Dear Planet Waves Subscriber:

Today is the eve of the Scorpio Full Moon. We have this once a year (rarely, twice within a month) when the Sun is in Taurus. This is a [Northern Hemisphere] springtime herald, reflecting the deep core of erotic energy pulsing through the Earth and our bodies at this time of year. This particular event stands out because Mercury and the Sun are in an exact conjunction (called a combust aspect) when the Moon reaches opposition to both. Mercury is retrograde, in a string of orbs through space: Sun, Mercury, Earth, Moon. I cover that in this week’s free audio.

Photo by Eric Francis.

Mercury is retrograde through May 11. This condition, which is in effect for a spell three times a year, has new meaning in the modern world because we sit surrounded by mercurial devices: cars that talk, computers in our pockets, Skype and Magic Jack. Kids send 3,000 texts a month, with some adults close behind. What to watch for cautiously this time around is the long square between Mercury and Mars, which took center stage on Sunday. This is the frustration-obsession aspect of Mercury retrograde in Taurus working itself out against the friction of Mars in Leo: natural results could be the expressions of passion, anger, and internal complexity that wants to be unraveled.

In other truly meaningful news, Chiron is now in Pisces for the first time since the late 1960s. We get 90 days of this energy before Chiron retreats back into Aquarius in July, then returns to Pisces in February 2011. Discovered in 1977, Chiron is still considered a new influence on astrology, but its spiritual themes have, in the past 33 years, gradually infused the work even of astrologers who have never heard of it. In Pisces, Chiron is calling us to acknowledge the reality of the soul; the inherently creative nature of what it means to be human; and the practical way we can manifest our deepest, most intimate fantasies.

I have prepared some Chiron in Pisces audio for all 12 signs, with a lengthy introduction. There is another summary included with the May monthly Planet Waves horoscope.

See you Friday.

Yours & truly,

PS: I’ve been asked what the difference is between the forthcoming Cosmic Confidential Chiron audio (next up, after Uranus) and the audio product I’m offering here. The Chiron audio included with Cosmic Confidential is about lifetime Chiron transits (such as the Chiron return), no matter what your Sun sign. The current audio describes Chiron through the houses and signs for the 12 Sun signs and ascendants. — efc

Your life may be cast with a vague sense of the unfamiliar: as if you’re seeing places you’ve visited before for the first time. Beneath this is your process of assigning new meaning to your existence. We tend to think that life is definitive; we tend to forget that most of what we experience is our interpretation rather than something objective or factual. You’ll fare better if you fly by intuition rather than by seeking proof-positive or concrete validation. You’ll have a greater sense of freedom and potential, especially from the confines of one particular situation that you were certain was holding you back. Now that you have some breathing room, you get to test that theory.

Aries Birthday Audio by Eric Francis is available. Check this link for more information.

Are you having an odd illusion of living two lives at once? Perhaps in two places, or with two people in separate worlds, or one version of yourself from the past and one from the future? Your charts tell such a story, and if you’re having this sensation I suggest you either experiment with it boldly, or collect yourself in one place. It’s not the kind of thing I suggest you just let slide unconsciously. The opportunity is too beautiful, and the creative potential sufficiently strange and unusual to allow you some authentic originality. One way to describe the setup is to say that you are gaining a new sense: as in a sixth sense, or an expanded sense of yourself.

Coming This Week — Taurus Birthday Audio.

Significant, rare planetary events show a picture of you stretching your capabilities in every direction. Yet I suggest that despite so much happening, you remind yourself of your first priority: your primary goal. You know, the one you normally can’t quite get a grasp on. For the next few weeks you will be able to keep that goal in sight and in mind long enough to evaluate it carefully. You’re likely to feel some sense of discomfort initially, or of mild crisis, as if you’re remembering something vitally important but long forgotten. You might be concerned about how many years it’s been since you remembered, but maybe you’ll feel better if I said we may be talking about lifetimes.

Remember that you cannot control, only influence, how people perceive you, and this must be done in subtle ways. Over the next few weeks you may have the feeling that you’re projecting an image opposite of what you are intending. For example, you may express yourself as a relatively simple person and be seen as complex. Ideas that are clear to you may be incomprehensible to others. You may tell the truth, and others might doubt you to your face. I suggest that you not get emotionally involved in these responses. Let people be responsible for what they see, while you are responsible for what you feel. You need this boundary, and you’ll benefit from having it available as a tool.

Leadership is the ability to be creative under unpredictable or confusing circumstances. In our time, leadership is about ideas. You’re poised to be a source of approaches or concepts that will qualify as one of a kind, and potentially once in a lifetime. Your mind is working with a kind of logic all its own, and I suggest you put no energy at all into doubting yourself. Even if you think something that seems like it’s not even vaguely applicable, or have ideas that don’t seem to apply to the situation, assume you’re working on a good hunch. Trust yourself; trust your perception; and moreover trust that you can treat any problem as a puzzle that, if solved, can improve life for everyone.

Nobody tests your faith except for you. If the planets mean anything, you seem poised on the verge of significant progress in both your personal life and your professional life. Yet I suspect you’re experiencing this more as a crisis. Step one is making some contact with the faith you have in yourself. It doesn’t matter how you get there: remembering your past achievements, reminding yourself who thinks you’re amazing, or following an inner sense of what is possible. However you manage it, remember that faith in yourself is an essential ingredient right now. Second remember that you have options: not eventual options, but ones that are immediately available; the kind you can exercise right now.

In the long discussion of ‘reuniting sexuality and spirituality’ we might ask how they got separated in the first place. The answer would involve the perception of sex as a source of power rather than pleasure, considering people as property rather than partners, and other related concepts such as jealousy. Even though we know that intellectually these things are not necessary, we continually come up against two things: our own emotional programming, and a lack of options for what else is possible. An unusual alignment in your solar chart this month gives you some beautiful opportunities to get past these obstacles, and to embrace your relationships in a new way as sources of healing, comfort and pleasure.

Are you really that tangled up in the life of another person? Or are you just in one of those emotional situations where you’ve lost track of who is who and what is what? Yes, someone close to you is working out something that looks complicated and difficult to discern; fortunately, it’s their stuff and not yours. You, on the other hand, are moving into new emotional territory for the first time in many months, which is another way of saying you’re finding your confidence. As for who is wrapped up in whom, it’s a partner or close associate who doesn’t know what to make of you, or their emotional involvement with you. Nor is it easy for them to face the fact that you know you’re fundamentally free.

