Virgo

The Virgin

August 23 to September 23

Traditional Virgo Traits
Modest and shy

Meticulous and reliable

Practical and diligent

Intelligent and analytical

On the dark side

Fussy and a worrier

Overcritical and harsh

Perfectionist and conservative

Virgo! About Your Sign...
Virgo is the only zodiacal sign represented by a female. It is sometimes thought of as a potentially creative girl, delicately lovely; sometimes as a somewhat older woman, intelligent but rather pedantic and spinsterish. The latter impression is sometimes confirmed by the Virgoan preciseness, refinement, fastidious love of cleanliness, hygiene and good order, conventionality and aristocratic attitude of reserve. They are usually observant, shrewd, critically inclined, judicious, patient, practical supporters of the status quo, and tend toward conservatism in all departments of life. On the surface they are emotionally cold, and sometimes this goes deeper, for their habit of suppressing their natural kindness may in the end cause it to atrophy, with the result that they shrink from committing themselves to friendship, make few relationships, and those they do make they are careful to keep superficial.
But the outward lack of feeling may, in some individuals born under this sign, conceal too much emotion, to which they are afraid of giving way because they do not trust others, nor do they have confidence in themselves and their judgments. This is because they are conscious of certain shortcomings in themselves of worldliness, of practicality, of sophistication and of outgoingness. So they bring the art of self concealment to a high pitch, hiding their apprehensiveness about themselves and their often considerable sympathy with other people under a mantle of matter-of-factness and undemonstrative, quiet reserve. They are still waters that run deep. Yet in their unassuming, outwardly cheerful and agreeable fashion, they can be sensible, discreet, well spoken, wise and witty, with a good understanding of other people's problems which they can tackle with a practicality not always evident in their own personal relationships.
Both sexes have considerable charm and dignity, which make some male Virgoans appear effeminate when they are not. In marriage they can be genuinely affectionate, making good spouses and parents, but their love making is a perfection of technique rather than the expression of desire, and they must be careful not to mate with a partner whose sex drive requires a passion they cannot match.
They are intellectually enquiring, methodical and logical, studious and teachable. They combine mental ingenuity with the ability to produce a clear analysis of the most complicated problems. They have an excellent eye for detail but they may be so meticulous that they neglect larger issues. Also, although they are realists, they may slow down projects by being too exact.
They are practical with their hands, good technicians and have genuine inventive talents, Thoroughness, hard work and conscientiousness are their hallmarks, and they are such perfectionists that, if things go wrong, they are easily discouraged. Because of their ability to see every angle of a many-sided question, they are unhappy with abstract theorizing. Appreciating the many different points of view as they do, they find philosophical concepts difficult, and they vacillate and have no confidence in any conclusions at which they arrive.
With these qualities, they are better as subordinates than leaders. Responsibility irks them and they often lack the breadth of strategic vision that a leader needs Virgoans are essentially tacticians, admirable in the attainment of limited objectives. Their self distrust is something they project on to other people and tends to make them exacting employers, though in the demands they make on those under them they temper this attitude with justice. They have potential abilities in the arts, sciences and languages. Language especially they use correctly, clearly, consciously and formally, as grammarians and etymologists rather than for literary interests, yet they are likely to have a good memory for apt quotations. Although they are well suited for careers in machine drawing, surveying and similar occupations, they are better fitted for a job in a library or office than a workshop.
Their minds are such that they need the stimulus of practical problems to be solved rather than the mere routine or working to set specifications that need no thought. They are careful with money and their interest in statistics makes them excellent bookkeepers and accountants. They also make good editors, physicists and analytical chemists. They may also find success as welfare workers, ministering to those less fortunate than themselves. They can be doctors, nurses, psychologists, teachers, confidential secretaries, technologists, inspectors, musicians, critics, public speakers and writers especially of reference works such as dictionaries and encyclopedias. Both sexes have a deep interest in history, a feature recognized by astrological authorities for at least two hundred years. If they go in for a business career their shrewdness and analytical ingenuity could tempt them into dishonesty, though they usually have enough moral sense to resist temptation. Female Virgoans may find a career in fashion, for they have a flair for dress, in which they can be trend setters. In any profession they choose the natives of this sign readily assimilate new ideas, but always with caution, conserving what they consider worth keeping from the past. They love country life but are unlikely to make good farmers, unless they can contrive to carry out their work without outraging their sense of hygiene and cleanliness.
Their faults, as is usual with all zodiacal types, are the extremes of their virtues. Fastidious reticence and modesty become old-maidishness and persnicketiness; balanced criticism becomes carping and nagging; and concern for detail becomes overspecialization. Virgoans are liable to indecision in wider issues and this can become chronic, turning molehills of minor difficulties into Himalayas of crisis. Their prudence can become guile and their carefulness, turned in on themselves, can produce worriers and hypochondriacs.Possible Health Concerns...
Virgo is said to govern the hands, abdomen, intestines, spleen and central nervous system. Illnesses to which its natives are prone include catarrh, cold, coughs, pleurisies, pneumonia and nervous instabilities. Their natures make them inclined to worry and this makes them vulnerable to stomach and bowel troubles, including colic and ulcers. Male Virgoans may have trouble with their sexual organs. Both sexes are strongly interested in drugs and esoteric cuisine and as their delicate stomachs require them to be careful about their diet, it is essential that they treat their fascination with exotic food with extreme care.
LIKES
Health foods
Lists
Hygiene
Order
Wholesomeness
DISLIKES
Hazards to health
Anything sordid
Sloppy workers
Squalor
Being uncertain

PROBLEMS THAT MAY ARISE FOR YOU, AND THEIR SOLUTIONS
As with all sun signs, we all have unique traits to our personalities. When these traits are suppressed, or unrealized, problems will arise. However, with astrology we can examine the problem and assess the proper solution based on the sun sign characteristics. As a Virgo you may see things below that really strike home. Try the solution, you most likely will be amazed at the results. If you find yourself on the receiving end of the negatives below, it is because you are failing to express the positive.
Problem: Finding yourself frequently alone and unable to keep friends for more than a few weeks.

Solution: Try not to be argumentative over much and the constant criticism that Virgos give to their companions are not endearing qualities to have. Try to live and let live, they will love you for it.
Problem: People tend to avoid making close contact with you.

Solution: Being too preoccupied with health and making it a continual topic of conversation. Try to keep your tips and suggestions about health and health products to yourself unless asked for them.
Problem: Dissatisfied with the way your life is turning out; no excitement or change to speak of.

Solution: You may be restricting yourself by reducing your life to a set of theories and pigeon-holes. Try to express the positive by first asking yourself, Who or what are you serving; are you devoted or are you enslaved. Answer those questions and then start a new path that includes your true worth.
Problem: You may feel that your life and your climb to success is a steep hill that you may never be able to scale.

Solution: Try expressing the positive traits of your finely tuned analytical reasoning, employing the light touch with employees and coworkers, while expressing genuine concern for all; You will find those mountains turning into hills that you run right over.

Your ruling planet is MERCURY.
Mean distance from the Sun (AU) 0.387Sidereal period of orbit (years) 0.24 Equatorial radius (km) 2,439Polar radius (km) 2,439Body rotation period (hours) 1,408Tilt of equator to orbit (degrees) 0Number of observed satellites 0

Some more interesting facts about your sign:

The Virgin is the entity that is associated with your sign. The above picture is of the grotto in Lourdes, France where the Virgin appeared to the children. In the upper right you will see a statute of The Lady. The Virgin imparts purity of intent to the actions of the persons born under the sign of Virgo.

The colors for Virgo are GREEN AND DARK BROWN

Your starstone is the beautiful, SARDONYX. The Sardonyx can be found with many different colored bands on it but the one suggested for Virgo is that of the reddish brown variety. It is in the quartz family and is mined around the world.
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RE: STARSTONE CONTROVERSY
There is, and always have been, a controversy over "starstones". Starstones are NOT birthstones. I give you here in these pages the stones that are called your starstones, (planet stones), which viberates the strongest to your planet or sign, NOT to the month that you were born. I would also like it if those who think they know precisely what their stone is to go to the library and reference some good Astrology books such as 'Parkers Astrology'. Sorry for the confusion, but confusion over this topic has raged for hundreds of years.

