Author Archives: Eric Francis

Relationships From the Inside Out

Dear Friend and Reader:

With the Moon waxing toward full [see Planet Waves coverage of tonight’s Full Moon] the Occupy Wall Street protests spread to many cities and states around the country. All weekend, an Occupy Sesame Street spoof was running loose on the Internet, a clue that the movement has gone mainstream, as protests turned up in many cities across the country. It was fun listening to Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe (the network’s token Republican program) rant about how people were even demonstrating in Alaska, with the implied message: pay attention because this is meaningful. Brzezinski is the reporter who, live on the air, once shredded the script for a story about Paris Hilton being freed from jail, refusing to broadcast the piece, so it makes sense that she might notice.

One theme of this Full Moon is relationships. The Sun and Moon strike a pose across the Aries-Libra axis, stirring up all kinds of tension between the sign of ‘I am’ (Aries) and the sign of ‘we are’ (Libra). There’s usually some exciting tension between these concepts, though the presence of many minor planets aligned with the Full Moon emphasizes the point. There the feeling of restlessness, even fierce independence (Moon, Uranus, Bienor, Eris in Aries), is contrasted with the need for a tight, well-maintained container for fertility (Sun, Saturn, Haumea in Libra).

I mentioned in the recent monthly horoscope and elsewhere that this is about challenging the idea that we can find ourselves in a relationship. At the heart of the aspect is Saturn (structure, form) opposite Eris (personality chaos, identity crisis). Just about everyone has tried to use a relationship, or all their relationships, to feel more like a whole person and even to resolve their inner turmoil, and just about everyone has failed. Of course, after many attempts, we start to figure out who we are, and eventually (with grace and good fortune) we start to find ourselves and choose partners who reflect our emerging state of evolution.

If we cast this in political terms, it’s like trying to learn your personal politics by joining a movement or organization. That’s usually more of a submission of your individuality than it is about finding it. But one interesting thing about the Occupy Wall Street protests is the diversity of viewpoints that are showing up there. It’s not a movement known by its charismatic leaders, or any leaders, really. And it doesn’t have a set of prepared demands. This is being chided in the mainstream media as the lack of a message, but maybe it’s just the lack of a public relations agency.

What the mainstream media is not psychologically equipped to handle is describing the process of people finding their voice and their values. There’s no room for compassion in the script, no concept of exploration, no idea of growth or evolution. Something either is or is not a known quantity that matches their pre-conceived story; if that match does not exist, it’s subject to suspicion and ridicule.

Boston’s Tent City, as seen last week. Authorities in Boston kicked the protesters out Monday. Photo by Kelly Cowan.

Embracing the uncertain and the unknown in ourselves and one another is what this Full Moon is about. There are few perfect matches between people. Part of what we need to do is make space for the imperfections of relationships.

I’ve made a number of comparisons between our current era and the 1960s. Astrologically, the comparison works because the Sixties were under the influence of Uranus conjunct Pluto, and now those two planets are in aspect again. The Sixties were a confrontational time in both politics and relationships. We’re in such an era once again, but the sensation is more of an internal confrontation or perhaps a necessary meeting. We’re starting to figure out how much we have to integrate within ourselves in order to be grounded enough to make any progress together.

Sunday night I was having dinner with soon-to-be Planet Waves contributor James Wanless, the creator of the Voyager Tarot and the Sustain Yourself deck. James was a doctoral student at Columbia University during the late 1960s protests. “It was a war,” he said. Perhaps the energy of direct confrontation is necessary at certain points in both political and interpersonal relationships. It was certainly an issue between men and women in the Sixties, with sex roles changing, women having newfound sexual freedom thanks to the birth control pill and the women’s ‘liberation’ movement. The problem, it seems, is that there was not a corresponding idea of responsibility to go along with the newfound ‘freedom’.

Despite many kinds of confrontations, how much progress did we really make in how we do our relationships? How much did people look at themselves and observe the ways that they could grow and, as a result, facilitate the quality of their contact with others? Was the Baby Boomer generation better and more fulfilled in its relationships than any other generation? Whatever the answer to these questions, we’re now at the next checkpoint — the one where we have to check in with ourselves. There’s a lot of unfinished business from the Sixties that’s coming up for review now.

Today’s Full Moon may be highlighting some of the contrast and conflict in our attempts to make contact with one another. We expect more of ‘them’ than we do of ourselves. The Uranus-Pluto square is calling on us to awaken internally. The theme of this aspect is to make the changes inwardly and then express them outwardly by your actions and your choices. You could say that this is about focusing on our inner relationship first, and our outer relationships second.

This will be a central theme of the 2012 annual edition.

Lovingly,

Leia Marie LaTorre and Steve Jobs

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Dear Friend and Reader:

Here in Kingston, a young woman named Leia LaTorre apparently took her life Sunday morning. I knew her pretty well, but many of my friends grew up with her, and this has been especially shocking for them, and for her family. Everyone is going to be experiencing this for years. I keep imagining I see her on the street. Right or wrong, we’re all thinking the same thing. This was not necessary. What could I have done? When I heard Wednesday night that Steve Jobs had died, I’d already been thinking about Leia for three days nonstop.

Leia Marie LaTorre (1981-2011). Family photo.

At Leia’s wake Wednesday afternoon, one of her closest friends asked me why, based on her astrology, I thought she did it. I said that in a few words, it involved self-esteem issues. This is a phrase that doesn’t mean as much as it should.

“She hid it well,” her friend said. Personally, I didn’t think so, but this clued me in to how deeply someone can be struggling and the people around them don’t necessarily pick up on it. Not that this would have helped; everyone has their own path and their own karma, and has made many decisions before they arrive on Earth in their body. And we make plenty when we’re here.

What Leia may not have known about herself is how well she was loved. Her friends and family were passionate about her. When I first met her, she was abrasive and full of attitude; her whole surface impression was ‘back off’. But I was curious, and it only took a few conversations to figure out how much I adored her anyway.

That dichotomy was one of my favorite things about her; it gave me the clue that something special was going on under the surface. When she gave me her chart data a couple of years ago, I learned her last name and discovered that we might be cousins; I am one-fourth LaTorre. Her name means The Tower. For those not familiar with tarot, that’s one of the big cards, and it loosely translates to something shocking happening out of the blue — or radical liberation and transformation.

Over time she warmed up and was friendlier to me, and confided things I could never imagine her saying to anyone else. From this, I learned something important from her about not taking someone’s attitude too personally — and to look right past it. But she could never hide her irritation with existence and how difficult it was for her to navigate emotionally through the world. Like a lot of people her age, she struggled with purpose or to have any coherent sense of her future. Like many people, relationships were a vital part of where she sought meaning, but in many ways this was like building on quicksand for her. When that’s what you want the most and it doesn’t quite work, that can be frustrating and lonely.

I don’t say the words ‘self-esteem issues’ casually, but rather in the deepest sense. Self-esteem is self-respect, and this cannot be found through other people. When this problem exists, it can feel like your core is rotting out, or like you’re an empty shell, and there’s very little that anyone else can do for you. Part of the challenge for someone in such a struggle is difficulty trusting. Trust is the foundation of love, and its absence leads to more isolation, which can take a person down a kind of psychic spiral, especially if alcohol or drugs are involved (and they often are).

Were I the pastor speaking to the many, many young people at her funeral service, I would say something like this. This kind of incident is when we remember that we have to do something to prevent this from happening to others, and thus to the whole community. Many people, young or old, struggle with depression and its consequences. Yet those to whom this is most likely to happen are the ones least likely to be open to help when it’s offered. The love that others offer to them often means the least, it seems doubtful or like it’s not deserved: that’s how it feels through the sensations of gnawing self-doubt and self-hatred.

Leia was born with the Sun in the final hours of Gemini, which has an edgy feeling, literally like holding onto the edge of herself. She had Mercury retrograde in Cancer. Questions of self-esteem are often found in the 2nd house, which in this chart has Venus and Nessus; you could describe this as deep misgivings about her value (note that both of these are square Pluto, complicating matters significantly). She has Neptune on the 7th house cusp, a caution about the role of projection, idealism — and alcohol or substances of any kind — in intimate relationships.

Anyone struggling like this would likely have to be the one to admit they need some contact or help coping with the pressure of life. This means reaching past their isolation and asking for help in a direct way rather than the ‘calling out for help’ we’ve just witnessed. When they do, the people around them must take notice, but that can be challenging in an environment of denial. What Leia went through was a slightly more extreme expression of what many, many people go through every day, some of whom you might never suspect, unless you stop and listen. There are hundreds of ways to paper it over, including antidepressants — which are associated with increased suicide risk and which can turn episodic depression into a chronic condition.

Leia was born with natal planets gathered on the cardinal cross (in Aries, Cancer and Libra, many of them in the early degrees, aspecting the Aries Point), right where the 2012 aspect has been coming through. The gods of change were making all kinds of transits to her chart, pushing her to break out of her shell and participate with existence in a new way. For example, she was born under a pretty famous conjunction, of the two largest planets — Jupiter and Saturn in very early Libra (associated with the new era when Reagan came into office, AIDS surfaced and religion morphed into politics). That aspect was in 1981; everyone who has this aspect can feel it, at least as potential.

At the moment, Uranus in Aries is exactly opposite her natal conjunction, and this was pushing her to express herself in ways that from what I gathered from listening to her were totally alien to her. Many of us have planets situated where Saturn, Uranus and Pluto are coming through at the same time, and the pressure to grow and transform may be immense or even unbearable. If 2012 is about ‘everything, all at once’, ramp that up a few orders of magnitude based on how many planets you have situated where the aspect is happening. Leia had many, and her growth curve would have intensified over the years. Had she made it through, she would have seemed like a totally different person on the other end. And while these transits were challenging, she had been through a lot more challenging stuff during the past five years.

The planets in your natal chart that are getting rung like bells by the 2012 aspect describe your mode of participation in the current changes. It’s not that they want to get into the game — they are already there, and how you respond is the variable. While I’ve been pretty optimistic about this whole process, I recognize that for those who don’t feel ready, or who think that life is passing them by, it may be really challenging to go through these transits. Some of the changes are the kinds of things you don’t know how you’ll ever do till you actually accomplish them.

You may not know what to do with the sensation that change is inevitable. I don’t have an easy answer for that puzzle, but if you’re interested enough in astrology to be reading this, look at your chart and start to figure it out. Closer to the point, consider the things you’ve wanted to do forever but have not gotten around to. Think back to your childhood goals; the kid in you knew perfectly well what you came here to do, before anyone had a chance to talk you out of it.

Steve Jobs: A computer is like a bicycle for the mind.

One person to whom that did not happen was Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Computer (now Apple, Inc.) who died Wednesday. Steve always gave the impression of doing exactly what he came here to do, and doing it well. Remember, though — Apple was not always the computer everyone thought was cool. For many years they had just 10% of the market share; the company was an open secret. People were deterred by the fact that all their friends had PCs and Apples cost twice as much as a computer at Best Buy. So what if it was five times better.

Still, Apple had a way of leading from behind: they led the way in graphic user interface, in ease of operation and inviting people into the world of computers. We forget that it was only recently that the notion of everyone having a computer in their home would have seemed utterly ridiculous. Apple made it seem more obvious, even if most people still bought PCs.

It was not until Apple came out with an entertainment device — the iPod — that people outside their usual market started to notice. The iPod let you keep your entire CD collection in your pocket. That provided a point not just of entry but of obsession, and made people aware of their friendly computers.

Let’s take a look at Steve’s chart and see what it tells us. Steve was a Pisces with Virgo rising. This can manifest as a blend of the beautiful with the technologically sound; a vision with detail.

His Moon was in Aries, which has a dauntless quality. What sets the chart on fire is that his Moon was conjunct Eris in Aries, to the degree. Eris is that new planet with a very long orbit, the one that got Pluto ‘demoted’ back in 2006. Eris, named for the goddess of discord, sums up the personality chaos of our era, and Steve could speak right to this condition intuitively. He knew that computers had to be an extension of the human personality, and he created machines that people could identify with. Macs have always been visually appealing; people with an artistic eye can look at the thing all day, and to everyone else, it’s just cool. When the first Mac was introduced, the one with 128 kb of memory, about the size of an email, the thing talked and wrote in script, blowing away the soldierly IBM-style PC which responded only to code.

