Linda Goodman's Sun Signs

by Linda Goodman

  Despite his shocking forwardness, the ram can also be the epitome of social grace. He can converse for hours in an exciting, interesting manner on subjects he knows absolutely nothing about. There’s a lot of surface polish to cover that aggressive Mars drive. Patience with detail isn’t his strong point. He’d rather leave the minor, petty statistics to someone else. That’s sensible enough. Someone else would handle them far more efficiently. Time spent pinning down the facts is resented, because the ram cares nothing for yesterday’s lessons, and tomorrow is too far away to worry about. Today is his natural residence. This hour and this minute. He’s totally consumed in the action of the present.

  A realist, yet a decided idealist, Aries often defies emotional description. No one can show such tough, forceful behavior. Yet, few others are capable of such sentimentality, wistful innocence and belief in miracles. Mars people are literally incapable of accepting defeat. They won’t recognize it—even when it stares them in the face. They’re incurable optimists about the end result of anything from love to a baseball game. Being very clever in-fighters, the rams battle best with their heads, meaning their minds. They enjoy opposition because of the challenge it presents, and they’ll go out of their way to meet an obstacle and conquer it long before it comes to them—and often when it might have been headed in the opposite direction. They don’t wait around for success to drop in their laps, either. They’ll chase it at a furious pace, which is why you’ll find very few Ariens on welfare lists.

  Just thinking about the energy of the ram wears out most people. But Ariens are also capable of being calm, wise and serious when they choose. Unfortunately, they usually don’t choose until youth has passed and maturity has mellowed their rash idealism and sense of driving haste. They can arouse popular sympathy easily, yet they don’t necessarily make good politicians. Thomas Jefferson and Nancy Pelosi are rare exceptions to the rule. Of all the Ariens who have tossed their hats in the ring, most have had comparatively brief or troubled political careers. We haven’t had an Aries president in the United States since John Tyler in 1840. The field of politics is difficult for the average ram. For one thing, he’s not the very best economist in the world. For another, he’s impulsive in his speech and he hates to hedge, both deadly traits for a politician. Most politicians wait to see what people want before airing their positions. The average Aries has his own ideas of what the people need, never mind what they want, and he’ll see that they get it, sooner than might be politically expedient. Still, he’s so idealistic, that once the Arien has come before the public, he fires their imagination and makes them believe in themselves again. The freshness of Mars candor can blow through the smoke of political back rooms like a breeze.

  But most Aries people are usually happier in business or the creative arts, where they’re so desperately needed. Others may excel in planning strategy. Calmer heads and more practical minds may be better at efficient organization. But without the direct action, energy and originality of the rams, the most desirable projects would fall to the ground or make little headway.

  You may find an occasional Arien who is shy, but you’ll never find one who’s uncertain where he stands. It’s difficult to express your own individuality around these people. Aries is far happier when he’s talking about himself and his plans than about anybody or anything else (with the exception of the loved one, when he’s caught in the clutches of a romance). Once you get his interest—and lots of luck—he’ll be an attentive listener, especially if your ideas are exciting and progressive. He’ll promote you to the skies, and offer you his time, money, sympathy and loyalty. When you’re in the hospital, he may forget to send a card, but he may choose the hospital for you, drive you there himself and refer you to his own doctor. Once involved in helping you through a rough time, Aries will walk the extra mile without hesitation. But show your gratitude, please. He’ll be deeply hurt, if not downright angry, when you don’t appreciate his strenuous actions, which went far beyond the call of duty, and also probably far beyond what you needed or wanted. He enjoys doing favors; the larger the charitable gesture the better; but the ram wants his credit when it’s coming to him. If thanks are withheld, however, it probably won’t keep him from helping again. His amazing faith in himself is matched only by his naive trust in others, which is why he’s almost constantly disillusioned, and complaining that someone has let him down. Of course, he won’t stay down long. He’ll pick himself up, dust himself off, and soon be ready, willing and able to blast away again, after a typical binge of violent but brief depression.

