Dear Friend and Reader:
Usually I avoid the charts of presidential candidates, or at least I prefer not to dwell on them. The whole cult of personality around the American presidential election is difficult enough to stomach. Covering the elections, I generally stick to mundane astrology to get the clues and the news leads.
Aries (March 20-April 19) — Mars, the Aries planet, is finally set to move out of Scorpio, into Sagittarius. This is one of the closing chapters in a long story of self-discovery for you; you’re now moving on to new adventures. You may feel a sudden burst of liberation, or like you pulled in your landing gear in preparation for cruising altitude. For you this may be like those moments when you’re at the end of a relationship and finally decide that it’s time to be free; only this may be about any number of commitments, entanglements or contracts that you’re ready to move beyond. When you get this feeling, I suggest you face toward the future immediately. You don’t have to rush anywhere or into anything new, though once you sense that you’ve got some freedom from the past it’s wise to place your emphasis elsewhere. And there’s certainly plenty of adventure in the air.
Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Commitment is an option, otherwise the concept is meaningless. Sometimes involvement with a person is more interesting and easier to roll with if you have your choices open, or if you remind yourself that you’re able to choose. Even better, if you notice that you are indeed doing so, you can feel the strength in your ongoing decision, knowing it’s the right thing for you. When you get to that point, you can discover the freedom that exists within a commitment — the space you have to explore, how it feels to get to know someone, and the awareness that you have another encounter coming. Yet this here-and-now awareness can remind you how delicate every situation is, and how little you can take for granted. The ability to appreciate every moment is indeed a gift; and based on what you’ve learned lately, it’s one that you value dearly.
Gemini (May 20-June 21) — At a certain point you have to come out of your comfort zone, and it would seem as if a relationship partner or potential interest is guiding you to do just that. If someone seems to be confronting you, ease back and take it not as an offense, but as a friendly challenge. Work with the idea that it’s up to you to offer people the space to be themselves. You do plenty of changing and choosing; you know that the people you truly call friends are the ones who give you the widest berth to be yourself. If you extend that truly loving courtesy of affirmation to others, you will discover the corresponding reward of how good it feels to offer freedom as well as to have it for yourself. They are so similar as to be the same thing. And it would seem that in this situation, the feeling is mutual.
Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Sometimes when you have a concern about money it helps to drill right in and tackle the subject specifically. Other times it helps to work on other, related issues. It would seem that the financial part of your life will take care of itself if you keep everything else moving, and in balance. Such as your ideas, for example, and your work flow, and your ongoing plan of taking better care of yourself. By now you already know the benefit of honoring sex as a means to wellbeing, with the approximate value of oxygen; keep reminding yourself about that and take every wholesome opportunity you get to share and explore. As you do, feel your sense of flow and movement develop and deepen. If you catch the hint that you’re in the right place at the right time, pause, slow down, and appreciate that fully. One good thing leads to the next.
“What an amazing reading! I do believe that Eric upped the ante on his reading skills.” — Dee McCrorey
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“Stripes” by Gwenn Seemel.
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Actively creating one’s life can be challenging. If you or anyone you love with a Leo Sun, Leo rising or a Leo Moon could use a nudge in the right direction — or some deeper insights into current questions — please consider giving them (or yourself) the 2016-17 Leo Birthday Reading as a gift.
Leo is the sign of leadership, and it’s also the sign of service in the sense of the Sun holding all the other planets in orbit. Your life often feels that way, though now you have some help and some unusual options open to you.
This blend of audio and video, astrology and tarot is like a motivational immersion experience, but at a fraction of the cost of a workshop.
The current price is $24.97, and the price will increase when Eric publishes the well-respected reading.
Get your life purring along with one of the best possible forms of empowerment available, allowing you to take the lead in your life while knowing you have support. Pre-order your Leo Reading today.
