Linda Goodman's Sun Signs

by Linda Goodman

  Typical eagles have no fear. In battle they’ll lead their men into the very face of death without a tremor. Even the average Pluto man or woman bravely faces anything from physical pain and poverty to ridicule and failure with a proud contempt and complete confidence in an inner ability to overcome any blow.

  Scorpio is intensely loyal to friends. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Some of them do this literally, for friends, relatives or loved ones—in battle or in a civilian crisis. The Scorpio soldier leaps instantly, instinctively, to brave the bullets and drag his buddy to safety. The Scorpio fireman gives his life to rescue the child in the burning building. Sometimes it seems Pluto people unconsciously seek violence deliberately, as a challenge to their strength.

  Scorpio never forgets a gift or a kindness, and it’s richly rewarded. Conversely, he also remembers an injury or an injustice, but there are different ways of reacting. The eagle will crush the enemy, so the enemy learns never to hurt him again, wins the fight, and leaves the defeated to go his own way. The deadly nocturnal scorpion will first sting, then plan destruction, then sting again. He’s not content with merely evening the score. He must totally destroy the enemy, or at least top him. The typical scorpion stinger will lie awake nights figuring how to get even. If a neighbor deliberately scrapes his fender, he’ll scrape two fenders on the neighbor’s car the next day, and maybe drive over his carefully pruned hedges for good measure. These scorpions are seldom content with forcing the shoe on the other foot to teach enemies how it feels. They glue the sandal on with cement. However, with the gray lizards, Pluto revenge takes the form of bitterness held inside for years, which inevitably causes deep melancholy or actual, lingering physical illness. Seething Scorpio resentment, turned inward and never expressed, poisons with deadly certainty. Turned outward, it can create guilt, because the stinger scorpion is ashamed to harm the defenseless, when all is said and done. Therefore, it should be turned neither way—inward nor outward. It should be conquered by looking up and forgetting, like the eagle—never by looking back in anger and retaliation.

  The Scorpio health picture is typical of his nature. He can destroy his body with excesses, melancholy or hard work. But he can also build it back at will from a critical illness. Pluto’s power is that strong. Scorpios are seldom sick, but when they are, it’s usually serious. A long rest and a change of attitude, with peaceful acceptance replacing burning resentment, are the best cures. They can’t let well enough alone, and of course they know more than the doctor and all the nurses. The chief areas of attack for germs and accidents are the reproductive organs, the nose, the throat, the heart, spine, back, circulatory system, legs and ankles. Varicose veins and accidents in sports are common. They should avoid fire, explosives, noxious fumes and radiation. Yet, you’ll find lots of them seek occupations that flirt with danger along these very lines. Sometimes they have chronic nose bleeds, or surgery is performed on the nose for some reason.

  Scorpio is deeply interested in religion, intensely curious about all phases of life and death, passionately concerned with sex and violently drawn by a desire to reform. Yet he’s also heroic, dedicated to ties of family and love, and gently protective of children and weaker souls. He can be a saint or a sinner. He can experiment with the darkest mysteries this side of Hades, or he can scathingly revile sin and decadence. Whether he emotes from a pulpit, at a business meeting, or from a stage, his hypnotic appeal pierces through his audience, literally transfixing or transfiguring them. It’s really rather frightening. Even if the Scorpio has temporarily allowed bitterness, drink or melancholy to drag him into the Bowery, you can bet your old copy of Dante’s Inferno that the other bums will clear a path when they see him coming.

  He’s fiercely possessive of what he believes to be his, including success, but his ambition is never obvious. He quietly waits for the chance to move ahead all the while he serves, knowing he is qualified for the position above him. He takes control slowly, but very surely. Scorpio can do just about anything he wants to do. If he really wants it, it’s most definitely no longer a dream. The dark, magical and mysterious power of Pluto turns desire into reality with cool, careful, fixed intent.

