Dear Friend and Reader:

Earlier this week, we experienced the first Libra equinox with Pluto in Capricorn: Sun square Pluto in the cardinal signs. This is the most recent of many firsts associated with this still-new Pluto transit. In a few weeks Saturn will enter Libra and we’ll experience another major event: Saturn in Libra square Pluto, one of the true stand-out sluggers in the vast aspect repertoire of astrology. If you want to understand the astrology, check out the news: a global climate summit in New York, the G20 erupting into massive protest and certifiably creepy police response, wildfires and floods and the weather going mad — what’s a girl to do?

Not Burning Man. The worst dust storm in decades swept across Eastern Australia on Wednesday, blanketing Sydney and snarling transport as freak conditions also brought earthquakes, giant hailstones and even a tornado. Photo: The Standard.

All of this is associated with the Aries Point — the potent first degree of the zodiac — because the planets involved are poised in the first degrees of the cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn). That puts them right near the Sun (i.e., conjunct, square or opposite) any time there is a change of seasons; for quite a while, these seasonal turning points will seem bigger than usual, and as they are today, come with concentrations of wide-reaching news that actually matters to us as individuals or feels like it should. For a while, every season will feel like another year; and with each passing season the news becomes more personal.

Even as President Obama was addressing the United Nations climate change summit, the cover of CNN included news of a drowning mother caught in a Georgia flood; wildfires that raged in California and a state of emergency was declared; Sydney, Australia, was swarmed with a dust storm that made it look like a Martian landscape; and Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s medical correspondent, caught H1N1.

At the UN, Obama also raised an issue we haven’t heard about in a decade: nuclear nonproliferation. He warned that, having evaded disaster in the Cold War, we now face the threat of regional nuclear arms races (India versus Pakistan; Israel versus Iran) and “loose nukes,” of which there are many as a result of the decomposition of the USSR. [Text, video of Obama’s presentation at this link]

“No longer do we have the luxury of indulging our differences to the exclusion of the work that we must do together,” he said, which gave me an instant aha as I saw him say the words: exploiting differences and conflicts is a way to avoid the important work that we as humanity have to do. This is the game of stopping the conversation about health care reform by accusing someone of being a socialist; on one level, all of our red herring arguments amount to the admission of being too lazy to do anything, or too invested in another values system but not willing to admit it outwardly.

Unsuspecting New Yorker reads the cover of the fake New York Post outside Grand Central Station, which announces: We’re screwed. Photo by Eric Francis / Planet Waves.

When I got back from the city Monday night, I stopped in at a local bar to deliver some copies of the fake New York Post that went out that day, created by the Yes Men. This is the edition designed to focus the conversation of climate change on real issues. The bartender said she wished she could do something about climate change, but she had to work three jobs. I asked her why she had to do that, and she said, to pay her mortgage and also that she liked to go shopping and take expensive vacations. Let’s see: carbon footprint 101.

Often, getting involved is not a luxury. It just kinda happens to a person. As David Byrne said, the world crashes into your living room. Or you feel a calling; an assignment or calling chooses you and all the excuses (lack of time, lack of motivation, etc.) vanish.

As powerful planets gather around the Aries Point, we’ll experience things that cramp our particular let’s call it “middle class” style, disrupt the usual patterns of our lives or call us into action: maybe all three at once. There are also social movements coming, more sophisticated cooperatives (fuel, food, medical), new kinds of housing arrangements that will consist of small, focused communities more efficient than the current choices, and if we can say nothing else, options will be opening up. In work, technology, rrelationships, child rearing and family structure. Dust off your old copies of the Whole Earth Review — we will need them.

Said astrologically, we will be and in fact currently are witnessing and experiencing many consequences of powerful planets coming into focus with the Aries Point. The star of the show will be the revolutionary planet Uranus entering Aries next spring, making a T-square with Saturn and Pluto. By early next summer, the aspects involve a conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus in the first degree of Aries, which always — always — brings an exciting year of progress. Let’s tag this the cardinal sign T-square, so that it has a name. A T-square involves planets at three points of a cross; the sign supposedly missing is Cancer, but there is in fact something there, an odd point called Kronos (another conversation, truly, but it involves authority and taking authority). Uranus and Pluto will remain in a square through around 2016, making seven exact contacts and representing a sequence of events that, simply put, rock the world.

Yes Men Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum pose in their “Yes Men faces” for a photo-op outside the UN. They orchestrated the creation and distribution of 100,000 copies of a counterfeit “New York Post” warning about the effects of climate change, as scores of heads of state and environmental ministers arrived in town. Photo by Eric Francis / Planet Waves.

And we are getting a taste of those vibes right now. (Of potential interest, I’ve so far neglected to mention that Uranus in Pisces and Saturn in Virgo are both square the Galactic Center in Sagittarius. I did a lot with Pluto conjunct the GC in ’05 thru ’07 but noticed the current aspects to the Galactic Core about a thousand times after I saw them with my eyes.)

Add it all up and you’ve got a before-and-after scenario where it’s one kind of world now and it will be another kind of world when these aspects start to pass us by. I’ve said before that this is astrology that makes the Sixties look like a walk in the park. Why, exactly? When the same three planets lined up around 1966-67, causing all kinds of uproars, they were in the mellow, slow-acting mutable signs Virgo and Pisces. When they align continuously along the run-up to 2012 and beyond, they will be in fast-acting, high-impact cardinal signs, closely aligned with the Aries Point.

This setup seems to be located a few seasons into the future, but in truth we are experiencing the dynamic now and have been for well over a year. Human consciousness takes a while to figure out what’s already been going on for a while.

The effect of anything aspecting the first degree of the zodiac is to turn big things personal; world events are arriving with the reality of having direct impact on our lives.

Most New Yoprkers just seemed puzzled when they read the cover of a New York Post which mysteriously had a conversion experience and was taking up environmental issues rather than celebrity gossip. Photo by Eric Francis.

To wit, a major climate change summit at the United Nations, in preparation for the main event in Denmark that will occur around the time of the first Saturn-Pluto square. Anyone who thinks this is just another meeting of world leaders has not read enough science fiction. This is occurring concurrently with a meeting of the G20 in Pittsburgh, where the leaders of the world’s major economic powers will be grappling with many of the same issues. The G20 protests exploded into protests the like of which we have not seen since Seattle in 1999, including some very dark conduct by law enforcement.

Human consciousness has another problem: we tend to separate cause and effect. We believe in effects without a cause and we think that all this stuff we’re doing is never going to have a result or consequence of any kind; and most of us are pretty certain we’re ineffective.

Yet in our moment, we have the ability to influence the future in a way that has never happened in recorded history; or as the case may be, to abdicate our potential to make the future better for our children and for many generations to come. That is, as long as we’re not too busy paying for vacations.

My pre-equinox day spent on the move with the Yes Men (Monday from 4 am, starting at the Empire State Building, well into the afternoon) was incredible fun, good for journalism and introduced me to the climate change issue in a new way. The question some people may be asking is, is this kind of thing useful? Or is it just fun and games? Well, estimating that two or three people read each of those precious copies of the fake Post, I would say that now an extra quarter million people — some of them in actual positions of power — now have new information. Many, many people on the ground have new information. Lots of folks got involved and spent the day making a difference, and having fun (the two work well together).

Outside Grand Central Station, Ana White, a former fashion model, declares herself an oil painter in a one woman-protest. This is not indicated in her sandwich sign; she would explain the “I’m an artist” part if you talked to her. Photo by Eric Francis / Planet Waves.

When we think that something is ineffective, or if we don’t want to get involved (or are scared to get involved), it’s likely that the issues are internal; that is to say, personal emotional or psychological hooks. The growth piece is, for example, learning how not to tell yourself that you’re ineffective, but rather, committing to learning how to be effective (and cheerleading your own accomplishments). It’s about creating relationships that support your values, rather than undermine them. If you find yourself telling yourself “you can’t fight City Hall” there is something here about your worldview and your relationship to your parents; and exploring that is the growth piece — the personal empowerment piece — of participating in your community.

Of course, once you do get involved, you’ll get a tour of the human personality and its tendency to make its own affairs as political as possible. It’s wise to avoid organizations and causes that politicize themselves, internally, but then we always have the challenge of learning how to work with one another in a productive way. There is the challenge of learning how to be an individual in any kind of collective environment.

One thing I love about the Yes Men is that they come from a tradition of theater and art. They’re the jesters, telling the truth. Their leadership and the respect they receive are based on their talent, commitment and the strength of their human bond. Their whole scene was groovy in the way that they focus on having fun and never missing a good laugh; and they’re spontaneous in addition to being extremely organized. People they invited to distribute the fake New York Post had no idea what they were getting involved with until turning out to the Empire State Building at 4 am Monday — that is trust. They drew the sweetest, most easygoing bunch of New Yorkers you can imagine.

Their classy approach included black, screen-printed New York Post satchels for utility and the perfect prop. The Yes Men were able to do what few other protesters are able to accomplish: get a coherent message into the hands of the people in power (at least some of them) and also out to the public, then have the whole thing picked up by the media in a way that repeated the correct message: we have to pay attention to climate change, and do what we can about it.

Mom-daughter team at the Empire State Building, 4:30 am Monday, ready to give out copies of the climate-change edition of “the New York Post.” Photo by Eric Francis / Planet Waves.

Activism (I prefer to think of it more descriptively as participation) involves social networks and also self-directed individuals who collaborate. Here, we’re into Aquarius territory. There has been plenty of planetary activity in this sign peaking this year (and continuing into next year), concentrated on Chiron’s and Neptune’s long journeys through it. Chiron’s presence, in particular, is challenging us to wake up and function as an individual with and within a collective.

While there are conflicting viewpoints on whether we’re in the Age of Aquarius yet, there’s one property of the times we’re experiencing that distinctly has that quality: we get into patterns that it’s very difficult to get out of. As the Aquarian Age persists, this will become more palpable; and the sooner we get out of our negative patterns, the better.

They seem to be about routine, obligation and responsibility, but in truth they are mental patterns: ideas, concepts and habits of thought that can leave us with the feeling that we can never change — until something comes along and forces us to adapt. I really and truly wonder: how many people who got laid off recently wanted to get a new job and kept telling themselves that?

The change we are going through, and about to go through, may not be convenient, but regardless, it’s upon us, calling on us to get involved rather than to get a job.

Yours & truly,

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

We live in funny times. No, I’m being serious (wocka wocka!) If we weren’t so absorbed with the need to make sense out of all the garble and nonsense, draw some conclusion about this surrealistic void-space in our transition from one era to another, we might be able to relax and find a few laughs. Lord knows we need some; the shifts and stressors of this period have the ability to create us as brittle, vulnerable and humorless. That is, of course, a choice and we’re seeing a number of citizens make it. Bummer, as we used to say; and not part of any productive solution to our challenges.

