While watching an old BBC British mystery show, I was pleased to see the actor of a minor character who was being drilled by the Detective Inspector (aka DI) had risen through the years to be a DI himself in another BBC mystery series.

There must be a whole acting school in England just for mystery series. I often wonder if actors work hard to get these roles hoping one day for a long stint as a detective. The successful series can be ten to fifteen years running although some series swap out characters – something more common in British television than American television outside of soap operas.

Which leads me to a thought I’ve often had in media-land: how easy it is to recognize an actor, know he/she is an actor, yet seamlessly and easily adopt them as any character they are playing. We even give them awards for doing this. And we love them so much even if they play bad people.

It’s everyday reincarnation.

For entertainment it’s okay. Just don’t change on me in “real” life.

Everyday Reincarnation

Here in the West we are taught that reincarnation is not real, is not possible. Yet like death, it’s everywhere. In the natural world around us, death occurs constantly. So does reincarnation.

In the Western countries it’s common to work for corporations and change jobs at any time. Like the actors in BBC mysteries, I was fascinated, too, while younger and working in banking how bankers could come and go. One day you work for this bank and sell its products as being the best for your needs. Another day you change jobs and now that bank is the best for your needs.

Reincarnation.

Or we find the love of our life, plan a future and have intense experiences before it changes and ends. And then we do it again.

Reincarnation.

We watch it all the time, we do it all the time.

The Horoscope as Character

Reincarnation and death are taboo topics in the West because we have a strong sense of self. THIS IS WHO I AM. Death ends that. So does reincarnation.

When we change jobs and then tell our customers that this company (not the one I just left) is the best, then we are like the actor in the BBC mystery series playing a new role. And it’s completely normal and accepted behavior. No one questions it. It’s a job.

The horoscope represents the character we have come to play in this incarnation on earth. The horoscope is multi-faceted: often our consistency is forced because we believe we need to play the same character for our entire lives. This is what leads to what’s called hypocrisy.

The fixed signs of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius are better than cardinal and mutable signs at staying in one character which results in roles of leadership. Do you want to follow someone through the desert or jungle who seems to be one person today and another tomorrow? Fixed signs are focused to obsessive.

• Taurus focuses on items of the world making them financial and business leaders
• Leo focuses on self-expression making them actors and leaders of causes
• Scorpio focuses on emotion making them strong religious, community and family leaders
• Aquarius focuses on ideas making them leaders of innovation and technology

The cardinal signs of Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn like to initiate new experiences with others on a personal or social level. Cardinal signs like to start new things in order to grow the self. Cardinal bounces experience off others in a personal or social setting making the character adjust to the environment.

• Aries focuses on self-assertion and wants to be first in line regardless of where the line leads making it competitive for its own sake sometimes inadvertently becoming the follower it dislikes
• Cancer focuses on personal emotions and likes to “belong” whether to family or other family-like group and will rarely disengage from an emotional source of energy creating dependency
• Libra focuses on personal relationships and often takes on the character of the other in a relationship in order to form a sense of self
• Capricorn focuses on social success and wants to climb the ladder, any ladder, as long as the climb takes them higher into levels of social respect

The mutable signs of Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces are the most changeable and least attached to one “character” in life. These signs can be greatly taxed by demands for consistency and become irresponsible in the eyes of fixed and cardinal signs. By not being attached to one character in life, they are very creative.

• Gemini focuses on stimulation, learning and growing which means that it is constantly changing character; does a seed look like the flower it will become? Do babies look like adults?
• Virgo focuses on work, health, diet and pets and is the one who creates and follows all of the new work and health trends; as a sign seeking perfection, it’s rarely satisfied with things as they are
• Sagittarius focuses on foreign and unusual experiences to grow beyond the personal and social culture and experience heightened sensations which can lead to wandering off from daily responsibilities
• Pisces focuses on collective spiritual experiences and is your resident psychic or emotional antenna; sometimes Pisces is the scapegoat which allows us to see all the stuff we don’t like in ourselves pasted onto others