Author Archives: Eric Francis

We’re There! Now What?

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

I’m a sucker for commencement speeches. I suppose that’s because I have a life-long love affair with words, with ideas; with the light bulbs of inspiration that click in our brains and run their bright light through our hearts to produce enthusiasm and hopefulness. My prime directive seems to be an innate instinct, like a heat-seeking missile, targeting the profound; I used to think that was big, earth-shaking stuff — now I know it’s any moment that puts time on freeze-frame for just a nanosecond and makes me aware of how blissfully, awesomely alive I am.

Planet Waves
IUPUI’s 2008 Commencement Ceremonies. Photo by IUPUI Alumni Relations.

As with Mama Gump’s box of chocolates, we never know who will give a great speech as opposed to just a good one; the same way only time will tell if the seeds of inspiration planted will grow and bloom or fall on unprepared ground. At any graduation, there is a complex set of variables that cloud the mind’s ability to take in the moment: exhaustion, euphoria, anxiety, yadda. Graduations — indeed, the conclusion of any hard-earned goal and release into new energy and possibility — are emotional affairs that provide us pageantry that runs the gamut from the boring adult/authority wah-wah oration in a Peanuts voiceover, to the big fun of Dr. Patch Adams’ (who’s still clowning around, by the way) retreating bare bum.

So tell me — if you were going to stand up in front of a faceless crowd of eager souls, raring to stampede out the gate and conquer the world, what would you say? You have twenty minutes or so to impart the secret of life to your audience. What sage advice would you offer a group of people who are poised at a threshold, years of preparation behind, all thinking, That’s done. What now?

 

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Coming Up in Daily Astrology and Adventure

 
Hubble refit goes off without a hitch

Earth’s eye in the sky — well, its most famous one, at any rate — is back in business after a lengthy, complicated and daring mission by astronauts in the Space Shuttle Atlantis over the past week, as recapped by The New York Times.

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Dressed for space, (from right to left) Scott Altman, Gregory Johnson, Megan McArthur, Andrew Feustel, John Grunsfeld, Michael Massimino and Michael Good got on the bus headed to the launching pad on May 11. Photo by Bruce Weaver/Agence France-Presse.

The Hubble Space Telescope has now been outfitted with new batteries, new gyroscopes and new instruments, starting with the new Wide Field Camera 3 that will continue to provide the kind of stunning, deep-space images we’ve become used to seeing from Hubble. This was the trickiest repair, and when a balky bolt seemed unwilling to release its grip on the old camera there was concern it couldn’t be completed. However, astronaut Andrew Feustel (who used to restore old Jaguars) persevered and, bypassing the torque limit on the ratchet he was using, managed to free the old device.

Those new images won’t be available right away, however. According to the Times article, NASA officials say calibrating the two new and two repaired instruments will take until late summer, at which point the data will begin flowing once again.

With the Hubble repairs wrapped up by Tuesday, the astronauts had a few days left in orbit to complete some other tasks. Those included a live press conference held Wednesday, and testifying for the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science on Thursday. They also performed a visual inspection of the heat shield on Atlantis, finding no problems that would jeopardize their scheduled return to planetside today.

This was the final scheduled maintenance for Hubble, and should carry it through to about 2014, when its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, is due to be launched.

 

The Northern Lights are calling

If you’re one of those lucky enough to live at latitudes where the aurora borealis — the Northern Lights — are visible, the folks over at SpaceWeather.com have a handy service for you.

Planet Waves
Northern Lights, taken near Glenallen, Alaska, on a late-night drive. The orange glow on the horizon is the approaching dawn. Photo by David Cartier.

By subscribing to the newly announced SpaceWeather Phone, you’ll get a reminder the next time the Northern Lights are going to be glowing over your town.

“But wait,” as the late-night TV infomercials like to say, “there’s more!”

“When the space station is about to fly over your backyard, your phone will ring,” the SpaceWeather Phone site explains. “When planets align … you get the idea. The voice you hear will be Dr. Tony Phillips telling you what to look for and when.”

The cost is either $4.95 or $6.95 per month, depending on the notices you want to receive. The phone call is backed up by an email, just to make sure you don’t miss anything. To hear a sample call, visit the SpaceWeather Phone site.

 

Spock scene: Right architect, wrong chapel

Our friend the architectural blogger sent us a note recently about a little cinematic faux pas.

Planet Waves
Skyrose Chapel Rose Hills, Whittier, California. Photo by Maurice Jennings.

You might remember that back in March, she had reported that a scene in the new Star Trek movie, now summer’s first blockbuster, had been filmed at Thorncrown Chapel in Northern Arkansas.

Well … no.

According to our friend, the building in the background was, indeed, designed by the late E. Fay Jones, one of America’s most highly regarded architects. The chapel, however, wasn’t Thorncrown, she now says with some chagrin. It was another Jones project — done in partnership with architect Maurice Jennings — called Skyrose Chapel and located in Whittier, California. It does share some design similarities with the older Thorncrown.

Her information comes from that bastion of movie knowledge, the Internet Movie Database, which has a section on movie locations.

She’s sorry about the case of mistaken identity, and so are we.

 

Planet Waves
Weekly Horoscope for Friday, May 22, 2009, #767 – BY PRIYA KALE

Today Priya Kale is standing in for Eric Francis on the weekly horoscope. For more daily astrology, horoscopes and information on consultations please visit www.cosmicdiaries.com

Planet Waves

Aries (March 20-April 19)
If you’ve ever doubted your capabilities to say the word and make it happen, now would be the time to put your abilities to the test. You’ve always known you were born for greater things; your ability to dream the impossible and dare to meet your soul’s longing, is your gift to the world. What ensues from your actions this week should be nothing short of miraculous, if you can resolve emotional or financial insecurities that hold you back when it comes to reaching for your dreams. You are now channeling a higher wisdom that allows you to see beyond the horizon and divine possibilities everywhere you look. What matters then is what you choose. Choose based on your deepest values, grandest vision and that which fills you with a sense of purpose. If you can dream, you can do.

Read your 2008 annual for Aries. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Aries and Aries rising here.

 

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Taurus (April 19- May 20)
With the astrology peaking the way it is right now, although you may personally feel invisible be assured your awareness and gifts are anything but. Your humility has always been your greatest strength. I am not suggesting you change that, but although you’ve never hankered after success there is no reason to shy away from it either. You now have twice as much to offer than you may have thought you did and you are worth twice as much too. This is as true in your personal life as it is in your professional life. It may seem like magic, but yours has been a long, soulful journey of self-awareness which has led you to your calling. Accept this as you stand at the threshold of being who you were born to be, doing what you do best — being yourself. This is a rare, elusive quality that sustains and brings a message of hope to a larger world, that they can get by in this world doing just that — being true to themselves. You are living proof of it.

Read your 2008 annual for Taurus. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Taurus and Taurus rising here.

 

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Gemini (May 20- June 21)
A great, expansive dream or aspiration is luring you forward with a message of hope and you’ve come a long way in acknowledging “doubts” that say you’ll never get there. This has also helped you find the inner strength and access to resources you tend to forget you possess. But most importantly what is putting you in the path of achieving the seemingly impossible, is your ability and desire to be true to yourself above all. Ask yourself now, when you envision the future or your success story, what does it look like? The more you can clarify and answer that, the greater your chances of recognizing the opportunities to make it a reality. Reach for the stars knowing at worst you may land on the moon. And you know well now, no matter what you will always have the ground beneath your feet.

Read your 2008 annual for Gemini. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Gemini and Gemini rising here.

 

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Cancer (June 21- July 22)
You stand at a crucial turning point asking you to identify yourself in the sea of people whose lives are submerged with yours. You’ve learned now (perhaps painfully) the need to be clear about whose values you take on as your own. As you gain your sense of perspective, this week brings clarity regarding a deeply intimate or financial situation. There may be another way to get the freedom, autonomy and resources you need. When presented with an opportunity to make your mark on the world, let your imagination and infinite vision guide you forward. Resolve your own feelings of vulnerability and then recognize you would not be in this position, if it wasn’t to reflect to you your inherent power. You are the captain of your ship — until you give over the reins to someone else. This is not about anyone else but daring to trust your own inner wisdom; knowing that those that love and believe in you will be there, overflowing in their support of your success.

Read your 2008 annual for Cancer. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Cancer and Cancer rising here.

 

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Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)
You are being called now to explore your most vivid imagination and boldly paint the sky with your colorful ambitions. You may feel unsure about this, but deep in your soul you know this is a risk you dare not pass up. It may indeed be scary but you are learning now just how deeply your destiny is entwined with the others in your life — gifts, wounds and all. Your freedom has always been important to you, but this is not about alienation or detachment. There is a powerful sublime truth floating into your world if you are willing to listen. A relationship you share has the potential to touch your soul deeply, expand your world and show you new heights of divine passion all at once. Healing is always a two-way street, but you can’t expect others to be open if you lead with your defenses. There is a dual hope you carry and there may be no need for you to choose between personal pleasure and an altruistic vision you share.

Read your 2008 annual for Leo. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Leo and Leo rising here.

 

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Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
As you regain your perspective on an important financial or intimate situation in your life, suddenly things begin to light up in a way that you did not think possible. All the while you’ve been tending to intense life-and-death dramas, there’s been a soulful dream awakening you to your greater mission on this earth. But that is the nature of passion, it has a way of coloring every small encounter in your day with sublime and grand hope. An ethereal connection you share has the potential to awaken you to the fire in your soul. In your professional as well as most intimate relationships, allow yourself to be moved by a desire to create a better world for all whose lives you touch. Do all you do with love and awareness and that is what will float back into your life in the small and definitely not so small ways.

Read your 2008 annual for Virgo. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Virgo and Virgo rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Libra (Sep. 22 – Oct. 23)
You’ve been through a phase of review within your relationships, which has taken you into the depths of yourself, your own wounds, needs for independence, reassurance and fears of alienation. There has been an element of holding a crystal vision even through the dense fog and an important truth about a partnership reveals itself to you this week. They say the truth will set you free and it will this week if you listen to what someone is trying to say. Trust your heart above all and the great hope of freedom, adventure and passion you dream of. You may still have your doubts, but at least when it comes to a professional opportunity you can do anything but take what looks like a promising risk. Personally, you seek someone who sets your soul on fire — when you find that, will you shy away or will you get that great, big leap of faith toward happiness?

Read your 2008 annual for Libra. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Libra and Libra rising here.

 

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Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
You’ve been on a quest for that elusive sense of belonging; a sense of feeling loved, appreciated and accepted for who you are and an ability to be comfortable in your own skin. But ultimately no one can do this for you but yourself. The question for you now is what or who it is that makes you feel at home. Is it the four walls you live in? The bed you sleep in? Your pets? Is it having the financial resources you need so you don’t need to look at your bank balance? There are people who have all of these things and yet are plagued with restlessness. I suggest you go deeper in your quest for an answer. If you do, there is likely to be a huge revelation welling within your soul, flooding your life with deep warmth and hope for the future. You are already home, it may just mean you look within and around you to recognize that.

Read your 2008 annual for Scorpio. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Scorpio and Scorpio rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 22)
As a Sagittarian you have always been a crusader of truth, be it in your sense of humor or your ability to speak the unthinkable. But right now your powers of communication border on the divine and surreal. If you’ve ever doubted your psychic or intuitive abilities, events this week should go a long way in changing that opinion. There is something or someone igniting flames of creative or sexual passion within you like you may not have experienced in a while. A partner, although present, may have their own doubts about a situation, but you now have a gift that allows you to see the rainbows where others can only see rain clouds. The only thing that matters now is that you be true to yourself; your soul is older than you and your childlike innocence is wiser than you imagine. Trust this if nothing else and be the blazing voice of truth for the world.

Read your 2008 annual for Sagittarius. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Sagittarius and Sagittarius rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
Your values are deeply coming into question and you are being reflected your own inner depth that you at times fail to recognize. Financial instability is never really the concern when you are a Capricorn; more than likely you live a life that other people envy. But there is a danger in getting caught up in other people’s desires versus your own. As the fog lifts you are learning what drives you is not just your financial security but connections that make you feel warm, safe and loved. Be honest now with yourself and the people closest to you about your dreams, hopes and wishes. A partner is not only listening but is open to the depth of your message in a way that may even surprise you. You don’t need to lead a double life to have what you want more of daily. Be true to yourself and all else will almost magically flow from that.

Read your 2008 annual for Capricorn. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Capricorn and Capricorn rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
Your self-awareness reaches an expansive peak this week, which may be overwhelming. Awareness, although a gift, can be a painful thing. Be bold, imaginative, honest and speak from the soul this week. There is a conversation or creative vision you share that has the potential to bring you deep clarity where there may have previously been a sense of fog. You may worry that if you are honest you will rock the boat with one delicate situation surrounding work or an aspect of your daily life. But truthfully you know that every risk has its downside — and the higher the stakes the greater the rewards. An idea or truth may be too hot to handle, but pushing boundaries has always been your thing and you know better than anyone — only the truth can set you free.

Read your 2008 annual for Aquarius. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Aquarius and Aquarius rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)
You’ve been an unstoppable force lately, filled with more passion and desire than your usually soft and gentle demeanor. This is because your awareness of life and its frailty has grown at surreal levels, driving you to seize opportunities as they come. You are also recognizing the delicate webs that bind us with those that we love and the dynamic energy that sustains life itself. You can now manifest in your life a great hope you’ve been working toward, bringing you the emotional and financial independence you crave. But far from being a selfish desire, your ability to be bold and dive into yourself has the ability to flood not just your life but the lives of those you love with healing, hope and comfort immeasurable in its value — in both tangible and sublime, ethereal gifts.

Read your 2008 annual for Pisces. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Pisces and Pisces rising here.

 

Copyright © 2009 by Planet Waves, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Audio Edition: Chiron, Jupiter, Neptune

Dear Friend and Reader:

Today’s bonus edition of Planet Waves will be a live webcast tonight, Tuesday, at 10 pm ET on Blog Talk Radio. To get to the program, click that link and navigate to the “listen” area.

Eric Francis

We will cover the triple conjunction of Chirion, Jupiter and Neptune that is happening now, sorting out this momentous alignment.

The conjunction is the culmination of astrology dating well before 1998, and arrives with a wave of awakening that, Chiron styled, can be experienced as crisis, progress, change or a sense of the miraculous in the air. This is a once-in-a-lifetime conjunction lasting about one year that is reaching its first peak in these very weeks.

You can listen to the program even if you’re in your car or will be away from the computer by calling into the program. That number is (347) 202-0840, which will also get you onto the air if you would like to add a comment or question.

See you at 10 pm ET!

Yours & truly,
Eric Francis
PS, In a little while we will be sending a web edition bonus, one of our readers’ favorite articles from 2008.

Copyright © 2009 by Planet Waves, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

What got Farrah?

Dear Friend and Reader:

Tonight, a much-acclaimed television special on Farrah Fawcett’s battle with cancer will air on NBC. In what appears to be a kind of reality show, the program will consist of up-close footage of Fawcett’s sickness, treatment and subsequent decline reportedly from anal cancer. The program in effect turns her from sex symbol to death symbol. Heart-rending previews of her praying and pleading for her life have been used to sell the program to viewers, and newscasts have been promising the most raw, up-front self-exposés ever of a famous person’s struggle with illness.

