The Sentimental Magic of Tim Walz

Like Governor Tim Walz, my dad was an Aries. In this post, I’ll share insights about the sign that differ from the cliches you usually encounter with the impulsive ram.

Aug 22, 2024

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OF COURSE, AS MOST OF US DID, there is nothing like living with your parents to understand the intricacies of a particular Zodiac sign. We each are afforded deep insight into two key signs in life (plus one’s own, which, to be honest, is not always easy to be objective about.)

Your parents’ signs give you an astrological familiarity that gets into your bones. I have a theory that once you comprehend your dad’s and your mom’s Sun signs, you begin to osmotically— through a solar trinity version of the person you call you—come to understand your own. But that’s a post for another time.

Watching Tim Walz publicly during the past month, especially last night at the DNC convention, reminded me of the qualities of my dad that I have always loved but held in secret because my dad would never have wanted to be considered feminine. In other words, his inner-feminine was super active despite his best efforts—as guys from his generation did—to appear tough and macho.

The thing about Aries men that you don’t get right away is that they have mythic imaginations. Like Aquarians, their brain is tuned into frequencies broadcasting from the future. With Aquarius, it’s prescience that can be put to work to improve the society and culture they operate within. With Aries, it’s an originality that fuels their conviction that they are here on Earth to fight for underdogs. Aquarians operate from ideologies, whereas Aries operate directly from their gut. They move fast and then think about it later. That’s the difference.

If they can’t find underdogs or critical causes, they will attract a nemesis and engage in battle that way. But what sustains them most is defending the defenseless or fighting with people they consider backward or oppositional towards their dreams and visions.

There is also a sort of ‘caveman’ mentality to the male Aries, especially regarding their mates. One summer evening, when I was still in junior high, my dad became infuriated that my stepmom had been hanging out too long with the neighbors—drinking highballs and relaxing. Enraged, he stormed across the street, wearing only his boxers (the ‘think about it later’ operating at high frequency) to round up his wife. Spotting her on their patio, he crashed through a sliding glass window he assumed was ‘open.’ He was rounded up and taken to the hospital. I think they gave him over 300 stitches.

When I read the details about Walz’s career path to date, I believed all of it and recognized it. Well, the energy behind it. His service in the National Guard, his many years as a teacher and coach, his advocacy for his LGBTQ students, and his public service as a politician. All of that rings true in that ‘in the bones’ way I mentioned above. What also rings true is Walz’s ability to get misty-eyed and be on the verge of tears. I recognize that part of Aries, too.

One rainy day in October, I came home from school and discovered that my dad was home early from his office at the Edison (another Aries) company. When I entered the living room, I found my dad sitting wet-faced, next to the record player, listening to (and then replaying) the song Feelings by Morris Albert. He purchased the 45rmp record early in the day, and something about the song's sentiment got under his skin. It’s a memory of my dad forever tattooed on my imagination. And I conjure it whenever I start to recall the tyrannical part of my dad’s nature.

I bring this up because I recognize this as the soft underbelly of the sign. That heroic part of their self-image can flip into a wellspring of sentimentality. As the writer

Mary Greer

noted once, the word sentimental is based on the word sentiment, which, in essence, is about feeling. Our culture tends to mock the sentimental, especially in a man, because, well, that’s more of a woman thing.

On this theme of prescience, it’s interesting that Walz has a Moon in Aquarius. But it’s his Sun, Mars, and Jupiter in Aries that impart an easygoing assuredness about his masculinity. He’s just fine about letting his feelings show and flow. His body language and posture impress me, too. I love watching him come out on stage and unintentionally strike different poses—flexible but dramatic postures you’d typically see in a discotheque.

Anyway, that’s a little bit about Aries that you probably didn’t know. And a little more about Tim Walz, who I consider to be the magic ingredient that will carry the Dems to the White House. Yes, Kamala Harris is the history-making figure that all eyes on the globe are tracking. Still, it’s Tim Walz who shows men across the country that you can honor and serve alongside a woman and still be a mighty, on-the-ready, occasionally wet-faced warrior.

I really love the guy, just like I did my dad (despite his craziness and horrible taste in pop music).

Love,

The Sentimental Magic of Tim Walz

Like Governor Tim Walz, my dad was an Aries. In this post, I’ll share insights about the sign that differ from the cliches you usually encounter with the impulsive ram.

Opening graphic from my friend Vedika, and I don’t know where she found it. But it’s magic.

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