Blinded by the Sun: The Blind Spots of the Sun Signs

Consider this: No matter how many years you've been an Aries or a Virgo or a Scorpio, or whatever your Sun sign happens to be, you're still busy defining what that is. Each Sun sign is a particular signature for expressing all that it is to be human. With positive bits, challenging bits, silly bits, and quirky bits.

So, it makes sense that each would have its own particular blind spot. A part of their nature that isn't always obvious to them since they're totally engrossed in being, well, themselves. It’s not always easy to be objective while you are exploring all the nooks and crannies of your Sun sign. After all, you didn't come in aware of all the tools in your tool kit. You're just learning. And this is part of basic training. Call it Blind Spots 101. A little tongue-in-cheek, a little serious. Read on.

ARIES: Did you consider, as you were rushing headlong down the trail, that everything in life is not a battle? You can butt those horns as much as you want but not everyone is interested in being the target so you can prove how strong and courageous you are. Life needs more than just pure adrenaline. Sometimes it requires a more balanced response. Looking for obstacles to overcome or trying to prove yourself all of the time can get a bit tiring. It's just that you can' ever admit you've failed. You never want to see yourself as lacking, and yet you are always looking for something new. Your blind spot is to know that you are testing yourself, pushing yourself to new heights. And that sometimes you will fall down and go boom. Just don't forget: You have the greatest talent for picking yourself up. And stop worrying about being wrong. When you're an adventurer, life isn't about being right. It's about taking risks.

TAURUS: No matter how you decorate, a rut is still a rut. But, oh, how you love it. It's safe and secure and it keeps the boogeyman at bay. Or does it? The reality is that change is inevitable so you've got a choice: climb out of the rut, welcome uncertainty, knowing that you can trust your inner determination and your innate ability to get things accomplished to see you through whatever life has to dish up, or you can change the curtains in the rut because you're convinced that's all the change you need to make—at least until the next tornado hits your life. But, know this is about yourself. You can survive and you can create security out of nothing. You did it once or several times. You probably just lost count. Your blind spot is not realizing that you can do it again and again and again. So, stop nailing everything to the floor, get rid of the tunnel vision, and look around you. Life is full of opportunity, not disaster.

GEMINI: Let's face it. You like to gad about, but do you ever slow down long enough to actually appreciate the experience? Having the experience is one thing, knowing what it's about—appreciating it—is another. Information is not knowledge. Yes, you were meant to flit (you are the reporter of the zodiac), but your fear of boredom often means that you're so busy consuming facts and information that you really don't see that, all by themselves, those tidbits don't actually mean much; that knowing stuff doesn't substitute for doing something with what you've learned. You need to be mentally stimulated. Your blind spot is that you switch your thoughts around just to see what the other side of the coin looks like, not realizing you're confusing yourself and anyone else who knows you. You really don't mean to be inconsistent, but you can be, and it's partly because you believe anything is worth trying once. It's just that you fail to tell anyone what conclusions you've drawn because you've moved on to something else.

CANCER: It can get awfully crowded in the shell, even if you are there all by yourself. What you sometimes don't realize—your blind spot—is that when you retreat, you are also running away from yourself. You don't like the feelings that people trigger in you. You don't like their feelings, and you don't like your own, so you go searching for your comfort zone. It could be anything from food to the doily that Aunt Mary gave you forty years ago. You hold things close. You get teary-eyed. But sentimentality is never a substitute for real feelings. It's just a camouflage so that you don't have to express all those less comfortable emotions lurking in the depths. Wouldn't it just be easier to pretend everything is warm and fuzzy? Let go, already. Not because it's bad to hold on to things but because it gets in the way. Climbing over all that stuff you've accumulated can make getting on with life difficult.

LEO: It's hard to believe you have a blind spot. Yours may be that you'e so dazzled by your own brilliance that it doesn't occur to you that others may not be as enamored of you as you are of yourself. It's not that you mean to be overwhelming, but sometimes you can be too much of a good thing. All that nobility, all that charm, all that confidence can be a little unnerving for the mere mortals around you. They're always trying to figure out what your secret is. You, on the other hand, don't think it's a secret. What's the big deal with liking yourself? Doesn't everybody? Well, as a matter of fact, no, they don't. So, in asking for the Sun, the Moon, and the stars from others, you have to realize they don't always feel as capable as you do. Be generous and let them know you have a flaw, too. Sure you do. You can find it if you look hard enough.

