Author Archives: Eric Francis Coppolino

About Eric Francis Coppolino

Lives in Kingston, friend of critters, etc.

What if the Moon Landing Happened?

Dear Friend and Reader:

For the past couple of years, I’ve occasionally posted to my Facebook page the question, “What if the Moon landing really happened?” I can’t take credit for that line — the phrasing originates with Andrew McLuhan, grandson and student of Marshall, who also had a knack for turning things sideways so you could see them better. We’ve been bouncing around the topic for a while.

Pres. John F. Kennedy tells Congress we are going to the Moon, 1961.

My question was intended mostly as a thought experiment. I was interested in two things: one, the basis of people’s belief that the Moon landing occurred or did not occur, and two, philosophical ideas about the implications of humans visiting another world for the first time in known history. What if?

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Monday Morning Horoscope #185 for July 15, 2019

Aries

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You might be ready for an answer to the eternal question: what will it take for you to set yourself free from certain overpowering conditions that seem to run your life? Be alert for an opportunity to see through the power that others appear to hold on you, and be eager to take back the reins. The first step in this process is always choosing to make your own decisions. The barrier to that step is sometimes invisible, sometimes veiled by denial, and more often blocked by guilt. To get yourself to that place of decision will take some special awareness and courage, particularly if you feel blocked by some sense of being wrong for wanting to make your own choices. Often that takes the form of worrying who you might hurt. For those who are serious about their growth and liberation, there’s just one remedy for that, which is to be honest with people who are in any way impacted by your decisions. Taking the position that you don’t have to explain yourself is usually a cop-out of some kind. Get your full Aries reading by Eric here.

Taurus

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — It’s not just that most of what we deal with in life is family baggage; nearly everything turns out to be. Yet it takes countless shapes, with people showing up in a diversity of forms representing parents, their spouses, siblings, early caregivers, and so on. There seems to be a blind spot here, and I suggest you look right at it, till you can see it. This is not about ruminating on the past, but more like looking at the balls on a billiards table and deciding what is your best shot. By shot, I mean your best angle on living your life without having to be responsible for the burdens others have laid on you. Many situations trigger people into responding as if they are as powerless as a child. That is no longer true; you have options, you have feet that walk, and your happiness is the responsibility of nobody but yourself. Yet there is something about being a child that you must reclaim: your sense of wonder at life, your curiosity, and your faith in yourself. Remember: it’s not about them, it’s about you. Get your full Taurus reading by Eric here.

Gemini

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — What seems to be a confrontation over joint finances or sexual fidelity is a metaphor for something much deeper. Be honest about the status of trust in any situation where it might apply. Is it there? Do you suspect anyone of lying or concealing information from you? Is someone using their monetary or sexual power over you? More to the point, are you allowing them to? And if so, do you have any understanding of why that is? There is a degree of comfort that comes from being powerless, though I suggest that at this stage of your life, it’s not the zone you want to be hanging out in. Getting entangled in the problems of others has a way of being a distraction from dealing with one’s own situation. Try to look through that window and see the wider world around you. At the moment, your solar chart cautions against being caught in past thought forms or self-concepts, as if you’re in a mental habit you cannot find your way out of. Now is the time. You owe this to yourself, and you’re good for the debt. Get your full Gemini reading by Eric here.

Cancer

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — This week’s eclipse of the Moon in your opposite sign Capricorn will help release you from any relationship situation that’s not serving your greatest good. I am inclined to say “the greatest good for all concerned,” though that might be a distraction from your necessity to actually take care of yourself. While there are certain relationship situations you absolutely must attend to, there are many, many others where you’re best leaving people to their own devices and their own problems. Be especially mindful of any situation that is not rewarding, that is disruptive, or that is demanding too much from you. Notice in your life who is a taker, and who is a giver. If someone is on the line, it’s fair to have one “come to Jesus” discussion where you give them the opportunity to wake up and participate in whatever your shared goals are. That, of course, would depend on having any. It’s time to see things for what they are, and to see people for who they are. Get your full Cancer reading by Eric here.

Leo

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Events this week will lift the veil on a situation where your health and wellbeing are impacted directly. That might also include the revelation of a solution, though that will depend upon having identified and stated the problem in an accurate way. This may seem convincingly to be a situation outside your control, though there is always a degree to which you have an influence. It’s essential therefore that you identify your options and evaluate them carefully. This includes how you invest your time and energy, what you devote yourself to, and what you take on in the way of personal responsibilities. There can be no doubt that you are dealing with a situation calling for your full attention and all of your resources, and you must invest your energy where it’s truly needed. The correct approach or solution may come when you feel like you have no other options. And with all of those false approaches out of the way, you will see your way through. Get your full Leo reading by Eric here.

