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WITH AN INTERACTIVE CD-ROM



the only astrology book you’ll ever need J OANNA M ARTINE W OOLFOLK



OVER 600,000 COPIES SOLD!



THE ONLY ASTROLOGY BOOK YOU’LL EVER NEED



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A l s o by J oa n na M a rt i n e Wo o l f o l k



Sexual Astrology Honeymoon for Life



THE ONLY ASTROLOGY BOOK YOU’LL EVER NEED 7



New Edition



JOANNA MARTINE WOOLFOLK Taylor Trade Publishing Lanham | New York | Boulder | Toronto | Plymouth, UK



First Taylor Trade Publishing edition 2006 This Taylor Trade Publishing paperback edition of The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need is a revised and updated edition of the work ﬁrst published in hardcover in 1982 and in paperback in 1990 and then issued by Taylor Trade Publishing in 2006. It is published by arrangement with the author. Copyright © 1982, 1990, 2001, 2006, 2008 by Joanna Martine Woolfolk All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. Published by Taylor Trade Publishing An imprint of The Rowman & Littleﬁeld Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 Lanham, Maryland 20706 Estover Road Plymouth PL6 7PY United Kingdom Distributed by National Book Network Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Woolfolk, Joanna Martine. The only astrology book you’ll ever need / Joanna Martine Woolfolk. —new ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-58979-377-4 (pbk.: alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-58979-377-3 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Astrology. I. Title BF1708.1 .W68 2001 133.5—dc21



2001031798



The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992. Manufactured in the United States of America.



Photo Credits p. 12 Colin Powell (Corbis), Peyton Manning (© Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images), Maya Angelou (Photofest) p. 17 John Paul II (© Porter Gifford/Getty Images), Stephen Colbert (© Scott Wintrow/Getty Images), Audrey Hepburn (Photofest) p. 22 Marilyn Monroe (Photofest), John F. Kennedy (Courtesy of the Library of Congress), Paul McCartney (Corbis) p. 27 Princess Diana (Corbis), George W. Bush (Corbis), Ernest Hemingway (Photofest) p. 32 Mick Jagger (Photofest), Madonna (Corbis), Bill Clinton (Corbis) p. 37 Richard Gere (Corbis), Mother Teresa (Photofest), Lance Armstrong (© Rob Loud/Getty Images) p. 42 Jesse Jackson (Photofest), Barbara Walters (© Brad Barket/Getty Images), Simon Cowell (© Jeffrey Mayer/Getty Images) p. 47 Whoopie Goldberg (© Brad Barket/Getty Images), Hillary Rodham Clinton, Julia Roberts (Corbis) p. 52 Frank Sinatra (Photofest), Jon Stewart (© Jeff Vespa/Getty Images), Miley Cyrus (© Kevin Mazur/Getty Images) p. 57 Martin Luther King Jr. (Photofest), Elvis Presley (Photofest), Tiger Woods (© Donald Miralle/Getty Images) p. 63 Oprah Winfrey (© Evan Agostini / Getty Images), Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Photofest), Justin Timberlake (© Steve Granitz/Getty Images) p. 68 Kurt Cobain (Corbis), Carrie Underwood (© Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images), Albert Einstein (Photofest)



I dedicate this book to William, who, with his Sun in Cancer, taught me the meaning of love and, with his Moon in Virgo, the meaning of work.



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8 CONTENTS



About the Book viii



PA R T T H R E E



About the Author ix



Understanding Astrology 291



Acknowledgments x



8 • The Houses of Astrology 293



Introduction xii



9 • How to Interpret Your Horoscope 319 10 • Aspects and Synastry: Probing Deeper into Your Birth Chart 349



PA R T O N E



Sun Sign Astrology 1 1 • Sun Signs 3



PA R T F O U R



2 • The Sun Signs in Love 71



Astrology in History and Legend 369



3 • The Decanates and Cusps of Sun Signs 145



11 • The Story of Astrology 371



4 • Astrology and Health 167



12 • The Zodiac: The Legend behind Each Sign 383



PA R T T WO PA R T F I V E



Less Well-Known Inﬂuences 1 9 1



Astrology in Our Time 397



5 • Moon Signs 193



13 • The Age of Aquarius 399



6 • Your Ascendant and Its Power 221 7 • You and the Planets: Their Role in Your Destiny 237



vi



8



PA R T S I X



Bibliography 515



An Astrologer’s Lexicon 405



Recommended Reading List for Chart Casting and Interpretation 520



An Explanation of Terms 407



Recommended Ephemerides 521 Sources for Astrological Books, Ephemerides, Computer Charts and Software 522



PA R T S E V E N



Astrological Tables for the Years 1900–2100 423



Index 523



Sun Tables 425 Moon Tables 429 Ascendant Tables 481 Planetary Tables 485



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8 ABOUT THE



h e re h a s n ever b e e n an astrology book like this. Here is a book that with a few hours of reading will help you to see yourself better, interpret your own chart, and use your chart year after year to understand and predict trends and opportunities. The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need gives explanations of the inﬂuences that are often given scant attention in conventional astrology books: the Moon sign, the Rising sign, the placement of the planets, and the signiﬁcance of the twelve Houses. The value of this book is that an immense amount of knowledge is put into easy-to-understand language. The book is also easy to use, for it supplies simpliﬁed Tables that in most cases require only the laying down of a ruler across the birthdate. Even simpler, for those who have access to a computer, is to utilize the CD-ROM packaged with this book. Just



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BOOK



by typing in the birth information, this CD gives you a complete chart within seconds. The CD even provides the page numbers of this book on which to ﬁnd the meaning of every inﬂuence in your chart. The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need, ﬁrst published in 1982, is a classic in its ﬁeld. On its original publication it was a choice of Book-of-the-Month Club, the Literary Guild, and One Spirit Book Club, and has since become one of the best-selling astrology books published in the last 25 years. This new revised edition contains sections on the inner life of each sign; insights on one’s relationship, emotional needs, and drives; and how others see you. This edition is also updated to include the latest information about new discoveries in astronomy, projections of world events in the 21st century, and extended Planetary Tables for every year from 1900 to 2100.



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8 ABOUT THE AUTHOR



st rolo ger Joanna Martine Woolfolk has had a long career as an author, columnist, lecturer, and counselor. She has written the monthly horoscope for numerous magazines in the U.S., Europe and Latin America—among them Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Redbook, Self, YM, House Beautiful, and StarScroll International. In addition to the best-selling The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need, Joanna is the author of Sexual Astrology, which has sold over a million copies worldwide, and Astrology Source, an interactive CD-ROM. Joanna is a popular television and radio personality who has been interviewed by Barbara Walters, Regis Philbin, and Sally Jessy Raphael. She has appeared in a regular astrology segment on New York Today on NBC-TV and on The Fairﬁeld Exchange on CT Cable Channel 12, and she appears frequently on television and radio shows around the country. You can visit her website at www.joannamartinewoolfolk.com.



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Photo by Fran Collin



ix



8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS



a m g r ate f u l for having known the late Capel McCutcheon, the brilliant astrologer who devised the unique, comprehensive, and easy-to-use Planetary and Ascendant Tables in this book. None of these tables requires more than the simple laying-down of a ruler (or two) in order to read the information that applies to you. These tables are computer accurate and are based on United States time, rather than Greenwich, England, time usually found in other planetary tables. Capel McCutcheon was a caring and inspiring teacher, counselor, and lecturer, as well as the founder of the Astrological Society of Connecticut. I miss his warmth, support, and generosity.



And I give special thanks to Matrix Software. This innovative astrological computer-software company graciously supplied for this revised edition additional Planetary Tables updated to the year 2100. Matrix Software was founded in the early 1980’s by Michael Erlewine, a visionary genius in the ﬁeld of computer astrology. Matrix Software also created the CD-ROM that is packaged with this book. You who have computers can now cast astrological charts within seconds. Just enter the birth information, and your chart is ready. The CD will even give you the page numbers in this book on which key information about your chart is to be found.



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We are born at a given moment, in a given place, and like vintage years of wine, we have the qualities of the year and of the season in which we are born. Ca r l G u stav Ju n g



8 INTRODUCTION



written about, reﬁned, and pondered astrology’s signiﬁcance. It is the world’s oldest science and our own generation’s newest subject of inquiry. According to a Gallup poll, 35 percent of American adults believe their lives are inﬂuenced by the position of the heavenly bodies. The great majority of newspapers and magazines published in the United States carry an astrology column. Astrology as a serious subject is being offered in over a dozen university courses. Despite this new surge of interest, however, the general public has only a smattering of knowledge about the subject. The average person will say, “I’m interested, but I don’t know much about astrology.” One of the problems people encounter when trying to learn more about astrology is that most books deal with only one phase of the subject. If you want to know about your Sun sign, there are many books on this topic. If you want to know about your Moon sign, you will ﬁnd books on this topic also. If you want to learn about your birth chart, you will have to look for yet another book that explains charts (these are harder to ﬁnd). Not long ago, while talking to a friend, I casually mentioned that my birth chart shows I have three planets in



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he longer I am an ast rolo ger —which at this point is half my lifetime—the more I realize that what we all want to know is about ourselves. “Who am I?” you ask. You want to know what makes you tick, why you have such intense feelings, and whether others are also insecure. People write me asking questions like “What kind of man should I look for?” “Why am I discontented with my job?” or “The woman I’m dating is a Gemini; will we be happy together?” They ask me if they’ll ever ﬁnd true love and when they will get out of a period of sadness or fear or the heavy burden of problems. They ask about their path in life and how they can ﬁnd more fulﬁllment. So I continue to see that the reason astrology exists is to answer questions about you. Basically, it’s all about you. Astrology has been described as a stairway leading into your deeper self. It holds out the promise that you do not have to pass through life reacting blindly to experience, that you can within limits direct your own destiny and in the process reach a truer self-understanding. One surprising thing about the science of the stars is its constant newness. Down through the centuries philosophers, mystics, and spiritual teachers have studied,



xii



Taurus. “Oh,” she said, “can you tell me where my three planets are?” She did not know that everyone has ten planets* in his or her birth chart. But how would my friend know this? Most astrology books don’t deal with birth charts. Unless you are willing to hunt down esoteric volumes hidden in the occult section of bookstores or in special libraries, where would you go to get that information? Any astrology book will tell you whether your Sun sign is Aries or Pisces or one of the other signs of the zodiac. But then what? This book tells you all you should know about the whole topic of astrology. You will learn about Sun signs— and also about Moon signs, Ascendants, Planets, and Houses. You will come to understand how these factors interact to shape your life. You will discover the meaning of Aspects in your horoscope, and how to compare your birth chart with another person’s to reveal areas of compatibility. You will learn how astrology began and developed. And if you have access to a computer, the CD-ROM packaged with this book will enable you to cast a birth chart within seconds. However, I want to say a word about what this book is not. It is not an encyclopedia—nor does it encompass all the astrological wisdom that has been discovered during the last 5,000 years. No single book could possibly do that even if it were twenty times as long as the present volume.



