for Virgo: "My deepest emotional wound has also been the source of inexhaustible blessings." I'm not going to tell you why that statement is true for me -- it's way too personal -- but I assure you that it's one of the fundamental facts about my destiny. Could you make a similar assertion, Virgo? Is it possible to interpret your life in such a way that you could see how a painful experience you suffered in the past has also given you tremendous insight, inspiration, and vitality? Two thousand nine will be an excellent year to make that leap of understanding. And the time around the solstice -- right now! -- is a perfect moment to get started.

It’s winter solstice today, at 5:25 eastern time to be specific. Spells you cast tonight will begin something new that will be bud out in the spring and flower this coming summer, so they say. What do you want to start? Think hard and pick a single word for it. Write that on a piece of paper, light the paper with the flame of a candle and let it burn down in a metal bowl or pot and then scatter the ashes to the wind while you let the candle burn the rest of the night. [Enjoy the company of friends (if you have any), and eat some chickpeas.]

The Maniacs - Heart of Gold


I got Ears a baby electric guitar for xmas from TonyPetrocelli (one word), ie Lewiston Music Guy (LMG), complete w amplifier etc etc and forthcoming lessons. Priest-musicians are a double whammy, but from a maternal point of view I can’t think of many turn-outs that would make me happier. Every time I see LMG, clearly very grounded on his Mt Aloof, it strikes me again how useful it is in a human life to have foundational alter-identities. That way when you get to those (inevitable) moments when you think “if I have to live this life this way one more day I’m going to blow my damn head off using my toe and a rocket launcher” you can quit whatever that life is/was and still have one within yourself, a talent in the shape of a person you can always retreat to and be. I’m tempting Ears to build such a one within himself, using “Guitar Hero” as the lure.

"Awake My Soul," Mumford & Sons