Virgo

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You might feel that if you take a chance and express what you are feeling, or what you have to say, that you will explode in an unstoppable reaction. That fear is probably the thing stopping you from opening up and being real with yourself, in whatever context you want to take that. Whatever you may share with others (and you are under no obligation to), you must be honest with yourself. That is always the challenge, as denial is such a useful tool, until it becomes toxic and dangerous. You’re in a position where you may be the last person to figure out something very basic about yourself, and that’s simply not necessary. You know everything you need to know, if only you would be willing to admit that to yourself. Yet therein lies the rub. What would you do if you acknowledged the obvious? In any event, it’s high time you mastered the lesson that you can only be who you truly are. Get your full Virgo reading by Eric here.

Libra

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — It will help if you confront directly something that you’ve been inclined to “process” or “work through” in a subtler way. You may feel like your options are limited, or that some force outside your control has you feeling like you simply cannot be safe on the planet — much less explore your passion or your curiosity. You must be aware that something is eating at your self-confidence, yet you may not be aware how old this feeling, or condition is. It’s being brought to the surface by aspects developing in Capricorn, including the earthshaking Saturn-Pluto conjunction and an eclipse of the Moon right near it. If your confidence has come from some sense of belonging with your family of origin, or any kind of conformity to the past, you’re likely to be feeling like you cannot find solid ground. Yet this same location in your chart (the solar 4th house) also represents endings. One interpretation is that you must complete or conclude something before you can begin something else. That is the order in which to take things. Get your full Libra reading by Eric here.

Scorpio

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — It’s not easy for you to change your mind, even when there are compelling reasons to do so. We could say this of the human race in total, though Scorpio being an emotionally rooted fixed sign brings out this quality in an especially strong way for you. Yet there are now tectonic forces moving you to re-evaluate not just your opinion on certain key matters, but your entire orientation or point of view. At the moment, one of the main things standing in the way is pride. Some feel it’s not easy to admit that they were wrong about something, or did not understand something, or did not accept what was looking right at them. It does not help that one of the current ways of the world is to double down and power through any situation you don’t agree with. Yet that will not serve you, and it never has. When you make your life a matter of power, it turns out there is always going to be someone more powerful than you are. Truth works differently. Get your full Scorpio reading by Eric here.

Sagittarius

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Current aspects are working on two levels. One is financial, where your circumstances are insisting you take a more realistic view of your financial resources and what you do with them. The other involves self-respect, which is a persistently challenging topic for you. The difficulty comes from how this issue is internally mediated: the reference points must be internal, which makes it difficult to have sufficient orientation, metrics or basis to evaluate where you really stand with yourself. Yet I can assure you that any issue troubling you at the moment, whether involving finances, professional matters or your relationships, directly coincides with the level of respect that you have for yourself. That you are generally a positive person who can get through anything does not matter in this situation. We are not talking about survival here; we are talking about your growth and evolution. We are talking about attaining a new depth of self-awareness. Get your full Sagittarius reading by Eric here.

Capricorn

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — This week’s eclipse of the Moon in your birth sign seems custom tailored to give you a window into what someone else is feeling or experiencing now. Your circumstances are such that you must devote considerable energy and focus to your own inner reality, and your challenges often seem so daunting you don’t know how you will ever resolve them. If you want to, you will. Yet let this week be about the people you care about. Seek both contact and understanding. Allow yourself to be a little more vulnerable than usual, and let them into your reality, and take their feelings on board. One of the current head-trips of our culture is that the only way to live is “every man for himself.” That might work on a reality TV show, where alliances last as long as it takes for personal survival to kick in, but that’s not about intimacy. It’s not about caring, and it’s not about love — but you are. Get your full Capricorn reading by Eric here.

Aquarius

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You’ve been wrestling with inner demons for some time, and this has been exhausting. Yet do you have any better sense of the challenges you face, for all of the squirming around in the dust and the dirt? There is something fundamental you need to grasp about how you feel and what you’re going through at the moment. You can take heart that with Saturn, Pluto and an eclipse in your 12th solar house, you’re facing some of the most challenging astrology of your lifetime. Yet that means you need to truly bring your awareness to the matter, and stop acting as if everything involves something or someone outside yourself. There are definitely external factors, though they are minimal at the moment. Your whole being is calling on you to grow, to change, and to evolve into who you know you can be. And if you don’t know, you’re surely in a position to make a significant discovery this week. Get your full Aquarius reading by Eric here.