Steve had many planets on the cardinal cross — Eris and the Moon (close to the Aries Point, early in that sign), plus Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and the lunar nodes. That is a lot of innovative energy (which is mirrored in his numerology by the constant reiteration of the number 10). He was a pioneer, but I believe that the Moon conjunct Eris was the thing that made him who he was.

On the right side of this chart you can see the conjunction of the Moon and Eris. While this happens once a month, we were able to find very few people with this aspect in our files. But one other person who has it is Bill Gates, Steve’s rival and cosmic twin. This fact tells us a lot about how Eris can manifest at its most visionary. There is a reader discussion of Steve’s chart going on at this link.

Here’s the odd part. Bill Gates has the same aspect. I noticed this when Eris was first named, and it seemed really interesting. What is more interesting is that we searched through thousands of charts in our files and hardly found anyone else with this aspect, and just one person with it as close as Steve’s and Bill’s — that would be Angelina Jolie. This is another way of saying that even among the famous and successful, this aspect verges on nonexistent. It may be that it’s just an extremely difficult placement and people have a hard time working with it.

And two of the people who have the aspect turn out to have been among the most influential people of the 20th century. (It’s also fairly close in the chart of Buckminster Fuller, who should be one of the most influential people of the 20th century and may be regarded as such someday.)

Moon-Eris allowed them to peer into the chaos patterns of rapidly developing technology and make absolute sense out of them. Programming is about seeing solutions to complex problems, and Eris has a gift for pattern recognition. As my friend Tracy put it, “Eris can see forever and through everything,” assuming one is not lost in the sauce of overwhelming consciousness. In these two pioneers, it’s interesting that they could see simultaneously the micro level, attuned to the most subtle details of how a computer works, and the macro level, understanding how this whole thing is going to work its way into society itself. This is getting me to think of Eris in a way that works holographically, where micro and macro dimensions contain one another.

Jobs had a special gift though, expressed in his idea that “a computer is like a bicycle for the mind.” He understood what he was creating in the most immediate sense of a relationship. (Watch that video here.) He had Jupiter conjunct Uranus, one of the aspects common to innovators and inventors. This gave the seamless integration of technology, innovation, beauty and soul. Yet it was located in the highly protective sign Cancer, which shows up as how proprietary Apple products are. There are still no Apple ‘clones’. This marketing method engages you with their products in an insidious way. We all know the people who obsessively collect every Apple product, and those who can get a Mac to run for 10 years. Tweak Steve’s chart just slightly and the whole thing might have ended up open source — that kind of populism is truly a Pisces thing. But so is being a master of the marketplace.

The Mac 128, born 1984 — enough memory for one email.

Instead, Jobs founded what eventually became one of the most profitable companies in the world, but one that is also known for beautiful, elegant products that actually work.

No matter how innovative it is, all of this technology comes at a cost. Steve’s Moon conjunct Eris in Aries understood well the profound search for themselves that people are on, and he answered this with technology people could relate to. Apple was the first to put out a computer that doubled as an entertainment center, in a time when we are clearly entertaining ourselves to death. How you use a computer is, of course, a choice, and Apple has put a lot of computers into schools and into the home offices of teachers.

It’s disheartening that Steve Jobs died of cancer, and that Apple’s most successful product, the iPhone, may also be its most carcinogenic. This is true of all cellphones, especially the ones that run simultaneous connections to five networks (voice, data, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS). That’s a lot of microwave activity to put right next to a hole in your skull. I’m not the only one who notices a weird burning sensation in my ear from the iPhone, and as a result I rarely use the thing as a phone, limiting myself to about five minutes a day, if that. The rest of the time I leave it as far from my body as I can. It cannot be said enough that cellphones are the cigarettes of our day and age, and must be treated with actual caution.

It would be great to see Apple become an innovator in product safety, now that it’s one of the most profitable companies in the world.

Lovingly,

Additional research and interpretations: Tracy Delaney.

The Aries Full Moon is exact Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 10:05 pm EDT. This Full Moon makes aspects to many minor planets. The Moon is conjunct centaur planet Bienor, as well as Eris and the Black Moon Lilith. The Sun is conjunct Saturn and Haumea. At the heart of this event is the Saturn-Eris opposition, which I have described as a transitional moment in the concept of ‘finding yourself in relationship’. That idea seems to have reached a limit. I describe this in greater detail in the free audio intro to the Planet Waves Autumn Report. When waxing toward full, the Moon brings the feeling of something approaching an emotional crest. You may be inclined to stay up late (or not be able to sleep). This is a creative time because lunar light illuminates the inner world.

The Moon is in Aquarius, which cools off the emotional quality and leans into the mental realm. Friday afternoon/evening, the Moon will be in a long conjunction to Neptune, which can range from clairvoyant to visionary to delusional. Easy on the alcohol Friday night as this conjunction passes, even though a group situation may make it tempting to over-indulge. Through the rest of the weekend the Moon is in Pisces, which carries forward the Neptune theme. This is a sensitive, introspective lunar placement, good for art, music and the kind of erotic exploration that has a soulful feeling. The Moon then officially enters full phase when it enters Aries Monday at 8:57 am EDT in a conjunction to Uranus. This is an ‘expect the unexpected’ aspect, with a connotation of feeling like someone you don’t expect to be, with a rebellious streak. Monday it would be ill-advised to be a rebel without a clue, or without an actual cause; and it would be a great day to step into your future self and experiment with the person you are becoming, or want to be.

Venus enters Scorpio Sunday at 1:50 am EDT. This is Venus at her most sexually indulgent, craving emotional and erotic contact. Venus is in a trine to Chiron in Pisces, which puts the focus on healing and opens the door to a creative approach to sex and sexual relating. Trines open a door and a flow of energy. To experience this, we also need to be open. Most people struggle with both the pleasure aspect of sex and the healing aspect of sex, having no idea how to integrate the two. They are one and the same thing, particularly in a culture with so many misgivings about pleasure. Venus together with Chiron in the water signs calls for some vulnerability, as well as honesty. I suggest that the honesty be both about what you want and what you want to give; what you want to say, and what you want to know.

As this cardinal cross activity builds to a peak with the Full Moon, let’s keep an eye on the protests brewing in Zuccotti Park, which are almost sure to surge over the next few days, especially under the populist, empathic Pisces Moon. There has been discussion of a potential false flag event being planned to discredit the protesters, something that will blame them for what they did not do. If you’re in the New York area I encourage you to visit and see how friendly the vibes really are, and what interesting people are there. You can also watch their live stream here. This week the Jon Stewart show featured an amazing take down of the insulting coverage of the Occupy Wall Street protest, guaranteed to start your day off right. There was a decision this week just before the Mercury-Saturn conjunction in Libra, involving Amy Goodman and her co-producers at Democracy Now!, who won their lawsuit against the St. Paul police and the Secret Service. This is an incredible story, and you can see it here. I also cover it in my podcast, below.

Mercury-Saturn, The Quest for Justice and the Next Uprising

In this week’s edition of Planet Waves FM, I cover Thursday’s Mercury-Saturn conjunction, the Aries Full Moon and take a new look at the Uranus-Pluto square. Our musical guest is the band My Sister Jane, featuring Progress Song written by Trace Wiren.

Friday, Oct. 7, 2011. Horoscope #877. | Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19) — The approaching Full Moon in your birth sign may have you running forward in all directions. I suggest you slow down and make some decisions about what belongs on top of your agenda, what can wait and what doesn’t belong there at all. As you go through this process of prioritizing, you will gradually discover where your real strength lies — which is not in brute force but rather in strategy. Therefore I suggest you pull back for long enough to get your thoughts in order and make a few clear decisions. That may not be easy with the Full Moon approaching over the weekend; in fact you may have to fight the constant urge to charge ahead. But that is clear evidence that you’re not using your head, and I don’t mean to crack through someone or something. If you do nothing else the next few days, spend some time gathering information, and then consider it carefully.

Aries, your birth sign or rising sign, is getting some of the most potent transits of them all right now. I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and a tarot card reading for you. Learn more by visiting this page.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You have been through a lot recently, and you still may not understand quite what it was. Your solar chart suggests you’re on a profound, even urgent, search for a sense of who you are. Be careful not to let that get to the point of desperation, and if you are struggling with anything, you would benefit from framing it as part of the question, ‘who am I?’ This is usually taken for granted, or papered-over with some form of group or partnership identity. If you find that those shared identities are not working for you, or if you are filled with the sensation that there must be something more, direct your search inward. If that makes you feel nervous, that’s all the more reason to go there. The sense of panic that many people feel these days relates to a false sense of emptiness, and that is something that begs to be investigated. Once you open up to yourself, it’s much easier for others to open up to you.

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

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — We live in a world where there are many predictions of doom and gloom and very few people calmly working toward solutions. You need to be one of them, and over the next few days I suggest you begin by taking up what seem like the most insurmountable problems in your life. Stop at nothing, meditating on the mantra that creativity can get any job done. If you reach a blockage, the chances are it’s based on some idea you have rather than an actual physical fact. Shift your perspective, ask the question a different way, or try an entirely different approach. Beware of mental blocks and quirks in your belief system that might challenge your gumption. You might give yourself some peace of mind by outlining the best- and worst-case scenarios. And please remember: you can only control what you say and do. You cannot control how others perceive you.

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

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — People perceive you as being stronger than you may feel these days — and they’re probably right. While there is a get-serious attitude prevailing in the planets lately, there’s also something about expressing your strength and your passion. Yet what is rarely said is that you need to use your strength for your own cause rather than against it. I suggest you take some time and get clear about what that might comprise. If you find yourself resisting something you know is true, make a decision. If you find yourself needing attention, create that in a healthy way. But above all else, I suggest you reckon with the difference between the past, the present and the future. You seem to be obsessing over past events, and you could serve yourself well by acknowledging that a certain phase of your life — particularly involving your family — has finally come to a close. Try living as if that’s actually true and see what happens.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You may feel like you’re running into a wall, and if that is true I suggest you take a much larger view of your situation. By larger I mean stretching the time spans involved, considering how the issues would look if you were not confining yourself to a strictly local point of view, and considering where you might draw extra strength and inspiration. There seem to be no shortage of people willing to help you, though you may not recognize them as such. That said, there is a degree to which discipline and determination will win the day. You need to take conscious steps toward your objective. Most cats only hunt when they need to, and this would be a good time to go out on the prowl and bring home something good.

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

Planet Waves

Dear Friend and Reader:

I’ve prepared a new 12-sign report for you — one that covers the rest of the year. These little projects have proven to be a popular and efficient way to provide extended astrology information. They’re based on the same method I use for my horoscope, but with spoken word it’s also spacious, with most of the readings being about 15 or 20 minutes long.

Eric Francis chez Blue Studio.

Most of my colleagues do weekly 12-sign audio. I am working toward that with these seasonal projects, which go into greater depth than you can usually get in a scripted four or five minute recording. Your 12 signs come with a free half-hour introduction that anyone can listen to. Then you can listen to your Sun, Moon and rising signs, or those of your friends.

As for theme: there is an unusual focus on relationships for the next few months and into the first half of 2012. It goes a little like this. We’re conditioned to find our ‘missing piece’ in relationships with others. Sometimes that seems to be the only option available — until we figure out that we really do want to be a whole person relating to another whole person. That provides something solid to stand on, and the security of knowing that someone else is not basing their whole life on you. Looking at the aspect Saturn opposite Eris, I introduce this theme, among others. I covered this subject in the October monthly horoscope.

The idea of independence and autonomy extends into many areas of life, including the creative and work aspects of existence. Those are, in truth, going through as many changes as our relationships. I cover some of this material as well.

My audio readings are casual, free-style (direct from the chart, not from a script) and designed to get you thinking and choosing rather than designed to stoke up your expectations. While I spend a lot of time listening in my one-on-one sessions, I take advantage of my many dialogs with my readers to get a sense of how to tune my interpretations.

Every time one of these products goes out, we get some amazing responses that always surprise me and encourage me to keep experimenting. Just a moment ago, this message came in: “Eric, I love listening to your voice. Your reading was quite enlightening and confirming. Lots of new information that I can work with. Paired with the reading I was able to listen to for 2010…. Wow! You are a gem in the universe. Love to you and your staff.”