This book is an easy-to-understand, all-in-one guide to what astrology is about. If you want to know where all your planets are in your birth chart or how compatible your Sun sign is with your lover’s Sun sign or what the inﬂuence of the Moon is in your life—it is here in one book. I’d like to make one more important point. Astrology cannot transform your life—only you can do this. We astrologers are often guilty of overpromising or encouraging people to become overdependent. Astrology will not change the ups and downs of your life drama. What it can do is give you insight on how to deal with your drama. Astrology offers information and direction and, best of all, reassurance. Sometimes all one is looking for is a nugget of guidance, and I know you will ﬁnd many, many nuggets in this book. I assume you picked up this book because you are interested in astrology. And I hope this is only the beginning of your exploration. One can easily spend a lifetime exploring the uncountable facets of this ever-evolving, ever-new topic. Together we are about to enter more deeply into this fascinating, vast, and complicated arena of knowledge. I hope this will not be the only astrology book you’ll ever want— merely the only one you’ll ever need. Joanna Martine Woolfolk Stamford, Connecticut June 2008



*In a birth chart (which is a chart of the heavens at the time of your birth), the Sun and Moon are counted as planets. The Earth, because it is our home-planet, is not.



Introduction • xiii



8 Part One



SUN SIGN ASTROLOGY



8 SUN



1 SIGNS



h e n a m a n s ays to an attractive woman at a party, “I’m a Leo. What’s your sign?”, he is not only using an opening conversational gambit (and behaving just like Leo), he is also talking about Sun signs. What is a Sun sign? From our viewpoint here on Earth, the Sun travels around the Earth once each year. Within the space of that year the Sun moves through all twelve signs of the zodiac,* spending approximately one month in each sign. The sign that the Sun was traveling through at the time of your birth is your Sun sign. The Sun is our most powerful planet. (In astrological terms, the Sun is referred to as a planet even though it, like the Moon, is actually a “luminary.”) It gives us life, warmth, energy, food. It is the force that sustains us on Earth. The Sun is also the most important and pervasive inﬂuence in your horoscope, and in many ways determines how others see you. The position of the Sun in your birth chart governs your individuality, your distinctive style, and your drive to fulﬁll your goals in life. I often liken your Sun sign to the role you’ve been given in your grand drama. One can think (as Shakespeare did) of life as a play that one enters into at the time of birth. You are the leading actor in this drama, and the role you are acting is your Sun sign. Another analogy is that your horoscope is a painting of you. The characteristics of your Sun sign are the broad strokes that the artist ﬁrst lays down on the canvas. The artist outlines your general shape, the planes and angles of your face, the way in which you hold your body. In the same way, your Sun sign delineates your general character. Are you introspective? Do you make friends easily? How do you cope with responsibility? Are you high-strung or easygoing? The answers may be found in a study of your Sun sign.



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*A



detailed explanation of the zodiac appears on page 383 (chapter 12, “The Zodiac”).



3



Yet a typical remark often made to astrologers goes something like this: “I’m a Capricorn, but when I read those descriptions of Capricorn, they don’t describe me very accurately.” Remember, the Sun sign is just the start of your portrait, the broad strokes. You also have a Moon in your birth chart, and it’s probably in a different sign from the one the Sun is in. You have planets in your birth chart, and each may be in a different sign. You are a complex and unique combination, unlike anyone else. Any attempt to give an accurate description from only a Sun sign falls into the kind of error H. L. Mencken was referring to when he remarked that “for every complicated problem, there is a solution that is short, simple, and wrong.” Only by studying the entire birth chart can an astrologer begin to get a complete picture of a personality. Even then, there is a certain latitude for error simply because human beings are not carved in stone. We change a little every day and with every person we meet. Love, tragedy, success—each circumstance of life alters us. However, the essential person remains. And the Sun sign is the outline of that essence. Astrology is a fascinating tool for the study of human nature. When you ﬁrst meet someone, that person is a mystery. You see the color of eyes and hair, the mode of dress, whether he or she is tall or short. You must wait for further information to know anything more. If you know the person’s Sun sign, you can put a few pieces of the puzzle together. But, just as when you are beginning a complex jigsaw puzzle, too many pieces are missing. The Sun sign merely gives you an edge, an extra insight that you would not otherwise possess. Of course, knowledge of Sun signs is not only useful in casual social meetings. It is invaluable in close relationships. If your Cancer husband nags and criticizes, you’ll know it’s just his way of showing how much he cares about you. If your ten-year-old Virgo daughter acts like a premature old maid, fussing about putting everything exactly where she wants it, you’ll understand why she needs to have her possessions neatly arranged. Knowing how scattered and forgetful a Gemini can be, you will ﬁnd it easier to forgive your Gemini lover when your birthday present shows up two days late. Most important of all, an understanding of your own Sun sign will give you an added measure of selfknowledge, a deeper insight into the stranger that is yourself.



4 • Sun Sign Astrology



8 Some Astrological Background on the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac In the 5,000 years that have passed since the study of astrology was ﬁrst recorded, the twelve signs of the zodiac have acquired special associations, characterizations, and meanings. Hundreds of years before the time of Christ, Greek philosophers formulated the theory of Man in Microcosm—that is, the human being is a miniature version of the cosmos. According to this concept, everything in nature has a parallel in human beings, and thus humankind and the universe are linked together in a system of correlations. Out of this idea, known as the Hermetic Theory, sprang such divinatory arts as palmistry, which holds that the solar system corresponds to various parts of the human hand. In keeping with the Hermetic Theory, a vast body of correspondences grew up surrounding the twelve signs of the zodiac. Many of these afﬁnities date back thousands of years. Most were known when Claudius Ptolemy recorded them in his deﬁnitive astrological treatise, the Tetrabiblos, during the second century A.D. Some knowledge is more recent: the three modern planets, for example, were only discovered within the last 250 years,* and with their discovery have come new associations and deﬁnitions. One could say that each astrological sign is a miniature Book of Knowledge, and all twelve put together give a picture of human beings, our bodies, minds, and emotions, and of the surrounding world in which we live. Like an intricate Chinese box, the zodiac is a whole entity that can be taken apart and examined in different ways.



To begin with, the twelve signs of the zodiac are divided into several sets of groups, or numbers. They are divided into twos, threes, fours, and sixes.



Dualities The twelve signs are divided into two groups, masculine and feminine. Six signs are masculine, and six signs are feminine. This is known as the sign’s duality. In astrological terms, a masculine sign is direct and energetic; a feminine sign is receptive and magnetic. These masculine and feminine attributes were given to the signs about 2,000 years ago. Today modern astrologers try to avoid the sexism implicit in these distinctions. A masculine sign does not mean “positive and forceful” any more than a feminine sign means “negative and weak.” In modern terminology, the masculine signs are deﬁned as outerdirected and strong through action. The feminine signs are self-contained and strong through inner reserves. ARIES GEMINI LEO LIBRA S A G I T TA R I U S A Q UA R I U S TAU R U S CANCER VIRGO SCORPIO CAPRICORN PISCES



*The three modern planets are Uranus (1781), Neptune (1846), and Pluto (1930).



Sun Signs • 5



Masculine Masculine Masculine Masculine Masculine Masculine Feminine Feminine Feminine Feminine Feminine Feminine



Triplicities The twelve signs are also divided into four groups containing three signs each. Each three-sign group is called a triplicity, and each of these triplicities denotes an element. The four elements are Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. In astrology, an element symbolizes a fundamental characterization of the sign. Three signs are ﬁre signs. They are Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius. Fire signs are active and enthusiastic. Three signs are earth signs. They are Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn. Earth signs are practical and stable. Three signs are air signs. They are Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. Air signs are intellectual and communicative. Three signs are water signs. They are Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. Water signs are emotional and intuitive.



Quadruplicities Next, the twelve signs are divided into three groups containing four signs each. Each four-sign group is called a quadruplicity, and each of these quadruplicities denotes a quality. The three qualities are Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable. In astrology, the quality signiﬁes the sign’s interaction with the outside world. Four signs are cardinal * signs. They are Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. Cardinal signs are enterprising and outgoing. They are the initiators. Four signs are ﬁxed signs. They are Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius. Fixed signs are resistant to change. They are perfectors and ﬁnishers, rather than originators. Four signs are mutable signs. They are Gemini, Virgo,



Sagittarius, and Pisces. Mutable signs are ﬂexible, versatile, and adaptable. They are able to adjust to differing circumstances.



3 You will notice that each of the twelve signs falls into a different combination. No one sign in the zodiac has exactly the same duality, element, and quality as another sign. For example, Aries is a Masculine, Fire, Cardinal sign; there is no other Masculine, Fire, Cardinal sign in the zodiac. Because each sign is a unique combination, each sign expresses the characteristics of its quality, element, and duality differently. Example: Aries is Masculine, meaning it is active rather than receptive; Fire, meaning it is excitable and energetic; Cardinal, meaning it is outgoing and open to new experiences. The sign of Leo is also Masculine and Fire, but unlike Aries (which is Cardinal) Leo is Fixed. Therefore Leo is extroverted and passionate like Aries, but also ﬁrm in its opinions, convinced of being on the side of truth in its passions, and not as willing as Aries to abandon an unworkable plan and go on to something new.



Polarities Finally, the twelve signs are divided into six groups containing two signs each. Each two-sign group is called a polarity (meaning “opposite”). Each sign in the zodiac has a polarity, which is its opposite sign in the other half of the zodiac. The two signs express opposite characteristics. Aries and Libra are a polarity. Aries is the sign of self. The opposite sign, Libra, is the sign of partnership.



*When the Sun crosses the four cardinal points in the zodiac, we mark the beginning of each of our four seasons: Aries begins spring; Cancer begins summer; Libra begins fall; Capricorn begins winter.



6 • Sun Sign Astrology



Taurus and Scorpio are a polarity. Taurus is the sign of personal possessions. The opposite sign, Scorpio, is the sign of legacies and shared possessions. Gemini and Sagittarius are a polarity. Gemini is the sign of self-expression. The opposite sign, Sagittarius, is the sign of philosophy and higher thinking, of expression on a wider level. Cancer and Capricorn are a polarity. Cancer is the sign of home life. The opposite sign, Capricorn, is the sign of public life. Leo and Aquarius are a polarity. Leo is the sign of personal pleasure and creativity. The opposite sign, Aquarius, is the sign of hopes and ideals on a large scale. Virgo and Pisces are a polarity. Virgo is the sign of work and self-improvement. The opposite sign, Pisces, is the sign of dreams and self-delusion.