Pisces

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — No current fad or fashion reflects who you are. At the moment, it may seem like your whole life is what Marshall McLuhan called “anti-environment” — that which not only does not fit in, but which challenges prevailing norms. The special challenge, though, is that those norms are often invisible or unreachable by standard perception. To see them, one must draw inferences from careful observation. There’s no obvious “this is the way it is,” and therefore, there is no easy solution for how to respond. Bear in mind many factors in the prevailing environment are changing fast, and by the time you figure out that attitudes and values have changed, they are already changing into something else. This week’s lunar eclipse will give you a glimpse of where the trend lines are going. Or perhaps a glimpse combined with an intuitive sense of where you need to position yourself to ride the wave to a better next destination than where you are placed right now. Get your full Pisces reading by Eric here.

Thoughts on Depression

Dear Friend and Reader:

I’m back a little early from my break with a note about a topic that I think needs to be focused and given some language.

I’m aware that a good few people are going through rough times right now, on the psychological, spiritual or emotional levels. They are all related; we each describe our experiences using our own words and ideas.

We could point to many external factors associated with these feelings — for one, the news has been over the top grievous lately, and that will cause stress for any sensitive and humane person.

It looks like we are experiencing a culture-wide moral collapse, and yet many lack the ability, strength or personal resources to respond.

It’s ugly hearing about kids kept in conditions not considered suitable for livestock, being taken from their parents, having their sleeping mats confiscated as punishment for complaining about disgusting food, and the rest of it.

We now are learning about a sitting cabinet member complicit in a child sex-trafficking scheme, potentially involving the President of the United States. It’s worse not being able to do anything about it.

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Monday Morning Horoscope #183 for July 1, 2019

Aries

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Confidence is an issue for almost everyone. One way or another, from some angle or another, whether too much or too little, or if you’ve never even heard of the stuff, it’s going to show up. For you, the position of Mars in your chart, or your transits, will be a distinguishing factor (there is late breaking news). A total eclipse of the Sun coming this week in your sensitive 4th house is also relevant. First things first: Your ruling planet Mars has finally left Cancer, where it was likely to have been provoking all kinds of irrationality and crazy-making, whether issuing from you, or toward you. That transit lasted from May till this past weekend, and had the theme “authority issues.” Really it was some kind of early childhood or past life playback. You know what happened; I do not. You know whom you’re still talking to, and who you’ve crossed off your list, at least for a while. All of that is superficial. There is one particular matter of an emotional nature that you need to draw to its final conclusion. You know what this is. Wrap it up and move on. It is time. Get your full Aries reading by Eric here.

Taurus

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You may be involved in circumstances where you’re offering yourself in service to something for the greater good. There are people for whom this is a strange idea; I reckon it’s something you understand, for sure in theory, and with increasing experience from practice. You have the ability to facilitate progress for someone. The way this works, it will not come with a setback for you; that is true healing: it involves an increase or improvement all around. At the same time, you are making up your mind about something that has proven resistant and, at times, contentious for you — a source of conflict that may be reminiscent of your mother’s state of mind when you were much younger. A vent opens up for you, or a drain, and lets off pressure you’ve been carrying around and may have been building up over the past couple of months. Let it out. If any harsh words were spoken, you also have an opportunity to make amends. Get your full Taurus reading by Eric here.

Gemini

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Mercury retrograde season is upon us. The retrograde begins July 7, in Leo, your 3rd house of mind and message. One of the reasons that Gemini is what it is — almost all are good with words, are funny, and are perceptive in ways worth listening to — is that you have Leo representing your language and related cognitive functions. The forthcoming Mercury retrograde involves a series of Mercury-Mars conjunctions that began on June 18 (in Cancer), which peaks on July 8 (in Leo), and which resolves in early September (in Virgo). So whatever happens early in this Mercury retrograde, remember it’s part of a process that spans four months. This means you can afford to be patient. In fact, you cannot afford not to be, particularly where your words are concerned. Everything you write, share or publish must be on a delay: don’t just bust out and click “send.” It will also take you time to figure out what you’re reading, whether it’s a contract, a book, instructions, or personal correspondence. Slow down and pay attention. Get your full Gemini reading by Eric here.

Cancer

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Tuesday is the first total solar eclipse in your birth sign in nearly a decade. Eclipses each have their own distinct mark on consciousness, and much of that is what you might call “receptor mediated.” Your state of mind, your position, your density level, make all the difference in how you experience an event of this magnitude. Keep that in mind. Stay in a positive frame, as much as you can. Particularly through July 1st, 2nd and 3rd, focus on things you like to do, and want to do, because the power of the eclipse will multiply them. If you are struggling at all to be in a positive state of mind, remember all the times you’ve been wracked with anxiety but the thing you feared the most was nowhere to be seen or found. Therefore, use this time to make the world you want, even if for a few days. You know what you love. You know what you want. Align with yourself and make it real. Get your full Cancer reading by Eric here.