If you’re interested in exploring this report, here is the sales link.

Please let me know how you like this series of readings — and by the way they are guaranteed; if you’re anything other than fully satisfied, just call Chelsea and we will return your payment.

Sending the love right back to you —

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Many people are walking the streets with the idea that there’s something wrong with them that they cannot fix. This leads many to indulge in all kinds of ‘solutions’ that serve two purposes — one is they offer the sense of doing something, and the other is they provide a distraction from the real problem. This second one actually is a purpose; I’m sure you know many people who spend their lives running from themselves. You may be inclined to seek answers through a relationship or partnership, or to consider everything that’s amiss in your life as being the result of another person’s involvement. You may think that this is the one thing that will set you free — whether that means to escape a relationship or to find one. But I am sure you suspect that the solution resides within you, and I don’t mean that as a metaphor of some kind. I mean it as literal reality, though it would help if you believe this sincerely, or were at least willing to experiment with the potential.

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

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Make sure you remember which problems you’ve already solved, and not put effort into solving them again. If your mind is seized by the notion that everything can go wrong, give it a few hours or a few days and the sensation is likely to pass. It’s clearly rooted in something that happened in the past. While that may have some resemblance to what is happening in your life today, there are enough differences in the circumstances, and in your ability to handle them, that you can have faith in your choices. If you’re feeling nervous, you can do a check-over of your work and your reasoning process to make sure you have the details covered. This is not the time to reverse yourself. Rather, it’s the time to go deeper, which means going past a certain edge of hesitancy and fear and making contact with the actual emotional material that is calling out for healing.

Hi Cousin Libra, I plan to have your birthday report done while the Sun is in your sign. Meanwhile, if you haven’t listened to Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Libra, please go to this link.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Are you really under as much pressure as you think, or would it be more accurate to say that you know more than you think? Consider the difference for a moment. Knowledge does imply responsibility, and you’re clearly under some scrutiny that would require you to act on the best information you have. Here is the challenge: It’s vital that you filter out thoughts directly motivated by fear, particularly if it’s of the ‘everything is gonna fall apart’ variety. Don’t ignore the fear — let it have a voice, then listen for the other voices that offer much better information. It’s clear from your chart that something is bothering you, but you have yet to figure out what it is; that will come soon enough. Your goal right now is to avoid making decisions based on unconscious motives or anxieties.

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

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You may be feeling some kind of psychic burden that is weighing on you, or constantly sending you back to the beginning of something. If you’ve noticed this, it might not be what you think it is; you may be dragging around someone else’s anxiety. You can be sure this is true if you’re enmeshed in any kind of self-criticism that seems to have no escape. The thing is, there actually is a way out, but that won’t come in the form of solving a problem that doesn’t exist, or ‘curing’ something you think is wrong with you that is not actually an issue. I suggest you start by questioning your beliefs. What evidence do you have that something is the way you think it is? By evidence, I mean something pointing to a cause rather than effect. If you cannot find the cause, you may not be dealing with a real issue, only your perception of one. But this will take some investigation.

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

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Gandhi said we have to become the change we want to see in the world. Your chart says you have to become the authority you want to see in the world. Let’s face it, humans need leadership and they need guidance. The best people to do that are the ones who have some authority over themselves, which is to say, those who don’t need to be told right from wrong, and who are capable of getting some work done. ADD may be all the rage, and it may be provoking you from time to time, but that doesn’t work if you’re the boss in any capacity. Maintain your inner focus, do nothing that either is or has the appearance of being hypocritical, and set the example of what a decent, down-to-Earth and honest person is. What you may be concealing is a bit more inner turmoil or emotional chaos than you’re used to experiencing, but that would not count for hypocrisy if you own what you feel and recognize it as inherently human.

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

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Tapping your creativity requires indulging some chaos (or inspiration, depending on how you’re wired), and some discipline. Any creative product is the result of both, and you need them in the right blend. That might take some time to get right, but I suggest you indulge yourself in one side of the equation or the other, and the moment that seems to not be interesting, go to the other side. Chaos might look something like writing all of your ideas into a notebook. Discipline might look like typing them in and arranging the order, refining them and seeing what you’ve got. Neither side is worth much without the other, but for a while it’s better if you take turns rather than try to do them at the same time. I suggest that you do a rapid cycle, rather than hanging out too long with one or the other. What remains constant between them is having faith in yourself. For what it’s worth, you actually do have an idea worth developing.

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

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — The time has come to make a financial move of some kind, or several moves that add up to something significant. It may include a restructuring of how you conduct business or account for your money; it may be a revaluing of some kind; there are obviously agreements that you need to renegotiate and partnerships that you might want to develop. Plenty has changed since the last time you did anything like this, and I suggest that you review carefully just what that means. Look at your income pattern over the past five years. Consider carefully how your goals have changed, and how your value within your field has changed. Part of what you’re about to do is cash in on what you’ve already accomplished, and how you’re going to get there is to think about it in a totally new way.

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

2012 Letter: Not Your Parents’ Activism

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Note to Readers: Here is your Inner Space October monthly horoscope.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Monday morning I picked up my local paper, attracted by the headline, “Wall Street Protest Grows; Demonstrators Vow to Hang In.” The occupation of a small plaza in the midst of New York City’s financial district has entered its third week and is showing no signs of letting up. The plaza, called Zuccotti Park, is owned by a private real estate development company, not the city, so police cannot raid the protest without the permission of the property owner.

Zuccotti Park in New York City, home of the Occupy Wall Street protest. The vibes were mellow, friendly and introspective. Photo by Eric Francis.

Meanwhile, the police choosing to trap and arrest 700 mellow demonstrators on the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday afternoon sent the story rippling out around the world and gave lots of other people the idea to have a protest of their own. In the game of ‘cops make hippies, hippies make cops’, it’s a lot easier for the cops to make the PR gaffes that stoke the movement. Showing their power, they purchased Occupy Wall Street an international advertising campaign as a gift. A lot of people can relate to what the protesters are concerned about: jobs; financial rip-offs by banks, brokers and traders; bailouts going directly to bonuses; people’s homes being illegally foreclosed. It is a protest against the corporate system, but it’s also a protest to point out the need for basic fairness.

Society’s institutions, or more accurately, the people running them, have failed us. These demonstrations are about creating something new. But that something new is an ethic. There is a message about the need for people to take care of one another. Contrast that with the Tea Party protests of 2009-2010, where you had a lot of people saying, ‘Health insurance for me and not for you!’

Last week, a political science professor named Frances Fox Piven visited the occupation and was asked how these kinds of protest movements spring up, seemingly on their own. “I teach at the Graduate School of the City University of New York,” she said.

“I am here because I am so enthusiastic about the possibilities of this sit-in, over the marches that are occurring over postal worker issues, the sister demonstrations that are starting in Chicago and Los Angeles, and maybe in Boston. I think we desperately need a popular uprising in the United States. None of us know. I study movements. None of us know the exact formula for when those movements erupt, but it could be. And if that is true, then these people who are here are really wonderful. I would do anything to help them.”

A lot of observers have asked similar questions. Why do these things emerge when they do? Actually, the most passionate and sustained uprisings are reasonably predictable: they tend to happen when Uranus and Pluto come into alignment. When the planet of revolution (Uranus) and the one about evolution (Pluto) get together, there is always an international revolt. The alignments spread out over 10 to 12 years, and we are still toward the beginning of this one.

The last time these two planets got together was between 1960 and 1972. Astrologer-historian Richard Tarnas wrote of this time, “By all accounts the Sixties were an extraordinary era. Intense, problematic and seminal, the entire decade seems to have been animated by a peculiarly vivid and compelling spirit — something ‘in the air’ — an elemental force apparent to all at the time, that was not present in such a tangible manner during the immediately preceding or subsequent decades, and that in retrospect still sets the era apart as a phenomenon unique in recent memory.”

Saturday’s events at Occupy Wall Street included a meditation, a direct action training and a Slut Walk, which unfortunately I was not there to photograph. A Slut Walk is a kind of protest where (mostly) women dress up provocatively to make the point that just because you’ve got a hot outfit on does not mean you’re inviting sex. It’s a lot more fun than Take Back the Night, which is a more aggressive kind of ‘anti rape’ protest about venting anger. Photo by Eric Francis.

I visited the protest Saturday, to take pictures, check out the vibes and lend my support as a journalist. The feeling was nothing but friendly. There was not the fist-in-the-air sensation that Sixties demonstrations are remembered with. The vibe was loving — and there was not a big ego trip about revolution. This is being described as a leaderless movement, one that is based on a collective approach to decision-making and agenda-creation.

One thing about the Sixties movements is that they were led by the ‘big heavies’, leaders who became icons: Jerry Rubin, Abbey Hoffman and others. At least as far as the media was concerned, this was activism on the star system. Even the on-the-ground movements that tried to organize by consensus were not welcoming of women in leadership. Every sub-movement did its own thing until eventually they figured out they were on the same side. Ultimately it was the Vietnam War that was the uniting factor. In many respects it was fear of the draft that was driving most of the young men to stand up and get involved. It is fair to say that there was a strong element of self-interest in the protests of the Sixties.

The next wave of political movements came in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This was during the rise of Neoconservatism, as well as the fall of the Berlin Wall. The astrology was focused in Capricorn; there was a rare outer-planet conjunction between Uranus and Neptune that as the image of established social structures crumbling. We are still living with the results of this conjunction more than 20 years later.

Political activity was characterized by a kind of bitterness and sense of futility. Everybody joined a coalition or caucus that was vying for attention. I constantly felt reminded that I wasn’t cool enough to be there, and I discovered over time that this was an intentional message. As a ‘heterosexual white male’ I was ineligible to be part of a minority, and I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Many women were alienated by the anti-sex, anti-male attitude at the time. It was a stressed-out movement, because many organizers had the feeling that nobody really cared. I watched these movements get conquered by their own divisions. This was the era of hyperbolic political correctness and Take Back the Night marches.

Simply put it was not a movement of inclusion but rather of exclusion. The one exception I can name was the anti-tuition hike protests at the City University of New York (CUNY) in 1989 and 1991, which were amazing — and which got results. There was a military campaign at the time, what we call the Persian Gulf War. As far as I could tell, It barely registered in the minds of student activists at the time, at least on the East Coast.

Actual billionaire joins the protest. Photo by Eric Francis.

By the mid-1990s, the anti-death penalty protests surrounding Mumia Abu-Jamal had taken off, and these had a festive feeling. Mumia had a national network of activists working for him. There wasn’t really a sense of serious involvement, though. It was more like a party for a good cause. Mumia is still alive, in part due to the international attention that the protests brought to his case. But I always had the feeling that nobody understood how a death penalty trial worked; they just knew that killing someone was wrong. That movement did not have a wider idea about social justice, though it tried. The confrontation was palpable: supporters of an alleged cop killer versus the cops. The band Rage Against the Machine held a benefit concert for Mumia’s defense, and the Fraternal Order of Police sued and blocked the money from going to his attorneys.

Then in 1999, the first wave of anti-globalization protests were sparked off in Seattle. These were associated with another rare aspect, Chiron conjunct Pluto in Sagittarius. To me this represented an actual spiritual awakening manifesting on the political level. Sagittarius gave it a global feeling.

These went on for years, traveling from city to city like Phish tour but not as mellow. The image you saw over and over was the activist with his or her face covered by an American flag bandanna — not so inviting, but I think a lot of people gave those kids credit for having such guts. They caused a run on the market for tear gas, and were constantly being chased by the new breed of Ninja Turtle riot cop. Every time one of those world management team groups would meet — the WTO, the G7 or whatever — they would have to build higher and higher barricades, to the point where they had to meet inside a fortress. Once again the feeling was one of confrontation, but Chiron favors the underdog and these protests helped call attention to the ripoff of globalist economic policy.

What is interesting is that the emphasis of the protests had finally shifted from the government to corporations. This was a significant reorientation in how to think about problems and solutions. A decade on we are seeing the results of ‘free trade’ (all the jobs get exported).

This is my favorite photo from my day visiting the protest at Zucotti Park in the financial district of New York City. I love the empathy on these women’s faces. To me it sums up the openness and introspection that characterizes the emerging wave of political activism. Photo by Eric Francis. All pictures taken on Oct. 1, 2011.

