Category Archives: Weekly Horoscope

Weekly Horoscope

And What Are We Attracting?

Dear Planet Waves Reader:

In recent podcasts, I’ve been tracking a planetary alignment that’s soon to arrive, just as Venus stations direct next week. This grouping, already underway, is a collection of both major and minor planets gathering around a deep-space point called the Great Attractor, located in mid-Sagittarius. These include planets you’ve definitely heard of (Mercury, Mars) and ones you may not have heard of (Pholus, Ixion).

Image of Pallas Athene as visualized in full grandeur and irony by Gustav Klimt. The asteroid named for her, properly called (2) Pallas, is central to an alignment now forming in mid-Sagittarius. This asteroid represents matters of strategy, law and politics.

On one level this looks like a touch of domestic political chaos here in the United States (not exactly news; U.S. politics is currently verging on requiring a locked ward). But this alignment is definitely news, in that it portends something unusual. Or perhaps it’s describing something unusual that’s already happening. Notably, this in turn will be followed up by Mercury retrograde in Sagittarius and Capricorn at the end of the year, mingled with a pair of eclipses.

Venus for her part stations direct in Libra after a six week retrograde; this is a different event from the alignment with the Great Attractor, but they are synchronous, so they count as one, focused in linear time on Nov. 18 — in less than a week. Venus stationing is going to come with a bit of tension and release, also underway, which will get all the molecules in the sky shaking. I’ll come back to Venus stationing in Libra, because I believe that event holds the key to the rest.

The Great Attractor gets its name because it’s drawing toward it a million galaxies, while it rushes away from them and they follow in endless pursuit. Our galaxy (the Milky Way, a spiral island of 300 billion stars) is one of those doing the chasing; so are all of our neighboring islands in what is called the Local Group of galaxies. Note, I’m not talking about the Galactic Center here. That’s the core of our own galaxy; the Great Attractor is like some giant vortex pulling everything its way, a bit like an anti-big-bang.

We cannot see the Great Attractor; it’s invisible on the normal spectrum of light. We know it’s there because 1. So much is getting pulled toward it, and 2. It’s broadcasting on every frequency except for visible light — such as X ray, gamma ray, and even Miley Ray (Disney owns a piece of the action). The Great Attractor happens to be aligned with the plane of our own galaxy, so we’re peering over at it obscured by thousands of light years of dust, gas and other stars. But we know it’s there, likely to be a vast dark matter point that my colleague Philip Sedgwick describes as prodigious and the largest thing known to science. “It’s the ultimate Sagittarian statement of ‘get away from me, don’t crowd my space’,” he said in a Planet Waves interview.

We live in a galaxy containing as many as 300 billion stars. The nearest galaxy is two million light years away. Our group of galaxies is called the Local Group, containing over 30 galaxies. This Local Group covers over 10 million light years in diameter, further away than California. The Local Group belongs to the Virgo supercluster of galaxies. The Virgo supercluster is about 200 million light years in diameter. The Great Attractor is a gravitational anomaly somewhere in the Virgo supercluster, pulling the other galaxy groups towards the Hydra and Centaurus constellations. This is an illustration of the Great Attractor by Henrick Summanen.

Though it’s moving very fast, it’s so far away that it appears to be standing still. So it’s considered a fixed point that is located at just over 14 degrees of Sagittarius. Due to this Sagittarius alignment, that point is getting a lot of action the next couple of weeks. But let’s consider it first by itself.

In consciousness, the Great Attractor manifests as a certain kind of intense. It can feel hotly polarized. People with a prominent Great Attractor in their charts will cultivate strong feelings in others, and can often be the subject of contention or controversy. They have the ability to make unusually close friends with equally formidable enemies. There is a potency characterized by this point that holds two extremes and presents them with lots of fodder for spiritual growth.

So now we have this collection of planets gathering around this odd point in space. There are a good few of them. I won’t be able to go over every one in this article, but I’m going to factor them all into my interpretation. And over the weekend I’ll post a full list to the blog, in case you enjoy the feeling of data overload (I know I do).

Let’s start with Ixion. This is a Pluto-like point (a plutino) orbiting our Sun discovered in 2001. My key phrase for Ixion is anyone is capable of anything. I associate it with the quality of amorality. There is also a property of getting a second chance, but what one does with that new chance is up for grabs. Ixion on the Great Attractor during the past couple of years has helped make a big hit out of the idea that there is no difference between right and wrong. Do we need to learn about this all over again, or can we do it more fficiently, say by remembering?

More recently, Pholus has arrived. Pholus, the second centaur planet ever discovered (that was in 1992, after Chiron in 1977), releases contained energy. My favorite key phrase for Pholus is small cause, big effect. With Pholus we can see the dangerous influences of alcohol, of idle curiosity, of idle idealization of an idol (such as the charismatic effects of famous people) and the unleashing of events that have unforeseen and far-reaching consequences. Gee, this is sounding like a lot of fun so far. All centaurs add a quality of reactivity and potency.

Next let’s add Mercury into the mix. That would say apply all of this to words and technology, as well as to commerce. But moreover, something has seized the mind: something besides intelligence. Mars will be there too, which adds a flavor of aggression. Most contemporary astrologers looking at this event merely see a Mercury-Mars conjunction in Sagittarius; the rest of the points are invisible to them — with one possible exception, in the form of a major asteroid. Looking at this event in low-res, you see hot words, such as an argument, thinking too fast and too big at the same time, and some exaggerated issue or situation.

The scale and exaggeration stuff comes from the background sign, Sagittarius. And, it fits; watch a real news program that covers national and world affairs and things will indeed seem weirdly but somehow actually and indeed dangerously exaggerated and bombastic; a kind of sports event.

Segment of the chart for Venus stationing direct. At the top right are four planets in the Sagittarius alignment. In order going down are Pallas, Mars, Mercury and Pholus. Not shown are Ixion or the Great Attractor.

A few astrologers will be looking at Pallas, the second asteroid (or minor planet) ever discovered. That was in 1802, so she’s been around long enough for a few people to notice. Pallas (associated with the goddess Athena, a warrior born in full armor) has two main themes — strategy and politics. Since Sagittarius has an international theme, this would be international politics and strategy. Mars and Pallas together point to something military or at least strategic.

Are you getting the picture? It looks like some hotly polarized, extremely exaggerated international situation that pops up seemingly out of nowhere. Sagittarius adds the flavor of religious zeal, which we’ve been so lavishly indulging since Pluto went into Sagittarius many years ago and everything became a matter of ‘faith’. Or, we could be talking about the most spectacular international vacation anyone has ever taken in their lives, perhaps including an actual visit to the Galactic Core.

To test the geopolitics angle of this theory, let’s check in briefly with three charts, to see if any of them has sensitive points around this area: the U.S. chart, the chart of Israel and the chart of Iran.

First, the USA Sibley chart, the most commonly used July 4, 1776 horoscope for the States. (I covered this chart over the summer.) Let’s see, that chart has mid-Sagittarius in the ascendant: this whole circus takes place in the USA’s 1st house, with planets making exact contact with the rising degree, 12+ Sagittarius. As my Aunt Josie would say, How about that? What might be brewing deep in the hearts and minds of the enlightened statesmen at the helm of our great empire?

Next, flipping through the indispensable Book of World Horoscopes by Nicholas Campion, let’s visit the chart of Israel. (I must visit the actual country soon.) My preferred chart for Israel (for astrologers, the 4 pm chart) has 14+ Aquarius rising. The Sagittarius event takes place in its 10th house. This alignment makes an exact trine to Israel’s natal Saturn-Pluto conjunction in Leo on its 7th house (that gets a big gee whiz — talk about a chart with a setup for contentious relationships). The trine could well open an energy line from that feisty, conflicted 7th house (the relationship house). Speaking as a psychological astrologer, by the way, Israel likes to project its inner psychological strife onto others outside its borders: very 7th house. If you’re different but live within the country, you can do fine in Israel.

As for Iran, another old place I would love to visit: I’ll use the current chart — that of the 1979 revolution. The Sagittarius alignment is close to Iran’s 9th house Neptune. That represents Iran’s persistent condition of religious delusion, as well as an international vulnerability. Neptune often works like a blind spot. Neptune, which has the widest orb of influence of all the planets, is just four degrees from the Great Attractor. Neptune + Great Attractor can make a lot of waves. People react to those with Neptune + Great Attractor without understanding why they are reacting.

Iran is a magnificent place on the Earth. This is Mount Damavand, Iran’s highest point, located in Mazandran. Photo by Arad Mojtahedi.

This event also squares the lunar nodes of Iran (which go across mid-Virgo and Pisces). That represents a turning point.

One last bit out of the Iran chart. The midheaven or 10th house cusp (the angle of the chart that’s about power, reputation and the government itself) is at 2+ Capricorn. Does that sound familiar? Pluto is right there, right now. Pluto in the 10th, especially in Capricorn, can have a desire to concentrate power. I’m surprised we haven’t heard a lot more from Iran this year, because the cardinal cross that’s been dancing around has been all over this chart.

One last item. There’s a chart about which I seem to be the only person who likes to write, and that is called the Nuclear Axis. This is the chart for the first self-sustaining nuclear reaction (sometimes called the atom split chart, not strictly accurate), which led directly to the atomic bomb. The Nuclear Axis chart has a hot spot, which is a line right across mid-Gemini-Sagittarius. If you read my earlier article, you’ll see that this chart can function like a trigger for nuclear events; it was also directly involved in the Sept. 11 incident, the location of which got the name Ground Zero — a nuclear term.

Now, you have some insight into how astrologers make predictions. There are many techniques, though basically we look at a lot of factors and then see what they all point to; we look at what picture emerges.

