Yearly Archives: 2013

Sagittarius Full Moon Moonshine Horoscopes — and Oklahoma

Dear Friend and Reader:

Today we have for you Genevieve Hathaway’s Moonshine horoscopes at this link, which she has written for the Sagittarius Full Moon and lunar eclipse at the end of the week.

Planet Waves
Saturday’s eclipse is a ‘penumbral’ eclipse, which does not look as dramatic as a partial eclipse. Photo by Amanda Painter.

We also have the beginning of our coverage of the tornado that swept through Moore, Oklahoma, yesterday afternoon, being reported as the largest tornado in known history.

In an update written last night, Eric reads the chart for the incident, though he begins with a commentary about the extended nervous system we experience through our connection to TV and the Internet.

“Our senses were never intended to extend this far, or to perceive from this point of view — especially for those who are empaths or sensitives. They are more practical, intended to provide information about our local surroundings and the people with us in any given moment. Now we’re subject to incursion by anything that happens anywhere, and most of the time what we hear about is painful.”

He adds:

“These storms are all powered by atmospheric heat, which is what’s increasing steadily as the carbon levels rise. Global warming is, in turn, the result of a kind of ecological war that has effects we see every day, and hear about in every different form. The problem is that we’re seeing the details but not the whole scenario. We see these individual episodes without quite recognizing, or bringing fully to the surface of consciousness, that they are part of a larger scenario.”

There will be more in tonight’s edition of Planet Waves FM.

Note to Geminis and the people who love them — if you’d like to get a jump on a truly useful and beautiful birthday gift for yourself or your Gemini friends, you can pre-order Eric’s Gemini Birthday Reading for 2013 here. It offers great insights whether you have a Gemini Sun, rising sign or Moon. The pre-order price is the best we offer — it will go up when the reading is published later in the week.

Yours & truly,

Amanda Painter

 

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Pisces 2017

Monday Morning Horoscope for Dec. 25, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

These weeks mark a meaningful, even important, time of transition in your vocation or profession. You have reached a destination, though obviously not a final one, but a real one. It will be necessary to take a few months and evaluate what you’ve accomplished, which means: what you’ve actually changed in your work patterns, your standing in the world, and your talent development. It’s essential that you not take a rapid or slipshod approach to this. You might start with rewriting your resume from scratch, so that you have a list of your accomplishments and can see a story arc. Meanwhile, it’s essential that you look for ways to take some pressure off your need to achieve new things, which I know is a comment you’ll never hear another astrologer make to a Pisces. Rather than coast, hold your ground, work the projects you’ve already begun, and make the most of what you currently have. As you do this, you’ll set some new and very different goals.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Dec. 18, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Events this week will remind you how much you’ve accomplished these past three years of Saturn moving across your solar 10th house: the one that’s about career, reputation, responsibility and success. You cannot really go wrong with Saturn in the 10th, though the combination of Saturn and Sagittarius is not necessarily easy. This was not about having the Midas touch but rather that of a carpenter, architect or engineer. You owe it to yourself to recall carefully what your life was about in 2014 and early 2015: what you were doing, how you were doing it, what goals you set for yourself and how you thought you might accomplish them. Notice the differences between how you related to your work way back then, and how you relate to it now. While these three years may not have been an easy run, you succeeded at making something that’s heavier than air fly through the air. And you’ve arrived at a new destination, and are standing on solid ground.


Planet Waves Weekly Horoscope for Dec. 14, 2017, #1180 | By Amy Elliott

For some time now you’ve been grappling with the question of how your actions are received in your community, especially if you’re holding yourself to the high standards you seem to maintain so effortlessly. You know that, really, the point is to continue being the best you can be, regardless of how people apparently respond. That said, you might now discover that you have, in fact, started a ripple. As it spreads outwards, it will likely gain strength and speed; and then one day, you suddenly notice the tidal wave.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Dec. 11, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

You may feel like you’re on a ride you cannot get off. Are you having fun? Are you being productive? Are you accomplishing interesting things? How are you getting along with people? Is respect a distinction of your life? Do you get along with people in leadership positions over you? Are you dependable? Go over these questions and you’ll have an assessment of how you’re doing with all this astonishing activity in Sagittarius, the success and accountability angle of your solar chart. Above all else, you must be your own master. You must be your own timekeeper. Your job is to set the quality standard of your work, and do your utmost to live up to it. You’ve come through a three-year program (almost the length of time to earn a Bachelor’s degree) of Saturn working its way across the top of your solar chart. This has bestowed you with the power of manifestation. You have indeed built something, a kind of life vehicle. Oh, the places you’ll go.


Planet Waves Weekly Horoscope for Dec. 7, 2017, #1179 | By Amy Elliott

Despite the constant nagging sensation we all have that the world is going to hell in a handbasket (or possibly one of those shopping carts with dodgy wheels), your chart seems to have everything pretty neatly placed just now, aligning your consciousness with your purpose. You know all you need to know, at least for the present, about living in accordance with your dharma. The only thing that can interfere is you; and that won’t happen if you cultivate faith in yourself.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Dec. 4, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Stay on top of professional plans this week. Pay attention to communications: emails, phone messages, your social media accounts and the ones you forgot about. While there’s seemingly some turbulence in the air, if you’re a skilled pilot and remain alert, you’ll be able to work with the movements and the changes. Therefore, it will help if you focus on what matters: what is timely, what’s the most important, and what directly relates to your reputation. A minimalist approach through the end of the year would be fully appropriate. Complete your outstanding commitments. Check in with people and make sure you’ve fulfilled your obligations and responsibilities. Tie up the loose ends that may remain from the many projects of the past year, and ensure the quality is up to your standards before you affix your signature and professional seal. Note that your higher-ups have problems of their own. Don’t add to them. Be impeccable.


Planet Waves Weekly Horoscope for Nov. 30, 2017, #1178 | by Amy Elliott

Don’t be alarmed if the results of recent career developments are not as striking or immediate as you anticipated. Likewise, if present challenges appear somewhat onerous, know that they are temporary. You can take pride in what you’ve achieved and know that the fruits are, in the main, yet to emerge. The business of your life just now is simply to live it, and to make the most of it. Rest easy; make sure you have regular opportunities to wind down; and let the flow carry you to the ocean.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Nov. 27, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Continue your process of consolidating your gains, and recognizing your own accomplishments. For three years, Saturn has been gradually making its way across your 10th house of achievement, reputation and accountability. Meditate on those three words, and how they relate to one another: achievement, reputation and accountability. Consider each one individually: where do you stand with them? How would you have answered at this time in 2014? There will probably be a pretty big difference. It’s been an eventful three years. What happens over the next few days will call into focus the ways in which your efforts have had actual results. You may even get a look at what those are: where your work or ideas have had an impact. I hear it said over and over again that young people want to make a difference. Yet to have that, it’s necessary to learn how to see progress for what it is. Sometimes it’s really, really obvious and you still miss the point.


Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for December 2017, #1177 | By Eric Francis

Do not be deceived by the hostility, turmoil and confusion of the world. It’s nothing new, and nothing special. There’s a place for you, and your journey is leading you there. Saturn’s entry into Capricorn later this month begins a major new phase of your professional and creative life, wherein you will have many opportunities to make contact with the wider world. First, though, let’s consider these last moments of Saturn’s journey across your 10th house of reputation and success, which for you is Sagittarius. In these three years, you’ve been in overdrive building your vision. You’ve done more than lay a solid foundation. You have discovered and demonstrated that you can go from feeling to idea to concept to actually developing something tangible. This is the essential skill here on the cosmic physical plane: in effect, manifestation; but really, transubstantiation. As you embark on the adventures ahead, remember that your mission is spiritual. You are teaching what is possible, in the face of the world’s impossible situation. You will be demonstrating how to weave yourself into society, in a time of alienation. You are committed to doing something useful, when so much is so pointless. You’re doing something real in a time of illusions. Have confidence that the structures of the world will part and make room for you. They are not as solid as they may seem.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Nov. 20, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Whatever happens for you professionally this week, it will be interesting, it will be meaningful and it’ll be exciting. All the action in the sky over the next week or so is focused in Sagittarius, your 10th solar house of reputation, accomplishment and accountability. All these things go together; think of them as one thing, with one purpose. The astrology describes a breakthrough point. Saturn has been working its way across this zone in your chart for most of three years. It’s now at the peak of energy, conjunct the Galactic Core and a meaningful planet called Pholus. In the midst of this, the Sun enters Sagittarius, which is usually helpful and supportive of your work. It would seem that something gives: there’s an opening, and you get to emerge through it. Whatever may happen, remember your core values. Remember why you were called to do what you do. And if you’ve been hearing a calling that you have not yet answered, now would be an opportune time.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Nov. 13, 2017, #1176 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

The future opens up for you in an entirely new way: a dense, dark forest reveals itself to contain a clear trail and some kind of supernatural moonlight you’ve never seen before. It will take courage to embark on this path, though do you really have a choice in the matter? Courage means coming from the heart. You are good at that, though you’re often subtle about it. Even if you’re low-key with others, be bold with yourself, and really get the feeling of what it’s like to take your destiny into your hands. You can think of destiny as potential that you take up like the tools of an art, a craft or a science, and consciously put together into something that’s never been done before. In a world where most people are stuck selling their time and their labor, you have a distinct advantage: your ideas are your greatest asset. That may present you with a puzzle, though you have all the clues you need.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Nov. 6, 2017, #1175 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

You know that when you find yourself in the midst of an insecure spell, it wears off as fast as it came on. So you might skip it altogether, and focus on your confidence. Over and over again, you’ve proven that it’s worth having faith in yourself, because you so dependably come through. If you can remind yourself of that, you won’t hesitate taking on new commitments, especially the ones you truly care about. The theme of your life through the remainder of the year is completing a kind of leadership program that goes all the way back to late 2014. That was a very different time in your life, and part of why it was different is that you’ve put so much energy into making it so. You have other changes that you need to make, and reflecting on what you’ve already accomplished will feed your gumption.


Planet Waves Weekly Horoscope for Nov. 2, 2017, #1174 | By Amy Elliott

With your traditional ruler Jupiter now in your 9th house, your hotline to the divine just got hotter. You can envision your dreams in all their glory, and quite beautiful they are too. Just remember to pop back to Earth from time to time; for one thing, you have a human body, which needs food, sleep and nurture. For another, you know that traveling to higher realms is only stage one. The next part is really the point: bringing back the messages you discover, and sharing them.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Oct. 30, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

No matter how bright or dim you may consider your prospects to be, the time has come to face the future with open eyes and an open heart. This point of arrival is described in your long-range astrology, what’s happening right now, and a series of developments into next year. Stand on the solid ground of your sense of purpose. Don’t be deterred by the many people who live like there’s no tomorrow, and if there is, it doesn’t matter anyway. Rather, have the trust in existence and the faith in yourself to work for your vision. Take some time and some thought and clarify what that is. Imagine what impact you want your work to have in 100 years’ time, and then work your way back into the present moment. What would you do now, to get that result one century from now?


Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for November 2017, #1173 | By Eric Francis

To the extent that you’ve gained standing in society, you’ve earned it through effort, trial and tribulation. For three years, Saturn has been making its way across the top of your solar chart, an irresistible calling to attempt the impossible. Alternately, you may have been put into positions where you had to rise to the occasion whether you wanted to or not. Now is your moment to claim your place in the world, which means the right to do what you do best. You’ll be doing this in a time when many people are struggling and uncertain, and you will need to navigate this carefully. You might think of your function as expressing the particular gift, talent or desire that you have. You can take that a few levels deeper and remember that your actual purpose is to connect with people, and encourage them to participate: that’s to say, to demonstrate whatever you do by doing it lovingly. At the moment, you have access to some astonishing resources, all of which are yours to share. Nothing is actually yours, per se, or not yours, per se. Your role is to ensure that the people you care about have enough of everything, so much as you can make that possible. You are a Pisces, the Omega point of the zodiac. Now is the time to answer your calling and step into your true purpose.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Oct. 23, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

While it’s rare that anyone is satisfied with every aspect of their life at once, you’re coming close. A series of transits, mostly featuring a grouping of planets in your empathetic water sign Scorpio, is providing you with some actual successes, which will magnify as the week progresses. To the extent that you’re succeeding, you’ve earned every ounce of that good fortune. To the extent that there are things you need to repair or correct, keep a positive attitude, and know that something is not really a problem unless it has a solution. More than anything, look toward the future. You are getting a glimpse of what’s possible, which means that you’re looking at potential you can actually manifest. Mostly, this will happen based on the decisions you make. Be sure to only consider the options you really and truly desire, and then choose the ones you want the very most.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Oct. 16, 2017, #1172 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

A rare alignment of planets, all focused on the small but deeply meaningful Chiron in your birth sign, points to an unusual turn of events where your career or professional life is concerned. To call this an opportunity would be putting it mildly, though it’s less like your ship coming in and more like your chance to shoot some dangerous rapids along a wild river. That’s the more fun kind; nobody would argue with winning the lottery, nor would they argue with the truth that they did not earn it. You must be at your best this week, which means getting rest and proper nutrition, and steering well clear of people who you know to be sources of drama. Where people in authority are concerned, you must proceed within protocol and with the utmost respect; you are aspiring to be one of them. When you must break protocol, or exceed a limit, or go in a new direction, do so fully consciously, and keep an open dialog with those to whom you are in any way responsible — especially yourself.


Jupiter in Scorpio Horoscope for Oct. 12, 2017, #1171 | By Amy Elliott

One of the reasons expecting certain outcomes doesn’t work is that the human power of foresight is limited. Often, we must make our decisions while seeing only a fragment of the full picture. What appears to be happening for you now is truly extraordinary, opening up your perspective by several orders of magnitude. You’re likely to understand many possibilities in the sharpest clarity that previously were vague at best. This enhanced vision is an opportunity to help you align with your highest calling, and with the fundamental rhythm of the cosmos. Use it well.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Oct. 9, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Yours is the sign most completely aligned with sexuality as an expression of your spiritual life. St. Francis of Assisi, whose feast day was last week, believed that all of nature was a reflection of God. You know he was right, though to you, all of nature includes and emphasizes your erotic nature, and that of your environment. Many consider this taboo, too much to bother with, or an impossible dream. You know that this magnificent thing called eroticism contains the secrets of life, of creativity and of your humanity. If you honor this knowledge, you will be rewarded with opportunities to experience it directly. One learning goal will be clearing from your mind and feelings any notions that sex is dirty, sinful or contrary to nature. The true nature of sex has yet to be discovered by humanity, though at the moment, you’re on the forefront of that particular wave. And you will love it there.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Oct. 2, 2017, #1170 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

The theme of finances, and of being true to your values, persists at full strength this week. Let’s take the second one first. You are someone who must live your truth. It seems optional for many people you know; for Pisces, it’s a specific life calling. There would seem to be an issue in that so much of what you hold dear does not seem to be in demand, or to sell for a high price. Yet that’s true of almost anything that is, today, considered precious and is in demand. You must use your intelligence, your creativity and your charm to make sure that you do what you value, and that others value what you do. This may be the second most important skill of any artist or talented person, after the primary work itself. You must have fuel to burn, a roof over your head, and a sandwich in your hand.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Sept. 25, 2017, #1169 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Despite the prevailing madness of the world, you may find that people’s idealism is running at an all-time peak this week. And not only that, you’ll be able to make contact with it in meaningful ways. So stay positive, and resolve to have fun doing what you do, being who you are, taking the opportunities that arise. There’s a special theme in your charts related to money. You’re a person with great ideas, and others have resources. This week represents many potential connection points between you and them. Now is the time to focus your business plan, even if in short form, and talk to potential investors, donors, contributors or collaborators. If you’re looking for the perfect timing of a fundraising letter of some sort, this is it. If you’re seeking help organizing your finances, now is the time. There’s a spirit of generosity in the air, and a rare moment when people may feel that the truth has the possibility of prevailing over deception. Be bold, be open, and be sincere. All of this can be yours, if you keep a clear head, stay alert and awake, and do the right thing.


Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for October 2017, #1168 | By Eric Francis

This month, Jupiter, the first Pisces planet, changes signs and ingresses Scorpio, a water sign with a special resonance to yours. At the same time, Saturn begins the final phase of its three-year run through Sagittarius, the angle of your chart associated with responsibility, accountability, reputation and success (see Sagittarius for details). Whether your life is going brilliantly or you’re struggling, persist at what you’re doing, and remember the goals that you set out for yourself back at whatever you consider the beginning of this phase of your life. Saturn making a conjunction to the Galactic Core is so rich with purpose, it’s difficult to understand, much less explain, but you could say it’s about grounding the essential elements of the divine plan in your life, and in the world around you, at this time. This transit, unlike any other that happens for the next 29 years, could be described as the embodiment of “action is the fruit of knowledge.” Said another way (borrowing from the Grateful Dead), your role is to shed light and not to master. Yet you must focus your energy, and the strength of your will, and view time as your ally rather than as your enemy. As for Jupiter in Scorpio, there could hardly be a happier transit for any Pisces who knows that a fully conscious approach to sex is the path to love, wisdom and healing.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Sept. 18, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

This week, the Virgo Sun forms an opposition to Chiron in your sign: the last of seven such events going back to 2011. Soon, Chiron leaves Pisces and enters Aries. What you have is a rare opportunity to make a study and review of your relationships since the Chiron in Pisces era began at the beginning of the decade. Much has changed, evolved and developed, all of it starting with your relationship to yourself. Chiron has been urging you to thread the needle of your own growth process, and to place that priority an order of magnitude above your personal relationships. Some teachers say that “relationships are everything,” though, if that’s true, it’s only because they point you back to yourself. Under the influence of Chiron, you are working directly with an inner source, to which all outer experiences and encounters must ultimately answer. This week brings a kind of final exam.


Planet Waves Weekly Horoscope for Sept. 14, 2017, #1167 | By Amy Elliott

You seem to be making strides in your relationships after a good while of things appearing to stagnate or move more slowly than you’d like. To a certain extent, you can simply flow along with the new pace. However, you’ll need to watch carefully how matters progress, and use careful discernment. Make sure your contacts are of a sort to nourish and empower you, first and foremost. Then, don’t be afraid to speak up if you feel a need to move in a particular direction, or to make changes. Honesty is by far the best measure. Let each experience spur your efforts to manifest your truth in the world.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Sept. 11, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

The world seems much more available when people meet you halfway. Your chart describes this beautifully at the moment, with Mars in your relationship house representing those who might seek you out for some purpose. Your role is to understand what that purpose is. While everyone gets a fair hearing, the balance factor is that you don’t have to assume everyone has the best intentions. Don’t assume anything: rather, allow people to announce themselves by their actions and to a lesser extent, their words. Yet you must be perceptive, and take the small cues and early signs as being meaningful. Consider that people are signaling to the world who they are at all times, because they cannot help but do anything else. You do the same, though as your own inner being, you can consciously choose what you broadcast and what you project. Orient from that point of awareness.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Sept. 4, 2017, #1166 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Many changes filter through the astrology this week, which will settle the accounts on what has occurred during this most eventful month or two of your life. You’ve lived with considerable uncertainty and resistance, which you’ve endured so persistently that you got used to it. Allow things to settle down without any special need to stir them up again. Take some time and do what you want to do, rather than what you seemingly have to do. Most of all, allow and invite what you want to come to you, rather than thinking that you always must go to it. The Pisces Full Moon takes place Wednesday morning, and is just elegant in both its mysteries and what it reveals. Keep in mind that from the viewpoint of others, you’re not so easy to understand or pin down to one point of view, though you can trust yourself, and people will trust you, for many other reasons.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Aug. 28, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

If you’re not quite able to make sense of your relationships, you might console yourself with remembering how few people can. Take a step back and take in a much wider picture than you may be doing now. You also don’t need any pressure directing you toward an outcome; there are times for that, though now happens not to be one of them. Among your human interactions, the most meaningful and available are, at the moment, connected to the work that you do. You’re likely to be in one of the more productive, fulfilling and interesting phases of your professional life. You’ll enhance that by experimenting with where new ideas can enter your creative life. There’s rich potential in anything that seems to go wrong or get bungled, or where confusion is a factor. When you get to the point of a question, or where you’re facing the unknown, hold that pose for a while, and pay careful attention to what you notice.


Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for September 2017, #1164 | By Eric Francis

There are suddenly many people in your life: various shades of partners, prospects, potentials, friends, lovers and a few who are deeply devoted to you. Give them credit for showing up every time they do. Make a special effort to see them as whole beings, with whole lives, which happen to interface with yours in a few key places. You possess something that most of them do not, which you might think of as a broad perspective on time, and a rather wide definition of purpose. You see the connections that other people so often miss. You see relevance and patterns where most others see only data, or trivia. Saturn has shifted to direct motion in your house of leadership and responsibility. This is focusing your drive to take responsibility for the whole world you live in. Vesta and the Sun are headed for Libra, which is about you being a master of resources. Even if you have an abundance, use it wisely, save for a rainy day, and plan your future investments carefully. With so many variables in play, you will need to be vigilant about staying in focus and on mission. If you’re willing to do that, apply yourself modestly, and have respect for the value of time, you are headed for an unusual period of achievement. Just remember, you didn’t do it alone.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Aug. 21, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

You are here on a mission. It’s not an easy one, but it’s certainly a meaningful one. Being on a mission is different from being on vacation, or being an explorer. The miracle of this phase of your life is that you’re learning to coordinate the various aspects of your purpose: recognizing it, for one thing, and taking it seriously, for another. In our time of total chaos and confusion, this may seem more difficult than it really is. You start by getting out of your own way. You continue by surrounding yourself with cooperative people, and only cooperative people. Then you persist, day by day. In the end, your whole experience of life, of your work, of your mission and ultimately of your success — however you define it — comes back to self-respect. You may know this; you will really, truly get it when Chiron leaves your sign and enters Aries next year. Pull this aspect of things into focus now. It will pay astonishing dividends.


Planet Waves Weekly Horoscope for Aug. 17, 2017, #1163 | By Amy Elliott

The thing about perseverance is that it’s not so much about keeping up a similar pace every day, as getting back into your stride after you’ve been waylaid or distracted. That said, doing the former as far as you can will likely help ensure the latter. You’re already on a creative roll. Chances are, you know what you’re doing; though it’s always handy to double-check the details, especially for the next few weeks. All the routine maintenance you do now will likely be useful preparation for when you’re called to raise the bar.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Aug. 14, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Mercury retrograde in your house of relationships is like watching a movie of your entire past — recognizing that it’s an illusion of light. It has only the substance you grant to it. It’s evident that, as you assess your history, you will see the possibilities for the choices you might make. Vesta’s presence in this house is urging that you not worry about making final decisions, but rather that you hold open space for the possibilities. You have not lived out many of your most exciting potentials; you don’t even know what they are at this point. Yet you’re soon to find out, particularly if you live not for relationships but for the sake of existence itself. That always means existence now, which will flow into life as you want it to be. Notice the people who are obsessed with the past, with nostalgia, and other forms of “the way things once were.” There are plenty of them, and you need influences other than those who would choose to live using the rearview mirror as their divining oracle. The frontier ahead is far more exciting.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Aug. 7, 2017, #1162 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

There’s a mysterious angle of every chart, called the 12th house. This is the zone of the chart that covers parallel realities, like dreams and experiences on drugs; it includes cinema and any form of illusion; and if we look to Vedic astrology (the kind practiced in India), the 12th covers “the pleasures of the bed.” Today there is an eclipse in this area of your chart, which will stir up your deepest desires, your fantasies, and maybe some psychological clutter that you’ll want to look at before you toss it in the dustbin. Fortunately, at the same time, Venus is moving through Cancer, which is encouraging you to take a physical and emotional approach to your desires, rather than just sending some saucy texts. Let yourself out of your container. Let yourself be the physical, sensuous, erotic person that you are. If you make yourself available to people you trust, everyone will benefit.


