Doggie Dirge. A quick modest tribute to a beloved departed dog, Kabubi, my little brother’s hound. He was 13 years old and he had had a jolly good innings, really, but all the same, it has been a wrench, especially for my brother who was totally besotted with him. May Bumba receive his subatomic particles and let them frolic amongst the stars, where they belong.
And because you can’t have a wake, memorial or funereal whatnot without music, here’s link to a song that is not terribly relevant except for a) it’s about a dog and b) I adore Rafael Farina.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bloo6RrogPs

Capricorn. The Goat (The Goat-Fish to the Babylonians). Earth. Cardinal. Saturn cloaked. The rock climber par excellence, this beastie will navigate the most hazardous of high terrains often with great ease and elegance. Because of its ability to get up to the high ground, it has a good overall picture of situations and goes in for long-term projects. Hard working and perseverant, heedful of its duties and respectful of the social order, for it appreciates stability, the goat-fish can lapse into dogmatic conservatism and be very impatient of points of view other than its own. Nurturing, committed and practical by nature, devoted to both knowledge and to the spreading of it, this creature can be an excellent teacher, although it can also be susceptible to behaving like a smart-ass know-it-all and occasionally try and teach you how to boil water; and then get all pissed off and huffy when you tell it that you already know how to boil water, thankyouverymuch. When they slither into this Ecclesiastes-ish mode, the best way with them is to remind them that haughty stroppiness never persuaded anyone. Capricorns find very difficult to admit they ever were wrong, for they be proud beasties, hence they’re apt to have Saturn Returns the size and consistency of a colossal iceberg. Spare a thought for them when that happens.

Sagittarius. The Archer. Fire. Mutable. Domain of Jupiter, the big cheese of Olympus. Expansive, adventurous and philosophically inclined the centaur trots merrily along whichever path her fancy takes her. Her range is wide and she travels light: her bow, an arrow or two and her wise snake, who rights all sort of wrongs and heals all kind of injuries. Warm-hearted and sincere to the point of bluntness, she has no time for euphemisms, half-truths and sentimental flim-flam. Courageous and headstrong, she doesn’t mind taking risks and occasionally she’ll gamble against heavy odds. Her pitfall is that she can get easily bored, which impinges on her perseverance. Well, that’s fire for you, innit. Still, she’s great fun to travel with and besides, soon, soon, soon she’ll be dragging the Sun back into a higher position in the sky. The Solstice is nigh, people. And Brexit might yet not happen. Rejoice. Hope. Resist. Bite!
PS. I’ve just noticed that I’ve misspelled Sagittarius on the pic. Too bad. Sorry. But it’ll have to stay this way until I do the next, new & improved version.

Scorpio. The Scorpion. Water. Fixed. Once said to be ruled by Mars and now by Pluto, either will do, really. Scorpio is perhaps the most intense creature in the whole zodiac. Also the most contradictory, ever oscillating between the maggot it can slide into if it allows itself to become self-indulgent and the eagle into which it can transfigure if it channels its powerful drives along the right path. Passionate, curious to a fault and stubborn .“or tenacious, as they prefer to call it- Scorpios will look everywhere, investigate anything and everything, look under every stone, including their own, fearless of what they may find. Intrepid and resourceful, Scorpio can take itself to the brink of self-destruction and then swiftly recoil, bounce back and regenerate itself to a daisy-like freshness. Most Scorpios have prodigious memories. Also a remarkable aptitude to bear a grudge, so if you annoy or offend one of these beasties be prepared for it remembering every little sordid detail of your affront many decades after you’ve forgotten the lot and throwing it all back on your face given half a chance. Having said that, and having unintentionally offended a few of these mesmerizing beings and consequently having had my hide slightly scorched, I do like Scorpios. They are dicey and irritable and they can be devious but they are never boring .“except when they go to the dogs, at which point they turn into Ms or Mr. Universal Whinge and never stop kvetching and make you implore the Great Void for the boon of deafness.

Libra. The Scales. Air. Cardinal. Under the wing of a less “corporeal. Venus than Taurus, with which it shares its love of beauty and harmony, Libra essentially is concerned with balance; both in its own right and as a road into harmony and beauty and, at the end of this path, fairness and justice. Librans are all for cooperation and cohesion. They hate confrontation, which sometimes will lead them to timidity or even spinelessness .“the old “anything for a quiet life. syndrome- and thus to let down their own integrity. Now and again they will dilly-dally, unable to decide whether to take this or that option: so many fish in the sea! Libra gone to the dogs can be extremely dogmatic and, occasionally endorse concepts that verge on cruelty, all in the name of a misbegotten sense of righteousness. But for the most Libra loves peace, if not too much quiet, for it’s a very sociable creature with a keen sense of fun. It loves art, love, parties, the good life, bringing people together and restoring order when things get too out of hand, in a sort of private little battle against Mother Entropy’s relentless, one-way grind.