A past work partnership may prove to be vital this month. Look for who, from the back pages of history, turns up or has recently turned up in your life, and make sure you don’t bring your old prejudices about the relationship. What you have with this person is an unusual depth of contact on the elusive theme of values. Yet the planets suggest a change of roles; someone who was once your boss could become your employee; someone who was once your student could take over a crucial project; someone who was strictly a professional contact could become a significant personal acquaintance. The overall theme is to maintain your flexibility and stay firmly in the present, no matter how old the story may be.

Take advantage of being relieved of some responsibility (or your overdeveloped sense of responsibility) and indulge in some self-expression, romance or art: basically, trade in some work for some play. If I must lure you with the prospect of productivity, I promise you that you will feed the tree of accomplishment. Through most of the year, your pendulum has been swinging far in the direction of taking the world onto your shoulders, and it’s about time you put it down for a while. True, many people succeed at great accomplishments without much balance in their lives, and some of them are even happy. You, personally, need to work both sides of your brain, in honor of the fabulous challenges that are ahead.

You’re starting to get a taste of what it’s like to not be under constant pressure to improve yourself. For certain phases of life, it’s necessary to define existence in terms of a healing agenda, and that can seem like the ‘whole purpose’ of existence. Mysteriously, that changes and some new purpose takes up life in your heart and mind. You’re now in a brief spell of experimenting with that new agenda, a new vision for yourself. This will come with the revelation of priorities you have not considered, and which have often slipped out of your grasp. You may not be able to put all of them into action; I suggest being grateful for the opportunity to experiment in real life with one new priority.

Coming next week — Aquarius Audio.

For a long time I’ve been describing your life as the attempt to see around a corner, or to peer into a veiled dimension. Along with this is a sense of being hidden from yourself. This month, Chiron enters your birth sign, potentially for the first time in your life, or for the first time since you were a child. This will bring new experiences and a new sense of self-awareness; Chiron is famous for its focusing power, particularly where Pisces is concerned. Think of it this way: you’re like a bottle of ink that finally has a pen; a projector that finally has a lens; a question that at long last is graced with a question mark.

Pisces Birthday Audio by Eric Francis is available. Check this link for more information.

BY ERIC FRANCIS

Do you know those situations where someone holds in all their passion and energy for months on end, wanting to be well-behaved and spiritually pure and in control, and then one moment, under the influence of perhaps a little alcohol, decides to let it go all at once and do all kinds of crazy things and then wakes up and regrets it? I thought you might have heard of this. Whether you are the party type or not, this metaphor applies to your life. Mars retrograde is creating enormous tension for you, and the desire to cut loose. I suggest that as the next few weeks go on, you unfold yourself gradually, gently and intentionally releasing your energy in degrees rather than exploding with all your plans at once. In other words, for maximum fun and creativity, easy does it — for now.

Are these big fears you are confronting, or small ones? Is there really a difference? I would say not. Fear, insecurity, uncertainty, jealousy — it’s all the same thing, as far as your current situation is concerned. Dance with that for a moment; notice the specific elements that they all have in common, which elements may involve one of your parents. That is where we get most of our fears. You could say that it’s where we get most of our talents, except for one thing: talents are usually more difficult to acquire because they require the development of potential. Fears are generally easier to acquire because they have effects whether ‘true’ or not. I suggest you decide which you really want, and which you really don’t.

Be grateful that you’re having an issue seeing both sides of the story. I think one side of whatever it is you’re experiencing is enough to reveal the many facets of what you’re confronting in your life, mostly the truth that the world as you know it is the product of your ideas about yourself and about life. It’s really true that you seek completion and the full expression of your being through your ideas, whether you do this professionally or not. I suggest you keep your current search on the deeper level of a search for yourself rather than a search for ‘what is true about life’. See if you can eliminate any abstractions; go directly to your inner source; be yourself and describe your inner reality directly, persistently and most of all gently.

These have been weeks of contrast, and if my reading of your charts is vaguely accurate, you’ve made a good few choices about what you want and what you don’t want. You’re not done making these decisions — not only do I suggest you get used to the process, I suggest you embrace the necessity and beauty of a total reevaluation of your life. Everything you discover that you don’t like is coming up specifically so you can move on from that very thing and create room for what you desire. Further, you can subject to a conscious decision everything you discover that you don’t want to be true about yourself. Don’t just trust my word: try it and see.

Draw your energy close to your center, physically and spiritually. Be cautious what you reveal about yourself and your beliefs. Keep your body warm, including your extremities, but particularly your core temperature. Watch where your money goes, your effort, your energy, your thoughts. Be careful when others try to define you, and know this when you see it: specifically, beware of when others try to dictate what you want. By conserving your energy, you will be able to focus enough strength to tune into your long-term vision, and to shift your sense of identity in that direction. Over the next 10 days or so, you can tune in and feel the person you are becoming, and identify with that fully.

Who exactly is keeping secrets from you? Accuse who you will, but it would seem like you’re hiding hostility from yourself. Perhaps it’s about whether you feel fairly treated in a close relationship, which you are blaming yourself for. Alternately, it could be your deepening desire, indeed, your need, to transform yourself creatively or sexually, yet at the same time feeling like you’re obstructed from doing so. In either event, the main part of the blockage is your struggle to tell the truth to yourself. This truth may involve something you have long denied: a desire, a fact, an understanding with yourself that you came to previously, perhaps more than once. Be real with you, and grant yourself some relief.

Finally, you’re seeing that it’s healthy to invest some of your self-esteem in the service you offer to others; and that far from taking anything away from you, your ability to offer yourself is a gift you give to yourself. If you’re not quite seeing that, I would offer this as a proposal. The more you offer to the people you care about, and by more, I mean in terms of quality and innovation as much as in labor and effort, the more you will discover that you have, and that indeed, you are. We see the opposite equation play out too often, reinforcing a belief that to give is to lose. Yes, it’s important to give consciously and carefully, following an ethos of love.

