“Swarm” by Charlie Lemay.
Dear Friend and Reader:
When I went onto the Daily News website and saw a photo of Al Franken groping Leeann Tweeden, wearing a big grin on his face, first I felt disgusted, then I thought: the emotional plague.
Dear Friend and Reader:
News got out last Friday night that the Special Counsel’s office would be making arrests Monday morning in the matter of the Trump campaign’s collaboration with the Kremlin to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. When we learned Monday morning that Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman, and his deputy Rick Gates, had turned themselves in to the federal district court, I knew that was the start of something big.
After enduring Donald Trump’s antics for two years, his lies and brazenly criminal conduct and, worst, his obnoxious and swaggering narcissism, finally something had actually happened in response. Two top campaign officials were charged with a long list of financial crimes and conspiracy, most of which involved relationships to Russia and Ukraine.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump gives a thumbs up as his campaign manager Paul Manafort and daughter Ivanka look on during Trump’s walk-through at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, in July, 2016. Photo by Rick Wilking.
While Trump was busy tweeting that Manafort’s and Gates’ 12-count indictments did not directly involve the campaign, news broke that a third defendant, George Papadopoulos, age 30, who was a “foreign policy advisor” during the campaign, had already entered a guilty plea and had been cooperating with prosecutors since July. That was the more interesting news: that the efforts of Robert Mueller III, the Special Counsel, had already flipped a key witness and obtained a conviction.
In what must have been the most stealth arrest in history, FBI agents working for Mueller’s office picked up Papadopoulos at Dulles International Airport on July 27 and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. As a young man of 30, he had nothing to lose and only to gain by working with prosecutors.
He pleaded guilty to one count of lying to an FBI agent (which happened just a week after the inauguration), with no jail time recommended. He earned that privilege.
Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for November 2017, #1173 | By Eric Francis
Aries (March 20-April 19) — Take the time, and the emotional risk, of encountering people as people; not their online avatar, their image in pixels or their disembodied voice. Make real contact, in person, without a time limit. That part is easy: when you plan to visit someone, don’t schedule anything else afterwards for the same day; and if you might stay over, clear your morning hours. The idea is to give yourself room to stretch out and experience something you’re not necessarily planning for. You might know what you want. You might also recognize that it’s a little weird to declare (for example) that you will never, ever do something with someone. If you’re saying that, then you’re carrying around some energy. What’s that about? It rarely happens that you’re knocked off of your center specifically due to the actions of someone else. When you are holding your center, and you know who you are and what you want, you tend to be in balance and on solid ground. There’s something more significant: know what you have to offer. You will feel relevant in your relationships based on what you give; not what you take, or ask for, or expect. You’re the one in a position to start the process of exchange, by being generous with your mind, your body and your spirit; with your time, your love, and your resources. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“Self-awareness, both of your thoughts and of your conduct, is your most powerful tool to influence your experience of growth into the new forms that you are. This includes reaching deep enough into yourself that you make some contact with the aspect of you that is timeless and changeless.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition — you may pre-order that here.
Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You possess the gift of healing; in particular, helping others unravel their emotional and physical knots. It’s true that everyone has this gift, at least in potential, though at the moment, you have especially strong access. It’s been gradually developing over the past years. Learning to use this can benefit the people around you, though it will help to recognize how minimal your role really is. First, remember that when you’re assisting someone in any way, it’s not about you. You might indirectly benefit, though the focus must stay on the person you’re assisting. It’s also far preferable to help only when asked, or when you reach an impasse and have someone’s consent. At that point, you might gently guide people to the edge of their seeming limits, then let them make the choice to enter new territory or not. You cannot push or pull anyone beyond their boundaries. But you can continue to relate to them, and stay open, when they are at that point of hesitation; making sure you’re open and willing to accept whatever choice they might make. One useful tool is a sense of play. Keep things light, and engage them gently. Many people are caught in paradoxes that they don’t understand, but which you might. Meanwhile, consider how all of these ideas relate to you personally. Where is your edge, and why? For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“There is a genuine skill in creative mastery that involves standing back from judging what you’ve created. You might listen to what other people say; you might work until what you’re doing feels good; you might take a swashbuckling attitude and not care; you might trust the fact that you always strive to do better (or any of these at the right moment).”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition — you may pre-order that here.
Gemini (May 20-June 21) — The problem with life inside the robot — by which I mean wall-to-wall internet, and every automated device connected to it — is that we humans are losing our sense of play. That’s such an interesting word, because it works to describe what one does in a game; and also wiggle room; and a drama for fun, like a skit. In the digital mind, one error in one line of code can shut down the whole program. In the creative and physical realm, you can skip over mistakes, you can improvise, and you can go off-script. You can be curious; a computer cannot. All the algorithms in the world do not equal the hunger for knowledge or experience. You, however, are all about curiosity and passion for experience. You are a Gemini, after all; a sign represented by two little kids who, you can be sure, would prefer to play nearly all of the time. Therefore, look for every opportunity. When someone says something funny, toss them back one of your witty lines. When someone smiles at you, actually smile back and return the positive vibes. Get your hands into clay, paint, dirt, dough or a piano keyboard. Most significantly, bring a sense of play into this thing we call work. Right now, the world is smothering in boredom, which is a form of suppressed anger. Bring your loving heart and quick mind everywhere you go. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“You’re the one who has to negotiate between your potential and what you do with it. This is an active, everyday challenge being a Gemini. The world can seem so much bigger than you are, and in one way it is — but your mind is the thing that encompasses the world, all the world’s people and all your experiences there.”— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition — you may pre-order that here.
Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Here’s the deal: the charts for Cancer have not been this good in a long time. This is less about what’s going on in your sign and more about what’s happening in your empathetic water signs Scorpio and Pisces. (The astrology is pretty good for them too, though you get triple word score.) Mercury, the Sun and Jupiter are currently in Scorpio, which is your 5th solar house (pleasure, play, games, romance and sex for fun). Venus is on the way, arriving on Nov. 7. This is enough to bring out the artist, the lover and the adventurer in anyone. It will only take a little discipline to prod yourself into having fun all the time, wherever you are, and whomever you’re with. However, given the prevailing state of the world (currently being redesigned as a nonstop panic attack) and the freaky social environment that’s obsessed with treating sex like a crime or a disease (things were not always this way, though it happens from time to time), you will need that bit of discipline. You will need to take the initiative and spark up the conversation, strike up the band, or invite people over to your crib. Don’t be deterred if anyone seems uninterested. Don’t take it personally. You are being groomed for leadership, and this is a rather pleasant aspect of your training program. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“Notice your true feelings for people and make peace with the fact that you feel that way. You may have had a habit of resisting intimacy, and now you have little choice but to yield and open up to allowing others to touch your soul. In this way, you will come to the direct experience of growing into the soul dimension of your life.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition — you may pre-order that here.
