Author Archives: Eric Francis Coppolino

About Eric Francis Coppolino

Lives in Kingston, friend of critters, etc.

Down to the Wire: Of Bombs and Elections

Use this link if you’re listening on an iOS or mobile device. Download MP3.

As we go deeper into this most unusual, challenging and potentially troubling phase of history, intelligence is the thing we need the most. That is the theme of the 2019-2020 annual edition of Planet Waves, now available for pre-order.

Hey Scorpio — the astrology segments of your 2018-19 Scorpio birthday reading by Eric are now available for instant access. Order today to lock in the current price.

Dear Friend and Listener:

Last week, I ended the program with the song “Bombs” by Faithless, having no idea what was about to happen.

In tonight’s Planet Waves FM, I reach out to all Scorpios and others who are feeling this Venus retrograde as some extreme experience of struggle, discomfort or weirdness. There’s no rush; I take my time with that one.

In the second segment, I look at the news of the past week, which included a kind of hoax bomb campaign, a synagogue shooting, the president spouting his toxic word soup like Linda Blair spewing green pea soup in The Exorcist — and most significantly, how to cope with this kind of dark intensity nearly all the time. You did not sign up to be a war correspondent, but you may feel like one.

I look at the chart of Neil Young, the consummate Scorpio (with an Aquarius Moon), and we feature some of his songs to illustrate who this truly unusual person is (chart is below, at full scale).

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Sun Opposite Albion: Beyond This Obsession

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Sometimes it really does seem like the world is obsessed with death — every day, basically. This may be the root of all of our social ills, and our failure to fix the physical ones. Greed, for example, is driven by death-obsession (in case you were ever looking for a rational explanation).

Illustration of Albion by William Blake (1757-1827), from ‘A Large Book of Designs’.

Pluto, now minor planet (135340) Pluto, was discovered in 1930, between the two world wars, and just before the rise of the Nazi party in Germany and fascism throughout much of Europe. Named for the lord of the underworld from Roman mythology, he was known for wearing a helmet that made him invisible, and then he would kidnap people to the underworld. I’ve read that shrines to Pluto were often abandoned, as nobody wanted to go there.

One of my reads on Pluto as a collective entity is that it represents the obsession with death that seems to permeate societies everywhere, and most individuals within them. People are driven to do strange things when they don’t confront their fear of the unknown, including many shades of treating one another badly, running from their problems, drowning them in alcohol, failing to get help, and many other permutations.

Modern astrology often construes Pluto as an evolutionary force, meaning that it can drive people to the point where they have no option but to grow. Yet the way Pluto works, this often feels like “grow or die.” It’s nice that we have this (even though many people seem to prefer self-destruction to growth).

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Void of Course Bomb Campaign

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Dear Friend and Reader:

If you’re having difficulty assembling the pieces of the “pipe bomb” story in a way that resembles a recognizable object, you’re not alone. It does not make any sense to me. The biggest clue is that none of the seeming bombs exploded. The second biggest clue is that they are all being intercepted.

Part of the Secret Service announcement of what seemed to be bombs in the mail, with the Moon at 29 Aries 32 — not making any new aspects before it enters Taurus. See full chart here.

In brief, just in case you dropped your phone down an elevator shaft and have not heard about any of this, yesterday the Secret Service announced that a number of things resembling pipe bombs had been intercepted in the mail, and that one or two had arrived by hand delivery (but were also intercepted). They were equipped with made-for-movies countdown clocks.

The first one I heard about was hand delivered to George Soros, the one-man-band left-wingnut all-in-one conspiracy of the wildest right-wingnut dreams. If “liberals” do something, he allegedly personally wrote the check.

Then packages containing what looked like bombs were mailed to Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack and Michelle Obama, and then CNN. Try to make sense of this: we’re being told that somehow, a package addressed to John Brennan, the former CIA director (and a Republican) was found in the CNN offices in Manhattan.

This resulted in the “extraordinary spectacle of the network’s correspondents reporting live from the street outside,” according to New York Times coverage. Yes, TV is once again the subject of TV.