Before we come to the current moment, there’s one other protest movement to mention: it lasted for a day, Feb. 15, 2003. This was the F-15 worldwide uprising against the invasion of Iraq. It was something of a miracle, involving mass protests, rallies and marches in every major city in the Western world. In retrospect, this feels more like a mirage than a historical event, but it really did happen. The prevailing energy, in a word, was Aquarius.

Now we are back around to a Uranus-Pluto aspect, which directly recalls the energy of the Sixties. That’s because the Sixties happened under a Uranus-Pluto conjunction, and now 45 years later, we have arrived at the first square. This is a major turning point in world history, as we are seeing. The effects go back about three years and will carry us through the end of the decade, and if we use it well, perhaps much longer.

Along with Arab Spring and the uprisings in Wisconsin and Ohio earlier this year, we have Occupy Wall Street as one of its expressions. Zuccotti Park was one of the most laid back, friendliest places I’ve visited in a while. The vibe was open but also introspective. People were expressing concern and anger about the economic situation and there was a clear sense of understanding that Wall Street holds a lot of the responsibility for that — but no sense of rage being projected onto anyone. My sense from many things I’ve read and heard is that among this generation of activists, there’s the awareness that we need to change ourselves and change the world in the same gesture.

That would be the essence of a square, especially between Aries and Capricorn. As you think about what this aspect represents, remember that the personal awakening process of Uranus in Aries is about to meet up with the changes in society represented by Pluto in Capricorn. There is potential for wide-scale cultural change, but it starts from the inside-out. That approach, if we follow it, will help us avoid many of the really huge mistakes that were made during the protests of the Sixties.

Uranus in Aries also connects people to groups, but from the perspective of being an individual. Pluto in Capricorn turns over the soil of society’s institutions, bringing out their frailty and their fertility. It will be exciting to see what happens as this aspect builds to its first peak in June 2012 and then develops for the next three years. Remember though, we’re not just watching.

One way or another, we will all be involved.

Lovingly,

PS, many more photos are on the Planet Waves blog from over the weekend. Here is one set, and here are our photos of the Brooklyn Bridge takeover.

Planet Waves Inner Space Horoscope — October 2011

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Dear Friend and Reader:

This month is dominated by Aries and Libra — the polarity of ‘I am / we are’. This astrology peaks with the Aries Full Moon of Oct. 11. Inside of our relationship dramas, sagas and desires, our DNA and hormones are humming along, giving us instructions to reproduce the species. And at the same time, there is an epic political battle being waged between men and women involving who controls reproduction. ‘Anti-government’ and ‘anti-regulation’ activists make one exception: the uterus. This standoff is illustrated by two little-known planets that the Full Moon aligns with exactly: Aries Moon conjunct Bienor (the strong man of Greek mythology) and the Libra Sun conjunct Haumea, a Hawaiian fertility goddess. We could look at this another way: Who controls creativity? If you don’t take over the creative process within yourself, someone is going to do it for you.

Lovingly,

Revised and Updated! Click for Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You might want to pause and ask yourself what you’re trying to prove. There is little you can accomplish by conquering anything or anyone, and plenty of damage you can do. While you seem to be past the emotional restrictions and frustrations that dominated your summer months, it would be unwise to overcompensate in the other direction. Therefore, I suggest you tamp down any competitive feelings and establish harmony with your environment. People around you will be eager to return the favor. If you push the limits in any situation, you’re likely to encounter a boundary of some kind; notice if that happens, and revise your approach. You might experiment with things like negotiation, using a more creative method (rather than confrontational) and understating rather than exaggerating.

Aries, your birth sign or rising sign, is getting some of the most potent transits of them all right now. I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and a tarot card reading for you. Learn more by visiting this page.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You may be feeling out of your element, but be gentle with others when you feel inclined to blame them for your feelings. There is an easy solution — that’s likely to be the one you think is too ‘easy’. But that’s the whole idea: there is a relatively simple and direct approach to what may seem like a complicated or exaggerated emotional situation. Meanwhile, I suggest you do what you can to keep your emotions in perspective. Ask yourself how important something really is before you make a big deal out of it. Don’t look for conflict where there is none to be found. If you look for the common ground you share with others, you’re likely to find it, and that in turn is likely to lead to some rewarding episodes of unexpected growth.

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

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — If you have an intuitive feeling, follow it. It may be an idea, it may be a caution of some kind; if you think something is worth doing, it probably is. If you have an uneasy feeling about going somewhere, or doing something, I suggest you take that under advisement. You may run into a situation where the decision you want to make ruffles the feathers of someone because it’s based on no special information other than what your own inner senses are telling you. Then you’ll have to pause and determine whether you want to have the approval of someone for doing what is wrong for you — or whether you want to miss an opportunity that you know is right. You’ve been here before; you’ve already decided this one.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — This is an unusual time in your professional life, and aspects this month seem ready to demonstrate just how true that statement is. There are many open doors, and the world’s prevailing state of strangeness, confusion and even chaos can work entirely to your advantage. The one thing to be mindful for is false lack of confidence. There used to be a concept called false confidence, but that seems to be the prevailing state of affairs on the planet. It’s also possible to lack faith in yourself when it’s the most obvious thing you should have. The only way to find out if you’re really capable of something is to try and see if you can do it. This includes taking concrete steps to improve your income. You have the talent. You also have the guts.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You may encounter a mental block when trying to solve a problem, and if that happens, I suggest you take a more disciplined approach to your work. There is something to be said for applying yourself to a project every day, even perhaps several at the same time. Many have discovered the benefits of discipline in turning creative energy into something tangible and useful. Energy is the one thing you have right now. Focusing your efforts in a way that may seem businesslike or ‘un-artistic’ will help you bring in a new vision, one that you’ll be able to sustain yourself with for many years. That’s not going to happen automatically. You cannot catch lightning in a bottle, but you can definitely gather your thoughts and get yourself onto a new level of creative potential.

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

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You know best what is good for your health — the key will be listening to yourself, and following your own advice. We all know how diligently people ignore precisely these things; I don’t suggest you do that. Remember that the most important dimension of health involves your mind. Meanwhile, you may be in a relationship situation that is causing an unnecessary stir in your life. That’s something to watch as well, making sure that you’re not engaging a tradeoff of sex for chaos. You have the potential for an extremely interesting sexual journey in these years of your life. It can be something that nourishes you, keeps you young and serves to liberate you. If something is demanding too much time, money or energy, I suggest you really ask yourself whether it’s worth it.

____________________________________________________________

Dear Friend and Reader:

Eric Francis chez Blue Studio.

If you’re interested in exploring this report, here is the sales link.

Please let me know how you like this series of readings — and by the way they are guaranteed; if you’re anything other than fully satisfied, just call Chelsea and we will return your payment.

Sending the love right back to you —

____________________________________________________________

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — You’re likely to show up as the voice of reason and the example of maturity in a close personal situation. This is nothing new, but you may have the feeling that someone has an advantage over you based exclusively on brute strength. That may be true temporarily, but it’s not going to last long. You have the advantage of persistence, discipline and a sense of balance. Make sure you keep your flexibility. The one risk you run is backing yourself into a corner, closing off your options or taking too hard of a line. You can afford to take a mellow approach to existence, and give any situation a chance to play out in its own way. Remember, no matter how hot under the collar anyone may be, or is trying to make you, time is on your side.

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

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — The thing you think is bothering you isn’t — but something else is. You seem nervous with how visible you are, and how far out on a limb you have to go to hold things together. It’s as if the people who actually hold responsibility don’t want to back you up, even though you’ve been left to do their bidding. If you suspect you’ve been set up to take the heat for something, you’re probably correct about that. The question is, how can you shift responsibility back to where it belongs? The first step will be by taking no heroic measures to set things right. It will take some chutzpah to let things fall apart, but if you stick to your actual responsibilities and don’t take on anything extra, the truth will be obvious when the cookie crumbles.

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

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You must not take a short-sighted approach to long-term plans. However, it would seem like something you’ve been wanting to do for a long time is ready to happen right now. Before you take action, make sure that this opportunity really does match up with the ambitions you’ve been stating for months or years. Once you set things into motion, they’re likely to stay that way, and take on a life of their own. And more people than you will be drawn into the process. It seems you’re on the brink of a decision, so be clear about what you need to know in order to make the choice that is right for you. Once you understand that, the next step is to take the leap — or to walk away from the matter entirely. Be sure that your choices are aligned with your motives. Hesitating will no longer work.

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

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — I cannot explain your apparent lack of confidence on something that really should be simple — but maybe you can. What I can tell you is that the core issue is emotional (rather than practical). You may have this idea that your identity is not sufficiently stable to take on the kinds of challenges that are being presented to you. But what exactly do you think builds your sense of identity, your confidence or strength to stand up to the challenges and opportunities of existence? That would be direct experience. At a certain point it’s necessary to reach beyond what you’ve done in the past, so that you can do something new, or something that exceeds what you thought were your prior limitations. And when you do that, your ideas about ‘security’ must play second fiddle to the fact of being alive.

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

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Life is not a matter of theory — but the great thing about theory is how manageable it is, compared to what actually happens. What actually happens is different than what you might fear happening (that, too, is a matter of theory). That all said, it seems to be time for you to spark up some actual movement in your life, and your next step should be according to some kind of structured plan. I don’t mean a 100-page business plan; five or six possible steps thought through carefully and written in your notebook would be adequate. Those are different than what will actually happen, but at this stage I suggest you work with a mix of about 10% theory, 85% action and a dash of faith that you’re doing the right thing.

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

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — By several measures, you’re in a phase of re-evaluating the events of this very eventful year, and are considering your various plans for the future. That said, there is something that is demanding your attention now. While others are taking a by-the-books approach, presented with this opportunity, you seem more inclined to take a chance and do things your own way. Get used to the fact that there is no certainty, even though others around you are acting as if there is. It’s precisely the uncertainty factor that is working to your best advantage. You have the gift of flexibility as well, though I will suggest this: you don’t have to work as hard as you think to create one particular goal. You need to apply the right thought and the right effort, but no more.

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

In Search of Love (or Self-Identity)

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Dear Friend and Reader:

The Sun is in Libra, the sign of relationships — and this is a month where relationships are a strong theme for other reasons. One of the aspects that makes October 2011 unique is Saturn opposite Eris. It’s an opposition between the planet of structure and form (Saturn), and the planet associated with the identity chaos of the modern psyche (Eris). Saturn has been around literally since forever. Eris was the planet named in 2006 that was responsible for the ‘demotion’ of Pluto to minor planet status. Remember that? Eris upset the known order of the solar system, and was named for the Greek goddess of discord.

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Pablo Picasso (1907), Museum of Modern Art, New York. Picasso’s style of imagery reminds me of how we might see the world through the lens of Eris.

Saturn is now in Libra. Eris is in Aries, the sign of self. One speaks about structured relationships; the other about a chaotic self-concept. This is a hint that many people are trying to have structured relationships in a time of personality chaos. Often we use our relationships to try to stabilize our sense of who we are. More often than not, the restless need to exist as an individual can wreak havoc on our partnerships, which are not designed to embrace the reality of growing people, who are in motion. Our relationships, as we’re taught to have them, can offer stability that can come with a sense of confinement. This is an old situation, though I think one possibility of this time in the human story is to work that out.

Saturn opposite Eris is a picture of that. It’s a relatively rare event. There will be a nearly exact repeat of this same opposition next year, then the next time it happens will be in 2041.

This speaks to the old ‘freedom versus commitment’ issue. Our persistent challenges balancing this is what I believe makes so many relationships so unstable. We tend to assume, for example, that people are going to remain the same rather than change or grow, but growth is inevitable. We talk about making progress in our lives — then many of the arrangements that we live don’t take it so well. Our self esteem, such as we have access to it, is rarely built on solid ground.

Due to the presence of another planet in Aries, this situation is ramped up at full strength right now. That is Uranus, which is specifically about the drive to independence and freedom. It’s a relatively new arrival in Aries (it entered that sign to stay on March 11), and for those who can feel its influence, it’s pushing the drive for individuality to a new height. We are currently in one of the most restless moments in many generations. It’s as if something is stirring in the human spirit, eager to bust free. Of course, then there is the other side of the psyche, which wants to cling and hold fast and make sure that nothing important changes.

