Monthly Archives: December 2011

News About 2012 Annual Edition — and Your Monthly Horoscope

Holiday Market at Grand Place, Brussels, Belgium. Photo by Eric Francis.

Dear Friend and Reader:

We’ve arrived at the last mailing of 2011 — what a year it’s been. At the end of this note, I’ll include a few flashbacks to some key events of the past 12 months. Being involved with the news, I’m accustomed to seeing a lot of water going by under the bridge, but this year has been phenomenal. The wave of energy that rippled around the globe was the first blatantly obvious result of the Uranus-Pluto square: the one that was long ago described as being part of the cycles of revolution.

The first exact contact of that square takes place in May 2012 and the last for this cycle in 2015 — so this is the beginning of a long and unpredictable ride. The world we know will indeed be a different place on the other side of this rapid, concentrated flow of events, and we’re just about to slip into the vortex.

Work is progressing on your 2012 reading, part of the annual edition of Planet Waves — Revolution. Revelation. Reality Check. Since 2012 is an extra special year, I am doing an extra special job on the annual. This year’s edition will include extended written readings — and a three-part audio reading that I promise comes close to a personal reading with me. I give a careful, easy to follow account of your astrology, that is both thorough and designed to be highly motivating.

Since you’re a subscriber to Planet Waves or Light Bridge, you can get the subscriber discount at this link. You may use this for gift purchases as well. If you would prefer to purchase individual signs, then use this link. I strongly suggest working with your Sun and rising sign, and if you’re a Moon child, your Moon sign as well.

Don’t forget to check for Part Five in the Top Five Events of 2012, when I will offer my view on the Mayan calendar turning over. I plan to have that, along with a regular edition of Planet Waves FM, by the end of the week.

Lovingly,

 

 

P.S. Here are three flashbacks to 2011: My analysis of the Tucson shooting (which looks at the theme of gender rage, and discusses Eris and Chiron), Here at the Edge of the World, an article on Atlantean themes which discusses the nuclear predicament, and an article called With Love from Borasisi, which indirectly predicted the Fukushima situation that happened just one week later. Okay one last — here is a bonus memory, on a much lighter note — my article about the 13th sign hoax, called You Are Who You Are.

 

I’ve finished Planet Waves FM just in time to include it with this mailing. In this edition I recap some of what happened in 2011, and how this is just a warmup for 2012. I reprise the song Fingers by Roxy Rawson, and take a look at her natal chart. Then I look at the super interesting current astrology, including Sun conjunct Pluto in Capricorn, and Mercury conjunct Pholus. All in all, this podcast might be a pleasant way to spend an hour, worth it entirely for Roxy. spend an hour, worth it entirely for Roxy. I’ve just looked at her website — she’s raising money to mix and master her first CD. If you’re someone in a position to help out — I am sure she would be most grateful for that.

This is the last regular edition of Planet Waves FM but I’ll see you later in the week with the last installment in the Top Five Events of 2012.

Inner Space Monthly Horoscope for January 2012. | Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Last Days of 2011: Watch What You Say and What You Drink

As 2011 turns over into the fabled 2012, we get a couple of common-sense cautionary notes from the astrology. The Sun makes a conjunction to Pluto on Thursday, something that happens just once a year. An aspect that focuses the will into a laser, this is astrology advising using your creative power carefully. Actions speak a lot louder than words, and focusing your mind before you take action will go a long way toward ensuring the right outcome. Meanwhile, Mercury is making a conjunction to a potent minor planet called Pholus, which has two notable effects: it can cause a release that’s difficult or impossible to contain; and it warns against misjudgments when the mind is impaired by any intoxicant, especially alcohol. Words spoken now can have effects far beyond what you understand or intend. Put these factors together with Sun-Pluto and there is a potentially volatile combination that urges awareness, conscious decision-making and sobriety. By sobriety, I include proceeding from motives that you actually understand, and following thought patterns that are guided by logic that you stop and verify when necessary. As the 2012 astrology develops, we will need to use these tools as if it really matters.

Planet Waves has a special area devoted to 2012 issues, including a place to get detailed astrology readings that I am now preparing. I will also be continuing my Top Five Events series tomorrow, which you can access for free here. I’ll also repost a 12-sign feature from one year ago, if you would like to review your 2011 astrology.

 

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You’re discovering the value of taking care of your health, in terms of the details rather than the broad strokes or general goals. Among the larger themes, however, it’s clear that your habit of pushing yourself too hard seems to be coming to an abrupt halt. I suggest you be grateful for any minor problems that will serve as wakeup calls or call your attention to more important issues. Focus on your relationship to food, and by that I mean scrutinizing every bite that you put in your mouth. In the midst of a moment of awakening that is encompassing all areas of your life, it’s imperative that you turn general goals into highly specific ones. The moment you identify something general you have as an objective, come up with three specific ways to make it real.

Aries, your birth sign or rising sign, is getting a transit from the planet Uranus — which is a wild wakeup call, and a bold creative influence. I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and a tarot card reading for you. Learn more by visiting this page.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You’re limited only by what you believe, and most of the time your beliefs belong to someone else. To resolve this riddle you would have to take two steps. One is figuring out what your beliefs are, and the second is figuring out where they came from. One way to identify a belief is to identify a limit that you experience. You seem to be involved in a struggle that involves creative risk-taking, or taking any risks at all. You could ask yourself how far you want to take hesitating to express your ideas or your desires. The problem seems to be not that you avoid taking large risks, but rather that you avoid the ideas that might lead you to experiment. Can an idea be dangerous? The answer is yes, but the real question is: to whom?

I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and done a tarot reading especially for you. It’s information that will help with your relationships, your professional life and your personal growth. Visit this page to find out more.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — You may find yourself getting mixed up in something larger than you bargained for, and you may have a corresponding idea that there’s no turning back. You seem to have put considerable thought into your choice to make a commitment, without necessarily realizing the ways in which you would have to take some significant steps in your personal growth in order to come through. However, commitments always involve others, and I suggest you open up a clear, authentic conversation with the person you’re involved with — no doubt someone you consider more powerful or influential than yourself. You still have time to get to a point of absolute clarity about your agenda and theirs, and to work out any differences or misunderstandings in advance of taking the next step. However, this will take actual honesty and careful listening.

Gemini is one of the most misunderstood signs — and as someone born under this sign, part of your role is to hold a mirror to the world. I’ve recorded an hour of audio for you, plus a 20-minute tarot reading. You can get access to these by visiting this page.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — It’s time to get a grip on your insecurities. They may have worked for you for a while, but the risks of dragging around what amount to psychic shackles are increasing regularly. In other words, hesitation or doubt that may have lacked an obvious effect in the past could become much more costly now. Life is a process of trial and error, but that’s another way of saying that it’s about using what you learn. One question seems to be how soon you do that, once you’re in possession of vital information. Which leads to another point: what constitutes vital? For the next few weeks, assume that anything anyone says to you is potentially meaningful. Then scrutinize their opinion, look more deeply at the issue and make a conscious decision how much it means to you — and what you want to do about it.

I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and done a tarot reading especially for you. It’s information that will help with your relationships, your professional life and your personal growth. Visit this page to find out more.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Now is the time to clear up any lingering secrets you may be keeping from someone, which would include withholds or convenient misunderstandings. What you reveal now will serve the purpose of healing, while what you delay or avoid discussing will have undue power to cause problems in the future. You may be in a situation where you are discovering so much about yourself that you haven’t said that you don’t know what to include in the conversation. I suggest beginning with any withholds that you’re aware of as such, or clarifying any known misunderstandings created by how you’ve presented yourself in the past. You know the time has come to live more transparently. What is nice about the current moment is that others are well poised to get used to that idea.

The 2011 Leo birthday report is 70 minutes of in-depth astrology plus a 20-minute tarot reading for you, exploring relationships, personal growth and your professional life. Visit this page for additional information.

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Introducing the Planet Waves All Access Pass for 2012

Last year we offered an All Access Pass for subscribers who wanted access to everything we offer in a calendar year. The response from our All Access subscribers was overwhelmingly positive, and we are happy to once again offer one of our most popular products: the Planet Waves All Access Pass for 2012. One price gets you a subscription to the weeklies and all other products on Planetwaves.net through December of 2012.

Using one password for everything, which you choose yourself, you’ll have easy access to every product, including birthday reports and special audio recordings, weekly email service, the annual edition, and whatever additional projects we create. It’s a great discount on a year of our work.

We trust that this idea is a fun way to meet your needs, whether you use astrology for daily spiritual inspiration, therapeutic purposes or pragmatic decision-making. And it’s truly a valuable resource for students of Astrology.

With the All Access Pass you’ll receive:

– Tuesday/Friday Email editions of Planet Waves weekly content and horoscopes. Follow Eric’s weekly and monthly interpretations for all of 2012.

– All sign birthday/ascendant audio for 2012. This is almost like getting a personal consultation with Eric for yourself and any loved ones whose astrology you track. Each audio report includes a fresh perspective on current transits and how they extend into the future, along with a special tarot reading for that sign.

– Your choice of the 2012 or 2013 annual edition, all 12 signs. This book-length online publication includes written and audio segments, is accessible by password at any time, and always meets rave reviews by readers who refer to it throughout the year for its long-range, big-picture guidance.

– Our best-selling special reports and projects including extended audio and eBooks. Past reports have included the Midyear Audio and Mercury Retrograde reports; 2012 is sure to include exciting, as-yet-unimagined offerings as we navigate the year’s adventures.

– Research/lookup service for astrology students. We will assist you in researching any articles you need for your astrological studies through December 2012.

The All Access Pass is a little like having a personal astrologer for a full year.

Or, think of this as a custom level of service. While we tend to be close to our clients, answering the phone and responding to emails, the All Access Pass is a way of enhancing that relationship, designed for those who benefit the most from Planet Waves, whether as a spiritual seeker or an astrology student. Once you sign up, we will set up your custom login identity and keep you posted as soon as any new stuff becomes available.

Use this link to place your order. If you have questions, please give Chelsea a call at (877) 453-8265 within the U.S. and (206) 567-4455 from anywhere else in the world and she will be glad to help you.

As always thank you for doing your metaphysical shopping at Planet Waves. It’s great to know that together, we’re building a truly unique source of astrology wisdom in a time of profound change.

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Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — How do you correct what you perceive needs improvement in yourself? It’s an admirable goal to be a better person, though you need a gentle way to determine how that might look in real life. Growth is not a process of scrutiny but rather creativity. Instead of eliminating a bad habit, try creating a better one. Instead of quitting a job you don’t like, set some new goals for yourself that allow you to grow into a better employment situation. Transitioning from scrutiny to creativity can be challenging, especially when your list of things to ‘work through’ keeps getting longer. I would propose that one event around mid-month shows you how easy it can be. One way to describe the difference is that scrutiny is like planning to make decisions, and creativity is about taking action.

The 2011 Virgo birthday report is ready! I’ve recorded 70 minutes of astrology plus a tarot reading for you, exploring how you’re working through family material, your use of spirituality, some new energy in your relationships and your professional goals. Visit this page for additional information.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Creativity is a practical thing. There’s a rumor that creative people are flooded with inspiration and overflowing with the desire to express it. I would say that most people perceived as creative are actually pragmatists. Yes, it’s necessary to have ideas before you set about applying them, but the second step counts for more than the first. Your task this month is to explore the balance between the two, which is another way of saying: apply your ideas where you think they will make a difference. That difference could be improving the view of the wall from your bathtub, or it could be about creating something that serves many people. Lurking deep beneath the ocean of your astrology is an obsession with service. You’re at a point in life where what you do has to count for something.

Your Libra birthday audio for 2011 is finished. Created outside next to an open fire, this reading covers the astrology for your sign in about 70 minutes (looking at career, relationship, home life and the many influences to change you’re now experiencing). It also includes a Voyager tarot reading. Visit this link for additional information.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — How far can you see into the future? The answer is you’ll see a lot further if you’re not depending on the opinions of others as a source of information. You might be especially sensitive to the people around you as reference points, but the chances are they are stuck on the small points and glossing over the more significant ones. You could go a long way by asking yourself how useful the past is as a predictor of the future. Trends analysts usually say the past is the best indicator of the future, and a visionary would say the past is the very worst. For you, the past is providing an excellent reference point for what it’s necessary to go beyond. This really is as simple as the equation: “That only worked so well. It’s time to try something new.”

Hello Scorpios! Your 2011 Birthday Report is ready. It’s about an hour of astrology, plus a 20-minute tarot reading. It’s hot with transformational energy. I focus on your ruling planet Mars, your imagination and desire nature, and a phase of solid achievement. Please check this page for more information.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — There comes that point where intelligence only goes as far as your emotional connection to whatever you’re thinking about. I don’t mean emoting over an idea but rather being able to sense the implications of something you’re considering, while you’re considering it. You’re having a lot of ideas about your goals and objectives, and your charts warn that you might lose contact with what you’re thinking. It will help if you slow down and consider your plans more thoughtfully, and recognize that every action has implications that go far beyond what you’re immediately aware of. You cannot see all of those implications, but you can feel whether something is right or wrong for you. It’s time to trust that information, and to use it wisely.

The Sagittarius 2011 Birthday Report is ready. It’s about an hour of astrology, plus a 20-minute tarot reading. Sagittarius is encoded with a sense of cosmic mystery, and the recent, hot eclipse activity in your sign will continue unfolding for the next 6-12 months as you journey. Visit this page for additional information.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — You are becoming the embodiment of an idea. Though some would say this is dangerous, I would say it’s about being real. You don’t need to be an evangelist; you merely need to allow something that is truly meaningful to you to actually change you. What good are ideas otherwise? You might perform an experiment to determine whether something is a ‘real’ idea or a puff of thought that has no energy behind it. A real idea will feel something like, ‘If this is true, then I am a different person’. Different would pertain to what attracts you or what you find to be unacceptable or totally revolting. As the next few months progress and many new, unusual experiences come your way, discernment is going to become your most important tool. And this is something you must do with every cell in your body.

Happy birthday! There will indeed be a Capricorn audio birthday report! Watch your email or check this space for additional information in the next edition.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — A very old story is drawing to a close. The transition you’re making is one that you will look back on as a turning point for the rest of your life. You can think of it as the time when you finally got it that you have to be honest with yourself; and by extension, when you figured out that honesty is the one thing on which any viable relationship is predicated. You have the advantage right now of someone close to you who is especially gifted at living in a transparent way. Lately this is something they have done with fixed determination to something they have relaxed into as a sensible way of life, even though it may feel uncomfortable at times. That feeling won’t last long; the truth is what it is, and worthy of respect.

To pre-order Revolution. Revelation. Reality Check., your full-length 2012 reading including written and audio segments for Aquarius, please go to this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — You may feel you’ve survived without something essential for a long time — in truth, for too long. It has not helped that this something, whatever it is, feels like it can be found in abundance everyplace but where you are. You have made contact with this missing element recently, enough to have a clue that fulfillment is possible. The best thing you can do for yourself right now is to be open to receive. This will call for a conscious approach to existence, so you can notice the many ways you’ve gotten used to not having this certain something that you know is essential to your contentment. Take the lid off of your cup, so that the cosmic water can fill it up. Step into the light, were you can see more easily. When you breathe, feel the air rushing into your lungs.

To pre-order Revolution. Revelation. Reality Check., your full-length 2012 reading including written and audio segments for Aquarius, please go to this link.

The Big Question: What’s so 2012 about 2012?

Painting by P.C.Turczyn.

Dear Friend and Reader:

It was someone named Jose Arguelles who popularized 2012 as the time we would take what he called the leap beyond technology. Arguelles was not the first to point out the significance of 2012 — though he was talking about it as early as the mid-1970s. Frank Waters (in his Hopi prophecies) also mentioned it in 1975, as did Terence McKenna in Invisible Landscape. Astrologer A.T. Mann briefly mentioned it in his 1986 book The Divine Plot: Astrology, Reincarnation, Cosmology and History.

Jose Arguelles at the Babaji Ashram, Cisternino, Italy 2009. Jose is the one who introduced the world to the idea of 2012. He died earlier this year. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Yet it was Arguelles’ creation of the worldwide Harmonic Convergence in 1987 that got the cultural meme of 2012 (and the Mayan long count) going. The Convergence was based on the idea that the 13th baktun of the Mayan long count calendar would be ending on the winter solstice of 2012, and that it was time to start preparing ourselves for whatever that transition meant. How long is long? A baktun is 144,000 days; 13 baktuns add up to about 1.8 million days, or 5,125 years, which is one-fifth of a full precessional cycle (that is, the cycle of all 12 ‘ages’ in Western astrology).

Did the Harmonic Convergence work? I say yes — so far, the world has not been destroyed by nuclear war.

Despite that barely-noticed good news, over the past 25 years, predictions of both doomsday and spontaneous enlightenment have flooded New Age literature and bled into mainstream thought, though in all of that time, none of it has struck me as particularly meaningful. Said another way, I’ve hardly ever heard a 2012 narrative I could even vaguely relate to. Pretty much everyone knows that 2012 is an important date in the Mayan calendar, but hardly anyone can tell you what it ‘means’ without drifting into speculation.