3 Each of the twelve signs is attached to special associations in the outer world. There are lucky numbers, lucky days of the week, special colors, plants, metals, jewels, cities, etc. Each sign also has particular pitfalls and areas of danger attached to it. In this modern day, however, some of these associations are quoted more for amusement than for guidance and instruction. Astrologers do not seriously suggest that if you are Aries you will like only the color red and wear diamonds, or if you are Virgo you will be happy living



only in Boston and raising morning glories in your window box. The afﬁnities to various colors, jewels, places, ﬂowers are simply part of the long, long history of symbols and connections that has grown up around the signs of the zodiac. Sometimes, however, it is fun to experiment with your zodiacal afﬁnities. I have a client, for example, who gives “astrological” dinner parties and chooses ﬂowers, table settings, and food that have certain connections to the zodiacal signs of her guests. Another client, who is a Gemini, recently took a trip to Melbourne, Australia, simply because of the afﬁnity of his sign for that distant city. He wrote me ecstatically: “The minute I stepped off the plane I just knew that I was truly at home!” Part of the fascination of astrology is in its complexity; the various associations and symbolism surrounding the twelve signs are part of that rich tapestry. No two astrological signs are alike. Each one is different and unique. Each holds clues to who we are and the things and places to which we are drawn.



What Is Your Sun Sign? The dates listed for each Sun sign may vary by a day or two in certain years. To be sure of your exact Sun sign, look up the year and month of your birth in the Sun Tables starting on page 425 or cast your chart using the enclosed CD-ROM.



Sun Signs • 7



Aries



(march 21 – april 19)



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DUALITY Masculine TRIPLICITY (ELEMENT) Fire QUADRUPLICITY (QUALITY ) Cardinal Aries is active, energetic, excitable and impulsive, optimistic, open to change and new experiences, RULING PLANET Mars: Ancient god of war, aggression, and conﬂict. In astrology, Mars’s inﬂuence denotes courage, passion, and competition. It can foster tension and accidents, and rules over ﬁre and danger. SYMBOL The Ram: Assertive, sexual, able to climb to great heights. GLYPH ( WRIT TEN SYMB OL) The pictograph represents the horns and long nose of the Ram. It also pictures the eyebrows and nose of the human face (the head is the part of anatomy that Aries rules). In symbolic terms, the glyph is two half moons joined by a straight line, which indicates idealism tied to authority and leadership. DOMINANT KEYWORD I AM. POLARITY Libra: Aries is a “me-ﬁrst” sign. People with Aries tendencies strongly project their own personalities and can be very self-oriented. Libra, which is Aries’s opposite sign, is the sign of partnership. Natives of Libra feel incomplete without a partner or lover, and strive for happiness as a pair. PART OF THE BODY RULED BY ARIES The head: Aries people are prone to headaches, and subject to minor injuries around the head and face. LUCKY DAY Tuesday LUCKY NUMBERS 1 and 9 MAGICAL BIRTHSTONE Diamond: Attracts love, ﬁnancial success, and brings luck in new ventures. The diamond is particularly lucky for Aries people when worn on the left side of the body. SPECIAL COLOR Red: The color of ﬁre and excitement. CITIES Florence, Naples, Verona, Marseilles COUNTRIES England, Germany, Poland FLOWERS Geranium, Honeysuckle, Sweet Pea TREES All thorn-bearing trees METAL Iron ANIMALS RULED BY ARIES Sheep and, especially, rams DANGER Aries people are susceptible to harm from ﬁre and sharp instruments. They are also prone to accidents involving high speed, and tend to get into violent and dangerous situations.



8 • Sun Sign Astrology



8 Your Most Likeable Trait COURAGE r i e s i s t h e f i r st s i g n of the zodiac, the sign that symbolizes new beginnings. It connotes quick changes and sudden forks in the road. Your life is marked by arriving at a certain place and then being turned in a new direction. Certainly, one can say your life is adventurous! There is a dynamic restlessness to the Aries character. With the Sun in this sign, you are an activist and doer. If you have a new plan or idea—if an enterprise strikes your fancy—you can’t wait to plunge right in. The amusing little prayer, “Grant me patience NOW!” is typical of the Arien attitude. When others ﬁrst meet you their instant impression is of someone exciting, vibrant, talkative. Others will be



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lucky if they can get a word in edgewise. If someone brings up a topic, you will be delighted to tell in great detail exactly what you think about it. As an Aries person you gravitate toward the center of action. You are audacious and intent on getting your own way. Since your nature is to express power, you treat opposition as an annoyance to be brushed out of the way. You are a natural leader who exudes self-conﬁdence. From an early age you feel you are headed for success. Happily, you are also generous about helping others in a crisis. You are an openhearted friend who shares ideas and advice, and likes to pick up the check. You have a quality of largesse. You are not interested in the small or petty. “Go for the best” is your motto.



Sun Signs • 9



There is nothing faint or half-hearted about an Arien. Whereas others may be more cautious, you actually enjoy living on the edge. A touch of recklessness makes you feel alive. The chase is always more thrilling than getting the goal. (As one Aries recently remarked rather insightfully, “Wanting is always better than getting.”) You are willing to take a gamble, follow a dream, set your mind on a goal, and pursue it with irresistible enthusiasm. Your supreme quality of optimism attracts others. Underneath there may lurk insecurity, but no one will ever know about it. This is not to say you don’t get depressed or moody. But the winter of despair doesn’t last a week with Aries. You have an uncrackable optimism. It is true, however, that Aries people are notorious for taking offense at fancied slights and injuries. Hot tempers and childish tantrums abound, and your threshold of boredom is extremely low. If success is not immediate, you tend to lose interest and go in search of other excitement. As a result, patient, plodding types often get to the head of the class before you do. Ariens have a well-deserved reputation for not ﬁnishing what they have begun. You are very short of patience, and your lack of stick-to-itiveness is your weak spot. Also, you spend your energy in too many different ways, like the Ring Lardner hero who mounted a horse and rode off in all directions at once. Independence is a keyword. You can turn sulky and peevish if you have to take orders. You would much rather be the world’s largest lizard than the world’s smallest dragon. You want to run the whole show. If you can’t, you pull up stakes and look for a situation in which you can show off your style and brilliance. Should you come up against a superior force, you will bend but never break.



Your aggressive and combative spirit cannot be broken by anyone—except yourself. One of the pitfalls of being an Aries is that you’re essentially self-involved. Unless you make an effort to look outward at others and their feelings, you can easily become a spoiled brat. Though generally sincere and honest, you will tell a white lie if it seems advantageous. You are not a very adept liar, however; others see right through you. Sometimes you lack tact and diplomacy, but no malice is intended. Sagittarians also lack this quality of tact because they don’t know how to be oblique or roundabout. With you, tactlessness is an impulsive act—a careless expression of your innate force. Too often you speak without thinking and say whatever pops into your mouth, and usually regret your impulsiveness later. Aries is lucky with money, but has trouble holding on to it. You tend to run up big bills, live extravagantly, soar over budget. However, you usually ﬁnd a way to pay off what you owe. You have too much pride to remain in anyone’s debt. In friendship you give magnanimously if someone is in need, but you want to get credit for your good deeds. In the garden of Aries, there are few shrinking violets. You are creative, openhearted, high-spirited, pioneering, also vain, feisty, and impatient. Those who deal with you on an intimate basis will have one chief problem: How are they going to keep up the pace?



The Inner You You like to be in charge—you want to control your own projects and plans and not be under anyone else’s thumb. You have an intense drive to succeed and put a lot of pressure on yourself. Inside, you’re ﬁlled with nervous



10 • Sun Sign Astrology



energy and worry about how you’re going to handle everything. You hate to be bored; you’re always looking for something different—new people and places that promise excitement and adventure. You have very little patience; you need to practice sticking things out. You’re also impatient with people who can’t resolve a problem. You believe in taking action. What you do have are great generosity and enthusiasm. And although you suffer from occasional self-doubt, you know that if you really want to do something, you can!



How Others See You Your upbeat, magnetic personality pulls people toward you—you bring excitement into their lives. They envy your aggressiveness in meeting a challenge. Whatever the problem, you give the impression that you have an answer ready. You’re also admired for your honesty; you don’t gloss over difﬁculties. What people don’t like is your tendency toward bossiness and your deserved reputation for being sharp-tongued. They’re afraid to cross you in an argument because they know you can cut them to the quick.



Sun Signs • 11



8 Fa m o u s P e o p l e w i t h t h e S u n i n A r i e s Maya Angelou Johann Sebastian Bach Alec Baldwin Warren Beatty Marlon Brando Matthew Broderick Charles Chaplin Cesar Chavez Tom Clancy Billy Collins Joan Crawford Russell Crowe Clarence Darrow Bette Davis Doris Day Daniel Day-Lewis



Isak Dinesen Celine Dion David Frost Robert Frost James Garner John Gielgud Alec Guinness Hugh Hefner Billie Holiday Harry Houdini Henry James Thomas Jefferson Elton John Keira Knightley David Letterman Ali MacGraw



Colin Powell



Peyton Manning Eugene McCarthy Steve McQueen Ann Miller Dudley Moore Eddie Murphy Leonard Nimoy Rosie O’Donnell Sarah Jessica Parker Danica Patrick Gregory Peck Anthony Perkins Mary Pickford Colin Powell Sergei Rachmaninoff Diana Ross



Peyton Manning



12 • Sun Sign Astrology



Omar Sharif Stephen Sondheim Edward Steichen Rod Steiger Gloria Steinem Leopold Stokowski Gloria Swanson Arturo Toscanini Spencer Tracy Peter Ustinov Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe Vincent van Gogh Andrew Lloyd Webber Thornton Wilder Tennessee Williams Florenz Ziegfeld



Maya Angelou



Taurus



( A p r i l 2 0 – M ay 2 0 )



7



DUALITY Feminine TRIPLICITY (ELEMENT) Earth QUADRUPLICITY (QUALITY) Fixed Taurus is quiet, affectionate, patient, stable, determined and practical, stubborn, and resistant to change. RULING PLANET Venus: Roman goddess of beauty and the arts, pleasure, emotions. In astrology, Venus’s inﬂuence inclines toward a love of luxury and exceptional creative ability. SYMBOL The Bull: Strong, stubborn, plodding, can be both ﬁerce and gentle. GLYPH (WRITTEN SYMBOL) The pictograph represents the horns and head of the Bull. It also outlines the chin and Adam’s apple of the human throat (the part of the anatomy that Taurus rules). In symbolic terms, the glyph is a half-moon forming a cup that rests on the circle of the Sun. The cup represents material power and wealth derived through the force of will (the circle). DOMINANT KEYWORD I HAVE. POLARITY Scorpio: Taurus is the sign of property and money. Its natives put a high regard on collecting possessions and are known to cling to what is theirs. Scorpio, Taurus’s opposite sign, is the sign of legacies and shared wealth. The wealth of Scorpio people tends to be spiritual rather than material, which they give to others in the form of teaching, writing, and the healing arts. PART OF THE BODY RULED BY TAURUS Neck and throat: Many Taurus people have beautiful speaking and singing voices. But they are vulnerable to colds, laryngitis, sore throats, and thyroid problems. LUCKY DAY Friday LUCKY NUMBERS 6 and 4 MAGICAL BIRTHSTONE Emerald: Protects against inﬁdelity and deceit, ensures loyalty, and improves memory. SPECIAL COLORS Pale blue and mauve: The soft colors of reﬁnement and gentleness. CITIES Dublin, Lucerne, Leipzig, St. Louis COUNTRIES Ireland, Switzerland, Cyprus, Greece FLOWERS Violet and Poppy TREES Cypress and Apple METAL Copper ANIMALS RULED BY TAURUS Cattle DANGER Taurus people have a tendency to get involved in violent situations that have to do with love or money. They often antagonize others and incite the passions of lovers because of their stubbornness and possessiveness.