Aquarius Full Moon Moonshine Horoscope, #1161 | by Len Wallick

When the great Miles Davis was a very young man, he burned the candle at both ends. By day he was a bright and promising student. At night, he was a talented and brilliant apprentice. Very early one morning, half asleep, and while commuting between his two musical worlds he heard the door on an otherwise empty subway car open, and instinctively pressed the keys of his trumpet so as to make that sound. From that moment on he knew that he could play anything he heard. It was the beginning of a mastery that echoes through the world to this day. You may never have quite the same amount influence or degree of stature that Miles Davis enjoyed. Nonetheless, you could very well be ready to experience something along the lines of the epiphany he had beneath a slumbering city so long ago. You have paid your dues. Perhaps you too will need to be half asleep to take that final step, but wouldn’t it be great if your door opened while you were wide awake?


Monday Morning Horoscope for July 31, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

The essence of your life must be balance. That’s not easy in the times we’re living in; some would say it’s impossible. It may be challenging, but it’s certainly within your power to get a handle on your affairs. Much of what I’ve suggested for Aquarius applies to you: particularly the need for prioritization and conscious self-care. You need to know when you must “shed load.” That’s a term used by people who manage the power grid. If there’s a demand for energy that’s outstripping the grid’s ability to provide it, turning off one neighborhood can save the entire East Coast from going down. Right now, err on the side of saving your energy rather than expending it. Do those things that are genuinely important, and make sure you stop taking on new projects and commitments. Use the month of August to complete what you’ve begun, and to do so with care for the utmost attention to detail. Your energy allocation must include what feeds your soul as a Pisces: introspection is vital. Then there’s art or music (whether you create or experience these things). Take your time, which means living one day at a time.


Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for August 2017, #1160 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Every relationship is a collaboration. That’s helpful, since relationships need a purpose, if they are to be happy. Almost any purpose will serve, though it must be sincere. In the coming seasons, people from your past are likely to re-enter your life. Sometimes this will be for the purpose of completion. Sometimes it will be for continuation. A simple exchange of thoughts may complete the conversation; sometimes more time and thought will be required. This will precede moving forward, which will be on entirely new terms. It’s essential that you see people from your past as they are today, rather than as they were in years before. Sometimes there will be a profound difference, and other times it will be subtle. As for the collaborative nature, you set the purpose mutually, based on a full palette of possibilities: your shared mission, assisting with one another’s missions, financial gain, sexual bonding or selfless service — to name a few. What this all implies is a wholly conscious approach to relating, rather than what usually happens on our planet. This kind of focused intention is, perhaps, uncomfortable to some people, and you may need to lead the way gently. One of the most important things you can size up, with everyone you meet or encounter from the past, is what their agenda is. What do they claim their purpose is, and what do they actually do? What about you?


Monday Morning Horoscope for July 24, 2017, #1159 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

This may be one of the most productive months of your recent life, as long as you pace yourself. It would be easy to burn yourself out on activity and even on success; you will need to moderate your level of energy output, and prioritize your tasks. Taking proper care of yourself is a top priority. If you’ve committed to something there’s no turning back on, embrace that fact, then figure out a way to make it work for you. Remember what you’ve learned about leadership the past few years, and the most effective ways to take charge of your own life. You have plenty of help available, though you’ll need to distinguish between situations when the presence of others makes your life easier and when it’s more challenging. And know that you have far more control over timing than you may realize.


Monday Morning Horoscope for July 17, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

This week wraps up a long phase of high-energy points — the Sun and Mars, to name two — moving through the most creative, passionate angle of your solar chart. As they make aspects to deep and soulful Chiron in your sign, you’re likely to find new outlets for your talent and your capacity to love and appreciate life. These may come by surprise, or they may open up as an easy flow; a combination of influences may be present. Leave yourself open; leave yourself time, space and bandwidth to explore what you want. Even more significantly, bring a spirit of curiosity and expression into everything you do, no matter how seemingly boring it may appear at first. Your astrology is such that you can make anything interesting, and anything that’s already alive can morph into something brilliant.


Planet Waves Weekly Horoscope for July 13, 2017, #1158 | By Amy Elliott

There is a healing and nourishing quality to your current creative projects, as they help you to re-evaluate certain past experiences that might have been plaguing you. In particular, your image of yourself and your values is undergoing transformation. This might feel somewhat discomfiting to begin with; but that’s probably a sign you’re moving in the right direction. Trust yourself; the work you’re doing now is laying important foundations for the time to come.


Monday Morning Horoscope for July 10, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

After a long phase of development, certain events have recently come to a head, with some surprising results. The truth always flows through the cracks in so-called reality, and that’s about the size and shape of what is happening for you these days. It’s important to remember, at all times, that you’re working with powerful forces, and factors much larger than yourself. On one level they may seem disruptive, unpredictable and difficult to control. On another level, these are generative forces: the same ones related to the power of the body to heal an injury, or of the Earth to grow back after a forest fire. What happens over the next week will demonstrate how discovering your creative abilities can shock you to a new level of self-respect. Stay in a positive frame of mind, let your strength flow, and you’ll wonder how you could have possibly ever doubted yourself.


Monday Morning Horoscope for July 3, 2017, #1157 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

You seem to be having a debut of some kind, an emergence into society. This is not merely a social affair, though. There’s an element of recognition, but there is more. What’s going on behind the scenes is a rearrangement of your power relationship with your community. There is such a thing. There are two levels: changes in the social structure around you; and a rearrangement of your thinking that both precipitates and adapts to these changes. So, you are both cause and result. We could sum this up in two words as confidence and maturity. You need both, and would be wise to consider them both separately and in the context of one another. Cultivating self-esteem is too vague a concept to describe what you’ve got going on. Rather, focus on its specific components. Confidence means with fidelity. Maturity means ripening. That’s enough to go by.


Monday Morning Horoscope for June 26, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Whether or not you have a summer vacation planned for this week, slow down and enjoy yourself. Do the bare minimum to keep the boss or the clients satiated for a few days, and have a little fun — a little, or a lot, more than usual. You are under some rare aspects at the moment, which are creating the perfect environment for anything related to pleasure, art, music and what some call romance. The key to maximizing your experience is not being attached; this is not about tomorrow, it’s about right now. What you’re experiencing may never happen again, certainly not in the same way, and that’s its special value. If you get the chance to do something you’ve never done before, or that you know only happens once, that’s the thing to do.


Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for July 2017, #1156 | By Eric Francis

You’re heading into a busy couple of months; remember to get out into the sunshine every few days, because your efforts at work are going to keep you focused, productive and fully engaged in what you’re doing. You will discover that, whatever that may be, you’re part of something much larger than yourself. This sensation may increase exponentially as these weeks progress and the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse approaches. This is your chance to do your very best work, and have some unusual impact in the process. Here is the key, however: Take a laid-back approach. I don’t mean slacking. I mean using understated language, emphasis on consistency and quality, and never, ever bragging about what you do. If there was ever astrology cautioning that modesty is essential, it’s your solar charts for the next two months. Remember that you’re not working for money (I explain the pitfalls of that in the Cancer horoscope). You’re working to get the job done and, thankfully, you will have abundant energy and ability to focus. While things rarely go perfectly every day on our particular planet, you’re likely to have the feeling that you’re making progress and that your work is relevant and helpful to others. You can guide that gently into paying the bills, which in turn will reveal a good few methods for how to do so even better in the future.


Monday Morning Horoscope for June 19, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

On Tuesday, Mercury and the Sun enter the most creative and all-around exciting angle of your solar chart, your fellow water sign Cancer. This is the rising tide that will lift all the ships of your life: creative, erotic and whatever it is that makes you feel the most alive. The past month of the Sun in Gemini has helped you confront many of your worst insecurities. At the very least, you’ve mapped out what they are, though they’re unlikely to bother you much, particularly as you plunge into the finer things in life, in true Pisces style. Stay ahead of your work commitments so that you have plenty of time and flexibility to embark on any adventure you want, or to accept any invitation that feels appealing. There will be plenty of both.


Weekly Horoscope for June 15, 2017 #1155 | By Amy Elliott

You may have been feeling a little out of step recently with your personal development or career aims. That looks like it’s about to correct itself, as you discover a natural solution for whatever hindrance or distraction was lurking at the edges of your mind. With any luck, this breakthrough will come as a pleasant relief. Take whatever time you need to address decisively any lingering self-doubt, and tend to your emotional health — which might mean getting some support, or simply prioritizing your feelings and processing them. Then get ready to press forward, and hew a straight path to meet your life aims one by one.


Monday Morning Horoscope for June 12, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

This is the week to clean up or resolve any lingering financial issues, and to go into high gear on bringing in cash. Money flows toward structure. Structure means organization, being on time, and knowing your priorities. Spend some time setting your agenda, keep your list out, and revise it as you accomplish things and discover new priorities. It’s been said that all wealth comes from the Earth; however, in our current environment, it seems like ideas are the source of abundance. You don’t need many of those: you need somewhere between one and three workable concepts or goals that you’re actually excited about. The leading actor in your chart these days is Mars in your house of passion, curiosity and erotic adventure. Stoke that fire and you’ll keep your energy moving, and get excellent, durable results.


Monday Morning Horoscope for June 5, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

This week, all three personal planets — Mercury, Venus and Mars — change signs. Mars has led the way, entering the most creative and passionate angle of your chart (known in astrology as the 5th solar house, which covers creativity, passion, pleasure and play). Venus follows suit next, entering Taurus (your voice, your words and your ideas). And finally Mercury enters Gemini, which arrives with the feeling that home is wherever you happen to be. All of this is positive and encouraging, representing the fulfillment of long-unmet desires. What’s best is that it describes the physical world and how people respond to you. But rather than taking big bites of life, take little sips and see how these new experiences taste. Feel your response, and let the nourishment soak gently into your cells. There’s no rush.


Short Monthly Horoscope for June 2017, #1154 | By Eric Francis

You’re in the midst of some creative and artistic explosion. The dominant feeling is the sensation of knowing how good your life can be, and loving it. You don’t need to push the river, or push anyone or anything for that matter. Focus your intentions and move with the flow of events. You’re a genuinely original person, and that originality is shining out from you at the moment. Feel good about yourself and you will attract the right people to you: those who care about you, those who appreciate you, and those with whom you can share in the artistry of life.


Monday Morning Horoscope for May 29, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

The intensity of this week’s planetary setup could have you feeling like you’re under some unusual pressure, though most of it is coming from inside you. You’ve been in building mode all year, with Saturn moving across the top of your solar chart, making aspects to Chiron in your sign. Everything you accomplish in the outer world is connected to some growth experience in your inner reality. Every time you make a self-discovery, you seem to connect that to something you want to do or express in the world around you. It’s just that at the moment, with Mars and the Sun moving through an ultra-sensitive angle of your chart, you’re feeling restless. You’re probably also feeling confined by what you’re doing. Mars is urging you to bust out in some way. So find a creative way to do that, preferably with a physical component; it just has to be something more interesting than the gym.


Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for June 2017, #1153 | By Eric Francis

This month has two distinct phases: the Sun’s transit through Gemini (your 4th solar house) until June 21; and then after the solstice, when the Sun is moving through your fellow water sign Cancer (your 5th solar house). For a Pisces, this is a necessary contrast to work with, as these two angles bring out different aspects of your nature. During the first phase, it’s essential that you pull in and retreat as much as you can. It’s a time to honor your limits, focus inwardly, and catch up with yourself, particularly after what has been a ridiculously busy spring. There may be a whole side of your nature that you’ve had to neglect for the past couple of months, and this is the one to acknowledge and reconnect with. Most likely, this will call upon you to spend as much quiet time as possible, dwelling within your inner reality. Once the Sun reaches solstice, the energy shifts and you tap into the power of cardinal (action-oriented) water sign Cancer. This will bring out the expressive, passionate and creative side of your nature, in a kind of reversal from the inner attention that you’ve needed to give yourself. The more you draw yourself into your inner universe, and map out your private reality, the more energy you’ll have when it comes time to open up and explore the world around you.


Monday Morning Horoscope for May 22, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

The Sun recently entered Gemini, which is the home and security angle of your solar chart. Two messages are coming through. One is to invest some resources into freshening up your living space. As the old song goes, let the Sun shine in, wash the curtains, and vacuum the remnants of winter out of your windowsills and radiators. Another message may be that you need a change of scenery, even if it’s just for a few days. Pisces is one sign that distinctly needs to have a place to get away to, whether it’s something as modest as a visit to a friend’s house or a night in a B&B or hotel, or as extravagant as a second home. You encounter different aspects of your personality in different spaces you occupy, a fact of your inner makeup that gives you a distinct advantage if you use it.


Weekly Horoscope for May 18, 2017 #1152 | By Amy Elliott

A source of pressure on your relationships has recently been lifted. You’ll probably need a little time before you can feel the full atmosphere of relief; but you’re starting to sense it now. I suggest you take each day as it comes and don’t rush to fill the gap with burdens of equal weight. Make sure you’re aware of all the different paths before setting off in a new direction. Light and friendly social interactions, or spending time in your community, could be of considerable help.


Monday Morning Horoscope for May 15, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

You’re bigger than anyone’s opinions of you, and the sooner you stop concerning yourself with this elusive thing known as ‘what people think’, the sooner you’ll be free to take charge of your life. You can safely assert yourself in the world, even if you get any noise or static. Make sure you honor your personal commitments, and any contractual agreements you may have that are related to your professional life — and then do whatever you want. It can take some courage and adaptation to live this way, though if there was ever a time you could make the leap that time is now. The more you take full responsibility for yourself and your affairs, the less power any authority figure will have in your life — whether we’re talking about bosses, partners, the government or anyone else.


Scorpio Full Moon Moonshine Horoscope, #1151 | By Len Wallick

Much of your early upbringing at home probably went a long way towards preparing you for school. By the same token, your formal education probably contributed a lot to help you find, and take, a place in the world. If there is anything to current cosmological indicators, the next four weeks or so should represent the final days of yet another preparative stage in your life. Something about what you have been doing over the last decade or so is beginning to look and feel like it was all a prerequisite for matriculation into, and participation with, a different and more consequential level of being than you have ever known before. To get a handle on where and what you are in the process of ascending to, keep your eyes and ears open next month. If something looks and sounds like a graduation of sorts, that’s probably what it will be.


Monday Morning Horoscope for May 8, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

You may be feeling all kinds of restless, like you want to pounce on everything you haven’t finished in the past month all at once. Take your time with that. Slow and steady will get the job done, and you can afford to bide your time even on what seem like pressing matters. Some things you’ve identified as problems are well on the way to resolving themselves. Other things will benefit from still-forthcoming information that will reveal the underlying simplicity of the situation. The things to focus on are your larger and longer-range goals. You need to be setting your sights high right now, as you’re still under the influence of aspects that can indeed make you known for what you do. Yet this is a function of Saturn in your solar 10th house, which is to say, you must do the specific work of that area: building reputation, integrity and creative strength in the perfect braid.


Short Monthly Horoscope for May 2017, #1150 | By Eric Francis

The price one pays for success is responsibility. Once you accept that, success will be all the sweeter. It will push you to be a better person, more confident in yourself, more reliable and more honest with yourself and others. The image of doing well is rather different from the reality. We are constantly confronted by celebrities who seem not to have a care in the world. For you, three parts service to one part glory is the ideal formula. Wake up every morning and remind yourself that you have a job to do, so you may as well do the best job you can.


Monday Morning Horoscope for May 1, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

This week, finances come back into focus. Make sure you stay ahead of your work, get enough sleep and keep a handle on your personal life, because you will want as few distractions as possible. You’ll have some obvious opportunities to improve your lot in life, or build your business, and then there will be some downright odd ones that come your way. Listen to every proposal carefully, and signal to people that you take them seriously. Two things that are non-debatable points are your talent and resourcefulness. You simply must have confidence in yourself, which means trusting that you can not just handle anything that comes your way, but also maximize the situation. In support of this, install a delay before you say yes to anything. You’re likely to forget some important point of compensation or benefit, and it’ll be much more difficult to renegotiate than it will be to get in during the first round.


Weekly Horoscope for April 27, 2017, #1149 | By Amy Elliott

Take a moment to appreciate how far you’ve grown and strengthened as a person lately. For the present, understanding how you have evolved may be as important as the changes themselves. Put some energy into fostering your self-esteem; not only because it’s deserved, but because it will help you in your onward journey, much like laying a firm foundation so that the rest of the construction will remain stable. Keep in mind that your merit belongs to you alone; it does not depend on the recognition or the praise of others. The same goes for your achievements.


Monday Morning Horoscope for April 24, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Venus in your sign is still close to Chiron. This is making you not just sensitive to your pain and that of others, but also giving you a heightened awareness of some calling from deep inside yourself. It may feel like a cosmic longing of some kind, though the truth is this is about you, and your soul’s journey. One very important thing to be mindful of is that you be grounded in your home and your work. That includes food, rest and a feeling of wellbeing, so much as you can muster it. Once you have those bases covered, it’s a lot easier to be responsive to your innermost needs. You need a safe space to feel whatever it is you’re feeling, and you also need space and bandwidth to be responsive to the many practical matters that are vying for your attention at the moment. If you find yourself obsessing with plans and strategy, remember that there’s a larger plan, which will be revealed to you if you can relax your mind and take care of your body.


Planet Waves Monthly Horoscopes for May 2017, #1148 | By Eric Francis

Planets are once again gathering in Aries, your house of resources, including fast-movers Mercury and Venus, along with mighty slow-movers Uranus and Eris. Then there’s Pallas Athene, the goddess of wisdom and strategy. This is the time to engineer your financial independence. You have everything you need: the talent, the motivation and the ideas. The astrology is describing you pushed to the point of having momentary flashes of actual genius. You merely need to pluck up some confidence in yourself, and do a bold assessment of your talents and what you can do with them. This will partly be based on a review and evaluation of what you’ve done in the past, mostly to remind yourself what’s possible. And it will mostly be based on an entirely new concept that sparks your imagination, and takes advantage of an opening where your preparation meets an opportunity that few other people are looking at. However, confidence: that’s the thing. If we look closely at the semantic roots of that word, it means, “firmly trusting, bold” or “to have full trust and reliance.” This is about faith in yourself. You’ll have a lot more of that if you discard your habit of talking yourself out of your own goals. And if you’re younger, the habit of believing there’s no future. There is a future, and it includes you, if you include yourself.


Monday Morning Horoscope for April 17, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Over the weekend, Venus stationed direct in your birth sign. It did so while making a conjunction to a slow-moving, spiritually oriented planet called Chiron, which has been in your sign since 2010 and will be leaving in less than a year. The past six weeks have been a lifetime-scale review of who you are, what you’re doing with your life, and how you feel about yourself. Though it may have been subtle, this has been a rare opportunity to cultivate self-awareness. Even if you list the events of the past two months (including a little extra margin of time), you will be amazed at not only how eventful each day has been, but how meaningful. You may have forgotten many of the developments, though they deserve to be remembered, because each of them holds a clue and a key to your future.


Weekly Horoscope for April 13, 2017 #1147 | By Amy Elliott

The transformative process now underway sees you viewing yourself and your relationships — and in some way almost every aspect of your life — with new eyes. This is a part of your human inheritance that’s been a long time coming. As you emerge from the chrysalis, be sure to keep your generous spirit at the forefront of your thoughts and actions: there are people who need what you can provide. You can learn a good deal from how your gifts are received. You might also gain a few insights by noticing your feelings and responses when someone is kind to you.


Monday Morning Horoscope for April 10, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

This is a momentous time in your life, though you may not know it. Of course, you might indeed be noticing how your inner world is opening up to you. You could be experiencing the activation of your potential. You may also be seeing your limits, and noticing how far you have to go, in order to have the life that you want. Don’t be deceived by your doubts. Remember all those times when you turned out to be much closer to answers, to fulfillment and to breakthroughs than you thought you were. Remember the times you’ve given up, only to find that your desires were in fact alive and that existence was aware of you and responding to you. We’re just days away from the meeting of Venus and Chiron in your birth sign, which is happening over the next week and cannot happen again until 2062 (in somewhat reduced form). Stay close to yourself, and close to your experiences, and close to what you want. Brush off your doubts, and remind yourself that you’re alive.


Short Monthly Horoscope for April 2017, #1146 | By Eric Francis

For many seasons, the theme of your life has been deep healing. Your journey has had its ups and downs, and times recently where you’ve wondered whether you’ve made any progress at all. Events of this month will reveal how much strength and power you have accumulated. Yet, this comes from your openness to your own feelings, and to living in a space of ongoing vulnerability. You are the safest when you are in full contact with the beauty, struggle and transient nature of life. Let yourself be as deep, as sensitive and as beautiful as you know you truly are.


Monday Morning Horoscope for April 3, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Venus, a planet intimately connected to the sign Pisces, is now retrograde, meaning that it’s passing between the Earth and the Sun. The retrograde started in Aries, which has described all the emphasis on money in your life over the past month or so. Now, Venus has worked its way back into Pisces, which describes the theme of your life coming back to deeply personal, spiritual, creative and emotional material. You’ve done your bit on the financial end for now; you know that you have to take care of yourself and be responsible with your money. Now, you can take care of yourself in other ways — ways that you’re likely to be longing for. You have many reasons to do this; though, ultimately, you don’t need to justify being happy, fulfilled or at peace with yourself. Remember that.


Aries New Moon Moonshine Horoscope, #1145 | By Len Wallick

Ours is an age when printed matter is an endangered media. Nonetheless, mystery novels still sell well enough to get published. Similarly, during a time when theater audiences are getting smaller, a well-crafted suspense will still fill seats. Even the most popular video games are basically puzzles of one type or another. Perhaps foremost among the pastimes that may still be called legitimately timeless are those that challenge people to figure something out. Maybe that’s part of what makes you (and probably your endeavors as well) so fascinating to others. Assuming that’s the case, there is one thing you should keep in mind should it occasionally be in your self-interest to remain interesting. A big part of what makes a challenge to the intellect so fascinating is the anticipation of a payoff. Therefore, it would serve you well to remember that nothing satisfies better than satisfaction.


