The Pisces Love Mystery

The Pisces Love Mystery

Just as the soul is symbolically "born" into the innocent thoughtlessness of Aries, it symbolically "dies" - or leaves the painful Earth plane - to enter into the sympathetic humility and mystical awareness of Pisces. In the Piscean Sun Sign stage, evolving man and woman begin to comprehend vaguely the secret of Time as an eternal NOW - able to (in varying degrees) see the Past, Present and Future as one. This is the soul's third and final excursion into the sensitive Water Element - its fourth and final vibration as a Mutable Communicator - and the last experience under the feminine negative Night Forces.

LOVE SIGNS BY LINDA GOODMAN | THE PISCES LOVE MYSTERY | PISCES SUN SIGN

Ideally, by the time the soul has reached the Pisces stage, it has attained spiritual enlightenment on its long journey through the Mysteries of Love experienced in the preceding eleven Sun Signs. If not, then it must return to certain Sun Sign vibratory experiences on the astrological circle to learn lessons not absorbed because they were too hastily skimmed over in previous incarnated stages. But each such return brings a new vulnerability to that Sun Sign lesson - a new inner urgency to master its positive essence and discard its negative.

Of course, some high or advanced souls, after reaching the Piscean stage, elect of their own choosing to return to Earth to rescue those still in darkness. However, we are discussing here the average Pisces obligation and pattern.

Man and woman, on the Pisces level, have passed at least once through all twelve stages of initiation, and many have been required to fall back and retrace their steps hundreds of times in this experience, because Pisces is the most difficult of all the twelve Sun Signs to comprehend and master. Usually such an accomplishment is not gained the first time around the wheel of life, except by intense desire and will, which is not to say such achievement is impossible - but it is a path, up until now, chosen by very few. This is why astrology teaches that Pisces is "an old soul" - also the reason that not every Pisces man or woman is the epitome of spiritual grace; why some swim in waters dangerously close to the fires of Dante's Inferno. The Fish lives in two worlds, simultaneously experiencing both Heaven and Hell.

LOVE SIGNS BY LINDA GOODMAN | THE PISCES LOVE MYSTERY | PISCES SUN SIGN

With the secret wisdom of the Piscean ruling planet, Neptune, Pisceans know that sadness and ugliness are not a part of God's plan. They have glimpsed the beauty of truth, and the brilliance of such mystical vision brings an urge to retreat from the negative vibrations of the Earth plane. So Pisces often avoids confrontation and tension through the escape route of drugs, alcohol, daydreams, artistic creation, philosophical theorizing, meditation or religious retreat.

Pisceans may become teachers, monks, nuns, mystics, artists, musicians, composers, abstract mathematicians and highly intuitive scientists - or they may choose to swim down into the murky waters of alcoholism and drug addiction, even insanity. It is, indeed, a difficult and complicated vibration for the soul, for this Sun Sign experience is fraught with temptation for the Pisces man or woman.

Because they've been "through it all" on a subconscious level, the Fishes have a natural compassion for the troubles of those around them. The Neptunian soul is intimately familiar with life's vicissitudes, understanding the weakness of human nature, therefore tending to pity, rather than to condemn, man's and woman's failings. This is why these "old souls" so frequently become the recipients of everyone's secrets, trials, worries and apprehensions. Yet the initial instinct is to turn away from sticky entanglements in all forms. Only when the Fish finds the courage to face his or her own problems with as much spiritual wisdom as is offered to others can the Neptune mysteries be fathomed.

Through this "death initiation" (death of the human ego) the soul grows more forgiving, more gentle, better able to understand its true relationship to the co-Creators.... as Pisces affirms "I BELIEVE." To realize the full glory and truth of love, the Fish can, if he or she chooses, call on the innocence of Aries, the patience of Taurus, the awareness of Gemini, the perception of Cancer, the nobility of Leo, the discrimination of Virgo, the judgment of Libra, the penetration of Scorpio, the honesty of Sagittarius, the wisdom of Capricorn - and the humanitarianism of Aquarius. But sometimes these many fragments of secret knowledge and talents serve only to confuse Pisces, causing the Fish to then take the easier path of passive nonresistance.

The Pisces positive qualities are humility, compassion, sensitivity, spiritual awareness, psychic comprehension, philosophic insight and a healing potential. Expressed in their negative form they become timidity, apprehension, masochism, idleness, lying and weakness of will.

To Pisces, love is unselfish submission of the ego to the desires of the one needed to become Whole. The Fish gains more pleasure from giving than from receiving, more happiness in serving than in being served. Yet enigmatic Neptune tests the Pisces soul with the lure of multiple sexual and romantic experience - floating from one affair to another.

