Aries (March 20-April 19) — The Sun enters your sign today, beginning the astrological year and a new season of your life. When equinox arrives, a surge of energy is released, which even the grass, the trees and the critters experience. Humans are growing less in touch with the passing seasons, though I suggest you get more in touch. The equinox will breathe energy into what’s already an extraordinary moment for you, with many developments brewing in your life. There are two plots developing. One appears to be taking you back to a past relationship or important phase of your life. Another seems to be propelling you into the future. These scenarios may not look related, though over the next few weeks, you can trust that the elements will come together. No matter what seems to be happening, remember that there’s just one story after all, which is your life.

Aries Birthdays 2017:

Happy Equinox! What Will You Begin, Aries?

“You helped me immeasurably as I change and change and grow, and change some more. What a time!”

— Linsey, on her recent Birthday Reading

Dear Friend and Reader:

This is an unusual time for Aries — well, for everybody, really. But anyone with an Aries Sun, rising sign or Moon has likely been feeling the standout aspect of this era in very personal and dramatic ways.

I’m referring to the Uranus-Eris conjunction, which made its third and last exact contact (in this century) on Friday — just three days before the Sun reaches your sign for today’s equinox. Both Uranus-Eris and the Aries equinox signal the beginning of a new cycle.

But a cycle of what?

You have some choice about what to do with this energy, and what you begin with it. And you can be sure Eric will be looking far enough ahead in your upcoming Aries Birthday Reading to help you fill in the blanks if you’re feeling unsure.

As he put it recently:

“My job is to help you make the most of these transits. I’m also here to ease your concerns, point you in the direction of your highest potential and do what I can to motivate you. We live in truly trying times. So much is being asked of us. It’s not easy to live under these conditions.”

Eric adds:

“I have something for you; not only will it help you feel more positive, but it will provide you with a dependable resource every time you listen to it. If nothing else, you’ll get more than an hour of thoughtful, calming meditation and excellent music. Then in a little while, you’ll also get a tarot card reading (my original speciality).”

You can pre-order your 2017 Aries Birthday Reading here for only $19.97.

Initially, you’ll receive two audio astrology segments (at least 30 minutes each). A little while after those are ready, we’ll let you know that the tarot segment is ready. Note that you get the best price the earlier you pre-order.

Thank you for traveling with us, and I wish you a healthy and loving year.