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You simply must be more confident. This is a choice. It’s not something bestowed on you by a fairy godmother or earned like the Eagle Scout badge. You just wake up one day and decide you’re going to take some bigger chances with your life. You decide it’s time to push your seeming limits. You arrive at the point where you must be your own authority, and consciously boot the vestiges of your parents and various other control freaks out of the way. You seem to have been hesitating for a while; you may have run into the same limits repeatedly. One factor to unravel is any fear you might have of going out of control. One mental meme that’s been circulating goes something like this: If I let go a little, I won’t be able to reel myself back in. Or, if I have some fun, I won’t want to work. Or, if I smile at that person, I’ll get stuck in a 20-year relationship. These thoughts, which come in a thousand other forms, do nothing but undermine confidence, and creativity. They interfere with your ability to live your life rather than have your life live you. In these very weeks, ultra-serious Saturn is ending a long, three-year run through Sagittarius, which is your 5th solar house of pleasure, play and passion. It’s time to move on. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“Rather than thinking of yourself as the entity that holds all the planets in orbit, think of yourself as someone who grounds the Sun into the Earth. This is actually what you do in the physical and spiritual sense, and it grants you some relief from the much larger responsibility of providing all the power and all the gravity.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition — you may pre-order that here.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You have something to say. It’s now time to say it. Why you might not have done so in the past is not so mysterious: many of the things you want to share are taboo. Even to say the first word about the topics most important to you is to risk a controversy. That, however, is impressive in itself, and it’s a clue about the power of your particular message. I suggest you practice getting the conversation going; and more to the point, get your ideas into writing, and then put them where others can read them. If you do this, you will begin rapidly to cultivate your knowledge, and your ability to express yourself. You are, for a number of reasons, immune from the effects of any debate you might stir up; particularly if you express yourself from a loving place, with the desire to both learn and inform. This will stretch you in many ways: it’s time to leave behind any embarrassment about the actual ideas you are interested in. It’s time to have sensitive conversations in person rather than exclusively on the internet. You are in a position to be a leader in your community, by which I mean one who sets the example as a sincere seeker and helps open the way for others to seek sincerely. This process has just begun. Upcoming developments will deepen and accelerate your journey. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“There comes that time in any growth or improvement project where you have to ease back, have a glass of wine or even smoke a cigarette. Radical, I know. However, you’re at a stage of your life where you must follow your own rules, and to do that, your rules must be practical and workable.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition — you may pre-order that here.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Through these last two months of the year, you’re about to experience an unusual transformation that will reveal the one thing all conscious people are wondering: your purpose on Earth. That might sound like a tall promise for a horoscope column, though the astrology is indeed unusual. What comes to you probably won’t be in the form of a tweet (for example, “It’s u’r destiny 2b gr8 cellist”). Rather, your guidance will more likely arrive in the form of doing something that you know is right. It might not be the thing you do all day, every day, though you’ll likely be actively engaged with it in some way now, and you’ll notice that it’s just the thing to do. Also, you’ll probably have had this same revelation before, though somehow you forgot, or got distracted, like having the idea for a novel that you were about to write down, but didn’t. This time, however, take the message, and act on your knowledge with your body as well as your mind. Yes, the truth is subtle. It’s a softly spoken calling, not a clap of thunder. Developing your path or project may take time, though you’d be wise to take steps in your new direction without delay, and keep taking small actions that gradually help you build momentum. There’s plenty more to this idea than you currently recognize. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“Rather than being a clear mirror, relationships can often feel like a house of smoke and mirrors. This is especially a concern due to the experience of projection: ascribing to others feelings that are actually your own. Anais Nin is credited with saying, ‘We don’t see things as they are. We see them as we are.'”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition — you may pre-order that here.
Dear Scorpio Friend and Reader:
With today’s Sun-Jupiter conjunction in your sign, your solar year is beginning with astonishing potential. That might feel ironic, given the state of the world around you: there’s a lot of pain, destruction and chaos out there. But who better than a Scorpio to transmute that energy with pure passion, to get the emotional waters flowing again — both within yourself and, as it ripples out, in those closest to you?
Depending on how your year is going, that might feel exciting or it might feel daunting. Either way, you can have a trusted guide by your side in the form of Eric Francis and your 2017-18 Scorpio Birthday Reading.
Eric will be covering the truly fortunate transit of Jupiter through your sign for the next year (you’ll want to tap into that big ball of goodness as consciously as possible while it’s there!) — as well as several other major-planet sign changes in the coming months. With Saturn, Uranus and Chiron on the move, your environment will be shifting.
In particular, Uranus entering your opposite sign and ‘relationship house’ — Taurus — could bring some surprises over the next few years. As a fixed sign, you may do better at handling the unexpected (and your partners) with a little heads up. It gives you time to get oriented on the inherent creative potential, and to channel your energy and emotion in deeply productive ways.
Your reading will include two astrology segments of at least 30 minutes each, plus a tarot reading using the Voyager Tarot by James Wanless (you also get an extended description of your sign). Recorded in pro-quality audio, you can listen as many times as you like.
And, you’ll want to: Eric designs these readings to combine the best of his motivational life-coaching skills; the best of his therapy training; and the most down-to-Earth, practical, jargon-free astrological insights you’ll find anywhere on the internet.
If you’d like to secure your full reading at the lowest possible price of $33, you’ll want to pre-order the 2017-18 Scorpio Birthday Reading here. And you’ll want to do it soon: the price will increase as publication nears, and then will increase again upon publication of the full reading.
How will you use the blessings of Jupiter in your sign this year, Scorpio?
Yours & truly,
Amanda Painter
P.S. If you know and love anyone with a Scorpio Sun, Moon or rising sign, the 2017-18 Scorpio Birthday Reading makes an incredible gift.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Jupiter has arrived in your sign for one year. If there’s such a thing as an astrological need, this fulfills one: for Scorpio to have an infusion of water (provided by the Jupiter connection to Pisces) and of spiritual leavening (provided by its connection to Sagittarius). The last time a major planet visited your sign was the Mars retrograde of 2016, which was not exactly wet and juicy; Saturn, for part of 2015, was not exactly a ripe mango, either. Now you have extra resources to work with, and room to maneuver. You’re likely to be feeling more optimistic; not just about life but about who you are. That’s most of what you need to go on in life. When you feel good about yourself, you can accomplish just about anything. At the end of the year, another planetary move will have a similar effect: Saturn enters Capricorn, which will take the brakes off of your self-esteem. Between now and then, however, you must fully claim your self-respect; something you’ve been struggling to do in recent years (with some success). You will know you’re doing this because you feel demonstrably better about yourself. You will be less defensive, and more supportive of the people around you. You’ll be more interested in whether you’ve kept your promises to others than whether they’ve kept their promises to you. That’s true self-confidence. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“The self-esteem theme, described by the union of your 1st and 2nd houses, is the claiming back of your natural desire as a birthright. If you are in doubt about what you want, or if you consider it a potential moral affront, it’s difficult to feel good about yourself. For you, taking possession of desire is integral to your respect of yourself.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition — you may pre-order that here.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Let’s continue to focus on the movement of Saturn through the last degrees of your sign, which might only occur twice or maybe three times in your lifetime. Saturn is the lord of the material plane; that is, of physical reality and its structures as we know them; and that has a lot to do with time. Saturn is now conjunct the Galactic Core: a spiritual source, and a homing signal. The combination of Saturn with its orientation on matter, and the Core, with its spiritual focus, represents the quest of all true seekers: how does one live in accord with divine intelligence on this level of reality, with all its madness? Now you have the story of your life short enough to fit into a fortune cookie. You are going through an integration process that will build in intensity through the winter solstice. This will put you in a position where you feel compelled to make decisions that guide your life based on your actual values. At this new stage of your life, if you know something is true, you must act on it. If you understand that some things serve your purposes and the greater good, you must choose them, rather than what harms. Combining the Galactic Core and Saturn, the one thing for which there’s no room at all is self-deception. Write that on your birthday cake. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“The overwhelming message of this series of South Node eclipses is that you must get beyond your own past, and find the present. Finding the present means sorting out your emotional reality to the point where you understand what happened, and what it means – and use it as a source of strength rather than of weakness.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition — you may pre-order that here.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Do you really think you can put your faith in technology? Your solar chart suggests you might be doing this. If so, give it up. It’s the current mental plague that will strangle everyone and everything in its path, and is already doing a good job of it. Rather, you would do much better to invest your faith in the human realm, such as the living example you set every day. You’re currently in one of those phases where your leadership skills are in demand and in focus. Most of what you’re leading with is your own desire. You are demonstrating that what you want must be the guiding principle of your life. That sounds selfish, I know; though there’s one way to test the validity of these desires: they work for everyone else, too. This isn’t the trickle-down theory of economics. To the contrary, there’s a direct, mutual and immediate benefit between what serves you and what serves your family, company, community or the public. That’s the standard to orient on. At this stage of your life, nothing can be good for you and simultaneously bad for anyone else. The world has a lot to learn about this kind of plus-plus symbiosis (a fancy term for win-win). Set aside any feelings of competition you may be having. And remember, computers won’t solve any problems. Only you can, especially if you collaborate. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“If you’re worried about your reputation, this is merely another way of assigning power over yourself to others. You cannot control what anyone thinks, and no matter how pure, sinister, friendly, loving, raunchy, talented or slothy you might be, people will think what they want. What they might think is not your business.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition — you may pre-order that here.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — With Jupiter, the Sun and Mercury traveling through Scorpio, the potent midheaven angle of your solar chart, you’re experiencing a calling to success and achievement. On some level, that equates to the ability to do good or ill. We live in an age when accountability is typically either a thing of the past or something enforced on people. You need to subject yourself voluntarily to an evaluation process. Make sure that older, wiser mentors who are not afraid to disagree with you are involved in your decision-making process. Because you have influence, and because your aims are likely to develop into something bigger than you’ve planned, you must at all times keep one eye on the law of unintended consequences. It’s often said that knowledge is power, and the one thing that Aquarius of all the signs must be aware of is what you do not know. Understanding that your decisions have impact and that you don’t know everything will help keep you in check effectively enough to make better decisions. Be cautious of the desire to accomplish everything at once, something that could vex you over the coming year. Rather, work from a list of priorities, which you keep flexible with ongoing re-evaluation. This will help prevent you from getting stuck on anything, and ensure that you stay fairly close to being in the moment — and facing toward the future. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“It looks to me like you need to call an end to a certain line of conduct or thinking that has been in your family for a while. The opportunity you have is based on the fact that you can actually see this issue for what it is. It’s normally difficult to discern, and it’s been masked or veiled recently by its prevalence in society. Once you have it in your sights, address it on the spot.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition — you may pre-order that here.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — To the extent that you’ve gained standing in society, you’ve earned it through effort, trial and tribulation. For three years, Saturn has been making its way across the top of your solar chart, an irresistible calling to attempt the impossible. Alternately, you may have been put into positions where you had to rise to the occasion whether you wanted to or not. Now is your moment to claim your place in the world, which means the right to do what you do best. You’ll be doing this in a time when many people are struggling and uncertain, and you will need to navigate this carefully. You might think of your function as expressing the particular gift, talent or desire that you have. You can take that a few levels deeper and remember that your actual purpose is to connect with people, and encourage them to participate: that’s to say, to demonstrate whatever you do by doing it lovingly. At the moment, you have access to some astonishing resources, all of which are yours to share. Nothing is actually yours, per se, or not yours, per se. Your role is to ensure that the people you care about have enough of everything, so much as you can make that possible. You are a Pisces, the Omega point of the zodiac. Now is the time to answer your calling and step into your true purpose. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“You mean a great deal to the people close to you, and though they may not say anything about it, they certainly know it. If it ever seems that people benefit from you more than you benefit from them, rejoice in that fact. You need less than they do; you are more complete in yourself than most people around you; and anyway, that self-completion is the major theme of your astrology.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition — you may pre-order that here.
Dear Friend and Reader:
So, it’s been a year since we heard, and experienced, the fell news about the supposed election of an insane person to the United States presidency. And as that year has gone on, day by day, the news in the public sphere has been of disaster and disorder, injury and insult, seemingly with no bounds and to no end.
Planet Waves Weekly Horoscope for Oct. 16-22, #1172 | By Eric Francis Coppolino
Aries (March 20-April 19) — You will need to burn chaos for fuel, and you’ll get pretty good at it too. Keep your engine cool; don’t rev the accelerator. Rather, dip into any disorder, surprise turns of events or the unexpected arrival of people, while holding your center and focusing on the task at hand as best you can (and you can). Trying to maintain perfect order and organization will not work. You might tidy your desk to feel better, or not; though let your mind run a little wild and let your conversations veer off course. Then, the gems will emerge from the swirling mystery that is your life at the moment. If you need to maintain boundaries, I would propose two: focus the quality of your work, and do your utmost to come in on time. If that looks like it might not happen, negotiate with clients or bosses well in advance. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“Self-awareness, both of your thoughts and of your conduct, is your most powerful tool to influence your experience of growth into the new forms that you are. This includes reaching deep enough into yourself that you make some contact with the aspect of you that is timeless and changeless.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition, and we’ll have more news about that soon.
Taurus (April 19-May 20) — There’s an old expression that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. I do not concur. Sometimes the more you love what you do, and the more you respect the outcome you’re striving for, the more effort you must apply. To do anything well requires discipline (not easy for everyone, though essential for you), some struggle, and enduring times when you would rather be doing other things. Don’t let anything deter you. It will indeed be the love of your work that brings you through any challenging phases in the process, and the excellence of the results that you get. There’s one more thing, which is your growth factor. That’s undeniable now; you’re emerging in the second half of 2017 quite a different artist (using that term in its broadest sense, as a contributor) from the one you were around your birthday. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“There is a genuine skill in creative mastery that involves standing back from judging what you’ve created. You might listen to what other people say; you might work until what you’re doing feels good; you might take a swashbuckling attitude and not care; you might trust the fact that you always strive to do better (or any of these at the right moment).”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition, and we’ll have more news about that soon.
Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Others may try to impose structure on you, and you might even let them. Just don’t let it become a struggle; let it be a dance, or a friendly game, devoted to a purpose: getting the job done. Use the tension between the two approaches — yours being random, and that of others being more orderly — like a battery that produces a steady current. One thing you will need to monitor is your anger level. Anger is a natural emotion and, more than managing it, we all need to learn how to use it. In some ways it’s lurking behind much of what is motivating you at the moment. What often compounds anger is the feeling of being powerless, which you are not. That’s the particular dial to watch: any feeling that you’re ineffective, incompetent, a victim, etc. None of that is true, though there may be a moment or two when you feel that way. If you do, immediately tap into the childhood condition it’s connected to and you will regain your equilibrium. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“You’re the one who has to negotiate between your potential and what you do with it. This is an active, everyday challenge being a Gemini. The world can seem so much bigger than you are, and in one way it is — but your mind is the thing that encompasses the world, all the world’s people and all your experiences there.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition, and we’ll have more news about that soon.
Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You might work from home this week if you can, if you usually work in the office. You might work out of the house, if you usually work from home. Experiment with your environment, and keep experimenting, particularly with what you do best in whatever particular location you choose. You’ll tap different aspects of your creativity in different places, even facing out of different windows or at different desks (if you work in a large office and there are some vacant ones). Also focus on making improvements to your home: there may be a major tidying project you’ve been putting off. If you do that now, you will get results and have the special satisfaction not just of a job well done, but also of a space beautified, reclaimed and made available for both pleasure and productivity. Speaking of: I won’t give the full “keep writing” rant this week; I’ll save ink and leave it to those two words. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“Notice your true feelings for people and make peace with the fact that you feel that way. You may have had a habit of resisting intimacy, and now you have little choice but to yield and open up to allowing others to touch your soul. In this way, you will come to the direct experience of growing into the soul dimension of your life.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition, and we’ll have more news about that soon.
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Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You can tap extraordinary powers this week, though you will need to orient your ship and its sails with the wind and the currents. It will be possible to go absolutely nowhere, or to sail across the sea in record time. Therefore, focus on your orientation. Here are some possible examples: one is the place where your daily life meets up with your larger and longer-term plans. Anyone who has aspirations to do anything beyond what they’re currently doing must work this territory: the one where little old today meets (or seems not to meet) the far-away future. If you’re even conscious of this, you will be able to make better decisions. It will help if you perceive the future as real and, therefore, your actions now having a guiding influence there. As for the relationship between the present and the future: that reminds me of something John and Yoko once wrote in a letter to their fans, where they reminded us that the sky extends all the way down to the ground. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“Rather than thinking of yourself as the entity that holds all the planets in orbit, think of yourself as someone who grounds the Sun into the Earth. This is actually what you do in the physical and spiritual sense, and it grants you some relief from the much larger responsibility of providing all the power and all the gravity.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition, and we’ll have more news about that soon.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Let your momentum carry you, even if you seem to get blocked or stall out. If that happens, slow down and work through the obstacle gently with patience and persistence; then come back up to speed. The thing to remember is that you don’t need to push so hard. If you drift in a direction you don’t want to be going, be careful not to veer too hard the other way and over-correct (a common cause of accidents). Rather, make a series of gentle corrections to bring yourself back on course. Potent forces are at work in your life. This is the last week of Mars traveling through your sign and, as it happens, the Moon will make a conjunction to Mars on Tuesday; that’s a long way of saying you’ll really be feeling this planet of hot, assertive, driven and in some ways sexual energy. In the Gemini reading, I’ve provided some ideas about how to use anger as a productive rather than destructive force, which begin and end with being aware you’re feeling it, and not going into denial. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“There comes that time in any growth or improvement project where you have to ease back, have a glass of wine or even smoke a cigarette. Radical, I know. However, you’re at a stage of your life where you must follow your own rules, and to do that, your rules must be practical and workable.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition, and we’ll have more news about that soon.
Dear Friend and Reader:
With planets moving into Scorpio, and a provocative New Moon in Libra, the subjects of sex and relationships are coming into focus. Whether you’re mainly tracking the issues in the news or in your personal life (or both) chances are you’re feeling the energy.
Are you dealing with it consciously? Do you find yourself triggered, or alienated, or engaged, or aroused?
While Eric always designs the sign-by-sign birthday readings to cover many parts of your life (including career, family, creativity, various types of healing and more), relationships and sex — two core facets of being human — always get careful attention as he looks at your coming year.
Right now, anyone with a Libra Sun, Moon or rising sign can get instant access to the first two astrology segments of the 2017-18 Libra Birthday Reading when you order (the tarot segment will publish shortly — at which time the price will increase again).
And if you have a Scorpio Sun, Moon or rising sign, you can pre-order the 2017-18 Scorpio Birthday Reading for the lowest price that we offer — only $33, for two 30-minute astrology segments plus a tarot reading — for a limited time at that price.
Mercury began its quick trip through Scorpio earlier today. Jupiter entered Scorpio last week, and will travel through these waters for about a year. While these transits mean slightly different things to people with strong Libra or Scorpio signatures, in both cases it is deeply personal. And it’s only one feature of the major astrology shaping your next 12 months.
What will you do with the opportunities coming your way? How will you solve the challenges you face?
Get clues, solutions and perspective — all offered in down-to-Earth language and with Eric’s signature mix of motivational coaching and sensitivity — in your 2017-18 Libra Birthday Reading or your 2017-18 Scorpio Birthday Reading.
Yours & truly,
Amanda Painter
P.S. Both of these readings make incredibly thoughtful gifts for your Libra and Scorpio loved ones.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — It’s been a while since Venus was in your sign. Though much else is buzzing around your solar chart for the next few days (for example, many alignments between planets in Libra and those in other signs, particularly Aries), you now have something helpful and special and beautiful: the goddess herself, sitting with you taking tea right on the front porch. My take on Venus is that this planet accounts for those with many talents. When you meet someone who can do ten different things beautifully, you will usually find a well-aspected Venus. And this you now have, positioned in your chart where you can have direct access to it, and let those gifts you have shine out. Just one caveat, one potential fly in the ointment: be careful not to feel like a victim of the work that you do. In other words, if you’re a gifted person and your current job does not allow you to express yourself, deal with that directly. Do what you can — and plot your way out of that situation now. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“Rather than being a clear mirror, relationships can often feel like a house of smoke and mirrors. This is especially a concern due to the experience of projection: ascribing to others feelings that are actually your own. Anais Nin is credited with saying, ‘We don’t see things as they are. We see them as we are.'”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition, and we’ll have more news about that soon.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — You can adjust your public image without compromising your integrity. Remember that any presentation to the public is indeed that, and will differ in some ways from who you are privately. There are ways to do this that are true to your purpose and to yourself. The question of presentation is really one of emphasis. It’s a matter of what you choose to say, to a given audience, for the purpose that you need to say it. This will never be a complete story, though it can be accurate in that it represents something of the complete person you are. This veers into deception when you distort some element of yourself in a way that’s not representative of your deeper truth. One gift you currently have — and it’s one not always so easy for you to access — is the ability to reinvent yourself. Your ruling planet Mars moving through the last degrees of the mutable sign Virgo is giving you genuine flexibility. One way to use that is to choose your words carefully. Remember: Jupiter is now in your sign. You are always speaking into a microphone. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“The self-esteem theme, described by the union of your 1st and 2nd houses, is the claiming back of your natural desire as a birthright. If you are in doubt about what you want, or if you consider it a potential moral affront, it’s difficult to feel good about yourself. For you, taking possession of desire is integral to your respect of yourself.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition, and we’ll have more news about that soon.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — The next eight weeks are a formative, even critical, period in your life. In that time, the mighty Saturn will move through the last degrees of your sign. This has not happened for 29 years; it won’t happen for another 29 years; and in any event it’s happening now. This movement describes the end of a process that began three years ago. Saturn in your sign is about fundamentally coming to terms with who you are. That’s the simplest, most direct and most accurate way to say it. You’ve been through the lemon squeeze; you’ve had some trials and tribulations; you have probably moved up a few notches in the world; and you are most assuredly at least three years’ worth of effort better at what you do. The next two months are a time of completing this process, before you move onto the next level. Make sure that all of your contacts with others are complete. Take care of the details. Remember you are the one and only leader of your life. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“The overwhelming message of this series of South Node eclipses is that you must get beyond your own past, and find the present. Finding the present means sorting out your emotional reality to the point where you understand what happened, and what it means – and use it as a source of strength rather than of weakness.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition, and we’ll have more news about that soon.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Float your ideas, rather than launch them like a rocket. You will have the latter impulse in a pretty strong way, especially early in the week: you may just feel this need to thrust yourself out there, come what may. That would probably not work out so well, one result of which could be a loss of control either over your personal affairs or an idea that’s dear to your heart. Hence, the cooler, easier-going approach: develop something till it’s pretty good, like a second or third draft, and pass it around and get feedback. Test your idea out on a select audience, or run it past some people you consider mentors or masters of your particular craft. Make revisions, though staying true to the original impulse or motive that’s guiding you for as long as it seems relevant. Be aware that you don’t have to rush. For the next two months, your ruling planet Saturn will be moving through a sensitive part of your chart, heading for your sign. You’ll want to be ready, or even over-prepared, by then. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“If you’re worried about your reputation, this is merely another way of assigning power over yourself to others. You cannot control what anyone thinks, and no matter how pure, sinister, friendly, loving, raunchy, talented or slothy you might be, people will think what they want. What they might think is not your business.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition, and we’ll have more news about that soon.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You seem to be alternating between past and future images of yourself. Both are relatively true, and both are available now — as is an even better vision. The key is to know where you stand; in the flow of time, and in the flow of your personal development. By image, I don’t just mean a vague mental concept; rather, I mean a vision for yourself that you use as a sketch plan, model or template for further development. There are two main elements to work with. One is the image you have of yourself as relates to your friends, your community and whatever you define as your public. The other relates to the most direct, intimate, one-on-one partnerships and collaborations. This whole theme is worth a book chapter, though the short version is that these two concepts of yourself need to be in harmony with one another and, in turn, in harmony with something much deeper. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“It looks to me like you need to call an end to a certain line of conduct or thinking that has been in your family for a while. The opportunity you have is based on the fact that you can actually see this issue for what it is. It’s normally difficult to discern, and it’s been masked or veiled recently by its prevalence in society. Once you have it in your sights, address it on the spot.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition, and we’ll have more news about that soon.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — A rare alignment of planets, all focused on the small but deeply meaningful Chiron in your birth sign, points to an unusual turn of events where your career or professional life is concerned. To call this an opportunity would be putting it mildly, though it’s less like your ship coming in and more like your chance to shoot some dangerous rapids along a wild river. That’s the more fun kind; nobody would argue with winning the lottery, nor would they argue with the truth that they did not earn it. You must be at your best this week, which means getting rest and proper nutrition, and steering well clear of people who you know to be sources of drama. Where people in authority are concerned, you must proceed within protocol and with the utmost respect; you are aspiring to be one of them. When you must break protocol, or exceed a limit, or go in a new direction, do so fully consciously, and keep an open dialog with those to whom you are in any way responsible — especially yourself. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.
“You mean a great deal to the people close to you, and though they may not say anything about it, they certainly know it. If it ever seems that people benefit from you more than you benefit from them, rejoice in that fact. You need less than they do; you are more complete in yourself than most people around you; and anyway, that self-completion is the major theme of your astrology.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition, and we’ll have more news about that soon.
Aries (March 20-April 19) — You will need to burn chaos for fuel, and you’ll get pretty good at it too. Keep your engine cool; don’t rev the accelerator. Rather, dip into any disorder, surprise turns of events or the unexpected arrival of people, while holding your center and focusing on the task at hand as best you can (and you can). Trying to maintain perfect order and organization will not work. You might tidy your desk to feel better, or not; though let your mind run a little wild and let your conversations veer off course. Then, the gems will emerge from the swirling mystery that is your life at the moment. If you need to maintain boundaries, I would propose two: focus the quality of your work, and do your utmost to come in on time. If that looks like it might not happen, negotiate with clients or bosses well in advance.
“One’s relationship to change is the underlying reality that determines how one handles transits. This relationship counts for a lot now, and you would be wise to bring it to full awareness. What you’re currently experiencing is the culmination of six years of nonstop and ever-increasing energy. All of that has been excellent preparation. Now, you’re experiencing the actual threshold, the invocation of your new life.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition; we’ll have more on that soon.
Taurus (April 19-May 20) — There’s an old expression that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. I do not concur. Sometimes the more you love what you do, and the more you respect the outcome you’re striving for, the more effort you must apply. To do anything well requires discipline (not easy for everyone, though essential for you), some struggle, and enduring times when you would rather be doing other things. Don’t let anything deter you. It will indeed be the love of your work that brings you through any challenging phases in the process, and the excellence of the results that you get. There’s one more thing, which is your growth factor. That’s undeniable now; you’re emerging in the second half of 2017 quite a different artist (using that term in its broadest sense, as a contributor) from the one you were around your birthday.
“You possess actual creativity, actual devotion and a strong tendency to be ethical. If you don’t let fear contaminate your mind, you will be able to connect these things in the form of your true vocation. If you are involved in what you consider to be your true vocation, you will have opportunities to go deeper and to bring in something that has the power to change you and change the world around you. That’s the mark of truth: it’s alive, it’s active, it’s provocative, and it compels you to establish an ongoing relationship with it.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition; we’ll have more on that soon.
Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Others may try to impose structure on you, and you might let even them. Just don’t let it become a struggle; let it be a dance, or a friendly game, devoted to a purpose: getting the job done. Use the tension between the two approaches — yours being random, and that of others being more orderly — like a battery that produces a steady current. One thing you will need to monitor is your anger level. Anger is a natural emotion and, more than managing it, we all need to learn how to use it. In some ways it’s lurking behind much of what is motivating you at the moment. What often compounds anger is the feeling of being powerless, which you are not. That’s the particular dial to watch: any feeling that you’re ineffective, incompetent, a victim, etc. None of that is true, though there may be a moment or two when you feel that way. If you do, immediately tap into the childhood condition it’s connected to and you will regain your equilibrium.
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition; we’ll have more on that soon.
Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You might work from home this week if you can, if you usually work in the office. You might work out of the house, if you usually work from home. Experiment with your environment, and keep experimenting, particularly with what you do best in whatever particular location you choose. You’ll tap different aspects of your creativity in different places, even facing out of different windows or at different desks (if you work in a large office and there are some vacant ones). Also focus on making improvements to your home: there may be a major tidying project you’ve been putting off. If you do that now, you will get results and have the special satisfaction not just of a job well done, but also of a space beautified, reclaimed and made available for both pleasure and productivity. Speaking of: I won’t give the full “keep writing” rant this week; I’ll save ink and leave it to those two words.
“You are the kind of person who must become your intentions and give everything all you’ve got. You feel better when you do this, even if you’re having to stretch a little. Being half-hearted does not suit you. You are a whole-hearted person, you want to feel that fully, and you want to be appreciated for what you do. This is the essence of self-esteem and it’s currently one of the most basic elements of your astrology.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition; we’ll have more on that soon.