Planet Waves
GE’s PCB plant at Ford Edward, New York, which polluted the Hudson River, New York Harbor, the Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean, ruining the fishing industries in those areas. Uncredited photo published under Fair Use.

The story — we are told — will bring awareness to the urgency surrounding cancer. Instead, it threatens to make death into a spectator sport and obscure the real issue: why exactly so many people (close to half of Western society, if you believe the statistics) will get cancer.

Clearly there are people who will find this docudrama empowering, vindicating or a kind of release. We have all gone through this with someone in our lives, or perhaps several people, and seeing a scenario reflected in the ethers of television can help us acknowledge that something is real. Yet there is another reality beneath the surface, one that is rarely allowed a single minute of television airtime.

With her Sun and many other planets in the 8th house, which addresses themes of sex, death, crisis and transformation, this role is almost as natural for her as experiencing the erotic adulation of millions of men and boys. Yet cancer is big business, even for the companies whose toxins are known to create it.

To demonstrate this fact, we need look no further than the network that is airing the special — NBC. The network is a subsidiary of one of the most notorious purveyors of Cancer, Inc.: General Electric. Of the many ways this company has spread carcinogens in its employees and the public, few are more notorious than PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls. These chemicals were used heavily by the electrical industry between 1929 and 1979, and much of the equipment manufactured during that time is still in place, ticking like time bombs that can and do go off randomly — just like we think of cancer itself.

The World’s Leading Cancer Manufacturer

PCBs are some of the most carcinogenic chemicals known, and they are often contaminated with dioxins, the most potent cancer promoter known. Widely used in industry between 1929 and the late 1970s, they managed to spread throughout the Earth’s entire environment; literally, from the cities to the rain forests to the polar caps. PCBs are now found in every animal product we consume, particularly seafood. To give one example how they got there, consider that GE single-handedly contaminated the entire Hudson River system with PCBs that were illegally dumped for many decades from its facilities in Fort Edward and Hudson Falls, New York. Many, many employees died in the process of manufacturing electrical capacitors. The company then blew up a dam near the plants that was holding many of the toxins upriver, dumping them into New York Harbor and contaminating the Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean.

Planet Waves
Toxic aftermath of a PCB transformer explosion at SUNY New Paltz. Thousands of these units have exploded, spewing dioxins. The one that went off in this situation was manufactured by Westinghouse; together, GE and Westinghouse were two of the largest users of PCB fluids. Photo by Eric Francis.

GE did not passively and unknowingly spread its toxins. My reporting work covering this company in the 1990s brought me into contact with former employees who were in constant contact with PCBs and were reassured on a daily basis that the chemicals were harmless. One was a man named Ed Bates, who was manager of the transformer test division of GE’s Pittsfield, Massachusetts plant. He told me he attended the funerals of more than 100 of his employees, who had died of what he called “head cancer and lung cancer.”

GE’s conduct is documented in writing. A 1950 GE instruction manual for PCB transformers assured electrical utilities (who used the products) that “transformer Pyranol [GE’s trade name for PCBs] may be handled in the same manner as mineral oil.” Yet by 1956 GE’s own files contained a bibliography of 43 references on the health dangers and possible lethality of PCBs and PCB component chemicals. This dated back to a German study conducted in 1899. The company perpetuated this deception on an ongoing basis; in 1993, Jack Batty, the top GE spokesman, told me that, “Public perception about the health risks of PCBs and the scientific facts are in conflict. Most scientists agree that PCBs are not the hazard to human health that was feared in the 1970s.”

Though it may seem improper to use the phrase “blatant lie” in an article, there is no more accurate way to say it. By the early 1990s, a special project of the Environmental Protection Agency, designed to reassess the dangers of dioxins and related chemicals, compiled copious evidence that due to its hormone-disrupting power, PCBs and other dioxin-like compounds were dangerous at far lower levels than ever suspected.

GE’s Warm, Caring Impression

Another employee, Steve Sandberg, worked in a GE facility that processed exploded, burned and worn-out transformers, and was only provided with a respirator or gloves on the few days that government officials were coming to visit.

Planet Waves
General Electric.

Eighteen months into his career at GE, Sandberg started to show signs of systemic poisoning, beginning with severe chloracne (a disgusting form of skin pustules induced by exposure to chlorinated chemicals). A quarter-inch-thick coating of dead skin covered the bottoms of his feet. One day, Sandberg found a fat folder on his boss’s desk containing numerous documents on the dangers and health impacts of PCBs. He confronted his boss, who assured him that PCBs were essentially harmless to humans. It wasn’t until several months later, when he read in Business Week about lawsuits containing allegations of badly exposed PCB workers at a Westinghouse capacitor-manufacturing plant in Bloomington, Indiana that he finally began to warn his co-workers of the danger.

General Electric was also spurred to action. An October 28, 1991, memo from GE attorney Bill Thornton outlines a plan for dealing with Sandberg, who, he wrote, “seems to be escalating the situation day by day.” General Electric established a public-relations team and called an all-employee meeting at which medical experts flown in from around the country presented GE’s side of the story. One such expert was Marie Johnson, an industrial-hygiene nurse from GE’s plant at Hudson Falls, New York — best known for its massive PCB discharges into the Hudson River. Johnson is described in the memo as someone who “is very knowledgeable and gives a warm, caring impression.”

When I talked to him last week, he said he’s been treated for cancer about 50 separate times since winning his lawsuit against GE in the 1990s.

Today, GE not only is one of the biggest players in the PCB cleanup industry, it also runs a medical division called GE Healthcare, which provides services in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, disease research, drug discovery and other enterprises.

So I ask, not rhetorically: how many of Farrah Fawcett’s medical images, including the ones we will see tonight, were created on GE machinery? To what extent was her cancer caused by exposure to PCBs and dioxins, which were spread into air, water and food by the millions of pounds during her lifetime? And will anyone else make the connection between GE as a carcinogen and GE’s NBC as the broadcaster of her personal cancer story?

I have also seen documents which state that General Electric knew that silicone surgical implants it manufactured were contaminated with PCBs, one of which was copied to a then-vice president by the name of Jack Welsh. How many patients were sickened right in the hospital by supposedly pure, sterile products containing one of the most toxic known chemicals?

Farrah’s Chart

Farrah is an Aquarius — and she has her Sun in the 8th house. The 8th is where we exchange resources and karma. She feels like she belongs to everyone and we all feel a little piece of her as well. I can think of no better chart for the woman whose face and other assets appeared on 12 million copies of the famous red bathing suit poster, something that was designed to be hung over the bed or from the ceiling. Her big smile was designed to signal, “Take me, I’m yours.”

Planet Waves
Click on image to enlarge.

We cannot overlook the 8th house + Aquarius + big planets = group sexual encounter. I truly bow to Farrah as not only a sex symbol but a unique expression of erotic reality. This is not a woman who was hung up, or more accurately to the extent that she was, she turned her threads of resistance into deep, inquisitive and moreover, relational pleasure. Bright light often casts long shadows, and we find these in the chart as well; her placements suggest a significant and compelling inner struggle with her sexuality, one which made her a kind of erotic empath.

I would suggest that she considered the experiences of the people who saw her and yearned for her, most of whom she did not actually meet, as relationships. For this and many other reasons, I think she was an absolutely willing subject of sexual fantasy for which her name is basically synonymous. Check out this commercial she did early in her career, for Noxema. Or how about, this one, suggesting that you “let Noxema cream your face.”

Her abundant curiosity is affirmed by Chiron in Scorpio in the 5th house. Chiron in the 5th house will often result in burning erotic curiosity no matter what sign is involved; Scorpio would come through in all the shades you would expect of that sign. While Aquarius on the 8th will arrive with lots of ideas about sexuality, the 5th house wants nothing to do with theory: it wants experience, and to explore that experience until it is fully satisfied and moves onto the next experience.

Notice how Chiron (orange key, lower right) is part of an aspect structure. It is square Pluto and Saturn in the 2nd house (red golf tee and yellow lowercase H on the lower left); and an odd point called Transpluto, which is about focus, narrowness and restriction. All of these are in Leo. This is a person with self-esteem issues so deep they absolutely have to work them out. This grouping in turn is squared by Nessus in Taurus (light blue thing toward the top right).

Nessus is a planet that is about power dynamics, the circular nature of karma, and potentially inappropriate sexual contact. In Taurus in the 11th house, she expected to be judged harshly for who she was, and I feel that she responded by being exactly, precisely who she was. As she rose to fame and probably long before, she was conscious of the fact that nearly everyone who saw her thought about sex. This took on cosmic dimensions. She has Venus in Sagittarius directly on the Galactic Core. She felt like God’s personal erotic priestess, sent to the world to help people set themselves free.

To perfect this configuration, we have Mars in Aquarius in the 8th house, close to Pallas and the Sun. In all we get a grand cross aspect that includes Mars in the 8th, a Sun-Pluto opposition, and Chiron in Scorpio in the 5th house. This is a very, very kinky girl. She is so charming, sweet and innocent you could take her home to your grandmother or your spinster aunt and they would be just charmed.

However, there are very few people with this kind of Aquarius power who are not extremely intelligent. Aquarians are idea people, every one of them; and this woman has Mercury there, as well as an asteroid associated with strategy, law and politics. As mentioned, this whole Aquarius configuration is in the 8th house. She does not feel like she is her own property; what she has is up for grabs, or so she feels.

Her chart points clearly to the potential that she was sexually abused in a way that had unusual impact, and that she worked it out, or did her best to work it out sexually. In light of this, her medical diagnosis is not surprising, but I do believe that it was preventable. There is one last facet to this, which will lead us into the discussion her transition from sex symbol to death symbol.

Born at Moonrise

Look at her ascendant, the dark, horizontal line that ends on the left side with the Moon. The Moon looks just like you think it should. It is in the 12th house, right above the ascendant, in the sign Cancer. We see someone who identifies as someone who must nourish others. In the 12th house, she will nourish others through their fantasies of her. The image of her in that red bathing suit is about mother. Her nipples are displayed. Many years ago I had a client come in with the Moon in Cancer rising. She arrived in a black Jaguar, sat down in my consulting room, and the first thing I asked her is, “Do you lactate?” and she said, “All the time.” She had never had a child.

Planet Waves
The most famous photo of Farrah, which adorned the walls and ceilings of many teenage boys in the 1970s. The suit is valued at between $200,000 and $300,000. The photo is by Bruce McBroom, who is rarely credited with the work. It sold 12 million copies and is likely about to sell a few more.

The 12th house grants us larger-than-life status; and a resonance with pre-birth and after-death states. It has the feeling of a fantasy that is everywhere. If the Moon is there, we have to take a careful look at her relationship to her mother. I don’t know her biography but there was something partially absent about her mother. This prompted her to reach for being the mother for everyone, granted what is known in the adult website business as a MILF.

Her 12th house Moon in Cancer is about to take an opposition from Pluto in Capricorn, and this is a kind of death knell. It does not surprise me that the cancer manifested in her digestive tract, which (along with breasts) is often associated with the sign Cancer. And the presence of Pluto is suggestive that the millions — many viewers who will see her tonight — will participate vicariously in her death just like they did in her sexuality. There is a certain beauty to this, and I have no doubt she feels this will make it easier for her to die.

Here is the problem: this plays right into the hands of polluters and of the purveyors of cures for cancer.

This kind of spectacle diverts our attention from the causes of the death that’s being portrayed, whether those causes be poverty, war, ignorance, or sheer greed, especially the latter. Cancer is a prime example: though it’s existed for a very long time, in truth it is a modern-day disease that has metastasized throughout the globe along with industrialization, caused primarily by the products and wastes of industrialization.

Profit being both the purpose and the driver of industry, distracting its victims from its carcinogenic effects is an economic imperative; after all, the same company that profits from cancer-causing materials often profits further by making the drugs, pain-killers, and machinery used to treat the cancers it caused, and in tonight’s case, a television program about the issue. Preventing cancer would thus be doubly damaging to profits. For this very reason, billions of dollars are devoted to research and development of cancer treatments, but nearly zero dollars are devoted to prevention of this eminently preventable disease. For this reason, the real tragedy behind the story, the entire nation/world will be lured into weeping over a single individual’s detailed and gory sufferings, to distract them from the causes of that painful, preventable death that many of us in fact will face and to some extent that all of us fear.

Yours and truly,
Eric Francis

 

Objects In The Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

We live in a time of immense social and political distortion. The ‘greed is good’ culture of the 90s gave way to a lash-back from politicians making hay from Clinton’s blow job and Christocrats filling collection plates from those who longed for the simpler, and more socially-repressed, days of yore. Begs the question: what’s morality? A good number of Americans believe morality has to do with sexuality, drugs, laws and belief systems. Another large number is more interested in attitudes, intentions and bottom lines — that would include me.

Planet Waves
Distorted reality. Photo by Deirdre Tanton.

Take Miss California’s breasts, for instance. Carrie Prejean is Barbie-beautiful and seems quite poised; she proved that when she confidently gave her opinion on gay marriage at the Miss USA Pageant, one that coincided with her religious convictions. Prejean is evidently an evangelical Christian; Satan tried to tempt her with the politics of that question but she kept the faith, or at least that’s what she told Religious Righty, James Dobson. More controversy hit Miss Prejean when it became apparent that she’d shared her abundant, semi-clad charms with the camera of a professional photographer prior to the contest.

The Donald, he of the laughable comb-overs and glitzy real estate deals, owns the pageant franchise and made the decision that, despite surfaced photos that Carrie had sworn didn’t exist, she could continue to hold her title. As a little California newspaper put it, “Once again, our weary and deeply conflicted nation turned to Donald Trump for moral guidance on Tuesday, and once again, the wise old sage reached deep into his soul and delivered this proclamation: She’s blonde, she’s hot, she stays.” This prompted satirist Andy Borowitz to write a piece entitled, Miss California Vows to Use Her Naked Breasts for Good.

Planet Waves Daily

Coming Up in Daily Astrology and Adventure

Editor’s Note: These briefs are written each week by a guy named Eric Francis of Little Rock, AK. I found him googling my own name, discovered he was a journalist, and he came on board as our news writer. I was hooked from the first line of his bio, “I am a newspaper man.” Kid, you’re hired. — EFC

 

One last time, Hubble gets an upgrade

It is the world’s eye on the universe, responsible for the most magnificent images created in the history of astronomy.

Planet Waves
The Hubble Space Telescope is in orbit beyond Earth’s atmosphere to allow for observations not distorted by atmospheric seeing. In this way the images can be diffraction limited, and used for coverage in the ultraviolet (UV) and infrared. Photo: NASA.

But the Hubble Space Telescope is pushing 20 years old and gradually wearing down. So on Monday, May 11 (in perfect form, with Mercury retrograde), NASA launched the Space Shuttle Atlantis for the 11th and final mission to provide maintenance and upgrades for this cosmic workhorse. It’s a job that will be incredibly complex, according to The Washington Post, because it involves replacing or repairing some mechanisms that were never designed to be replaced or repaired.