Yours & truly,

Amanda Painter

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Mars in your sign represents energy, commitment and some force motivating you to live fully. Feel every cell in your body. Notice your moods and your desires consciously. Get in touch with your passion and with your anger. Taurus has a reputation for trying to suppress both, and at the moment, the planets are suggesting that you stay with your feelings. Long ago, a Taurus friend revealed what I believe is the secret to happiness for those born under your sign: take care of your physical needs first, and all else will follow. That means taking care of food, water, sleep and other things related to your body. Practice this with the devotion of yoga. Speaking of: with Mars in the neighborhood, physical activity is a necessity. It does not matter what kind: dancing, martial arts or walking up a mountain. You will discover a formula for happiness.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Your life may be relatively calm now, though over the next week or so, the pace of activity, events and social contacts will be picking up considerably. You may think you’re busy now; however, I suggest you ease back and take some quiet time, out of the limelight. Sort out your personal priorities, speak to your closest friends, and make some decisions about what’s important to you. Once the pace picks up, you’ll have the sensation that there’s no time to think. If you know that in advance, you’ll know what you want and what you don’t want when various opportunities present themselves. And there’s no question about it: that will be happening. When you meet new friends and find yourself on unexpected adventures, your old friends and quiet spaces of retreat become more important than ever. Treasure them, and remind yourself that they’re there.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — The Sun’s ingress into Aries early Monday puts you into the spotlight. Aries is your 10th solar house — the house of reputation, achievement and responsibility. Remember how hard you’ve worked to earn your reputation. Remind yourself that you’ve accomplished some brilliant and even unlikely things. And keep in mind that all of this puts you in a position of responsibility. You’re finally at a point where you see this as a privilege and not a burden. Part of why the world is in such dire straits is that so few people are willing to be accountable. I’m not sure what the resistance is, but that’s not your problem. Check over your work, make your decisions carefully and remember that your life influences and even impacts the lives of others. Your life is better for knowing and honoring this. Cancer is the sign of the family and the brood. You’re one of the adults in the room.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — For the past month, the Sun has been inching its way through Pisces, which for you is the sign of shared finances, emotional bonding, sexual passion and the place where all these things meet. From the look of your solar chart, this has been a somewhat complicated few weeks, where you’ve had to sort out various situations that really did need honesty and clarity. Now the Sun has entered your fellow fire sign Aries, moving into an angle of your chart where you are free to leave all that behind. Moreover, you can turn your mind and your aspirations toward some future possibilities that have been patiently waiting for you. The world has become a much bigger place while you were taking care of other things, and you have some beautiful possibilities waiting for you. Don’t worry about what to choose: that will be obvious when the time comes.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — If we track the movement of the Virgo planet #1, Mercury, one thing is clear: you are determined to find your independence and your individuality. Most people want this on some level. What holds them back, though, are perceived needs that they think only others can meet. You won’t know if something is actually a need until you experiment living without it for a while; and finally you’re free to do that. You have enough basis for comparison to see that when it comes to meeting your actual needs, there’s something inefficient about relationships the way you’ve been doing them. For example, it’s not that helpful for people to heap expectations onto one another. It’s not useful to subvert your desires to protect someone’s insecurities. You know that you must take up the challenge of your own healing process, and engage with others who are consciously willing to do so.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — It’s somewhat humorous the extent to which Librans value peace, quiet and a sense of balance — and the universe seems to be delivering anything but these things to you now. Your world is a busy place lately. There are many days when everything seems to happen at once. This is a truth of our lives. You, however, possess the intelligence to know that you have a true need for space and time to yourself. Use your wits and your leadership skills to arrange this for yourself. Do not ask permission; rather, get cooperation. Be bold about this. Make sure any responsibilities are covered for some time every day — weekday and weekend — and give yourself a break. Remind yourself how much tying up of loose ends you do for everyone. Pass some responsibility onto those who will benefit from just a smidge of self-reliance. Then declare yourself free to do nothing but read a book or look out the window, even for an hour. Regularly.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Don’t fall for the line that Americans (or whoever) work too much. For you, work is where you find your identity. This is one of those Scorpio facts that you never hear mentioned. Work is profoundly important to you, and consequently you must have something to do every day that is 1) not boring and 2) actually meaningful, relevant and helpful to others. The net result will be that you’ll feel more solid in who you are; you will feel more real; you will live with purpose. More than overwork being an issue in our society, it’s the lack of meaning that’s the actual problem. And you have the solution: this I can tell from the extraordinary activity in Aries, the work and wellness angle of your chart. Refuse to cling to old routines and old habits. Keep awake and alert. What you want is looking right at you, and is within your reach.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Right underneath any pressure or burden you may feel is some extraordinary potential. This is akin to the Sun being blocked by the clouds; it’s still there — you just can’t feel it at full intensity. The clouds, though, are in your mind, and you have the power to clear them; to see through them; to disregard them entirely and proceed anyway. There’s a bold and beautiful light shining through you. Of all the signs, you possess the most direct spiritual connection, so strong that at times you must deny its existence. It’s time to stop doing that. Moreover, you’re now free to recognize that you are the agent of manifestation of the universe’s will. This is not so outgoing a role as one might think; the work is mostly done within, through seeking deep inner contact with your source, and making all of your decisions based on what you learn.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — The Sun’s ingress into Aries will be highlighting family-related matters, and will focus attention on your household. This region of your chart, called the 4th solar house, is also connected to emotional security. You’ve got a lot going on in this house — the conjunction of Uranus and Eris, the forthcoming meeting of the Sun and Venus, and Mercury doing many interesting things. You cannot find your stability in clinging to the past, or to the idea of security. You need a much wider sense of what it means to feel grounded and confident living on the planet. Let’s start with an intangible resource: your intelligence. You can feel safe because you’re smart and sensitive. But like all resources, you must use this wisely and with discretion. Use your brains to notice the gaps in your knowledge; ask the right questions; formulate the answers carefully. And please, try to let go of that habit of outsmarting yourself.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — When you’re overwhelmed with data, there’s actually something you can do. Rather than trying to analyze all of it, experiment with pattern recognition. This is a low-energy approach to analysis, which mostly involves observation. Rather than putting your mind into four-wheel drive, relax and watch the events, ideas, information and people go by. Look at the statistics, if you have some, and notice the most basic trends: what’s growing, what’s shrinking, and where the energy is tending to flow. You might think of this as metadata, which reveals far more than the government wants you to know. From this analysis, you’ll be able to spot some issues you can respond to without much work. The thing not to do is “go by your gut.” You need actual grist for the mill. You need good data going in, so you get useful results on the other end.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — This is a rather interesting time for you financially. In another example of the “what they didn’t tell you about your sign” files (or what they got totally wrong), Pisces is, by all rights, the master of finance of the zodiac. This has conditions, though, all of which may be met at the moment. For one thing, you must take the initiative and set financial stability or a certain level of wealth as a goal. For another, you must use your abundant creativity, tempering it with logic and what you’ve learned from experience. And rather than wanting money as a primary objective, you’re the sensitive spiritual type: you must connect it to some larger purpose that you’re here to fulfill. Money for its own sake is useless and often toxic. Money connected to a purpose is energy that can get a result that benefits you and the world around you at the same time — and that’s what you live for.

