I admit it: I was a fat kid. Like, really fat. Anyone who’s been in that position themselves can tell you that childhood obesity is a lot more complex than most people realize. It’s usually far more than just “too much of the wrong food” or “not enough exercise” or something. Obesity is a complex issue, and if you’re lucky and get wiser you get older you realize that simple solutions to complex problems are usually wrong. But one thing I do know about my experience s a fat kid? There was always plenty of food around my house, often of dubious nutritional content, and I spent a lot of time unsupervised in the kitchen.
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The sextile is an aspect between two or more planets separated by approximately 60 degrees. It indicates that the energies of the planets involved will be able to work together in a fairly smooth and harmonious manner: never rushed or impulsive or demanding. It’s almost as if the planets involved in the aspect never really disagree and seem to have all of the same hobbies, but aren’t necessarily compelled to spend every waking minute talking to each other. It’s like they’re two old friends and think the same way and hope for the same things and vote the same way, but often drift out of touch with each other. But when they get back in contact a good time is had by all.
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The thing that fascinated me most about the kitchen when I was a kid was the Lazy Susan. For those of you and me with the concept, a Lazy Susan is a round shelves that turns on an axis on a tabletop, or a series of round shelves turning on an axis in a cupboard. That way, you can put a lot of goods into the pantry without having to spend a lot of time digging around in the back for something you’re looking for. It’s like a merry-go-round for food, and if you are an unsupervised fat kid who is bored, you can spend a lot of time standing there and turning it and watching the food go around and around and trying to see if there is something tasty there.
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Sextiles are a great thing to have in your birth chart. They aren’t as demanding and difficult to deal with as the squares can be, and they’re not as brash as a conjunction or as vexing as an opposition. People with Venus sextile Ascendant, for example, come across as naturally charming without putting much work into it. People with Moon sextile Mercury generally come across as effortlessly bright, and people with Mars sextile Neptune are usually pretty charismatic even when they aren’t trying to be. If you have a birth chart that somehow consisted entirely of sextiles, your biggest problem in life would probably be a lack of excitement or sense of adventure. More than anything else, the sextile provides opportunities. They give you a natural talent or ability or gift that is there for you to take advantage of, but only if you make the effort. They’re worth your attention, but they don’t demand it.
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Because I was such a fat kid, my parents didn’t usually do things like leave big bags of cookies lying around. Of course sometimes they did, and they hid them, and I (being a motivated fat kid who loved a challenge) develop a fair talent for finding them. But the place wasn’t exactly overflowing with food that said “a fat kid lives here.” But on those long and boring Saturday afternoons, after the cartoons were done and Mom was off doing her thing somewhere and Dad was out drinking with his buddies, I would often rummage around the kitchen looking for this week’s stash of cookies. And if I didn’t find them (or if there wasn’t one) I would turn to the Lazy Susan and meditate upon its contents as I turned it slowly around over and over again. And sure enough, I would often find things like brown sugar and baking chocolate and vanilla. Neither one of those were particularly tempting food in and of themselves, but at an early age I had learned that most of life’s best foods were made from combining ingredients and applying heat. So sure enough, I would attempt to make some fudge. It didn’t usually turn out right, but I’d eat it anyway and get my mess cleaned up before Mom and Dad came home. These secret food sessions always came as a great relief to me — because after all I was sick and tired of the rice cakes and diet food and such they were always trying to feed me at dinner.
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So yes: the sextile is a good and useful and welcome aspect to have. It can be a real strength. But if you don’t do anything with it, it won’t end up doing a whole lot for you. And if left entirely to its own devices, a sextile or two can actually lead you down the sweet and pleasant path to self ruin.
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