However, both the metaphysics and the ethics of prediction are a huge gray area. Prediction is a form of inviting or creating manifestation. So I’m not going to predict what all these alignments seem to be illustrating. Rather, I’m going to propose that deep in our hearts, we might want to get wise to this kind of bullshit being foisted on us again and again. And that deep in our hearts, we might, we just might, want to manifest something different. I believe that we can, because we are creating the world as we go. I am not saying this as a New Age belief. I am saying it from observation and an understanding of history. Unless you believe that the world is run by lizard-reptile space entities, there’s nobody down here but us chickens.

Venus stationing direct can release the power of love and authentic values, which can color this whole event. The way to do that is to want a better world. The people, such as bankers, who are making the world better for themselves, are doing so because they want to. And we on the ground need to muster up the audacity to have more than hope. We need the audacity of a vision.

I am always amazed — stunned, in fact — at the tolerance of Americans for yet another war, threat, attack or conflict. Isn’t anybody sick of it yet? Is anyone sick of the violence for no purpose other than profits, which have this odd tendency to drain our economy of all its resources? Don’t we want something better? Don’t we believe that the resources of society could be more equitably distributed? That the needs of more people — or of all people — can be taken care of?

Photo by Eric Francis — Book of Blue.

I am, and I do.

Think of how long we’ve been pelted with threats and negativity. We’ve lived through one war after another since going back how many decades? Ask yourself: do you actually want something better for yourself and for the world?

I’m aware that my life started in a bit of a crossfire hurricane. It’s taken me some time to work my way out of it; to allow in a different feeling tone. When my mother was five months pregnant, JFK was killed. When I was six months old, there was a false flag event called the Tonkin Gulf Incident, which set off the Vietnam War as we know it — and which never happened (the Vietnam War definitely happened; the Tonkin Gulf Incident did not happen, but it was used to justify a decade of war that spread into four Southeast Asian countries).

A false flag event is when one person or entity creates an attack on another, then blames someone else to get a desired outcome. Whoever you think did Sept. 11, it was by definition a false flag event because the U.S. government blamed one guy (Osama bin Laden) and then started a war with someone else who had nothing to do with it (Saddam Hussein). The one odd thing both guys had in common was being on the CIA payroll. False flag events take many forms; I believe the banking collapse of 2008 qualifies as one. It served mainly to enrich the people who were caught in the ‘crisis’.

I recognize that we’re talking about seemingly vast powers that seem to tower over us. Yet they get their power because we give ours up. Isn’t that obvious by now? I think that part of the problem is that we tend to be more seduced by fear than by peace. I guess you could blame the devil, but we do choose how to respond when something happens. The moral psychology here, I know, involves ‘security’. That is, there are many who believe that a seeming threat is best responded to with violence or overzealous security. Many, in the face of any seeming danger, have a need to belong and to take sides that trumps all common sense, and in that state of mind it can feel like doing anything else is pandering to the ‘enemy’.

Fear takes many forms, and it makes us susceptible to control. The people who manufacture fear know this. Anti-Islamic sentiments in the United States have never been more whipped up and exploited than they are now. I mean, you would think that Muslims were all gay socialists looking for a place to get married, the way certain political factions want us to feel about them.

When you look at the astrology and feel the current climate of the country and indeed the world, it’s unsettling the way things feel like they’re being driven — and at an extremely fast pace. I’m not predicting an outcome here; rather I am suggesting that we have a choice in the matter of what we create and how we respond to it. That choice is hinted at by Venus stationing direct in the sign of decisions, Libra.

And I’m saying that just in case something a a little extra weird does happen, you get to apply discernment. You get to make up your mind about what it means, whether it’s true and what your correct response should be. You might be thinking, fat lot of good that’s going to do. But I can tell you this.

So far, our silence has been taken as consent.

Yours & truly,

Judith Gayle’s Political Waves will now appear Saturdays on Daily Astrology & Adventure — the Planet Waves blog. She also has her own blog, called Political Waves.

This image is an artist’s idea of what the gamma ray bubbles above and below the galactic plane would look like if you were far enough away, and if you could see them. Gamma rays are invisible to the eye, but equipment can perceive this form of light. This view of our galaxy is made of real photos — particularly the mushy, foggy horizontal line that’s really a spiral viewed straight-on. This a composite taken from the Earth so it’s, well, it’s very nicely cobbled together. The purple gamma bursts look like they are added by an artist, though likely modeled on visual and geometric data from the telescope. Pretty kooky! PS, the white bulge at the center is the Galactic Core, at 27 degrees Sagittarius.

And In Other Large News

The Sun is still in Scorpio but the news is seeming rather Sagittarian these days. Scientists this week figured out that there are two enormous, ancient bubbles of gamma rays, one each above and below our galaxy. They had to look using extremely fancy eyeglasses — NASA’s Fermi Gamma-Ray Telescope. The discovery creates a new kind of ‘thing’ known to science.

According to Discovery News, among the 1,500 sources of gamma rays Fermi has mapped so far, nothing resembles the bubble-shaped structures, which stretch across more than half of the visible sky, from the constellation Virgo to the constellation Grus.

“You have to ask where could energy like that come from,” astronomer Doug Finkbeiner, with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told Discovery News. Hints of the bubbles appeared years earlier in X-ray surveys and in maps of the cosmic microwave background radiation stemming from the Big Bang explosion.

Speaking of big bangs, Obama is poised to go along with extending Bush-era tax cuts to the wealthisst 2% of Americans, that is, those making over $250,000 a year. This is a Republican plan, now apparently embraced fully by the administration as well, that would balloon the federal deficit that the Republicans elected last week said they were determined to cut. “We have to deal with the world as we find it,” said Obama’s top adviser, David Axelrod.

Speaking of — a bipartisan commission appointed by Pres. Obama Thursday issued a proposal for deficit reduction that would cut everything from the military to Social Security to basic tax exemptions for the middle class, such as the home mortgage deduction.

And the European Union is set to ban all medicinal herbs on April 1, 2011. This plan goes back 10 years, and this appears to be a final sunrise provision that takes effect next year. Called the Traditional Herbal Medicines Product Directive, it went into effect in 2005, but blogs in Europe are saying that this new provision takes effect in 2011.

Companies that manufacture herbal products must be able to prove that the product is safe, unlike the pharmaceutical industry, which this law benefits enormously. For more information, listen to this track by Laurie Anderson, from her new CD/DVD — because only an expert can deal with the problem. The CD is called Homeland.

Weekly Horoscope for Friday, November 12, 2010, #839 – BY ERIC FRANCIS

Aries Confidential

A relationship is about to reveal its mysteries and secrets, just as you discover that you have bigger plans. The question is, are the two in harmony? It’s amazing what people will sacrifice for special relationships. So I suggest you be cautious of the equation, ‘I would do this, if I wasn’t in a relationship’, or any of its derivatives. I think it makes much more sense to choose relationships that support all of our goals and affirm who we actually are. And this, you can choose. I would caution that you need to check carefully whether what you believe about what someone thinks is really what they think. You may be seeing your own beliefs projected like light into a fog. Then again, you may actually be constrained by the relationship. To sort this out you need to do a careful reality check, both with yourself and with your partner. The next two weeks will prove to be instructive, and instrumental to your progress.

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

Taurus Confidential

It’s easier to change your mental patterns than you think. Part of your typical challenge is forgetting that patterns are established in the past. Most of what you’re dealing with is habituation, legacy material and false memory. Patterns are not simply eliminated; usually, when transcended, they are replaced by new, hopefully more productive patterns. The key to the whole process is consciousness. It’s one thing to think; it’s another thing to be aware of your thoughts; it’s yet another thing to be aware that you not only influence the process, but that you run the whole thing. That influence is what you’re gaining power over. Remember, it’s gained by awareness in the present and making choices in the present. The feeling of the decision is an easy deliberation between points of view or potential outcomes; the options should present you with obvious pictures, such as ‘this is judgmental’ versus ‘this is self-affirming’. Remember, obvious.

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

Gemini Confidential

Mercury is now in your opposite sign, so you can take advantage of that as an invitation to open up communication where previously it’s been tense — particularly recently. As the next few weeks unfold, you’ll need this avenue of contact, so I suggest you work it well, and keep it open. That’s another way of saying cultivate trust and respect as a strategy — preferably, your only strategy. Whatever path you take through the unusual relationship circumstances that arise in the next few weeks, trust and respect will be your most dependable tool. These circumstances may be contentious; they may be passionate and strange; they may transcend your old ideas of what a relationship should be, so you may as well check those ideas at the door. The point of forthcoming events, it would seem, is to resolve old sexual karma rather than to make new karma.

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

Cancer Confidential

This time in your life is about questioning the whole nature of commitments. You’ve been struggling with this for years, and now you can ask the questions that get the right answers. What you’re seeking is clarity. On that quest, the first thing to know is when you’re not clear. Obviously, you would need contrast so that you can discern the difference between clarity and lack thereof. In your current solar chart, this translates to clarity in commitments. This in turn breaks down into two main categories — what you’re committed to and what, precisely, this means; and what you expect of others who you perceive as committed to you. Now for the question — what is the source of your data? Are your expectations grounded or ungrounded? Can you have a conversation about them where you could reasonably predict some solid agreement? The time to test your theory is during the next few days.

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

Leo Confidential

Over the next couple of weeks, I suggest you be especially careful in all matters involving children, as well as the sexual activity that might lead to them. Careful means full of care, and I would say a bit cautious as well. I’m not suggesting that there’s danger, but rather the potential for choices and actions to have unexpected consequences. So while your sense of play and adventure are pulling you in one direction (like saying nuts! to the rules), I suggest you guide yourself in another, toward discernment. This might be tricky, and you may really feel pulled in the direction of taking risks you would never, ever, take under other circumstances. Consider all possibilities, yes, and also consider consequences both foreseen and unforeseen. You do have a guardrail: your mind. Intelligence does not present an absolute boundary, just a useful tool for evaluation. This is a fine time to put it to maximum use — and still have plenty of fun.