These missions are also becoming increasingly dangerous. Hubble’s orbit is 347 miles above the Earth’s surface, an area rife with debris from previous missions and satellite accidents. So the shuttle’s crew — who were profiled by The New York Times before Monday’s launch — will have to exercise extreme care. While the telescope will be anchored in the shuttle’s cargo bay for the mission, Atlantis crew members will do much of the work during space walks.

Because of the presence of so much debris — a four-inch-wide piece passed within two miles of the shuttle, NASA reported Thursday — the Space Shuttle Endeavor is standing ready on a launch pad to perform a rescue mission if Atlantis is damaged while in orbit. This is the first time NASA has taken that step during a mission. It is nearly unheard of to have one shuttle fully prepared at the time of another shuttle mission, as preparation takes many months.

As for Hubble, foremost in importance is replacement of the key component — the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, which is more than 15 years old; that was being done in a spacewalk Thursday morning. Its replacement, the Wide Field Camera 3, was which was built by a team of government, industrial and academic professionals under coordination of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

In addition to the coverage of the launch and the mission’s progress, The Washington Post’s technology blogger Joel Achenbach wrote Monday about some of the equipment that goes into a mission like this.

And for something you don’t usually see, Spacewriter.com has linked to a NASA video showing the external fuel tank soaring through the upper atmosphere during its descent to Earth after separation from Atlantis.


Venetia Phair, who named Pluto as a child, dies at age 90

For almost 80 years, Venetia (nee Burney) Phair could claim a singular honor: She had named a planet that she didn’t personally discover — Pluto. Not a bad accomplishment for a girl of 11, but then many truths have come from the mouths of babes. Phair, who lived in Banstead, Surrey, England, died on April 30 at the age of 90, according to an obituary in The New York Times.

Planet Waves
Venetia Phair at Sir Patrick Moore’s Observatory in Selsey, West Sussex, England. Photo by John R Fletcher.

The year was 1930 and Pluto had just been discovered. Young Venetia suggested the name to her grandfather, who had been librarian at the Bodelian Library at Oxford University. He brought the suggestion to the attention of an Oxford astronomy professor, who passed it on to the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, which had confirmed the planet’s existence. Eventually, despite many other suggestions (including Minerva, Atlas, Zeus, and Persephone), Pluto won unanimous approval from the Lowell staff.

Burney had Pluto in early Cancer. She lived long enough to come close to experiencing her Pluto opposition, as Pluto is now in early Capricorn. And her natal Pluto was heavily aspected: it was square Mars (an aspect that repeats in the Pluto discovery chart), as well as square Chiron and Nessus.

Her chart also features Mercury conjunct Neptune — an aspect that is associated with remarkable intuition. And Vesta conjunct the South Node says “reincarnated high priestess” like few things possible in a chart.

Phair’s naming of the orbiting body (now classified as a dwarf planet) had long-reaching impact. It was Walt Disney’s inspiration for naming a funny, happy dog owned by Mickey Mouse. The element plutonium was named in its honor. In 1987, Phair’s maiden name was attached to an asteroid in her honor, which NASA’s 2006 New Horizons mission to Pluto included a device that measures dust that was named after her.

A documentary, Naming Pluto, that featured an interview with Phair had been released in April.

 

Backyard astronomers get their due

Have you visited SpaceWeather.com lately? This nifty site not only has a bunch of interesting news about our solar system, it offers a great feature that allows backyard astronomers to show off their chops.

The SpaceWeather Sightings page features photos posted by astronomers from, quite literally, all over the world. Anyone with a telescope or camera (or both) pointed at the heavens who captures an interesting image can submit it to SpaceWeather. The Sightings page features a map of the world with a pin in it at each astronomer’s location; mouse over the pin to see a small image, and click on the image to get a larger one.

Currently, the Sightings page has images from the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Many of them are time-lapse photos of the Space Station Freedom taken from people’s yards, although one Paco Bellido from Cordoba, Spain, used high-power equipment to capture a (comparatively) up-close image of the station in orbit.

The Moon and the Sun are also popular subjects on the Sightings page. If you have an image or three you’d like to share with other astronomy buffs, you can use the form SpaceWeather has posted on this page.

 

Planet Waves
Weekly Horoscope for Friday, May 15, 2009, #766 – BY PRIYA KALE

Today Priya Kale is standing in for Eric Francis on the weekly horoscope. For more daily astrology, horoscopes and information on consultations please visit www.cosmicdiaries.com

Planet Waves

Aries (March 20-April 19)
Pay attention to your conversations in the coming days and weeks; a friend or connection has an important message that may feel like it gently leads you toward your destiny. Your recent journey has taken you on a quest for a life with more meaning. Now as you get ready to make this shift be aware of both what makes you feel warm and fulfilled and that which you fear and pains you. Dig deeper when asking yourself what you want; you may discover a dream is more important to you than you’ve been willing to admit. If you are willing to go back and review an old idea — it has more juice in it than you first imagined. Understand that abundance and generosity go hand in hand, and what you share ultimately will find its way back to your world ten-fold. You have more to give and offer than most and this is what allows you to envision a dream of a great hope, not just for you but for a greater world.

Read your 2008 annual for Aries. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Aries and Aries rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Taurus (April 19- May 20)
Your ruling planet Venus has taken you through the depths of your soul in a way that you haven’t dared venture in a while. Although you aren’t completely out of the shadows yet, you’ve past a turning point and something in your heart is sure now. Hopefully you’ve recognized the depth of your own power and its potential to affect a greater world with its message of hope and awareness. This has never been about your ego, but simply about what you have to offer. Sometime towards the end of this week you seem to have an encounter with an an event that was predicted in the cards. Don’t be afraid to communicate clearly and ask for what you want and more importantly for what you KNOW you are worth. As long as you keep awareness of your noblest aspirations and deepest values you can’t go wrong.

Read your 2008 annual for Taurus. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Taurus and Taurus rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Gemini (May 20- June 21)
Your journey has taken you through a tour of digging through your doubts. But you’ve triumphed over insecurities that kept you chained to a past that no longer belongs to you. You reach a moment of deep clarity this week, bringing you an important realization of what needs to happen and a taste of your destiny. Be brave in reaching for an aspiration or dream looming large and tantalizingly on the horizon. Something may have seemed too out of reach in the past, but be willing to dig deeper; there is more here than you first imagined. It may even concern an important partnership you have with someone. If you can keep an open dialogue without projecting your fears, a situation has the potential to open you up to your own hidden strength pointing the way to your destiny.

Read your 2008 annual for Gemini. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Gemini and Gemini rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Cancer (June 21- July 22)
Something has the potential to light a fire in your heart this week, bringing you an awareness of your own passionate desires regarding a professional or personal ambition. When it comes to a deeply personal or financial situation be willing to listen to the voice of reason over fear. There is a conversation or idea that you may have dismissed in the past too quickly that is asking you to re-investigate it more closely. There is another side of the story that you had first missed which holds a deep, intuitive message for your destiny with regards to a partnership situation. This is likely to take you on an introspective journey over the coming weeks, which will require you to confront your fears as well as your ability to say one thing and be thinking another. You can have the freedom you seek to do more of what you want, but you need to be courageous and honest in asking for it.

Read your 2008 annual for Cancer. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Cancer and Cancer rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)
You’ve turned a corner within an important career or relationship situation and you have a date with destiny this week. A connection you share with someone is pulling you towards the future you’ve dreamed of, but this will require opening up to new levels of trust which can only come through honesty and communication. If you recognize you feel two ways about something or someone, you will be less inclined to project it. An idea or conversation you’ve had in the recent past is now asking you to go deeper within it. You know now what you have to offer and what you have to say is worth more than you give yourself credit for. More often than not it is your own doubts that keep you from voicing your truth to the world and the many in your life that thirst for its solid awareness. If you can let go of your own fears of rejection — you’ll see there are emotional, spiritual and tangible treasures waiting to rush in to your world not too far ahead in the future.

Read your 2008 annual for Leo. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Leo and Leo rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
You make a crucial discovery this week which may bring you to an instinctive awareness of the value of something you’d failed to recognize before. If you can be wise and patient, a conversation you have now within a partnership is likely to reveal a greater depth of connection you share with someone and its message of healing. Be grateful if what you learn this week has the potential to take you to new professional heights as you begin to find your true place in the world. There is more to you than even you thought or give yourself credit for, and there may come a moment this week that feels like a date with destiny. But far from being a thing of ego — this is your gift to the world that you give from your soul deeply and daily. And these are the rewards of your integrity, dedication and humility.

Read your 2008 annual for Virgo. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Virgo and Virgo rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Libra (Sep. 22 – Oct. 23)
You may feel like you are going soft all of a sudden, just when what you thought you needed was to be firm and detached. You’ve made bold moves towards freedom and now suddenly you may be having second thoughts. Acknowledge these but be willing to look a little closer when it comes to your doubts regarding a deep partnership. You may not entirely be willing to trust what is being told, but you can’t deny what you feel. If you are willing to let go of old hurts and perceptions, you may gain a deeper awareness of what someone is trying to say to you. Trust now the events unfolding have a deep message for your heart and are taking you towards your destiny, with more hope for your future if you are willing to envision it.

Read your 2008 annual for Libra. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Libra and Libra rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
You’re not one to usually commit to something easily. This is not necessarily because of your lack of trust, but your own awareness of what lies deeper beneath the surface and your awareness of the ‘other’ side to every story. I’m not suggesting you start getting paranoid, rather be willing now to open up to the deeper truth about the value of someone or something in your life. If you keep awareness of your own wounds, you will be less likely to project your suspicions onto someone else and allow it to cloud your judgment with fear. A deeply sexually intimate or business partnership situation is now asking for an amount of surrender, but if you stay with the process it seems to be awakening you to your greater destiny, calling you ‘home.’

Read your 2008 annual for Scorpio. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Scorpio and Scorpio rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 22)
You are learning of the dangers of your own illusions and how any denial of your own awareness causes more pain in the long run. ‘Belief’ can be a powerful force but ultimately often a perilous one — what you seek is truth. Be willing to voice your doubts without projecting fears even if they are painful to speak up for, and listen to what someone is trying to say. The more you are willing to accept another’s reality the more they are likely to open up to understanding yours. Remember there are always two sides to every story and there is room for everyone’s truth. An extremely important conversation you have with a partner in the coming days has a profound message for your future together. Consider what follows to be a reward for your selfless devotion, which should put to rest any worries you’ve had about your reputation. Your integrity has not gone unrecognized and your sublime vision is a liberating force in this world — trust that.

Read your 2008 annual for Sagittarius. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Sagittarius and Sagittarius rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
You’ve been seeking more love, warmth and security which may have made you nostalgic for a past when you were young and free to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Your awareness and ability to be honest with yourself above all is what will bring you closer to what you want. Dare to be bold, transparent and speak from the heart when it comes to an important matter concerning your emotional or financial needs. A partner is willing to offer you more security if you can overcome your doubts and ask for it. You have a profound gift to offer this world and your dedication to a long-held ambition has not gone unnoticed. But above all, recognize where your deepest values lie and allow them to be the guiding force of your life when things threaten to get cloudy. It is only when you can be in awareness of both your gifts and wounds, that you can attract in your life that which your soul deeply seeks — healing.

Read your 2008 annual for Capricorn. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Capricorn and Capricorn rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
More than anything right now hopefully you’ve been able to keep a deep awareness of who you are — at all times. With the triple conjunction of Jupiter-Chiron-Neptune you are more than susceptible to the influences of people in your life, which if you aren’t careful right now could make you doubt your own sanity; so “Know thyself.” Acknowledge your wounds and inner doubts, without projecting fear or letting ghosts of the past haunt you. There is more depth to you than you give yourself credit for, and you can have the security you want if you are willing to be bold enough and ask for it. Have faith in your ability to feel and think in bold, passionate colors and recognize please, in reality you are the keeper of a greater vision guiding forward a greater collective. A partner seems ready to take a risk and what you need now is faith in yourself above all.

Read your 2008 annual for Aquarius. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Aquarius and Aquarius rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)
You are at a time in your life like few others, experiencing waves of awareness that tell the story of not just you but humanity at large. I say experiencing because you are too intuitive, sensitive and aware to know that ‘knowledge’ means little in comparison to what is coming through to your consciousness. As your awareness grows, your relationships grow in the light of it — but there is an element of the astrology highlighting the space between fact and fiction. Encourage honesty and transparency in all your conversations this week; there is a deeper truth waiting to be uncovered which could be worth its weight in gold. This could be the turning point you seek within a partnership towards a deeper understanding and greater security you’ve been dreaming of.

Read your 2008 annual for Pisces. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Pisces and Pisces rising here.

Copyright © 2009 by Planet Waves, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Alt Monthly Horoscope for May 2009

BY ERIC FRANCIS

Planet Waves

Aries (March 20-April 19)
There is a certain social magic that will work for you, if you don’t try to prove anything to anyone. Rather, let those you meet demonstrate their true identity before you assume you know who they are. Though it may be challenging, the less you say, the better. You know yourself better than most others, and one criteria for whether someone is suitable as a friend or as a lover is how comfortable they are in their own skin.

Read your 2008 annual for Aries. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Aries and Aries rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Taurus (April 19- May 20)
It’s the feelings you are not aware of that are potentially the most damaging now. Awareness is the key: I suggest you contact your passion, your anger and your motivation, because you are broadcasting to the world so powerfully now that you must simply be aware of what’s going out over the airwaves. Know thyself has been the resounding message of the last couple of months. I would add, know, and don’t forget.

Read your 2008 annual for Taurus. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Taurus and Taurus rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Gemini (May 20- June 21)
What is stopping you from going where you want to go, or being where you need to be? Nothing, except for counting on unreliable people. You have reached the time in your life when there is no substitute for having faith in yourself, and you seem to have reached the point when you have no practical choice except for that. You can safely stop pretending that someone else has the answer; then you’ll figure out where it’s really at.

Read your 2008 annual for Gemini. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Gemini and Gemini rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Cancer (June 21- July 22)
Now that you know what you’re worth, in dollars and in the spiritual sense, decide what master you’re serving. It is possible to pursue two agendas, but far easier if you keep their common points in mind, and remember the overarching purpose. Here is the challenge. We are so accustomed to working against ourselves that we often don’t really know what it’s like to play on our own team. Now is your chance to figure it out and get it right.

Read your 2008 annual for Cancer. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Cancer and Cancer rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)
Can you eat faith? Some would say you can, because in one sense the world runs on faith. Love definitely helps, and the more people you can exchange that with, the better. The further we go from your immediate circle, the more we sustain ourselves on trust that the world will come through for us and be there if we need it. You are an ambassador of this point of view. Don’t be surprised if you have to try six different languages before people understand you.

