Linda Goodman's Sun Signs (4 page)

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 Personalitie
s

That creature over there making a phone call—is it an electrically charged dynamo? Is it a flaming torch? is it 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 just 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.