So much is sotto voce this weekend, tendrils of sub-sonic sound that reach into the mind (wrapping most particularly around the wisdom and practicality functions), throwing off balance, affecting the solidity of our values and the sureness of our identity. We are troubled, thinking others are remarking on us, a hint of paranoia covering us like a shroud. In reality, we are aligned with our instincts; that suggests that if we can stop believing we just need to think about it first, we can function without too many negative consequences. It’s really the pervasiveness of Mars conjoined retrograde Mercury in Leo trine Uranus in Aries that fuels any upset. If not for this need for action, the impulsiveness and burning desire to be original, to pursue our own viewpoint, what we imagine might remain un-acted upon, ideas that simply remain ideas, abandoned tomorrow (or maybe after Merc’s direction) as just too too! Today, if we can take out the middle man (in this instance, that troublesome brain!) and have the instincts direct the muscles, that would be ideal. As it is, we may feel those whispers exerting themselves in some leap-before-we-look action. Choices will have a bigger or more long-lasting effect than you anticipate, so avoid any commitment that might last longer than a movie or a meal.

Today’s word image is a parrot with bright plumage, riding on a woman’s shoulder as she moves down the street. How do you feel about keeping birds as pets? I love them, used to have some, but don’t want to put them in cages anymore (we’ll ignore the fact that some birds, long bred by humans, would not find life in the wild survivable, much less sustainable). Is there something you used to love, that you now don’t feel the need to relate to in the same old way? What does this change in attitude say about you, and has it changed what you do or how you behave?