Leo

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Mars is about to enter your sign, joining two other planets already there: Mercury, and one of the master asteroids, Juno. This is the astrology of motivation, of curiosity, and of deciding what way you want to go in life. Normally, the presence of Mars would be somewhat straightforward: you do what you want, need or must. But Mercury retrograde (which begins July 7) makes a conjunction to Mars on July 8, and this is probably going to ask more questions than it answers, for now. You must be very (and I do mean very) cautious about accepting any information as final, solid or accurate. Consider anything that comes your way to be a lead, a clue, or something potentially correct. You may be tempted to act fast on something you hear, learn or discover, and that in particular needs to be handled with caution. Use your motivation to keep asking questions. Go deeper; you cannot do “research” on your phone. You need a desk, a computer, a notebook and time to think slowly, carefully and thoroughly. This is not in style right now; it must be for you. Get your full Leo reading by Eric here.

Virgo

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Your sign is prone to anxiety, and you will want to monitor this now. You may be concerned about being in public, though that’s not the energy source. It’s your inner world that you need to track carefully; it’s your own thoughts that make you feel the most vulnerable. If you find yourself projecting your fear onto external sources, that is the time to pause, and intervene on your own behalf. Externalizing your fears only makes them worse, and by the way, this is a prevalent meme in society today. Many are freaking out about the “other,” in whatever form that may take, and not addressing the deeply personal material that is the heart of the matter. Speaking of heart, this takes place in Leo, the sign of the Sun, of the heart center, of courage, and of true value. Much of your struggle in life is that so often, these things seem so difficult for you to access. I have a suggestion: you are a person of ideas. Experiment with those. If you’re up late at night, do something creative. Understanding is another matter entirely. Get your full Virgo reading by Eric here.

Libra

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — You’re about to experience an opening on the professional front. I know it’s been a rough couple of months, particularly where the more important aspects of work are concerned. By that I mean your higher goals, your reputation, your relationships to important people. You have made more progress than you might think. Your own sensitivity usually warns you off of being too assertive (which leads to your being subversive, and that is worse). You have begun to set things in order, which takes energy, focus, and confidence, even if you have to fake it every now and then. Tuesday’s solar eclipse in Cancer, your solar 10th house (associated with all of the above) is an invitation to refine your goals and objectives. While these are always a work in progress, you are at a rare moment of alignment right now, where you can thread the needle and pierce all the seeming layers of what stands between you and what you want. Essential to this process is letting yourself focus on daring possibilities that you know are right or you. In fact, one is enough. Get your full Libra reading by Eric here.

Scorpio

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Mars crosses into the powerful 10th house of your solar chart Monday, which is full of vim and vigor and the energy of a soccer player smashing her second goal of the game. However, there is need for caution, as Mercury is about to turn to retrograde movement in just one week, and the effect is coming through right now even if you’re not noticing it. So you want to plan your moves carefully, and place them on hold pending additional information. Some cosmic or physical file is about to spill open in your direction right around July 7th or 8th, and you will want to save your best moves for then. If you act too soon, you will close off certain important options, or make decisions based on incomplete, incorrect or plainly irrelevant information. So stay in research mode, map out the power structure of whatever it is that you plan to invade or conquer, and make sure you know who is your friend and who is not. Till then, keep it buttoned. Get your full Scorpio reading by Eric here.

Sagittarius

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — This week’s events will be revealing in terms of whether you can handle the emotional complexities of one particular relationship. How much energy are you burning? How much effort are you expending? How much toxicity are you absorbing? How much do you need to know, before you know enough? This week’s astrology is a moment of truth. The future is beckoning you. You are being called to live a greater life than you are living now. Yet for you to do that, the past must not drag you down. There is much more to this situation than you may recognize, and it’s essential that you keep your senses and your wits about you. That might not be easy, as Jupiter square Neptune is serving as something of an anesthetic, making certain unrealistic ideals seem like they have more potential than they do. Your life is not about any of those other people. Your life is about you. Get your full Sagittarius reading by Eric here.