Make your moves one at a time. Yes, work with a vision; work with a clear idea of what you want; but make one move at a time. Live one day at a time. Respond to something present in your environment that is actually present, rather than what you think might happen or are afraid will happen. Mars coming to a halt and changing directions on such a sensitive, personal angle of your chart (as Leo is for you) is going to have some strange effects, and one way to handle any potential distortion is to make deliberate moves close to where you are now. You will very likely feel the need to be impetuous; I strongly suggest you let your mind rule over your emotions.

While the ‘home’ angle of your chart — Pisces — is getting the really hot transits (Mercury, Jupiter, the Sun, Venus and Uranus, all at once) I would say that you feel the world is your home and your oyster and you are raring to go. I suggest you make contact with why: it’s the feeling of resonance with your environment, and of comfort with yourself, that’s drawing you into new experiences. This is a rare-enough experience for a human on the planet, particularly in a time when we are taught to perceive everything as a threat. Those who preach the doctrine of threat and danger are the ones who would do better to stay home. You are not playing this game, and if you’re sitting on the fence, I am here to tell you that a many-layered adventure is calling you.

Your friends love you, and they want to help make your life not just easier, but a celebration. Some of them have precisely the qualities you lack, or that you struggle with expressing, and that your current transits are doing their best to cultivate: unfettered passion, spontaneity and the ability to express yourself from the depth of your soul. You will benefit from the examples of those who have set aside or gone beyond their own struggle with freedom, recognizing it’s as much of a necessity as structures and boundaries. You have gone far enough in the direction of integrity, safety and purity. Naughtier times are calling your name.

If you are thinking about how to make money, take a day or two or better yet, three, and do what you want to do the most. Try this as an experiment. See how you feel. By ‘want to do the most’ I mean what gives you the most pleasure for the doing; what you yearn for; what you care about, regardless of its monetary value. I say this knowing that money is on your mind. I say this knowing, as well, that far more important things are on your mind — such as fulfilling your life purpose. I know that many who reach for their purpose seem to sacrifice financial wealth, but I am not here to speak for them, or to them. I am here to speak to you.

Drop your resistance and stay open to all the possibilities. Get used to this — a process of opening and allowing rather than trying to be pure or even positive. It is easy to allow the energy to flow through you and around you, and you may find it easier yet if I remind you that you are protected, that your life is in motion despite any appearances to the contrary, and that your deepest desires are resonating with the world around you. All you need to do is get out of your own way. Is this easier said than done? In theory, no; in reality, words and actions are closely related. Make a commitment to yourself. Recognize the incredible good that is around you; embrace the people who love you, and observe your life with the trust of a child.

By Eric Francis

Sometimes the most frustrating times are the most creatively fruitful. While you may have to set certain professional plans and ambitions aside for a few weeks, you have an excellent motive for introspection. You have been feeling a push to express yourself for months, and yet you may seem to have no access to those desires now. I’m here to propose that, despite any challenges, you’re in a moment when you can make contact with some deep material in yourself, and begin to bring it out into the world. Start in the spirit of documentation rather than ‘making art’ or ‘creating something’. Experiment with energy — erotic energy, grief, anger, inspiration. You will feel better, and safer.

Stick to friends who are optimistic about you — and choose your new friends on this basis. The people around you need to live and breathe your potential. I know this isn’t how the world usually is, but it’s how your world can be. Part of that potential involves your income potential, which is linked not to a job but to fulfilling your vision for who you have always known you are. You are so idealistic, it scares you a little, and your vision of how the world should be doesn’t usually match what life serves up. At the moment, however, you have the potential for making contact and building community with people who both support you and to whom you have something to offer.

Now is not the time to come to any final arrangements, but it is the time to work out the wrinkles in relationships where there is any kind of contract involved. There may be some intense moments of negotiation, though I would caution against one thing: blame. I would also caution against obsessing over the past. Your charts show significant potential for both, including self-blame and regret; which is not the way out of the past or into the future. At a certain point you must state your needs honestly, and assess whether any situation works for you or against you. Once you agree with yourself on this particular issue, the wide-open door of potential will be obvious.

If you can manage to be clever and compassionate at the same time, you will work your way through this adventure you’re on. Part of being clever is about seeing the way that challenges add up to openings; part of being compassionate involves listening, and speaking to people in their own language. The beautiful thing about the truly complicated astrology of this moment is that it suggests you have the ability to change your mind about something, and in a sense, to change your destiny. Therefore, I suggest you practice confidence in yourself as an ongoing endeavor. Remind yourself you have the strength, the intelligence and the willingness to thrive, and you will.

Has anyone ever looked at a cat and not wondered what it’s thinking, and where its mind goes? You may be wondering this about yourself, and I suggest letting yourself ponder the possibilities. Mars is retrograde in your sign. For you, Mars is the planet of faith. This is one reason why you are able to do so much; why you are so dauntless. Yet you seem to be on a search for a new depth of inner strength. Part of that is going to be psychic, based on nothing but your inner orientation. And part is going to come from one, simple worldly choice to take a lot better care of yourself. Meditation, rest and nutrition will hold you up like the steel towers of a suspension bridge.

You have certain psychological qualities that could be positively excellent assets, but you tend to use them against yourself. I want to give you an image, and I suggest that you work with it for a couple of years: and that is of you, giving birth to yourself, and raising yourself. Envision this every day. If you’re a man and you can’t quite relate, envision yourself fertilizing yourself on an ongoing basis. The core concept is the same, which is the germination of new life within yourself, which then takes up life in the world. Each thought, choice or action you take is a birth; each needs to be nurtured, nourished and loved.

You may be wondering where you are actually safe, and I would say that work is a good start; but only if it’s work that supports your sensitive, even subtle, talents. For the next few months you will need to develop a skill of not letting the opinions of others you know in your social environment bother you. The litmus test is how you feel about yourself as a result of being in proximity to someone else. This will be especially true in groups — with the likely exception of at work. What happens after work with the same people is another story, and you would be well advised to sit that particular custom out for a few months. You have more enriching things on your mind, anyway.

Rarely has it been easy for you to change your mind about things, once you’ve made it up. This is why you take so long to make a decision. In the past, you’ve had to live with the results for a long time. But I wonder why that is; what is the core of your devotion? You will find it with a careful look at the past, and I would propose that one of the keys is an examination of the story about ‘what you wanted to be when you grew up’. I have found this to be one of the most telling questions. How did that childhood desire transpose into your experience of adulthood? You are in a rather beautiful moment where it is possible to make a new decision and change your course.