Sun Signs • 13



8 Your Most Likeable Trait DEPENDABILITY o u a re t h e per s o n others count on in the clutch, the one who perseveres when less determined spirits fall by the wayside. Because perseverance is the quality most needed for success, you tend to be successful. You are not the pioneer who ﬁrst strikes out for new territory, but the determined settler who follows and builds houses and towns and cultivates the soil. If you were born under this second sign of the zodiac, there is a pronounced stubborn streak in you. Your greatest strength resides in your tenacity and steady, relentless drive. You are a purposeful achiever who has endless patience to see a thing through, to



Y



make it a success. You are the original immovable object and irresistible force. Taurus is a ﬁxed sign, which means its natives are not fond of change. You simply cannot be rushed into anything new. A different approach creates unease and anxiety in you. You are most comfortable and secure with the familiar, and your attitude might be summed up as “If everything is working ﬁne the way it is, why try something new?” Everyone knows you have a temper, although you rarely show it. As a subordinate remarked of a Taurean executive, “No one actually saw him lose his temper, but no one ever



14 • Sun Sign Astrology



doubted that he had one.” Generally, you are equable and patient, as patient as time itself, and it is only when opposed (even then, it will take a lot of pushing) that you become angry. However, there is volcanic activity going on underneath your easygoing, genial exterior. Like a bull quietly grazing in a pasture, you’re not looking to challenge anyone, but it would be a fatal mistake for anyone to challenge you. However, unless someone seriously provokes the ﬁerce side to your personality, you are like Ferdinand the Bull, the gentle cartoon character who loves to sit and smell the ﬂowers. You are caring, giving, and affectionate, and have a great fondness for all things beautiful. Ruled by Venus, goddess of love and beauty, you are endowed with genuine creative gifts, responsive to color and design, inspired by art and music. The Taurean taste is supremely elegant. You have a keen eye for what is valuable and are usually an avid collector. Indeed, you were born under one of the two money signs in the zodiac (Cancer is the other one), for Taurus represents material possessions. It’s a rare native of this sign who does not think that possessions, objets, wealth, and money are deﬁnitely for having—and the more the better. Others are fascinated by your rare blending of a downto-earth person who is such a romantic, poetic sort. In Taurus, the stability of an earth sign combines with the esthetic inﬂuence of Venus to create a responsible, steadfast personality with a deep appreciation for the ﬁner aspects of life. Again and again, you’ll ﬁnd that the unique pairing of your artistic vision with your determination to reach a goal is one of the great secrets to your success. You are also driven by the search for security—your



byword. You look for permanence in career, love, marriage, and home. Let others gad about, jet-set, gallivant, and sleep around. You are happiest at home, surrounded by the beautiful, expensive things you have collected, secure in the warmth of a mate’s devotion, steadfast and faithful to those whom you love. Beneath the surface you are sensuous and sentimental. You don’t give lavish gifts as tokens of affection because you are not a carefree spender—value is what you expect for your hard-earned dollar. Although you are willing to follow where your heart leads, you ﬁnd it difﬁcult to display your feelings openly. Your personality is private and self-contained. Living with you isn’t always easy. You can be dogmatic, secretive, stingy, opinionated, and suspicious, and your silent manner may conceal feelings of envy and rivalry. It’s hard to get you moving, for you tend to be self-indulgent, even lazy. You have great stores of energy, however, which you put to use when you want to—not when others want you to. Venus emphasizes the social side of Taurus. Although basically shy and reserved with strangers, you can be a wonderful host or hostess. You like to entertain those you are fond of. You may not indulge as freely in frivolous pleasures as, say, Leo or Libra natives, but you are renowned for enjoying good food and good wine in plush surroundings. You believe in pampering yourself with the comforts of the good life. As a person born under this sign, you are an endearing combination of the dependable and sensible, the sensitive and emotional. Inside every practical, stolid-seeming Taurean, there is a romantic dreamer struggling to get out.



Sun Signs • 15



The Inner You



How Others See You



You need order in your life—you get anxious when things are out of control. And because the unfamiliar makes you feel insecure, you tend to cut yourself off from fresh experiences. You need to be more open to change. Having beautiful things is important to you, and your instinct for collecting even spills over into relationships. You hold fast to those you care about. You have a few close friends rather than many casual acquaintances. In love, you’re happiest when involved in a caring, committed relationship. You’re deeply sensitive—a rebuff or harsh word is very upsetting to you—and with strangers, you often feel self-conscious.



You’re thought of as a serene inﬂuence, someone to depend on, and you’re admired for your organized mind. Not many people realize that you’re sensitive and easily wounded. You are trusted as a tastemaker, and your artistic and esthetic opinion is welcomed. Because you have sound instincts about money, your ﬁnancial advice is also sought. On the other hand, people resent your tendency to be dogmatic. Even if you’re right, others don’t understand why you have to be so unyielding.



16 • Sun Sign Astrology



8 Fa m o u s P e o p l e w i t h t h e S u n i n Tau ru s Akon Ann-Margret Fred Astaire Mary Astor Burt Bacharach Stephen Baldwin Lionel Barrymore Candice Bergen Irving Berlin Yogi Berra Cate Blanchett Johannes Brahms Carol Burnett George Carlin Cher George Clooney Stephen Colbert Perry Como Gary Cooper Bing Crosby



Kirsten Dunst Albert Finney Ella Fitzgerald Henry Fonda Sigmund Freud Martha Graham Ulysses S. Grant William Randolph Hearst Joseph Heller Audrey Hepburn Katharine Hepburn Glenda Jackson Janet Jackson Reggie Jackson Bianca Jagger Jasper Johns Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Grace Jones Harper Lee Jay Leno



Pope John Paul II



Sugar Ray Leonard Leonardo da Vinci Liberace Anita Loos Joe Louis Karl Marx Rod McKuen Shirley MacLaine Bernard Malamud Tim McGraw Golda Meir Yehudi Menuhin Patrice Munsel Vladimir Nabokov Willie Nelson Jack Nicholson Florence Nightingale Ryan O’Neal Al Pacino Eva Perón



Stephen Colbert



Sun Signs • 17



Roberta Peters Michelle Pfeiffer Ezio Pinza Pope John Paul II Sergei Prokoﬁev Anthony Quinn Bertrand Russell Pete Seeger William Shakespeare Benjamin Spock James Stewart Barbra Streisand Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Shirley Temple Uma Thurman Harry S. Truman Rudolph Valentino Orson Welles



Audrey Hepburn



Gemini



( M ay 2 1 – J u n e 2 0 )



7



DUALITY Masculine TRIPLICITY (ELEMENT ) Air QUADRUPLICITY (QUALITY ) Mutable Gemini is lively, energetic, versatile, and intellectual, lives primarily in the mind rather than the emotions, and is extremely adaptable to new situations. RULING PLANET Mercury: Ancient messenger of the gods. In astrology, Mercury rules communication and travel. Its inﬂuence emphasizes quick cleverness and a nervous temperament. SYMBOL The Twins: Associated with duality, humanism, versatility, communication. GLYPH ( WRIT TEN SYMB OL) The pictograph represents the two ﬁgures of the Twins. The dual symbol also pictures the human arms or lungs (the parts of the body that Gemini rules). In symbolic terms, two upright lines bounded by top and bottom lines represent wisdom, learning, and the powers of the mind to synthesize information. DOMINANT KEYWORD I THINK. POLARITY Sagittarius: Gemini is the sign of thought and communication on a personal level. Natives of Gemini strive for self-expression, and try to impose their point of view on others. Sagittarius, which is Gemini’s opposite sign, is the sign governing the wider provenance of philosophy and mental exploration. Sagittarian people tend to shrink from close personal involvement and, unlike Gemini, are shaped by what others think of them. PART OF THE BODY RULED BY GEMINI Hands, arms, shoulders, and lungs: Geminis are susceptible to strains and accidents involving arms and hands; also prone to bronchitis and respiratory ailments. LUCKY DAY Wednesday LUCKY NUMBERS 5 and 9 MAGICAL BIRTHSTONE Agate: A multicolored precious stone that protects from deception and falsehood, and bestows eloquence, especially in declarations of love. SPECIAL COLOR Yellow: Bright and luminous, the color of novelty. CITIES London, San Francisco, Versailles, Melbourne COUNTRIES United States, Wales, Belgium FLOWERS Lily of the Valley and Lavender TREES Nut-bearing trees METAL Mercury ANIMALS RULED BY GEMINI Brightly colored birds and butterﬂies DANGER Gemini people are prone to accidents while traveling, especially by air. Their ﬁckle natures also tend to arouse unexpected anger in others, the depth of which Geminis often misjudge.



18 • Sun Sign Astrology



8 Your Most Likeable Trait RESPONSIVENESS eople bor n under this sign are many-sided, quick in thought and action, clever with words, skillful at handling others, brimful of new ideas. Astrologers regard this third sign of the zodiac as the quintessentially human sign, for it seems to sum up qualities that are the distinguishing hallmarks of the human race—intelligence (Gemini is an air sign), adaptability (Gemini is a mutable sign), and communicativeness (Gemini is ruled by Mercury). Gemini people do not sit back and watch the scenery go by. As a Gemini, you are endlessly curious about everything and must be part of the busy passing scene. If all the world’s a stage, Gemini must be the actor on that stage.