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Monday Morning Horoscope for Oct. 22, 2018

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Aries (March 20-April 19) — It will help if you’re unusually open and conversant about things you usually keep quiet about. That would include all the taboo subjects, but particularly revealing the truth about your desire nature. A group of planets in Scorpio is about to be joined by the Sun on Tuesday morning, which will illuminate the angle of your solar chart where you have plenty to talk about, but might be least inclined to open up. What you may be sensing is that if you talk about what’s on your mind, and what you’re experiencing emotionally, you are inviting change. This would include change to some of what you think are your deeply held values, and a degree of rearrangement in the dynamics of your relationships. Yet this is movement that will come no matter what, whether you’re secretive or coy or reluctant to share — or whether you open up and reveal your innermost reality. It’s just a matter of how much choice and influence you have, though that takes courage. Get your full Aries reading by Eric here.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Close partners can meet you as you really are, if you let them. That will be the challenge: to allow them into the changes you’re experiencing, your evolving perception of yourself, and your morphing role in the world. You are not shifting as radically as you think. Mostly, you are considering the possibilities of who you are, and who you want to become. This will be less like changing and more like revealing your personal qualities that were always present within you. You are more willing to take risks, and the people who care about you are more likely to meet you in that place, and to play along. Therefore, you can afford to be bold, and bring your experimentation to a conscious level. Consistency is important in the world, particularly in our rather unstable time in history, though you can afford to be a little less predictable. Every morning when you wake up, take some time to decide who you want to be and what you want to do. Get your full Taurus reading by Eric here.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Consider the wisdom of your actions; that will be the issue, in hindsight. Did you use the knowledge that you had? Was your response to developments and events proportional to their relevance? Were you responding from an exclusively emotional frame of reference, or did you bring your reasoning abilities into the discussion? You have time to decide these things now, before events come to a peak. You do, in fact, know what you need to know, and you can discover any facts or perspectives that you might need. Be sensitive to “when you don’t want to know” something, lest it somehow disrupt your plans. That’s the very thing you want to know, and any mental shakeup you might experience will lead the way to more creative and strategic thoughts. Those could come at any time, by the way, as the peak of Venus retrograde approaches over the coming week. Ideas that may not seem to be worth much at first glance may turn out to be brilliant, so be alert. Get your full Gemini reading by Eric here.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Though life on the planet is way too chaotic for people such as yourself who genuinely value peace and quiet, good things are happening. And you will get the benefit as long as you remain open and available, which can be challenging in our particular moment. So you will need to keep your signals clear, and be sensitive to when you’re being offered something, and when you’re being asked for something. Even though those may seem like opposites, they do have one thing in common, which is the potential to get an exchange going. That will present you with an opportunity both to offer and to receive, and it will be helpful if you are able to do both as a conscious act. You have plenty to offer, and that’s the side of the equation to focus on. Any creative enterprises you might involve yourself in over the next few weeks will thrive, so do what you can to give those space, time and love, i.e., tune your guitar, or carry your sketchbook. Get your full Cancer reading by Eric here.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You seem to be in pursuit of a turning point that keeps eluding you. The closer you get to it, the less available it seems to be. This might be a decision, a break in your routines, a shift in your life pattern, or the need for some change in your environment that facilitates your progress. This will come in a form different from the one you were expecting, or developing. The real thing you’re chasing is your idea of who you are. The first thing to remember is that — add bold italics — who you are is an idea! And so your self-concept is vitally meaningful. Does it align with the underlying truth, or are you struggling to live out some inaccurate, untrue, notion of your existence? The problem here is that towering castles of sand can be built up around false ideas, and fear-based identity structures can be built on sticks. These have no substance other than the attachment you invest. Let them go. Get your full Leo reading by Eric here.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You have a lot to say, and I suggest you say it before you explode. Contrary to current popular mythology, this is not all about rage and disadvantage. You have many observations of the world, you have actual ideas, you have helpful knowledge to share. Don’t be overly dramatic about this. Writing on a napkin is a good start; capture ideas from emails; if you post a reply to an article, capture the text, and begin to develop it. Most ideas seem small at first; as any successful writer will tell you, the craft is in the development and expression, and this is an organic process. I suggest you not chase the big payoff, but rather recognize how subtle true originality really is. Therefore, to engage your creativity and expressiveness, you will need to be patient. And you will need to be circumspect: look at your situation from many angles, from close to the ground, from above, from all around, and in different kinds of light. The truth is not a thing. It’s a point of contact. Get your full Virgo reading by Eric here.