Laughter Tablet. Photo: My Pinoy Humor Blog.

I’m not so sure we are capable of making sense out of everything in this moment, anyhow; some of it is absurd to the point of brain-freeze, and not nearly as tasty. It takes an increasingly light touch to get through the day and a suspension of the myriad judgments we used to make when we thought we knew what we were about. I’m not suggesting that we let go of that thread of rationality that binds us all in common purpose; I’m proposing that those of us who have already taken the lay-line of this new landscape stop agonizing over the map and have a bit of confidence that we’re on the right track. Shift is sweeping us all along, the astrology is opening doors to vaster consciousness and the collective spiritual intention has put all of humankind on a remarkable journey; those of us who will come out on the other side of the tunnel with a smile on our face are those who cultivate one now. Indeed, our choice of optimism, hope and humor is our protection and safety net.

Do you need something to tickle your funny bone? I’ve heard it said, and rightly, that laughter is an orgasm triggered by the intercourse of sense and nonsense. As the world is lush with nonsense at the moment — what can be said of a political climate that has prompted many news articles to come with this disclaimer: this is NOT an Onion article — it shouldn’t be difficult to spot an opportunity to lighten up. For whimsy, how about Pee-Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) showing up on Jay Leno’s new nightly spot to show off his Abstinence Ring? For cutesy, take a peek at this collection of Green commercials. For farce, consider the oh-so-serious lecture given by an aide to Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn at the recent Values Voter Summit, that proclaimed Playboy magazine a recruitment aid for homosexuality. For satire, the faux-ad done by Will Ferrell and others — Hollywood speaks out to help insurance companies — has been picked up by MoveOn and spread around the nation. This last proves the wisdom of Francoise Sagan’s notion that, “One can never speak enough of the virtues, the dangers, the power of shared laughter.”

Coming Up in Daily Astrology and Adventure

There was a time when an event like the G20 economic summit would stir the interest of a comparatively small group of die-hards: Policy wonks, finance majors, journalists working the international relations beat, and maybe a handful of protestors from fringe groups leery of a single world government.

Students marched past a coffee shop in Pittsburgh on Wednesday ahead of the G20 economic summit meeting. Photo by Gerald Herbert / AP.

Well, the G20 summit is being held in Pittsburgh right now, and things are a little more … lively. With protestors of all stripes converging on this Pennsylvania steel town, the city and federal government expected to spend $19 million on security during the conference, which started Thursday and ends today.

Expect similar scenes at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, from Dec. 7-18 of this year. Many groups are expected to arrive and protest the deliberations there — even some that support reduction in carbon emissions but think government and energy companies are hindering progress.

What’s changed, that these once-esoteric events have become hotspots for mass protests? Our awareness, that’s what. With information becoming more and more easily available all over the world, thanks especially to the Internet and the 24-hour news cycle, more people are aware of what is being dealt with at these conferences. And that means more minds are pondering the significance of every detail of those negotiations, and their consequences.

Some might decry this trend of protest-ization of virtually every international issue or conference. Do the images we see on television and in newspapers — often depicting opposing groups of protestors struggling over barriers, waving signs and screaming insults at each other — cloud the bigger message of these meetings: That these governments, however imperfect, are at least coming to the table to discuss the pressing issues of the day?

Truly, it’s hard to say. But one thing can certainly be taken away from this trend: More people, in more places, are aware of how even the most technical elements of international relations can impact the lives of individuals. And that awareness has also resulted in movements like microfinance, increased education of women, protecting rain forests and overstressed fish populations, and many more. People around the world have grasped the big picture, in other words, and in the long run that’s most likely going to wind up good for the planet and its inhabitants.

That would be Saturn, the majestic sixth planet of our Solar System, whose rings have fascinated stargazers for centuries. Thanks to NASA’s Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, in orbit around the gas giant for five years now, it is possible to appreciate those colossal rings in a whole new light.

Of the countless equinoxes Saturn has seen since the birth of the solar system, this one, captured here in a mosaic of light and dark, is the first witnessed up close by an emissary from Earth … none other than our faithful robotic explorer, Cassini. Image credit: NASA.

The magnificent photos that NASA recently released provide the best view yet of Saturn’s rings, which is perhaps best viewed in this slideshow. But it wasn’t just spectacular photography that was reaped from this mission — scientists also picked up new information about the rings, themselves.

That’s because in August, Saturn reached its equinox, which happens twice during its 29.7-year orbit, just as it does during an Earth year. With the rings lit directly edge-on, the images taken by Cassini revealed that they are not as uniformly flat as previously expected; instead, they appear corrugated, like a tin roof.

Furthermore, scientists noted that there are some “bumps” along certain rings that cast long shadows over their neighbors when illuminated by the equatorial sun. If “bumps” is the right word for something that would have to be as tall as the Rocky Mountains, by NASA’s estimates.

“The biggest surprise was to see so many places of vertical relief above and below the otherwise paper-thin rings,” Linda Spilker, deputy project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a news release on the JPL.gov website. “To understand what we are seeing will take more time, but the images and data will help develop a more complete understanding of how old the rings might be and how they are evolving.”

Added Carolyn Porco, a Cassini imaging team leader at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado: “We thought the plane of the rings was no taller than two stories of a modern-day building and instead we’ve come across walls more than 2 miles [3 kilometers] high. Isn’t that the most outrageous thing you could imagine? It truly is like something out of science fiction.”

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Weekly Horoscope for Friday, September 25, 2009, #785 – BY ERIC FRANCIS

Aries (March 20-April 19)
You appear to be in some kind of struggle between work and relationships, manifesting any one of several ways; for example, as something within working relationships, or between your ‘work life’ and your ‘relationship life’. Actually, it looks like what you’re grappling with is insecurity. In other words, with doubt, with questioning yourself, and with the feeling that your apparent limitations will never allow you to accomplish anything truly significant. This is more likely to be an issue if you actually want to do something meaningful, so you can at least credit yourself with that. I suggest, in everything you do and feel, that you ask yourself: is this supporting my purpose, or fighting it? That will open two doors: contact with your sense of mission; and assessing everything on a simple metric — if you remember.

Taurus (April 19- May 20)
If your mind releases a flood of ideas and passionate desires, notice whether you resist or go with the flow. There is a difference, and I suggest you get good at discerning it. What you normally offer yourself is a litany of excuses for not taking action, based on presumed consequences, ungrounded expectations and, in a word, fear. One of the things you fear is making a decision from which you cannot turn back. This is always true, in any event. Making any decision is a risk, and risk is the most important thing to become friendly with right now. Life goes like this: you take a chance and see how it works out. Then take another, and see how it works out. Then you do it again. Being mired in conflict is a temptation but not a viable option.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)
You seem to be stuck on an emotional point. You may also not know that’s what’s going on; it’s difficult to identify the true nature of a hangup when you’re in the midst of it. If you’re obsessing over finding ‘the right strategy’, that is a sign that you’re snagged. But how do I know the issue is emotional? Well, that’s what your solar chart suggests. Here’s what else: you are secretly trying to negotiate with one or both of your parents; to do what you think would impress or please them. This has been going on for a while, but not so blatantly as at this particular moment. Issues lingering from childhood usually go away when we want them to, so here is a question: what purpose is it serving? Clue: it’s a huge distraction.

Cancer (June 21- July 22)
You have a right to not express yourself. You don’t owe the world any explanations, and you don’t need to explain anything about yourself that you don’t fully understand. You might want to explore the position of giving no excuses, reasons or rationales to everyone. Let every statement be some form of, “This is what I am doing.” If someone asks you why, reply with some form of, “This is what I am doing,” or don’t reply at all. I also suggest you try doing a few things that you want to do, which specifically defy the will of others. Try pushing against the world in a way that lacks your usual diplomacy, but which specifically fulfills one of your goals.

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)
Several factors suggest strongly that you take a gander at discerning whether you are making certain choices based on what is important to you, or what is important to others. I say this because it’s a significant step in the kind of sorting out of priorities that you’re up to lately. It’s fine to work to impress others, as long as you know you’re doing it, as long as it supports the relationship, and as long as you’re conscious and willing. Problems arise when others run your life by what amount to unspoken expectations, which may have no validity at all. Pay particular attention to the issue of ‘how you are supposed to get things done’, meaning, pay careful attention to your methods. How you do things, literally the steps you take, represent an important value that is yours and yours alone. Collaborating is one thing; being ruled by a silent dictator is another.

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
Why are you so obsessed with analyzing your motives? I suggest you make a short list of all your possible intentions and work from there. That is to say, resolve the issue in a tangible way, in logical, black-and-white terms. You are entirely too suspicious of yourself, which leads to internal misunderstandings. This in turn leads you to blame yourself and others for issues that don’t exist, while missing many opportunities to connect with people on clear, simple terms. For that to work, you need to simplify the terms of your relationship with yourself. If you are in conflict, there is likely to be something you are denying. It will come out in vivid colors when Mercury changes direction next week, but you don’t have to wait till then.