LOVE SIGNS BY LINDA GOODMAN | THE PISCES LOVE MYSTERY | PISCES SUN SIGN

In such promiscuous manner - or by becoming a romantic recluse - does the wary Fish escape the dangers of being "hooked" by deep or permanent emotional commitment. But the Pisces man or woman who resists this temptation to avoid love's pain by seeking only love's pleasure is richly rewarded by the mastery of love's final mystery. He or she can then glimpse for the first time on the soul's weary journey the true passion of blending in a trinity of mind, heart and spirit, resulting in a rare physical ecstasy - the ultimate Piscean fulfillment of Love's long-ago Aries springtime promise of a miracle. 

The Aquarius Love Mystery

The Aquarius Love Mystery 

Having reached the Aquarian initiation, the evolving soul feels that it must return to life much of what it gathered along the way. And so begins a "second childhood" on the level of the Water Bearer, who pours out his knowledge, both determined and anxious to share it before he leaves this planet to explore the exciting realm of the unknown on the other side. 

LOVE SIGNS BY LINDA GOODMAN | THE AQUARIUS MYSTERY | AQUARIUS SUN SIGN

Aquarius feels the stirrings of the masculine positive Day Forces for the last time as a Fixed Organizer, in the final experience of the detached and unpredictable Air Element. A puzzle to friends and family, the Aquarian man or woman cavorts in peculiar fashion with the young at heart - peculiar, since wisdom and experience are in direct contrast with such liberal, eccentric behavior.

There were so many mysteries missed in the past because there wasn't time to investigate them. Now Aquarians must taste them all - must investigate every nuance of up and down, left and right, will and won't. They delight in shocking those around them, suddenly aware of an inexplicable ability to peek into the future. Amazingly intuitive and bristling with unexpected flashes of telepathic images, the Aquarian soul examines people and ideas without sentiment, arriving at truth with no apparent logic or traceable effort.

On this level, the soul tends to flaunt law and authority because the spirit actually exists in the world of the future. Aquarius knows that the rigid rules of today's society must sooner or later be compromised. Therefore he (or she) sees no sensible reason to respect what will surely evolve into something new and different tomorrow. If violent revolt is necessary to bring about tolerance, brotherhood and understanding, then Aquarius believes the result will be worth the conflict. However, although they advocate change for the world (and for their friends and family), the Water Bearers remain Fixed in their own personal opinions, private codes and life-styles, reflecting the contradictory nature of the ruling planet, Uranus.

LOVE SIGNS BY LINDA GOODMAN | THE AQUARIUS LOVE MYSTERY | AQUARIUS SUN SIGN

The soul has now acquired a true humanitarian approach. To the unprejudiced Aquarian, every human being is a friend, whatever that person's personal values may be, for the Water Bearer has learned that he (or she) is one with all mankind and womankind - and with Nature. Yet, personal relationships may be neglected, as these men and women pursue an idealism related to the benefit of society in general. Like the Aquarian Age it reflects, the soul at this stage envisions a golden and glorious future that may be attained only by blasting old customs and outdated ideas to clear the way for spiritual awareness, through the thunderbolt path of accelerated mass Karma. If more conservative people are offended by the Uranus behavior, the Aquarian individualist laughs off their disapproval. Secure in an intuitive grasp of the future, Aquarians retort, "I KNOW" to all questions, then perversely refuse to explain how they know - except to the children, who understand through their own innocence the innocent state of simplicity the soul returns to in the "second childhood" Uranus vibration.

The Aquarian positive qualities are vision, individuality, tolerance, friendliness, inventiveness, originality and genius. Expressed in their negative form they become eccentricity, neurosis, detachment, absentmindedness and refusal to cooperate.

LOVE SIGNS BY LINDA GOODMAN | THE AQUARIUS LOVE MYSTERY | AQUARIUS SUN SIGN

To Aquarius, love is a detached and unselfish emotion, to be explored and enjoyed. The Water Bearer understands love's scope and investigates all its dimensions, but scatters it carelessly, confusing it with friendship. Physical fulfillment leaves Aquarius emotionally empty and still wistful, failing to sense the mystery of Oneness with the mate - the final truth of love, which awaits discovery

silently, in the shadows - the secret guarded by Neptune, just beyond Uranus comprehension. 

The Capricorn Love Mystery

The Capricorn Love Mystery

Now the chilling blasts of winter grow more insistent, forcing the experienceweary soul to symbolically retreat back into the haven of the family circle, to submit once again to the meditative, negative-feminine Night Forces. On the Capricorn level of consciousness, for the fourth and final time, the soul feels the powerful vibrations of Cardinal leadership. But this time it leads through the stable Earth Element, from a position of strength inside the home, beside the hearth. Why should the Goat expose himself (or herself) to the icy temperatures outside, just to be seen and heard - applauded and praised?