Monday Morning Horoscope for March 27, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Monday’s New Moon takes place in the financial sector of your chart. This happens just once a year, and now is the time. Over the past few weeks, you’ve had many experiences that have each taught you something about money and how to handle it. You may feel like you’ve been winning, or like you’ve been making mistakes, or perhaps a little of both. The important thing is that you be fully conscious of what you’ve learned and really get that into your mind and your body. In the world as it is today, the most important single fact about earning a living is knowing your function and fulfilling it. Initially, financial results may have no part in the discussion: being true to your calling is first and foremost. From there, it’s easier to see where you have a value to others. Be clear about one thing: ideally, your goal is to have others benefit from what you do as much as you do.


Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for April 2017, #1144 | By Eric Francis

Your sign stands at the threshold of endings and beginnings. And that’s exactly where many of the planets stand at this moment — distributed between Pisces, the Omega zone, and Aries, the Alpha zone. Yet with Venus in retrograde motion, poised to track backwards from Aries into Pisces, there would seem to be something that you want to retrieve before you proceed forward. On many accounts, a new phase of your life has already begun. Rather than plunging forward without reflection, take a little time and consider what you simply must take with you. You may not be aware of what this is yet, though I reckon you’ll soon find out. I can describe in a vague way by saying that you’re ready to retrieve a memory of your true being and your true purpose. Yet in classical mystical fashion, this is the kind of thing you can become aware of with a sense of profound understanding, and then forget just as fast. Now, when you remember, the thing to do is to maintain that awareness as a central focus of your life. As this consciousness dawns on you, do what you can to acknowledge, record and express what you discover. Said another way, you’re about to rediscover who you are, and remember what you’ve known all along. Make this real by making it the basis of all your decisions.


Monday Morning Horoscope for March 20, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

This is a rather interesting time for you financially. In another example of the “what they didn’t tell you about your sign” files (or what they got totally wrong), Pisces is, by all rights, the master of finance of the zodiac. This has conditions, though, all of which may be met at the moment. For one thing, you must take the initiative and set financial stability or a certain level of wealth as a goal. For another, you must use your abundant creativity, tempering it with logic and what you’ve learned from experience. And rather than wanting money as a primary objective, you’re the sensitive spiritual type: you must connect it to some larger purpose that you’re here to fulfill. Money for its own sake is useless and often toxic. Money connected to a purpose is energy that can get a result that benefits you and the world around you at the same time — and that’s what you live for.


Weekly Horoscope for March 16, 2017, #1143 | By Amy Elliott

The idea you are drawn to just now seems to be the next step in the long process of evolution you have undertaken. This is an opportunity to make use of the skills you’ve already learned; and also, potentially, to resolve some challenging feelings from the past. You are finally seeing that it’s possible to be comfortable with who you really are, which in itself is a big leap. Now it seems you are learning to be at peace with expressing that genuine self in all its uniqueness, and in all its rich variety. Keep that devotion to your truth burning bright.


Monday Morning Horoscope for March 13, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

On Tuesday, there’s an exact alignment of three points in your sign: Chiron, Pallas Athene and the Sun. This combines the healing gifts of Chiron with the wisdom of Pallas and the warmth and energy of the Sun. Or, said another way, you have some extra blessing when it comes to expressing yourself just as who you are. You can consider yourself free to be the person who you are inside. This may take some courage, but don’t overthink the matter. Chiron is the master of individuation, and the exception to the rule. Pallas Athene, for her part, is the master of the smooth political maneuver and the minimalistic but clever strategy. The Sun grants charm and charisma, especially when it’s in your sign. This is another way of saying you have nothing to worry about, as long as you pay attention. Also note: this is the kind of event that happens once in a lifetime. It’s actually that rare — and describes some correspondingly rare and beautiful event in your life.


Moonshine Horoscope for Virgo Full Moon, #1142 | By Len Wallick

One flaw of human beings is a conceit of being superior to other beings. Interestingly, for you at this time it’s probably the other way around. Odds are that you are much too humble. Given how others can see your potential, it’s not surprising that all but a few very good and unselfish friends would encourage you to underrate yourself. That’s how, at this vital juncture of your life, you would do well to risk some conceit. Say “can do” even if you suspect you can’t, and your efforts to live up to that assertion will very seldom (if ever) result in hubris. Aim just a little higher, and you might be surprised how often (if not always) you exceed your goal. There is more power in your potion than you are likely to suspect, and you will almost certainly find that out by simply adding some motion.


Monday Morning Horoscope for March 6, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

You know you need to rethink the whole money thing. Venus is retrograde in your house of finances and resources, which represents a question and a reminder to be impeccable about money. In the same house and sign, Uranus is making its last conjunction to Eris, which is about some kind of revolt, rebellion and reinvention. You might think you’re working through your ideas about money, but it’s much bigger than that. You are reinventing yourself and, in turn, that becomes your greatest resource. Therefore, observe yourself, understand yourself, and notice all the points where your self-concept (including self-esteem) meets up with financial reality. Two questions come to mind: what purpose do you serve, in a daily, active way; and what level of reality do you want to be on? What, specifically, do you want money for, and what relationship does that have to your stated values? In other words, what priorities do you want to finance, and why?


Short Monthly Horoscope for March 2017, #1141 | By Eric Francis

You will have some interesting financial opportunities this month. Yet be aware that you may not be working with full information. Therefore, you will need to maintain a practice of due diligence. Check the bona fides of anyone you’re doing business with. Nothing is as good as it looks, and everything is subject to change. Even given these facts, you will find some business possibilities that are genuinely appealing. Choose the ones that you resonate with intuitively. Choose what is truly meaningful to you, and work with those whom you can relate to on the human level. For a Pisces, this matters more than anything.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Feb. 27, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

The full effects of Sunday’s solar eclipse in your sign will take a few days to settle in, though remember — you’re not drifting. Your life is on course, and you’ll stay on course for as long as you stay connected to your feelings. If you cut off from your own sensitivity, or if you try to override your intuition with logic, you’re likely to misguide yourself. You really know something when you know it in your body. Your mind and conscience will rarely disagree with what your body knows. I understand that there are many factors influencing you right now. Yet you have more influence over your life and your destiny than all of those factors combined. And you have the ability to make conscious choices and to use your resources wisely. One thing is for sure: you have much more available to you than you’re aware of, and are about to make a pretty amazing discovery: such as a missing file, a forgotten bank account, or some precious and valuable tool.


Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for March 2017, #1140 | By Eric Francis

Your sense of self-worth is the only thing you need to concern yourself with. That’s because it’s the one thing that determines how you experience life, and by which you set your expectations. It’s easy to slough this off onto others: that is, to decide that how others feel about you (or how you think they feel about you) sets the limits on your potential. And in this one place you must wage a revolution. That means taking possession of yourself, your capabilities, your talents and, most of all, your precious time. As you do this, you will begin to find your confidence like you never have before. Count yourself into any game you want to play. Push your limits, and bring the very best of your talents to all that you do. Self-esteem is not such a great mystery once you stop sending yourself the messages that support it. Taking leadership within your own life is the order of the day. You will know you’re doing this when you take control of your schedule and the flow of your energy. You will have confirmation when you’re no longer seeking the approval of people in positions of power or authority. There’s something about your charts that describes you as divinely guided. Trust the information you’re receiving, and make your decisions from that informed and aware place.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Feb. 20, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

If a door opens, go through that door. First, imagine that everyone and everything you encounter is a potential passageway to the future, into another life, into some new phase of your existence. If a door seems to close, be grateful that one phase of your life has ended and another has begun. Embrace the opportunity for change, which is the precursor to progress. This is a form of freedom that involves an active, co-creative relationship with the world you live in, rather than one in which you are constantly subject to forces beyond your control. At this moment you are being summoned to step up to full participation in your life. You are doing this in a time when it’s arguable that all hope is lost, when existence is nothing but chaotic and when greed seems to be ruling the day. Even if that is true, don’t let that stop you from doing what you want to do, and need to do.


Planet Waves Horoscope for Feb. 16, 2017 #1139 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

To celebrate the beauty of this moment calls for total commitment to yourself and to what you are called to do. We live in a time when many commitments are faltering, when the social contract is unraveling, and when the values of society seem to be crumbling. Yet you are in a position to rise to the occasion of your existence. You can answer your calling to live not just with purpose, but also in full accord with your deepest values. That is what it means to be a solid person. Once you’ve experienced that, there’s no turning back because there’s nowhere else to go. One discovery you may be making is just how radical you’ve become. By that I mean the astrology of recent years has fitted you with advanced bullshit filters and a commitment to truth. You are less afraid than ever to express what you genuinely believe. In fact, you may be bolder than ever about expressing who you are. Experience has taught you not only that this is safe, but that it’s the only sane way to proceed through life, especially in times of chaos, strife and deception. Even if you don’t feel like you’ve crossed the whole distance, even if you feel like you have so much more progress to make, if you scan back over the past seven years of your life, you will see the considerable progress that you’ve made, and you’ll get a sense of your trajectory. Some of this progress has been in the outer world, the place where you express your ideas, do your work, and relate to other people. Yet the most precious gift of Chiron’s presence is self-awareness. That includes self-acceptance, and the deep knowledge that your most important relationship is to yourself.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Feb. 13, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

In a few days, the Sun returns to your sign. Until then, the Aquarius Sun is shining its light on many previously concealed details of your life that you may have overlooked during the past few seasons. You’re getting to see much that you were missing. Persist in that spirit: open up closets, look behind the books on your shelves, go up into the attic and down into the basement and poke around. Be eager to discover all that is unknown and discoverable: then you’ll be able to clear out some space and make room for your new goals and new ideas. This will, if you keep yourself focused, be a year of high achievement and progress toward your professional aspirations. Make sure you have them. Make sure you know what you want to be doing, and where you want to be. But along the way you need to keep your mind clear, which means uncluttering accumulated karma, filling trash bins and letting fresh air and sunlight into dark and musty places.


Planet Waves Horoscope for Feb. 9, 2017 #1138 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

If we take Chiron in your sign as a delegate of Sagittarius (in the context of the quest), there really is no mission, career or vocation: there is you, becoming who you are. I feel like I keep saying this, though this notion keeps coming up in your astrology. You’re not really changing; rather, your inner essence is emerging in a way that is both unstoppable and undeniable. And this you can express as mission. Don’t be deterred. If something seems to be difficult, or taking too long, persist. If funding is an issue, look for innovative ways to get the money flowing. Look for and address waste. And be bold about seeking support. You are perceived as someone in leadership, and you have significant respect from people of influence and high ethical standards. If you need something, ask for it, and don’t spend any time justifying your goals — just state what they are. The relationships between many signs and planets in your chart — including your own sign, plus Libra and Sagittarius, and Venus, Jupiter and Saturn — are the very image of dharma: acting as if to hold the world together. Speaking of holding the world together: for the allegedly laid-back, guitar-strumming, wine-sipping, peace-and-love, noncommittal stoner image that many people have of Pisces, you sure do care about this. You take a formal view of people and society; it’s fair to say that you have inherent respect for the world. This is demonstrated by Capricorn on your 11th house. The 11th house is about groups, and it’s also about your highest ideals. It’s about your standing in the community. And it’s about the revenue you receive from answering your professional calling.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Feb. 6, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Both Venus and Mars have moved into the personal finances sector of your chart, which is placing an emphasis on money and resources. I am fond of quoting Lois Rodden, one of the truly great astrologers of the 20th century, who once told me: most astrologers believe that Mercury is the money planet, but they have it wrong. The money planet is Mars, because acquiring the stuff takes motivation. That is what you need, and that is what you have. You can devote yourself to the process of building your wealth. Yet this is conditioned on one prerequisite: that you do so in a way that’s true to yourself, your values and your spiritual principles (which are essentially all the same thing). Tracking these issues will inform you why you are doing what you do, which in turn will tell you whether it’s the right thing. Money causes problems when it leads to deceit or self-deception, or becomes an end in itself.


Planet Waves Weekly Horoscope for Feb. 2, 2017 #1137 | By Len Wallick

Being ‘full’ need not mean being at maximum capacity. Attaining fullness can represent transcending limits rather than reaching them. No doubt you have had more than one occasion when you sincerely felt that you had run out of bandwidth. Looking back from this point in your life, however, you are now in a unique position to see those instances in a different light. If there is even one thing you can do now which seemed impossible for you at some time in the past, you have proof of a profound certainty all too easily overlooked. The truth is that you were not born with limits. Instead, you were born with an ingenious proficiency for creating limits. Like all talents, this one can be both a blessing and a curse. You’ve had more than enough of the curse part. Your mission now, should you choose to accept it, is to explore the blessing part as if there is no tomorrow.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Jan. 30, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

It’s time to take charge of your money. This is, in many ways, a matter of confidence: controlling your cash flow, and focusing your energy on increasing your income. You have what it takes: talent, initiative and discipline. And you have these things in ways that you’ve never had them before. Take advantage of this moment. Your chart is bursting with opportunity, though it’s calling for your leadership and your investment in yourself. You have the strength of mind to stop making excuses and to stop drowning in insecurity and uncertainty. Work with the idea that if you need something, you already have it or you can acquire it easily. Most of all, make yourself useful. Put your creative prowess to actual, tangible, pragmatic use. Look around at the world. There’s plenty that needs to be done, and you have a skill or talent to match any purpose. Choose what suits you the best.


Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for February 2017 #1136 | By Eric Francis

Practice feeling good about yourself. It’s a skill that you’ll learn over time, though you’re being helped significantly by a factor you might not have expected. The one issue that you’ve been affected by the most deeply, the one you thought you could never resolve, the one that’s vexed you for years, is finally giving way. Part of what you’re doing is establishing a correct relationship to the past. You know that you cannot just stow it away. You know you cannot drag it around with you. You know that you cannot hold every relationship to the standard of what’s happened in the past. You’re releasing the toxic effects of what you’ve been carrying, and at the same time, you’re learning to claim the most positive lessons from what you went through. This conversion process is the essence of emotional and spiritual healing. Claiming the knowledge and experience you’ve gained, and allowing it to change you, is far more than positive thinking; you might think of it as positive becoming. One image from your solar chart is about embracing the different opposites that you contain within you. Those polarities might be your inner male and female aspects, or any seemingly competing desires or values that you observe. Part of the maturity you’re growing into involves allowing yourself to expand, and embracing those oppositions rather than fighting them.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Jan. 23, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

You have the option to stay open — perhaps more open than you’ve ever been. You have it in you to increase your sensitivity and your passion, and therefore to live more fully. You’re keenly aware that life has pain, loss and strife, and that many people are in pain. It’s not possible to be open to some of life; to be open at all, you must be open to everything, and you know that intuitively. You have the option to be a true artist, to remain sensitive and alive and stretch into life more fully as you do. You would do this out of respect for your own existence: live more fully and celebrate all of life. Extend yourself and be a friend to everyone. Remember above all that your example is vitally important to the people around you. What you say matters, though how you respond to life and how fully you offer yourself to existence matter more.


Short Monthly Horoscope for February 2017 #1135 | By Eric Francis

No matter how well you’re doing financially, be conscious about money. The more successful you are, the more awareness you will benefit from. That’s the formula for getting to the next level. You are in an excellent position to improve your lot in life, through the most honest and highest-integrity means. Of course that will not happen by accident. It’s a matter of natural talent, spotting advantages and planning ahead so you can get through the lean times. Mostly, though, financial success is about having drive and motivation. Turn up the juice and stand firmly in your right to be ambitious.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Jan. 16, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

If you could take a look at an astrology chart, you would see so many planets in your sign that your head might spin. Pisces is currently the center ring of the astrological circus, though there’s one aspect that stands out: Mars is conjunct Chiron. It’s rare enough that Mars comes to your sign (every two years), and rarer still that Chiron is with you (eight years out of every 50). Now the two are focused into one idea, and for you, this is an initiation into spiritual warriorship. Your recent and present experiences, what you’re learning, and what you discover, all point to you taking a bold step into a new dimension of your reality, and a truly new phase of your life. Focus your mind, think carefully, and act with precision. You are being bestowed with a new element of power, which in itself is neutral. You have the ability to use your gifts to heal or to harm, and in this you must be fully conscious. Make no assumptions. Be willing to walk the narrow way, celebrating as you go.


Moonshine Horoscope for Cancer Full Moon #1134 | By Len Wallick

Yes, you have undoubtedly made an impression — a bigger and better one than you might now be capable of fully understanding. While your understanding catches up with your influence, however, it would not do to rest upon any anticipated laurels. With the passage of time, you’ll be less likely to stumble and undo your public image. That’s because you are almost unavoidably becoming stronger by the day — a process that will probably continue for more than a decade. Even so, it will be possible for you to do less than what amounts to your best once in a while. Most people go through an entire lifetime without ever once having the juice you now possess. For that reason alone you would be well advised to combine high expectations of yourself with a determination to eschew self-deprecation as far as reasonably possible. You don’t need to be your own taskmaster nearly as much as you need to be your own cheerleader.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Jan. 9, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Trust your feelings and where they guide you. This is worth writing on the bathroom mirror of any household that includes a Pisces person. However, it’s especially true now. You have little else to guide you, which is actually fine, because you’re so sensitive at the moment. Even if you’re one of those rare but amazing extroverted Pisces, keep your awareness focused inwardly. Tune into each situation and bring out the talent, skill or personal gift to suit your circumstance. You have ready access to every facet of who you are. And at the moment, you’ve got no reservations about presenting yourself to the world as the distinct individual that you are. Let nothing distract you: not the opinions of others, or how they may respond to your passion. The way you will activate the considerable healing power that you have available is by pushing limits and violating taboos, regularly.


Short Monthly Horoscope for January 2017, #1133 | By Eric Francis

There are so many planets in your sign right now that you might wonder how they all fit. Well, you have a lot of space inside you, and you contain all that potential and much more. It seems the thing you’re craving the most is an exchange with people you care about. Stay open to that, no matter what other factors or commitments might distract you. So mix it up. Get with people, and hang out long enough for something interesting to happen. They have something for you, you have something for them, and this adds up to plenty more than double.


Monday Morning Horoscope for Jan. 2, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

When presenting your talents, focus on what matters to the person you’re speaking to. You have many assets; you have many skills; you can do nearly anything. Yet in an interview situation, or when designing your portfolio, what matters the most is what matters to the person who is taking an interest in you. Tailor what you offer specifically to the situation involved. You’ll soon have plenty of opportunities to be the multifaceted person you are.


Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for January 2017, #1131 | By Eric Francis

Let yourself feel the truth of what you want. When you do that, you might recognize that desire is complex. There’s no easy explanation for who and what you’re drawn to, and I suggest you not try to simplify or rationalize. Most of all, I suggest you not try to ‘pathologize’ — that is, come up with some explanation that says there’s something wrong about who you are or what you want. Among the experiences you’re inescapably drawn to is healing. The hotter your feelings, the more deeply you admit to your own needs; and the more you exchange with others, the more you will make contact with your desire to feel better. That translates to expressing your unfettered desire to explore your psyche, your creativity, the world around you and the people who show up willing to play. You’re reaching a point where you simply must be more expressive. That means discovering, allowing and sharing a range of feelings on a wide range of subjects. It means exploring your inner reality, where you may find things that seem to make no sense, until you hang out with them for a while. Do your best to suspend all judgment and allow yourself to be who you are. Allow yourself to go to your full depth. No, not everyone will be able to go with you, but at least one person understands.

Life Passages: The Return of Saturn

Planet Waves

In the shadow of Saturn, unexpected wonders appear. The robotic Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn drifted in the giant planet’s shadow for about 12 hours in 2006 and looked back toward the eclipsed Sun. Cassini saw a view unlike any other. Here, the night side of Saturn is seen to be partly lit by light reflected from its own majestic ring system. This is the same Saturn that’s in your chart. Photo:Cassini Team.

I am older than I once was / And younger than I’ll be…
After changes upon changes / We are more or less the same
— Paul Simon, from the missing verse of “The Boxer”

There was never any more inception than there is now,
Nor any more youth or age than there is now,
And will never be any more perfection than there is now

— Walt Whitman, Song of Myself

Dear Friend and Reader:

As the world churns, the rest of the solar system keeps moving, silently and dependably. As it does, the current positions of the planets make what are called ‘transits’ to our natal chart — they touch and act on the positions of the planets when we were born. Many transits happen to everyone each year, but there are some events that stand out in the course of a lifetime.

Planet Waves
In 1977, humans launched the Voyager 1 spacecraft (along with ts twin, Voyager 2) to take advantage of a favorable alignment of planets in the 1970s — the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction that was exact in 1981, with Uranus and Neptune right in the neighborhood. These aspects told quite a story in world history, from the election of Reagan to the fall of the Soviet empire.

One thing is for sure: these transits arrive, and when they do, the thing to do is meet them with clear intent and willingness to grow.

Most of the major transits (sometimes called key life transits) that astrologers work with involve the slow movers: Saturn, Uranus, Chiron, Neptune and Pluto. Howard Sasportas once described these as the gods of change, because when they come through our lives, our lives become different.

They are moments of transformation, and though not everyone has a ‘good time’ going through them, with astrological help they can be easier, more meaningful and more consciously useful. It’s rare, however, that people have astrological help or even the most basic information available to them.

Most people know of at least one key life transit  — thanks to the Internet, ‘Saturn return’ is a household phrase. That’s the transit that happens when Saturn returns to its own natal position in your chart, completing a full 29-year cycle — one of the most meaningful steps on the way to adulthood. The second Saturn return is about restructuring one’s life on the way into later adulthood (what used to be called ‘retirement’).

There are many others, though, including the opposition of Uranus to its natal position, the square of Neptune to its natal position, and a diversity of Chiron transits. There are also some subtler Saturn transits, and a diversity of transits that are unique to an individual’s natal chart.

Planets Beyond Saturn

When we talk about key life transits, we’re mainly talking about Saturn and the planets beyond it. There are exceptions. For example, for part of its orbit, Chiron is considerably closer to the Sun than Saturn, though with profound effects. Sometimes a closer-in planet like Jupiter may be involved. But mostly we are talking about the experiences of the slow-movers, which gain strength and influence specifically for moving slowly.

For example, when Pluto makes a square to its natal position, that’s a turning point as well, happening these days at around age 36. For our grandparents, because Pluto was so much farther from the Sun during their lifetimes, that same transit happened at age 60, a very different time in one’s life. In the current era, the Pluto square is a necessary follow-up to the first Saturn return, a time to deepen one’s experience, to do cleanup work and to put the maturity one has earned to good use. The Pluto square takes matters to a deeper level, what you might call a depth of spiritual contact.

Planet Waves
Uranus really is different. It orbits sideways and rotates backwards, to name two distinctions. It’s now considered the second-most distant ‘planet’ from the Sun, followed by Neptune. Illustration by Corey Ford, who has full-size prints available.

Uranus, which has an 84-year orbit, reaches the opposition point to its natal position these days when a person reaches age 42. That’s a big moment, and it happens just once in the course of a lifetime unless you live to age 126. Some call this the midlife crisis; I prefer to think of it as an opportunity for radical personal reinvention. This is true of other Uranus transits, sometimes to an equal extent, sometimes subtler.

Along the way, we experience a diversity of Chiron transits. These transits are a story all their own, happening on a different schedule for different age groups with each passing phase of time. Often Chiron transits exchange themes and events with other transits, and are sometimes timed synchronously. Yet because Chiron has an elongated orbit, every age group has its transits on a different schedule, with the exception of one, the Chiron return at approximately age 50.