Leo

The Lion

July 23 to August 22

Traditional Leo Traits
Generous and warmhearted

Creative and enthusiastic

Broad-minded and expansive

Faithful and loving

On the dark side

Pompous and patronizing

Bossy and interfering

Dogmatic and intolerant

Leo! About Your Sign...
The Leo type is the most dominant, spontaneously creative and extrovert of all the zodiacal characters. In grandeur of manner, splendor of bearing and magnanimity of personality, they are the monarch's among humans as the lion is king of beasts. They are ambitious, courageous, dominant, strong willed, positive, independent, self-confident there is no such a word as doubt in their vocabularies, and they are self-controlled. Born leaders, either in support of, or in revolt against, the status quo. They are at their most effective when in a position of command, their personal magnetism and innate courtesy of mind bringing out the best of loyalty from subordinates. They are uncomplicated, knowing exactly what they want and using all their energies, creativeness and resolution to get it, as well as being certain that they will get whatever they are after. Their followers know where they are with Leonians. Leonians think and act bigger than others would normally dare; the ambitiousness of their schemes and idealism sometimes daunt their followers, their practical hardheadedness and ability to go straight to the heart of any problem reassures those who depend on them. If Leonians meet with setbacks they thrive on the adversity.
On the whole they are powers for good, for they are strongly idealistic, humane, and beneficent. They have powerful intelligence and are of a broad philosophical, sometimes religious, turn of mind. Those who are devout may become very obstinate in upholding traditional beliefs and will cling tenaciously, but with complete sincerity, to practices and doctrines which liberal thinkers regard as absurdly out-of-date. These will be found as the 'lions' of industries, and in the forefront of the cutting edge of technologies.
Their faults can be as large in scale as their virtues, and an excessively negative Leonian can be one of the most unpleasant human beings imaginable, displaying extreme arrogance, autocratic pride, haughtiness, and excessive hastiness of temper. If jealously suspicious of rivals, they will not hesitate to use cunning, lies and trickery to discredit them. Self-centeredness, greed for flattery, boastfulness, and bombast, pomposity, snobbish superiority, and overbearing, and intolerant disdain of underlings; to whom they will nevertheless delegate the carrying out of minor details in their grandiose schemes, and from whom they are not above borrowing immoderately if an occasion necessitates it. Any of these can be characteristic of Leo.
Add to them a passion for luxury, a lust for power, unlimited sexual lust, and emotional indulgence, and a character emerges that no one would want to know either in public life or private. But their pride may go before a fall, as uncontrolled impetuosity is likely to bring them low. Fortunately it is rare that a Leo is so undisciplined as to give way thoroughly to this list of vices, and their tendencies to them are usually balanced by an innate wisdom. Those who are afflicted with them also have the intelligence it takes to consciously and actively overcome them.
In professional life they do well at any vocation at which there is room at the top. As politicians they are content with nothing less than a powerful position in government. In business they may be the chairman of their company's board, or at least directors or managers. They are excellent organizers and overseers, often laying the groundwork for new projects. If from the artisan ranks of society they will aspire to become the boss, partly because they are ambitious by nature, partly because they dislike manual labor, preferring to take charge of others doing it. If artistic, Leos can become stars of stage or screen (their bent is serious rather than light drama), maestros as musicians where they will gravitate toward the grand instruments or activities, such as the organ or conducting of orchestras and as painters; anything grand in conception and scale appeals to them. Leo women make exceptionally good welfare workers.
In his or her relations with others the Leo type is open, sincere, genuine and trusting. Outgoing, spontaneously warm hearted and plain spoken, though never lacking in kindliness, Leos are more disillusioned than the average if let down by those they trust. They are not good judges of character and are inclined to favoritism and an exaggerated faith in their followers which too often ends in disappointment. They have a strong sex drive and are so attracted to the opposite sex that they find it hard to be constant; they can be so intensely sexual as to become dissolute. They may have numerous love affairs for their love of pleasure and beauty is liable to drive them from one attractive partner to another. They are very much inclined to deceive. Their marriages may fail for the same reason, yet they are sincere and generous to their lovers while love lasts, and will remain attached to their homes so long as it is run for their benefit. They demand service but are incapable of giving it.Possible Health Concerns...
Physiologically, Leo governs the upper back, forearms, wrist, spine and heart. Its natives are subject to a number of ailments: pain in the back and lungs, spinal complaints, diseases of the heart and blood, sickness in ribs and sides, convulsions, pleasantries, violent burning fevers including, in former days, when they were prevalent, plague, pestilence, jaundice, and some afflictions of the eyes.
LIKES
Speculative ventures
Lavish Living
Pageantry and Grandeur
Children
Drama
DISLIKES
Doing things safely
Ordinary,Day to day living
Small minded people
Penny pinching
Mean spiritedness

PROBLEMS THAT MAY ARISE FOR YOU, AND THEIR SOLUTIONS
As with all sun signs, we all have unique traits to our personalities. When these traits are suppressed, or unrealized, problems will arise. However, with astrology we can examine the problem and assess the proper solution based on the sun sign characteristics. As a Leo you may see things below that really strike home. Try the solution, you most likely will be amazed at the results. If you find yourself on the receiving end of the negatives below, it is because you are failing to express the positive.
Problem: Getting all upset and angry with others when things do not go the way you fully expected them too. This kind of reaction to a problem is what causes a lot of marital discord and unhappiness.

Solution: You should never base all of your expectations on what you should get, but rather base them on what you can give to, or do, for those who are in your sphere of influence. You will find you have a more peaceful and happy home if you do this.
Problem: You are sometimes your own worst enemy, especially so when you are striving for attention in such obvious ways that you turn off the very people you sought to impress.

Solution: The first place to start is to stop trying to gain attention; give people the chance to notice the real you. Decide what it is that impresses you and you will then know what to do to impress others.
Problem: Egotism, to the extent that you may be the Leo who thinks no one is quite as good at things as you are and the people around you are made to feel small through your habit of comparison.

Solution: What the higher minded Leo has is a sense of self worth and of greatness, this is corrupted when you let the ego get out of hand so you should learn to walk tall by looking up to those that are 'taller' than you are.
Problem: Losses in income from unwisely speculating which leads to financial ruin, as well as possible personal losses of family and friends due to a lack of concern for their financial welfare.

Solution: You should always investigate all investments well before they are made, then talk it over with your spouse as to how hard the budget can be hit, before you spend the first dime.

Your ruling planet is the SUN.
The Sun is our nearest star and the source of energy for life on Earth. It is about 150 million km away (93 million miles), a distance which sunlight covers in 8 minutes, whereas the distance to the moon is only 1.3 light-seconds. The Sun is about 300,000 times heavier than Earth and rotates around its axis (as viewed from the orbiting Earth) in about 27 days.

Some more interesting facts about your sign:
The male lions are not particularly good hunters, the main work is done by the females when the male drives the prey in the direction where they are hiding, although the males insist on eating their share before the females. Hunting occurs at night or cooler times of day, the hotter hours are spent resting in the shade. Only males grow a mane, which can take up to 5 years to fully develop.
The color of choice for Leo is GOLD

Your starstone is the rich red RUBY
Known as a stone of nobility. It can improve success in controversies and disputes, encouraging gentleness and discouraging violence. Excellent shielding stone to protect you from bodily harm. Encourages one to follow bliss.
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RE: STARSTONE CONTROVERSY
There is, and always have been, a controversy over "starstones". Starstones are NOT birthstones. I give you here in these pages the stones that are called your starstones, (planet stones), which viberates the strongest to your planet or sign, NOT to the month that you were born. I would also like it if those who think they know precisely what their stone is to go to the library and reference some good Astrology books such as 'Parkers Astrology'. Sorry for the confusion, but confusion over this topic has raged for hundreds of years

Cancer

The Crab

June 22 to July 22

TraditionalCancer Traits
Emotional and loving

Intuitive and imaginative

Shrewd and cautious

Protective and sympathetic

On the dark side

Changeable and moody

Overemotional and touchy

Clinging and unable to let go

Cancer! About your sign...
The Cancerian character is the least clear-cut of all those associated with the signs of the zodiac. It can range from the timid, dull, shy and withdrawn to the most brilliant, and famous Cancerians are to be found through the whole range of human activity. It is a fundamentally conservative and home-loving nature, appreciating the nest like quality of a secure base to which the male can retire when he needs a respite from the stresses of life, and in which the Cancerian woman can exercise her strong maternal instincts. The latter tends to like and to have a large family. `Nest like' is an appropriate adjective for the Cancerian home, for its inhabitants tend to favor the dark, mysterious but comfortable type of house which has something of the air of a den about it, a place which belongs to the family rather than existing as a showcase to impress visitors. That is not to say that the Cancerian is unsociable, just that for them there is a time to socialize and a time to be solitary, and this is part of the apparent contradiction in their nature. Outwardly they can appear formidable - thick-skinned, unemotional, uncompromising, obstinately tenacious, purposeful, energetic, shrewd, intuitive and wise, sometimes with a philosophical profundity of thought verging on inspiration. Their intimates, however, may see a very different character, one with a sympathetic and kindly sensitivity to other people, especially those they love. They are able to identify with the situations of others because of the keenness of their imaginations. They are often over-imaginative and prone to fantasy, sometimes trying to shape their lives to fit some romantic ideal. They are appreciative of art and literature, and especially of drama, where the spectacle and ebb and flow of action and feeling particularly excite them. They may themselves possess considerable literary, artistic or oratorical talent. Their sharp ears and talent for mimicry can sometimes give them success on the stage, though their tendency to be emotional may make them overact. Interestingly - because they give the impression of being down-to-earth - they are often fascinated by the occult and are more open to psychic influence than the average. If they can reconcile the personal conflict of their urge to be outgoing with the reserve that causes them to withdraw into themselves, then at best they can inspire a generation, especially the youthful part of it, by their idealism. A job in which they can express this, and in which they can do well, would be as a leader in a youth organization.
In their personal relationships they are mentally a mixture of toughness and softness, often emotional and romantic to the point of sentimentality in their fantasies; but in real life and in marriage, their loving is not so sentimental but tenaciously loyal. Even if they have affairs (and they may do so, for the male in particular is open to sensual stimulation), their first loyalty remains to spouse and family, of whom they regard themselves as the protector. Both the
Cancerian man and woman love unreservedly, giving much and asking little in return - in fact, one of the most important lessons they have to learn is how to receive gracefully. They are too easily influenced by those they love and admire, and swayed by the emotion of the moment. They are also loyal friends, the negative side of their faithfulness being clannishness, the narrow patriotism of "my country right or wrong"; and closing ranks in suspicion and coldness toward outsiders.
Cancerians have a retentive memory, particularly for emotionally laden events which they can recall in detail for years afterwards. they are strongly governed by childhood memories and since they live intensely in the past in memory and in the future in imagination, a chance meeting with someone for whom they had an unrequited love, even if they thought they had conquered the feeling, will easily rouse the emotion all over again.
The Cancerian has many potential faults. They can be untidy, sulky, devious, moody, inclined to self-pity because of an inferiority complex, brood on insults (very often imagined), yet are easily flattered. They can be tactless and difficult yet, because they are normally ambitious, they will curry favor by floating with majority opinions, outlooks and fashions of the day. As a result they often change their opinions and loyalties and, indeed, their occupations, and lack stability. They are easily corrupted and, because they are convincing romanticizers, can make successful confidence tricksters. Their romanticism in another sense make them ardent supporters of causes, for example a football team with whose heroes they can identify in a world of fantasy.
Their abilities fit the Cancerian for a wide range of occupations. As they are interested in what people are thinking and able to judge what they can safely be told, they can be good journalists, writers or politicians, though in this last capacity they are more likely to remain in the background rather than attain prominent positions of power. They may, indeed, change their party affiliations. They can serve in other departments of public affairs, especially those which involve looking after others, for example in any kind of service from welfare and nursing to catering - their own love of comfort and good living makes the Cancerian an excellent chef or housekeeper. They sometimes have a penchant for trade or business and are often successful as a captain of industry. This is because they are excellent organizers with a good sense of value and economy which they may combine with a flair for inventiveness and originality. The romantic side of their natures make them enjoy grubbing about in places where exciting discoveries may be made (old stamp collections in attics, etc.), and if they can do this professionally as a secondhand dealer or specialist in antiques, they will be happy. More common occupations which suit some subjects of Cancer are real estate broker, gardener and sailor.
Physically they are average to below average in height, with a fleshy body and short legs in comparison with the rest of them. Their hair is usually brown, their faces round, their complexions pale, their foreheads prominent, their eyes small and blue or gray in color, their noses short, perhaps upturned, and their mouths full. They sometimes walk clumsily.
Possible Health Concerns...
Cancer governs the chest, breasts, elbows, stomach and digestion, womb and female reproductive organs. Cancer, which can affect any part of the body, is sometimes said to have taken its name from this sign, which can therefore afflict its subjects with imperfections anywhere. This is incorrect, however, the derivation of cancer being the Latin cancer meaning gangrene as well as crab. nevertheless, Cancerians are said to be liable to breast cancer and to suffer from pleurisy, dropsy, piles and varicose veins. The excitability mentioned above can lead to weak digestion, gastritis and other stomach ills, and there is a tendency to coughs and weakness of vision.
LIKES
Hobbies
Romance
Children
Home and Country
Parties
DISLIKES
Aggravating situations
Failure
Opposition
Being told what to do ;)
Advice (good or bad)