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — This week’s New Moon in your sign will unlock many doors for you, though you won’t know which they are unless you turn the knob and try to get in. The perfect collaboration between you and the universe involves opportunities that are activated — that is, turned on and made real — by your curiosity and motivation. These are ‘use it or lose it’ tickets to the future. With Mars about to move in your favor, you should have plenty of ideas and moxie. The question is: will you persist through any resistance or challenging patches along the way to what you want to do? I suggest you promise yourself, now, that you’re not going to give up the first time you feel blocked or come to a rough patch. That’s built into this particular equation, and it would seem that the great reward of this phase of your journey is learning how to keep your momentum running on any terrain.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You already know the seeming power of self-doubt to get in your way. Yet you either keep your power or you give it away. You can choose what voice to listen to; you decide what viewpoint has credibility. It’s essential that you learn how to let fear and anger motivate you rather than shut you down. There’s something you may be really good at, which is standing apart from past influences and the things your family said about you that were clearly not true. And if those things were false, then something else must be true. It’s up to you to figure out what is genuinely your own: what personal gifts, what talents, what interests and most of all what purpose. The thing with purpose is you cannot push it, or push yourself there. It’s necessary to listen to an inner voice that you may usually strain to hear, though it is likely speaking to you clearly right now.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Your social charms remain at a near peak level, and you’re likely to find yourself not just out among people but having fun doing so. You might not claim to like being the focus of attention, though these weeks are an exception. You’re probably the most entertaining person in the room, so you may as well enjoy that fact. I don’t mean dancing on the table, but rather something subtler that you offer. It’s as if you’re transmitting on two levels — the physical level and empathy. People want to be around you because of something they feel from you, something that you offer them. You might think of it as a healing gift or a reassuring quality that you offer with your presence. Given that, you don’t really need to say or do much.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Mars is about to leave your sign, after being with you for months. Have you learned to state, in plain and simple terms, what you want? If nothing else, that would be a fitting legacy of your experience. Yet on a deeper level, the theme has been learning to let go of aggression against yourself in the form of self-judgment, resentment or guilt in any form. These are deeply ingrained patterns and they’re not usually transcended easily. Yet the moment you become aware you’re feeling one of them, notice how you can just stop yourself. The more you practice this, the easier it will be. Remember that these strange emotions serve to undermine your self-confidence, and if you focus on that you’ll have an added edge. You need and depend on your confidence, and you’re likely to have plenty of it at the moment.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — If you’ve been asking yourself deep questions the past couple of months, or struggling to figure out something about yourself, you’re now ready for answers. Yet with self-knowledge of any form, it’s wise never to think you’ve ‘figured yourself out’ and leave it there. What you learn about yourself must be treated gently, and it’s best to leave your mind in flexible condition rather than being rigid or right. You may not recognize the extent to which you think you’re easygoing and yet are in truth obsessed with the details and even with total control. This is a reflection of how you treat yourself. Remember that everything about you is a work in progress, even your greatest talents and areas of personal mastery. If you feel yourself pushing against something, perhaps it’s the feeling that you’ve arrived, which now needs to give way to a new level of your personal adventure.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — You need to be more honest about the influence of fear in your life. It has a significant role, though the more you acknowledge that fact, the more you will diminish the power it seems to have over you. The truth is that there’s a lot to be scared of in the world; however, relatively little of it happens to anyone. Fear is best understood as a thing of the imagination. It’s creative energy that’s been turned on itself. I recognize it may not seem that way, though the mind really only has one kind of energy, and that is creative. It’s up to you to use this human gift on your own behalf. This is akin to using a power tool consciously and carefully, or unconsciously. The first step is listening to yourself rather than trying to drown anything out. You want to let the pressure off rather than keeping it contained.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — It’s often necessary to ruffle some feathers or make a pest of yourself to get things done. You have, however, been involved in a kind of cosmic leadership instruction program designed to help you be persistent but less irritating. One of the most helpful methods of doing this is being aware of who you are before you set out to accomplish something. This removes the need for conflict as a path to self-knowledge, from that particular situation. Said another way, your confidence in yourself and in your mission inherently reduces the conflict factor. Think of how insecurity leads you to assert yourself beyond what is necessary. You might not think it’s possible to put confidence as the first item on your to-do list, though that’s what your charts suggest would work, and is possible. You know who you are well enough never to have to argue the point.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — You are ready to take on a goal that you had to set aside because you didn’t have the energy or the cooperation. Now you have both. Of the two I suggest you rely on cooperation first. A partnership or collaboration that has been on/off at different times now seems to have matured to the degree where you can get results. This may involve several people, and you’re likely to have additional decisions to make. In order to work with people, you must emphasize communication, which means understanding where people are coming from. Listen to what they say and track their behavior. Where the two seem to conflict will give you the clues that you need. If you find yourself getting defensive about anything, slow down the movie and make an inquiry. What you’re looking for is not just peace and harmony but rather those who can share a commitment to accomplishing something useful and beautiful.
