Linda Goodman's Sun Signs (46 page)

The usual reaction of proud parents at the first glimpse of their newborn Scorpio infant is pleased surprise. “He looks so much more ‘finished' than the other babies in the nursery,” they murmur. “He's calmer too—and just look at what a strong body he has.” That's right, even the tiniest Scorpios normally have extraordinarily strong bodies. They were designed to match their extraordinarily strong wills.

Scorpio children enjoy a good fight, and they intend to win it. Compromise is not one of their virtues. Even if they pretend to give in, they're just biding their time until the contest can be resumed on another front, where they have the advantage.

As soon as you know the stork is due in November or thereabouts, go right out and buy a large, sturdy playpen. You'll need one. After baby arrives, you can climb inside it and read a book or eat your lunch, safe and secure behind the bars. The saleswoman may look at you oddly when you lie down on the blue plastic bunny pad to measure its fit, but ignore her. If you can't take the stare of a stranger, how are you going to face the burning gaze of your own child without flinching? The Scorpio infant will fix you with his intense eyes as soon as he can see people without the fuzzy haze, and you'll be hypnotized into obeying his every whim. Picture him sitting cross-legged on the floor in his diaper and turban, playing his flute, while you sway back and forth helplessly, like a snake in a basket. Good grief! So better start steeling yourself against his black magic right now. Give that saleswoman a frosty stare right back. It's your money you're spending. If your actions seem a little peculiar, it's not her business to dictate to you. You are the customer. Therefore, you are the boss. With minor changes, this is the exact attitude you'll need to cope with your young Scorpio. It's your house. If your rules seem a little peculiar, it's not baby's business to dictate to you. You are the mother. Therefore, you are the boss. As you say it, stare him down.

You'll have your work cut out for you, but it's an interesting challenge. The Scorpio child will need constant and firm discipline. You'll have to impress the qualities of consideration for weaker people, being a good sport when he loses, respect for authority and forgiveness when others hurt him. As you train his fine character, you'll be impressed yourself with his brilliant mind and magnetic personality. His rare courage and honesty are well worth nourishing and protecting from the infection of a super ego that can pervert or destroy them.

There are two roads for the Scorpio to choose—the high and the low. For a while, you may be convinced that he's chosen the back alley before he's even learned to walk. Fluttery, nervous or soft mothers are beaten before they start. Your little Scorpio toddler will glare at you fiercely when you forbid him to touch something. Glare back at him, kindly but firmly. It may be difficult to accomplish a kindly glare, but keep practicing. Smile through your clenched teeth and say no loudly, with emphatic conviction. You'll only win a temporary struggle; it will be resumed again an hour later, but it's a step up that high road. Eventually, the Scorpio youngster will begin to admire you for your strength in resisting him. He'll learn only from someone he thinks is stronger than himself. Of course, he knows the victory is only due to his present size, and he'll top you someday, but meanwhile, he'll give you his grudging respect, as long as you're bigger. By the time he's tall enough to wrestle his older brother to the floor or win a game of Indian deadlock with his father your job will be done. You'll be a little exhausted, but proud, and he'll be well on the way to becoming a splendid eagle, instead of a stinging, revengeful scorpion. Warning: Be sure there's a generous spreading of love and affection on top of your firm discipline, or he could become a miserable gray lizard, tortured by fears and phobias, bitter and withdrawn.

Because of his blunt, often sarcastic speech, and plain-spoken manner, he'll seem to be forthright and direct, but there will still be a great need for privacy. He has his little secrets and you are not to pry. Give him a large, metal box with a key, where he can keep his personal possessions, or a special drawer of his own that no one else in the family can open by strict agreement. As female Scorpios grow older, they'll want a diary with a foolproof lock.

These youngsters will conceal their own thoughts, but trying to hide things from them is impossible. They'll ferret out every embarrassing family secret, from Aunt Bertha's false teeth and Uncle Percy's drinking sprees to Dad's “rug” that hides his bald spot. They're also whizzes at finding lost socks, keys, billfolds and lipsticks—regular miniature sleuths, who use both witchcraft and cold logic to solve any mystery.

