ASTRAL REFLECTIONS BY TIM STEPHENS SEPTEMBER 19 – 25, 2010 All times/dates are PDT. I saved a young boy from drowning today (late August). (Okay, so I’m bragging a bit.) He was about 4 years old, walking into Lake Ontario with some slightly older children. He bobbed down, then up, his face puzzled, and the other children were puzzled, doing nothing, and I took off running. There’s a sub-surface shelf that extends about 30 feet, then it drops off. He disappeared before I reached him, his hat floating on the water. I found him just under the surface and pulled him up, and his father arrived so I pushed him over. It was all scrambly, nothing smooth like the movies. Then the father – who said he wasn’t the father – came over and thanked me. (Then he came back and thanked me again – I guess relieved that I’d spared him a lifetime of blame from the real father.) I almost wish it could happen more often. Not that I want kids to drown. But in our lives almost every action is compromised by our examination of it: should I buy/sell that stock? Take her hand? Pay to join the gym? Tell my boss who’s boss? There is very little that’s pure and sweetly simple. But when that kid went down, after a tenth-second of “is it happening?” I was running over those damn sharp little stones I’d been wincing over ten minutes before, then in the water, then at the boy. The stones weren’t sharp, the water wasn’t cold, all pain was blanked out, but my sight and thoughts were alert, almost machine-like. I realized afterwards that I enjoyed that state: it was, though I hadn’t asked it to be, mildly exhilarating. Afterwards, I felt sedate, calm. If I could act that way for ten minutes every day, I would be a happier man. I would lose the need for irony. (Pro athletes must experience something like that – a challenge that triggers spontaneous action. Do you notice how few pro athletes have irony? I used to wonder at the simplicity, the ingenuous personality they display when interviewed; now I don’t.) Another thing: for me, it solved the age-old question about altruism: are we just altruistic because we know it will reward us, karmically or otherwise? Is altruism cleverly disguised self interest? The conscious mind can never solve this riddle –perhaps because the question is itself the mind’s mirror; it creates the riddle as a form of self-castigating vanity. I’m no hero, but reacting to that boy dipping under the water was instant and natural – it was not my impulse, but nature’s. There was no thought, no concept of reward. So nature programs our altruism; therefore altruism really does exist as a pure, viable characteristic, and I (and fellow self-doubt sufferers) can stop feeling guilty about aiding others. Trouble is, you can really go broke that way.... Start Nothing: 6:09 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Mon., 10:52 p.m. Wed. to 1:47 a.m. Thurs., and 6:12 a.m. to 1:17p.m. Sat. Aries March 21-April 19 Work, drudgery and intensified health concerns end mid-week. (You’ll still feel a bit down, overburdened, Monday to Wednesday.) You face a month of fresh opportunities, new horizons and exciting meetings – and challenges, opposition, possible refusals. To succeed, be diplomatic, flexible, seek to join, accent other’s desires, seek permission. (You hate to do that last thing; but others hold the power now.) The extremes occur Monday to Wednesday, when great opportunities and great obstacles arise. Join/bond; if you fight, then refusal comes Thursday, and a challenge, a test, Saturday. Taurus April 20-May 20 September’s pleasure, romance, risk and creativity yield midweek to a month of practical interests: jobs, health, machinery, schedules, etc. Think ahead Sunday, to career prospects, potential meetings with higher-ups. Fill out an application or “design” a future meeting. Pleasure still calls Monday afternoon to Wednesday eve – it’s social, flirty, entertaining. Your hopes and happiness are high! (And you’ll meet some unusual people.) Buckle down to chores, duties Thursday onward. You’ll see how giant the task is! Be quiet, contemplative. You’ll have enough energy, as Saturday night proves. Gemini May 21-June 20 September featured seclusion, domesticity, tiredness and re-examination of your basic direction in life. But midweek starts a month of romance (a co-worker?) pleasure, creative urges, risk and reward – you’ll ride a winning streak! You began to doubt your plans, hopes in recent weeks: soon you’ll see that some hopes were justified! Tackle career demands Monday to Wednesday: obstacles and opportunities mingle, might result in a career rebirth. Employment’s lucky to January. Thursday casts love in a sober light, yet raises your hopes: Friday, too. Deep sexual, financial changes brew. Cancer June 21-July 22 The fluff exits, the serious arrives. Sunday/Monday you meet mysteries and financial considerations– and possible intimacy, sex, commitment to a lifestyle with someone compatible. Monday eve to Wednesday brings dilemmas about love, ethics and the law. Tuesday features confrontation, intriguing meetings, attraction or dispute; Wednesday brings bonding, rebirth. Yes, it