Libra (Sep. 22 – Oct. 23)
The Sun is now in your birth sign, but this may not be granting the renewal, relief and sense of awakening that it usually does. It’s difficult to overlook the feeling that something huge is lurking behind the scenes of your existence, something over which you have no control. There’s a bit of an exaggeration going on for you; what you’re feeling is impending change. Remember though, this isn’t the kind of change you can plan. It’s the kind you must embrace when the time comes; and it won’t arrive all at once. The adjustments that will significantly improve your existence will arrive in a series of decisions. This information can relieve you of the need to plan, though I suggest you experiment with ideas for what you want.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
Chiron pioneer Melanie Reinhart once described this era of history as being about “breaking the taboo on God.” I suggest you break the taboo by describing God in detail. Make a list of the attributes, powers, motives and agenda of God as you perceive or experience he/she/it. Second, look closely at what you were told about God, by parents, religious instructors, teachers, television and other external sources. Make an accounting of what they believed, and note how it’s influenced what you believe. This is all by way of making your many thoughts and ideas conscious rather than having them lurking in the background. If you were raised in a ‘non-religious’ or ‘atheist’ household, that merely means that the concepts are buried that much deeper. Get them out in the light, where you can see them.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 22)
Continue to exercise the utmost care and patience where your career goals or projects are concerned. At the moment, you may have a number of reasons to think that things are going badly or are delayed beyond any hope of a meaningful outcome within a timeframe where it matters. Proceed gently and focus your mind on solving old, seemingly small problems rather than blazing ahead. Issues that now seem intractable will unravel themselves over the next two weeks. A few significant obstacles that you perceived as impossible to surmount will reveal that they are smaller and less daunting than they seemed over the next two months. When they move, the main thing you will notice is how much you have accomplished over the past couple of years; those achievements are the foundation that you will build on.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
You are, at the moment, getting a look at what will be possible in the future. What is possible in the future is usually possible now, but several things can intervene: one might be a sense of readiness. Another might be the availability of resources or other people. Yet these things are more often ideas than actual obstacles; you already have your strategy in place, and you would be wise to assign anything you’re considering in the distant future as something you can do more immediately. With the Sun now crossing the most public angle of your solar chart, you need to see yourself as a leader, as an innovator and as a person of action; simply put, that is what you are.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
Your world is getting bigger. Finally and at long last, you have a sense of what is possible, as a feeling more than as a list. This feeling is crucial because it’s the experience of granting yourself permission to dance with your own potential. Aquarius is the sign of the zodiac that is about mental patterns. Many astrological factors have been conspiring to get you off the tracks and out of the mental maze that you’ve been calling a personality. In truth, your unconscious has sent you just about every kind of signal and given you the opportunity to experience just about every kind of test that’s available. Yet there are few experiences so powerful as stepping outside the door and recognizing that you can do anything you want.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)
You are the lucky sign that gets to have Libra as your 8th solar house. The 8th house is one of the most challenging; most people associate it with jealousy, power struggle and with crisis. But taken Libra style, the powerful relational attributes of the 8th house come out: for example, the desire and willingness to have authentic exchanges with people; to share, though in a beautiful and creative way; and the capacity to experience your changes in a way that is elegant and compassionate. The Sun’s course through this sign for the next month is a kind of live-action preview, which will offer you many rich possibilities. The gears fully engage when Saturn ingresses Libra in late October.

Actor Patrick Swayze, who died of pancreatic cancer on Sept. 14 at age 57, seemed to defy one of the stereotypes that society and, especially, Hollywood have cultivated: Tough guys can’t be sensitive.

Patrick Wayne Swayze (August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009) Photo: PR/WENN.com

That alleged contradiction was his hallmark in Dirty Dancing, and in Ghost, and even in Road House, where he both knocked heads and waxed philosophical.

“Get in touch with your feminine side” has been a mantra of self-discovery for decades. “Easier said than done,” declared our macho-centric culture. Swayze, however, seems to have captured that essence; he was a man’s man who drew guys to the box office because of his toughness, and a ladies’ man who captured women’s hearts through his tenderness. That combination made him a huge box office draw despite lukewarm critical reception — which he didn’t seem to care much about, anyway. Not a surprising attitude, perhaps, for a man who was a long-time practitioner of Buddhism.

Swayze was a super-Leo with Virgo rising; super meaning that he had the Sun, Moon, Mercury and Pluto in Leo, along with the South Node. Born two days before a solar eclipse, he was born with star quality and seemed to live with the hand of fate on his shoulder. The combination of Leo Sun and Virgo ascendant (and Venus) is a combination that seems to offer a larger-than-life quality, also seen in the horoscope of Madonna.

He had the asteroid Terpsicore, the Greek muse of dance, mixed in with all those Leo planets. This was most closely conjunct the Black Moon Lilith, an elusive, verging on nonexistent point that gives the impression he could dance with the nonphysical realm and embrace the very darkest qualities in women gracefully. This gift shows up elsewhere in his chart, such as a powerfully placed Eris.

His rising degree — 24+ Virgo — puts his natal angles precisely in line with the Saturn-Uranus opposition that was exact the week he died. Saturn was in his rising degree or ascendant, and Uranus in his setting degree, or descendant.

He died less than a year before his second Saturn return. Most astrologers looking at that would likely feel that he had left something undone, or was somehow evading a crucial point of maturity on the physical plane; yet his life does not resemble the many greats who died just before their first Saturn return, from Kurt Cobain to Jimi Hendrix.

Click on image to enlarge.

Much has been made of his origins — the son of a rodeo rider and a choreographer –- and his fairytale romance: He met his wife, a dance student of his mother, when she was a teen and they were married until the day he died. But like any person, there was more to Swayze than met the eye.

This can be said of anyone; humans are for the most part inscrutable creatures, but when your Sun is in the 12th house, there is something about you that’s mysterious and not fully invested in the material plane. If you are fortunate and you do your part to both take creative risks and ground your talent in discipline, it’s possible to garner considerable success. He had Saturn conjunct Vesta in Libra in his 1st house, which suggests that he was willing to set aside his own idea of personal gain in lieu of doing what was right, as he understood it.

The surname “Swayze” is not one you run across every day. According to Ancestry.com (which cited the Dictionary of American Family Surnames from Oxford University Press), Swayze is a variant of the English name Swasey. That name is likely a form of Swijse, which is Dutch and a variant of the Dutch name Wijs.

Which in turn means “wise” — and wisdom is also not something you run across in a person every day, though he seemed to possess it in a Yoda-like fashion.

Perhaps most famous for his role in Dirty Dancing, what’s overlooked by all but his most ardent fans is that Swayze also sang one of the songs on the movie’s soundtrack, the ballad “She’s Like The Wind,” which also featured vocalist Wendy Fraser. This is a considerable achievement for an actor.

It wasn’t his only venture into recording, either. He also sang the song “Raising Heaven (In Hell Tonight)” on the Road House soundtrack. That’s not nearly as likely to turn up on your local classic rock station, though.

For an actor who had been on the scene more than 20 years but who didn’t turn out a box office smash every year or two, Swayze had remarkable staying power in the culture, indicated, among other factors, by his birth at the time of an eclipse. In human terms, perhaps it’s because he spoke to an archetype that resonates with us as human beings: A savoir. Strong in mind and body and spirit; able to protect us physically and emotionally. It’s something men and women both can identify with. And it’s a fine legacy to leave.

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

When was the last time you had a hangover? Had a balls-out, overindulgent, cutting-loose evening … with, I don’t know, a bottle of warm Sake, for instance, or a nice aged Scotch … that saw you falling into bed with a case of the spins and waking with a pounding head, blessedly-vague memories of outrageous excess and a mouth that tastes like the bottom of a bird cage? OK, well, if you haven’t done anything that humbling lately, surely you remember the last time — or one spectacular instance; and if you haven’t ever been there, then go do it now. I’m not proposing that you become a chronic drunk or strip off your clothes as you sing Karaoke at the local beer joint, which in my case is a little shack called the Mule Lip and is infamous for its bar fights and public humiliations. I’m suggesting that blasting ourselves out of the straightjackets of all that’s acceptable and safe, all that we expect of ourselves, gives us valuable information about our humanness. And experience is everything.

The oldest hangover remedy is to simply keep drinking. Photo by David Bowman / TIME.

Of course, we have to pay attention to what we learn; most people who do something like that tend to put it behind them as quickly as possible, stuff those images and feelings down into their memory basement as a glitch in their norm. Sadly, some others make such behavior their ‘new true,’ and slowly diminish themselves with substance, more at ease with their uninhibited subconscious behaviors than the tightly patterned conscious ones. Here in the Patch, I’m cozy with a bunch of Alcoholics Anonymous members because they ping on two of my prerequisites for awareness; they’re patient with other people’s foibles and they try to tell themselves the truth. Because of their sobriety process, they’re ‘teachable’ — open to self-exploration. Since I appreciate all paths, I see theirs as a somewhat violent but expedient way forward; although they might not agree, given the nature of their regrets. But we get to a productive Now by making sure that Then is mined for all the wisdom it offers, and they’re miners for sure. Life is messy; and if it isn’t, we’re missing out on some worthwhile short-cuts eschewed by those who work toward a mistake-free life (and good luck with that, by the way!)

This was the week that saw the President give his long-awaited speech on healthcare reform to the combined Congress. Televised in prime time, we all got to see the reaction of the Big Three — Obama, Biden and Pelosi — to a shout-out from Republican Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina, who yelled “You lie,” to the assertion that illegal aliens would be exempt from receiving healthcare services under the new proposals. Our respected Congressional pomp and circumstance fell prey to tea-bagging town-hall’ism and caused everyone, nation-wide, to gasp aloud. Just one of those little Uranian surprises that we can expect more of in the coming days.

Coming Up in Daily Astrology and Adventure

This week’s news takes us from Patrick Swayze, a man who embodied virtues that embrace both the masculine and the feminine, to a controversy over an athlete who didn’t fit an international organization’s gender expectations. We somehow don’t think it strange that most athletic competition is strictly segregated by sex; men and women generally don’t compete against one another, unless of course the game depends on mental prowess above all else. Yet gender isn’t what it used to be.

A brief recap: 18-year-old South African Caster Semenya, the women’s world record holder in the 800 meter run, won the 2009 World Championships in Berlin this August. However, she subsequently became the focus of high-profile, and humiliating, questions about whether she was, physically, a woman.

Recently, the results of physical examinations of Semenya were leaked from within the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the agency that ordered the testing. Apparently Semenya has no ovaries or womb, but does have internal testes. The offensive term “hermaphrodite” was immediately tossed around by a gleeful tabloid press. Yet the test results have raised more questions than they answered, many of them on social and philosophical issues.

Semenya’s postmodern gender is reflected in her natal chart as the Sun mixed in with the extremely rare triple conjunction of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune that rocked the world in the late 80s and early 90s. That conjunction seemed to melt away structure, coming with the disappearance of the USSR and the transformation of China into a new breed of capitalist communism.

Venus is in Aquarius, a masculine sign. Mars is in Taurus, a feminine sign (though the two are not quite in a square aspect). The Moon is in Libra, conjunct Nessus — there is a long story there, one that we need Semenya’s personal history for. But her story is very much reflective of the gender anarchy of our own times.

Writing about the testing, the medical exams and the circus atmosphere that has surrounded the runner’s dilemma, Columnist Dave Zirin at The Nation finds the whole scenario to be disgusting.

“Besides being a cruel and idiotic practice, sex testing doesn’t account for the idea that gender is at least in part socially constructed and far more fluid than the iron categories of male and female. An 18-year-old woman is being torn apart in the press for doing nothing but winning a race. If it is the goal of the media and the IAAF to destroy the life of a young, talented female athlete by outing her as potentially intersex, then they are not simply pitiless; they are socially repugnant.”

Zirin is not the only one raising questions about the morality of this process and the way in which Semenya was being treated by IAAF authorities. The bloggers at The Science of Sport in South Africa also see rampant unfairness and illogic surrounding the situation.

For starters, sports science and marketing consultant Ross Tucker wonders how the IAAF could have let this situation develop in the first place.