La Vie by Pablo Picasso (1903), Cleveland Museum of Art.

Many are noticing that the compromises they used to make in their partnerships and households no longer work. Relationships will have to adapt to contain a meeting of actual individuals. Many decent, loving people struggle to find an appropriate partner. There is a large swath of the population that needs a partner who can really honor them as a whole person, which would mean someone else living as a whole person as well.

Saturn in Libra may seem to be setting limits on your relationships. You may be feeling the sense of being enclosed within something more palpably than usual. You may feel like you don’t want a relationship, but you do want to relate. Now is the time to consider what kind of relationship structure best matches with the reality of who you truly are, and what kind of person would be best suited to that reality — if anyone.

For those currently in intimate partnerships, you might ask: how much of your identity is wrapped up in your relationship? To what extent do you use your relationship to stabilize your life, rather than doing inner work on the issues that might be destabilizing you? Even if this is a question that has persisted for many years, you may finally be able to embrace the subject matter now. One key to doing so will be people acknowledging restlessness, the need for independence and the desire for a more complex social life as qualities rather than as things that describe us as dysfunctional. In other words, you’re not weird if you feel restless. It’s not a sign of intimacy issues — it’s more likely a sign that you’re alive. The need to exist as an individual is a healthy and necessary state of growth, and we can still want companionship, trust and closeness to others.

Saturn opposite Eris is exact on Oct. 27. Here are some other details from this month’s astrology. The Aries Full Moon is on Oct. 11. That event may bring out the themes I’ve described above in a distinctive, polarized way. You may seem to be confronted by an either-or choice. The Sun will be conjunct Saturn and the Moon will be conjunct Eris. This will emphasize the polarity. It’s up to you to discover the common ground you share with the people you’re close to. Full Moon is an excellent time to work through deadlocks.

In this chart, Mercury is trine Neptune — an aspect that heightens intuition. I suggest you let your intuition be your guide to communication. Don’t just guess what someone is feeling, or expect them to guess what you’re thinking and feeling. We assume that we’re supposed to do a lot of that in our relationships.

Femme nue au collier by Pablo Picasso (1968), part of the Tate collection of art, held in London.

Next is the Sun entering Scorpio on October 23. The Sun joins Mercury and Venus, which are already in Scorpio by that time. So this is going to be a rich, sensuous season of Scorpio. The days that follow the Sun’s ingress into this singularly important sign are often profound. They are the days that the veil between the dimensions is the thinnest. You don’t need to be a clairvoyant to feel the poignancy of this. Many cultures celebrate the Days of the Dead at this time, when they welcome home the spirits of their ancestors.

Scorpio shifts the emphasis from relationships to sex. The presence of Chiron in Pisces accents the healing aspect of sexuality — something that many of us are aware of but that few people know how to access or work with. One suggestion I have is to work with the distinction between ‘fantasy’ and ‘reality’. Create a space wherein it’s safe for you and anyone you’re intimate with to open up on the level of imagination. Notice if you feel threatened by potentials or ideas. That’s a good space to observe your responses and relax into the different possibilities, which is likely to be more fun and not as destabilizing as you imagine it would be.

The Scorpio New Moon follows on Oct. 26. This happens early in the Sun’s trek across Scorpio, so both the Sun and the Moon are trine Chiron. The New Moon also makes a strong, useful aspect to Pluto (a sextile), granting mental and emotional leverage. And the New Moon is opposite Jupiter. That brings the theme back around to where we started — what is the true meaning of relationships? How much do we seek them for love, and how much for the supposed benefits they offer?

Lovingly

P.S. Sometime over the weekend you’ll receive an announcement for the 2011 Autumn Report, which describes this month’s aspects in greater detail for each of the 12 signs. Check your inbox. — efc

Now Playing: Virgo Birthday Report

Dear Planet Waves Reader:

Your Virgo birthday reading is available — a little late, and perfectly dry. It survived the great Virgo Hurricane Irene and is now ready for you. It’s about 70 minutes of astrology and tarot — two sections of astrology and then a reading with the Voyager deck by James Wanless.

Another Virgo hurricane.

In the first section of astrology I cover a topic that I’ve been developing over the past few years for Virgo — family material and ancestral history. Your charts have the theme of resolving old karma. It’s in high focus, a clue that this is the time to do it. This is based on the Sagittarius alignment you may have read about, that is in your solar chart’s house of family, safety and security.

One of the themes I address is your tendency to use spirituality as your primary line of defense in the world, rather than say locks, alarms and karate. Your early environment had some unusual properties regarding religion, which I describe in terms of how they influence you now.

In the second section of astrology, I cover relationships and then your work/professional life. Relationships are of course an outgrowth of our family environment, and there is something new in your environment now. The past seven years have been a challenging spell in your love life, and now something new is coming into focus: a new energy, and a new quality to the communication. You have more in common with some of the people you meet, and also there are some greater risks involved, and greater vulnerability necessary to make real contact.

In the section on your professional life, I talk about what it’s like to have two career goals, or two entirely different professional paths. This is also a time of purging old goals and embracing the new ones.

I will let the tarot section speak for itself. Photos of the spread are included.

The whole package is yours for $14.95. Here is how to order.

Lovingly,

Dear Friend and Reader:

Eric Francis chez Blue Studio.

If you’re interested in exploring this report, here is the sales link.

Please let me know how you like this series of readings — and by the way they are guaranteed; if you’re anything other than fully satisfied, just call Chelsea and we will return your payment.

Sending the love right back to you —

Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope – October 2011

Revised and Updated! Click for Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19) — In every relationship where the parties are opposite sex and anywhere close to reproductive age, there will be reproductive politics involved. The relationship does not have to be an overtly sexual one; pheromones know no boundaries. By politics I mean there will be some negotiation or struggle for power that is based on biological instructions that tell us to reproduce, and how those are activated by the presence of people who might help us do that. Within relationships, part of the struggle involves the question of whether the ‘real’ purpose of sex is to make babies or to make love. I don’t mean to set up a dichotomy, or worse, a false dichotomy. The actual purpose is not necessarily one or the other — but the truth is that relatively few people explore their sexuality in order to have children. That happens without much exploration at all; in fact it usually happens unconsciously, leading to all kinds of adventures and misadventures. This is the time to take control of your creative power, in whatever form it takes. It’s the time to look for your wholeness not in relationships but within yourself. It’s been that time for a while, but as the next month or two develop, you may discover that you have no choice. Your relationships will remain important; they will provide the necessary reflection that your self-discovery and healing process are your business. Yet beyond a certain point, they can no longer be the main focus of your life.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You’re about to reach a limit in your relationship to your mother or to her legacy. The days of deep therapy where we looked honestly at the influence of our parents seem to be a relic of history, supplanted by prescriptions and distractions. Yet there is wisdom in understanding how these previously all-powerful, all-knowing people shaped us, taught us how to feel about ourselves and influenced our concept of the world. This month you will have the opportunity to see something involving your parents that has been impossible to observe, perhaps ever. Factors that operate ‘subconsciously’ can have a profound influence on our lives, often being point sources of the psychic chaos that we don’t seem to understand. These are the same internal wave machines that keep us running in circles or searching obsessively for who we are. They are often invisible; we have to infer their existence, and that can seem like a clairvoyant feat. Yet a kind of clairvoyance is exactly what you get now: the ability to see into the dark, into the world of your ancestors, and in particular, into the psyche of your mother. I can describe what I am seeing in your solar chart: seemed to be something strong about her, which was a mask over something that was missing. It’s not just this fact that you can observe, but also the results. Once you understand the ways you’ve been turned against yourself, you may find it a lot easier to be your own friend.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Creativity is serious business. I agree with Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way: actually expressing your creativity is more about focus and discipline than it is about inspiration. Yes, it’s wonderful when work seems ‘truly inspired’, but that says nothing of the 15 drafts that went into an article or novel you love. It’s a little like the feeling you get sitting inside a cathedral, responding to the architecture — then you realize it took a century to build, requiring a mix of inspiration, engineering and persistence. Your chart is strong with all three right now. Gemini is famous for its challenges focusing; in order to harness your creative (or other) talents, what seems like an extreme kind of discipline is necessary. It’s not really extreme, though. It’s more about guiding your work process into a container. This might be about anything from a job search to a project you’ve wanted to do for a long time. The container is primarily about time and space. Define the time and set aside the space and you will make a lot more progress. I suggest you work with limits, such as ‘one hour on this project every day’, until whatever you’re doing has a life of its own. You will feel a threshold shift at that point. I would add a word of caution about the influence of friends. They are only your friends if they have the same basic agenda as you.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — What exactly are you exerting yourself against? Let’s say you want to be more confident, so to do that you wage a campaign against insecurity. How well is that going to work? Another approach would be to master the elements of confidence, while gradually understanding your insecurity. In that case you would not be waging a campaign against anything, but rather reaching into another way of being more suited to your goals. I suggest you keep your efforts proactive, rather than attempting to fix something about you or about the world that is ‘wrong’. There is a fine line, I know. But rather than being about something you can see, it’s about something you can feel. Fixing something feels different than creating something new. Of course, to switch from one to the other, you would need to shift your orientation from the past to the present/future. Your primary goal would be different as well, and by that I mean your concept for what you want to accomplish. It’s both easier to focus on the past, and easier to get stuck there. What you might call the key to the future is a vision; that is the difference between fixing and creating. Gradually you are strengthening the part of your mind that allows you to visualize what does not exist. This is going to take some time, but you are about to receive an energy boost. This month, I can sum up the key to discerning the past from the present in one word — passion.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You are working with a lot of energy right now, and you need to direct it consciously. It would help if you figured out just how much you are working with, a fact that may be concealed by the odd sense that your energy is suppressed. In truth it is not; that is merely a thought, but it’s a powerful one. You may be concerned that if you tap into your energy, you’ll go out of control. I can assure you this will not happen; the more you make contact with your sense of presence, your will and your clear desires, the more you’re likely to direct them in a constructive way. I would caution you that in the angle of your solar chart that addresses matters of a spiritual or religious nature, there is quite a bit of chaos — as if you’re not sure what you believe. For this reason, I suggest you explore your beliefs in the form of practical actions: making things, exploring places you’ve never seen, business activities and even sex. I think you may be sensing the potential for harming others, or for being perceived as selfish — or worse, actually discounting the needs of others and being self-centered. The astrology has some built-in safeguards that will pretty much ensure that you take the needs of others and indeed your whole environment into account, though until you dare to do something different, you might not notice they are in place.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You would do well to ask yourself just what happened to you the past month, and where those events leave you right now. For a few years, you’ve been addressing a situation with roots deep in the past. Each year around your birthday there is a flare-up of what you might think of as emotional activity, or family issues, or karma. Then it tends to sink below the surface for a while, only to arise again in a new form. You may think that you’re not making any progress but I can assure you that if you compare the past three birthday seasons, you will see signs of movement, maturity and increasing emotional clarity. One thing to bear in mind (I will repeat this later in the year) is the relationship between emotional wellbeing and your sense of being spiritually grounded. These may be connected for everyone, but for you the contact point is especially vivid. There is a deeper connection to your ancestral past that you may have noticed during these phases, if you look beyond family-related dramas — they go much deeper. As for where that leaves you today, having been through this? I would suggest that you’ve never been closer to who you are. The opinions of relationship partners, business partners or those who would seek to influence your life are now in their correct place. Feel the sensation of being solid in who you are, your own authority, your own source of trust.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Relationships as we practice them are not set up for the partners to keep individuating. They tend to be designed for conformity, which in theory is the easier of the two ways to go — unless, of course, ongoing growth is your desire and your intention. There’s also something else going on. Much of the struggle we see in relationships is between the desire of people to be free and their desire to have companionship. The phase of life you’re in right now is about working through that seeming contradiction. It’s actually possible to resolve this one, but you need a lot of maturity and determination to do it. It comes down to understanding the purpose of your existence, which is secondary to the purpose of your relationships. This is the big one; this is the thing. Those who focus on existence first and relationships second can highlight or evoke the insecurity of those around them. Yet what you may be discovering is the simple and necessary truth that you are the most significant point of continuity in your life. Your path through the universe is consistent; the people around you will come and go. To get to this spot, you may have to pass through a sense of loneliness or isolation (or the fear of this potential). But something is waiting for you on the other side. I believe this will be a crucial step in transitioning toward your authentic personhood and independence.