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

Virgo Confidential

Events in and around your family of origin will give you some rare opportunity for perspective. As I’ve said a number of times and places, the legacy material from your father’s side of the family is the front-and-center focus of the year — and what happens over the next 10 days or so is something of the big climax. By now, I trust you’ve learned to distance yourself from the situation, though that ‘distancing’ property is part of the equation you might want to question. What other approach can you take? What would it mean to take full ownership of the sense of polarization that you feel? What would it mean to fully embrace the ways religion or mysticism were used as a hedge against emotions? And what would your life be like if you embraced every possibility that having grown up in such an eclectic background has offered you? The next few weeks present a fast-paced adventure in all of the above.

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

Libra Confidential

Whew. At long last, Venus is about to station direct in your birth sign. That actually happens Nov. 18, before the next weekly horoscope comes out — so let’s consider that transit here. Venus stationed retrograde in Scorpio, and it will station direct in your sign; this bridges the two signs, and that’s another way of saying ‘live as if what you stand for is really true’. One of the most potent values you possess is your desire for everything to work out well for everyone involved. In order to do that, you must make sure that your own needs and basic desires are taken care of. You also need to be in possession of your most vital principles, and own them with a sense not only of responsibility but of active dedication. Even if your mind is telling you one thing and your feelings are telling you another, you know what is true for you, and now is the time to celebrate that fact.

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

Scorpio Confidential

How you feel about yourself is at stake, and everything — everything — is based on that quality of your existence. Basically, everything in your world surrounds you feeling right with yourself. And that, if astrology means anything, seems like it’s never been a bigger issue. You have such strong opinions about yourself, and they are so deeply polarized, that you may well be questioning which are right and which are wrong. Here is where you fully enter the paradox of selflove. In order to be sane and to keep growing, you have to love yourself no matter what you may ‘think’ of yourself. This is not vanity; it’s about taking a compassionate position toward yourself that is proven by the compassionate way you see others. One warning is when you notice yourself making rationalizations or developing strategies to make things work out against the current apparent setup. You can create your life but you cannot create the lives of those around you. And that is quite enough.

The Scorpio Audio Report is now done. This reading includes more than an hour of astrology and 20 minutes of tarot custom created for those with Scorpio Sun, Moon or rising. Priced at $14.95, it makes a useful and economical gift. Use this link for instant access.

Sagittarius Confidential

Planets are gathering in your sign, in a configuration that releases its power as Venus stations direct next week. The alignment is so potent I suggest you touch everything and everyone in your life as though your fingers have lasers on the tips. That includes the words you use, and it includes the feelings you feel and the thoughts that you think. Consider yourself a transmitting station that broadcasts on every frequency. Therefore, the most helpful way to proceed is to hold everyone in a space of love and appreciation. Find what to appreciate even about the people you don’t like so much. Practice guiding your mind in a wholly positive direction. You have so much influence that you are highly likely to manifest what you think and feel in tangible form; what witches call the threefold law is in full operation: it all comes back to you with three times the intensity you put out.

Capricorn Confidential

Certain decisions you’ve made or values you hold may not have left you feeling like the flavor of the month, but that’s okay. You have strong opinions, and whether you’re right or wrong, at the moment you’re in a position of leadership that others will have to deal with whether they like it or not. You’re fine as long as you leave room for any of those viewpoints to be improved upon, and are willing to take on board the suggestions of others long enough to consider them fully. I propose, though, that even if you seem wrong or doubt yourself for a moment, you may not actually be; a little time will tell. How many times have you developed an opinion that turned out to be off-base in the short run, only to demonstrate itself as based on sage wisdom in the long run?

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

Aquarius Confidential

You’re at the center of a far-flung circle of friends and associates. More to the point, you’re like a node point that is, in itself, a source of energy around which many people gather. And right now that node point is getting hotter by the minute. You’re a powerful attractor of energy, and you’re also influencing the flow of information, the quality of contact and the level of creativity. I suggest you follow the basic rule of improvisational theater: yes keeps the show going. This would be yes, and rather than yes, but. Build positively on ideas rather than whittling them away and seeing what is left. One thing leads to another. While there are clearly many people involved in your life, make sure you know who you’re talking to all the time. Consider every conversation significant, and pay attention to where it leads, remembering that things have impact beyond what seems obvious. People who are the most geographically remote may play the most significant role.

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

Pisces Confidential

The next seven to 10 days are a phase when some stunning career developments are possible for you. One key is communication. Another is foreseeing effects and consequences. I can divide this into several subtopics. One is how you focus your intentions; another is how you set your tone; and the other is keeping the right balance between casting a wide net and being specific in what you say to whom. All of this falls under the general heading of strategy, a theme that holds a key place in your solar charts, particularly where career matters are concerned. What actually gets the results will surprise you, so there’s no use knocking yourself out. Be efficient, and make sure you cover the necessary traditional bases (updated CV, business card, checking email) and that you play the random chances. Small moves will have potentially large effects, so keep mistakes down to a minimum. If you happen to not get it right the first time, backtrack quickly and get it right as soon as possible.

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

Chiron Files: Erotic Health and Venus Retrograde

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The Chiron Files is a short monthly essay on health and astrology. It’s not intended as medical or psychological advice — just some ideas to consider. — efc

Dear Planet Waves Reader:

Venus is retrograde and the Sun is in Scorpio. We’ve just experienced a New Moon in that sign, conjunct Vesta. In traditional astrology, this is the sign of the privy parts, and that deep, compelling emotional/hormonal quality that makes you want to say yes. When it happens, a rare planetary retrograde like Venus takes center stage in the celestial order. This transit, which lasts till Nov. 18, is first and foremost about connecting with what we desire.

We humans in the Western Hemisphere have little clue the extent to which our strict, contradictory and hypocritical values about our sexuality fuel emotional and physical illness, and wreak havoc on our relationships. To an even greater extent, being clear about our sexual values will help us create happiness and harmony in our lives, a process which, in a word, I would describe as integrity.

Retrograde planets have three basic tendencies. First, they point us toward the past. This is where nearly all of our struggle is lodged, which is odd since the past doesn’t exist. But the patterns we established there often remain in our emotional bodies as negative expectations. I can think of no better image than Venus retrograde in Scorpio to help us admit these patterns and let them go. There may also be an experience of remembering what we actually desire, but which we left behind because we decided that it was not possible to create for ourselves. Note that past lovers can come back into our lives, encounters which might be about rekindling the relationship or healing and resolving the prior experience.

The next tendency, also helpful, is that retrogrades can point to childhood and adolescent situations that we now have a chance to recall and understand. Childhood and adolescence are full of sexual insults, and they tend to sour us. Some come from our peers. Some come from clergy. Others come from people who take advantage of us inappropriately. Others are experienced in the course of ‘normal’ living. Whether parents misinform us of what to expect, or set less than wholesome examples (sometimes doing their best, sometimes not), I believe that it helps to see these influences and replace them with healthier, more creative ways of being. What exactly were we taught, in words and by example, from the powerful adults who surrounded us?

Finally, retrogrades point us within. Here is where we can make the most progress, by connecting with what is authentically who we are. I know that most people fear they would be out in the cold and lose all their friends if they dared to be real. Then one day you reach the point where you have to be real or you cannot take another breath. One of the core elements of health, and of sexual health, is the ability to live authentically. This begins with making contact with the inner truth we carry around and crave to acknowledge.

Venus retrogrades from Scorpio to Libra, which means that the transformation process goes right into our relationships. These can be the source of strength and support, if we live them authentically. That starts with us. Venus retrograde is a reminder that it’s time to get real. Under the current astrology, I would offer that as my best idea for health and happiness.

Yours & truly,

The Spiral Light of Venus

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Dear Planet Waves Reader:

This weekend is the helical rise of Venus. That’s the point in the Venus retrograde cycle when Venus is far enough from the Sun that you can see her rise as the morning star. Though Venus is not yet stationing direct, the helical rise is the pivotal moment of the retrograde cycle, signifying a revelation of some kind, or of many kinds. This event is synchronous with Saturday’s Scorpio New Moon conjunct Vesta.

When Venus becomes visible in the morning sky (which will, if skies are clear, present some spectacular viewing on the predawn eastern horizon) she will be in Scorpio, which sets the tone for the next 18 months of her story. For the previous rise in early 2009, she was in Aries — a confrontational energy, often characterized by self-focus and a lack of empathy. Now she will be in Scorpio, which is deeper, more emotionally sensitive and evokes a sense of integrating relationship material in a cellular way.

Both Aries and Scorpio are signs ruled by Mars, where Venus is said to be less than happy (in the language of traditional astrology, one is her ‘detriment’ and the other is her ‘fall’). This relates to the challenges faced by a planet in a sign ruled by a seemingly opposing planet. If you have one of these placements, it’s a cause for consciousness, not worry. The ancients may have known a lot about astrology, but psychology hadn’t been invented, and many spiritual processes to which we have access today were not yet discovered.

Venus is the planet of emotional intelligence. Scorpio is one of the most emotionally driven signs, yet has a wide spectrum that reaches into the most sublime levels of soul consciousness. What the two also have in common is sex and our experience of it (sexuality), and the need for authentic empathy where this field of experience is entered. You could say that Venus retrograde in Scorpio is about embracing all that is different, all that does not seem to fit, all that makes no sense.

Many of the contradictions that we try to embody in exploring sexuality are covered beautifully by Venus retrograde in Scorpio, which I described earlier (at the suggestion of my friend Tracy) as yin penetrating itself.

What we have, I think, is an upcoming spell of more sensitive, deeper, more fully self-accepting feminine energy than the friction that Venus in Aries has offered us the past year-and-a-half. And that, I think, is good for everyone. We need depth, we need inner harmony and we need self-acceptance — and if you pause to think about it for a moment, we want these things too. They would go a long way toward solving all — and I do mean all — of our problems.