You are one of those people whose experience of life tends to be more outward than inward — but contrary to every astrological profile you’ve ever read, you’ve got quite the homebody and introspective streak. For years you’ve felt like you lived in a house where the electric current ran through every object. But lately your relationship to your home space has been changing, and it’s about to become the kind of sanctuary you always wished you had, but could never quite create. Put your energy here; invest time, effort and just a little money and you will work wonders for your peace of mind.

The key is to think gently, rather than obsessively. The thing about obsession is that it tends to get us from below or behind, so you need to cultivate some new habits. One of them is positive stroking. While it may be difficult to see how we ‘manifest things’ with our thoughts and feelings, it’s more obvious how we manifest our state of mind with our thoughts and feelings. Or is it? Do we assume that our thoughts are the result of how we feel, rather than what creates it? The next few weeks are designed to be one of the most effective lessons of cause and effect you’ve ever had on this topic. So remember — think gently.

Potential is just that — something that exists in potential. It has a value, but that value is mostly in the future, and requires development and refinement. The past couple of years have been taking you on a tour of what might be; what can be; who you may become. Yet the time for action has arrived. I say this with a wider view of time — the window for the biggest decisions starts around the equinox on March 21. But the time for refinement and development begins right now, no matter what anyone in your life believes, or how poor of an example of progress they may be setting. Your future is yours, and yours alone.

You are starting to believe in yourself. This is not merely about waking up in the morning and cheerleading in the mirror — though for a Fish that is a pretty good way to start the day. I mean that something is moving from the inside toward the surface, which is changing the way you think about yourself. It is not merely that you know your life is at a crossroads where significant improvement is possible; you also have the added benefit of knowing on a deep level that you have guided events in this direction, which is one of the most profound, helpful lessons a person can have.

Winter view of Notre Dame Cathedral on Ile de la Cite in Paris. Begun in 1163 under Pope Alexander III, one of the most famous Roman Catholic Cathedrals in the world has stood through the terms of 94
popes. Digital photo by Eric Francis.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Today is the approach to the Gemini Full Moon. The Sun opposite Moon aspect is exact overnight or early Tuesday morning in most US and European time zones, so today and tonight is the peak of energy. More details are in my Monday post about the week’s astrology, called Business, as Unusual. To sum up: We are often inclined to take a ride on lunar energy (a kind of emotional trip), rather than steering consciously (an aware journey). So the idea for maximum benefit from this astrology is to bring things to the level of consciousness; to notice how you are feeling, responding or reacting, and to check in whether your approach to any situation is rational or sensible. It may not be, but you’ll feel better for knowing that.

With the Gemini Full Moon, we can often get a lot of chatter: lots of words, not so much said. That’s fine if it’s fun, but feel free to cut conversations short. You will not miss much. If you’re planning to start anything this week, I suggest waiting until after the Full Moon has passed, and not following your emotional impulses.

Last month’s square between Saturn and Pluto arrived with so many turning points. Now comes the moment of clarity: Chiron conjunct Neptune in Aquarius. We heard from this aspect in the spring; now it’s back, with a new dimension of waking up from the dream of technology, of advertising and of mood-stabilizing substances. Also of note, Mars stations retrograde around the time of the winter solstice, which lasts till late winter; and yes Mars is that red thing you keep seeing in the sky. It will be our constant companion all through the next season, guiding us on a journey to find a new level of our true identity and deeper desires. I will have more to say about this as it affects individuals in Cosmic Confidential, the 2010 annual edition of Planet Waves.

For those concerned about the Afghanistan situation, we currently have daily coverage on the Planet Waves main page, including this article by Fe Bongolan. See you there.

Yours & truly,

Hey! Do you receive Planet Waves by forward? Please sign up.

Aries (March 20-April 19)
What is it that stops you from taking the risks you know will improve your life? Primarily I mean expressing yourself honestly, without obsessing over what others will think of you, or what certain personal choices will do to your image. Many blame having kids as the main obstacle in their lives. This often involves wanting to be perceived as a good parent. You would need to test this theory against the basic facts of what you were doing before those children arrived. In any event, you now begin an inner search for the wrench in the works of your creative process. It’s in there; and you will find it.

Taurus (April 19- May 20)
If you’ve learned anything this year, it’s been not to keep secrets from yourself. Opinions and even judgments of others matter ever less when you’re on the level with yourself. What you withhold from yourself creates an energy field that attracts parasites and consumes the energy that you would use to make actual decisions. At the moment, the focus of your charts is on what’s commonly called career, and what I call making yourself useful in the community in a personally satisfying way. True, it’s easy enough to be vaguely of service, but in our momentous times, you need a higher standard. You need the full benefit of confidence in yourself.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)
Sex changes everything, and we can be thankful for that cosmic truth. The sex that seems to change nothing is probably not worth bothering with; or may be an indication of a much deeper problem. By ‘changes everything’ I would say that mainly includes your sense of value in relationships. It appears that you’re about to have some kind of encounter, conversation or revelation that compels you to take a major step in your relationship growth. By step, I mean the awareness that you deserve more and have nothing to feel guilty about. You’re not just capable of going deeper than you usually let yourself go; now, it’s necessary.

Cancer (June 21- July 22)
You’re finally figuring out how resourceful you are. Now you are about to figure out how valuable you are in the lives of others, no matter how great or mighty they may be. Act immediately on this knowledge; by that I mean, apply it to the very next decision you make from the moment you actually register the discovery in your mind. You are healing something about your self-esteem, and through this process you gain the power to radically increase your income. But it’s an all-or-nothing package; the rewards come as you stop doubting yourself and start trusting yourself, as a day-to-day yoga.

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)
One of the great things about being a Leo is how engaging in any form of creative expression can light you up with the warmth of cosmic love. The feeling, entirely alien to many, is so normal to you that you often overlook it. Expressing your curiosity works the same way; taking the chance of faith does as well. The Sun is now in your empathic fire sign Sagittarius, which is the source of this quality of your awareness — the heart of cosmic fire. Other aspects suggest that the people around you are ready to experience you at full strength. Choose carefully what you express to whom; above all else, make sure the contact is meaningful to both of you.