Chiron is a massive comet (technically called a proto-comet) with an orbit in the shape of a stretched-out ellipse. It has an orbit just over 50 years, though it takes 15 years to go around half the solar system when it’s closer to the Sun, and 35 years to go around the other half when it’s far from the Sun. Because of this, some age groups can have the first square of Chiron to its natal position at age 7. Other age groups have it at age 15 and others at age 22, with much variability in between. Everyone has their own personal schedule of Chiron transits.

When you seek information from a professional astrologer, they’re likely to highlight the most recent, current and upcoming key life transits. They are relatively easy to work with, though the attitude of the astrologer makes a big difference in your perception of the transit you’re experiencing. If the astrologer says, “This is going to be difficult,” it’s more likely to be so. If your astrologer says, “This is going to be an adventure,” it’s much more likely to feel like one.

Many factors of your key life transits can be addressed without a personal reading; they have a lot in common.

When I work with a client during one of these transits, I take into account the qualities of the planet involved, the aspect it’s making to the natal position, as well as the qualities of the signs involved. I estimate that between a Saturn return in Libra and one in Scorpio, there may be about a 60% overlap in basic material. The sign placement offers additional clarity, and then there’s the house placement and the aspects to other planets, which further clarify things. Yet the most significant information comes from the client. As you read this article, consider the different times in your life and note what you’ve learned and what you’ve been through. The key life transits often weave together to tell one coherent story — notably, one that hasn’t yet ended.

The Timing of the Transits

In this article I will go over the basics of the Saturn return. (I will cover the other planets in later articles.) Saturn is in Scorpio, returning for all people with Saturn in that sign — those born between late 1982 through late 1985 are having their first return. There are a number of peak events within that time frame, and there will be a margin on either end for charts that are especially receptive to the transit (for example, if you’re born with Scorpio rising).

Planet Waves
Most people use clocks and calendars to keep track of time, though that’s rather short-sighted. Astrologers use the motions of planets, which cover much longer spans of time. Saturn is one of the astrological factors that covers the topic of time, its use and its passage. Photo by Eric Francis.

Those born between late 1953 and late 1956 are currently experiencing their second Saturn return. Those born between mid-1969 and early 1972 are currently experiencing their Saturn opposition, as are those born between mid-1998 and mid-2001. (If you have Saturn in Leo or Aquarius, you’re currently experiencing a Saturn square.)

Uranus is now in Aries, and is currently making an opposition to the natal position of those born from around 1970 through around 1974, with subsequent years not far behind. This transit will affect people between about age 37 and age 43. Because planets often cluster up or form complex patterns, it’s possible to start experiencing the effects of a major transit earlier, and for it to extend well beyond the usually proscribed age range. The peak, however, is usually in the age ranges I’m describing.

Sometimes, however, the effects of a transit can seem to linger if we don’t ‘do the work’ of the transit, make the decisions or process the material that comes up during the transit. Often, there will be a subsequent transit following shortly to help with that. For example, not long after the Saturn return ends, there’s Pluto square Pluto. Soon after that passes by there is Uranus opposite Uranus.

Saturn: The Misunderstood Planet

Saturn may be the most misunderstood planet. Associated with structure, authority and stability, Saturn has been called many things by astrologers that have propagated considerable unnecessary negativity. I consider Saturn to be the internal governing principle. If you structure and run your own life, you won’t need someone to do it for you.

While you may hear Saturn associated with being stuck, there are few more dependable agents of change and progress than this planet. For those who fear loss, I would remind you of the words of Patric Walker, who suggested that Saturn always gives more than it takes away.

Planet Waves
Stunning view of Saturn casting a shadow over its own rings. We had seen no such perspective on Saturn until the arrival of Cassini in the early 2000s. Photo: Cassini Team.

One of the most significant elements of Saturn is the structuring of time. Both the themes of ‘time’ and ‘structure’ are from old delineations, but the structuring of time is something I’ve adapted from the work of Dr. Eric Berne. In his book Games People Play, he describes the ability to structure time as a necessary prerequisite for sincere intimacy. We do not live forever, so if we want time enough for love, we have to make space for that experience. That’s a necessary element of maturity.

With Saturn it’s necessary that you do your part, and then it will do its part. This is to say, consider the themes I’ve mentioned. Be real to yourself and to what is indicated in your Saturn placement as you grow to understand it, and you’ll be at a considerable advantage over others without this understanding. There are often associations with parents where Saturn is involved, and in this respect the message is simple: resolve your relationship to them. Don’t let them run your life vicariously, and know when you’re aspiring (whether consciously or otherwise) to be them. You’re not them and they are not you; you are you.

Transits of Saturn have a few themes in common — development of maturity, the structure of our lives and the work that we do. Along with these themes, people undergoing Saturn transits will often experience changes or rearrangements in their relationships. This falls under the general heading of maturity and structure.

I know people who refuse to have intimate relationships with those who have not had their Saturn return; they are often too much like kids. When the Saturn return is done consciously, this is a transit that can help people settle into more grounded and mature attitudes and values. Your relationship to responsibility and the world around you is rearranged, usually in helpful ways.

Saturn Returns to Scorpio

That said, I suspect that the newest Saturn in Scorpio sub-generation is struggling a bit with these themes, owing mainly to the state of the world. I recently read that fully one-third of American adults are either unemployed or have given up looking for work. This placement lends itself to serious, clever and committed people who take using their resources wisely as a cornerstone of their lives, in a world that seems to be squandering everything it has.

Planet Waves
People having their Saturn returns today have watched many peers become rich and famous for doing little or nothing. Kim Kardashian is just such a person. Along the way she was awarded $5 million in ‘damages’ for a far more boring sex tape than many other women her age make.

These natives are emerging into adulthood in a world where there is a radical imbalance in the distribution of resources — such as vast gaps between the pay of CEOs and ordinary employees. They watched the leaders of the banking system nearly cripple the economy and bankrupt the federal government, then the banksters walked away not only without prosecution but with millions of dollars in personal gain.

This is also one of the first crop of Saturn return people who grew up with the Internet. While unlike some of their younger siblings they were not born into the Internet, the IBM PC came out in August 1981 and the Macintosh came out in January 1984. That would be fine except for the ways in which computing rearranged the professional world, consumed many more jobs than it created and eventually fostered an environment where people could entertain themselves into oblivion.

Many of the people they see doing the entertaining have been catapulted to instant fame and fortune, and one thing that can hold back current Saturn return people is the expectation that this might happen to them. However, most (not all but most) very young people who find themselves living glamourous lives didn’t get there by mastering Saturn; they had something else going for them, and the adults around them provided the Saturn structure. This is one reason why so many famous young people cannot stay out of trouble.

Meanwhile, it’s difficult to imagine a sub-generation that’s seen more change in its short lifetime than this one. Between the day they were born and the day of their Saturn return, the world had gone through more revisions, renovations and recreations than all the open-source software combined. They are used to a world where something is new and exciting one day and irrelevant the next — and that won’t get you far with Saturn.

If there seems to be nothing to hang onto or no easy way in, that’s not an illusion. It’s a difficult fact of life that they must face. When they are ready to start taking on serious work assignments, there are fewer of those opportunities than ever.

It’s particularly cruel that those who sought an education are saddled with more college debt than any generation that came before them, with fewer work opportunities to help them pay that debt off.

Planet Waves
Nearly all students graduate from their undergraduate education deep in debt, and many are struggling to find decent jobs to pay back the banks. The whole point of college loans is to create an educated workforce; now it seems merely about enriching the banks. Photo of Capen Hall at SUNY New Paltz by Eric Francis.

The real estate crisis has done little to lower rents, even as property values have plunged. Those at their Saturn return, who might ordinarily leave their parents’ home and the roomies behind, may be stuck living with others long past when it’s productive for them.

One of my readers described her dilemma eloquently. “All the possibilities available seem to overwhelm my ability to embrace even one of them fully. Which keeps me away from intimately relating to what is in front of me, whether it’s a partner, an idea, a possibility.”

She continued: “The fear of death seams to be pushing for a strong desire to accomplish something. An obsession with the future, and what to do to get there. The urge to share the body of artwork I have built up the last few years and to share the wisdom of the person I have become. At times, I even sense an imminent death, then an intense anxiety arises, of not having shared to the world my art, my love and my vision for the world and all people.

“I have a strong sense of who I am and what I am here to do. But it is the urge to do it and the fear that I won’t that is so prominent over the last weeks. The pressure feels as if it’s a one-time opportunity to grow up into what I will become.”

The Second Saturn Return

Those in their second Saturn return, in their late 50s, must really be looking at society in bewilderment right now. Those born in the mid-1950s were some of the original ‘save the world’ people — they were teenagers at the time of the first Earth Day, and those impressions never left them — but there’s a big mystery where the idealism went.

Their older siblings helped stop the Vietnam War, so they had the notion that social justice was possible. Now many more major wars later, none of those ideals have come to fruition. My sense is that many are ready to take up the good fight perhaps for the first time, now that their children are grown and many are watching their grandchildren grow up in an extremely uncertain, increasingly dangerous world. They too are struggling for a way into meaningful participation, but the shock must be even greater because they’ve lived through many phases of history when that participation really was possible.

Planet Waves
Astronaut Dave Bowman catches a glimpse of himself as an old man in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. The film is filled with themes of Saturn, including many visual illustrations of the nature of space and time, and visits to other dimensions.

There is the pressure of leadership because at the second Saturn return one truly becomes an ‘elder’ in society — one entrusted with moral leadership. And unless they’ve had very successful careers, their plight for survival is often harder than those who are at their first Saturn return. In this world it’s not possible to be mature enough.

Yet I think that if they are able to use the restructuring power of Saturn and not succumb to the pessimism that really is possible with Saturn in Scorpio, they will be able to provide a solid foundation for the generations that came after them. They are not too old to think for the future, and future generations are counting on it.

Meanwhile, there are many deep personal issues that call for resolution when Saturn in Scorpio is aspected by itself or by another planet. By the second Saturn return, the confrontation with fertility and sexuality is not as potent as the confrontation with mortality, as those experiencing it see many of their elders depart the planet, sometimes in groups. One difference between the first and second Saturn returns is that at the second, the thought of mortality is less an abstraction and more a reality. Many of my readers have commented about what it’s like to see their elder relatives in decline.

Physical health is usually a greater concern at the second Saturn return. Yet despite this, many at this time seem to start their lives over, get divorced and begin new relationships, change careers and even go back to school to develop additional skills.

For those with Saturn in Scorpio at either Saturn return, there may be titanic questions about the role of sexuality and relationships in their lives, which are now coming to a boil. For people entering their second Saturn return, subject matter that was seemingly left behind during their 30s can come right back, seeking attention and healing. Perhaps people are not expecting to explore questions about sexuality or their sexual legacy in their late 50s, but we are after all talking about Scorpio here.

Planet Waves
The second Saturn return can be a time of reclaiming one’s life and pursuing interests outside of work and family. Photo of Jim in his Woodstock studio by Eric Francis.

I’ve been doing some reading in the old astrology texts, and all authors who have commented on Saturn in Scorpio have noted its deep feelings and its tendency to secrecy — these individuals don’t give up their pearls easily, whether black or otherwise. Now those feelings and secrets are working their way to the surface, and this may leave those with this placement feeling especially vulnerable and asking the deepest questions of their lives.

And then there can be the dawning of that elusive thing, wisdom. As one of my readers wrote recently, her life “would be most dramatic if it weren’t so quiet here, in my body and person and whereabouts. I’ve spent the last decade building a house. Now it’s about done. I have a home, something I’ve wanted since childhood. Mostly, I have equanimity, a quality that always eluded me, that I’ve often prayed for, and this translates into more confidence, more of a feeling of myself and not a cloak or a ghost.

“I started reading poetry again. I used to be a woman who sought advice everywhere, and now I’m the rock in the stream, all the chaos flowing around and over me. I don’t have to attend so many seminars, read so many books, which makes for more time.”

Ah yes, were it so. Were it so.

Lovingly,

 

Planet Waves

Truth or Dare in the Manifestation Zone

We’re about a week out from the last of three eclipses — a lunar eclipse in Sagittarius — but before we get there, there’s even bigger news: Monday, May 20, is an exact contact of the Uranus-Pluto square. Uranus-Pluto is the defining signature of this current era, ‘the 2012 aspect’, though we will not know its full effect and meaning until years later.

Planet Waves
The third contact of the Uranus-Pluto square, the 2012-era aspect. There are many other squares in this chart, including Mercury and Venus square Chiron, and the Sun square Neptune. This chart is about the provocation to action, but it also questions human capacity for accepting and working with what is true.

But it’s easy to see in action: sudden upheaval, sparks of revolution, and the potential for evolution. We would be wise to question how exactly this aspect is working, however. In other words, whose revolution are we in the midst of? Are progressive or regressive forces getting more traction?

Monday’s Uranus-Pluto contact is exact at 7:02 pm EDT. The chart to the right is set for Washington, D.C. This will be the third out of seven exact contacts, which stretch from June 2012 through March 2015 (with a few years on either side when the effects are noticeable). Also on Monday, Venus becomes the first of the personal planets in Gemini to square Chiron. This is the beginning of the expression of ‘what is really true’, in response to questions Neptune has been raising.

Chiron will get your attention, especially if there have been lapses of integrity in your love relationships (Venus), letting you know in no uncertain terms how you can heal. Hint: it will take an active choice to come into alignment with the truth.

Meanwhile, Mercury, Venus and the Sun have been making a series of squares to Neptune, adding a chaotic, deceptive energy to the mix. If we’re going to have a revolution, it’s going to start with telling the truth. But that’s not what the sport or business of politics is based on. So we either need a total transformation in the political realm or to take the discussion outside of politics, or both.

Uranus square Pluto has the potential to open up our cultural fabric in a way that lets us weave something new; something that actually moves us forward as a society. But that will take holding a positive vision and being vigilant in recognizing those who would fill the opening with ‘advancements’ that actually set us back. The vision must be backed with action, and not ‘action by others’. This is about each of us, individually and collectively.

On the more internal, personal level, consider Uranus-Pluto a kind of booster rocket for whatever evolutionary leaps you’re making during this eclipse season. Whether you’re feeling these eclipses as subtle tugs to your subconscious or clarion calls too loud to miss, Uranus and Pluto will likely add some spark and muscle to the process — if you work the energy.

Planet Waves
Chart of the Sagittarius lunar eclipse on May 25, 2013. Note the triple conjunction in Gemini — of Venus, Mercury and Jupiter. The Sun and Moon are both square Neptune, a powerful applying square. Saturn and Neptune are in a trine aspect, something that deserves a closer look, which we will do soon.

The Sun ingresses Gemini Monday, May 20, and will make a square to Neptune. That early Gemini Sun is then met by the May 25 lunar eclipse in Sagittarius, which has both the Moon and the Sun square Neptune. In the current week, Venus and Mercury are square Neptune.

So what’s with all these squares to Neptune? They represent questions of integrity. It’s about what is true, what you believe, how you describe your experience. In other words, the integrity piece is about speaking the truth and discerning what is not true. The May 25 eclipse looks like it bursts the bubble on illusions. That’s to say, you probably don’t want to be floating on one of those bubbles when the moment arises. The time to get gritty is now, though the sensation may be that ‘real’ is the least convenient option of them all.

Remember, where there are eclipses in the neighborhood, we’re in a manifestation zone, where patterns are noticed, erased and rewritten. If you’re someone who claims to live for truth, now is the time to question and notice everything that is not necessarily true. Subject everything to the same basic line of questioning. Scrutinize your intent. Listen to what you say and what others say to you.

Notice when you’re believing something that’s not true, or saying something that’s not true. This is a habit. So are the white lies that we tell and believe. You could say this is a game of truth or dare. Are you willing to speak your truth, and in particular, to speak the truth of your feelings? Would you dare yourself to take action on who or what really matters to you? That is a pattern I think many people would say they want — to let go of little deceptions, muster up some courage, and take an authentic emotional risk.

 

Planet Waves

This Week in the Anti-Sixties

As we approach the third of seven Uranus-Pluto squares Monday — that’s what I’ve been calling the 2012-era aspect, which spans from 2012-2015 with a nice margin on either side — politicians in Washington appear to have gone even more mad than usual. You would think these people have nothing better to do and plenty of time on their hands because everything else in the world is going so well.

Planet Waves
Michele Bachmann spoke at a Tea Party rally this week and called for the impeachment of Barack Obama. This week all records were broken for use of the words ‘impeach’ and ‘scandal’.

The frenzy is synchronous with the squares of Mercury and Venus to Neptune (not good for straightforward honesty and great for deceptive chaos) as well as the approach of an eclipse of the Moon in Sagittarius on Sunday, May 25, the third of three eclipses this spring. Here in the United States, four stories worth knowing about dominated the past five days of the news cycle.

One was the Republicans’ ongoing uproar over the attack on a CIA post in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, including repeated hyperbolic calls for impeachment of Pres. Obama, and none other than Minister of Truth Dick Cheney weighing in claiming that Obama is a liar. At least we’re starting to hear that the “diplomatic mission” was associated with the CIA rather than having it be called an embassy or a consulate, but that’s more like a true rumor than something that’s easy to track down.

In other words, what happened last Sept. 11 seems not to have been the result of normal politics or diplomacy; it was a covert operation gone bad. However, that’s not what the Republicans are saying; they’re selling it as some kind of nondescript scandal in a media campaign designed to inflict maximum damage on Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time and who will probably run for president in 2016. Everyone seems to understand this.

As POLITICO noted Friday, house Republicans have the power to call a select committee to investigate the issue (that is, to do something serious if they have real concerns), but that would cost millions of dollars (which would not look frugal) and sideline everyone not on the committee who is currently making a lot of political hay out of the issue.

Planet Waves
Dick Cheney called Obama a liar this week. AP photo.

They would have to shut up and let the committee do its work. Therefore, it’s more effective to just let the chaos unfold, no matter how ridiculous it makes them look.

Next was the revelation that the Justice Department subpoenaed the telephone records of hundreds of AP reporters in several major bureaus last year, purportedly to track down who in the federal government had leaked information about a foiled al Qaeda bomb plot based in Yemen.

This included office phone records, cell phone records and much besides. Attorney General Eric Holder was being interviewed by the FBI and had to recuse himself from the case.

While what happened to the AP, a worldwide news agency based in New York City, seems to be collateral damage in Obama’s obsession with stopping leaks from his government, there is an obvious chilling effect that all journalists are feeling. That is to say, it’s scary to do real journalism when you think that your phone records or emails are going to end up in the hands of federal investigators, which would reveal all of your sources, contacts and private details of your life. There remains a lot of confusion over how this even happened.

Planet Waves
Richard Nixon jumped into the political fray this week, holding a press conference where he now resides, in purgatory, calling for the resignation of Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, heads rolled at the IRS after the revelation that the agency was scrutinizing conservative groups who had applied for tax-exempt status. Two of the agency’s top officials were forced to resign over a policy of scrutinizing groups with names that included “Tea Party” and “patriot” who had applied for tax-exempt status.

This began in 2010 after the Citizens’ United decision of the Supreme Court declared that money is a form of speech and should flow freely like words from the mouth of a preacher.

And two more high-ranking military officers with oversight over sex crimes were accused of sex crimes, bringing the total to three [see related story below]. Meanwhile, Republicans in the House of Representatives tried to repeal Obamacare for the 37th time this week.

If it seems that Republicans are engaging in a coordinated assault on Obama’s ability to get anything done, that’s an accurate perception. If it seems that Obama continues to rack up an atrocious record on respect for basic civil liberties, that is also true.

 

Planet Waves

The Military’s Sexual Assault Epidemic

News broke this week of yet more members of U.S. military sexual assault prevention task forces being investigated for committing — you guessed it — sexual assault.

Earlier this week, an Army coordinator of sexual assault prevention  at Fort Hood, Texas, was accused of multiple charges; last week, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski, head of the Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, was charged with groping a woman.

Planet Waves
Senate subcommittee on Personnel Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. addresses the third panel on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, during the hearing on sexual assault in the military. Finally, women leaders are cracking open the military’s bullshit handling of rape. Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP.

And just last night, The Associated Press reported that Lt. Col. Darin Haas, the manager of the prevention program at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, was arrested for stalking.

The disgusting irony is driven home by a report released last week by the Pentagon on rape and sexual assault in the U.S. military. An estimated average of 70 sexual assaults are committed daily within the U.S. military, or 26,000 per year. Only 3,374 of those sexual assaults were actually reported for the Pentagon’s fiscal year 2012.

Out of those, only 190 were sent to a court-martial proceeding.
Notably, just over half the cases in this latest report involved male victims.

“There’s a sense that, well, because you’re a woman, you’ll be sexually assaulted; because women are in the military, inevitably they’ll be sexually assaulted — which is completely false,” said Anu Bhagwati, executive director and co-founder of Service Women’s Action Network, on Democracy Now! on May 8. “And that rape mythology has to be addressed head-on, because still the vast majority of servicemembers are men.”

Clearly the military can’t handle this from within. These attitudes are too widespread and too deeply entrenched, but the Uranus-Pluto square is beginning to bust open the hermetically sealed structure of military legal proceedings for sexual assault cases. The lack of access to civilian legal proceedings is a huge obstacle to justice for victims of rape in the military.

It’s also clear that the issue of military rape is benefitting from what is historically the largest class of women in the U.S. Congress. Even the Senate Armed Services Committee now has a record seven female members. In a hearing of that committee last week, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., grilled two high-ranking Air Force officers.

It seems that the Sun’s conjunction to Pallas Athene in Taurus, which was exact for last week’s eclipse and is still close, took the form of women warriors shining a light on what we ought to value as a culture but do not yet: the sexual, emotional and legal well-being of those charged with protecting the country.

 

Planet Waves

How Much Hood is Good? However Much You Have!

Have you ever been curious about just how widely varied women’s genitals are? It’s not quite such a taboo subject as it once was, but it’s still not exactly dinner conversation, either (well, not for most people). This week, in honor of May being National Masturbation Month, here’s a unique project to check out: a visual record of clitoral hood coverage.

Planet Waves
These are just a few styles of clitoral hood coverage. View the full chart here.

The Clitoral Hood Coverage Chart is a sister project to a chart showing varying degrees of foreskin coverage. The foreskin chart for penises was created by someone named Paul Sherriff as a way for men to determine how much foreskin they may have, whether circumcised or not.

Enter the 23-year-old, anonymous author of the blog uncutting.tumbler.com. He is currently using a non-surgical method to restore his foreskin (done through tugging/tensioning the existing penile skin, a painless activity according to him).

‘Mr. Uncutting’ got curious whether the same spectrum of variation existed in women’s clitoral hoods, since that body part is basically the equivalent of foreskin. He put out a request for photos of clitoral hoods, and a number of women who follow his blog responded.

“Each clitoral hood you see here belongs to somebody who was willing to contribute to the project,” writes the blog’s author. “Pictures were taken in a non-aroused state, and contributors were asked to estimate their own level of coverage, to help me decide where on the chart to place them.”

Notably, one of the photos belongs to a woman who was subjected to genital mutilation as an infant. Luckily, her labia and the clitoris itself were left uncut, though the hood was removed.

