HERMES

HERMES

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In ancient Greece, Hermes was the god of wisdom, trade, wealth, luck, fertility, language, animal husbandry, sleep, thieves, and travel. Hermes was also the liaison to death and messenger for all gods. Hermes’ Roman version is Mercury, ruler of Gemini. Thoth is the Egyptian archetype, scribe of the gods. Loki was the Norse god of mischief. In Tarot, Hermes is a Magician at a crossroads with important choices to be made and critical actions to be taken, along with the necessary tools to make them happen. Having physical and metaphysical resources and tools enabled Hermes to go anywhere and do anything.

Hermes was reputedly a real person in ancient Egypt. Hermes allegedly lived to 350 years old in the flesh. Refusing to grow old, he spent much of his youth as a petty thief and mischievous trickster. ‘Puck’ was Hermes adolescence in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. The 20th Century version is Peter Pan. Peter never grows old. As a 74 year old Gemini, I’m leaving adolescence on a quest to transform common sense into good sense.

Wendy is a Virgo. She’s the part of Mercury that’s practical and responsible. Peter needs Wendy to darn his socks, sew his shadow back on, let him fly away whenever and wherever he wants and be there when he gets back. Wendy balances Peter by changing Gemini’s ambiguous and ambivalent thoughts and feelings into clarity and good sense. Gemini (social) and  Virgo (technical) are Hermes City & Country homes as he transits our Zodiac.

Hermes was the mystic teacher of Abraham and real father of wireless communication. Hermes realized our brains are the cell communication hardware while our minds transmit and receive messages. He understood relationships between cells cause energy and matter to vibrate on different planes at the same time. Hermes described three separate and forever blending planes as physical, mental, and spiritual.

Long before Moses, while other alchemists were still attempting to turn Lead into Gold, Hermes taught disciples that 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. We can connect with anyone or anything at any time by first taking a leap of faith, establishing our connections, and then tuning our links.

Alchemy is not about turning lead into gold. Alchemy is a set of magical formulas, tools, and esoteric instruction for becoming healthy, happy, and fulfilled. Alchemy is choosing to nourish clear vision, making wise decisions, cultivating real relationships, and acting appropriately. Positive attitudes, right uses of will, and rock solid faith will create sound structures on solid foundations. By balancing courage, strength, wisdom, and grace with critical thinking, healthy feelings, and right action, Saturn (Lead) can turn into Sun (Gold). Through structure, discipline, and focus, alchemy helps us to be mentally, emotionally, and spiritually connected to ourselves, each other, and our planet.

Hermetic alchemy is a mastery of mental forces by transmuting one mental vibration into another. Hermes describes an unknowable and indefinable spirit as “The ALL”. “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. That’s why we have anthropomorphic gods and institutionalized religion.

Spirit is the essence that forms the whole. Spiritual development depends on the recognition, realization, and manifestation of the Great Spirit within and without.

Hermes taught seven basic metaphysical and philosophical principles.

The Secret”, a popular and profitable self-help campaign, 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; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.” Polarity is spiritual magnetism. Laws of attraction work best when you know what you want and your intention is clear. You can transform negative thinking into positive circumstances by deciding what you want, taking a leap of faith, letting go of fear, and doing the work.

Hermes ‘Law of Polarity’ can turn trash into treasure

GURU of GARBAGE (Click for Good Day NY)

Opposites are extremes of the same thing 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? This same principle operates on a mental plane. Love and hate are simply degrees of the same thing. Somewhere in the middle are shades of like and dislike. The vibrations of hate can be transformed into the vibrations of love through the art of polarization, a phase of alchemy known and practiced by ancient and modern masters.

Hermes other six ‘Secrets’ are Correspondence, Mentalism, Vibration, Rhythm, Cause and Effect, and Gender. Knowing these principles enabled Hermes to explore, examine, and explain everything and to execute his thoughts and ideas.

Hermetic masters possessed knowledge of transcendental astronomy called astrology, transcendental chemistry called alchemy, and transcendental psychology called mystic psychology. They cultivated inner and outer wisdom. Critical thinkers throughout history have unlocked mysteries using hermetic thought and principles. Confucius, Galileo, Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Nostradamus, Leonardo Da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Joseph Campbell were Grand Masters of hermetic thought.

Hermes used astrology to unlock ancient mysteries. Astrologers espouse 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 affairs of man on earth. Every relationship changes every other relationship on a cellular level by raising or diminishing its vibration, polarity, and rhythm. Astrological symbols embody a variety of archetypal characters, plots, and tales of humans, heroic, but unable to see the forest from the trees while desperately racing against bad shit happening.

Author’s Alliteration: 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 compartmentalize, rationalize, and analyze our insane ideologies and beliefs, we sacrifice our dignity, integrity, nobility, and virtue on the altars of nonsense.

