Category Archives: Weekly Horoscope

Weekly Horoscope

On the Solstice, Mars square Neptune, then Chiron

Dear Friend and Reader:

I’ve been describing the solstice and the eclipses that surround it for weeks on end. Click back through the prior issues linked on the top left and you can review some of what I’ve said — there’s plenty of new stuff that will emerge when you do. If astrology is a picture, it’s a Polaroid picture that develops gradually, no matter what form you take it in. Today is indeed the solstice — the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere. The Sun ingresses Cancer at 1:16 pm EDT, which will be followed by the Sun’s southbound movement along the horizon. Strange as it seems, here in the north, the days get shorter from here. Note, as described last week, we are in Aries Point country — which is likely to stir the pot on the news.

Schiaparelli basin within the layered hills in Arabia Terra on Mars, photographed in 2003 by the now defunct Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. Photo by NASA/JPL and Marlin Space Science Systems, which seems to have outfitted MGS with its cameras. Link to the original with a full caption about the geology of scene.

I’m not quite ready with the July long monthly, and today’s scheduled distribution coincided with the Sun in late Gemini; we only distribute the monthly with the Sun in the new sign. Of note, I am just at the end of the Planet Waves Midyear Report, which will be available by Friday. This is like a mini-annual, presented as audio, with all 12 signs going for one modest price. More on that later in the week.

Today I want to offer you a few ideas that relate to Mars aspects, which may prove to be useful. As of yesterday evening, Mars ingressed Gemini. Because Neptune is occupying the first degree of Pisces, the two planets make an aspect: Mars square Neptune. Mars is in talkative Gemini and Neptune is in watery, emotional Pisces. The square (or opposition) between these two aspects can be poetic, dramatic or excessive in a rock star way, and is often a caution not to overreact, not to drink any more than you can handle and not to let your paranoia run away with you. Personally I urge caution with any mind-altering substances under Mars-Neptune aspects such as this one, and to be cautious of the dosages of any drug, remedy or medication. If you’re going to sign any kind of contract or make a commitment, give it a few days if you can. If you cannot, get a couple of opinions and listen to your subtle instincts.

This first meeting of Mars with Neptune in Pisces is also a good opportunity to remind you to keep this moment creative rather than self-destructive. Mars-Neptune can have a weird effect on one’s thought process, and thus on one’s judgment — and none of us have ever experienced this aspect from Gemini to Pisces. This is indeed something new under the Sun, for us, anyway. The practical advice here would be to keep your dealings honest, knowing that deceptive tactics are sure to backfire. You might notice a tendency to say too much; walk away before you do. Mars in Gemini loves a good argument, even over nothing — the square to Neptune suggests this is a losing proposition. It’s better to seem wimpy or rude than to betray yourself or anyone else.

Layered hills in Arabia Terra on Mars, photographed in 2003 by the now defunct Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. Link to the original.

Air to water can be a dangerous mix because you might think it feels good to say a lot, when in reality that’s like a kind of high that is followed by a crash. Said another way, persist in truth, but gently, and as silently as you can — not aggressively. Mars square Neptune is perfectly poorly suited for aggression. So with both subterfuge and rampage out of the question, the solution is to gently lean into integrity — and there’s no rush. This aspect involves two mutable signs, which are the slowest-moving of the lot. As Jerry used to sing, watch each card you play and play it slow.

The next aspect Mars makes is a square to Chiron, which will be developing over the next week. This is an interesting one, in my experience — in people who have this as a natal aspect (and plenty of people do) there is often a struggle against their own resistance. Resistance feels like integrity except for the little problem about how it blocks experience and learning.

Well, it may not actually be integrity but the resistance is presented to the world as such; as a kind of purity. The thing to remember under Mars square Chiron is that we humans have a lot of desires in common. We’re a lot saucier people than we let on. We are more curious, hungrier and kinkier. One thing we may have in common is to speak the truth to the people we care about, but with Mars to Chiron (again air to water) you may have the urge to burst and say everything. There also may be a little more truth than you can handle, so you could go the opposite way and say nothing or make something up. You will have to feel the situation out for yourself, but I can tell you this from some experience.

Chiron is about process. Focus on the healing aspect of that process and you will make excellent use of this aspect. Focus on inner integrity rather than trying to enforce outer integrity and you will get to explore being an inner seeker. Mars square Chiron says, you cannot prove how spiritually advanced you are any way other than by being that. There’s also a reminder not to pit the body’s natural instincts (such as desire) into competition with the impulse to heal and grow (Chiron). The two need to work together, and they can, if we allow them to.

As the Sun enters Cancer, it will make a trine to Neptune in Pisces; that aspect offers a way to ease the pressure created by the Mars squares. It’s a reminder to emphasize experiencing what you feel inwardly rather than pushing it on anyone. If you’re seeking compassion, feel for it first, and you will find it all around you.

Lovingly,

PS, Watch your email this week for a separate announcement about the Planet Waves Midyear Report, a really cool audio product that covers all 12 signs, updating the astrology for our exciting moment of personal revelation.

Cardinal Cross, Revisited

Dear Friend and Reader:

For the past couple of years we have been living under the influence of an alignment in the cardinal signs — Pluto arriving in Capricorn in 2008, followed by Saturn and Uranus making their way into Libra and Aries. These three powerhouses have been dancing around the early cardinal cross — right around where the Sun is when it changes seasons — stirring up all kinds of mischief and adventure.

Photo by Eric Francis.

I am sure that most of us would prefer to forget the first half of 2011, with its assassination/shooting, quake, tsunami and multiple nuclear meltdowns, tornadoes, floods and fires — along with a rapid sequence of revolutions and crackdowns across North Africa and the Middle East, and political protests in Wisconsin and Ohio. Edgar Cayce would be impressed. All of these events and the ongoing political madness in the U.S. are associated with these slow-moving planets coming in and out of aspect to one another, as well as their proximity to the Aries Point. Fast refresher on that: the Aries Point is the intersection where what we think of as news becomes personal, and what we think of as personal becomes news.

When you get three planets in aspect like this (really, there are more if you include other signs — but for now I’m just considering what’s on the cardinal cross) you get a number of different cycles coming together, and that always stirs the pot. But the energy of these longstanding aspects can then be precipitated by Sun/Moon events. The first of these is the solstice, when the Sun enters Cancer on Tuesday, June 21. When you have planets grouped around the Aries Point, the change of seasons becomes a more distinctive turning point. The reason is simple: in addition to the power surge of the Sun entering a cardinal sign, it immediately begins to make aspects to lots of other planets. That is what’s about to begin with the solstice, one of the strongest power-points of the year. A solstice is not merely the change of season. It’s as if the entire cosmic dynamo changes directions, at least from our perspective here on Earth. It’s a moment filled with tension and bursting with potential.

During the Sun’s first week in Cancer it forms aspects to Neptune, Jupiter, Uranus, Chiron and Pluto. One nice thing about this phase is that the Sun will be in a water sign, so while the Sun is sparking off the other planets aligned in the T-square (Saturn, Uranus, Pluto) there will be a vent or pressure release as the Sun also aspects Neptune, Chiron and Jupiter. Said simply, a lot of energy is created, and then there is someplace for it to go. One of the problems many of us face is that when the fear or chaos level rises, we cut off from our feelings to avoid the negative emotions. We can miss the opportunity to harness the energy. These events are suggesting that the most productive, workable and moreover safest route is to feel and experience with your emotions rather than avoiding them.

For the past few weeks we’ve been seeing utterly ridiculous issues come up in the news — such as the Anthony Weiner sexting thing, which qualifies as the stupidest scandal in history. Based on the upcoming eclipse, it would seem that the news is about to take a serious turn — but the Weiner situation calls for a comment. The irony of a congressman being kicked out of office for sexting is ridiculous because Congress is a kind of sex party. The escapades, adventures and shall we say opportunities provided by the attractive, intelligent young men and women who enter the Beltway from our nation’s most prestigious universities are impressive. These interns often volunteer to do more than paperwork, and they provide something of a renewable national resource for many of our elected representatives. This is a kind of open secret in DC. The nearly 30-year-old Congressional Page Sex Scandal described in Wikipedia as a mere shadow of the astonishing reports I read day after day in The New York Times as the whole thing unfolded. So far as I could tell, any or every member could have been involved, and from what I understand, things have only become more interesting since this issue disappeared from the pages of newspapers.

On Friday, July 1, the planets on the cardinal cross (Saturn, Uranus and Pluto) will be set off by a partial eclipse of the Sun — the third eclipse in a rapid, four-week sequence spanning June 1 to July 1. What happens is that the Sun and the Moon move into an exact alignment in the one quadrant of the cardinal cross not occupied by planets. This runs considerable energy through the whole cross, and is likely to come along with a new wave of unusual news events and personal developments that call for emotional maturity and the willingness to turn rapid change into opportunity.

Anthony Ayiomamitis, creator of this image of Wednesday’s lunar eclipse, writes, “This has the Moon almost completely in Earth’s umbral shadow with the white crescent on the right limb being the final bit still in the penumbra but not in the umbra.”

Usually there is one barrier to that: fear. And the loss is obvious if you think about it: fear is generally what prevents us from making the most of our circumstances, and the result is a kind of spiral. This is intentional. I’ve mentioned the ‘shock doctrine’ concept a few times: it’s a way of making news that makes people cower, so that political and business agendas can be advanced. Basically it’s turning Pearl Harbor into Coca-Cola, a consistent, dependable product. But this would not work without being keyed into a deeper but misdirected survival instinct. This tends to work on the level of an unconscious reflex, and basically as a result we become the prisoners of our own fears. When we talk about growth, enlightenment or spiritual consciousness, what we really mean is not being held hostage by our own fear impulses. I know it seems like there is a lot that can go wrong in the world, but there always was. These fear impulses are torturing us as individuals and adding up to a big mess in society.

The July 1 eclipse is the third in a series of three eclipses — a partial solar on June 1, a total lunar on June 15, and then the partial solar of July 1. Eclipses are part of much longer cycles, and within each cluster or grouping of eclipses, each individual event is part of a different cycle. What is interesting is that the June 1 event came toward the end of a very long cycle; the June 15 one was the peak of a cycle and the July 1 eclipse is the very first in a brand-new cycle (these are called Saros cycles). Personally I didn’t know there were new Saros cycles but I’ve learned that there are, and we’re about to experience what that feels like.

To me something new is about opening up new territory, never before visited. The eclipse takes place in Cancer and arrives in grand style as part of a grand cross. Yet the sign Cancer has some special meaning in terms of personal evolution, as it’s the sign of incarnation. It’s also the sign we associate with emotional grounding, family and security. And as such an emotional sign, it would be the epicenter of the emotional healing process I’ve been describing for months now, though of course anything happening in Scorpio and Pisces would be part of that, too.

In the rest of this article, let’s consider this emotional healing theme and see how we can put that to work under the current astrology. The presence of so many planets in the water signs, and an eclipse coming in one of the water signs, suggests that the emotional level is one to focus on right now, and Chiron in Pisces points to the theme of healing.

An eclipse looming in the sign Cancer points directly to the theme of family. I would say that the basic need for emotional healing is connected with unresolved family baggage, resentment caused by failures in relationships, social struggles including a sense of feeling like an outcast that is commonplace even among ‘popular’ people, and the ongoing, sometimes subtle and sometimes overt agony of living amidst too many rules about sex. All of this points to toxic shame, a problem so pervasive we have barely begun to see it for what it is. It is difficult to see, in an environment where we’re constantly shamed and where one of the most pervasive emotions is guilt.

Astrodice offer the formula: Uranus in Virgo in the 12th house, with the latter two in a puddle next to a waterfall. There is a lot of energy, intelligence and ideas packed up in that 12th house, and it’s contained in the perfect morph of Pisces and Virgo — about to be set free by Uranus. Photo by Eric Francis.

As with fear, when we encounter toxic shame, we tend to turn off our feelings so that we don’t have to experience the pain. This is basically the trap, and it’s everywhere — with every option we have to shut down, from drinking one of those things at Starbucks that somehow combines 25 grams of sugar with a huge dose of sodium, to indulging in endless ‘entertainment’. As time goes on the pressure builds, and we see it release in destructive ways, such as people in Vancouver trashing their own city this week because their team lost the Stanley Cup. This a lot of pent up energy. I think many people feel the psychological term ‘repression’ is quaint, but pent up means repressed, and it’s not just all those drunk hockey fans that are experiencing the pain of this. Clearly they were revolting against something. The subtle question is, in what ways do you feel held down, and in what ways to you rebel, or try to? Usually this kind of rebellion is not so artful; it is the destructive use of creative energy. One of the first things we do in an emotional healing phase is figure out how to put that same energy to good use.

As planets gather in the water signs, and as we have an unusual new kind of eclipse about to happen there, the route to healing would seem to be to enter our feelings rather than avoid them. That does not just mean ‘negative’ feelings. I also mean the pleasures you want that you might deny yourself, be they emotional, aesthetic or erotic.

This doesn’t have to be a total immersion. Sometimes it’s better to approach one’s feelings from the edge, to lightly touch them and acknowledge what’s going on inside. Sometimes it works beautifully to go there with your imagination first. For many, the idea that comes with this will be something like, “I am not going to pretend any more” — whatever that pretending may entail, and for others, it might be, “I’m going to be real about this right now,” whatever that being real might entail.

Our current phase of eclipses is providing both psychological leverage to change our circumstances and restructure our lives, as well as an emotional vent for long-pent-up energy. It may seem inconvenient, but it’s really an opportunity.

Yours & truly,

 

Capricorn Moon and Mercury on the Move

Today is Friday, June 17, 2011. The Moon, coming out of full phase, is in Capricorn all day. Capricorn is one of the most interesting signs for the Moon; though it’s considered a ‘weak’ placement in the opinion of classical astrology, many people associated with strength, integrity and authenticity (not to mention prodigious artistic talent) have this placement — as do a good few political leaders. In mundane astrology, Capricorn Moon is a time to negotiate and navigate your way through anything involving authority. It might also be a time for taking authority in ways that are politically savvy — not bossy, but rather well thought-through.

After making many aspects yesterday, the Moon has a relatively calm day as it approaches trines to Juno (relationships, accountability) and Mars (pure energy and drive). The implication of these trines is that the qualities of the other planets are available if we choose, rather than being something that confronts us demanding action (which is more how an opposition or square would be).

Mercury, newly in Cancer, is the planet on the move. It’s making some exciting aspects through the weekend and into next week, now on the cardinal cross and aspecting the T-square that I describe in the lead article above. One thing to bear in mind is that Mercury is running vanguard of the path the Sun will take after the solstice next week. Mercury is currently trine Neptune in Pisces, which is a clairvoyant aspect if there ever was one — particularly from water to water. Use your intuition, as you will need it as Mercury heads into a series of aspects involving the cardinal planets: a square to Uranus (don’t sweat the small stuff; everything contains an idea; every problem has a solution) and an opposition to Pluto (that is about a craving to go deep, though you might want to avoid people who push you places you don’t want to go). Be particularly cautious if someone knocks you off balance. Aspects for intuition are so strong right now that you will likely have early warning of who to avoid, so make sure you listen if you get a hint from the ethers, even if you have no ‘reason’ to believe it.

Under these aspects, private matters could have a way of becoming public, so make sure you say, or publish, only what you want to be read or seen by others. That said, this is a good time to open up and tell the truth to those close to you. The Moon enters Aquarius at 7:47 am EDT on Saturday.

 

Updated Tarot Files on Aries, Gemini Birthday Reports

Dear Friend and Reader:

For those of you who have signed up for the birthday reports for Aries and Gemini, I just want to let you know we learned about the file problem with the tarot readings and that has been resolved.

We are getting very good reviews from these reports. As I mentioned in a prior email, Aries, Taurus and Gemini are available. They consist of two segments of astrology and a third of tarot. There is well over an hour of material for a very reasonable price of $14.95. Basically, I am applying the same skills I use to write Sun sign horoscopes, but I’m presenting the material in a spoken word format (just as it would come in a one-on-one consultation). Then, based on what I have learned doing consultations, I expand the material, using examples, stories and illustrations from the astrology to help make it even more personally relevant.

The format is spacious enough to allow room for any material I need to cover. And the presentation is intimate, warm and direct. I am sure you know that feeling of ‘how is it possible that a horoscope column can work?’ These readings are based on the same basic principle. They stand at the midpoint between personal consulting and a very good horoscope column. I truly enjoy doing them and I’m almost always surprised at the information that comes out.

lovingly,

 

Photo by Eric Francis.