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You can tap extraordinary powers this week, though you will need to orient your ship and its sails with the wind and the currents. It will be possible to go absolutely nowhere, or to sail across the sea in record time. Therefore, focus on your orientation. Here are some possible examples. One is the place where your daily life meets up with your larger and longer-term plans. Anyone who has aspirations to do anything beyond what they’re currently doing must work this territory: the one where little old today meets (or seems not to meet) the far away future. If you’re even conscious of this, you will be able to make better decisions. It will help if you perceive the future as real and, therefore, your actions now having a guiding influence there. As for the relationship between the present and the future: that reminds me of something John and Yoko once wrote in a letter to their fans, where they reminded us that the sky extends all the way down to the ground.
“The more you take a proactive and creative role, the less it will feel like changes are happening to you and the more it will feel like you are working with the incoming forces to create the change that you want. Therefore, pay close attention to just what that is: know what you want to change. I suggest you work with two lists: what you want to resolve or eliminate, and what you want to create. Both will happen as part of the same process.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition; we’ll have more on that soon.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Let your momentum carry you, even if you seem to get blocked or stall out. If that happens, slow down and work through the obstacle gently with patience and persistence; then come back up to speed. The thing to remember is that you don’t need to push so hard. If you drift in a direction you don’t want to be going, be careful not to veer too hard the other way and over-correct (a common cause of accidents). Rather, make a series of gentle corrections to bring yourself back on course. Potent forces are at work in your life. This is the last week of Mars traveling through your sign and, as it happens, the Moon will make a conjunction to Mars on Tuesday; that’s a long way of saying you’ll really be feeling this planet of hot, assertive, driven and in some ways sexual energy. In the Gemini reading, I’ve provided some ideas about how to use anger as a productive rather than destructive force, which begin and end with being aware you’re feeling it, and not going into denial.
“You could say that apart from all the psychological concepts attached to self-esteem, the experience you’re looking for is feeling good about who you are. This is a feeling, not a concept. Rather than strive for the feeling, the thing to do is give yourself the experiences that you want; the experiences that will enrich you and help you develop into your personhood. To feel good about yourself, it’s vital that you know how to express who you are, and what you feel.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition; we’ll have more on that soon.
A Lifeline for These Times: Your 2017-18 Libra Birthday Reading
“Today I was listening to last year’s reading and I kept feeling that I needed to get this year’s reading; I’m so glad I did. It answered everything, or at least helped me to realize I’m okay and actually very excited.”
— Rhonda Benson
Dear Friend and Reader:
When the entire world seems to be losing its collective mind, having somewhere to turn for solace, sanity and a way to make sense of it all is crucial. Resources that enable you to see how your life fits into the bigger picture — and which give you a sense of your potential, and how to make the most of it — can truly be a lifeline.
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To that end, Eric recently recorded the two astrology sections of your 2017-18 Libra Birthday Reading (the tarot segment will be ready shortly).
This means you can get instant access to an astrological lifeline that has been crafted specifically for you — whether you have your Sun, rising sign or Moon in Libra.
Eric designs these readings as a kind of life-coaching, spiritual healing, cheerleading and strategic problem-solving hybrid. You get a clear sense that you belong on this planet at this time for a reason — and that activating your soul’s purpose is entirely doable, even if you face painful challenges. Eric’s birthday readings address these issues with clarity, sensitivity and an eye to the greater energetic landscape — so you can see your path more clearly and take your next steps with confidence and peace.
With Jupiter now in your house of what you value (including your self-esteem), you’ll be well-positioned to access and integrate two other major planet sign-changes that directly affect Libra: Saturn entering Capricorn in December of this year, and Chiron entering Aries in April 2018. With these planets ringing the bells of your home-work axis and your self-partner axis, the next 12 months of your life (and beyond) are sure to be dynamic.
“Wow, you have just blown me away. So precise with what l am going through Libra Sun and Libra Moon and you haven’t even looked at my chart! Well done, Eric.”
— Judy Newland
I hope you’ll take advantage of this opportunity to order your 2017-18 Libra Birthday Reading — before the next price increase (which will occur when the tarot segment is recorded).
Yours & truly,
Amanda Painter
P.S. If you’d like to check Eric’s accuracy and review your past 12 months, you’re invited to listen to last year’s Libra reading, as a gift — before you purchase your current reading.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — It’s been a while since Venus was in your sign. Though much else is buzzing around your solar chart for the next few days (for example, many alignments between planets in Libra and those in other signs, particularly Aries), you now have something helpful and special and beautiful: the goddess herself, sitting with you taking tea right on the front porch. My take on Venus is that this planet accounts for those with many talents. When you meet someone who can do ten different things beautifully, you will usually find a well-aspected Venus. And this you now have, positioned in your chart where you can have direct access to it, and let those gifts you have shine out. Just one caveat, one potential fly in the ointment: be careful not to feel like a victim of the work that you do. In other words, if you’re a gifted person and your current job does not allow you to express yourself, deal with that directly. Do what you can — and plot your way out of that situation now.
“Your workplace must be not just habitable but truly supportive. You simply must like the place where you work, or you risk your mental and emotional health. Others can get by with jobs they hate, or substandard working environments; you cannot. Therefore, invest the time and energy that you need to have a place of work that supports your creativity, your health and your wellbeing.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition; we’ll have more on that soon.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — You can adjust your public image without compromising your integrity. Remember that any presentation to the public is indeed that, and will differ in some ways from who you are privately. There are ways to do this that are true to your purpose and to yourself. The question of presentation is really one of emphasis. It’s a matter of what you choose to say, to a given audience, for the purpose that you need to say it. This will never be a complete story, though it can be accurate in that it represents something of the complete person you are. This veers into deception when you distort some element of yourself in a way that’s not representative of your deeper truth. One gift you currently have — and it’s one not always so easy for you to access — is the ability to reinvent yourself. Your ruling planet Mars moving through the last degrees of the mutable sign Virgo is giving you genuine flexibility. One way to use that is to choose your words carefully. Remember: Jupiter is now in your sign. You are always speaking into a microphone.
“You must gather with people who share common values with you. You can no longer afford to invest your precious time and psychic energy with people who do not embody the highest vibration of what you desire, and know to be true. You will feel better about yourself when you can speak openly about what you value the most, and spend time with those who share your spiritual goals and your purpose for living.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition; we’ll have more on that soon.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — The next eight weeks are a formative, even critical, period in your life. In that time, the mighty Saturn will move through the last degrees of your sign. This has not happened for 29 years; it won’t happen for another 29 years; and in any event it’s happening now. This movement describes the end of a process that began three years ago. Saturn in your sign is about fundamentally coming to terms with who you are. That’s the simplest, most direct and most accurate way to say it. You’ve been through the lemon squeeze; you’ve had some trials and tribulations; you have probably moved up a few notches in the world; and you are most assuredly at least three years’ worth of effort better at what you do. The next two months are a time of completing this process, before you move onto the next level. Make sure that all of your contacts with others are complete. Take care of the details. Remember you are the one and only leader of your life.