Hermes asks us to know ourselves; to think critically, to be motivated, to make healthy choices, nourish positive attitudes, and embrace our best attributes. As we flourish and blossom, we can select more nourishing relationships and embrace more meaningful roles for ourselves. We can transform lead into gold by choosing wholeness, happiness, healthiness, peacefulness, and gracefully sharing our good fortune with the rest of us.

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.

LEO & PSYCHE

Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto transited Leo’s constellation during the 20th century. Colossal happenings transformed personal and collective psyche. Technology and inner workings of governmental rights and power were dispersed, revolutionized, and controlled by Plutocrats.

Uranus (Aquarius), planet of sudden change, transited Leo from 1955 to1962. Rosa Parks sowed seeds of discontent, catalyzing a fiery civil rights happening. She defied a segregation ordinance by not giving her bus seat to a white man in Alabama. The Supreme Court upheld Rosa’s rights after a nasty year long battle. University of Mississippi was forced to enroll its first black student. President Eisenhower deployed federal troops to Little Rock Arkansas to enforce school desegregation. President Kennedy ordered the National Guard to keep schools open in Alabama. Cultural shame catalyzed positive change. We don’t understand our differences. A ‘stable genius’ has chosen to lead us with hate, greed, consumption, waste, and depletion instead of wellness and happiness for all. What a fantastic opportunity for a human with a balanced mind, heart, and generous spirit! Black and white are extremes of shades of gray.

New inventions promoted convenience and provided time for recreation and leisure. Kentucky fried chicken and Play-Doh became popular. Davy Crockett and coonskin caps were fashionable. Pampers were the first disposable diapers. Crest was the first fluoride toothpaste. The first electric toothbrush was developed my Colgate in 1939 and marketed in the USA. The Teflon Company introduced non-stick cookware. Smith Corona introduced the first portable electric typewriters. Mattel Inc. introduced Barbie, who preceded Ken. Felt tipped pens became popular. Soft drinks were packaged in aluminum cans for the first time. K-Mart (bankrupt 10/18) and Wal-Mart (thriving) opened. Bank of America and American Express issued our first credit cards. The first transatlantic telephone cable began working. The first transcontinental helicopter flight was made.

Neptune (Pisces) takes fourteen years to change sign. Individual and collective psyche passes through ambiguous and confusing changes when it does. Neptune transited Leo from 1916 ~ 1929. Phenomenal world confusion took place. World War I brought tremendous prosperity to Wall Street while soldiers earning $16 a month were being killed in the trenches. England blacklisted and prevented over 80 US firms from dealing with neutral countries because they were suspected of trading with Germany. Influenza caused over two hundred deaths a day. Approximately one quarter of the US was sick. Half a million people were dead before the end of 1919. Daylight savings time began. Arkansas farmers dedicated a monument to the Boll Weevil, whose devastation of the cotton crop caused diversification and profitability. By 1927, the farm population had dropped dramatically as countless small farmers hopelessly and desperately sold their farms. Sound familiar?

History repeated itself as Neptune transited Aquarius from 1998 – 2012. War brought prosperity to Wall Street. Agribusiness and Chemical companies like Monsanto and Bayer crushed small farmers, while poisoning our water, air, and land. Small farms (especially organic farms) struggled to survive as politicians deregulated chemical companies, indemnified banks, and permitted toxic individuals, companies, and chemicals to pollute our planet. Energy, banking, transportation, communications, and food industries continue to control, manipulate, and addict us to our own selfish behavior. Partisan politicians con a gullible, angry but apathetic, and vulnerable public.

Underworlds thrive because Neptune rules drugs. National prohibition for alcohol began in 1920. Liquor smuggling and bootlegging was big mafia business. Recreational marijuana will be legalized in our country before Neptune leaves Pisces in 2025.

Congress set quotas limiting the number of immigrants allowed into the country. They didn’t separate their children, lock them in cages, and treat them horribly.

A senate subcommittee was formed to investigate the Teapot Dome oil leases. Texas tea barrels through pipelines while exploiting, depleting, and polluting our Mother.

Walt Disney released the first Mickey Mouse cartoon in 1928. George Eastman created the first color motion pictures. Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue was performed for the first time as a new form of symphonic jazz.

Doubt, fear, and panic caused the stock market to crash, leaving everyone in a state of terrible confusion. Lies, fear, and pandemics will soon cause our markets to crash.

Pluto (Scorpio) takes twenty years to change sign as it disintegrates, destroys, and transforms psyche. Pluto rules death, sex and orgasms (little death), and the dark side of the force. Pluto transited Leo from 1938 to 1957. Ten million people were unemployed in 1939. National and personal pride and power were transformed by the New Deal. President Roosevelt increased funding for building the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Congress adopted the Naval Expansion Act. Roosevelt transformed the Federal Reserve by creating a ‘withholding tax’ and social security. Roosevelt was the first president to appear on television. If all men are created equal, Biden has an opportunity to promote sustainability, repair and replace infrastructure, and encourage energy independence, moderation, and autonomy.