 

Weekly Horoscope for Friday, June 17, 2011, #864 – BY ERIC FRANCIS

Revised and Updated! Click for Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19) — It may take you a while to figure out that you’re aggravated or a bit shocked by something, but make sure you don’t take anything going on at home into your work environment. That’s not a solution, however — what you’re blessed with at the moment is one of those situations where discord or strife can be turned around and developed into an opportunity for healing and growth. Some people seem to understand this concept (and potential) exists, and for others it’s not quite believable. The proof is in the experience, and you’re in a position to guide things in this direction; this would begin with openly stating your willingness to participate in that. Remember that it is participation more than ‘making’ something happen. Your willingness may not seem like much, but it’s the very key to healing. And once you’re in the flow, it’s much easier for others around you to get in the flow, often without even having to say anything. Healing always proceeds from the inside-out.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Aries, please go to this link.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You have some unusual ability to focus your wisdom and intelligence. Jupiter in your sign is offering you plenty in the way of longterm gifts if you will focus your mind on what you want. This really is the issue for most Earthlings — having this clue what you want and all kinds of excuses why you shouldn’t want it or why it’s not possible. Of course as a Taurus you’re good at both. What would it take to emphasize the first part and skip the second part? The key to that riddle seems to involve what you do with guilt, and releasing your investment in that emotion. I realize that for most people this is a little like not eating sugar or salt; guilt is considered a normal emotion; a flavoring and not a toxin. But it is the glue that binds us to everything we don’t want, and I would point out that at the moment there is a lot you want and a lot that you can have, if you would only embrace your desire and receive authentically. That, basically, is the opposite of guilt.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Taurus, please go to this link.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Intelligence works best when it’s combined with emotional sensitivity. You have an excellent opportunity to experiment with that, and in a sense redefine what you think of as an idea. Most of the time an idea merely has to be smart; the notion of useful or worthwhile can be expanded to smart and feels good. Remember this about people you encounter, what people offer or invite you to be involved with. The distinction between ‘it sounds good’ and ‘it feels right’ is perhaps less noticeable at first than the difference between ketchup and mayo, however after a while it becomes something you cannot avoid noticing. The tricky part seems to be saying to others, ‘I don’t want to do that because it doesn’t feel right’, which could of course go against all the reasons that someone has for you to do something. What I’m talking about is described by most people as intuition — which is a body sense of right and wrong. From childhood we are taught to ignore this feeling.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Gemini, please go to this link.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Finally you’ve got some energy moving in your relationships. You’ve spent many months going through some kind of process of getting unstuck, which has meant clearing away the past so that you have some space in your life. One thing that’s changed is that you’re more welcoming of the energy of others in your life, even though it causes you to come out of your comfort zone. The other thing that’s evolving is your sense of equanimity, which is to say a deep kind of fairness. It’s vital to be able to take care of others without any sense of resentment; I think you’ve discovered that this really amounts to deciding who you want to share your nurturing, and recognizing that expecting something in return may work in business but it does not work in the personal sphere. Yet there is also a sense of balance that you’re coming to understand. Balance in relationships begins with emotional balance within yourself. Once you can reach that spot, sharing intense passion can become truly pleasant.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Cancer, please go to this link.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — The Sun making its last moves in Gemini may be reminding you of certain factors from the distant past, including some things you would prefer to forget. You might forget the event but not the feeling associated with it; I suggest you stay focused on the feeling, which might be lurking just outside the range of your normal perception. There is something here about approval or acceptance among a group of some kind — it could be your family, it could be your friends, it could be a circumstance that reminds you of both. In case you get the idea that you’re avoiding something, I would propose that actually, you’re doing your best to immerse yourself in something deeply personally relevant, creative or daring. If you’re wondering what that is, consider the experiences that you wanted to have as a child but were not able to have. You may still be feeling a hankering to try some of that, or a lot of it. When you shift in that direction, notice the social rules that seem to hold you back. Observe whether you think you have any power over them.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Leo, please go to this link.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — The next few days will be an emotionally deep time for you, and I suggest you take the opportunity to go there. Part of you may feel like it’s dying, though that is more like an emotional reaction to the deep impulse to grow and transform yourself. One thing you can count on is that this process has a life of its own; it is as alive as you are, because it’s part of you. I understand how you may be reluctant to let yourself go in this direction, or to allow yourself to even take a conscious step. Yet that consciousness and willingness are precisely what will make this experience the most valuable, even if it is inevitable. Your willingness will be met by some unusual, unforeseen support. This is likely to demonstrate how the lesson of healing is that in the end, the choice to receive it is yours alone. While others play a role, most likely by being an example of what is possible, we’re talking about something so intimate that it can only come from you to you.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Virgo, please go to this link.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Your future self is speaking to you. Imagine who you would become if you developed your talents, your personality and your deepest level of personal evolution over a long period of time, say 10 years. Now imagine that this person exists and can speak to you, guiding you along the way to becoming this person. This might seem like a scenario out of science fiction, and indeed it may help you to visualize the process if you think of it as a story. From your perspective, your future self is a kind of fictional entity, and you seem to be the one creating the character. Yet looked at another way, we’re talking about the idea of the ‘higher self’, a kind of archetype of who you are at your most evolved, mature and content. More than anything your higher self understands your purpose for being on this planet, and you will benefit from a direct conversation with this being. Does he or she exist only in your imagination? Time and experience will reveal that.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Libra, please go to this link.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — I trust you’ve discovered the benefits of opening up to others about what you think of as your most intimate details. For weeks you’ve had a desire to let something out — the truth of what (or perhaps it’s who) you truly want, and if you see an opening to speak over the next few days, I suggest you take it. One thing you would benefit from is experimenting with your environment so that you begin to get some confidence that you’re in safer territory than you might otherwise believe. This kind of confidence is gained not in theory but in practice. You are in a different environment — an entirely different one, in fact — from what you’ve ever experienced. By that I mean you have access to a softer world, one more sensitive to your feelings, and people you can trust are at least able to recognize who you are. Therefore you have no need to be any form of adversarial. The more open and trusting you are, the more open others will be. This is the chance you will have to take.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Scorpio, please go to this link.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You may have become so accustomed to struggle that you’ve forgotten what ease is, or that it even exists. Now is the time to remember. And once you remember, make sure you don’t forget. Write it down, draw a sketch or take a photograph that reminds you. Better yet, keep coming back to the feeling until the gesture of seeking out a space of ease comes naturally to you. One quality of your perception now is the ability to keep a bit of detachment from the emotions of others. You don’t need to fully experience or be subject to what others go through in order to appreciate it or have empathy for them. In truth what is difficult for others right now is easy for you, and you can offer support at no expense, no loss and with no drama. You may indeed doubt whether you’re actually being helpful, and I would assure you that you are. When your life is going smoothly, you are the most available to others, and to receive the gifts of others in whatever form they may come.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Sagittarius, please go to this link.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Look for the unusual points of contact. That is to say, ideas you might not consider, people you might not consider, courses of action that you might have avoided on a different day, and ways of approaching the situation of your life that defy your usual conventions. The people around you will be receptive to anything you propose, because they’re receptive to you personally. That receptivity also means they’re extra-sensitive, so keep that in mind, but I suggest you not attempt to cater to that sensitivity, scale down or be less intense; merely be aware. The floor is open for a real conversation of your needs and your desires. Though you’re accustomed to putting these very discussions aside for various reasons, I suggest you allow yourself the trust and faith in the people around you, and see what happens. Small, seemingly subtle acknowledgements of who you are have the potential to open doors in your relationships — leading places you never believed it possible to go.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Capricorn, please go to this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — There’s a spirit of adventure in your charts: a human adventure. A line of communication is now open, and that is bridging the gap between two seemingly different or distant entities. I suggest you use this availability for contact as a way to explore both yourself and someone you care about. Seeming gaps in experience, gender or social status mean less than they might appear to. Similarity is emphasized over difference. This moment can, if you allow it to, lead the way to many other experiences. The thing is, you would need to actually take the steps, start the conversation, or reach in the direction of someone or something you truly want to experience. You might hesitate for what seems to be a mix of emotional and mental reasons, but that hesitancy is a small obstacle or an opportunity to check in with your feelings for a moment before you go forward. Yes, you may go deep, though only as deep as you want.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Aquarius, please go to this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — You have a lot of ideas right now, and a lot going on — but I suggest you focus on one thing, or bring some energy to one thing, that you’ve been wanting to do for a long time. How long? How about the thing you’ve been wanting to do the longest but have not had a chance, or the energy, to do. A little focus will go a long way. It may not feel like it now, though you’re at the beginning of a useful, even highly beneficial phase of your life, and I suggest you trust that. This idea, project or experience that’s waited the longest has the element of healing, and this will become apparent as soon as you take some tangible steps toward bringing it into reality. You don’t need to travel far or work hard to get this started; you merely need to allow yourself a little space and time, enough to feel the rewards. That will provide additional motivation. One clue as to the subject is that it may involve healing your relationship to women. Certainly that will be one benefit.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Pisces, please go to this link.

Honey Moon: Make Life, Not Death

This is a photo of the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens, taken the night of a lunar eclipse. The photo is by Anthony Ayiomamitis, who meets up with the Moon all over Greece. He said he “almost did not go to his proposed shooting location that day. Also, this was probably the fourth attempt (at least) to get this shot just right.”

By Gary P. Caton

Traditionally, the Full Moon of June is sometimes called the Mead or Honey Moon. This is because after the flowering of the Earth in May, the hives are now full of honey at this time of the year. The honey can be fermented and made into mead, a kind of wine. Traditionally, mead was taken after wedding ceremonies, and weddings were often held in the month of June because it is the month sacred to Juno — goddess of marriage and sacred contracts. Thus we have the derivation of the term “honeymoon” to denote the period of blissful retreat or escape from normal duties following a new union. Of course, this would also have been a traditional time for making babies.

The stark lunar surface around the Eratosthenes and Copernicus craters. This photo was taken as the Apollo 17 astronauts orbited the moon in 1972. Image Credit: Apollo 17, NASA.

Astrologically, the most noticeable thing about this Full Moon, besides the fact that it is also a lunar eclipse, is that it is near the Galactic Center. Eric has done a great job of paying attention to this very sensitive and powerful point, which basically looks into the navel of the Milky Way. The technical terminology for this area of the sky is the intersection of the Galactic Equator, the imaginary line running through the length of the Milky Way, and the Ecliptic, the imaginary line that the Sun, Moon and all the planets move along. Intersections like this are a big deal in astrology, forming a kind of crossroads which have the potential for a lot more action than other quieter stretches of the celestial highways.

Another such intersection is where we find the lunar nodes. The lunar nodes represent the intersection points of the path of the Moon and the path of the Sun. This is why we have eclipses when there are lunations near the nodes, because the Sun and Moon are perfectly aligned in three dimensions. Currently the nodes are transiting through the signs of Gemini and Sagittarius, so the eclipses are happening when the Sun and Moon transit these signs together. This lunar eclipse is happening with the Moon near its own North Node, also known as the ascending node, meaning it’s where the Moon crosses the Sun’s path in an upward fashion. Think of this as something like when the Sun crosses the plane of the horizon at dawn — it represents a new beginning.

Another way to think of it is in terms of input/output. The lunar nodes have been called “the head and tail of the dragon,” for in myth eclipses were seen as the result of a demonic serpent swallowing the heavenly orb. The North Node represents the head of the dragon, and therefore something being taken in or ingested, as opposed to something being released or excreted at the South Node, or tail of the dragon. Thus, it is the nature of a North Node eclipse to bring something new into awareness.

When we put these two things together, the Galactic Center and a North Node lunar eclipse, what we basically have is two different kinds of intersections coming together. So this is like one of those huge intersections near a big city where you can go many different directions. We all know what that feels like. It can be confusing and stressful if you haven’t been there before or don’t know what to expect. The good news is that we have been here before and it wasn’t that long ago at all.

A color mosaic of Earth’s Moon created by the assembly of 18 images taken by the Galileo spacecraft imaging system. Galileo surveyed the moon on Dec. 7, 1992, while on its way to explore the Jupiter system in 1995-1997. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/USGS.

Remember the total lunar eclipse that happened near the previous solstice? Well that eclipse was basically the polar opposite of this one because it happened in opposition to the Galactic Center, in the last degree of Gemini. Then when Mercury crossed the degree opposite that eclipse, near the Galactic Center, we had the media circus around Ophiuchus. I’m sure everyone remembers that nonsense about your sign changing. To briefly re-cap the fundamentals: constellations are not signs. They are different systems entirely. The constellations move in the backdrop of the sky; the signs remain aligned with the Earth. Therefore, unless you have raptured and/or died and been instantly reincarnated, your sign cannot and will not change. These obvious facts were obfuscated in an attempt to generate a media frenzy. And it worked. There is a really powerful lesson in understanding why it worked so well. Basically it was an appeal to our anxiety around death.

If we look at the constellations surrounding this patch of sky near the Galactic Center, they are all about different forms of death: the archer is our power to deliver death, the scorpion is our powerlessness over death, the snake handler (Ophiuchus) is our power to transmute deadly energy, and Aquila the eagle represents the power to soar above and see beyond death. As I noted before, unless or until you literally die and are reincarnated, then your sign is not going to change (and even then, your sign and chart for this incarnation continue to work). So to suddenly up and tell people that their sign may have changed is just another way of saying you may be dying or the world may be coming to an end. I doubt that those who pulled off the hoax analyzed it this way. It’s sensationalism, pure and simple, but it works because it triggers the fears lurking in the darkest depths of our psyche. What happens when we die? No one knows for sure. It is an unanswerable question that we nonetheless desperately crave an answer for.

I believe the source of this craving is that deep inside we do indeed know the answer, but like children we simply aren’t confident enough to be with this knowing without having some external validation. And we are constantly confronted with the boogeyman in various forms to keep us from this knowing and in a place of fear where we can be manipulated. The truth is that from the earliest documented writings on clay tablets, every civilization which Western astrology comes from — the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, Arabs and Romans — all share one simple idea: the stars and wandering planets are our links to the gods and immortality. If you accept the basic tenet of modern astrology, that your chart is a map of your psyche and/or your soul, then it takes only one small step further to understand the truth. We do not have stars, we are stars.

As Joni Mitchell reminded us in her song about Woodstock, we are quite literally made of stardust. All the heavy elements, including carbon, are created in the last gasp of a star’s life and then strewn across the Universe in a supernova explosion. Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins wrote another great song about this on their last album, Zeitgeist. In the song Starz, he asks: “Born of love and cast in light, don’t you know we cannot die? We are stars. We are.” Corgan not surprisingly is into astrology. I saw on his Twitter feed that he knows he is triple mutable with Sun in Pisces, Moon in Gemini and ascendant in Virgo. One theme of the mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces) is endings and transitions. Right now here in the Northern Hemisphere, the spring quarter is about to end as the summer quarter begins. As we arrive at this great celestial crossroads, the question then is: What attitude toward endings do we bring with us? Do we view them as completions, which all contain the inevitable beginnings to follow?

What if, when confronted with death anxiety in any of its various forms, we responded not as timid sheep, easily manipulated, but rather as if we are stars? What if we understood the eternal nature of existence? What would that look like? Rather than clinging to the past and resisting or denying change, what if we dove into the cycle of existence, saying essentially: What’s the next adventure? What will I create myself into next? True, this involves making friends with the unknown; seeing the potential of the unknown. That’s a good thing to do because there is so darned much of it to go around. In this sense, the fear of letting go and of change translates to the fear of life and of existence, and embracing movement and curiosity about the future translates to diving into existence, and trusting it. If we could see that, then the choice would seem obvious.

Aries, Taurus, Gemini 2011 Birthday Reports Available

Dear Friend and Reader:

I’m happy to let you know that birthday readings (also called solar return charts) are available for Aries, Taurus and Gemini. These are approximately one-hour readings that cover the astrology of 2011 and into early 2012 in depth. These are entirely different readings from those you may have read in Light Bridge, but they build on some of the themes I introduced in the 2011 annual.

Then each sign gets a tarot reading, which gives an alternate take on the information, speaks a more intuitive language and provides a cross-check with the information that came out of the astrology. These are spiritually rich, practical, easy-to-grasp readings that offer the best of my astrology knowledge in a personal format.

Here are brief descriptions of the three signs:

ARIES — This is the first full solar year with Uranus in your birth sign. With this you have some amazing opportunities for personal reinvention, as well as special challenges in your relationships. You may be growing faster than the people around you; certainly you feel more restless and eager to meet the challenges of life. Also at the time of your birthday there was an astonishing alignment of planets in your sign. All of this speaks to unusual new potential — and a lot of energy. This reading offers suggestions for how to be in your relationships, whether personal or working, with all of this energy charging up in you like a battery. Purchasing information is here.

TAURUS — Jupiter has entered your sign and will be there through mid-2012. This is big news for Taurus, allowing you to broaden your perspective, providing many fresh ideas and opportunities. Jupiter is making contact with many planets, which gives you the ability to access those energies and bring them into your consciousness. The Taurus New Moon around your birthday was on fire, one of those events that spun the world on its finger. Between such a potent solar return chart and the presence of Jupiter, you have the ability to create anything you sincerely desire. This reading guides you to a depth of understanding of your potential, and offers suggestions for how to manifest it in reality. Purchasing information is here.