  The ram gives such an impression of sincerity that it’s startling to face his sheer audacity when he claims for a fact something he knows—or should know—to be untrue. Accuse him of dishonesty, and he’ll look at you in amazement, with candid eyes open wide in utter horror that you could doubt him. He can wear blinders and ear plugs to shut out anything he doesn’t want to believe. Even when his position is completely untenable, he’ll bravely stick to his guns and work for the lost cause with earnest conviction. Still, he can change his mind about an opinion you thought he was born with in a moment of fast decision, and when he does, it’s impossible for him to regain his former point of view, let alone remember it. His urge to toss the past in the trash can and go forward at full speed (one of the chief reasons he adapts to new locations and people so painlessly), makes him think those who try to reason with him are interfering with his progress. Then he’s liable to throw what little tact he has to the four winds. The ultra conservative, who weighs every word and decision, is maddening to the Mars souls, who can communicate their annoyance and frustration with clear and abundant meaning. So it’s easy to see why they sometimes make such bitter enemies of older, wiser heads.

  Aries has an innocent wistful facet to his nature, and a kind of eternal, joyous, naive faith, blended with the blind zeal of the born crusader. Like the diamond, his Mars horns are hard, and tough to crack.

  He sees bright red frequently, but when the sparks have disappeared, he becomes as cheerful and openly friendly as the happy Arien daisy. His metal is iron, and its unbendable strength gives him nine times as many lives to live as others; nine times as many chances of winning the battle. The fire that consumes his spirit can be a flaming torch that lights the way to courage for anyone who recognizes his great idealism.

  He is the pioneer, always leading others onward to an impossible goal. His beautiful iron faith is pure—unmixed with the alloys of hypocrisy and greed. He seldom amasses a fortune, and if he did, he would be too busy to stop and count it. Help yourself to his money, clothes or time. He always has some to spare, however pressed or poor he may be temporarily. The ram knows that bread cast on the waters not only feeds his ego and returns again increased, but it makes people happy, one of the things he enjoys most in life. To Aries, miracles are a dime a dozen. If you run out, he’ll make you some more, wrapped in brave, scarlet dreams.

  Famous Aries Personalities

  Maya Angelou Al Gore Joseph Pulitzer

  Johann Sebastian Bach Hugh Hefner Harry Reasoner

  Otto von Bismarck Harry Houdini Maria Sharapova

  Marlon Brando Henry James Leopold Stokowski

  Charles Chaplin Thomas Jefferson Emma Thompson

  Francis Ford Coppola Nikita Krushchev Arturo Toscanini

  Russell Crowe David Letterman Peter Ustinov

  Bette Davis Sandra Day O’Connor Vincent Van Gogh

  Rene Descartes Andrew Mellon Booker T. Washington

  Betty Ford J. P. Morgan Tennessee Williams

  Aretha Franklin Colin Powell Reese Witherspoon

  The ARIES Man

  He said, “I go my ways

  And when I find a mountain-rill

  I set it in a blaze …”

  “So either way

  I’ll get into the garden,

  and I don’t care what happens.”

  That creature over there making a phone call—is it an electrically charged dynamo? Is it a flaming torch? is i
t a bird, an explosion—or is it Superman? Well, practically. It’s an Aries male, which is pretty close. Let’s hope you know what you’re looking for. Should it be excitement, an Aries man will provide it by the bushel, with seldom a dull moment to blur the sparkle. But if you’re looking for the security and contentment of a soothing love, you’re in the wrong telephone booth.

  Aries can overwhelm you with passionate ardor one minute, and be as icy as a polar bear the next. Insult him or lose his interest—either or both—and that warm, impulsive Mars nature will freeze instantly. To ignite it again may mean starting all over from Act One, Scene One.