P



Unlike Leo, who wants only to be the star, Gemini wants to play all the parts—and be the director, the producer, and the stagehand! Duality is your most famous trait. You usually want more than one of everything. That includes jobs, hobbies, careers, and lovers. Basically your nature is restless, on the go, in quest of new ideas and fresh experiences. Things get very dull for you unless you have a constant change of scenery. Variety is your game. As a result, you often leave a trail of unﬁnished tasks. Your tendency is to fritter away energy on too many projects instead of concentrating your cleverness on one task. Gemini is the sign of communication, and its natives



Sun Signs • 19



have an urgent and continual need to communicate. You enjoy writing notes, chatting with strangers, surﬁng the web, tossing off e-mails, IM’s, and text messages—and the telephone is a major means of communication. People should learn not to give you their number if they don’t like to spend a lot of time on the phone! Your astrological symbol should really be the question mark. You’re a perpetual student of life who never stops asking questions. You love to talk to people, and this is the great secret of your charm. Others open to you like ﬂowers. As a result, you’re a marvelous people-manager who can rev up enthusiasm and loyalty. Born with the gift of persuasion, you could sell ice in Greenland. Your quick mind can explain any action, defend any position, justify any course. A mental magpie, you pick up information here, gossip there, tidbits everywhere. This makes you an ideal conversationalist, for you know a little about everything, though, some have said, not a lot about anything. You also are inclined to have ﬁrm opinions on everything (subject to revision at a moment’s notice). What you value most is intellectual independence, and what you lack most is perseverance. Another Gemini weakness is superﬁciality. Because you are so quick to grasp an idea or size up a situation, you tend to skim its surface, not bothering to explore it in any depth. The other side of the coin, however, is that with very little preparation you can make a marvelous initial impression. Your facile gifts of writing, speaking, and self-expression make you a success in dealing with the public. You have a quicksilver personality that can adapt to many kinds of people. You are often drawn to the stage and the dramatic arts. Among famous writers and performers



born with the Sun in Gemini are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dashiell Hammett, Lillian Hellman, Laurence Olivier, Marilyn Monroe, and Judy Garland. Amusing, versatile and witty, you are a wonderful friend who lifts people out of their doldrums. Does someone need advice? Instruction? An introduction? You’re right there, ready to jump in, and others are energized by your enthusiasm. It’s easy to see why you are usually surrounded by friends and admirers because you’re such fun to be with. True, you can be impatient with persons who aren’t as quick as you are, or who can’t keep up with the rapid ﬂow of your thought and speech. However, your natural exuberance sweeps even the most reluctant and surly along with you. In almost any situation you can be as charming as you want to be—with a little extra thrown in. Life is a jest and all things show it; I thought so once and now I know it, spells out the philosophy of Gemini. You don’t waste time plumbing dark emotional depths, and you certainly don’t want to get sucked into anyone’s problems that might sabotage your freedom. Though you do have a brooding side to your Jekyll and Hyde disposition, you determinedly put on a cheerful face so you make the best impression. You try not to let anything dampen your high spirits or throw cold water on the fun and games. Geminis have a wide range of contacts and beneﬁt from the advice and help of inﬂuential people. You will attract ﬁnancial luck, but a tendency toward extravagance often more than offsets it. In your ledger, income always adds up to something a little short of outgo. Routine and monotony are two things you dread, and you will go to any lengths to avoid them. Change is your



20 • Sun Sign Astrology



keyword, and what you value most is freedom. It’s useless for anyone to try to pin you down. For you, the fun is in traveling, not in arriving at a destination. You love to explore new territory, see the way people live on the other side of the world. Inquisitive and imaginative, you are open to a different way of looking at things. Your trendy, up-to-date lifestyle has you constantly living off the fad of the land. For the sheer fascination of it, people should have at least one Gemini in their lives. (Two might be exhausting.)



The Inner You You react instantly to new situations, but because you’re so keenly attuned to your environment, you tend to have a nervous temperament. And though you give off sparks of energy, excitement, and charm, inside you feel like a wound-up spring. Others are fascinated by your enthusiasm while inwardly you’re already bored with this person or that project. In your relationships, you’re very



giving, but you also need time for yourself. You like to perform, using your wit and intelligence to move to center stage. You love to gossip, mostly because you ﬁnd out such interesting things! You’re generous with your time, friendship, and possessions. One problem is that instead of looking at people’s deeper qualities, you tend to judge them by their reaction to you. Are you coming off well; are you mesmerizing them?



How Others See You People like to be around you because you’re interesting and amusing. They admire you for your talent with words and sense of humor. Although you’re considered more of a cerebral type, friends trust your judgment about emotional matters. They also know you’ll jump in to help when asked. Only those closest to you know you can be moody and discouraged. When crossed you can be sarcastic, which makes some people think you’re arrogant.



Sun Signs • 21



8 Fa m o u s P e o p l e w i t h t h e S u n i n G e m i n i Paula Abdul Tim Allen F. Lee Bailey Josephine Baker Annette Bening Mel Blanc George Bush Rachel Carson Rosemary Clooney Joan Collins Courtney Cox Jacques Cousteau Mario Cuomo Tony Curtis Johnny Depp Arthur Conan Doyle Albrecht Dürer Bob Dylan Clint Eastwood



Ralph Waldo Emerson Douglas Fairbanks Ian Fleming Errol Flynn Michael J. Fox Judy Garland Paul Gauguin Lou Gehrig Allen Ginsberg Benny Goodman Stefﬁ Graf Che Guevara Nathan Hale Marvin Hamlisch Dashiell Hammett Lillian Hellman Bob Hope Gerard Manley Hopkins Hubert Humphrey



Marilyn Monroe



Allen Iverson Angelina Jolie Tom Jones Louis Jourdan John F. Kennedy Nicole Kidman Henry Kissinger Anna Kournikova Lenny Kravitz Hugh Laurie Peggy Lee Federico García Lorca Robert Ludlum Paul McCartney Malcolm McDowell Larry McMurtry Barry Manilow Thomas Mann Dean Martin



Marilyn Monroe Bill Moyers Joe Namath Liam Neeson Joyce Carol Oates Jacques Offenbach Laurence Olivier Frank Oz Cole Porter Prince Alexander Pushkin Basil Rathbone Sally Ride Joan Rivers Isabella Rossellini Henri Rousseau Salman Rushdie Marquis de Sade Jean-Paul Sartre



John F. Kennedy



22 • Sun Sign Astrology



Paul McCartney



Maurice Sendak Tupac Shakur Brooke Shields Harriet Beecher Stowe Richard Strauss William Styron Kathleen Turner Donald Trump Richard Wagner Kanye West Ruth Westheimer Walt Whitman Gene Wilder Hank Williams Jr. Venus Williams Herman Wouk Frank Lloyd Wright William Butler Yeats



Cancer



( J u n e 2 1 – J u ly 2 2 )



7



DUALITY Feminine TRIPLICITY (ELEMENT) Water QUADRUPLICITY (QUALITY) Cardinal Cancer is receptive, sensitive, and imaginative, sympathetic, kind, and emotional, and possesses an active, shrewd, and intuitive mind. RULING PLANET The Moon: Earth’s one satellite, which waxes and wanes and exerts a powerful magnetic inﬂuence. In astrology, the Moon governs emotions and intuitive behavior. SYMBOL The Crab: Possessing an impenetrable exterior covering soft ﬂesh underneath. At the ﬁrst sign of danger, it withdraws into its shell and scuttles back to the sea, where it feels safe. GLYPH (WRITTEN SYMBOL) The pictograph represents the claws of the Crab. It is also a picture of the human breasts (a part of the anatomy that Cancer rules). In symbolic terms, the glyph is two circles of the Sun connected to two crescent moons. The moons represent Cancer’s desire to store memories and possessions; the circles tied to the moons represent force and energy expressed through emotions and imagination. DOMINANT KEYWORD I FEEL. POLARITY Capricorn: Cancer is the sign of home and family life. Cancerians seek close personal relationships and are happiest surrounded by the familiar and those whom they love. Capricorn, Cancer’s opposite sign, is the sign of reputation and public standing. Natives of Capricorn are concerned with the image they project, and they search for power and fulﬁllment in the outside world. PART OF THE BODY RULED BY CANCER The breasts and stomach: Cancerians love to eat and have to ﬁght weight gain in later years. They are also subject to digestive ailments caused by tension and emotional stress. LUCKY DAY Monday LUCKY NUMBERS 3 and 7 MAGICAL BIRTHSTONE Pearl: Changes bad fortune into good and discord into harmony. It also brings support from inﬂuential people. SPECIAL COLORS Sea green and silver: The shimmering colors of the water and the moon. CITIES Venice, Amsterdam, New York, Algiers COUNTRIES Scotland, Holland, New Zealand FLOWERS Larkspur and Acanthus TREES Trees rich in sap METAL Silver ANIMALS RULED BY CANCER Those with shell coverings DANGER Cancer people are susceptible to accidents in the home. They are also prone to becoming victims of theft.



Sun Signs • 23



8 Your Most Likeable Trait LOYALTY o one has ever said Cancerians are easy to understand. You may appear gentle, kind, sympathetic, and a patient listener. Then someone asks for advice, and you turn cranky, snappish, and appear to be completely indifferent to anyone’s problems but your own. You may wallow in self-pity and complain endlessly about how mistreated you are by the world. Turn another page of the calendar and suddenly you are back being helpful, solicitous, ready to do anything asked of you. More than any other sign, Cancer is a series of contradictions. You prize security above all else, yet love new adventure. You are the soul of caution but you’re also a courageous initiator who goes out of your way to push over obstacles with your driving personality.



N



What’s your secret? Cancer, which is ruled by the Moon and has water as its element, can be likened to the shifting tides of the oceans. Like the tides, Cancer is the sign of powerful forces moving under the surface. That surface, however, is quite difﬁcult to penetrate, for Cancerians tend to build up an elaborate array of defenses to hide their deep feelings and extreme sensitivity. Complex, fragile, unpredictable, temperamental, the typical Cancerian needs constant support and encouragement. You want desperately to be loved and approved of but resent needing approval so badly. Cancer’s big lesson is to recognize the hidden anger you carry within you and not allow this to corrode the relationships that give you the emotional support you seek. Happily, when you get



24 • Sun Sign Astrology



what you need, you give the best you have in return. Those who make you feel secure command your undying loyalty. When you really care for someone there is nothing anyone can say about that person that will make the least bit of difference. You have a real blind spot when it comes to seeing a failing in those you love. If you could wave a magic wand and do the one thing that would make you happier it is to crack open that Crab shell and venture out into the world of possibility. Staying enclosed emotionally and psychically keeps you fearful. Cancer’s fears are based on the fact that you have a difﬁcult time trusting. You don’t trust others or the universe or yourself. One Cancer told me recently, “We’ve been sold a bill of goods by the stories we were told as children. There is no joy or happiness in life. Life is just plain hard.” The problem with this point of view is it leaves very little opening for any kind of abundance to ﬂow in. It’s hard to see the kindness in loved ones or the generosity of strangers or unexpected luck in an arduous situation if one has decided from the start that it’s a dog-eat-dog world. Yet most contradictory of all is the fact you’re such a nurturer who gives unselﬁshly to anyone who needs you. Your greatest impact is in human relationships; you have an instinct for making others feel cared for and understood. Among your most endearing traits is your loyalty. You tend to be a worrier and a silent brooder. People may pour out their hearts to you, but the ﬂow never goes in the other direction. You are cautious about revealing too much of yourself; you guard your secrets well. If offended, you do not strike back directly. Your method of retaliation is to sulk, and it is often very effective. The technique is somewhat like being whipped to death by a dozen strands of boiled spaghetti.