GEMINI — Eclipses have moved into the Gemini-Sagittarius axis, which is about you and the people close to you. Eclipses in your sign and opposite sign present special challenges, opportunities and the need for balance. This is an unusual time in your life wherein you can resolve old karma, let go of old patterns of thought, heal any inner divisions that have been slowing you down, and come into balance with those you love. An eclipse in your opposite sign, Sagittarius, allows you to let go of what some call ‘ego’ or personality baggage and be especially clear in your relationships, as well as in harmony with yourself. Purchasing information is here.

Each comes with a photograph of the tarot spread, using the Voyager Tarot by James Wanless. These tarot readings were one of the most popular features of the birthday audio series last year, and I love doing them — a rare opportunity for me to do tarot at Planet Waves. James, by the way, is a friend of Planet Waves and will soon be a guest on my podcast. He will be introducing his new deck — it’s called the “Sustain Yourself” deck and handbook. You can read about it on his homepage. In addition, in each of the birthday reports there are links to discounted offers for Light Bridge (the 2011 personal readings from Planet Waves, all 12 signs), as well as discounted links to last year’s solar return in case you missed that.

I trust that you will find this information helpful and useful. I recognize these are not personal readings, but I bring the best of my talent and communication ability to tell the story of your sign in a way that is personally relevant: a kind of mythical fiction that weaves a story I trust you will relate to and draw nourishment from.

Thank you for doing your metaphysical shopping at Planet Waves.

Sincerely,

PS: Each report comes with a copy of Light Bridge: The 25-Year Span, an e-book collection of my favorite articles since 1987.

The Heart of the Matter

Before we get into this week’s article, check out this solar ejection yesterday — the biggest one ever recorded. You can watch the stunningly beautiful video here. If an ejection like this pointed toward the Earth, it could wipe out our power grid. Here is an associated article from National Geographic.

 

Dear Friend and Reader:

All week long, I’ve been watching pundits — particularly the women — impale themselves over the question, what would make Anthony Weiner, an influential congressman from New York City, have online relationships that could easily turn out to be so dangerous to his career? What is it about men?

Official publicity photo of Larry Flynt, the inventor of hardcore pornography, in the 1970s.

Notably I have not heard any of them question the sexual or relational choices that women make, which might give us a clue that we’re looking at a humanity-wide issue here. Nobody has questioned why female politicians seem inoculated against sex scandals (true, the occasional high school teacher gets snagged, but that’s different). So far as TV is concerned, I didn’t hear anything that made sense until Rachel Maddow had Larry Flynt on as a guest Wednesday night. (This segment is really worth watching, but please excuse or dissect the Orwellian ad for fracking that sometimes runs on her website.)

Flynt is of course the publisher of Hustler magazine, and in my view he’s one of the greatest Americans of our lifetimes because of how passionately he has enforced, protected and defended the First Amendment, before the Supreme Court and a lot of other courts. Flynt has also done his part exposing the hypocrisy of certain prominent American politicians who on the one hand run their careers on purity campaigns and on the other, engage prostitutes, have affairs and tap their feet in airport men’s rooms.

During his interview with Maddow Wednesday, Flynt said, “Something that no one has pointed out here, [is that] other than the drive for survival, the strongest single drive we have, is that for sex. So the one medium we use to communicate with more than anything else, we understand it the least.”

My response: Wow! What a perfect description of Asbolus!

Of what?

Asbolus is one of the centaur planets, in fact the fourth one ever discovered (that was back in 1995). Let’s see if I can bring you up to speed in three paragraphs. You’ve probably heard of Chiron, a passionate, edgy little planet associated with healing. It was discovered in our era of history — in 1977, and it’s the first of the centaurs. There are now many bodies in this class, which are small, asteroid-like or comet-like critters that cross the orbits of other planets. That’s the important part — they bridge together different levels of awareness and integrate seemingly separate psychological processes. Asbolus, like most centaurs, has an elongated orbit. It intersects with the orbits of Saturn and Uranus and it goes right out as far as Neptune, without crossing Neptune’s orbit.

Pieces from a chess set at a sexual art museum in Miami. The white pawns are masturbating women. The black pawns (not shown) are masturbating men. We would not be such pawns if we followed the advice of this chess set. Photo by Eric Francis.

The centaurs all address issues of healing, transformation and what you might call soul retrieval. If the astrology you are doing, or want to do, has any aspirations to being part of a healing process, or conscious evolution, you will love the centaurs. They all have something in common with Chiron, but each has a different feeling and theme.

Asbolus seems to be about survival. His name means carbon dust. That was my first clue to the theme: the things that all known life have in common are carbon and the need to survive. But then I started to see Asbolus show up prominently in the charts of people who had survived truly intense childhoods — the ones who sat behind the couch as thrown objects sailed overhead and crashed into the walls, escaping more or less unscathed. At first I thought, these people have had uncommonly nasty family of origin situations. Then after a while I realized when I was on the phone with them that they were alert, caring people who could take care of themselves — they made it. Their early situations had not broken them. While this does have a Chiron feeling of ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’, Asbolus brings a particularly concentrated version of that message. These clients seemed not to notice how close to the edge they had been, but rather went through this stuff relatively calmly.

Asbolus is truly primal, going deeper than the human level of experience. It’s about what all life has in common. Hold that thought.

The centaur discovered right before Asbolus was Nessus. I’ve mentioned this one more often. Nessus crosses the orbits of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, the first three outer planets. It was also the first planet in the history of science ever named based on the recommendation of astrologers.

Sexual art is the next oldest thing to sex. Humans have, throughout history, illustrated sex and sexuality. Photo at an erotic art museum in Miami by Eric Francis.

It’s about the cycles of karma. Nessus speaks directly to themes of betrayal and deception. Looking at Nessus, you can see the predisposition to psychological abuse in a chart. It provides valuable clues about themes associated with both potentially inappropriate sexual contact and sexually transmitted infections. And it can be a pointer to toxic sexual issues. Nessus made stunning appearances, conjunct the Sun, in the charts of both Gabrielle Giffords and Jared Loughner — the shooter and the person he shot. They had different roles but many eerily common chart features, and Nessus was prominent in both their natal charts and for the shooting itself.

Everything Nessus represents emerges from the demented world of human psychology and interpersonal poltics. It addresses the need to heal tendencies in the psyche that may spring from deep-seated instinct but are twisted into something else by human experience. Humans are subjected to certain kinds of social conditioning, power imbalances, obsessions and mistrust that make the dramas of Nessus possible. And, notably, nearly all humans have some need to heal these issues, which makes the astrological influence of Nessus useful.

When you think of the properties of Asbolus, remember that it applies to anything that’s alive. When you think of Nessus, think of what is distinctly and perversely human. They represent two different kinds of forces in the psyche. Asbolus brings in the theme of instinct and Nessus brings in the issue of intent, and a related issue of guilt. And in the functional sense, with Nessus we have the notion that the buck stops here: people who work consciously with Nessus are gifted at breaking the cycle of abuse. You could say the ones who are unconscious of Nessus perpetuate that cycle, and the ones who are paying attention are able to stop the cycle.

The Nessus-Asbolus Square

This week I went searching in the planets to find something that told the story of these numerous sex scandals that have been popping up all spring. While the US media is always eager to embarrass someone, this seems to be happening at an unusual pace right now. I noticed an aspect I’ve seen before but rediscovered, and which was exact Thursday — Nessus square Asbolus. That means they are meeting at 90-degrees. Nessus and Asbolus are slow-moving objects and make aspects only rarely. The current square takes a long time — it is slowly unfolding between 2009 and 2013, though one of the exact points of contact was June 9, 2011, and that tells us something about this very moment of history. (Note — I covered this in my podcast Wednesday, including an interview with Melanie Reinhart.)

ACT-UP poster from the 1980s, calling attention to how the Catholic Church would not allow the teaching of safer sex practices. Image from Stephen A. Schwarzman Building / Manuscripts and Archives Division.

A square is usually regarded as an internal dynamic in the psyche. Of course squares have manifestations in the world, but for the most part they play out from the inner world into the outer world. As I suggested in an article on sex scandals two weeks ago, these things are about us — not the people they purport to be about. They are about our negative, morbid and otherwise uncreative fixations on our own sexuality, projected onto the world. As far as the media is concerned, they make good copy when you don’t want to talk about the implications of nuclear meltdowns, the entire Middle East at war and various economic crises brewing. Sex scandals are the perfect distraction and in pure Nessus style, they both feed and draw upon our own sense of shame.

The square of Nessus and Asbolus pits against one another two deep forces in the psyche. One is the drive to survive. As Larry Flynt put it, “Other than the drive for survival, the strongest single drive we have, is that for sex. So the one medium we use to communicate with more than anything else, we understand it the least.” That would be Asbolus.

Then there is Nessus — that whole complex of abuse/revenge/betrayal/shame that is always involved in a sex scandal of any kind. None of this would have any emotional or intellectual currency were it not in some way present in our minds; were we not feeling in some way unclean about our sexuality. As A Course in Miracles explains it rather elegantly, the guilt within gets so intense the only thing we can do with it is to project it outward.

And apparently it does not take much to set off a fuss. Anthony Weiner, a gutsy, outspoken liberal, is accused only of having what amount to online flirtations with other adults. (He also happens to be one of the hardest working members of Congress, keeping his staff busy with things like fact-checking late into the night.) Unlike getting sex in men’s bathrooms in airports or paying high-priced prostitutes while making speeches about family values, Weiner was doing something that just about everyone does — play on the Internet. I understand the risks are higher if you’re a famous, bombastic congressman, but he still was doing something that many of us have done at some time, or do regularly. Okay, then he denied it and made up an excuse. This is supposed to be a big deal? Now we’re really in well-trodden territory. I assure you that there is nobody on the planet who has not, at some time, told a lie about sex.

Let’s consider the square between Asbolus (the vital force) and Nessus (the impulse to scandal and the opportunity to heal the psychology behind it). It’s as if these two planets are always in a square (they are not), however this moment is one where we can work out the conflict between what is entirely natural and unstoppable, and what is laced with betrayal, doubt and shame. One way not to work it out is hypocrisy. In fact, the hypocrisy of family values people condemning the same behavior they participate in is a way of turning that energy into abusive power.

Fresco from ancient Pompeii. Much of the art in Pompeii had erotic themes, which were preserved when the city was buried under ash and pumice from an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. Most of the art was confiscated by the Brits, a gesture which helped create the notion of ‘pornography’ as opposed to the mere depiction of love and eroticism; the notion of ‘pornography’ is a social construction.

It’s as if hypocrisy has this special metaphysical property of focusing power over people. Its message is: “watch out, I don’t have any ethics. My mind doesn’t regulate itself. I don’t have boundaries. In fact, I get off on inflicting this kind of pain and coming out smelling like a bouquet of roses.” (The crowd then bursts into wild cheers, apparently wishing it had the guts to do the same thing.) Politics in particular seems to run on this power. We expect politicians to be hypocrites, and indeed our own impossible-to-meet moral standards in effect force them to choose between being liars about what is perfectly natural, or not having jobs.

One sure thing you can say about this process is that nobody heals as a result of it. The cycle of shame, attack and victimization is only compounded. The healing process begins when we admit our own shame and tendency to either being a victim or attacker. This would take us off of the political level and onto the personal level. The political level is merely a kind of shadow dance. The personal level is the form that is casting the shadow, or to quote Jesus, casting the first stone.

One thing we really need to understand is that our society has done quite a fine job of making sure every form of sex, sexual feeling, sexual expression and even erotic fantasy — no matter how ‘normal’ — is at least potentially inappropriate and at worst potentially criminal. There is so much guilt, shame and victimization packed around sex that many people are at the point of verging on insanity and some are right there. This primal force has to go somewhere, and where it’s going at the moment — for most people — is that it’s getting caught in shame (which manifests many invisible ways: as rules, games, self-limitations, denial, deception and so on). The people who can shame themselves into submission are considered the ‘normal’ ones and those who express themselves often get pelted. We need, therefore, a way out of this mess. Usually it’s a few brave individuals who open the way for everyone else. Here is one example of that kind of person.

Nessus and Asbolus in the Natal Chart of Larry Flynt

Let’s give a big shout out to Larry Flynt for providing us with an excellent concept to understand Asbolus and by extension, the current Nessus-Asbolus square. Naturally after seeing him on Maddow last night, I was curious about his chart, and we have accurate data as certified with an AA rating (the highest) by the late Lois Rodden. When I looked at the chart, I wanted to test my understanding of both Asbolus and of Nessus. I will show you both in his chart.

Natal chart of Larry Flynt. This is one of those charts that looks like it was custom made for its owner: notice the triple conjunction in Scorpio (Mars, Venus, Sun). Asbolus, the archetype of the survivor, is rising in Gemini. Nessus is in pale blue toward the top left.

What we have in Flynt is a man who cannot stand this kind of hypocrisy in the political realm. Personally, he refuses to knuckle down to shame. As you will see from the segment of the Maddow show, he’s willing to put himself personally on the line to make this point. He may seem like an extreme case; his porno is not high class, and many find it degrading to women. But there is a higher principle involved: our coveted right to free expression; and an even higher one — he refuses to be a sexual hypocrite. Many who extol purity and the virtue of women are busy taking away their rights, including a new movement that is gathering momentum to roll back the right to birth control. That is what I said. Not only is Roe v. Wade under attack, so too is a ruling from 1965. That is Griswold v. Connecticut, which verifies both the right to contraception and the right to privacy. More on that another time soon.

Here is his chart above and to the right, and here is a larger version. True to form, he is a triple Scorpio — Sun, Venus and Mars. That’s the kind of thing that makes you believe in astrology. It makes so much sense that it’s funny. His Moon is in Leo; he is a showman, or as he once said, “a smut peddler who cares.” (He may be a lot more than that — he has the Galactic Center exactly on his relationship angle. To me this says he has direct contact with some of the deepest facets of existence, this thing that people long for when they say the word ‘spiritual’).

The 5th house from Larry Flynt’s chart. Here, you can see Mercury in the house of playful sexuality, followed by Mars, Venus and the Sun. Nessus is not shown, but it’s located at 3+ Taurus, exactly opposite Venus and Mars. Think of it as observing and mediating the relationship between his inner male and female energies, which helps him understand how they work in the world. Notably, Nessus in Flynt’s chart is in the discovery degree of Chiron, which is a lot like having honorary Nessus conjunct Chiron, amplifying the healing energy of the setup.

He has Gemini rising. That makes perfect sense, since he is a professional communicator. He is also a bit of a trickster. And that Gemini dualism gives us the sinner who comes off more like a saint. Asbolus is right in the ascendant; it is rising in his chart. This angular placement — on the horizon — is consistent with my earlier research: Asbolus shows up powerfully in the charts of survivors. Flynt would qualify. Not only has he survived the death of his beloved wife to AIDS and many long spells of litigation defending his constitutional right to be in business, he also survived an assassination attempt in 1978 wherein he and his attorney were shot by a sniper.

He was paralyzed from the waist down and spent years in excruciating pain. He then became addicted to painkillers and suffered a stroke, which is why his speech is slurred. Still, he presses on, and has had amazing success in business, in the political realm and the courts. Love him or hate him, he has made the world safer for both sex and for freedom of expression.

Let’s look at one house in his chart — the 5th house, which tells us a lot. Sex in the 5th is something we do for fun, for experimentation or out of curiosity: a form of play, and that is the business that Flynt is in. Porn is not about deep, meaningful commitment — it’s about feeling good. It’s about doing in your imagination what you may not have the courage to dare in physical life. Porn is about ideas. Those are particularly dangerous ideas these days, because once they’re expressed, these same things that many people crave on the cellular level tend to run into all of the rules and obstructions that have been put in the way by religion, government and social convention. And we see that collision most often in the form of scandal.

The first thing we find in that 5th house is Mercury. Can you see it there? It’s the green thing with horns. Mercury rules Flynt’s Gemini ascendant; in the 5th house we have the expression of sexuality as a communication device. It’s trine Asbolus, which in part represents the unstoppable biological force of sexual energy. Mercury trine Asbolus gives it a means of expression — the trine opens up the flow. It also bestows Flynt with the charm and derring-do for which so many love him so well. Flynt is the shameless spokesman for what we all have in common. And while I’m there, Mercury is in Libra, which is represented by the scales of justice: Flynt has spent a lot of time in court and for the most part he has done well. In true Libra style he has even befriended his former enemies, particularly toward the end of his life, religious huckster/political organizer Jerry Falwell. (Of Mr. Falwell, Flynt said, “I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling.”)

Now for Nessus. Do you see Mars and Venus? Mars is at 00+ Scorpio and Venus is at 5+ Scorpio. Nessus (not shown in the smaller diagram) is precisely opposite the point between them, across the wheel in Taurus, in Chiron’s discovery degree. His Nessus is observing Venus and Mars from afar. And it’s as if he has this healing force, a kind of Chiron of sex and relationships, mediating between his inner male and inner female energies. He understands the antipathy between Venus and Mars, between men and women — and he understands the drive to connect. And when he says, “The one medium we use to communicate with more than anything else, we understand it the least,” he knows what he’s talking about.