Read your 2008 annual for Leo. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Leo and Leo rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
The world seems to be going nowhere fast, and you may be wondering how you’re going to get anywhere. Consider this. When you iron a shirt, you start with the yoke. Nobody really sees that part. But you’re getting warmed up, the iron is getting hot and gradually you work your way to the visible parts. This is the feeling of Saturn in your birth sign: pressing out your wrinkles and making you rethink who you are, with a touch of that satisfying kind of painful.

Read your 2008 annual for Virgo. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Virgo and Virgo rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Libra (Sep. 22 – Oct. 23)
It may seem as if you’re viewing the world through a thick glass window, seeing something beautiful that you cannot touch. If you skew things a little by deliberately thinking from a different viewpoint, you will gain access to something more important than a special relationship: specifically, a sense of community dedicated to healing. Most of our communities are designed to make money, though as we are seeing, this only goes so far.

Read your 2008 annual for Libra. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Libra and Libra rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
It may seem as if an old issue has crawled out of the lagoon, just when you thought it was gone for good. Consider this encounter a chance to take some responsibility for what you see. Not full responsibility for the whole situation, but rather enough to admit you’re the one with the power to do something about it. Difficult as it is, you will benefit the most from doing this the moment that you feel inclined to blame someone else.

Read your 2008 annual for Scorpio. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Scorpio and Scorpio rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 22)
Passion, this thing we say we love so much, has its roots in the idea pathos, which is the Greek word for pain. The two are connected, much as we try to keep them apart: to isolate pleasure from pain, and to claim that we don’t love to struggle. Even if you just witness the point of contact, you will take a step toward setting something free — an ancient pain, and a profound pleasure.

Read your 2008 annual for Sagittarius. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Sagittarius and Sagittarius rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
So much seems to be happening to you that you don’t see the ways that you happen to other people. It’s finally time to make peace with the effect that you have on others: you come through their lives like an unstoppable force. There are people who quite literally try to bend their personality around yours, in hopes of gaining some greater sense of contact with you. This may also be how you feel about yourself.

Read your 2008 annual for Capricorn. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Capricorn and Capricorn rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
This is one of the moments you’ve been waiting for. In fact, it may feel like the very moment you have been waiting for, forever. You really do need to ask yourself what you would do if you had the chance to pursue any opportunity. Many times in life we don’t know what choices got us there. Now you have an opportunity to choose — and you will no longer have that particular excuse. Nor do you need it.

Read your 2008 annual for Aquarius. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Aquarius and Aquarius rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)
One of the frustrating things about spiritual laws is how we know they’re true but they don’t seem to work dependably. However, there is one that you need to keep in mind, which is that reality manifests from the inside out. Try it and see. Align with who you are; align with your purpose; commit to your most important goals. Say the words and then act on their behalf. This counts a thousand-fold right now.

Read your 2008 annual for Pisces. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Pisces and Pisces rising here.

 

Copyright © 2009 by Planet Waves, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Growing Into Our God-ness

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

Now that the swine flu is proving to be something of a pig in a poke, surely to be revisited in the Fall flu season, we will need another emergency to keep the networks in the race for May ratings. I suspect that the situation in Pakistan will provide one, and we’ll find our TV news alerts accompanied by martial music and dire projections. FOX News will likely posture that we must go Rambo on the Taliban, which is not only predictable but ironic since it plays to the very religious authoritarianism for which the Taliban is infamous.

Planet Waves
Growing into the God-ness. Photo by Farida Batool.

FOX represents the school of thought that seldom, if ever, examines the ‘mote in its own eye.’ It sees no problem with American soldiers charged with fighting for Christian converts in the Mideast; it does not recognize its own Christianist fatwas. It defends the vengeful God of the Old Testament, extends hate speech as political punditry and gives the Right a place where — as a blogger recently said of ex-evangelical bigwig, Frank Schaeffer’s post on hate mail from the Religious Right — Christianity isn’t safe for Jesus.

And now, keeping the religious wars amped up, Justice David Souter’s resignation from the Supreme Court has given the GOP culture-sweats, and the networks a partisan extravaganza to hype with months of coverage. In the conservative view, the Constitution is not an adaptable document and must be protected from ‘activists’ that ‘legislate from the bench.’ That would be any progressive you could name, mind you; Republicans have already launched an attack on Obama’s pick, without having a name to attach it to.

While the country itself has moved Left by steady increments over the last several generations, the Court has continued to move further Right; Bush accomplished very little for his party in eight years, but he did give them two radical ideologues in Roberts and Alito, and salted the lower courts with similar. Due to the lifetime tenure of the Supreme judges, this will be the first Democratic placement on the court in almost 15 years.

Souter was a pick of George H. W. Bush and disappointed the Right by staying true to principled Conservatism. In that regard, he eventually joined those on the Left as a moderate; leaving an Obama replacement unable to change the ideological makeup of the High Court but perhaps to lay the groundwork for further appointments. Only Scalia, on the Right, is of an age to speculate about; Roberts, Alito and Thomas are relatively young men. It will be Obama’s pleasure, I expect, to attempt to bring the court back toward center.

 

Grand Fixed Cross: The Scorpio Full Moon
By Tracy Delaney w/Eric Francis

At today’s Scorpio Full Moon, the Sun, Moon and several centaur planets form a fixed grand cross, i.e., a cross made up of two oppositions and four squares. This takes place in the fixed signs Taurus (the Sun), Leo (Elatus), Scorpio (the Moon and Chariklo) and Aquarius (Nessus). That’s six ‘hard’ or 90-degree-based aspects working together in formation, and the main thing they have in common is that they are all in fixed signs. These are the signs that the Sun transits in the middle of a season, when we get near one of the cross-quarter days (such as Beltane). They have the stable energy of continuing what we’ve started. It’s the energy of keep going rather than initiate something new, or quit while you’re ahead.

Planet Waves
Full Moon brightened by God. Photo by Deepu.

A grand cross can feel like being caught in a crosshairs; like there is something significant to address in every direction. They can also be stabilizing factors, but what is often focused on is the process of change and growth itself.

Although Pluto, modern ruler of fixed sign Scorpio (now a dwarf planet, and having some similarities to centaurs in terms of his elongated orbit and high declination to the ecliptic) seems to deal with the change/stability paradox quite nicely by being fixed in his determination to bring about change. This is not change for its own sake, but rather renewing dedication and commitment to evolution and growth.

Another factor in this chart that supports this idea is the Aries Point. The cross-quarters (the midpoints of the fixed signs) are related to the Aries Point because they aspect it by 45 or 135 degrees — relatives to the square aspect. So all of the planets in the grand fixed cross are aspecting all of the cardinal points — the first degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. This makes the chart an enormous intersection between the public and private spheres of existence.

Last year at this time, we experienced a New Moon precisely on Beltane. If you recall, at that time there was no serious public talk of an economic crisis — though this rates among the many times astrologers ‘should have noticed’ something was up, mainly due to the Aries Point involvement of the Taurus midpoint.

At any Full Moon, the Sun is exactly opposite the Moon, with the Earth suspended in between. So from our point of view on Earth it can feel like an intense opposition/tension between the two major parts of the psyche represented by the Sun and Moon, a split between spirit and soul, or the body and the psyche. In any event there is tension between the two prominent aspects of what we consider a ‘self’.

The Sun is spirit, the life force, the universal Source itself. It can also represent the expressive, glory-seeking aspect of self, and in Transactional Analysis, the adult self.

The Moon represents our feelings and emotions, which feel as if they come from our very own personal inner spirit — the soul. For many people it is the dominant aspect of the personality, whether expressed through sensitivity or through being a perpetual child (in Transactional Analysis, the Moon is the child self. Saturn is the parental self.) Often the Moon feels like ‘who we really are inside’, which many would equate with soul energy.

Planet Waves
Absorbing the Moonlight. Photo by Danielle Voirin.

Whether you ultimately believe in separate souls or not, soul energy is accessible to everyone if we tune in. At the Full Moon we can feel quite separated from/opposed by the Whole, while frustrated by knowing deep down that it simply cannot/should not be so. Is all this tension necessary? Or is it the main thing holding up consciousness?

The Sun and Moon can also symbolise Father and Mother, and that sums up the Full Moon feeling — when Sun and Moon oppose each other one can feel like a young child torn in two emotionally as Mum and Dad fight, or otherwise relate to one another with us ‘in the middle’.

But the Moon has no light of her own and merely reflects the light of the Source/Sun. She is only “full” because the Sun is facing her head on and illuminating all of her sensitive self at once. Hence the feeling of emotional overload, which the planetary setup could imply is something of a passing illusion, literally a trick of the light. We know this for ourselves once the Full Moon has passed, as things begin to settle down again and we wonder what all the fuss was about. So the Full Moon is a crescendo worth approaching consciously.

This weekend’s Full Moon is at 18+ Scorpio, exact at 4:01 a.m. UT on Saturday. That’s 5:01 a.m. on Saturday in the U.K., one minute past midnight Saturday in New York, 9:01 p.m. Friday on the West Coast of the U.S., and all other time zones are shown here.

The Scorpio Moon can experience feelings as intense, deep and transformative, perhaps sexual, perhaps secret, and through Full Moon probably ultimately deeply cathartic. This plunge into the depths of the psyche is facilitated by the light of the elegant, earthy sensuality of the body-grounded Taurus Sun. This in effect grounds the process; all oppositions are across two signs that have something in common, but which they approach very differently, two sides of a certain coin.

This lunation is conjunct Chariklo in Scorpio, square Nessus in Aquarius and also square Elatus in Leo. These are all centaur planets. Centaurs in astrology could be said to relate to Scorpio in the sense that they are all about processes of transformation and integration. All the centaurs die, one way or another; how they die expresses the type of transformation involved.

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Illustration from Chariklo article, Small World Stories. Photo by Danielle Voirin.

Chariklo was the wife of Chiron, and like the mother who quite brutally rejected him, she was a nymph, and she was foster-mother to Chiron’s protégés. We know very little about Chariklo from mythology, as she was barely mentioned, but from the few facts we have we can infer a compassionate woman who was blessed with undying patience and the ability to appreciate the plight of mortals.

The interesting oppositions involving Ceres and Black Moon Lilith in her discovery chart, and her lack of concrete myth, both imply to me that she is all about projection — of the image of the mother we never had, the love we never had, any desperately needed missing experience she is ethereal enough to appear to accommodate. She’s what we think we need, and we love her for it. People with strong Chariklo placements seem to receive and obligingly live up to our projected needs and are known as “charismatic” (charis = grace). They seem to do this with loving intent, they can be very healing, conversely the potential problems are obvious.

Barack Obama has Chariklo close to his ascendant, and the USA Solte (Scorpionic America) chart has it exactly rising, both in Aquarius. The ideal adoptive mother theme seems to come out in charts, e.g., Angelina Jolie has Chariklo conjunct Moon in the 9th house (overseas matters).

Nessus, coincidentally exactly on Barack Obama’s ascendant in Aquarius right now, is about power dynamics, the balance of power in any given relationship, and its use and abuse. It can signify any position on the victim-persecutor scale, and in its most negative form can be about abuse, sexual or otherwise. Nessus’s orbit starting in near Saturn and then crossing way over Neptune’s (most centaurs only skim Neptune if that), looks like a symbol of a big fat boundary issue, which abuse is often about, it’s often very unconscious and deluded (Neptune) and is a case of not knowing or caring where the line is — because someone has enough power not to have to care.

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Nessus enlevant Deianira. Photo by Yvan Lemeur.

A positive expression of Nessus would be using power reasonably or judiciously (Saturn) for the highest good of all (Neptune), even though you could easily get away with not doing so. Nessus in Aquarius could be viewed as the power we hold as a collective and what we choose to do with it, and what we are collectively in denial about thus causing conveniently unconscious abuse e.g., how Western lifestyles impact the rest of the world.

Nessus square both the Sun and the Moon speaks of how we treat ourselves. The square aspect always asks for an internal check-in before looking at the world, and the implication is that right now we have genuine opportunities to use our power to help or harm ourselves.

Elatus is often said to relate in some way to elegant self-expression or the lack thereof. In one version of Chiron’s myth, Elatus was the guy Heracles was aiming for when Chiron received his infamous accidental wound from the poison arrow, which first passed through Elatus’s arm and killed him. Elatus was one of many who had run to Chiron for protection. So the arrow passed through him and transformed (killed) him without him ever knowing the role he had played in such an important story; the best expressions are those that we allow to come through us, with the ego out of the way, and can have effects that we will never be aware of.

The Taurus/Scorpio angle is all about attachment and releasing attachment. Here, we see the many factors affecting that process, the most meaningful being the choice of whether to use our power to help our own cause or to get in our own way; to be our own friend, or give that job to someone else; and whether we can stand aside and allow this thing called the ego to take its relatively minor role and let the more creative aspects of the psyche do their work.

Tracy Delaney has plotted, schemed and collaborated astrologically with Eric since around 2001. She is the programmer of Serennu.com, the best centaur and minor planet ephemeris and resource on the Net. She is a Pisces who lives in Wales.

 

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Coming Up in Daily Astrology and Adventure

Editor’s Note: These briefs are written each week by a guy named Eric Francis of Little Rock, AK. I found him googling my own name, discovered he was a journalist, and he came on board as our news writer. I was hooked from the first line of his bio, “I am a newspaper man.” Kid, you’re hired. — EFC

 

A founding mother of NASA dies at 102

Born May 4, 1906, just after the dawn of powered flight, Dr. Eileen Marie Galloway may never have ridden a rocket into space, but she still became one of the most important contributors to the American space program.

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Eileen Galloway relaxes at home earlier this year.
Credit: NASA.

Her work began just after Russia launched its Sputnik satellite. From a small office in the Library of Congress Annex, she undertook the duty assigned her by President Lyndon B. Johnson as staff consultant for hearings on space technology and its military implications. Galloway became an expert in space law and policy, and an ardent opponent of the militarization of space. She was also instrumental in the creation of the legislation that established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA.

Galloway died on May 2 of cancer, two days short of her 103rd birhtday.

According to the Washington Post obituary, she described her job this way in a 1958 interview: “I translate the world of scholarly research” into a form in which “it can be understood in the world of practical politics.”

On the memorial page at NASA’s website, she was hailed as “the grand dame of space” and credited her with helping write the legislation establishing the agency, particularly language “emphasizing international cooperation and peaceful exploration.”

It also showed Galloway’s sense of humor, quoting her as saying her reaction to her appointment by Johnson was, “The only thing I knew about outer space at that time was that the cow had jumped over the Moon.”

The NASA site also includes a link to a 2006 video interview with Galloway.

Galloway, who had lived in Washington, D.C., was preceded in death by her husband George Barnes Galloway and a son, David Barnes Galloway. She is survived by a son, Jonathan Fuller Galloway, six grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

 

Military to open records on space debris

We’ve discussed before the threat that orbital debris — the bits and pieces left over from launches, collisions, and parts just falling off satellites — poses to everything from commercial satellite launches to the International Space Station.

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Space debris populations. Credit: NASA.

Now, officials in the United States military announce that they will share more of the information they have on exactly what’s in orbit where, be it functioning satellites or wayward debris, according to a May 1 report by Peter B. de Selding at Space News.