The House investigated un-American activities. It was the beginning of huge multi-national business conglomerates. Western Europe tried to appease Hitler with the Munich Pact, which turned Czechoslovakia over to Nazi Germany. Polls revealed Americans approved. Ouch! Nazis invaded Poland, causing Great Britain and France to declare war. Winston Churchill asked President Roosevelt for help.

In 1941, Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor. Japanese Americans paid a high price as they were forced from their homes into concentration camps where they became innocent victims of hate and prejudice. Fundamentalist devotion to ideologies and tyrants began crumbling. In 1943, fascist dictator Mussolini fell from power. By 1945, most people knew six million Jews had been slaughtered in Nazi concentration camps. Sound familiar?

The Atomic Bomb, ultimate plutonium weapon, destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrendered. In 1949, we supported a war in Korea that killed three million Koreans in less than a year. In 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy began a tirade against communist subversives and traitors in the US. Julia and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to the electric chair for stealing bomb secrets.

United Nations complex was completed in New York City in 1951. AT&T was the first company with over a million stockholders. Christine Jorgensen was the first transsexual to go public in 1952. Norman Vincent Peale’s best seller, The Power of Positive Thinking was published. The first kidney was transplanted. The first artificial heart happened. Chevrolet introduced a powerful sexy Corvette in 1953. We launched the Nautilus, the first nuclear powered submarine in 1954. The Soviet Union opened the world’s first atomic power station. Reigning British Monarchs made their first visit to American soil. We reached for outer space.

The Pluto in Leo generation, 1938 ~ 1957 have employed technology to build personal power. Pluto in Leo rules crony capitalism. From the `ME NOW’ generation, Bill Clinton (Leo), George W Bush (Leo rising), Donald Trump (Leo rising), and I (Leo Midheaven) were born with Pluto in Leo. My life is huge on the inside, and thankfully, my footprint is small.

Rest assured, if we haven’t destroyed ourselves and our planet by the time Donald Trump and his band of cutthroat thieves’ are locked up, new plutocrats will have no problem finding money, obtaining rights, capturing resources, and employing technology to own, harness, package, distribute, and sell our own sustainable resources back to us. As Uranus returns to Leo (2039 ~ 2046), will history repeat itself? We’ll know after November whether hindsight truly is 20/20!

CANCER & HANDS

Author’s Note: The following observations, insights, and generalizations are derived from over forty years of examining over seventy-five thousand sets of hands.

You don’t need a Cancer sun, moon, planets, or planetary house placements to be Cancer. Feeling types have long narrow palms and long fingers, often held closely together. Healthy hands have a firm consistency with pink elastic skin. Finger joints are pliable, less stiff than Scorpio, and less supple than Pisces. Cancer head and life lines often separate at their beginnings. That symbolizes cardinal energy and independence. If the head and life lines are closely connected at their beginnings, that person has (mother issues) fears like losing control, hates being criticized, and needs approval. Cancers should never ever be taken for granted.

Cancer is sensitive. More peripheral lines add more sensitivity. Be careful what you say because they’ll remember the ‘bad’ things, even if you haven’t said any. Long gently sloping head lines blend with full pink heels of hands and embody a healthy balance between intuition, creativity, and practicality. Heart lines that gracefully curve toward the index finger personify a romantic, idealistic, and sometimes unrealistic vision of other people. I’ve observed lots of round and conical fingertips with long broad nails, loop fingerprints, and romantic heart lines. They’re intuitive communicators, sensing what’s really happening. They prefer to be frank and offer sincere handshakes.

Cancers are intuitive, empathetic, complex, and overly aware of the needs of others. They’re hard to understand because they hide their innermost selves beneath a facade of nurturing actions. Pry into their private lives and they’ll retreat into their shells. They’re cautious and vulnerable, need to be direct, although they often have to be tactful and diplomatic. The only option that makes good sense is to choose satisfying over safe. They shouldn’t avoid emotional confrontation and need to cultivate intimacy wherever and whenever they can. Feelings may swing from loving and devoted to secretive, reclusive, obsessive, and fearful of the future. When Cancers are feeling insecure, controlled, or confined, they can become dark and moody. They need to feel protected and secure before they can fully trust. Once trust is earned, loyalties run deep. You’ll see intimacy in many lines running parallel to the lifeline within the ball of thumb. Healthy family connections and close friendships nourish these folk. The more structure, organization and detail in their lives, the more stable and secure they feel.

