The Shattered Prayer

Well its time for Rob again. Me first, as usual, but I’m mixin’ the rest of’em up:

“If love is a drug, I guess we’re all sober,” mourns Nerina Pallot in her song “Everybody’s Gone to War.” Your two-part assignment stems from that formulation. First, you should experiment with the hypothesis that love is in a sense a drug. Meditate on the fact that it literally changes your body chemistry and affects the way your mind functions. Second, make sure you’re not sober. Get yourself high on love in every way you can imagine, whether that means giving generously of yourself, encouraging the best in everyone, expressing your beauty extravagantly, or making it easy for others to adore you.

Adore me, everyone!

That was easy. Now I’ve got that song by Roxy Music in my head.

It looks like Bas is through digging holes, and is back to being a birch-tree in the grove of exuberance:

Here’s a brief mythic history of the birch tree, according to Philip Carr-Gomm’s book Druid Mysteries. The birch used to be called the pioneer tree because it was often the first tree planted on virgin soil, and so in a sense gave birth to the forest. The word “birch” is derived from a root meaning “bright” or “shining” in Indo-European languages. In Britain, birches were made into maypoles, which celebrants danced around during the fertility feast of Beltane. Siberian shamans, at the climax of their initiation ceremonies, climbed a birch tree, circling its trunk nine times. In the spirit of this rich folklore, Libra, I nominate the birch to be your tree of power as you begin a phase of bright beginnings and exuberant fertility.

Rose-colored glasses, back on.

For steff:

Your first assignment is to practice feeling that everywhere you go you are standing on holy ground. Capitalize that phrase in your imagination — “I AM STANDING ON HOLY GROUND” — as you move through the world. Your second assignment, which may at first seem unrelated, is to kick your evil twin’s ass. Do it tenderly and compassionately, with full awareness that both you and your evil twin are standing on holy ground. But don’t stop kicking until you convince your evil twin to take greater responsibility for his or her personal share of the world’s darkness.

Evil twin, ay?

And for Shelley:

“You know how it feels when you’re leaning back on a chair,” muses comedian Steven Wright, “and you lean too far back, and you almost fall over backwards, but then you catch yourself at the last second? I feel like that all the time.” If you’re a typical Pisces, you know exactly what he’s talking about. That’s the bad news. The good news is that you’re in a phase when you could figure out how to escape that feeling forever. It may be hard for you to imagine (but luckily I’m here to help you imagine) how much power you have right now to build more security and stability into your life.

Best wishes Shelley, I hope you get to feeling better soon. Don’t lean too far back in that chair.

Richard has the fluffy horoscope this week. Literally fluffy. Clouds, that is:

It’ll be a good week to watch clouds. In fact, you’re likely to tune in to very useful information while communing with the ever-changing skyscape. You may think catalytic thoughts and overflow with interesting feelings that would never have come to you unless you gazed upwards for extended periods. Please also consider exposing yourself to these influences: people who expand your sense of what’s possible; sights and sounds that diminish your fear; experiences that fill you with compassion for your fellow humans; and stories that awaken your longing for adventure.

Expose yourself, Richard.

And speaking of exposing oneself, Mojo gets a lesson in bathing:

In one of his “Letters to Lucilius,” the ancient Roman writer Seneca described the daily habits of his ancestors. “Those who have studied the customs of our early history tell us that people washed their arms and legs every day,” he reported, “but washed the whole body only three times a month.” In the coming weeks, Sagittarius, you should avoid this approach not only in the way you bathe, but in everything you do. It will be crucial for you to always go all the way. No partial solutions, please. No half-assed efforts or slapdash treatments.

Yeah Mojo. Please bathe more than three times a month. Cuz if you’re gonna drop your pants, you need to be clean all over.

Recently:

• Story a Day: Beggars Would Ride
• Story a Day: Born Into Light
• Story a Day: Deep Fried Moose
• Story A Day: Roscoe Falls Reflections
• Story A Day, or Thereabouts
• Happy Birthday Bas!
• Night: not just for sleeping anymore.
• Lads of the Legion
• The quality of light at sunset.
• Ladies of the Legion II