  Although a morbid desire to know the worst of sick and depraved humanity can create a gray lizard, who dabbles in drugs and cruelty, he can reverse the path to a life of medicine, where drastic treatments with the same symbols have a deep fascination for him. Although many of the rumored sadistic surgeons are Scorpios, it’s equally true that many of the finest medical men in the entire world are inspired by Pluto to heal both the mind and the body, diagnosing and treating with strange, inscrutable knowledge. Scorpio was born knowing the secrets of life and death, and with the ability to conquer both if he chooses. But astrology constantly advises him that “he must know that he knows.” The ancient mysteries fascinate his brilliant mind. Out of his powerful empathy with human nature grows the outstanding detective, the composer of great musical works, literature of depth and permanence, or the actor who projects with unusual dramatic intensity. Sometimes he lives alone, near the sea, as strong and as silent as the tides. Sometimes he faces the public, wearing a mask of calm reserve and control, to hide his intense desire to win. He can be a politician or a television star, an undertaker or a bartender, but he’ll manage to top all his competitors. And he’ll do it so effortlessly, it will seem like an act of fate rather than his own powerful will.

  One of the strangest patterns in astrology is the death of a relative in the family within either a year before or the year after the birth of a Scorpio. And when a Scorpio dies, there will be a birth in the family within the year before or the year after. It happens at least ninety-five percent of the time. Pluto’s symbol is the triumphant phoenix, rising from its own smoldering ashes, and Scorpio personifies the resurrection from the grave. Both the gray lizards and the stinging scorpions can become proud eagles, without ever revealing the secret of their sorcery. No use to ask—Scorpio will never tell. But he knows the eternal truth of the circle contained in the symbolic zero.

  November’s thistle is dangerous, yet it grows entwined with the heavy, languid beauty of the Scorpio honeysuckle. Have you ever inhaled that sweet, overwhelming fragrance on a still midsummer’s night? Then you will know why there are those who brave the thistles to seek the gentleness of Scorpio—exquisite gentleness. The explosive passion of Pluto has the rich, dark red wine color of the bloodstone. But Scorpio steel is tempered in a furnace of unbearable heat until it emerges cool, satiny smooth—and strong enough to control the nine spiritual fires of Scorpio’s wisdom.

  Famous Scorpio Personalities

  Marie Antoinette George Eliot Calvin Klein

  Pat Buchanan Sally Field Jawaharlal Hehru

  Richard Burton Jodie Foster Mike Nichols

  Albert Camus Indira Gandhi Pablo Picasso

  Hilary Clinton Bill Gates Julia Roberts

  Nadia Comaneci Nadine Gordimer Theodore Roosevelt

  Chiang Kai-shek Billy Graham Jonas Salk

  Prince Charles of Wales Grace Kelly Maria Shriver

  Madame Curie Robert Kennedy Condoleezza Rice

  Charles DeGaulle Larry King Ted Turner

  The SCORPIO Man

  And her eyes immediately met those

  of a large, blue caterpillar

  that was sitting on the top with its arms folded, quietly

  smoking a long hookah …

  The caterpillar and Alice

  looked at each other in silence.

  If you’re in love with a Scorpio male and the word passion frightens you, put on your track shoes and run as if King Kong were pursuing you. He is.

  I’m not speaking of romantic passion alone, though that may be at the head of the list. I also refer to passionate intensity about politics, work, friendship, religion, food, relatives, children, clothing, life, death and any other categories you can think up. A Scorpio man is not exactly what your psyche needs if you’re r
epelled by emotional excess. Don’t look back. Just run.

  You’ll think I’ve taken leave of my senses, if you’ve just met that particular Pluto person. He’s so calm and steady. How could anyone with such obvious self-control be passionate, let alone dangerously so? How indeed. Because he’s only bluffing with the surface cool. Inside, his passions are as red hot as that stove you burned your hand on when you were three or four years old and getting into things out of your reach. This man may also be out of reach. He’s sizzling underneath his deceptively controlled manner. Don’t touch. You know perfectly well how long it takes for burns to heal. Remember? Your hand was stinging for weeks after that episode with the stove when you were in your Buster Browns. After this experience, your heart will burn for months, maybe years, and first aid kits will do little good. Grandma’s favorite saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” applies to both stove burns and Scorpio singes, so play it safe. Make sure you know where you’re going and with whom.