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
Saturn will be back in your birth sign for a few months next year, but for now, it’s in Libra, helping you iron out certain details of a major life decision. There are compelling factors on both sides of the argument, yet while they may seem to be equal or equivalent, this is not really true. Significant influences suggest that one side of this issue deserves your attention more than the other. There is something here about your loyalty to people and situations in the distant past, and how you need to organize your life and your thoughts in a way that honors the present and your potential in the future.

Frozen forest in late winter, near New Paltz, New York (in the Clove Valley). Photo by Eric Francis.

Libra (Sep. 22 – Oct. 23)
Among your many creative talents, one is ready to take a new role as a healing art. By this, I don’t mean that you need to set up a massage table in a candlelit room. Rather, observe the effects that your creative efforts have on others. It would help to ask their opinions and listen to the answers. This, in turn, will give you new ideas for how to improve your craft, including how to make your ideas simpler and more accessible. Focus on how your creative gift advances the cause of your own peace of mind, which will give you inspiration to keep your focus, and a significant clue about how you help others.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
It is trendy to have twenty career goals these days, which may account for the trend of many people feeling like they’re getting nowhere. One of the struggles of having just one or two goals, however, is the feeling that you’re sacrificing what you love in order to accomplish something else; and this may be true, for a while. Yet as you concentrate your efforts, you will make the discovery of the seeming different things you do have in common. Every cell in your body and every planet in your chart is working together to create that sense of concentrated energy and singularity of purpose. Follow that calling and you will receive a gift you cannot get any other way.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 22)
There’s a fine line between what we call thoughts and what we call feelings. Or perhaps there is a space where they overlap and influence one another. One way to sort the difference is to count thoughts as an active process and feelings as a passive one. You ride your thoughts like a bicycle and notice your feelings like the scenery that you’re riding past. Your planets this month suggest that this is the time to be focusing on riding the bike, because you’re about to reach a branch in the road. You will know you’re there when you wake up one morning and ask, “Where am I, really? And for that matter, who?” Note, this is likely to be a pleasant experience.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
You have made a series of changes based on necessity, and that has come in two forms. One is a compelling sense of the person you must be. Another is your sense of what you must achieve. Our entire society is structured to divide these qualities of existence. In other words, we are taught to make compromises, rather than to reconcile our inner and outer lives. One sign you’ve made too many compromises, or perhaps just one extremely significant one, is boredom. Everything in your charts is about renewal. How do you get there? Stoke your curiosity, and recognize that as the incredible form of freedom that it is.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
It would be wrong to say you’ve been in a fog for the past 10 years, though you may wake up one day and realize that you’ve been really, truly confused about what you want. Certain goals were plastered on top of that confusion, in an effort to make life bearable and to give you a sense of focus. It’s time to move beyond bearable, and to reap the benefits of authentic clarity. It’s only fair to warn you that this clarity will cause you to make decisions. Before you do that, I suggest you take a few moments and reflect on the differences between what is genuinely important to you and what is little more than a ruse.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)
Now is the time to ask, if you had every possible advantage in your professional life, what would you do with it? This would apply to trying something entirely new, as much as it would to taking what you’ve been doing for a while to a new level. You are someone who is destined to thrive in a niche environment, that is, to make a big success out of something specific, that meets a certain need. One trick is conveying your sense of wild idealism and your general desire to save the world to making a contribution in a precise area of life that cannot quite be done by anyone else.

Forest in winter, Shawangunk Ridge, New York State. Photo by Eric Francis.

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BY ERIC FRANCIS

There are those moments when astrology informs us that big changes are on the horizon, and this is one of them. On Oct. 29, Saturn changed signs to Libra; this was covered in detail in the most recent Friday edition. Any sign change of Saturn is significant. Yet what happens Nov. 15 is more meaningful: Saturn makes a square to Pluto, and that is about a change in the direction of both history and personal history. On an individual level, relationships experience what I will describe as an integrity check. The ones that work well will get stronger and the ones that are not up to the task run the risk of transforming into something else. In times like this, change may be scary but resistance to change is actually dangerous. Listen to your fear, but remember, it’s not the only voice speaking to you — and it’s not necessarily right.

Aries (March 20-April 19)
Now is the time when you take the first major step of a new era; which includes aligning your personal goals and your business goals. The sad truth is that for most people, these two sets of objectives conflict, and the dissonance is rarely taken up as a conscious experience. Yet now, your personal relationships move into an increasingly prominent role in your life, at the same time your career is vying for center stage. You may feel that you will have to make many small adjustments to your life in order to accommodate this. But the answer to the equation looks more like you reinvent yourself entirely and take your life to a new level — a process you may not believe is really happening until June. But it’s definitely happening now.

Taurus (April 19- May 20)
You’re about to discover what a particular relationship means to you, on the deepest emotional level you can access. Often, you decide these things based on unrelated factors, such as your sense of personal safety, or your nagging fears. You’re now figuring out that these biases have kept you isolated from your inner truth. There is more to life than what you have to worry about, or not worry about. Fear has one distinct property, which is to keep us trapped in the past. Everything that is happening in your world is happening right now. If you look, and feel, you will notice that it touches you so deeply that nothing in the past can compare. That is actually good news, that is, as long as you give yourself permission to grow.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)
Relationships are one-to-one experiences, and yet they fit into the constellation of a community. Indeed, we could study any community as a collection of innumerable one-to-one encounters that people have, and notice that the strength of the community is based on the degree of trust held in those relationships. What it adds up to is something known as reputation. Remember, with Saturn now in your house of community for the first time in decades, that you build your reputation one person at a time. There is no ‘public’. There are the perceptions of many individuals, and your perception of yourself. Take your time with this process and gradually you will find your way into the kind of unique, valuable role for yourself that you’ve envisioned for many years.

Cancer (June 21- July 22)
I’ve mentioned before that the late Lois Rodden (who taught astrologers that we need to be working with accurate birth data) once commented on how astrology generally assigns Mercury as the money planet, but that in reality that planet would be Mars. It takes drive to make money, and that drive comes from directed, bold, fiery energy. For the next six months, Mars is going to be visiting the money angle of your chart (this would be Leo, where Mars will make a long retrograde). Keeping things simple, focus on money; your skill with money; and on developing your plans for how you put yourself into the flow of that particular form of energy. Remember: Mars asserts itself. Mars is about action; that means play to win, and it also means don’t squander your integrity.

