V-Day

The Day of St Valentine is here once again. Daft, commercialised and a tad trite as it has become, it's basically all about love and good feelings...that could never be all bad.

No sloppy luv and kisses here, just a poem I especially like, dedicated to any and all whose words help in keeping me sane in this mad, mad world.




William Stafford's
A Ritual to Read to Each Other

If you don't know the kind of person I am
and I don't know the kind of person you are
a pattern that others made may prevail in the world
and following the wrong god home we may miss our star.

For there is many a small betrayal in the mind,
a shrug that lets the fragile sequence break
sending with shouts the horrible errors of childhood
storming out to play through the broken dyke.

And as elephants parade holding each elephant's tail,
but if one wanders the circus won't find the park,
I call it cruel and maybe the root of all cruelty
to know what occurs but not recognize the fact.

And so I appeal to a voice, to something shadowy,
a remote important region in all who talk:
though we could fool each other, we should consider--
lest the parade of our mutual life get lost in the dark.

For it is important that awake people be awake,
or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
the signals we give--yes or no, or maybe--
should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.

So...

"I don't understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine's Day. When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon."
Anonymous

Valentine's Day

The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places.
But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now
mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater.
~~ J.R.R. Tolkien,
The Lord of the Rings


How many slams in an old screen door?
Depends how loud you shut it.
How many slices in a bread?
Depends how thin you cut it.
How much good inside a day?
Depends how good you live 'em.
How much love inside a friend?
Depends how much you give 'em. ~~ Shel Silverstein

Valentine's Day - have a good one y'all!

Music Monday ~ Elusive Valentines

Another V-Day will be upon us in less than 24 hours. The attendant flurry of commercialism has been around since stores cleared away the tinsel of Christmas, but the concept of a day to honour love can never be totally spoiled by all that money-grubbing.

For this Music Monday I've been digging around in the far recesses of memory and found a couple of songs which, in years too long gone, always had a very Valentine-ish feel for me. Bob Lind's Elusive Butterfly, and, oddly enough another "elusive" one: My Elusive Dreams. Maybe, back in those days, I tended to look on love as being an ever-elusive entity.

These songs still do appeal to me, both have simple attractive melodies, the first for a certain delicacy of feel - almost like a pretty watercolour painting; the second for its celebration of loyalty and love in the face of difficulties. Love isn't all beer and skittles, cakes and ale, fluff and fancy. It can be hard work, overcoming disillusion to find a diamond beneath the mud; and it can be heart-breakingly tragic.

On any day other than Valentine's Day (or in this case V-eve) these two songs might draw a caustic response, even from me: "Too sugary, too sentimental, too mawkish", but for today, and mainly for tomorrow, they'll fit my mood.

Bob Lind sings Elusive Butterfly, his self-penned Top 5 hit from 1966 (nobody does it better). Bob, by the way has Sun/Venus conjoined in Sagittarius with Mercury and Mars nextdoor in Scorpio. Moon in either Gemini or Cancer - either would fit. Cancer excels when it comes to sentimentality. Gemini would be a match too, for Bob wrote numerous songs for other artists and, after leaving the music business for some years, wrote several novels. He's back on the music scene again though - possibly appealing to a niche audience who "get" his particular brand of thoughtful poetry set to music.

A snip from the lyrics:

You might wake up some mornin'
To the sound of something moving past your window in the wind
And if you're quick enough to rise
You'll catch a fleeting glimpse of someone's fading shadow
Out on the new horizon
You may see the floating motion of a distant pair of wings
And if the sleep has left your ears
You might hear footsteps running through an open meadow
Don't be concerned, it will not harm you
It's only me pursuing somethin' I'm not sure of
Across my dreams with nets of wonder
I chase the bright elusive butterfly of love

My Elusive Dreams was written by Curly Putnam and Billy Sherrill. Astro notes ~ Similar astro flavour to Bob Lind's as it happens. Sherrill has Sun and Mercury in Scorpio, Venus and Jupiter in Sagittarius. Putnam has Sun in late Scorpio, Venus and Mercury in early Sagittarius, Moon in either Sagittarius or Scorpio.

My Elusive Dreams , a #1 hit from 1967 was performed, as one might expect, mainly by country music artists: Tammy Wynette, George Jones, Dolly Parton, Charlie Rich, Marty Robbins, Bobbie Gentry et al. I've chosen a version with a little less "twang" by a fellow-countryman of mine: Tom Jones ~~~

A snip from the last verse:

And now all we have is each other and a little memory
To cling to and still you won't let me go on alone.
I know you're tired of following
My elusive dreams and schemes
For they're only fleeting things,
My elusive dreams.

All three songwriters have a distinct Sagittarius/Scorpio blend in their natal charts. The deeply emotional factor in both songs connects to Scorpio and the element of Water, while Sagittarius and the element Fire connect to a feel of movement and of freedom - differently expressed by the songs, but present in both.



Very sadly, we've lost two wonderful voices this year, already.

RIP
Etta James 25 January 1938 - 20 January 2012
and
Whitney Houston 9 August 1963 - 11 February 2012

V-Day & Rod McKuen

(That's one of Rod McKuen's poems. Rod's website is HERE.)

Astrodatabank has his natal chart. Sun conjunct Venus in Taurus (Venus's home sign), in trine to Neptune in Virgo is a classic configuration for a writer/poet. There's a Yod formation in his chart too - a sextile between Mercury in Aries and Saturn in Aquarius which both link to Jupiter in Virgo by quincunx (150*), forming a sharply pointed triangle. Astrologers consider that the energies of the sextiled planets are blended and chanelled through the planet at the apex. In this case Mercury and Saturn (writing/communication and discipline/business) are chanelled through Jupiter, the planet which represents publication and expansion. According to Wikipedia, Rod has written/composed at least 1500 songs, accounting for over 100 million records... now there's expansive for ya! He may not be lauded by literature's elite - but that only serves to endear him more to yours truly.

Valentine

With Venus, Jupiter and Pluto in Capricorn, and Saturn in Virgo, Valentine's Day this year is likely to have a pretty down to Earth feel about it. Moon and Mars in Gemini, with Mercury in Aquarius ought to lighten things up though.

To celebrate the day, we're intending drive up Mount Scott, in the nearby Wichita Mountains. Then we'll visit a wildlife refuge close by the mountains, an appropriately earthy venue, and a trip we had to postpone from Christmas Day when we both had the 'flu.

To further mark Valentine's Day, in time honoured fashion, a home-made offering to readers who find themselves here, by accident or design. Thank you for your visit.

It's THAT day again !

St.Valentine's Day is here again. It has become ever more commercialised over the years. Many consider it spoiled, or pointless. Yet it IS something which binds us together. People in many parts of the world understand the significance of a Valentine. However commercial and trite some aspects of this day might seem, it's basically all about love and good feelings....that can never be bad. So, although I won't join in the commercialism of the day, I'll offer the following song lyrics as my Valentine to all Astrologers, Astrology Bloggers, any stray reader(s) who happen by my blog today, and for Al Gore, Dennis Kucinich and Bill Maher. Y'all help to keep me sane in this mad, mad world!

"You Raise Me Up"

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

There is no life - no life without its hunger;
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;
But when you come and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

(lyrics by Brendan Graham)