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — You might have finances on your mind, which would be appropriate. The essence of your success is understanding your mutual needs with the people around you, and you’re getting a lesson in that now. I explain this often: doing business means dependably providing something that people want or need, in exchange for money. It really is that simple, though of course you must be dependable, and maintain a structure that supports your enterprise. That is where most people fall short. They typically need the structure to already be there, and tend to neglect the necessary maintenance. In our time and in our society, we have many options available that did not exist recently. For example, 20 years ago, it was a big deal to accept credit cards; now anyone can. This and many other innovations have made it easier to do business. What has made it more difficult is a collapse of certain mental structures, ethical structures and motivation. These, you must supply. Get your full Libra reading by Eric here.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Friday is the peak of Venus retrograde — what’s called the interior conjunction of Venus and the Sun. (Technically, the word is ‘inferior’ but I’ve amended that.) This looks like some kind of revelation, a discovery, or a breakthrough. The essence is taking ownership of something you thought belonged to someone else. There are different ways to describe this — such as “calling in a projection.” This is not an easy concept to understand, though the simplest way to say it is being accountable for feelings that you thought belonged to someone else, or that you assigned to someone else when they were really yours. It’s about doing something that is most definitely not in style right now, which is being fully responsible for what you feel, for how you perceive the world, and for understanding your own motives. Essentially, you are looking for something you have not revealed to yourself, or admitted to yourself. It won’t be hard to find. This is not about them; it’s about you. Get your full Scorpio reading by Eric here.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You will be able to unravel a mystery this week, something that may have puzzled or even vexed you for a long time. This has been brewing as if in the next room, though seemingly nowhere in sight. You will, therefore, need to look, listen and feel in the subtle dimensions of your awareness: your dreams, your intuition (which is never fearful), your fears (as separate from intuition), and something or someone that was lost that’s now manifesting in some way, including as the ability to let go or some signal that it is time to let go. Notice how you feel upon awakening, as much as you might focus on the content of a dream. Consider the notion of “lost love,” how you have responded to relationships changing in the past, and how you may have held on to your feelings. You are more sentimental than it may seem from the outside, though now is the time not for sentiment but rather for emotional honesty. That will give you some freedom to be yourself. Get your full Sagittarius reading here.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — What seems like a complex issue comes back to your family, and is not so complicated after all. Don’t be deceived by the feeling that it is; rather, map out “what is so” — your circumstances as you know them to exist — and check that map against a schematic of your family of origin. One of the central questions is “how did things come to be the way they are?” You can apply this like a meditation to any topic, theme, question, circumstance or issue in your life, though an interesting and worthwhile place to start will be your family. Every family has its story of “how we came into being,” although usually it’s sketchy and in parts and, in a sense, mythologized. Through the holiday season, you may have several opportunities to speak with your older relatives. Get them to share stories about your family and the early days, so far as they understand and describe them; and remember, this is perception and lore, with some reality mixed in. Gently press for specific bits of history, with the details, names, dates and places — and write it down as soon as you can. Get your full Capricorn reading here.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You are struggling to let go of certain personality tendencies, and I suggest you give yourself credit for succeeding quite well so far. If you could go back in time and slip into your self-concept of 18 months ago, you would see what I mean. You have made much more room for you to be who you are; you’re likely to feel more liberated and free to make choices as a result. Yet this has not exactly been a passive process, particularly this year. Part of how you learn who you are is to assert yourself. People who do not bump, scrape, grind and in some way make contact with one another do not find out who they are. Avoiding conflict is the surest way to avoid enlightenment, growth, maturity or this elusive thing known as adulthood. This does not mean whacking people on the head or picking needless fights. Rather, you’ve discovered that it’s necessary for you to stand up to challenges, and to stand up for yourself. And that, in fact, has been enlightening. Get your full Aquarius reading here.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Where do you invest your faith? Think of it as a resource that you can use for a purpose. You can do anything you want with it. Faith is your fidelity: your trust. This is starting to sound like a bank ad. And it’s true that plenty of faith is placed in money, such as investments that are supposed to make us prosper. Others say their faith is in God, but don’t have a direct relationship or direct experience, so that would qualify more as belief. And there are some who have faith in God that’s the result of experience. Others put their faith in magic: If I do this, I will get this result, though there may be no established cause and effect, or even known correlation. Some put their faith in the future. Others invest it in their fellow humans. So let’s start with the question, which I would challenge you to answer through direct observation of yourself over the next seven days or so. Notice when you feel strong, and when you feel weak. That will tell you most of what you need to know. Get your full Pisces reading by Eric here.