PROBLEMS THAT MAY ARISE FOR YOU, AND THEIR SOLUTIONS
As with all sun signs, we all have unique traits to our personalities. When these traits are suppressed, or unrealized, problems will arise. However, with astrology we can examine the problem and assess the proper solution based on the sun sign characteristics. As a Cancerian you may see things below that really strike home. Try the solution, you most likely will be amazed at the results. If you find yourself on the receiving end of the negatives below, it is because you are failing to express the positive.
PROBLEM: You can be oversensitive and something of a clinging vine which may cause you to harbor imaginary hurts and slights, this can make for highly unsettling conditions with your spouse.

SOLUTION: Be sure that the love you are expressing is not simply your need to hang own to someone for moral support, and if necessary, you should seek professional help in order to overcome this negative, clinging aspect of your personality.
PROBLEM: One of your biggest personality flaws, next to neediness, is the habit of being so self absorbed that you sometimes fail to notice what others are doing and accomplishing in their lives, you feel shut out and jealous if a family member has more success than you do.

SOLUTION: You should make a special effort to change this in yourself by forcing yourself to rejoice over their good fortune and when you do this you find that it will eventually become a habit and you as well as they will be happier for the change.
PROBLEM: Your inability to take orders without getting angry or upset may be another one of your problems and this one could be very serious as it affects your chances of earning a good living for yourself and/or your family, since you are quite apt to walk away from any job where you feel 'picked on'.

SOLUTION: Try keeping an ear out and find out how the ones who have been on the job for any length of time gets along with the boss and coworkers. If you follow his lead or simply decide that you will simply keep quiet and follow orders you will soon see how well you can be really liked by all concerned.
PROBLEM: You also have a problem with putting things off until the last minute which upsets your family and friends. This also has a tendency to make an unpleasant matter even more unpleasant when you procrastinate.

Solution: Make taking care of the business at hand your prime objective from now on for, when you do not have all those worries in the back of your mind you will find it more pleasant to be around people, and you will also find that life goes smoothly for you from then on.

Your ruling planet is the MOON.
MOON:Mean Radius (km) 1,738Distance from Earth (km) 384,400Period of Rotation (days) 27.3217
Some more interesting facts about your sign:
The crab is a nocturnal water creature that is well equipped with its massive claws to defend itself and survives very well in the 'wilds' of the underwater world in which it thrives. They have also been prized for food throughout the ages. Crabs come in a variety of 'styles' and species and are found in most of the oceans of the world, as well as in many inland waters. Being a sea scavenger, the crabs help mankind by keeping our waters cleaner.

The color for Cancer is all the shining colors of the moon SILVER
Your starstone is the beautiful, translucent, PEARL. The Pearl can be all the silvery colors of the moon and not just white. The pearl takes on its silvery, shimmering, colors from the color of the linings of the mollusc (oyster) in which it is grown. A beautiful, perfect pearl can sell for as much as $250,000.00, so speaking of a 'pearl of great price' becomes readily understandable. This precious stone can be harmed if subjected to hair spray, acids, perspiration, and some types of cosmetics.
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RE: STARSTONE CONTROVERSY
There is, and always have been, a controversy over "starstones". Starstones are NOT birthstones. I give you here in these pages the stones that are called your starstones, (planet stones), which viberates the strongest to your planet or sign, NOT to the month that you were born. I would also like it if those who think they know precisely what their stone is to go to the library and reference some good Astrology books such as 'Parkers Astrology'. Sorry for the confusion, but confusion over this topic has raged for hundreds of years.

Gemini

The Twins

May 22 to June 21

Traditional Gemini traits

Adaptable and versatile

Communicative and witty

Intellectual and eloquent

Youthful and lively

On the dark side

Nervous and tense

Superficial and inconsistent

Cunning and inquisitive

Gemini! About Your Sign...
Gemini, the sign of the Twins, is dual-natured, elusive, complex and contradictory. On the one hand it produces the virtue of versatility, and on the other the vices of two-facedness and flightiness. The sign is linked with Mercury, the planet of childhood and youth, and its subjects tend to have the graces and faults of the young. When they are good, they are very attractive; when they are bad they are more the worse for being the charmers they are. Like children they are lively, and happy, if circumstances are right for them, or egocentric, imaginative and restless. They take up new activities enthusiastically but lack application, constantly needing new interests, flitting from project to project as apparently purposelessly as a butterfly dancing from flower to flower. To them life is a game which must always be full of fresh moves and continuous entertainment, free of labor and routine. Changing horses in the middle of the stream is another small quirk in the Gemini personality which makes decision making, and sticking to a decision, particularly hard for them.
Since they lack the quality of conscientiousness, they are apt to fight a losing battle in any attempts they make to be moral (in the widest sense of the word). Their good qualities are attractive and come easily to them. They are affectionate, courteous, kind, generous, and thoughtful towards the poor and suffering - provided none of the activities resulting from expressing these traits interferes too greatly with their own lives and comforts. They quickly learn to use their outward attractiveness to gain their own ends, and when striving for these they will use any weapon in their armory - unscrupulous lying, and cunning evasiveness; escaping blame by contriving to put it on other people, wrapped up in all the charm they can turn on. In their better moments they may strive to be honest and straightforward, but self-interest is almost always the victor. If things go against them, they sulk like children.
Also like children, they demand attention, admiration, and the spending on them of time, energy and money, throwing tantrums if they don't get what they want. They reflect every change in their surroundings, like chameleons, and can become pessimistic, sullen, peevish and materialistically self-centered if circumstances force them to struggle in any way. If the conditions of life become really adverse, their strength of will may desert them entirely. They can become uncertain of themselves, either withdrawn, or nervously excitable worriers, sullenly discontented, hard and irritable, with "Self" looming ever larger in their struggles. On the other hand their versatility can make them very adaptable, adjusting themselves to control the world around them by means of their inherent ingenuity and cleverness.
Most Gemini have a keen, intuitive, sometimes brilliant intelligence and they love cerebral challenges. But their concentration, though intense for a while, does not last. Their mental agility and energy give them a voracious appetite for knowledge from youth onward, though they dislike the labor of learning. They easily grasp almost everything requiring intelligence and mental dexterity, and are often able to marry manual skills to their qualities of mind. Their intellect is strongly analytical and sometimes gives them so great an ability to see both sides of a question that they vacillate and find it hard to make decisions. But their intelligence may very well be used to control and unify the duality of their natures into a most efficient unit. If faced with difficulties, they have little determination to worry at a problem until they find a solution - they will pick the brains of others. In their intellectual pursuits, as in other departments of their lives, they risk becoming dilettantes, losing themselves in too many projects which they follow until they become difficult.
In love they are fickle, not intentionally so but because of the basic inconsistency of their emotional nature, which has an amoral aspect to it. Their is a side to Geminians which can become deeply involved emotionally, and another, hostile to sentimentality, which stands back from a romantic situation, laughing at it and the protagonists in it, including themselves while analyzing it intellectually. Gemini subjects take nothing seriously. So, in love, in spite of their temporary depth of feeling, for the intensity of involvement lasts only while it is new, they are superficial, light-hearted, cool, flirtatious and unimaginative in the understanding of the pain they may give others. They like intrigue, the excitement of the chase, but once they have caught the prey, they lose interest and look around for the next creature to pursue. In less serious situations they make witty, entertaining companions, good acquaintances rather than friends. Even at their worst they are never dull - there is usually playfulness below the surface, and they can be brilliant conversationalists - but they can also be quarrelsome, prattlers, boasters, liars and cheats.
Geminians can be successful in many walks of life though their general characteristics tend to make them unreliable. They are often skilled manipulators of language, in speech and writing, and may be: debaters, diplomats (though in politics they are more interested in theory than practice), orators, preachers (brilliant rather than profound), teachers, authors, poets, journalists, or lawyers. In business any work which combines quick-wittedness with a change of surroundings suits them; working as a traveling salesperson, brokerage work, or dealing with the public in any capacity is right up their alley. Because they are dispassionate, logical, rational and analytical they make good scientists, especially in the fields of medicine and astronomy. They can also make excellent members of the Armed Forces, for they take danger no more seriously than anything else and can earn themselves a reputation for devotion to duty and heroic acts. In the arts they may excel in music, painting and sculpture. They make good psychic researchers of a sceptical kind. Negatively they can degenerate into confidence tricksters, thieves and even adepts in the black arts.Possible Health Concerns...
Gemini rules the arms, shoulders, hands, lungs and nervous system and its subjects need to beware of diseases and accidents associated with the upper part of the body, as well as nervous and pulmonary disorders such as catarrh and bronchitis. Their mercurial nature may also affect a constitution which is not strong if it is put under strain.
You are prone to taking unnecessary risks and wind up harming yourself or others in the process. Sometimes pursuing pleasure too vigorously could also qualify as risk taking.
LIKES
TalkingNovelty and the unusualVariety in lifeMultiple projects all going at onceReading
DISLIKES
Feeling tied downLearning, such as schoolBeing in a rutMental inactionBeing alone

