the night was peppered with stars . . . . they were
crowding round the house, as if curious to see what was to
take place there
As you may have already surmised from the title, this is one of those "challenging"(is that the tactful word? ) 4-10 Sun Sign Pattern associations. The natal Suns of the Archer and the Fish are squared. In astrology, the square is an aspect of tension. However, tension can be transmuted at will into energy, and indeed,tension is absolutely necessary for energy to "become" - whether it's in a physics lab or between two people. A touch of tension can be a mighty healthy thing in human communication. Please, I said a touch! Obviously, a lot of it brings quite different results - less beneficial, though perhaps equally stimulating.
One never knows what an overload of energy might cause. It can surely explode test tubes and Heaven forbid, even Mother Earth - if the governments of the world and America's Atomic Energy Commission continue to have their mad way. It can also explode a friendship. Ergo, if Sag and Pisces expect to achieve serenity together, they'll have to cool it when tension begins to mount.Should they accomplish this, they'll both be rewarded with a glittering gold star on their karmic records, like the kind you used to get in Sunday School or anyway, like the kind I used to get in Sunday School in West Virginia (when I was very good). Maybe even a whole row of them. Oh, Joy-and-Wonder-Never-Ending!
How do we begin this attempt to tighten the cord of compatibility between Pisces and Sagittarius? With some positive note, naturally, but played in what key? When one meditates on their ruling planets, Neptune (Pisces) and Jupiter(Sagittarius), one realizes that these two do have some solid positive factors linking them in agreement. The planets themselves have a lot in common. (In fact, Jupiter was at one time the ruler of Pisces, before Neptune was discovered.)Whether this 4-10 vibrational combination consists of children or adults,whether it involves two men, two women, or one of each sex - whether the Fish and the Archer struggle for harmony in school, in an office, a laboratory, or a home - they'll save themselves a great deal of grief and aggravation by the simple decision to concentrate on those qualities with which each is blessed that the other can openly respect and admire - and de-emphasize their differences. For instance, the typical Piscean can surely find it in her (or his) gentle heart to respect and admire the Sagittarian's pure streak of shining idealism. The Fish's Neptunian compassion should be deeply touched by this trait in the Archer that covers such a multitude of Sagittarian sins. Of course, when Sag impulsively and playfully arches the Bow of Jupiter's giant idealism, these people being asblunt as they are, their humor being as whimsical as it is, the archery demonstration is sometimes highly individualistic, to state it mildly.
Another positive factor between Pisces and Sag is their mutual fascination with what is not very definitively called "religion." A strikingly large percentage of nuns, priests, rabbis, monks, and ministers are Sagittarius or Pisces Sun Signs. A Fish is drawn into the mystical waters because of Neptune's influence of humility and sacrilice - the Archer because Sagittarians are consumed by curiosity concerning spiritual truth, with results ranging all the way from agnosticism or stark atheism to meditative seclusion in a convent or monastery. Still,those Fish and Archers involved in a religious life-style (or atheism) never lose their sense of humor.
We may need a case in point, so I'll share with you a story of one Archer's final,whimsical resolution of the religious-moral issues that plague Sagittarians and Pisceans alike. It's the ultimate example - the perfect illustration of Sagittarian humor, honesty, and idealism - and 100 percent true. I wouldn't dare relate anything but a true example in a chapter dealing with the brutally frank Sagittarians,who class Truth as the Highest of All Virtues - which it likely is,next to Forgiveness - and who are always quoting to you (like Scorpios) their favorite phrase from the Bible: Great is truth, and mighty above all things.Pisces has nothing against truth either, but the Fish do like to squeeze it,stretch it, shrink it, throw a few garlands of pussy willows round its neck, dress it up a little, because the unvarnished truth is so stodgy, you know? But we'll get to the Neptune Truth Trip later on. Let's move along to our example of the shining idealism, truth, and whimsical humor of Sagittarius. The sex of the Archer is incidental to the character of Jupiter. In this story, the Sagittarian is a man, but our hero might just as well have been a girl Centaur.