“The fact of the matter is that these allegations are not new. They have followed Semenya for a few years. Therefore, there was ample time to verify sex (again, a difficult process) and clear the way for her to compete… Because it was not, we are sadly seeing that Semenya will be the loser in what might well become an ugly story.”

But even more crucial, Tucker writes, is the complete lack of understanding regarding the difference between gender and sex.

“‘[P]rivate parts’ do not alone constitute male or female. This is a rudimentary distinction, but does not acknowledge a range of developmental conditions that can cause male characteristics to develop without there needing to be male reproductive organs…The fact that ASA [Athletics South Africa] believe that ‘asking her to show us her private parts’ will do the job suggests that they have little idea of the issues.”

Zirin sums up the chauvinism of the situation: “Exceptional male athletes are treated like kings, not sideshow freaks. But for women to join them on the royal dais, you must appear as if you can step seamlessly from the court or track and into the pages of soft-core porn. Freaks need not apply.”

Unless you’re a climber or a geologist, rocks may not rank high on most people’s list of “things I’m looking for in a place to live.” But when you’re talking planets to live on, rocks are everything.

An artist rendition of the first rocky extrasolar planet called Corot-7b. Photo: AP Photo/ESO.

Earth is a rocky planet. Mars, Venus and Mercury, likewise. And if mankind is ever going to set foot on a planet circling another star, there will need to be something to set foot on. Well, rocks — specifically a rocky planet — are the best bet.

That’s why Wednesday’s announcement of the discovery earlier this year of Corot-7b is such a big deal. It’s the first rocky extrasolar planet discovered by astronomers, and orbits the star Corot, which is 500 light years away in the constellation Monoceros (the Unicorn).

Corot-7b is a hot rock, too. In fact, an article by AP writer Seth Borenstein notes the planet is so close to its star that the surface temperature is some 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s also fast, to the tune of 466,000 mph, orbiting its sun in 20 hours. That makes Mercury, our solar system’s speedster with an 88-day orbit, a tortoise by comparison.

But setting aside the hostile environment, Borenstein reports that this planet is “a major discovery in the field of trying to find life elsewhere in the universe,” according to Alan Boss of the Carnegie Institution, who wasn’t involved in the discovery.

An extrasolar planet is any planet that is discovered orbiting a start other than our Sun. The first such planet discovered, according to The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia, came in 1989. Its name is hardly poetic — HD114762b — but maybe you can call it “b” for short since the rest of that alphanumeric code is the identity of the star it circles. That’s astronomy for you, eh? Fortunately, its constellation has a lyrical name and an interesting association: Coma Berenices, or Berenice’s Hair.

According to Wikipedia, “Coma Berenices is one of the few constellations to owe its name to an historical figure, in this case Queen Berenice II of Egypt, wife of Ptolemy III Euergetes (fl. 246 BC–221 BC), the king under whom Alexandria became an important cultural center.” The article also attributes the “promotion” of Coma Berenices to a constellation to Tycho Brahe, an astronomer of the 16th and 17th centuries who also had a really fun idea about our solar system that, like so many other early theories, were undone by modern science.

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Weekly Horoscope for Friday, September 18, 2009, #784 – BY PRIYA KALE

For more astrology, horoscopes and information on Private Consultations please visit www.priyakale.com/blog. You can email Priya at priya@priyakale.com with feedback and comments.

Aries (March 20-April 19)
You reach a turning point within a partnership now allowing you to readjust a crucial balance. No matter what or who you feel has power over you, this is about equal partnerships and fair agreements. You have found your sense of purpose and you know what you are trying to build will require dedication and commitment. A partner for their part is committed to healing this partnership with their devoted daily presence. You are getting a chance to clear the air, so be willing to ask for the help you need, renegotiating agreements based on mutual needs. Avoid critical tendencies and be open to good advice when you hear it. Brilliant ideas often come while doing the most menial tasks, so pay attention while doing the dishes, in the shower or even out in the marketplace…

Taurus (April 19- May 20)
Yours is an earthy kind of love that blooms, because of your endless devotion, but on a deeper level there is a need for healing that you must admit to yourself first. You can have this if you can make the conscious effort to seek perspective, balance and co-operation on a daily basis, rather than project any sense of powerlessness or get into power struggles. Yours is an earthy, sensual kind of passion that settles for nothing less than the most luxurious expression of your energy — be it love or sex or creativity. As you evolve to a higher understanding of your own core power, you could reach tangible and emotional peaks of success and ecstasy. Just allow yourself to be open to receiving a divine truth and a deeper understanding of what wants to heal you with its grace. When in doubt, listen to your heart. It hears the things the ears do not.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)
You are revisiting a part of your past which holds the key to your future. Be open to a radical solution that unravels a deep mystery you’ve been intent on resolving. Something may feel like a bit of a risk, but you don’t have to make any new commitments yet. You are just turning a corner towards a deeper understanding of your inner being. Whatever it is you are deathly afraid of, it can lose its grip once you realize this is about an inner surrender rather than anything external. You are securing your home base now. Even if it takes a bit longer to sort out the details of a close personal situation, you can get the ball rolling by conquering your own fears first. And then as Eric Francis said to me once, “You can’t pull the parachute string, unless you jump first.”

Cancer (June 21- July 22)
You reach a profound turning point within a close personal situation asking you to open your mind and evolve to a greater sense of perspective. If what you seek is inner peace you will have to confront and resolve your own possessive tendencies. Be honest with yourself now about what you want out of love and what you need to feel more at ease. This will mean adopting a daily, conscious process of being true to your heart and a greater wisdom. You can tend to be fairly self-critical — now you can resolve a dilemma simply by being open to greater inspiration. As the quote goes: “We are never given a wish without being given the power to make it come true. We may have to work for it however.”

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)
You reach a turning point asking you to be brutally honest with yourself. More than what you “want” this is a question of what you “think” you are worth. If you listen to what someone is saying to you; this is not criticism but can heal you of the voices that keep you trapped inside your head saying you’ll never be “good enough.” You are indeed more critical of yourself than anyone else. No matter what you feel has power over you, recognize the value of what you have to give. You can renegotiate arrangements now to bring greater understanding and balance. There is no success that is out of reach if you are willing to work towards it with your selfless devoted affection. The results of this will be emotional and tangible success that opens your heart to the very real magic that surrounds you every day.

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
You’ve recently felt a surge of passion burst through your defensive walls. This has forced you to go deeper to find your core integrity and consciously move forward as you begin a new phase of your journey. You are reaching a deeper understanding within yourself now, about who you are. This may come in the face of a deeply personal situation which is as risky as it is tempting. But resolve any sense of powerlessness you feel and don’t waste time doubting or projecting fear. You are a beautiful being capable of untold passion, a deep sense of fairness, with tangible, creative and sexual prowess. But mostly this is about you finding faith in yourself in the face of unpredictability, knowing above all you have what it takes — a heart of gold.

Libra (Sep. 22 – Oct. 23)
After a recent surge of activity, a part of you is going underground to discover deep treasures in your soul that fill you with nostalgia. Allow yourself the time for this evolutionary journey and take comfort in that which heals you. But as the Sun moves into your sign and squares Pluto this week, you have to face your deathly fears of the past and come out of the shadows into the light. This need not be a struggle, you can turn a corner from a darker past, by consciously deciding to not become a prisoner of your fears. Find a balance now that allows you to build your life on your own rules. It may take a little while longer before you can make sense of all the details or pieces of the puzzle you think are missing. But if you keep yourself open to inspiration there could be a radical solution to an issue it’s been hard to wrap your head around.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
You are evolving to a higher consciousness now. But the thing with awareness is you can never go back to not knowing. You can resolve your subconscious fear of relationships, when you are willing to admit them to yourself. You are seeing more clearly your own duality and this may be painful to admit. If you avoid projecting your doubts onto the world, there is a greater truth emerging. You can reach a new depth of understanding within an important relationship, if you are willing to listen. Remember the heart hears and sees what the ears and eyes do not. It may sound unbelievable but you can if you want experience a more earthy kind of love and tangible abundance, that awakens, heals and liberates you all at once.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 22)
You are turning a corner towards greater financial freedom this week. After the recent battles with your sense of security this may sound unbelievable. But don’t be afraid to re-negotiate an existing arrangement, it can only benefit you in the long run if you stay rooted in what you know you are worth. You have a deep respect for tradition and authority, which at times holds you back from reaching your highest ideals. But there is no struggle here, you can find a balance if you recognize your own power within a situation. You are due to receive recognition over the coming weeks for your lasting devotion. Accept and receive this with grace and humility. The hardest part is behind you, now comes a time for reaping the rewards.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
You reach a turning point in your career, putting you in the spotlight again. It may be scary given your recent doubts, but I suggest you leave yourself open to imagination. A dream you’ve had is slowly starting to piece itself together, giving you a vantage point of the solid abundance available to you. Do what you can to conquer your fears and need for control. If you can keep an open mind and sense of perspective you can reach a deeper understanding of a perplexing dilemma. Be honest and willing to listen, a piece of information you hear can liberate you from your anxiety about the future. It may take a little longer to sort out the details. But if you keep a sense of the highest hopes in your heart, you can manifest them with love and dedication.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
A recent confrontation has forced you to move past a point of no return. You can taste freedom now, but at the same time this means resolving any fears you have about success. When it comes to intimate and financial agreements something is igniting a deeper desire of possibility. It may be scary to think you can reach for something so emotionally and tangibly rewarding. Be honest with yourself and others about your deeper needs for healing. You can reach new agreements within your relationships, that stabilize you, if you are willing to truly listen to what someone is trying to say. You are building relationships now that have soul lessons for you and can stand the test of time. Remember, you get what you give.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)
You are at the start of a new cycle within your relationships and there may be a powerful association you share with someone that is asking you to go deeper. This could be a sexual or financial relationship, but it has the ability to open up your world in emotional as well as tangible, material ways. Consciously avoid projecting power struggles and recognize the value of surrender, not to anyone or anything but your own needs for companionship and co-operation. Overcome your fears of being locked into something you cannot escape from. As long as you are willing to keep an open dialogue with partners, you can rework arrangements so you feel there is a sense of fairness and balance. You are reaching another level of understanding within a partnership, which can liberate as much as it heals.

Dear Friend and Reader:

I spent most of last week at Burning Man, a kind of festival in the Nevada desert held each Labor Day. The event takes its name from the burning of a giant neon and wooden effigy of a man, which is burned on Saturday night as 40,000 people gather around and watch. In my daily series (now running about four times a day) I’m looking at Burning Man in words and pictures, explaining the basics of this odd, survivalist example of capitalism turned inside-out.

The Man at Burning Man, about half an hour before being burned, on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009. The arms-up position indicates that the fire is about to begin. Photo by Eric Francis.