Cancer’s symbol, the Crab, has a hard outer shell that protects soft, vulnerable ﬂesh underneath. The same is true of Cancerians, who are often crusty, gruff, and grumpy, but possess a proverbial heart of gold. Beneath your tough exterior you are a sentimental softie who will make any sacriﬁce for someone in need. If someone asks for a favor, your ﬁrst reaction will probably be no, but the ﬁnal answer is always yes. You should be judged not by what you say but by what you do. You are possessive. Anyone who becomes part of your life will never again be entirely free. You try to stay in touch with friends, ex-lovers, former spouses, business associates, persons you knew as children. Cancer is the cosmic collector—if you let anyone go out of your life, it is unwillingly and never completely. This reﬂects your preoccupation with the past. An aura of nostalgia dwells about you; the events and people of bygone years continue to inhabit your memory and usually grow dearer to you as time goes by. You are devoted to family and home and continue to believe in the old-fashioned idea that marriage is forever—even if the events of your own life contradict this. It is hard to deceive you, for you can spot the tiniest nuances of behavior. In fact, you are almost psychic in your intuitions. A photographic memory added to intense powers of observation makes you extremely canny about divining other people’s inner motivations. Cancerians are crablike in their indirect approach to an intended target. Observe a crab moving on a beach and you will notice its strange sidewise movement toward a goal. People born under the sign of the Crab never take the direct approach. You step to one side, then step to the other side, and sometimes go completely around. But you get where you intend to go.



Sun Signs • 25



If channeled in the right direction, your enormous sensitivity can be a great source of strength. Once you overcome your shyness and touchiness and master your turbulent emotions, your intellect and imagination enable you to become a success in almost anything you undertake. You have the ability to dig into your own inner life and turn creativity into practical ideas. Contrary to the impression you often give, you can be shrewd and canny in business. Cautious, conservative in your approach, you possess an antenna that quickly gauges public taste and opinion and senses new trends in the making. You’re also an on-the-mark judge of people. You are artistic and creative, and have formidable intellectual talents. This instinct for business combined with imagination is magical for acquiring ﬁnancial security, and Cancer is called a “money sign” because of its ability to attract wealth. Cancer people hold on to money as tenaciously as they do to everything that belongs to them. To you money spells security, yet no matter how much wealth you accumulate you never feel really secure. That is true of your emotional security also. A Cancerian never gets enough love and approval; you always need more. It is very easy to fall in love with this loyal, devoted, affectionate, and protective Moon-child.



are also extraordinarily in sync with other people’s feelings. In fact, you get almost as involved in your friends’ problems as you do in your own. When you’re close to someone, you believe you are supposed to help that person. Harmony is important to you—any kind of conﬂict or quarrel leaves you feeling depressed. However, you’re deﬁnitely not wishy-washy; you have the courage of your convictions and the strength to stick up for what you think is right. You don’t welcome change, and are hesitant about going ahead with something untried, yet this doesn’t stop you from doing what has to be done.



How Others See You Those in your circle think of you as a den mother— the one who tries to ﬁx other people’s problems and make sure everyone is happy. They like your concern for their well-being and cherish your wise counsel. But why, even if they follow your advice, do they keep it a secret from you? Because they think you’re controlling and don’t want to be a puppet on your string. They also think you’re moody. One minute you seem to care about them, and the next you’re crabby and to be avoided at all costs. In your career, you’re viewed as someone who can quickly spot an opportunity for ﬁnancial gain.



The Inner You On the surface you’re the picture of calm and strength, but underneath you tend to feel insecure and inadequate. You are positive that other people know what they’re doing while you’re just winging it. You also imagine the worst outcome to a scenario, never the best. You are a very emotional person; you are constantly feeling. Hearing a song on the radio makes you feel sentimental, and a particular scent, ﬂower, or picture can jar your memory. You



26 • Sun Sign Astrology



8 Fa m o u s P e o p l e w i t h t h e S u n i n C a n c e r Alexander the Great Louis Armstrong Polly Bergen Ingmar Bergman Bill Blass David Brinkley Mel Brooks Yul Brynner George W. Bush James Cagney Pierre Cardin Barbara Cartland Marc Chagall Gower Champion John Chancellor Van Cliburn Jean Cocteau Bill Cosby Tom Cruise Olivia de Havilland



Oscar de la Renta Diana, Princess of Wales Phyllis Diller Marty Feldman M. F. K. Fisher Harrison Ford Bob Fosse Stephen Foster Erle Stanley Gardner John Glenn Merv Grifﬁn Susan Hayward Tom Hanks Nathaniel Hawthorne Ernest Hemingway Al Hirschfeld Judy Holliday Lena Horne Anjelica Huston



Princess Diana



Randy Jackson Derek Jeter Frida Kahlo Franz Kafka Helen Keller Rose Kennedy Ann Landers Janet Leigh Lindsay Lohan Gina Lollobrigida Sidney Lumet Tobey Maguire Nelson Mandela Mary McCarthy George McGovern Marshall McLuhan Bess Myerson Clifford Odets George Orwell Camilla Parker-Bowles



George W. Bush



Sun Signs • 27



Ross Perot Prince William Marcel Proust Gilda Radner Nancy Reagan Erich Maria Remarque Diana Rigg Geraldo Rivera Nelson Rockefeller Ginger Rogers Linda Ronstadt Jean-Jacques Rousseau Françoise Sagan Antoine de Saint-Exupéry George Sand Carly Simon Neil Simon Jessica Simpson Jimmy Smits



Sylvester Stallone Barbara Stanwyck Ringo Starr Isaac Stern Patrick Stewart Irving Stone Meryl Streep Donald Sutherland William Makepeace Thackeray Twyla Tharp Henry David Thoreau Mike Tyson Abigail Van Buren James Whistler E. B. White Billy Wilder Robin Williams Andrew Wyeth



Ernest Hemingway



Leo



( J u ly 2 3 – Au g u s t 2 2 )



7



DUALITY Masculine TRIPLICITY (ELEMENT) Fire QUADRUPLICITY (QUALITY) Fixed Leo is enthusiastic, powerful, expansive and creative, generous and extravagant, dogmatic and ﬁxed in opinion. RULING PLANET The Sun: Center of our solar system, a star that burns with intense ﬁre and supplies us with light, heat, and energy. In astrology, the Sun is the most powerful planetary inﬂuence, bestowing vitality and authority. SYMBOL The Lion: Regal, brave, dominating, sometimes indolent. Possessing nobility and pride. GLYPH (WRITTEN SYMBOL) The pictograph represents two valves of the human heart (a part of the anatomy that Leo rules). It is also the Greek symbol for the ﬁrst letter of Leo. In symbolic terms, it is two incomplete circles of the Sun joined by a crescent Moon, symbolizing power derived from both the intellect and the emotions. DOMINANT KEYWORD I WILL. POLARITY Aquarius: Leo is the sign that governs pleasure and creativity. Natives of Leo look for what they can get out of life for themselves, and tend to dominate others. Aquarius, Leo’s opposite sign, is the sign of hopes and wishes and the higher aspirations of mankind. Aquarian people are concerned with larger ideals, humanitarian concepts, and are more impersonal and aloof in their relationships. PART OF THE BODY RULED BY LEO Back, spine, and the heart: Emotional strain and physical overexertion cause back and spine ailments in Leo people. LUCKY DAY Sunday LUCKY NUMBERS 8 and 9 MAGICAL BIRTHSTONE Ruby: Protects against physical injury and ensures faithfulness. It also brings its wearer serenity of mind. SPECIAL COLORS Gold and orange: The magnetic colors of the Sun. CITIES Rome, Prague, Damascus, Hollywood COUNTRIES France, Italy, Romania FLOWERS Sunﬂower and Marigold TREES Orange and all citrus trees METAL Gold ANIMALS RULED BY LEO All felines DANGER Leo people tend to be bombastic and challenging, and often unknowingly provoke others into impulsive violence. They are also prone to being victims of slander.



28 • Sun Sign Astrology



8 Your Most Likeable Trait EXUBERANCE o u r l oya lt y is beyond question. You are devoted to yourself. All Leos possess a kingdom. The kingdom may be big or small, it may be your home or a lover or a piece of creative work or your whole career. But whatever it is, you are unquestioningly ruler of this kingdom. Selfassurance surrounds Leo people like a ghost image on a television set. While others wait in the wings, you bask in the spotlight. Whatever you do, you do with a ﬂair for the dramatic—everything about you is theatrical. You don’t have to look for a role to play in life. You’ve found it. You are the monarch of all you survey. When you enter a room you secretly hope everyone will stand up and sing a few stanzas of the Hallelujah Chorus! At a party it isn’t long before you assume control of



Y



the evening. Witty, vivacious, a ﬂuent talker, you are a born entertainer who can lend spice to any occasion. Your energy is electric, and people gravitate to you as steel ﬁlings to a magnet. Your Sun sign confers a great ﬂair for drama and an instinct for getting attention. Because your nature is ﬂamboyant and expansive, you despise the humdrum, the ordinary, and the dull. When real life does not supply all the excitement you need, you try to create your own. Hyperbole is second nature to you. You are born to do things in a r-r-really big way. If you invite people to your castle (which is how you think of your home), you entertain them royally. You are a splendid host.



Sun Signs • 29



Others may become reconciled to accepting second best; not Leos. Born under the most royal sign of the zodiac, there is absolutely nothing Leo people can think of that’s too good for them. Luxury is as vital to you as breathing. You want to enjoy the good life, and never mind what it costs. You are not a good haggler or bargainer because basically you want what you want when you want it. Your public image is very important to you. When a Leo woman’s checking account is down to two ﬁgures somehow she’ll ﬁnd the means to buy a glorious new dress, and when his credit cards are overdrawn a Leo man will still make reservations at the best restaurant in town. Leos are the most lavish spenders in the zodiac (Librans run a close second). Generous, kind, and openhearted, you ﬁnd it hard to believe ill of others. If injured, you strike back quickly, but you also forgive easily and never hold a grudge. Marvelously affectionate and cheerful, you have genuine joie de vivre. The Sun is your ruler, and you always bring some sunshine into the lives of others. Obviously, this is one of your most endearing traits. In many ways you are like the Sun itself—life-enhancing, radiating energy and magnetism, burning with steady ﬁxity. Astrologers call Leos eternal children, for you take pleasure from the moment and are uninhibited in giving affection. No one could ask for a better friend. If approached in the right way (ﬂattery is the right way), you will do almost anything, but you expect praise and appreciation and admiration in return. Pride is your Achilles’ heel. Your ego demands not respect but adoration, not compliments but ﬂattery, and when you receive lavish praise you never stop to wonder if it is insincere. Despite your self-centeredness, you need others to give to if only to get back their appreciation. However,



because you’re too proud to ask for appreciation, you often suffer silently from a wounded ego. Your hidden secret is you need to be needed. In business you are the one in command. Another sign that gravitates toward authority is Capricorn, but its natives steadily climb toward a high position. Leos simply assume that they were born to high position. One of your most useful assets in career is an unerring instinct for getting along with people who are in a position to be helpful. You know the value of socializing and work best in group enterprises rather than solitary pursuits. You’re an ordergiver, not an order-taker, but you’re usually so cheery and enthusiastic others don’t mind taking orders from you. You are also a hard worker who doesn’t ask more of anyone else than you do of yourself. You won’t quail before a challenge or ﬂinch from a confrontation. You will do the thing that scares you because to do otherwise spells failure to your eyes. You are ambitious, but not ruthless. All you ask is to be in the limelight. Among your most striking characteristics is a refusal to be hampered by petty rules. Day-to-day routine quickly leads to boredom and makes you desperately unhappy. Your unhappiness doesn’t last long, because you simply won’t put up with it. You have an unshakable belief in your luck and quickly bounce back from despondency. It is difﬁcult (though not impossible) to dislike a Leo. True, you can be bombastic and overbearing at times. True, you love to give advice and tell people how to run their lives. Like your symbol, the Lion, you can be quite indolent and lazy; you like to sit back and bask in your own glory. But your great warmth and sunny disposition is very hard to resist. The world would be much less fun without Leos.