There's a miraculous ability to withstand pain. Even the stitches required to sew up an accidental cut will usually be borne without either tears or anesthetic. Your Scorpio youngster is wise beyond his years. There will be times when his instinctive understanding is a blessing. Daddies who are discouraged by financial problems often feel the surprising pressure of a bear hug from a little tot far too young to understand economics. He only knows his father is unhappy, and he'll want to express his desire to destroy whatever is causing it. When she's ill or depressed, a mother may get an unexpected, silent and tender touch from a tiny Scorpio who has somehow sensed her sadness.

Scorpio children are filled with boundless loyalty to friends and loved ones. They can be pretty hard on anyone else. If a bad-tempered playmate deliberately breaks his rocking horse, the Scorpio youngster may break the offending child's scooter, fire truck and blackboard—and punch him in the nose besides, just to make sure he knows he's stepped on a Scorpio's tail. Naturally, this must be discouraged, and I wish you luck. You can tell your November child that revengeful anger will come home to roost, that he's only hurting himself by getting even, but it won't be easy for him to see the logic. Get him one of those boomerangs they sell in toy stores, and let him throw it with all his force. When it's shocked him by magically returning to clip him on the ear a few times, he may get the message. It won't be as popular with him, of course, as a microscope, a book of magic games or a chemistry set. These are sure-fire hits.

His teachers won't know whether to send him to the head of the class or get out the old birch switch. They'll probably end up doing both. Scorpio boys and girls have sharp, penetrating minds and an uncanny perception of theories. They can be steadies on the honor roll or the biggest hockey players in the neighborhood. Given the good fortune of wise instructors, they'll learn to read quickly and be leaders of school activities.

The Scorpio child has a good chance of being class valedictorian, if he's guided away from his fascination for the forbidden. Keep him active physically and interested mentally, and channel his passionate curiosity into science, literature, medicine or sports. Encourage his childish dreams of being a space engineer, sailor, fireman, minister, entertainer or even president. Never try to force him into your favorite idea of the proper career. That's a perfect way to send him down that low road to dangerous experimentation in the dark alleys of life. He knows exactly what he wants, and it's a serious mistake to impose your will. Be loyal to him, and never break your word or a promise.

He needs opportunities to work off his gigantic supply of bottled-up energy because he'll seem to be more calm and relaxed than he really is inside. Displays of nerves, arguments at mealtime and family squabbles at bedtime will bring nightmares, and are extremely detrimental to both his mental and physical health. He has many intense passions and boiling emotions to manage, and subduing his volatile nature is a tough task for him, but he'll control it beautifully with careful guidance. Rough, thoughtless scoldings that lack a logical explanation, and permissive humoring are equally disastrous. Scorpios are fascinated by drugs, so keep them out of reach. He'll be drawn to fire, too, so don't leave matches around.

He'll love Halloween, monster shows on TV, science-fiction and ghost stories. He'll also be fond of the opposite sex. Don't be shocked if you catch your five-year-old Scorpio son making “mysterious eyes” at the curly-headed first-grader next door. He's going to be a Lover someday. You'll never prevent that. But you can prevent some future romantic tragedies by teaching both sexes in adolescence the importance of responsibility in affairs of the heart. Scorpio deeply respects the family circle. Explain that careless romantic behavior destroys it, and he'll listen.

Whatever he becomes, he'll be the best in his chosen field. The Scorpio youngster is determined enough to get what he wants, and strong enough to hang on to it. But don't let his self-sufficiency keep you from giving him your support. He needs it, even though he appears to scorn approval. You'll have to help him find a worthy goal toward which he can direct the inner passions that threaten to consume him. This is a strange, enchanted child, with possibly an important destiny, and he has miles to go before he reaches it. Walk with him as long as he needs you, then let him walk alone. He'll return safely with whatever prize he seeks. Pluto gives him great courage, strength and intelligence, but it's up to you to give him what he needs most: a daily example of how to love—and be loved in return.