If you are a woman who masturbates, chances are your clitoral hood plays a part in the pleasure. In fact, if your clitoris is extremely sensitive, touching your clit through the hood can mean the difference between pleasurable and painful stimulation.

Whatever kind of hood you have, this is the month to show it some appreciation. And if you want to add your beautiful vulva and clitoral hood to the chart, its creator is planning a second version. You can contact him here.

 

Planet Waves

Monsanto As Patent Troll: The Law of the Land

Monsanto never really had a business plan when it got into genetic modification in the early 1980s. When it finally came up with one, the outwardly stated mission was to feed the world and cut back on the use of pesticides by creating plants that killed the bugs themselves (to which the bugs quickly became resistant).

When that didn’t work out, and when GMO crop yields came in lower than farmers were promised, and when drought resistant corn didn’t work, and when Frito-Lay and McDonald’s bailed on the NewLeaf Potato (the first crop that was also a registered pesticide), the business plan changed: Monsanto went on to create spray-resistant crops. That, at least, would sell more chemicals.

Planet Waves
Vernon Hugh Bowman in February of this year, when he gave his testimony to the Supreme Court. AP/J. Scott Applewhite.

Now the business plan has morphed into patent trolling. That’s when an ‘inventor’ makes it easy for someone to violate their patent, and then sues them. This is Business Plan C for Monsanto, which always has another trick or two up its sleeve.

This week, the Supreme Court handed Monsanto a victory in the case Bowman v. Monsanto Co., in which it sought to block an Indiana farmer from planting patented newly grown soybean seeds not purchased directly from Monsanto. Notably, Bowman never purchased seeds from Monsanto — he bought them on the open market from a grain distributor.

He then took some of his crop yield and replanted it the next year, as seeds have been used since right around when humans stopped being hunter-gatherers approximately 15,000 years ago. Bowman argued that the right to use the seed that he purchased necessarily included the right to plant the seed and its progeny.

The court rejected that argument, ruling, “If the purchaser of [the sold] article could make and sell endless copies, the patent would effectively protect the invention for just a single sale.”

The case demonstrates first the absurdity of patenting seeds — and by extension, their natural processes — as well as the business model of patent trolling, for which Monsanto has built a reputation. They have gone so far as to sue farmers neighboring those that use GMO seed whose pollen has contaminated the neighbor’s crop.

In this case, because it’s now been endorsed by the Supreme Court, Monsanto can sue and collect from any farmer using patented seeds that were not purchased directly from Monsanto. But that’s just the beginning. The presumption is that Monsanto is always right, and that it’s not worth fighting because Monsanto will go to the very top and probably win.

I wonder what would happen if some Monsanto-made DNA got into animal feed and turned up in the flesh of the animal. Would it own that too? This is not a game of a monopoly — it’s a case of Ice 9.

 

Planet Waves

Global War Coming Over Bees?

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin kept U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry waiting for more than three hours for a scheduled meeting this past week, to signal his “extreme outrage” over the United States’s continued protection of global seed and plant bio-genetic giants Syngenta and Monsanto, manufacturers of chemicals that are killing much of the worldwide bee population.

Planet Waves
Um, Mr. Putin… Pretty sure the stinger goes on the other end. Photo from a 2012 protest by Dmitry Lovetsky/AP.

The Kremlin has called it a “bee apocalypse” that “will most certainly” lead to world war, said an article in the European Union Times, an Internet newspaper.

Bees are one of nature’s pollinators, fertilizing more than a third of the world’s food supply. According to a report from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation, released last Friday, there is “undisputed evidence” that a class of neuro-active insecticides chemically related to nicotine, known as neonicotinoids, are decimating the Earth’s bees. If left unchecked they could destroy our ability to grow enough food to feed the Earth’s population.

The European Commission has placed a two-year ban on neonicotinoids, beginning in December 2013. The timing suggests that this is what you get when a powerful eclipse about ‘values’, occurring just after Beltane and featuring lots of planets in the earthiest of earth signs (Taurus), presages an exact contact of the Uranus-Pluto square.

If the United States doesn’t follow suit with similar action that would be obvious to any rational nation — and if Putin can be taken at his word — the U.S. may feel the sting of something far bigger than a bee: Russia’s military wrath.

 

Planet Waves

Planet Waves

Video still of Commander Chris Hadfield as he sings Bowie’s “Space Oddity” while serving on the ISS. You might never hear a more haunting and heartfelt “Planet Earth is blue, and there’s nothing left to do…”

A True Space Oddity

On Sunday, the world got a chance to hear a cover of David Bowie’s hit “Space Oddity” that’s unlike any other. Commander Chris Hadfield recorded it on board the International Space Station, while serving as the first Canadian in charge of a spacecraft. He relinquished command of the space station on Sunday, leaving a three-man U.S.-Russian crew on board to welcome the next trio of astronauts. Hadfield, American Thomas Marshburn and Russian Roman Romanenko landed in their space capsule south-east of the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, at 8:31 am local time on Tuesday.

It is believed to be the first music video ever created in space, and it’s a beauty.

With reporting from The Guardian UK.

 

Planet Waves

Current Astrology, my Interview with Enceno Macy
and Your Free Digital Issue of The Mountain Astrologer

Dear Friend and Reader:

Planet Waves
Enceno Macy moments after being released from 17 years in prison. Photo by Eric Francis.

In this week’s edition of Planet Waves FM, I have for you my interview with Enceno Macy. He was released from prison last month after serving 17 years for a crime he didn’t commit. You’ll hear the story of how that happened, and discover that such a thing is actually possible.

He’s been a Planet Waves contributor going back about five years, writing a diversity of articles for us — including a new one that we’ve just published called Fresh Out. One of his articles, about the state of prisons in the U.S.,  also appeared in Listen, our 2013 annual edition.

Here’s a Google search of where his Planet Waves articles have appeared.

Last Call: Free Digital Edition of The Mountain Astrologer

The Mountain Astrologer is considered the best English-language astrology journal. There aren’t many left; TMA has persevered through the rising tide of the Internet, publishing six times a year. It now has a digital edition. I’ve been writing for TMA lately; last year I did an article introducing TMA’s readers to my work with Eris and the centaurs (free download). In an upcoming issue I’ll also have a major investigative feature, which I will leave under wraps for now.

Planet Waves
In addition to a whole free issue of TMA, you can get a copy of this article that took me 15 years to research and six hours to write.

TMA is very good at what it does. It was one of the first astrology resources I discovered, and it helped me get my start in the business. It offers a carefully edited, selective, balanced presentation of astrology. It has some excellent standing features, including resources for following planetary movements that are not available on the ‘net.

Planet Waves and TMA are doing a kind of sample swap — we’ve extended an offer for a five-week Planet Waves subscription to their readers, and TMA is offering a free digital edition to our readers — the 112-page current April/May edition. You’ll get it as a digital flipbook and also have access to each article as a downloadable PDF file. Digital-only subscriptions are available.

It’s fun doing this kind of exchange, to cross-pollinate our readerships, in the early ethos of the Internet. I think that Planet Waves and TMA are the perfect complement, and they’ve been very nice to us.

Here’s the link to get your free digital issue.

If you have any problem with accessing your free sample issue, please email TMA at digital@mountainastrologer.com.

Enjoy — and please let me know how you like it. — efc

 

 

Planet Waves

Your Monthly Horoscopes — and our Publishing Schedule Notes

The May monthly extended horoscopes were published Friday, April 26. Inner Space horoscopes for May were published Tuesday, April 30. We published the Moonshine horoscopes for the Scorpio Full Moon and eclipse on Tuesday, April 23. On Tuesday, May 7, we published the Moonshine horoscopes for the Taurus New Moon.

Note that the longer monthly horoscope is being incorporated into the Friday issue after the Sun has entered a new sign; a new Inner Space is generally emailed on the following Tuesday.

 

Planet Waves


Weekly Horoscope for Friday, May 17, 2013 #950 | By Liam Carey
 

Editor’s Note: This week we are happy to introduce Liam Carey. Liam has been working behind the scenes for the past couple of months helping research and write our news sections. He’s also a well-trained and aspiring professional astrologer. He will be standing in on the weekly horoscope for me occasionally, and will also be writing columns on the Tuesdays when there is not another horoscope scheduled. Please let me know what you think of his work. Thank you. — Eric Francis

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Aries (March 20-April 19) — When I was 16 years old, a loner, stoned out and nearly a high-school dropout, my father gave me a book called No Man is an Island, by the Trappist monk Thomas Merton. The well-intentioned gift was offered, I imagine, to cull me out of my rebellious ways. I was insulted. I mention this story as a lesson in how not to respond to gestures that coax one into the social arena, because you may be faced with such lessons this week. First of all, there is a powerful magnetism about you that will draw others toward you. Neither you nor those that come will know exactly what it is, but there’s definitely something there. Second, even though you don’t really feel like it, you’re either going to talk up a storm or at least have so much on your mind you’ll burst if you don’t get it out somehow. Go with the flow; the interaction is necessary to reality-check your ideas and keep your ego from running riot. — by Liam Carey

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Taurus (April 19- May 20)

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — There’s no doubt that your solar year is off to a fast and meaningful start. Since your birthday, life has offered you quite a bit of action and depending on how you’ve approached it, life has been exhilarating, frustrating or maybe just plain odd. It’s not over yet by any means (it never really ends, right?) as you still have plenty of adventure ahead, and plenty of ground to cover. I suspect that this week you will start thinking about how important it is to communicate what’s most important, what you value most — not just to ‘be aware’ of it but to speak about it. Change and growth are necessary even when they go against the grain of comfort and security. In that process things that used to be highly regarded may lose priority. While you know this to be true and integral, others may not understand and may challenge you on this new ground. Trust yourself. Know yourself, and be your own authority in this matter. It will pay off in spades for your self-worth. — by Liam Carey

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Gemini (May 20- June 21)

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — It’s that time of year again, when everything seems to speed up, doesn’t it? It looks to me like things are moving at warp speed for you right now and you may need to remember the little things: do the dishes, walk the dog, go to the grocery store, tell the truth. Remember, the devil is in the details, though so are the angels. Seriously, there is so much energy and intensity that may engulf you, and good feelings too, that it could be destructive if not managed well. Here’s one of the details: be mindful of what you say and to whom you say what at work lest there occur any regretful interactions. Be cautious about any thought of revenge. If you talk over any doubts or hurt feelings you may have with a trusted friend, you will both be less inclined to take things personally. One last detail: be sure to put the plug in the jug in time if you’re out partying with friends or colleagues, lest a good time get out of hand. — by Liam Carey

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

Cancer (June 21- July 22)

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — The crab symbolizes the constellation Cancer and often the shell is utilized to articulate the tough exterior protecting an inner vulnerability. There is something brewing in your chart this week that may necessitate using that armor, something deeply significant about your sexuality and the conditioning patterns that govern it. We all have these impersonal rules and guidelines that govern our autonomous energies whether from church, society or family, and collectively they are coming under intense scrutiny; but this is personal for you right now. If you allow it to enter your psyche, you will feel either empowered to explore and experience the bliss of sexual union or fantasize about the several lovers you would have if unfettered. This will lead — again, if you give yourself permission — to a reevaluation of what you consider an ideal relationship. It’s ok if what you have doesn’t measure up to that ideal; it doesn’t mean you have to split. It just means you’ve peeled another layer off that James and the Giant Peach-sized onion. — by Liam Carey

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — It looks like you are surrounded by fun-filled, stimulating and fascinating people with innovative ideas. I imagine it is just what you’ve needed after spending much of the past few weeks mired in work and pressing responsibilities at home. This week is an opening to experience yourself and all your ruminations in the light and reflection of others. It’s a great time to exchange ideas and information with a variety of folks, and to learn about and formulate the manifestation of all sorts of things: social agendas, familial relationships, utopia — your ideal world and relationships. Plus it’s just nice to feel part of the crowd sometimes, and I suspect now is one of those times. It’s always good to step back and analyze your own agenda when possible and especially when engaged with others. Are you misjudging someone else’s or your own intentions? Are you being mindful of boundaries? Many questions have been raised about administration of resources and this can lead to emotional extremes. One way or another, you’re likely to encounter lessons about give and take, whose (fill in the blank) is whose, and compromise. — by Liam Carey

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You know that the overall theme right now is change. Not just a little bit of change or anything, either, but some kind of epic, world-shifting alteration is underway and you are feeling empowered to try new things, think in new ways, and experience more of reality. Just remember, it’s not going to happen overnight. Step by step, day by day, and person by person, gentle persistence is your guiding principle, along with how to best use the energy that is available at any particular time. The energy right now is collection of information: data gathering, networking, communicating, and perhaps short-term travel. Through these lenses you will understand the options available to you in this process of re-creation. Searches like this have a way of stirring things to the surface that had been forgotten and you may encounter some memories that you must come to terms with. Trust your intuition if this happens and try not to over-think. Not only will you waste valuable time and cause a stir, but also you may miss the more vital message. — by Liam Carey

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

Planet Waves

Libra (Sep. 22 - Oct. 23)

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — There is a lot of restless energy in your chart that has been building up for some time and is about to come to a peak. The energy infusion this week will highlight some of the broader ideas about life that you haven’t considered in a while, and a few brand-new ones. It just may enable you to see the rut that you’ve been in and start planning an escape. There is definitely the energy for some long-distance travel here. Perhaps it’s because the in-laws are coming? Pay your dues first; keep the peace and then the reward. There is also this concern: are you restless because of an underlying hurt that you don’t want to deal with? Maybe there is the subconscious urge to move so you don’t have to sit with yourself? It’s been said wisely that travel is a good way to get to know yourself. A shift in geographic point of view can give you a perspective on what you’ve been looking at but not seeing. Then you can decide how much you like it — which is to say, yourself. — by Liam Carey

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — It looks like you’ve built a defensive structure to protect some emotional vulnerability. That may be a good idea considering the sea of change that you’ve been navigating these past few months. Don’t forget to give yourself credit for staying the course; this type of devotion to change is not easy. Yet if you haven’t handled this so gracefully don’t hang onto any disappointment or stew over a loss of pride. It’s most likely part of the lesson. You’re a study in contradictions right now. As much as you want and need to focus inwardly to conceive, form images, and eventually crystallize what and who you want to be, you are at the same time drawn to engage with people in intense, deep, involved discussion. (I hope that sounds appealing.) As much as you feel the need to work, alone and unhampered, pulsating and electrifying your central nervous system, you also feel this deep desire to merge with a multitude of lovers/artists in some form of creativity. — by Liam Carey

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Things are looking and feeling much better at home than they have in a while. It seems as though the clouds have parted recently and there is harmony in your deep emotional reserves with what you project to your partners. This is the reward derived from the hard work you’ve put in over the past few months. Much has been happening to highlight who you are and what you have to offer in relationships, and it has been difficult to tangle with some of these questions. Accept the harmony of the moment and recognize it as fruits of purification. Nothing can grow without nurturing and you did that well. This is part of the long-term path of dissolving those aspects of your personality that just don’t work anymore, and in turn, discover what does. It’s entirely possible that you’ll feel like you’re living in a dream — and who’s to argue with you? You can imbibe all you like but I doubt you’ll match the high you’ll have by being present with your love, and speaking your truth. — by Liam Carey

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — First came the feeling, then came the ideas, and now the light bulb is glowing about a project that you think will be well received. Not only do you have all the necessary resources but you now also have the strength of purpose and drive to administer the people and resources properly. There may be a crisis in action regarding a love affair. Love unrequited? Sex talk gone awry in an established relationship? Those are only a couple of the possibilities, but I see some tension in this area of life and some potentially volatile emotions early in the week, as the Sun changes signs to Gemini. You can’t control everything, and forcing your will on others will very likely produce resentment. Discretion is the key, as is an honest, humble stating of feelings. It will be challenging to articulate your emotions into feelings, especially if you pressure yourself to, so step back and find a way to objectify them before you communicate. Make sure you channel some of this energy through physical exercise lest you burn out. — by Liam Carey

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — I once had a lover tell me to make love to her with my mind. I gotta tell you it drove me nuts. I just didn’t get it and, well, I just didn’t get it. I’m pretty sure you do though, and that you will have a driving urge to do so starting this week. Not only that but it looks like you will have willing partners in your quest for lovemaking through the mind. If this is not where the energy takes you then there will at least be a need to communicate your sense of aesthetics; your senses will be keen to this. There is a deeply creative spark that has been lit and I hope you have the opportunity to fan its flames. This is one of the most difficult and dynamic aspects of life because of the need most of us have to hang onto control in order to feel secure. To let go and play, make love and recite poetry requires a freedom of self that once granted, is a launching pad to other dimensions. — by Liam Carey

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — There is something extra meaningful coming through your emotions this week. It’s something that you will not only recognize and think about but also seek to clarify and articulate. This is not an easy task, but it’ll be worth it. Emotion is defined in a very circular way in the many dictionaries I checked that keep pointing to ‘feelings’, but one way to think of it is energy in motion. Feelings are definitely not emotions though; feelings are the interpretation of emotions (a Venus function that has merit here). Emotions are something that happen pre-thought and pre-verbal. There is not much control over them happening, although to make it off the playground safely it’s imperative to learn how to deal with them. Emotions are often unprocessed energy that doesn’t necessarily fit in the rational, social world and yet, they pulse through each and every one of us to one degree or another. This will be an important time to examine your emotions and consider how they affect your whole being. It’s possible that the opportunity will come through interactions with family, or simply an event or circumstance that sparks some memory. — by Liam Carey

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two product

 

 

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This Week on Planet Waves: Enceno Macy Speaks

Dear Friend and Reader:

We have a fantastic interview on Planet Waves FM planned for tonight, and some great columns today on the Planet Waves blog to keep your astrological appetite sated and keep you curious.

Planet Waves
Planet Waves writer Enceno Macy embraces his mom just after his release from prison last month. Photo by Eric Francis.

Eric’s broadcast of Planet Waves FM this week features a special long-awaited interview with Enceno Macy. Enceno has been writing engaging articles for Planet Waves from within the prison system for the last three years. Almost six weeks ago, on April 5, he was finally released from prison.

Eric traveled across the country to welcome him, document the event, and speak with Enceno first hand about his experiences.

I’ve already listened to the interview, and guarantee you’ll be moved by this young man’s story, in his own voice. Eric’s interview with Enceno will post to the blog by 8 pm EDT (possibly earlier).

In Monday’s Daily Astrology post, Eric gave us a useful heads up on the rather slippery, diffuse square between Venus and Neptune that may have you feeling a little unsure of how you feel and what to do about it (checking any impulses may help).

Today’s Daily Astrology looks at some aspects the Moon is making from Cancer, the sign it rules. You may find that your moods shift frequently today and tomorrow, but there are tools available to you as you navigate your emotional waters.

Later today on the Planet Waves blog, Len Wallick offers his take on Wednesday’s “sparkly” ingress of Gemini by Mercury; that will post at noon. Also, if you missed Sarah Taylor’s Weekend Tarot Reading or Elisa Novick’s latest missive from France while on her Thriving Planet tour, they both offer wonderful insights for you to consider.

Yours and truly,

Amanda Painter

 

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Bursting Free: Solar Eclipse in Taurus

Dear Friend and Reader:

Yesterday we began our experience of a solar eclipse in Taurus. The nice thing about eclipses is that their effects last a while. Some astrologers say a few months, many say six months, though as I do lots of world horoscopes, I’ve noticed that the eclipses have effects that can last many years. So think of this as a beginning.

Planet Waves
An opening into the East Woods on the Grandmother Land in High Falls, NY. Photo by Jenna Dern.

This eclipse looks like it has the potential to be an especially long-lasting one. On Tuesday as I was doing my Planet Waves FM webcast about yesterday’s eclipse (which also includes a reading about the young women who escaped captivity in Cleveland Monday) I started to wonder when was the last solar eclipse in Taurus. In theory, it should have been about nine years ago.

That’s because eclipses move in an approximately nine-year cycle, following these points called the lunar nodes. Solar eclipses should follow the nodes, but sometimes they skip signs. I’ve seen this twice before. By my reckoning (using this reliable tool programmed by my friend Tracy), when the lunar nodes (which travel as an axis) passed through Taurus and Scorpio in the early 2000s, there were no solar eclipses in Taurus.

Therefore, the most recent solar eclipse we experienced in Taurus was during the prior nodal cycle, on April 29, 1995. There also was a solar eclipse in Taurus in the same degree as the one that happens later Thursday on May 10, 1994.

Gee, that eclipse in 1995 was 18 years ago. Why is this delay significant? Eclipses represent an evolutionary process, helping us move from one place to another. They are the most dependable events for helping us to shift continuity, let go of past habits and attachments and enter new territory.

When a type of eclipse has skipped a sign, it suggests there’s been a kind of delay or pause in the evolutionary process in the area of our lives that sign represents. It might mean ‘stuck’ and it might mean ‘extra long gestation process’ on a particular theme. Further, this suggests we have some catching up to do, with which we’ll have some help from yesterday’s significantly potent Taurus New Moon eclipse (which was exact Thursday, May 9 at 8:28 pm EDT).

Planet Waves
Rocks along the Atlantic Ocean near Portland, Maine. Photo by Eric.

This eclipse is conjunct two asteroids, to the degree: Pallas Athene and Lilith. Both Taurus and Pallas Athene are exemplary at maintaining appearances. They can create an exterior that’s impeccable, and often necessary for many kinds of social situations. Lilith, the ‘original woman’ from Medieval mythology, is what exists beneath that appearance. I read Lilith as ‘the woman within’, the one who won’t be subjugated by expectations or social circumstances.

Opposite the eclipse is Psyche in Scorpio — another image of what is under the surface: deep motives, and an element of pain, which emerges from a crisis of faith. Psyche asks the questions about how we could be loved, and whether we’re worthy of it. That’s not a statement but rather a question to resolve.

To one side of the eclipses there are squares coming from Diana and Icarus in Aquarius. There’s an element of protection (Diana, goddess of the hunt, who stands guard over young women) and an impulse to escape (Icarus, the guy caught in the maze who flew too close to the Sun).

To the other side of the eclipses is Dionysus in Leo, one of the most important mythological figures in all of ancient Greek lore. He’s described as the god of the grape harvest, of wine and of ritual madness and ecstasy. He represents another side of the impulse to escape — from the bonds of rationality.

I think the core aspect among these asteroids is Dionysus square Pallas: the inner impulse to liberate and shed the thick armor of personality, and Pallas, who in many ways embodies that armor (in which she was born). There is tension in this square, and it’s being emphasized by the eclipse (all of these aspects are within a one-degree orb of the eclipse).

Planet Waves
Photo by Eric Francis.

The theme is that something in you wants to burst free. It’s not satisfied to live for appearances, for how proper you are, how predictable, how willing to subvert your own natural desires.

This has been going on for a while, as if it’s been gradually building. You may think it’s merely an impulse to escape. I would say it’s an impulse to evolve, to make contact with the inner person you contain and allow him or her to have a voice, to experience their feelings and to have a place in the world.

Yes, other people will have to deal with it, but in fact, they always do.