could be love –or arch-enmity! You enter a month of children, home, security, food and soul Wednesday night. Thursday to Saturday can brew competing interests, cause deep undercurrents in these same zones (kids, home, etc.). Leo July 23-Aug. 22 Domestic friction grows to late October. Remember the benefits of a light touch! Also to late October, a legal, international, higher-education, religious, publishing or similar involvement can end. (It might have already begun to cease last week.) This is neither good nor bad, just a natural end, so you can begin anew somewhere/somehow else. The month ahead is NOT a good time to begin a legal (or love) affair, to wed, nor to move into a new home. Careful with sex, money Tuesday, with paperwork, travel, and communications Thursday onward. Sexy attraction (and investment luck) Wednesday! Virgo Aug. 23-Sept. 22 Monetary and sensual urges grow through late October – you’ll feel restless about these, want to travel, talk, exchange paperwork or emails. This is more curiosity than consequence – you don’t have to commit yourself irrevocably to person or a project, purchase or investment. (Though you might. If you haven’t by December, you won’t.) Life is changing rapidly, but these are late stage changes, so are weak or without a big future. The ones to build on will appear (or re-appear) in 2011. It’s wise to wait! Separations and meetings, Tuesday. Knitting together, “birth,” Wednesday. Libra Sept. 23-Oct. 22 A month of weariness, burdens, seclusion (and delays) ends Wednesday night. The weeks ahead bring increased energy, charisma, and effectiveness. You’ll have a winner’s timing! (First timing hint: start new and/or important projects September 26 p.m. onward, not immediately.) This week tests your mettle. Tuesday brings work/health dilemmas; Wednesday brings the “birth of the new” in these. Others oppose you (almost on principle – warped principle?) Thursday to Saturday – be sober, steady, diplomatic, firm. Money “swells” to late October: steer it to you, not from you. Scorpio Oct. 23-Nov. 21 Wednesday begins a month of quietude, contemplation, planning, government contacts, charitable actions and associations. Your energy levels decline. Take “power naps.” Despite an atmosphere of rest and recuperation, your reserves will be tapped, perhaps strained, by larger work demands, and heightened romantic/sexual charisma. The “love magnetism” lasts into January 2011 – a major affair lures singles! (Perhaps a burdensome one if it starts before November.) Your duties change this week. Embrace a creative/romantic “rebirth” Tuesday/Wednesday. A lucky meeting surprises you! Sagittarius Nov. 22-Dec. 21 Pressures will ease soon. Wednesday starts a month of entertainment, social delights, flirtation and light romance, optimism and plans for your future. Over the past six weeks, you’ve been intrigued by a sense that wishes were or would come true – now the “reality” comes – and it’s a good one! However, your life plans, goals and wishes are changing deeply, mostly due to money factors. This is clear Thursday to Saturday. (If it isn’t clear, examine clues.) Earlier, Monday to Wednesday accent security, family: differing views are an opportunity to grow new common ground. Capricorn Dec. 22-Jan.19 Two big things start now. One is quite usual, a month of ambition, pressure, career and prestige involvements. All these are undergoing a sea change now to 2024, as Thursday to Saturday will show. The other big thing is quite unusual in its duration: an upsurge in social joys, a mild but sweet upswing in popularity and optimism into January 2011. It could trigger sweet romance! You can use this social upswing to aid your career (schmooze with VIPs, etc.). Now through October a wish can come true about re-establishing home or property. Contact people Wednesday. Aquarius Jan. 20-Feb. 18 Midweek, you move from mystery to a month of enlightenment, from research to broadcasting what you’ve learned. (Broadcasting = writing the term paper, giving advice, discussions, media appearances, etc.) Now through October, higher-ups, parents and VIPs will be temperamental, impatient (mostly due to work pressures) – step lightly, be diplomatic, smile – a promotion looms! The weeks ahead feature love, understanding, far travel, legal matters, higher education, publishing, a philosophical outlook. All these are changing “at base,” as late week shows. Start a money project Wednesday. Pisces Feb. 19-March 20 Open dealings become more private, hidden. Overt attraction moves toward intimacy. Negotiations move toward funding. Whatever was an opportunity in the last few weeks now demands commitment and serious action. Life in general takes a deep turn, into mystery, revelation, subconscious urges, sexual desires, investments and debt, change and consequence. Avoid legal involvements, lawsuits now to October 28. Legal matters will also reward you, a bit in October but strongly November/December. Your charisma, energy surge Monday-Wednesday – re-tackle an ambitious administrative project. www.astralreflections.com. Email: timstephens@shaw.ca. For a reading: 416-686-5014. /30/