The photo at the right is The Man, which has become something of a cultural icon now more than 20 years in circulation. Burning Man traces its history back to 1986, when the founder, Larry Harvey, burned an effigy of a man on San Francisco’s Baker Beach. The event was moved to the Black Rock Desert in Northern Nevada several years later and is now the annual meeting place of a far-reaching, extremely energetic subculture.

Planet Waves first covered this phenomenon in 1999, as part of a series about the grand cross and total solar eclipse titled after the festival; the festival itself is covered in part four of the series, which you can read here.

Astrology is about symbolism, and in this article I’d like to look at a few of the messages of the fire ceremony that’s at the center of this elaborate creative project called Burning Man. I think for most people who participate, the theme is so intuitive, they don’t really think about it much. You get the message in the creative fire that surrounds the symbol; it comes across as real world. Given the freedom and the safe space to do so, women strip to the waist and walk around in public. Many guys wear skirts and tutus. Everything is connected to a concept, an idea, a game of twisting logic around into something sensible in a different way.

In effect, Burning Man grants many people permission to be who they are, and in the absence of concrete knowledge, to test out some ideas of who they might be and not have to worry too much about the legacy of who they were yesterday.

This legacy is our problem. It’s not that we use the past as a reference point for who we are, or where we are going, which would be fine. It’s that we determine our lives almost exclusively by what has happened in the past; by who we knew in the past; by what we held as true in the past; by our family of origin and what they did to us; by the career that we developed, generally with no special intention to have done so. And this is really the least of it.

Severe dust storms nearly prevented the burning ritual this year. Burning Man is held on the playa left behind by an ancient lakebed. The dust is finely ground and strongly alkaline. Photo by Eric Francis.

What we struggle with the most, if you ask me, is the unspoken requirement to be who we were, feel how we felt and love who we loved yesterday. We allegedly must, by some strange set of unwritten rules, get up in the morning and do what we did the day before. If you look closely there is actually very little to intervene in this train of experience. This is why key life transits such as the Saturn return, Uranus opposition and Chiron return, are so often experienced as train wrecks. We make next to no room to ritualize the idea of change that would allow us an opportunity to in fact actually change.

Much of this process is encrypted in our social patterns: that is, our relationships with friends and family. We tend to stay the same fearing their judgments, therefore trying to live up to their supposed expectations. Some of our most fundamental values, such as whether we think marriage has any validity for us personally, are bound up in these social ties. Deep beneath our fear of being ourselves, which really is a phobia on a cosmic scale, is the fear of being cast out of the tribe if we violate its social order.

This by the way is what I would call Chiron in Aquarius stuff: The tribal wound as it manifests as the fear of individuality. Here we have a convenient illustration because this year and next, Aquarius is such a focal point of the astrology. (The once-in-a-lifetime triple conjunction of Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune is still working out in that sign, the peak of a five-year transit of Chiron in Aquarius.)

Fire dancers perform before the Man is burned at Burning Man 2009 in Black Rock City, Nevada. Photo by Eric Francis.

From all of this, we get the idea that people don’t change; we merely get locked into patterns. The times we expect to change are generally the moments of the train wreck. Maybe you’ll be different after a divorce or a death in the family, but even then there is only so far the rules of society allow us to go.

Enter Burning Man, where we ritualize and embrace the process of growth. We show up, facing the extreme conditions of the high desert, forced into both radical autonomy and the need to embrace community, both consciously, as a matter of survival.

The thing about the Man is, he’s this elaborate artistic creation, different every year, and then we do something very odd by our society’s standards: we burn him. This is the Death card (Trump XIII) on a grand scale: the point of no return; the actual moment of transformation. We release the form and some new element of energy has the room to express itself. By the time this ritual comes, most participants have been pushed to the limits of their physical and emotional reality. Burning Man is “fun” but it’s fun only to the extent we give up some of our worldly trappings, our sense of time, our daily routines, our names and so on. Like most valid rituals, this is one that takes preparation.

Part of that preparation is what we bring to offer the community. Unlike most enterprises in a capitalist system, Burning Man is about what you give rather than what you get. The whole purpose of capitalism is to maximize profit at the expense of the worker and the consumer. The idea of Burning Man is to give resources to the community, at your own expense. This is a missing experience for most of us, who don’t think we have so much to give; and if we do, the idea of actual generosity is often repulsive or seems inappropriate.

The Burning Man ignites in a ritual of transformation. Photo by Eric Francis.

The gift culture ranges from the most elaborate perks from Corporate America (somebody with a lot of cash on their hands paid for the Opulent Temple) to the most modest offerings of self. The camp that I was staying in, Poly Paradise, offered a daily Human Carcass Wash where up to 600 people came to be washed down from their coating of playa dust.

Part of the preparation involves developing a new relationship to physicality. I’ll give a few examples. It’s really easy to dehydrate in 110-degree heat. Therefore it’s necessary to constantly think about water, which reminds us that we’re made of water. There are ways to measure hydration; you can figure out how much you drink; or count how many times you pee. My personal method is, if my nose is dry, I’m dehydrated.

There’s nowhere to buy food; therefore every meal is a conscious act. You cannot simply “grab a sandwich.” If you run out of food or water, you’re at the mercy of your neighbors, who are usually generous; everyone is in the same condition.

There are no flush toilets. Port-a-Potties are glorified outhouses, and if we make a mess out of them, they are messy for the rest of us. We literally have to deal with one another’s shit (something that most of us know not about, in the industrialized world). One result is the most impeccably clean public bathrooms you’ve ever seen at an outdoor event. The potties are plastered with public service announcements created by various camps and factions reminding what and what not to drop down the hole — and the admonition that someone will, in fact, have to dig out your Pepsi bottle if you toss it down there.

By my second day on the playa, I was planning my self-care activities one at a time. Find dental floss. Use dental floss. Find toothbrush. Brush teeth. I shaved once; it was a memorable project, involving the spontaneous discovery that I had left my shaving gear in the glove compartment; then boiling half a gallon of precious water. Every step was a conscious act. The result felt like no shave I’ve ever experienced.

Crowd of 40,000 watches as The Man burns, at Burning Man 2009. Photo by Eric Francis.

Then there are relationships. Those tend to be rearranged in this environment. It’s true that I was in a camp that had relationship-oriented discussion groups every morning (called Poly High Tea) and where we hosted talks on the history and sociology of monogamy. However, all around people seemed to be tossed around in a kind of relational anarchy — sometimes pleasant, sometimes not — as a result of being confronted by so much intense beauty and so many people bringing out some aspect of their creative fire. In reality, one makes one’s boundaries, rules and agreements; then what happens, happens.

Synchronicity is the name of the game at Burning Man: this thing we call manifestation is in full force. The stories are too many to count, and it’s fun to see it in action. I really had to surrender to the notion that if I think of something, it could happen in a matter of minutes; and even if I wasn’t consciously thinking of it, but I secretly wanted it, it could happen when I was least expecting it. Some of these stories are more appropriate for Book of Blue. Synchronicity messes with your idea of how physical reality intersects with consciousness. It’s true that we were in an alternate plane of reality that was a lot closer to the astral/causal levels. If you play this game well, it’s possible to let go of a lot of negativity.

Then, after a week of this, the whole community gathers for The Burn. This year, all day Saturday was in what I’ll call a category-2 dust storm, caused by persistent winds blowing across an ancient lakebed. The storms do get worse: absolute whiteout. But this one was pretty bad, and it seemed to last forever, all day and into the night, threatening the ritual itself. I got myself there early, to have a seat in the front row, all the better to photograph for you. And I sat there as the dusty wind pounded my body and my cameras and my lenses, catching dust in my mouth and eyes despite my mask and goggles.

They can’t safely light a fire that big with 40,000 people around it in such a stiff wind, but unlike last year (when there was a similar problem) the higher-ups made the decision to start the pre-burn festivities: a LOT of fire dancers and musicians and acrobats came out and performed in a vast circle to the audience/participants. These performers were dedicated, doing their thing at full strength despite being slammed by the elements. Most of them had prepared for a year for this event.

Finally, the wind stopped and the arms of the Burning Man were hoisted into burn position: high above his head. Then came the fireworks and the pyrotechnics, and then he burst into flames, taking all of us with him.

Yours & truly,

in Reno, Nevada

More photos and articles about Burning Man are at PlanetWaves.net. Thanks to Jeff Patterson for getting me to Burning Man this year.

Photo by Eric Francis.

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

In all things there is a necessary tension — between being asleep and awake, for instance, there’s a physical response that either gets you moving or eases you down into a dream state. When you lay your head on your pillow tonight, chart the tension as it releases itself from your frame; this is one of those I-didn’t-notice-it-until-it-was-gone deals. When you wake up tomorrow morning, notice how every nerve in your body gathers itself for the day, sending signals to your muscles to propel you out of bed and fill you with its animating force. Tension is the game here in 3D. There’s also tension between people, which I believe is primarily sexual; not overtly, in most cases, but a subtle thread of chemical recognition and social expectation. It defines attraction and, ultimately, human relationship. When we focus on something, tension brings all its power to bear on one point, moving a project forward to completion. Tension is an enormous creative power, if we recognize and appreciate it.

Connection to Inner Selves. Photo: Kitaido.

This is normal tension I’m describing, not stress; but then, nothing’s been exactly normal for quite a while. Few of us have relaxed on the most basic levels for years, and consequently most of us are stressed up the wazoo. In very broad terms, I think of that tension that moves us along as chi, as Divine animation, as God/dess — and the debilitating stress that we allow it to become as the Flip Side; we are either in cooperation with ourselves in producing our own good or in a constant state of self-sabotage and defeatism. I don’t suppose I need to remind you that excess stress is a killer; our bodies aren’t designed to deal with it in large quantities. It taxes our heart and erodes our immune system; it debilitates our nervous system and makes us snappish and jittery. It leaches out into our attitudes and behaviors in ugly ways.

So here’s the thing about the kind of stress most of us are dealing with today — it’s all in our head. I mean, think about it; and if you do, all the variables for tension/stress come up on your touch-screen for you to select from. Without our mind mulling the options and projecting their possible result out into the future, our bodies would be at rest, quietly awaiting instruction. The simple truth is unless we’re being charged by a rhino in some African veldt or the Sheriff is coming up the drive to serve foreclosure notice … well, yes; there’s that, for some of us … actual stress is all about dwelling in an unhappy past while projecting a frightening future. Our most recent past, unfortunately, has created an underlying habit of anxiety that feeds our fears; and that’s in our head, as well. We are assuredly not required to repeat any dismal patterns or perpetuate learning cycles, but that always demands our awareness, self-discipline and cooperation with Higher Self. The past announces the future — but only if we let it.