Capricorn

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — This week arrives with the beginning of the first eclipse pair across the Cancer-Capricorn axis — the one you orient on if you have the Sun, Moon or rising in either of these signs. From your point of view now, the influences focus on what seem like inevitable changes in a relationship. Yet those changes also point to an opening; they describe a situation that is ready to take a step, whether that is some form of transformation, transition, re-alignment or goodbye. You have probably noticed how attached people are to partnerships that simply do not function, are wracked with constant drama, and which bear no resemblance to anything that could be reasonably be called loving. You may not be in such a situation, but the tendency of humans at this time is worth noting. The truth is, you need your independence. You need to define yourself some way other than through the person you’re with. You need to be you, and nothing else — embrace that possibility. Get your full Capricorn reading by Eric here.

Aquarius

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — I will repeat my caution about taking care of your health. That mainly involves two things: what you eat, and how you feel. If you want a good week where your efforts to get into a positive cycle with these things make a difference, this would be the one. Be aware that the pressure you’re feeling may seem “work related,” but really, it’s coming from a deep place and needs attention. The outer circumstances of your life are not the issue. It is the inner conditions, ones dating back many years, which require your gentle focus. That would begin by letting off some of the pressure you’ve been under for a while. And it also involves not letting close relationship partners mix it up with you, and you not mixing it up with them. Your life in recent months has been a study in anger management; how have you been doing? For the next few weeks, you will need to wear your long fuse. And make sure you have at least one person you actually trust with your fears and innermost feelings, who can serve as a reality checkpoint. Get your full Aquarius reading by Eric here.

Pisces

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Get it going. By which I mean, get yourself going — heat up that creative furnace, get the cauldron simmering, and dive in. Try to set this week aside, as much as possible, for the artist, the lover, the poet, the rocker in you. Take a little more time than usual to live as if you’re the artist you want to be, and who you know you are inside. That means some extra self-indulgence. It might mean a little extra derring-do on the sexual front, allowing yourself to be a bit more forward and approaching the person you want. If you’re with a partner, drop a few layers of inhibition and maybe answer the door naked when s/he comes home. That kind of thing. Do it right now — dust off your pastels, find your sketchbook, tune the guitar or put on new strings, and stock up on your favorite libation. There’s about to be a total solar eclipse in the very sweetest angle of your chart, the high-energy 5th house, which is about taking the risk of having some liberated, creative fun. Get your full Pisces reading by Eric here.

All Hail Total Solar Eclipse in Cancer

The next event up is Tuesday’s total solar eclipse in Cancer. This is part of the first eclipse pair solidly on the Cancer/Capricorn axis since around 2009. These are the eclipses that start to ring the bell on the Saturn-Pluto conjunction of Jan. 12, 2020, whatever that is about. Well, we know what it’s about — we’re standing right in the middle of it; however, this is often the most difficult perspective from which to see clearly.

House announcement — We will not be doing an edition of Planet Waves on Thursday, taking a breather in honor of the Independence Day holiday. I am also planning to take a week off from Planet Waves FM on Sunday, July 7. We are planning to have a Monday Morning horoscope for July 8.

Second house announcement — I spent much of the day Saturday recording the Cancer/Capricorn eclipse edition in the Special Reading series. I’ve focused on these eclipses — eclipses in general, and those out to the end of 2020 — for those who want to be educated and informed about this process. The reading comes with many charts and useful articles and is halfway between a reading and a late-night astrology discussion at the edge of the world. The eclipse topic is interlaced with many hints about astrology (current and in general) and what do do with it. It’s $33, or $44 with the complete Astrology Studio for Cancer.

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Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for July 2019

Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for July 2019 (#1252) | By Eric Francis Coppolino
Aries

Aries (March 20-April 19) — The past month or two looks like your life has been the scene of nearly nonstop strife. In an odd way, you knew that this was centered with you, and yet there were others who seemed to be provoking you, making a compelling case for the energy coming from outside of you. All in all, I reckon you have at least determined that you’re sick of people holding power over you, at the expense of your ability to influence the events of your own life. Make a careful study of all that happened, and determine your exact role. This is more for your own forensics than anything else. As for what is ahead: events early in the month can conspire either to challenge your confidence in such a way that you feel compromised, or inspire you to take the creative risks you want and need to take, to assert yourself in a bold and courageous way. You are not the child who grew up in your family home; you are well beyond that, though it’s easy to get dragged back into your old insecurities, and the emotional manipulation of others. To create, and to create yourself, takes courage; nothing else gets the job done. Courage is an old French word that means coming from the heart. This is what it takes to be yourself in the current environment, where there are so many influences that say all you need is a little gloss and a little grease and you can fool the whole world. You want to fool nobody.