30 • Sun Sign Astrology



The Inner You



How Others See You



You have larger-than-life emotions; whether you’re experiencing joy, despair, excitement, or love, it might as well be playing on a giant movie screen. You feel you have an important role to play in life and you’re going to ﬁnd it. You need to be involved in the world; in fact, you tend to think of any plan or project that you’re part of as an extension of who you are. You believe in taking action. Your immediate reaction to any problem is to do something about it rather than sit around pondering it. But you’re extremely sensitive and you try to hide this fact under a lot of bravado. It’s very important to you to get others’ approval. What makes you special, though, is that in spite of all your inner qualms, you jut out your chin and walk head-on into any challenge. You have a deep-seated need to prove your worth—not to others but to yourself. You’ll tackle any job just so you can say, “I wasn’t afraid to try!”



You have a regal quality, a way of standing out in a crowd. The unique combination of the excitement you project, your sense of style, your way of speaking, and your laugh is what draws people to you. They’re also seduced by the fact that you think big, which feeds their own fantasies of success and power. They’re attracted to your energy and enthusiasm and your take-charge attitude. They assume you’ll take a leadership position. But some people dislike what they consider your king-sized ego. They think you hog the spotlight and that you’re performing even when you’re perfectly serious and sincere; they question your sincerity. Others regard you as a showoff who merely talks a big game. And there are those who think you have the temperament of a demanding, spoiled child.



Sun Signs • 31



8 Fa m o u s P e o p l e w i t h t h e S u n i n L e o Ben Afﬂeck Gracie Allen Neil Armstrong Lucille Ball Antonio Banderas Count Basie Ethel Barrymore Tony Bennett Simon Bolívar Napoleon Bonaparte Barry Bonds Ray Bradbury Diamond Jim Brady Sandra Bullock Claus von Bulow Ken Burns Fidel Castro



Ramond Chandler Julia Child Bill Clinton Paula Creamer Guy de Maupassant Cecil B. DeMille Robert De Niro Elizabeth Dole Madame du Barry Marcel Duchamp Leo Durocher Amelia Earhart Zelda Fitzgerald Jerry Garcia Frank Gifford Kathie Lee Gifford Jeff Gordon



Mick Jagger



Al Gore Melanie Grifﬁth Mata Hari Alfred Hitchcock Dustin Hoffman Whitney Houston John Huston Aldous Huxley Mick Jagger Peter Jennings Magic Johnson Carl Jung Garrison Keillor Francis Scott Key T. E. Lawrence Monica Lewinsky Jennifer Lopez



Madonna Steve Martin Maureen McGovern Herman Melville Robert Mitchum Benito Mussolini Annie Oakley Barack Obama Carroll O’Connor Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Peter O’Toole Dorothy Parker Maxﬁeld Parrish Sean Penn Roman Polanski Robert Redford



Madonna



32 • Sun Sign Astrology



Bill Clinton



Gene Roddenberry Kenny Rogers J. K. Rowling Yves Saint Laurent Pete Sampras Arnold Schwarzenegger George Bernard Shaw Percy Bysshe Shelley Kevin Spacey Danielle Steel Martha Stewart Alfred, Lord Tennyson Leon Uris Andy Warhol Mae West Shelley Winters Orville Wright



Virgo



( Au g u s t 2 3 – S e p t e m b e r 2 2 )



7



DUALITY Feminine TRIPLICITY (ELEMENT) Earth QUADRUPLICITY (QUALITY) Mutable Virgo is reserved, modest, practical, discriminating and industrious, analytical and painstaking, seeking to know and understand. RULING PLANET Mercury: Ancient god of communication and commerce. In astrology, Mercury rules intelligence and reason, and predisposes toward a highstrung temperament. SYMBOL The Virgin: Representing purity of motive, modesty, industriousness, and service of oneself and one’s talents toward helping others. The virgin is usually pictured holding a sheaf of wheat that symbolizes the utilization of ideas and skills to beneﬁt (nourish) the world. GLYPH (WRITTEN SYMBOL) The symbol represents a Virgin, for it is a pictograph of the human reproductive organs closed and untouched. In symbolic terms, the glyph is a straight line connected to two curved lines, one of which is crossed. This represents wisdom tied to feeling and emotion, and crossed by practicality. DOMINANT KEYWORD I ANALYZE. POLARITY Pisces: Virgo is the sign of work and self-improvement. Its natives are perfectionists who dissect facts in order to ﬁnd the truth and obtain all the information available. Pisces, Virgo’s opposite sign, is the sign of illusion and self-deception. Pisceans are prone to dreaminess, imagination, vagueness, self-delusion, and escapism. PART OF THE BODY RULED BY VIRGO The nervous system and the intestines: Virgoans are prone to illness caused by stress and nervous tension. They are particularly susceptible to ulcers. LUCKY DAY Wednesday LUCKY NUMBERS 5 and 3 MAGICAL BIRTHSTONE Sapphire: Brings tranquility of mind and protects against illness and injury while traveling. SPECIAL COLORS Navy Blue and Gray: Classic colors of reﬁnement and taste. CITIES Paris, Boston, Heidelberg, Strasbourg COUNTRIES Turkey, Greece, Crete, West Indies FLOWERS Morning glory and Pansy TREES Nut-bearing trees METAL Mercury ANIMALS RULED BY VIRGO Small domestic pets DANGER Virgo people sometimes arouse anger and violence in others because of their tendency to interfere, their critical tongues, and their unemotional attitudes.



Sun Signs • 33



8 Your Most Likeable Trait CONSCIENTIOUSNESS h e re a l d r a m a of Virgo’s personality is interior. To the world you may give an impression of calm authority, but you are aware of your own nervous, restless, controlled intensity, the desire to be up and doing, rearranging, improving. You can exhaust yourself more by simply sitting still than others do moving around. The planet Mercury, which rules both Virgo and Gemini, inclines its subjects toward constant activity. However, in Gemini the nervous energy is directed primarily toward stimulation and adventure, while in Virgo the ceaseless drive is to accomplish and perfect. It’s impossible for Virgos to put off until tomorrow what might be done today, or to do later what might be done now. You are, in a word, organized. Your idea of taking it easy would seem like hard



T



work to most people. You are not a daydreamer, you’re a day-doer. Your emotional life is a constant striving to bring order out of chaos. Although you have a great capacity for love, love alone is not enough for you to be happy. You need more than a mate, home, children, friends. You must justify your life, conduct yourself as a good bookkeeper keeps a ledger—always ready to give a reckoning on whether there’s a proﬁt or a loss. You’re ambitious, but not just for money. You want to know more, to gain in wisdom, and put this wisdom to practical use. Your astrological symbol of the Virgin tends to be misunderstood. It does not mean you’re a prude or lack sensuality. The Virgin stands for purity of purpose. You’re



34 • Sun Sign Astrology



not in the game of life to cheat or extract from others. You have higher motives. You want to be of use. In ancient times Virgo was the sign of the harvest—and the symbolic meaning of the Virgin holding a sheaf of wheat is that Virgo people take what has been sown (knowledge, information, skills) and harvest this energy to do something of practical beneﬁt. In the same way wheat is turned into bread to feed our bodies, you want to utilize the gifts you were born with to nourish the world. Intelligence is the hallmark of your sign. You have an excellent memory, an analytical mind, and are known for crystal-clear thinking. You also have a keen ability to probe into human motivations. People like to check their plans with you before putting them into action because you have microscopic vision when it comes to detecting a ﬂaw. Your superb logic cuts through muddled thinking like a laser beam. You instantly zero in on a problem, take apart difﬁculties, and put them back together in proper order. Because you believe life should be approached rationally, you are without peer in solving knotty problems or tangled disputes. You are convinced that a reasoned presentation of the facts will carry the day. Until you have the facts before you, you are reluctant to make a decision; you want to know why and how a thing will work. Your faith is not in Chinese fortune cookies but in facts, and you distrust vague ideas that don’t stand up to critical appraisal or people who make emotional judgments. Yet it would do you a world of good to have a little more faith in general and to trust in synchronicity—that certain events occur or people connect for a fortuitous reason. Your important life lesson is to expand your vision, to look at things in larger terms and believe in the power of faith. Virgo is ruled by Mercury, the planet of thought and mental perceptions, and your ideas form your reality.



If you hold on to a negative attitude, then your reality will also unfold negatively. You tend to have difﬁcult getting in touch with your deeper feelings because your mechanism of denial is so ﬁrmly set in place. “I’m not upset,” you’ll say. “I feel okay about [this other person being promoted instead of me, him dating another woman, etc.]” Saying you feel “okay” covers a lot of messy feelings you’d rather not examine. Also, you often don’t see the forest for the trees. A preoccupation with neatness and precision sometimes limits your breadth of vision. That estimable faith in logic also conﬁnes your imagination and leaves you a little shy on inspiration, too dependent on established practices and methods. Your nature is to look back and analyze rather than push forward in a new direction. You must know the why and how of everything. Virgo is a mutable sign, however, so you can adjust easily to change once you ﬁnd a way of ﬁtting the new situation into your routine. You may run into difﬁculty because of a tendency to complicate everything. No problem is ever simple for Virgo. For every answer you’ve got a question, and making mountains out of molehills is one of your specialties. Your nature is shy and reserved; it’s hard for you to relax, to make small talk or be gregarious with strangers. You prefer one-on-one encounters, in which you can offer the full beneﬁt of your sharp insights and discerning opinions. That’s also when people discover how well-read, perceptive, charming, and witty you are. The ﬁrst thing you learned about money matters is that money does matter. Although you tend to downplay your own ability in ﬁnancial affairs, no one is better than you at staying within a budget. You aren’t tempted into foolish ventures. Your bank balances usually jibe to the decimal point. You want the ﬁnest but rarely overpay, and



Sun Signs • 35



you have a built-in resistance against self-indulgence. A highly developed sense of discrimination may lead you to be hypercritical. You are unsatisﬁed with things as they are and continue to analyze situations and people in the hope of ﬁnding a way to make them better. At times your ﬁnely tuned sensibilities can even make you unhappy, for they give you a heightened awareness of the world’s imperfections. However, you resist criticism of your faults from others. It’s a rare Virgo who takes criticism well or who can admit to being in the wrong. You are health-conscious and try to make sure you get enough vitamins and go for regular checkups at the dentist. However, in this as in other areas, you can’t help being a worrier. As a result you are prone to tension and nervous ailments. Hypochondria is common among Virgos. A warm, loving relationship brings out the best in anyone born under this sign because basically you are kind, devoted, and very loyal. When your affections are engaged you tirelessly try to serve loved ones. They will never have to worry about who’s going to keep the checkbook balanced or look after them when they are ill.



animals, tending sick plants—but you need to be appreciated for the kind things you do. Above all, you want to be useful because you truly care about people.