  Aries men are fairly bursting with ideas and creative energy. Keeping up with him may be tiring, but keep up you’d better. At least mentally. Aries has a way of leaving the snails behind and not glancing back. He’ll probably look and act younger than springtime, which is all very delightful, but his youthful aura may carry over into his mental and emotional attitudes until he’s matured, which won’t be early in life. The Aries man is impatient with slow pokes, bold and confident, always ahead of others, and sometimes ahead of himself as well. He can be the soul of generosity, giving his time, money, sympathy and possessions by the carload cheerfully to strangers. But he can also be exasperatingly intolerant, thoughtless, selfish and demanding, when his desires are delayed, or he’s forced to be around negative people.

  When it comes to love, his heedless attitude is absolutely amazing. He’ll plunge into an affair, positive that this is the only true love ever known by any two people ever born, with the possible exception of Romeo and Juliet. When it breaks in half, he’ll pick up the pieces, and try every angle he can think of to salvage the dead romance. If it’s beyond repair, he’ll start all over again with a new Juliet, and it will be like the very first time. No matter how many romantic mistakes he makes, the ram is sure his true love or soul mate is just around the next dream. Unless you’re a Scorpio female, the Aries man is as passionate as any woman could ask. There’s little left to desire. He’s so idealistic and susceptible to sentiment, he’ll squeeze all the tingles, sighs, ecstasies and poetry it’s possible to squeeze out of a relationship. Aries isn’t capable of going halfway. He gives all of himself to the burning interest of the moment.

  You may be involved with one of the quieter sheep. Don’t let him fool you. He’s still ruled by Mars. He doesn’t talk much right away? He’s not openly exuberant and pushy? Yes, I know one, too. But take my word for it, if you could see inside that hard head, you would discover that his brain is spinning at approximately two hundred revolutions per second. Any time you meet this kind, one who doesn’t at first appear to have the typical Mars drive, check the present record of the business he’s conducting. You’ll soon be convinced you’re dealing with an Aries. Then ask his ex-girlfriends. They’ll probably answer with a giggle. “Him? Bashful? Timid? You must mean someone else.” After a while, you should begin to get the picture. That quiet demeanor is a mask for a fiery heart and a tough business drive. Naturally, it’s easier when you’re in love with a plain, simple ram, who makes it obvious just how enthusiastic he is about everything from potato chips to moonlight and motor trips.

  No other Sun sign can be so scrupulously faithful as Aries when he’s really in love for keeps. His honesty will usually keep him from fooling you, and his idealism will keep him from wanting to. Promiscuity or even light flirtations are not an Arien habit, no matter what the books tell you. Not when he’s deeply involved with all his heart. He’s looking for a storybook romance, and storybook romances never include a casual attitude toward love and sex. Those other girls were B.Y.C.A. (before you came along). In fact, I know one Aries who frequently precedes discussions of yesterday with his current flame with, “That was B.U.” (before us).

  Of course, you must keep alert to future possibilities, because as sincere as he is in his present devotion and promises of complete loyalty (which are undoubtedly absolutely true), his need for romance is so strong that he’s capable of looking elsewhere if you don’t keep his illusions alive constantly. The minute you let your mutual love lose its storybook flavor, he may wander off the steady path. In case you’re not sure, storybook love, to him, does not include going to dreamland at night with a female who has Vicks salve on her chest to clear up her cough. It also does not include watching your intimate personal toilette, such as polishing your nails, whitening your teeth, brightening your hair with “blondes have more fun” bleach, peeling your sunburn, filing your nails or fighting with your mother for hours on the phone. Somehow, in his mind, this is not the way storybook princesses behave. And goodness knows, Juliet would never have sat with her feet up, chewing taffy and watching TV. Wear your perfume when he’s around, and giggle with your girlfriends when he’s not. He finds it difficult to visualize himself as Prince Charming when he kisses you awake and you either snore, or shout unpleasantly, “For gosh sakes, let me sleep, will you?” Now, really, is that the way Sleeping Beauty would have acted when she woke up? Be prepared to greet him dewy-eyed and breathless each morning, fresh from your dreams, thrilled to find his handsome face so near. And let him know it.