To prove to the Fish and Archers that this incident is true, the Sagittarian man's name is Dan Williams and the source of the incident is his daughter, whose name is Mary Ann Williams Henson, currently residing on the West Coast. That's not specific enough proof for you inquisitive Archers and skeptical Fish? All right then, you may write (to verify or to congratulate) Mary Ann Henson at 861 Sixth Avenue, Suite 219, San Diego, California, 92101. Although Mary Ann's Jupiter-ruled father passed away more than twenty years ago in her hometown of Elizabeth, North Carolina (it's interesting to note that North Carolina is a Sagittarian Sun Sign state), she still remembers his sunny personality with affection - and his fiery idealism with pride. Now you too will always remember Dan Williams with fond affection, I trust, whatever your Sun Sign,but especially if you're a Pisces, whose heart is filled with Neptune's sympathy for the weary and downtrodden (and who also enjoys, like the Archer, seeing snobbish, stuffy people deservedly stifled). For you, dear Fish, and for all of us,Dan Williams struck a ringing blow for Truth which should be emblazoned on a marble monument somewhere, but for the moment, will at least be resurrected in these pages.
All through his Life, Sagittarian Dan aimed his arrows of Jupiter Truth straight to the mark (admittedly sometimes painfully), but his finest bull's-eye arrow was shot forth toward the blue skies of freedom on the unlikely occasion of his death, for Dan's last will and testament contained a most unusual clause.At that time, it was the accepted, woeful wont of the Christ Episcopal Church fathers, in Elizabeth, North Carolina, to conduct their Sunday services with the town's socially prominent and politically powerful white parishioners seated in the downstairs pews - and the black parishioners safely tucked away out of sight in the balcony pews.
But Dan's will stated, quite candidly and bluntly, that those who desired to pay their last respects to him upon the occasion of his death would have to obey his wishes. (Dan himself was a white man, although this is also incidental.) The directive clause in his will was as follows: Everyone attending his funeral services at the Christ Episcopal Church, where he would be formally receiving the bereaved from his casket - silently, but oh! so eloquently would be required to observe a new seating arrangement on that day. His black friends (who made up nearly the entire Negro population of the community) must be seated in the prestigious and coveted downstairs pews, before the altar - the white mourners seated only in the uncomfortable, tucked-away-out-of-sight balcony pews. It was, in Dan's view, a clear issue of priorities.
On the morning of the funeral services for Dan Williams, the church was filled to overflowing, the seating arrangement dictated by his will adhered to strictly, according to Dan's dying wishes - and the shock of surprise on the humiliated faces of those who were ushered firmly to the balcony pews was something to forever remember. Throughout the services they sat there, ramrod straight and red-faced, in barely suppressed resentment. The Archer had the last word, all the way.
I am certain that somewhere in this place of worship on that miracled May morning, probably over near the stained-glass window through which the Sun was streaming the brightest ever, stood the astral figure of the honor guest, fully cognizant of the scene before him (as all souls who have recently made transition from this dimension to the next always are), with an enormous grin on his face, like a mischievous boy. His widow, his children, and his friends were all smiling too, through their tears, in sheer delight, which lightened the sorrowful burden of their loss that day in the Christ Episcopal Church. And Christ was smiling with them - also Jesus, the carpenter. Dan's Scorpio wife, Nettie (who was secretly proud of his gesture), was to later remark that, although the whole affair embarrassed her dreadfully, she was nevertheless grateful that Dan had decided to play the last of his infernal practical jokes on someone besides her for a change. (But Nettie Williams' Pisces Ascendent was pleased.)
When I heard this true story, my joy was interrupted for an instant by a puzzling question. "How was it," I asked Mary Ann, "that Dan was so sure he'd be able to pull off his glorious Jupiter caper, his thundering chord of Truth?After all, the offended whites might have turned at the door, and left, in a fury.The deacons of the church could have refused to honor his final request, and tactfully suggested that the services be held at home, or in the local funeral parlor.Your father must have been someone important in that southern community.What was his profession, his occupation?" Her answer is the most delicious part of the story.
"He was," Mary Ann twinkled, with a trace of her dad's mischievous grin,"the Democratic ward leader - and the Chief of Police."Is the magic working? Has it reached all those Pisceans who dream of the Neverland of Brotherhood and Sisterhood, and who are therefore nearer to the Sagittarian ideal than they think? Are you Fish and Archers hopefully grinning at each other now? Do you Pisceans admit that the Sagittarians who bug you are just the type to pull off such a prank, and if you thought you could get away with it, you'd join them? Fantastic! We're making progress.
