Horary Fun

I really haven't been having much luck finding a summer job. I'm actually rather apathetic about it; I mean, I would love the extra spending money, but the application process is such a hassle. I know, I know, I'll never find a job with that attitude...

But anyways, I applied and interviewed at Target (to be a "team member," as they call it), and I was curious if I would get hired, so I decided to play around with some horary astrology. Not that I'm entirely sure what I'm doing, but I know the gist of things...

"Will Target hire me?"

Okay, the rising sign is Scorpio, so Mars is my significator. Mars is in Leo (where he's not particularly powerful - essential dignity, yes?), but in the Tenth House where I believe he "joys" - that is, his aggressive drive and initiative propel him up the career-ladder. Furthermore, from here, Mars rules the Sixth House of service-related jobs and employees.

So, that looks pretty promising.

The Moon is always the second significator in horary. Looking at her, she's in Libra, in her own face, but that doesn't really make her stand out much. She's in the 11th House of Friends, so it's interesting to note that I only applied here because a friend, a current Target "team member," suggest I should. Umm...well, she's conjunct the South Node, the "Dragon's Tail," which is a big "No," I believe. As William Lilly says:

"For the Tayle of the Dragon, I always in my practise found ... when he chanced to be conjunction with any of the Fortunes who were significators in the question, though the matter by the principal significator was fairely promised, and likely to be perfected in a smal time; yet did there ever fal out many rubs and disturbances, much wrangling and great controversie, that the businesse was many times given over for desperate ere a perfect conclusion could be had; and unlesse the principal significators were Angular and wel fortified with essential dignities, many times unexpectedly the whole matter came to nothing."

Hm, well then.

So about five minutes later, I called Target and asked them if they had reviewed my application. The manager pulled mine up and told me, "Oh, it doesn't look like we have any positions open for you right now, but we'll put you on file."

...And so Thai's job-search goes on.

8 Random Facts About Me

I see I've just been tagged by the BigSky-Astrologer herself. Thanks, April. :-)

These 8 random facts...why are they so hard to come up with?

1) I have slight OCD. It's never been diagnosed officially - like, you know, by a doctor - but I don't need a degree in mental diseases to know there's something wrong when I'm leaving the car running in my driveway to double and triple-check if I turned the faucet in the bathroom off. I'm the same way about locking my bedroom door and setting my alarm clock. I know it's set, but I just can't help but check.

2) I was a really effeminate little kid up until like, the 7th grade.

3) I really like showing off in class. I know, it's bad, but what can I say? When Hamlet says Claudius is to his father like a satyr is to Hyperion and no one but me knows what the hell Shakespeare means, it's just nice.

4) I don't like dark chocolate. Milk chocolate for me, please.

5) Animated Disney musicals actually entertain me, for the most part, though I'd never admit it except, well, here.

6) I have become one of those Myspace-whores. Seems like you can't go anywhere without hearing about it now.

7) So at school, I'd always print out bits and pieces of Latin text from like, the Aeneid, and mark them up during class to keep me entertained. Isn't that a weird form of entertainment?

8) I found this random-eight-facts-thing really difficult. Don't quite understand why...

I have no one to tag here...I'm gonna go do it on Myspace.

The End is Near

I can't believe it, I just can't believe it.

5 days and 6 Finals completes my third year of high school.

Academically, I've made it over the "hump"; my grades, as they stand at the end of this year, will pretty much be what colleges are going to see. That's not to say that Senior year doesn't matter (though, that seems to be the general consenus amongst my peers), but, for the most part, this is the end of the road: my scores up to this point are going to be meat of my high school transcripts. There's no going back to change them. And there's not much room ahead to improve.