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)
As mentioned for your neighbors in the sign Cancer, one of the top five astrology stories of 2010 is the forthcoming Mars retrograde in Leo. Mars is already in your birth sign, and you’re likely to be feeling this as a certain kind of impulsive energy, the willingness to confront people and a take-no-prisoners approach to success. Usually, this attitude works well on the highly competitive physical plane, but don’t be surprised if it doesn’t exactly invoke the better angels of the people around you. While you’re working toward success, I suggest you work on your politics. That is to say, shake hands, kiss babies and make sure that every move you make is designed to help make everyone’s life easier. Success at all costs is so 20th century. Thinking holistically is so right now.

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
You may feel like an enormous pressure has been lifted off of your existence. I suggest you give yourself some review time about what you’ve been through the past couple of years of Saturn in Virgo, then get ready to make some decisions based on what you’ve learned. The span between the two will not be terribly long; the first action point is in mid-November, where you will need to apply everything you’ve learned in these years to one vital question. Two things to remember: first, you will be able to revisit this issue, though each step counts. Second, you have thought most of this through before, especially during the past two months. Therefore, remember what you have learned, and get ready to put it to work.

Libra (Sep. 22 – Oct. 23)
A turning point is upon you, and it may not fit with your laidback approach to existence. Yet all the reminders, alerts and premonitions have been present long enough for you to get one particular message: you need a new relationship to your past. This is difficult only to the extent that you forget that the past is an interpretation. Often when we ask the question, ‘what does it mean?’ we get no answer that we recognize. Meaning is always found in context. Try asking the question this way: ‘how does [this particular fact] influence the decision I am making now?’ Then ask: ‘is that fact true, or is it a story I made up?’ Apply that formula to every issue, and you’ll have a lot more information to work with.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
Lou Reed wrote the brilliant line, “You can’t count on the worst always happening,” but he added, “It takes a busload of faith to get by.” Let’s take that one part at a time. Certain developments in your chart suggest that you may be considering the worst possibilities as being more valid than the best, and surely you have your reasons for this. But much that you’re worrying about has no basis in reality; on the surface level, it’s simply the fear of change that you are struggling with. A little deeper, it’s the fear of abandonment and of being alone. As for the second part, I would say that one of the few things that brings us closer to people is cultivating faith, which offers one important alternative to fear. Remember, I said faith — not hope.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 22)
The more wild and visionary your ideas, the more you need to be alert to how you feel. What is wild and visionary? A new job, a new home, a new relationship or a new project would all count, though you may be thinking bigger than that. And you may be questioning whether it’s practical to think on the scale that you are. I suggest that you set aside that judgment and make sure that for every plan, desire or ambition that you articulate to yourself, make one adjustment to the comfort factor. Organize a closet, wash the dishes, clean out the refrigerator, solve a small problem. Then go back to thinking like a visionary. Gradually, what you are visioning will come into focus.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
You are being called on to take leadership, and you have every right to be nervous about what this might mean. The thing is that in leadership, there is very little room for fear. What you need is confidence; and there’s just one way to get this: practice fidelity to the mission you’ve accepted. If (as it may) it works out that the mission you had yesterday isn’t the mission you have today, then change your intentions to reflect that reality. Integrity counts for more now than it ever has, and under the current astrology integrity means being in alignment with yourself. You will have to work at this every day, but when you arrive there, you will know it because it feels so different than what you’re accustomed to.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
Creativity is both overrated and underutilized. It’s overrated because you don’t need that much of the stuff to solve a problem; you just need a little, enough to get a little oil onto the rusty bolt. It’s underutilized because most people would reach for a hammer instead of the oilcan. Each time you arrive at a point of decision, pause for a moment and ask yourself for the right idea that will help you proceed in the most effective way. Stop and reconsider your actual goal, and when you have to act, do so in a way that supports the goal rather than gets in the way. Again and again, you will need to reconsider Priority 1. It’s a commitment that you must make, over and over, until you bring your whole life in alignment with it.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)
So much of your life has been lived in an inner world; indeed, this quality has been so pervasive that it’s been difficult to see the extent that it’s true. It won’t be true forever, yet as you gradually shift your focus to experiences that occur outside the confines of your own mind and imagination, you may begin to value the inner connection in a new way. You may notice that this is the thing so many people are lacking, or that they avoid so diligently. For the moment, I suggest that you reach for the deepest places in your mind and emotions that you’re capable of reaching. Go deeper than you think you have in the past, and remember where you’ve been. All of this is preparation for your mission of being a deep person in a superficial world.

BY ERIC FRANCIS

We’ve just wrapped up another spell of Mercury retrograde, and passed by the Libra Equinox — but some of the most exciting astrology of the year is still ahead of us. That would involve Saturn, which changes signs to Libra on Oct. 29 and makes a square aspect to Pluto. Saturn changing signs is a refreshing change, particularly to one of its strongest signs of the lot. Its presence in Libra adds plenty to the already abundant airy energy of Aquarius; and the square to Pluto represents a kind of turning point that is often abused by regressive forces: we’re likely to be hearing a lot about the flu this fall, whether it really means something or not. The true theme of Saturn square Pluto is an adjustment to the structure of our lives, in particular, our relationships.

Aries (March 20-April 19)
You have long awaited a clearing of the decks in a longtime partnership, or in your concept of relationship. Certain aspects of your life have run ahead of progress in what most of us would consider the most necessary aspect of life — human contact. You have revised some of your largest goals and decided to claim your power. You have become determined to have the friends that suit your way of life. Be patient while the planets move into position to grant you a new perspective and a new experience on one-to-one bonding. I suggest you bide your time a little while longer and consciously choose to not rush into or out of any commitments. The cosmos has the next move.