Our sin-obsessed Christian culture, clouded by truly horrid visions from The Book of Revelation (sometimes called The Apocalypse of John) — the last book of the New Testament — always seems to be waiting on doomsday. However, Judgment Day is our shit — not that of the ancient Mayans.

The Harmonic Convergence of Aug. 16-17, 1987 was a global meditation for peace. I took part in that major event as part of a spiritual community, and it had nothing to do with the ‘end of the world’ or doomsday. To the contrary, we had our minds on getting the world out of the mess that it was in — not into a bigger one. In recent years, Mayan scholars and Mayan leaders have objected to the obsession with gloom and cataclysm.

“For the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle,” says Sandra Noble, executive director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies in Crystal River, Florida. To render Dec. 21, 2012 as a doomsday event or moment of cosmic shifting, she says, is “a complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in.”

The Western Astrology of the 2012 Era

That said, 2012 is going to be one of the most significant years that any of us have ever lived through. It’s really an era that spans from 2011 to 2016, and in truth it extends much further in both of the commonly known directions of time. Yet one year from today, we will note that 2012 was indeed a radical turning point. The Western astrology illustrates sweeping changes in culture and geopolitics, and corresponding profound changes in the lives of individuals. Most of the planets involved in the alignments were not known to the ancient Mayans — among them Chiron, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, all of which were discovered by modern science.

Detail of Venus transit of the Sun on June 5, 2012. This is a precise conjunction of Venus and the Sun, taking place in the astonishing month that spans late May to late June 2012 — the epicenter of events next year.

These are the gods of change, and for the next few years they are working in concert with one another, propelling us to wake up, pay attention and consciously advance our lives. While some will experience this as little other than a wild ride, we are being summoned to participate in existence as a personal event — and as a collective event. Yet that statement calls attention to what it would mean not to participate: to merely observe, to decline participation on the basis of fear, or to attempt to stay stuck in old ways of thinking. If you’re experiencing fear and chaos rather than a bold quest, then it’s time to update your files.

Collectively, we have arrived at a point of extreme contraction of awareness, denial, paranoia and surrender of our power. We are being smothered in our own technology. If we don’t do something about this, global conditions will get worse. It would be fair to say that we’ve arrived at a moment of potentially reclaiming what we’ve given up, and perhaps of claiming something new, but it won’t come in the form of an iPhone app. The thing about computer applications is that someone else has the idea and does the work; then we load them onto our device and they do their thing. When we follow the guidance of astrology, or with any other personal work, we become the programmer; we have the idea and must take the initiative.

The astrology you’re about to experience is a calling to personal responsibility and most significantly, to use what we have learned in all these years of study, workshops, yoga classes, many efforts at healing, self-improvement and personal growth that have become so popular since the 1960s. Now is when we put the pieces together, with a momentous feeling; we are indeed at a point of no return, whether we’re talking about the environment, civil liberties or going beyond paralyzing fear and judgment.

In short, it’s now time to decide what matters the most, and take action. Not in the future — right now. Here are the top five events that illustrate the changes. Each of them influences you personally. The following will give you an overview.

Uranus square Pluto

Uranus, photographed by E. Karkoschka et al., for NASA.

The defining aspect of our era in history, look to Uranus square Pluto when you’re trying to figure out how it’s possible that Arab Spring, the labor movements of Wisconsin and Ohio, and the Occupy movement all happened within a few months. There are many factors that make 2011 distinct in modern history, and 2011 was just the beginning. When Uranus and Pluto get together, we enter an epoch of revolution. The way that revolutionary movements start is that individual people stir to awareness, notice something, feel a need to participate, and then join forces. Uranus square Pluto combines the revolutionary nature of Uranus with the evolutionary power of Pluto, and focuses them into a powerful force for renewal and change. The last time we experienced anything like this was in the mid-1960s, when Uranus and Pluto were in a conjunction. Now that cycle is about to reach the exact first-quarter point, where we can put the many lessons of the Sixties to work for us. By lessons, I mean the many beautiful opportunities that era teased us with, and the many disasters we witnessed. Uranus-Pluto aspects are a mix of light and dark. Yet they always bring progress, especially for those who are willing to consciously indulge change and adventure.

Venus Transit of the Sun

Photo: A. Ayiomamitis.

One of the rarest predictable events in astronomy, this is a precise conjunction of Venus and the Sun — so close that if you’re in the right place, with the right equipment, you will be able to watch Venus trace a line across the Sun. In astronomy, this is the most Mayan thing about 2012, because the Mayan astronomers and lore-masters loved the cycles of Venus. Venus’ transit of the Sun is about expression of the solar feminine — that is, the side of the feminine that is not reflected light but rather direct light. Said another way, the Sun becomes Venus for a little while in 2012. Taking place in Gemini, this suggests we can begin to experience ourselves as more balanced in our masculine and feminine attributes. Most of the conflict that humanity experiences (and by that I mean war, torture and greed) has its deepest roots in sex, gender and homophobia. It is the combination of repression, inner division and fear of self that I believe leads to our tolerance of the violence we witness and experience. For those who are interested, we are approaching a rare, concentrated opportunity for emotional integration and gender balance.

Planets in the Water Signs

Neptune from Voyager 2. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

In 2010, Chiron began its ingress into Pisces (coinciding with the BP oil spill), arriving to stay in 2011 (this lasts till 2019). Last year, Neptune visited Pisces briefly, and takes up residence in February. It will remain in Pisces for about 14 years. In October, Saturn arrives in Scorpio. These water placements describe at least two things: our global water crisis, and our emotional maturity crisis. It’s no coincidence that many places the drinking water is contaminated with Prozac. That’s because many communities drink ‘purified’ sewage effluent — something that will become increasingly necessary as time goes on. Emotionally as a society we’re not doing much better, as we drown our sorrows at Wal-Mart and drink the somewhat less purified effluent of our parents and other ancestors. These important planets in the water signs — especially Neptune, the god of oceans — point to a get-real moment of emotional healing, indicating that our emotions are the heart of the matter where growth is concerned. They remind us that water is the heart of the matter where sustaining our bodies is concerned. The quality of the groundwater, rivers and oceans connects to our emotional state. Enough oil spills, nuclear meltdowns and fracking. It’s time to grow up.

Mercury Retrograde on Election Day

This is what Mercury retrograde on Election Day once looked like.

If you thought the 2010 election was crazy, and if you’ve been following the race for the Republican primary this year, just wait for the actual 2012 election. We live in an era when voter rights are being systematically narrowed down (for students, the elderly and the poor). The 2010 Citizens’ United case has opened the floodgates to politics being a wholly owned subsidiary of Corporate America. During the past six months we have been treated to a slate of candidates who cannot identify China as a nuclear power, who want to shut federal agencies they cannot name, who think gay people can be ‘cured’, who want the smaller, less invasive government to regulate every uterus, who want to eliminate entire circuits of the federal courts and drag judges before congress and who have racked up more sexual harassment and cheating than — okay I will shut up! Here is my point: Mercury stations retrograde on Election Day 2012. The only other Election Day in American history when a Mercury station (retrograde or direct) was exactly involved was 2000. We are looking at the potential for some huge scam or something really weird like an Electoral College tie. As far as I can tell, we’re about to go post-politics. We need to create something functional in its place.

Stardate 13.0.0.0.0: The End of the 13th Baktun

Sample of page 2 of what’s called the Dresden Codex — considered the most complete of the three undisputably authentic Mayan codices. The names of the codices indicate where they were kept originally. It is the oldest book written in the Americas known to historians, created by scribes who were copying much older documents. It’s believed to have been a gift of Cortez to King Charles I of Spain in 1519. It contains a lot of information about rainy seasons, floods, illness and medicine, as well as planetary tables — but nothing about the ‘end of the world’.

The Mayan cycle that got the whole conversation going is the X-factor in the equation. Obviously it is significant that a 144,000-day cycle is turning over, particularly involving some of the people who occupied the Americas long before the Europeans arrived. Yet there has been more speculation as to the meaning of this event than there has been grounded creative discussion.

We are fast approaching the point where the culture that grew out of the European colonies is not only no longer sustainable, but where many days it seems like the whole thing is about to collapse. This may be more of a synchronicity than a prediction on the part of the ancient Mayans, but their calendar is all about synchronicity.

Certainly something is changing in the nature of time and how we experience it. Technology does seem to be at the heart of the situation. Remember that when Jose Arguelles was coming up with his ideas about the path beyond technology, nobody had a computer in their pocket. Most people had never even worked on a computer, ever, much less had several of them in their house. So technology in many ways has run wild, and this is something we need to notice.

In Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch, there is a warning. I think of it as the Atlantis passage, and I’ve quoted it a few times before. “As I have said, this isn’t the first time your civilization has been at this brink,” God tells Walsch. “I want to repeat this, because it is vital that you hear this. Once before on your planet, the technology you developed was far greater than your ability to use it responsibly. You are approaching the same point in human history again. It is vitally important that you understand this. Your present technology is threatening to outstrip your ability to use it wisely. Your society is on the verge of becoming a product of your technology rather than your technology being a product of your society. When a society becomes a product of its own technology, it destroys itself.”

Lovingly,

 

 

2012 Annual Available By Sign — and Another Top Five Event

Dear Friend and Reader:

I’m back with two things — the first being a new installment of the Top Five Events of 2012 — and this is a hot one. It’s part of Revolution. Revelation. Reality Check. — the 2012 annual edition of Planet Waves, which by the way is available for general sale to all readers, by sign. Subscribers may still get the 12-sign discount rate.

Photo by Elizabeth Joyce.

So, what’s the big event? Mercury stations retrograde on Election Day. Exactly on Election Day. That is to say, right in the midst of everyone voting in the highly anticipated, so close it could be a tie, who the heck are all these weirdos, one and only 2012 presidential election: exactly on that very day, Mercury goes retrograde in Sagittarius. I know — I could not believe it either.

Notably, Mercury has only ever stationed one other time on a presidential Election Day — in 2000, when we had Bush v. Gore and the loser won.

Now, for the second time in American history, Mercury is stationing exactly during an election. What is this about? In this segment, I cover the basic possibilities: it looks like some kind of scam, such as an overt case of election fraud. There is lying and denial; and since it’s in Sagittarius the courts may be involved. Mercury retrograde in Sagittarius, square Neptune, has a bit of the religious huckster or confidence man to it. In that way that astrology can be bizarrely literal, this chart is the perfect image of the political landscape — and it is volatile.

What could possibly go wrong? Well, what could go right? We could get a wakeup call to civic involvement, and it’s on this note that I end the discussion: with a call to civic action. This presentation includes a bonus track — an interview with Planet Waves contributor Astrodem, a political consultant in Washington, D.C. Astrodem is not an official writer for Planet Waves, just someone who contributes his ideas about astrology and politics as a commenter. You will get to meet him in the bonus segment.

Even if you hate politics, you will enjoy this edition of the Top Five Events of 2012. The link includes access to all of the previous editions — and here is the ordering page.

Lovingly,

 

 

Extended Monthly Horoscope for January 2011. | Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19) — This year is about precision. You’ve been feeling this calling for a while, in particular since your ruling planet Mars entered Virgo this past autumn. Your quest may extend to your mental and physical health, your work, and many other factors in your environment. You may apply this as a drive for impeccability, integrity or even perfection. The problem is that humans are not creatures of precision; we are works in progress. Mars stationing retrograde in Virgo is cautioning you against taking overbearing positions with yourself: pushing yourself too hard, or trying to solve all your problems at once. You would best be served by an approach that works in layers. It’s a little like housecleaning — you sweep before you mop; getting the dishes out of the way is always a good start; you wash, dry and fold in order. I suggest you take that approach to personal improvement. Meanwhile, beware of over-emphasis on the past. You may encounter old issues that are calling for focus. While you’re doing that I suggest you adapt a ‘clean as you go’ approach with present-moment subject matter. Keep your current relationships, enterprises and work patterns as clear as you can. Proceed carefully and even a bit meticulously, so that you avoid creating new problems. Yet most of all, recognize that shifting your mental outlook will shift the way the world appears to you. If the world looks broken, consider whether that’s how you feel. And remember that in the spirit of pragmatism, your ultimate goal is wholeness rather than perfection.

Aries, your birth sign or rising sign, is getting a transit from the planet Uranus — which is a wild wakeup call, and a bold creative influence. I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and a tarot card reading for you. Learn more by visiting this page.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — There is something about sex that you seem to be trying to work through with every cell in your body. I will start by saying this. You cannot simultaneously exist in a world dominated by vanity, glamour and the appearance of purity, at the same time you reach for authenticity, healing and being clear about your desires. You must choose to exist in one world or the other. The first set of properties describes a way of life that is based on cloaking yourself in various illusions, while the second is about going deeper than appearances and reaching the substance of who you are and what you have to share. When we talk about sexual healing, we might well ask what exactly we would strive to resolve, correct or improve. I would propose, first, that you would benefit from being real about what you want, and noticing any fear or guilt that comes up as you name the specifics. Then make an inventory of the situations in your life where love and guilt are transacted as if they are equivalents. Last, check in where you are attempting to experience intimacy without vulnerability, or vulnerability without trust. These three things — intimacy, vulnerability and trust — together combine to form this thing we outwardly label ‘love’. The risky territory you’re exploring involves working out just that formula, but beware that to get there, you may have to move many lesser values out of the way. To accomplish that, you must be vigilant.

I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and done a tarot reading especially for you. It’s information that will help with your relationships, your professional life and your personal growth. Visit this page to find out more.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Your relationship life has been nothing less than surreal the past few months, and you may feel like you’re experiencing a kind of replay of everything that you’ve been through. The question now and for the foreseeable future involves commitment. Relationships of any kind call for being held in a container made of agreements. For you right now, both the content and structure of those agreements is what is up for review. One particular relationship is calling for a complete revision of the ‘sacred contracts’ that are involved, some of which are not so holy. Once you start, this will naturally branch out into the other relationships in your life. As you embark on that you may notice that your current agreements contain all kinds of odd little clauses, riders and addenda that take you off the main point of what your relationships are about. These are silent expectations, requirements and many of those you can trace back to your parents and grandparents. It’s similar to how the deed on a house or piece of property can contain requirements on subsequent owners, based on agreements made 100 years ago. Note that the first of those supposed requirements where a relationship is concerned involves the concept of ownership itself, which is infused through nearly all of our ideas about ‘romantic’ partnership or marriage. This is the place to start asking questions, or rather, the first things to question are the obvious ones.

Gemini is one of the most misunderstood signs — and as someone born under this sign, part of your role is to hold a mirror to the world. I’ve recorded an hour of audio for you, plus a 20-minute tarot reading. You can get access to these by visiting this page.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You must accept the fact that a relationship is changing, which does not necessarily mean changing for the worse. Actually, you get considerable influence over what form and direction the change takes, though you’re also being confronted by essential elements that are out of your control. Borrowing from the serenity prayer, you have to sort out the difference. Meanwhile, I suggest you review the history of the relationship. There was a turning point between 2008 and 2009. If the relationship in question dates prior to that era, study the developments at that time; otherwise, consider this date range as a turning point in your relationship history, in total. The changes that are upon you involve both the form of your relationships, and their content. In short, the old forms can no longer hold what you want to express, what you feel or what you need. They are simply not flexible enough. Yet you may not be aware of what new structure to use. I suggest you allow form to follow function. In other words, what is the purpose and the content of the relationship? Then based on that, how to have the relationship will be more obvious. Yet this is a bigger change than most people think. We tend to put the form of the relationship over the content or purpose. We try to fit people (including ourselves) into preconceived ideas about relationships and this is precisely what is changing.

I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and done a tarot reading especially for you. It’s information that will help with your relationships, your professional life and your personal growth. Visit this page to find out more.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Focus on what is necessary. Aim your entire concept of beauty or creativity on efficiency — that is where you will tap your creative power. Do your best to expend every drop of your energy consciously. There is a feeling described in your charts, which is doing precisely what is necessary to get the result that you want. You will find that this takes less effort than you think; the operative concept is leverage — not you being leveraged, but you having the leverage. I have noticed that the value of ideas to get things done is grossly underrated, even by many people who work in the realm of ideas. You might consider something carefully until you have a good working concept of what you want; it’s possible that the idea you need will just come to you. In either event it will help you significantly if you delineate what you want to get done or what problem you want to solve. This way you will have a sense of whether an idea that just arrives, or an idea that you gradually brew up, is the one that might do the job. If you don’t define the puzzle first, you’ll be much less likely to notice whether you’ve fit the pieces together correctly. One other thing to be sensitive to is whether you’ve already worked something out. If you need something, check if you already have it. If something is puzzling you, pause and think back and remember if you’ve already solved it.

The 2011 Leo birthday report is 70 minutes of in-depth astrology plus a 20-minute tarot reading for you, exploring relationships, personal growth and your professional life. Visit this page for additional information.

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Introducing the Planet Waves All Access Pass for 2012

Last year we offered an All Access Pass for subscribers who wanted access to everything we offer in a calendar year. The response from our All Access subscribers was overwhelmingly positive, and we are happy to once again offer one of our most popular products: the Planet Waves All Access Pass for 2012. One price gets you a subscription to the weeklies and all other products on Planetwaves.net through December of 2012.