Capricorn souls, now sure of both their ability and their right to take command, no longer feel the need to display or aggressively flaunt their power - either for public adulation, or for inner security. By this stage, the soul has learned that true peace comes from within. Being appointed Leader is a responsibility to be handled as carefully as possible, with no special recognition due for doing what is obviously one's duty. The Capricorn's relatives (especially parents) now assume marked importance for either good or ill, because the symbolic "old age" of the soul has arrived - and along with it, a sense of the priorities of life, the most important being the security of belonging. The excitement of romance and the freedoms of youth are not nearly as enticing to the Goat as comfort and contentment with those he can depend on to care for him (or her).

Capricorn is both prepared and willing to impart the hard-earned Saturnine wisdom, but only when invited to do so. Because the Goats know the folly of forcing people to mature before their time, they smile with the benevolent indulgence of a fond grandparent (whatever his or her chronological age) upon the playful antics of the still young at heart. Secretly, the Capricorn soul longs to abandon duty but is by now resigned to the knowledge that sheer idealism is impractical - and spontaneous enthusiasm can never replace experience. Acutely aware of the dangers of impulsive action, the soul has become more conservative - and the Goat's refusal to either scatter efforts or to indulge in sentimentality brings on accusations of emotional coldness from those born into the Fire and Air Elements. Capricorns respect authority because they see the law as a necessity for the protection of human rights and safety. They shyly worship the famous and successful because Capricorn's ruler, Saturn, teaches them to revere achievement, knowing full well its price.

Although Capricorn may appear to be serious and unyielding to more liberal souls, Life has also taught the Goats its humorous side, and their subtle jokes are tinged with the irony of existence. Because the new Saturnine duties as counselor to the foolish weigh heavily on their shoulders, they sometimes try to drink the last full measure of Life's rare pleasures, calmly accepting them without false modesty or undue inhibition. Only afterward, when the sobering influence of maturity returns, does Capricorn feel a vague sense of remorse and melancholy for having succumbed to the temptation of forbidden passions. In this soul vibration there is a compulsion to acknowledge the necessity for being practical, as Capricorn admits, "I USE." But a gentleness of spirit softens the severity of the surface sternness commanded by Saturn, for the Capricorn consciousness brings with it a sympathy for human mistakes, born from the understanding gained through ten stages of Life's - and Love's - mysteries. 

Capricorn's positive qualities are determination, stability, wisdom, dependability, sureness and tranquility. Expressed in their negative form they become selfishness, narrowness, ruthless ambition, rigidity, snobbery, depression and loneliness.

To Capricorn, love is a quiet and undemanding exchange of personal gratification.

The Goats have fully learned the valuable lesson that love is not measured by excessive emotion. But because they equate it only with the necessities of mutual need and desire, they have not yet experienced the release of its inner longings. 

The Sagittarius Love Mystery

The Sagittarius Love Mystery

Emerging from the long night of Scorpio meditation, the evolving soul turns again with hope toward the positive masculine Day Forces, as it bridges autumn and winter through the Sagittarius consciousness. Now it experiences for the third time the vibrations of the Mutable Communicator, and answers for the last time to the impulsive element of Fire. In Sagittarius, man or woman has become a skeptical philosopher, a reluctant prophet, still unsure of the final answers to the riddle of life. So the Archer probes further, with penetrating logic and embarrassing candor, to give validity to Jupiter's claim that "I SEE." It is now time for the soul to be once more aware of its own duality. Sagittarius feels a compelling urge to explore his or her own mind and attempt to unravel the secrets of human behavior at the philosophic stage of higher learning.

Yet, part of this soul resents the stern requirements of ever more complicated education and longs to play hookey from Life's demanding karmic school. He - or she - plunges from the heights of supreme optimism and blind faith to the depths of sarcastic cynicism. First frivolous and gay, then serious and owlish, Sagittarius is the Centaur, half man-half horse, aiming sharp arrows of curiosity directly into the bull's-eye of the knowledge sought. The Sagittarian search for truth takes this soul through the maze of religious concept, veering from stark atheism to spiritual fanaticism, until the stronghold of church dogma has been exposed - and either accepted or rejected, in part, or in whole.

Sometimes Sagittarius frolics like a clumsy clown, with an irresponsible disregard for the future. Sometimes he thinks seriously, on a level high above and beyond his peers. In the Sagittarian stage, the soul has reached the symbolic stage of retirement. Driven by their ruling planet Jupiter, the Archers yearn to travel, to bask under foreign Suns, to see and learn of other countries, people and ideas. Although they grudgingly submit to the necessities of work, duty and responsibility, they are extremely impatient of such unwelcome restriction over the realization of their dreams.

To cover a constant restlessness of spirit, Sagittarians adopt the pose of the actor, the thespian, which enables them to entertain others with a mixture of funny and tragic farces, while they remain free to pursue the Socratic method of inquiry with their own souls, behind their theatrical masks. There is little time for tact on this level, as Sagittarius rushes ahead to find the answers before "Life" is over. Autumn is ending, the first winds of winter are blowing - and the exhilarating weather challenges the Archer to tempt fate, in order to prove that man is stronger than Nature. The winter season's withdrawal into seclusion has not yet taken hold. And so Sagittarius delights in each snowflake, pondering the design and origin .. . then rolls them together into a snowball, tossed without warning to topple the stuffiness of more sedate souls. Although intuitively sensing that "old age" looms ahead, with its promised rewards of wisdom and peace, the soul is too nostalgic for the carefree days of lost youth .. . spring and summer .. . to resign itself gracefully to its inevitable maturity.