You’re invited to have a look at our new Special Readings page.
Taurus

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — There is a subtle message coming from your solar chart, which you may recognize. It involves your relationship with the technology you use, and how it changes how you experience yourself. By “experience yourself,” I mean your relationship to your own consciousness: your thought process, your memory, what you externalize that was previously only deeply personal material. In other words, what are you saying in online environments that you would never, ever have said 10 or 20 years ago — and why are you saying it? This is not merely about technology or devices; it’s about what they do to you, what they do to who you think you are, and how you relate to yourself and others. I reckon you are onto these issues to some extent, though I suggest you bring them to the foreground. The forthcoming solar eclipse is a factor that gives you unusual ability and added leverage to change your mind, along lines you know you want to. You face many questions about what to do with old, outmoded beliefs. Those, too, have a trend of controlling you in ways you have surely noticed by now. You might say the forthcoming astrology is a moment of truth, in a time when the truth is the only thing that rightly matters to you. Over the next month or so, you will be reclaiming many things about yourself that you seem to have surrendered, though your greatest fortune is held in your ability to be utterly and only real with yourself.

You’re invited to have a look at our new Special Readings page.
Gemini

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — One of the peculiarities of Gemini involves a lot of ebb and flood where your finances are concerned. There is constant fluctuation, and it’s not easy for you to create a stable situation for yourself. This is a matter associated with having the sign Cancer as your 2nd house or solar house, associated with your personal assets. But what is really fluctuating? An argument could be made that your perception of your value is what is rising and falling, and this drags your bank account along with it. Sometimes known as self-esteem, though I am partial to the term self-respect, since this is a matter of re + spect in the true sense of the word: to see again, and in this case, to see yourself “again” (meaning, maintain an awareness of who you are and what you have to offer). There is more, though: you need to work with the predictable elements of your life (in the spirit of a tide table), and know what is coming and when. Your cycles are not as unpredictable as they may seem, though you need to study the patterns. Here is the thing about commerce: it requires many other things that begin with the prefix “com” — community, communication (and mutual trust and friendship). If you are going to be competitive, you need to choose wisely and remember who your friends are. Yet there is one thing worth more than anything, which is your word. It must be your bond. It must be your gold standard, or else you have nothing.

You’re invited to have a look at our new Special Readings page.
Cancer

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Events of the past two months (associated with Mars transiting your sign or rising sign) may have spun you around so many times, you don’t know if you’re dizzy or not. There was a little bit of everything: a trial here, a tribulation there; a confrontation here, a moment of truth there; a challenge here, a breakthrough there. Overall, this was about the quest to be persistent, consistent, true and correct. All in a day’s work for the astrology you’re under. Now comes something new: a total solar eclipse in your birth sign. This happens July 2. The most recent pattern of this nature took place in 2009-2010, and current developments may be reminiscent of that time. Anyway, here’s my theory about this eclipse, and the corresponding one in Capricorn two weeks later. This is a point of realignment for you. You have concentrated power to make adjustments to your innermost being, which will then ripple out into your relationships. Part of this process will be intentional, and an aspect of what you do will be intuitive. It will help from the outset to work with the idea that you want to use what you have learned. Some of what you have learned (in part, from a series of confrontations and also, more creative intimate encounters) is who you are and who you want, and need, to be. Eclipses also relieve pressure, and you’ve been under plenty. Let the momentum carry you; keep your hand on the rudder and your eyes ahead, constantly scanning from side to side.

You’re invited to have a look at our new Special Readings page.
Leo

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — There is either cruelty or communication. One will supplant the other. There needs to be a high standard for what constitutes an exchange of thoughts and feelings. The first thing to be cautious of is any form of scorekeeping. If you notice you’re working from a list of grievances, I suggest you put it away and listen. More than anything, track your own expectations for the relationship. Where do they come from? Are they grounded in reality, or are they based on presuppositions? You might take the exactly opposite approach: what can you offer to serve the situation? Note, the answer to this question is, itself, not predicted by much of anything except what is right. And it’s based on what the situation calls for, rather than what you think is appropriate. So therefore, it might turn out to be bringing more of yourself to the relationship, or less. To know that, you will need to listen, and listen to yourself. Meanwhile, whole new prospects in life are calling you: from the look of your solar chart, there is something new and unusual that you want to devote yourself to, with your time, your body and your soul. This is described by your astrology as something that is vocational or not necessarily profitable, rather than a career kind of thing. It’s the deeper calling than what is merely professional, and it will mean more to you. This does not insinuate it will not in some way support you financially, though at the moment, that’s beside the point.