Using one password for everything, which you choose yourself, you’ll have easy access to every product, including birthday reports and special audio recordings, weekly email service, the annual edition, and whatever additional projects we create. It’s a great discount on a year of our work.

We trust that this idea is a fun way to meet your needs, whether you use astrology for daily spiritual inspiration, therapeutic purposes or pragmatic decision-making. And it’s truly a valuable resource for students of Astrology.

With the All Access Pass you’ll receive:

– Tuesday/Friday Email editions of Planet Waves weekly content and horoscopes. Follow Eric’s weekly and monthly interpretations for all of 2012.

– All sign birthday/ascendant audio for 2012. This is almost like getting a personal consultation with Eric for yourself and any loved ones whose astrology you track. Each audio report includes a fresh perspective on current transits and how they extend into the future, along with a special tarot reading for that sign.

– Your choice of the 2012 or 2013 annual edition, all 12 signs. This book-length online publication includes written and audio segments, is accessible by password at any time, and always meets rave reviews by readers who refer to it throughout the year for its long-range, big-picture guidance.

– Our best-selling special reports and projects including extended audio and eBooks. Past reports have included the Midyear Audio and Mercury Retrograde reports; 2012 is sure to include exciting, as-yet-unimagined offerings as we navigate the year’s adventures.

– Research/lookup service for astrology students. We will assist you in researching any articles you need for your astrological studies through December 2012.

The All Access Pass is a little like having a personal astrologer for a full year.

Or, think of this as a custom level of service. While we tend to be close to our clients, answering the phone and responding to emails, the All Access Pass is a way of enhancing that relationship, designed for those who benefit the most from Planet Waves, whether as a spiritual seeker or an astrology student. Once you sign up, we will set up your custom login identity and keep you posted as soon as any new stuff becomes available.

Use this link to place your order. If you have questions, please give Chelsea a call at (877) 453-8265 within the U.S. and (206) 567-4455 from anywhere else in the world and she will be glad to help you.

As always thank you for doing your metaphysical shopping at Planet Waves. It’s great to know that together, we’re building a truly unique source of astrology wisdom in a time of profound change.

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Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — This month, Mars stations retrograde in your birth sign. This is another way of saying Mars will spend a total of eight months in Virgo, about 10 weeks of which it will seem to be traveling backward. Mars is the most assertive planet, so this back-tracking is often considered challenging — but it serves a crucial purpose, for you and for us all. The planets seem determined to teach you how to use this mysterious, elusive thing known as your will. Everything you experience must be filtered through one question — what do you want? You will develop the skill of discernment, for example, sorting out everything in your life on the basis of whether it helps you or hurts you. You can learn new ways to correct what is not working about your life, and what you don’t like about yourself. Mars is a hot, sharp object, and it has no morals of its own. You therefore need to be the intelligence behind the changes, and cultivating that awareness is the whole point. Proceed with surgical precision, getting clear on the mental level, then checking with the deeper emotional level, and finally making your actual adjustments meticulously and carefully. Take the whole duration of the retrograde (Jan. 23 to April 13) to identify and correct the patterns you don’t like, and to cultivate the ones that you know you want and need. Take nothing for granted. There’s no such thing as too careful — unless you spend your days in hesitation.

The 2011 Virgo birthday report is ready! I’ve recorded 70 minutes of astrology plus a tarot reading for you, exploring how you’re working through family material, your use of spirituality, some new energy in your relationships and your professional goals. Visit this page for additional information.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — If you want to understand yourself, study the nature of fear. There are a few different kinds of the stuff, ranging from a kind of lurking anxiety to paranoia about specific things. Lately you may be experiencing the fear of specifics: of what might happen if you don’t take care of details, or correct certain flaws that you might perceive in yourself. There is a kind of microscope pointing into your deep hidden nature, and you need to use it carefully. Beware of obsession in any form, or of any violent thoughts you might direct toward yourself. By ‘beware’ I mean be aware, and be wary. Notice these mental patterns and see if you can trace them back to their early origins. Despite your laid-back exterior, you possess a kind of deep perfectionism, though it’s not always the healthy kind. Be especially cautious of what you think that others think of you. This is almost always incorrect, though your projections of what others might think is a good indication of what you’re signaling to yourself. If it’s not already clear, you must send yourself more positive messages, and you have plenty of material to work with. In the end it will come down to a question of which viewpoint is true. Which makes you feel healthier? Which leads to your being happier and more productive? This is indeed a time when you will make many improvements to your mental patterns and emotional habits; the question is how you go about it.

Your Libra birthday audio for 2011 is finished. Created outside next to an open fire, this reading covers the astrology for your sign in about 70 minutes (looking at career, relationship, home life and the many influences to change you’re now experiencing). It also includes a Voyager tarot reading. Visit this link for additional information.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — To what extent do you rely on outside structure to hold up your life? We all do, to some extent. I am always glad to have a house to live in and boots on when I walk outside in the winter. But it’s also essential to have a strong internal structure, so that you’re the person who is actually guiding your life, and whose spine supports your being. If you’re going to put any personal growth project on top of your list for the next year, strengthening your internal structure is the one. Nearly every important transit that’s happening to you is a commentary on some form of discipline, self-mastery or being conscious of the boundaries of your life. These serve a purpose: to help you contain, cultivate and direct your creative energy. You may feel like you have so many changes to make that you’re overwhelmed at times. You have a feeling for how much territory you’re going to cover before these particular processes are over, but your inner workings also have significant momentum. You’ve achieved more than you think, though at this point there really is no looking back except to check in, briefly, with where you started. Trust that you have a solid beginning. One of the next places you’re going to be directing your energy is your reputation. The question is, are you known for who you really are, or is there something else going on? One of the themes of 2012 for you is impeccability, which in this instance translates to absolute authenticity.

Hello Scorpios! Your 2011 Birthday Report is ready. It’s about an hour of astrology, plus a 20-minute tarot reading. It’s hot with transformational energy. I focus on your ruling planet Mars, your imagination and desire nature, and a phase of solid achievement. Please check this page for more information.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — I suggest you use imperfection as your teacher. Since perfection doesn’t exist except as a concept, you need to put to good use the things you perceive as ‘wrong’ with yourself. What’s interesting is that what you perceive as being a problem and what you perceive as being your best assets may be very close together, so close that they are inseparable. You may notice, for example, what is ‘imperfect’ about your body just as you notice your own beauty. You might observe that you’re in good health but before you have time to appreciate that, you may be annoyed by the one or two persistent problems you have — and the negative can have a way of dominating the discussion. It’s like the small issue gets your attention and obscures your perception of everything else. Obviously this is not the way to make progress, especially if you want to develop your talents, be of service and feel better about yourself — all things that are eminently possible right now. You’re being challenged to work with a functional standard of quality and monitor your judgments of what is good and what is not (especially about yourself). Yet most significantly, you need to develop a sense of perspective. Perfection may not be a value, but improvement certainly is a useful one. I often think of what my old friend Melinda scrawled into my high school yearbook: Someone is not a true artist until they can see the flaws in their own work.

The Sagittarius 2011 Birthday Report is ready. It’s about an hour of astrology, plus a 20-minute tarot reading. Sagittarius is encoded with a sense of cosmic mystery, and the recent, hot eclipse activity in your sign will continue unfolding for the next 6-12 months as you journey. Visit this page for additional information.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Faith is one of the most difficult-to-grasp concepts, but as an actual thing in the world, it’s fairly easy to see. And it’s what you need to be the most vigilant about now. Your solar charts suggest that you’re having a crisis of faith in yourself, so you may notice this quality more by its absence than by its presence. This will work — as long as you recognize what’s going on, and go to the next step. One thing I can tell you about faith is that it comes from inside you. If there is an external source, then by my definition anyway, it’s not faith. Therefore, seek that internal source of connection. At the same time, you seem to be in a colossal struggle to work out what you believe: about life, about yourself, and ultimately about what is possible. You may be feeling the effects of disappointments relating to prior plans, or a sense of failing to meet your own potential — and these may be influencing what you believe is possible. Let’s stick with that for a moment. If what was possible in the past is any indication of what is actually possible in the future, then humanity would have made no progress on anything, ever. What is possible today is, specifically, what was not possible previously. Therefore, consider what seems impossible today as an indication of your true potential. If you can gently notice where you lack faith, you’re halfway to being filled with it.

Happy birthday! There will indeed be a Capricorn audio birthday report! Watch your email or check this space for additional information in the next edition.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — For the next few months, you’re going to be working out the details of a partnership that may have you going over old ground. This is not about backpedaling; it really is about resolving unfinished business. The good news is that once this phase ends, you’ll be able to proceed forward with actual courage and confidence. The lessons you’ll learn include the nature of commitments and what it means to get into them (and out of them), and how much care you must take to ensure that the fine points are really what they should be; and a big wake-up to the power you have when you step forward with your independence rather than thinking you need others to be involved in every decision. What seems like a review will really be a planning phase for a period of your life that I would describe as a period of achievement. There is a warm-up to this phase, and you’re in it now. The more you have a grasp on the history of recent years (and some long-gone ones) the more successful you will be. In the most positive sense, your success comes down to one question: knowing what you want. That, in turn, breaks down into several subtopics, including knowing exactly what would get in the way of that awareness. In the process, you will map out your psyche and the maze of your life, and this map will be an extremely useful tool as you progress forward.

To order Revolution. Revelation. Reality Check., your full-length 2012 reading including written and audio segments for Aquarius, please go to this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Whatever that thing you’re most dedicated to, that is who and what you are. It’s not that you have to identify with it, but rather that you are free to do so. Remember this. There seems to be a healing process at the heart of the matter. There seems to be something about sex and your sexual identity, and how you contain and express your energy. And you’re feeling a calling to absolute authenticity, which includes giving yourself the space to be yourself. If I had to assign one theme to the next four seasons, that’s the one: hold that space open where you are free to be you. Imagine a large fire in the middle of the space, which defines the room you have to move around, and provides both an energy source and a focal point for your existence. Holding open space to exist may have the feeling of taking back territory. By doing something positive and assertive you may get the sensation that you’re doing something negative and even wrong. No doubt you’ve been through this territory once or twice (or more) but it’s easy to forget. This is one reason why I suggest you think in terms of defining your space (rather than defending it). There is room for you on this planet. There is room for you to be different, and most of all there is room for you to fulfill your purpose. In the coming four seasons, however, you’re likely to graduate to something even more powerful: living on a mission.

To order Revolution. Revelation. Reality Check., your full-length 2012 reading including written and audio segments for Pisces, please go to this link.

The Way Forward

Dear Friend and Reader:

Rarely has the Earth felt like such a dangerous place, on the constant brink of crisis and chaos. I don’t know anyone who is not working the edge in some way, trying to keep a grip or make sense of their lives. Many are feeling pushed to one limit or another, and there is the sense of time being vacuumed out of some hidden opening. Over the past week, I’ve heard an unusual number of stories of personal losses (parents, partners), relationships being rearranged and individuals going through changes on the level of what one astrologer said felt like her DNA getting a makeover.

Planet Waves
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaks at the ceremony to mark the end of the U.S. mission in Iraq at the airport in Baghdad, Dec. 15, 2011. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo.

The world is indeed in crisis, and it’s taking us with it — though we have many distractions from noticing, and the excuse that we cannot do anything about it. But let’s take a quick look around. I heard on Thursday that 97 million Americans are at or close to poverty. The euro and numerous European banks are on the brink of default, which if they collapsed would ripple through the United States economy like a tsunami. American and British banks were recapitalized after the meltdown of 2008; the European banks were not, and they are still sitting on tons of bad paper.

It seems like we’re suddenly being confronted by every global crisis at once, as if we’re just discovering they existed. Fukushima and the BP oil spill are still happening — neither crisis is actually under control, they’ve just been ‘forgotten’. I’ve read many reports of new undersea leaks from the BP site, and radioactive water from Fukushima is still flowing into the Pacific Ocean. We still have no real idea how much of that stuff is ending up in our food, but we know we live in a time when it’s more convenient not to check; when most people would rather not know.

One bit of good news is that the Iraq war is ending. Thursday at 1:48 pm Baghdad time, the flag of the American forces was lowered in a symbolic gesture of the nearly nine-year occupation ending. The troops may be coming home, but more than 16,000 contractors will stay there, protecting the United States’ largest embassy. We’re being told we won the war, but Leon Panetta, the defense secretary, made his victory speech Thursday, telling us how fantastic things are going in the new, free Iraq, from the airport in Baghdad. The airport? Not the halls of parliament, or the president’s office?

Why do you think that was? I’m thinking it was the only place they could actually secure, and get him out fast enough so his life would not be in danger. And as for winning: at what cost? Okay — Saddam Hussein is gone. Yet think of the millions of lives lost or displaced; the families shattered; nearly a trillion dollars spent (before interest); and the war being used as a recruitment pretext for jihadists; the occupation leaving Iraq crushed and susceptible to invasion from Iran and Turkey.

Planet Waves
George W. Bush delivering his infamous “mission accomplished” speech aboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln as it steamed toward San Diego on May 1, 2003. The White House helped create the banner. The war raged on for eight additional years and cost the lives of 4,500 American troops (not counting the epidemic of suicides) and more than 104,000 documented Iraqi civilian deaths (the real number is much higher).

Remember the lies that Iraq was responsible for the Sept. 11 incident, the nonexistent yellowcake uranium, Condi Rice promising a mushroom cloud if we didn’t take action?

Remember the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, the use of banned weapons in many battles, the entire country, and its population, and our troops, contaminated with depleted uranium and the tens of thousands of troops coming home with brain trauma and PTSD? Coming home to no jobs and struggling families, in many cases with homes under foreclosure.

All of this was done in the name of freedom, of protecting our way of life, of making the world safe for democracy, even as the civil rights of Americans were stripped away in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 incident. And now this very week, Congress is set to pass the most recent National Defense Authorization Act, which Pres. Obama says he will sign. Have you heard about this one? The law that will allow for the indefinite ‘detainment’ of American citizens, on American soil, for the mere suspicion of terrorism or association with terrorist groups?

But wait: what terrorism?

Last week we discussed the pepper spraying of student protesters at U.C. Davis. This chemical weapon has been repeatedly used on Occupy Wall Street protesters in cities across the United States. More than 5,000 Occupy protesters have been arrested for speaking up about an economic issue — the criminal conduct of the banks, and the purchasing of the American political system. It is in this context that the National Defense Authorization Act is rather frightening.

So the government is talking about terrorism but taking action against ordinary activism, and that should make anyone a little nervous. Then Congress and the president want to expand their powers to detain people without charges. As The Guardian put it, “The law, contained in the defense authorization bill that funds the U.S. military, effectively extends the battlefield in the ‘war on terror’ to the U.S. and applies the established principle that combatants in any war are subject to military detention.”

Planet Waves
Selling out our national soul: This photo of an Iraqi prisoner being tortured by American forces (hooded, forced to stand on a box, with electrodes on his hands) was seen by everyone with access to a newspaper or computer. But who exactly objected? To this day, politicians and presidential candidates argue that torture is appropriate and necessary. By what miracle do we think that same treatment of prisoners will not be turned loose on the American people?

Please — read that paragraph a second time. Any American on American soil could be considered an enemy combatant and detained indefinitely, in defiance of every constitutional principle we say we hold dear; the ‘freedom’ for which we supposedly went to war for 10 years. It would be one thing if domestic terrorism were going on all the time, but I only hear about the most ridiculous cases, not enough to justify turning the whole country into Guantanamo Bay. Does this sound a little (or a lot) like the American government declaring war on the American people?

I don’t mean to sound like Alex Jones or like I’m a columnist for Above Top Secret, but being concerned about this is not paranoia. We are watching the American people get sprayed with chemical weapons for exercising their constitutional right to protest, then hearing about how anyone could be presumed a terrorist without a trial.

Now, what exactly is a ‘terrorist’? Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) told The Guardian Wednesday, “There are laws on the books now that characterize who might be a terrorist: someone missing fingers on their hands is a suspect, according to the Department of Justice. Someone who has guns, someone who has ammunition that is weatherproofed, someone who has more than seven days of food in their house can be considered a potential terrorist,” Paul said. “If you are suspected because of these activities, do you want the government to have the ability to send you to Guantanamo Bay for indefinite detention?”

Human Rights Watch said that Obama’s decision to support the law “does enormous damage to the rule of law both in the U.S. and abroad” and that “President Obama will go down in history as the president who enshrined indefinite detention without trial in U.S. law.” They are correct: these powers have existed for a long time, beginning under Cheney and Bush. But following a fairly typical historical pattern, Republican presidents break the boundary and then Democratic presidents codify that breach of trust into the status quo.

Speaking of Obama, there is a presidential election next year. Let’s consider the political situation. First, bear in mind that many states have passed laws attempting to restrict voting, including placing nearly impossible to fulfill requirements on the elderly, students and the poor (these types of restrictions always impact Democrats more strongly than Republicans). Districts are being redrawn to get rid of ‘problem’ elected officials or to favor one party or the other — Barney Frank, regarded by many as one of the most progressive people in congress, has had his Massachusetts district taken away by gerrymandering.

Planet Waves
Is this what democracy looks like? You have to stand back a little further to tell for sure. Photo: HuffPo.

Just a few more points and I’ll end my pessimistic-seeming rant.