The goal of this initiative (dubbed the Commercial and Foreign Entities program, or CFE) is to prevent the creation of even more dangerous orbital junk by letting commercial and government entities know what’s potentially in the way of their next launch.

The system is experimental right now. It will work by allowing “open access to basic data on most satellites’ locations through the space-track.org Web site,” reports Space News.

Good news for anybody who’s about to launch a new telecommunications satellite — or teenagers with unusually ambitious high school science projects — but there’s a catch of sorts, notes the Space News article. That’s because “the CFE data is considered far too imprecise to be used to avoid in-orbit collisions in low Earth orbit such as the February incident involving an operational Iridium mobile communications satellite, which collided with a retired Russian Cosmos spacecraft,” the article reported.

That bust-up put 870 bits of debris into orbit that can actually be tracked from the ground, and “likely thousands of smaller pieces our sensors can’t track,” U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Larry James, commander of U.S. Strategic Command’s Joint Functional Component Command for Space, said in the article.

Not all debris in orbit gets there by accident, and not all debris is created equal. Sometimes nations — the United States and China, to name two — create it intentionally, according to the article. According to Joseph Rouge, director of the National Security Space Office at the Pentagon, America tested an anti-satellite system in 1985, and China tested one in 2007.

“Our 1985 test created debris with a 15-year life,” Rouge told Space News. By contrast, the Chinese missile destruction of a Chinese satellite created debris that will remain in orbit for more than 1,000 years.

 

No joke: COLBERT headed for space

Who says government agencies can’t have a sense of humor?

NASA is preparing to send what is probably history’s most expensive treadmill to the International Space Station, and it will carry with it one of popular culture’s most popular names: COLBERT, as in Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central’s Colbert Report.

Planet Waves
For You America! Stephen Colbert Wins NASA Station Naming Contest.

Cobert, whose political satire show often skewers taxpayer-funded programs like NASA, urged his viewers to submit his name to the space agency’s poll on what to name the Node 3 module that will be added to the station next. As a result, “Colbert” was the top vote-getter.

Recognizing that such popular adulation should be acknowledged (and, likely, that it wasn’t good to name part of a major international space presence after a sharp-tongued comedian), NASA christened the treadmill, under development for two years, the COLBERT. That stands for Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill. A step up from its old name, the terribly banal T-2.

“I think it’s great for NASA that Mr. Colbert got his audience interested in the space station,” said Curt Wiederhoeft of Wyle in the article on NASA’s news site. He is the project manager for the treadmill under the bioastronautics contract. “Comedy Central attracts a lot of younger viewers, and the space program’s going to need the next generation’s support and interest.”

Wiederhoeft further noted the treadmill should last as long as the space station does. Designed to handle 150,000 miles of use, he speculated it would probably see just 38,000 miles of use by station personnel.

 

Planet Waves
Weekly Horoscope for Friday, May 8, 2009, #765 – By ERIC FRANCIS

 

Planet Waves

Aries (March 20-April 19)
You are a different person than you were two weeks ago, and you’re in a dimension beyond where you were late last year. I suggest you account for the ways. Look at simple matters first: how you feel about yourself; the ways in which you’re comfortable with your life, and the process of adjustment you are in; and the quality of communication in your relationships. You seem more willing than ever to think the ideas that are meaningful to you rather than those that will garner you the approval of people close to you. In fact, it would seem that at some point recently you arrived at a place in yourself where your own feelings were actually more important to you than those of other people. This may seem like an odd thing to say to an Aries, given your famous reputation for being self-centered; but we both know what is behind that particular veil.

Read your 2008 annual for Aries. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Aries and Aries rising here.

 

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Taurus (April 19- May 20)
Over the next several days, you are poised to break free of one particular deadlock, only to be drawn into a new depth of confrontation with yourself. The radical lesson (in the true sense of the word radical — meaning at your roots) lesson that you are learning is about how to relate to others in a way that is not oppressive, wrought with expectation or coming with a control agenda. This specifically includes a self-control agenda, which can be one of the most crippling things in a relationship, and one of the most difficult to admit. It’s easier to run a control drama on someone else than it is to let on you’re doing it to yourself; and it will come as a true relief when you decide you’re determined to do neither. Hint: the opposite of control is communication.

Read your 2008 annual for Taurus. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Taurus and Taurus rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Gemini (May 20- June 21)
Mercury recently stationing retrograde in your sign may be sending subtle shockwaves through you, or the sense that you’re losing control of your agenda in life. I would propose that you’re letting go of a false agenda in search of a real one. You will probably need to proceed in that order; and I assure you that you can live for a little while without a plan, a purpose or a sense of intention. Have you ever had the feeling that so many people fill their appointment calendars weeks or months in advance just so they don’t have to actually consider what they want to do, when the time comes? Life proceeds on a program, and while it’s not perfect, it seems to be good enough. What I’m getting at here is that it’s actually not good enough, and you are well on your way to better.

Read your 2008 annual for Gemini. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Gemini and Gemini rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Cancer (June 21- July 22)
This week’s Full Moon in your cousin water sign Scorpio is your invitation to plunge into a new world of your sexuality. It is time for a change, and that most likely means some form of adventure, of daring and mostly of depth. If you’re wondering who, or what, or when, make your own opportunity. You have more attractive power going for you than you think, and the current atmosphere of confusion, chaos and the constant verge of fear will work for you, as long as you present an alternative. To encourage or allow others to step out of their fear, you need to be willing to take a risk with your heart-center open. The moment this is true, it will be plainly obvious.

Read your 2008 annual for Cancer. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Cancer and Cancer rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)
We are almost always our own worst enemy, and you’re passing through some psychic territory where the lessons are focused on how not to do that. You need to figure out what else you can be, and you need to go beyond being an ally to yourself: you need to actually be your own friend, mentor, spiritual advisor and life coach. It is true, you have plenty of input right now. There are likely to be people who are willing to help, and some are the sort you’ve never encountered before. There seems to be no limit to what is coming in from the world around you, and you’re learning to discern what is true from what is not. No matter how you do this, you’re going to be checking against internal reference points, so the truth always comes down to you.

Read your 2008 annual for Leo. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Leo and Leo rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
The odd paradox of the moment is about how much more you want to do than you feel free to do. You might be noticing this one wherever you look. It’s being enhanced by your rapidly growing sense of your own potential, which is providing the intensity of the contrast. In other words, your limitations are casting a shadow that seems deeper than it is, based on the intensity of the light of what you feel is possible and more to the point, what you know you must do. Here is a little game you can play with the world. Imagine that every goal you have, you will meet in a way other than the one you are planning, or the way that you expect will work. Don’t worry about how you’re going to get there; just let it be different than what you’re expecting.

Read your 2008 annual for Virgo. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Virgo and Virgo rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Libra (Sep. 22 – Oct. 23)
There is something, well, bisexual about your charts at the moment. This is a long-developing story. We will never know the real extent of bisexuality in the human race, for two reasons: the conditioning to mandatory heterosexuality gets stronger by the day; and most of us find a gender orientation and then camp out there like George Washington’s army at Valley Forge. Now is the time to loosen things up. You have options for how you identify who you are, and I suggest that if you find yourself taking one viewpoint and refusing to let it go, consider that you’re doing something other than acting on a preference. There is beauty everywhere, in everyone, and it’s your privilege not just to observe, but to explore.

Read your 2008 annual for Libra. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Libra and Libra rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
A Full Moon in your own sign is about getting to know yourself, your emotional tendencies and personally experiencing the way that others see you. The Sun often represents how we see ourselves; the Moon is the intuitive response that others have to us. This is an extremely useful phenomenon, given the reputation of Scorpio as so often being something other than it is; that reputation being perpetuated because you tend to veil the sweet side of your nature and emphasize the determined, focused, power-centered side, even when you show up with wine and roses. I think you’ll get a clue how to seem good-natured even in the midst of being good-natured. If you find one or two subtle points where you can be friendlier, this week it’s triple word score.

Read your 2008 annual for Scorpio. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Scorpio and Scorpio rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 22)
You may be nervous about setting things in motion, things you cannot reverse. This would seem on one level to be the perfect excuse to do nothing, since you have this lurking sense that your life could run out of control. I’m not saying that it will; but what I am saying is that holding back on doing something that might potentially have a real effect is just about the best way to hold up all progress. One bellwether you can be alert to is your curiosity level, and your corresponding response to act on that curiosity. Watch both simultaneously. Be mindful of moments when you try to convince yourself not to act on your curiosity because you’re afraid that something might happen. By that I mean that something you want to happen might happen, even if it will have unexpected consequences. Everything does.

Read your 2008 annual for Sagittarius. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Sagittarius and Sagittarius rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
Saturn, your personal planet and one of my favorite planets, continues to retrograde in over-cautious, over-critical Virgo; this is how it feels to be a young girl controlled by her mother. If you’re someone who has ideas but they’re never good enough or big enough, you may finally crack open the situation now. Saturn is now square something called the Great Attractor, and this is bigger than any negative opinion you may have and it’s bigger than the fear that’s regularly instilled in us that we are constantly being spied on by a God who doesn’t really answer when we pray. Right now if you focus your intentions and make a conscious effort to recognize the value of your ideas, you definitely stand a prayer of a chance of making the changes you want so badly.

Read your 2008 annual for Capricorn. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Capricorn and Capricorn rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
You’ve been working on yourself longer than you think — a lot longer, and you’ve accomplished more than you think. You need to claim your progress and give yourself credit for what you’ve accomplished; and that credit translates to the courage to make the choices you need to make. I have often quoted A Course in Miracles’ idea that every decision you make stems from what you think you are. I suggest you plug in this concept now, since what you think you are and what you become are quite closely related at the moment. You are also in an odd and high-amperage relationship with what other people think you are and you need to watch this one carefully. The same astrology that is helping you define yourself is also making you susceptible to the views of others, and you need to discern what is coming from you, and what is most assuredly not.

Read your 2008 annual for Aquarius. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Aquarius and Aquarius rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)
If you encounter resistance, quickly move on. In other words, the last thing you want to do right now is to get caught in the negativity or hesitancy of others. They have good reasons to be confident in you, but not as good as the ones you have. It is impossible to convince a skeptic, mainly because skepticism is a game that would better be called Convince Me if You Can. At the same time, when you see signs of cooperation or others expressing their trust and willingness, propagate the relationship. Now is the time when what you build, you build big; what you think and feel manifests in ways that will help direct the course of your future. Or rather, help you create the course of your future. You have enough doubt of your own, and you’re finally learning to put it in its place. I think you’ll prefer confidence a good bit more. It comes from you.

Read your 2008 annual for Pisces. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Pisces and Pisces rising here.

 

Copyright © 2009 by Planet Waves, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Pan, Beltane and the Love of the Earth

Dear Friend and Reader:

What a strange, beautiful mix of energies we’re in right now. When I was in the spiritual boot camp known as Miracle Manor, we often tossed around an expression: love brings up everything unlike itself. The only thing unlike love is fear, so if we can be prepared for that, and willing to meet it (though not on its own terms), life can be more productive. It’s one reason why it helps if people in relationship share some of the same spiritual or metaphysical language; then for example the love/fear paradigm can be used as a tool rather than as something we get caught in unwittingly.

Planet Waves

Pan and a nymph. A fragment of a relief.

I’m guessing you noticed that the ‘swine’ flu media panic is occurring just as spring is taking hold — and in the prime of Beltane season. Beltane is the month of May or the first week of May or Taurus time or the Taurus solar midpoint, depending on how you reckon. I’ll choose all of the above (once you grok Beltane you really cannot get enough), though the astrological focal point is when the Sun reaches 15 degrees of Taurus (which happens around each year May 5). There, it’s in a dialog with the four cardinal points (the beginnings of the seasons) and the three other cross-quarter days, which take place when the Sun is at the midpoint of one of the fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius).

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, where the flu story is primarily occurring, the surge of panic is arriving in the time of Pan, that is, the spring. Pan is the namesake of panic, which is mass terror. This of course reflects a strong Christian bias against one of the great gods of nature and primal male energy: the god with horns on his head, who shows up as the antagonist in their myths as ‘the devil’. Based on both American Heritage and the Oxford English Dictionary, it would appear that the word pandemic has different etymology (from Late Latin, the prefix pan means all or all encompassing) but the pun is difficult to miss, and I suspect they are connected.

So here we are in the time of Pan having a panic over an alleged pandemic. I can think of better ways to spend a spring afternoon.

Let’s not forget, however, that if this is the season of Beltane and Taurus, there is an implication of Scorpio and Sahwen (usually spelled samhain, the forerunner of Halloween), that is, the Days of the Dead. We are approaching the Scorpio Full Moon, when the Taurus/Scorpio axis is illuminated at once. That is coming up May 9. This is really the deepest mix of energies in the physical cosmos, because along Taurus and Scorpio, the whole life cycle is implied in one gesture. Beltane and Sahwen correspond with the pulse of birth/death/rebirth. The connection between sex and death, between the physical body and letting the body go, are part of that rhythm. The moral of the story is to enjoy your life.

Planet Waves
Photo from Beltane 2008 at the Center for Symbolic Studies. Photo by Eric Francis.

I understand the challenges implied here, mainly because I’ve experienced plenty of them. I can assure you that despite this being considered one of the most stressful times in history (some of my 19-year-old models seem to be busier than I am, which is impressive), we are devoid of most of the truly horrendous stresses of recent centuries. The chances are you’ll live past 30 and survive childbirth and see your kids grow up and not die of the plague. We have a lot of demands on us and just as many options to take care of ourselves.

Our society just as this little problem of spiritual emptiness. Whenever I get onto this topic, I am reminded of the scene from the film Contact, one of my top-three favorite movies of the 20th century*, when Palmer Joss (played my Matthew McConaughey) is being interviewed on Larry King. Remember that one? He’s calmly asking if all this stuff and technology and entertainment are actually making us happy. And as his words echo into the night, Dr. Ellie Arroway and her crew at the Very Large Array telescope pick up the first ever signal from an intelligent extraterrestrial source.

LARRY KING: Are you anti-science, anti-technology?

PALMER JOSS: Not at all. The question I’m asking is, are we happier, as a human race? Is the world fundamentally a better place because of science and technology? We shop at home, we surf the web. At the same time, we feel emptier. We feel lonelier and more cut off from each other than at any other time in history. We’ve become a synthesized society…I think it’s because we’re looking for the meaning. Well what is the meaning? We have mindless jobs, we take frantic vacations, deficit finance trips to the mall to buy more things that we think are going to fill these holes in our lives. I mean is it any wonder that we’ve lost our sense of direction?

Planet Waves
Beltane Bonfire. Photo by Stuart Barrett.

Part of how we regain our sense of direction is by paying attention to natural cycles, and then slowly integrating our lives with them. At the moment, we’re in the time of renewal but we’re seeing the shadow of death, or rather having it blown into our faces like a big digital sneeze. It’s appropriate on one level, but this is coming in parody form, as paranoia rather than as a true honoring of the in-breath and out-breath of the cosmos.