PROBLEMS THAT MAY ARISE FOR YOU, AND THEIR SOLUTIONS
As with all sun signs, we all have unique traits to our personalities. When these traits are suppressed, or unrealized, problems will arise. However, with astrology we can examine the problem and assess the proper solution based on the sun sign characteristics. As a Gemini you may see things below that really strike home. Try the solution, you most likely will be amazed at the results. If you find yourself on the receiving end of the negatives below, it is because you are failing to express the positive.
PROBLEM: Being superficial could be a big problem for you in your overall relationships with others and also in getting ahead on many jobs where you must endeavor to dig deep and learn something thoroughly. This is the worst Gemini trait of all.

SOLUTION: To make a conscious effort to control this trait is the best approach to take to this problem. If you make a commitment to something or someone you should mentally force yourself to keep that commitment where possible. This will be hard but it can, and has been, accomplished by many under this sign.
PROBLEM: Not one who cares for peace and quiet, you create your own problems with loved ones by picking arguments or tale carrying from one to the other then stand back and enjoy the show.

SOLUTION: While this may relieve your boredom, it is something that you should not let happen as it could easily go out of control and cost you the love and companionship that you desire. When you feel like doing this it would be better to take a long walk and let the feelings pass.
PROBLEM: Boredom is one of your biggest problems and you could easily fall into mischief if you do not find ways to alleviate it.

SOLUTION: You have a great many creative talents and if you put these to work for you in some sort of hobby or project you will find you do not have time to be bored, also, other physical activities should be considered: workouts at the gym, racketball, hiking, etc..
PROBLEM: You could have health problems brought on by overindulgence of food, drink, or the night life which only gets worse as you age.

SOLUTION: Tame your urges and save the party times for weekends only and then try not to overdo it. By keeping everything down to a mild roar you may not have to fight off diseases such as obesity or cirrhosis of the liver.
PROBLEM: You may have the problem of not being able to keep a spouse or a lover due to your pursuit of the opposite sex.

SOLUTION: Cultivate the habit of not flirting with every attractive person you see and make up your mind to be a true and loving spouse, or don't commit until you are really ready to do this.

Your ruling planet is Mercury.
Mean distance from the Sun (AU) 0.387Sidereal period of orbit (years) 0.24 Equatorial radius (km) 2,439Polar radius (km) 2,439Body rotation period (hours) 1,408Tilt of equator to orbit (degrees) 0Number of observed satellites 0
Some more interesting facts about your sign:
While no animal appears to be associated with your sign other than the wolf in which is seen to be the nurturing force for another set of 'twins', romulas and remus. The twins themselves are their own sign representatives.

The color of choice for Mercury in Gemini is GREEN
Your starstone is the moss agate. It has been shown to be beneficial to the health of Geminis who are suffering from circulatory problems and has been shown as an aid to getting your intuitive feelings tuned to a higher pitch. It is also an aid to relieving depression. There is another gemstone which is used for Gemini and that is the emerald, but the moss agate vibrates to the levels of your ruling planet, Mercury, and therefore is much more beneficial for you.
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RE: STARSTONE CONTROVERSY
There is, and always have been, a controversy over "starstones". Starstones are NOT birthstones. I give you here in these pages the stones that are called your starstones, (planet stones), which viberates the strongest to your planet or sign, NOT to the month that you were born. I would also like it if those who think they know precisely what their stone is to go to the library and reference some good Astrology books such as 'Parkers Astrology'. Sorry for the confusion, but confusion over this topic has raged for hundreds of years.

Taurus

The Bull
April 21 to May 21



Traditional Taurus Traits
Patient and reliable
Warmhearted and loving
Persistent and determined
Placid and security loving


On the dark side


Jealous and possessive
Resentful and inflexible
Self-indulgent and greedy



Taurus About Your Sign...
The Taurean's characteristics are solidity, practicality, extreme determination and strength of will - no one will ever drive them, but they will willingly and loyally follow a leader they trust. They are stable, balanced, conservative good, law-abiding citizens and lovers of peace, possessing all the best qualities of the bourgeoisie. As they have a sense of material values and physical possessions, respect for property and a horror of falling into debt, they will do everything in their power to maintain the security of the status quo and be somewhat hostile to change.
Mentally, they are keen-witted and practical more often than intellectual, but apt to become fixed in their opinions through their preference for following accepted and reliable patterns of experience. Their character is generally dependable, steadfast, prudent, just, firm and unshaken in the face of difficulties. Their vices arise from their virtues, going to extremes on occasion,such as sometimes being too slavish to the conventions they admire. On rare occasions a Taurean may be obstinately and exasperatingly self-righteous, unoriginal, rigid, ultraconservative, argumentative, querulous bores, stuck in a self-centered rut. They may develop a brooding resentment through nursing a series of injuries received and, whether their characters are positive or negative, they need someone to stroke their egos with a frequent, "Well Done!" Most Taureans are not this extreme though.
They are faithful and generous friends with a great capacity for affection, but rarely make friends with anyone outside their social rank, to which they are ordinarily excessively faithful. In the main, they are gentle, even tempered, good natured, modest and slow to anger, disliking quarreling and avoiding ill-feeling. If they are provoked, however, they can explode into violent outbursts of ferocious anger in which they seem to lose all self-control. Equally unexpected are their occasional sallies into humor and exhibitions of fun.
Although their physical appearance may belie it, they have a strong aesthetic taste, enjoying art, for which they may have a talent, beauty (recoiling from anything sordid or ugly) and music. They may have a strong, sometimes unconventional, religious faith. Allied to their taste for all things beautiful is a love for the good things of life pleasure, comfort, luxury and good food and wine and they may have to resist the temptation to over indulgence, leading to drunkenness, gross sensuality, and covetousness. In their work, Taureans are industrious and good craftspeople, and are not afraid of getting their hands dirty. They are reliable, practical, methodical and ambitious, within a framework of obedience to superiors. They are at their best in routine positions of trust and responsibility, where there is little need of urgency and even less risk of change, and a pension at the end. Yet they are creative and good founders of enterprises where the rewards of their productiveness come from their own work and not that of others.
They can flourish in many different trades and professions: banking, architecture, building, almost any form of bureaucracy, auctioneering, farming, medicine, chemistry, industry Taureans make good managers and foremen surveying, insurance, education and, perhaps surprisingly, music and sculpture. They make an ideal trustee or guardian, and can attain eminence as a chef. Some Taureans are gifted enough in singing to become opera stars or to excel in more popular types of music.
They are more than averagely amorous and sensually self-conscious, but sexually straightforward and not given to experiment. They make constant, faithful, home loving spouses and thoughtful, kindly parents, demanding too much of neither their spouses nor children. They can be over possessive and may sometimes play the game of engineering family roles for the pleasure of making up the quarrel. If anyone offends their amour proper they can be a determined enemy, though magnanimous in forgiveness if their opponent makes an effort to meet them halfway.
No other sign in the zodiac is closer to earth then Taurus. The main objective in leading a Taurean life is primarily (though not entirely) to maintain stability and physical concerns. Your inner spiritual sense longs for earthly harmony and wholesomeness. When you fully understand this, and work toward this end, you will no longer need to blindly reassure yourself with external possessions and comforts. A realization that finding this inner peace will cause all of the above mentioned positive things will overtake you and your life will be very full.
Ultimately the Taurean needs to discover their truest, deepest and highest values. When they know what is truly valuable, they are no longer chained to people and to things that have to do with lesser values. The greatest indication of value to a Taurean is beauty, which cannot be owned, only appreciated.





Possible Health Concerns...
Taurus governs the throat and neck and its subjects need to beware throat infections, goiter and respiratory ailments such as asthma. They are said to be at risk of diseases of the genitals, womb, liver and kidneys, and of abscesses and rheumatism. Because their body type has an inclination to physical laziness, Taureans can be overweight.
LIKES
Stability
Being Attracted
Things Natural
Time to Ponder
Comfort and Pleasure
DISLIKES
Disruption
Being pushed too hard
Synthetic or "man made" things
Being rushed
Being indoors

PROBLEMS THAT MAY ARISE FOR YOU, AND THEIR SOLUTIONS
As with all sun signs, we all have unique traits to our personalities. When these traits are suppressed, or unrealized, problems will arise. However, with astrology we can examine the problem and assess the proper solution based on the sun sign characteristics. As a Taurean you may see things below that really strike home. Try the solution, you most likely will be amazed at the results. If you find yourself on the receiving end of the negatives below, it is because you are failing to express the positive.