Have you been following the ongoing fight for the Republican presidential candidacy? I have not been giving it the coverage it deserves, but this has been the parade that includes Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain — people who don’t know the voting age, who believe being gay can be cured, who cannot name one Supreme Court decision or the newly appointed justices, who don’t know the date of Election Day and who want to shut down federal agencies they cannot name.

We’ve seen debates where the crowd cheered for executions and applauded the possibility that someone without health insurance might deserve to die. It was like the crowd was hand picked from a pool of people reincarnated directly from ancient Rome.

Some of these candidates displayed ignorance that made Dan Quayle look like Socrates. As The Onion said of former candidate Herman Cain, “Rumors Of Extramarital Affair End Campaign Of Presidential Candidate Who Didn’t Know China Has Nuclear Weapons.” Well, not just an extramarital affair — Cain broke the record for the most revelations of sexual harassment in one week, then it emerged that meanwhile he was having a 13-year affair behind the back of his wife, who we’re supposed to believe holds him as a prince. And that is correct — he could not identify China as one of the world’s nuclear superpowers, and he has no taste for foreign policy.

The reason these candidates don’t seem to stand for anything is because they don’t. The reason they have to make curing gayness an issue is because all of the real issues are too difficult, or will get them in trouble if they mention them. These candidates and anyone who takes them seriously are posturing in the midst of a global crisis, trying either to hold up the status quo that enriches them, or not admitting the collective problem we face. And, it would seem that the Republicans are about to name Newt Gingrich, one of the most corrupt politicians of the past century, who will say whatever he is paid to say, as their presidential candidate.

If the economy is still struggling at the time of the election, or if there is some big shock to the system (such as another round of major banks failing), he could easily be president, despite all the supposed odds against such a thing happening. Frankly, given how little people seem to know and how much they will put up with, nothing would surprise me.

Yesterday the federal government was on the brink of yet another shutdown as senators debated the urgent national issue of mandatory drug tests for the unemployed. Personally, I’d love to run blood work on our esteemed congress and find out what they’ve got going on. It would be frightening.

Which Way From Here?

So what is the way forward?

I know, we’re in a pretty serious situation. I’ve read a bit of science fiction, and I have to say of the confluence of conditions we face — from the overcrowding of the planet, the prevailing state of ethical vertigo, the environmental and economic crisis, rampant debt, fraudulent business and political leadership, a political system wholly owned by the wealthy, the rise of a police state, half of all people getting cancer, many, many people suffering from depression and alienation — and a mass media that laughs at the problems — damn, this is on par with the most dystopian scenarios I’ve ever read.

Planet Waves
Cover of Hyperion by Dan Simmons.

True, in Hyperion, the hegemony crashes a small back hole into the Earth, intentionally destroying the planet because it favors their business interests. I am still haunted by Dan Simmons’ visions of ‘replica worlds’ that are like ghost-town clones of what once was our beautiful planet. I guess it could be worse. But we’re not living in a fictional scenario. We are living on a planet and in a society spinning out of control, that we are leaving to our children, and their children.

A lot of people are wondering what we can do about this, or at least wondering what is going to happen. We always tend to look outside ourselves for the solutions; that’s a big part of the problem. We’re told over and over again that we don’t matter, and we better play the game. One problem is that game no longer works — not when someone goes to college or grad school, accumulates vast education debt and then cannot get a job. Speaking for a moment to Americans — the whole purpose of the American experiment was to get away from the old system of kings, lords and serfs. If you haven’t read the Declaration of Independence, take 15 minutes and give it a look. Remember that the “long train of abuses” was fresh in the minds of the founders when they adopted the Bill of Rights.

The solution has got to start with you focusing your awareness and your energy — even if you think that doesn’t make a difference to the big picture. I recognize that being alive in a time like this is scary, and it can seem hopeless, especially when you have so many other concerns. The thing is, it actually is hopeless — and hope is not the answer. You may need to give yourself a reason to care. That reason may be your children. It may be realizing how close you are to becoming one of the 97 million Americans, or the equivalent in other countries — or you may already be there and you know it can get worse. Those are deeply personal reasons to care that still don’t get you above the teacup’s edge to see that we need a collective solution to a collective problem.

The point is, there will be no progress without a lot of individuals focusing and working together. What gets in the way of our own awareness is specifically denial and ignorance, both of which are voluntary states. And those are the very states of mind that got us into this mess. I could make a long, depressing list of things that people did not care about when it mattered, including stolen presidential elections, fraudulent wars and the biggest bank heist in the history of the world (the 2008 ‘meltdown’ which was really a draining of what remained in the federal treasury by the super rich). If you voted for the Cheney/Bush ticket in 2004, have you apologized to anyone?

Planet Waves
New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg has earned his billions through the distribution of news, but he has arrested dozens of working journalists trying to cover the Occupy movement. Many of these reporters were accredited by the New York City Police, representing organizations such as The New York Post and the Associated Press. Here Mayor Bloomberg visits Zuccotti Park before uprooting that demonstration. Image via the gothamist and DJ Unicorn Thunderhearts.

Maybe the concept of civil liberties doesn’t matter to you — or perhaps it won’t until one night you go out for milk and end up in a police car for being out past curfew.

Let’s phrase the question this way: What would you be willing to do, if you knew your awareness and participation mattered? Let’s assume that particular best-case scenario. What would you offer? What would you be willing to give up, to create something better for everyone else?

Let’s put it another way. What if you were to set aside all of your excuses for not getting involved, or being informed? Then what would you do?

The purpose of my writing, and I assume the purpose of your reading, is to see the affairs of the world in a way that is deeply personal, and where the framework is in essence spiritual. The lowest common denominator of all these seemingly separate problems is a spiritual issue: what they all have in common involves a lot of individuals cut off from source, who create a situation where the easiest way to get out of pain seems to be to cut off some more. Apply the concept ‘cut off’ any way you like.

Even if the whole spiritual thing doesn’t work for you, I suggest you consider the psychological impact of suppressing the grief, or even the mere awareness, at what you’re witnessing. Not participating and not speaking up are specifically ways of denying the problem. Taking this on the micro-level, one question I would ask you is, when you’re confronted by injustice and you don’t say anything, how do you feel? And when you encounter something that’s wrong and you speak up, how do you feel in that case? Early attempts to challenge authority can be met with a psychological backlash — usually arriving in the form of guilt. We are indeed taught to expect punishment when we challenge those who supposedly hold power over us.

One thing that the Occupy movement has taught us is that when there is any resistance against the machine, it can strike back with brutal force, and reveal its true nature — you know, the nature of the beast. We actually keep seeing this happen. That is scary, and fear is both a psychological problem and a spiritual problem. How you perceive the world is how you perceive yourself. In order to perceive yourself as capable of healing, growth and expressing your potential, you would have to project the same properties onto the world, unless of course you plan to join the cannibalistic feast.

So if you have any plans for creating a better life for yourself, if that’s really going to be true, it’s going to involve creating a better world for everyone. Not fixing your life or fixing the world — rather, creating the next phase of existence. As the astrology of 2012 fully engages, and pushes the crises we’re seeing to a new level, it’s also going to push your potential to a new level. And you may find yourself walking a balance where you feel you don’t know the outcome.

There is a way forward. It’s going to be different for everyone but what works for each of us will have something in common with what works for everyone else. That’s the point of contact; how to tell what is real from what is not.

Lovingly,

Eric Francis

Note to Readers: For the next two weeks, Planet Waves subscriber edition will publish only on Wednesday nights. These editions will include the monthly horoscopes for January 2011 and related materials. Daily Astrology & Adventure will continue to update on its regular schedule. Look for additional sign-up information about Revolution. Revelation. Reality Check. — my 2012 annual readings for all the signs, or visit this page about The Most Important Year of Your Life.

 

I’ve completed the third recording in the Top 5 Events of 2012 series on Planet Waves FM. This week’s covers planets entering the water signs: Chiron in Pisces, Neptune in Pisces and Saturn in Scorpio. This is an unusual amount of energy in the water signs, which is — first — calling attention to water. The process actually began last year.

Planet Waves
Photo by Elizabeth Joyce.

Chiron initiated this by arriving in Pisces within 24 hours of the BP oil spill in April of 2010. Neptune visited Pisces briefly in 2011, and will return to stay for more than 12 years in February 2012. Then Saturn arrives in Scorpio in Oct. 2012.

The themes focus on emotional awareness, healing and maturity, something that we tend to resist here in the land of Starbucks and Prozac. And we’re going to need to take care of the water on the planet: protecting the oceans, banning fracking and little things like making sure we drink enough water. Soda and juice do NOT count.

You can hear the whole series of Top Five Events of 2012 on a special archive. This series previews Revolution. Revelation. Reality Check. — the 2012 annual edition of Planet Waves, with detailed, generous astrology readings for all the signs and rising signs, plus many articles and resources to help you do your best in the most important year of your life.

Subscribers to Planet Waves receive an incredible discount on all 12 signs, which you can access at this link. For additional information about the 2012 annual, you can read more about The Most Important Year of Your Life.

 

Planet Waves

The Moon is in Virgo all day Friday, and late tomorrow it squares the Sagittarius Sun to form the last quarter (waning) Moon. Moon ingresses Libra at 3:06 am EST Sunday. Also today Vesta conjuncts Neptune in Aquarius; Black Moon Lilith (a calculated point also known as the mean lunar apogee) enters Taurus. The asteroid Psyche in Virgo makes a square to Ixion, which is hanging out at the same degree as last weekend’s total lunar eclipse (18+ Sagittarius). On Sunday, Venus in Capricorn squares Saturn in Libra. Monday the Sun makes a conjunction to the Galactic Center in late Sagittarius, and a sextile to Saturn.

 

Planet Waves

The last quarter Moon generally feels like an urge to finish up whatever projects you have been working on for the last three weeks, rather than starting new ones, in the last week before the New Moon. This year we have a New Moon on Christmas Eve. If you celebrate that holiday you may feel an extra sense of pressure to finalize gift-buying and other preparations, with a natural sense of completion when done. Since tomorrow’s quarter Moon is in Virgo, don’t be surprised if you find yourself a bit more particular than usual about how your holiday preparations and projects get done.

The Sun’s alignment with the Galactic Center (the core of our galaxy and our spiritual homing signal) on Monday offers a sense of contact with something we long for — if we’re open to feeling it. With the Sun making a sextile to Saturn in Libra at the same time, see if you can let this sense of contact and spiritual clarity or spaciousness infuse your relationships. This could happen in how you perceive these relationships emotionally, or in how you actually structure them. With a sextile, you can work the flow of energy from either side of that equation to inform and evolve the other. Either way, the idea is to allow contact and a feeling of surrender to genuine, loving kindness. Then by Wednesday the solstice can arrive with the feeling of time compression letting go, a destination reached.

 

Planet Waves

Mars, the planet of drive, desire and libido, is in Virgo. It is nearing a square to Pholus in mid-Sagittarius, and we tend to feel Mars aspects strongly as they approach. Feel like if you let go of any inhibition, you’ll become the scarlet whore of Babylon? That’s Mars-Pholus talking — but is there any truth to that feeling? Pholus can have the sense of letting the genie out of the bottle, and has the key phrase, ‘small cause, big effect’. But rather than keeping your inhibitions rigid, it’s more useful to keep any self-critical thoughts in check — especially with regard to who and what you desire sexually, how you want the desire of others demonstrated to you, and how you do or do not allow the concept of ‘healthy service’ in your relationships.

Mars in Virgo square Pholus in Sagittarius can also come with insights about facilitating your own spiritual (possibly ancestral) healing around desire and exuality — plus the desire to do so. And it’s an advisory to notice the effects that alcohol has on your sexuality.

You may alternate between feeling constrained and then wanting to bust out over the weekend. The square between Venus in Capricorn and Saturn in Libra carries some tension. Part of this is a case of mutual reception: these two planets are occupying a sign that the other rules. This can sometimes feel like a hostage situation, and that term at least vaguely describes many ‘monogamous’ relationships where there is some sense of being captured.

On the one hand, you may feel an urge toward the material and pragmatic; on the other, there’s the potential to demand reciprocation as the rule rather than allow it as a freely given gift. Ask yourself, ‘Do I truly want relationships in which we both receive what is offered graciously? Or do I just want what I want’?

 

Planet Waves

Holder Signals Tough Review of New State Laws on Voting

Austin, Texas — Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. on Tuesday entered the turbulent political waters of voting rights, signaling that the Justice Department would be aggressive in reviewing new voting laws that civil rights advocates say will dampen minority participation in next year’s elections.

Declaring in a speech that protecting ballot access for all eligible voters “must be viewed not only as a legal issue but as a moral imperative,” Mr. Holder urged Americans to “call on our political parties to resist the temptation to suppress certain votes in the hope of attaining electoral success and, instead, achieve success by appealing to more voters.”

The speech by Mr. Holder could inflame a smoldering partisan dispute over race and ballot access as the 2012 campaign cycle intensifies. It comes as the Justice Department’s civil rights division is scrutinizing a series of new state voting laws that were enacted — largely by Republican officials — in the name of fighting fraud perpetuated by individual citizens that everyone knows doesn’t exist.

Read More on Truthout.org

 

Planet Waves

 

George Whitman, 1913-2011

George Whitman was the founder of Shakespeare & Co. Books version 2.0 (another store by the same name preceded this one), located at “kilometer zero” (the exact center of Paris, across from Notre Dame plaza and the Archeological Crypt of Paris). About 57 years ago, George took over the name of a prior bookshop and created a Beat Generation literary base on par with City Lights Books of San Francisco. Since then, he estimated that 50,000 young writers have stayed at the bookstore free of charge, in little beds scattered throughout the shop’s several levels. He was a contemporary of such Beat poets as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Despite references in the press, there is no proof that he was directly related to the American poet Walt Whitman. We are sad to report that George died in Paris on Wednesday, at age 98.

 

Planet Waves

After the Big Eclipse, Mercury Stationed Direct

Your Mercury direct podcast is ready. No writing! Just talking! Recorded exactly during the station of Mercury on Tuesday night. Includes a preview of the Capricorn solstice.

 

Planet Waves


Friday, Dec. 16, 2011. Weekly Horoscope #885. | Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You know better than to believe what is not true. And this week you may have seen the results of not honoring the obvious. This may have involved something about yourself, or the way a culturally-rooted belief influenced one particular course of action. There is still time, however, to correct your course and make sure that your beliefs align with what you know to be true. One problem with ‘free will’ is that it grants us the ability to make believe. In our moment of history, when so much is on the line, when so much of our growth depends upon maintaining integrity and when time is moving so fast, lying to oneself is extremely dangerous. The question is, what exactly would get in the way of accepting the truth about what you know? I don’t suggest you consider this as a philosophical matter. It is an entirely practical one.

Aries, your birth sign or rising sign, is getting a transit from the planet Uranus — which is a wild wakeup call, and a bold creative influence. I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and a tarot card reading for you. Learn more by visiting this page.

Taurus (April 19- May 20)

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You may be experiencing a magnifying effect of your shadow material: fear, guilt, anger, jealousy or conflict. It’s as if something came out of hiding and then stepped directly under a microscope. Look to the distant past for the origins of these emotions. What you’re feeling is the toxic residue left over from hiding your best attributes from your early caregivers. One result was resentment, and when that resentment turns on itself, the product is guilt. Here is the catch: Jungian psychologists warn that if we don’t deal with our shadow material, we project it into our relationships, where it manifests as conflict and can do substantial damage. ‘Dealing with’ means understanding the causes and implications of what you’re feeling, taking ownership of the situation and processing the issues consciously. If you’ve been in long-term conflict and have not understood why, the next few weeks present you with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to heal some deep issues.

I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and done a tarot reading especially for you. It’s information that will help with your relationships, your professional life and your personal growth. Visit this page to find out more.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Your relationships never seem to stand still. Yet the property of motion comes mostly from you, as you’re definitely not the type to stay still for long. You might want to turn the perspective around and imagine what it’s like for someone more stable and consistent than you are to experience your various fluctuations, changes of mind and changes of direction. This is a matter of perspective. At the moment, the constellation of your life is aligned in such a way that is allowing you to switch points of view and actually see yourself from the viewpoint of the other person. This is different from — and better than — having your life ‘mirrored’ in someone else, which presents a view that is backwards (a mirror image). What you can see now is more like a photograph: a direct view of yourself through another person’s eyes.

Gemini is one of the most misunderstood signs — and as someone born under this sign, part of your role is to hold a mirror to the world. I’ve recorded an hour of audio for you, plus a 20-minute tarot reading. You can get access to these by visiting this page.

Cancer (June 21- July 22)

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Last weekend’s total lunar eclipse in the most sensitive angle of your chart brought a shakeup, and a necessary one. What came out in the wash revealed something you deeply need to know about yourself; in particular, the ways in which you’re divided against yourself but struggle to see that fact. Inner divisions and compartmentalizing your personality are challenging and can be dangerous, but they are all the more so when they’re unconscious. One result can be the not-so-proverbial ‘war against yourself’ that so many wage for so long. Pay attention to what emerged over the weekend and for the subsequent few days. This contains everything you need to point you to the heart of the matter. Whatever that was, knowing about it is only part of the solution. You’ll need to reconcile its origins and ultimately reconcile with yourself. Just remember: you cannot split your character. Make up your mind about who you are.