Yours & truly,

Additional Research: Tracy Delaney, Kirsti Melto, Melanie Reinhart.

 

Aries, Taurus, Gemini 2011 Birthday Reports Available

Dear Friend and Reader:

I’m happy to let you know that birthday readings (also called solar return charts) are available for Aries, Taurus and Gemini. These are approximately one-hour readings that cover the astrology of 2011 and into early 2012 in depth. These are entirely different readings from those you may have read in Light Bridge, but they build on some of the themes I introduced in the 2011 annual.

Then each sign gets a tarot reading, which gives an alternate take on the information, speaks a more intuitive language and provides a cross-check with the information that came out of the astrology. These are spiritually rich, practical, easy-to-grasp readings that offer the best of my astrology knowledge in a personal format.

Here are brief descriptions of the three signs:

ARIES — This is the first full solar year with Uranus in your birth sign. With this you have some amazing opportunities for personal reinvention, as well as special challenges in your relationships. You may be growing faster than the people around you; certainly you feel more restless and eager to meet the challenges of life. Also at the time of your birthday there was an astonishing alignment of planets in your sign. All of this speaks to unusual new potential — and a lot of energy. This reading offers suggestions for how to be in your relationships, whether personal or working, with all of this energy charging up in you like a battery. Purchasing information is here.

TAURUS — Jupiter has entered your sign and will be there through mid-2012. This is big news for Taurus, allowing you to broaden your perspective, providing many fresh ideas and opportunities. Jupiter is making contact with many planets, which gives you the ability to access those energies and bring them into your consciousness. The Taurus New Moon around your birthday was on fire, one of those events that spun the world on its finger. Between such a potent solar return chart and the presence of Jupiter, you have the ability to create anything you sincerely desire. This reading guides you to a depth of understanding of your potential, and offers suggestions for how to manifest it in reality. Purchasing information is here.

GEMINI — Eclipses have moved into the Gemini-Sagittarius axis, which is about you and the people close to you. Eclipses in your sign and opposite sign present special challenges, opportunities and the need for balance. This is an unusual time in your life wherein you can resolve old karma, let go of old patterns of thought, heal any inner divisions that have been slowing you down, and come into balance with those you love. An eclipse in your opposite sign, Sagittarius, allows you to let go of what some call ‘ego’ or personality baggage and be especially clear in your relationships, as well as in harmony with yourself. Purchasing information is here.

Taurus tarot spread using the Voyager deck by James Wanless.

Each comes with a photograph of the tarot spread, using the Voyager Tarot by James Wanless. These tarot readings were one of the most popular features of the birthday audio series last year, and I love doing them — a rare opportunity for me to do tarot at Planet Waves. James, by the way, is a friend of Planet Waves and will soon be a guest on my podcast. He will be introducing his new deck — it’s called the “Sustain Yourself” deck and handbook. You can read about it on his homepage. In addition, in each of the birthday reports there are links to discounted offers for Light Bridge (the 2011 personal readings from Planet Waves, all 12 signs), as well as discounted links to last year’s solar return in case you missed that.

I trust that you will find this information helpful and useful. I recognize these are not personal readings, but I bring the best of my talent and communication ability to tell the story of your sign in a way that is personally relevant: a kind of mythical fiction that weaves a story I trust you will relate to and draw nourishment from.

Thank you for doing your metaphysical shopping at Planet Waves.

Sincerely,

PS: Each report comes with a copy of Light Bridge: The 25-Year Span, an e-book collection of my favorite articles since 1987.

 

This is a busy weekend astrologically. There are many aspects and an eclipse on the way. Read more in today’s edition of Daily Astrology & Adventure.

Weekly Horoscope for Friday, June 10, 2011, #863 – BY ERIC FRANCIS

Revised and Updated! Click for Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Go easy on people, especially the ones you want. You are pumping more energy than you think, and it’s not all positive. Most of it is, but at the moment I suggest you observe carefully what is included within your desire nature. It’s not one simple emotion — there are many sub-topics and feelings within the feeling. Monitor these as carefully as you can. I’m not proposing that you be (or act) pure in any way, but rather that you be mindful of the contents of your emotions. Certain factors make it really easy to speak, and you may not be in the mood to censor yourself. You’ll avoid hurting anyone if you listen to what you’re saying. Don’t make promises you cannot keep, and remember how vulnerable people are. Your environment is delightfully social at the moment, but there are risks involved, and it would really be best to take them consciously. If any past emotional material is triggered, stop and listen to yourself. If you open your mouth and utter a judgment that sounds more like something your grandparents would say, pause and review.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Aries, please go to this link.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — I suggest you put your emphasis on coming up with new ideas for creating and developing resources rather than spending money. You have excellent ideas now, but that doesn’t translate to being wise with your finances. Therefore, focus on the future. Focus on what is important to you but be conservative with your cash. If you do spend money, pause before you make the final decision and stick to what has lasting value (you may be tempted to spend on what seems glittery and glamorous but that is going to fade pretty fast). When in doubt, wait. The time has arrived to think of your longterm plans for building your wealth. Mostly this is about the value you see yourself as having, value that I suggest you demonstrate every chance you get. Give yourself the sensation of doing your work well, and maximizing your role in the lives of others who you care about. In other words, value is not ephemeral, it’s tangible and can be easily observed.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Taurus, please go to this link.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Venus enters your sign Friday, which makes you the belle or beau of the ball. The attraction power of Venus works for just about everyone. Be aware that people may be making up fantasy stories about you; the only thing you can really do about this is be aware, and make sure you either work within the context of that fantasy or be clear of what your agenda is. That said, you can have a lot of fun as the current aspects in your chart develop. Your impulse is clearly to feel good, and your solar chart tells me you will spare neither expense nor risk to do that. I would offer the following suggestions; choose them as they may apply. Stay three drinks behind the crowd. Only take drugs you’ve taken before. Plan your ‘safer sex’ routine in advance and stick to it. And remember, one hot night or weekend does not equal ‘true love’. This would be a fantastic time to leave that concept in your jewelry box and wear something more practical, better suited for the hot weather. One last: use your intuition. It probably does not yell, so you have to listen.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Gemini, please go to this link.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — The Moon is on course for a total eclipse in the angle of your chart associated with healing and wellbeing. The eclipse is in about five days — that would be next week, so we are under its spell at the moment. As I’ve mentioned, it’s conjunct the Galactic Core, which will help you make contact with some of the deepest impulses that influence human consciousness. Two come to mind. One is the irresistible pull of Spirit, Source, Love, God or the Cosmos, however you think of it. Allow this to influence everything you do — and if you notice there are some situations in your life where this doesn’t matter, then you can be sure the situation does not offer you much. Along with this is what we might describe as the anxiety of nonexistence. Ego consciousness actually stands on very little; some say it has no foundation. In order to draw the most energy from Source, it’s necessary to dance with that sensation of nonexistence. This will feel a bit daring, though you can fly through the turbulence and get to an unusually placid, loving and creative space.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Cancer, please go to this link.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Take a realistic approach to your professional goals and you will make them real. Realistic means thinking a little bigger than you normally might, because your potential is a little bigger than usual. So err on the side of aiming not just high but for what you specifically want to do. Jupiter has begun a one-year journey across your house of reputation and achievement, and this house rewards focus and putting yourself where people can see what you’re doing. The early part of this Jupiter transit includes some of the most spectacular aspects that we’ve seen in a long time, so you can afford to have faith in yourself. Part of your leadership ability involves focusing on the place where resources meet ideas. You have access to some unusual flow of wealth, though only on the condition that it be part of a larger building process, a specific mission or service project. What you bring to the equation (in abundance) is a sense of vision and mission that many people around you cannot quite muster.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Leo, please go to this link.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — On our planet, at our moment, it doesn’t work so well to construct walls so that we can have a feeling of safety. I would suggest that it’s vulnerability that will lead to your deepest sense of vitality and freedom. While you’re doing that, use your expanded perception to set some new goals. Most of the objectives we set for ourselves are based on what would supposedly be right, predictable, dependable and would therefore pass muster with various authority figures in our minds. What you want is a little weird, it’s innovative, and at the same time it would qualify as an old idea that nobody has thought of lately. As you expand your vision into the future, listen to what the naysaying voices tell you. I don’t suggest you try to squash them — rather, listen and figure out who they represent. These are the fearful impulses that you simply must — and truly can — transcend if you’re going to live as your own person. The good news is, they are merely effects of a cause that is long since gone.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Virgo, please go to this link.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Venus has slipped into Gemini, a sign harmonious with your own, and a region of your chart that reminds you to expand your horizons. Now is the time to encourage your imagination to run away with you. Don’t worry if you think something you want is impossible to attain, too far away to reach or exists far in the future. Make contact with it now. By imagination, I mean the power of conscious imagery. Literally see what you want, see who you want to be, and better yet, be who you want to become. You may feel like you’re faking; don’t worry about it. Fairly soon you will encounter an occasion to manifest something that a moment ago was merely an idea (and remember, everything starts as an idea). The opportunity may feel like a stretch, a pleasant shock or a total immersion of some kind — that’s the feeling you’re looking for. This is not merely a fleeting experience; you’re mapping out emotional territory, and experimenting with a new sensation of existence. Be bold but gentle.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Libra, please go to this link.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Once again, a partner seems to be finding it easier to make changes than you do, but that’s one reason he or she is in your life. You need that kind of example, guiding you out of your usual frame of reference, your habits and your routines. Welcome any such change; there is plenty brewing on the horizon, including one of the most unusual kinds for you — changing how you feel. You often experience feeling as a passive experience. It’s nothing of the kind. To the contrary, feeling is something that happens as a dynamic — that is, in a fast-moving process embracing you and what you experience. There is an element of the past that is likely to arise in the midst of this. You may not recognize it as ‘the past’ at first, but anything that has the least hint of prejudice or betrayal is an opportunity for you to consciously forgive, release any leftover struggle and set yourself just a little more free.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Scorpio, please go to this link.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Take care that you don’t mix up a new love interest, erotic play partner or fantasy scenario with your need for security. They’re not the same, and confusing them has a way of negating both. Indeed, the whole quest for permanence and stability detracts from the fleeting, spontaneous quality of erotic energy. I say this recognizing that we’re told over and over again that the only ‘mature’ relationships are the ones that are supposed to head directly toward a mortgage and investment portfolio. Then when we get into those relationships we so often wonder where the passion went. If you think of security as something you give yourself, based on your specific needs and longterm history, you will leave erotic pleasure to be something you’re capable of sharing. But remember that this, too, comes from you; the people you attract are drawn to something about you, and you can only share what you already have. Bring a spirit of giving to every encounter and those encounters will be happier.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Sagittarius, please go to this link.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — If there are patterns in your life that you want to shift, now is the time. You may be experiencing some unusual anxiety these days; you don’t need it, and you can start your list with that. One thing to be aware of is that you may be experiencing some form of psychic or psychological trauma from too much pressure, too many changes too fast, or a lack of stability that seems to have entered your life some time in the past 10 years. I know that seems like a long time, but anyway if it’s true you have an opening to let go of that pattern. It’s likely to be influencing you in ways you don’t recognize; fear of any kind would be the first clue, as would any narrowing of your perception, shrinking your expectations of life or persistent struggle in relationships. These things — if they exist — have a cause, and you can now get a sense of what it is and grow into something else. You can accomplish great things at this time in your life. Indeed, you can build your future on the foundation you lay in this moment. Make it a joyful one.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Capricorn, please go to this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Something is connecting within you and that is making contact with the world around you. It’s as if there’s electricity running through your body and that flow of current wants to make contact with your environment. The same flow of energy is also about awareness. I suggest you be bold about what you perceive. Look and listen as if the world was created to be a feast for your senses. Now, there is a growth element to all of this, or what you might call an evolutionary element. Immersing yourself in your awareness has a kind of alchemical power right now. In a sense, you change what you perceive, and your perception changes you. Think of yourself not as merely witnessing the world but as mixing your elements with its elements, forming an entirely new compound. That includes the people you encounter during the next week or so, who are no doubt noticing you.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Aquarius, please go to this link.

Pisces(Feb. 19-March 20) — You have some astonishing manifesting power at the moment; the important thing is therefore to be aware of what you want, and focus on that. This will save you the time and energy of unmanifesting what you don’t want that happened to show up because you were not sure. If you find yourself thinking of something negative, move onto something more pleasant. I will suggest here that you don’t have to go far to experience some of the best that life has to offer; just about everything that will truly nourish you will be close to home. Indeed, there is something coming up in the cycles of life that suggests focusing on the space immediately around you, and on the familiar activities at hand. I suggest this because it’s the most direct path to what is new and unusual. You don’t need to chase anyone or anything. Be present within your current time and space and you will quickly figure out how much is there.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Pisces, please go to this link.

Turning the Tide

Dear Friend and Reader:

When the Sun makes its way into the sign Cancer later in the month, it’s going to be in harmony with Chiron and Neptune in Pisces. That’s a water-to-water aspect — a trine. The way we would say this in astro-talk is, “Sun trine Neptune and Chiron.” Trines open up a flow, and where Neptune and the water signs are involved, that means the flow of emotions. Where Chiron is involved, that means emotional healing. And with Chiron, healing always begins with raising awareness.

Our society, and many of us as individuals, invest quite a lot of energy into figuring out how not to feel. It’s true that a lot comes at us every day, and if you open your eyes to the world, one of the first things you might notice is a world in pain. Is it really possible to feel, in that environment? Well, I would ask another question — is it really possible to suppress feeling, as you bear witness to the struggle of life in our benighted world?

Ideally, witnessing the struggle would inspire compassion, and that in turn would lead to taking care of oneself and of others. You could say this is the ultimate challenge we face as seemingly ‘separate’ humans.

The realm of Pisces, which can be visionary, is usually the place through which the shut-down energy is processed. That would be our obsession with entertainment, image, glamor and substances that are designed specifically to shut us down. I am speaking mainly of alcohol and antidepressants. Now, I’m not a teetotaler, and I recognize there are times when psychiatric meds can be vitally important. However, we do have a rather exaggerated situation on our hands and it is causing problems for many people, and I suspect for society as well.

Consider the Lake Superior-sized vat of liquor that is consumed on the planet every single day, around the clock, and just ask yourself why. Imagine the millions of people getting on the road drunk. There is something underneath all of that. It might be the need to loosen up; it might be the need to drown out the pain of life; in any event, many feelings are concealed.

Or, consider how antidepressants don’t actually work to resolve any of our problems, and most people taking them know they would do a lot better in therapy. Of course, in our time of history, therapy is considered confrontational. It takes time. It’s supposedly expensive. But mostly, I think it’s daunting to consider all that we have not considered. We have this idea that it’s just fine to ‘leave the past behind’, which works unless it keeps catching up.

Yet sooner or later, a healing process is inevitable. Emotional healing almost always proceeds in layers. At first, what we find as we proceed through them might not feel good, and that’s a pretty big deterrent to many people; the goal of life, we are told many places, is to feel good. That, for sure, is the longterm goal of emotional healing. Getting started, I think we might need to add other inspirations, such as more honest communication with people around us, access to our creativity, and getting in touch with the will and energy necessary to improve our lives. Yes, that’s about feeling better, but it’s not quite swinging on a hammock in the Bahamas.

I have said before that one of the deepest needs the world faces is for the acknowledgment of emotional healing. Most of the pain in the world, whether it’s in politics, business, relationships or our inner relationship, comes from unresolved emotional issues. The first and most useful step is admitting the need for healing. It’s easy to see it in a politician expressing his regrets over Twittering a girlfriend. It’s more difficult to see it when we are caught in our own suspicion, jealousy or desire for revenge.

Where Chiron (or any of the related centaur planets) is involved, there is a pointer to ancestral material. This means that many of the themes that would come up in a healing process are multigenerational. With the Sun in the sign Cancer, we will have a clue to look on the maternal side of our lineage: that is, on mother’s side of the family. It may seem inconceivable that we are carrying the emotional weight of our great-grandmother, but once you start exploring your personal material — as any practitioner can tell you — it starts to seem really obvious.

With the Sun about to trine Neptune and Chiron, the flow is open to healing, to honesty and to imagination. A trine represents a fragile situation, or a potential that we must consciously put to use with daily practice. But it’s there if we want it. And if enough of us do, gradually we will begin to turn the tide.

Lovingly,

PS: Later today we will be sending out an announcement about the first three astrology/tarot birthday reports — Aries, Taurus and Gemini. These are done; we are just tidying up a few technical details. Please watch your inbox for the announcement in a little while. Season Pass holders (Blue and Gold) will be emailed the login information shortly.

Yearning for Dharma: An Epistle of the Eclipses

Garden of Earthly Delights – Gemini solar eclipse. The bright spot at the top of this photo is the Moon and the Sun, about an hour after the conjunction. All photos in this edition were taken recently on the land (which also tells stories). Contact me if you if you would like larger versions, such as to decorate your website or illustrate an article — or as prints for your home or office. Photo by Eric.