  If your Sun sign gives you an asbestos, fireproof nature, go ahead and play with explosives. You may be able to keep the flames under control and have yourself a powerful fire to warm your heart for a lifetime. Perhaps you’re passionate about things yourself. Fine. Then it’s simply a matter of degree of heat. If your passion has an automatic thermostat, so it can be turned down to cool when his reads hot, you’re safe. Let’s pretend you are. The women who are in danger should be in the next state by now, if they ran fast enough. They’ll thank me someday after they’ve married a nice, safe Libran or Cancerian.

  As for you women who have analyzed yourselves as safe in a Pluto relationship, let’s see if we can find what’s hidden behind those hypnotic, piercing Scorpio eyes. It’s pretty certain he hasn’t made a neutral impression on you. He’s either got you thinking he’s boyish and sweet, or that he’s wicked and passionate. (There goes that word again.) The trouble is, he’s neither. Or maybe I should say he’s both. Well, this isn’t getting us anywhere. Let’s start all over again.

  In a word, this man is invincible. Just behind his frosty, reserve is a huge pot of boiling steam that bubbles and seethes continually. If you’re lucky, he’ll keep the lid on tight for a lifetime, but a deep injury can blow it right off with a brilliant explosion. It’s kind of fascinating to watch, if you’re not in its direct line of destruction. Step aside, if you feel it coming. And don’t do anything to cause it yourself.

  He’ll bewilder you with his twin Scorpio traits of passion and reason. He’s master of both: intellect and emotions rule him equally. Scorpio is more than intelligent. If he’s a highly evolved specimen, he’s also deeply philosophical, concerned with mysteries of existence, and he’ll come close to knowing the answers.

  There are Scorpios who can live a spartan existence in a bare room, denying themselves every comfort for some obscure, aesthetic reason, but the true nature of the sign is sensual. Normally, Scorpio will surround himself with luxury. He’ll lean toward excesses in food, drugs, drink, and yes—in love. Most assuredly in love. He’s geared for it, with confidence. Romance will never frighten him, puzzle him, or catch him unaware. It’s been on his mind ever since he rode his first bicycle. Maybe even his first tricycle. Of course, you could conceivably know a Scorpio who is so absolutely innocent-looking, with such disarming, youthful charm and lack of obvious seductive mannerisms, he’s convinced you that passion is overrated in Pluto males. He may even have freckles, and a whole drawer full of Boy Scout merit badges. But ask his wife. Try something like, “Say, Ava—or Elizabeth—or Sarah—or whatever—is your husband, well, is he passionate?” She might summon enough dignity to tell you it’s none of your business, but your answer will most likely be hysterical laughter. Between her peals of mirth, she’ll be remembering many days of his intense, passionate declarations about air pollution, housebreaking the dog, narcotics, long hair, birth control, and many nights of … well, and many nights. This will be true even if her husband looks like Huckleberry Finn, and doesn’t even remotely resemble King Kong.

  These men have an explosive temper that can strike a lifetime wound. When the Scorpio lashes his deadly tail, the sting bites hard. He not only enjoys winning, he has to win. Something inside him dies when he loses, even in small ways; yet oddly enough, a Pluto man normally practices good sportsmanship. Like all his other emotions, disappointment never shows on those set features, and his reactions are rigidly controlled, including his romantic intentions. If there’s a good reason to avoid the relationship, he’ll burn inside while he’s projecting a glacial calm outwardly. He’s also capable of torturing a woman cruelly before he finally decides to grab her by the hair and drag her off to his jungle of honeysuckle vines. Naturally, there are some November fellows who will gently propose on bended knee. They’ll behave very properly, with or without a chaperone, but don’t be deceived. It’s merely the Scorpio desire to keep dignity at all cost. Your reputation must be spotless. He won’t stand for ridicule or cheapness, for all his erotic nature.

  Pluto people can have either a Sunday School teacher horror of sin, an attitude which produces intensely dedicated evangelistic religious leaders, like Billy Graham, or they can be driven by curiosity to penetrate every dark corner of the human mystery. Sometimes, both attitudes are combined, resulting in the hypocrisy or self-delusion of an Elmer Gantry or a Reverend Davidson in Rain.