Coming Up in Daily Astrology and Adventure

Seems we acted like the mainstream media here a couple of weeks ago, accidentally anointing Jeane Dixon as the astrological advisor to First Lady Nancy Reagan during her husband’s tenure in the Oval Office. That advisor, of course, was Joan Quigley.

“I was never good at earthquakers. What I do best is politics”. Photo: PEOPLE Archives (May 23, 1988).

While we’d like to blame Wikipedia or the Hottentots or pretty much anyone for the error, it was ours alone, and so we offer a heartfelt apology to Planet Waves readers. The fellow who creates our news briefs, the Dogtown Writer (in a fun coincidence, yours truly also happens to be named Eric Francis, but is no relation to the earlier Eric Francis of Planet Waves), is a non-astrologer and well, that’s what can happen.

But if there’s a bright side to this coin, it’s the opportunity to examine the remarkable relationship between Quigley and the Reagans – particularly the public hoopla that followed the revelation.

David Roell, a veteran astrologer who operates the Astrology Center of America in Maryland (and a longtime advisor to Planet Waves), was in a unique position to assess the New York media’s reaction to the Quigley story: He was the guy answering the phone when they called.

“I was working for Henry Weingarten’s New York Astrology Center,” Roell recalled. “At the time, I knew all the astrologers in New York and ran charts for them all, but I didn’t know the celebrity astrologers. Quigley was a celebrity astrologer, so she was unknown to me.”

The problem, once the story broke, was that the journalists covering the story had no idea who to call.

“When this hit, all the news media in New York City responded, but not one of them had the name of a single astrologer in their Rolodexes,” said Roell. “If you’re a news organization and Patagonia blows up, you have an expert on Patagonia. What happened for astrology is no one [in the media] thought astrology was important enough to have in the Rolodex.”

So those reporters consulted their phone books, and one name stood out: The New York Astrology Center – where Roell happened to be working the phones.

“I handled the phone calls for the first week. People phoned and phoned and phoned,” he said. “After about a week, Henry Weingarten, who owned the place, figured out there was a flap going on.” Up until then, Roell said, Weingarten hadn’t been the least bit interested in taking calls.  “After a week, he said ‘you should be giving me all these phone calls!’ And I gave him these phone calls, and two days later they stopped.”

Roell has a theory for the media’s quick loss of interest: His boss wasn’t a good quote.

“I was having fun, I was playing with them, giving them the lay of the land,” he said. “Henry was pompous. He was a Leo with Sag rising.”

Still, Roell got what he called his “thirty seconds of fame in New York City” with interviews on Italian television and CNN. But he says the news media didn’t learn any lesson then, and “they still don’t have astrologers in their Rolodexes.”

As for the Reagans, Roell credits them for recognizing the importance of astrology.

“Reagan had been using astrologers since the 1950s, straight through his governorship [of California],” he said. “One of his inaugurals in Sacramento was held at the stroke of midnight at the recommendation of an astrologer.

“Reagan was a reasonably smart guy who got what he wanted by following reasonably smart astrologers.”

Finally, Roell also got a chuckle out of our Dixon/Quigley gaffe: “That’s like saying John Glenn was the first man to walk on the moon.”

Touché!

A 10-member committee formed by President Obama to assess NASA’s plans for its human spaceflight program in the coming years has delivered its verdict. In short: Scale back, or spend more.

Space Shuttle Discovery as seen from the International Space Station ISS in late August. After the shuttle program’s scheduled end in 2010, the United States will again be left without a launch vehicle to go into outer space, this time making the ISS inaccessible via our own spacecraft. Photo: NASA.

The Augustine Commission (so named because it’s led by retired aerospace exec Norman Augustine) delivered an executive summary of its report on Tuesday of this week, and it wasn’t kind to the widely publicized ambitions of sending men back to the Moon and on to Mars in the near future. There are more realistic options for the amount of money NASA plans to spend, the commission declared.

The commission’s full report will be delivered later this month.

Washington Post science writer and blogger Joel Achenbach summed it up this way in the paper’s Wednesday edition:

“Don’t try to put astronauts on Mars yet — too hard, too costly. Go to the Moon — maybe. Or build rockets that could zip around the inner solar system, visiting asteroids, maybe a Martian Moon. Keep the international space station going until 2020 rather than crash it into the Pacific in 2016. Help underwrite commercial spaceflight the same way the United States gave the airline business a boost in the 1920s with airmail.

“And spend more money on space.”

The commission wasn’t against the idea of human space flight, reports Achenbach, but did say that program “appears to be on an unsustainable trajectory.” At the same time, it “clearly endorsed the goal of a robust human spaceflight program and all but pleaded on behalf of” NASA.

However, NASA’s $18 billion annual budget isn’t sufficient to meet the goal of “a space exploration program that will be a source of pride for the nation,” the commission reported, estimating it would take another $3 billion a year to accomplish that, the Post article said.

An article on Wired.com notes that among other assessments, the commission judged the gap between the retirement of the Space Shuttle next year and the implementation of the Constellation Program to return NASA astronauts to space in 2017 was too long — but they couldn’t identify any “credible approach” that could shorten that gap to less than six years.

The commission studied a number of options for moving ahead with manned space flight, the Wired article noted, and the one that received the greatest support by commissioners was what they called the “Flexible Path.” That would put people in space, but landing on the Moon or Mars wouldn’t be goals; instead, astronauts would travel to and explore smaller bodies, such as the asteroids or Phobos and Deimos, the Moons of Mars.

Wired quoted the report as saying: “We would learn how to live and work in space, to visit small bodies, and to work with robotic probes on the planetary surface. It would provide the public and other stakeholders with a series of interesting ‘firsts’ to keep them engaged and supportive. Most important, because the path is flexible, it would allow many different options as exploration progresses, including a return to the Moon’s surface, or a continuation to the surface of Mars.”

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Weekly Horoscope for Friday, September 11, 2009, #783 – BY PRIYA KALE

For more astrology, horoscopes and information on Private Consultations please visit www.priyakale.com/blog. Please email priya@priyakale.com with comments and feedback on the horoscopes.

Aries (March 20-April 19)
This week you move past a barrier and a milestone in this quest of manifesting your dreams and soul’s purpose. On a deeper level you know this is a confrontation of some of your most lucid fantasies and fears. The way past your fears is not through idle romantic fantasies but solid agreements. You are no stranger to determination and I suggest you embody the strength you feel you somehow lack. As you renegotiate your sexual, creative, personal and professional relationships over the coming weeks, create balanced communication with clear understanding of roles. If there is to be healing, there first needs to be an honest appraisal of the passion, dedication and level of commitment within a situation. Do you dare acknowledge your heart’s desire? What would you do to meet it?

Taurus (April 19- May 20)
Your level of breakthrough this week depends on your ability to see beyond the illusion to something divinely inspiring. A situation close to your heart seems to be ready to move forward to its next stage of manifestation. But ultimately this means devoting your heart to something that inspires your faith. You are aware of wounds you’ve carried too long that have no place in your future, if you want more of the peaceful existence you say you do. This is about you feeling safe enough to be yourself, express yourself and indeed love yourself. You may wonder if you have what it takes or if you deserve something this divine. But this is no fantasy, just an awakening of your core, embodying and revealing your natural transcendence.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)
You are retracing core aspects of your being, asking you to come down to earth for a moment. You may have thought you’d seen the last of a difficult situation and it may seem you are heading right for it again. When it comes to negotiations your imagination is key, this is not about spinning romantic fantasies. You are moving toward a future where you can work on building the kind of relationships that stabilize you with greater emotional and financial security. What’s the use of playing in the rain, if you are constantly looking over your shoulder to check if your house is still standing, or that the sky is going to fall on your head? Get your foundations right so you can experience more of the carefree passion you long to express.

Cancer (June 21- July 22)
You’re close to reaching an understanding or commitment with a partner over the next few days, setting the stage for healthier communication in the future. But first there may be a few realizations to come to within yourself. This will mean first being honest about where your models of communication come from. Look especially at your relationship with your father or an authority figure that in the past has had you feeling like you have little or no say within a situation, causing you to react or respond in a certain way. How you feel about yourself ultimately defines the wealth and love you attract into your life. Dig deep to find your integrity while opening your mind to the wider possibilities for the future. Embody your truth and speak it fearlessly.

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)
You are reaching a breakthrough point in a deeply intimate, personal or financial situation that has been pushing you to find your core integrity and self-worth. Above all else now, be honest but don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s not about being ‘good enough;’ it’s following through on what you say. You may fear the forces of chaos, but all that exists came out of this very nothingness. The people in your life are there to mirror the depths of your heart. Some of this may be painful, some may be just golden, but none of this defines you. A situation is asking for you to dive deep. Relationships are like swimming –- no amount of reading will teach you what you can experience only by diving in. You will not drown, rather you can become the anchor in the eye of a storm. If you surrender, it’s likely to be a more wet, wild and magical experience than anything you “fear.”

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
You’ve been battling a delicate situation for what may have seemed like an eternity. The recent Full Moon in your opposite sign, Pisces, may have brought you an inkling of what’s to come, but truthfully you’ve known for a while. This week things reach a breakthrough point. Try not to be too self-critical at this point. Rather, become the force of change by embodying it. As long as you are grounded in what truly matters and who you are, you can make choices accordingly. Deep in your soul, there is a fire throbbing with divine love, asking you to pour your heart into that which heals you. It may be scary to open up and risk being rejected. You can have your heart’s desire, if you dare acknowledge it to yourself first. There is nothing to fear here but fear itself.