“To succeed, your work plan must have metes and bounds. You must choose the specific things you need to accomplish within a specific timeframe, and these choices must be prioritized. This does not mean that you will follow your plans exactly, and you’ll very likely alter your priorities as you proceed. Yet it’s essential to start with some organized scheme, so that you have an overview, and you have a first draft to revise.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition; we’ll have more on that soon.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Float your ideas, rather than launch them like a rocket. You will have the latter impulse in a pretty strong way, especially early in the week: you may just feel this need to thrust yourself out there, come what may. That would probably not work out so well, one result of which could be a loss of control either over your personal affairs or an idea that’s dear to your heart. Hence, the cooler, easier-going approach: develop something till it’s pretty good, like a second or third draft, and pass it around and get feedback. Test your idea out on a select audience, or run it past some people you consider mentors or masters of your particular craft. Make revisions, though staying true to the original impulse or motive that’s guiding you for as long as it seems relevant. Be aware that you don’t have to rush. For the next two months, your ruling planet Saturn will be moving through a sensitive part of your chart, heading for your sign. You’ll want to be ready, or even over-prepared, by then.
“You are someone who is more connected to the wider flow of the human experience than you might otherwise be. Even if you’re not an official leader, or into politics, you are connected (often rather consciously) to aspects of life that extend far beyond yourself. This connection sometimes comes bursting into your life when you’re not vaguely interested. Sometimes you feel it as a direct calling, and you may or may not know what to do with that.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition; we’ll have more on that soon.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You seem to be alternating between past and future images of yourself. Both are relatively true, and both are available now — as is an even better vision. The key is to know where you stand; in the flow of time, and in the flow of your personal development. By image, I don’t just mean a vague mental concept; rather, I mean a vision for yourself that you use as a sketch plan, model or template for further development. There are two main elements to work with. One is the image you have of yourself as relates to your friends, your community and whatever you define as your public. The other relates to the most direct, intimate, one-on-one partnerships and collaborations. This whole theme is worth a book chapter, though the short version is that these two concepts of yourself need to be in harmony with one another and, in turn, in harmony with something much deeper.
“Within the morphogenetic fields of your sign is an inbred rebelliousness of mind. This comes with the refusal to accept patterns imposed by others; the capacity to hybridize one’s views and have original positions on social and political issues; which in turn leads to a kind of eccentricity that is very much a quality of your nature. So too is a distinct inventiveness, if you can keep your mind awake, alert and young.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition; we’ll have more on that soon.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — A rare alignment of planets, all focused on the small but deeply meaningful Chiron in your birth sign, points to an unusual turn of events where your career or professional life is concerned. To call this an opportunity would be putting it mildly, though it’s less like your ship coming in and more like your chance to shoot some dangerous rapids along a wild river. That’s the more fun kind; nobody would argue with winning the lottery, nor would they argue with the truth that they did not earn it. You must be at your best this week, which means getting rest and proper nutrition, and steering well clear of people who you know to be sources of drama. Where people in authority are concerned, you must proceed within protocol and with the utmost respect; you are aspiring to be one of them. When you must break protocol, or exceed a limit, or go in a new direction, do so fully consciously, and keep an open dialog with those to whom you are in any way responsible — especially yourself.
“After many adventures, misadventures, developments, challenges and crises, you’ve integrated the many seemingly separate facets of who you were into someone who you now most distinctly are. I suggest you make a study of this gradual transformation that’s taken over your life, and which is nearly complete. Feel the ways in which you’ve worked out problems that seemed to have no solution. Notice how your confidence level has increased.”
— From your 2017 annual reading by Eric Francis, The Book of Your Life — which you can read here. Eric’s beginning work on the 2018 annual edition; we’ll have more on that soon.
This unusual view of Jupiter was created using data from the JunoCam imager on NASA’s Juno spacecraft, which was laying down at the time. Image by NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS.
Dear Friend and Reader:
Today I’ve got some news for you about Jupiter in Scorpio, a one-year transit that began this week. But first, I have a call to action.
The world is in crisis. We are seeing the effects of global warming manifest before our eyes: as successive hurricanes pounding coastlines and inland areas; as rising sea levels; as droughts followed by massive fires that are brought on by complex groups of conditions that all come back to the planet heating up.
Teaching and learning at Esalen Institute.
There is political crisis from the top to the bottom of society, most of it rooted in greed and lying; there’s a sexual crisis that has belched into the news, and once again, only because it’s happening in the entertainment industry and we recognize the names involved.
News outlets that could be helpful are too busy selling us drugs and luxury cars to care very much.
There’s a spiritual crisis — of meaning, of the value of human life or any life, and of the value of existence itself. There’s a mental health crisis — also related to meaning, and many factors that are driving people insane. There is economic crisis, health crisis, social crisis: it’s all the same thing with many different names.
Aries (March 20-April 19) — If you encounter resistance, check your own beliefs. It’s likely that any strain or pushback is coming from within your own mind rather than from your outer environment. One would think that the ability to alter one’s thoughts would be the easiest thing in the world, with a tool as flexible and as brilliant as the human brain. It turns out, however, that changing one’s thoughts is one of the biggest struggles that most people go through. However, your ideas and your beliefs are indeed changing, particularly where relationships are concerned. You don’t have to do much to facilitate this, except to not put up tons of resistance, or cling to your beliefs on the level of a religious fundamentalist. Jupiter is about to enter Scorpio, which you’re fortunate to have as your 8th solar house. That means you can go as deep as you’re willing to let yourself be free.
Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Move carefully this week, not walking on eggshells but treading lightly on the Earth. Jupiter ingressing your opposite sign Scorpio will place emphasis not just on your relationships but on your presence in the world. Everything is about to be magnified, and amplified, and made more vivid. You’re about to discover what a large world you inhabit, and how influential you are in it. Yet you must handle this power carefully, like a musician standing on a stage with an electric instrument that sends the slightest touch of her hands reverberating out into the environment. Notice the new dynamics of your surroundings as they take shape. Start by speaking softly, to get a sense of how your voice fills up the space you’re in, and influences people’s feelings and ideas. Then, experiment with turning up the energy, a little at a time. And remember, you are still you, no matter what is happening around you.
Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Honor what inspires you, what makes you curious, what stokes your creativity and passion. These things all work together to support your journey in the world: curiosity, creativity and passion. When in doubt, revert to being curious. You have unusual access to apprehend the world with the stark fascination of a small child. That means letting yourself intentionally be a little naive, and approaching the world as if you know nothing about it. Once you start judging things, you stop learning about them; if you hold open that conclusive part of your mind, you’ll leave plenty of room for direct experience to pour in. What you’ll discover is that you can trust your curiosity, and that it will dependably lead you to interesting places. Some will be beautiful and others will not; choose what you want as a conscious act. You don’t have to fixate on anything you don’t want to.
Cancer (June 21-July 22) — At least early in the week, your feelings are not the best indicator of whether something is trustworthy or not; you will need to validate your hunches other ways. Yet as Jupiter enters your fellow water sign Scorpio on Tuesday, and then the Moon enters your birth sign soon after, your intuition will light up. Mostly this will come through feelings in your body, physical sensations from the neck down. Pay attention to these messages. Notice which way you naturally move, and which way you have to push yourself to move. Try flowing like water and taking the past of least resistance. As you do this with your emotions and your physical body, your mind and your ideas will follow. This is an essential order of operations; you have plenty on your mind, and going through your mind, and it’s all begging for expression. The way to go is feelings first.