This sensation might come with the feeling of bursting free, though it’s not a matter of all or nothing, but of taking sincere steps, which include taking the risk of letting people know who you are and how you feel. Remind yourself that you have nobody to impress; you’re living your life and it’s not for anyone else to tell you whether that’s right or wrong, nor for you to judge yourself based on what someone else might think.

If events conspire to make that happen a little faster than you might have expected (which can happen where there’s been a long delay, or when you’ve never tried something you really want), I suggest you go with the flow of the cosmos. She has you held in her wisdom, and knows that you were born to love and live as you choose.

Other factors in this eclipse suggest that potent spiritual forces are at work to help us get where we want and need to be. Offer your cooperation and they will return the favor.

Lovingly,

 

Planet Waves

More to Astrology than Eclipses

As the dust settles around Thursday’s solar eclipse — the first in Taurus since 1995 — there are other interesting aspects in the neighborhood. The Sun is now in the last decanate (10-degree span, or ‘face’) of the sign Taurus, which phase is ruled by Saturn. This is a message to tidy up your energy and focus your efforts on your highest priorities.

Planet Waves
Planets are starting to fan out after the eclipse in Taurus. Here, you can see the Moon, Venus and Jupiter in Gemini. From the top reading the chart counter-clockwise, Eris, Mars, the South Node, Pallas, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, the Moon, Jupiter, the Black Moon Lilith or lunar apogee, Vesta and Ceres.

The Moon ingresses Gemini on Friday at 5:21 pm. Tonight the Moon is conjunct Venus, newly in Gemini, at 8:49 pm EDT.

One of the nicest features of the solar eclipse was that the ruler of the eclipse had slipped out of Taurus and into Gemini, making the event more mentally accessible.

The Moon will make a conjunction to Jupiter Sunday at 9:32 am. This could support a weekend with the potential for easygoing conversation and a break from the heaviness of the world.

In the mix, Mercury will be conjunct Pallas in Taurus Saturday at 10:33 am. There’s another interesting aspect between a traditional planet and an asteroid — Mars will square Juno Saturday at 12:29 pm EDT. Both of these aspects suggest that your best strategy will be stating what you need and what you want rather than expecting anyone to figure it out.

The Moon ingresses Cancer Monday at 5:57 am EDT. Venus moves into a square with Neptune Monday at 4:47 pm EDT, hinting that figuring out what you feel is a process.

Don’t take any potential ambivalence as a sign that something is wrong; both Gemini and Pisces are dualistic, mutable signs, and there are a lot of potentials for how you might feel and why you might feel that way. Take your time figuring it out.

 

Planet Waves

Solar Eclipse News Roundup

It’s been an interesting few weeks leading into the first solar eclipse in Taurus since 1995. The eclipse, which happened Thursday, was conjunct the asteroid Pallas Athene, highlighting politics and also seeming to crack the facade off of what we see in the world around us.

Planet Waves
Jodi Arias was convicted of the 2008 murder of her boyfriend and potentially faces the death penalty, which she says she wants.

Among the stories we’ll remember were the Boston Marathon bombing, which resulted in a major American city being put under martial law for one day. There was the explosion of a fertilizer plant in Texas and the collapse of a factory in Bangladesh killing more than 1,000 people. There was a miracle in the factory collapse story after a woman was found alive Thursday after 17 days under the rubble.

Barbara Heist, a woman who walked out of her own life one day 11 years ago in Pennsylvania, turned up in Florida, and three girls who had been kidnapped were freed from captivity this week, after being missing since the early 2000s — a profound example of human endurance. Ariel Castro was arrested for kidnapping and rape, and could facd the death penalty — which is unlikely to happen, as prosecutors will do what they can to avoid putting the victims through testifying at a trial.

Jodi Arias was convicted by a jury of first degree murder in the 2008 slaying of her boyfriend Travis Alexander. She stabbed him 29 times and then shot him. The jury is now deliberating whether she should get the death penalty, which she has said she wants, describing death as the ultimate freedom.

Republicans continued to be obsessed over the Obama administration’s handling of the Benghazi incident last September, though this seemed more like a pre-emptive effort to derail the probable presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time. It seems like both sides in this matter are deceiving the public, with Republicans exploiting certain facts and the Obama administration unable to admit what was really going on behind the scenes.

Mark Sanford, the former governor of South Carolina, defeated Elizabeth Colbert-Busch, the sister of Stephen Colbert, for a seat in that state’s 1st congressional district. Sanford is the guy who explained his disappearance while governor by claiming he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail when he was really having an affair in Argentina. Sanford resigned as governor and as chairman of the Republican Governor’s Association, only to be re-elected to his old seat in the House of Representatives.

Planet Waves
Mark Sanford said this week that his winning the election was an experience of ‘grace’, after one of the more memorable falls from grace in recent years. AP photo.

The Palisades Nuclear Power Plant was shut down after water was found leaking for the second time into Lake Michigan. “There is no impact on the health and safety of plant employees or the public,” a spokesman for the plant’s owner said.

Eight men were charged in a $45 million international bank heist, one of the biggest bank robberies ever, which involved hacking into credit card data files to raise withdrawal limits, then stealing the cash from ATMs all over the world.

Yet among all of this news, what else happened? Most of what we experience as news is distorted by the echo chamber of the media itself. For all of our 24-hour news coverage, we hear about the same stories over and over again. They at least make an interesting gestalt to describe some manifestations of the eclipse. Yet it often seems that unlike in the 1960s, when we experienced similar astrology as we have now, we don’t see the breakthroughs, the points of progress, the reasons to celebrate, quite as much.

That may be an illusion caused by the fact that bad news gets the ratings, and the ratings sell Subarus.

 

Planet Waves

U.S. and Russia Look to Syria as Uranus-Pluto Square Approaches

After two years of brutal civil war in Syria, the U.S. is talking about increasing aid and, with the help of Russia, trying to get the two sides of the conflict to negotiate. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov, engaged in discussions in Moscow on Tuesday; Kerry telephoned European leaders from Rome the next day to begin setting the stage for a series of conferences between Syria’s government and the opposition — hopefully to begin within a month.

Planet Waves
Secretary of State John Kerry will have to do more than pray at this stage of the game. Photo: AAP.

All parties are working to “effect a transition government by mutual consent of both sides, which clearly means that in our judgment President Assad will not be a component of that transitional government,” said Kerry as he met Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh this week.

In the meantime, the Pentagon has drawn up new contingency plans based on the possibility that Syria breaks apart. According to the Wall Street Journal, proposed plans include a buffer zone in Jordan for working with an overflow of refugees and for delivering weapons and aid to Syrian rebels. Until recently, the Pentagon saw the collapse of Syria as a remote possibility; at this point, volatile regional spillover is looking more likely.

The conflict in Syria began during the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, which signaled the warm-up of the Uranus-Pluto square. The next exact contact of Uranus and Pluto — era-defining forces of upheaval, revolution and evolution — is May 20.

“The Syria message was loud and strong,” said a senior diplomat briefed on Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s trip to the Middle East last month. “Everybody’s scared. And nobody knows what the hell we are going to do there.”

In recent weeks, leaders of Arab nations have traveled to Washington, D.C. to speak directly with President Obama, “asking the U.S. to play a ‘midwife’ role.” True to the season, something is being birthed in the region, but so far it has been a long, painful and violent process largely ignored by western leaders until relatively recently.

Recalling the governmental clampdowns on social networking during the Arab Spring protests in Egypt, Google reported this week that Syria was cut off from the global Internet. The last shutdown on a similar scale in Syria occurred last November.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation notes that it is unknown whether Tuesday’s Internet shutdown was from an infrastructure cut, or a deliberate silencing of online communication. Digital media have been a critical tool connecting Syrians with the rest of the world.

 

Planet Waves

Elizabeth Smart: You Will Always Have Value

Amidst the news of the three young women in Cleveland who have finally found freedom after about a decade of imprisonment and rape, another former victim of abduction and rape is getting attention for speaking out. Elizabeth Smart, who was held captive for nine months in 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah, when she was 14, gave an address this week on the role abstinence-only ‘education’ played in keeping her from trying to escape her captors.

Planet Waves
Sex or no sex, you have worth, and it’s always greater than chewed gum — even gum with the face of Jesus on it.

Speaking at a forum on human trafficking at Johns Hopkins University, Smart described the effect of hearing a school teacher compare those who engage in pre-marital sex as being like a piece of chewing gum:

“I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m that chewed-up piece of gum, nobody re-chews a piece of gum, you throw it away.’ And that’s how easy it is to feel like you no longer have worth, you no longer have value,” Smart said.

“Why would it even be worth screaming out? Why would it even make a difference if you are rescued? Your life still has no value.”

That may be the most insidious aspect of the ‘abstinence-only’ message, even beyond the lack of information about how adolescents’ bodies work and how to prevent pregnancy and STIs: behind it all is the message that having sex makes one worthless. Smart’s sense of no longer having any inherent value as a person proved to be an incredibly powerful mental shackle even when her captors took her out in public.

Smart, who is now in her mid-twenties, runs a foundation to educate children about sexual crimes. “You will always have value,” says Smart, “and nothing can change that.”

It’s a perfect message to broadcast and celebrate in a week with so many planets, plus a solar eclipse, in Taurus; a sign all about values, worth, the physical body, sex, passion and possession — especially your self-possession.

 

Planet Waves

GMO Labeling Bill in Vermont Almost Law

The Vermont House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved a bill requiring labeling of food products containing genetically modified organisms.

Planet Waves

If it passes the House, as expected, the Senate will likely take it up in January, since the legislative session ends this weekend.

Last year, Monsanto threatened to sue the state of Vermont if lawmakers passed a GMO labeling law. They claim that state GMO labeling is unconstitutional because federal law (in this case, FDA regulations) preempts state law.

However, federal law allows states to pass laws relating to food safety or food labels when the FDA has no prior regulations or prohibitions in place, as is the case with GMO labeling.

There are more than 200 state food labeling laws in effect right now in the U.S., including a GMO fish labeling law in Alaska, laws on labeling wild rice, maple syrup, dairy quality, kosher products, and laws on labeling dairy products as rBGH-free.

Rep. William Lippert, chairman of the Vermont Judiciary Committee, told his colleagues on Tuesday that the public interest in labeling is worth the risk of a lawsuit.

For once, we have a case of a politician listening to the will of the people, and not to Monsanto.

 

Planet Waves

No End in Sight from Power-Plant Pollution

Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in southwestern Michigan was taken offline Sunday after operators discovered a leak from a water tank. Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials estimate 79 gallons of “slightly radioactive water” flowed into Lake Michigan over the weekend, according to Michigan Radio.

Planet Waves
Palisades Nuclear Power Plant. Photo: U.S. NRC.

Despite this being the second time in less than a year that the tank has leaked — and despite not knowing how radioactive the water is — officials said there is no immediate risk to the public.

A Republican-appointed regulator was being investigated last year for trying to stop an NRC probe into safety concerns at Palisades, according to the Huffington Post. NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko toured the plant in May 2012, while “a significant leak of potentially radioactive water was pouring into the control room.”

After Jaczko ordered an investigation, Commissioner William Ostendorff allegedly “shouted at the top agency investigator, Cheryl McCrary, in front of several NRC employees,” and told McCrary the inquiry would be a waste of resources, said the article.

The hands-off attitude continued this week on the Democratic side, when the Environmental Protection Agency confirmed it has no plans to issue new limits on carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. In a letter to Senate Republicans this week, the Obama nominee to head the EPA, Gina McCarthy, said the agency “is not currently developing any existing source greenhouse gas regulations,” according to Democracy Now! The EPA delayed proposed emissions limits for new power plants just last month. All wealth may come from the Earth, but the EPA and many leaders don’t seem to get what that really means.

 

Planet Waves

Only YOU Can Stand Up For What You Believe In

Planet Waves

Feel like showing how much clean water, healthy forests and free speech mean to you? Check out the designs of Lopi LaRoe, a Brooklyn, New York, screen-print artist and activist responsible for an altered Smokey the Bear meme that has the National Forest Service growling.

Depicting the iconic bear wearing a hat that says “NO FRACKING,” and with the slogan “Only you can prevent faucet fires” below him, LaRoe has radicalized a national symbol.

The t-shirts, bags and patches have “spread like wildfire,” according to LaRoe (haha) and sparked a cease-and-desist letter from the Metis Group, which acts as legal counsel for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service division. They claim Smokey is the property of the U.S. government (not public domain), and that messing with his image could “confuse the public.”

An article by Peter Rugh at Waging Nonviolence suggests they’re more concerned that she could bring attention to the fact that the Forest Service is considering approving fracking leases in the George Washington National Forest, which is near another national forest where highly toxic fracking fluid has been linked to the deaths of 150 trees in West Virginia. What would Smokey do?

 

Planet Waves

Solar Eclipse in Taurus, Featuring Many Asteroids — and the Cleveland Captives Set Free by Heracles!

The new edition of Planet Waves FM covers the powerful solar eclipse we experienced on Thursday, with effects that will reverberate for many seasons, even for years. This is the first solar eclipse in Taurus since 1995.

Planet Waves

I go over the chart of the eclipse, including taking a look at the minor planets that align with it. It’s a beautiful collection, including Pallas, Psyche, Hermes, Dionysus and the protector of young women, Diana.

I also read the chart of the 911 call made by Amanda Berry, the woman who was missing for more than 10 years. She was set free by Charles Ramsey, who turns up in the chart as Heracles. The chart describes a chilling crime scene, though a story with a happier ending than anyone (including a psychic) would have predicted.

Our program is sponsored this week by the Invocation of Spring report, which is a study in relationship dynamics. This report serves all 12 signs — with readings of about 35 minutes each, and can be used for your Sun, Moon or rising sign — or those of partners or love interests.

We also have the Taurus birthday reading available. You can listen to a tasty sample of both the astrology and the tarot segments at this link. This is an inspired, motivational reading that will guide you if you’re a Taurus Sun, Moon or rising.

Our musical guest is the folk group Girlyman, featuring their excellent musicianship and harmony vocals. Some members are working on a new record, which you can hear about at this link.

Here are the charts and more information about the eclipses.

 

Planet Waves

Your Monthly Horoscopes — and our Publishing Schedule Notes

The May monthly extended horoscopes were published Friday, April 26. Inner Space horoscopes for May were published Tuesday, April 30. We published the Moonshine horoscopes for the Scorpio Full Moon and eclipse on Tuesday, April 23. On Tuesday, May 7, we published the Moonshine horoscopes for the Taurus New Moon.
Note that the longer monthly horoscope is being incorporated into the Friday issue after the Sun has entered a new sign; a new Inner Space is generally emailed on the following Tuesday.
Planet Waves


Weekly Horoscope for Friday, May 10, 2013 #949 | By Eric Francis

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Aries (March 20-April 19) — How can you value yourself if you’re afraid to show the world who you are? The two concepts form a direct contradiction to one another. I suggest you monitor your thoughts carefully for any hint of ‘restrain yourself’ or ‘don’t say how you feel’ and notice whether these impulses are connected to the issue of worthiness. It’s true from one limited point of view that there’s an appropriate time for everything. The question is what side of the line of appropriateness do you choose to err on? You can practice conservatism as a veiled form of living in fear, or you can err on the side of expressing yourself in that moment when you might be pushing boundaries. You’re safe doing this as long as you’re actually coming from what you truly value. In the process, you’re just as likely to discover that what you thought was true for you no longer is. This implies conducting your life as an experiment, which in turn hints at not knowing the outcome in advance.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Taurus (April 19- May 20)

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — This may be a time in your life unlike any other, and I do mean in some profound ways. I am also speaking in the longterm — you’ve just experienced the first solar eclipse in your birth sign since 1995, suggesting that you can move long-stuck energy, and bring desires to fruition that have potentially been brewing all that time. Yet to take advantage of the moment and its opportunities for growth and celebrating life, it’s necessary to go beneath the image you wish to portray to the world and offer the substance you’re made of. This can be challenging if past experiences of revealing yourself have ended badly — and who hasn’t had some of those? One thing to keep in mind is that people in your environment are making contact with some of their deepest insecurities. They may or may not be revealing that; they may be more or less aware of what’s happening. Pay special attention to sexual situations that seem to provoke the fear of intimacy, or some form of jealousy. There’s more potential for healing in those situations than you may imagine.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

Hello Taurus Sun, Moon and rising sign folks! Your Taurus 2013 birthday reading is ready. I cover Saturn in your opposite sign Scorpio, as well as the current eclipses, and what it means to have so many planets in your sign, rising sign or Moon sign at this time of year. I speak to you for an hour about your relationships, your quest for independence and what looks like some special motivation to grow and become. It’s a beautiful reading, recorded with a warm, intimate feeling. You may listen as many times as you like, or download it into iTunes or another MP3 player. The tarot reading reading includes photos of the spread, the chart and access to last year’s reading if you want to check my accuracy. You can order your birthday reading here for just $24.95.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — The current astrology has you on a tour of the unknown, uncharted, unacknowledged regions of your psyche. This is likely to come with some form of the message that there’s a lot you don’t know about yourself. Few people are comfortable with that feeling, but when you’re there, you’re there. Yet sincere not knowing is the state that usually precedes sincerely finding out. If you work with this equation over the next few weeks, you’re almost certain to make some discoveries that will help you guide your life in the direction that you’ve been called for a long time. You’re unlikely to have certainty in advance that the choices you make are right. Indeed, you seem to be going through an encounter with your own doubts. You need to go beyond your opinions or your feelings to do this. Rather, document your observations, particularly those of a spiritual or self-realization nature. At times you may find yourself in a dreamlike state, and you may forget things that you see and experience. When the time comes to know and remember, you will be happy you’ve left yourself some notes.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Cancer (June 21- July 22)

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — It’s a frightful thought for most people to have their innermost self or innermost thoughts known to others. Think of all the effort that goes into putting up various veils, decoys and disguises. Consider all the thought that goes into being polite, stating things in oblique ways and even learning how to tell creative white lies. Now imagine how much energy all of this image-building creates — and tune into the feeling of how all you really want to do is be real. You may be bursting to express what is true and what is most valuable to you. I suggest you take this as a moment when you can initiate that, or step up your efforts and be more bold than usual. You may find this idea helpful. Your solar chart suggests that it’s obvious to others who you are, so you don’t need to worry about anyone finding out something new. The question is your relationship to who you actually are. Avoidance or denial will consume your energy; sincerity and willingness to be clear and vulnerable will concentrate and focus your energy.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — It’s worth considering the differences between the perception of success and actual achievement. It’s also worth considering the relationship between them — there is one. People seem more inclined to bet on who they think looks like a winner, vote for who looks like president or invest in a company with a strong image. The pattern in yesterday’s solar eclipse describes you integrating the two ideas — what you’ve accomplished and presenting what you’ve accomplished in a way that focuses attention. The chart also includes the description of a longterm project coming to fruition financially; one of the things described involves the financial rewards of your work. This is something that can grow and develop over time, on every level: economic, creative and also social. The social piece is integral to everything, since both outreach and fostering cooperation are essential to almost any venture or project that is focused on people, and these factors are especially strong. I suggest you work them consciously, because what you focus on will have a tendency to increase.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You’re being invited into a new universe of possibilities, and to get there, it’ll help significantly if you leave a number of old beliefs and mental habits behind. Many of these look like some of the stereotypical self-critical Virgo issues, though as anyone born under your sign knows, that’s neither a myth nor a legend. Be aware of all beliefs that would qualify as hostile to yourself. These have had a way of turning into a religion, and you need a better one of those — one that’s worldly and practical and that has your happiness and success as its primary goal. Speaking of religion, I’ve often noticed the extent to which people underestimate the impact of religion. This can include what came by osmosis (from various sources, ranging from grandparents to movies to the Boy Scouts). I suggest you pay attention and inquire whether any vaguely negative or self-hostile thought doesn’t have its roots in a religious notion, whether you consciously chose it or not. It’s time for a mental purge of all such influences, which will help you discover what they’ve been hiding from your view.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

Planet Waves

Libra (Sep. 22 - Oct. 23)

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — This is a time of resolving your old commitments and entanglements, and moving on to a life that may take you far from anywhere you’ve ever been before. I suggest you summon your sense of adventure and your faith in yourself and get ready to make a series of moves. Don’t waste your time delaying on resolving what you know you’re through with. Make a list of the remaining points to address or work through and set a short schedule for doing so. You are being called beyond those prior attachments, commitments and ideas of who you need to be to others. This may include being drawn to other parts of the country or the world, and beginning what looks like it could be the adventure of a lifetime. This may feel like expressing another aspect of yourself entirely, a hidden side or some parallel reality that you might not have expressed under more typical circumstances. Yet if ever there was a rare moment in your life, this is it.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Give partners or loved ones a chance to meet you on their own terms — and see if that’s acceptable to you. There’s a good chance that when someone you care about or have an interest in finds their own way in life, it will have some significant overlap with your ideas or your plans. Yet a key element in this scenario is that whoever we’re talking about comes to whatever conclusion or decision they are going to make on their own, rather than under your influence. Part of what they’re experiencing is feeling too influenced by others, and wanting with every cell in their body not to feel that pressure. As for your own involvement, it would be healthy of you to diversify a bit, and to explore a concept of relationship that does not insist on a high level of attachment or even involvement. Our marriage-obsessed culture tends to do things backwards, like set a goal of a ‘permanent’ partner rather than exploring a process of seeing who you trust, who you like and what you have in common.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — It’s important to know how much is enough, which includes enough work, enough attention to your health, enough time or effort spent on something and enough emphasis on the idea of relationships rather than the reality. No sign description of Sagittarius that you’ll ever read would say, “These people are good at living a balanced life,” though it’s clear that one of the inevitable longterm projects you’re involved with is one of balance. The way the scale is tipping right now, some balance in the direction of what actually makes you happy would serve you well. This would include being alert for what aggravates, irritates and eats your energy. I suggest you also be alert for what you have not completed, and set about the task of wrapping things up with that person or aspect of your life. At the moment, everything in your chart is guiding you in the direction of closure. You’re about to have access to a lot of energy — I do mean a lot — and you don’t want to waste it dragging behind you anything you don’t really want or need.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — I’ve described this week’s solar eclipse as moving heaven and Earth — and that is certainly true for you. Eclipses have long-lasting effects; this one isn’t over. It actually just began, and what’s interesting is that there hasn’t been a solar eclipse in Taurus since 1995 — an unusually long time. So this signifies setting free an awesome amount of energy in the creative zone of your chart — your solar 5th house of play, art, pleasure and sex for fun. Since it’s also about children, you might want to monitor changes in their lives if you have any, though let’s stick to you. You could say that this eclipse is about letting go in all of the places where you’ve tended to hold back. As you let go, you may notice that some deeper themes or issues come up. Creativity, love, passion and pleasure all tend to bring up everything unlike themselves. So as you explore your more expressive side, leave some room for what comes up for healing — and the energy to address that.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You may think that you have to get your life in order, or feel perfectly secure, before you dare to express yourself creatively. However, that’s a setup for not expressing yourself much at all, since it’s rare that our lives are in perfect order (and besides, creativity thrives with at least a dash of chaos or challenge). It’s worth questioning these kinds of if/then statements: if I’m healed, or perfect, I can do this or that. Often the healing or the ‘perfecting’ comes in the process of creation, or of somehow taking action. Said another way, creative and sexual experiences are part of the normal flow of life, not the outcome of some special effort, or state of deserving. The confidence you seek you will find through taking chances, not by waiting until you’re confident to take a chance. There may be some obvious signs that this is true, for example an alluring opportunity that you might try if you felt up to it, but which you can still try, even if you’re not sure.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — We’ve all heard the term “Think globally, act locally.” The idea is reputed to come from a Scottish town planner and urban theorist named Patrick Geddes (1854-1932). Geddes also gave us the idea of a ‘region’ and coined the term ‘conurbation’, which describes a metropolitan area where towns and cities seem to overlap. These are all themes that relate to how Thursday’s solar eclipse aspected your chart. In a sense, it’s about claiming the space you occupy, though it’s more of the regional space: your community and local slice of the orange on which you live. It’s also describing your relationship to your neighbors and the people in your community, encouraging you to invest your energy locally to the greatest extent possible. There’s likely to be a beautiful result if you do. One other thing — this is the year when you take concrete steps to improve your quality of life, specifically in the spaces that you occupy. This happens every now and then, though the conditions are perfect for creating more space, better space and better use of space. That, in turn, is about creating harmony between your life and your world.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two product

 

 

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Taurus New Moon Edition

Dear Friend and Reader:

This Thursday, May 9, at 8:28 pm EDT the Taurus New Moon will form an annular (not annual) solar eclipse. Although it may not be visible from where you are, astrologically this is still a powerful moment — and we’ve entered the on-ramp into that vortex already.