 

Dear Friend and Reader:

Wednesday, I got a fortune cookie that said, “Cleaning up the past will always clear up the future!”

Who the heck writes these things, and how did I get one so perfectly describing a solar eclipse on the South Node, on the day of that eclipse? It’s a simple, elegant description of something we all know to be true, but often have so much difficulty with. After all, the past is so abundant, and it can be so problematic. The future seems to barely exist, if it exists at all; and it’s entirely uncertain.

Natural archway in the woods of the Grandmother Land in High Falls, NY. Photo by Eric Francis.

But it keeps happening; it comes at us faster than we realize. Well, the past couple of years, we’ve been getting a clue.

Eclipses involve these alignment points called the lunar nodes. There are two — North and South. In my podcast this week, I described how the South Node is about the expression or resolution of karma. Karma is the end result of the past; we experience it as the effect part of cause and effect, though the way to get a handle on karma is to figure out what the cause is about, and do your best to intervene in the process as consciously and as often as you can. After a while you start to figure it out. However the responsibility of knowing and actually living the truth that your actions have consequences can feel daunting. Part of why the past is so intimidating is that the world can not only be extremely unforgiving, but some take pleasure in inflicting that. It’s easy to get the sense that there is no point bothering with healing, making reparations or getting clear. But resolving the past is not about them; it’s about you. For those who figure it’s just easier pretending nothing matters, there may be less to keep you up at night. Yet those concerns can be subverted into what psychologists call generalized anxiety that may very well be the result of not focusing on what is important. By important, I don’t mean your taxes; I mean what is meaningful to your soul.

Though the eclipse happened two days ago, we can still work with it. We’re now in a kind of hot zone of several eclipses (and the sign change of Jupiter, a related story) wherein it’s possible to metaprogram our lives. A South Node eclipse in Gemini is about acknowledging and releasing mental patterns that don’t work for us. Indeed, the whole 18-month transit of the South Node through Gemini is about doing this, though we have eclipses as focal points to help us move the energy along faster.

The South Node represents a point in consciousness where the past enters the chart, and where it can accumulate. Planets in the natal chart near the South Node can represent longterm manifestations of the past — including of past lives — that we’re experiencing now. Planets transiting the South Node can represent situations that come up for healing, awareness and release. So the South Node really has this double function of representing what accumulates, and then the place we release it. By place, I mean in the manner suggested by the chart.

Photo by Eric Francis.

With the South Node (and eclipses) in Gemini, we’re letting go of old mental patterns, a sense of split reality, conflict and mental chatter. And while we seem to crave doing this, to get to a point of freedom within ourselves, there is another calling that most people feel at the same time, which is represented by the North Node. This is the pull toward new, unfamiliar experiences, though it has a subtle urgency more than an obvious one. The North Node can be the sense of what we came here to do. But it’s often a calling left unanswered.

We tend to lean heavily on the South Node. It’s familiar, it’s got a sticky quality and a habitual feeling, and that can often overpower the tentative quest of the North Node. You know the feeling — it’s the tension between what you do and what you really want to do. It’s the pull between what occupies your time now and what you wish you could be doing. It can also be tension between your need to make a living and your need to express yourself fully. Though many astrology students struggle with understanding the lunar nodes, they represent some of the most basic things that people go through.

Or shall I say people who are waking up to the idea that there may be a difference between what you’re doing and what you want to be doing; what you feel stuck with versus what you crave. Not everyone experiences this. If you do, though it may be frustrating, it’s a sure sign of awakening. There is a challenge involved, and the challenge makes it appealing to go back to sleep and pretend you don’t have that certain desire: to be more authentic, to do something more meaningful, or to support your own growth through your choices and actions. I would note — as we also know — that there are many potential distractions and temptations. If you want to live your dream without quitting your job just yet, there may come a time when you have to stay home and work every weekend instead of socialize. And if you’ve done that for a while, what you may need is balance in the other direction.

The nodes are an axis, and that means they are about balance. Usually, we must balance in the direction of the North Node. And it is an ongoing quest. Working as an astrologer for what feels like a good portion of eternity, I hear about this all the time. Besides wanting the perfect relationship, it’s the thing that most people come in with: a clear case of their North Node waking up, and not knowing how to handle it. It can be a strange feeling, compelling to some, annoying to others, but in the long run unavoidable — and we know it.

Photo by Eric Francis.

It will manifest as a person wanting to do what they came here to do, though often feeling helpless to get there, or even to begin. There are both counseling techniques and astrological techniques that can facilitate this, but really the client needs to be willing to cooperate with what is indeed his or her own agenda. It will usually help to clear some baggage out of the past, which might come in the form of dysfunctional beliefs or the agendas that others attached to us with that glue known as guilt.

Guilt can take many forms — that’s the first thing to understand about it. We may have to work through many forms of guilt to get unstuck, such as feeling it’s ‘too late’, the sense that there’s ‘not enough time’, and a past sense of failure. Note, these can all crumble or melt when life is taken over by a sense of adventure, curiosity or the need to go on a mission of some kind. We’ve all heard people say, “Had I known what I was getting involved in, I wouldn’t have done it, but I’m glad that I did.” That’s the North Node.

Eclipses — which activate both the North and South nodes, because they come in pairs or threes — are times when this whole process is shaken up and accelerated. Eclipses push the lunar nodes and the process they represent into overdrive. The South Node eclipse in Gemini has started a process of clearing out thought patterns, beliefs and ideas that don’t work for us.

How do you know what doesn’t work? Well, you probably already know, and it’s not that hard to figure out if you gather some evidence. In any event the process starts moving as the eclipse happens, and you’re probably getting some information from your direct experiences. Or as The Onion put it this week, all American problems could be solved by just stopping and thinking for two seconds. That would go for Canadian, English and Australian problems too. A lot of what I do as an astrologer is hang out with people and think. We apply reasoning methods; we think through the issues. (I offer many of the thought processes in this column, having learned them from experience in therapy and working with people.) With the nodes, the thing to remember is: work out both sides of the equation.

Photo by Eric Francis.

If you’re working with the nodes in your chart, or if you want to, I suggest you check a diversity of sources for what your placements are about — but emphasize the house placement over the sign placement. (Note, some sources are a bit overconfident about what these placements mean, and make statements that are not supportable. Therefore, read with an open mind, compare the sources and make sure the statements are supportable before you take them on board.) The sign placement is useful because the sign has a ruling planet and you can get some big clues — indeed some of the most meaningful clues — about what the nodes mean by studying the condition of the planet associated with that sign. For example, if your North Node is in Sagittarius, look at what Jupiter is doing for information about how you use your North Node. Remember — planets are not merely symbols; symbols stand for something in your life. Doing astrology is partly about figuring out what reality the symbols correspond with.

The next eclipse is a total lunar on June 15, a potent one on the North Node that happens to be conjunct the Galactic Center. I described this with the monthly horoscope a few weeks ago; that introduction is probably worth checking out again, since these ideas seem to take some repetition. Here we see the progression from letting go of ideas and patterns that don’t work and plunging into something bigger. Bigger, as in the soul-level calling represented by the Galactic Center; the sense of global reality, expressed in an individual way. The forthcoming eclipse on the North Node is about the undeniable yearning for dharma, and connecting what you might think of as the deepest calling you can connect with. It’s a moment to refresh your mind with your original commitments, instructions or inspiration for coming here (however you choose to think of it).

I will admit, whatever the GC represents is going to be a pretty high calling. It may feel intangible or, if you have a sense of what it is, impossible. Yet it’s about nothing less than the constant calling you feel, sometimes in the background, sometimes in the front of your thoughts, that there is something you want to do and need to do. That is the calling to dharma — your personal calling to do what is right for you, and acting for the greatest good for all concerned (the two are related, but they come in that order). Dharma is a form of integrity wherein personal right action and the cohesion of the world are recognized as being part of the same thing.

Remember, it’s an experience, not merely an idea. And that experience may feel strange and tentative at first, and that’s the feeling to follow, and to follow into yourself.

Lovingly,

 

 

Photo by Eric Francis.

Weekend Astrology: Jupiter in Taurus

Today is Friday, June 3, 2011. This weekend, Jupiter enters Taurus, where it will be through the spring of 2012. Unlike its recent visits to Pisces and Aries, Jupiter’s visit to Taurus is uninterrupted by retrograde back into Aries. The Taurus placement and Jupiter’s consistency there speak to a sense of stability, consistency and even-tempered growth. We have been living with a lot of Aries lately, and that’s had a hot, scorching feeling. Taurus will cool Jupiter off, like how taking a walk in a forest is good for your mind. Forests offer wisdom that cities do not.

Taurus appreciates that sense of continuity, and Jupiter — the ruling planet of Pisces — is great friends with Venus. I am not suggesting that life will be peaches and cream; we still live in challenging, even aggressively challenging, times, but this transit will be helpful, and a point of cooperation with much else going on. For example, Jupiter in an earth sign begins to pick up Pluto in Capricorn, which opens the way for the expression of ideas, passion and handy stuff like devotion that could be directed politically (among other ways).

Before I go on, here’s a quick rundown of current placements. The Moon ingressed Cancer Friday at 4:36 am EDT. The Sun, of course, is still in Gemini, about to get to the midpoint of that sign. Mercury just went into Gemini as well, and is making a square to both Neptune and Chiron. The Mercury-Neptune square can struggle with integrity (it’s important to state the truth under this aspect, and you might say to understate it). Mercury square Chiron can have the feeling of self-doubt, how could I be such an idiot, or thinking you’re wrong when you’re actually perceiving things accurately. I suggest you cross-reference, reality check against the viewpoints of others, and don’t be too frustrated by the sensation of not knowing. Being aware that you don’t know is the first step toward finding out.

Now, as for Jupiter in Taurus. Note that in less than two weeks, we’re having an eclipse of the Moon in Sagittarius. The North Node is also in Sagittarius, hence we will be having an eclipse there. The sign change of Jupiter, and the aspects that Jupiter makes, are connected to the themes of this eclipse. Remember that as you consider what you’re reading. The North Node is on the Galactic Core and that represents the direction of the pull; but where Jupiter is represents the worldly application of that quest, and there is hardly a sign more earthy than Taurus. You might say that Sagittarius is the concept, or the way the idea manifests in your crown chakara; Jupiter is telling us about how and where to express that.

Jupiter is the principle of expansion, as well as fortune, and wisdom. Grounding Jupiter in Taurus takes away nothing, and the cooler temperature allows for a more deliberate approach than we get in Aries. We need this: a sense of persistent expansion rather than the aggressive striving and vying that are so characteristic of our world. This won’t be boring. Taurus is restless down there, take it from someone who collects these people in my life. They are not as calm as they seem; they are on fire inside. But that fire is being expressed like trees pushing up from the Earth, or those volcanoes in Hawaii that expand the island a little bit every day.

Let’s take a look back and consider the last time this transit happened. Jupiter last entered Taurus in early 2000. That was a monumental year — the year of the Metal Dragon, and the year of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Taurus. A lot happened, and it was not all so happy — including events that paved the way for where we are today, most particularly the [stolen] election of the Cheney/Bush administration. Fortunately — very fortunately, since we have quite enough on our hands — there’s not a Jupiter-Saturn conjunction this time around (that won’t happen again till late 2020, in Aquarius). Still, it would make sense to take a moment to review where you’ve been and what you’ve done since 2000, which (like 2012 ahead of us) was a fabled, mythologized year. If the optimism of 2000 turned out to have been squandered, perhaps the abundant pessimism associated with 2012 will turn out to be false. If you would like to peer back into the astrology of 2000, here is an article from that era called The River of Night.

The first thing Jupiter does when it changes signs is make aspects to Neptune and Chiron. Jupiter is associated with Pisces and both of these planets are in Pisces; that is a strong connection. Jupiter has traction in this relationship, and those planets in Pisces have a means of expression. Think of all that Pisces energy flowing into Taurus through Jupiter. Now imagine Jupiter making contact with Pluto in Capricorn — all that nerve-wracking, precipitous, crumbling sense of change that Pluto is creating in Capricorn but translated into something more stable and easy to handle.

So, while we could say that Jupiter in Taurus is all about Jupiter in Taurus, what it actually does is connect that Sagittarius energy to the Earth, where it can express itself tangibly; and open a doorway to putting the energy of three outer planets to good use. You could say this is the perfect connection between the ‘spiritual’ and the ‘material’ — though you have to admit, any planet where mold spontaneously grows in the basement and where critters are found on the bottoms of the oceans and the tops of mountains — and everywhere in between — is pretty spiritual to begin with.

U.S. government issues new dietary chart

Weekly Horoscope for Friday, June 3, 2011, #862 – BY ERIC FRANCIS

Revised and Updated! Click for Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You really can let bygones be bygones with a sibling. At the same time, it’s always useful to recognize who a person is and accept them for that, rather than trying to change them in any way — and I do mean any way. Most people are committed to who they have become rather than to who they are becoming. You don’t live that way, and your charts are all about moving on. You see a bigger world; you are aware of the existence of horizons much wider than you’ve ever lived. That really is the difference between you and the people you grew up around. The challenging part of accepting that difference is feeling free to be who you are as an active process, rather than a fixed notion — and not using your past, or the figures of the past, as a point of comparison by which you judge yourself. A little compare and contrast is okay, but not too much. You are learning to see yourself in the context of wider potentials than you, or they, ever have, and the habit of comparison is a way to block that. Aim for the sky.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Aries, please go to this link.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Earlier in the week there was a solar eclipse in the financial angle of your chart. Did you figure out anything about how your two contrasting views of money tend to deny one another rather than support one another? I’ve described this before: a double values system. On one side, you might like money, but on the other be convinced that money corrupts people. Or you might appreciate good things but feel guilty about having too much. Recent events are likely to point out the contrast, which can be frustrating if you don’t have a way around it. The thing is, you do. You know that there’s a solution set, and you’re close to having it figured out. The key rather than figuring it out is to live the version of the truth that you want to be true. Conflict serves a purpose — usually to appease someone in authority. Once you let go of the conflict, you move into a position where you serve yourself, and are therefore also useful to others.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Taurus, please go to this link.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — When eclipses reach your birth sign (something that just happened this week) you can be thrown into an identity crisis. That’s actually a good thing, as long as you know what’s going on. And what would that be? Identity is more flexible than we like to think. Indeed, it is our choice to cling to who we think we are that tends to throw us into crisis, particularly when we don’t quite know. The way to find out who you are is to let go of your old ideas of who you thought you were. I know that this is more difficult than it seems, but that’s generally because we don’t know what those old ideas are. I would say, you have bumped into one any time you encounter frustration or a sense of failure. Think of that as a matter of identity rather than as a fact of the world. See how far back you can trace the story of that particular emotion. It’s often liberating to put together the simple fact that something has a history. Then remind yourself that you’re in a different place and time, under different rules. Stay conscious and you can change the game.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Gemini, please go to this link.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — The thing about having any feelings at all is that they sometimes lead to deep feelings, which can lead to a sensation of being out of control. The fear of this turn of events leads many people to skim the surface of their feelings like an insect skeets along the surface of water. Bugs can do that using a natural thing called surface tension — and that is what you feel when you meet many people. It’s a defensive layer that coats the outside of their psyche that makes them seem impenetrable. While doing this may seem like a prudent thing to do (after all, it keeps people out) it also blocks the feelings of those you might want to encounter in a deeper way. Most of that surface tension is expressed through the personality as indifference, which is a little like cutting off the flow of blood to your brain. You’re not indifferent; in fact, you’re very different, and you’re curious about other people who are different as well. Open the door and let them in.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Cancer, please go to this link.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — I suggest you notice the direct relationship between what you set as a goal and what you accomplish. I am not here to tell you that you can do this; I am here to suggest that you investigate the ways you do so regularly. Once you notice this, you will have evidence how important your goals actually are, because they’re the thing you actually get done. This is a pivotal moment for adjusting your goals. Choose what you want; let go of what you do not want. Work for what you want. Stop working for what you don’t want. Observe any conflicts in your plan. Perhaps most significantly, resurrect old plans that you may have forgotten about the past few years. Dust them off and see what they say. At the very least there will be some gems in there that you can apply to your current projects. One last thing — a sense of play is vital to anything you begin now. The more fun something is, the greater chance of success you have, in part because you’re succeeding from the beginning.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Leo, please go to this link.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — As I have written many times, one interesting thing about your sign is your tendency to have two distinct careers. I say this knowing that many people walk around with an assortment of business cards, and have five different web identities. I don’t mean that — I mean that you have the potential, and the inclination, to be a master of two distinct professional activities. On the surface, they may seem to have little in common. Yet they are informed by the same values. You do them for the same inner reasons, though they might appear to fulfill different outer purposes. Right now I suggest you emphasize the unity of these two modes of your existence, particularly if you’ve been feeling out of balance about your work. Do your best to feel good about whatever you’re doing, which will help you succeed and also provide a positive frame of reference for the decisions you’re about to make.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Virgo, please go to this link.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Saturn stations direct on June 12, which tells me you’re in the process of coming to terms with who you are. This is a matter of taking authority over yourself, rather than letting others have that privilege. This may be eminently pleasant. But if you’re struggling a little, note that this is one of the most challenging things that a human being can do on this planet and in our time of history. The story of Earth is the story of people giving up their power and then trying to get it back. Beneath this drama there is a tendency that we are dealing with, which you could call planetary in nature; it’s about how we get control over kids. Indeed, we treat children as things to get control over; then we treat women that way; then we treat men that way; and soon enough we all walk around believing that it’s our God-given right to make sure that people feel like they have control over us. That’s why coming to terms with who you are and what you want can feel like no less than waging the French Revolution. If so, then Liberté! Egalité! Fraternité!

