Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Spring has arrived!













For this month’s astrology blog entry, I believe that I will have to go extremely subjective in my writing because now it is time to discuss this double Libra’s opposite sign, none other than the fiery Aries – the beginner of all things and a sign made out of highly combustible rocket fuel. This is one sign that I have to discuss with feeling! And plenty of it…

As I look back at my life, I can see the most dynamic male friendships of mine being with Aries. Going back to around 1979 as I began my interest in playing in bands as an early teen, I always found a coconspirator in another Aries male. He would initiate and then I would reflect and some kind of music would inevitably be born. Sometimes it would be painful for me – I’m not sure if it is ever painful for the Aries! I can still remember my friend Pat, a bass player, from New Jersey who yelled at me “to play it right!” as I was messing up the riff to Rock’n’Roll by Led Zeppelin in an early high school band. He said it with such force and anger (and I was just a kid) that I nearly jumped out of my skin. After finishing the song correctly he grinned from ear to ear and said something extremely funny, which I can’t remember today and all was fine again between us once more. Pat was great like that. There is no doubt that he inspired me way into the future in my songwriting and guitar and bass playing.

Across the Atlantic Ocean in Helsinki, Finland I found another male Aries who created another band with me in the mid eighties. We also wrote some plays with an emphasis on humor. In the “orchestra pit” we played Stones covers for the “score” of our play and we smoked many cigarettes. This particular Aries played saxophone, bass, and drums and could sing like a demon on acid with all the musicality delivered up with power and finesse. Carefully Petri and I would plan whatever musical project we were doing and then joyfully rehearse it in his room that boasted its own terrace. And his parents were cool.

Jumping ahead again by a decade and into Massachusetts and Vermont, I met another male Aries who has been the big brother that I never had. Together we play music, explore topics in anthropology and psychology and religion. On a good day together we burn through hundreds of ideas and activities. Air and Fire make a great big bonfire … and afterwards I believe we are both kind of tired and wondering about the state of the universe.

After a lifetime of experiencing this dynamic between a Libran and an Aries, I would chalk it all up to acting versus reacting. The Aries is the ultimate initiator whereas the Libran is the most versatile reactor. There is no doubt that we compliment each other. And there is no doubt that our energies are very different.

It is said that Aries is the baby of the zodiac and who but a baby would leave the house and run and jump and touch and butt heads with the entire world stopping only to sleep, eat, and go to the bathroom? The Aries will enjoy this whole process and all with a big burning grin that lights up everything in his or her path. If he or she stubs her toe – there will also be plenty of howling! But look, there comes the smile again and a fierce determination to explore and conquer the world once again! Aries is the ultimate Energizer Bunny. Look out!

Where do I stand in all of this? As the Libran, I believe that my archetype is to quietly wait, observe, be unsure and then finally react at the last possible second. Just as the autumnal equinox balances day and night, so does Libra wrestle with taking any action whatsoever. Librans are not very ambitious; an object at rest tends to stay at rest, right? I believe that Librans can be somewhat intellectually depressed and have this thought lodged into their brains: why take action? See how it all plays out … Wait and see.

Not so with the character of the vernal equinox – the heralding of the sign of Aries. Spring is going to bang out and there will be no stopping of the process once the sun begins to burn like a super nova. The plants will sprout out of the snow if necessary and their buds will “greenify” no matter what through the effects of the Arian sun’s beams of light. The noon sun will be hot even if there is frost on the ground in the morning. Though the whole Christian thing seems to be Piscean in nature… I tend to view it as an Aries event … especially when you investigate the western calendar. For it is Aries that is the sign of the forever regeneration.

Let me say that Aries and its connection with spring hurts, too. If nothing else the beginning of the Aries cycle is quite abrupt. After all, you can’t return to the cocoon of winter. Now is the time where brisk and painful new modes of thought and action must be undertaken. There can be no turning back. Change and new initiation is inevitable.

As an educator at several local colleges, I have had the pleasure of having 2 young confirmed female Aries students in my classes this past semester (Don’t worry – they discussed their birthdays suddenly in class – it wasn’t like I was asking). As I monitor my teaching in class with that unattached part of me, I love what these Aries students do. They challenge me in front of the class and sometimes almost to the point of embarrassment on my part, but there it is again. These “kids” are making me grow because they do have that Aries fire even at their young ages and they know it too. Both of these students are the alphas in the class and the rest of the class seems to know this as well. The Libran in me feels badly about this unbalanced situation, but what can I do? Aries is the warm blooded baby discovering the world with an honesty that is truly sincere – it is one of the only beliefs that I still have in this difficult world.

As a guitarist and bassist I love music and this month’s column picture will feature 2 guitar players: Eric Clapton and Ritchie Blackmore. Yup – both are Aries. There has to be something to this duo. Is it about ego? Sure it is! But it is also about tremendous drive, fire, talent and emotional catharsis burning into the hearts of guitar lovers everywhere. Each of them plays licks that are double dipped in pain and passion; in discovery, fire, and catharsis. I challenge anyone to NOT HEAR some similarities between the souls and playing of Eric Clapton and Ritchie Blackmore. Yeah, OK – they all have done many drugs and survived, but that is not the point! Happy Spring!