In this week’s Planet Waves TV, I cover the Leo New Moon, which happens Tuesday. Mars changes signs two hours before, entering Sagittarius: we now get the spiritual side of the sexual equation revealing its true purpose. I look at the chart in three different formats: the New Moon and major aspects, the asteroids, and the centaur planets.
Leo New Moon: Chart Set One | Chart Set Two
Does anyone else think this “Girl Power” thing is sexist? At least they have women,
and women of color, on the front page. You don’t see that often. Photo of Wednesday’s
New York Times cover by Eric.
Dear Friend and Reader:
The political nominating conventions have made for difficult watching. I must admit that I maxed out on the Republican National Convention (RNC) last week, and have only been sampling snippets of the Democratic National Convention (DNC), which climaxes Thursday night with the first major-party female candidate for president accepting her nomination.
If you only watched these conventions, you would think that the United States was two different countries.
Aries (March 20-April 19) — This will develop as one of the most creative and exciting times of the year, if you can stay focused in the moment. You seem to have some concern about the future, which might translate to not quite feeling what is possible. Yet you don’t need to have faith in the future; you need to trust yourself in this moment. Your astrology says that the most beautiful possibilities exist right now, and if you immerse yourself in living, the future will take care of itself. By that I mean you will cultivate the plan that you need to go forward. You don’t have to justify your fun with any excuse, like it’s somehow productive. Sincerely indulged, creativity will get you far. It will help if you set modest goals, like devoting yourself to a task or activity that you’ve wanted to do, so you have something to aim for. Accomplishing anything creative will feel good, and encourage you to do more.
Taurus (April 19-May 20) — The quiet confidence of Taurus has some of its roots in the placement of Leo in your solar chart, on your home and security angle. The Sun, Mercury and Venus are now hanging out there, which is eminently helpful. Part of what makes you a solid person is having a base of operations and some sense of grounding. Anyone born under your sign who masters this one thing will be much stronger than they would otherwise. While this doesn’t make you immune to fear or worry, keeping your feet on the ground and taking care of yourself reminds you that life provides you with what you need. The better you take care of yourself, and the more you invest in your home base, the better this will work. You would also be well served staying in close contact with those people you consider your extended family. If you need something, one of them has it.
Gemini (May 20-June 21) — It’s worth one more mention that quality writing, once the purview of high school students, has become an art form as rare as ballet. The ability to read, once the foundation of all knowledge, has been replaced in most people by the ability to keep up with the latest rumors. Yet you have reading skills that are better than most of the people you know; and better still, reading and writing for you are a dependable form of fun. With that said, these things also make you a more valuable collaborator. Put another way, these skills are actually worth something, by which I mean they have a significant monetary value. Remember that. And do not take your skills for granted: refine them all the time. Read three books on a subject where you might ordinarily read just one. Carefully proofread everything you send, and be one of the people who set the example of honoring language.