Sagittarian positive qualities are optimism, candor, cheerfulness, logic, honesty, daring and enthusiasm. Expressed in their negative form they become recklessness, emotional confusion, carelessness, lack of tact, rudeness and fickleness.

To Sagittarius, who has reached the symbolic middle age of the soul, true love must be discovered now - or lost forever. As the Archers seek a mate for all seasons, they are blinded by love's idealism and challenge and therefore wounded by love's reality, because their anxious quest has not yet led them to search for love where it really hides - within their own hearts. 

The Scorpio Love Mystery

The Scorpio Love Mystery Add caption

As it enters its second experience in the Water element, the now mature soul welcomes the chance for meditation through a return of the negative feminine Night Forces of the Scorpio consciousness. On a public level, Scorpio is enormously capable of executing the now very familiar duties as a Fixed Organizer.

On a personal level, Scorpio is troubled to discover that he faces for the first time the awesome mystery of his own existence. Where did he come from? - where is he going? - why is he here? Scorpio must tear the veil from life, regardless of the cost, to quiet his restless spirit, suddenly released from its former preoccupation with earthly needs alone, as he cries out: "I DESIRE! " There is much that the Scorpio soul knows.... but even more that is sensed and cannot yet be defined. The Scorpio vibration brings such a burning need to penetrate the unknown that it must be buried beneath deep layers of calm reason, or it would consume the mind and sear the soul. Lessons well remembered from Libra softness and impartial judgment have made Scorpio wary of expressing opinions to those who would tear them apart. The strong Scorpion instinct for survival springs from a deep-seated fear that he who is not forearmed will be destroyed. Each defeat sustained by Scorpio only strengthens the inner conviction that the first loyalty must be to his or her own personal integrity. For Scorpio senses that if the self is lost, then all is lost.

On the Scorpio level of consciousness, the soul is newly aware of the relationship between birth, death, sex and religious truth. Scorpio knows that, in some mystical way, these are all intertwined. Therefore, sex becomes something intimately explored with an intensity unknown to those either behind or ahead of Scorpio's stage of evolvement. Although Scorpio trusts love only after it has proven itself deserving of such trust, once dedicated to another, loyalty is unswerving and eternal. Feeling fiercely the need to protect themselves and those they love from hurt, Scorpio is compelled to demand "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" as insurance that injuries will not be repeated. 

Through the subtle influence of the ruling planet Pluto, the experience of death comes to the Scorpio soul, as friends and relatives pass away, increasing the need to penetrate even deeper for the knowledge buried in the silent subconscious.

While Scorpio's spirit soars upward like the eagle, defying gravity, worldly desires and passions intensify, forcing him to question his own worthiness. Ultra-sensitive, but now able to totally disguise such sensitivity, Scorpio now learns the amazing power of his or her own mind - the silent will - and uses it secretly, lest others learn how to use the same kind of power over him - or her. The Scorpio consciousness is the period of the soul's testing.

Scorpio's positive qualities are loyalty, will power, magnetism, gentleness, insight and amazing self-control. Expressed in their negative form they become ruthlessness, fanaticism, revenge, sadism, suspicion and self-hatred.

To Scorpio men and women, love is a consuming flame, worth any sacrifice - and they must conquer its challenge. Sexually uninhibited, yet emotionally fearful and mentally suspicious, they strive desperately to unite love's physical and spiritual vibrations, with a strange mixture of eroticism and purity. But the satisfaction of desire only leaves the Scorpio soul still hungry for something beyond. 

The Libra Love Mystery

The Libra Love Mystery

Turning from the lonely Virgo path of self-discipline, the evolving soul reaches out once again to the positive Day Forces, as the Libra vibration seductively beckons to it to accept, for the third time, the challenge of Cardinal leadership.

In the Libra consciousness, the soul is fully grown, aware now of both sunshine and shadow. During the struggle for maturity which culminated in Virgo, it has learned that there is in the world (and in people) both night and day - good and evil - dark and light. Beyond that, Libra is consumed with the intriguing polarity of male and female. Experience has taught Libra men and women to judge their fellows fairly. 

Until the Libra level, the soul's interest has been centered primarily on itself.