What we’re seeing is fear of nonexistence as a kind of temptation, rather than as a sign of actual respect for existence. I think it’s useful in the sense that it’s a reminder how frail we feel, behind the false confidence of our high-tech lives. Though I do think that much of what we’ve been experiencing is a manipulated, fabricated product of government, corporate culture and media, the fact that we are susceptible to the terror scare of the week is potentially useful information.

Part of what it may point to is precisely that emptiness that Palmer Joss was talking about. It is a clear sign of emptiness that the media (at whomever’s behest) thinks it can throw society into spasms over a disease that does not appear to be making anyone in the United States seriously ill; without explaining, or even asking, why some patients have died, but with one exception, only in Mexico.

The brilliant part of the moment is that so many people are asking questions; many people see this for what it most likely is — a big commercial for fear and flu shots. That so many people can see through this haze is suggestive of Chiron-Neptune, which is clarifying the vision of those who seek specifically that.

All Wealth Comes from the Earth

I had a few occasions to hang out with a man named Alfred Schweitzman, and his favorite thing to say was, “All wealth comes from the Earth.” Since he was pretty wealthy, it had some credibility. I think that part of honoring the source of wealth is finding some way in our lives besides recycling to consciously honor nature, the seasons and the life of our planet. You may have already noticed this has many benefits.

Planet Waves
Beltane Red Charge. Photo by
Miguel Arredondo.

So, how exactly would we go about offering some tribute back to the pulse of life, and the moment we are in? Besides tuning into your senses, the traditional way is with ritual — which is a tool for tuning in. There are a lot of ways to do rituals, and what makes them real is that they’re creative, sincere and apropos of the moment. On the simplest, most direct level, a ritual is a celebration. There are lots of ways to get that going; but I don’t mean a party: I mean a conscious honoring of existence, which can certainly happen as a social gathering.

Beltane, associated with Venus, is about honoring the Goddess. God is often presented by religious leaders as a vague, abstract concept (this is a distortion). The Goddess is tangible, able to be depicted and described, connected to the Earth, and is in essence female. So celebrate and indulge the beauty of femaleness in any form you like. Invite her to be there as an equal collaborator. One thing about the Goddess that I’ve noticed is that when you call on her with love and passion in your heart and for that matter your pelvis, she shows up.

At Beltane the time-honored theme is sex. It is literally the celebration of the joining of yin and yang. I describe that in this article about the ancient Druid site Avebury Henge, someplace to get yourself to if you’re ever in London — it’s only about a one-hour trip. Ritual is organic, though if you were raised Christian you may encounter some negativity (fear, guilt) if you experiment with it. There is a lot of negative programming from Christian patriarchy, and I suspect it’s in all of our DNA; but that, we can reprogram. So don’t let it stop you.

What would differentiate ritual sex from any other sex? Well, depending on your preference, it would be intention, awareness or both. Intention is a useful thing to bring to any ritual. At Beltane, the ritual is about consciously raising erotic energy that would manifest in your life as abundance.

The idea is, find someone who is willing and willing to share the idea, and share a conscious erotic exchange to call up the power of the Earth and our love for the Earth. Tell me, do you really love the planet you live on? I mean the planet itself, the thing your house or apartment sits on? Lovely as it sounds, celebrating erotic energy is one way to do this because we are celebrating the core nature of creation, on our planet. If you give it an honest try, I would take a guess that you can find someone willing to do this, though of course you would have to take a little chance and ask. One of the themes of Beltane is sex with people you’re not officially coupled to; or with whom you are not necessarily that familiar. Your partner, if you have one, will suit fine; but if not, remember that the point is not to have a celebration of lifelong specialness, but rather to honor your inherent biology, humanity and the polarities of nature; of honoring the Earth and the Goddess that support our existence.

Planet Waves
Green Man Rebirth by Julia Gomez.

There are other Beltane traditions, like dancing the Maypole. This dance is about weaving a pattern of life in the community. I don’t think they sell Maypoles at Wal-Mart, but you can apply this in some fashion. Dressing up trees in ribbons is another fun tradition, described vividly in the Loreena McKennitt song The Mummer’s Dance. This one is fabulous to put you in the mood for Beltane. Here is another very nice version, apparently the official video with sequences of some positively stunning miming (mummers) and visuals of some ecstatic musicians at work. Actually, I’ve got tears running down my face watching this one.

While we’re on a roll, here is a live version not to miss.

If solo is your preference or your only option, that will work just fine, though I suggest you focus with extraordinary sincerity. Set the space and time consciously. Reward yourself for consciously choosing to improve your life in an organic way. Figure out a way to explore the dualism of yin and yang, of male and female, within yourself. The celebration is about honoring how life on Earth, biological life, is supported by this dualism like the poles of a battery. What we’re doing in any form of this ritual is recharging the energy between the poles. Basically, however you go about it, the idea is that holding and celebrating an erotic charge is the power that we use to manifest our survival, our happiness and a certain ease of existence.

This is not a convenience we can buy. It’s something we need to celebrate with our hearts, our souls and most of all, our bodies. Raise the energy. Don’t fall for the fear. Give it a voice, but remember it’s just one voice. Set aside the aches, pains and gripes your body may be creaking about, and dip into the feelings of the Earth and the waters of life.

Peace & passion,
Eric Francis
*PS, my other two favorite movies of my lifetime so far are Waking Life directed by Richard Linklater; and Wag the Dog, directed by Barry Levinson. Waking Life was one of the few movies to ever change my life like a book. Wag the Dog is the most vivid explanation of political and media sociology that I’ve ever encountered.
 

Freeing Ourselves to Embrace the Mystery
By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

One hundred days into the Obama presidency, it’s clear that his promise of change is not only here but moving forward, with or without us. For those who wish Obama was less pragmatic and more progressive, I think it worthwhile to count our blessings that we have someone in charge who is willing to flex, risk and think long-term. Change did not come from him — the need grew organically, encouraged by the energies that drive us forward toward a new paradigm and nurtured in the hearts of many who intuited the decay of a dying age. We are seeking liberation from the old ways and entry into a new century; Obama appears to be seeking the same.

Planet Waves
President Barack Obama speaks at a town hall meeting at Fox Senior High School in Arnold, Mo., Wednesday, April 29, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert).

Before the election, I warned that the promises made by a candidate might or might not be achieved; we’ve seen that happen often enough. Campaign promises are generally not a promissory note but a happy-face projection and think-tank dream; give Obama credit for never tossing his into the round file. He is proving to be a man of his word, and no matter how dire the obstacles thrown in his path, he has continued to focus on his early pledges. His own hundredth day commentary indicated that we are continuing to “… pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and work at rebuilding America.” Indeed. Imagine, if you will, what a Bush or McCain might have done in this first hundred. These first few months were a period of jumping tougher hurdles than many of us can remember for an incoming president, and Obama managed to do that while keeping the nation calm; his poll numbers remain high and the nation feels it is moving in the right direction. The obstacles, dire indeed, vary from an economy in chaos, international challenges that include North Korean hostility, escalating violence in both war theatres and pirates in Somalia; and, insult to injury, now a new strain of flu that has some of us as startled as a deer in the headlights. The next hundred will probably be as difficult in terms of the expected, and as full of shocks and surprises as the last.

 

Planet Waves Daily

Coming Up in Daily Astrology and Adventure

 

Himiko: A messenger from the dawn of time

It measures 55,000 light years across and is nearly 13 billion light years away from Earth. But the most interesting bit about this recently discovered blob of matter is its birth date: Just 800 million years after the Big Bang. Or the presumed Big Bang, anyway — which is the best current theory about the creation of the universe we live in. That’s estimated at about 13.7 billion years ago, give or take a few million years; so it’s a blob from way back at the beginning.

Planet Waves
This image of the Himiko object is a composite and in false color. Credit: M. Ouchi.

The object was discovered by Japanese researchers at the Subaru telescope atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii and announced recently by the Carnegie Institute for Science. It is what’s known as an extended Lyman-Alpha blob, a mass of gasses that may be an early stage in galaxy formation. And it’s a rather big deal, because it can reveal something about the early composition of the cosmos.

“I am very surprised by this discovery,” lead author Masami Ouchi said in the Carnegie Institute’s announcement. “I have never imagined that such a large object could exist at this early stage of the universe’s history. According to the concordance model of Big Bang cosmology, small objects form first and then merge to produce larger systems. This blob had a size of typical present-day galaxies when the age of the universe was about 800 million years old, only 6% of the age of today’s universe!”

Ouchi, a Fellow at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution, was at the head of a team of Japanese, American and British astronomers who made the discovery.

The object was also given a name by the discovering team: Himiko, a reference to an ancient and possibly mythological shaman queen from third-century Japan.
 

Six years of galaxy hunting aboard Galex

If April 22 is Earth Day, there’s a case to be made for declaring April 28 Galaxy Day. That was the date in 2003 when NASA launched its Galaxy Evolution Explorer. In the six years since then, this space-based, ultraviolet telescope has cataloged more than 500 million objects, some of them nearly 10 billion years old — not that long after the Big Bang.

Planet Waves
Galaxy Evolution Explorer. Image Credit: NASA/JPL.

What does it show us? Details on the shape and size, brightness and distance of galaxies like M33, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory website. In astronomical terms, M33 is a near neighbor, only 2.9 million light years away. Located in the constellation Triangulum, it is part of the Local Group of galaxies, though it’s small compared to its neighbor, Andromeda.

Not every one of those half-billion objects sighted is a galaxy, of course. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer (Galex, for short) has also sighted huge numbers of other space phenomena, including some striking nebulae. A downloadable image of NGC3242, a nebula commonly called Jupiter’s Ghost, is available at the Galex web site, along with many other beautiful space images.

As it so happens, you don’t need an orbiting ultraviolet-spectrum telescope to see NGC3242; it’s one of the more easily visible objects in space for home telescopes, according to the Skyhound website.

Coincidentally, there is also an Internet-based science fiction show called “Jupiter’s Ghost” that, according to its Facebook page, is about “a group of seven scientists and military personnel who are sent to discover the source of a mysterious, deep-space transmission.”
 

Indian Astrologers urged to resist commercialization

Therambil Ramakrishnan, the former speaker of the Legislative Assembly in India’s state of Kerala, urged astrologers to ensure the ancient science “was understandable and transparent to common man” during an address to the 37th state annual day celebrations of the Kerala Jyothisha Parishath, an institute of astrological studies, the news site ExpressBuzz.com reported.

Planet Waves
Nedumudi Venu.

The article cited Ramakrishnan as stressing on Sunday, April 26, that “the scientific side of astrology is not yet clearly elaborated to the common man. He said further clarification of this ancient science is essential for making it more popular and useful to common man.”

He was joined by actor Nedumudi Venu, who urged listeners to “protect astrology from undue commercialization.”

According to ExpressBuzz.com, Venu said “astrology has become a money spinner at present with the entry of persons without proper knowledge in the subject with a view to making money and exploiting people.”

In the West, astrology is practically traded as a commodity. There are differing views of whether it’s ethical to charge for astrological services. For example, the Rosicrucians say that all astrology should be free, so that astrologers can help struggling humanity. This is not always practical, given that it takes well over a decade of study and practice to become a seasoned astrologer and be able to work the finer details of the art.
 

Planet Waves
Weekly Horoscope for Friday, May 1, 2009, #764 – By ERIC FRANCIS

 

Planet Waves

Aries (March 20-April 19)
Burn your confidence efficiently. Too hot and you will run out mid-flight. Not hot enough and you will not get this phase of your life off the ground. It may be the emotional state of someone close to you that is currently having a chilling effect on your boldness; I suggest you offer a measure of empathy to a partner or loved one who is going through a transition similar to what you went through about a week ago. The emphasis of your life is gradually being taken off of one-on-one partnering and is being placed within a much wider context. Group dynamics are at play in your life, within which you are being invited to participate as a creator and not just a player. The rules have changed since you were young. You may not be able to put them into words, but at least they are easier to understand now.

Read your 2008 annual for Aries. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Aries and Aries rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Taurus (April 19- May 20)
It can be sickening how much of what we call life is a game of appearances; of people striving to establish their identity and supremacy for their own sake. You don’t seem to be up to this; your consciousness has been and remains internally fixated, as if you’re trying to establish your existence within the context of your own awareness. Don’t work so hard at it. Venus remains in Aries, which is something of a blind spot for you. She is making a square to Pluto, which will draw you into yourself in a somewhat obsessive way. The result might feel like needing to search inwardly for something that is right there but which is not quite visible or available to your emotional senses. Be gentle to yourself. The mystery of who you are is less like a riddle and more like a painting in progress: one stroke at a time.

Read your 2008 annual for Taurus. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Taurus and Taurus rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Gemini (May 20- June 21)
Mercury is about to make a brief visit to your sign, turn retrograde and disappear back into Taurus. This is perfect space weather for reconciling the ongoing challenge of how you feel inside versus how you present yourself to the world. Once we figure out that these two environments are different, the first and generally most daunting project is learning how not to feel like a phony. I am beginning to notice that a good portion of the population struggles with this feeling often enough that it warrants special care. You have the opportunity to connect to something about yourself that is inherently, unquestionably real. The catch is that when we arrive there, we tend to see everything that we thought we were as a kind of charade. The gift is what we gain by gently giving up that perception.

Read your 2008 annual for Gemini. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Gemini and Gemini rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Cancer (June 21- July 22)
The cards in the deck keep getting shuffled, but it’s not a random affair. Each time you disengage from an agreement, you have the opportunity to make a more conscious one. You can see how many assumptions you’re making about what you think and what other people think. Raising awareness and making conscious agreements are the bass and treble lines of this particular song. I would strongly suggest not going on a campaign of solving every interpersonal communications glitch or off-balance agreement that you discover. A solution is on its way that will shift the level of the discussion; problems you did not know existed will resolve themselves, and the ones you were the most concerned about will yield to the simpler equations of a higher level of thought. For now, focus on the agreements you make in the present.

Read your 2008 annual for Cancer. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Cancer and Cancer rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)
Sometimes when we take leadership in a situation, something dark and shadowy bubbles to the surface. You know those moments when you get home and obsess over something you said at a party — something that it’s doubtful that anyone will remember, but which makes you feel like a total ass to think about? What you may be feeling goes deeper than this: you are indeed in a position where you must assert yourself, and this may stir up some pretty deep doubts about how you relate to others. I suggest you let them flow through you, and watch how easily they can disappear if you don’t fight with them. The people in your environment are extremely grateful that you’re as bold as you are. You remain your own harshest critic. For more accurate information, consult the people around you.

Read your 2008 annual for Leo. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Leo and Leo rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
The Taurus Sun is doing more to lift your spirits than nearly any transit this year; you have been so focused on necessities that you have not had time to think of the possibilities. However, you may find the greatest potential in doing that which is most necessary. You will have, in the next week or so, a few clues about how you can make this work for you and for everyone else. What happens is only a sample, example or a test run, though you will learn enough to remove some flaws from your thought process and the delivery of your idea in a professional context. If things seem to backslide, nothing is being taken away; rather, you are getting a chance to refine and reconsider. Therefore pay careful attention during this experimental phase, because by next month the data will be crucial.