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Virgo

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — The world you will see when you look around is a reflection of the one that you contain within you. This is almost always true; one spiritual aphorism I’ve often found helpful is that projection makes perception. However, at the moment, this message is taking a specific form. You are coming up against certain inner limits to your creativity, ones you would be happy if you transcended. There is a dichotomy described by activity in the two other earthy signs. Capricorn, which covers your most creative and dynamic house, is at maximum density, which may feel like you’re having an implosion of some kind. If you’re an artist in any sense of the word, this may be a challenging time for you, though I assure you that you’re capable of your best work now. You will need to go deep into yourself and take a risk with what you express, which means doing something where you feel like you’ve got something to lose. In Taurus, an alignment of Uranus, Vesta and Albion is pushing your horizons wider. You may be seeing tremendous potential — outside of yourself. That’s really a description of what you are personally capable of. It is, therefore, an excellent exercise to envision the world a better place; to recognize the excellent work of others; to imagine what is possible; to look all the way out to the horizon and be curious what’s beyond it. I would remind you that thanks to those little pocket computers, we tend to live hideously myopic lives. Stretch yourself out of this like it’s all that matters. You are not your IP address.

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Libra

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — You are the person who frames your reality. That’s basically what you are: a walking, talking concept of existence, which you then experience. The spiritual books all drip with this idea, which can be annoying as all get out. However, Logos, a long-term visitor to your sign (a Kuiper object, part of the Logos-Zoe binary pair), says that you are the ground of consciousness you stand on. In order to demonstrate this, you will need to investigate your reality, and do some experiments. In particular, notice the way people, circumstances and events take on the significance you give them, which comes from you. Therefore, practice giving these things different meaning. You could start with the greatest purpose of all, an experience that offers you learning and the potential for growth. Most people you meet will be out to get ahead, or be out for themselves and themselves alone. Be vigilant against any trace of these things. Making progress in life is a good thing, though the kind of progress matters a lot. Your success must be meaningful. Your life is not your image or who you impress. I know this is a radical thing to say. It’s not about your bank balance or (borrowing from a Grateful Dead joke) whoever has the most tapes when he dies wins. You are a deeper person than your society and your social environment let you recognize. You are, at this time, being called into deeper relationship experiences, which are about going in, rather than up or over. When you are with someone you care about, turn your awareness inward. Feel, listen, share. Keep going.

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Scorpio

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Recent activity of Mars in the past month suggests that (like your water sign cousin Cancer) you may have been through the wringer the past two months. It was something special to behold, and to experience: Mars making aspects to Chiron, Saturn, Pluto, the lunar nodes, as well as Eris, Logos, Makemake, Salacia, Quaoar and Pholus. (None of these are asteroids; they are all slow-moving modern planets. I will link a few articles at the bottom of the horoscope in case you missed them.) And what exactly did you go through? What did you learn about how you use your power? What did you learn about how you use language? Most of all, what did you learn about projection? By that, I mean assigning to others what is really in your mind and your feelings, a concept I suggest you do some quiet reading about, given the current state of your astrology. You have now changed modes entirely: you are in your ‘rock the world’ state of being. There are those times when you recognize your potential and you utterly groove on all that is possible if you apply yourself to your life purpose. However, I suggest you take it easy on the ambition and aspiration thing, and allow certain unfinished processes to play out. Now is the time to evaluate all of your goals, cross some old and outmoded ones off the list, and add one or two truly meaningful ones. During Mercury retrograde (the last three weeks of July), you will be reviewing some of the territory you crossed in May and June. Be careful and thorough about this. Make amends where necessary.

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Sagittarius

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — For someone as intent as you are on leading a self-determined life, you certainly get jerked around emotionally by others quite a bit. Never the twain shall meet, as the poet Kipling wrote long ago. Yet it is only experience that will teach you this. Early in the month, you may find reason to call into question a certain emotional connection that you have with another person. Based on recent past experience, this may not be an easy ride, and it may be calling on you to question the nature of your commitment. Remember that such is not something made for you; a commitment is something you make and uphold yourself. This is true on any day, at any time during any phase of the relationship: your commitments are your business. You can keep them, you can end them, but more than anything you must evaluate them. What do you give, and what do you gain? Who benefits? I do not mean to reduce the complexity of human relationships to what might seem like a cash transaction, but in the end, relationships are transactional: there is giving, receiving, gaining, losing and exchanging — of something. There are important factors in your astrology that currently make it difficult for you to see through the fog. Yet you have moments of clarity, which either arrive as the sudden dawning of awareness, or asking yourself a question so compelling that you have to stop and think about the answer. This is right about where you are today. Use this rare opportunity well.