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Aries (March 20-April 19) — With Venus retrograde in your sign, it would seem that the thing you need the most is to experience the world from the viewpoint of a close partner. In fact, I suggest you do a review of your exchanges the past year or so, and see if you can figure out what you’ve been missing. Rather than asking for additional information, use what you know; note what you’ve already observed and put the pieces together emotionally rather than intellectually. You will know you’re getting somewhere when you have that sensation of revelation and discovery, as if the lights are suddenly coming on. In the end, this is about your relationship to yourself: how you experience your feelings, what relevance other people have in your life, and what you want to share with them. You want relationships, but why? Venus retrograde, which began Saturday and ends April 15, will help you figure that out.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Most people you meet are totally opaque to themselves. They cannot see through their personality into some deeper manifestation of who they are. Some love the seeming mystery of this; others cannot be bothered. You now get a glorious opportunity to peer deep into your own psyche, and to catch up with some long-overdue discoveries. The idea of an ‘identity’ has often been challenging to you, because you know you cannot fit yourself into easy categories. You’re aware of your need to be an individual and not defined by your environment. Yet this often leaves you wondering where you fit in. The current planetary picture describes a scenario where the closer you come to accepting exactly who you are, the easier it will be to find the places not just where you fit, but where you truly belong.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Monday’s meeting of Mercury and the Sun is about doors opening for you, especially on the professional front. Your part in the deal is to knock on those doors. Your job is to place yourself where people can see you, and to talk about what you love to do. The way to impress potential employers and partners is not just with your vision; rather, you must demonstrate your ability to come through with results that meet their specifications. Your past history is enough to get you into the conversations you need to be in. From there, you must stay solidly in the present, and show that you’re able to listen carefully and understand the task at hand and where it fits into the wider pattern. For some it’s a too-tall order to be authoritative and respect authority at the same time. That, however, is what’s required.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Ask for a vision for the future and you’ll get one. Remember, though, that there are many possibilities, and they’re not all equal or equivalent. Therefore, I suggest you not settle for just one vision, or just one idea; keep pumping the well until you have many possibilities to choose from, to combine and to give you ideas for what else is possible. If you do this for a while, you’ll see that what you’re currently doing and what you’re currently thinking have plenty of room for expansion. You might also discover that you had some fantastic ideas in the past that deserve a fresh look. Pay special attention to the ones that seem beautiful but which may require too much change, commitment or time spent out of your comfort zone. You can, at least, afford to consider them for a while.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You can reach a positive resolution to a matter involving taxes, shared finances or some personal situation. But this will involve setting aside the seeming complexity of the scenario for an elegant solution that works for everyone. If you’re setting a goal, that’s the place to begin: not just with what works for you, but what will encompass the needs of everyone in the scenario. For this to happen, however, you must be working with all the true facts, and everyone must have their agenda on the table. You’re likely to be the one to facilitate this process. Here’s the thing to remember: you can only work with the willingness of others. You cannot overcome their unwillingness. Therefore, you must figure out what you want, and what everyone else wants, and then start building on the common ground. If others bring up differences, encourage them to talk about what they support and agree with.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — It’s not easy to tell where people are really coming from. By now you’ve figured this out. This is not about men or women, or whether relationships are sexual or not. It’s about people and the way that they tend to walk around in a haze of ambiguity and hesitation. Sometimes this is about avoidance. Other times it’s about low expectations of life. You have enough psychological insight to see the signs; now you must have the strength and integrity to put them together and figure out where people are really coming from. You’ll be able to discern this more from their actions than their words, and this will be an exercise in pattern recognition. However, it’s likely that you will hear one specific message in written or spoken form that helps you assemble the full scenario. Watch, listen, read — and think.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — If you’ve been having the feeling that the energy of your relationships is more like oil and water than a tropical fruit smoothie, this is for you. Don’t worry if someone seems to be pulling away from you, or questioning the future. Venus has recently stationed retrograde, and this is about introspection, and about sizing up the recent past. It’s time for a review, and for an assessment of the way events have developed (take this back to mid-2015 if you need a time frame). You must be honest about your role in the way things have developed. This might include having made some compromise early on, or having fallen for someone’s image rather than their substance. Take your time with this. Over the next month or so, the true colors will come out. You’ll figure out what you’re feeling, and that will make it easier to understand what others are feeling. A positive outcome is possible.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — The idea to keep in mind is nourishment. Under the current influence of Venus retrograde, many relationships are getting a little shakeup. Everyone will have their own notions of what’s going on for them; I suggest you cast things in terms of food. First, do that literally: what’s the meal plan in your primary partnership or other important relationships? Who feeds whom? That’s your central metaphor; it will tell most of the story. Then transpose that into an emotional context. What interchanges feed you and which deplete you? What is the pattern? It would seem you’re concerned about the way that someone is so focused on their own needs and feelings that they don’t have time or resources for you. This may be true, though before you decide that, do a careful assessment of your own generosity — of spirit, with money and in the kitchen. Love is about nourishment, and if it’s not nourishing, it’s not love.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Approach-avoid behavior is often about guilt. It doesn’t usually look that way, because the approach seems affirmative and sincere, while the avoidance seems to have no connection to anything, or to something abstract. They are connected, however, by the person in whom this is happening. Start with yourself. Notice how you feel when you back off from someone or something that you want. This may be subtle: you’ll need to catch a glimpse of the sensations that are going on between the lines and below the surface. Is something too good, too creative, too much fun, or too self-indulgent? Does something you want seem like too big a risk? Or are you getting snagged on the responsibility and the commitment that come with real freedom? In truth it may not be any of these things. Guilt usually signs its name in invisible ink, if at all.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Some old family matters seem to be up for discussion, though make sure you have the issue right. Where you and your family of origin are concerned, the central question of your life is: in what ways did your existence threaten the egos of your early caregivers? You were a precocious child, which on one level impressed the people around you and on another seemed to demand their attention in a way that they didn’t quite know what to do with. Many people never give up on the struggle for their parents’ approval, no matter how old they are. This, in turn, translates into other circumstances. Which ones? Any situation where you lack the confidence to say or do what you want, or what you need. You simply must question why that happens, and not take any explanation that does not solve the problem. Of course, the inherent riddle of confidence is that at a certain point, you simply have to get over yourself. Keep in mind that you’re no longer a child.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Both the ancient and modern planets associated with your sign are in a rare state. Saturn, the ancient ruler, is conjunct the Galactic Core, which is subjecting you to an ongoing awakening that may leave you wondering whether it’s really happening. The Galactic Core is famous for brilliant revelations that later seem dubious, or which are forgotten. What you’re figuring out, though, is not as strange as it may seem, and it’s certainly worth remembering. As for the modern ruling planet, Uranus, this too is in a rare state: it’s conjunct Eris in Aries. This is a blend of the brilliant revelation, the shocking awakening and a genius invention of some kind. That invention is not a thing, it’s your life — and the recognition that your life is guided by your thoughts and your perceptions (which come from your thoughts). All in all, this is a moment of awakening like none other. It’s time to get up, make a fresh pot of coffee, and meet the dawn of a new day.