Planet Waves

In today’s Moonshine horoscopes, Genevieve Hathaway has interpreted this Taurus New Moon solar eclipse for each of the 12 Moon signs. Your Moon sign is where the Moon was when you were born, which you can find out by entering your birth data into Serennu.com. It helps to have your birth time but often that is not necessary. You can also try reading these horoscopes for your Sun and rising signs for additional layers of insight.

Because this week’s eclipse is a South Node eclipse — meaning that the Sun and Moon are conjunct the lunar South Node in Taurus (a calculated point) — the emphasis is on releasing what is no longer serving you (beliefs, things, relationships and especially values) to make room for what fits your life now. It’s also a time to remember and recognize the gifts and talents you have that are so second nature, you tend to take them for granted. Appreciate them by putting them to work for you.

There’s an impressive collection of planets aligned with this eclipse. Many are in Taurus, including Mars (if you allow about 5 degrees of wiggle room), Mercury, and the asteroid Pallas Athene. If you broaden your lens to look at a larger array of minor planets, it turns out there are quite a number in the four fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius) hanging out near the eclipse degree.

You can see a listing of those planets here on Eric’s Facebook page, where a discussion about them is forming. Eric will also be covering some of the themes they represent in his broadcast of Planet Waves FM later tonight (Tuesday), and Genevieve will offer her take on the eclipse in a blog post Thursday morning.

One last thought, just to emphasize the point of the current astrology: we are in a period of being able to engage in willful, progressive decision-making from now through Thursday’s eclipse. In other words, this is a time when you can recognize and let go of what does not work — and just as importantly, you can integrate what does work. There are two steps to the process, but both steps require being willing to see what you’re being shown — which, in truth, are things you already know.

New Moons and eclipses may create darkness in the sky above us, but metaphorically that means you get a clearer view of what’s within, minus all the shiny, bright distractions around you. The idea is to make decisions on what truly matters; you know exactly where those things live.

Yours and truly,

Amanda Painter

 

Planet Waves

These Moonshine Horoscopes are written by Genevieve Hathaway. Genevieve is an astrologer and Planet Waves contributor. She is available for astrology readings. You can contact her at genevieve@venusinblue.com.


Moonshine Horoscopes by Genevieve Hathaway

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Aries (March 20-April 19) — What do you value? Pull out a pen and paper and make a list of that which is most important to you. Making a list will provide a concrete way to gather your thoughts and sort through new information regarding what you think of as important. Are you at the top of that list? At the moment, you are connecting with a certain doubt that has been floating around your psyche for a long time. So long it may have seemed like the normal state of your existence. I’m not referring to any kind of self-esteem crisis, rather a deep and pervasive sensation that you could not quite measure up to the vision you held for yourself and your place in the world. There has been some block that you thought you could not get around. As the Taurus New Moon takes place this week, you come into contact with the fact that this is only perception, not truth. This realization will bring you a long way in resolving any doubt you’ve held about yourself, bringing a greater sense of confidence in your ability to be an active and successful participant in guiding the direction of your life. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Taurus (April 19- May 20)

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You are moving through a period of time where your life may seem to accelerate, almost too quickly for you to comprehend. It’s like you are moving through a series of doors, quickly going from point A to point D, at a speed so quick you may not even register doors B or C. For you, who likes to take your time before making any changes or decisions, this could be disconcerting or frustrating. I propose a question: what additional benefit does examining the intermediate steps along the way bring? Doors B and C are just means to reach your final destination. I suggest going with the flow of the quickly-moving events. Let go of expectations of where you will end up, instead flowing with where the changes take you. What is on offer is a rapid re-alignment of your core values, bringing you into contact with a deeper and richer sense of who you are and what you desire. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

Hello Taurus Sun, Moon and rising sign folks! Your Taurus 2013 birthday reading is ready. I cover Saturn in your opposite sign Scorpio, as well as the current eclipses, and what it means to have so many planets in your sign, rising sign or Moon sign at this time of year. I speak to you for an hour about your relationships, your quest for independence and what looks like some special motivation to grow and become. It’s a beautiful reading, recorded with a warm, intimate feeling. You may listen as many times as you like, or download it into iTunes or  another MP3 player. The tarot reading reading includes photos of the spread, the chart and access to last year’s reading if you want to check my accuracy. You can order your birthday reading here for just $24.95.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — A pattern or habit, which may not have been apparent to you before, is now becoming obvious, like it’s moving out of a blind spot and into full view. A door opens that allows you to step in and examine this material, allowing you to decide how to re-arrange the system by which you operate. For a while, there has been a gap in information that has affected your life story even if you didn’t know it. You are gaining insight into the ways you unconsciously tried to please other people at your own expense, ignoring one of your own boundaries in the process. Gaining this awareness allows you to now address this habitual response to others. Focus on how you can make different choices and decisions in the future. You have a lot of help at the moment to do things differently. I suggest taking one decision at a time, making one change at a time. Before long you’ll be able to look back and see how far you’ve come, through a series of small changes. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Cancer (June 21- July 22)

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Who is in your larger network and why? That last part is of particular significance. Part of standing in our own personal authority is taking ownership over the process of selecting who is around us. I suggest you take this one step further — rather than only selecting who enters your personal sphere, take steps to seek out the kinds of people you wish to fill your network. You can think of this as building a community of mentors, friends, colleagues and even acquaintances who add something of benefit to your life. The first step is identifying who you want around you and then reaching out to build relationships with those types of people. You are in a particularly influential moment and it won’t take much of a reach to connect with some people with whom you’ve wished to surround yourself. Focus on who you want around you, rather than whether or not the person will reciprocate your efforts to build a relationship. I suggest not getting distracted by any sense of doubt as to whether or not every person will respond to your efforts to connect; ultimately, enough will. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — An important work or career opportunity is presenting itself. This opening may seem to have arrived suddenly, though in truth you’ve been preparing and working toward it for a while. You are wrestling with a lingering sense of uncertainty about whether you have the skills and personal resources to capitalize on the rapid changes and progress in your work. I propose quickly dropping this notion and not questioning whether you can accomplish the new task ahead. Any sense of not being able to seize this opportunity is based on attitudes and perceptions from childhood. What you are running up against is a wounding that goes back many generations in your family. Identify it for what it is and realize that it does not inform who you actually are and where you are going. Instead, stay grounded in the experiences and skills you do have. You have more than enough knowledge and skill to make the leap. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You’re at your happiest when the little things in life are ironed out. When details are straight and your environment is orderly and those around you are appreciating how hard you work, you feel good. Yet, this can at times lead you to over-plan, or to place too much emotional attachment into details of situations. The specifics are important in life, but can’t provide an entire picture of the landscape of any series of events. Space is opening for you to access a greater perspective that allows you to appreciate the larger picture rather than focusing too much on the details. You can also think of this as giving yourself and others grace to move within nuances of developments rather than following a set script. Take note of how you feel when you test out this new perspective on the events in your life. What you are connecting with is a new philosophy based on a greater degree of acceptance for the imperfections in the world — it isn’t just a new viewpoint but also a resource enabling you to apply greater flexibility to situations. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

Planet Waves

Libra (Sep. 22 - Oct. 23)

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — You are working through a kind of sexual negotiation based on what you value rather than present rules of society. Part of approaching any sexual relationship from an authentic place is treating yourself and the other party as distinct individuals who are growing, changing and learning. Negotiations are a form of relating that helps both parties understand where the other is coming from. It involves giving something while also having your needs met. It’s a type of conversation and dialogue where both parties ultimately benefit. This type of communication takes practice and patience in holding space for you and your partner to share such intimate desires. At the moment, you have the necessary language to move this sexual negotiation along quite far. As you work through these negotiations, remember — the truth is erotic. Working from that premise will help facilitate an open dialogue that can lead to some truly erotic, intimate and soul-fulfilling sexual experiences. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — You are someone who values depth and unhindered honesty. You respect the truth. You are being called to bring this level of depth and straight-forward honesty to your relationships. A current situation with a partner may be challenging you in ways you had not expected. It’s pushing you to share a part of yourself that you have been scared to share in the past. Your internal world has many secret layers or hidden rooms that you rarely let others enter because of the deeply personal and vulnerable material contained there. Available at the moment is an opportunity to rewrite some very old patterns of only sharing filtered parts of yourself with partners. This is a form of intimacy, one that comes from showing up as vulnerable and honest in your relationships. Sharing yourself in this way with a partner may feel like a risk, but it’s one that is worth taking. Trust that a partner will show up and answer you with his or her own vulnerabilities and insecurities. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — This week as the Moon and Sun meet in Taurus, your astrology is indicating a burst of energy in your emotional and physical bodies. This may come with the sensation of your body and emotions working as one unit. You can also think of this in terms of balance, with both aspects of you working together in a healthy harmony. Part of working from this balanced place is listening to the signals that both parts of you are sending. Consciously know what nurtures each and build that into your daily life. At the moment, what you are accessing is a well of energy, a type of renewable power source, that you can draw on to achieve your goals. Shift and alter routines and habits to facilitate these two parts of yourself working increasingly as a cohesive unit. Once you set these new structures and patterns, it won’t take much to keep this internal energy source charged and accessible. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — You are tapping into a willingness to experiment and take new approaches to situations. It’s as though a certain rigid structure you have lived with is dissolving, leaving you with the flexibility to try a few new ideas. I suggest applying this new sense of open possibilities to an important project you’ve been working on. For a Moon sign that is used to fixed structures, having many options could feel somewhat disconcerting. I suggest following that feeling and pushing ahead out of your comfort zone. Experimentation is a process that involves testing the waters and seeing what happens, then making adjustments as a result of what you learn. Through this process of trial and error you will be able to continue to refine your project’s evolution. Keeping your options open will enable you to shift and move with the new information you learn. As you continue to work the fine edge of the options at your disposal, you will hit on the one that leads your project to the progress you want. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You are in a moment of realization about a question you’ve been wrestling with for a while. This has to do with the nature of your internal world. At times it may have felt like you were having endless heated discussions with yourself about your place in the outer world. You’ve fought a doubt you’ve had about your ability to attain your highest goals or vision for your life. What you desired may have seemed impractical or too out of reach. I pose a question: who defines what is possible?  You have a lot more creative power than you think. Think of what you envision for your life like a piggy bank. Each time you invest time and love into where you wish to go, a penny gets added to the bank. The piggy bank won’t be full of pennies right away but, as you continue to add pennies and hold your vision, eventually you’ll have a full bank. In terms of the real world, this represents your arrival at your final destination; you are much closer than you think, so remain focused on what you want no matter now impossible it may seem. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — As someone with a Pisces Moon, you are heavily influenced by your environment. You’re a kind of psychic and emotional sponge, soaking up the energy around you. Lately, you’ve been learning quite a bit about the connection between your environment and how you feel. By environment I mean everything from who you are around to the kind of neighborhood you live in. You pick up on the energy given off by people and places.  An opening is available to make some lasting changes in terms of what is in your environment and how it provides you with grounding for a balanced and nurturing emotional state. First, start from a point of living each day in mindfulness. You can think of this as consciously observing who and what influences your energy. Then take steps to choose what surrounds you; limit your exposure to situations, surroundings and people that deplete your energy. Ultimately, you are learning to be the steward of your emotional energy as well as your environment. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two product

 

 

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Taurus New Moon Eclipse — and Your Moonshine Horoscopes

Dear Friend and Reader:

I hope you enjoyed Beltane weekend, whether you celebrated outdoors or in, solo or with others. We’re coming up on the Taurus New Moon (Thursday) and Genevieve Hathaway has written a set of Moonshine horoscopes, which you can read here, especially for the occasion.

Planet Waves
Annular Eclipse at Sunrise. Photo by Anthony Ayiomamitis.

This New Moon is also an annular (not annual) solar eclipse in Taurus, flanked by several planets in the sign of the bull (a regular herd). This is the second of two eclipses along the Taurus-Scorpio axis, and in two weeks, we’ll have a third eclipse on the Gemini-Sagittarius axis. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves — this week is rather special.

In Monday’s Daily Astrology post on the Planet Waves blog, Eric discussed Thursday’s eclipse in the context of Beltane season. He’ll be taking his last look at this New Moon eclipse in tonight’s broadcast of Planet Waves FM, which usually posts by 8 pm EDT (often earlier). Eric will also investigate the astrology of the three abducted women finally rescued from the house where they had been kept by three brothers in Cleveland for about 10 years.

Today’s Daily Astrology post asks you to consider Mercury’s message as it conjoins Mars in Taurus and aspects two other planets. We’re entering a rare opening for conscious and progressive decision-making, a hot-spot of energy on the way to the eclipse vortex. At around noon EDT today Len Wallick offers his take on Venus entering Gemini Thursday morning, another landmark on our way to the eclipse.

Finally, if you are a Taurus (by Sun, Moon or rising sign) or know a Taurus, there has never been a better year to treat yourself or a loved one to the Taurus Birthday Reading Eric has recorded. This is your moment, bulls.

Yours and truly,

Amanda Painter

 

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Beltane: All Wealth Comes from the Earth

Dear Friend and Reader:

A few times I got to hang out with one of my now-departed neighbors in the Hudson Valley, legendary music agent Alfred Schweitzman. His client list reads like the roster of our most beloved crop of Ulster County rock stars (including The Band and Todd Rundgren) among many others. He used to give the best New Year’s Eve parties and we once smoked the peace pipe in his cherry-paneled office.

Planet Waves
Fae on the Grandmother Land. Photo by Eric Francis.

“All wealth comes from the Earth,” he would say. He was very wealthy and he liked to say it often, as if making the point made the idea stronger in his consciousness. When I first met him I was pretty new at astrology, though I knew enough to know how much sense this idea makes. It’s something I’ve considered many times and that’s the theme of this time of year — the season of Beltane.

The structure of the old religion, the calendar, made sense — without a lot of religiosity packed around what people did at different times of year. There was a time for every purpose, a concept we’ve nearly forgotten exists. For example, Samhain (pronounced sah-wen) establishes a relationship with death and the ancestors, and this tends to run through many cultures as a conscious focus around the time of Halloween, the final harvest.

Nature and its cycles are the basis of what we think of as organic, and in the spring, the world is coming back to life after the long winter. The festival to celebrate that is Beltane, traditionally celebrated May 1.

There is some debate about whether this is really the peak of spring or the start of summer (in the social rather than technical sense). The first week of May is the halfway point between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice (in the Northern Hemisphere).

The word Beltane originates from an old language called Lowland Scottish (the culture from which the holiday seems to originate), and earlier, from Gaelic, with a probable literal meaning of “blazing fire” or “to shine, flash, burn.” And that is exactly what the planets are doing right now.

For most purposes, I count Beltane as May 5, the day the Sun passes over the midpoint between equinox and solstice, though I give it a wide berth. The Sun reaches the Taurus midpoint this year at 4:18 am EDT on Sunday, May 5. Taurus is a passionate sign, and at the moment it’s on fire, and it’s gleaming. Present in Taurus are Mercury, Venus, Mars, the Sun, the South Node, and asteroid Pallas Athene. That’s quite a collection of energies. The Moon will be in Pisces at that time, in harmony with Venus-ruled Taurus.

Planet Waves
Photo by Eric Francis.

To emphasize the point, Beltane is followed up by an eclipse of the Sun on May 9, and surrounded by two lunar eclipses — this is a moment of change and potentially beautiful progress. Eclipses are points of no return. Aim your mind and your intentions and you can be transported closer to your desires.

That all said, here’s my metaphysical summary of Beltane. All wealth comes from the Earth, and the Earth is our Goddess. Beltane is the time to honor the Earth and to love the Goddess, and one happy way to do this is through sexual exchange that’s consciously a celebration of life. I know that all sex is in theory a celebration of life, but for many people it doesn’t feel that way, and this idea might be something new. Indeed, the corruption of sex is inextricable from our corruption of the planet and our obsession with money.

Beltane is the time to make love in a conscious way, experiencing the pleasure of existence and honoring the planet we live on, and honoring women. This in turn is a way of expressing gratitude for the abundance that comes from the Earth (all the resources we need for physical life are generously provided by Gaia) and women (who are the vehicle through which physical life is gestated). If possible, make love outside, close to the Earth or on the Earth, for that extra experience of direct contact.

However you choose to celebrate this moment, whether by yourself or with others, allow yourself to be the vehicle through which the Goddess expresses herself. This can work no matter what your gender or sexual orientation.

Whatever you do, this is a great time of year to offer a big THANK YOU to the planet and the cycles of nature that gestate, birth and support our lives.

Lovingly,

For PW Members: Free Digital Issue of The Mountain Astrologer

The Mountain Astrologer is considered the best English-language astrology journal. There aren’t many left; TMA has persevered through the rising tide of the Internet, publishing six times a year. It now has a digital edition. I’ve been writing for TMA lately; last year I did an article introducing TMA’s readers to my work with Eris and the centaurs (free download). In an upcoming issue I’ll also have a major investigative feature, which I will leave under wraps for now.

Planet Waves
In addition to a whole free issue of TMA, you can get a copy of this article that took me 15 years to research and six hours to write.

TMA is very good at what it does. It was one of the first astrology resources I discovered, and it helped me get my start in the business. It offers a carefully edited, selective, balanced presentation of astrology. It has some excellent standing features, including resources for following planetary movements that are not available on the ‘net.

As one of its writers I’ve been impressed at the thoughtfulness, care and quality of editing that goes into the publication — really, the kind of attention usually saved for poetry. The publisher, Tem Tarriktar, is one of those ‘I’m not really a designer’ people who creates a beautiful, easy to read layout.

Planet Waves and TMA are doing a kind of sample swap — we’ve extended an offer for a five-week Planet Waves subscription to their readers, and TMA is offering a free digital edition to our readers — the 112-page current April/May edition.
You’ll get it as a digital flipbook and also have access to each article as a downloadable PDF file. Digital-only subscriptions are available.

It’s fun doing this kind of exchange, to cross-pollinate our readerships, in the early ethos of the Internet. I think that Planet Waves and TMA are the perfect complement, and they’ve been very nice to us.

Here’s the link to get your free digital issue.

If you have any problem with accessing your free sample issue, please email TMA at digital@mountainastrologer.com.

Enjoy — and please let me know how you like it. — efc

 

Planet Waves

B is for Beltane — and an Eclipse

By my reckoning Beltane is Sunday at 4:18 am EDT, meaning that’s when the Sun reaches the midpoint of Taurus. That in turn is the midpoint between the equinox and the solstice (known as the cross-quarter). It’s a tipping point of the year and for us in the Northern Hemisphere, a moment when we know spring has actually arrived.

Planet Waves
Kermit and his pet B.

That is, unless you live in that swath of Iowa, Kansas or Minnesota — hardy people out there, who are currently buried under enough snow to require front-end loaders to move it out of the way.

Beltane is a time for the ritual of Hieros Gamos — playing out the sexual communion between God and Goddess, symbolic of the harmonization of opposites. We spend a lot of time frustrated with our opposite, and this is a time to release that and reach a natural state of harmony.

For this event, the Moon is in Pisces, and Mercury, Venus, Mars and Pallas Athene are all in Taurus. It’s quite a chart. Mercury is making an opposition to Saturn in Scorpio. Since we’re on the topic of sex (apropos of Beltane) this aspect is worth a moment of reflection along the theme of sexual communication.

There is potentially an imbalance to be aware of here. You’re not hallucinating if you notice that many people put a lot of energy into stuffing or otherwise denying their desire. There are many reasons for this: fear, the notion of losing control, the need to feel like a moral person, not having a model for how to express the energy, some form of old pain or grief, guilt, shame, etc. — and it’s very difficult to negotiate with these emotions.

But Mercury wants to; it wants retrograde Saturn to open up and let out some of its feelings. Mercury is asking Saturn not to be so invested in the past. Mercury in Taurus makes perfect sense, but this is not about sense. I would suggest that instead of trying to convince anyone to change, or waiting for it to happen, that you find people on your wavelength and share with them. Otherwise what you’re doing is making someone else’s hangup into your own, which becomes a kind of excuse not to be free to choose for yourself.

Planet Waves
Created by Good Vibrations; endorsed by Pres. Obama, the Tea Party, the FDA and Planet Waves.

“Trying to get someone to open up” sounds like trying to work out parental material with a partner; that rarely works.

This is a special Beltane season, since there’s an eclipse coming on May 9 at 8:28 pm EDT. We’ve covered this eclipse in a recent SKY column. The eclipse also contains a cautionary note about parental material — it’s conjunct Pallas Athene. That’s a caution about doing things designed to get your dad to approve of you.

One nice element in the eclipse chart is that Venus will have moved into Gemini by then, where it’s open to additional viewpoints, and more concerned with having a good time than it is with monogamy or commitment. Mars in Taurus is closer to the South Node, so it’s an integral element of the eclipse. There’s a message there about being aware of attachment, and what that means as opposed to loving someone. You don’t need to let go of desire or pleasure or even love when you let go of attachment; what would help is if you have enough self-esteem to recognize that love is real.

Which brings me to masturbation month. Sometime in the 1990s, the Good Vibrations sex toy stores in San Francisco and Berkeley designated May as Masturbation Month. This is interesting given that Beltane is the season of coupling, but I associate Taurus, where the Sun is through most of May, with masturbation. Think of this is Hieros Gamos with yourself.

Plenty of what goes on within a person involves conflict between and among various inner male and inner female archetypes, and explored consciously, it’s possible to have a lot of fun and bring yourself into tune.

