Entering Aries, the Sign of the Red Race Car

Celestial map of the constellation Aries, © 2003 Torsten Bronger.
(There are no Messier Objects and few Deep Sky Objects in Aries, of the sort I published for Aquarius and Pisces.)

Here's everything you need to know about Aries, the ram:
Captain Kirk is one.

Yes, coincidentally our rammy friend will be born on the same day as William Shatner, March 22. (BTW, it's not too late to sign the collective card for Mr. Shatner: Happy Birthday, Bill!). Of course you can't send Kirk a card because he won't be born for a couple hundred years yet.

Aries starts on spring equinox. As the first sign of the zodiac, it kicks off the the whole shebang. Its sign is a ram; and its ruler is Mars, the god of war, the lover of Venus--and a zippy hot red race-car of a planet.

Aries' energy is young, brash, quick, and passionate. Arians boldy go where no man has gone before; or, some might say, they foolishly rush in where angels fear to tread. They make great leaders (if they can control their temper) and lovers but maybe not such great followers or spouses. They like things that blow up with lots of sparks. *
You might guess Aries is a fire sign, and you'd be right.

And Aries is a "cardinal" sign. Boy is it ever.
The cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn), like fire, are all about taking action and taking charge. (George W. is a Cancer.)

Like every sign, Aries has its yin/yang, and Arians come in every intensity from a kitchen match to a forest fire, from newborn lambs to battering rams.

My favorite illustration of a rammy Aries is from an old friend whose sister was one. When they were little, this sister used to pound on my friend's bedroom door in a rage when my friend didn't want to play, hollering, "Come out and play with me or I'll beat you up!!!" My friend, a peace-seeking Libra, would usually give in. The sister then immediately forgave all.

Every sign, even the most fixed (Taurus), is changeable. Even battering ram Aries may channel their impetuousness and adventurous spirits in directions that don't injure anyone. Such as commanding a starship.

P.S. Leonard Nimoy is also an Aries, but Mr. Spock most definitely is not. I would guess that if Spock was born on Earth, he'd be a Gemini.

P.P.S. I don't have a single Aries birthday noted on my calendar, so I asked Heidi, the barista here at Bob's Java Hut, who I happen to know is an Aries, to read this post and comment. She said it felt right to her and, further, was one of the nicest things she's ever read about her sign.

See, there are certain signs that people tend to view negatively, and Aries is one of them. Maybe some Arians are overly aggressive, and as I said, I don't have any close friends born under the sign, but I wouldn't want to live without them. What would life be without Capt. Kirk?

* ["Ingenuity" poster above from a range of funny Star Trek Inspirational Posters]