I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and done a tarot reading especially for you. It’s information that will help with your relationships, your professional life and your personal growth. Visit this page to find out more.

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Once a long time ago, a pissed-off reader wrote to me and reminded me that “all Leos aren’t artists, you know.” What was I thinking? Well, I was thinking that the art angle of your chart is powered by Sagittarius, one of the most cosmic signs and indeed concepts in all of Western thought. There is a signal coming through night and day, and that signal says take creative risks, which will take you many places you never even dreamed of. You might translate that to a lot of freewheeling fun or, more likely, a source of energy that you use to work diligently no matter what you’re doing. On a bad day or during a troubled lifetime, that same property can come off as detached and arrogant, but the reason you’re unlikely to fall for that is simply because of how boring it gets. Anyway, your current charts tell me that you’re starting to get the message that your life must be lived as a creative adventure, and this is as close to God as we can get — which is pretty darn close.

The 2011 Leo birthday report is 70 minutes of in-depth astrology plus a 20-minute tarot reading for you, exploring relationships, personal growth and your professional life. Visit this page for additional information.

 

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Several times a year, your charts get active with the same message: understand the past like your life depends on it. Understand your family history and how it shaped you. Explore how events that happened decades or centuries ago can influence your life in this moment, right now. You’re in one of those moments, but the truth is you’re being taken back a lot further than centuries, as a window opens on your deepest sense of your origins. Remember that Adam and Eve are a cover story. It’s not that we believe they actually existed in fig-leaf form, but rather that the cover-up sufficiently obscures our search for the truth as to render it invisible. Your search for your origins is burning hot right now, and you can actually bring your awareness to a spot where you can accurately view the past. Face in the direction of the greatest mystery and focus your eyes — you will see.

The 2011 Virgo birthday report is ready! I’ve recorded 70 minutes of astrology plus a tarot reading for you, exploring how you’re working through family material, your use of spirituality, some new energy in your relationships and your professional goals. Visit this page for additional information.

Libra (Sep. 22 - Oct. 23)

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — A veil seems to have lifted, leading you into a new realm of possibility. Whether this manifests as life plans (it may well), the true gift is a connection to a deeper sense of belonging. My sense is that you’ve had some salient experiences that have put you into contact with the part of yourself that is at home everywhere. You may have faced an abyss, however briefly, where everything you believed turned out not to be true. That, in turn, created an interval of space for something much deeper and more beautiful to enter your mind. Over the past few days this has started to evolve from a defined event to something that is gradually taking hold in your thinking and your sense of faith in yourself — as you express that faith in the most ordinary ways. You are alive at the right time, and on the right planet.

Your Libra birthday audio for 2011 is finished. Created outside next to an open fire, this reading covers the astrology for your sign in about 70 minutes (looking at career, relationship, home life and the many influences to change you’re now experiencing). It also includes a Voyager tarot reading. Visit this link for additional information.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — One thing you need to know is that Mars, the planet traditionally associated with your sign (that is, your ruling planet, in traditional astrology) is gradually slowing to a stop in Virgo. It’s about to be retrograde, a product of the fact that both the Earth and Mars are in orbit around the Sun. Over the next few months I will have much to say about this, but for now, I suggest two things. One is focus on your most important goals, as though that matters. To do that you must know what those goals are. Second, when you do focus, notice how people respond. No need to assume — pay attention to what they say, how they treat you and then notice how you respond to that. No need to take any of this too seriously; just pay attention and take notes. Your observations of the current moment will be extremely valuable in the months to come.

Hello Scorpios! Your 2011 Birthday Report is ready. It’s about an hour of astrology, plus a 20-minute tarot reading. It’s hot with transformational energy. I focus on your ruling planet Mars, your imagination and desire nature, and a phase of solid achievement. Please check this page for more information.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Even the most seasoned travelers exercise a bit of caution when traveling in places they’ve visited many times. It’s always interesting to return someplace that made a profound impression on you and see how it’s changed since you were last there. Don’t let your familiarity with the territory you’re now in lure you into dropping your awareness and self-care. While you’re not in alien territory and certainly not hostile, the operative fact is that your environment is moving, transforming and gradually revealing its secrets. T.S. Eliot got it right when he said, “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” That takes both vigilance and perceiving the world from the space of a beginner’s mind. Let this extend to the most routine activities and well-trodden paths that you travel. There is something new about everything right now, because you are looking from a new point of view.


Sagittarius Birthday Audio Report

Dear Friend and Sagittarian:

I’ve just finished your Sagittarius birthday report and tarot reading. Sagittarius is encoded with a sense of cosmic mystery, and as I’ve written in many recent articles, there is a lot going on in your sign right now. I’ve broken this reading down into two parts: the first is about relationships and the second is about career and creativity — though the two are closely related.

Planet Waves
Whiskey and Owen. Photo by Beki Herrbach.

The current Mercury retrograde and the upcoming lunar eclipse in Gemini will offer you the experience of relating to people you wouldn’t normally relate to. Think of this astrology as taking you on an introspective journey where you are able to make real contact and truly experience the “other” within yourself.

Your birthday report includes an hour of astrology that covers some of the more meaningful astrological influences that will bring you through to your next birthday, including the partial solar eclipse that occurred over the weekend and Mercury retrograde in your sign over the next few weeks.

My birthday readings all come with a tarot session, using the Voyager tarot by James Wanless. I include a 20-minute tarot reading (many people’s favorite part of my birthday products), which looks at your life using a tool that speaks in pictures. A photo of the spread is included, as are some supplemental articles.

The whole package is just $14.95 — priced to be affordable. It’s posted to a permanent link which you can play as many times as you like, or download into iTunes. I include the chart and the tarot spread for reference.


 

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — You’ve been introspective lately, it seems; many recent events have led you to stand back and take in the situation, focus on your immediate needs and work out some of the ways you need to adapt to a rapidly changing world. Be aware that with the approach of the solstice, you’re going to be called rather suddenly into expressive mode. Don’t rush this process. The days that surround Dec. 21 can have the sensation of the whole cosmos slowing to a halt, pausing and turning around. That cosmos is your life. So go through the steps in the cycle consciously; right now the introspective phase is approaching the end, and not only is there no need to rush this process, you would be well advised to take it one day at a time, pacing yourself gently. Appropriate moments of awakening and then of taking action will be obvious.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Capricorn, please go to this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You are proceeding in the world with new confidence, renewed faith in life and some kind of visionary goal. The sky really is the limit, so I suggest you aim for a good cruising altitude and a destination where you truly want to arrive. I am not saying this casually; I mean run through your goals, and consider your most cherished, significant and meaningful ones. Remember what you’ve always wanted to do, but never did — check in and see if that is still valid, and if it’s not, tune into the ones that get you excited now — and that you think you’d still want to be doing in ten years. Yes, the world will still exist, and I suggest you neither fall for the doom and gloom that is currently going around like candy on Halloween, nor for any form of optimism that does not depend on intelligence, competence and faith.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Aquarius, please go to this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — A hot fire is burning inside you, and you’re right on the verge of expressing yourself. But first, stoke and tend the flames till they are burning perfectly. This will come through various acts of faith in yourself, faith in what you have learned most of all, and inner reflection. As a Pisces, the first place the fire burns is in your imagination. That means in what you envision, in images; tune into your seeing power. This will come naturally over the next few days, and evolve into steady devotion over the next few weeks. Above all, focus on healing. Rather than doing specific things society uses to define that word, focus everything you do on this one purpose. Move through the world as if you know exactly what you must do, with the confidence that comes from inner listening. Consider yourself one of those whose role is to protect the world and its people, and as such, stand strong in your own protection.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Pisces, please go to this link.

Mercury Stations Direct: Keep Your Promises

Dear Friend and Reader:

Mercury stations direct in early Sagittarius tonight at 8:42 pm EST. This happens as we are still riding through the wake of Saturday’s total eclipse of the Moon in Gemini, the second of two eclipses for this mind-bending round that began in late November. Eclipses themselves offer an astrology lesson: borrowing a line from the late Patric Walker, “This sodding stuff works,” but how it works we discover when the eclipses themselves happen. Now as we consider the implications of recent events, Mercury stations direct in Sagittarius after 23 days retrograde, which will bring out a new layer of information, revelation or at least recognition.

Planet Waves
Photo by Eric Francis — Blue Studio, New York.

Note that the next eclipses occur in May and June of 2012, in the midst of a concentrated series of events that leads into the first exact Uranus-Pluto square. I covered that in a recent special edition podcast on the top five events of 2012.

Tonight’s Mercury station direct makes a square aspect to a Pluto-like planet called Orcus. This is an underworld deity from the days of the Etruscans, or the dwellers of the European continent before what we think of as Europe. Orcus was probably a precursor to Hades and Pluto, but he has a special property involving the keeping of oaths, and holding to account those who swear false oaths. In our time this translates to promises and agreements. Whatever else may be going on for you at this time, please review the promises you’ve made and consider the ethics and the wisdom of coming through with them.

Given that Mercury is stationing direct (concentrated, slightly overwhelming mental energy; a point of turnaround) in a square to a planet similar to Pluto, I would include on the agenda careful consideration of what you may be obsessing over. Consider the use of power over others (direct or indirect), the use of religious power in any form (such as influencing people through their beliefs), and any attempts to run an agenda that you’re not disclosing. Subversive activity, including that which emerges as a result of your psychological tendencies, is not likely to go well. Said another way, keep your plans and your intentions above the boards, especially where prior commitments are concerned.

There are a number of other minor planets in the same aspect setup (at about 3 to 5 degrees of the mutable signs). Two aboriginal figures show up in the configuration: Altjira, an Australian keeper of the dreamtime, is one of them. Opposite Mercury, this contrasts the immediate needs of the moment (decisions, commitments, promises) with a kind of alternate reality. Just make sure that other dimension is a source of inspiration and nourishment rather than a source of delusion. It’s a reminder that this reality is not all that exists without negating the necessities of what we have to do here.

The other aboriginal god is Teharonhiawako, in Pisces. He is the Iroquois creator god depicted as a giant who holds up the sky. Coming from Pisces, you might ask: What is holding up your beliefs, or deeper in, what supports your faith? Does your faith feed you, or deplete you?

Finally, Mercury stations direct conjunct the centaur planet Okyrhoe, the daughter of Chiron and Chariklo. Okyrhoe was a prophet. Mercury conjunct Okyrhoe in Sagittarius carries a message to be aware of what you know, and to use what you know. While we like to pretend we live shrouded in mystery, in fact most of the time we know what we want, and we understand the meaning and implications of our particular circumstances. Using what you know comes back to the commitments you have to yourself, particularly to make honest decisions and follow through with them. It’s a reminder not to be surprised by what you knew all along. You are your own best divining oracle.

I’ll see you Friday with a regularly scheduled edition of Planet Waves, and I plan to have a regular edition podcast later today. Please check the Planet Waves Daily Astrology page for that.

If you’re looking for where to sign up for the 2012 annual edition with readings for all 12 signs, please use this link.

Lovingly,

Eric Francis

Gemini Total Eclipse and the Sibling Society

Dear Friend and Reader:

Saturday’s total eclipse of the Moon is in Gemini — the sign of siblings, often associated with young people, young attitudes and easy-to-grasp ideas. Many factors suggest that this is a volatile moment, calling for discernment and embracing the faculty of conscious choice. [Note, this is the last eclipse before the series that leads into the Venus transit of the Sun and Uranus square Pluto in late spring 2012. I have covered that group in my newest special edition podcast.]

Planet Waves
French student drums on the shield of a riot cop during a takeover of Bastille Circle during the evening rush hour in Paris one afternoon in 2005. This is my idea of the police exercising actual restraint. Nobody was arrested, nobody got hurt, and the protest was diffused in a few hours. The cop is probably thinking, “Now how can I slip her my phone number?” Photo by Eric Francis. More related photos here.

Part of the volatility involves the eclipse spanning the mutable sign axis of Gemini/Sagittarius; some of it comes from the polarizing effect of a Full Moon (all lunar eclipses happen during the Full Moon). Mutable signs can have a nervous and unstable feeling, which will often serve as a power source. When those properties are prominent, it helps to impart the structure and discipline factor of Saturn, which thankfully is in harmony with the eclipse in fellow air sign Libra.

Another aspect of the volatility comes from planets that are close to the Sun’s position in Sagittarius. I’ve been writing a blue streak about this since the fall of 2010 — a collection of newly-discovered, slow-moving planets that span the middle of high-energy, high-velocity Sagittarius. The combination of slow-movers and the fiery energy of Sagittarius is pushing us to get clear about what we believe, and to embrace both ‘spiritual’ lessons and the direct information coming through about our origins. By origins I mean from the distant past, whether ancestral or cosmic.

They are related. We are stardust, and we are the children of our ancestors. You might not be pondering this stuck in traffic on the 101 or running for the D train, but it’s thinking of you, and the pot is currently being stirred at full strength by both the presence of these new planets and the accompanying eclipse that is compelling us to get practical in our ideas about existence. Internalize the learning, the spiritual theory, the concept you’re trying to grasp in therapy. Understand that growth is something pragmatic rather than esoteric.

Planet Waves
Be proud of what you are! This womens’ ADHD T-shirt contours to your shape and always looks flattering, even if you forget where you left it. (Use the link to purchase the shirt.)

Then, the eclipse is square Mars in Virgo. That’s focusing attention on getting real about two points — anger, and perfectionism. Mars is slowly stationing retrograde in Virgo, compelling us to come to terms with all the ways we want to change, and focusing a demand on impeccability. But this may be manifesting as perfectionism and that, in turn, may be coming across as the feeling of being damaged if you cannot get yourself to that theoretically perfect place. The two are closely related.

Remember, this is not about theory: these aspects all point to taking practical action. The Virgo piece of the puzzle comes with an asteroid conjunction that offers some caution. The points are Apollo conjunct Psyche. Apollo is the experience of making the same mistakes over and over; of not getting ‘the lesson’. Psyche is the sense that you’re wounded, as in mentally wounded, and won’t ever be able to ‘fix’ yourself. It’s the loss of faith in healing, particularly where psychological material is concerned. In our era we tend to take these feelings and diagnose them into disorders that can be treated with meds: social anxiety disorder, ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, restless leg syndrome, and so on. That’s a way of compartmentalizing the situation, cutting it off rather than taking it on holistically. Instead of working through the many factors that contribute to a symptom, too often we give it a name and a drug — and many people are doing this to their children. Many of us had it done to us.

There are two other points in the Virgo mix, square the eclipse and close to Mars: an asteroid called Hebe, which often describes the codependent quality of the relationships involved; and Arachne, which imparts the sensation that this is all one vast conspiracy (ancestral in nature, that is, related to the family line and family of origin).

Planet Waves
The ultimate in cynical politics, the Tea Party rallies outside an Obama visit to Portland, Maine. For all their sincere efforts, they will end up with Mr. Fraud himself, Newt Gingrich. Photo by Eric.

Alcohol is almost certainly involved. This may not involve current alcoholism but rather the legacy as it has been passed on through both the family and the social network that surrounds it. Remember being a kid at a ‘grownup’ party where all the adults did was drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes? That social ritual had an effect on you — and this eclipse is about figuring out, and healing, whatever that effect was. The emotional conditions around the abuse and even unconscious use of alcohol can be extremely debilitating in family relationships, creating isolation and deep distrust that can take decades (or generations) to finally unravel.

In the most basic colors, there is a petulant quality to this eclipse. It has the sensation of childhood rage, which would be rage against something much larger than oneself, and it’s combined with the sensation that the expression of anger is useless — but yet something that we cannot help. When that anger burns out, we’re often left with cynicism. That is the feeling of being burned out and defeated, with toxic, smoldering rage. This paralyzed sensation is not what you would call healthy — and if you’re feeling this eclipse you may be feeling a release point.

Enough is enough. It’s time to grow past this stuff and take command of our lives and our mental health in a tangible way. The eclipse square Mars is an action point. How long have you waited, or tried, or efforted? What is the one thing you’re not doing? What is the obvious factor, the obvious point of action that you’ve avoided for whatever reason?

The Davis Pepper Spray Incident and the Sibling Society

In a 1997 book, Robert Bly described what he called the sibling society, a world of half-formed adults who don’t want to take responsibility for their lives. This, he says, is the world we live in. We see it as the people who don’t want to pay taxes, who think someone else’s kids should fight the wars, and that someone else should stand up to the banks. Since The Sibling Society came out, the situation has only proliferated with the massive surge of infotainment that has come along with the Internet and lives lived mainly through apps and devices.

Planet Waves
Iconic photo by Louise Macabitas of Lt. John Pike — a campus peace officer — casually spraying UC Davis students in the face with MK-9, an extra-strength oleoresin capsaicinoid (OC) weapon.

Saturday’s eclipse reminds me of his theory, in particular the relationship between the Moon in Gemini (siblings, children) opposite vast ancestral forces we cannot control (all those planets in Sagittarius) compounded by the square to Mars in Virgo. Add to this the frustrated ‘adult’ feeling of wanting to be perfect.