Cancer (June 21-July 22) — While the world at times obsesses over what is in truth a global debt crisis, it would seem that the true deficit is self-worth. Rare aspects now have you in a position to truly feel and understand that you belong in the world. You possess a kind of spiritual capital that is now bearing dividends. These are coming in many forms, but the most vital one is faith in your abilities. The thing to do with that faith is whatever you think needs to be done, or that you want to do. Choose projects or ventures that truly matter to you, and that align with your values, and you’re likely to get a positive result. While you’re at it, invest in others you believe in any way you can. That might be sharing your knowledge or contacts, financial support or basic encouragement. You got where you are through hard work; that’s a given for everyone. Now you can make someone’s path a little easier.
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Eric, this year you outdid yourself, if that is all possible. You literally just put my life, feeling, thoughts, even questions in layman terms. My last hour has been a bunch of ‘aha’ moments.
— Tracy Nicastro
Eric will soon record the 2016-17 Leo Birthday Reading. This exciting presentation in audio and video will help you to make the most of your solar year, whether you intend to soar in a blaze of glory or just to bask in the sunshine.
Mars will shortly enter your house of creativity and fun; soon, Jupiter will arrive at your house of communication and travel.
Eric will shed light on how you could make these and other astrological happenings work beautifully for you. There will be two audio segments of at least 30 minutes each; plus a video Tarot reading with the lovely Voyager deck by James Wanless.
Seize your moment and pre-order this reading today, whether as a gift to yourself or for the special Leo in your life.
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Energy is now pumped in all three of the fire signs. The Sun, Mercury and Venus are in your sign, which is picking up on (and feeding) the energy of all the other fire signs. What that describes is the drive to do beautiful things. Yet there is a wider theme: self-awareness. The world is going through some extreme growing pains right now. Much of this is being driven by a struggle to awaken that’s being ignited by the grand fire trine in the sky (that’s when all three fire signs have planets in them). For you, this is an invitation to stay awake and present in your life. Do what matters to you. Hang out with people you care about. Try going out without your phone for a whole evening and engaging only with people in the physical world. Most of all, let yourself feel passion. The way consciousness is today, actual passion will feel a little dangerous, as if you care so much, or feel so good, that you’re about to burst into flames.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Jupiter remains in your sign for the next two months, which is about stretching your emotional capacities. By that I mean your ability to feel, and to receive the feelings of others. You might stretch in the direction of being more compromising with the people you care about the most. Jupiter describes you getting out of your head and being more grounded in your senses. Other aspects reveal that you’re going through a concentrated phase of letting go of old tendencies, all the ones that don’t serve you. As you do that, it will become obvious that you both need, and have something to offer, those who are around you. Through this process you will be doing the challenging groundwork of improving your self-esteem. The environment is right, particularly if you choose as exemplars people who have done just what you’re trying to do. They are willing to help, if you’re willing to receive their generosity.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — You’re a natural born charmer, though you’re verging on devastating at the moment. It’s a good thing that you’re generous and have an aversion to being the center of attention. Use those traits well and many doors will open for you. In any event, you can proceed with complete confidence in any social situation, and be an illumination source for those around you. Most people are far less comfortable in social situations than you are. That’s why so much alcohol is used as a social lubricant. It’s a poor substitute for confidence, too, because it makes people sloppy and clouds their judgment. Yet one person in the room who feels good about themselves, and at ease with who they are, can relax the entire place. That would be you at the moment. Be the person who introduces people around, and who smooths over that bit when people don’t remember someone’s name. Along the way, I reckon you’ll have no shortage of candidates for dates.