President Theodore Roosevelt's advice, “Speak softly—but carry a big stick,” is a perfect example of Scorpio philosophy, spoken by a Scorpio. Although “Teddy” Roosevelt was the first one to say it, every Pluto person is born with the phrase carved into his nature. It's the invisible motto hanging on the wall behind the desk of your Scorpio boss. Memorize it. She has. I wouldn't make a big issue out of discussing it with her. Just watch her practice it. Scorpios have a way of discouraging certain personal questions about their own techniques.

Life is a search for wisdom and power to your soft-spoken Scorpio boss with the big stick. She wants to know all the secrets of heaven and hell—and whatever lies between. Assumedly, you lie between. Therefore, she's equally intent on learning your secrets, and in seeking knowledge of what's going on in your busy little brain, or your busy big brain, as the case may be. She'll never press you openly or actively to bear your soul, but you'll probably do it, anyway. It's inevitable. One good, long, steady gaze from this hypnotic Pluto is enough to pull out the deepest confessions. If you have anything on your mind you'd rather keep strictly private, avoid looking into those eyes or avoid working for her.

I once knew a woman who was a singer. She ran into her Scorpio boss at the airport one summer afternoon, on his return from a trip to California, and they stopped to have coffee. (Pluto power is often at its height in the summer, for some inconsistent reason that has nothing to do with November.) She and a songwriter, who was a good friend of the Scorpio, had just that morning confessed to each other that they were deeply in love. Due to circumstances, the discovery had to be kept secret.

As they chatted over coffee, the singer was completely absorbed by the Scorpio's anecdotes about his trip. His conversation was so fascinating that she forgot all about the fateful meeting hours earlier. Finally, the Scorpio glanced at his watch; he was late for an appointment with a producer about a film he hoped to direct.

They clasped hands and she said goodbye, adding, “I wish you luck.” The Scorpio continued to grip her hand, looked deep into her eyes with burning intensity, and answered slowly, “And I wish you love. But I see you have already found it. That's good. You two are right together.” Breaking the gaze first (as Scorpios always do—they never permit you to do it), he released her hand, smiled his cool, mysterious, controlled smile and walked away. To this day, the woman can't understand how he knew.

Let her experience be a lesson to you. Your Scorpio boss will discover your secret, too. It doesn't have to be love. It can simply be that your father dropped out of school in the eighth grade, or your sister is dating a married man, or you haven't made a payment in six months on your bank loan, or your Persian cat is expecting again. Maybe you used a safety pin instead of sewing the button on your coat, or your brother hit your sister-in-law on the head with a skillet this morning. Little things like that you'd just as soon keep to yourself, but she'll know. And somehow, you'll know that she knows. It's different from the Pisces penetration. The fish gets psychic flashes. The Scorpio simply
knows.
Psychic flashes have nothing to do with it. Neither does Aquarian intuition. It goes much deeper.

This Pluto power also allows the Scorpio boss to sense your moods, and she's the kind of woman who will sympathetically behave according to those moods, which can be an indescribably soothing experience. Especially after constant exposure to swift, thoughtless, shallow people who not only don't know what's deep inside you, but don't care enough one way or the other to find out. Exposure to various forms of such brittle indifference can make the Scorpio empathy seem pretty wonderful by comparison, which it is.

Contrary to what you might understandably think, the office of a November boss isn't always explosive or even necessarily impressive. It may be the quietest, coolest, calmest spot in the entire building. The Pluto self-control reaches out to touch everything around it. (Unless there's a heavy Gemini, Aquarius or Leo influence in her chart. Even so, things will seldom get raucous or out of hand. The pace will be a little quicker, that's all.) Scorpio's control over her own nature is awesome. She's indefatigable in whatever she sets out to do, and she prides herself on not letting people know how deeply she wants or needs what she seeks. Her competitor will never suspect how intensely your Scorpio boss desires to conquer him, until after it's a
fait accompli
and Scorpio has won. She can see into you, but no man can penetrate her deepest feelings. One of your Pluto boss's most powerful weapons is secrecy of purpose and intent. The Scorpio hides her emotions and disguises her motives so totally, that the enemy is forever expecting an attack from the rear—or no attack at all—and then is surprised by a sudden movement from the right flank, where it's least expected and least anticipated. That's what wins ball games.