Of Witchcraft and Masturbation

Here in the States, we’ve just come through a particularly contentious election cycle that had a good few sexual overtones. All the usual social wedge issues (gayness, gay marriage, the alleged homosexual agenda to turn everyone else queer, whether gayness is or is not like alcoholism, don’t ask-don’t tell about gayness, and so on) all came up. Oh, I forgot abortion rights and why we shouldn’t have them; and the basically successful attempt at creating a generational divide on the issue of Medicare.

Yum and double yum: a younger Christine O’Donnell gazes longingly as “youth pastor” Todd Hitchcock describes how any sex outside marriage, including masturbation, is just wrong. Photo: MTV screen shot.

But this year’s Awesome Award for Making the Election Memorable goes to Miss Christine O’Donnell, the Teabag-Republican [former] candidate for U.S. Senate in Delaware. In her concession speech she said she believed that politics would never be the same in Delaware — but I think she’s accomplished a lot more than that. For the first time since the mid-1990s, masturbation — the sex that we all have in common, and the most homosexual sex of all — made its way onto the national political radar.

For this we can thank MTV, which interviewed O’Donnell for a segment called Sex in the ’90s. In a segment of that program, she espoused various theories about masturbation, such as how it promotes lust, which is de facto adultery. Then, one thing leads to another and next thing you know, your fingers go into your knickers and you come out a sex fiend. This is not an original theory (the Mormons adore it), but it was original of Christine to take it onto the relatively groovy airwaves of MTV in the midst of the AIDS crisis. Educating young people about how they can have sex with themselves, or masturbate together, could have, and still can, save a lot of misery and promote pleasure and intimacy.

But her comments were not nearly as standout then as they turned out to be today. The episode called attention to how little attention masturbation gets, except for the occasional Pee Wee Herman or Spain sending out a press release that the topic will be taught in school. Let’s rewind to the last episode of masturbation making political news in the United States, which was in 1994 when then-Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders commented on the topic. Elders, for background, was the first African-American surgeon general and the second-ever woman to hold the position. She was appointed by Pres. Bill Clinton in 1993.

Minnie Joycelyn Elders.

Speaking at a United Nations conference on AIDS, she was asked whether it would be appropriate to promote masturbation as a means of preventing young people from engaging in risky sex. She replied, “I think that it is part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught.”

The resulting controversy was so enormous that Pres. Clinton fired her in December of that year. His chief of staff said, “There have been too many areas where the President does not agree with her views. This is just one too many.”

Skip ahead 16 years. Video — notably from early in the post-Elders era (1996) — surfaced, as these things do in the age of timeless data. In the Sex in the ’90s series, Christine was speaking on MTV about adultery and sex outside of marriage and masturbation as a moral issue — and today, everyone is laughing. In fact, laughing hysterically. She’s kidding, right? Everyone masturbates. Sex toys can now be found, um, everywhere! And she’s so adorable, talkin’ dirty like that! What a sexy young critter — describing walking with a pure heart, and telling us how selfish masturbation is, and it’s funnier than Cheech and Chong. Mostly because she’s so sincere and so authentic about it and she’s so gosh darned sweet, even if she’s totally clueless.

I asked Betty Dodson, one of the few people on the planet who has made masturbation her career, for a comment. “Christine lost her bid for Senate but she did masturbation a great service. I’ve been promoting this humble form of sexual expression for 40 years, and she managed to get the word into the public sphere that even surpassed Dr. Elders and all of my efforts. Wait until people discover that masturbation is the foundation for all of human sexuality.”

Well, some of us already have. And I think that the attempt to make masturbation a moral issue is based precisely on this fact.

Planet Waves has offered to sponsor Christine O’Donnell for a private session with Betty Dodson, the Great Grandmother of Masturbation. She is seen here holding a Book of Blue postcard. Photo by Eric Francis.

Kinkier yet, she bills herself as a secondary virgin: she’s going to abstain from sex and apparently anything that might induce orgasm until she’s married. Now that’s hot. It’s the perfect image of Venus retrograde conjunct Vesta in Scorpio.

In the midst of the O’Donnell eipside, I cast her chart and sent it to Alan Oken, and in about ten minutes he wrote back and said: “She has a 10th house Virgo Sun. She’s a professional virgin.” He noted that America loves virgins. And we love Christine. She’s nothing if not lovable. Who cares that she doesn’t understand that separation of church and state is in the Constitution?

Plus — she’s not a witch! Which was some of the best public relations for pagans and Wiccans — ever. (This particular theme emerged from a segment of the Bill Maher show where O’Donnell admitted to dabbling in witchcraft when she was a teenager. It was only slightly weird then and it’s absolutely normal now.) Guess what! Pagans and witches actually exist and have been part of society since the first time somebody needed to ask someone else how to deal with poison ivy. Her Virgoish demeanor and aura of mischief says nothing if not a green witch — the kind who works with plants and spirit animals, brews up tonics and casts the occasional spell.

My friend Jenny, who is a witch, in fact a big leader in the witch community (she successfully lobbied the Defense Department to make the pentacle available as a religious emblem for the graves of Pagan veterans, over objections from the Bush administration), was telling any colleagues who might take offense at Christine’s protestations to get over themselves. There were only a few.

And now we’re all laughing at this whole scenario. It’s nearly impossible to take it seriously, or to perceive any real threat. While you might think I’m bringing up unimportant issues at a time in politics when we have to be confronting the potential for economic apocalypse, and when the official Teabag line is that sex doesn’t exist, I offer you this. When the topics of masturbation and witchcraft come up in American society and most people respond by laughing, and by thinking with certainty that masturbation is healthy, and that she makes an awfully cute witch, that is progress.

Tales From the Dark Side

Among the many facets to Venus retrograde in Scorpio is that we caught a glimpse at the dark side of politics. Unpleasant though it is, I believe we need to pay attention. The recent 5 to 4 Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court resulted in billions of dollars in anonymous advertising pumped into many districts in an attempt to sway elections in favor of Teabaggers and Republicans. This is corporate money, supporting corporate interests. It’s shadowy and anonymous and you cannot see it — all descriptions of Venus at the time of the elections. (Margin notes: Scorpio has many associations with corporate money; Venus is about resources; the retrograde helps us glimpse the darker shades, not often spoken of.)

John Boehner, U.S. Representative from Ohio — the Tan Man — once gave out checks from tobacco lobbyists on the floor of the House of Representatives. He will replace Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. Just think — that puts Boehner in the line of presidential succession.

We’ve caught a glimpse of the nasty artificial construct where a malcontent grassroots movement (the early Teabaggers) meets a corporatist uprising (all that money coming in from newly unleashed PACs and other organizations, supporting big big big business) — and the public gets duped in the process.

We have a whole cadre of Republican leadership that is talking openly about making no compromises and how their main goal for the next two years is going to be getting rid of Obama. The House of Representatives can now impeach him because he was, er, that’s it, he was born in Kenya. We have people proposing abolishing the minimum wage, turning Social Security over to Wall Street, and a rising tide of politicians who want to see Roe v. Wade repealed. This is dangerous for reproductive rights, and it would be dangerous for the right to privacy on which Roe is founded. And it’s one of the biggest backlashes against the progress of feminism, ever.

We face huge problems as a society. But in this moment when so much seems so uncertain, we have plenty to be grateful for. By this, I mean we have a lot to work with, and to build on, in terms of both social and political progress. (And I do believe it’s healthy to be grateful for every meal, every bill you pay and every time you turn the key to your front door.)

Canvasser from New Voters Project (active on 100 campuses around the country) converts another young person to the religion of the constitutional republic. Photo: NH Pirg.

Speaking politically, I got a hint of what might actually be going well when I read a quotation from Billy Wimsatt at Huffington Post.

He wrote, “The silver lining in yesterday’s results for Democrats is that for four national elections in a row, young voters continue to be the most progressive segment of the population — and the most progressive generation on record since exit polling began in 1972. If this trend continues, the opportunity for progressive values and leadership to shape America’s future is enormous. But progressive investment in youth organizing and youth leadership has been spotty at best. The question now is whether progressive leaders and funders will draw the right lessons from 2010, seize the opportunity, and finally get serious about investing in the rising progressive electorate.”

Okay, electorate or citizenry. Politics or civic participation. We have the chance to involve a new generation in the running of society, which we need more than we need to ‘solve problems’. We need people who are aware, who care, and who get involved.

The same could be said for people whose dominant orientation has, for many years, been self-absorbed spirituality. The point of all this growth is happier people who work together to create a better world. Many are slowly developing a stomach for politics. Civics will be more fun.

Here are a few other signs of light and life. First, the best things in life aren’t things. We are free to invite one another over for dinner, make music together, spend the night together and gym memberships are still pretty cheap most places. Plus:

Stephen Colbert, conservative spokesman for fear, in one of his many costume changes during the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. Photographer unknown.

We have comedy. In the old days, daddy watched Johnny Carson and cool people watched Steve Martin and there were a few funny dudes out there (and reruns of The Flintstones and I Love Lucy). Now, comedy is taking the role of social leadership. Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart brought a massive crowd to Washington to spread positive vibes. Colbert is so talented that some conservatives still think he’s a conservative. While these guys have been criticized for conflating the roles of satirist and newscaster into one, the thing is that their audiences have to be informed about the issues, or nobody would get the jokes. Meanwhile The Onion is a daily mirror into which we can gaze to see how ridiculous we are, and how absurd our society is — and laugh, not lament.

Laughing is healthy and floods the body with endorphins. It opens the way to other forms of creativity and pleasure. One of the main roles that comedy plays is to help us process shadow material. Together, comedians are eviscerating the concept of political correctness, which is like taking off a gag and handcuffs. And I wish I had the psychological study (I know it exists, but I don’t know where) that concluded that authentic laughter is evidence that fear has left. We could all stand to be less scared — we would get a LOT more done, and have tons more fun. One way to do that is to keep laughing. Now there are plenty of opportunities. Even the guy by the water cooler shows signs of genius.