I remembered that book when a friend sent me the “what really happened” video of the Nov. 18 University of California at Davis pepper spray incident. This supposedly shows the context of what happened after riot police cleared a small Occupy protest off of a lawn at UC Davis. That is, instead of the short video of Lt. John Pike spraying the students, you see 15 minutes of video that led up to the actual spraying. Of course, this is not the full context. That goes back weeks, or even months; you’re never shown a single tent, for example. What you see is an out-of-context fuss, over what, you’re not sure unless you know.

Then, you’re treated to the scene of an officer in full riot gear, backed by about 30 of his colleagues (those visible in the frame), stating into a megaphone, “This is your last warning. Should you choose to remain, you do so with the understanding that a peace officer will place you under arrest for a violation of the law. Any resistance, whether passive or physical, shall result in additional charges. You shall be arrested, handcuffed and may be transported and incarcerated at the Yolo County Jail. Will you leave at this time?” The cop then barks into his megaphone something about “unlawful assembly.” He does not mention the potential use of chemical weapons.

Planet Waves
Career Day with Lt. John Pike, one of countless parodies of Macabitas’ photo circulating on the Internet.

After the tents are cleared and some arrests are made, you see the young students with their book bags and preppy attire, circling about a group of heavily armed riot police, chanting “set them free.” Some of them sit down on a campus walk; these are the students who are sprayed at point-blank range with MK-9, an extra-strength oleoresin capsaicinoid (OC) weapon.

A lot has been said about this incident, which in the eyes of most people amounts not just to excessive force by the police, but to torture. When we tacitly (or directly) approve of the torture of Iraqi prisoners, we are inviting the same thing in our own communities. Is that obvious yet?

Meanwhile, local police departments have been militarized against terrorists, and in the absence of terrorists, any dissenter will do. I don’t say this lightly. One of the reasons conservatism has become so popular in recent years is that it’s a safe point of view to hold. There is a long tradition in the United States of treating anyone whose views are one inch left of center as a subversive or threat.

California is not new to the issue of police abusing chemical weapons, however. Given what it’s cost them in the past, you would think they might exercise a little restraint, but we don’t live in a perfect world. Use of pepper spray has been litigated up to the U.S. Supreme Court, in a famous case involving eight people who were protesting the killing of redwoods, and who were both sprayed point blank and had the chemical applied to their eyes by police using Q-tips. The protestors sued the police, and the litigation went on for years.

In that case, the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that the police officers’ “repeated use of pepper spray was also clearly unreasonable. As we recently concluded, the use of pepper spray ‘may be reasonable as a general policy to bring an arrestee under control, but in a situation in which an arrestee surrenders and is rendered helpless, any reasonable officer would know that a continued use of the weapon or a refusal without cause to alleviate its harmful effects constitutes excessive force’.” [Read the full decision here.]

Planet Waves
Wake Up, Empire.

The “what really happened” video is an attempt to show how reasonable and restrained the police really were, because the kids were chanting and, for a few moments, had formed a one-person-deep ring around the cops. To my eyes, the video is an attempt to vindicate the sadistic behavior, in effect saying it was the fault of the students. One ex-FBI agent, the parent of a UC Davis student, wrote on a discussion list, “After viewing the entire video, I believe that the police acted with great restraint. I can only guess how the NYPD or the LAPD would have reacted to being surrounded by a hostile crowd demanding that they release their prisoners.”

Realistically, this “hostile crowd” consisting entirely of young students reminds me a lot more of the audience on the kids’ TV program Wonderama than an anarchist riot or even an ordinary student demonstration. And it started as a bunch of students living in tents on a lawn, protesting the demolition of the economy by a few banks and a few individuals who have profited from the losses of many, many people. That’s my view; I’ll leave it to you to decide if the police with their batons, helmets, sidearms, rifles, tear gas, Tasers, bulletproof vests, pocket knives and practically unlimited backup available, were justified in feeling threatened when confronted by unarmed kids dressed in clothes from The Gap chanting “set them free.”

Okay, now for the consciousness piece — the spiritual piece of the discussion. Let’s go deeper than the apparent circumstances to the underlying levels of causation. My take — as a matter of conscience — is that police are never justified in using weapons against unarmed people, and we have become a country way too willing to accept the use of violence by police on anyone who dissents. On a campus, in particular, I believe that the administration is morally bound to avoid hurting students by the legal doctrine In Loco Parentis, or “local parents.” This is one reason why campuses have their own police departments; the cops get to know the campus community and we have a truly local police force. It’s a great idea and usually it works pretty well.

But clearly something went wrong at Davis. A friend named Eric Traub offered another point of view that I’ve been considering carefully, and I will share it with you. Here is what he wrote (note, it’s a long quote, going to the end of the article):

Planet Waves
Lt. John Pike, about to be surrounded by little blue people whose language only has one word, defends himself before something really bad happens. Apologies to Pierre Culliford and Papa Smurf.

“In Loco Parentis is exactly the takeaway I glean from the Davis video, in this way: human beings are still a childlike and developing young species. Whoever steps forward as a ‘parent’ tends to dominate. We are only now just beginning to emerge from the patriarchal paradigm that has dominated the past dozens of millennia of societal progress. Humans being human will, for the time being, seek somebody to be the parental guiding force in their lives, abdicating their will, intelligence and choices.

“Rather than allowing the bankers, government, and various other Saturnine structures to parent us, it’s time for ‘we the people’ to rise up and be as parents to ourselves and stewards to the world around us. The healthiest form of parenting is often called ‘authoritative’ versus authoritarian
parenting. Authoritative parenting takes the stance, ‘We will find the best way together.’ It leads, but from partnership. But it DOES lead, not just team up leaderlessly. This is parenting from a self-reflexive standpoint that recognizes respective roles, i.e., I’m the parent and it’s my role in our relationship to guide you as the child, but that doesn’t make me a demigod, just the parent at this time with a responsibility to fulfill. It’s a responsibility-driven orientation, balanced by reflexivity and compassion.

“The OWS movement so far has been more like children rising up against parents, than a new form of healthy, holistic leadership. Consequently, it reinforces and exacerbates the very thing it protests against. And here enters my bottom line to watching the Davis video.

Planet Waves
And of course, the presentation of the Declaration of Independence by the drafters to the First Continental Congress. People seem to have a clue what the conduct of police during the Occupy movement actually means.

“We have to decide: do we truly want to effect change and accept all the implications of that change, including a far greater share of responsibility for making the world and its systems work, and the tremendous labors that entails? Or, do we simply want to protest and throw a collective tantrum against the way it’s been?

“The Davis incident illustrates, I believe, the latter. And demands the very question I am asking to be answered. The cops were wrong in almost every way. But the students were equally absurd in their tactics, lowering themselves to the same level of unconsciousness as the forces arrayed against them. The cops behaved exactly as one would expect them to behave, and actually with a reasonable degree of constraint for cops. The students, granted though they be immature and in need of In Loco Parentis, needed to be the more evolved human beings in that moment and they could have demonstrated something very powerful: that the ruling structures are unnecessary now; that we are rendering the old way of running this planet obsolete.

“If we are going to Occupy Wall Street, we better start thinking more like adults with responsibilities to one another, and less like petulant kids who want parents to rebel against as a cheap and fast means for carving out our identities. Davis turned into a fiasco, and I think its best value is to precipitate dialogue about how we can accelerate the maturation of OWS and get something accomplished, which accomplishment may well determine the future of humankind. This is not a task to be treated with childish emotionality. It’s time that we ALL grow up. Together.”

I think this is a sensitive and informed point of view, and it does not justify spraying unarmed students with pepper spray at point blank range. I would love to hear what you think.

Lovingly,

Eric Francis

 

Planet Waves

The Moon is in Gemini today, the sign it will be in for tomorrow’s total lunar eclipse at 9:32 am EST and Full Moon at 9:36 am EST (they are the same event, but the Full Moon is listed by most ephemerides as happening four minutes after the eclipse — we will explain why that is in the next edition). As the Sun in Sagittarius moves into position to oppose the Moon, it forms a conjunction with the centaur Pholus (small cause, big effect) today. Several hours before the eclipse on Saturday, Uranus stations direct in the first degree of Aries. Also on Saturday, the Sun makes a conjunction to minor planet Ixion (anyone is capable of anything) just before the eclipse. The Moon enters Cancer Sunday. This weekend marks the beginning of the Mercury ‘storm’ phase before it stations direct Tuesday Dec. 13. Monday, Mars squares the North Node and the Great Attractor, which are conjunct in Sagittarius as of Saturday. Also that day, the Sun squares Ceres in Pisces.

 

Planet Waves

Easy does it as we move through Saturday’s eclipse and the reverberations that spread out from it. You must simply proceed with care and caution under astrology this potent. It is easy to take things for granted. Beware of polarized situations, people who are acting unconsciously or recklessly, and situations where there is too much talk and not enough awareness or action. This is a time to guide your life carefully and to learn from the example of others who choose to do so.

If you find yourself in a situation that is deadlocked, back off and allow the momentum of the astrology to carry you to the next place. We are past the point where pushing the river can work; what is most important is that you see contrasts for what they are, and look for the decision points that present themselves organically. Know what you’re feeling and under no circumstances is it wise to defy your intuition.

Eclipses imply completion, something that most people could use some practice at. Note what you’ve been through the past six months, where you’ve been and where you are heading. As the Moon sweeps through late Gemini and into Cancer, it enters the cardinal cross, squares Uranus and opposes Pluto, reinforcing the sense that you’ve come to a new phase of your life. This is not something you can control, but it’s definitely something you can work with and influence, making choices that are appropriate to the circumstances in which you find yourself — which are rich with potential.

 

Planet Waves

Uranus is about to station direct in the first degree of Aries, signifying that it will be leaving its direct contact with the Aries Point and moving on. The Aries Point is famous for its “the personal is political” effect, which translates loosely to “the news actually matters” or as David Byrne put it, “the world crashes into your living room.” With Uranus occupying this degree, that has certainly been the case.

The very day when Uranus shifted into Aries to stay for the next seven years (March 11), there was a 9.0 earthquake in Fukushima, Japan, setting off the worst nuclear disaster in the history of science. This week, The New York Times reported, “At least 45 tons of highly radioactive water have leaked from a purification facility at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, and some of it may have reached the Pacific Ocean, the plant’s operator said Sunday.”

The story continues, “Nearly nine months after Fukushima Daiichi was ravaged by an earthquake and tsunami the plant continues to pose a major environmental threat. Before the latest leak, the Fukushima accident had been responsible for the largest single release of radioactivity into the ocean, threatening wildlife and fisheries in the region, experts have said. The new radioactive water leak called into question the progress that the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, appeared to have made in bringing its reactors under control. The company, known as Tepco, has said that it hopes to bring the plant to a stable state known as a cold shutdown by the end of the year.”

 

Planet Waves

The Resurrection of Newt Gingrich

After all that — after falling in love with, and rejecting, five other candidates, and the bus tours and the protests and the death panels and taking over Congress and getting the bad stuff out of government, and all its supposed “don’t tread on me” and social purity principles, the poor Tea Party is about to end up with Newt Gingrich (pronounced ging-rick, according to his sister) as its presidential candidate. The consummate, indeed verging on eternal Washington insider, adulterer and influence peddler, astro-biographer Lois Rodden described Newt thusly: “American politician who had a rapid rise to popularity in 1994 when he was named the first GOP Speaker of the House in 40 years, followed within two years by a downfall for indiscretion, lying to the House Committee and the illegal use of public funds. He has a reputation as a tart-tongued verbal congressional street-fighter who relishes a confrontation.”

Newt’s chart has unverified birth data (rated by DD by Rodden — Dirty Data, because there are conflicting reports) but is good enough to work with. He has Aquarius rising, for one thing, which is perfect. An aggressive political warrior, he has Mars (god of war) in Aries exactly conjunct Pallas Athene (goddess of politics). This is not as confident as it may seem, but at least he knows to work with a plan. He has more planets in Gemini than anyone could ever reasonably handle (okay, four, but that’s still a lot — the Sun, Mercury, Uranus and Saturn), which accounts for why he can have countless positions on any given issue. Add to that seven — yes, seven — points in Leo and a Sagittarius Moon, and you get the perfect image of the blustery, self-serving gasbag who is going to treat us to the most illustrious presidential campaign in postmodern history.

Prosecutors Drop Death Penalty Case Against Mumia Abu-Jamal

Philadelphia prosecutors have announced they will no longer seek the death penalty for the imprisoned journalist and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal. For decades, Abu-Jamal has argued racism by the trial judge and prosecutors led to his 1982 deeply-flawed conviction for killing Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. Two years ago, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a United States District Court judge who set aside Abu-Jamal’s death sentence after finding jurors were given confusing instructions that encouraged them to choose death rather than a life sentence. The U.S. Supreme Court then ordered the Third Circuit panel to re-examine the decision. In April, that ruling was upheld, and prosecutors had to determine whether they would seek a new death penalty against Abu-Jamal. On Wednesday, Philadelphia prosecutor Seth Williams said he opted for a life sentence rather than face what amounted to a whole new trial — because the ‘death’ phase of a capital prosecution is a trial of its own, and now that would require a new jury. The problem with a new trial is that nearly every witness lied at the first one, a fact to which everyone is hip. Eric has covered this issue here.

 

Planet Waves

Planet Waves
We cannot figure out who took this photo, but obviously it has gone viral.

 

Planet Waves

Gemini Total Eclipse and the Sibling Society

This week’s edition of Planet Waves FM is ready. In the first half, I read and consider the chart of Saturday’s total eclipse of the Moon in Gemini. This eclipse happens across Gemini/Sagittarius while both Mercury and Jupiter are in the process of stationing direct. I take a close look at the conjunction of Psyche and Apollo that is square the eclipse (prominently aspected, which brings out the message of these two asteroids).

Planet Waves

Then we take a song break, featuring the musical ensemble Girlyman. I am looking enviously at their tour schedule — they played Nashville tonight, then Decatur, then Durham, Asheville, Birmingham, McCook, NE and Loomis, NE. I don’t see a NY or MA or PA on the list. Come north, Girlyman! We will feed you and read your charts and donate publicity photos if you want, and I have a fantastic luthier if you need your guitars adjusted.

In the second half of the program I talk about what Robert Bly called “the sibling society” — that is, a society of non-adults who refuse to take responsibility for their lives and the culture around them. This is in the context of the Occupy movement, in particular a video about the UC Davis pepper spray incident that sparked the conversation.

I read from a PBS interview with Bly from about 15 years ago. Here is the thing — Bly took some shit for what he said when the book came out, but his perspective has only been supported or even proven. If you’re looking for the book, you can get it for less than a buck from Half.com.

At the end of the podcast I mention a paper called Are Student Governments Obsolete? by Ray Glass, one of the founders of SASU — the now-defunct Student Association of the State University of New York. Ray is a friend in spirit. He died when I was 11 years old but his work and his ideas have influenced my thinking, and I am happy to share a PDF of his paper on the Internet for the first time.

Today’s program is about 1:14 — a little longer than planned, but there you have it. Remember that Planet Waves FM is sponsored by your subscriptions and product purchases. We have cool stuff for you — well it’s not stuff, it’s ideas that you can take with you to your next incarnation!

P.S. The pocket watch dates to the 16th century.

 

Planet Waves


Friday, Dec. 9, 2011. Weekly Horoscope #884. | Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You are in a seed moment. They come occasionally — phases of your life when what you do, think and feel creates who you are becoming; when you express intention through action, not by planning. You’re in a moment of not knowing what you’re getting yourself into, making choices you would not necessarily have made if you knew what they implied. Yet there are few other ways to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. Remember that one definition of an adventure is that you don’t know where you’re going to end up, and I promise you that this, at least, is true. What you do have control over is whether you are authentic in the moment. In a world where most people are taught to fake most of the time, that might be a stretch. Your most dependable path to right action is being entirely real, all of the time.

Aries, your birth sign or rising sign, is getting a transit from the planet Uranus — which is a wild wakeup call, and a bold creative influence. I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and a tarot card reading for you. Learn more by visiting this page.

Taurus (April 19- May 20)

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You may feel like you’re racing toward some kind of limit, where an inner resource (such as faith in yourself) is running out. That sense of impending limitation or crux point is clear in your charts, but what stands out more boldly is that another limitation you cannot see is about to give way. Your current sense of urgency is more closely associated with the second situation than the first; in other words, something is happening other than what you’re obsessing over. Don’t waste time fussing over the form of the problem, or what you perceive your problem to be. This would be true especially if you are defining an issue in a way that has resisted resolution in the past. Take care of the practical matters at hand as efficiently as you can. Learn from your day-to-day experiences. Emphasize the positive role you play in the world. Heaven and Earth are indeed moving, and you are moving with them.

I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and done a tarot reading especially for you. It’s information that will help with your relationships, your professional life and your personal growth. Visit this page to find out more.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Occasionally you have a stunning breakthrough appreciating the person you are. It’s as if some mental block lets go, or some veil drops, and you can actually recognize and experience yourself as the strong, nurturing person you are. Something like this is happening right now. Your realization seems to come in two phases, something like this. You remember something amazing about yourself that you keep forgetting, which shifts your sense of identity. Just when that’s far enough in the past that you forgot it happened, a relationship changes. You become free within the relationship, or free yourself of the relationship. You may not see the connection between the two, but the turn of events proves that authentic self-respect can take you past any limitation in your relationships. If you remember that these two are directly related, you will save yourself incalculable time, energy and grief in the future.