How Others See You You’re regarded as a real go-getter. People trust you to handle any job. They think of you as a person who can analyze almost any problem in a logical way. Others come to you when they want their own actions explained to them, or are feeling confused about relationships. You are valued for your ability to set priorities and to create order out of confusion. Because you’re both discriminating and truthful, people trust your judgment on books, theater, and clothes. However, you don’t wear your heart on your sleeve, and as a result others often perceive you as haughty and cold.



The Inner You You have plenty of willpower and dedication, and you work harder than anyone to make sure something is perfect. Why? Because if you can’t do everything superbly, you begin to fear that you’re failing. You are much too critical of yourself. Actually, you’re an enigma that no one has quite ﬁgured out. You hold back with people you don’t know well and are reserved even with those you love. Inwardly, though, you feel very deeply. Intensity and extreme sensitivity are part of your secret self. You like looking after others—giving advice to friends, feeding stray



36 • Sun Sign Astrology



8 Fa m o u s P e o p l e w i t h t h e S u n i n Vi r g o Marc Antony Yasir Arafat Lance Armstrong Lauren Bacall Anne Bancroft Ingrid Bergman Leonard Bernstein Jacqueline Bisset Charles Boyer Kobe Bryant Sid Caesar John Cage Taylor Caldwell Agatha Christie Craig Claiborne Patsy Cline Confucius Sean Connery Harry Connick Jr.



Jimmy Connors Jackie Cooper Macaulay Culkin Roald Dahl Cameron Diaz Theodore Dreiser Queen Elizabeth I (the Virgin Queen) Peter Falk Greta Garbo Richard Gere Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Hugh Grant Buddy Hackett O. Henry Faith Hill Jeremy Irons Christopher Isherwood Michael Jackson



Richard Gere



Jesse James Samuel Johnson Tommy Lee Jones Michael Keaton Gene Kelly Stephen King Peter Lawford D. H. Lawrence Alan Jay Lerner Rocky Marciano Judith Martin (Miss Manners) John McCain Freddie Mercury Grandma Moses Paul Muni Bob Newhart Arnold Palmer Itzhak Perlman Regis Philbin



Mother Teresa



Sun Signs • 37



Lance Armstrong



Ryan Phillippe River Phoenix Keanu Reeves LeAnn Rimes Cal Ripken Jr. Margaret Sanger William Saroyan Claudia Schiffer Jerry Seinfeld Peter Sellers Charlie Sheen Upton Sinclair Oliver Stone Mother Teresa Leo Tolstoi Lily Tomlin Shania Twain George Wallace H. G. Wells



Libra



(September 23 – October 22)



7



DUALITY Masculine TRIPLICITY (ELEMENT) Air QUADRUPLICITY (QUALITY) Cardinal Libra is active, artistic, easygoing, peaceable, prizes beauty and harmony, is diplomatic, polished, and very socially inclined. RULING PLANET Venus: Goddess of love and beauty. In astrology, Venus rules pleasure, social pursuits, art, and adornment. Its inﬂuence also inclines toward self-indulgence and love of luxury. SYMBOL The Scales: Signifying balance, equilibrium, order, and justice. GLYPH (WRITTEN SYMBOL) The pictograph represents the Scale, which is in perfect equilibrium. This was the ancient Egyptian symbol for the setting sun, which was regarded as the doorway between two worlds. In symbolic terms, the glyph is a crescent moon connected to two straight lines resting above a third line. This represents emotion bounded on either side by reason; the line below symbolizes partnership. DOMINANT KEYWORD I BALANCE. POLARITY Aries: Libra is the sign of partnership and marriage. Its natives are happiest functioning within a union, and often lose their equilibrium and positive outlook when forced to be alone. Aries, Libra’s opposite sign, is the sign of ego, personality, and self. Aries people tend to put themselves ﬁrst, and selﬁshness is one of their negative traits. PART OF THE BODY RULED BY LIBRA The lower back and buttocks, and the kidneys: Librans suffer from lower back strain and problems in the lumbar region. They are also subject to kidney infections. LUCKY DAY Friday LUCKY NUMBERS 6 and 9 MAGICAL BIRTHSTONE Opal: Brings ﬁnancial success, frees its wearer from jealousy and greed, and imparts clear insight. SPECIAL COLORS Blue and Lavender: The colors of romance, harmony, and reﬁnement. CITIES Vienna, Copenhagen, Charleston, Lisbon COUNTRIES Burma, China, Tibet, Argentina, Japan FLOWERS Rose, Cosmos, and Hydrangea TREES Almond, Cypress, and Ash METAL Copper ANIMALS RULED BY LIBRA Snakes and lizards DANGER Libra people tend to stir up ill feelings from others in situations having to do with love. Because they are indecisive and sometimes make a declaration of love too easily, Librans both anger and disappoint lovers. They also have a tendency to be ﬁckle and faithless.



38 • Sun Sign Astrology



8 Your Most Likeable Trait CHARM i b r a n s a re e a s y to l i ke , for you have a captivating charm, possess elegant taste, and are usually beautiful to look at. In addition, you have the gift of making others feel important, for you are a superb listener and instinctively know how to draw out another person. You’re famous for how effortlessly you smooth rufﬂed feathers, bring out smiles, and make others think they’re the most wonderful people in the world. You’re a born charmer. Ruled by Venus, goddess of love and beauty, you admire loveliness in all its forms, in music, art, decoration, and people. Your home will always have a touch of elegance, and you love to entertain in style. Flowers, cham-



L



pagne, lovely jewelry and clothes, beautiful (and expensive) objets, luxurious surroundings—these are the ornaments of life to you. You enjoy all the things that money can buy. A narcissist at heart, you expect admiration. You wish to be the jewel in the center of any setting, and you have a computer memory for any compliment ever paid to you. You tend to judge others by outward appearances. If someone has a charming facade, you won’t look any deeper. As a result you may become easy prey for a sophisticated schemer with an affable manner. Libra is the zodiacal sign of Partnerships—in psycho-



Sun Signs • 39



logical terms the sign is outer-directed. Your energies are focused on melding and combining with other people; you are at your best in personal relationships. Your real energy, however, goes into people. Whether they be partners, lovers, mates, family, friends, business associates, or even guests at your party—relationships are your metier. You’re simply not a loner. Instinctively, you try to magnetize and pull others toward you. However, your main interest is on yourself within the relationship. You deal intuitively with other people’s emotions, and no one is better at understanding and taking into consideration another person’s point of view. Yet all too soon that outside viewpoint will be lost or subsumed within your own subtly self-centered concerns. In the professional world you’re a superb team player. You’re able to meld many disparate egos into one smoothworking union. Your friendships and associations bring opportunities, and your best luck comes when you pool your creative talents and intelligence with powerful individuals who open doors for you. Born under the sign of the Scales, you strive for balance and harmony and are happiest when your environment is ordered and serene. Peace is worth any price to you and usually you will go a long way out of your way to avoid friction and dissension. Because you see clearly every side of an argument, every possibility of a given course, you have the tact and ability to smooth over disputes. You are a born diplomat. In order to avoid an unpleasant scene, you will even stiﬂe your own true feelings. In fact, far too often you are not sure what your true feelings are. Because you try to be all things to all people, there is a general impression that you are indecisive. You appear to be constantly poised on an edge, seemingly un-



able to move one way or another, balancing pro with con, advantage with disadvantage, risk with gain. Underneath your genial, calm surface, you have to struggle in order to make decisions. The problem is that at Libra’s center is someone who does not feel complete in himself or herself. Beneath your brilliance and charm, you feel a psychic lack, something missing—whether this something is a perfect lover, a fulfilling career, a wonderful project that shows off your talents, etc. And so you spend a lot of time feeling you’re not “real,” that you’ve conned others into thinking you’re smart and successful, but very soon they’ll find out you’re a fraud. One of Libra’s best-hidden secrets is how shaky your self-confidence is—and certainly your sense of not being whole and creating a false front is at the core of your insecurity. Although you have superb instincts, you don’t trust them enough. You are likely to be an underachiever because of your easygoing attitude. For the most part, you don’t want anything badly enough to ﬁght for it. The exception is when you’re denied a privilege to which you feel entitled. That rufﬂes your fur. Librans have a reputation for stubbornness, but that’s because you are sticklers for fairness. You resent being treated unfairly and become upset at inequity in the world at large. In general, it seems your strength is only brought out by crisis. This is when you’re at your most courageous. You get along harmoniously with people who are even-tempered, particularly those who can laugh in the face of difﬁculties. You are particularly appreciative of talent in any ﬁeld, whether art, literature, or music, and if you lack talent yourself you often indulge in artistic hobbies. Often people are surprised at the wide range of your



40 • Sun Sign Astrology



interests because you hide your superior intellect under an agreeable, easygoing exterior. Libra is a cardinal sign, which means you’re an initiator. You love new projects, unusual people, different ideas, and you’ll travel anywhere. Gifted with imagination, ﬂair, and enthusiasm, you have an open, independent mind that tries to evaluate the world dispassionately and rationally. You also have a good head for money (though your great weakness is a love of luxury). Indeed, money has a way of slipping through your ﬁngers because it isn’t money you love, it is the things money can buy. Essentially frivolous, people born under this sign dislike hard work—unless someone else is doing it. A love for beauty leads many natives of this sign to careers in art, decorating, the theater, and composing, but the approach often remains that of a dilettante who enjoys the reward but avoids the effort needed to attain it. You are an incorrigible idealist and quintessential romantic. Affectionate, warmhearted, sentimental, naturally optimistic, you do everything in your power to please. Your stock-in-trade is charm.



vulgarity, or strife. If life were a play, you’d always insist on a happy ending. The problem with trying to have constant peace and harmony is that you have trouble making decisions. At times you fear that any move you make will bring something terrible crashing down around you. If you could just lighten up and not be so hard on yourself, you’d be much more satisﬁed with what you do achieve. You have every ingredient for happiness!



How Others See You People feel important when they’re with you because you always seem to understand their point of view. You are considered warm and outgoing because you know how to draw people out, and you’re thought of as someone with an unparalleled ability to deal with the public. However, because you want others’ approval, you tend to go along with what they want—and this sometimes makes you look wimpy. To some people, you also appear vain and overly concerned with your appearance.



The Inner You You work hard trying to please others and as a result, they ﬁnd you captivating. However, beneath your friendly exterior, you desperately long for love and approval. You have trouble saying no to others’ requests and you take on too many jobs or commitments—and then to prove how nice you are, you keep smiling through the strain while you hide a lot of resentment. It might