Keith Olbermann ‘tosses’ to Rachel Maddow on MSNBC.

We have Rachel Maddow. Rachel, the first openly lesbian primetime news anchor, is teaching us how to think analytically. She is a geek’s geek (Rhodes scholar; military policy expert) who loves to fact check and is (if you ask me) funnier than any of the formidable talent on Comedy Central. Her viewpoint is extremely realistic. Listening to her speak, you see signs that she’s been devoted to her own therapy process, as evidenced by a mature and cultivated mind that doesn’t take itself too seriously. She’s highly pragmatic, she calls ridiculous things ridiculous, and she knows her stuff. My favorite thing about her is how balanced her left and right brain function is. Because she can integrate intuitive and intellectual process, she thinks on a higher level and is teaching us how to do so. And she’s not afraid of fear. She’s not afraid to confront people when they’re lying or spewing venom. She even mentioned Mercury retrograde on her program once, and she gave me her birth data.

We have Keith Olbermann, also on MSNBC. He is the voice of moral indignation. He is a journalist who is bigger than it all. His ‘special comments’ on the Iraq war and the Cheney-Bush administration were a vivid wake-up call. He too is brilliantly funny and sees the irony in everything, and is not put off by it. He’s another person saying deal with the facts. I view his background as a sportscaster as a plus. He supports my long-held view that sports writers have to be honest because everyone has seen the game and knows the rules. Meanwhile, Olbermann got Rachel Maddow her job, and he also brought in Lawrence O’Donnell, another primetime MSNBC guy who is genuinely pragmatic and who’s believing no lies; his new program gets better every night as he steps into his role. I recognize these programs all have some of the limitations of TV and corporate ownership — but even in the age of media conglomerates, they are doing more with television than many of us imagined possible. Obviously it is possible, and half of us have video cameras and editing software on our computers. If you have talent, this is the era in history when you can actually express it.

The economic downturn has a bright side, which is that many people feel compelled to do what is important to them as a last resort. Faced with no other choice, it’s always possible to pursue your real interests and try to make a living doing what you love. No, it’s not always easy — but it’s possible. The recession is happening at a time when we have excellent technological tools at our disposal, both to find work and to create a business. For the cost of a modest vacation, a person can outfit a home office in such a way that would have made The Wall Street Journal IT department drip with envy 20 years ago, or create an arsenal for citizen action. Yes, this requires technological literacy — just like getting a good job, starting a business or working in civics have always required ordinary literacy. Speaking of which:

The shape of the online universe, which looks a little like a slice of DNA. This image shows the hierarchical structure of the Internet, based on the connections between individual nodes (such as service providers). Three distinct regions are apparent: an inner core of highly connected nodes, an outer periphery of isolated networks, and a mantle-like mass of peer-connected nodes. The bigger the node, the more connections it has. Those nodes that are closest to the center are connected to more well-connected nodes than are those on the periphery. More info here.

We have the Internet. You can say a lot of bad things about the Internet and how vapid it is, but it’s also one of the most powerful tools in the history of communication — and nearly everyone who wants to can get on. Information is available. It is possible to research nearly any topic exhaustively, without being charged by the minute. We have someplace to publish our ideas and to experiment with art. We can communicate with people in any country, which is making the world a smaller place with more in common. We have to use this tool wisely and well; indeed, we must become very good at it, and keep using it for loving, constructive purposes.

We have separation of powers. This is a provision in the U.S. Constitution that makes it difficult for one branch of the government to get over on any other branch. If there is a Congress that has no concern for the citizens, the president can veto its legislation. It sucks that the Supreme Court is stacked with Monsanto loyalists and Neocons, and they are doing some damage — but even that won’t last forever, if we pay attention. We do need to remember what James Madison said about how when all the branches of government are controlled by the same interests, that is the definition of tyranny. Therefore the mix has to be diverse enough to have varied opinions and sufficient harmony to run the business. (What we are experiencing now is indeed a game, one that mainly conceals how sold out the government is to the corporate system. You really need to figure out what this means structurally and economically; it’s not that hard, and it’s liberating to grasp the concept. This is not merely a political slogan — the government is a tool to the corporate interests and it wants to see itself that way; that’s the concept of ‘small government’.)

The Uranus-Pluto square is coming soon. I’ve watched a thousand or so hours of cable news the past year or so, and go figure, nobody has even mentioned this. That aspect — making seven contacts between 2012 and 2015 — is the essence of what we are calling 2012. The contact between Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn is a beautiful image of how personal awakening influences corporate and government reform. This is very handy in a time when we will soon discover that we have no choice but to do something, personally, rather than waiting for someone else to do it for us.

And…

The Shirt Factory, in Kingston, NY, has 6,000 panes of glass, from many different eras. Photo by Eric Francis.

What we need is a vision. Wednesday night, on her first program after the elections, Rachel Maddow began her program by asking, “So where do we go from here?” That IS the question.

Part of the problem we face is that the dominant philosophy of our culture and the current world problems perpetuate one another. And part of why that happens is that we seem to be lacking a vision of how the world can be. We’re afraid to state openly what we want — afraid of cynics and of being criticized and of having our idealism torn down.

We need to be better at moving resources into our ideas, and sticking with them for long enough so they have a chance to manifest. We need to learn the art of cooperation. Real politics among healthy people would be about creating solutions that work for everyone, or at least figuring out how to make room for everyone.

We need to build, and nourish, a vision of a world that is happy and free, inviting and welcoming wellbeing and pleasure. We need a world where those who want healing can seek and find it easily. We need a world of people who are willing to take a chance and create something original. We need a world of people who are willing to cooperate with one another. This is already happening, in large and small ways. Yes, we need problem solvers, but that only goes so far. At a certain point, solving what we think of as problems means taking them up as opportunities to create something better — not because we need to, but because we want to. This is not merely a rhetorical trick. Anyone who has ever done it knows what I am talking about. At a certain point, necessity becomes desire, and that is when the light shines through.

This weekend, Venus begins to rise as the morning star in the eastern sky. She does so in a sign that grants access to the deeper levels of the emotions. Then the next thing that happens is that she enters Libra, which is where we experience the sensation of justice, balance and equanimity — and she returns to direct motion.

We can, and we will, get it right: as long as we want to.

From the poet Robert Hunter:

Counting stars by candlelight
all are dim but one is bright:
the spiral light of Venus
rising first and shining best,
From the northwest corner
of a brand-new crescent moon
crickets and cicadas sing
a rare and different tune
Terrapin Station.

Yours & truly,

Judith Gayle’s Political Waves will now appear Saturdays on Daily Astrology & Adventure — the Planet Waves blog. She also has her own blog, called Political Waves.

Scorpio Birthday/Ascendant Report Done

Dear Scorpio Planet Waves Reader:

I’ve just finished the Scorpio report. It’s available for instant access at this link.

Not surprisingly, I’ve got a lot to say about relationships in this report, particularly the theme of integrating relationships into your psyche, with two goals: one is calling back your projections, so that you can perceive others in their true form; and the other is cultivating emotional independence from relationships, so that you’re free to make your decisions unencumbered by excessive responsibility to others.

Your quest for accomplishment is also a quest for freedom, which has mental and emotional components. Yet by the time Chiron reaches Pisces, this will take on a distinctly creative, erotic and adventurous flavor.

It will be obvious that your life is about having fun, and this sense of openness will lead into a deeper sense of a healing mission. That works out to be a combined creative/healing mission — they are the same thing for you right now — though the access point seems to be less about being on a healing table and more about being in an art studio, making a film or otherwise becoming a full-on creature of the night. You’re entering a time when it will be more fun, easier and more profitable to let your passions guide you. This is in part a message from Mars in Sagittarius, your house of resources and money.

I cover the recent movement of Vesta, Mercury and Venus in your sign, as well as your ruling planet Mars venturing into Scorpio.

This recording is four segments of astrology, with a careful look at all of the houses that are highlighted, and one segment of tarot. My focus on the houses makes this report equally applicable for Scorpio rising — the ascendant implies the houses, which I look at carefully and use with some precision.

This report is different than Light Bridge, which will take a whole new look at your astrology from several different angles, as well as consider transits going further into the future.

Once again, here is your link for instant access.

Yours & truly,

Weekly Horoscope for Friday, November 5, 2010, #838 – BY ERIC FRANCIS

Aries Confidential

What would it mean not to have power struggles in your relationships? To not wrangle over sex, money and attention? For one thing it would mean you have a lot more time and energy on your hands. You would have plenty more fun, better sex and you would worry less. You would probably have more money, too. In general the less struggle you have, the more abundance you can have. And how do you do this? In a word, flexibility. That would be flexibility about who you are; in your perception of who others are; and most of all, in your ideas about what relationships are ‘supposed to be’ and the supposed laws that govern them. Your emotions are made to flow like water. Now is the time to let it collect, so that you feel confident going deeper; because when you go deeper, you will feel better.

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

Taurus Confidential

One of the most intriguing things about Taurus is that in the solar house system, the sign associated with your house of deep surrender (the 8th) is Sagittarius. This overlays the energy of profound emotional release, and interpersonal bonding, with a sense of mystical longing and cosmic quest. It would be helpful if you could identify these two groups of feelings like the individual notes in a chord or rays of light in a spectrum. They can combine to make one harmonic or frequency, and you can experience them as discrete energies. Such an experiment would be a potent way of looking into a mirror of your own consciousness. At the moment you may feel like you’re peering into the dark with respect to ‘who you really are’. You may feel there is no chance you will gain such a clear understanding anytime soon — but a revelation is at hand; a light is about to appear where you thought there was none.