Venus Conjunct the Sun in Scorpio

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Digital illustration by Charlie Lemay.

This week, Venus makes its interior conjunction to the Sun in Scorpio. Said in plain terms, Venus is passing between the Earth and the Sun, and Friday, all three bodies align and form a conjunction.

We’ll be at the peak of Venus retrograde, in a year dominated by the retrogrades of personal planets. Sex and gender being such focused issues this year makes a good case for the validity of astrology.

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Scorpio Venus Retrograde Conjunct the Sun

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Use this link if you’re listening on an iOS or mobile device. Download MP3.

Eric has completed his 2018 Autumn Reading, Empathy, an excellent 12-sign audio set covering Venus retrograde, a review of Mars retrograde and more. Order all 12 signs for best value, or choose your individual signs.

The Sun entering Scorpio is met by Uranus, the jumper cables of the solar system, in the first degree of Taurus. How can you use this energy to kick into gear? Your 2018-19 Scorpio birthday reading by Eric will help you find the answers.

Dear Friend and Listener:

Tonight on Planet Waves FM, I begin with a look at Venus retrograde in Scorpio, which is making its interior conjunction to the Sun on Friday. I’ve covered this in tonight’s subscriber edition as well; I’ll be exploring the themes of projection, acknowledgment of what you feel and what you want, I-statements, and seeing things from the viewpoint of the other.

Chan Marshall, who records as Cat Power, considered moving away and leaving music behind when she got pregnant. Instead she started work on her new album, “Wanderer.” Photo by Ryan Pfluger. Read recent coverage of Marshall in The New York Times, which includes a sample from her new album, “Wanderer.” We feature her today as part of Faithless.

I’ll then offer a look at the news, in these last weeks before the U.S. midterm elections.

The second half of the program is an extended Tantra Studio, featuring a conversation with Planet Waves FM listener Michelle Commesso. She is a mother of four children, and explains her philosophy of educating her kids about the most challenging topics of our day, from rape culture, to how to know what you want, to the basics of sex education.

Our music today is from Faithless, featuring the women who have offered their vocal and writing talent to the British collective: Cat Power, Dido, and Zoe Johnston (as well as Harry Collier).

Planet Waves FM is published by Chiron Return, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, which is part of the Pacifica Radio Network. We are supported by your generous contributions, large and small, which are starting to add up each month and cover the costs of the program. All contributions are fully tax-deductible.

Thank you for being a one-time donor or monthly supporter. Here is how to contribute.

Chiron Return’s projects include Planet Waves FM, The Gemstone File resource for activists and reporters, and the forthcoming Investigative Reporting from the Kitchen Table. Look for a letter surveying our readers for their interest in this class, which I plan to begin in late winter.

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Mercury Conjunct Retrograde Venus

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This week arrives with one of the more symbolic encounters along our current Scorpio journey: Mercury conjunct retrograde Venus. That occurs Monday at 4:20 pm ET.

Early suitors in America’s love affair with the police — Officers Reed and Malloy from Adam-12.

The most recent previous encounter was retrograde Venus square Mars in Aquarius. That was how last week felt — halfway between the Twilight Zone and a hostage situation.

The square was what I’ve been calling “the handoff” from the previously retrograde Mars (which took place most of the summer) to Venus (covered extensively in Empathy-Pathos). Interpret that any way you wish: like passing the baton in a relay race, a clash between the sexes, or Venus accepting the responsibility for introspective movement from Mars. Maybe a little of all three.

Our society is both terrified and in love with Mars energy. We are terrified of what we term “aggression,” which is more often self-assertion, desire and the willingness to stand up for oneself. I keep hearing from the mothers of young adult boys say what a harrowing time this is, as all the sensitive ones are worried about being called aggressors (this is not funny, not helpful, and it’s not politically correct in any sense of that concept).