Libra (Sep. 22 – Oct. 23)
This week brings you a solid glimpse deep in the heart of desire. What is it that you desire now? What is it in your world that needs healing? Your heart has had its share of lessons to learn. Look at what you are creating in your world and ask yourself if this is a projection of the truth. Create out of love, boldness, fearlessness and passion. It is always easier to escape into an illusion for fear of rejection, but hurt pride never solved anything. Be honest with yourself now as you ask these difficult questions. You cannot see it but you are on your road to true freedom, the kind that comes as a solid knowing in your psyche. You will have to get past your own subconscious fear of change to recognize that this is what you have wanted all along. Allow yourself to soar on the wings of imagination as you realign, redefine and embody your soul’s purpose.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
There may have been a deeper truth that has come flying out recently. Whether or not you feel ‘ready,’ you have no choice now but to resolve your darker suspicions, that keep you from experiencing reality. You reach a point of breakthrough within a situation that has demanded more than you may have felt you had to give. But this has opened your eyes to just how valued your gift to the world is. You may have doubts about the future of a partnership, but I suggest you dive deep into your soul to discover the undeniable truth. There may be painful realizations to confront and wounds to heal. But these have to do with the past, rather than the present and boundless future you can feel exploding in your heart and being.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 22)
It may feel like you are being asked to surrender all known securities in favor of something or someone that may have been a tough client to please. You don’t need to get into anyone’s good graces as much as embody your own strength and integrity. You’ve been digging deep to find your self-worth and confronting darker fears about success. Now comes a transformation point in an important partnership. There are a few creative ideas floating that you could capitalize on, allowing both parties more freedom. You will not lose anything, nor are you banging your head against a wall. You’ve always played by the rules and soon you will reap the rewards of your faith. This is about you reclaiming respect and your rightful seat of authority in this world. No matter what you fear, you sit in the lap of a greater divine force endless in its depth.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
On the surface, to the world you may seem self-assured, but there’s a deeper question you’ve been digging for an answer to. Who are you? What are the things you like about yourself and what do you feel is ready for a change? You’ve been gaining perspective and now comes a moment of truth. You’ve been working hard to expand your mind to the greater possibilities available. To get what you desire, you have to admit it to yourself first. If you have doubts regarding a financial and intimate partnership ask yourself why? Focus your deepest values even if there is some painful truth to confront there. This is not about your selfish gain, nor is it about praise, fame or life’s transient pleasures. But about something that fills you with hope, pride and joy, worthy of your devotion. Dare to speak your truth –- the world is listening.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
You’ve been battling with a difficult situation for what may have seemed like an eternity. You had to dive layer beneath layer within yourself to discover depth you didn’t know you had. Now comes a final confrontation within a situation, which can free you to pursue without worry the desires in your soul. It will require inspiration on your part and the ability to see through to the heart of a matter. You’ve always been the one pushing through boundaries to get people to open up to a greater truth. This is not about shock value, but rather your deepest soul values. What you have to give is infinite in its depth and wisdom, a partnership is solidifying now. If you can focus on what you are trying to build rather than what you fear you may lack you can ease the pressure here. This is about you having faith in yourself and what you choose to dedicate yourself to.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)
It may have been a battle to gain your sense of self and freedom within a situation. But this has led you on an unexpected journey of discovering depth within you, you didn’t know you had. You have the opportunity now to create and imprint your life with the soulful vision you have long been dreaming. This will take dedication and bucket loads of inspiration, but when have you shied away from the impossible? Consider this an opportunity to work your magic. Allow a situation to open up its arms to you and breathe life into that which you create daily with love and passion. Pour yourself into creating a life lived fearlessly with love, passion and bright colors for the future. You are starting a new phase, asking you to let go of the past and walk boldly into the future. Trust your integrity and dedication will carry you through the stormiest seas.

Dear Friend and Client,

If you follow the blog, you know that Eric has emerged from Burning Man, and is posting some great photos that document his time in Black Rock City. He’s in Reno getting reoriented at the moment, so I’m writing a short update in his place.

As you may know from our recent blog posts and emails, Mercury stationed retrograde yesterday. If you haven’t already, now is the time to order Eric’s latest report. It’s the perfect tool to help you navigate through the current Mercury retrograde at an affordable subscriber rate of just $8.95.

To order, click here. Then, if you’re a subscriber you’ll get to give one to a friend, on us. Once you order, send me an email and I will make sure your gift recipient gets the report promptly.

With Love and Sunshine from Florida,

Aries (March 20-April 19)
You have many expressions of ‘self’; you’re one of the most multifaceted people around, and you may at times believe this is a debility. It is nothing of the kind. In the world we live in, we need to change modes quickly, and to rely on both sides of our brains at all times. You’re developing some rare gifts that will help you do this. You also have some talented friends who would be very likely to help you express your full potential. Hit them up.

Taurus (April 19- May 20)
Taurus is the sign of the body, yet those born under your sign are famous for having the most active, obsessed minds in the zodiac. You’ve been trying to get an idea or goal into your reality; that is, into the physical routines of your life. We often mistake inner journeys for outer ones; we mistake a destination in the world for a feeling in our heart, or a pattern that we need to establish. Focus on your body and its basic needs, and your mind will follow.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)
While there is a mathematical aspect to working out emotions, this only goes so far. You can reason your way to the exit doorway of your insecurities, but to walk out the door requires a step that might feel more like a leap of faith. Yes, having reasons to make a decision can make that decision seem plausible; then you simply need to decide. You are close to that point now. Don’t be held back because something you expected to be difficult turns out to be easy.

Cancer (June 21- July 22)
One thing we can say about this phase of your existence is that relationships have finally come into focus. The potential, the problems, the benefits, and above all else your deep need to connect deeply with people are now central points of your life: in a tangible way rather than an abstract way. I would draw one distinction for you, at the beginning of this prolonged period of your life. Being drawn to someone on an emotional basis, or on the soul level, are two different things.

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)
You are someone who likes to be wise with your pennies, but you need a more complete financial strategy than that. Involved with having a coherent relationship to money is a clear relationship to your father; that is, with the person and with the concept of authority, and of your power in the world. Sort out the difference between doing something ‘for him’ and doing something for yourself. Get to that core idea and money will make perfect sense.

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
Your quest at this time of your life is to embody maturity, consistency and a mental rather than emotional approach to existence. The difference is not obvious to most people; for your part, having a nervous disposition is what often gives you license to be inconsistent. This is one of the most opportune moments to get to the roots of that particular issue and take a major step in the direction of being a solid, dependable person.

Libra (Sep. 22 – Oct. 23)
You may feel under enormous pressure right now; take life one step at a time, and one day at a time. At the core of some enormous mystery is a clear and simple strategy that will get you to the next place. That you cannot perceive it does not mean that it does not exist; to the contrary, not knowing is an invitation to make a discovery. I promise that what you would seek to discover about yourself is waiting patiently for you.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
Under the best circumstances your sign is one of the most involved with processing emotions. If you’re not careful, you can do it for everyone around you. Rarely in your life has this been so conscious, or have you needed more support. I would caution against feeling too self-reliant; like you can ‘handle it all yourself’. No person is an island, even a mighty Scorpio. I suggest you state your needs and seek the spiritual nourishment you need.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 22)
You’ve learned so much this year, and you’re still processing it. Were I in your shoes, I would be itching to express all that I’ve been learning; and I might feel like the knowledge were too incomplete. Remember that to get anywhere in this life it’s necessary to experiment with the bits that you do feel confident about; to explore the parts of yourself that need a voice, even if you don’t feel quite ready.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
You’re crossing a bridge from the past to the future, and the longer you walk on that bridge, the longer it becomes. Your life right now is a meaningful invitation to be where you are and notice the incredible potential of this moment. The planets suggest strongly that you explore actual potentials that are available right now, rather than ideas or plans you have for the future.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
You are charged up like a battery — and the challenge is to expend your energy slowly and steadily rather than all at once. Ideally, you want to distribute the physical and mental effort and put most of your emphasis on creating ideas, rather than making them happen. There will be days when nothing seems to go right, but you can safely get up the next morning and start over.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)
A relationship or partnership seems more complex than it is. Gently lead your mind out of the heavy quality and constant referencing of the past, and remember why you were motivated to make contact in the first place. By the time the Sun reaches Libra on Sept. 22, you will understand that this is a real exchange of mutual appreciation and support.

Dear Friend and Reader,

For those of you who may not know, Eric is at Burning Man this week. I spoke with him briefly last night; he has a rented satellite phone that actually works pretty well. He has made the trek across the country and settled into Poly Paradise. Eric has no internet access, so he has been unable to submit the usual brilliant astro-journalism piece for today’s newsletter.

Instead, we will lead with a piece from our favorite person in the Pea Patch, Judith Gayle.

There is still time to order the Mercury Retrograde Report before Mercury stations retrograde next week. Here is how we’re handling discount pricing for subscribers: you’ll get the pre-order price of $8.95 (the price for everyone else has gone up to $14.95). Then, if you’re a subscriber you’ll get to give one to a friend, on us. Once you order, send me an email and I will make sure your gift recipient gets the report promptly. To order, click here.

Wishing you a peaceful and relaxing weekend.

With Love and Sunshine from Florida,

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

Welcome to September. It seems to have come quickly this year; perhaps that’s because time is moving faster than a freight train or maybe because the summer was so cool and rainy here in the Pea Patch it didn’t hit all the normal markers that anticipation sets in place. Typically, August is a difficult political month, summer breaks create a Petrie dish in which mixed messages and speculation can grow in fungal splendor; the hot August winds traditionally blow a lot of chaff to litter the Hill. This year, no matter the local weather, Washington DC, and ultimately the nation, experienced a shitstorm of hot air with cold, deliberate calculation driving it. Yes, if this is that juncture where the conversation turns back to something that encourages rationality and civil discourse, September is welcome indeed.

Glenn Beck tells viewers that he is a clown who needs “Walls And Gates”. Photo: YouTube Video.

August was the month when desperately needed healthcare reform became a Liberal Socialist plot, its proponents warned off by guns and hysteria in town hall meetings across the country. Citizens everywhere exercised their right to keep their minds vacuum-sealed, and even the most tediously irrational such as Glenn Beck, who lost a bevy of corporate sponsors for his inflammatory commentary, is forced to rely on the old Republican counterintuitive meme of being persecuted for telling unwelcome truths. Promise of violence poked its ugly head up like a mole in the great American lawn, encouraged by the rhetoric of the Party of No that did its level best to scare the hell out of seniors; this Ann Telnaes cartoon, based on an actual event, sums it up nicely, and frankly, if these elders — the Pluto in Cancer crowd — don’t get a clue, I’m going to have to rethink that Greatest Generation thing.

In this remarkable age of Internet access, even overwhelmed as we are by factoids and tidbits and opposing philosophies both rational and un, we have been given all the information we need to form our own thoughts; but not the education in critical thinking to do so. We’re still too driven by the steady, gossipy beat of “what’s new” in pop culture, the persistent barrage of advertisement, the holographic fiction of television and the insecurities prompted by harsh realities, to tame the various voices in our heads. The change of consciousness that is required of us does not come easily to those who resist its necessity; yet, as with pouring fresh water into a glass, the dregs that await us at the bottom must float up to be eliminated, and will do so whether we wish them to or not. That’s where we find ourselves now; pummeled by events we’d rather not get cozy with or admit into our consciousness — which is highly nonproductive because that’s where they were born.

Coming Up in Daily Astrology and Adventure

For centuries, mankind has been watching the skies, noting the movements of the heavenly bodies, and sorting out how it all works.

Then a planet like Wasp-18b comes along and throws a spanner into the works.

An artist’s impression shows a “hot Jupiter” close to its parent star. Astronomers say a planet known as WASP-18b is so close to its sun that it should soon fall to its doom. Copyright: C. Carreau/ESA.