Taurus (April 19- May 20)
If I said, “Your life is about to become what you have to offer, and the quality of your life will be measured by what you give rather than what you gain,” you might think you were on the losing end of a bargain. To the contrary, there is a benefit you have not counted, which is the measure of your self-worth being determined in a tangible way: through your participation in existence. Your tendency to be content with appearances deserves the trip to the recycling bin that it’s about to get. Every measure is now one of substance; you will know you’re in a new place when you crave offering yourself more than you’ve ever craved withholding.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)
To accomplish anything requires discipline; the more creative and original, the more it’s necessary to focus your mind and your actions. You’ve struggled with this idea for a while, painfully caught in your tendencies toward pettiness and emotional perfectionism. With the enormous force of will, you’ve opened up a space within yourself. It’s not that large, but the truth is, you feel freer there than you ever have before. Today, the past is less meaningful and I dare say less of a burden. This is progress, of a kind you rarely experience. You don’t need to ponder too long or too deep about what to do with this energy; you already know what you want, and you have for a long time.

Cancer (June 21- July 22)
You’re not the type to pick up and go, but I dare say you’re getting restless. You can trust that feeling: changes illustrated by your astrology suggest that there’s not a single corner of your life unaffected by the gust of progress that’s blowing through your awareness. If you feel that it’s time to set off in search of new horizons, new places, new people and possibly a new home, you can trust that instinct. If you feel driven by passion, longing or the need to resolve ancient grief, trust that as well. These moments do not come often, or we don’t expect them to; and most mortals rarely ever honor them when they do. It’s fair to say that the astrology now approaching will be impossible to ignore.

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)
You know that your growth is about one thing overall: not being trapped in the past, or the strange tendencies of your family. Among the people you know, you alone have had the strength to do this with the full power of your heart and soul, and you have provided an inspiration to many in the process. There’s now something from your past of great value that you can retrieve and claim as your own. This gift involves a technique for adapting to people who tended toward extreme states of mind and who had no concept of balance, or of compromise, or of fairness. This may be something as simple as the full acknowledgement of how you became the person you are.

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
With Saturn about to leave your birth sign, this would be an excellent time for a review of the past two years. Which of your goals have come to fruition? Which have not? And now for the more difficult question, why or why not? Part of coming to terms with your weaknesses involves the simultaneous recognition of your strengths. With that awareness, it’s possible to borrow strength and wisdom from one part of your life and apply it to another. Indeed, it’s necessary to understand which of your values works for you and why; and to use that as leverage in your quest for independence and success. Three or four weeks’ reflection on these points will prove to be extremely useful.

Libra (Sep. 22 – Oct. 23)
Fear, when you look at it closely, is an extremely strange thing. For example, if you kept a running list of everything you were concerned about or scared would happen over the course of a week or even a year, you might be shocked to find out that not one thing on the list proved to be valid. From this, you could surmise that you have a measure of protection around you. Now, if you really grasp these facts, how would you apply them to your life? How would you live in such a way that you are less influenced by negative expectations? I know it’s not easy in this world, where so much can go so wrong; but now you have something approaching scientific proof that it will not.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
The relationship of your dreams is indeed of your dreams. Speaking to one so passionate as yourself, and one so devoted to expressing your true feelings, the question is about how to make those dreams into a reality. Step one may be renouncing everything that does not work for you. This way, you will make room for what works, or at least you’ll be able to conduct an experiment. The coming phase of your life will bring you face to face with the potential not just of being on your own because you want to be, but also the truth that nothing at all is better than something that does not serve you. The difference can be summed up in a word: honesty. And that’s a meaningful place from which to conduct any relationship — particularly with yourself.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 22)
Much that you’ve been anticipating is about to unfold, though as it does you will be taken into a dimension beyond your expectations, hopes and fears. What you have seen and what you are about to see over the course of this month reside somewhere between a hint and a warm-up. The main clue will be that your life is going in the right direction; that however long the shot, you are on the right trajectory. You may feel that you’ve got every reason to believe everything but this simple fact. You may be wondering when a difficult trend is going to reverse, and when you can finally focus your power again. You’re not a patient person by nature, though I assure you that the stars are not asking for much.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
It is true that your faith has been tested yet again. I trust that you’ve learned that you need to take care of the general goals and that the cosmos takes care of the details. The most meaningful thing you can do right now is hold a vision for your life. As I have suggested before, do not torture yourself over petty ethical matters, or even your nagging suspicion that you lack the integrity to succeed. This issue is little more than a means of torturing yourself. As you’ve discovered recently, you can direct your energy more constructively. What you have yet to discover is that you simply must do so, for reasons that will become obvious by the end of the month.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
This year has in many ways failed to live up to its potential, but this year is not over. When Jupiter stations direct in your birth sign later this month, you will get the clues you need to both straighten out your finances and set your personal values system in the right direction. More exists in these two issues than you may recognize. Though on one level it seems that our society makes too much of money, it is actually a holistic issue that in many ways indicates the state of your relationship to existence. Yet there is a deeper issue, which is living every day for what is important to you. That is the metatheme; that is the question; and before long you will have access to a new dimension of the answer.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)
You likely feel that by now, you should have made more progress than you have; you deserve more success than you have; you are entitled to more credit for having faced the unknown with such bravery and compassion. Do not make the mistake of predicting the future based on the past. As each day passes it becomes more important that you seek what you have not experienced; that you conceive of a future that is not based on the limitations of your own history. Consider this logically; change implies that we enter new territory and have new experiences. Consider it intuitively: you know that something unusual is about to come to fruition. Trust that.

Dear Friend and Reader:

As you may have read on our main page, the Mercury Retrograde Special Report has been published. The retrograde is in Libra and Virgo from Sept. 7 through Sept. 29, arriving with a significant series of events that leads the way into a whole new astrological cosmos, taking us that much closer to the true astrology of 2012. As I’ve written before, this retrograde is a warmup for Saturn changing signs to Libra in late October.

The idea for the special report came from the lead article a couple of weeks ago, “The Electric Tide.” That article (which you’ve probably read) is included — I consider it my most comprehensive piece of writing on the Mercury retrograde phenomenon to date. I’ve also added a section called “What to do if…” in case you have to make a decision during the retrograde. We also added an “Expert Guide,” that covers the key dates in the cycle, and which provides the astrological charts for anyone who cares to study them. Because there are a series of Mercury-Pluto contacts, there is a section (in true Planet Waves fashion) called “How To Talk About Sex.”

Finally, there is a 12-sign horoscope for all the signs which calls the theme of this retrograde for each of the Sun and rising signs. This is about as long as the long monthly horoscope, Planet Waves Monthly.