Gemini is one of the most misunderstood signs — and as someone born under this sign, part of your role is to hold a mirror to the world. I’ve recorded an hour of audio for you, plus a 20-minute tarot reading. You can get access to these by visiting this page.

Cancer (June 21- July 22)

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You may not consciously keep secrets from yourself, but you also may not see the ways you work against your own cause. What feels like the revelation of some deep inner truth is really about you aligning with yourself in a tangible way. In fact, you are healing a split in your mind that has presented you with many challenges that you did not understand. The split has outwardly manifested many ways: as holding competing goals, divided loyalties, or a sense that you could not get the ‘two halves’ of yourself working together. The thing is, once you can see something like this, however dimly, you increase the chances of doing something about it. And you are about to get a rare glimpse at this outdated aspect of your inner makeup, or rather, your self-perception. The simplest way to put this is that honesty with yourself will get you real results in the real world.

I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and done a tarot reading especially for you. It’s information that will help with your relationships, your professional life and your personal growth. Visit this page to find out more.

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You are bigger than your public image. You are bigger than all the chatter or gossip in the world. Somewhere between nothing and exceedingly little that could become known about you would negatively influence the opinion of anyone who really mattered. Therefore, you are free to let the truth about yourself be known. Take the initiative and express your most daring innermost thoughts if that is what you choose to do. This can be in the context of an intimate relationship, or some much larger social context wherein you finally arrive at the recognition that you want to be known not just for what you do, but also for who you are. What most people have not figured out is that any aura of concealment breeds negativity just as dependably as truth and clarity dispel it. The sensation of potential risk you may be experiencing is not the same as an actual danger — it’s a lot more fun.

The 2011 Leo birthday report is 70 minutes of in-depth astrology plus a 20-minute tarot reading for you, exploring relationships, personal growth and your professional life. Visit this page for additional information.

 

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You make your own definition of success — or rather, when you learn that you can, you will be much happier. One problem with what we think of as success is that we tend to be told what it is, over and over again, then we try to live up to the myth. Usually that comes in the form of approval of authority figures, fame or supposed security, all of which are transient. There is very little security possible; only confidence is worth reaching for, and that is an inner state. Success is about what you want, not what someone else wants for you. You are the one — and the only one — who must approve of what you do, so that you may have a clear conscience and grounded sense of purpose. What happens next will reveal these concepts as the simple and obvious facts that they are.

The 2011 Virgo birthday report is ready! I’ve recorded 70 minutes of astrology plus a tarot reading for you, exploring how you’re working through family material, your use of spirituality, some new energy in your relationships and your professional goals. Visit this page for additional information.

Libra (Sep. 22 - Oct. 23)

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — It’s impressive, when you look at it, how beliefs get in the way of reality. This often happens below the boards of awareness, though of course at other times it gives people a false sense of control. If you don’t like a fact, you can always pretend it’s not true. Now, however, you are being called upon to understand not only the actual data but also its implications. Suspending your beliefs of what is true while you conduct this investigation is essential. And, I would remind you, none of this suggests that what you believe, or perceive, is wrong — only that it’s subject to verification. Along the spectrum of ‘true’ and ‘false’ I would add the distinction of ‘true enough’ — for a given purpose, for a given time. As time progresses, you may apply a different standard or metric, but the important thing is that you have a basis for validating what you believe — or not — without resorting to prejudice.

Your Libra birthday audio for 2011 is finished. Created outside next to an open fire, this reading covers the astrology for your sign in about 70 minutes (looking at career, relationship, home life and the many influences to change you’re now experiencing). It also includes a Voyager tarot reading. Visit this link for additional information.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — I’ve mentioned a few times this year something about not being afraid to be unpopular, while not going out of your way to have people dislike you. Typically how you handle any issue on this side of the spectrum is by brushing it off, but that is a way of denying your deeper emotional sensitivity. Who you are, what you say and what you do seems to be having a profound effect on someone. You don’t need to be self-righteous about your values; you don’t need to compensate for what you perceive as the weaknesses of others. All you need to do is to recognize the dynamic between you and someone close to you. Be receptive to the changes they are going through. This will help both of you, it will ease the tension of the situation and you will get to experience the pleasure of being consciously resonant with your environment in a new way.

Hello Scorpios! Your 2011 Birthday Report is ready. It’s about an hour of astrology, plus a 20-minute tarot reading. It’s hot with transformational energy. I focus on your ruling planet Mars, your imagination and desire nature, and a phase of solid achievement. Please check this page for more information.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You may be outgrowing a relationship or even a whole volume in the history of your relationships, and if that is true, I suggest you welcome the change. Yes, this can be easier said than done, but you have a lot going for you, and a lot going on, and it’s not healthy for you to suppress your energy or to give anyone else the role of doing so. That said, the situation you’re in could easily transform itself into something much better, on a different level of existence. And, that said, the thing to do is release your attachment to the form of the relationship, and then discover what the content actually is. Something that was veiled is coming to the surface, but it will take you a few days to figure out what that is; in fact, what you’re experiencing is a journey that will take you about six months to ‘figure out’, and during that time, I suggest you remain open to everyone and everything.


Sagittarius Birthday Audio Report

Dear Friend and Sagittarian:

I’ve just finished your Sagittarius birthday report and tarot reading. Sagittarius is encoded with a sense of cosmic mystery, and as I’ve written in many recent articles, there is a lot going on in your sign right now. I’ve broken this reading down into two parts: the first is about relationships and the second is about career and creativity — though the two are closely related.

Planet Waves
Whiskey and Owen. Photo by Beki Herrbach.

The current Mercury retrograde and the upcoming lunar eclipse in Gemini will offer you the experience of relating to people you wouldn’t normally relate to. Think of this astrology as taking you on an introspective journey where you are able to make real contact and truly experience the “other” within yourself.

Your birthday report includes an hour of astrology that covers some of the more meaningful astrological influences that will bring you through to your next birthday, including the partial solar eclipse that occurred over the weekend and Mercury retrograde in your sign over the next few weeks.

My birthday readings all come with a tarot session, using the Voyager tarot by James Wanless. I include a 20-minute tarot reading (many people’s favorite part of my birthday products), which looks at your life using a tool that speaks in pictures. A photo of the spread is included, as are some supplemental articles.

The whole package is just $14.95 — priced to be affordable. It’s posted to a permanent link which you can play as many times as you like, or download into iTunes. I include the chart and the tarot spread for reference.


 

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — There is no way to understate the size and scale of the transformation you’re going through. I would say that ‘it’ feels like it’s coming at you from every direction, but there is only one direction — from within. This weekend’s total eclipse of the Moon is encouraging you — indeed, necessitating — that you find a healthy and creative outlet for your energy and any frustration you may be feeling. If there is a healing agenda that seems to involve a relationship, I strongly suggest you do your part of the work first, then wait several days (say, till Wednesday) before you take any discussion into a situation involving a partner, spouse or adversary. If you don’t install a delay, you’re likely to get your wires crossed and blame someone for your material and potentially take on responsibility for what is not yours. Sort it out first, then have the conversation.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Capricorn, please go to this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Somewhere in A Course in Miracles is the notion that “you are an idea that can never leave its source.” This is directed at those who feel separate from spirit or from the rest of humanity; who feel alienated from the flow of creation. I bring it up today because your astrology presents that very image of connection that would obviate the sensation or illusion of being separate. Thought is creative, and you are made of thought. Thought is free, and you are free to create yourself into who you want to be. Yet the key words here are create and want — which imply conscious choices. This, in turn, implies taking full responsibility for the process. That one fact is enough to deter most people from ever daring to create who they are, or rather, from doing so consciously. You create yourself all the time, and the power to do so has never been more palpable or accessible to you.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Aquarius, please go to this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Imagine how different your life would be if you had felt confident and secure the whole time. Consider how much energy you have wasted on the fear of developments that never came to pass, on lack of faith that you could come through, and on anxiety that had no special source or identifiable topic. Saturday’s lunar eclipse illustrates a breakthrough on this theme. The essence of your fear is the experience of being divided against yourself, and you are now in a moment where those two seemingly different halves are joined together. Or, more accurately, a moment where you recognize they were never separate. This is something you will feel in your body first, before you begin to recognize it as a concept. In truth, this has been developing for a while, and now it’s finally becoming obvious enough to translate into authentic confidence you can apply toward your most cherished goals.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Pisces, please go to this link.

Venus Transit of the Sun: Top Five Events of 2012

Dear Friend and Reader:

We’re approaching a total eclipse of the Moon. This happens Saturday, and I’m pretty sure you can feel this as the frenzied state of acceleration that eclipses almost always bring. I cover this in the Planet Waves Monthly horoscope for December — maybe worth a second look, even if you read it two weeks ago when it came out. It’s all about the current eclipse pattern and how it is influencing you.

Photo by Elizabeth Joyce.

Saturday’s is the only total eclipse we’re going to have until this time next year, a total eclipse of the Sun on Nov. 13, 2012. Yet there are an astounding 29 eclipse-like events in 2012, which includes a cluster in May and June that is at the heart of the matter of 2012 astrology, and the topic of a special audio presentation today. (There were just nine eclipses and eclipse-like events in 2011, so the increase is by a factor of more than three-fold — one example of the many acceleration patterns associated with this highly unusual year).

As for the current astrology — there are two useful articles on the Daily Adventure series at Planet Waves. One is called A Gateway to Evolution, and the other is called The Great Attractor: Clearing the Way, which addresses today’s passage of the Sun over the Great Attractor and the North Node, a once-per-18-year alignment.

I am making steady progress on Revelation. Revolution. Reality Check. That’s the 2012 annual edition of Planet Waves, which includes readings for all 12 signs and rising signs. We’ve been receiving a huge number of emails asking where subscribers can sign up — you may use this link to pre-order at the discount price for subscribers.

Last week I began a series on the top five events of 2012, wherein I covered the Uranus-Pluto square (that link will take you to the audio). In today’s edition, I look at the Venus transit of the Sun on June 5, 2012 — a rare and beautiful event that is at the heart of 2012 astrology.

Avebury Henge. Photo by John Spivey / Wikimedia Commons.

It’s hard to believe that it was nearly eight years ago when I stood in Avebury Henge in England and watched with my own eyes as Venus traced a line across the Sun. It was amazing that I was in a part of the world where it was visible, and that I met someone who had the right equipment to watch it safely. I covered that in an article you may remember called Day Zero, wherein I consciously began the interval between one Venus transit of the Sun and the next. They come in pairs separated by eight years; these pairs in turn are always separated by more than a century.

On June 5, 2012 we will experience the second of the current pair. The Mayans were obsessed with the cycles of Venus, and this Venus event is something I am looking to closely for a real understanding of the processes deep in the psychology, healing and growth of the most important year of our lives. The transit takes place in Gemini, and is about the reconciling of opposites within us. That containing and embracing of inner polarities is one of the most human experiences of all, and will influence each of us in a different way. We all have Gemini in our charts, and we all use it differently; we are getting lots of help lately doing just that.

You can think of the Venus transit as the direct grounding of the truly unusual placements in the sign opposite from Gemini, which is Sagittarius. It’s as if some vast spiritual teaching is going to settle into our direct human experience.

This audio (use link to access recording) takes you through the utterly amazing month from May 20 through the Cancer solstice of 2012. Revelation. Revolution. Reality Check. considers the event for each of the 12 signs and rising signs, revealing how this rare, fascinating astrology is directly personally relevant to you.

See you with a regular edition Friday.

Lovingly,

A Moment of Transparency

Dear Friend and Reader:

So here we are in the thick of Mercury retrograde, with that giant magnet passing between the Sun and the Earth. The effect has nothing to do with superstition. The brain is an electrical device. The Sun is an electrical transmitter. Add a hunk of iron the size of a planet into the mix and there can be some weird effects that affect both your Flash player and where you thought your keys were.

Planet Waves
Photo by Eric Francis.

We’re also approaching a total lunar eclipse in Gemini on Dec. 10, which is making all kinds of aspects to complicated psychological planets (centaurs Pholus and Hylonome, and a deep space point) that nobody really understands. The approaching eclipse might feel like a bubble growing inside you that refuses to burst, every minute leaving you wondering when it will. Or you might feel like you’re on a big adventure that’s on the verge of going out of control half the time.

From what my readers and clients are telling me, responses to this astrology range from “feeling compelled to clean my desk off completely and organize everything, everywhere, and be in charge of my own existence” to what one described as a “huge spiritual crisis, massive internal overhaul” in her partner. She added, “I feel like my world has turned upside down. So much going on. WHEN does it get easier?”

Someone wrote to me and said it seemed like every person in New York City was horny. Now that would be an adventure.

In the Northern Hemisphere late autumn is always a high-pressure time of year, accentuated by the very short days that seem to compress time. The Earth and Sun gradually aligning with the Galactic Center (a supermassive black hole) provides another kind of acceleration effect, as does the mundane fact of the calendar wrapping up another year. Plus we’ve just had an eclipse of the Sun, and that’s making it feel like the river is moving a little more swiftly than usual.

The forthcoming Dec. 10 lunar eclipse is a clear release point, as will be Mercury stationing direct three days later. Yet I don’t suggest you merely wait these things out, hoping your life will calm down and you can get back to normal. That is not the point at all. These moments of high intensity can be uncomfortable, but they are rich with information and potential growth. In particular, Mercury retrograding over two centaur planets this past week (Pholus and Hylonome, referenced above) can be opening up a wealth of inner information. The North Node is right there and that is about opening you to new territory and experience.

Toss your concepts of ‘spiritual’ and go right for discovering the missing data and exploring new or missing experiences. This will be revealed through inner sources, contact you initiate with family members, things that just happen, and subtle things you notice in your environment. The key to this is not letting your mind run past the best information. We’ve all had the experience of noticing some interesting detail (or person or critter or building) a few steps from our house, something that we’ve walked past many times a week for years but somehow mysteriously did not notice. That is how psychology often works. Vital information can be right in front of us, but we just don’t notice, or make the connection. It’s like looking everywhere for your reading glasses, when they’re happily parked on your nose and ears.

Planet Waves
Photo by Eric Francis.

This is the time to make the connection. Mercury retrograde comes with a powerful inward tug. That tug may be making you feel like your life is waaaay too busy. It’s also pulling you in the direction of what you can think of as a direct ancestral energy line — a kind of bridge to the core, leading right into your ancestral history. Is that too heady or ‘out there’?
Consider what you’re experiencing now, in terms of the deeper material you’re noticing. If something comes up as an ‘issue’, ask yourself what it’s really about and wait for the answer.

You can quite literally decode crucial aspects of your childhood under this astrology. You may gain some clarity into what was so weird about certain people who could not tell right from wrong, and why so many other people tolerated that. But there is a bigger mission implied, which is opening up the adventure of your life mission. Sagittarius is all about the adventure of life (just ask one) and this astrology is a calling for everyone.

See if you can develop this into a conversation. These are deep, brave aspects going by right now — faster than you may think, if they’re getting to you — and while they last you could learn a lot.

What do you do with what you learn? You might discover something that resolves an old (and I mean very old) issue. These things happen; there are moments when learning something actually changes you. It’s deeper than ‘insight’, which can feel more like popcorn. When a missing key shows up, it can arrive with a solid sensation, such as release or actual clarity. Don’t forget the feeling that comes with the discovery. Ask how your life can be different, now that you’ve made this connection.

Personal Healing, Going Global

We’re in a moment when personal healing is unlocking the potential for global healing. One little problem with the upheavals of the 1960s was that working out our most significant troubles was not really on the agenda. Feeling good was. Standing up to power was. Great music, drugs, sex, sure. But the deeper work was generally left out of the picture. Well, it was included if you were doing Primal Therapy, but for the most part people brought their baggage with them, and kept hold of it. That’s why so many hippies ended up as stock brokers.

Planet Waves
Photo by Eric Francis.

We are now in a moment not only when we have to take world issues personally, but when we must recognize that taking real steps toward personal healing and growth are vital steps toward world healing. In our era, we often make the mistake of stopping on the personal level and not reaching for the next step.

However, Uranus in Aries is shocking many people out of their self-absorption, and if that is not doing the trick, the ongoing earthquake of Uranus in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn is providing some shock therapy in the form of a world changing in ways that are very difficult to understand. Such as, where are the jobs and the opportunities? The unemployment rate is technically 9% but that does not include the under-employed, people who have given up and those who are on public assistance — which means that about a third of the country is in or very close to poverty. Many people are painfully aware that they could be next. With Uranus-Pluto focusing from Aries to Capricorn, this could mean a huge (and well-deserved) uprising against ‘the system’.

Why does it look like the euro and numerous European governments may all go down? Why have there been vicious crackdowns on Occupy movements across the country? Let’s pretend it has something to do with the issues they’re calling to light, such as the biggest bank robbery in the history of the world. We are literally living through the expression of unchecked corporate abuse that could put millions of people onto breadlines overnight. The personal side of this is, we could be casting ourselves into roles as victims — or as protagonists who rise to the occasion. That might be because you have nothing left lose, and it might be because you have no choice in the matter.