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

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — As a perpetual gender studies major, one thing I’ve noticed about the world in recent years is women openly expressing their desire to be in contact with their male side. This used to be expressed as (clearly misnamed) feminism. These days, it is something more basic and not attached to much ideology — nor to being lesbian. I believe that men have been openly pushing the envelope on expressing their feminine side for a lot longer, even risking arrest, prosecution and clobbering to do so. The astrology of Scorpio this month is all about exploring sexual identity. I mean that from the inside out — the emotional and hormonal experience of sex and gender rather than any kind of affect or show of style. For a while you may feel like you’re two different people, one who likes to dominate and conquer, and one who thirsts for submission and craves allowing your more vulnerable side out of its usual hiding places. You may have the illusion that this is building to some kind of a crisis, particularly if it’s causing any consternation in your relationships. It could just as easily be a fun place to explore, if you put your desires face-up on the table. But I don’t really see a crisis at all — what I see is a direct experience of resolving some long-held tension, which will allow you to clear up important elements of the past and move on to a new agenda in life and in love.

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

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Ethics are always situational: they depend on the moment. As such they are flexible and useful. Morals pretend to be absolute, and as a result they are brittle and lack sensitivity to the actual circumstances involved in any question of right or wrong. You’re in the process of getting clear about all of this, and I reckon it’s been through personal experience and not by sitting in philosophy class. The world is in a state of moral decay (which is frightening enough), but in the midst of this extreme disorientation can arise the simple question of what is appropriate. I suggest you keep asking yourself that, from moment to moment. The word ethics has its root in the Greek word ethos, which was considered the highest ideal — and the true spirit of a person or a society. When we say, ‘This is a person of character’, we are talking about ethos. I think of it as the guiding ray within a person, something you can tune into that informs and enlightens everything else that you do. I suggest you allow all of your experiences to guide you toward making contact with this core experience of humanity: they certainly can right now, if that is what you want. The sensation is a distinct morph of that which is spiritual and that which is human. It’s the place where there is no difference; that well-tuned state of mind where life becomes art and art becomes life.

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

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — In what ways have you succeeded at doing things differently than your parents? I really mean it — truly, significantly differently? Humanity has a way of not making progress on this particular issue, partly because people are so enamored of their parents, and so many others aspire to their mediocrity. I have noticed that much of what we call self-improvement, personal growth or having better relationships usually exists in contrast to our parents and how we think of them. In a sense, we’re always dancing with their limits — that is, until we stop. One of the most popular ways to go beyond those particular limits is to wage a revolt. However, where you are in life that’s not only not an option: it’s just a tad adolescent, when your primary objective (so far as I can tell) is to be a dependable adult. There is certainly a rebellious streak that is stirring you up deep inside, but your expression of that impulse is designed to be all about solid, unflinching leadership. One thing about Capricorn is that it’s always a child inside, and that you tend to get younger as the years unfold. Let your desire to stir the pot entice you to be that much more fearless, that much bolder, but always taking a well-proportioned approach and giving the appearance of playing within the rules. In essence, the perfect revolt for this moment is to be unequivocally yourself.

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

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Religion is a supposedly simple way to cook down the complexities of who and what a person is. It takes many forms, but the one thing they all have in common is reducing many intricacies and subtle shades of meaning down to rules and a few rigid ideas. They paper over how much we have going on inside, how jumbled our minds can get, and how difficult it can be to have a clear sense of self. This is especially true now, due to two current, and rather extreme, trends: increasing limits placed on our options (all of us), and the deep restlessness of the human soul. You don’t need to impose an external ideology onto yourself, no matter where it comes from; that is not a solution. You also have a rare perspective on seeing the ways in which beliefs box you into your limitations, and know how questioning your beliefs can set you free. Over the next few weeks, you’re likely to encounter situations that compel you to challenge what you believe and why. The deeper issue is who has set the limits on your vision of yourself and of the world; who has set the limits on your happiness. You may be inclined to say that it’s you, but it actually goes back a lot longer than any memory of the ‘you’ that you now know. I suggest you push back; your mind is vibrating with the need to express yourself, and though it seems chaotic in there, it’s the fertile, passionate kind of chaos.

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

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — You are poised to make some truly innovative decisions about money, which will be disguised in the appearance of conventionality. By innovative I mean radical, based on your values and your willingness to dare. By appearance of conventionality, I mean through some kind of structure or agreement that seems, on its face, like it’s a normal thing: a contract, a company, a partnership of some kind. This is an opportunity to remember — and work with — the difference between content and form, which is another way of saying that appearances deceive. There are many forms of deception, and one of them is camouflage, which is precisely what you’re doing. In a similar way, your charts talk about working both ends of the polarity that seems to run from risk to discipline. It’s not really that linear; these are ingredients that you can and must blend artfully; you need the right proportion of each. As you do this, remember your purpose; focus on why you’re doing what you’re doing, and consider your ultimate goal. That goal is likely to change and evolve, which is a healthy sign: it means your values are in a state of evolution. If the people around you seem stuck or slow to pick up on what, to you, is obvious, don’t waste energy trying to convince people of anything. Your actions and their results will speak for themselves.

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

Introducing a Weekly 2012 Diary by Eric Francis

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Dear Friend and Reader:

This thing called 2012 is approaching fast. We’ve got just one more season and we’re there. This is one of the most predicted-about times in human history. I can tell you that there will be a lot of unemployed prophets on Jan. 1, 2013. And I can tell you that the changes that do happen to society will be the ones that were right in front of us — but which we were not expecting. In honor of those changes, and our opportunity to use them creatively, for the next few months I will be using the Tuesday space to write a 2012 diary. [Note, even though our records show you’re not a subscriber to Planet Waves Weekly, we will be emailing the October monthly horoscope to you on Friday.]

What is the theme of 2012 as I see it? In a phrase, “Everything, All at Once.” We’ve had a few little tastes of that quality the past few years (especially in 2011); yet the story has just begun. This astrology will come in and out of focus, depending on the positions of other planets. It happens to be in high focus today, as the Libra New Moon makes an exact square to Pluto and a close opposition to Uranus. We are in what you might think of as a 2012 microcosm. [To read about that in detail, please check Soul, Form and Fear: New Moon Square Plutoon Planet Waves daily.]

At the heart of this is Uranus square Pluto, which is exact from 2012-2015. It’s been building for a long time and once we know what to look for, we’ll be able to see cultural manifestations going back five years. This aspect will influence you personally; it is affecting all of us. It could manifest emotionally as some form of obsession, the drive to participate, deep introspection — or as fear. One thing we need to learn through the 2012 astrology is how to keep fear, and the people who use it against others, in perspective. Mostly, this alignment is about the drive for progress.

Every change we’ve delayed, every place we’ve been stuck, every aspect of our lives that needs attention, the ways we feel summoned to get involved — all of these will come into focus in 2012, and stay there for at least three years. That’s a lot of material to cover. It will seem to rush on fast, and yet we must use well the time we have.

Many Decisions, Many Variables

A lot of this is about embracing decisions, and allowing for variables. We know how much we delay making changes because one change might lead to another, and another. Yet there seem to be so many variables right now. There is a way to go through this experience without getting overwhelmed, and my intention as an astrologer and writer is to help you see the way to do that.

This Tuesday weekly series will relate directly to the 2012 annual edition of Planet Waves. The annual edition, usually published the first week of January, is where you get your extended overview of the new year (last year’s was called Light Bridge; the year before was called Cosmic Confidential). Our annual is a comprehensive product, which many people depend upon for a bit of perspective and easy-to-understand astrology guidance.

Because of the extraordinary astrology of 2012, I am devoting extra time to doing this year’s edition. This new Tuesday series will serve two purposes: one being to keep you informed about this unusual astrology and related events; and the other being a place for me to create and develop the ideas that you’ll be reading about when the annual publishes in just a few short months.

Big astrological events mean something different to everyone. I will be counting on your feedback, ideas and wisdom to create this annual edition. You can write directly to me by replying to this email.

The Cycle Starting in 1965 Turns a Corner Now

The topic for today is: what is the relationship of 2012 astrology to the 1960s — and why should you care? Let’s take them one at a time.

The Rain in Spain — the 1960s were not all about protests and LSD. Among the less-tumultuous developments was a film production of My Fair Lady, adapted from a play by George Bernard Shaw. It won eight Academy Awards, including best picture, released shortly after the Beatles arrived in the United States.

On Oct. 9, 1965, there was a conjunction in mid-Virgo — Uranus conjunct Pluto. That was the epicenter of what we think of as “The Sixties.” Historians have tried for decades to explain what the 1960s were — and it would help if they had astrology. Let’s just say they were about a lot more than protests. They were a time of monumental change in every facet of life: technology, art, literature and music. The family structure of the 1940s and 1950s was totally rearranged. Sex roles began to change. There was a sexual revolution, with mixed results — but some real impact.

You could say that consciousness itself changed, and we’ve been living with that particular mental vibe ever since. As The Eagles so brilliantly said it, “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.” We are, however, about to do something other than check out or leave. We are going into the next phase of that cycle — Uranus square Pluto. It’s taken 46 years for Uranus and Pluto to move from a conjunction to a square. This is like the week that it takes the New Moon to become the quarter Moon, only it was nearly half a century. Think of all that has happened in those years.

When Uranus and Pluto get to the first quarter, the action begins again. It’s actually been happening for several years, but it’s been really obvious in 2011, whether you consider Arab Spring, the volatility of the financial markets, the political chaos, the sense of total overwhelm that is reminiscent of the Sixties. The times we are in will challenge you to be yourself fully, and to live the life that is right for you. Clinging will not work — making conscious and informed choices will work a lot better.

Astrologically, one big difference between the 1960s and now is that the conjunction was in the relatively mellow, intellectual, service-oriented sign Virgo. The square that we are approaching now reaches from Uranus in Aries to Pluto in Capricorn — super-high energy signs that are all about taking action. Uranus in Aries is about a stunning self-awakening. Pluto in Capricorn is about changes to the very roots of our society and its structure. Where the two intersect for you personally is a crucial meeting point. It’s where you need to be focusing your plans, your decisions and your concept for your life, even as everything is changing before your eyes.

One thing that most people don’t understand is that times of change and instability are the moments of the greatest potential. Yes, you have to be gutsier, apply your intelligence, and dare to take a few risks. You could say the possibilities are limitless, though closer to the point is that they are real — and the astrology points us directly to them. More next week.

Lovingly,

P.S. The October monthly horoscope will be published on Friday.

Libra Equinox: In Search of Justice

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The judge said, “Guilty” in a make-believe trial,
Slapped the sheriff on the back with a smile and said,
“Supper’s waiting at home and I got to get to it.”
— Bobby Russell

Dear Friend and Reader:

If there was a silver lining to Wednesday night’s human sacrifice of Troy Davis, it was that so many people cared — and did something tangible about it. In the days and weeks leading up to his execution by the state of Georgia, there was an unprecedented global outpouring of sadness, concern and outrage not just because of evidence that he was innocent, but also of disgust at the continued use of the death penalty by the United States. No death sentence has raised this much public ire since Karla Faye Tucker, who was executed by Texas in 1998.

Troy Anthony Davis as a death row inmate in 2002, shown with his mother, Virginia. Photo from family website.

Troy Davis was convicted of the 1989 murder of off-duty police officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia, though seven of the nine witnesses whose testimony convicted him have recanted. One of the other two is believed by many to be the actual shooter. Millions of people signed petitions, spread the world through social media and shut down phone lines going into every conceivable office in the Georgia legal system. But as Troy himself put it, it really was about all the Troy Davises that came before and after the one who died Wednesday night.

The public uprising was truly activism in the tradition of Uranus square Pluto, the centerpiece of 2012 astrology — an aspect directly related to the fabled uprisings of the 1960s. Transcending national boundaries and the usual divisions of race and class, it is during Uranus-Pluto aspects, which happen a few times per century, that progress on human rights is often made. Troy Davis was one of many social justice stories that emerged in the week that the Sun was preparing its ingress into Libra, the sign of the legal system and the concept of fairness, (illustrated with scales, held by Astraea, the goddess of justice). The Sun entered Libra with the equinox early Friday, and will aspect Uranus and Pluto through the weekend and into next week. In doing so, it will set off the 2012 aspect, once again bringing the future a little closer to us.