Virgo. The Celestial Maiden. Sometimes known as The Cornmaiden. Earth. Mutable. In cahoots with the more sedate side of Mercury, she’s a more reticent communicator than the Heavenly Twins and she often keeps her thoughts to herself. Both intellectual and practical, highly discerning and very good at dismantling flimflam, she’s intensely analytical and will sometimes dissect concepts, theories and philosophies to mincemeat, especially under stress or if she’s in a wayward mood. Self-contained and complete, she belongs to no-one but herself and takes no shit from anyone. That’s the true meaning of her virginity. She could take a thousand lovers, or none, and she’d still remain her own girl. She only dances with her shadow. Ancient cultures saw her as a both an Earth Mother of sorts and the Queen of Heaven, hence the generic veggie on her left hand and the universe on her right. Our own Earth lies quiescent at her feet. Let’s hope she’ll nor decide to play football with it if we annoy her beyond endurance.

Leo. The Lion. Fire. Fixed. Embraced and ruled (and therefore sometimes obscured) by the Sun, giver (and taker) of life, pleasure and holidays in Benidorm. Naturally confident, dramatic and flamboyant, Leos can be warm-hearted and generous to a fault if in a good mood. Or mean to the point of pettiness if they think you’ve scratched their pride. Perhaps you have. Don’t. Leos roar and talk loud and sashay like it’s going out of fashion but they aren’t quite as tough as they act. By all means, tell them where to get off if they overdo the “I’m the King of the Jungle. bit. Do it with some wit and humour, though, and they’ll even love it; and use it to turn the tables on you by purring and batting their big bad eyelashes at you. They love to flirt, see. No harm meant. It’s just a game. See here, this one in the pic, flirting shamelessly with his presiding star. Tch … 🙂

Stay Curious. Here’s Rory (short for Rodrigo), the thorny moggy, with a little something to wish you all a happy Autumnal Equinox. Chances are it won’t be a very happy, nor even a cheerful one, what with the Tory monkeyshines still going strong (although, who knows!they might yet self-destruct), and the Persian Gulf heating up incrementally courtesy of the usual psychos, and all the rest. But whilst there’s breath there’s hope. Why, for all we know Netanyahu may be the next dead dodo in that ongoing Comedy of Horrors that Israel has become. As long as he doesn’t get replaced by Avigdor Lieberman… (Perish the thought!)
This is Rory’s third appearance in one of my doodles. It’s amazing the vast quantities of comfort the creature brings to my megrimed heart, for all his spikiness and stroppy epigrams.

Pissed Off Deep One. aka They Dynamited Y’ha-Nthlei, They Did, The Bastards! Nothing to add to his little harangue, really. I couldn’t have put it better myself. And thank Bumba for the comforting Sneak. Our savage breasts would all be lost without her soothing sympathy.
‘ere, ‘ave a little music to go with the pic. (Really, I’ve been waiting for ages  for an excuse to sneak in this link)

Cancer. The Crab. Water. Cardinal. Ruled by the Moon, patron saint of poets and lunatics. Moody. Droll and charming if and when they feel like it. Stroppy and obstreperous if the spirit takes them the wrong way. Also caring to the point of soppiness and capable of a persistence verging on perversity. Exceptionally sensitive and often insecure they need a teddy bear more than many other a sign in the celestial map. This one in the pic is deeply shocked at the chaotic state of this nation and intensely offended by the fact that it has become a bad joke. And a caricature of itself, as never tire of pointing out.

Gemini. The twins. Air. Mutable. Under the aegis of Hermes/Mercury, patron god of travel, communication, boundaries, commerce, luck, trickery and thieves. (And by extension, mediatic hermeticism and political flimflam.)
Here we can see them bearing news, both good and bad. Good: John Bolton’s toast. Bad: Boris is still in 10, Downing St. Well, there’s always the fragile hope that Bojo will rupture something in one of those hysterical paroxysms of self-importance of his and he’ll die of a punctured ego. Have a simply beautiful weekend.