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Libra, please go to this link.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — A subject that has, for weeks, seemed intractable is now open to discussion. Something changed — don’t worry about what. The effect won’t be influenced by whether you understand why the air seems clearer, or why others seem less attached to their past positions, or more accurately, their past contradictions. I suggest you invest your energy in listening and inquiring rather than making statements. This is a fairly rare opportunity to experience the people around you going against what they think of as their nature, and in the process, being of service to the whole situation. I would remind you, however, that there are much more important matters on the line than what is currently up for discussion, and by that I mean fundamental matters of your own integrity. Don’t get lost in the details, the trivia, or the gossip. In fact, move on from them as fast as you can.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Scorpio, please go to this link.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — This week’s eclipse in your opposite sign has done a good job of stirring the pot in your relationships, which is another way of saying: in your life. What seems to be an external circumstance is really a projection of your own thoughts. It’s not always easy to see this, but your perspective at the moment is well suited to work with this dimension of reality. When you see or experience something outside yourself, follow that inward. This counts for ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ developments. The current experiment may take a couple of weeks to yield the full effect, which is about discovering how you influence your world. One thing to keep an eye on is that the effect will proceed from the outer to the inner; something will happen, and then you will discover how you influenced that, or how it worked out for you. Practice noticing and then you can start using this as a method to live by.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Sagittarius, please go to this link.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — You may not feel ready, but you have an opportunity. The lack of readiness has a few components, one of which is being reluctant to take on any more responsibility than you already have. However, if you’re thinking this, you may be working with an outdated concept of responsibility. We could start with an easy shift into the ‘able to respond’ definition of that word; explore that for a while and check out how you feel. In practical terms, doing more is not always a matter of working harder. There are three factors at play: awareness, efficiency and desire. Start by being aware of your surroundings and how they are changing. This includes what supposed authority figures are saying, doing and planning. Next, look for simple solutions to what may seem like complex problems. You should be able to see through the issues and observe them for what they are. Last, the desire factor addresses any additional work. It’s not work if you really, truly, want to do it.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Capricorn, please go to this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Your homing instinct is going at full strength, and it’s closely related to your sexual instincts. Indeed, it would be safe to say that they are one and the same at this point. That does not assure that they are ‘correct’ — we live in a world that tends to go counter to what we know in our cells. So you will need to conduct an investigation, or more accurately, an experiment. The essential nature of the experiment is communication, but it’s a fairly daring kind. A door that was closed is now open; it’s both an inner door and an outer one. There is a mirror effect going on; you are in an environment that is at once social and also psychological. So as you explore, remember you’re exploring yourself — and that you’re providing a space for someone to explore who they are as well. The key is to keep the flow of communication open in the midst of any communing that may be going on. Listen and speak as your environment rapidly evolves.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Aquarius, please go to this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Your home is becoming a busier place, and I suggest you welcome that fact. As always, you need to make sure that you have the time and space to retreat and do what you can only do alone, but besides that, leave your doors open. Explore your neighborhood and make new friends, even if you thought there weren’t any to meet. Look up some old friends and see what’s going on with them. Your environment is shifting and at the moment distinctly lacks the inert quality that so much of the world’s environment has right now. There is just the right touch of reactivity in the air; just the right touch of the miraculous or the odd chance. The zone you’re looking for is the one where you’re pushing your boundary of safety or confidence but you know you’re probably okay. This is a way of discovering that your sense of security has you hemmed in, and that you’re definitely safe and grounded — the more so for taking some actual risks for the sake of your happiness.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Pisces, please go to this link.

About that Rapture (or, What is a Sex Scandal?)

Dear Friend and Reader:

As I write today’s issue, the Gemini Sun is moving into an exact square with Chiron, still in full effect Friday, and this has been stirring up a lot of hot air and tales of wounded men. Through today and into the weekend, the Sun then aspects Pluto (a quincunx from Gemini to Capricorn) and through the holiday weekend makes a trine to Saturn. That’s a lot of contact between the Sun and outer planets, nearly all of which are concentrated at the beginnings of astrological signs.

Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain — here, in the form of a twister photographed by a NOAA storm chaser in 1973. There were 80 tornadoes in the United States Wednesday; even the Hudson Valley where I live, a mountainous region, is under a tornado watch as of Thursday night. Credit: NOAA.

While that tumultuous Saturn-Pluto square seemed to be behind us, it’s still within just five degrees of orb — just fine to have a strong effect. Saturn is getting ready to station direct, so it’s all charged up with piss and vinegar (and Libra-styled, impeccably dressed).

It’s been another week of sex scandals coming out into the open; and it’s been another week of environmental disasters. The world didn’t end last Saturday. Followers of ‘prophet’ Harold Camping, who had predicted the Rapture for 6 pm on May 21, were disappointed — but I just don’t get why. Wednesday, there were 80 tornadoes in the United States, including a massive one that came through Joplin, Missouri; 232 are missing, and the death toll is uncertain.

This comes on top of the most massive floods since the 1920s (much of the Mississippi River Valley is still underwater), which came on the heels of another week of ultra-high-powered tornadoes, including the one that ripped through Tuscaloosa, Alabama. These, by the way, are not any ordinary tornadoes that might take out part of a block or one side of the street. They are part of massive storm cells that defy comprehension, leveling entire neighborhoods. I personally doubt these are natural events. As I deduced in an article earlier this year called Here at the Edge of the World, these could well be manipulated events using nearly century-old technology created by Nikola Tesla.

There is some video going around featuring one of Wednesday’s tornadoes shredding a tractor-trailer as it speeds down the highway. To see the video you would not believe anything (such as a germ) survived, but the driver landed someplace with just a fractured shoulder and lived to tell the story, albeit a bit stoically.

As rescuers arrived in Joplin to find what one described as a “smoky, barren wasteland,” Eric Cantor, the leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives, said that disaster relief funds could be approved for Joplin only if another item were cut from the federal budget, so as not to add to the federal budget deficit — this, as people search the ruins for their loved ones. The same people, I might add, whose taxes pay Eric Cantor and his colleagues.

This is a little like making sure your phone bill is paid up before you dial 911 to report a fire. They never say that when they bomb somebody. “Yes, general, you can have these cruise missiles, as long as we cut from the aircraft carrier budget.” (You know how there are those people who make your cat hunch down, bristle and make that weird, low growl when they come within 100 feet? That’s how I get when I see Eric Cantor. Out of curiosity, I checked his chart the other day, and it’s every bit as pleasant as breaking glass. Perhaps I’ll do an edition titled, “Just What Exactly is an Asshole?” Aaah yes, my brother and fellow child of God.)

Meanwhile, Congress is getting ready to cut the tornado forecasting budget, which could reduce by half the accuracy of those predictions — which by the way save a lot of lives because the few minutes of warning provided by the tracking system helps many people get to a safe place before their home is splintered.

In other news, straight from the Sun square Chiron files, Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb general accused of ordering the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995, was arrested this week after a 16-year hunt.

And in the midst of this, we still have time for appreciating sex scandals. Let’s see, John Edwards, the charming guy who was a presidential contender in 2004 and 2008, may be facing charges for using campaign funds to bribe people to keep hush about an extramarital affair. Arnold Schwarzenegger kept a relationship and child with a household employee secret from his wife (and the American people) for 10 years. Newt Gingrich is all over the news with his $250,000 line of credit at Tiffany’s; a true man of the people. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former head of the International Monetary Fund, is free (under house arrest) on a $6 million bail package after allegedly raping a woman who came to clean his hotel suite [we have been covering this on the Planet Waves blog].

Sen. John Ensign resigned his senate seat earlier in the month after bribing people to keep quiet about one of his affairs; his case has been turned over to federal prosecutors. Ensign is the guy who said in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment, “Marriage is the cornerstone on which our society was founded. For those who say that the Constitution is so sacred that we cannot or should not adopt the Federal Marriage Amendment, I would simply point out that marriage, and the sanctity of that institution, predates the American Constitution and the founding of our nation.”

This all sounds very Sun square Chiron — the wounded male/father figure, whose injuries are displayed in public. Sun-Chiron contacts call to attention the plight of men. The plight of men is not understood by our culture. I say that boldly. The emotional and spiritual progress of men is also not acknowledged in our culture. And notably, we don’t generally display alleged female adulterers and ogle over them these days, only the men. We can still watch this parade of alleged nogoodniks and think that this has something to do with all men. It does not, but we at least have more fantastic reasons never to take moral advice from a politician.

In her 2000 book Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man, Susan Faludi describes the plight of men in the 20th century. It’s a revealing documentary of what our fathers went through, emotionally, professionally and economically. You didn’t really know; he probably never told you — or your mom.

To understand the plight of men, you either have to be observant, or read books. If you hold judgments against men or think they are at some special advantage in society, I suggest you read a book called Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man by Susan Faludi. She portrays just what happened to your father during the 20th century. And if you think you hate men, or if you think they are inherently untrustworthy, I suggest you read a book called Iron John: A Book About Men by Robert Bly. Far from inherently being cocky power-mongers, we learn from these books that men deal with many of the same insults and injuries inflicted on women, sometimes much worse, with relatively little in the way of refuge offered by women. The men who do abuse power are products of the environments that not only reward but necessitate that abuse. It is a kind of conditioned last resort.

When we look at a sex scandal, though, I would remind you we’re looking at two things. One is the private life of a human being, distorted by the media; the other is our response to that private life when it’s paraded across television screens everywhere. We may get the impression that the underlying theme of all these sex scandals is how men in power abuse that power. I believe the underlying theme is that we have a morbid association with sex. Indeed, it goes far beyond that; sex scandals are about an obsession with death. That’s partly why we watch them on the same TV programs where they talk about wars and holocausts.

Understanding this deeply conditioned obsession is what you might call a spiritual step. It stems from a worldview that existence is divided into good and evil, and that sex is on the evil side. This is an idea that has its roots in Orthodox Christianity and manifests in nearly every sect of that religion; the Christians have always been particularly hateful toward sex, while fascinated by it at the same time. Yet this is an idea with a complex history that has roots in deeper (all but forgotten, but still influential) Persian religious views.

An author named Wayland Young, one of my favorites of all time, explains in Eros Denied how there are mainly four items on the list of things that perpetuate sexual repression, and by that he means the free expression of love and pleasure. It is at first painful to recognize the ways in which we assume sex to be inherently evil, wrong, sinful, dangerous and deceitful — not as an interpretation but based on what we think of as an inherent fact. It takes both an examination of history and some deep self-reflection to see this, but the result will help set you free, in case you’re interested in that. We can learn a lot from our fascination with scandal.

So, those four modes of sexual repression. They are: accident, absence, scandal and suicide — and the first three are merely substitutes for the last one. Basically, every so-called love story we read or see in a movie is infused with one or more of these obstacles to love, and from that we decide that the nature of love is morbid and that death rules over it at all times. This is an option. There are other views of love, but they are not the romantic view, that is, the one certified by the Church of Rome. Romantic love is love associated with death, death usually manifests as accident or suicide; absence manifests as death or its potential in warfare; scandal is often punished by death, or is considered a fate worse than death. Remember that scandal thrives in an environment of loneliness and repression, and is direct evidence of these things.

Young explains something we are familiar with: the church always tells us that it’s more important to love God than to love one another. Yet to most people God is entirely abstract and our fellow mortals are what are real to us. Further, Jesus and others taught that to love one another is to love God. Still, love is considered evil (that is to say, potentially scandalous) because it might lead to sex. If we love one another, we anticipate often the worst and we expect punishment or betrayal. And we don’t count the cost of these fears, much less challenge their validity. Young explains that we don’t need to follow church dogma to imbibe these views; we merely need to be entertained — in particular by romance, of which he describes European literature as “one big example.”

Dido, about to kill herself for no reason at all.

He uses as an example the story of Dido and Aeneas, a late-17th century opera by English composer Henry Purcell, based on the epic written by Roman poet Virgil in 29-19 BC. It tells the story of the Queen of Carthage and the Trojan hero, and is described authoritatively as, “A monumental work in Baroque opera, remembered as one of Purcell’s foremost theatrical works.” In the story, Aeneas leaves Dido when he goes off to found a new kingdom, and then she kills herself.

Young asks: “Now, why do we find the story noble, and why is Purcell’s chaconne [the sung finale of the opera], in its setting, so moving? On the surface, the story is ridiculous. There was nothing in heaven or earth to stop Aeneas taking Dido when he went on to follow his destiny and found Rome. Neither was married, both were young, royal and eligible; a dynastic alliance with the old state of Carthage would have been an advantage to the new state in its formation. But no; off he goes, for no reason, Dido for no reason climbs singing onto her suicidal pyre, and we are all left in tears. Why? Why not giggles?

“Simply because there is no reason. There never is.

“In the Dido and Aeneas legend, there isn’t even a pretense of one, and that is why it moves us; because of its integrity, its refusal to compromise with likelihood. It moves us in the same way it moves us to see a skeleton. Stripped of the lively and interesting flesh, the bare bones make us gasp and say: ‘So that’s what makes us stand up’. Stripped of all invention and incident and especially all excuse, Dido makes us gasp and say: ‘So that’s what makes our feelings stand up’. And mixed with our amazement, there is, as there is with skeletons, pity and a touch of ridicule. St. Augustine liked Dido. Pelagius did not.”

St. Augustine, of course, believed in Original Sin. The less familiar Pelagius, a Celtic monk and an accused heretic, did not. What Young is saying here is that romantic love is regarded as the only true love, and this is regarded as the only suitable format for sex. It is obsessed with death, and out of that obsession, we get many obstacles to love, and with which love is obsessed: and these are primarily accident, absence, scandal and suicide.

Wayland Young, author of “Eros Denied,” Grove Press, 1964. Illustration based on a photo provided by the publisher.

Just flip through the TV channels, browse a magazine rack, stroll around a bookstore or tune into the nearest opera, and this is just about all you see. We might think these things don’t influence us — but they are very nearly all that do.

Novel after novel that purports to be about love is really a story about suicide. Any story not ending in marriage (as comedies do) must be a tragedy (and then all love affairs of romantic literature are doomed). It’s as if we know no other stories; no other plot line. No wonder polyamorous people are terrified to tell people how they live. No wonder so many folks are terrified to love; we are told — and shown — over and over again that the wages of ‘sin’ is death. In essence, this morbid notion has contaminated the whole realm of human love. And a lot of us want it back.

Scandal is only a slightly milder shade of this same sickness; it’s the partially decomposed corpse of love, rather than the bare skeleton. The mere fact that we are fascinated by it, indeed, that we love it, spend money on it, expect it to happen and moreover fear it in our own lives, tells us something about our notion of love. How many people believe that sex must have a victim, and that when we make love, someone must always be betrayed? How many feel that to love is to risk ruin? It’s not that our fears lack some justification; I would question how that justification got there and what beliefs led to its existence.

And all of this — all of it — comes down to the notion of sin, which is based on the religious notion of good and evil. Then sin is always mixed up with sex and murder. We think nothing of this, and it’s so commonplace that we barely even notice; but you really do need to notice if you want to be free of it. Only through noticing can you start to wean yourself off this obsession, which includes most forms of gossip.

Next is to stop being impressed by how supposedly pure you are. Forget it; it’s not true — it’s just what the press release says. Existence is not about purity or perfection, and expecting it to be only leaves us feeling impure and imperfect. John Edwards and Arnie do not make any of us any better as people. They only make us more paranoid and mistrustful, and that does not help love at all.

It helps a lot to allow the people around you to live their truth. We can hardly blame people for keeping secrets when we don’t let them tell us about what they really want, what they really do, or who they really care about. We cannot be honest in an environment where we fear judgment. The more you allow others to live their truth, the more free you will feel to do so. This will gradually shift your environment, and your state of mind, which are closely related.

And at a certain point we must become more fascinated by life, creation and beauty than by loss and disaster. A Course in Miracles puts it succinctly: “Accept no compromise in which death plays a part.”

Oh — and about that rapture thing. It’s not the kind of belief or activity that emotionally fulfilled or creatively driven people take part in. You would have to be pretty frustrated to take that seriously, or to push it on others. Yet that frustration, even in its subtler forms, is starting to add up to something that it would really help if we understood.