PROBLEM: Having feelings of being used and manipulated, led down the garden path and made a sucker of.


SOLUTION: Realize that your magnetism attracts negative as well as positive influences. You need to choose your friends, not let them choose you.
PROBLEM: Physical things start loosing their appeal, and you feel more and more out of touch with the world around you. You stop caring so much about how much money you have among other physical concerns.


SOLUTION: You are starting to discover an inner harmony that is trying to replace the physical with spiritual. You must let this grow without killing the part of you that provides sustenance for your family.
PROBLEM: Unexplained fear of loss, jealousy and a paranoia that others are out to get you.


SOLUTION: You have within you the ability to not only attract faithfulness, but also the intellect to see what is truly going on around you. You are loosing faith in both of these personal traits. Rebuild that faith.
PROBLEM: Feeling depressed with life. Disgusted and dissatisfied. People around you are little comfort. You feel that life lacks meaning. Easily addicted to physical pleasures.


SOLUTION: Revisit and realize the value of spritual things in life. Take control of your life by realizing it is not the things in life that are important, but the spirit behind it all.



Your ruling planet is VENUS.
Mean distance from the Sun (AU) 0.723 Sidereal period of orbit (years) 0.62 Equatorial radius (km) 6052Polar radius (km) sameBody rotation period (hours) 58.32Tilt of equator to orbit (degrees) 177.3Number of observed satellites 0



Some more interesting facts about your sign:
The animal associated with you sign is this tough looking bull. The Egyptian Hourus was the bull of heaven, and a white bull was sacrificed in Babylonia at the New Year to placate Ramman, the god of thunder and lightning.



The color of choice for Taurus is PINK


Your Starstone is the EMERALD
Emeralds from Egypt are known to date from about 330 B.C., and indirect evidence suggests that Egyptians were mining emerald as early as 1300 B.C. The name emerald comes from the greek smaragdos meaning "green stone" and probably referred, in fact,not just to emeralds but to all or many green gems. Emerald boasts a great deal of folklore. It was used as a burnt offering, a symbol of St. John, and supposedly was a poison antidote, a cure for fevers and epilepsy, eye relief (due to the exceptional color), a cure for dysentery and leprosy, a cure for ophthalmia and bleeding, a cure for stomach problems (when laid on the stomach), and a good laxative.
---------------------------------------------
RE: STARSTONE CONTROVERSY
There is, and always have been, a controversy over "starstones". Starstones are NOT birthstones. I give you here in these pages the stones that are called your starstones, (planet stones), which viberates the strongest to your planet or sign, NOT to the month that you were born. I would also like it if those who think they know precisely what their stone is to go to the library and reference some good Astrology books such as 'Parkers Astrology'. Sorry for the confusion, but confusion over this topic has raged for hundreds of years.

Aries

The Ram

March 21 to April 20

Traditional Aries Traits

Adventurous and energetic

Pioneering and courageous

Enthusiastic and confident

Dynamic and quick-witted

On the dark side

Selfish and quick-tempered

Impulsive and impatient

Foolhardy and daredevil

Aries! About Your Sign...
AriesThe spring equinox, March 21, is the beginning of the new zodiacal year and Aries, the first sign, is therefore that of new beginnings. The young ram is adventurous, ambitious, impulsive, enthusiastic and full of energy. The Arian is a pioneer both in thought and action, very open to new ideas and a lover of freedom. They welcome challenges and will not be diverted from their purpose except by their own impatience, which will surface if they don't get quick results.
Aries subjects are courageous leaders with a genuine concern for those they command, being responsible people, it is rare that they will use their subordinates to obtain their own objectives as leaders, but occasionally it does happen. They do not make very good followers because they are too "take charge". They may be unwilling to obey or submit to directions for which they can see no reason, or with which they disagree. They are much concerned with self, both positively and negatively - self-reliant but also self centered (sometimes) and concerned with their own personal advancement and physical satisfaction. Their immense energy makes them aggressive and restless, argumentative occasionally, headstrong, quick tempered, easily offended and capable of holding grudges if they feel themselves affronted.
As the first sign in the zodiac, you, as an Arian (as you are referred to), is to simply "get something started and lead the way". The Sun in this zodiac position gives your will free rein to express itself. You could be doing this in the form of some leadership role, or by forcing others to look at themselves in a new way. You can accomplish this by knowingly carrying out a deliberate act in the name of some cause that moves you. A negative effect of this sun sign is that you could sometimes unknowingly make it hard for others to relate to you, as you really are.
In your personal relationships Arians are frank, direct and candid, and make enthusiastic and generous friends. You are liable to have a high sex drive and make passionate but fastidious lovers. There is, however, a negative side to your associations with other people. You can easily be irritated by slowness or moderation in your companions and, though yourselves sensitive, ride roughshod over the sensitivities of others. The intensity of your sexual urges can drive you to promiscuity and a Don Juan-like counting of conquests of the opposite sex. It can also trick you into early unwise marriage which may end disastrously. Arians are highly devoted to their children, even to the point of laying down their own lives, so that they might live. You will not find a more defensive and loving parent in all the zodiac. It is preferable to be aware of your pioneering spirit and not disregard it. For in acknowledging it you not only enjoy life more, but you avoid being pushed around by others. Your nature is usually push or be pushed, with little middle ground. This can at times be objectionable to others, but you must have the freedom to act, rather then just thinking about it, getting pent-up in the process. At all costs you need to avoid negative emotions such as resentment, regret and self-pity, for they would deny you what is essential to your nature: straightforwardness.
Mentally Arians are intellectual and objective, but can be in rare situations bigoted and extremist in religion and politics. They are good champions of lost causes and last-ditch resistance. They are quick-witted but sometimes foolhardy and over optimistic, lacking thoroughness and the ability to evaluate difficulties in the undertakings into which they often rush impulsively. The great need of Aries natives is to exercise an iron self-control, to discipline the qualities and tendencies of their character to the advantage, not the detriment, of the society in which they move.
As an Arian, you like a challenge that will stir you to action. This challenge may just be frustration; or at a more controlled level, you may have clear direction and know what or whom you're fighting for. If your direction is not clear, then ask yourself and listen to your inner voice. You will come up with an answer. An Arian without a direction in which to go, or a without a cause to fight for, would be against your nature and make you more a "sheep" then a ram!
Arian, do not be afraid to be forceful, for this is the very core of your nature. If you feel fear in your heart, then look for a history of negative events in you personal history, such as violence or abuse from others. Being fearful may also indicate a household in childhood that negated independence and personal initiative in you. This could have inhibited your natural urge to go forward into life as the leader and champion you were born to be. Conversely, such bad influences could also have led you to be overly forceful, or to be unsympathetic to your own need and sensitivity.
You make good athletes and climbers, doctors, explorers (of new ideas as well as uncharted territory, the latter in these days including adventuring into outer space), soldiers, sailors and airmen, and leaders, though awkward subordinates, in industry and politics.
Much as you are the Ram, there is still the little lamb in you, which means that at times you would attain your goals more easily by gently giving in without resistance to the demands of a given social situation, rather than getting your horns entangled in something larger and more powerful than yourself. This is a talent akin to knowing the difference between what you can change, and what you cannot. This of course takes patience, the acquiring of which is definitely your greatest achievement, along with your sense of your own inner softness.

Possible Health Concerns...
Aries governs the head and brain, and Arians are said to be prone to headaches, particularly migraines, sunstroke, neuralgia and depression. Indigestion and nervous disorders are also threats to you, and your rashness, impetuosity and wholesale physical commitment make you liable to accidents and physical injuries.
You like extremes. Physical, emotional and mental, and benefit profoundly by experiencing them; but if your extremism goes too far beyond social acceptability, then expect to be extremely lonely.

LIKES
Action
Coming in first
Challenges
Championing Causes
Spontaneity
DISLIKES
Waiting Around
Admitting Failure
No opposition
Tyranny
Other peoples advice ;)

PROBLEMS THAT MAY ARISE FOR YOU, AND THEIR SOLUTIONS
As with all sun signs, we all have unique traits to our personalities. When these traits are suppressed, or unrealized, problems will arise. However, with astrology we can examine the problem and assess the proper solution based on the sun sign characteristics. As an Arian you may see things below that really strike home. Try the solution, you most likely will be amazed at the results. If you find yourself on the receiving end of the negatives below, it is because you are failing to express the positive.
PROBLEM: Projects that come to nothing. Partnerships full of conflict and argument.

SOLUTION: See your role as the "person with ideas" then, work on inspiring others to carry them out. Develop a higher capacity to "listen" and not speak.
PROBLEM: Lacking real coherence and direction. Failing to contemplate, only pretending to be decisive.

SOLUTION: What springs from your actions is only a reflection of your heart. Soul search and resolve some personal issues you may have buried.
PROBLEM: Being deserted by others because they cannot make you notice them and their feelings in any other way.

SOLUTION: If you truly have a point, if you don't they won't. Examine your attitude and put yourself in their shoes.
PROBLEM: Always tripping over yourself, inviting conflict and harsh treatment. Getting deflated.

SOLUTION: Learn the art of looking before you leap. Which means first finding out what it is you wish to make happen first, then act.

Your ruling planet is MARS.