Read your 2008 annual for Virgo. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Virgo and Virgo rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Libra (Sep. 22 – Oct. 23)
Few forces rival that of human emotion; hurricanes come near. Therefore, I suggest that you respect the power of nature and allow the elements to do their work. The planets suggest that you need grounding in a relationship, and grounding translates to aligning certain practical realities with certain other spiritual realities. The situation has deep roots and there would appear to be a struggle over what guides the way to the future: past patterns, or the quest to reinvent and evolve those patterns. Someone close to you is feeling a quality of inner movement that is more natural for you. I suggest you do your part to keep the conversation going. Someone close to you may lack words where clearly you do not. The thing you might be lacking is the drive to speak up for what you need, feel or believe.

Read your 2008 annual for Libra. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Libra and Libra rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
You’re approaching a project with new enthusiasm. I suggest you remember that in pursuing any goal you need a balance of work and play; of art and craft; of balancing your own needs against those of the situation. You are in an interesting point of growth where you’re finally learning to do things the easy way rather than choosing one of several other possibilities. If you encounter resistance, bear in mind that it might be inner in nature rather than a struggle with someone around you. You may also be inclined to blame someone for backing out of a situation, dragging their feet or pretending to be thick headed, when everyone knows full well what the basic facts are and what is going on. If you listen and give their ideas sufficient time to reveal themselves, an important point of truth will emerge when you least expected it — and this information will facilitate matters significantly.

Read your 2008 annual for Scorpio. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Scorpio and Scorpio rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 22)
Freedom may be a word for nothing left to lose. Yet there does seem to be plenty at stake, and you are hungry for your independence. Be honest with yourself that there is a price to pay for originality. The more you are willing to give up in order to have your freedom of mind, the less you will have to give up. The more willing you are to stand in your ideas like they are your home, the more others will take your example and be reminded that it is possible for them to do the same thing. It would be healthy for everyone around you to embrace the possibility that we are not trapped in the past. Once that thought occurs to anyone, it becomes much more natural to embrace the potential of the future. And it has very much been occurring to you lately.

Read your 2008 annual for Sagittarius. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Sagittarius and Sagittarius rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
You have more options than you believe. Because so much is important to you, you’re experiencing a phenomenon of this leading to a narrow sense of potential; few outcomes could actually cover as many points as seem necessary. But you don’t need many possibilities, outcomes or directions of movement; you need the one that works for you. I suggest you focus on that. Part of why you have so many options is so that it’s possible to eliminate the ones that are not what you want. I would propose that each time you subtract something from your agenda that does not match up with your values, you declare a minor victory and go back to your elimination process. This is not reducing your potential for freedom; rather, it’s pointing you directly toward it.

Read your 2008 annual for Capricorn. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Capricorn and Capricorn rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
Focus less on the details and more on the wide vision. If your mind keeps coming up with reasons why things don’t work, persist in envisioning what would work. You can do this, but only if you get off of a clogged frequency and onto a more spacious one. Part of what you seem to be struggling with is getting a real exchange going. One way out is to focus less on circulating energy, and less on trying to draw upon the resources of others, and more on being who you are. That is a quality that is subtler than it is bold. You are exploring unfamiliar psychological territory, so one thing you may experiment with is imagining how that feels to others. As you guide yourself into a measure of authentic ease with the unknown, others who are developing the same sensibility will gradually be drawn to you.

Read your 2008 annual for Aquarius. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Aquarius and Aquarius rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)
Once again I would remind you how much is developing out of sight, and in a sense, out of mind. Meanwhile, look for seemingly small signs of what is invisible as it manifests in your awareness. Explore the idea that all that exists is what you allow into your consciousness; this will encourage you to be open minded and, more to the point, cultivate the energy of continuing to open rather than thinking you are already open enough. If you get stuck, I suggest you look for anything you are seeking in the world within yourself: success or the feeling of success; love or someone to love; a man; a woman; something to say; a feeling; an idea; a place to be. What becomes real in you becomes real to you.

Read your 2008 annual for Pisces. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Pisces and Pisces rising here.

 

Copyright © 2009 by Planet Waves, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Planet Waves Inner Space for May 2009

BY ERIC FRANCIS

Planet Waves

Aries (March 20-April 19)
You are standing before a door to the universe, and you hold the key to all worlds. You might well ask what one thing you would do or create, if you could do or create anything. Let this be a mental and hopefully emotional exercise that you do as consistently as you were doing The Artist’s Way. Visualize your highest ideals. Imagine how your circle of friends feels at its most beautiful. Consider what you have to offer the world, and what exactly you want to give. Imagine what you would consider the greatest rewards of a life well lived. Be clear with yourself. Revise your ideas. Visualize, visualize, visualize.

Read your 2008 annual for Aries. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Aries and Aries rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Taurus (April 19- May 20)
I have by now mentioned several times that this is the year you engage with your professional aspirations. In my fantasy universe, professional and creative can be different versions of the same idea; though it can take training and adaptation to get them in alignment. It is time to do what you want to do. If it’s been a while since that has happened, then consider it time to do what you need to do. Just remember: you’re not in this alone. Nobody accomplishes anything brilliant without considerable help. Notice who you vibe with. Notice who nourishes your spirit. Work with them consciously, and celebrate the truth.

Read your 2008 annual for Taurus. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Taurus and Taurus rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Gemini (May 20- June 21)
You know who you are, but you’re about to find out who you really are. Mercury will begin its retrograde on May 7 in your birth sign, and then gradually move into Taurus, the sign of your secret self. The relationships implied by this and other astrology will help you bridge the nonexistent gaps between spirit and matter; between faith and reason; between your prodigious mind and your sometimes forgotten physical needs. You may be feeling your body hunger for all the things that it’s wanted for so long. You may intuitively sense that deep healing is possible, if you will respond. Yes, this is always daring.

Read your 2008 annual for Gemini. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Gemini and Gemini rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Cancer (June 21- July 22)
What exactly does it mean to be free? You need to be free from the obligations that prevent you from being who you are. You need to be free to express your potential in your own terms. You are free to be the visionary of your existence, and to embrace the truth that while we are all destined to be collaborators in this life, you have plenty of influence over whom you choose to co-create with. Get in the habit of exercising your prerogatives. Practice making decisions. Teach yourself that you are bound by nobody, and that coexistence is a privilege that is designed by nothing more or less than mutual consent.

Read your 2008 annual for Cancer. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Cancer and Cancer rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)
If you look directly at something, it will appear one way. If you look at it with your head tilted, it will look another way. Keep gazing into the obvious until you can finally see what is appearing before you. Notice that someone, or something, is in a state of perpetual change. Here is the question: is your perception influencing what you see? Are you seeing things differently, or is your own witnessing actually influencing the course of events or the development of a person’s growth? If the second possibility is true, then that means love is a lot more powerful than we ever imagined. But I think you already knew that.

Read your 2008 annual for Leo. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Leo and Leo rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
One of the most strongly emphasized concepts in A Course in Miracles is, “When I am healed, I am not healed alone.” There is no part of your healing journey that is separate from that of anyone else. The journey, however you consider it: the return to Shamballa, or a wild trek across the physical plane, is a journey that we all share. When you imagine yourself surrendering to the process that will align your life with what is healthy, beautiful and authentic, be sure to embrace that person or people you might be most likely to leave out. Healing energy comes in through one door and that door is open to all of us or none at all.

Read your 2008 annual for Virgo. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Virgo and Virgo rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Libra (Sep. 22 – Oct. 23)
Liberty is an often-misunderstood concept. It begins with awareness, which reaches into the depths of the mind and out to the far reaches of the world. The meeting point that these have in common is you. Are you ‘at liberty’ to acknowledge what you see, what you feel, and what you want to express? How much does this change when you are in the context of different people in your life? The time has come to drop the fetters that have kept you bound to any idea but one that is truly and originally your own. You, indeed, are an original and the time to embrace and express that reality has arrived: none too soon, but not a moment too late.

Read your 2008 annual for Libra. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Libra and Libra rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
Typically the binding of the past gets us on the emotional level. We might think it’s about our relationships, our ideas or the commitments we cannot get out of. Beneath it all is usually some kind of emotional hook. The opportunity you now feel is precisely the chance to unlatch something that has snagged you for a long time. It’s likely to feel like something is melting: something at once durable and fragile; something that wracked you in contradictions that, as these days and weeks pass, will gradually seem like they never mattered. There may come a time when you forget they ever existed; and if that time arrives, remember how much you struggled, just one last time.

Read your 2008 annual for Scorpio. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Scorpio and Scorpio rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 22)
Much as you would like to be, you cannot usually be everywhere at once. Yet as Chiron, Jupiter and Neptune come together in Aquarius, you may have this odd sense that you’re walking around inside a teleportation chamber. The vital thing to remember is to be absolutely where you are at all times. Remain in the present, in the present location. Make this into a game, or a yoga, or a journey, but don’t underestimate the seemingly strange power of showing up and aligning yourself with your circumstances. Everything is possible from right where you are. Indeed, nothing is possible from anywhere else.

Read your 2008 annual for Sagittarius. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Sagittarius and Sagittarius rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
You are beginning to see the value in things, and the world is beginning to see the value in you. Take this as far as you want. Go anywhere on the hierarchy of needs you want: from the basics of food, water and shelter, to your utmost value within your community. I suggest you be first suspicious and then forgiving of any situation where you feel isolated. Remember you are included by dint of the fact that you are human and alive. Look past the superficial social games people create to protect them from getting too close to one another. Honor yourself gently, remember why you’re here, and penetrate the world any way you want to.

Read your 2008 annual for Capricorn. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Capricorn and Capricorn rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
Earlier in the year, the planets aligned in your sign; later this month, there is another Aquarius alignment, though this one is the real performance, not the chaotic, disorganized dress rehearsal. There is nearly no involvement of what we call ‘personality’, but instead everything that develops — for you, and for the rest of us — takes place on a dimension that can best be described as soul level. In a sense, everything changes, particularly because your relationship to existence changes. Even if it seems like the world is becoming a place where so much more is possible, remember: it’s you.

Read your 2008 annual for Aquarius. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Aquarius and Aquarius rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)
So much that’s been happening for you has been developing behind a veil. But in a way akin to the action of Chiron, the fact that so much is cloaked has given you extraordinary powers of perception. It is this that is fuelling your confidence in yourself, and if you remember, you may remember the key: that which seems slightly out of awareness or out of reach is an invitation to come closer; to direct your intention or to expand your awareness just a little more. As you do this, you will feel the world seem to come closer to you, indeed, there are moments when it will seem to become you.

Read your 2008 annual for Pisces. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Pisces and Pisces rising here.

 

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Copyright © 2009 by Planet Waves, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

A Moment of Chiron, or Notes from 6D

Dear Friend and Reader:

In my Planet Waves daily diary all week I’ve been commenting about the conjunction of Chiron and Neptune that is now within one degree, in late Aquarius. This is a ‘near-miss’ rather than an exact conjunction but it’s coming in at a nice strength. Neptune in Aquarius, which began in 1998 around when Bill Clinton was impeached, has been the perfect fodder for our whole “lie to me / why deal with it?” mentality that has been such fruitful soil for the Karl Roves and Dick Cheneys of the world to plant their fleurs de mal.

Planet Waves
Rose window at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. I am not certain the orientation, but I believe this is the rose window facing northeasterly. Photo by Eric Francis.

When Chiron arrived in 2005, I was certain that there would be a gradual public awakening that would peak as Chiron made its exact conjunction to Neptune. The current one is a near miss, which is at its closest on May 31, to within one-quarter of a degree. Chiron will go retrograde before the conjunction perfects, and the exact meeting will take place Feb. 17, 2010. Of note, this is shortly after the one and only contact of Saturn in Libra square Pluto in Capricorn that occurs in late 2009. The two events are connected.

Finally, there is one last near miss of Chiron and Neptune, also within one-quarter of a degree, on Nov. 3, 2010. (Tracy Delaney in Wales programmed the ephemeris where I am getting this information.)

For the current near-miss, Jupiter is there, so the last week of May we have a very close triple conjunction of Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune. This puts the two rulers of Pisces in a conjunction (Jupiter to Neptune, which happens about every 14 years). The prior cycle of Neptune to Chiron conjunctions was in 1879-1880, in Taurus. The next cycle starts in 2094, in Virgo. This is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and therefore it is astrology that will also define an era of history and mark the astrology of a sub-generation.

Usually we don’t notice these events until it’s over. However, as the Internet has begun to make information available to those who seek it, we can now work with transits like this while they are happening, and co-create their ‘meaning’ and explore their creative potential together.

Jupiter tends to magnify what is already there; and the conjunction of Neptune and Chiron is like putting a focusing ray to everything that Neptune represents — from the delusional side to the direct access to creative and spiritual energy. Neptune can represent denial and all the things we deny; Chiron represents awareness, the process of becoming aware and the crisis of becoming aware. One shadow attribute of Chiron is the refusal to become aware of what is obvious. Jupiter will magnify this and also bring in a vast library of available wisdom.

Many feel that the keyword of Chiron is ‘healing’. I prefer ‘raising awareness’. So let’s say that sums up as ‘healing through raising awareness’. This is easier if you have a predisposition to being in affinity with the truth, in particular, your own truth. It is more difficult if your character is structured such that you get by in life by lying to yourself. This is something we need to sort out. Denial is one of the most destructive forces in the universe, and for some reason on our plane of reality it is one of the most accessible. Denial is destructive because our journey on Earth requires awareness, and denial is specifically the refusal to be aware or acknowledge what one’s awareness is reporting in. Another word for this is ignorance. Ignorance is not about not knowing; it’s about not paying attention to what one already knows or should know.

A lot of people are starting to ask about what’s going to happen in 2012. It seems to be coming across in its usual apocalyptic colors, which I suggest we take a giant step beyond. What great enlightening thing happened to society as a result of the Sept. 11 incident? Even if we learned something, there are better, more efficient and entirely less painful ways to make progress.

The Chiron-Neptune conjunction is a warm-up, or rather, an exercise in paying attention to the fact that it is already happening. You could also call this a pre-2012 healer training program. Part of the training is in how to deal with extra potent doses of consciousness; part is processing and applying the healing gifts that many of us have been working toward for so long. Part is others who have delayed starting the process now, in earnest, and taking advantage of celestial speedup to make up for lost time. You can, if you are sincere and you bear in mind what you don’t know.

Aquarius is involved directly. Therefore, the line we who are called upon to help will have to cross is some measure of going public. This does not mean being on Oprah. It does mean being known for who you are and what you do without fear, trepidation or egotism, and working with people who may not be directly familiar to you. That takes a special kind of trust. With Aquarius there is always public contact, and when we are in integrity that means a measure of public accountability.

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Rear window from my apartment in Brussels, 2007. Photo by Eric Francis.

This is frightening to a lot of people because we tend to confuse our conditioned, convoluted sense of being sinners with actually being wrong. We were all taught to divide our psyches against ourselves, and those inconsistencies can feel terrifying if suddenly the spotlight touches our individual existence, our ideas, our work, and so forth. There is a lot to learn in being exposed, and one of the things you can learn is developing consistency.