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

Gemini Confidential

I’ve expressed the idea that for Gemini, sexual health is health. I would affirm this for everyone, because we’re all human with something basic and fundamental in common: though for Gemini, this idea arrives in your chart as a specific mission or special point of access. Perhaps as the first ‘human sign’ of the 12, you’re a prototype or example for the rest of us. The light is dawning in Gemini first: sexual healing resides at the core of the healing process. All true healing involves a person learning to relate to his or her creative nature; there is also the distinctly erotic dimension of relating directly to existence/nonexistence, and this in turn involves the full integration of shadow material. We often take our dark emotions for granted, as something we can never resolve. You are ready to see the light of the soul and feel the movement of your emotions.

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

Cancer Confidential

To be an artist, it helps if you direct your financial and creative resources into your creative process. To be a lover, it helps if you choose love and allow conflict and judgment to dissolve like dust. To be an adventurer, you step outside of your home. To take a risk, there’s an essential element of being willing to let go of something ‘safe’ for the mere potential of experiencing something better. There is an element of sacrifice in each of these ideas, but it’s not sacrifice the way we usually think of it. In the true sense, it’s the process of transforming what does not serve us into what does. It’s about giving up what we don’t want in exchange for what we do, and part of that is releasing our attachment to what is not actually helpful. These attachments all have stories, which are like energy roots that we can let go of — if we use full awareness, and more to the point, if we really want to.

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

Leo Confidential

This weekend’s Scorpio New Moon takes place conjunct Vesta, in your 4th house of security and home. This is your cosmic Thanksgiving, an opportunity to spend some time appreciating and caring for the physical space you occupy. On the inner plane, it’s a moment to get your emotional priorities in order. Life is easier when we have a clear sense of what is important to us, because that provides an organizing principle around which we can arrange all that other stuff we think about. Knowing what is the most meaningful is an excellent opportunity to let the less meaningful things simmer down, and to spend some time in full acknowledgement of what you want. One word for this is ‘centered’. That’s an excellent way to think of it; and the beautiful thing is that you have a center you can access; your core fire is hot and healthy, and you actually do know what is the most meaningful to you. Give those things the time and space to have a deep healing effect on your life, and remind you how good it’s possible to feel.

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

Virgo Confidential

You’re blessed with penetrating perception, and the ability to evaluate yourself somewhat brutally. Together they can be a dangerous combination, when that deep ability to perceive is turned on yourself. Yet the screech you hear is feedback, not music. I propose that you’re at a point in your growth when you can ease back on the evaluation bit and notice who you actually are. That person is simpler than previous estimates have defined you as being, and eminently kind. You no longer have to live up to anyone’s seeming expectations. In the words of my Virgo friend Beth, nobody is your judge and jury. It’s one thing to ‘know’ that and another to have it dawn on your mind like the Sun rising after a long night. Hold that thought. Phrase it as a question and as a statement. Note who comes to mind. One last thought — all judgment is based on comparison, and comparison is based on the past. Step into the moment — this moment — and your new perspective will come into focus.

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

Libra Confidential

The gift of this moment is your recognition of what you have and how much you’ve accomplished. They are related, though you seem to be taking the next step into the full acceptance of what this says about you as a person. Let’s make sure we get this in the right order, though: it’s not your accomplishments that create your worth, but rather your presence and sincere values that create your accomplishments. This recognition alone is enough to speed your life forward. There is the suggestion here that it’s now easier to be in harmony with yourself than it has been for many moons. Think of this harmony as a state of inner consensus. True consensus involves a group of people who have similar enough values, being able to make a decision based on those values. This now applies to any decision you make. Among the many seemingly different internal voices you hear, remember — you’re the One.

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

Scorpio Confidential

This weekend’s New Moon in your birth sign comes with another revelation: the helical rise of Venus. This is the moment when retrograde Venus becomes visible as the morning star. You could say that this sets the tone of Venus for the next 18 months. Venus in Scorpio is a deeper process than the prior helical rise, which was in Aries: a confrontational, defensive energy for Venus. In Scorpio, you gain depth from fully embracing the process of integration. Gradually, what was different, alien, unfamiliar and irrational breaks down into its many components and becomes part of you. This will allow you to do something profound, which is address your various opposites as an internal factor rather than as something you need to project in order to see. You may experience the birth of what I’ll describe as deep feminine consciousness, and embrace this fully even if it’s a little off your usual radar. Venus attracts, she receives and most of all, she emanates an elegant ray of light.

The Scorpio Audio Report is now done. This reading includes more than an hour of astrology and 20 minutes of tarot custom created for those with Scorpio Sun, Moon or rising. Please see letter above horoscopes for full description or use this link for instant access.

Sagittarius Confidential

It is sometimes shocking the extent to which ‘inner space’ does not exist for many people — but lately it certainly exists for you. Indeed, your inner world may be more real than the outer one, and you may feel more content existing in your feeling body than any other. But Mars in your sign is saying that however real your inner world may seem, it’s time to take action in the three-dimensional world around you. That means pushing your agenda; it means having an effect; and that means feeling the repercussions. Normally you don’t worry about that part; but for some reason now you’re feeling more poignantly, and self consciously, the responses of others. This is a good thing, if you ask me; rather than going out and conquering the world, you need to relate to the people and space around you with full sensation. You will still have access to your volition and your single-minded ability to focus on a goal. The gift will be integrating the simple idea that ‘easy does it’.

Capricorn Confidential

Rob Hand, perhaps the preeminent astrologer of our day, once said to me that the study of the world can be divided into two categories — psychology and physics. One considers the mind, and the other how the material world works. Many recent episodes of your life have involved physics — the seemingly intractable laws of energy, motion and addressing the concept of limitation. Now your life boils down to psychology: the study of what motivates people, and of how they respond to their feelings. In particular, consider the psychology of groups: of how one person’s sensation of life, or experience of self, influences that of the people around them. Your ability to do this, and even to consider the sense of doing so, will help you significantly in a short while. Remember, people never do things for ‘no reason’. There is always a reason. You may not ‘agree’ with it, but you certainly want to be aware of what it is.

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

Aquarius Confidential

You have some complex career goals. Yet you also have the sense of many things adding up to one, or perhaps awareness of the one essential element that unites them all. Usually you sense this element like a plant’s roots reach for water. Now you have more in common with a plant’s leaves reaching toward light. There’s something new that you want, and at the same time this honors a deep sense of mission that has always been part of your world. I’m not talking about a goal in the conventional sense, but rather honoring a sense of purpose that is palpable, real and available to your senses. What changes do you need to make in order to be free to explore this potential? As far as I can tell, you’ve already made most of them. Remember, just because you focus on one thing does not eclipse all the others. Indeed, it’s within the quality of the moment that it will feed and nourish the rest.

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

Pisces Confidential

One distinctive Pisces quality is that of feeling your way into the future. Another is how the past, the present and the future can meld into one simultaneous experience, which can cloud your ability to know which is which. To see ahead, it’s necessary for you to apply some form of extra consciousness. At the moment, it’s as if you’re being called forward by a star. This star is saying, above all, that there is a future; there is a whole dimension of existence that you have never experienced, and that is actually available. Some factor or element of your life now is beckoning you toward this experience. You can trust this guidance, and the gesture of trust will feed your confidence. If you want to use feeling as navigation, feel for who and what you want the most — and you will place your steps and your choices in the right direction. Move without resistance, and feel your doubt disappear like mist in the light.

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

Putting the Conserve Back into Conservative

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If I seem to take part in politics, it is only because politics encircles us today like the coil of a snake from which one cannot get out, no matter how much one tries. I wish therefore to wrestle with the snake.
— Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

Dear Planet Waves Reader:

Conservatism is all the rage. I guess it has been for a while. I’m usually late picking up on trends; I finally joined the New York State Conservative Party a few weeks ago, with a plan to reform the organization from within.

Photo: United States Army via The Memory Hole.

I got out of politics in the mid-1980s (when I was an aspiring campaign writer) because in that role, one of your daily tasks is to lie to the public. I got sick of having to make false statements of various kinds. For example, to get your candidate elected, it’s generally necessary to tell the public what they want to hear, or what gets them to vote the way you want, rather than what your candidate actually stands for.

The financial statements created by the campaigns I worked for were routinely exercises in covering up spending 10 times more than you said you did, and if you didn’t do that, there was no way to compete. All the candidates knew this and it was like we all tacitly agreed to the alternate set of on-the-ground rules.

But now that I’ve found my identity as a conservative, I feel like I can finally tell the truth. One thing that’s always confused me is the word conservative. It sounds a lot like conserve, which means “to protect from loss or harm; preserve,” or “to use carefully or sparingly, avoiding waste.”

My fellow conservatives seem to do a lot of bombing other countries, which is hardly protecting them from harm. They’re busy-bodies wondering who everyone sleeps with, and spendthrifts who literally ship truckloads of money into war zones, which then goes unaccounted for. I always thought the thing that made you a conservative was that you had a tight accounting system. It meant recognizing the value of a dollar, and respecting an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work.

And we all know that conservative public officials don’t waste the taxpayers’ money. Spending $1 million a year per soldier in Afghanistan makes the bonuses of Wall Street execs look like a bargain. And we’re doing what? Intervening in the affairs of a foreign country?

Why do people put up with this?

I got my answer one morning this week. I was up early and flipped on the tube. I was treated to one of those endless call-in programs on C-Span that was only open to Republicans and members of the Teabag Party. This is the program to watch if you’re sick of hearing from the pundits; instead you get all the people the pundits have so meticulously misinformed.

Photo by Eric Francis.

In one call after the next, it was the onslaught of the clueless. There were people commenting on immigration who sounded like they’ve never personally crossed an international border. There were old people calling for cutting Social Security benefits in half — as if they’re not low enough already.People went on and on about entitlements, without noting that companies such as Bank of America and General Electric pay zero corporate taxes and get plenty in corporate welfare.