Mean distance from the Sun (AU) 1.524 Sidereal period of orbit (years) 1.88 Equatorial radius (km) 3,397Polar radius (km) 3,380Body rotation period (hours) 24.62Tilt of equator to orbit (degrees) 23.98Number of observed satellites 2
Mean Radius Distance from Planet Satellites: (km) (x 1,000 km) Phobos 11 9.38 Deimos 6 23.48

Some more interesting facts about your sign:

The animal associated with you sign is this noble looking ram. The Ram first appeared in Egypt, alternating with a goose's head as the symbol of Aries; its origin is a mystery.
The color of choice for Aries is RED
Your starstone is the precious Diamond. The diamond is considered the greatest of stones, revered throughout the ages for its great beauty, and strength, and also for its powerful positive spiritual and physical influences. The diamond is said to enhance the wearer with charm and beauty. Physically it strengthens the kidneys and reproductive organs and gives protection in severe disease. The ancient Romans believed that the diamond, when worn on the left arm, next to the skin, would give the wearer bravery and daring. During the Middle Ages Queen Elizabeth I was given a diamond to ward off the plague.
---------------------------------------------
RE: STARSTONE CONTROVERSY
There is, and always have been, a controversy over "starstones". Starstones are NOT birthstones. I give you here in these pages the stones that are called your starstones, (planet stones), which viberates the strongest to your planet or sign, NOT to the month that you were born. I would also like it if those who think they know precisely what their stone is to go to the library and reference some good Astrology books such as 'Parkers Astrology'. Sorry for the confusion, but confusion over this topic has raged for hundreds of year.

The History of Squash in 8½ Chapters

James Zug is a senior writer at Squash Magazine (www.squashmagazine.com) and is the author of Squash: A History of the Game, published by Scribner in September 2003.

I - FIRST THERE WAS REAL TENNIS ...

The origins of squash are in the ancient game of real tennis. In the twelfth century in France boys and girls played ball games in the narrow streets of their villages. They slapped balls along the awnings or roofs that lined the street or into shop and door openings. Rules depended on local geography. In time these street games migrated up to cloistered monasteries. Every Lenten season young brothers strung a fishing net across the middle of their courtyards and patted a ball back and forth with their gloved hands. The balls - a patch of leather with dog hair sewn inside, later cloth stuffed with soil, sawdust, sand or moss-bruised and cut hands. Monks added webbing to the gloves and then extended their hand by picking up a stumpy stick, a branch of a tree, a shepherd's crook. At the end of the fifteenth century the Dutch invented the racquet.The game was called tennis and it became the national sport of a dozen European nations. In 1580 the Venetian ambassador to Henri III of France walked around Paris counting tennis courts: he stopped at eighteen hundred. Gambling and violence sadly became the norm (Caravaggio, the Italian painter, killed a man at a tennis court in Rome in 1606) and tennis slowly retreated to royal palaces. Lawn tennis, as played by Hewitt and the Williams sisters, was invented in 1873 in Great Britain as an outdoor version of real tennis.Tennis begat rackets. In the early eighteenth century, prisoners at the Fleet, London's notorious debtor's gaol, created an outdoor version of tennis. It was called rackets, and it involved no more than smacking a ball against one or two walls. The ball, unsqueezable, was made from wound cloth and was similar to a golf ball; the racket was a stretched tennis bat. Soon rackets spread across Great Britain and was a common pastime as workingmen played in tavern yards and alleys and schoolboys played outside their classrooms.Britons started building rackets courts, as opposed to just playing in a convenient corner. These courts were unadorned affairs, roofless, rustic, usually just one or two stone walls and a paving stone floor. Inclement weather drove players toward a court with a roof. In 1830 the Royal Artillery built the first known covered racket court at their Woolwich depot. The Marylebone Cricket Club, the home of cricket, built one in 1844 next to their tennis court at Lords, and in 1853 Prince's Club opened its historic doors with seven covered rackets courts. Rackets spread to the colonies. The first covered rackets court in Canada was put in Halifax in the seventeen-seventies; in India in 1821; Australia in 1847. In 1793 Robert Knox, a Scot, put up the first covered court in America on Allen Street, between Hester and Canal, in lower Manhattan. A few years later the Allen Street court had a nearby rival that was called, due to the predominant profession of its membership, the Butcher's Court.Accompanying rackets was another socially-lubricated ball and wall game called fives. Named for the five fingers of the hand, this ancient version of handball was more or less the game of rackets without the racket. Many men played both sports in the same court. Fives grew so popular at English public schools that the two leading forms of the game derived their standards entirely from the quirky spots on campus where the boys played. Eton fives, first played amid the mossy drainpipes outside the school chapel at Eton, had a court twenty-five feet and three inches by fourteen with many buttresses and hazards, while Rugby fives, created at Rugby School (where the sport of rugby football also was started), had an unadorned court twenty-eight feet by eighteen, with side walls that sloped towards the back wall and a two and a half foot tin on the front wall.

II THEN THERE WAS FIVES ...The combination of rackets and fives sparked the creation of squash at the Harrow School outside London. Harrow boys were addicted to rackets. The chief place to play at Harrow was in the schoolyard that surrounded Old Schools, the main school building. One special nook of the schoolyard was called "The Corner." It had two good side walls and a front wall with a buttress which dropped the ball straight down and a waterpipe that might send it anywhere. In 1850 Harrow built two open-air rackets courts. Court time was hard to get for younger boys. They had to be content to play in the tiny, stone-walled yards at their boarding houses or in village alleys. The yards and alleys, like the Corner, boasted peculiar hazards: water pipes, chimneys, ledges, doors, footscrapers, wired windows and fiendishly sloping ground. Split-second decisions and speedy hand-eye coordination were essential. Rackets, with its long, heavy bat and bullet-hard ball, was difficult for an inexperienced boy to learn in such cramped conditions. With typical English flair, the young boys at Harrow invented something new. Rubber had just come into use and Harrow boys grabbed a rubber ball, sawed off the butt of their racquets and played a slower, easier game in their house yards. This bastardised version of racquets was called "baby racquets" or "soft racquets" or "softer." (In those days the word "racquets" was spelled properly.) Baby rackets was perfect for the Harrow boys. On 20 January 1865 Harrow officially opened a new complex of rackets and fives courts.The boys loved the new rackets court (it is still in use at Harrow). The fives courts had a mixed reception. The four new Eton fives courts immediately were filled with activity, but the three new Rugby fives courts never saw any fives play. Instead, Harrow boys jumped on and played their new game of baby rackets. And this game became the game of squash.

III SQUASH SOON SPREAD

Squash soon spread. Other public schools, notably Elstree, picked it up. In 1883 the first private court was built by Vernon Harcourt, Harrow class of 1855, at his home along the Cherwell in Oxford. It was thirty-eight by twenty feet, with a tin of thirty inches. They played with a black ball, a red ball and ball with a hole in it. Other early courts ran the gamut. At Lord's, the squash court was forty-two feet by twenty-four, with a twenty-eight inch tin; at Cambridge they divided a sixty by thirty racquets court into three squash courts, each quite tiny; at the Royal Automobile Club in London there was a court that was exactly thirty-two by eighteen and a half-the size more common in America; Marlborough House, a royal residence, also had an American width until the mid-thirties; at Queen's Club, one court, built in 1905 and dubbed "the Long Court," was thirty-five by eighteen. In the 1920s the Bath Club in London became the nursery for squash in England. Lord Desborough built a beautiful court that was noted for its outstanding lighting and launched the Bath Club Cup, a squash league for London clubs. League squash greatly increased enthusiasm for the fledgling sport, and squash in Great Britain owed its success in large part to the Bath Cup competitions of the twenties.Administratively, squash had a slow start in Great Britain. In April 1907 the Tennis, Rackets & Fives Association was founded at Queen's and a squash sub-committee was formed. In 1912 this sub-committee issued a preliminary set of rules. Court length and width was considered a matter of local opinion. Cement or stone were preferred to wood for the materials of the court. Two types of balls were the best: "What is required is a fast ball, that bounces well but not too high, and does not fly about: a very small hard solid ball or a medium-size thin rubber hollow ball, without a hole." As far as the rules of play were concerned, the sub-committee recommended flexibility. Serving could be either one serve or two, courts could have a cut line on the front wall or not and most delightfully, the man returning could have the right of "refusing a service he does not like". The sub-committee had no power to enforce its recommendations and another eleven years passed without any official standards. In January 1923 the Royal Automobile Club hosted a meeting of delegates from English clubs where squash was played and formed a "Squash Rackets Representative Committee." The committee chose the slowest of the half dozen different kinds of balls then in vogue as the standard ball and declared the Bath Club court, thirty two by twenty-one feet, as the standard for English squash. In December 1928 the Squash Rackets Association was formed to run squash in Great Britain.The SRA immediately began slowing the ball down further. While the Bath courts served as the model for English squash, the Bath ball, as large and fast as an American ball, was deemed far too large and fast for English sensibilities. The officials chose the most inert ball available and then in a series of incremental changes, reduced it even more. Between 1930 and 1934 the association cut the standard ball's speed almost by half.