Yours & truly,

 

Weekend Astrology: Sun and Moon On the Move

The Moon entered Aries Thursday night at 8:36 pm EDT, promptly making a conjunction to Uranus at 4:19 am EDT Friday. That conjunction will be stirring the pot all day as the Moon makes a square to Pluto at 10:46 am EDT. So this is an emotionally intense overnight and morning, and the Moon is going to be vibrating with this energy for a while. Then at 6:10 pm EDT, the Moon opposes Saturn. I know this sounds complex. Let me see if I can make it super simple. There are three planets aligned in what is called a T-square, which is behind much of the mischief and turmoil of the world right now. And in our current stretch of time, the Moon sweeps through that T-square, knocking all three of those planets like cue ball on a pool table, stirring up all kinds of deep feelings, past and present fears, insecurities and so on.

Meanwhile, as we mentioned yesterday, The Gemini Sun is making a series of aspects as well — to Uranus, Chiron and then Pluto. This is serving up a similar kind of intensity, only of a solar nature: that is, on the level of ego, expression, pride and confidence. The Sun clears that last aspect on Saturday morning. Sun-Pluto in a quincunx (150-degree aspect) is like enforced growth and maturity. It’s less abrupt and shocking than a square, but not quite the easy opening of a trine. It represents a series of situations, most of them what you might call ‘everyday’, that compel ongoing awareness of one’s evolution. So there may be the exaggerated feeling that situations mean more than they do, or that there are ‘lessons’ involved. So ease on through this sensation and take some notes on how you feel.

This is all unusual activity for the Sun. Now, there is some relief when the Sun clears Pluto and approaches a trine to Saturn. This is like a release, and though the Sun is going to be in aspect to Saturn, there’s a sense of ease; think of the Sun and Saturn resonating from one air sign to another (Gemini to Libra). That trine will be applying all weekend, and the trine is exact Wednesday, June 1 — just a few hours before a partial solar eclipse (the Gemini New Moon). I’ll have more to say about that early next week; but I suggest you keep in mind that an eclipse is approaching, and this can come with a sense of pressure. Indeed, the next three lunations are eclipses: a partial solar on June 1, a total lunar on June 15, and another partial solar on July 1. This is to say we’re taking a little ride on an accelerated sky (as if things aren’t going fast enough at the moment). This whole sequence of events may take a little breathing into (as Len Wallick suggested Thursday). I’ll have more to say about the use and experience of eclipses in Tuesday’s edition.

 

Planet Waves FM: Looking For Ourselves Everywhere

This week’s edition of Planet Waves FM includes a discussion of “the end of the world,” the most interesting explanation of Gemini you’ve ever heard, a long rant about advertising and a 70th-birthday shout out to Bob Dylan. Bob, you have something rare: you’re one of the most fantastic artists and chroniclers of your decades — and we all know. The first song break happens at about 29 minutes, with talent provided by Dave Harnetty. Right after that music break is potentially a good time to pause the action if you need to. Here it is in the old player.

 

Weekly Horoscope for Friday, May 27, 2011, #861 – BY ERIC FRANCIS

Revised and Updated! Click for Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Listen for the sound of the future calling you. I mean that literally — the information is going to come through your ears. It might be spoken, it might be music, it might be some sound in an urban landscape, or it might be the sound of a natural event — but keep your ears open. That would include the things you hear in dreams, and what is known as clairaudience, a kind of ultraviolet dimension of hearing that some consider a psychic phenomenon. In any event, listen. Listen until you understand what someone is saying, not what you think they’re saying — there is a difference, we all know there is a difference, and we often ignore it. The reason we ignore this feeling of not really knowing is halfway between being lazy and not caring. Repeat back what you’ve heard, and what you think you understand, till you’re sure that you really grasp it. I will pass along my one sentence of advice for young journalists, which is know when you don’t know.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Aries, please go to this link.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — There is a longterm visitor to your sign named Sedna, one of the strangest known objects in our solar system. These visitors that can spend decades moving through one sign tend to color our whole experience of that sign, and Sedna has the theme of nobody is ever good enough. In our world of things, that would translate to nothing is ever good enough. I am not suggesting you settle for second best, or that you suppress the hunger that is so essential to both surviving and thriving on the hotly competitive physical plane. Rather, I am suggesting that you notice how much you have, and how good your life is, rather than making endless lists of all the ways you need to improve. Yes, there are few key areas that are calling out for improvement, and you would do well to focus on them as longterm projects. Yet especially where people are concerned, notice who is around you. Notice the fact that they are taking an interest in your life. Stay open that way.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Taurus, please go to this link.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — You seem to have the impulse to rise up against something without being entirely certain what it is. When you’re going to rebel, make sure that you know what you’re rebelling against. The deeper you look, the deeper you will see. For example, you might think you need a revolution in a relationship, which could be true at the same time you’re working through an issue that involves one of your parents, particularly your father. If someone sets an impossibly low standard, you may be holding everyone else to an impossibly high standard. If you find yourself insisting that the people around you wake up and get real, the easiest solution to that is to be real yourself and notice what happens in your environment. You might discover that you’re in the wrong place, and notice somewhere better that you can be. Don’t ‘work to reform the system from within’. Figure out what you want to do, and do it.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Gemini, please go to this link.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You are starting to figure out something about your career path — and the information is arriving neither too soon nor too late; this particular FedEx is right on time. For quite some time, you’ve been under what has seemed like external pressure to change and evolve. True, there have been elements of that, but you also know that outside influences have been pushing you to make long overdue changes that you might not have made otherwise. Now, the time has come to go on the offensive. You need clear goals, and that’s going to require that you have clear boundaries, particularly involving your use of time and space. And you will need to be clear with yourself that there’s a limit to how much you can let your mood influence your efforts on any given day or week. In the immediate moment, you are getting some clear sense about the direction you want your life to take. Envision that future, and begin taking the necessary steps.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Cancer, please go to this link.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — There is about to be an eclipse in your 11th solar house, which for you is Gemini. This house is about fitting into your environment, and making the most of that environment. It’s also one of the most visionary houses of the 12. Because you have Gemini in this house, there always seem to be a lot of people involved with your future plans. They always seem to influence you, with their ideas and with their physical presence. Now, however, I suggest you let your own creativity dominate your agenda. You have the power to tune out what may even be an exceptionally loud or demanding influence of some kind. You have the ability to take risks that they might not be willing to take, for benefits that they might not be willing to see. Therefore, listen to yourself. Pay attention to what you know is right, and set the terms of your own existence. I think you will be pleased with the results.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Leo, please go to this link.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Have you figured out that the division between religion and sex is a fraud? Now would be a good time. Most people underestimate the extent to which they’ve been influenced by religion, whether it’s the pressure to get married, the notion of sin, or the idea that you must strive for the same type of family structure that your parents tried to have (whether or not they succeeded). Looked at one way, you’re at a moment where you can break away from the influences of the past, mainly by making a single decision. The characteristics of this choice are, you know it’s right, and then when you make a move, you feel daunted, guilty or otherwise frightened. This second layer — the fear/guilt layer — is the enforcement boundary that religion has installed. It’s like one of those invisible fences that keeps dogs inside a perimeter that you no longer need to activate once the dog has had a few shocks to the neck. It’s time to take off the collar, look both ways and cross the road.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Virgo, please go to this link.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Remember that while there may be two sides to every story, there is only one version of the truth that’s going to work for you. I suggest you make that the one you know is true, rather than the one you hope is true. The one you know is true will work a lot better for you, even if you like it less; at least you have something solid you can work on and develop. One thing that may be affecting you is the expectation that something you actually recognize as the truth will turn out to be wrong, or based on deception. For a long time, it seemed, any time you took a chance on someone’s word, when it came down to practical matters of experience, facts later came out that proved you wrong. You’re now in a new phase of cultivating trust in both people and situations, but that really amounts to trust in yourself. As you learn to do that, remember to check your instincts against the available facts, and back again.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Libra, please go to this link.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Most — and by that I mean well over half — of humans are not monogamous, but we are all expected to be, or at least pretend. So why don’t we adjust our expectations to match reality? Aaah, that is a very good question. That question has answers, and those answers point to the need for some other adjustments of our minds to reality. Your solar chart suggests you have a number of options open. Further, I see some clues that you actually like it that way. I suggest you not get down on yourself for failing to live up to some standard of the right kind of person who wants the right kind of relationship and is capable of only that. Rather, it would come as a relief if you would embrace who you are, and who you’re attracted to. It helps to know a mental construction when you see one, such as ‘you’re supposed to be this way’. While ‘society’ may send messages, ultimately we send them to ourselves, and we’re the only ones who can stop.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Scorpio, please go to this link.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — We are now in the last days of Jupiter in a fire sign, Aries. Its next home will be Taurus. Both of these are passionate signs, but they have a different pattern of how both events and creative impulses unfold. Aries wants everything, right now, but of course this rarely happens. Taurus is willing to wait so long that things sometimes never happen no matter how much we may want them. But Aries has real ideas, and Taurus is a passionate energy, capable of real persistence. For the next year, your task is to combine spontaneity with passion and persistence — the best of all worlds — and proceed steadily. Don’t worry about fast or slow; focus on steady, dependable, documentable progress. Know what you want to do at the beginning of every day, and know what you accomplished at the end of every day. The two may not always match; indeed, they may rarely match — but you will have a dependable marker of progress, and there will be many happy accidents.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Sagittarius, please go to this link.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — You may be feeling like your professional life is all work and very few rewards, and that is partly the result of the demanding and complex times we are living in. But you’re also at the end of a fairly long spell where you’ve had to handle many serious responsibilities, and this has taken an emotional toll on you. You also haven’t fully backed yourself away from the sensation that you live on the edge of a cliff, even though you’re a lot further from that edge than you were, say, three years ago. It’s true that anything can go wrong at any moment, but as Lou Reed said, you can’t count on the worst always happening. And frankly if you don’t act like you’re always expecting the worst, you will live with a sense of potential that starts to feel stronger than your sense of paranoia. Potential means living with a sense of what is possible in the best sense of the idea; that is closely connected to your creativity, which thrives on love and appreciation rather than on fear.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Capricorn, please go to this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Some longterm plan that has been on hold for a while is now ready to start moving, maybe for the first time. Going back to around late 2008, this idea has been beset or delayed by factors outside of your control. Now that you’ve addressed them, however, you’re unlikely to have a sense of control; rather, that you need to gradually acquire. If you want to accomplish some of your bolder visions, your ability to be disciplined and focused needs to keep pace with your ability to come up with ideas. Remember that any initial idea usually needs to be grounded, developed and evolved over a period of time before it manifests. When it does, it will usually take a form different from the original. Therefore, having good ideas is not enough. You have to work those ideas like clay, see how they look in a new form, and then see if they make it through the kiln. This is the creative process, which is radically different than this abstract thing we call creativity.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Aquarius, please go to this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — You are starting to discover that you’re in financial territory different from what you’ve ever been in. You face many of the same issues as you have in the past, but something is different, and I have an idea what it is. You are beginning to see that your ingenuity and inventive nature are your best financial resources. For these to reveal their full value, you must access them, and use them, and depend on them, every day. For a while this will feel like you’re constantly reinventing yourself, which is actually true. Your sign is one of the most adaptable of them all, so this will be easier for you than it will be for nearly everyone else. The solutions you seek are not one-offs that instantly get you to a new place; rather, you get where you’re going one step at a time, only to discover that certain steps turn out to be quantum leaps. Get used to the fact that you cannot predict these in advance. Just let one moment of clarity or small accomplishment lead to the next, and the next.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Pisces, please go to this link.

Forever Young

Dear Friend and Reader:

If I could write one thing to Bob Dylan, it would be a thank you note. Bob turns 70 on May 24, so this seems like a perfect moment. Of course, it’s hard to imagine him being 70 years old, but I’m sure he’s saying the same thing.

Planet Waves
Photo by Ken Regan. This photo and others by Ken will be shown at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in SoHo. The show opens May 20.

If I could thank Dylan for one thing, it would be for setting an example that it’s okay to be relevant. A rock critic once wrote that he saved the world from “terminal, irrelevant schlock,” taking up real subject matter in every song. He did so (most of the time, anyway) without conveying the feeling of what some call statement songs. Many of his older songs definitely were, though the poetic strength of his writing made that either less obvious or more exciting. In writing, it’s always better to show rather than to tell, and Bob has shown us American life in its many shades, often dark ones.

For a long time, I’ve wanted to teach a university class called Rock Music as Journalism, and I think of Dylan as being the innovator of this genre. This has some resemblance to how he perceived himself, and how he actually created those songs.

“He said he was never a spokesman for a generation,” said Rob Fraboni, who produced Dylan’s 1974 Planet Waves album. “He was just writing about what he felt was pertinent at the time.” Dylan, he said, would spend time in the New York Public Library keeping up with world events. As a writer, he paid attention to injustice, on many different scales. The basic facts in one of his most moving early songs, “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,” come straight out of a news clipping, though with some poetic embellishment. Int ruth, the real events of that song were a lot worse than he described.

So here, we have an artist who is not afraid to get his hands dirty with ink from newspapers. He was never above politics, or detached from it. He got Robbie Robertson to do the same thing, and from that, we get songs like “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” — which was written by a Canadian who did some research. “Whether he wants to be a spokesman for a generation or not,” Fraboni added, “he has definitely brought a lot of things into the forefront.”

Planet Waves
Bob Dylan with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Greenwood, Mississippi, 1963. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

“The other thing to consider historically is that music was about dancing before Bob Dylan. The parents of the generation born in the 1940s were into the dance bands. Then along comes Bob Dylan and he changes the whole framework. Suddenly these songs mean something. There is a message, whether you want to call it that or not.”

To me, that message is a chronicle of the half-century he’s been writing music, at least as told through the eyes of an American. Many times he has seemed to be sounding a warning. In 1962 he described “guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children,” ominously describing the Vietnam War that would engulf the United States two years later. In 1983, he lamented that all his clothes were made for slave wages in places like Singapore, in the same song warning, “I can see a day coming when even your home garden is gonna be against the law.”

As the trade deficit grows and most American companies pay pennies for labor in Asia, he called one of the biggest issues of the generation ahead. And as Europe and the United States ban herbs, and the US tries to ban farmers’ markets (regulating small, local farms being the approximate equivalent of outlawing gardening), we had better listen. (If you’re wondering about the potential farmers’ market situation, Google “Food Safety Modernization Act.”)

Dylan also redefined the genre of folk music. There were obviously folk songs before Dylan; it’s just that very few people dared to write new ones, and certainly not on a regular basis. Folk music was a somewhat stodgy tradition — and he opened it up to new contributors and new ideas.

“In truth there are no modern singer-songwriters writing in any sort of American roots or folk idiom who don’t owe a debt to Dylan,” Rosanne Cash said in an email correspondence last week. “We can all trace our work — how it’s structured, where we draw inspiration, and the self-reference (which hopefully doesn’t tip over into self-absorption) back to Dylan. In the same way that there is no modern country music without the Carter Family, there are no modern singer-songwriters without Bob Dylan.”

Planet Waves
Dylan playing in Minneapolis, 1986, with Tom Petty to the right side of the photo. Photo by Robbi Cohn, Dead Images.

He even influenced the Beatles, but he did more than turn them on to pot. He encouraged them to do something meaningful with their platform, and they did. Of the four, John Lennon took that message closest to heart.

For many, Dylan’s message was a bit too much. As David Bowie said, he “brought a few more people on and put the fear in a whole lot more.”

There was the episode when Dylan walked off the set of The Ed Sullivan Show when network censors would not let him play “Talkin’ John Birch Society Blues,” which mocks the communist threat that was taken so seriously at the time, and is now known to be about the paranoia he was pointing out. A couple of years later, he and his band were attacked — even physically — by his fans at a concert in Forest Hills because he came out with an electric guitar.

Lest you think he was ever controversial for its own sake, that is, if his body of work is not convincing enough, let’s look at his astrology. His birth data is rated as AA — the highest rating, which means birth record in hand. We can be confident of his Sagittarius ascendant: he was born with a broad and far-reaching vision. The Galactic Center (literally, the black hole at the core of our galaxy, which is located in late Sagittarius) is rising when he is born; people with a prominent GC can have a cosmic quality, and an influence that seems to lurk behind everything.

Even many people with no interest in astrology know that Dylan is a Gemini. He embodies the concept perfectly: the messenger-trickster, who is witty and articulate in a way that is distinct to that sign.

Just for emphasis, he has Mercury — the ruling planet of Gemini — gleaming right on the western horizon, where everyone can see it. When something is on the western horizon, it can work like a mirror; the chart’s native can see himself there, and he himself can also function like a mirror, closely identifying with the public and vice versa. In part owing to that Mercury, my friend astrologer Gary Caton describes Dylan as “Hermes personified.”