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Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for October 2018

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Aries (March 20-April 19) — Let people be honest with you. This is a choice — as much of a choice as to speak one’s truth. Be open to listening, and to sharing your feedback — though keep that part modest. The thing to remember is that people’s story is not necessarily the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. But that does not matter, really, because all statements are symbolic. Symbols stand for something else. What you need to listen for is that something else: what is being represented? Is it a feeling, an opinion, a concern, an idea, a challenge? One way to listen interactively is to say, “I hear you saying [whatever, which you state in your own words].” Then keep listening, for the correction. One thing to consider are the ways that someone might be speaking your truth for you. So keep asking yourself whether anything you hear is personally relevant for you. You might find that people will have a way of revealing your secrets to you, or putting into words what you cannot usually say. If any such material comes up, take the occasion to speak openly. Venus retrograde in Scorpio will offer you opportunities to share what was previously concealed, and to reach a deeper level of intimacy with yourself and others. You can follow this gently to unusually deep places, and learn easily what is otherwise difficult to grasp. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — This year’s astrology, including the retrogrades of Venus and Mars, is here to help you prepare for the long-term presence of Uranus in your birth sign. That began in May; it will retreat briefly for the winter, and commence for the next seven years in March. Uranus in your sign suggests the rapid, ongoing emergence of new ideas of who you are. The recent Mars retrograde and the current Venus retrograde seem designed to shake you loose from your preconceptions, prejudices and concepts (such as of self and other). This, in turn, will help you shed your skin each time the moment arrives. Most of what people are is contained within their ideas, and right now, all of yours are being subjected to a series of tests and verifications. That does not mean they are all wrong; rather, that you need to be bold about evaluating what is true for you, and not be afraid to ask any question — of yourself, or of another. Venus and Mars retrogrades have been running what you might think of as test scripts that will facilitate just this kind of inquiry. You are being presented with circumstances that invite the ongoing questioning of what seems like reality. And at the moment, it’s particularly easy for people to grasp where you are coming from, even if it does not feel that way. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — You are no longer subject to what other people think you should believe. You never were, though it was difficult to feel your way to a point of independence. This largely involved your reticence to be controversial or to seem aggressive by challenging people — even if that challenge came only in the form of you being you. Events this year have shown the futility of this approach; circumstances have taught you that you have no choice but to assert yourself, if you want your mind to be free. Conflict, challenging people, and challenging yourself are how you figure out who you are. You cannot live in avoidance of conflict, on the level of ideas. That would be the equivalent of putting a bag over your head, and calling yourself a visionary. You must say what you see, and not be afraid to be challenged, to be wrong, or to call out what is obviously false. This does not mean being a jerk, though it will help to cast off any fear of being seen that way. You can be friendly, funny, and argumentative, and still be a good sport. It helps if you don’t take yourself so seriously that you can’t take being made fun of. Your sense of humor is the most useful talent you can bring to any discussion of reality. See the humor in everything. That’s a sign you’re perceiving the world with an open heart. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Current activity in Libra is encouraging you to settle in and make home. If you’re happy where you are, then that’s the perfect place. On the home front, the place to start is to take charge of your kitchen, your food supply, and the preparation of meals. This is the center of any meaningful concept of home, particularly for you. Take the role of the one who nourishes and nurtures, as an active practice of karma yoga. Give this six months, till the vernal equinox, and then re-evaluate your life, your relationships, your sense of grounding and safety, and your sense of home. When it comes to intimate partnerships, begin by considering inwardly any concerns you have. This is different from stuffing them down. Quite the opposite — you’re hanging out with any issues in an active and conscious way, seeking first within yourself for the source of the conflict. You might decide that you have some accountability or at least the ability to resolve things on your own in a way that sets you free. However, you might notice that you have an actual concern you want to raise, and the time to do that is after you’ve done an accountability check on your own. Projection is a serious problem, and you are the only one who can do something about it. Account for what is the product of your own mind and feelings, and you will be a lot happier. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You must take care of yourself: rest, food, sunshine. That, and just the right amount of work, which could be a bit more than most people are capable of. Then, intersperse generously with rest, food and sunshine. It will also help if you gradually remove sources of conflict from your life. You have seen the toll it can take, on your productivity, and on your ability to feel good. A great many people live with conflict as a way of life, or in some way depend on others to disrupt the flow of their existence. To the extent you thrive on chaos, for whatever reason, it’s time to eliminate that. This includes choosing friends and partners who are respectful, because that’s a better way for you to live. These things need to be long-term commitments. There will be some delay between the time when you rotate the wheel, the rudder moves and the ship begins to turn — so the sooner you start, the better. Part of why removing conflict is so important is that you will make room for supportive people, who demonstrate their love and appreciation of you. Don’t be afraid to turn this into direct support, and ask for the help that you need, when you need it, or better yet, well in advance. For example, take leadership and make sure the workloads that surround you are reasonably distributed. You have amazing vitality, though you are not invincible — nor do you want to be. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — When you think of wealth, think of food. When you think “bottom line,” think food. Your bank account is one thing; what you are able to eat is another. The beauty of food is that there reaches a point where it costs less to eat better, especially if you’ve been eating out of the house a lot. Organizing your life around food will require you to do some adjusting, restructuring and rethinking, and you will be happier, healthier and probably wealthier for it. Then, there’s a related subject, though it might not seem that way, which is your ability to speak (or write) your personal truth. This will require a process of discovery that is currently well underway. A series of aspects with the retrograde of Venus are offering you a rare opportunity to be courageous, to be self-inquisitive, and to find words for what might otherwise, at other times, seem impossible to express. The concept of secrecy, as you experience it, needs to come under careful review. Nothing is ever really kept private; the question is whether it’s expressed in useful, wholesome ways, or ways that are toxic and self-defeating. At this time in your life, you have a profound need to learn how to be articulate, about what matters the very most to you. That means developing the ability to speak from your center, though particularly gathering the focus and discipline to be able to express yourself in writing. For the benefit of your health, sanity and strength, there is no substitute. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Libra Birthdays and Rising 2018-19:

A Libra New Moon and a Reading Like No Other

“I am truly amazed at the accuracy of these readings with the current events of my life.”

— Denise J.

Dear Friend and Reader:

We began this week with a significant New Moon in Libra. It was conjunct the asteroid Ceres — goddess of the harvest and of nourishment — making this a potentially key time in your year.

If you have a Libra Sun, rising sign or Moon, you can still get your complete Libra Astrology Studio (formerly the Libra Birthday Reading) for only $44. You’ll get instant access to both astrology segments, and we’ll send you an email as soon as the tarot portion is ready.

“My previous Birthday Readings have been very, very helpful. I refer to them throughout the year. The tarot readings have been particularly informative.”

— Carolyn Cornish

You can listen to a brief audio sample of your reading here. And if you need a little background, you can listen to last year’s reading here, as a gift.

Yours & truly,

Amanda Painter

P.S. If you’re feeling especially overwhelmed or set adrift by recent events — or if you know a Libra who could use a little astrological TLC — I hope you’ll take advantage of the current price on your Libra reading before Eric records the tarot section. The world may feel challenging right now, but we’re with you.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Current planetary movements involving your birth sign describe Libra as the sign of individuality and introspection rather than the sign of relationships. This is in part associated with Venus retrograde in your neighboring sign Scorpio, which describes a deep journey of self-awareness for you. Yet it is this inner exploration that will bring you to a new place of contact with others. Even so, you must contract before you can expand. Your self-awareness must always be the property that leads you through any situation you find yourself in, because your “self” is the only thing you have that could possibly relate to the world. So in this sense, self-awareness involves monitoring your environment and how you respond to it. This implies a much larger concept of self than we normally mean when we say the word. Yet the prevailing lesson of Venus retrograde seems to be that you and your environment are so closely related, you can consider them the same thing. Still, the most dependable information will be found within yourself; and this, in turn, provides you with incentive to notice how you feel and what you’re observing at all times. This is not so much a chicken-and-egg matter as it may seem. Notice how your perception of the world changes when your mood changes. Your feelings have the power to bend objective reality, so you may as well stay in contact with them. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — It’s often difficult for people to see, and to feel, one another’s perspective. This leads to many needless misunderstandings, conflicts and disagreements. You are now in an unusual position to feel the perspectives of others as they feel them, or close to it, needing little explanation. All you need to do is focus and pay attention to how you feel, when considering another person’s reality. The thing to note, in the first instance, is that how they feel will be different from how you feel. You may not be able to understand what you’re feeling from an intellectual perspective. Just noticing the contrast will be helpful. If you are engaged in a dialog, you can make contact statements, which would be mellow: something like, “I get that you’re agitated about this” or, “You seem worried.” Whether you say anything or not, your ability to empathize, by itself, will be supportive. Meanwhile, following the recent Mars retrograde in the family and security angle of your solar chart, you are not willing to have the terms of your life dictated by others, and you’re bold enough to speak up. When you are feeling where people are coming from, it will become obvious how little you need to say, or do, to assert your independence. Mostly, you need to be yourself, and give people the space to be who they are, and never argue the case for your own freedom. You don’t have to. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You will have a more positive outlook once Jupiter has ingressed your sign on Nov. 8. Until then, you can make the most of things, and you have plenty to work with. The most helpful thing you can do, to that end, is to take responsibility for your feelings. The current social trend is for everyone to hold everyone else accountable for how they feel inside. This is not helpful, because it’s not true. Your feelings are your responsibility, which is good news because that means you can influence your emotional responses, evolve how you feel, and understand the inner conditions leading to any particular response you might have to any situation. Said another way, taking responsibility for your feelings is a fundamental step for emerging from any form of victim consciousness that you might experience. It will also help you address fear, once you recognize that nearly all of it is an internal experience having nothing to do with an actual situation in the world. Jupiter ingressing your birth sign will help you figure out how little you have to worry about, and focus on what actually matters. Yet in the month before that happens, it will be an excellent exercise to sort out what is coming from inside you and what is coming from outside. This is a real question. It may be the only question. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — What has your life been like, in this year of Saturn in your birth sign or rising sign? Old-school ideas about this transit describe it as a time of enforced maturity. It could also indicate the sensation of being held down, on practical matters or emotional ones. Yet for this transit to work its wonders, you will need to take full ownership of it. The message of nearly any Saturn transit is to internalize what Saturn represents. First, that means taking responsibility for time: or, you might say, taking possession of your life on Earth as a finite thing. Then there is taking up the matter of authority as an inner function rather than an outer one. Saturn becomes your friend when nobody has to tell you what to do. Yet the cautionary side of this is that people can become harsh masters of themselves when Saturn is in the neighborhood. People can be much more strict with themselves than anyone else ever was with them. Whatever else may be going on, and whatever you may need to accomplish, you need to give yourself flexibility, room to maneuver, and room to make mistakes. Saturn is an influence associated with what we learn and who we become in the long run, not the short. This is associated with character development and also with your understanding of time. Under the influence of Saturn, time must become your friend and ally rather than an enemy that stalks you. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Anxiety is one of the most serious problems the world is facing right now, particularly here in the Western world where people have a little less to worry about than many other places. Many, many people deal with anxiety, more or less effectively. I bring this up now because you have both Saturn and Pluto in your 12th solar house, and that can be a formula for stress or panic. If you know this, you can have a model of what it’s about and how to handle yourself. You will also be able to tap into the resources that are involved. Both planets in Capricorn, and Venus retrograde in Scorpio, describe distinguishing what has been passed down to you through the generations from what is actually your self-acquired personal property. I suggest you make a long-range plan of sorting this out (and, it’s a topic I’ve reflected on in many annual readings for your sign, which you can find here, open access). However, there is one immediate thing to be aware of. Mars in your sign has entered new territory for the first time since going retrograde many months ago. Mars will lead you to strive for what you want, and to push people, a little and sometimes a lot. That can come with a backlash of guilt. This is the thing to watch. All guilt is the product of a childhood dynamic. It does not mean you’ve done something wrong and certainly does not make you a “bad” person — though that is the feeling. Pay attention to how you feel at the end of the day. Let yourself off the hook, offer apologies if necessary, and connect your feelings to how you were treated as a kid, and how you responded. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — This year has brought many changes to your circle of friends, how you’re viewed publicly and how you see yourself as a member of the community. Yet these changes are secondary to the inner work you’ve been doing, associated with Mars retrograde in Aquarius. Though you may not see or feel it yet, there are few transits that could do more to set you free from your inhibitions, your fears, and your inner pressure to conform. Conform to what exactly? Whatever line people are expected to toe, however that manifests for you. Given that the Mars connection is 12th house (ancestral material) and Aquarius (family of origin material), what you experienced — whatever it was, and it may have been weird — has involved setting yourself free from the karma and the ideology of your family. Given that this involves the 12th house, the experience itself, and your sense of liberation, could well be a little below the level of full awareness. However, it might also be plain and in your face, requiring only placement in proper context. The sex question is vital: the idea that you’ve somehow been set free from the negative patterning of the people who raised you, and whatever weight of the past they carried. However, set free is only the beginning, and it’s a real commencement only if consciously claimed by you. You must plot your way forward, and take each step as a wholly conscious act. You are not all those other people. You have your own place, your own time, and your own way. Keep reminding yourself of that. Get your full reading by Eric here.