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Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — While most of the world is busy going insane, I suggest you focus on food. Pay attention to what you eat. Shop more carefully, and dial back your tendency to eat out. You’ll feel better, save money and raise your awareness. Slow down your life to the point where you have time to prepare a couple of meals every day, especially breakfast and dinner. At the moment, food is central to your wellbeing and indeed to your success. Emphasis on food will lead to an emphasis on your home space. You will branch out into taking better care of your kitchen, bedroom and bathroom, which is a central theme of the next four seasons of your life. You must claim your home as your own. You will know you’re doing this because it becomes the place you want to be the most, the place you feel truly yourself, and the place where you feel safe.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Venus and Mars continue their long, unusual conjunction in your birth sign. On the most basic level, this is about making peace with the essentially hermaphroditic nature of your sign: you embody both male and female properties in a rather bold way. For a while, the conjunction had you morphing them into one thing. Now that the conjunction is separating, you’re starting to sort out these distinct facets of yourself, and make peace with them individually. How will this play out in your relationships? That’s a good question, which you will get some feedback on as both planets make oppositions to Chiron, the planet of healing, which is in your relationship house. The important thing is that your path of exploration cannot be dictated by another person or their seeming requirements of you. Rather, you get to be who you are, and notice how they respond — and then respond to that.
Libra Birthdays 2017:
Fire Up Your Potential, Become Your Own Safe Harbor
"I am absolutely impressed with my Libra birthday reading! It’s like Eric was talking directly to me. Everything he said is what has been happening. The last year has been a tremendous challenge in pretty much all areas of my life, but the birthday reading gives me hope that I really am on the right track. Thank you for such a great birthday reading Eric! Longtime Planet Waves fan."
— S.R.
Dear Friend and Reader:
Your sign is known for its ‘balance’ — but how do you find anything like that when the world around you is so out of whack, frightening, confusing and painful? It seems to come down to cultivating an inner sense of equilibrium you can return to no matter what throws you off — and which enables you to engage with the world in meaningful, helpful ways.
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Eric just recorded the two astrology sections of your 2017-18 Libra Birthday Reading (the tarot segment will be ready shortly).
Timed to pave the way for the recent Full Moon in Aries — your opposite sign and relationship house — this reading carries the signature of that energy.
More importantly, Eric designs these readings to highlight and activate your potential; to offer you a safe harbor in this storm we call ‘life on planet Earth’; and to help you consider both your challenges and recent lessons from a new, creative and empowering perspective. What you get is practical motivation and inspiration you can use right away — in your most intimate relationships, your career, your community and your healing process.
With Jupiter soon entering your house of what you value (including your self-esteem), you’ll be well-positioned to access and integrate two other major planet sign-changes that directly affect Libra: Saturn entering Capricorn in December of this year, and Chiron entering Aries in April 2018. With these planets ringing the bells of your home-work axis and your self-partner axis, the next 12 months of your life (and beyond) are sure to be dynamic.
It’s up to you to navigate the upcoming shifts, but you can do so with an expert guide by your side when you order your 2017-18 Libra Birthday Reading here.
"Eric, thank you. Your service has reached farther and deeper than you know. Turn up the flame on the human blowtorch, baby. Yeah!!!!"
— Eryca Willinger
Eric once famously called Libra "the human blowtorch." Whether you see yourself that way yet or not, I’d like to invite you to try out this reading and see what it brings out of you. If you’re new to Eric’s work and would like to check his accuracy, you can review last year’s reading here at no cost.
Yours & truly,
Amanda Painter
P.S. The Libra Birthday Reading is ideal for anyone with Libra rising or a Libra Moon, too! It also makes a fantastic gift.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — This week, Mercury and the Sun form a stunning conjunction in your sign. This is a bold reminder that your life is your own. You must make your own decisions. You are responsible for your own sense of security. You make your way in the world, as the leader of your life. Yet it’s essential that you not be stuck in the feeling that you must “go it alone.” As an autonomous person, you have the privilege and the responsibility to ask for the help that you need. You have the privilege of fostering your family of choice, if you cannot get what you need from your family of origin. In fact it’s essential that you find new ways of relating to people other than those you learned in your childhood environment, and it’s up to you to spearhead that project. Events this week will bring certain matters into focus, giving you the opportunity to do just that.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — No matter how people may perceive you — or are experiencing your supposed intensity, your passion and your need to be free — hold your center. Don’t believe the hype, and take all feedback with a few chunks of pink Tibetan salt. Focus on your creative, sexual and emotional center (they are the same thing for you). Jupiter is about to enter your sign; this takes place on Tuesday, and it represents a significant change in your life. Let that change begin with your awareness and your own experience of your presence in the world. By that I mean tune into how you relate to the social and physical space around you. Notice how people notice you. Experience what it’s like to be seen, and how people respond when you pay attention to them. Jupiter will expand not just your influence, it will also expand the ways your senses and emotional body experience the basic fact of your being alive.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Commitments and responsibilities are making you rise to the occasion of your vast potential, especially professionally. Contrary to the rumor that Sagittarius is all about the broad strokes and the big picture, but hates the details, you are a taskmaster at the moment. You have the ability to manage many complex tasks that absolutely must be done right. Somehow you are not only balancing these two seemingly separate aspects of the world, you are integrating them. This may feel like bouncing back and forth between focusing on your wider mission, and then moving to some specific elements that need attention, and then back. Keep going with that process until everything integrates seamlessly. Note that Jupiter’s sign-change this week will bestow you with a kind of clairvoyance. This might manifest as eyes behind your head, or the ability to ‘remote view’ and see what is outside the reach of your vision or hearing. Pay attention to what comes through.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Express yourself truly. That does not mean being a jerk or giving yourself permission to self-contradict every hour. Rather, this idea means being true to who you are, and to what you know. If you’re in harmony with that, you’ll also be true to what you don’t know, and maintain awareness of when you don’t have the answers. Over the next day or so, you’re likely to focus some important goals in a new way, which will give you some direction and clarity, particularly in your professional life. This is, in part, about how you state your own objectives, by which I mean the phrasing (which counts for a lot). It’s then up to you to proceed with the utmost diplomacy and organize the support you need to set your goals in motion. Don’t count on others for leadership: that’s your role and yours alone. Rather, count on others to help you with the specific tasks at hand.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — This week, Jupiter crosses the midheaven angle of your solar chart, entering the sign Scorpio. There it will be for a year, providing you with an expanded sense of your potential. Before you open that chapter, however, you would be wise to conduct a review of all that’s happened during the past year of your life, particularly where your professional affairs are concerned. What have you learned about the concepts ‘right’ and ‘wrong’? What have you learned about aligning your spiritual values with your work-related goals, and your desire to grow and rise up in the world? If you’re paying attention, there will be one particular point of integrity that comes into focus, as you begin the next phase of your outer development. Aligning this inner knowledge with your outer actions is your karmic goal for the next 12 months or longer.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Yours is the sign most completely aligned with sexuality as an expression of your spiritual life. St. Francis of Assisi, whose feast day was last week, believed that all of nature was a reflection of God. You know he was right, though to you, all of nature includes and emphasizes your erotic nature, and that of your environment. Many consider this taboo, too much to bother with, or an impossible dream. You know that this magnificent thing called eroticism contains the secrets of life, of creativity and of your humanity. If you honor this knowledge, you will be rewarded with opportunities to experience it directly. One learning goal will be clearing from your mind and feelings any notions that sex is dirty, sinful or contrary to nature. The true nature of sex has yet to be discovered by humanity, though at the moment, you’re on the forefront of that particular wave. And you will love it there.