Now it expands to include, for the first time, an awareness of the necessity to relate to other human beings. The soul is now equipped with the lessons of five previous levels, capable of leading with both logic and force. Libra acts with a blend of wisdom composed of knowledge gained through one excursion into WATER and from twice experiencing FIRE, EARTH and AIR. "I BALANCE," says Libra, priding himself or herself on seeing both sides. Because it shatters Libra's conscience to be unfair, decisions are difficult and painful. A sense of social justice is emerging, and in the face of prejudice or intolerance, Libra often turns to endless argument, using the cold logic learned through Gemini and sharpened through Virgo. But this approach is softened by a new sense of the value of persuasion. Libra has acquired the quality of charm, which he has discovered is a sure way to win, so he artfully uses a mellow voice and dazzling smile to cajole and get his way with others.

Libra feels a growing awareness of beauty of harmony - in music, art and romance. As Librans subconsciously recall their Virgo loneliness, they experience the stirring of a deep and primal urge to find a mate. Sentimental, yet practical, the Libra soul instinctively knows the need for someone to walk nearby, in both love and business, in order to balance Life and satisfy the desire for harmony of Libra's ruler, Venus. In the Libran Air Element, however, a love partner is not easy to find. When the vices and virtues of prospective mates are weighed and balanced on the Libra Scales, they often are found wanting, bringing on the anguish of emotional indecision. But through it all, this man or woman continues the relentless search for someone to share life's joys and sorrows.

The autumn season so loved will someday fade, the spring so fondly remembered is long past, and there is one thing Libra knows: he - or she - must not be alone when winter comes. And so Librans respond to sunset's beauty, sadly sensing simultaneously that for all its crimson-gold glory, it nevertheless announces another approaching night of the soul.

Libra's positive qualities are justice, intelligence, charm, gentleness and emotional balance. Expressed in their negative form they become laziness, procrastination, indecision, argumentativeness, pleasure-seeking and temperament.

To Libra, love is a mating of the minds and hearts - not too passionate, not too detached - a happy medium, to be equally shared. But these souls are too infatuated with love's surface beauty to penetrate completely its deeper implications. They recognize only that they love. It has not yet occurred to them to wonder why. 

The Virgo Love Mystery

The Virgo Love Mystery

The youthful Leo soul soon senses that summer is ending - and regretfully steps into his first awareness of the coming harvest, through the Indian Summer soul expression of Virgo. The negative feminine Night Forces return again, reminding the Virgin (whose deeper self has remained untouched by the fleeting romances of youth) that maturity brings stern duty and responsibility. "I ANALYZE," says Virgo defensively, striving for perfection.

Now the evolving soul has, for the first time, become an Adult, frustrated by being forced to comply with society's rules and restrictions, yet submitting gracefully, with innate courtesy. These men and women have discovered that to receive their own needs they must serve others in some way. The Virgo vibration teaches that one must work and earn money - be of service - in order to be free to play. In this, the second experience in the Earth Element, also the second experience as a Mutable Communicator, clocks and schedules assume great importance. The first job is disappointing. Both ideas and ideals must be shelved under the demands of work or schooling. No time now to dream. The Virgo attention is centered on scholastic excellence, on keeping up with the fierce competition of the business world. Learning and competing are both

mandatory - surviving has become a near obsession.

Like the actual young adults they symbolize, Virgo souls see much to criticize around them, secretly resenting the loss of childhood innocence, having no certain ideas of what lies ahead. Is it only more work, more study and more responsibility? 

If so, then life is serious indeed and must be faced realistically as soon as possible. It is getting later. Human flaws and imperfections assume exaggerated importance on this Virgo level. For, unless Virgo brings in a fruitful harvest, Life cannot continue for themselves and others. It is the end of summer,

the beginning of autumn, and cold winter is just around the corner. Why are all those people still laughing and playing out there? Virgo frets and worries, wondering how to warn the irresponsible that the season of pleasure is drawing to a close. The heart is still pure and filled with silent hope, but the

mind is now in control.

Earlier Leo enthusiasms have been replaced by resignation and quiet dreams. Virgo is driven by the fear of dependence into dogged determination not to waste time or shirk duty, the consciousness ever watchful and waiting, yearning to be something better. Although once again ruled by Mercury, the

soul has by now learned not to scatter the vital forces as on the Gemini level.

Like the symbolic Virgin, Virgo hovers on the edge of awareness, soon to answer the thunderous call of Virgo's true ruler, Vulcan, not yet "discovered" by astronomers, but sufficiently near discovery to have already commenced to faintly beam its pulsing influence to all Virgo-Virgin souls.

Virgo's positive qualities are clarity of thought, discrimination, courtesy, service to others, practicality and self-honesty. Expressed in their negative form they become criticism, crankiness, timidity, pessimism, inferiority and hairsplitting.

The Virgin soul has reached its narcissus aspect, half-remembering the heated fires of youth, but as yet unawakened, only vaguely sensing the passion that lies ahead, soon to be revealed by Vulcan. To Virgos, love means surrender of the self, a mystery they prefer not to solve. So they channel its energy into

excellence in work and although these men and women offer gentle devotion, love's true meaning still sleeps within the Virgin heart. 