Maybe I'm just overdramatizing, but damnit, I feel like I've settled for second-best. My grades are good, I'll admit, but they could've been better. A 3.7 is not a 4.0. As and Bs are not straight As. A 30 is not a 36. How many times have I gone to class only partly prepared? How much time have I wasted when I could've been studying? How many projects have I put off till the last minute, throwing together a mediocre job instead of a polished piece of work? That's time I'm never going to get back and now, too late in the day, I'm feeling like a second-rate student who's cheated himself out of something better.

It also doesn't help that my mother doesn't approve of my current career choice. (Okay, I know it's still just a possibility, that there's still time for change, but at the moment English education is what I feel drawn to the most; currently, it's the likeliest option, and nothing else has felt so right before.)

When I told my mother I'm planning to take the AP English and Literature tests next year, her response was "Oh, the wimpy tests? Why aren't you taking Math and Science?"

Gee, thanks Mom. Nice to see you putting your Virgo planets to work.

I can't see myself as a pharmacist or dentist or doctor or whatever it is my mother wants me to be.

I want to write and talk and tell stories.

Well, first things first: I'm going to finish my Junior year on a high note. I am going to score high on all my Finals. I am sure that an A in all of them isn't out of reach if I really commit myself. Even advanced algebra and trigonometry isn't undoable. I'm going to do it.

Solar Return 2006

When I sit down to cast a Solar Return chart for the forthcoming year, I always have certain expectations of what I should see in it. For example, junior year's promise of increased workloads and responsibilities in and out of school was reflected in this year's strong 6th-House presence and heavy Saturnian influence. So, as I prepared next year's chart, I was anticipating (or perhaps, hoping!) to see a 10th-House signature, maybe with the Sun and Jupiter; you know, finish my high school career with honors, accolade, public recognition, and maybe a scholarship or two...

Ha, instead, the Sun, the most important point in a Solar Return, falls in the 2nd-House of finances and personal assets. Given the amount of money it's going to take to put me through college, I can't say this isn't appropriate, even if it is rather tongue-in-cheek...*raises eyebrow at chart*

On a more serious note, the 2nd rules more than just monetary assets; it's about our personal talents and skills (and perhaps holds clues as to how we might make money off of them). The focus of the coming year will be, then, the assessment of what natural talents and skills I have and what can be transformed into career possibilities - what can I make money off of? Given the practical nature of this house and its preference for tangible, hands-on settings, I should find real-life situations where I can practice whatever work-skills I might have and see where my strengths and weaknesses lie.

The 2nd's connection to personal values brings up another point: Do I do what makes me happy, or what makes my mother happy?

The SR Moon is in Libra in the 6th House. (It's come full circle: 2004 had the Moon in Aquarius, 2005 had the Moon in Gemini, and now the final air sign, Libra, takes 2006.) Libra has a gift for making useful connections; here, in the 6th House, it suggests I should network with people who have valuable work-experience and advice to give. Emotional (Moon) connections (Libra) in the workplace (6th House) - a network of new friends, perhaps.

(Sidenote: Yes, I am planning on finding a summer job.)

Venus is strong in this Solar Return - the 2nd House theme is hers, she rules the Libra Moon, and she is angular in the First House, close to the Ascendant, in her own sign of Taurus. (In 2004, she was the chart ruler, conjunct the Sun, and last year she was strongly angular on the Descendant, on her Venus Return point! Venus-themes have always been foremost in my mind ever since I started high school.)

The strong Venus underscores the next year's focus on assessing personal values. Something tells me that to follow a career path that doesn't truly bring me pleasure would be blasphemous to Venus...

Venus is almost exactly opposed to Jupiter in the SR chart. I'm wondering how that imagery will play itself out, but my mind's kind of fuzzy at the moment. Does it promise a year of shopping? Weight gain? Can you really have too much (Jupiter opposition) of a good thing (Venus)?

We'll see. I've got all year.

Even Homer Died Poor

"Even Homer died poor."

That's what the ancient Roman writer Ovid was told by his father in response to his desire to become a poet. His father wanted his son to pursue a life in the legal system, something which Ovid had neither the propensity or cupidity for.