 

Planet Waves

Evidence that Politics Can be Deadly

Wilhelm Reich said that politics is the most neurotic form of human interrelation. Sen. Pat Toomey, the Republican co-sponsor of the failed background check bill, demonstrates just how true that is. He admitted that many Republicans didn’t support the law, which would prevent felons, terrorists and domestic abusers from buying high-powered weapons, or any weapons for that matter — because they didn’t want Pres. Obama to have a political victory.

Planet Waves
Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania says Republicans didn’t want to be seen helping Obama, even if that meant keeping assault rifles out of the hands of terrorists.

“In the end, it didn’t pass because we’re so politicized. There were some on my side who did not want to be seen helping the president do something he wanted to get done, just because the president wanted to do it,” Toomey said.

“The toughest thing to do in politics is to do the right thing when your supporters think the right thing is something else,” he added. I guess this is what you would call ‘a man of character’.

His comments came in an interview Tuesday with a roundtable of Digital First Media editors in the offices of the Times Herald newspaper in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

According to the editors at the meeting, Toomey then tried to walk back his comment, saying he meant to say Republicans in general, not just his GOP colleagues in the Senate.

Toomey was one of four Republicans who voted in favor of a measure to expand the background check system so that it covers private sales at gun shows and online. Five Democrats voted against the proposal (including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who voted no so he could bring the bill back up later).

With reporting from CNN

 

Planet Waves

Living Your Truth: First NBA Player Comes Out

For the first time in the United States, there is an openly gay male athlete playing a professional team sport. Amid speculation over the last few months that this would happen in one of the four major team sports, NBA center Jason Collins came out in a Sports Illustrated editorial. His announcement in the web version of the magazine coincided with this week’s opposition of Mars in Taurus and Saturn in Scorpio: a perfect image of his sense of self-worth and personal determination to stand up to the authoritarian secrecy of pro sports.

Planet Waves
Newly ‘out’ NBA player Jason Collins; you can call him Mars. Photo by Kwaku Alston for Sports Illustrated.

“I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport,” writes Collins in the forthcoming May 6 issue. “But since I am, I’m happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn’t the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, ‘I’m different.’ If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I’m raising my hand.”

Collins, a 12-year veteran and, according to NBA Commissioner Davis Stern, “a widely respected player and teammate throughout his career,” cited the Boston Marathon bombings as motivation to come out because the event, “reinforced the notion that I shouldn’t wait for the circumstances of my coming out to be perfect. Things can change in an instant, so why not live truthfully?”

For years, Collins made a quiet, coded statement about his sexuality, wearing the number 98 on his jersey to commemorate the year gay college student Matthew Shepard was beaten to death in Wyoming, and the founding of a suicide prevention program.

Collins also cited former Stanford University roommate and current Massachusetts congressman Joe Kennedy as inspiration when he learned that Kennedy had attended the 2012 Boston Gay Pride parade. Collins writes, “I’m seldom jealous of others, but hearing what Joe had done filled me with envy. I was proud of him for participating but angry that as a closeted gay man I couldn’t even cheer my straight friend on as a spectator.”

The reaction to Collins’s announcement was overwhelmingly positive as he received support from several current and former players as well as politicians and celebrities. Prominent among his supporters was gay rights pioneer and former professional tennis player Martina Navratilova, who came out 32 years ago to a much chillier media reaction. Navratilova, winner of 59 total major tennis titles, believes that Collins’s action will save lives: “…there is no doubt in my mind. There is some kid out there who is not going to commit suicide because Jason is out.”

 

Planet Waves

Give Life, Refuse to Take Life… and Face Jail Time

On one level, declaring conscientious objector (CO) status while in the military is an affirmation of the sanctity of life. To some, opposing a war is punishable with prison time — even if you’re the mother of four with another child on the way, as is Kimberly Rivera. She’s currently facing 10 months in a military prison, during which she will give birth.

Planet Waves
Kimberly Rivera and her family. Photo: We Move to Canada.

In 2006, Private First Class Rivera deployed to Iraq as a gate guard in Baghdad — a critical role. She realized that if called to, she could not pull the trigger and take a life; and that not doing so would likely mean the lives of her fellow soldiers. Seeking the counsel of her chaplain, she was essentially told to suck it up and complete her mission, rather than being told about regulation AR 600-43, which would have given her the right to request status as a CO.

Knowing no other recourse, she decided to refuse a second tour of duty in Iraq, and crossed the border into Canada while on leave in January 2007. She was an active member of her community in Toronto and made attempts to legally emigrate — endorsed by Canada’s War Resisters Support Campaign and Desmond Tutu — until last year when Canadian officials ordered her to leave the country. She turned herself in at the border.

Charged by a court-martial with desertion, Rivera could have faced up to five years of prison. In comparison, 10 months may not seem like much; try telling that to her four children, ages two, five, eight and eleven. That she will have to give birth in prison is especially harsh, given that many soldiers charged with desertion serve no time.

“The judge doesn’t really give the rationale for why he made the decision he did,” said Rivera’s lawyer, James Branum, on Democracy Now! this week. “As long as 24 months has been given. But many other resisters receive little jail time or no jail time. And people that desert, generally, over 90 percent do no jail time at all. And so, we feel that Kim was singled out.”

Branum continued, “The prosecutor at trial said that he asked the judge to give a harsh sentence to send a message to the war resisters in Canada.”

You can send a message about the arbitrariness of this decision and support this mother’s decision not to take a life through a campaign to ask for clemency for Rivera.

 

Planet Waves

Attention Birds and Bees: Restrictions on Plan B Partially Lifted

As if on cue to help us celebrate Beltane, on Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration approved a proposal to make Plan B (the emergency contraceptive or ‘morning after pill’) more accessible to women. Plan B would be available over the counter, thereby allowing women to access it even when a store’s pharmacy window is closed. The new proposal would also allow teens at least 15 years old to purchase Plan B without a prescription, if they show proof of age (currently girls must be 17).

Planet Waves
Kathleen Sebelius and her arch-nemesis, Plan B emergency contraception. Beltane, basketball, Plan B, honeybees, birds and bees… This week’s Planet Waves has been brought to you by
the letter B. Photo: AP/Evan Vucci/Salon.

Under the former regulations, the ability to take Plan B within 24 hours, which increases its efficacy, can be delayed by limited pharmacy hours — and, sometimes, by pharmacists influenced by their political or religious views. (Consider law student Hilary McKinney in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who went to Target with her boyfriend, and sent him to the counter to pick up the prescription: the pharmacist refused. When McKinney confronted her, she was told, “I can’t sell it to men. Who knows what they could be doing with it?”)

Some groups, such as Planned Parenthood, are applauding the FDA’s decision as a “step in the right direction.” Others, including the Center for Reproductive Rights, called it “still disappointing because by retaining an age restriction that the FDA had previously determined was unnecessary, women of all ages must surmount barriers to getting the morning-after pill.” The Family Research Council is concerned that over-the-counter availability will mean that teens most at risk for STIs will circumvent medical screenings.

The FDA’s decision came in response to — but stopped just short of — U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman’s mandate on April 5 that all restrictions be lifted on the sale of Plan B, making it available over the counter to women of all ages. Korman had called the Obama administration’s failure to make the medication more fully available despite the recommendations of its own scientific staff “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable,” according to an NPR story.

On Wednesday the Justice Department announced they would appeal Korman’s decision to abolish all age restrictions on Plan B. The New York Times has suggested that the Justice Department’s decision was likely based “not only on the substance of the judge’s ruling, but also the precedent the ruling would set in countermanding an order by a White House cabinet member, Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services.”

Yet Sebelius herself made an unprecedented move when, in 2011, she overruled the FDA after it had moved to lift all age restrictions based on scientific research, and blocked the sale of Plan B to teens without a prescription.

 

Planet Waves

Monsanto Investigates Its Own Failure

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has given Monsanto 60 days to investigate the engineering and safety of the water treatment system at its new phosphate mine in southeast Idaho after an earthen holding pond sprung a leak, creating a sediment plume of 100 feet and sending an estimated 3 million gallons of water into an adjacent wetland.

 

Planet Waves

Monsanto reported the failure to state and government regulators on March 29. The company then began an internal review of the network of ponds designed to manage and collect storm water and snowmelt at the Blackfoot Bridge Mine near Soda Springs.

Blackfoot Bridge, in southeast Idaho’s phosphate patch, will begin operations later this year. The mine has a 17-year life expectancy and will supply Monsanto with a key ingredient in its Roundup weed killer.

The biggest environmental threat from phosphate mining comes from selenium, a byproduct created when water interacts with mine waste rock. The construction plan for Blackfoot Bridge Mine, in a region with a history of pollution by the mining industry, includes state-of-the-art engineering to avoid this scenario.

But environmentalists are not convinced even this will avoid future catastrophes.

“It only goes to show that no matter how well-designed, how good the intentions are, things like this inevitably happen,” said Marv Hoyt, with the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, a group that worked during the permitting process for tougher safeguards. “This was a relatively minor incident. But our concern is that this never happen again.”

 

Planet Waves

A Victory for European Bees — and Sex, Plant-Style

On Monday, the European Union announced plans to restrict the use of three pesticides that may be responsible for a worldwide bee ‘die-off’ in recent years. Coming during Beltane season, this move affirms not just the environment, but the process that catalyzes plants to bear fruit — an image of sexual reproduction and interconnectedness from which humans often divorce themselves.

Planet Waves
A beekeeper seeking to ban pesticides stands next to Bernie the Avaaz Bee in front of the European Council and Commission in Brussels on Monday. Photo: Yves Logghe/AP.

Fifteen EU nations voted for the restrictions, eight were against and four abstained.

EU Consumer Commissioner Tonio Borg said his agency will override the deadlock and move “in the coming weeks” to restrict three neonicotinoid pesticides on plants and cereals that attract bees, according to The Washington Post. Neonicotinoids are one of the world’s most widely used insecticides.

The ban takes effect Dec. 1 for two years unless decisive new information becomes available. Major chemical companies, who are against the ban, argue that scientific data supporting it is lacking.

Beekeepers worldwide have reported an unusual decline in bees over the past decade, particularly in Western Europe, according to the European Food Safety Authority. Bees are critically important, because they pollinate one in every three crops produced — including most of the food crops in Europe, it said.

Borg said bees contribute more than 22 billion euros ($29 billion) a year to European agriculture.

“Today’s pesticide ban throws Europe’s bees a vital lifeline,” said Iain Keith of the Avaaz environmental group. “Europe is taking science seriously and must now put the full ban in place to give bees the breathing space they need.”

In the U.S., several national environmental advocacy organizations and commercial beekeepers filed suit in March against the Environmental Protection Agency for its conditional registration of some neonicotinoids. It said the agency did not properly ensure environmental health protections, particularly for pollinators.

The EPA is now reviewing its registration of neonicotinoids and has speeded up the review schedule due “to uncertainties about these pesticides and their potential effects on bees.”

Hopefully the EPA will align with the EU’s position and honor Gaia — though that may require increased public pressure more than hope.

 

Planet Waves

Planet Waves

Or Are You Just Happy to See Me?

Even Earth’s planetary neighbors are celebrating Beltane with her this year: last week NASA’s two Mars Exploration Rovers made the news for drawing what appears to be the outline of a penis on the surface of the red planet — though it’s unclear exactly when the tracks were, um, laid or which rover did it. NASA says the twin exploration vehicles, named Spirit and Opportunity (indeed!) are programmed to spin in tight circles to test the terrain and find new routes. Either that, or the ‘artificial intelligence’ guiding the rovers thought that the giant Mars vulva could use some company. (Photo: NASA)

 

Planet Waves

Beltane and Tristan Taormino

In this week’s edition of Planet Waves FM I am honored to have as my guest Tristan Taormino. I first introduced my readers and the astrology community to Tristan a year ago in my article Beyond Astrology, wherein I proposed that she be the keynote speaker at a major astrology conference.

Planet Waves
The elegant, articulate Tristan Taormino.

Why? Because in my opinion astrologers need to be sexually literate, the better to assist the clients who come to them with questions about their sexuality. Life is not about squares and trines. It’s about what people live through, and helping them get what they want.

Tristan is a sex educator, filmmaker and self-described feminist pornographer. She’s written a number of books and tours the country giving presentations on what she does. You can reach her website here. In the introduction I mention that I did her chart as part of a presentation on sex astrology in Portland, Oregon.

In the first part of the program, I follow up on the legal representation situation for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. I read a letter from a reader who was concerned that I suggested that a public defender would not be helpful to Dzhokar; she explains the federal public defense system and how it’s different from that on the state and local level.

Dzhokar will be represented by Judy Clarke, who describes her job as getting her clients to plead guilty in order to avoid the death penalty.

My musical guest is the band Girlyman. “Really good, really unexpected, and really different” is how Village Voice describes Girlyman’s lyric driven folk-pop. But that can also describe the year that inspired their fifth studio album Supernova, available June 19th (distribution through Burnside). No doubt their new CD will be fantastic.

 

Planet Waves

Your Monthly Horoscopes — and our Publishing Schedule Notes

The May monthly extended horoscopes were published Friday, April 26. Inner Space horoscopes for May were published Tuesday, April 30. We published the Moonshine horoscopes  for the Scorpio Full Moon and eclipse on Tuesday, April 23. Moonshine horoscopes for the Taurus New Moon will be published Tuesday, May 7. Note that the longer monthly horoscope is being incorporated into the Friday issue after the Sun has entered a new sign; a new Inner Space is generally emailed on the following Tuesday.


Weekly Horoscope for Friday, May 3, 2013 #948 | By Eric Francis

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Aries (March 20-April 19) — The theme of next week’s eclipse is self-understanding, though I mean this in the most practical way. You need a system for governing your life that takes into account what is actually meaningful to you. That means listening to the things you’ve promised yourself you were going to do over and over again. One thing that would be helpful is to evaluate that list and see what is still valid for you. Eliminate everything that’s no longer part of your actual agenda, so that you can free up energy, bandwidth and priority space for everything that is. I would suggest going forward that you be vigilant about putting your priorities into action. For this, you will need a plan that has emphasis on three phases: initiation, follow-through and completion. Stretch your perspective beyond the ‘get started’ phase and into the ones that take more dedication. This can be the time in your life when you get past the inertia that has bogged you down in the past. That’s another way of saying: this can be a time when you learn to express your true potential.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Taurus (April 19- May 20)

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You’re standing within one of those momentous transition points in your life, though you may not be feeling the full beauty of that now. Sometimes they’re difficult to see when you’re right in the midst of things. That said, momentous is not what it’s cracked up to be; this is also a time when the seemingly smaller or subtler decisions you make, and the things you learn about yourself, will be tools that you can use for the rest of your life. I suggest you investigate the ways in which you seek to protect yourself. What are you protecting yourself from, and who exactly was it that informed you of some potential danger? A defensive streak in your solar chart may be masking an aggressive aspect of yourself that gets veiled by your compelling exterior. Since you probably don’t want to take any aggression out on others, you may take it out on yourself. If you can see this cycle in motion, and pause it even for one moment, you can make a discovery that enhances your life profoundly. For clues, study your relationship with your father.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
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News About the Taurus Birthday Reading 

As of press time today, I am nearly done with your Taurus 2013 birthday reading. This is also excellent for Taurus rising and Taurus Moon. As for the astrology: I cover Saturn in your opposite sign Scorpio, as well as the current eclipses, and what it means to have so many planets in your sign or rising sign at this time of year. What I really do is speak to you for an hour about your relationships, your quest for independence and what looks like some special motivation to grow and become. It’s a beautiful reading, recorded with a warm, intimate feeling. You may listen as many times as you like, or download it into iTunes or another MP3 player. The last segment I need to record is the tarot reading, done with the Voyager deck by James Wanless. The reading includes photos of the spread, the chart and access to last year’s reading if you want to check my accuracy. You can pre-order your birthday reading here for just $19.95 and we’ll email your access info to you once it is ready Friday afternoon. Once the report is out, the price will go up to $24.95, so pre-ordering is how to get the best price.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Slow down and think deep. For you they are the same thing. Gemini can be brilliant (rather than just bright and witty) when it thinks slowly. In your case that might mean considering something once a day over the course of a week or two, instead of making a snap decision. As you do this, you may decide that there are things you ‘already know’ without having any special way to know them. If that turns out to be true, then use the think-about-it-every-day method to consider whether that something is in fact true and if it is, what specifically that would mean for you. Anyway, I suggest you take a gradual and meticulous approach to deciding what is really true for you. As you make that evaluation repeatedly, you will notice that you’re making adaptations and changes as the days go on, and those would be interesting to keep track of. What new facts are leading you to come to a different observation? What changing feelings? Keep this up for a week and you will make a rather significant discovery about yourself.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Cancer (June 21- July 22)

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — What do you want to be known for? Now would be a great time to make that known to others. I suggest you do that in the form of being who you are more boldly, and doing what you do with more confidence. Despite the sometimes conservative descriptions of what makes a Cancerian tick, and how you prefer to stay home and all that, you’re in a time when that happens not to be true — if it ever was. You are not merely safe being seen as someone a little eccentric, who is willing to take the risk of being thought of as a little weird; your success depends on taking advantage of this. It’s the fear of seeming different that prevents many people from doing something different; and I assure you that anything really worth doing in the long run will draw its value from being original. So you have a pass on that particular social concern, and now you can ask yourself for real: what do you want to be known for? The chances are you’re already pretty good at it.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — There’s the image of stewardship in your chart — as in ‘steward of the land’. Not its owner, possibly its occupant, definitely one who facilitates, who keeps a watchful eye, and who will act in a protective capacity when necessary. What’s the land of which I’m speaking? It probably involves some professional activity where your leadership is now being called upon and also recognized as essential. You’re an old hand at what I will call the spiritual piece: putting your faith (in the deepest sense of that word) to work in a way that few people can. This is what comes across to others, and what you can depend on. You can speak in the most practical terms about the most mundane kinds of affairs, and you will seem to be offering life-giving truths. Meanwhile, count on the fact that you’re a social and professional magnet — for talent, collaborators, and potentially for investors in whatever you’re doing that you invest your faith in. State your goals and build cooperation — the most precious thing on Earth.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Be patient and you won’t have to be patient for long. It may seem like you’ve been waiting forever for something tangible to materialize relating to a long-desired goal; and the tangibility factor is exactly what’s in the process of developing right now. What’s going to help you the most is focusing on that thing that seems to be the most intangible to many — faith in yourself. This may be a point of conflict for you right now; you may think you have a mixed record of accomplishing what you set out to accomplish, though I suggest you not dwell on that. What matters the most is that you learn from what you consider your successes and your supposed failures, because the information that you synthesize from both sides of that equation is what will help you the most. One of the reasons this thing called failure is so important is that it’s evidence of taking risks. Those experiments can produce plenty of information, and no matter what the supposed topic, it’s applicable to anything else you may do.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

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Libra (Sep. 22 - Oct. 23)

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — It’s time to make a list of all the decisions you’re holding off on committing to fully. Evaluate that list and you will get an accurate picture of where your life is at. One image that’s coming through your chart is that of withholding approval from yourself. You simply have to be your own most devoted cheerleader, though that’s not possible if you’re in conflict with yourself. It’s an even bigger problem if you project that inner conflict onto relationships with others. Your life will be altogether easier and happier if you embrace that fact that your feelings come from you. If others have a role in your life that you don’t like, it’s also up to you to make decisions in response to that fact. Looked at one way, your life is a study in power relationships, as events of the past few days seem to have dramatized. You want to live out your own values, and yet at the same time it’s so easy for you to get caught in the values of others. In light of this, the skill to develop and emphasize is not peacemaking but rather the nuts and bolts of negotiation.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — People around you seem to have a plan. You need to know what it is, because from the look of your charts, you’re somehow involved. I suggest you take hold of the situation and declare yourself in or out where certain situations are concerned. There are a number of reasons you don’t want others to do this for you, most of them involving your own integrity. But it’s more than that; if you step up and make a firm commitment one way or the other, that will have the effect of precipitating results, whatever you happen to choose. The fact that you know you actually did commit yourself, not knowing the outcome, will give you a greater sense of investment in whatever develops, and that seems to be precisely the thing you need to help you guide your life. I would ask you to ask yourself one other question. What are you holding on to, and by that, I mean what from the past are you reluctant to let go of? Since we’re talking about the past, it’s more likely to be a feeling than a physical situation.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — If something irritates you, remove it from your environment. The problem with environments is that they tend to be invisible; the contrast that we need to notice things fades into the background. So you may need to use unusual methods to determine what’s irritating you, one of which will be your dreams. Remember that in dreams there are no stock interpretations, and every element of the dream represents you. Tell yourself any dream you have from the viewpoint of one of the objects or people in the scenario and it will make more sense. Meanwhile, I suggest you hang out with people who can offer you a reflection of yourself, or challenge your perspective in a way that helps you, rather than those who expect you to be a certain way. Clarity is what will help you feel better, in a deep way rather than a fleeting one. In this world, clarity is something that we must work for patiently, though anyone who’s arrived there will tell you it’s worth the effort.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Sex is not a secret and your sexuality is not a secret. I recognize that most people think this is the very thing that must be kept the most under wraps — which is one reason I think that people whose sexual initiation involves a coming-out process make so many so nervous. The question to ask yourself is what exactly would you not want known about you, and why wouldn’t you want it known? There are a number of possible responses to that question, though sooner or later, any person who comes to terms with their sexuality addresses the issue of shame. One misunderstanding about shame, like many other environmental pollutants, is that it’s been there all along. That’s not true. At a certain point it is injected into society and at some point in the life of nearly every person, it’s inflicted on them. Shame is like a binding or glue that attaches us to many other problems. Once shame is acknowledged and addressed, many other things can begin to resolve themselves.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — It seems like every season or every year, you are encountering some new call to leadership. Said another way, life is calling on you to take more responsibility and to associate yourself with a purpose that comes from deep within you. Yet at the moment, you seem to be facing a diversity of challenges that are interfering with that. I say ‘seem to be’ because the emotional and personal situations in your life are calling on you to shore up your foundations. You are being pushed to question every assumption you have about what it means to be ‘safe’ and ‘secure’, and many assumptions from the past are coming up for question as well. Looked at one way, you are being called to build your life on a focused sense of purpose. But there is something that may go deeper, which is a grounded sense of your own existence. It may be that part of how you cultivate that is to take on challenges bigger than you thought you could handle; then logic would say that your ability to meet those challenges was based on something real.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).
Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Your intuition will guide you perfectly right now, and to feel that working you may need to tune into a different level than your sentient mind. That may be a challenge because there’s so much keeping you alert, thinking and driven to be productive. You can keep doing all of that, though I suggest that you give yourself space to be reflective. One reason to stay close to home for the next few days is that it’s probably the most interesting and indeed exciting place to be. Do what you can to keep parts of your days open so that your receptive mind is available to pick up the abundant information that’s coming your way. If you’re feeling restless, one way to express that is to write. All the planets currently gathered in Taurus are in your 3rd solar house of writing and communications. I know that for many this is a delightfully busy time of year. If you give yourself time alone, it will also be a beautifully productive time, including benefits in growth, guiding your life and deepening your understanding of yourself.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two product

 

 

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