Planet Waves
The extraordinary Taurus-Gemini cluster in Dylan’s natal chart. Mercury in Gemini is the highest planet, the green thing on the top right side. Below that, in order, are Venus and the Sun in Gemini; then, in order downward, Jupiter, Uranus, the Moon and Saturn in Taurus. Not mentioned in the article are Black Moon Lilith and Nessus, also in Taurus. These kinds of concentrations can bestow a person with unusual creative power. How they use it is another question, and there are no guarantees.

Dylan’s Mercury has another special distinction — it’s connected to these odd points called lunar nodes, which bind a person to public karma. And he also has Venus in Gemini, granting him a status known even to his fans as a triple Gemini. Basically, that means there are six, 12 or 24 of him; multiple planets in Gemini tend to multiply.

But that’s not the part of his chart that I find the most interesting. To me the really interesting part has always been that he also has four planets in Taurus. Gemini can have an airy quality and, by itself, can want for substance. This is where Taurus comes in. He is working from a foundation of solid values, and this is what he expresses in his music. Let’s consider how this works in his chart.

Speaking in very broad terms, there are basically two kinds of planets: the kind that move fast, and the kind that move slow. Fast movers include Mercury, Venus and the Sun, which he has grouped in Gemini. These are usually about style and personality.

Then there are the ones that move slowly. These tell the story of a generation and of society itself. Three of the slow-movers have collected for a rare conjunction in Taurus. This grouping will be present, in one form or another, in the chart of everyone born between 1939 and 1941. How the energy of a planetary alignment expresses itself varies from day to day, and person to person — and is highly dependent on the time of the chart. In Dylan’s case, that Mercury is floating like that on the horizon for a matter of minutes before it sets, changing the astrology dramatically. This is one of those clear cases where had he been born 15 minutes later, he would not be the same person.

Hobby historians: does that 1939 to 1941 date range ring a bell? The world was on the brink of many changes — especially World War II — that were propelled by the same astrology under which Dylan was born. The concentration we’ve been living through this year is similar to that (though the slow movers are different), and we are at an equally wrenching, dangerous, and potentially potent time of history.

Taurus is often mistaken for a reserved, stable earth sign. It’s earthy like a volcano, or the place where two tectonic plates meet. There can be constant tension, even if it’s deep under the ground. People with strong Taurus in their charts have a lovely presentation, but they are on fire inside. Their need to constantly reinvent themselves is belied by that smooth exterior. But Dylan has the advantage of all that Gemini. He can reinvent himself externally, as an ongoing experiment.

Planet Waves
Dylan playing in High Gate, Vermont, 1995. Photo by Robbi Cohn, Dead Images.

His strong Gemini gives him a stomach for something that’s abhorrent to most Taureans — inconsistency. On his 1976 album Desire, there is his famous tribute to Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter, who was falsely accused of a 1966 triple murder in New Jersey. Had Dylan not put that song on the album, then done a benefit concert for him at Madison Square Garden, Carter might still be in jail. He was freed from prison in 1985 after his two convictions were thrown out.

On the same album, Dylan has a tribute to Joey Gallo, a New York mobster suspected of involvement in the 1971 murder of Joe Colombo, a major New York godfather. “Joey” manages to be a combination of a dirge, an obituary and a protest song. The tribute to Gallo is every bit as sympathetic as the one to Carter. Is Dylan telling us he can see both sides of the story? Or that everyone deserves fair treatment? Is he admitting that humanity is made of sinners and saints? If you think about it, it’s a curious mix of themes, though most people don’t notice because the songs are both so compelling.

From the “two sides of the coin” files, in one biography I read the story of both the Gallo gang and members of the NYPD organized crime unit being invited to watch the the final mix of the song “Joey.” Both cars pulled up outside the recording studio at the same time and seeing the other, both left. This was attributed to Dylan’s wry sense of humor.

You need a little of that if you want to be relevant. From one journalist to another, I would like to thank Bob Dylan for giving many people permission to say something that means something, and to take an unpopular side of the issue when that’s the right thing to do. Who would have thought, at the time Dylan emerged, that the world would become one giant advertisement, selling mostly packaging, usually paid for on a credit card.

Thanks to Bob, strewn along the foggy ruins of time, we will find not only relics of what happened before us, but seeds of how to look at the world and see it clearly.

Yours & truly,

Eric Francis

Readers may discuss this article, and ask questions about it, at this link on the Planet Waves blog. Special thanks to Ken Regan and Robbi Cohn for their generous permission to use photos of Bob Dylan.

 

Moments in Time: A Few Transits in Dylan’s Chart

Bob Dylan left his home in Hibbing, Minnesota, in 1960 at age 19. We know the road: Highway 61. We know he headed for Chicago, where he failed an audition for a folk festival, and Madison, WI, where he first saw Pete Seeger perform. We even know the day: Dec. 21, 1960.

What was going on in his charts that day? Let’s use a chart cast at his time of birth on the day that he left home.

Planet Waves
Astrology can plot events as well as birth charts. This is the chart for the day that Bob Dylan left home at age 19, set for his time of birth (called a diurnal chart). There are many striking things about this chart. The first is that Uranus is rising, suggesting a radical change, revelation or development of some kind. Then we see Chiron on the 7th house, which among other things represents the ability to speak to many people in a language they understand. And the Sun is at solstice, square the Aries Point, showing his connection to the public and attunement to world events.

Here is his natal chart, which will open in a separate window, for reference. The chart to the left is the chart for the day he went on the road, inspired (as he has told us) by Jack Kerouac’s novel by the same name.

To cast this chart, I’ve used a technique I haven’t mentioned here before, called a diurnal chart. That’s the chart for any given day, set for the place the native is, and set for the time of birth. It’s a way to look at the quality of any particular day, using the consistent reference point of the birth time.

The first thing you might notice is that he left on the very day of the winter solstice. The Sun entered Capricorn that afternoon. It may have been in the last moments of Sagittarius, which has that flavor of a long adventure of some kind. You can see the Sun represented as the yellow circle, on the lower right side of the chart; the double zeros tell you that the Sun is at solstice, in the first degree of the new sign.

We have an Aries Point chart — that is, a chart with something prominent in the first degree of one of the cardinal signs. As you may recall from many prior articles, that’s the point that reminds us of the connection between the personal and the political — a principle, invented in the Sixties, that Dylan would come to embody and indeed innovate. (I happened to post the Planet Waves website on the winter solstice in 1998, and we’ve embodied the personal is political as an astrological concept.)

The really fun thing about this chart is the ascendant. Even if you can’t read a chart, take a look — it’s the dark, horizontal line to the left side. The degree of the ascendant in a diurnal chart changes at the rate of one degree per day. When a planet passes the ascendant (which every planet does annually), the person can embody that energy, and on this day, the planet Uranus is rising. Fittingly, this day we see him embodying the Uranian principle: sudden change, reinvention, liberation, boldness, revolution. In terms of how a human personality might experience this, it would be a restless sense of urgency and the need to bust free.

Planet Waves
Bob Dylan’s birth chart, rated as AA by Astrodatabank (birth record on file). Dylan is famously a Gemini (with three planets in Gemini, the Sun, Mercury and Venus). But this alone would not get him quite as far, if he didn’t have a fuel source coming from Taurus. Gemini grants expressive gifts, but then it needs something to express, often drawn from another area of the chart. The planets and points shown in Taurus, from top to bottom, are: Jupiter Uranus, Moon, Saturn, Black Moon Lilith, and Nessus. He is Sagittarius rising. On the day he left home, Mercury in Sagittarius had crossed his ascendant.

To the other side of the diurnal chart, we see the sky loaded with Aquarius. Counting Chiron and some of the minor planets I cast into every chart, there are seven points in Aquarius, a sign connected to ideas, groups, social movements, intellectual movements, inventions and equanimity. These points include the Moon — the Aquarius Moon, which is intellectually restless and may be the most socially conscious Moon placement.

Now, these events stand alone in the diurnal chart for the day he left. Let’s consider a few transits — that is, contact between real-time planets (in the diurnal) and the ones that are standing still in his natal chart.

Here is a fun one: In the prior article, we described how prominent Mercury is in Dylan’s chart — it shows up on his descendent, or western horizon. It was also prominent as a transit on the day he left: Mercury in Sagittarius was crossing his ascendant the day he left, as if it came to pick him up. This is another image in Dylan’s life of embodying or fully taking on the energy of Mercury-Hermes.

One last: with a character like Dylan, Chiron is going to be instructive. Chiron is in late Aquarius in the chart for his heading on the road. Chiron in Aquarius is the essence of the Beat Generation of writers, and the related youth movement. I think the Beat Generation kicks off when Allen Ginsberg organizes a series of readings in a garage-gallery in autumn 1955, in San Francisco, the very month that Chiron entered Aquarius for that cycle. This included reading part of his poem Howl, which would soon be considered one of the great works of American poetry.

Fast-forward five years and Bob Dylan is leaving home at the end of this transit — just as Chiron makes a series of squares to all those late Taurus planets in his natal chart. He was really, really feeling that quest for freedom. He was being provoked by his astrology, or you could say, the time was right. The last aspect Chiron makes, and the one he’s under at the time, is a square to his natal Jupiter in Taurus. Chiron square Jupiter is about a quest of some kind, a social crusade or fighting for the underdog. Indeed.


 

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Planet Waves

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Planet Waves

Weekly Horoscope for Friday, May 20, 2011, #860 – BY ERIC FRANCIS

Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Aries (March 20-April 19) — With Mars (the main Aries planet) making a long trip through Taurus, you may be feeling especially lusty, indeed, driven to passion. The question is, what are you going to do with it all? Do you have the opportunity to express even half of what you’ve got going on inside? I suggest you do two things. One is, do your best to create some opportunities to share that energy, with others or by indulging yourself. The second is, while you’re doing that, notice what gets in the way. Is it your circumstances? Are there people you feel you would offend or betray? Is it your own psychology? What is the relationship between the two? The question to ask yourself is, are you in a situation where you can really be yourself, and if not, what adjustments can you make?

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Aries, please go to this link.

Taurus (April 19- May 20)

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — As planets collect in your sign, previously hidden material is coming to light. That includes everything from fears to unacknowledged desires; from conflict to passion; from a sense of potential to a sense of loss. The effect is like awareness gradually rising, revealing a diversity of emotions that you may not feel, in total, amount to a good thing. I don’t think you’ll have that perception for long. With feelings, it’s necessary to embrace the full spectrum, in order to be able to draw the power from the battery and put it to creative use. There’s a message behind all the seemingly diverse information you’re getting; that involves what it means to be a whole person rather than living with the sensation that you’re made of many fragments. There are aspects of your psyche that will benefit from hearing one another’s point of view, and that is what you will access as the Sun enters Gemini this weekend.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Taurus, please go to this link.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — It seems like every day that goes by, you know a little less. This is the result of being a consciously curious person who is aware of the functioning of your own mind. Curiosity is your friend right now; this is a sensation of being aware of not knowing, but enjoying the feeling as you sleuth out the elements of a situation. The situation in question is you, and it’s almost always healthy to turn your curiosity on yourself. I assure you the world would be a lot better place if we all invested more energy doing this, and fortunately you’re not shy about it. The key now is to go deeper than you usually do. What tends to repel you from that depth is that the deeper you go into yourself, the more you encounter density and stark tension rather than the fleet-footed mental process that you like so much. But just like the most valuable minerals are kept underground, so too are the most vital aspects of who you are.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Gemini, please go to this link.

Cancer (June 21- July 22)

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — As the Sun enters the sign Gemini, I want to share an observation that I’ve cultivated over many moons as an astrologer: your sign embodies the notion of the twins just as much as the actual sign of the twins, or any of the other supposedly dualistic signs. Yet for you this happens in a way that is hidden, and that also tells us something about most of the human race. We see division in the world without necessarily understanding that it has a counterpart within us. In the weeks ahead, you can go a long way toward healing the inner splits that often cause you so much struggle. Finding inner accord is not so much about ‘middle ground’ as it is about common ground. Your different pursuits in life are not as different as you think. As time goes on, you’re likely to see that they all support one another. You can make relationship choices that are designed to facilitate your inner harmony.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Cancer, please go to this link.

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — This is an important time to articulate your goals to yourself. You have them; you merely need to put them into some tangible form, such as on a white board or a computer file (both of which have writing in common). This is also a time to purge old goals from your repertoire, the ones you know you no longer wish to pursue, the ones you have decided are not rewarding. When you do that, you’ll notice a bunch of things that you were doing in support of those old objectives that you can now call off, and collect your energy around what you actually want. I suggest you do this sooner rather than later, since the opportunity to make some excellent progress is on its way. You will be able to make more of it if you’re better prepared, which translates to knowing what you want and having some energy available.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Leo, please go to this link.

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Your solar chart is set up for a dual career kind of life (so is everyone who has Virgo rising or Gemini on the 10th house cusp). That is to say, there are two distinct sides to your true career, or you have two distinct careers, each of which needs love and attention. What is interesting about the present moment is the way you seem to be integrating them. If you’re not actively doing this, then you have an invitation that will be opening up over the next few weeks. The solution set may be embarking on a project of some kind that utilizes all of your skills, talents and desires in a new way. When you consider them now, these different aspects of who you are may seem totally unrelated. But they have you in common — and there is something you can do or create that draws on all of who you are at once. It may be thrust on you suddenly; know what you want, and be ready to leap.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Virgo, please go to this link.

Libra (Sep. 22 - Oct. 23)

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — An eclipse is approaching in the angle of your chart that describes your relationship to what some call the ‘higher self’. That same angle of your chart also brings in the themes of ethics, your sense of justice and — oddly enough — your mother’s hidden psychological legacy. Was she of two minds about something important? Did she try to split her character, being decent folk in one part of her life, and less than friendly in another? Or did she live two lives in some other way? The split has carried itself into your life, though it may not be obvious how. If you find yourself in some kind of ethical or spiritual crisis during the next few weeks, you might want to look to her life as a map, or as a source of information. If you happen to have an aunt, she would be the place to go for some useful information.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Libra, please go to this link.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Planets are lining up in your opposite sign Taurus, including ever-important Venus and Mars. This leads me to some curiosity about the nature of a relationship in your life. To what extent is it really happening, and to what extent is it the product of your imagination? The answer is probably a mix of both, though this is a good time for a reality check. I suggest you make a timeline of the history of the relationship. With that, I suggest you make a map of all the people you’re attracted to, and those who you suspect are attracted to you. Not a list, a map. Who are they? How do they relate to one another? Look for patterns — and see if you notice what they say about you. For example, what aspects of yourself do each of these people represent? This should be pretty interesting.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Scorpio, please go to this link.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — I know I’ve told the story of our old web designer Jordan, who created the astrological sign Sagittaurus. True, it was a typo (plastered all over the 2003 annual edition and later removed) but it was a good one — and over the next couple of weeks, it comes true. Your ruling planet Jupiter arrives in Taurus for more than a year, uninterrupted. This is about your wellbeing, in particular, it’s an invitation to take better care of yourself and invest more of your resources into pleasure. There’s a clue that your ideas are worth more than your labor. I will admit, this is a challenging notion for most people, who are accustomed to punching a clock. So if you’ve ever had a scheme or concept whereby you make a living from your creative work product rather than your time or your effort, now is the time to get it going. Many other factors are stacked in your favor, but you have to make the moves.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Sagittarius, please go to this link.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — You need some diversity. If you have some other way you express yourself, that’s the thing to do now. The other side of your brain needs attention. If you usually use words, switch to pictures. If you use pictures, maybe switch to music or movement. If you speak another language, find someone else who does. In fact, if you have some particular specialized jargon you love (fashion, photography, tropical fish, the Grateful Dead), look up your best friend who also speaks that language. You will find these things entertaining as well as liberating. Part of what you’ll get is balance, and part of what you’ll experience is the sensation of not being alone, which will come as a relief. It’s not that you are alone, but if your astrology lately has you feeling like the only pea in a pod, there will at least be two.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Capricorn, please go to this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Get ready to start making improvements to your living space, or finding a new, better, brighter one. Clear out old stuff; clean your windows; drill into corners and closets and bring the physical remnants of the past to light, so you can move through it. This is about Jupiter moving into Taurus, your solar 4th house — your physical environment, which translates to your emotional environment. While that doesn’t happen till the first week of June, I suggest you start early, while Jupiter is in a fire sign, and your house of ideas. Speaking of which: if you have been a little late in the game of initiating your ideas, go for it. Even making a small move now could lead to something significant materializing. The first step is the most meaningful one and in truth you are never too late.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Aquarius, please go to this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — I suggest you take a low-key approach to improving your financial situation, mainly by using trusted methods of making income rather than new ones. Think of this as a time when you can collect on old or established investments or ventures rather than having to invent some. That will happen soon enough, as you convey your older methods into newer ones, which you may be considering in their formative stages. You have an excellent chart setup for turning concepts into income, but that takes three things: clear ideas, the ability to stick to them, and trust. Of the three, trust is the most important element, which is why I am suggesting you get the ball rolling on what you already have faith in, rather than what will likely challenge your sense of your own credibility. Once you taste success, you will recognize the feeling that it’s associated with.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Pisces, please go to this link.