Here is how we’re handling discount pricing for subscribers: you’ll get the pre-order price of $8.95 (the price for everyone else has gone up to $14.95). Then, if you’re a subscriber you’ll get to give one to a friend, on us. Once you order, send an email to Chelsea and we will make sure your gift recipient gets the report promptly.

Here is the ordering link. Thanks for your business!

Yours & truly,

Aries (March 20-April 19)
Beware of toil. Most things you think need to be done actually don’t need to be done; and when the time comes they should be a little easier than you think rather than more difficult. However if you dive into work unconsciously, without a plan and without a clear goal, you may find yourself lost in a maze of unrewarded effort. The key will be to let your mind do as much of the work as possible. Take five times longer thinking about what you need to do and why. Work out the issue until you have a breakthrough. I know, this is a tall order for an Aries, but you’re not just impetuous. You like things to be easy.

Taurus (April 19- May 20)
Part of the creative process involves letting your inspiration flow like a waterfall; part involves the use of things like sandpaper, databases and chisels. Mainly, however, this thing we call creativity involves courage, if we’re ever going to go from the idea stage to the manifestation stage. If you meditate and indeed act on courage rather than the work or work product, you will get a lot further than you have recently. The issue I see is that while you feel pulled to develop your potential and take a chance, you’re scared of that same potential. Now you get to test the logic of this: not in theory but in a series of creative experiments. Proceed with faith.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)
You seem to keep clearing out the same emotional closet over and over again, only to find more debris. At this point you may want to figure out who keeps putting it there. Is it you or someone else? But I suggest you just keep clearing, because if you do, sooner or later you’re going to find something different: a different kind of emotion, and a different kind of intelligence. I can describe it briefly. There are thoughts that consume energy and thoughts that give us energy. The one that you find is the kind that creates energy, helps your mind rest, and is focused on beauty rather than on imperfection. Learning this one distinction is the point of the whole experience.

Cancer (June 21- July 22)
Remember that you’re a person who is guided by your feelings; and your feelings are different than your emotions. Emotions are a form of output. Feelings are a form of receptivity. It is that simple. We do feel our emotions, like we hear our own voice when we shout in a cave. The rest of our feelings are all the other data that comes in through our senses and psychic openings. The key will be clearing enough of your mental space to be able to listen and to hear the messages that are coming in. Some will get you to look at your life a new way.

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)
With Saturn moving through your solar 2nd house of resources, most astrologers would say you’re supposed to be living in tight times. I have seen that Saturn creates financial opportunities as well as any other planet, though for its part by making us persistent. Now you need to be persistent in the face of some insecure people who will try to convince you that either the sky is falling or that the price of your portfolio is falling. You can’t do anything about the sky, but you are in the flow of some innovative business or investment opportunities. Some will be quite good — but I suggest you work the bugs out until after Mercury stations direct on Sept. 29.

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
There is no such thing as perfection, but apparently you are on a hunt for some of the stuff. You just need to define it in a way that you can actually meet the standard, which by all accounts will be revised approximately twice a day for at least the next month. I’m just wondering why you feel you need to work so hard toward this particular goal. What you really need is to shake off your insecurity. You know, the insecurity you don’t admit that you have, which you cover by using your obsession with impeccability. You usually hold yourself up as an example; this month, let it be an example of how beautiful it is to be rough around the edges.

Libra (Sep. 22 – Oct. 23)
If you only knew the thoughts that were in your mind, you would be shocked. I’m looking at a few of them right now — the ones you’re going to be thinking next week. They are so incredibly intelligent, but you never seem to type them into your BlackBerry before you forget them. Here is a short list of the ones to remember: the person who has the phone number of someone who would definitely want to hire you; the long-elusive strategic key to your business plan; the simple way to fix the security breach in your company’s website; the direct phone number to your senator. Some things are worth writing down.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
It is true, you have mixed feelings about being a socialite. You aren’t really one; but you do what you must, purely out of necessity, or because your boss needs you to. Those are pretty good reasons, but there are better ones coming your way. It would appear that this is the month to actually meet several people you’ve known on the Internet for a long time. There would also appear to be an old friend coming back into the picture. They either want to help or need your help. It doesn’t matter which — I suggest you approach either potential the same way. Once the conversation starts, the actual plan will come out — and it will serve you both.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 22)
You like to give the impression of someone freewheeling who absolutely trusts the plan of the universe, but in reality you’re as meticulous as a computer engineer about designing your future. I would suggest it’s time for a comprehensive review of the different versions of this plan, as they have evolved. For some of you, they date back as far as 28 years. For others, you can safely go back to about 1995. You’ve made a long series of revisions of your core ideas, and you’ve arrived at a breakthrough point. You’ll need to be shrewd and observant to see this, because the concept you’re after will finally emerge from something you’re certain has been a persistent failure, error or flaw.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
You’ve been training yourself to take a more spiritual view of existence. It’s not easy: in many ways the world is a living testament to how badly things can go. For your part, you want something that is ineffable and based on faith to take a logical course through your mind. Miracles and revelations, though, work on a different kind of logic than most worldly endeavors or thought processes. You seem obsessed with finding a rational solution to something that is really about letting go and letting God. Now, the issue is how to do this and as far as I can tell, it will come in a moment when you have no other possible solution to a particular issue. In this particular case, giving up will serve you brilliantly.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
You consider yourself intelligent, and I would say you’re right — but you don’t give yourself enough credit for that intelligence coming from intuition. There comes a time, however, when it’s necessary to break out the scientific method. You are facing something that requires you to be methodical in your thinking, and to understand every step in the process. You need to check and recheck your logic. If you’re not finding flaws in your thought process, look more carefully. There is probably at least one significant one and several small ones. Note that you can’t rush this process. You can safely assume it’s going to take about four to five weeks: and in that sense, time is on your side.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)
You are trying to work out a relationship or arrangement with someone whose viewpoint is changing so fast it’s making your head spin. This is a good sign. Fortunately, you’re accustomed to absorbing plenty of fluctuation in the people and the world around you. You have a knack for understanding people and their genuinely unique situations. The thing to do in this situation is to keep understanding, and encourage this person to keep stating their situation in their own words. There seems to be a dialog between something ‘real’ and something ‘ideal’. There is another dialog between the past and the present. Make sure you differentiate the two, and when in doubt, cross-multiply.