The Leo Love Mystery

The Cancerian Adolescent soul is transformed with brilliant suddenness into a symbolic Teenager, brought by the Leo vibration into the first expression of self-confidence and pride in individuality. Now the soul knows (or assumes) who he is - or who she is - as Leo feels an even stronger pull of the masculine positive Day Forces and the Fire Element than was felt on the Aries level. The world belongs to the Lion - or the Lioness - and so the Leonine "Teenager" gazes at his or her image in the mirror, admires what is seen and makes the noble vow: "I WILL." Summer has come into full bloom of furious beauty with lazy afternoons and bright sunshine, as Leo moves into SELF consciousness from the polarity meaning of Cancer's self-consciousness.

The idealism of youth stirs the Lion's heart and sets the blood afire with the dawning knowledge of sexuality, two powerful urges that bring private inner doubts of worth, well hidden beneath outward vanity. The Leo soul knows what to do with this second experience as a Fixed Organizer, using it with apparent confidence to lecture others, take charge of his or her own life and rule over those who need Leo's protection. Yet the Leo man or woman, like the actual teenager, still seeks reassurance in the form of flattery, still cringes secretly when ridiculed, because he is not quite yet a man - she is not quite yet a woman - for all the surface sureness.

The soul has already passed through the painful experiences of infancy, babyhood, childhood and adolescence, so Leo leads with sympathetic consideration for those who are more vulnerable. The soul in its Leo expression has no real desire to crush the helpless. Generosity of spirit was carved into Leo's memory by the tears wept through the Aries, Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer levels. 

However, although Leos have learned to tolerate and forgive enemies, they have not yet learned to respect the wisdom of elders. Like the real teenager, Leos think they know all the answers, and are impatient with those who question their new worldly knowledge. The Leo soul worships the Sun, for the Sun is Leo's ruler, the source of all Life - and of his or her Leonine strength. Leo admires and is admired, loves and is loved. As social life begins, the joys of romance begin to bud then finally to flower. Puppy love is warm and bright, bringing to the Leo "Teenager" both elation and disappointment. The dizzy power of his manhood (or womanhood) gives to Leo a sense of personal dignity and importance - through the opposite sex. No longer must the Lions and Lionesses be restricted by the stifling authority of parental guidance. The bridge from childhood to adulthood has been spanned. The responsibilities of maturity are sensed, but still haven't become a burden. Life is all sunlight, the gloomy Past is behind, the miracle of the Future still ahead - and the Present is a time for fun and relaxation. Leo decides arrogantly that the world needs his newfound wisdom, and is more than willing to give it. Only through exercising unquestioned command over younger children (the weaker and not yet liberated souls) can a Leo man or woman in this experience retain the necessary image of superiority and self-respect.

Leo's positive qualities are warmth, generosity, nobility, strength, loyalty, leadership and a soothing, gentle tenderness - the protective charisma of the older brother or sister, of the strong toward the weak. Expressed in their negative form they become arrogance, false pride, vanity, tyranny, haughtiness ... and romantic promiscuity. 

To the Leo in the symbolic Teenager stage of development, love is shimmering romance, the song-of-songs, the fulfillment of all ideals and beauty. Leo is "in love with love" and with himself - herself. Lions and Lionesses give affection generously only because it brings such pleasure to be so royally beneficent, demanding gratitude and respect from the beloved, outraged if love requires that they humble themselves as yet unable to comprehend its depth, or the beauty of its sacrifice of the "self." 

The Cancer Love Mystery

The Cancer Love Mystery

The child is now an Adolescent, the soul having evolved to the stage of Cancer, hovering between childhood and maturity, longing to be grown-up, yet hesitating to cross over to the other side. Cancer brings back awareness of the negative feminine and reflective Night Forces. But this second experience of night is blended with a new, richer and even more sensual feeling (which was only a poetic inspiration, not yet a true reality, on the earlier Taurean level), for a change of seasons has occurred. The spring awakening has deepened into a mid-summer night's dream in all its full-blown and fragrant beauty for these Cancerian Oberon and Titania men and women.

Now the moody, sensitive, "Adolescent" soul vacillates between childish dependence and the maddeningly enticing, beckoning world of adulthood (what is it like to be a man or a woman? ). This is beautifully expressed by the experiments between the human and faerie worlds in Taurean Shakespeare's famed classic. Is it sad or happy .. . funny or tragic? The symbolic "Puckish" Cancerian Adolescent observes the adults (humans) in the environment, uncannily perceptive of everything seen and heard. But this grown-up, material world so intensely watched hints of frequent disillusion.

And so the dreams of Cancer are troubled, causing the Crab to cry out in the night, sometimes dragging the old symbolic Taurus Teddy Bear out of the closet, and hugging it closely when no one can see. As with Cancerian men and women, the actual adolescents' changing moods puzzle them as much as they puzzle their families. But those terrors are very real to Cancerians, who fear that maturity will mean the loss of security known with the parents, especially the mother. Will future strangers ever fuss over the Crabs and love them as unconditionally as mother? Cancer is beginning to suspect that they won't.