Healthy Cancers are loving, compassionate, and devoted beings. They’re most compatible with other feeling types. They feel safest with responsible, reliable, and dependable practical types. Challenged by thinking and intuitive types, they’re nervous that they’ll be left holding the psychic garbage (and they often are) and forced to deal with the consequences when idealism, optimism, enthusiasm, and logic wane (and they do). Cancers are acutely consciousness of everyone’s emotional needs. When insecure, they can become internally secretive and over-ambitious in the outer world. Cancers work hard when income matches output. Motivated by family, good food, emotional security, and fertile soil, their instinct and mission is to nourish, protect, exercise their creative imagination, and make sure there’s plenty of good food around.

You’ve got to play to lose”

The old guy above is the young guy with me in this picture captured forty-six years ago in a photo booth at Kennywood Amusement Park in Pittsburgh, Pa. Lloyd Wilson (Cancer), my best friend, and I met working part time at a wood, metal, and plastics model making machine workshop where we fabricated preschool children’s learning devices for the University of Pittsburgh. We met because we were making toys for ourselves on our own time. I was destined to become an industrial designer. Lloyd was a painter and sculptor. We were a couple of Peter Pans on a journey to Neverland.

Lloyd didn’t get much nurturing as a child. He developed a quick wit and sense of humor while avoiding extreme physical abuse. When his mother was happy, Lloyd was safe. When she was unhappy, she’d incite Lloyd’s rage filled father to brutally beat him. Lloyd’s mother ended up killing herself, his father was committed to a mental institution, and his favorite sister, (we met while on vacation in Florida) with two beautiful young children, a devoted husband, and seeming idyllic life, suddenly and unexpectedly blew her head off with a shotgun. It’s a paradox to have so much to give and lose.

Lloyd’s slender rectangular palms and long fingers embody his Cancer Sun, Venus, and North Node. They conjunct my Mercury in Cancer. His Gemini ascendant is exactly conjunct my vertex, which is the midpoint of my eighth house Gemini stellium. Lloyd’s head and life lines are tightly intertwined at their beginnings. That reveals his desire to feel needed and appreciated. As a sensitive child, Lloyd desperately needed love and support, but didn’t get any.

Lloyd tried hard to fix his broken parents. They were too sick to see him. Instead, they judged, criticized, and abused him. Lloyd survived without their love and approval. He thrives on appreciation. He’ll give his friends the shirt off his back, but they had better never take him for granted. Lloyd literally gave me the shirt off his back in my moment of need. I was on my way to an important meeting and got a nasty stain on my shirt. Lloyd insisted I take off my shirt and trade with him.

Cancers are collectors. Some stockpile food in case of shortage or emergency. Lloyd collects art books, literature (most well-read person I know), religious art, art supplies, tools, and clothing. When wealthy people die, their families donate clothing to Goodwill and Salvation Army. Lloyd has a keen eye for the finest designer clothing. He’s always first to pick through merchandise. As a master bargain hunter, I call Lloyd my personal dresser. We wear the same sizes. Lloyd chooses coats, suits, and jackets for me He’s gifted me with suits worth thousands of dollars that he only paid ten or fifteen dollars for. Many had never been worn.

Lloyd said to me, “People who tell the truth don’t need good memories”. I replied, “We may be bastards, but at least we’re honest”. Over fifty years of friendship continue to see many challenging lessons in humility for us. We delayed balancing our outer and inner worlds by choosing to learn the hard way. We learned that there are no shortcuts and to let go of the need to be greater than we were.

Lloyd’s extremely flexible thumbs symbolize his ability to adapt to the most horrible of circumstances. They also embody his generosity of heart and spirit. It’s very hard for Lloyd to say “NO”. I don’t know if I ever mentioned it to him, but the gold ring on the bottom middle finger of Lloyd’s unconscious hand symbolizes his need to have clear boundaries, be frugal, and to learn to say no.

Loving his anonymity, Lloyd’s artwork is created by a magical spirit who is him. Lloyd exemplifies Cancer’s most outstanding inner and outer qualities. He’s supportive, sympathetic, receptive, reflective, intuitive, imaginative, and extremely devoted to friends, family, and humanity. Lloyd Wilson is Pittsburgh’s best kept secret

GEMINI ~ SEVEN SECRETS OF HEALING

“The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of understanding.” Gemini secrets are secret only to the uneducated and uninitiated. In ancient Greece, Hermes was god of trade, wealth, luck, fertility, animal husbandry, sleep, language, thieves, travel, and wisdom. The Roman version was Mercury, ruler of Gemini, liaison to death, and messenger for all gods. Thoth was the Egyptian archetype, scribe of gods. Loki was the Norse god of mischief. In Tarot, Hermes is a Magician at a crossroads with important choices and critical decisions to be made. Having both physical and metaphysical resources and tools, Hermes could go anywhere and do anything at anytime.