  Aries males whose sweethearts neglect romance are heartbroken at first. Then they become angry. Then they go looking for a princess who doesn’t snore and things like that. This isn’t dishonest as far as he’s concerned. He didn’t break a promise. You did. You made him think you were a lovely nightingale, singing in the moonlight, like it says in his favorite song. Now he finds out you’re a chattering squirrel or a nagging blue jay and the jolt rouses him from his heavenly world of angelic choirs and bells ringing every time he touches your hand. How can bells ring when your hands are always full of dirty ashtrays, and how can he hear choirs when you’re screaming at him that he stayed out until after midnight for two nights in a row? (Which he did, of course, but who are you to think you can dictate his every move? Marriage is not a prison, and you are not his warden—that’s his attitude.)

  If you learn how to open your eyes and look at him mistily and all the rest of it, he’ll stay with you happily, and ignore every female on earth for you. The ram is highly unlikely to commit himself physically to more than one woman at a time (unless there’s a Gemini ascendant or some Venus affliction in his natal chart.) It just wouldn’t fit his image of one true and lasting love. The decision to break off the old will always be made before becoming too deeply involved with the new. You’ll have plenty of warning. An Aries man can rarely pretend a passion he doesn’t feel. This alone prevents any undue amount of deception. Besides, now you know how to keep him inside the pages of that storybook.

  Just don’t be dull, negative or overly timid. To hold him, you’ll have to be a combination of Grace Kelly, Pamela Anderson, Marie Dressler, Madame Curie and Queen Victoria, with a little bit of Clare Boothe Luce thrown in. No one princess will ever satisfy his image of the ideal. It’s quite a trick to convince him you’re superior to all other females, but it will keep him spotlessly faithful, if you can swing it. It’s really worth a try, because, if the Aries plunge into romance is headlong, his race out of it is equally reckless. He’s both an idealist and an egotist, which means he hates to admit he’s wrong, or that the love he chose could die. Still, always remember that he’s capable of finding situations unbearable that others would consider par for the course. After a separation, if you catch him in the right mood, you can fire his romance all over again, if you act as if there had never been any previous intimacy. You’ll have to play hard to get, because he loves a challenge. To make it easier to forgive him, if trouble ever arises, remember that any straying was due to a sudden impulse after his nightingale stopped singing in the moonlight, not to a deliberate seeking of casual variety. Adultery is actually distasteful to his honest nature. Don’t fret about the future. You have the magic key to his heart. Lock it.

  If you have any ideas about playing games with him by flirting—drop them. Your first indiscretion will probably be your last. You can lose him with jus
t a whisper or an intimate look at another man, let alone any actual infidelity. He insists on being first in everything, and you can bet your old pressed gardenia this includes being first in your heart. Aries is possessive and jealous in the extreme. Only a Leo male can get wilder at the thought of a transgression on the part of his beloved. To make it worse, the ram will never give you the blind faith he expects you to give him in such matters. You’ll simply have to understand that his animated conversations with other women are innocent, because he’ll demand all the freedom of social contact he denies to you, and then some. Your Mars lover will glue you to a pedestal, and expect you to stay there. Don’t move a single toe. Don’t even look as if you want to.

  The Aries male is a natural rebel. He loves to defy authority and he thinks he was born smarter than anyone else. Perhaps he was, but most people don’t relish being told so. Thanks to his rash way of pushing his superiority, he’s liable to fall flat on his face more than once. Because of his need to lead and refusal to follow, those in more powerful positions will teach him frequent lessons in humility. At these times, you’re way ahead, because he’ll run to you for comfort and assurance when his ego is bruised. Then you’ll learn that, beneath his self-confident, aggressive front, lies an inferiority complex he’d rather die than admit having. The woman who handles his shattered confidence with gentle and total devotion has the best chance of keeping his heart permanently. Never make the mistake of agreeing with his momentary enemy, or trying to be fair and seeing the other side of the controversy. You must love what he loves and hate what he hates. He demands the same fierce and unquestioning loyalty that he gives, in both love and friendship. It’s his code. Unless you honor it, find another man.