Greetings everyone – and welcome to the April or Spring ChatterBulletin and the sign of Aries!
The theme for this month isAccidents, and why is that, you might ask? Well, since Aries is the 1st of our 12 signs of the zodiac, that also makes them the most “primitive” and youthful – they are not exactly what you would call mature or refined, that’s neither their forte nor their job. They are the pioneers, the young cowboys who “shoot first and ask questions later” living a more impulsive kind of a life. And, when we add in the fact that the Ruling Planet of Aries is Mars, the God of War (notice the 1st 3 letters of the 2 words, MAR(s) and WAR, and how the W looks like an inverted M, or the M is an inverted W, whichever way you want) the association with and attraction to Accidents, either intentional or accidental (pun intended!) makes perfect sense. Plus our Planet Mars speeds up time, thus making those Accidents more likely!
In my Astrology teacher’s 1st lecture “What Is Astrology? Astrology At Your Own Pace” he talks about how each of the 12 signs is a different make-up from the rest, so they are simply not going to think or feel or react in the same way. He gives us the scenario of a violent car accident, resulting in body parts and guts spilling out onto the road. We have an Aries and a Pisces who witness this while eating their lunch. The Aries will watch the entire scene while continuing quite happily to eat their sandwich, but the Pisces will get so sick to their stomach, they will not be able to eat at all. In fact, the Aries will probably finish eating the Pisces’ sandwich as well!
So what about Aries and Accidents – they not only like to watch them, they can also cause a lot of them. Aries is the sign associated with War because Mars is a violent God or Planet, who likes to fight, period. In Ancient times, Mars was known to be a bully, and was not liked. And remember that sometimes the toughest guys to fight are not the biggest, but it’s those gritty little Martians, who are not large in stature, they are short, strong and speedy – so watch out! This is also why we see Aries and Mars associated with the Military, Law and Enforcement – it’s a natural place or profession for them.
While we’re talking about lunch and food, something else that you may not know is the Planet Mars is connected to our tongues and therefore to our sense of Taste, resulting in many of them being extremely good cooks. Think about it, Aries is a Fire sign and we need Fire to cook with. Mars’ metal is Iron, and Mars likes to cut things. So Aries is not only associated with all the pots and pans in the kitchen, but also the utensils as well. And since we are talking about Taste, Fire & Heat,Mars’ color is Red (no big surprise there – and come to think of it, blood is also Red) and they tend to love spicy food as well, which is why the ChatterRecipe for this month is a Chili! Something else to ponder, and that is chefs wear hats – remember Aries rules the Head, and Aries wear Hats, they just do. And this time last year in my April Aries ChatterLog you may recall I showed People Magazine’s “History of the Queen’s Hats” in celebration of her Diamond Jubilee. So what if I remind you that Aries rules England? It would be most fitting that the Monarch should wear a lot of Hats (when she’s not wearing her crown, of course!) Something else to consider is that Aries, or any of the Fire signs, may also have red hair! Photographer Keith Barraclough may not be an Aries (he’s Sagittarius) but he is a Fire sign, so I thought it perfect that he has been shooting a personal portrait project with, you guessed it redheads!
I grew up in England and the English as a nation wear hats. I wore hats as part of my school uniform, black felt in the winter and straw panama in the summer. Back then I wasn’t a huge fan, since these were both ugly and compulsory, but over the years I collected many hats, at one point reaching a total of more than 60! It is still rare for me to head out (notice the words I used!) anywhere without wearing a hat! Growing up, we weren’t exactly churchgoers in my own family, but it would have been unthinkable to attend a wedding or a funeral without wearing a hat! So when British Prime Minister David Cameron’s wife showed up to William and Kate’s Royal Wedding deliberately hat-less back in 2011 – it caused quite a stir, I can tell you!
Now, to show you I’m not making all of this up and that it is in front of our very eyes – not long ago I was watching TV and there was a BBC America segment promoting all of their upcoming shows – and low and behold the narrator starts talking about how all of the characters in all of these diverse programs wear hats of some kind! I couldn’t have asked for better affirmation! There was Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares (back to our chefs again), then they mentioned the period dramas like Downton Abbey (all the bonnets and top hats) and so on… and then of course there’s all those police and mystery dramas (policemen wear hats, so do doctors and nurses in the hospitals…) But then how about the courtroom and the legal dramas. Just the other day I was watching an old episode of Matlock, in which he was visiting London and ended up defending someone in a British Courtroom. Seeing it from Matlock, the visitor’s point of view, I have to admit just how beautifully archaic the entire thing was, and still is. They don’t just opt for hats – they still wear white wigs! Matlock thought it was so weird, he asked the judge that he be excused from wearing the robes and wig, and simply stick to his familiar old suit!
Happy Birthday to all you Aries!