Hermes was reputedly a real person in ancient Egypt. Refusing to grow old, he spent much of his youth as a petty thief and mischievous trickster. Hermes allegedly lived 350 years in the flesh. In ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, Puck was Hermes adolescence. The 20th Century version is Peter Pan. Peter never grows old. Wendy darns his socks, sews his shadow back on, and lets him fly away when he wants to. Wendy was likely a Virgo. Hermes has an innate ability to transform ambiguous and ambivalent thoughts and feelings into clarity and good sense. Gemini (social) and  Virgo (technical) are Hermes city and country homes as he passes through our Zodiac.

Hermes was the mystic teacher of Abraham and the father of wireless communication. Hermes realized our brains are cell communication hardware while our minds transmit and receive messages. Hermes understood that relationships between cells cause energy and matter to vibrate on different planes at the same time. He described three separate and forever blending planes as physical, mental, and spiritual. Long before Moses, while other alchemists were still attempting to turn lead into Gold, Hermes taught us that everyone and everything, including every thought are made up of individual cells; physically, mentally, and spiritually connected to all other cells on all other planes at the same time. We can connect with anyone or anything at any time once we take a leap of faith, see our truths, establish connections, and tune our links.

Alchemy is not turning lead into gold. Alchemy is metaphysical. Alchemy is a set of magical formulas, tools, and esoteric instruction for being healthy, happy, and fulfilled. In practice, alchemy is about nourishing healthy vision, making healthy decisions, and nourishing healthy relationships. Positive attitudes, right uses of will power, and rock solid faith builds sound structures on solid foundations. By embracing courage, strength, wisdom, and grace, we blend and balance Saturn (Lead) with the Sun (Gold). It’s a lot of work, but through structure, discipline, and focus, alchemy helps us be mentally, emotionally, and spiritually connected with ourselves, each other, and our planet.

Hermetic alchemy is the mastery of mental forces by transmuting one mental vibration into another. Hermes describes the unknowable and indefinable spirit as “The ALL”. “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. That’s why we have anthropomorphic gods and institutionalized religion. Spirit is the essence that forms and glues the whole. Spiritual development depends on the recognition, realization, and manifestation of the Great Spirit within and without.

Hermes taught seven basic metaphysical and philosophical principles.

The Secret”, was popular and a profitable PR campaign for 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 in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.” Polarity is spiritual magnetism. The law of attraction works best when you know what you want and your intentions are clear. Anyone can transform negative thinking into positive circumstances by taking a leap of faith, letting go of fear, and doing the work.

Hermes ‘Law of Polarity’ enabled me to transform trash into treasure

GURU of GARBAGE

Opposites are two extremes of the same thing with many varying degrees between. Where does heat end and cold begin? Where does darkness leave off and light begin?  What of positive and negative, hard and soft, sharp and dull, noisy and quiet, high and low? The same principle operates on the mental plane. Love and hate are simply degrees of the same thing. Somewhere in the middle are shades of like and dislike. The vibrations of hate can be transformed into the vibrations of love through the art of polarization, a phase of alchemy known and practiced by ancient and modern masters. Correspondence, Mentalism, Vibration, Rhythm, Cause and Effect, and Gender are Hermes other six ‘Secrets’. Knowing these secrets enabled Hermes to explore, examine, and explain everything.

Hermetic masters possessed knowledge of transcendental astronomy called astrology, transcendental chemistry called alchemy, and transcendental psychology called mystic psychology. They cultivated inner and outer wisdom. Critical thinkers throughout history have unlocked mysteries using hermetic thought and principles. Confucius, Galileo, Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Nostradamus, Leonardo Da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Joseph Campbell were a few of our luminous Grand Masters of hermetic thought.

Hermes used astrology to unlock ancient mysteries. Astrologers espouse 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 affairs of man on earth. Every relationship changes every other relationship on a cellular level by raising or diminishing its vibration, polarity, and rhythm. A diversity of astrology symbols embodies the characters, plots, and stories of this eternally dysfunctional family we call humanity.

Hermes asks us to know ourselves; to think critically, to be motivated, to make healthy choices, to nourish positive attributes, and embrace our healthiest qualities. As we flourish, we choose nourishing relationships and embrace meaningful roles for ourselves. We can transform lead into gold by choosing wholeness, happiness, healthiness, peacefulness, and gracefully negotiating the rest.

GEMINI & HANDS

You don’t need a Gemini sun, moon, ascendant, planets, or house placements to be Gemini. No matter what your astrology says about you, pure Gemini types have square palms, widely spread long fingers, flexible joints, supple thumbs, dominant first phalanges on slightly knotty fingers, and rounded and spatulate fingertips. Thinking types sport square palms and long fingers. More mentally adaptable than Aquarius  (fixed) and socially adaptable than Libra (cardinal), Gemini is mutable. Lines in thinking hands that split at their ends symbolize being able to see many outcomes and having many choices and decisions to make.

Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces are water signs. Ambivalent feelings are embodied in chains and islands on heart lines, especially when they’re magnetically drawn toward head lines. When the end of the heart line reaches down to touch the beginning of the head line, analyzing, rationalizing, and compartmentalizing feelings is much easier than verbalizing them. Most people have challenging journeys. Having a physically or emotionally absent parent as a role model during the formative years is a recipe for a lifetime of questioning and struggling to learn to value oneself. Look for a short index finger to go with the head ruled heart. Most split lines are split for many reasons.

It’s impossible to accurately foretell your future or what you will do with your potentials from a natal horoscope. Astrology reveals potentials. Your astrological symbolism may or may not reflect what you choose to integrate into your character and behavior. Hands are topographical maps of character  in past, present, and future. When you embrace your strengths and acknowledge your weaknesses, you can exercise your free will, change your thinking, modify your behavior, re-script your story, and observe the results over time, clearly reflected in the ever changing morphology and topography of your hands.

Healthy Geminis have long straight pinkie fingers. Pragmatic minds, critical thinking, clear communication, and the ability to focus can make good sense out of nonsense. Common sense isn’t working well these days.

Gemini has firm pink elastic skin and long fingers with loop prints. Long ring fingers  with whorl prints add attractiveness, salesmanship, risk taking, talent, and good luck. Knowing when to stop is key to winning. Dominant  middle fingers with square tips and developed first knots add technical, scientific, and pragmatic attributes. Strong index fingers increase writing and oratory abilities, career opportunities, and ambitious goals.

I’ve worked at special events with magicians with dominant pinkie fingers. They astound audiences while deceiving the eyes and minds of their beholders. Geminis make great lawyers, bankers, doctors, orators, writers, engineers, teachers, salesmen, accountants, and shopkeepers. Dominant pinkies play small musical instruments that require physical and mental dexterity, which makes sense since hearing is Gemini’s physical sense.

Cultivated Geminis are consummate communicators, social magnets, intuitive geniuses, and great judges of character. Most social of all, Gemini is often accused of being an impractical dreamer because he loves ideas so much. He can detach himself from mundane reality while remaining objective about everyone and everything else. He overvalues intellect and undervalues emotion and feels threatened when his ideas and opinions are ignored without good reason. He can accept your viewpoint, even when he disagrees with you. He’s easily distracted and doesn’t like being responsible for making decisions before knowing the consequences. Longing to be free and unrestricted, he desperately needs to stay focused, disciplined, and structured. Being rewarded requires doing what needs to be done with courage, strength, wisdom, and grace.

Hermes (Mercury) was the shortest god. The pinkie is the shortest finger. When the tip is longer than the crease between the first and second phalanx of the ring finger, it’s long. If shorter, it’s short. Dominant pinkie people are often short in stature like Ed Harris (Sag) with a slender body and face. Pure types are animated, with dark hair and penetrating eyes with crow’s feet in the corners. Gemini is the most youthful of all types, forever childlike and loving children. Men sport thin beards like Johnny Depp (Gemini). Michael Jackson (Virgo, ruled by Mercury) was a Peter Pan who actually lived in ‘Neverland’. Peter needs Wendy. Someone must be practical and responsible. Peter had Brooke, Liza, and Liz.

Gemini is androgynous. In Greek myth, Hermes & Aphrodite (siblings) had an incestuous fling that created Hermaphrodite. Dominance of Hermes in a psyche (known or not) creates bi-sexual tendencies. David Bowie was Capricorn with strong Hermes. Mick Jagger is Hermes with Leo sun. Kate Blanchett is Mercury with a Taurus sun. Bob Dylan is Gemini. Boy George is Gemini. Grace Jones (71) is Taurus with Mercury conjunct Uranus in Gemini. She didn’t get eccentric from Taurus!

Our pinkie finger reveals our ability to communicate. It indicates truthfulness. Early family dynamic can be observed in how the pinkie is set and held. Very short or low set pinkies reveal lack of trust as a major issue. Many women with low set pinkies have told me they have trouble having orgasms. Their real challenge is in trusting someone enough to have real intimacy. Lengths and proportions of pinkie fingers symbolizes technical, language, sexual, and family potentials.

Gemini rules hands and governs our nervous and respiratory systems. Health issues revolve around nervous and bronchial systems. Geminis have potential problems with headaches, thyroid glands, memory loss, and speech impediments. I’m Gemini. I’ve coped with Tinnitus (ringing in my head) for many years. It’s the worm in my apple.