Candidates pandering to this constituency are promising to eliminate the minimum wage, take away health care, give the Social Security fund to Wall Street. The Teabag Party is running 81 candidates who are committed to criminalizing abortion even in the case of rape and incest: 71 candidates for the House, seven for the Senate and three for governor of different states. And women voters are leaning Republican this year. They are being manipulated by hundreds of millions of dollars worth of anonymous attack advertising, allowed by a new Supreme Court decision called Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission. I don’t understand this. Lots of conservatives are Christians, and Jesus said we should take care of the poor. And as for those ads, why would you conceal your identity unless you have something to hide?

After I listened to these callers for an hour, Sal Russo came on as a guest. He’s the ‘chief strategist’ of the Tea Party Express, a political action committee that funnels money into the campaigns of Teabag candidates. Mr. Russo got his start shining the shoes of Ronald Reagan, who looks like a bleeding heart liberal these days — he raised taxes dozens of times, granted amnesty to illegal immigrants and did quite a bit of deficit spending. Russo rambled on for an hour about how the (Democrat-controlled) government is over-regulating business and therefore creating the recession. All we need to do is get rid of these pesky regulations and the recession will disappear, he said (about 14 times). There used to be an expression for this — putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop.

We need a new plan. We need to put the conserve back into conservative. The following is my proposed platform.

Plan for the New American Decade

1. Conserve the natural environment. There are a lot of planets as nice as the Earth, but we can’t get to any of them at the moment. So we may as well take care of the one we have, if only to make it a more pleasant place. Teddy Roosevelt loved bird sanctuaries and saw the sense in creating them. That’s true conservatism.

Religion is useful for some things, but we’ve outgrown the Holy Roman Empire dictating that the Earth is flat. We can thank the church for commissioning some lovely stained glass. This is one of the rose windows at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. Photo by Eric Francis.

2. Conserve resources in all forms. That includes everything from energy to trees to money to effort, and focus them where we really want and truly need. We can cut plenty of waste out of government spending and we can start in our homes.

3. Generally, advocating a more modest way of life. There’s a difference between abundance and needless overindulgence. This is not about denying ourselves anything other than the privilege of waste. Why waste, when you can put the resources into something constructive? Gluttony is not a value. Cultured people enjoy what they have, and grow their lives consciously and within their means.

4. Respect separation of church and state. Conservatives follow the Constitution, and this provision is in the First Amendment. It’s extremely liberal of politicians to ignore this important boundary. Conservatives don’t impose their religious values onto other people. Quakers, one of the most conservative religions, does not allow its members to proselytize. We started as a Protestant nation. Every person has his or her own relationship to God and nobody has a right to impose theirs on anyone else

5. Respect for individual rights, including privacy and free speech. The United States is based on keeping private things private: including our personal papers and private property. That’s what the law says. In the United States, citizens are sovereigns, not subjects of the crown. A smaller, less invasive government stays out of your private life. It does not have time, resources or authority to monitor every single pregnancy. Family planning is a family matter. Then, as citizens, we mind our own business. What your neighbor does in the privacy of his or her home is none of your business, unless it directly impacts your life in some way.

6. Non-interventionist military policy. We need to take care of our own country before we conquer or ‘help’ any other country. That might translate to shorter, more efficient wars — or no wars at all. The purpose of the military is to defend our nation, not to randomly attack other countries, or worse, to steal their resources. We have more than enough here in magnificent North America.

Federal Reserve Notes come off the assembly line. How much money and debt does the Federal Reserve have?

7. Audit the Federal Reserve. A conservative knows how much money he or she has; the checkbook balances at the end of the month. Your money is your power, and we need to audit the ‘federal’ bank so we know how much money we have. Of course when we do this, someone will have to explain the quarter-quadrillion-dollar hole in the books. We might want to ask an astrophysicist familiar with dark matter to be part of the audit team. Maintaining the treasury is a public trust, and those who violated this trust need to be exposed and put on trial.

8. Offer sex education to students — consistent with science. Or, said another way, offer complete science education to students, including scientific knowledge on the environment, resource conservation, and sex education. Family planning is essential to having functional families. Young people have a right to know about how their bodies work, and need to have information so that they can take care of one another.

9. Speaking of education, it’s money well spent. We need to invest in the future, and an effective, economical way to do that is to support education. Parents should have a diversity of options for educational philosophies available: different kinds of schools to suit different values and ideas about life. Public higher education needs to go back to majority funding by the state, remembering its primary mission, which is access to all citizens; this in turn will create a prosperous, functioning economy. We have to stop this whole business of student loans and go back to grants.

Four airmen of the Oregon Air National Guard, after arriving at the Port-au-Prince Airport in Haiti. From left to right: Master Sgt. Ken Campbell, Tech. Sgt. Michael Fischer, Staff Sgt. Matt Jenkins, and Lt. Mark Gibson.

10. Redeploy military resources to peacetime civilian duties, like planting trees, helping in disaster zones and civil works projects. Put soldiers to work teaching inner city kids to read, fix cars and work computers.

11. Conservatism advocates a more natural way of life, like that of our great grandparents: stuff like gardening, home canning, respect for the land and other basics. Conservatism implies a measure of self-sufficiency, as well as taking care of your neighbors.

12. Help for those in need. The purpose of a society is to take care of all its members. Why bother otherwise? We are a nation based on abundance, and there is plenty to go around, especially if we’re talking about food, shelter, clothing and health care. Many of my fellow conservatives these days say they read the Bible. Remember this part? “Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.”

13. Respect Life. That means not encouraging or compelling killing, and creating a culture of respect for the mystery of existence. Build a memorial in Washington and in every state capitol to the many people who committed no crime and who were given the death penalty.

14. Tell the truth. Stop believing lies.

Yours & truly,

Judith Gayle’s Political Waves will now appear Saturdays on Daily Astrology & Adventure — the Planet Waves blog. She also has her own blog, called Political Waves.

Light Bridge: 2011 Annual Readings from Eric Francis

Dear Planet Waves Reader:

Light Bridge, the 2011 annual edition of Planet Waves, is now available for pre-order. Giving you 12 signs of astrology in both written and audio format, Light Bridge is your astrological guide to the opportunities, changes and challenges of the coming four seasons. You can pre-order Light Bridge here. The readings will be available in January.

This offer gives you our best price, available to charter members and current subscribers of Planet Waves and Cosmic Confidential. If you order now, you will have access to all 12 signs for one price of $29.95. This price will be valid through Friday night. By the time Light Bridge comes out, readings will be $19.95 per sign. The benefit of having all 12 signs is that you can research your Sun, Moon and ascendant, as well as those of your significant others and other family members.

Readers with special situations — please see the note at the end.

Following up on Cosmic Confidential, this year’s annual readings will be a mix of audio and written presentation, offering one hour per sign and a detailed written report. As my readers know, I offer analysis and a vision rather than prediction, drawing on 15 years’ experience as a consulting astrologer and horoscope writer.

Many have been saying that this thing we call ‘2012’ is really happening in 2011 (I’ve said it’s really happening now, and has been for a while). Both years hold their revelations and their surprise elements, though it’s true that nearly every key element of 2012 astrology shows up in some form during the next four seasons. That includes the sign changes of three outer planets — Chiron, Uranus and Neptune, which will dramatically revise the backdrop of our lives. All this Pisces energy coming our way calls for a heavy-duty Pisces to do the interpreting — and I am up to the job.

We will need to be more discerning, and more focused on what we actually want and more aware of who we actually are. Pretenses will be more difficult to maintain. You will be called to focus on your true calling and be with your authentic tribe. How will you get there? What leverage do you have, to make the kinds of changes that you want? I will cover relationships, life mission and accessing your core creativity.

With Chiron and Neptune entering Pisces, the field of potential will open to its widest aperture. And Uranus is entering Aries, which will add a dash of the impetuous and unpredictable, bringing many changes to society. Together, these factors must be handled with expert care and awareness — and if you can do that, you will love the results. Each reading will include a glimpse far into the future — to the moment when Chiron changes signs to Aries in the spring of 2018.

Here is your ordering page for Light Bridge for all 12 signs. We will notify you by email when Light Bridge is ready early next year. This price will be valid through the end of the week.

For readers with special situations who cannot order now, you can reserve your price by emailing Chelsea. As these orders take a lot of work for her to process manually, please use this option only if you truly need it! Thank you for that.

Thank you for your business, and it’s a pleasure to serve as your astrologer.

Yours & truly,

Weekly Horoscope for Friday, October 29, 2010, #837 – BY ERIC FRANCIS

You are what you believe — a fact that may be incredibly annoying to anyone who doesn’t really understand how to change their beliefs. Here we get to a question that is fairly troubling to those whose rational mind is the only thing in charge: to what extent do we create our reality, and to what extent are we subject to reality? Obviously the answer is somewhere between these two polarities. It would be difficult to argue that we don’t have significant influence over our lives, if you’ve heard the stories of the people who get where they get by choosing. Then there are the examples of people who seem to be absolute victims of their circumstances. The real question is, where do you fit into this equation? The second question is, what influence do you have over the lives of the people closest to you? Would they say they thrive in the presence of your influence, or would they say they are subject to your influence? Check in with the people closest to you, and ask them for some feedback — you will learn a lot.

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

Gradually the pieces are coming into place. You may not see it that way, or not yet. At this stage you may see your problems more vividly than the solutions or answers to the problems. This would be a good time to formulate your idea of what the issues are. The concepts and the language that you use will determine how and whether you’re able to reach some resolution, and go to the next level — the one that you want so dearly, and which seems so tantalizingly close. One theme of this phase of your life is about being ‘lost in your relationships’. Another way to consider that issue is what happens to your identity when you’re in relationship. This means in a relationship or more accurately in relationship to anything or anyone. What you bring into the situation is what you have when you get there. Many people try to find themselves through partnership. This may work. Human encounters are powerful mirrors, they are learning experiences and they can be beautiful. Yet if you find yourself getting lost, remember that the place to find the compass is within.