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Capricorn

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — At the moment, everything has to come back to you. Rather than assigning responsibility or accountability to any circumstance, relationship or situation, take it all on board. Your whole existence begins and ends with you; your participation in the world makes the world what it is, to you. So forget about all of them for a while, and consider the nature of the changes you’re going through. Granted, this includes Pluto, which has been likened to a caterpillar spinning itself a cocoon and melting, having no concept what it’s about to become. You are deep in that process now. It’s not possible to know, or even fathom the future. Yet you can trust your process. You can also trust that you’re in the demarcation zone between the past and the future, by which I mean your whole past and your whole future. This is the Saturn-Pluto conjunction, which plays out between now and Jan. 12, 2020. While there is no rushing this process, you can be grateful that it proceeds as gradually as it does. And by the way, you are not a caterpillar; you are a human with full sentience, the power of observation, the ability to respond, and the power of decision. Therefore do all of these things, each in its turn, and allow your process to unfold. One last thought: It is probable that certain events over the past two months have given you a clear idea of what you do not want. That is important information, though only if you use what you know.

You’re invited to have a look at our new Special Readings page.
Aquarius

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Two issues are up this month; they’ve been up for a while, but now, the bell rings. One is how, and whether, you take care of yourself, meaning your health, your rest, your nutrition — and your emotional wellbeing. Second, closely associated, is your association with aggression. This has been an issue in recent weeks, through much of the spring and longer, and it’s taken a toll on you and potentially your work-based relationships. You may be thinking that none of this was necessary, and if so, you’re correct. You’re under a lot of pressure right now. There is energy moving in your direction. You get to decide what to do with it. Do you direct it where you want, like a martial artist, or do you let it slam into you? There is a similar issue with your use of language, which is the forum for nearly all controversy these days. It will be helpful if you set all use of language in any potentially controversial situation on a 24- to 48-hour delay. Sleep on things for a night or two, including what you hear. You may develop a tendency to hear the things people say to you in the worst possible light, when really, they meant something else, or intended a different inflection of meaning. Therefore, slow down and contemplate your moves. You need to have a clear set of strategies, which you follow in a focused, disciplined and intentional way. You may need support. Get some advisors you trust. You don’t need to do what they say; rather, you only need to take it under careful advisement.

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Pisces

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — It has not been easy for you to get a grip this year, though you’ve accomplished more than you may think. Jupiter, your ruling planet (from classical astrology), is in its best possible position — in Sagittarius, in your 10th solar house, which is giving you a sense of your true potential. However, Jupiter is square Neptune in your own sign, which is making your potential about as easy to grasp as a greased eel. There is also a clarity issue (see Sagittarius for another take on that), which is to say it’s not easy for you to discern what is real and what is not; what you want and what you don’t; who is helpful and who is not. Here is a clue: you need very basic criteria for these things, which you apply sooner rather than later. However, the second half of the year tends to bring an upswing for you. The Sun has moved in your favor, and there’s about to be a total eclipse in the most daring, dynamic angle of your solar chart. This represents you being willing to take a chance on yourself of some kind; it represents an opening; and most of all, it describes you moving into one of those deeply intuitive phases of how you relate to your own creativity. Set your priorities carefully. You will have abundant energy going forward, which can only be drained by misunderstanding, pointless controversy or wasting your time on goals that are not specifically relevant to you. Therefore, focus your priorities. Know what you want and what you need, resolve to create that and that alone, and stand your full height as you walk through the world.

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On the Turning Away

Feldstrasse in Erfurt in the former East Germany, scene of the first Nazi concentration camp.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Before I visited Buchenwald, I visited Ilvers Gehoffen.

Everyone has seen photos of concentration camps, but you would not recognize this one. It’s set in a neighborhood outside Erfurt, where the Holocaust is said to have begun. I know there are several places this is claimed to have happened, though the first government killings of anti-fascists were right there, in April 1933, within 12 weeks of when our old friend Adolf ascended to power.

When I was living in Germany, I had a guide who took me and a friend there. We had to ride a few trams to get outside the main city, and where we arrived reminded me of the desolate and crumbling Bronx. From the Google Earth photo above, it has apparently had a facelift.

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Sun Square Chiron — Now and in the Stonewall Chart

It was not a riot. It was an uprising.

Use this link if you’re using an Apple mobile device | Download MP3. Or you can click through for additional resources.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Here is a short letter introducing tonight’s intriguing edition of Planet Waves FM. First, later in the program, my guest is a man named Mitch Horowitz, an author and presenter on the subject of the metaphysical and the history of the occult.

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