In which I have a bone to pick with Aries men

I have blogged at length about my habit of using astrology as a writing tool. I have loads of books on the subject of relationship astrology, some of which get pretty detailed. Alright, VERY detailed and sometimes downright graphic. But what irks me is when they don't agree. For example, I was just flipping through a few books to refresh my memory about Aries men. (You'll remember that my male characters are pretty alpha, which generally means Aries, Scorpio, and the occasional Taurus.) I happened to notice that several books stress the Aries penchant for kissing. This makes sense as the Aries erogenous zone is the head. (Aries men are supposed to be particularly fond of having a pair of pretty hands run through their hair, but I digress.) One book even went so far as to quote various and sundry Aries men talking about kissing as the be-all and end-all of their amorous techniques. (Okay, maybe not quite the end-all, but this blog is PG-13 and I'd like to keep it that way.) What sent me into a severe snit was picking up the very next book which insisted that the hard-driving, domineering, macho Aries wouldn't be caught dead doing anything so feeble as enjoying a rollicking makeout session when he could be otherwise engaged. The next book I picked up said the same thing, and it is an interesting dichotomy that got me wondering WHY? Why this much of a disconnect between what Aries is supposed to adore and what he's supposed to brush right past on his way to the goods?

The explanation that came to mind is decanates. Each astrological sign is divided into three ten-day periods called decanates. While each sign is ruled by a planet, each decanate is ruled by that planet AND their subruling planet, which is supposed to account for the differences between folks born under the same sign. If you're born in the first ten days of your sign, you've got a sort of double-whammy since your subruler is the same as the ruling planet, and you may well be a classic textbook example of your sign. The further away from the sign's beginning, and the more blurred its impact might be. In fact, if you were born at the VERY end of the last decanate, you might, at first blush, exhibit more of the sign that follows than the sign you were actually born under. (Perhaps the cuddly, nuzzly Aries are the ones born under a heavy cusp of Taurus influence?) I don't know. It isn't exactly the sort of thing you can put to your friends on a questionnaire. But if any of you have testimonials you'd like to share...

Comments

[Elizabeth K]

I don't have any personal experiences with Aries men, but if they are anything like Aries women, look out...

And, astrologically speaking, I'd just like to add that I (a Pisces) have after much tribulation found a Scorpio man and it is pure HEAVEN.

[Cecelia]

One Taurus husband, one Taurus son-both are the "grab a hug as they walk by" kind of guys-so perhaps your theory of Aires into Taurus is a valid one.

[Ann D]

My 19-year old son is an Aries (April 4) and while I certainly can't comment on certain parts of your question - he is very affectionate and huggy with everyone (including his many female friends - not girlfriends necessarily).

And I know he loves having his hair washed and cut by his very pretty hairdresser - your comment on that made me laugh out loud.

[Katherine]

That's intereting. I've read in various places that if you're born on the cusp of a sign, the possibility is greater that you'll exhibit characteristics of the sign before. For example, I was born on the cusp of Libra, but I definitely have personality characteristics of Virgo. So I guess that there's a lot about astrology that's subjective and open to interpretation.

[Georgia]

If you are looking for zodiac signs that yield alpha males, don't forget Leos -- they really fit the profile.

[Melissa(The Artist)]

So, which zodiac sign is Brisbane modled after?
(eye brow raise)

I'm a Sagittarius, but I haven't quite grasped the whole sun & moon thing. And I have no idea what "on the cusp" means in regards to my sign, does that make me a Zodiac Retard? =)

Have a super day Deanna!

[sgerken]

well, I dated an Aries man off and on for 8 years ( I use the word dated loosely) and can perhaps shed my own light on the subject. They LOVE a good make-out session but because their sign is the first in the zodiac they are like little children. They have short attention spans. They might be doing something and if a woman passes by they might pursue her, but if she can't hold his attention off he goes. But if you can keep their attention then they really love kissing. My aries and I could have a goodbye kiss that lasted a half hour maybe more. But I agree it might have to do with the date and what their subsigns are he was April 16th.

[Roshni]

Well I am Scorpio and born on the 7th of November so I am at the beginning. As a girl I want to say I am passionate and fierce and an alpha female (if Scoripio girls are supposed to be those things).

I don't have much experience with Aries men since I usually don't ask but as a Scorpio I have to admit that kissing is lovely and that I am very flaky. I do have the attention span of a gnat.

Don't really think this helps since I am a girl but felt like sharing!!

[Journey]

My ex is an Aries, and fits the non-kissing description ... in fact, he was more the quick-draw-mcgraw type. Very business oriented, not at all affectionate. Born April 14th. Focused on "image" more than content. The end result was more important than the trip there ... in absolutely everything. Guess that's one reason he's my ex! ^_^

[Deanna]

Melissa, Brisbane is a Scorpio. A cusp is the period of time when one sign is moving out and the next sign is moving in. Lots of debate about actual cusp dates and whether they affect how a sign behaves. Most sources say the day or two before and the day or two after a sign change are the cusp, and there is usually a bit of overlapping influence there. Like all astrology, it's open to interpretation!

[Jim]

I think there's some truth in the idea that a person born early or later in their sign might not exhibit all the traditional traits of their sign.

I'm a Scorpio and have a birthday late in the sign, and I have a number of traits usually assigned to Sagittarius in addition to most of the Scorpio traits. I also don't identify myself as an 'alpha male', so I think there's definitely room for flexibility in the general assumptions about a person's sign.

[Tikismile]

Interesting. For the sake of comparison, my partner is an Aries of the first decanate (March 24)... and he fits under the "not into kissing" group. :)