As related in an article from Sunday’s Los Angeles Times, this particular planet has a number of standout qualities: It’s a “hot Jupiter,” a gas giant that’s exceptionally close to its star; it has an incredibly short orbit, taking less than one Earth day to complete; and, by all accounts, it should’ve fallen into that star and burned up a long, long time ago.

That, at least, is the conclusion of astrophysicist Coel Hellier of Keene University in Staffordshire, England, who discovered Wasp-18b.

“This planet should spiral inwards on such a short time scale that the likelihood of seeing it is very low,” Hellier told the newspaper.

Which raises a lot of questions in the astrophysics community. For example, it could be that the star around which Wasp-18b is orbiting (which is called, coincidentally, Wasp-18) has about 1,000 times less energy than scientists believe. Or it could be that the planet has only been in that orbit a short time and that Hellier happened to catch it there as it gradually spirals into the star. But each of those propositions raises other questions.

Meanwhile, those looking for answers can start closer to home. One of the two moons orbiting Mars, Phobos, is in a similar situation: it’s far closer to the planet than it should be (5,600 miles) and still maintains its orbit.

Normally, columnist Dan Barry at The New York Times travels around the country and writes fascinating, insightful stories about regular people.

Dan Barry. Photo by Fred R. Conrad.

But this week, Barry turns his pen upon himself to discuss one of the least-discussed and least-understood — outside of cancer survivor circles, that is — side-effects of chemotherapy.

It’s called “chemo brain.”

There’s an old saw that Barry quotes in his column about how “cancer tends to focus the mind.” Well, chemotherapy tends to unfocus it. Those powerful, hateful chemicals that are surging through the body, meant to track down and vanquish killer cancer cells, also have the tendency to fog the mind. Once dismissed as side-effects of patient age or fatigue, the American Cancer Society reports that studies show some of those chemicals do have an effect on the brain.

In his very personal remembrance of two rounds of chemotherapy, Barry talks about the brain fog many patients experience after chemo, and maybe never go away. But for his part, Barry found he thought clearer during chemo, was able to prioritize, to focus sharply on things that mattered — to let go, as he described, and quit worrying about who got the last of the Vienna Fingers.

Perhaps the most important lesson he learned from his two bouts with cancer had little to do with the disease itself, Barry ultimately realizes. It was this clarity, this sense of perspective, that he took away from the extra lucidity chemotherapy afforded him.

That’s something the doctors couldn’t have predicted, and a reminder that even with the most advanced and carefully studied medical techniques, there remain some mysteries to be discovered.

Let’s say you’re thinking about investing in land. And taking the really, really long view.

Could I interest you in some lovely backcountry acreage with canyon-like features? Or some prairie-flat plains dotted with craters? Or maybe some chloride salt beds?

The Man Who Sold the Moon. Cover of Shasta edition collection. Photo: Wikipedia.

Could I interest you, to put it directly, in Mars?

Okay, nobody’s buying off-world real estate yet (outside of science fiction or some pretty clever entrepreneurs), but NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has announced the release of thousands of high-definition photographs of the Red Planet’s surface.

It’s some pretty spectacular viewing, too, courtesy of the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. According to JPL’s website, “Each full image from HiRISE covers a strip of Martian ground 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) wide, about two to four times that long, showing details as small as 1 meter, or yard, across.”

We’re still years away from a manned Mars mission, of course, and decades (if that) away from the average earthling getting a chance to set foot on our neighboring planet. But with these gorgeous photos available, there’s just a little temptation to pick out a spot for some far-future vacation, just in case.

For our part, the Meridiani Planum Southern Boundary looks like a lovely place to park a yurt and spend a few weeks hiking and sightseeing.

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Weekly Horoscope for Friday, September 4, 2009, #782 – BY ERIC FRANCIS

Aries (March 20-April 19)
There seems to be an issue making you persistently angry. You try to get ahead of it, or move it out of your way, but it sticks. The frustrating part is that it’s difficult to actually make full contact with the feeling; it’s like the two of you are shadowing one another but can’t quite catch up. The danger is taking the resulting frustration out on someone you love. You can work with this issue in the context of a relationship, but make sure that you’re clear about how it’s your issue, and you’re seeking help. One clue I can offer you is that this does indeed involve the intersection of your relationship history with your family history. The two are always related, but the intersections are often difficult to see. If it’s working, the conversation will lead you in the direction of the past.

Taurus (April 19- May 20)
Pride is of the essence. How do you really feel about the stuff? Are you conscious of the spectrum of emotions involved, or is it a kind of gloss that reflects the light instead of absorbing it? It seems like you will first grasp intuitively what you cannot quite grasp mentally. I suggest you look directly at the evidence of how you feel (mainly by accounting for your choices), and how others feel as a result (which you will be able to discern from their choices relating to you). Then two puzzles follow: how to put what you’re experiencing into words; and whether you can get the idea or feeling across to anyone. There may come a time fairly soon when you will care deeply about both. It would help if you bear in mind that the essence of communication is trust.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)
The creative process is not arts and crafts. Rather, it’s about everything from doubt to confronting your sense of emptiness to exploring the feelings and memories that we are basically all conditioned to ignore. In sum, you go deeper, and that depth often requires the use of a working medium that could be clay and it could be a camera and it could be your notebook. Let it become a sacred space, but not so sacred that you fear that what you create there will be known to others and influence their healing process. You’re not alone in going through what you’re experiencing. The feelings running through your body are part of a collective current shared by millions of other people, each in their unique way, and each equally meaningful.

Cancer (June 21- July 22)
Sometimes you go so far into your feelings that you have to retreat from yourself. Sometimes you forget that you have a spiritual connection so deep that there actually is no bottom. You will remember this week. Let the Full Moon remind you every time you look at it. The current peak of energy comes once each year in the sign Pisces, one of the places you draw your highest vision from like a well. Consider this moment in your life to be a vision quest. You’re feeling unusually bold. You know you have the choice to trust your circumstances if you want to. Therefore, let a vision come to you. You may not understand what you see; you may not think it’s attainable or realistic. Getting from one space to the other can be summed up in a single word: growth.

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)
You tend to be the one with the practical side, and you invite others around you to bring in the creative side. In the process, they gradually become like you, and you become like them. At the moment, I suggest you not let your brass-tacks nature dampen the spirit of someone you love who is absolutely soaring on an idea, a feeling or a desire. You see the limitations and you will, soon enough, have the role of helping sculpt the idea into something useful. Yet in doing so, your job is also to protect and preserve its essence. Therefore, I suggest you absorb as much of that essence as you can. Let its light shine on you and remember that it’s a reflection of your own imagination; an invitation to not only think about what is possible, but to feel what is possible.

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
Before we (as a society) get underneath the epidemic of anxiety, you will get underneath your own personal affliction. Here is a clue. The more you are strategizing, the more fear you’re feeling. Strategies are not the solution, they are the symptom. The solution would feel something like trust, or love, or empathy, or allowing yourself to let go into the flow of your life. Deep in your fear there is something about your dad and seeking his approval. As adults we are often loathe to admit that we have such needs, but you’re in an unusual moment of potential honesty and clarity. I say potential because what you are feeling right now could approach a level of beauty that pushes you into denial or retreat — though you have other options.

Libra (Sep. 22 – Oct. 23)
You’re searching for a new sense of identity, and of your professional role. At times they conflict; at times they are in harmony; at times the two seem to make no contact at all. Lately, they may be doing all three at once. This, in turn, might be having you wonder if you’re ever going to get the pieces to fit. I can assure you of one thing, which is that a lot of the mystery and pressure and confusion will resolve itself when Saturn enters your birth sign next month. There are things in astrology that always make a difference, and Saturn making an important move is one of them. Meanwhile, I suggest you keep mining the distant past for information, particularly if you’re ever feeling isolated or like the ground is too unstable to stand on.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
Cooking a meal is all about timing. Well, it’s about blending flavors, and timing. If you can’t do both, the task will seem impossible. Both take practice; blending flavors is related to having healthy sexual instincts (this, according to the Kama Sutra). As for timing, you learn there are things you can start a little early, like rice; there are things that take very little time and have to be served right away, like pasta or certain vegetables. Likewise, certain processes in your life can wait; others you need to attend to immediately; there are some elements ready right now. Make an inventory and sort out what needs to be treated as what. Size things up carefully and work with all the known information. Admit that there are times when you’ll need to take a guess. Remember the words of Eddie Weigert, one of the talented chefs who trained me: “When you think it’s done, it’s done.”

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 22)
You seem to be edging back to the dark side of your nature. Sagittarius is odd this way; the dark side is almost always a deeply internal phenomenon. It’s a little like the Galactic Core, which is in your birth sign: hundreds of billions of stars, held together by an enormous mass of dark matter. Speaking in more practical terms, you seem to be revisiting an injury, affliction or source of pain from your childhood. It looks like you want to get close enough to see, but not to touch — that may be just the right approach. Stay on the edges of these feelings, rather than diving into them. Watch certain scenarios from your distant past play like a movie, and observe what you’re feeling with a bit of detachment. That’s usually easy for you; it may be more challenging now.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
Don’t allow things to get personal when they need to be professional. At the same time, when things are personal, keep them that way. The boundaries are blurring all over the place and may be threatening you with a setback of some kind. While there is some confusion in the short run, your star is rising: Saturn is getting ready to cross the ever-important midheaven angle of your solar chart, which happens late next month. You can consider everything that happens between now and then to be preparation, rehearsal, dry runs and experimental. Part of that experiment involves how you relate to people as your influence in the world increases.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
You know what is important to you; why then do you allow yourself to get caught up in the resistance of others who don’t share your values? You seem to be faced with a choice right now: to break away, or compromise. In fact, you may need to do both, but the order in which you do them will affect the outcome of the situation. I suggest you take the matter as an internal phenomenon exclusively. You are trying to reconcile two aspects of your nature. You’re also trying to align two different sets of values that you possess about relationships. In fact, you are seeking a third factor, mental state or outcome. This is something entirely new. Intellectually you may not grasp it yet, but intuitively it’s starting to make perfect sense. Let that build your faith.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)
This week’s Full Moon in your birth sign will light up all the most meaningful questions of your life. I suggest you let the questions stand; let them be what they are. Notice how your perceptions are different when you admit that they exist and when you pretend they don’t exist. Beneath them is a level of certainty that can only come from faith. Faith is not as abstract as religion makes it seem. Actually, it’s about having confidence in yourself. In the second instance, it’s about having confidence in others, which may be somewhat lacking at the moment. Therefore, tend your own garden, and remember how far you’ve come in a relatively short time. It is true that plenty remains unresolved in your life, but take heart, because that means the book is still open.