Aquarius says that this is about all of us, and that it’s about how each of us relates to the larger circle of society around us. Pisces is directly involved in this process because of the presence of Jupiter and Neptune, the traditional and modern rulers of that sign respectively. Sagittarius comes in via Jupiter and Chiron. And we have one last link — Uranus in Pisces is in mutual reception with Neptune in Aquarius.

For one thing this astrology is the perfect blend of three signs: Sagittarius, Aquarius and Pisces. We could say a lot about this alchemical mixture. For now I will leave it at this, an idea that popped out of the ethers late Friday night when I was on the phone with my friend Amanda; so her energy is in the mix here.

It would appear that we are opening up an accessible common space on one or more of the higher dimensions that is an actual meeting point. Kind of like the Internet appeared, we are defining and opening a space of psychic reality where can meet, facilitate our work, speed up our learning and enjoy some freedom for recreation and play (essential in any deep evolutionary and healing process). We have, with some restrictions, the ability to be more available to one another, aware of one another, and free to engage one another. By restrictions I mean that when you start to make direct contact with these levels of existence, there is only so much fear and polarization you can bring with you. It would be chaotic and potentially quite dangerous if you could, so basically you have to check a lot of baggage at the door.

If you are someone who maps out the planes, I think this is happening not on the astral or causal levels, the two most accessible to normal waking consciousness, and two of the most hotly polarized; but rather on what is commonly called mental plane. This is not mental in the sense of thoughts and ideas but rather mental in the sense of the psychic latticework that supports the commonly accessible ideas and thoughts we experience the rest of the time. Some call this level 6D. So far as I’ve mapped it out, it’s like an engineering level where we develop the architecture of the succeeding planes of reality, that is, the causal, astral and physical. Really good astrology happens in 6D and what an astrologer does is gently transpose that information to the denser experiences of 4D (astral) and 5D (causal or intellectual).

6D has as one of its properties a distinct lack of the polarized, contentious, intellectualized stuff that we encounter so often. It is an extraordinarily wide space where concepts have great leverage and where there are no commercials.

Yours & truly,
Eric Francis
PS, I’ll be back at Daily Astrology & Adventure with coverage of today’s Taurus New Moon.

 

When Past Is Present: Awakening To The Back-Story
By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

I continue to marvel at our new direction, orchestrated by the energies that influence us and the growing desire of the public to unearth what has long remained hidden, punctuated by news articles that are both welcome and disturbing. If you are one of those people who think that big things happen around you, to you, but you do not influence their occurrence in any way, then you are underestimating yourself. The news is relevant to your life because it’s a reflection of our collective psycho/social mental structures, driven ahead by our fears and desires.

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Beyond: Past, Present & Future. Photo by Neil Johnson.

“How can that be?” you might ask. “Why should I take responsibility for what I have no power to change?” True, you aren’t the Master of the Universe, able to control and direct everything around you with a flick of your hand or twitch of your nose. You have only so much free time to devote to the world and local situation, given your responsibilites and daily challenges; you can’t keep up with everything. Besides, you might protest, this is the United States of America — we have laws to take care of everything.

Yes, and some of them are very flawed. Those laws are determined by the very politics that we find so tedious and confusing, and while the high rhetoric and political drama may be a headache to follow, they are eventually winnowed down to great drafts of legalize that become Rule of Law. Any law struck by our nation should not only be thoroughly understood by its citizens, but thoughtfully and carefully designed. Having spent a bit of time in court this week, let me assure you that law is passionless, deaf and dumb to circumstances; once in place, law has no flex, and ignorance of the law, we’re told, is no excuse. Much the same goes for the cause of our social ills; ignorance will not protect us from consequences.

We’re influenced continually by public relations campaigns, and we should know by now that they are not limited to products we purchase but attempt to sway our every attitude and opinion; PR drives social and political movements as well. This is the equivalent of partisanship; you will hear the ‘up’ side while the ‘down’ will be diminished or dismissed completely. In essence, our society is driven by a loftier version of the pitchmen who hawk their junk at the county fair.

Planet Waves Daily

Coming Up in Daily Astrology and Adventure

 

Looking for life on Ceres

When it comes to the search for extraterrestrial life, there are a few of the usual stellar subjects that get most of the scrutiny — Mars and some moons of Jupiter and Saturn, for the most part. But the solar system is a pretty crowded place, really, so there are lots of options for seeking evidence of life. Astrobiology Magazine reports that the dwarf planet Ceres, which makes its home in the asteroid belt, might be the target of one such mission.

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The launch of the Dawn spacecraft aboard a Delta 2 Heavy 7925H to the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter. Photo: NASA.

The Ceres Polar Lander was envisioned by European satellite system manufacturer Thales Alenia Space. According to the article, “The idea is to build a low-cost mission using reliable existing technology to complement other larger missions, while benefiting from NASA’s Dawn mission results. Assuming launch by a Soyuz rocket, the spacecraft would take around four years to reach Ceres.”

Why Ceres? The solar system’s smallest dwarf planet, it might have ice at its poles and a layer of water ice beneath a dusty crust. This makes it an attractive subject for study, as water is essential for life.

What kind of life? Nothing particularly bizarre, Thales Alenia Space’s Joel Poncy said in the article. Most likely microbes — which, in and of themselves, would be an amazing discovery.

As for when a Ceres mission would be ready for liftoff, well, that could still take a while. But that’s no deterrent to Poncy, who suggested it might fit in nicely with other upcoming missions, like those planned jointly by NASA and the European Space Agency to Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Titan, both candidates for harboring life. Those missions should begin sending data back about 2027 and last about seven years, Poncy told Astrobiology Magazine.

“We should be ready for that, and not plan on landing in 2060!” Poncy said in the article. “This is too what motivates us, combined with the opportunity to find something major at Ceres.”

 

Planet Waves
Weekly Horoscope for Friday, April 24, 2009, #763 – By ERIC FRANCIS

 

Planet Waves

Aries (March 20-April 19)
Generally we take having a competitive spirit for granted. Or rather, you take it for granted. It does not make your relationships happier places. There are other options, such as cooperation, listening and sharing. The problem with those options is that like many things (alternative energy, sex, how much money your grandfather really has) they are kept as a carefully guarded secret. The way is open for you to direct your abundant energy into creating a model of consciousness where you support the world and it supports you; where you facilitate life for people who are working to weave the integrity of the world. There is a concept slowly working its way into mainstream language — dharma. This is the opposite of karma, or the results of our actions. Dharma is acting as if to hold the world together. The little ‘as if’ part is included for skeptics who might not believe that honesty or granting the people you love freedom actually matter.

Read your 2008 annual for Aries. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Aries and Aries rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Taurus (April 19- May 20)
You have many secret desires; I would propose that you have a few that are secret even from yourself. Why you might not speak up about them could involve a matter of pride. So I will phrase this as a question: would you want to be known for who and what you desire the most? If not, what do you want to be known for, and how do you reconcile the difference? This means more than you may think: to your sanity, to your integrity and to the unity of your consciousness. It’s easier to live as one person rather than as an entity cut into parts, worrying about who thinks what about you. The first step is to become completely familiar with who you are, and I mean becoming intimate and accepting of the new developments that are shaping your consciousness. Then I suggest you notice something unusual about our particular moment in history: you actually can be that without judgment — but only if you step out.

Read your 2008 annual for Taurus. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Taurus and Taurus rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Gemini (May 20- June 21)
Faith is the thing that you want. I would say it’s the pearl of great price, but actually it is free. I would say that for as far back as it’s practical to remember, you’ve been working on this one, or struggling with it, or responding to its attempts to get your attention. Faith means faith in people and it means faith in love. At the center of this discussion is that pesky thing known as ethics. You have more power than you know, but you will only set your influence into motion by striving for impeccability. If you catch yourself applying situation ethics, that is, something is ‘right’ under one circumstance but ‘wrong’ under a similar circumstance, I suggest you stop and question yourself. Right now you have visibility and a strong sense of presence in the world. This is to say, you are attractive, and your example counts for more than usual. You will get back exactly what you put out.

Read your 2008 annual for Gemini. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Gemini and Gemini rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Cancer (June 21- July 22)
Most people on this planet would rather keep their sexual reality separate from their spiritual one. The old idea that sex is dirty and God is clean has stalked us clear through the first decade of the 21st century. You are currently standing in a place where your deepest spiritual values are intersecting with your sexual values. This involves healing a split that runs so deep in the human psyche the only thing that could possibly resolve it is a miracle. And that is what appears to be on order for you. Honor sex as the cosmic thing it is. Honor the creative force of the universe as expressing itself through living things as a sexual process. Do this in the spirit of making peace with existence; that is, with the fact that you exist and were created; and that you continue to create yourself.

Read your 2008 annual for Cancer. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Cancer and Cancer rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)
Relationships involve agreements, be they relationships that last one year or a lifetime. It’s interesting, and tragic, the extent to which so many agreements are not spoken and are based on misunderstandings. You are more clear than others in your expectations, and more generous than others in terms of what you are willing to give to any situation in order to have it work out for everyone. You now have a stunning opportunity to clear the air and the water for the future. There is something vital being arranged or negotiated now. The situation can work out equitably for everyone, if someone is willing to hold that vision; that someone would be you. In any situation involving a sexual relationship or multiple relationships, the psychic atmosphere is calling for two things: one is total transparency, and the other (related) is being clear and negotiable about what you want, and getting clear about what those around you want. That creates a platform for seeing common interests and for honest negotiation.

Read your 2008 annual for Leo. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Leo and Leo rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
Saturn in your sign is a heavy influence, but it’s teaching you to hold your ground and give your life some dependable shape. Part of that is learning how to work with time. Then it’s meaningful to remember that there are things that transcend time and our ideas about the right order in which things are supposed to happen. You are living your life right in that zone where relationship experiences are healing experiences, which is a grand thing because most of the healing we need involves the kinds of trust issues that are open to the most positive influences in your life. You are going to be the one who takes the lead guiding your relationships in this direction, but you can trust one thing — that even if your words seem to have fallen on deaf ears in the past, the people you care about and who care about you will likely be more open-hearted and clear of mind than you’ve ever known them to be.

Read your 2008 annual for Virgo. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Virgo and Virgo rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Libra (Sep. 22 – Oct. 23)
An important relationship has withstood an important test: an adjustment of some kind, some strange complication or a series of reconciliations with the past. This has all pointed to one thing: the challenge of coming up with a new vision. Now is the time for this vision to demonstrate itself in practical terms, that is, in real ways that lead to the happiness of everyone involved. While this is happening, you are in an important exercise of your own, which is about making sure you live your life fully despite what anyone may think. By living I mean expressing your creative volition in a way that you never have before. Here is the test. If you are free, you are free to take some unusual chance on yourself. Ideally this would challenge the people around you to adapt to your new vision of yourself, which in turn will bring your relationships onto a level where they actually work for you.

Read your 2008 annual for Libra. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Libra and Libra rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
You need to live through the end of the matter before you can get to the beginning of the next one; and you are very close. You’re not close if you think in short spans of time, such as last week or even last year. But you’re very close if you think in long spans of time, for example, the past 10 years. Basically, consider your emotional history as far back as you can remember, then imagine that what you are resolving, setting yourself free from and working to recreate about yourself goes back that far. I would add one last point. The transition from old to new does not usually come with a ribbon cutting. In the midst of working out the details on one phase of your life, the new one can draw you in like the time vortex that it is. Things that were delayed in being resolved, or resisting, or which seemed impossible, can suddenly be irrelevant.

Read your 2008 annual for Scorpio. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Scorpio and Scorpio rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 22)
Words are important. They are a crucial aspect of commitment. At the moment, that commitment involves manifesting something that does not currently exist. Speak only the words that you mean, and make sure you mean precisely what you want to say. Images are meaningful, perhaps more meaningful, but they can have an ambiguous property and thus lack precision; but they make up for it in impact. In your personal healing process, or creative process or both, I suggest you work with both, using one to support the other. One is probably going to turn out to be more influential than the other — but not without the integration of the two. There will be a product of this sacred union: an idea. There is something visionary about your sign, and at the moment both of your guiding planets — Chiron and Jupiter — are perfectly integrated with Aquarius, the sign of ideas. Not just any ideas: when these two signs get together, ideas are born that change the course of history.

Read your 2008 annual for Sagittarius. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Sagittarius and Sagittarius rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
You are under enormous pressure to change; to let go not only of old personality patterns and behaviors, but also to bring all your files up to date. Pluto in your sign is about renewal, it’s about passion, and it’s about letting go of the dull expectations that others have projected onto you most of your life. We often get trapped in the visions that others have for us, and the reason those visions exist is that many people before you were also trapped. At the moment there is nothing that can withstand the forces of growth that have taken over your nature. The truth is this. You are neither as conservative nor as narrow as others have made you out to be, or that you have made yourself out to be as a means of giving yourself a little security in the world. At the moment your safety is not going to come from wearing blinders, acting politically or being cautious. You will feel the safest when you let yourself be a new person every day and judge nothing on the criteria you have used in the past. Not, that is, if you want to truly live in the present.

Read your 2008 annual for Capricorn. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Capricorn and Capricorn rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
You are taking on the attributes of many other signs of the zodiac right now. There is no simple interpretation of this, except to say that you have many currents of energy to draw upon. And because the truly unusual astrology of this month takes place in your sign, that means you have many resources that are not normally available. The question is: how are you going to use them? I suggest you create something that is built to last; designed to grow; and where the conclusion is open-ended. The best and most important movements of the planets are what I call threshold transits. They happen to us, but they do not end, per se; rather, when they are ‘over’, we are like a different person. Right now you are standing in that threshold. You are involved in one of the deepest processes that a human can experience, which is focusing on the notion of ‘who you are’ to what you value and are ready to live for. You are indeed ready. You feel the winds of change and see the lights on the horizons of your mind. Let them carry you and guide you to where you have long wanted and needed to be, and please let no compromise of truth mar the beauty of the moment.

Read your 2008 annual for Aquarius. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Aquarius and Aquarius rising here.

 

Planet Waves

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)
You are under the influence of forces that you cannot see and would not necessarily understand if you could. Then again, you do have a mind that spins in odd enough directions to comprehend the incomprehensible. Yet consider that understanding only gets a person so far, only counts for so much, and can get in the way. This is partly because the facts and factors that lead to that understanding are constantly changing, and you need to reassess the available data from moment to moment. That is a fancy way of saying what you can be certain of is that you are being held safely in the gentle hands of the cosmos. Listen for your spiritual guidance: the still, small voice within. It may speak first; it may speak second; it may speak in your dreams. You will recognize its advice by its simplicity, its clarity and how well it fits your circumstances. Though much of what you are currently experiencing is going on behind the scenes of your life, and will not fully manifest until 2010-2011, what you do and create now is a vivid harbinger of the future, and of your future self.

Read your 2008 annual for Pisces. Order your Next World Stories 2009 annual for
Pisces and Pisces rising here.

 

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