Tonight, I just had a similar discussion with my mother about post-high school plans and career possibilities. She once again reasserted her opposition to my going into Education: I want to teach high school English and Literature, and study the classics of Greece and Rome! (Besides writing on the side, and practicing astrology too, of course.)

"People like to say that money isn't important," she said, "It is. It's certainly isn't everything, but it is something, and sometimes you have to do what you have to do."

Funny, I don't recall seeing my teachers patrol the streets asking for a warm meal. They seem to get along just fine.

"I've always told you," she instructed me, "to do what can give you a comfortable lifestyle first. Then, with that ease of living, you'll be free to do whatever you enjoy."

Ugh, I'm finishing up high school in a year, and it doesn't take astrology to realize there's a large crossroads coming up: Do what makes me happy or do what makes me money?

I'm considering saving up for an astrological consultation with a professional sometime within the year, someone who's had many years of experience and whose writing I admire. Astrology exists to help people make important decisions in their lives, doesn't it? I've already run it by my mother before and she didn't really object; she thought the price was rather outrageous, but she left it pretty much open.

Sun-Jupiter conjunction in Gemini in the Ninth-House...even the cookbooks imply a scholarly life...

Looking Back

Although there's only about 13-ish days left, the end of the schoolyear, for some reason, feels strangely far away. Usually there's a sense of urgency and anticipation around this time of year, like the pace of a movie speeding up before the climax. This year, however, things have just been business as usual. In some classes we've only just begun new units. Finals seem far-off.
So, it's weird to think that I'll be completing my third year of high school soon, which coincides - as it does every year - with my birthday, and we all know what that means...

Hey, it's Solar Return time!

Given my age, I've only done two years of solar returns for myself; really, anything before 2004 finds me too young to be really cognizant of anything in my life. But, despite having done so few, they've become my favorite forecast tool; I'm already surprised at just how accurately they capture the year ahead. (Incompetent Astrologer's Theory: Whatever house the Sun is in in the solar return chart will be the house you explore the most extensively in the year to come.)

My 2004 Solar Return found the Sun and a stellium within the 8th House; in that one year I can say I really transformed myself. My self-identity started defining itself that year: I started becoming someone whom it felt right to be, someone who felt uniquely me, someone I felt I should be. I'd never changed so drastically before. I faced the monsters lurking in my 8th-House closet and my sexuality came out: no more was it a terrifying, shameful secret, but something that I could accept and be open about. By the end of the year, it was a part of me, one known to others that I could care less about - instead of a ghost, haunting me from within.

When I sat down last year to cast my 2005 Solar Return, I anticipated signs of increased responsibility and hard work to be apparent within the chart; I'd always heard that junior year would be the busiest. Sure enough, the chart had a strong 6th-House presence, where the Sun fell, and Saturn ruled the chart. This past year I have been more involved than ever; besides the stakes going up academically, I've had numerous extra-curricular tasks and duties to keep up withe, including a few student leadership positions. As my friend Danny said, "You can never be too busy, right?" I've never been so active before. This was also the year I got my first paying job, another obviously 6th-House influence. Busy, busy, busy - as my friend Kelly quipped, "Who would we be without our extra-curriculars?"

Now, as my birthday nears, I'm turning my thoughts to my 2006 Solar Return: what could the next year bring for me, my final year in highschool, the year I'll have to apply for college?

I'll start looking into it. But, for now, I remember my 6th-House themed year isn't over yet: I have to go do my Physics homework...

Subscription Renewal

So I went to the local B&N today to look for the latest issue of The Mountain Astrologer.

Ugh, it wasn't in yet. (Or maybe they've stopped carrying it...)

This is why I need to renew my subscription; such a novelty, right, to just get it in the mail?

I'm really interested to read Dana Gerhardt's article on Venus...

Gahhh, Mom, can I use your credit caaaarrrddd....