Unable to explain their apprehensions, the Crabs turn secretive, dreaming alone - or hide and pout, imagining that no one understands. On the Cancer level, the possible loss of parental protection haunts the subconscious. Cancer has already learned what loss is. Perhaps childhood friends have moved away, the family has changed residences, the old familiar neighborhood is gone. The world is no longer so exciting as the Crabs sense its hidden pitfalls. The "Adolescent" Cancerian men and women know that growing up will surely bring unexpected hurt, so they cling to what they know can be trusted - yesterday. 

Because the new perceptions are so acute, Cancer sees a combination of tragedy and comedy in Life as it expands in his awareness through his first excursion into the sensitive Water Element. Still, despite an innate shyness, the Cancerian soul will not be pushed into the background, for this is the second experience as a Cardinal leader, which can turn illogical fear into sensible caution. 

The Crabs wish on both the Full Moon and the New, only half-conscious of what it is they wish for reluctant to find out. What does tomorrow hold? Sentiment moves the Cancerian Adolescent soul to tears. Motivated by the need to hide true emotions, the Crabs say: "I FEEL" - then, so no one will suspect they feel so deeply, they make jokes, believing they fool people. If not handled tenderly at this crucial stage of soul evolvement, the Cancerian man or woman develops a permanent, hard, protective shell against the cruel world.

Cancer's positive qualities are imagination, tenacity, tenderness, sensitivity, care and caution. Expressed in their negative form they become stinginess, irritability, melancholy, clinging and cowardice, possessiveness and moodiness.

To Cancer, as to the actual uncertain and sentimental adolescent, love has become important again, above all else. But it is now synonymous with home, representing emotional security - and the need for love is so great it must be disguised behind moody tears and Lunar laughter. 

The Gemini Love Mystery

The Gemini Love Mystery

In the Gemini soul experience, the symbolic Taurus "Baby" enters into the world of the toddler-Child, and feels again, as on the Aries Infancy level, the positive, masculine Day Forces. For the first time, the soul arrives at the stage of the Mutable Communicator, becoming conscious of its own mentality, aware that it is not alone in the Universe. The Child soul of Gemini learns to communicate needs by speaking, by learning to form words and string them together, while the parents and others listen attentively, rejoicing at each new sound.

Talking is fun because it centers all the interest on him (or her). There's a new ability to crawl or toddle over to the cookie jar, without either the Aries yelling or the Taurus waiting, and this new-found independence is intoxicating. Geminis are thrilled by the knowledge now within grasp, and so "I THINK! " cries Gemini to the world-at-large, in great excitement.

The symbolic Child level of consciousness teaches the Gemini soul that there are two sides to the character - a duality or polarity that must be brought into harmony before one can successfully relate to others. The first twinge of unhappiness pulls as he or she bumps hard into discipline, while trying to blend the sleeping and waking Twin Selves. Because Gemini suddenly longs for pleasures outside home and family, the Child soul is often punished for symbolically attempting to run out into dangers not yet suspected. Likewise, the world invites Gemini men and women to explore it, and who knows what they may find out there! With the new mental ability to reason and deduce - to relate - Gemini begins to wish for and to dream of things beyond what has already been seen.

Half the Gemini soul is still an insecure baby, needing the familiar. Half is a yearning child, curious about the many undiscovered marvels just out of tangible reach. The Geminian soul has already experienced Fire and Earth and is learning to cope with the Air Element for the first time. And so this twinned personality experiments, with bright eyes and a hopeful heart. Each new day stirs Gemini's mind with its hidden magic, more enticing now than the discarded toys and the warm circle of parental affection. What the Gemini man or woman sees through the window is a forbidden Eden where all longings lie in mystery, as the ruling planet Mercury (the magician) beckons toward the seductive road beyond.

Gemini positive qualities are versatility, mental alertness, quickness of perception, deductive reasoning and flexibility. Expressed in their negative form they become restlessness, glibness, shallowness, double-talk, unreliability and self-deception.

To the Gemini "Child," love has lost some of its early wonder. It is still needed on this level, more than is realized, but there's something more thrilling than love to seek now. Is it love that holds you back, tugs on one and keeps one from rushing out the front door into Life? Love, then, is perhaps enjoyable, but it is also restrictive. Gemini men and women have not stopped needing it or desiring it, but when love becomes a barrier to their freedom, they rashly discard it, forgetting its warmth and safety - not caring that they may get lost and be unable to find their way back home.

The Taurus Love Mystery

The Taurus Love Mystery

The evolving spiritual awareness of man or woman enters next into the Earth element. On the Taurus level, the symbolic Infant soul has become, symbolically, a healthy, chubby Baby, who now relates to the reflective feminine Night Forces, and has learned to sleep on schedule, then wake to anticipated comfort.