Pisces Birthdays 2017:
What Are You Here To Do?

“Your work has moved me. It has helped me to begin to understand what I have been through during this lifetime, and what I have come here to do. Planet Waves is like a place I always knew existed but could never find. Until now. I have wanted to write to you for some time but didn’t know what to say; tonight I just want to thank you, sincerely, for what you do, because it has changed my life.”

— Anna B.

Dear Friend and Reader:

What have you discovered, and where are you within the shifting context of your life, now that two eclipses have come and gone? Pisces is currently chock-full of planets and points that are likely enhancing your awareness and urging you to do something with what you are learning.

Your upcoming 2017 Pisces Birthday Reading will be an essential guide to sorting out your inner world and how it intersects with the rapidly changing world around you.

Your reading will include two audio segments of astrology (at least 30 minutes each), plus a tarot reading (either audio or video) and extended written description of your sign. You may download the audio portions and listen as many times as you like as the year progresses. Please note that the tarot portion may be ready after the astrology segments are released — and the reading’s price will increase when that happens.

If you have a Pisces Sun or ascendant (or would like to give a gift to someone who does), you can pre-order the 2017 Pisces Birthday Reading for the discounted pre-order price of $19.97.

In every audio birthday reading, Eric draws a clear connection between your present moment and environment, and long-term patterns that stretch into the past and into the future — and which influence your options. If you have a Pisces loved one, this audio reading will make a generous and inspiring gift.

Yours & truly,

Amanda Painter

P.S. Your audio Pisces Birthday Reading is completely different from your written reading in the 2017 annual edition. Eric will record the Birthday Reading with the Sun in Pisces, giving a detailed, in-the-moment take on the most important parts of your astrology as they begin to unfold.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — You know you need to rethink the whole money thing. Venus is retrograde in your house of finances and resources, which represents a question and a reminder to be impeccable about money. In the same house and sign, Uranus is making its last conjunction to Eris, which is about some kind of revolt, rebellion and reinvention. You might think you’re working through your ideas about money, but it’s much bigger than that. You are reinventing yourself and, in turn, that becomes your greatest resource. Therefore, observe yourself, understand yourself, and notice all the points where your self-concept (including self-esteem) meets up with financial reality. Two questions come to mind: what purpose do you serve, in a daily, active way; and what level of reality do you want to be on? What, specifically, do you want money for, and what relationship does that have to your stated values? In other words, what priorities do you want to finance, and why?