IV GREAT BRITAIN

By the time Great Britain formally codified their squash standards in 1923, squash in America had been played under a different standard for two decades. The first squash court in North America appeared at St. Paul's School in New Hampshire in 1884. Jay Conover, an avid rackets player, had attended Columbia University in New York with Hyde Clark, a graduate of Harrow, and Clark had told Conover about an enjoyable adaptation of rackets that was popular at his alma mater. Conover's four squash courts, built outside a building with two rackets courts, were open to the air. Any pupil who annually paid one dollar could use them. In 1900 Alfred Ellis, a Englishman who was the rackets professional at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia, put in a squash court at his club. Built entirely of wood, it was perched high in the rafters of the half story in the three and one-half story clubhouse. It measured thirty-one feet by seventeen and a half. In 1902, Jimmy Potter, a St. Paul's graduate and president of the club, made a dramatic decision to divide up the south rackets courts into three squash courts. Each court measured thirty-one and a half feet by seventeen and a half and were made of cement, except for a wooden front wall. The total cost was $1,500.Within months squash dispersed around Philadelphia. Racquet Club members built squash courts at their homes. In 1903 Merion Cricket Club started playing squash on their three courts. Two city cricket clubs, Philadelphia Cricket in Chestnut Hill and Germantown Cricket in Manheim, erected courts at the same time. In 1903 the Racquet Club offered a cup for the winner of an six-club team competition. The league was so successful that the Racquet Club sponsored a "Pennsylvania State Championship." In 1904 the leaders of the inter-club league, meeting at the Racquet Club, founded the United States Squash Racquets Association, the first national squash body in the world.The USSRA immediately set the standard squash court measurements at thirty-one and a half feet by sixteen feet three inches, with a twenty-four inch tin. Scoring was originally first-to-fifteen, hand-in, hand-out, like rackets and best two of three games. "Eternal watchfulness is the price of success in squash," wrote Frederick R. Toombs in a 1904 book on squash published in New York. "Cultivate variety in your style of play. You will thus keep your opponent in an uncertain frame of mind. Mix the strong and weak strokes, according to your adversary's position. Let the side walls and back wall do their share of the work, and at times you will find a well-placed cut stroke just the feature needed to win the rally. Learn that poetry of motion may be expressed by the squash stroke." In 1907 the USSRA ran its first men's national championship In 1911 the USSRA changed the scoring rules to best three out of five, and one could score a point whether serving or not. This rule was adopted by the British until in 1926 when they switched to a nine point, hand-in, hand-out system. In 1920 the USSRA changed its standard to thirty-two feet by eighteen and one-half.

V AROUND THE WORLD

Around the world squash appeared in a tremendous variety of guises. The first bonafide court in Canada was built in 1904 at the St. John's Tennis Club in Newfoundland. Sir Leonard Outerbridge, whose two brothers were on the club's building committee, sent the proper dimensions from Marlborough College in England where he was studying. The dimensions were, again, of a fives court, with no back wall. In 1911 three clubs, the Montreal Racquet Club, the Toronto Racquet Club and the Hamilton Squash Racquets Club, formed the Canadian Squash Racquets Association. It soon standardized a thirty-four by nineteen court (with a twenty-two inch tin). In 1921 the CSRA made formal application to the USSRA for affiliation and a year later switched to the American standards. In 1906 the Johannesburg Country Club built an open-air court that was wider than the American size. In 1910 South Africa created a national association and eventually, because of significant heat and altitude in many parts of the country, standardized a wide court and slow ball. The Sudan Club in Khartoum had six courts, all unroofed. Government House in Dar es Salaam boasted a fine, open-air court, with a stone floor. The St. James's Barracks in Port of Spain, Trinidad had one open-air, concrete-floored court that was American-sized in width. In Kenya the Nairobi Club had two English standard courts made from knotless cedar, but the Muthiaga Club nearby had stone floors and an American width.In Stockholm the first courts were made with walls of powdered marble. New Zealand played in an English court with an American ball, a combination that was not resolved until the thirties. In France the first courts were at the famous court tennis club Societe Sportive du Jeu de Paume, where in the late nineteen-twenties Pierre Etchebaster turned a rackets court into four tiny squash courts, each with a cement floor. In 1930 Siemens, the electronics company, built four courts at its factory in Berlin.In 1913 a rackets court at the Melbourne Club was split into two squash courts. In the early 1920s Mr. Bjelke-Petersen, later a uncle of the premier of Queensland, Sir Joe Bjelke-Petersen, built a court in New South Wales. In 1927 the Royal Melbourne Tennis Club built a court that was nearly as big as a rackets court. It was not until 1931 that an Australian championship was inaugurated, and Australia officially went with the English size. In 1934 the Squash Rackets Association of Australia was formed and three years later both Victoria and New South Wales formed their own provincial associations.

VI INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION COMMENCES

Squash reached a tipping point in the twenties. No longer an obscure pastime for schoolboys, it had national championships and league play and standard rules. International play started in 1922 when the Lapham Cup was first contested between the U.S. and Canada. The Lapham is a fifteen-man amateur competition. In 1924 England sent a team to the third Lapham Cup in Philadelphia, inaugurating intercontinental play. Timmy Roberts, a forty-six year-old Army captain, won both the U.S. and Canadian nationals while on tour that year.A dramatic rise in popularity came after the Second World War. In particular, Australia, in the midst of a boom of commercial squash clubs, started an Antipodal renaissance. In the early 1960s Australian men won every international match in two tours of England, and in London in 1964 Australian women beat Great Britain in their first international match. In January 1967 representatives from seven nations (Australia, Great Britain, Egypt, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa) met in London and formed the International Squash Rackets Federation. Later that year Australia hosted the first ISRF men's championships. In 1969 the U.S. and Canada were admitted, despite the different standard of play in North America. Five nations came to the world championships in South Africa in 1973; ten to England in 1975 and fourteen to Australia in 1979. In 1980 the ISRF opened their championships to professionals. In 1980 Sweden hosted the first world junior championships. In 1985 the Women's International Squash Federation, which was founded in 1976 and had held four world championships, merged into the ISRF. In 1992 the ISRF changed its name to the World Squash Federation.The WSF was integral to the acceptance of squash as a medal sport in the Commonwealth Games, where it was first played in 1998, as well as the Pan-American Games, where it was first played in 1995, the Asian Games and the All Africa Games. Today the WSF has one hundred and nineteen member nations and is recognized as the governing body for the sport by the International Olympic Committee. The WSF is responsible for the rules of the game, refereeing and coaching standards and specifications for courts and equipment. In addition, the WSF maintains a calendar of world championship events for men, women, juniors and masters players in both singles and doubles. As a major force behind the development and growth of squash, the WSF is at the forefront of the many exciting aspects of the game today and tomorrow. Jahangir Khan, the ten-time British Open champion and six-time World Open champion, is president and Ted Wallbutton is the executive director.

VII THE RISE OF THE PROFESSIONAL GAME

Professionalism has always been the public tip of the squash iceberg. It began in 1904 when the first bonafide professional tournament in the world was held at the Huntingdon Valley Country Club outside Philadelphia. There were six entries, and Alfred Ellis beat John Friel 3-1 in the final. In 1914 Jock Soutar, the world champion in rackets, won a pro round-robin in Montreal. Two years later the USSRA crowned him professional champion of America after he beat Bill Ganley two matches to one in a three-leg, two-city contest. Soutar won $1,000. Ganley won nothing. Four years later Soutar defended his title against Otto Glockler. In 1925 Soutar stepped down from his throne. In 1928 a group of American teaching pros formed the United States Professional Squash Racquets Association. In 1930 the USPSRA organized its first national tournament, held in Boston. Pro squash received a boost in 1954 when the U.S. Open was started in New York. In 1966 it amalgamated with a newer Canadian Open to form the North American Open.In 1978 the professional hardball association was renamed the World Professional Squash Association. In the 1980s the WPSA had a continent-wide pro tour that reached more than half a million dollars in prize money and visited more than thirty cities. Americans like Mark Talbott and Ned Edwards, Canadians like Michael Desaulniers and Clive Caldwell, Mexicans like Marion Sanchez and the perennial squash giant Pakistani-born, Toronto-based Sharif Khan dominated the tour. Pro squash started England in 1907. Charles Read, the Queen's pro, beat C. Bannister, the Bath pro, at the Bath Club 15-5, 15-13 and defended his title as English champion three more times until 1928.In 1930 that the British Open was started and professionals had a more formal stage to present their wares. But it was an amateur, Amr Bey from Egypt, who dominated the early British Opens, winning five and earning another when no one challenged him. After Bey came his compatriot Mahmoud Kerim, the only player to win the British Open when it was both a two-man challenge tournament and a regular open draw. In 1951 Hashim Khan, a thirty-seven year-old Pakistani, came to Great Britain and destroyed Kerim in the finals, 9-5, 9-0, 9-0. Hashim, his brother Azam, cousin Roshan and nephew Mohibullah won twelve Opens in a row.Jonah Barrington, a six-time British Open champion and the first man since Amr Bey to win both the Open and the British amateur championships, was the first pro to cut himself off from the clubs and earn his entire living from tournaments, exhibitions and clinics. In 1970 he organized a five-man barnstorming tour of Asia that led to the formation of the International Squash Professionals Association in 1973 and the gradual creation of a viable pro tour. The ISPA launched a World Open championship in 1976. Heather McKay and Geoff Hunt, two legendary Australians, won their draws. McKay was famous for not losing a squash match for eighteen straight years, and Hunt, a seven-time British Open champion, was renowned for his amazing physical and mental endurance. Other dominant pros were Australians like Ken Hiscoe, Dean Williams, Rodney and Brett Martin and Chris Dittmar, New Zealand's Ross Norman and Englishmen like Gawain Briars, now Executive Director of the PSA, and Phil Kenyon. No doubt though, the most exciting group of players came from Pakistan. Following in the footsteps of Hashim Khan were such giants as Hiddy Jahan, Gogi Alauddin and Qamar Zaman (who won the 1975 British Open), and the 1980s were dominated by Jahangir Khan and the 1990s by Jansher Khan. Both Jahangir and Jansher have equal merit in any discussion of the greatest player ever.In 1993 the WPSA and the ISPA merged to form the Professional Squash Association. In 2002 the PSA held more than fifty events with a total prize money of nearly $2 million. The tour visits its usual spots in Europe, Asia and North America, but it also holds major events in exciting locales around South America, Africa and Dubai and Qatar in the Middle East. Pro women's squash originated with the American Women's Squash Association, founded in the mid-1970s. In 1985 the Women's International Squash Professional Association came into being and built up a viable circuit. The top early players were Susan Devoy of New Zealand and Vicki Hoffman of Australia; Devoy won eight British Opens. In the 1990s Michelle Martin of Australia won six British Opens in a row. In 2002 WISPA has a $750,000 tour on all six continents.