  Every Scorpio is a law unto himself, and completely unconcerned with what others think of him. He would like to be respected as a good, solid citizen, but if it interferes with any of his intense ideas or goals, then he couldn’t care less, and those who gossip can just go to the place Pluto rules. None of his important decisions are hampered by the opinions of his friends, relatives, neighbors or enemies. I’m sorry to say, not even by you. Don’t run away yet. Such beautiful self-containment and sureness of purpose can create a mighty attractive, free spirit, who’s not always fussing about what people think. Are honesty and courage and integrity such bad bargains? They may have lost a little of their sparkle in today’s marketplace, but rub off the dust they’ve collected, and you can still get them appraised as genuine.

  It’s quite an experience to see the Scorpio man operate under adversity’s black clouds. While others are mumbling and crumbling and grumbling, he is at his forceful, courageous best. He seldom wallows in envy or self-pity, and he doesn’t happen to think that life owes him a single farthing. You can just imagine how much time that saves. Instead of pouting in hurt anger when real troubles hit, he meets them head on. Conquer them? But of course. That’s what he was born to do.

  One thing is a little frightening, and may require courage on your part. Scorpio loves mystery and there’s not a single one that crosses his path he won’t solve in detail. Since the eternal feminine mystery is any woman’s most potent defense and offense, being stripped naked of your mystery can leave you feeling a little exposed. You’ll scarcely have a secret left when he starts probing with those burning eyes and piercing questions.

  He has high standards, and he won’t choose his friends loosely. They’ll have to measure up. This is a marvelous, rare kind of man who can share a jug of spirits and joke with rough humor among other men like a bawdy Elizabethan; then tap that deep, inscrutable nature and turn into as gentle and tender a lover as Robert Browning. If there’s anything more to ask for in a male animal, I don’t know what it might be. Submissiveness and forgiveness? Detachment and caution? That’s not fair. You knew he was short on those qualities back in the beginning.

  He can be cruel sometimes, for his own, unfathomable reasons, and he may even exhibit a sadistic sense of wit by describing you as fat, dumpy, shrewish and square in front of friends. It’s his private joke. Grin, if it kills you. You’ve been warned that Scorpio is compelled to conceal his motives, and this tendency isn’t watered down in love. It may even be intensified. He’s not about to display his true emotions in front of the world like a vulnerable, smitten schoolboy. Later, when you’re alone, he’ll tell
you what he really thinks.

  Marriage gives you a certain security, but if he pulls some of his Pluto tricks before the knot is tied, it may hurt, and you’ll fail to get the humor. Still, don’t even think about telling him that his harsh, self-sufficient who-needs-you? game makes you feel like jumping off a bridge. The Scorpio man will just tell you to go ahead and jump. It may take a while to adjust to his personality, but it will eventually toughen you up. If you’re too soft, you’ll bruise easily with a Scorpio. Never ask him what he thinks of a new dress or hairstyle, unless you’re prepared to be stung by the brutal truth. At least you’ll know his positive statements are honest, and not pasted together with the sticky glue of bored, insincere flattery. It’s better to brave a good, healthy “You look awful,” now and then, and be rewarded by an occasional “You’re really beautiful, you know,” than to swallow a constant diet of vague remarks like: ‘Yes, dear, it’s lovely, sugar. Mmmmm—just fine, pigeon,” from other men. Don’t you think so? I do. But then, you’re the one who has to live with it.

  When it comes to jealousy, you’d better tread very, very carefully. He could burn and erupt like Mount Vesuvius in its heyday if you should accidentally wink near a man when a cinder gets in your eye, and if you ever give him a real reason to be suspicious, you’re a very brave woman. But you’d better pack away your own jealous streak in the trunk, and then lock it. It will make no impression at all to drench him in angry tears or reproachful recriminations. No matter how he behaves, just say to yourself, “He loves me, and he will never discard real love for physical promiscuity. He’s loyal to his deep ties, and he’s only practicing his hypnotic art with those women.” Say it once before each meal, in the morning and at bedtime. Especially at bedtime. Women will find him irresistibly attractive, but keep remembering that if anyone is strong enough to resist such continual flattery and temptation, it’s a Scorpio. Doesn’t that make you feel better? It should. It’s true.