VIRGO: Your motto? Be prepared, even if it kills you. You're always taking stock just in case. But your blind spot is your refusal to acknowledge that twenty-five meetings a month of the What If Club cannot, I repeat, cannot make life run smoothly. Life is messy. It has uneven edges, out-of-whack challenges. You name it. Life will throw it at you. And no matter how much you try, some of it will stick. Because everything has a purpose, even the icky stuff. Actually, you are talented at dealing with the icky. Isn't your middle name Adjustment? The most ironic thing is you're good at crisis. You don't like it but you are. The bigger question is: do you clean it up so it looks nice, or do you find a way to integrate it into your life so things just work better? It really is time to substitute effective for efficient.

LIBRA: While you were busy relating to the known world, did you notice you had a relationship with yourself? Yes, you are a person, too. One worthy of time and attention. Your blind spot is this: you assume that if you take care of everybody else, they will return the favor; it always comes as a shock when they don't. You think that you must have missed doing something important, so you redouble your efforts one more time and wait for appreciation. When it doesn't come, you get brittle and just a little, wee bit nasty. The solution is obvious. Pat yourself on the back. Do nice things for yourself. Realize that you are the most important person in your life, and once that happens, those others that you lavished time and attention on will suddenly come to their senses. If they don't, kick them to the curb.

SCORPIO: As long as you don't need anything or anyone, you think you're safe. But what you neglect to take into account is desire. It's what runs your nature. And, if you don't acknowledge that and use passion constructively it will run amok in your world and make you wonder why things aren't as black and white as you like. You certainly can see the complexity in other people's worlds; but when it comes to yours, it's a different story. Life is supposed to be simple, straightforward, no hidden agendas. You think you've got the bases covered because your insight and your acumen run deep. But, your blind spot is that you forget that you run on pure emotion and all anybody has to do is speak to the desire lurking just under the surface and you're a goner. You're hooked, no matter how you dress it up. So, stop dragging yourself through the eye of a needle, and try to control that volcano of passion. Let yourself embrace life.

SAGITTARIUS: Get ready for the shock of your life. There is no freedom without responsibility. Your fear of being boxed in can drive you to run from anything that ultimately might be meaningful and purposeful. But, say, isn't that what you're looking for? Leaves you in a bit of a conundrum, wouldn't you say? You have to stop thinking that everything in life was designed to tie you down and keep you from experiencing all that life has to offer. Your blind spot is not recognizing that your life does require a certain amount of structure, a certain amount of focus. Without structure, well, things can actually become meaningless because there's no context to put anything into. This leads to the ultimate question: what's life all about? Running away from things can be just as limiting as being hog-tied. Except, in this instance, you're doing it to yourself. The key is to redefine what it is to be grown-up instead of perpetually trying to escape.

CAPRICORN: The first thing you need to do is take a time-out. The world isn't going to pass you by in the time it takes to read this. Have you considered that everything in life isn't supposed to be a struggle? Sure, you thrive on challenge, on achieving things. Your blind spot is not seeing the value of sitting back and letting things take their course. You don't have to be managing everything, running everything, controlling everything. At the root of all this is a basic lack of trust. It's pretty hard to enjoy anything when fear is your mantra. All this leads to is that you end up carrying everything—being indispensable because somebody has to. Who said? The danger here is not realizing that life actually happens from the inside out and that all those external demands that you just have to take care of don't add depth and dimension to your life. They just take up space.

AQUARIUS: While you're busy rebelling, have you noticed how many times you've shot yourself in the foot? At some point the pain has to register. There's a difference between standing up for your ideals and willfully refusing to accept that anyone else has a brain capable of intelligent insight. You resist and resist and resist, until there's nothing left to resist. Then, maybe you'll capitulate—begrudgingly. What if, just what if, nobody really was telling you what to do? What if they just had a really, great observation that might help you make your life work better? Your blind spot is that sometimes you're so busy looking outside the box, because after all you know that what's inside the box is predictable, that you forget the tried-and-true can often be helpful. And, by the way, being rebellious is not an occupation, no matter what you think. It can actually keep you from doing anything with all those off-the-beaten-path ideas.

PISCES: Toss the rose-colored glasses. The pink shade of reality can be just as limiting as never having a dream. The challenge of living in the third dimension—yes, it really does exist—is grounding those dreams, not living in an alternate reality that is ultimately wispy and insubstantial. True, life can be painful for you because you are tuned in to a frequency no one else seems to be aware of, much less connected to. And you do need a special refuge where all that is possible is alive and vibrant and just a small step away from reality. But living there and not bringing your faith and optimism and creativity to light everyday in the physical here-and-now can leave you just as hopeless as abandoning those precious fantasies. Your blind spot is not seeing that you need to live your dreams, instead of just having dreams. Otherwise you are adrift with no particular direction and no particular destination.

Excerpted from Llewellyn's 2008 Sun Sign Book. For current-year calendars and almanacs click here.