No longer does he or she scream without reason, in fright or loneliness - or yell loudly for every need, as in the Arian stage. It has been discovered that all desires will be satisfied by the parents. Like the human baby, in the Taurean stage, the soul is content to sit quietly and patiently in its symbolic high chair and wait for its daily bread with quiet, confident and sure anticipation.

The Bull has also learned how to use good behavior to wheedle more pleasures, more favors from the "parents" and other adults. Smiles and obedience are rewarded, and Taurus doesn't forget what has been learned, however painfully and slowly. Still essentially unaware of anything outside the immediate environment, the Taurus man or woman (like the Taurean symbolic Baby) finds happiness in the family circle and the tangible - in what is known to be familiar, rather than in the strange and noisy outside world.

Through the Taurus experience, the Baby soul discovers the delight of using the senses of tasting, smelling, seeing, hearing and touching. It symbolically smells and chews, and listens to every toy, as well as looks at and touches them in this, the soul's first experience as a Fixed sign of the Organizer. Because possessions bring happiness, this man or woman clutches them, fondles them and finds contentment in calling them his or her own. Taurus says "I HAVE." This is the stage of the Teddy Bear or security blanket (which will return once more, for a fleeting moment, in the Cancerian vibration). On the Taurus level of development, the "Baby soul" is enormously dependent on physical contact with loved ones - to be held, cuddled, kissed and hugged. And the Venus-ruled (Pan-Horus guided) Taurean responds with coos and giggles of ecstasy, understanding affection only through the feeling that it's there. The actual baby is fiercely possessive of toys and the attention of the parents, shattered when either seems lost, stubbornly refusing to share them, as the male or female Taurean behaves with regard to his or her own bank account and mate.

Taurus positive qualities are strength of purpose, patience, steadfastness and conviction. Expressed in their negative form, they become obstinacy, blind prejudice and lack of reason.

To the jolly, dogmatic baby, symbolic of the Taurus soul, love is physical affection, both given and received without question. Because the baby associates love with all pleasure and happiness, he or she glories in it with an uncomplicated, animal-like appreciation. Therefore, Taurus accepts and returns love with the senses - but has not yet learned to analyze its true worth and value.

The Aries Love Mystery

The Aries Love Mystery

The soul, symbolically newborn in Aries (although not necessarily in its first earthly sojourn), relates to dawn, sunrise, spring and Easter - or the resurrection from its "death" in the previous sign of Pisces.

In this first excursion into the Fire Element - this experience as the first of the three Cardinal signs - the symbolically "newborn" soul projects the positive, masculine vibration of the Day Forces through the explosive vitality of the Aries planetary ruler, Mars. Like a human infant totally self-absorbed, the Aries soul discovers with delight his or her own toes and fingers - its own physical beingness. To satisfy all needs, only a loud cry is necessary, heard and answered instantly by elders. The real infant doubts or fears nothing or no one, simply because it has never experienced denial. Likewise, the Aries "Infant" soul has a natural trust and a touching faith in the unseen force of goodness which will miraculously grant all its wishes.

On the Earth plane this beneficent force is represented by the parents; in a mystical sense, by our co-Creators. And so they look tenderly upon the "newborn" Aries soul, as parents look tenderly upon their infant, lovingly protecting it from its own naivete, wisely denying some of the demands made through the excited awareness that the soul is - he has been born, and is here. The Aries soul senses: "I AM" or "I exist." And like the symbolic Infant, Aries men and women are oblivious to the possibilities of accident, pain or cruelty on life's path. He or she learns of these negative experiences only from those advanced beyond, who have gathered harshness, suspicion and the self-survival instinct from the growing process.

There's a religious adage that all infants, since they die in a state of purity, immediately become angels. Of course! They have not yet met the devil of Temptation. But if the Aries "Infant" survives, he or she must, like the real infant, time and time again, undergo the sharp disappointment of misplaced trust.

As the victim of unkindness, a lack of sympathy or abandonment, the newborn babe feels shocked, frightened, alone - then yells even louder for attention. In the same manner (and for the same reasons) does the soul of the hurt and disillusioned Aries man or woman need and "seek acceptance, yet court rejection" - with a violent emotional reaction to neglect.

The positive qualities of Aries are a heart-tugging innocence and wonder, blind faith and raw courage. Expressed in their negative forms, they can become selfish egotism, thoughtlessness, aggressiveness and impulsive action with no regard for the consequences. 

To the Aries soul, Love is a necessity of life, which is taken for granted; for in it's infancy of awareness, Love is synonymous with existence itself. Therefore, devotion is instinctively expected and joyously accepted, but with little comprehension of how to return it. Aries demands Love, for like the infant, without Love, Aries dies. When emotional abandonment (symbolically) can mean death, even the hint of it can bring on unreasonable panic, and inexplicable terror, calmed only by repeated reassurances. Aries continually needs to be reminded that "if winter comes" the miracle of spring cannot be far behind.