Gold and diamond rings are normally found on the ring finger. They’re often on the pinkie fingers of acquisitive people. Pinkie rings symbolize sublimation of sexual energies to accomplish something that requires libido. I once examined a group of fifty young people born into powerful families in the 80’s. Considering the prosperity of the period, it seemed paradoxical that every one of them had short phalanges on the bottom segment of their little fingers on their dominant hands. Money will never be their motivation for career choices. Family, personal matters, and values will drive these individuals.

Would you buy a used car from this Gemini? I wouldn’t. Gemini’s liabilities are deceitfulness, trickiness, fickleness, nervousness, restlessness, and shallowness. People preaching on soapboxes, pickpockets, and most con artists have powerful pinkies (mostly inwardly curving). Don’s curve inward, confirmed in his natal astrology by a close Mercury Neptune square. It’s not what you do, but what you can get away with that matters. Our trickster is not masterful at hiding his dark side. We’re the conned contractors, jilted beauty queens, and fired apprentices. Our Emperor is grabbing our pussies while abusing our mother. If you think mom is happy about what’s happening to her body, respiratory system, circulatory system, and spirit, you’re the crazy one!

NOTE: Many wonderful people have curved pinkies. They learned as children to ‘act nice’, avoid confrontation, and be peacemakers. A lifelong challenge is to learn to say ‘NO’ (especially with large ball of thumb). They must stop trying to please and being what everyone else wants and needs them to be. If you’re pretending everything is OK and it isn’t, check your pinkies.

GEMINI & PSYCHE

Millions of Geminis are born each year between May 20 & June 21

Each century, three (2 year) north node in Gemini generations manifest specific karmic intentions and consequences in individual and collective psyche. The ‘Sixties’ Generation is the post WWII north node in Gemini generation. George W BushBill Clinton, Donald Trump, famous persons on the left, and I share the same basic karma, differing only by degrees, aspects, and house positions. People born from Dec 24,1945 ~ Aug 11,1947 (73-75), Aug 6,1964 ~ Feb 21,1966 (52–54), and March 15,1983 ~ Nov 1,1984 (35–37) share that same karmic mission to communicate higher consciousness to anyone and everyone who is willing and able to be fully present in the moment. We must all learn to give freely, gracefully, without expectation, and to help humanity whenever and wherever possible. Bill and George tried to raise public awareness through their different choices, but sabotaged themselves by indulging in very different temptations, thinking that was OK, and believing that their Presidency was all about them.

Donald Trump, one man obstacle course, and subhuman wrecking crew, is a lover of gilded towers, glitzy gambling casinos, golden pedestals, graven images, beauty queens, shark tanks, and celebrity idols. By mid 2020, our greedy glutton and feckless fool of a leader had already over-accomplished his karmic mission by teaching us to never take for granted what we value or have failed to value. Many are realizing that drinking the cool-aid guarantees certain loss, defeat, and death.

Donald (Gemini / Leo rising) doesn’t care about us. Bill Clinton (Leo / Libra rising) and George W. Bush (Cancer / Leo rising) cared, but sabotaged themselves by making unhealthy personal and political choices resulting in negative press and ineffective leadership. Bill and George both began life with wounded egos due to physically or mentally abusive, judgmental, and overcritical fathers. One entitled, the other not, they still both learned humility the hard way. Donald Trump had a lousy father and horrible role model. Donald and his family will be shamed, but not humbled. Their brand will be forever toxic, representing a dark and destructive pathological psychosis with viral consequences. Unless Donald’s symbolic role is Shiva or Hades, he’s fulfilled his nodal destiny while raising public awareness by teaching us what not to do. It’s mind boggling how many of his followers have mistaken no love for tough love and common sense for good sense. So many horrible role models, so little time. “The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of understanding”.

Uranus was the only outer planet to transit Gemini in the 20th Century from 1942~1949. Social ideas and cultural paradigms simultaneously shifted towards education. The US. Supreme Court abolished religion in public schools. The GI Bill enabled thousands of people to go to college. Radio and television dominated media all over the world. The first computer calculation, ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), was born at the University of Pennsylvania in 1946. Columbia Records introduced the 33 1/3 rpm “long playing record”. The United Nations held its first session in London. The Atomic Energy Commission was created. The United States joined NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). Makes good sense to me! What happened?

The Uranus in Gemini generation was born 1942 ~ 1949. At 73, I’m still mentally restless, managing my nervous temperament, applying my mind to solving real and philosophical challenges, and coming up with new ideas and concepts.

Hermes was father of the cell phone. He taught his disciples that our brain is the hardware while our mind is the software. We can transmit and receive messages. As we connect and fine tune our links, we can communicate with anyone at any time and place. Modern science simulates Hermes Law of Mentalism with external hardware and software. ENIAC has come a long way since 1946.