Just as the frequently cleansing (but also sometimes rude and unnecessary)Sagittarian habit of slinging the awful truth in the face of friend and stranger alike wounds and annoys Pisces, the Fish's habit of playing subtle games with truth hurts and infuriates the Archers, who often angrily accuse the Fish of being outright liars. That's not fair, Sag. Pisces people don't lie. They just now and then avoid the truth. Think about it, and you'll see it's not the same thing.Have you thought about it? Good. Now, think about this. Pisceans have only two reasons for avoiding the truth, on those occasions when they do it. They swim away from an explicit answer or statement of fact either because it (1) involves something very intimate and personal about their own private lives, in which case it's none of your business, or anyone else's (will you please admit that? ); or because (2) it might possibly, in the Fish's compassionately considered opinion, be hurtful to someone, and therefore would serve no useful purpose in which case, you must recognize this as an ethic somewhat less abrasive than your own. Right? Your Jupiter ethic is honesty, whatever the cost or the damage. Their Neptune ethic is evasiveness, to avoid the emotional drain of conflict (for themselves and others) whenever possible. But an ethic is an ethic,whatever form it takes. Correct?
As for you Pisceans, try to be more sympathetic to the purpose of those burning barbs of the Archer you'd like to bop over the head with his (or her)own Jupiter Bow. By now, you should realize that the purpose is always integrity,an uncontrollable urge to search for and express the truth. Since all that really matters in any sort of human speech or action is the motive behind it, can you see that the Sagittarian intention, at least, is honorable? True, they say Hell is paved with good intentions, but I rather think that Heaven may be too.
The Archers are free and easygoing as they trot along the pathway of Life,completely independent, scorning self-pity - yet they often neglect duty and responsibility if it interferes with their exciting search for themselves or stands in the way of their goals and wanderlust - and this brings disapproval from Pisces,who can't conceive of placing one's own desires before dutiful service to others who might need them. The kindly, gentle Fish are only rarely irritable as they float calmly around obstacles, unobtrusively charting their patient course upstream,sometimes pausing to linger in the cool stillness behind a waterfall making little effort to escape the entanglements of people who need their sympathetic listening ears (or money), even when it creates a detour, or a delay in their long-range plans. They're exasperatingly changeable, first following half a dozen dreams at once, refusing to settle down to the practical pursuit of just one - then deciding to lazily procrastinate for a while, allowing solid opportunities to glide past them, which causes the Fish to merely shrug - but brings an angry scolding from the Archer.
Sag must stop trying to coax Pisces out of the temporary ponds where he (or she) feels fleetingly serene and secure. And Pisces must stop projecting the Neptunian silent doubt that holds Sag back from aggressively following tomorrow's promise. Instead of such futile confrontations, Sagittarius might try to keep those optimistic promises by traveling to the Moon or China, and returning with a handful of Stardust to sprinkle on Pisces to prove there do exist out there new worlds to conquer, for those who have the audacity to pursue them then grin, and say, "See? I told you if you trusted me, I wouldn't let you down."That's the most effective way to lure a reluctant Fish to come out of the water
and play leap frog.
In closing, I have saved, to share with you, the very last codicil in Archer Dan Williams' will. He was rumored to have died, perhaps not a wealthy man,yet rather comfortably fixed financially. But alas, Sagittarian Dan had loaned all his money to those in need, over the years. There wasn't a penny left. And so, his bequest to his family was, in his own, beautifully typical Jupiter words, in the last paragraph of his will: I leave to my wife and children the whole wide world - in which to earn a living!
Although Pisceans can certainly empathize with Dan's compassionate charity,a Neptune last will and testament would never contain such an inheritance.The modest and humble Fish wouldn't dream of presuming to have the right to give away the whole wide world - for it doesn't belong to them. But there's a deep wisdom in the Sag philosophy.
PISCES: Do you Sagittarians really believe you own the world?
SAG: Of course! Doesn't everyone?
