have long straight index fingers that stand away from the hand. No matter what your type, strong index fingers point to pride, ambition, desire for power, leadership abilities, confidence, idealism, spirituality, religion, truthfulness, and generosity. Pink color under an index finger adds energy and enthusiasm and reveals a desire to make a difference.

After reading many tens of thousands of hands for over forty years, I can confidently and comfortably generalize from my experience. I’ll never have enough statistical data to call my work scientific, but I can safely say a Sagittarius with a healthy index finger is idealistic, enthusiastic, and self-assured. Many have smooth finger joints and round or conical fingertips with loop or whorl prints. As eternal optimists, they’re honest, sincere, and gifted with voices designed to persuade. Positive thinking helps them achieve their goals, while good luck lights their way. I call Jupiter ‘him’ because it’s his gender, but in practice, Jupiter’s influence is equally powerful in all genders.

Sagittarians are often accused of viewing life through rose colored glasses because they see people and circumstances as they want them to be instead of how they really are. Graceful heart lines, extending from the percussion of the hand from strong pinkies to powerful index fingers make them even more sensitive, romantic and sentimental. As proud, expansive, generous, passionate, principled, truthful, philosophical, and spiritual beings, they’re irresistible when they believe in themselves. Love of travel motivates them to seek adventure whenever and wherever as they search for interesting food experiences. Healthy types love country and city life. Many struggle to find balance.

Jupiter’s physical sense is taste. Jupiter craves rich exotic foods, luxurious desserts, fine wines, and highly erotic sex with mortals. Depending on length and thickness of bottom phalanges, love of nutrition (narrow), or temptation by gluttony (plump) emerges from deep within the psyche. Rich food, fine wine, and kinky sex are potent temptations that lead them down the dark path of excess to the palace of wisdom. Jupiter’s physical problems come from gorging rich food, drinking too much alcohol, and overindulging in sensual pleasures. Dominant index fingered folk are of medium height with generously proportioned bodies. Wide chests, high foreheads, widely spaced eyes, reddish faces, and wavy hair are common characteristics and clues to the mystery of who they are.

Gluttony is prone to blood disorders, liver disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, and flaws of throat and thighs. Pride is critical, hypercritical, impractical, grandiose, arrogant, dictatorial, and vain. Blending Pride and Lust induces philandering.

When the dominant hand’s index finger is long, (past middle of tip of top phalanx of middle finger), projects forward with pinkish color beneath (all races), that person loves being boss and hates being criticized. They’re natural planners, setters of goals, and leaders who attract other ambitious career minded professionals. Know that anyone will quickly lose credibility and respect if they’re looking for a free ride or are unable to carry their own weight. Jupiter must steer clear of strays and fixer-uppers who are naturally attracted to them. Long index fingered folk enjoy being married. They need to partner as much as they need a lover. Having both is best! Planning, setting goals, and dreaming of a future together is crucial for their partnership to be meaningful and fruitful.

Jupiter’s personal problems come from practicing obsessive and controlling behavioral patterns, expressing judgmental thoughts, and cultivating critical attitudes. False pride, gluttony, vanity, and bossiness are weaknesses these individuals must overcome by practicing moderation, earning self-esteem, and being successful at being healthy.

Sagittarius needs a philosophy that enables him to be an integral part of a working society, not tilting at windmills like Don. It’s hard being a person who believes he has everyone’s answers, though he has none. Wind, Sun, earth, and water will be available to us when we’re ready to harness their power.

Short index fingers extend less than half way to middle of top phalanx of middle finger. Short index fingered individuals need to work harder to achieve similar results as their long index fingered brethren. Short fingered folk are big picture people. Many tend not to value themselves enough because they weren’t valued enough during their formative years. There was no encouragement and support when they needed it most! Their challenge is to learn to ask enough of and for themselves. Plenty of successful individuals have thrived with very short index fingers. They earned every drop of whatever they achieved. Nothing comes easily, but everything earned is well worth the risk and effort.

A scientific study claims short index fingers are linked to homosexuality. Click if you’re curious. This minute long Youtube video shares my take on index fingers. It’s a look through my wife and my eyes at how knowing our baby’s potentials and possibilities altered her destiny. Basic hand shape reveals whether we’re intuitive, practical, thinking, or feeling. Healthy types are nourished by healthy index fingers. Being honest, direct, taking pride in their work, and calculating their risks transforms Sagittarius into successful politicians, journalists, judges, lawyers, singers (musical instrument is voice),speakers, story tellers, managers, producers, promoters, salesmen, chefs, and priests.

Every fingerprint needs to be examined in the context of each other and the whole hand. Proportions of finger phalanges, development of knots, and size and shape of nails reveal various personality traits. I see many spatula shaped fingertips with whorl prints on Sagittarius types. They embody original and unconventional thinking. Square tips with arch prints are practical, responsible, dependable, and reliable. Round and conical tips with loop prints are adaptable and communicative.

Depending on your basic type, lines change as a person’s thinking and circumstances change. Dermatoglyphics (skin ridge patterns) rarely change dramatically. Sudden or extreme circumstances may catalyze a tiny change. In my experience, the lines in feeling (water) hands change the most while practical (earth) hands (above) change the least. Careful examination of skin ridge patterns requires a quality set of hand-prints or hi-res photos, a strong magnifier, and precise measuring tools. Once you’ve got the gestalt of a person, you can give great readings using details to affirm and confirm the persons basic character, patterns, habits, natural tendencies, talents, and potentials, and provide additional information about current events and timing.

SAGITTARIUS & PSYCHE

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.