“PHIL,” VICKY said to Philippa, “I’ve actually picked up a book on the sun signs.”
“Ha … A conversion.”
“Yes. But I must be getting old.”
“You are, dearie … at the same rate as a newborn baby.”
“I mean I can’t remember all the dates of the different signs. And I get so mixed up with their character types.”
Philippa smiled and looked at Vicky for a second before commenting.
“There are some tricks. Old tricks that palmist beginners and others use. Think of someone you know well who is, say, a Scorpio, as you read about the Scorpios. You will agree or disagree on the book’s description of her. Or him. But it will help to fix things in your memory.”
“Like who? Dr Ramalho?”
“Yah. Or the late Mrs Ramalho Rosario …”
“Didn’t know her …”
“Never mind. Though she’s more interesting than Ramalho.”
“What’s she?”
“A Gemini.”
“Ah. I know that now. The twins.”
“The funny thing is that her mother was born under the same sign. And from all I’ve heard she was a real Gemini.”
“Meaning?”
“Two rolled into one.”
“How come you …”
“From what I’ve heard, Vicky. The old folks talk. They say she had two personalities. She never could decide which one she was.”
“That was Dr Ramalho’s wife’s mother.”
“Yah. She had a most beautiful and regal name.”
“Huh?”
“Philippa de Brito.”
“Don’t look now but your fly’s down and your enormous ego is …”
Philippa sniggered a little and continued, “She married de Mornay. The church warden.”
“Spare me the details, Phil,” Vicky stopped her.
But Philippa was onto her astrology track and picked up another thread.
“You know Ramalho, though. Ramalho is a Sagittarius. A thinker. Open minded. Independent. Gifted in languages. An optimist. Blunt. Restless. Sexy.”
“Yah. Even at his age, eh?”
“Honest. Outgoing. Versatile. Astrologers describe the Sagittarius as an ‘I see’ person. But he’s also a rooster. Flamboyant. Energetic. Meticulous. A planner. Intelligent and good with money.”
Vicky put up her hands, palms facing Philippa, “Don’t confuse me with the Chinese animals. I’m trying to sort out the sun signs. And worst of all the dates when the signs change.”
“I’ve got the answer for you. I’ve written two mnemonics.”
“What?”
“Poems or catchy phrases that help one to remember things. I’ll show you.”
Philippa got up to go to her desk.
“While you’re up, can’t you get more life out of the aircon?”
Philippa returned with two sheets of typewritten paper.
“Here. Read this.”
Come listen to lines of mnemonics I’ve spun,
On the cyclic sequence of signs of the sun.
Soon after the year’s begun,
Aquarius, cool, the water carrier,
Appears on January twenty-one.
In the sea there’s fish aplenty,
With Pisces pairs from February twenty.
Aries, the ram, first sign of the sun,
Rushes in on March twenty-one.
Then Taurus, stolid, bull on the run,
Comes charging madly on April twenty-one.
Gemini, the twins, step merrily through,
Arm in arm on May twenty-two.
Cancer with its claws of blue,
Crab-walks in on June twenty-two.
Leo, proud, with its lion’s roar,
Majestically marches from July twenty-four.
Virgo, meticulous, pristine-pure,
Slips in softly on August twenty-four.
Libra, fair and square as the law,
Analyses all from September twenty-four.
Scorpio, raging with passion, raw,
Overwhelms the earth from October twenty-four.
Sagittarius, like an arrow flying free,
Streaks in swiftly on November twenty-three.
Tripping with caprice, surprising you,
Capricorn arrives on December twenty-two.”
“That’s quite clever,” Vicky said, but thought to herself that learning the poem was just as bad as trying to remember the dates.
“Of course the Chinese animal signs sequence is another …” Philippa grinned from ear to ear. It was one of her smug ‘I told you’ looks. Here! The Chinese signs.”
If Noah were a Chinese he’d have got the sequence pat,
And started the procession with the clever, thrifty rat.
Then checked his fodder stocks and signalled in the ox.
And stepped aside smartly as the tigers padded through.
Told the rabbits as they passed to stop at litters two.
With gongs and crashing cymbals and the thumping of a drum,
Snorting smoke and fire, the dragon pair would come.
And silently in contrast the snakes would slither in.
Then the purebred Arab with his friendly, horsey grin
Would gallop up the gangplank, rocking Noah’s boat,
Which would not perturb at all the next one coming in,
The shaggy mountain climber, the sure-footed goat.
With squawks and screams and laughter, a flurry and a lark,
The monkey-rooster foursome would noisily board the ark.
Next, nuzzling up to Noah, the dog, pleading for a pat.
Then the pigs, all smiling, round and plump and fat.
A wholesome sight to Noah if he were a Chinaman.
But he’d have to close the ark-door as quickly as he can,
Because by the Chinese cycle it is certain that,
Running up the gangplank would be another rat.
“And what’s this?” Vicky asked, looking at a third sheet.
“Oh, that’s my method of summing up personalities. Read it.”
THE PERSONA CHARACTERISTICS
Perceptive, brainy, clever
Emotional, passionate, warm
Relates to people, extrovert
Starter, has initiative, stimulates
Organised, plans, disciplined, ordered
Narcissistic, egoistic, proud, flamboyant, natty
Artistic, visual arts, music, literary
“What does it all mean?” Vicky asked.
“It’s my seven factors for summing up a person. Note that the initials read Persona downwards. These traits describe a person. I’ve used them to classify my pupils.”
“Too many traits for me,” Vicky interrupted.
“They are also listed in order of importance,” Philippa continued. “Brains first then emotions …”
“No lah! Emotions must come first.”
“As I was saying, these traits …”