VIII SQUASH DOUBLES

Doubles began at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia in 1907 when Fred Tompkins, the tennis and rackets pro at the club, erected a forty-five feet by twenty-five court. In the 1930s dozens of clubs across America built courts and an amateur circuit of tournaments sprung up everywhere from St. Louis to Chicago to Denver to Toronto. In 1933 the U.S. squash association started a men's and women's national championship. Pro doubles started with the founding of the Heights Casino Open in 1938 in Brooklyn, New York, but it was not until the WPSA tour began in the late 1970s that it took off. In the 1980s the pro doubles circuit included six or eight events with a prize money of around $100,000; in the 1990s this increased to ten or twelve events and $150,000.In 2000 the tour's players formed the International Squash Doubles Association. In 2001 the Kellner Cup in New York had a prize money purse of $100,000. In 2002-03 there were twenty ISDA tournaments with a total prize money of $700,000, including the $130,000 Briggs Cup in Rye, New York. Today there are a hundred and twenty-five proper hardball doubles courts in North America. There is one in Tijuana, Mexico and three in Asia at the Royal Bangkok Sports Club in Thailand, the Tanglin Club in Singapore and the Raintree Club in Kuala Lumpur. In 1935 three courts were laid out following USSRA specifications at the St. John's Wood Squash Club, Prince's Club and Ladies' Carlton Club in London and the Edinburgh Sports Club in Scotland. Starting in 1937 the Squash Rackets Association held national doubles tournaments for both amateurs and professionals and England played Scotland in an annual Test match in doubles. The Second World War led to the destruction of the St. John's Wood and Ladies Carlton courts and Prince's closed, but Edinburgh still maintains its hardball doubles court.Today softball doubles is the norm outside North America. In 1988 the Royal Automobile Club constructed two softball doubles courts at their Woodcote Park clubhouse outside London. The courts were thirty-two feet by twenty-five, which was proclaimed the standard softball doubles width. With sliding wall technology made common by the German-based court building company ASB, the inchoate game appeared around the world. In 1997 the first World Softball Doubles Championships were held in Hong Kong. The biggest showcase was the Commonwealth Games. At both Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and Manchester in 2002, men's, women's and mixed doubles were medal events.VIII THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT ...The future of squash has never been brighter. Technology has forever shattered the inherent limitations of this racquet, ball and wall game. Racquets are much lighter and stronger today, making the game more exciting. The ball is now consistent throughout the world. Canada adopted softball standards in the late 1970s and the U.S. and Mexico changed in the early 1990s. The all-glass portable court came into existence in the early 1980s. This greatly expanded gallery size for pro events which helped fuel more sponsorship. Television also became a reality with the glass walls. Because of portable courts, squash tournaments have been staged in stunning locations: in Grand Central Terminal, New York's famous train station; in Canary Wharf, London's flashy shopping center; in Royal Albert Hall; at Symphony Hall, the landmark auditorium in Boston; and most famously at the base of the Pyramids at Giza outside Cairo. These high-profile events are the leading edge of the twenty-first century squash juggernaut. The game is global. A company from Washington, D.C. is building courts in St. Petersburg. Most balls were made in Barnsley, Great Britain until the early 2000s when production was moved to the Philippines. Racquets are sold from Denver and London. Germany has gone from a dozen courts in 1973 to six thousand and boasts two million active players. More than twenty nations have players ranked in the top one hundred in the men's world rankings.In not quite one hundred and forty years squash has gone from a schoolboy pastime to the most exhilarating, exhausting and explosive game in the world.

Golf

A Brief History of Golf

How the Game Evolved
There is general agreement that the Scots were the earliest of golf addicts but who actually invented the game is open to debate. We know that golf has existed for at least 500 years because James II of Scotland, in an Act of Parliament dated March 6, 1457, had golf and football banned because these sports were interfering too much with archery practice sorely needed by the loyal defenders of the Scottish realm! It has been suggested that bored shepherds tending flocks of sheep near St. Andrews became adept at hitting rounded stones into rabbits holes with their wooden crooks. And so a legend that persists to this day was born!
Various forms of games resembling golf were played as early as the fourteenth century by sportsmen in Holland, Belgium and France as well as in Scotland. But it was a keen Scottish Baron, James VI, who brought the game to England when he succeeded to the English throne in 1603. For many years the game was played on rough terrain without proper greens, just crude holes cut into the ground where the surface was reasonably flat!

Early Golf Organizations
Early golfers played at the game for many years without any thought of forming a society or club until finally a group of Edinburgh golfers in 1744 formed a club called the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. At this time, the first rules of golf, 13 in all, were drawn up for an annual competition between sportsmen from any part of Great Britain and Ireland. A few years later the Society of St. Andrews Golfers was formed and in 1834, when King William IV became the Society's patron, the title was changed to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.
The earliest clubs formed outside of Scotland was the Royal Blackheath Golf Club of England which came into existence in 1766, followed by the Old Manchester Golf Club founded on the Kersal Moor in 1818. 18th century golf in the United States, while known to exist, did not catch on and it was in Canada that golf first established firm roots in North America. The Royal Montreal Club was formed in 1873, the Quebec Golf Club in 1875 followed by a golf club at Toronto in 1876. It wasn't until 1888 that golf resurfaced in the United States. A Scotsman, John Reid, first built a three hole course in Yonkers, New York near his home and later that same year formed the St. Andrews Club of Yonkers on a nearby 30 acre site. From those austere beginnings, golf literally soared as a new national pastime in the United States. A modern jewel, Shinnecock Hills, was founded in 1891 on Long Island and by the turn of the century, more than 1000 golf clubs had opened in North America.

Early Equipment
The very earliest club makers were thought to be the skilled craftsmen who produced bows and arrows and other implements of war! The first authentic record of a club maker was in 1603 when William Mayne was appointed to the court of James I of England to make golf clubs for the king and his coherts! Two Scottish club makers are recognized from the late 1600s, Andrew Dickson of Leith and Henry Mill of St. Andrews. These clubs featured carved wooden heads of beech, holly, dogwood, pear or apple and spliced into shafts of ash or hazel to give the club more whip. Improvements were made by filling the back of the head with lead and by putting inserts of leather, horn or bone into the club face. In time, skilled blacksmiths of the day took on the challenge of forging iron faced clubs, initially without grooves, to provide more loft for shorter shots. The earliest balls were hand stitched leather, painstakingly stuffed with boiled feathers! In 1618, James I of England commissioned James Melvill and an associate to make feathery balls for the court. It was an exclusive grant for 21 years with the balls stamped by Melvill and any other ball found in the Kingdom not bearing his trademark were confiscated! You may well be surprised at the distances achieved by these feathery balls. In dry weather, a well struck feather ball could travel 180 yards (165 m) but when wet only about 150 yards (135 m). However, the feathery ball remained king until the middle of the 19th century. In 1848, a golfing clergyman from St. Andrews, the Reverend Adam Paterson, experimented with a substance from India called gutta-percha. It had been sent to him as padding covering a gift and he found that the material could be softened with heat and then molded into a hard ball. The gutty as it was known was not an instant success as the smooth ball tended to duck in flight. Players soon found that its performance improved at the end of a round when the ball received some nicks and scratches. Therefore, newly molded balls were scored all over with a saddler's hammer with such good playing results that the demise of the feathery was certain.
The gutta-percha ball lasted for approximately 55 years until succeeded by the Haskell ball in 1903. An American dentist, Dr. Coburn Haskell, ran some experiments by tightly wrapping a liquid filled rubber core with strips of elastic then covering it with a gutta-percha casing. North American golfers began to take the new ball seriously when Walter Travis, originally from Australia, won the 1901 United States Amateur Championship using the Haskell ball. When Alex Herd won the 1902 British Open Championship again using the Haskell ball, golfers everywhere dropped the gutty and clamoured for the Haskell!

Modern balls have a more durable cover of balata or surlyn and various solid core balls with new synthetics have become popular. As well, we have seen the art of club making go from the original wooden clubs, to forged irons, then steel shafts and finally all manner of metal heads with many types of synthetic shafts. Technology has done wonders for the average golfer but practice, dedication and raw talent still remain a factor as witnessed by Greg Norman's amazing 63 at Augusta on April 11, 1996, during the first round of the US Masters Championship.

THE ORIGINS OF THE GAME
Throughout recorded history, every civilisation has played a game with a club and a ball. Pangea for example, as described by Roman scribes, would appear to be the father both of modern hockey and the Celtic games of Shinty and Hurling.
In one form or another, the variant games of present day golf were clearly enjoyed throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. The game persisted over the centuries and the form that it took and rules that were applied varied as widely as the terrain the game was played over. In short, the game consisted of knocking a ball from one pre-designated place to another where the ball was to be struck off a predetermined object in the least number of blows. Games often extended from village to village.
That this game was ousted from the towns and onto the commons land beyond is one possible solution to the question of how it all began. Whatever the exact origins, it is known that by the 15th century, "kolf" as it was known in the Netherlands and "goff" as it was referred to in England, was a pastime enjoyed by Kings and Commoners alike. It's kinship to the Great Game however, remains entirely questionable.
So widespread was the game of "Gowf", as it was known in Scotland, that an Act of Parliament was passed to prevent the playing of the game on Sundays and thus preserve the skills of Archery. The citizens of Aberdeen, St. Andrews and Leith on Scotland's East Coast were the principal "gowfing" miscreants and it was no coincidence that rolling sandy links land was commonplace here. On this very terrain, a game that started with a cleek and a ball took on a form that started an evolutionary process that continues to this day.
The question of how it all began may be of pressing concern to some but to the Scot, it is sufficient to know that the game was born on the links land of eastern Scotland. Here, the game has been nurtured for over five hundred years and from here, it has been raised to the great game played and loved by millions throughout the world.