Those raising their voices on behalf of Troy Davis included former FBI director William Sessions (who served under Ronald Reagan); Dr. Allen Ault, a former warden of the Georgia prison where Davis was killed; Pres. Jimmy Carter; Pope Benedict and many celebrities from around the world.

Most astonishing and unexpected among these figures was Dr. Ault, who with a group of former Georgia prison officials wrote to Gov. Nathan Deal out of “overwhelming concern” that Davis was innocent — and the impact that this would have on the executioners. The issue of what happens to the people who must actually kill the condemned person is finally starting to get some traction, after being raised for years by Helen Prejean.

“We write to you as former wardens and corrections officials who have had direct involvement in executions,” Ault and his colleagues wrote to Gov. Deal, who could have stopped the execution with a phone call.

“Like few others in this country, we understand that you have a job to do in carrying out the lawful orders of the judiciary. We also understand, from our own personal experiences, the awful lifelong repercussions that come from participating in the execution of prisoners. While most of the prisoners whose executions we participated in accepted responsibility for the crimes for which they were punished, some of us have also executed prisoners who maintained their innocence until the end. It is those cases that are most haunting to an executioner.

Amnesty International protest in Atlanta in support of Troy Davis, part of an international show of opposition for his execution — and for the death penalty itself. Many protests were in virtual space, and numerous others took place on the ground. Photo: Elizabeth Hartsig.

“We write to you today with the overwhelming concern that an innocent person could be executed in Georgia tonight. We know the legal process has exhausted itself in the case of Troy Anthony Davis, and yet, doubt about his guilt remains. This very fact will have an irreversible and damaging impact on your [prison] staff. Many people of significant standing share these concerns, including, notably, William Sessions, Director of the FBI under President Ronald Reagan.

“Living with the nightmares is something that we know from experience. No one has the right to ask a public servant to take on a lifelong sentence of nagging doubt, and for some of us, shame and guilt. Should our justice system be causing so much harm to so many people when there is an alternative?” [End of quote from Dr. Ault’s letter.]

The alternative would not have been to release Davis, but rather to commute his sentence to life without the possibility of parole while the investigation continued. The state could have hedged its bets here, especially given that he is likely to be exculpated (declared innocent after conviction, and in this case, execution). Because of the high probability of Davis’ innocence, what Dr. Ault and his co-authors are saying is that the death penalty spreads the agony like poison in water. I believe it spreads the karma of murder out over an entire society. In order for ‘justice’ to be done, millions of people had to feel the pain and helplessness of watching a potentially innocent man be put to death.

MacPhail’s relatives said that Davis and his family had duped people into believing in his innocence. “We know what the truth is,” MacPhail’s widow, Joan MacPhail-Harris, told CNN. “And for someone to ludicrously say that he is a victim — we are victims. Look at us. We have put up with this stuff for 22 years. It’s time for justice. We need our justice.” I think she means revenge. There is a difference, and not everyone gets it. But as a friend pointed out yesterday, the blood lust that is associated with the American death penalty may be the toxic shadow of living in a country where justice has been denied to so many for so long.

Also executed Wednesday night was Lawrence Brewer, a self-avowed racist who tortured and murdered James Byrd, Jr. in 1998. He was the 236th prisoner to be executed by the State of Texas during the governorship of likely Republican candidate Rick Perry — a record number of executions under one governor. While this kind of case is often used as justification for the death penalty, Byrd’s family was opposed to Brewer’s execution on the basis that it is only more killing, which would help nothing.

More killing is what Texas is all about. Since 1976, when the death penalty was resumed in the United States after a brief moratorium, Texas has executed more than 476 prisoners, nearly half of those executed by the United States in the modern era of the death penalty.

Troy Davis pictured at his high school graduation ceremony. Photo provided by Amnesty International.

Despite the impressive reputation of Texas, Georgia is the unofficial capital of capital punishment in the United States. It was the Supreme Court’s Furman v. Georgia decision that stopped the death penalty in 1972 due to numerous problems. These included what was in reality a lottery system of inconsistent application of execution throughout the states, death sentences imposed for rape by some states and not others, and innumerable accusations of racial bias. Justice Potter Stewart famously wrote that the Bill of Rights “cannot tolerate the infliction of a sentence of death under legal systems that permit this unique penalty to be so wantonly and so freakishly imposed.”

It was Gregg v. Georgia, a 1976 decision, that allowed states to resume executions under new, supposedly more rigorous conditions — but those rules seem to have done little to impose fairness or guarantee that condemned people are actually guilty, or guilty of something other than being black. Issues with the death penalty in Georgia are part of its folk history. Everyone remembers “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” the haunting 1972 southern gothic song about the false trial and hanging of an innocent man.

Since then, Georgia’s execution process has been wracked with scandal — including federal officials seizing the state’s illegally imported supply of sodium thiopental, the drug usually used to kill prisoners. Davis’ execution was carried out by a company called CorrectHealth, a for-profit enterprise that oversees all executions in Georgia. What is entered on the certificate of death under the ’cause of death’ as state homicide is in fact corporate homicide.

Before he was killed, Davis spent 22 years in solitary confinement, a form of torture. He had four separate death dates, refusing his last meal for all of them, one time coming within two hours of execution before the process was stopped. His scheduled killing this week was delayed for several hours as the justices of the Supreme Court were polled about whether they wanted to grant a stay. The workings of the Supreme Court are mysterious, but one observer I trust said that the decision to deny a stay was likely unanimous, or the execution would have been halted. Technically, it takes a minimum of five justices to stay an execution, something that they rarely do.

Troy Davis was executed using pentobarbital, a drug usually used to euthanize household animals, and died Wednesday at 11:08 pm. But he leaves a legacy behind him: especially an invigorated anti-death penalty movement, and a name that everyone will recognize if and when evidence emerges that someone else committed the crime for which his life was taken. The chart for his death suggests that capital punishment in the United States will be one of the things overthrown by the public uprisings of 2012-2015.

Personal Questions and Public Issues

In case you didn’t notice, this was a week of subtle tension and constant adjustment. At times it might have been not so subtle, but better described as intense and edgy. There were two main aspects in effect — both of them quincunxes, or 150-degree aspects. If you think of a square as being inwardly confrontational and a trine as being an easy flow, think of a quincunx as halfway between. Their distinctive feeling is that of unresolved tension and the continuous sensation of working it out. In fact, we can make significant progress under the influence of these aspects.

Lady Gaga speaks at the National Equality March on Nov. 28, 2009. She was a leading advocate of open service in the military. Photo by Ryan J. Reilly via Wikimedia Commons.

The aspects were Sun quincunx Neptune, at the same time as Mars quincunx Chiron. It’s fairly rare to have this kind of simultaneous dual alignment of an unusual aspect like this, but for reasons I will describe another time, the sky is a setup for quincunxes at the moment. On a personal level, you may have noticed yourself asking many questions about your life, or rather, discovering that those questions existed. Next, you may have gone on a campaign of making many adjustments, another keyword of the quincunx.

Sun to Neptune had the vibe of not being able to stand the lies, the sensation of slipping, or the disregard of intellectual clarity. One thing about our era of history is its blatant anti-intellectualism — remember that ‘reality based’ is an insult and that science is considered by many to be inconvenient — or a sign of weak faith. Blending the Sun (expression, ego) and Neptune (creativity, deception) in a 150-degree aspect screams with the desire for clarity. Happening as it did at the end of two signs (Virgo and Aquarius), this may have come with the feeling of enough already.

At the same time, Mars was newly in Leo — which grants energy and courage. It was (and still is) making an aspect to Chiron in early Pisces. This is about a new approach, taking up new tools, and taking on life’s challenges with the courage of a warrior and the precision of a surgeon. The fog and slippery quality of Sun-Neptune may have felt like provocation into the new, exacting methods of Mars-Chiron.

These two aspects to me are like an illustration of the necessities of our moment. On one level there is so much bullshit and mental chaos that a sane person cannot stand it. There is that sense of drowning in disinformation, but really needing information good enough to act on. It’s enough to make you question your sanity, especially when events themselves become overwhelming.

Then you look at the situation another way, or feel within yourself for resources. You take an approach that utilizes a psychological tool or the direction of energy. All Mars-Chiron aspects have the feeling of martial arts, which are about the conscious use and application of inner power. This is the perfect antidote to the chaos of the Sun-Neptune aspect. Mars-Chiron favors the underdog and has the sense of a quest for justice.

Lady Gaga in Portand, Maine, on her sexual equality rights tour that helped end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Photo by Amanda Painter.

Now two other things are happening: the Sun is beginning its path across Libra, putting it into contact with the Uranus-Pluto square. This feels like resolution; it feels like a new surge of energy. The Sun will make a concentrated series of big aspects through the next two weeks — first to Chiron, then to Uranus, then to Pluto, then to Jupiter and finally to Saturn. (There is a very high-potency lineup on Wednesday, Sept. 29.)

The Sun is now in a cardinal sign and at the first moment of a new season — this sequence of events is about taking action. Said another way, it’s about a surge of energy that is focused into a tangible, disciplined process. The energy surge comes first — followed by the obvious need to focus. The story in the planets right now is not about going with the flow, but neither is it about pushing the river. It’s about the conscious application of mental and emotional power. Chiron is a big player that describes a process of planning, documenting and making decisions that are based on actual data.

As for the public issues — there were two other social justice events this week that would count for signs of the times. The first was the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the Clinton-era policy that led to an 18-year witch hunt of gay and lesbian people in the military. The legal process that led to this actually started in July, when the leaders of the military said their forces were ready to toss out the old policy that had wrecked so many lives and spread so much paranoia.

With this change, an era of nationally-sanctioned lying and discrimination has come to an end. Over the DADT years more than 14,500 able-bodied soldiers left the Armed Services due to sexual orientation. Very few left the military because they wanted to and with the end of DADT, many who were recently released are planning to rejoin. West Point graduate and activist Dan Choi plans on reenlisting, saying, “Going back to the military will be a vindication. I’m going back because I fought to go back. The seriousness of our claims was not just political theatre — it was really drawn from our lives. I sacrificed so much so I could go back.”

Meanwhile, those discharged as ‘undesirable’ can now petition to have their decisions changed to ‘honorable’, as was a 70-year-old discharge, concerning a World War II soldier.

With one or two rare exceptions, protests on Wall Street, New York City, this week were ignored by the media. At the peak there were more than 2,000 people there. Mayor Bloomberg was having CGI fantasies of many more. Photo by Alex Féthière.

Then there was a protest that was near to my heart: the occupation of Wall Street. On Sept. 17, the event kicked off with some 2,000 protesters crowding Bowling Green Plaza, angry about the financial meltdown caused by “the corruption of the 1%,” and the continuing unregulated speculation that erodes stability of the financial markets and of the whole economy. Protesters were comprised of recent college grads unable to find employment and others who have identified corporate America as the primary cause of our fiscal decline. As with so many protests these days, the idea was developed and implemented through social networking.

Mayor Bloomberg likened it to the Arab Spring, and made it clear that the same kind of “riots” that occurred in Egypt and Spain were unwelcome in New York. Perhaps that’s why there has been so little news coverage of this protest. Just one weekly free paper in New York City covered it, as did Toronto Star. Any journalist who violated an unspoken ban on the story could have been cut off from the mayor’s good graces, which is an annoying possibility to consider. Simultaneous protests are occurring in England, so it is BBC that seems to be the leader in covering both movements.

“Banks are sitting on cash hoards and corporate profits are riding high — yet ordinary U.S. taxpayers face joblessness and cuts,” wrote Amy Goodman in The Guardian (U.K.), apparently unable to place her op-ed in an American newspaper.

By the fourth day, the otherwise peaceful protest, smaller in numbers but no less vocal, had turned testy with a belligerent police presence: see the video here.

A summer ago, people in three-cornered hats, waving placards — some quite disturbing — and carrying guns held protests all over the nation, including in front of the White House. I don’t remember arrests. The Wall Street protest has scored a number of arrests now, including one arrestee reported in severe medical condition.