Wake up and whiff the weirdness! The human race has become a race against bad shit happening. As we continue to short-shortsightedly substitute money for values, religion for spirituality, and bad ideas for good sense, we seal our fate by choosing not to be kind to ourselves, each other, our planet, and future. That’s nonsense. We must exorcise humanity’s hubris or suffer the consequences. Unhealthy spoiled children in adult bodies have political power, social influence, and wealth. Responsibility obligates them to be humanitarian. We must vote hindsight in 2020.

Virtual Metaphysics

I can’t think of many activities more intimate than reading hands. In the past, I refused to read anyone remotely. I turned away numerous virtual metaphysical opportunities. It was hard to imagine not holding a client’s hands in mine, looking into their eyes, and having a meaningful conversation. For over forty years, I’ve given five-minute readings to more than 75,000 guests at corporate special events and exclusive private parties. I’ve also served over 1,000 private clients. Every person is the most important person in the world for five minutes or two hours. After examining a client’s hands for a few moments, I’m able to address their challenges, analyze their underlying issues, define and refine their current circumstances, and give them wise counsel according to their personal needs and concerns. It’s not only what you see, but what you say and how you say it that matters.

Palmistry is not gypsy fortunetelling. Hands are topographical maps of a person’s character, values, thinking, feelings, relationships, health, creativity, purpose, hopes, dreams, fears, and spirituality. The value of reading hands is in understanding basic character and what a person has done, is doing, and is likely to do with that character. A hand is a small amount of space to interpret a whole life. A tiny change in a direction or quality of a line can symbolize a huge change in a life. The magic of palmistry is in seeing hands change as thinking and circumstances change. The power of palmistry is in making decisions, exercising free will, and then seeing the corresponding changes reflected in the morphology and topography of hands over time.

Favorite reviews from clients: https://blog.markseltman.com/2017/01/10/my-favorite-reviews/

As Above, So Below

Hermes law of polarity teaches us that astrology is a harmonic system that resonates innate potentials for everyone and everything that has a correct date, time, and place of birth. Natal horoscopes are cosmic maps of specific GPS locations in time and space that correspond to specific character types, behavioral patterns, and life cycles that enable us to make choices such as exercising our free will and selecting auspicious timing. We can observe and interpret natural talents, abilities, challenges, and purposes through the Cosmic Science and Art of Astrology. Many people are seeking clarity about their behavior, relationships, responsibilities, obligations, career, health, and spirituality. Positive personal and collective transformation is about tweaking our consciousness, affirming what we already know, see, and understand, and then choosing the healthiest options we can envision.

Choose Tarot to examine hidden things. Other people’s motivations and behaviors can not be seen in charts or hands. Tarot reveals subconscious knowledge, motivations, and desires. I wish everyone could read their own hands, cast and interpret their charts, and choose their tarot cards, but that’s not possible these days. If you want to learn, you can search online for opportunities to grow and stretch in healthy ways. Beware scams.

Stuck at home? Want to explore your symbolism? I’m confident in my ability to guide you on a symbolic journey through who you’ve been, are, and are becoming. My metaphysical mission is to affirm, confirm, and inform you in hopeful, helpful, and meaningful ways. Call or email.

I’ll be happy to return your money if you’re unsatisfied with my work.

Wishing you good health and personal fulfillment during this incredibly challenging time!

markseltman1@gmail.com H. 518 677-3513 C. 917 656-8119 www.markseltman.com

HOW TO SET UP A VIRTUAL CONSULTATION

HAND READING CONSULTATION

Take hi-res photos of both hands (held perpendicular to camera lens). Take close ups of your palms and fingertips. Attach and send them to markseltman1@gmail.com. I need as much detail as I can get. The hand you write with is your dominant hand. We’ll observe your gestures and feel your hands for flexibility, elasticity, and consistency. You’ll need to spend at least an hour with me. Ask questions. I’ll address them first, then examine other issues. I can also look at your parent’s, partner’s, children’s, and friend’s hands… a wonderful gift. $150

HANDS ~ ASTROLOGY ~ TAROT

A full metaphysical consult is normally 1 1/2 ~ 2 hours. I’m not a clock watcher and never back appointments up against each other. I’ll spend whatever time it takes to see and address whatever needs to be seen and addressed. $250

ASTROLOGY

Give me your accurate birth info ahead of time. I need your full birth name, date of birth, exact time of birth, and location of birth (city). Tell me what you hope to gain insight into by consulting with me. I’ll cast and examine the corresponding charts before we speak.

TAROT

No ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers please. Give yourself agency by asking questions like ‘How can I?’ or ‘What can I do to?’ I prefer you pick your own cards, but no matter what or how you choose, I’ll interpret your cards using your deck or mine. Tarot will dig deep into your psyche for insight into your questions. Your past, present, and future life are reflected in your cards, hands, and horoscopes.

After we choose a date and time to meet, I’ll bill you on PayPal, prepare, and look forward to meeting you.

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.