Knowing that, we have the options to pay attention or bury our heads in the sand. Fortunately, the ostrich maneuver is getting old and paying attention to what is obvious is becoming compelling. And one thing that’s obvious is that pretending it doesn’t matter to us is just that — making believe.

Planet Waves
Photo by Eric Francis.

Pluto in Capricorn is ripping through global systems and institutions like Lord Shiva himself. It’s also up-ending our beliefs, our sense of stability, our relationship to the past and how we perceive the world around us.

Uranus in Aries is providing the individuality, inventiveness and a calling to wake up and take advantage of the changes the world is going through, whether you want to or whether you have to. You might be asking if you’ve woken up too late. I would say that between the two is what you decide to do when you notice your awareness is coming on. That is a sensitive moment, when you could proceed in one of many directions, some more productive than others.

You will have the opportunity to test what you believe about yourself and about life. It could be an extremely vulnerable moment. That’s the spot we’re reaching for — self-honesty beyond judgment, a moment of truth and of necessity. You could say, a moment of transparency, when the mirror suddenly goes clear.

Lovingly,

Eric Francis

P.S. Since sending out last night’s audio on 2012 aspects, we’ve had a lot of requests from subscribers how to purchase the product. Here is the page about the 2012 annual (Revolution. Revelation. Reality Check.) and here is a direct link to the product page.

 

Planet Waves

Mercury is still in retrograde motion in Sagittarius, and today it is conjunct the lunar North Node and Great Attractor. The peak of the Mercury retrograde cycle happens Sunday at 4:52 am with the interior conjunction of Mercury and the Sun. At the same time, Mercury will square both Mars in Virgo and an outer planet called Borasisi. Venus is pulling away from its conjunction with Pluto in Capricorn, and forms an earth trine with Mars on Monday. This time of year the Sun is heading into a conjunction with two deep-space points — the Great Attractor (on Dec. 6) and the Galactic Core (Dec. 19). Between those two events, we are approaching a total eclipse of the Moon in Gemini. Though it’s a little early to be talking about the Full Moon, this is an eclipse and we are currently under its influence now (please see article above).

 

Planet Waves

The Moon is moving slowly across Pisces, which is delicate terrain. This is accentuated by the presence of Chiron in early Pisces and Ceres just past the midpoint; the imperative is for sensitivity to one’s own feelings and those around us. As it moves through Pisces Friday and Saturday, this porous, receptive and introspective Moon will make squares to many points in Sagittarius, which may have a provocative effect on many people. Efforts to treat this rationally will be complicated by Mercury retrograde, so some extra care will be required. Shy away from disagreements and keep conversations light if necessary. Gauge whether others display any self-understanding and respond appropriately. Saturday evening at 9:51 pm EST the Moon enters Aries, immediately forming a conjunction with Uranus — that will make for an interesting Saturday night, especially on the heels of all this inner-seeing and inner-feeling of the prior two days. The fiery moon will come with a boost of confidence, and potentially false confidence. Continue to proceed with caution, check your facts and especially check your opinions.

 

Planet Waves

The recent Venus-Pluto conjunction seemed to have half the world hot and bothered, determined to express their sexuality in some direct way. The conjunction, though now growing wider, is still having an influence as Venus works its way into a trine with Mars in Virgo. Blending Venus and Mars in earthy signs is a calling to guide one’s feelings into the body, though Mars in Virgo is about expressing the exact nature of desire — and that calls for words. Mars in Virgo has very specific desires, and everyone will have more fun if these are identified, expressed and explored playfully. There is an interesting alignment involving a number of points that center on the asteroid Photographica, the planet Neptune and something called Admetos. This is about exploring the dark side of one’s visual imagination. More people are curious about this thing called ‘porno’ than are willing to admit to it, but admitting your curiosity to yourself is a great place to start. It is not a fact that ‘men are more visual than women’. Many factors demonstrate the opposite — explore and decide for yourself, though be aware that the current astrology is pointing to the darker, more transgressive side of visual expression.

 

Planet Waves

Democaracy Now! is reporting that the total number of arrested in the raids on Occupy encampments in Los Angeles and Philadelphia early Wednesday morning has now topped 350 people. Nearly 300 were arrested when around 1,400 officers raided the Occupy LA site at city hall. Fifty people were arrested when Philadelphia police cleared the protest camp at Dilworth Plaza. To date, more than 5,000 people have been arrested in Occupy Wall Street crackdowns nationwide. That is about 5,000 more than were ever arrested in Tea Party protests.

Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the richest man in the city by the way, boasted to an audience at MIT Tuesday night that the New York City Police Department is his own personal army. Bloomberg said, “I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh biggest army in the world.” The mayor has been accused of using New York City’s massive police department as his own private force to clear out Occupy Wall Street protesters from their home base in Lower Manhattan and to execute scores of arrests throughout the city. Now we may have an answer to the question once posed by Radiohead, “You and whose army?”

While Occupy movements continue to be evicted from their camps, there is an equally important issue to watch: the suppression of voter rights. Half of the states have passed or are considering laws suppressing voter rights, which include stricter ID requirements, cutting down pre-election day voting time and figuring out how to keep the young, the elderly and minorities away from the polls. We need to meet this with determination and appropriate indignation. It used to be said that if voting got results, it would be illegal — and that is precisely what we see happening now. Here is a Wikipedia article that outlines the issue. This is definitely in the “think globally, act locally” category — it’s a national issue but it’s possible to take local action, which begins with registering to vote and getting your friends to do the same thing.

 

Planet Waves

“On Nov. 25, two days after a failed German government bond auction in which Germany was unable to sell 35% of its offerings of 10-year bonds, the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said that Germany might retreat from its demands that the private banks that hold the troubled sovereign debt from Greece, Italy and Spain must accept part of the cost of their bailout by writing off some of the debt. The private banks want to avoid any losses either by forcing the Greek, Italian and Spanish governments to make good on the bonds by imposing extreme austerity on their citizens, or by having the European Central Bank print euros with which to buy the sovereign debt from the private banks. Printing money to make good on debt is contrary to the ECB’s charter and especially frightens Germans, because of the Weimar experience with hyperinflation.” Read more at Global Research.

 

Planet Waves

Eclipses, Mercury and Thoughts on Occupy

Planet Waves

This is the new (regular) edition of Planet Waves FM. In the first half, I cover the current astrology: Mercury retrograde, the approaching lunar eclipse, and Venus conjunct Pluto — the aspect of lust. In the second half of the program, I discuss some issues involving the Occupy movement, relaying some information I received from C.T. Butler, a previous guest on Planet Waves.

Here you’ll find the full archives and a downloadable zip file. They’re also available on iTunes.

P.S. Check Planet Waves FM Special Edition: Top Five Events of 2012.

 

Planet Waves


Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. Weekly Horoscope #883. | Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Your rational ideas may be coming into conflict with things to take for granted or on faith. If you’re in any conflict, I suggest you check where these two seemingly different levels of reality are trying to establish the truth of something, or vying for supremacy. This kind of tension can be uncomfortable, particularly if you find yourself questioning cherished beliefs that you don’t want to let go of. It would be worth your time, however, to ask yourself why you believe what you believe. It would be just as worthwhile to inquire whether your ideas about life stand up to the available facts, and for that matter, a few other facts that you are currently digging out. The good news is that baseless beliefs don’t really provide you with any comfort, and the even better news is that facts don’t always add up to the truth.

Aries, your birth sign or rising sign, is getting a transit from the planet Uranus — which is a wild wakeup call, and a bold creative influence. I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and a tarot card reading for you. Learn more by visiting this page.

Taurus (April 19- May 20)

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You may feel like you’ve gone through a transformation of some kind, perhaps right down to the cellular level, which has left you feeling raw and vulnerable. At the same time, you’re in a highly structured environment, which you may think is limiting you but which is really providing you with a measure of stability as you go through some deep and necessary changes. Therefore you can focus on your growth, trusting that you’re supported in that experience. Whether you feel safe is another question, but I suggest you treat vulnerability as an opportunity rather than as any kind of threat. All of the finer things in life — love, sensuality, desire, self-expression, learning and friendship, are facilitated by your being open, receptive and in harmony with your environment. You may have the feeling that your surroundings are not supportive of these things, but your astrology suggests that you have some excellent opportunities for authentic contact.

I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and done a tarot reading especially for you. It’s information that will help with your relationships, your professional life and your personal growth. Visit this page to find out more.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Anger is a controversial emotion among spiritual types, most of whom would prefer to outlaw it or at least banish it to the dark side. However, the fact is that anger exists, and it has many causes. Whether it’s a productive emotion in the long-run is another question, but in the immediate timeframe it is calling your attention to something that you should pay attention to. The danger of anger is festering on it or turning it inward. Another danger is projecting it outward in ways that are not healthy or respectful, but it’s probably better to err on the side of expression rather than suppression. In any event, your attention is being called to a truly significant issue, and you know that you will need to take action sooner rather than later. There is no rush, however; I suggest you investigate your feelings and the history behind them for a while before you make any final decisions.

Gemini is one of the most misunderstood signs — and as someone born under this sign, part of your role is to hold a mirror to the world. I’ve recorded an hour of audio for you, plus a 20-minute tarot reading. You can get access to these by visiting this page.

Cancer (June 21- July 22)

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — This is a good time to consider what you owe the world, or what you absolutely want above all else to give the world. You may have a significant debt that you are here to pay off in some form of selfless service. Or, you may have noticed that you’ve been doing that for a long time and need to think of it in a different way. You may be someone who has never considered the concept of world service. It’s time to give that idea a thorough and introspective investigation and find out what it means for you. You are formulating a deep relationship to this idea, and something akin to being a spiritual disciple is awakening in you. Whatever the karma behind this awakening may be, you are receiving a deep inheritance. True, you may not think of gaining an inheritance as ‘taking action’, but what you have is the privilege of authentic participation.

I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and done a tarot reading especially for you. It’s information that will help with your relationships, your professional life and your personal growth. Visit this page to find out more.

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You have a creative opportunity to make a lot of money, with the emphasis on creative first and money second. This will require you to take some specific, carefully chosen action, which I suggest you think of as an experiment. You can wait for ‘something to happen’ but you would benefit from knowing your goal, planning your approach and making a move to see how it goes. An old friend or colleague may be involved, such as in the role of reminding you of an old idea you had, or providing you with some resources or inspiration. During this Mercury retrograde, you may find yourself digging up undeveloped ideas, dreams or desires that serve a diversity of purposes — and which will enrich your life if you follow up on them. If you’re discovering an abundance of these, pick from the ones that you think will make you the happiest. There will be many other benefits.

The 2011 Leo birthday report is 70 minutes of in-depth astrology plus a 20-minute tarot reading for you, exploring relationships, personal growth and your professional life. Visit this page for additional information.

 

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You are gaining confidence, but it seems to be a delicate walk because losing your courage is only a thought away. The good news is that reconnecting with your courage is only a thought away. But here is a clue: Being rebellious is not enough to get you there. Rebellion in itself is a tool, not a value, and I suggest you be cautious where you apply it. The uprisings that worked for you as a child no longer work today; the things that got the attention of your parents will no longer get the attention of anyone in authority now. Anyway, there is something else you want from your predecessors, which is the example of their authentic relationship to the world. You will gain confidence by being fully in your environment, and by proceeding if not with a sense of entitlement, a sense of belonging to the human family. You are not an outcast. You are a fully vested participant in life on the planet.

The 2011 Virgo birthday report is ready! I’ve recorded 70 minutes of astrology plus a tarot reading for you, exploring how you’re working through family material, your use of spirituality, some new energy in your relationships and your professional goals. Visit this page for additional information.

Libra (Sep. 22 - Oct. 23)

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — I suggest you acquire some political skills, or refine and enhance the ones you have. Politics is the basic game of human society. It’s influenced by many things: privilege, sex, strength, resources and the propensity of certain individuals to violence — but at the end of the day, to be a skilled player you need none of that. You merely need an understanding of the game and why it is important. I am suggesting this not to get you further entrenched in an idea or an institution of some kind but rather to help you find some freedom. Getting along with others, learning to get your agenda going, and having some skill in give and take, are all essential talents worth developing. In any situation where politics is a necessary art, the antithesis is to stay in touch with your sexual desire. When you lose that vital contact, the game can become dangerous indeed.

Your Libra birthday audio for 2011 is finished. Created outside next to an open fire, this reading covers the astrology for your sign in about 70 minutes (looking at career, relationship, home life and the many influences to change you’re now experiencing). It also includes a Voyager tarot reading. Visit this link for additional information.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — You may be inclined to push a financial deal, but you had better check the details carefully before you sign anything. There is promise and potential here, and possibly the chance to realize a very specific dream or desire. Yet the combination of a stellar Mars aspect (driving you forward) simultaneously with Mercury retrograde (potential misunderstanding or misinformation) is the cause for concern. You could do a handshake deal now, and finalize the real agreement in the last two weeks of the year, after Mercury stations direct and become privy to certain levels of information that you may not be aware even exist. The details count for a lot, and I suggest you invest your time finding out what is going on below the surface. Chances are you will be able to use the information well, and resolve your lingering questions — but those questions have to come to the surface before you can do that.

Hello Scorpios! Your 2011 Birthday Report is ready. It’s about an hour of astrology, plus a 20-minute tarot reading. It’s hot with transformational energy. I focus on your ruling planet Mars, your imagination and desire nature, and a phase of solid achievement. Please check this page for more information.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You had better make sure your opinions are backed up by some data. It would be adequate to be able to say, “In my opinion, such and such is true, for the following three reasons.” I don’t mean to undermine your confidence in what you know is right, but rather bolster your confidence when it comes to knowing you’re not always right. I would give yourself extra points if you or anyone else spots an error in your thinking, particularly an error of interpretation. This may come from someone who you are sure is inexperienced or uninformed; don’t let that stop you from fact-checking if someone nudges you. At the heart of the matter, though, is a lingering question about something you believe and are inclined to hold onto at all costs, despite your doubts. You may think you’re a brave holdout, but I would say check the freshness date.


Sagittarius Birthday Audio Report

Dear Friend and Sagittarian:

I’ve just finished your Sagittarius birthday report and tarot reading. Sagittarius is encoded with a sense of cosmic mystery, and as I’ve written in many recent articles, there is a lot going on in your sign right now. I’ve broken this reading down into two parts: the first is about relationships and the second is about career and creativity — though the two are closely related.

Planet Waves
Whiskey and Owen. Photo by Beki Herrbach.

The current Mercury retrograde and the upcoming lunar eclipse in Gemini will offer you the experience of relating to people you wouldn’t normally relate to. Think of this astrology as taking you on an introspective journey where you are able to make real contact and truly experience the “other” within yourself.

Your birthday report includes an hour of astrology that covers some of the more meaningful astrological influences that will bring you through to your next birthday, including the partial solar eclipse that occurred over the weekend and Mercury retrograde in your sign over the next few weeks.

My birthday readings all come with a tarot session, using the Voyager tarot by James Wanless. I include a 20-minute tarot reading (many people’s favorite part of my birthday products), which looks at your life using a tool that speaks in pictures. A photo of the spread is included, as are some supplemental articles.

The whole package is just $14.95 — priced to be affordable. It’s posted to a permanent link which you can play as many times as you like, or download into iTunes. I include the chart and the tarot spread for reference.


 

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — I am pretty sure you have not heard of the Red Goat incident in the little town where I live. This consisted of two artists tagging these brand-new, certifiably ugly white tree planters with a stencil of red goats. A little street art caused one of the biggest uproars of the year. Everyone (including me) was suspect in what amounted to a two-week police dragnet. The mayor took it so personally he nearly had an aneurysm. The masses were rallied for a fantastic cause. It was great fun — and the symbol of the unintentional revolt was a goat, just being him/herself. Over the next few days you’re likely to have a similar kind of impulse power, causing reactions you could never have predicted and getting results you were not expecting. This will be fun, if you keep your eye on the effects you’re having. For one thing, you have some luscious, charismatic sex appeal working for you. Lest you’re in doubt — people are noticing.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Capricorn, please go to this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — The deepest core of your psyche has gone from spitting out demons, to the sensation of angels flying out the windows of your soul. I would dare say there have likely been a few spaces in between, when you wondered just what it was you were possessed by. All of this is part of a necessary catharsis that will extend into early next year, when Neptune leaves your sign and enters Pisces. This is a phase of resolution; of tying up the loose ends and making sure that you’re being honest with yourself, and with the people around you, before you move onto your next major adventure. What feels like madness or turmoil in your soul will connect you to your deepest and most authentic creativity. It only feels like angels and devils when it’s suppressed. Then it has a way of turning into art, music and celebration.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Aquarius, please go to this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — The emphasis of your charts is focused on your career — and I suggest that’s where you keep the emphasis of your energy flow. There is more happening there than you recognize, and despite a few things that could be going better than they seem to be, you will have energy to spare as long as you moderate your pace and keep your communications clear. This is a seed moment for you, a time when you will make decisions and act on long-delayed plans. But don’t stop there. You are under rare astrology that is about expanding your vision and making forays into the world that you might have deemed impossible just months or weeks ago. Part of the emphasis is on partnership; the people you encounter now could prove to be truly significant collaborators. Strive for clarity and you will get clear results.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Pisces, please go to this link.