We remain a nation — and a world — in search of justice.

Lovingly,

Additional Research: Rachel Andrews, Steve Bergstein, Judith Gayle and Carol van Strum. Photo research by Sarah Bissonnette-Adler.

Planet Waves FM: About the Death Penalty

Here is your podcast — it covers the death penalty and the equinox chart.

My understanding of how these death penalty cases pan out when they get to the court, is that individual justices are assigned to regions of the country. However, if that justice is unavailable or if that justice wants to defer to a larger discussion, they may do so. The matter went to Clarence Thomas, who is the circuit justice for this circuit. He referred it to the full court and as we know, Davis did not get the five votes that he needed.

Here is your program in the old player and a downloadable archive.

Weekly Horoscope for Friday, Sept. 23, 2011, #876 – BY ERIC FRANCIS

Revised and Updated! Click for Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You don’t have to apply a lot of force to get your way, or to express yourself — and in truth you don’t need to apply any force at all. Rather, direct your will, your intentions and your desire gently and with precision, and you’ll accomplish exactly what you want to accomplish. That said, be careful about approaching life as a game. This may be a strong temptation, particularly since you may have the notion that you can gain more by gambling than you can by honest effort. That, precisely, is the trap to avoid. Taking a creative approach is risky enough (though it’s a different kind of risk). It would call for more humility and does not involve a win-or-lose-everything approach. In fact it does not involve winning or losing at all. Rather, you will embark on a process of evaluating your actions, mainly through their results. You don’t know all of the factors involved in your life right now, and there are likely to be authority figures who will not look kindly on your playing fast and loose.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — What was the definition of ‘fair’ in the household you grew up in? That idea influences you now. I reckon that it had something to do with listening: with listening to others, and being listened to. There’s also something about the noise level. Were things suppressed and quiet, were they over-boiling and confrontational, or was there actual civility and communication? The answer to this question says something about how you respond to others, and how you expect them to respond to you. Looked at one way, your solar chart hints strongly at growing up in a household where there was a good bit of pride, and where everyone around you had to be number one. Yet this competitive vibe may not have been expressed openly; it may have been subversive. Contrast this now with whatever you’re going through emotionally; you may get a new layer of understanding about how and why you respond to the people close to you.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — You would be wise to work with those more powerful than yourself rather than against them. If you’re in doubt whether your cooperation would be a good idea, I suggest you sit out this round. Assuming your involvement passes an integrity check, here is what I suggest. Try out something that the Midwest Academy, an organizational training center, calls power analysis. Who actually has the power to make the decision in this situation? And what is your power to influence them? You need to know these things, and work with them carefully. Your mind is hot with ideas and creativity right now, but it’s vital that you direct it like a laser. That calls for applying strategy. Know who your friends are and who your potential enemies are, and do your best to get along with both. Keep peace in your environment; pride or talking too much is not going to serve you well. And if your mind is a geyser of ideas all of which you want to do yesterday, choose carefully among them for the best.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You will be making a series of financial decisions this week, and I suggest you make them with impeccable care. You happen to have many advantages working for you, but you must guard against overconfidence. It is true that a significant impediment has been lifted from your life during the past week or so, but this merely shifts the balance of power rather than guaranteeing an outcome of any kind. The quality that is the very strongest in your chart right now is a spirit of innovation. Careful experiments, based on what you’ve learned from previous endeavors, are one of the best ways you can invest your time and energy. I do mean careful. You will be rewarded for your discipline and your restraint, which will also provide the perfect venue for your best ideas to come through. Part of that discipline is about understanding the potential costs, benefits and liabilities of everything.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You may feel like you’re caught in a situation you cannot get out of — or, if you notice carefully, you may see you’re in the perfect position to take action that has a positive influence on several different situations around you. They all seem to involve partnership, work and finance. You’re serving as a point of contact — but this is not merely a passive role. The part you play is about initiative, motivation and making sure that any action taken is the correct action. As the next week passes, you may have an inclination to increase or magnify your involvement; I suggest you keep your efforts steady and persistent, rather than backing off or coming on stronger. That you have the awareness and courage to assert your will is another — but you’re also setting the tempo of an approach that is designed to last a while. Take as little credit for your contribution as possible, which will keep the involvement of ego down to a minimum. There is no room for games.

Hello Leo! Your birthday report is now available. I’ve recorded 70 minutes of in-depth astrology plus a 20-minute tarot reading for you, exploring relationships, personal growth and your professional life. Visit this page for additional information.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Most things that people start — especially the ones that turn out to be the most meaningful — begin as a kind of mystery, with an outcome that could never be predicted. How many times have you said, or heard someone say, ‘If I knew what I was getting into, I never would have tried — but I’m glad that I did’. You may discover that you’re in just such a moment where one decision leads to another; where one adventure leads to the next and pretty soon you have no idea how you got where you are. I would guess, however, that you have some kind of a clue or a feeling that some unusual turns of events are on the horizon, particularly where your professional life and your creative life intersect. Many things that were cloaked in a fog have become clear even in the past two or three days. This is a time to keep your mind loose and limber, and dance to the music rather than the choreography.

Eric is working on your birthday audio — we plan to have it available shortly — sorry for the delay. Please stay tuned!

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — The Sun moves into your sign [today/Friday], and this will feel like turning the lights on in a space where you were already able to see most things in the dark. You will not only notice subtle differences; you will see your options. You will also discover a surprise in the form of the revelation of how someone close to you feels about something they may not have been stating directly. Did you have a clue about this? Does what you’re discovering seem familiar? Try not to act too surprised. There is actually a significant benefit in this for you. You may be feeling restless the past few months, as if you’ve become stuck in your own footprints — particularly where an important relationship or relationships are concerned. This weekend’s turn of events will connect you to more people, and send a pleasant shockwave through your life, yet without threatening to turn over your world.

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

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — The more you overtly assert your leadership, the more likely you are to run into resistance of people who specialize in negative inertia. Look for the small, meaningful leverage points where you can assert your influence gently. If possible, work invisibly, behind the scenes, rather than making any kind of announcement or openly setting an agenda. Let others be the vectors for your ideas. I know this sounds like I’m recommending subterfuge, but actually I’m suggesting that you move carefully beneath the radar of those who may not have your best interests at heart. Unless you proceed with a bit of stealth, you could easily get bogged in emotional drama, or spur the jealousy of those who simply feel like resisting you. Meanwhile, check carefully why you want to do what you’re doing. What is your actual goal? I get that part of it involves personal advancement. But you seem to have other motives. The clearer you are about them, the more easily you will get it to happen.

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

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Now is the time to make your presence known to the world. I know there’s part of you that wants to hole up and get things done, but you have some rare and precious opportunities to show the world your face, your talent and your shining presence. You’re in an unusual position to meet people who are your creative peers, and who have the energy to shock you to a new level of expression. Indeed, anyone you make contact with or collaborate with during the next few days could do that — and you may find yourself with a new mission or project on your hands. That would be the time to retreat — but only for as long as you need to. I suggest you be as extroverted as you can be for the next month, though if I’m not being clear, this is not about being social as much as it is about pollenating your mind and spreading your presence and involvement in the world.

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

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — For you, taking authority is not taking something new — it’s about occupying something that you’ve already created. Authority means authorship, so think of this as living out a story that has been taking shape in your mind for a long time. The theme of the story is justice, which is another way of saying fairness. This does not usually happen by luck; typically, it takes effort, and some degree of subverting all of the other agendas that currently exist around you. And I do mean subvert, rather than challenge openly. The most important thing you can do is present your alternative, and present it not only logically but beautifully so that it has at least two levels of appeal. The second most important thing to do is pay attention to who is pushing their will the hardest, and use the martial arts skill of turning their own energy against them. In other words, set your adversaries up to be their own worst enemy; then you won’t have to play that role.

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

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Let others know that you’re listening and moreover, that you understand them. Once you’ve spent a few moments getting clear, the words, ‘I understand where you’re coming from’, or ‘This is what I hear you saying’, will go a long way. What close partners (or even adversaries) want most is to be heard, and this is something you can offer. It costs you nothing, and you’ll only benefit. At the same time, your solar chart currently hints at a risk if you assert yourself in a way that tells others you want them to believe you. I dare say that it’s not going to work: someone close to you is in too aggressive a mood to listen to much at all, but their conquering spirit will calm down a little if you pay attention. This is not necessarily going to solve the problem, and I suggest you watch the situation closely. Soon enough whoever you’re dealing with is likely to encounter a more powerful authority and will have to change his or her ways.

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

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — This is the month to get your financial house in order. Whether you’re dealing with creditors, with clients, with an employer or with some kind of investment advisor, you are in a position to make a series of strategic moves that simplify your situation, allow you to apply several good ideas, and come to a new understanding about the value of your work. One of the distinctive qualities of this adjustment phase is a blend of creativity and absolute practicality. You don’t need to take any flying leaps; you don’t need to risk everything. You need to get the engine connected to the wheels and decide where you want to go. Over the next few weeks you’re likely to discover that doors you thought were closed will swing open, and that people you thought opposed you are willing to cooperate. But most of all you will discover that you’re making a unique contribution to the world — a fact that can serve you very well.

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

Looking Back on a Wild Year

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Dear Friend and Reader:

As we approach the end of another calendar year, we are also closer to 2012 — a year that has been predicted endlessly, and in a sense, lived before anyone has had a chance to get there. For the next few months I will be doing the 2012 annual edition of Planet Waves. As you know, there is big astrology coming — some of the biggest of our lifetimes.

Photo by Eric Francis.

I’m not quite settled on the title of this edition (it changes every year — last year it was Light Bridge and the year before Cosmic Confidential), but it’s likely to be something like “Reality Check.” We need one of those, with so many strange beliefs taking hold, so much conflict and so many predictions of doom going around. The 21st century got off to a rough start. We have time to get on the right track, especially as individuals. I’m not really an optimist, but rather someone who has faith in the power of human creativity.

In order to get the annual edition done smoothly and on time, I have two proposals, one of which is a request for your feedback about your own life. If you would take a few minutes, please tell me as much about your astrology as you know: your Sun sign, your year of birth and other details if you know them. This will help me check my previous work and develop angles to help you with your astrology through 2012 and beyond. What are some of the questions and issues you’ve been facing? What opportunities have come your way?

How are you guiding your life through the changes that are influencing so many people? Have you been impacted by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and by the changes on the planet? How have these events altered your life and influenced your values? Here is a big one: What is up with your kids (if you have any) and what are your concerns about the future of the world as it impacts them?

Second general theme is: What inner developments are you experiencing? By that I am referring to what most people think of as their spiritual life, their healing process or their growth. I’m curious what you’re aware of within yourself, what changes you’re going through and how you are experiencing your maturing process. Are you in therapy? Are you on a spiritual path? Are you using meds to help you cope? How do you define the terms ‘growth’ and ‘healing’?

I would encourage you to use these notes as a basic guide — please don’t try to cover them all, only what is most important to you. I don’t need a lot of writing, just a few salient observations (I can discern a lot from relatively little). I do need your Sun sign and year of birth, and other details that you know would help (such as your rising sign if you happen to know it). Please send your responses to feedback@planetwaves.net with the subject header “2011 Feedback.” I won’t have time to respond to every one personally, but I will read what you write to me. If I quote you because you’ve said something better than I ever could, it will be anonymously.

Last thing. The annual edition includes written and audio readings for all 12 signs, as well as articles by myself and others. It’s a big, beautiful, useful project, and to do it, I need to focus — which can be challenging while I’m working for you as a full-time journalist. I want to do this well: It’s going to be a big year, and that is saying a lot.

To help facilitate my work, I’m going to make a series of schedule adjustments over the next three months to give myself a little more time and space to do these readings. For example, some weeks I’ll combine Tuesday and Friday editions. Other weeks I will depend more on guest writers. In the tradition of ‘Planet Waves Weekly’ (the real name of this newsletter) there will be something for you every week. If you see me make an adjustment to the schedule, that’s why I’m doing it.

Meanwhile, please look for a pre-order announcement some time in the next couple of weeks. There will be two phases of pre-order — one for those who want to contribute a little extra to the project to help get us started, and then a second one for an advanced-sale discount.

I’ll see you with a regular issue Friday, and the October monthly horoscope next week.

Lovingly,