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Astrologers around the world still have their eyes focused on Mars in your sign, which was recently retrograde, and involved in many potent aspects. The latest news is that you have finally gone beyond a series of high-friction encounters and confrontations that have taken up much of your time the past month or so. Speaking of the past, you would be wise to go beyond it. It’s way too easy for you to live there, seemingly perpetually. Greater things are calling you, if only you would take a break from obsessing over your own psychology or analyzing your motives. What, exactly, are you concerned about? What evidence do you have, by which I mean actual evidence, that you want anything but the best for other people? If you owe anyone an apology, offer it humbly, forgive yourself, and move on. There are mighty aspects in your chart that are summoning you to fulfill your true destiny. Get to it.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Your chart looks like some kind of creative explosion is happening, which may pertain to dance, music, painting or sex. It’s true that Saturn is in your sign, which can be a depressive or heavy influence, though as my mentor Joe is fond of saying, the opposite of depression is expression. In that spirit, I suggest you express yourself, however you want to. If you face any challenge such as fear of what other people might think (possible even for a Sagittarius), a conservative streak or discomfort with being spontaneous, just get over yourself. You don’t need to be as regulated as you are. You can, instead, lose yourself in the joy of creation or collaboration, the beauty of sharing passion, and most of all, the freedom to change. Take those last four words and write them in lipstick on your bathroom mirror, on your phone case in sharpie, or in reverse lettering on your forehead.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — If you’ve been struggling to establish your social position, you can ease off and let your momentum do the work. Nobody doubts where you’re coming from. You need to feel your place in society, and most of all to know who your friends are. Yet there is one other thing, which is being real about your sexuality. It’s not enough not to be a prude. It’s not enough to be OK with who you are. The gem, the true achievement, the gift, of this year’s Mars retrograde for you is learning to be shameless, transparent and positive about turning on others, and being turned on by them. While this takes some bravery, less is required than you may think, and there are rewards that you have not yet been introduced to. This is likely to be a many-year process of claiming yourself back. Yet the initial throwing-off of the shackles of doubt and embracing honest desire and pleasure as a way of life are the first, boldest and most immediately rewarding steps.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — This year has come with a training program in leadership for you. It’s arrived in various ways, though the most prominent has been self-leadership. You may not think of it that way: you might be remembering various shades of conflict and a few long stretches of utterly exhausting challenges. You’ve made changes you didn’t really want to make but knew were the right thing to do; so you did them, and ended up in a better space and time. The way you’ve done that, and continue to do that, is by feeling solid in who you are, and bold about your mission. You cannot fake this, and what you’ve been experiencing is precisely that process of engaging your reality. That can involve confrontations; you might have to nudge some people aside to get something even pretty simple done; you might annoy some people. All of these sources of friction serve to make you stronger in who you are. Take a step back and feel your strength.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — There’s an interesting scenario in your relationships — maybe you’ve noticed it. You’re in a beautiful position to love people as equals, yet at the same time you end up in the role of mentor or teacher. Perhaps a therapist might not agree that this is possible, much less a good idea, though it’s the role of any true mentor to see the people learning from them not only as equals, but as people who have more potential than they do. That gesture, of seeing the possibilities, has a way of leveling things out. So too does the fact that in any true gesture of teaching, the teacher learns as much as the student. So, be happy that knowledge is being exchanged and created in your relationships. Be willing to teach those you care about what you know. Thoughts increase by being given away, so make them creative and loving thoughts and we’ll all benefit.
In this week’s Planet Waves TV, Eric describes the transition we’ve made from a grand water trine to a grand fire trine. This week Mercury (in Leo) and the Moon make aspects to planets in Aries and Sagittarius — a significant shift away from the murky watery energy of recent weeks and months.
Dear Friend and Reader:
Based on even a cursory reading of the news, or listening to anyone speak for more than five minutes, the mental health problem is now obviously at the pandemic scale. Random acts of violence, the lack of the obligation to make any sense, and a frantic feeling that seems to be soaking through society are just a few clues of its existence.
In this edition I look back at the past two weeks of global insanity, and put it in the context of the current astrology. The first chart I look at is that for the Nice, France, incident. Then I look at the Capricorn Full Moon chart, an event exact Tuesday.