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

You’re getting closer to understanding a health issue that may be troubling you. What stands out about Gemini is the extent to which your emotional reality influences your overall health. This tends to be true of the mentally-oriented air signs, though at the moment there is considerable activity in your house of health, healing and wellbeing, Scorpio. Suddenly, however, there seems to be a revelation taking place. You may not like it; you may not be fond of the feeling or feel like you have any control at all — but you do have a source of feedback. Listen to your own responses, and sense closely what is in your environment. In particular, try to get a handle on any conflict you’re experiencing with anyone else, and see how far back you can trace that sensation. This will give you clues as to the nature of the inner conflict you’ve been struggling with, often silently. Look to external issues or situations as reflections of something going on inside. Certainly, there are a few of those around and one may be getting in your face. If you see this from the inside out, you’ll be able to go deeper in your quest for actual, helpful information about how to unravel a problem and speed your healing process.

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

How do you know what you want? Well, it would be impossible not to have that information, unless you somehow concealed it from yourself. A good place to start would be to ask yourself and then listen honestly for your response. Heck, you could say anything. You might even find out you want something that’s naughty even though you thought you were an adult and you’re supposed to be able to want anything you want. Whether you get it is another question, but let’s keep cause and effect in order — desire before results. Borrowing a bit from Abraham, it may help if you don’t worry about how it’s going to happen. Skip over the details and the supposed logistics; skip over how anyone else might feel. Focus on your desire and notice your responses. Ask yourself the question a few times and see if you can go deeper into an honest space. You have the opportunity to let go of the inner blocks to receiving what you want. And you have a lot of extra energy that you can pour into the sensation of pleasure and the freedom of receiving.

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

What most people call faith is rooted in the emotions. All the convincing in the world is nothing compared to feeling in alignment with yourself or with the cosmos around you. You’re in a particularly focused moment wherein you can tap that feeling on a particularly deep level. What is interesting is that you have access to the inner sensation of worldly success. This may be disguised as a question, but whatever — it’s very nearly Halloween. You have some kind of achievement brewing around inside you, something you’re creating and cultivating, and this is connected to some of your highest aspirations for your life on the planet this time around. Yet at the moment you have this added bit of data, which is contact with the truth that success, however you define it, comes from the inside out. There is little in your charts to argue that you will go out tomorrow and conquer the world. Yet there is plenty to say that as you understand who you are and how that relates to your objective, you will understand the true nature of success.

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

It will help you if you make contact with your anger, and keep listening. We have a block in our society on this particular branch of emotion, as if being angry makes us a bad person. You can start with suspending that judgment, so you have access to the full spectrum of your feelings. From there it will be fairly easy to tap into an inner sensation that has done an excellent job of eluding words and even awareness. It is worth mentioning that the avoidance of anger is not something that exists randomly; its most commonplace cause is the fear that if we express anger at our parents, we will get cast out of the nest. So the clarity of childhood perception is suppressed by the cult of the family, which has undue power over the life of a small person. A number of times and places this year I have referenced your father or what came down to you from his side of the family. As the weeks and months go by, you have increasingly direct access to whatever is at the root of this matter, and the more clarity and self-honesty you allow the easier it will be to be free and move on.

The Virgo Audio Birthday Report is available. In the format of all the birthday audios, this offers more than an hour of astrology for Virgo and Virgo rising, covering the cardinal T-square from a personal perspective. I’ve also included a 20-minute tarot reading using the Voyager Deck. For instant access, order here for Virgo and Virgo Rising. Only $14.95, this also makes a meaningful and economical gift.

There is a side to you that only comes out in the deepest, most intimate personal bonds, and only at certain times. Now, though, you have an unusual kind of direct access to your inner nature that does not require the inspiration of anyone else, or contact with them. This is good news, because shorn of commitment to or involvement with another being — even if for a moment — you can reach a deeper level of contact with yourself. Something is waiting for you there. This something will grant a sense of completion, at the same time it will help you understand what you seek in other people. One gift that is awaiting you is distinguishing the difference between a want and a need. This is a deeply personal matter, and one that often owes its resolution to a level of maturity. But I can offer one thought, which is that if something is a true need, you can fulfill it yourself. If something is a desire, it’s often nice to share that with others.

The Libra audio is done. This reading includes more than an hour of astrology and 20 minutes of tarot custom created for those with Libra Sun, Moon or rising. This is yet another amazing birthday/ascendant audio that is getting rave reviews. Here is how to get instant access.

There comes a point in our growth process where we realize we contain our opposite. Just like every cop is a criminal and all the sinners are saints, as Mick Jagger put it, though I’m speaking here in terms of sex and gender. Fifty years ago if someone mentioned a man getting in touch with his inner feminine or a woman getting in touch with her inner masculine, they might have been offered the same treatment as someone who said they were abducted by aliens. How fast the subtle elements of consciousness can change, to the point where even vaguely sensitive people have a clue what you’re talking about if you say that kind of thing. This is a particularly rich moment of connecting with whatever your gender opposite is. You may feel like you’re allowing a ‘different aspect of your nature’ to percolate up to awareness, which is a good start. Allow for some subtlety, such as the woman who says maybe making contact with the woman who says yes; the man who wants others to submit to him, making contact with the man who surrenders to himself.

The Scorpio Birthday Report is almost done.

Mars returns to your sign today for the first time in a couple of years, and this energy is a point of activation and action. Your astrology this year has chronicled a maze-like journey over, through and around various obstacles. These have been worldly and psychological; they have at times delayed you and at other times offered you an exciting puzzle to solve. You’ve had the good sense not to take out your battering ram, but with Mars now in your sign, some friendly assertiveness is in order. You can be pushier than you’ve allowed yourself to be, though I will say this: do it with love. Mars in your sign can come in several shades of arrogant, and that is not going to help you. What you want is to be direct about your goals, and to use politics before you use force. Politics means a combination of strategy, negotiation and compromise — never straying from your central and primary goal. And, with Mr. Ares himself (a/k/a Mars) having arrived, you now can have plenty of clarity about what that is.

Keep your focus on food. I’ll remind you a couple of more times before the year is out. The adjustments to your diet you make now will have sticking power. You know what you need to do; you know what is and is not food (and if you’re in doubt, it’s probably on the ‘is not’ list). If you know you have a food sensitivity, make sure you cut that out of your diet first. There is only so far you can go avoiding things, however. Fairly soon into the process you must define what food is, and then get some and start eating it. I recognize this is an enormous issue in the lives of busy people, particularly with kids and especially if there is a budgetary restriction involved. Those kinds of obstacles can be worked out with planning. The thing to remember is that it’s worth it. You will live better and most likely longer if you eat the right food. This is a lifelong habit, and the sooner you cultivate it the better. With Ceres and Pluto together in your sign, this is an excellent opportunity to take some significant evolutionary steps.

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

Chiron and Neptune are drawing to their closest conjunction till 2094. It’s not a perfect alignment — that was earlier in the year — but it’s close enough to help you resolve many layers of self-doubt. If you’ve been living in a fog for, oh, the past 10 years or so, this is the moment you can see the light, or see it a bit more clearly than you have so far. It’s getting easier, this I’m sure you noticed. If we use crossing the ocean as a metaphor, it’s no longer day after day of wide-open sea that barely changes. You’re now hugging the coast, exploring new territory and, it seems, looking for a harbor where you can get off and step onto dry land. Here are a couple of thoughts to consider: you don’t have to stay anywhere you arrive. For as long as you want, you can visit places and see what the culture is like. You also need to be reminded every day to have fun — to allow the child aspect of yourself to come out and play. I’m reminding you today; you can remind yourself tomorrow.

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

Up in the Leo horoscope I was describing the emotional component of faith. I suggest you check that out because it applies equally to you; the central idea is that faith is something we feel rather than something we think. The extra element for Pisces is remembering your longterm vision. You’ve explored this enough, and tested your theories sufficiently, to have some sense of what it is. As Mars crosses the achievement angle of your chart, you can focus your energy and the resolve to make some significant strides toward making that vision real. But the key is feeling good, so that you can stay in alignment with yourself. The other 11 signs of the zodiac have more wiggle room on this one. You’re someone who is deeply and instantly influenced by your emotional state. How you experience the world is a direct function of your innermost emotions. Yes, this is true for everyone but what I am saying is that it’s particularly true for the deeply sensitive nature of Pisces. So focus on feeling good and what is actually possible will seem obvious.

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

The Sacred Space of Self

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Dear Planet Waves Reader:

Of the mysteries of ancient Rome, the vestal virgins stand out as one of the most intriguing. Who were these women, who served half a lifetime tending the sacred fire, taken between ages six and 10, and maintaining celibacy through 30 (or more) years of service to the goddess?

Ritual fire in the Chironian, devoted to Vesta, Rosendale, NY. Photo by Eric Francis – Book of Blue.

They not only tended the city hearth, keeping its flames burning around the clock; for many generations they were present at every state function, standing as guardians on behalf of the goddess Vesta, who defended the city. Philosophers and emperors, including Cicero, revered them as central points of integrity for the empire, without whom Rome would surely fail.

Vesta, the goddess of the hearth, is rarely depicted in classical art; I’ve personally never seen a representation. At the center of her temple was not a cult statue or idol, but rather a flame. She is the incarnation of the goddess as fire; the living spirit of the element.

We have the stories of the vestals , actual women who did her work. They have names and histories: Aemilia, Licinda, Fabia, Aquilia Severa and of course, Coelia Concordia, the last head of the order, who was present when the Temple of Vesta was closed in 391 when Emperor Theodosius I banned pagan practice in the empire. She stepped down in 394. Theodosius was the last emperor under whom the empire was politically unified, and the Sack of Rome occurred just 14 years later. Perhaps Cicero was right. Of that event, St. Jerome wrote, “The city which had conquered the whole world was itself conquered.”

So, it would seem that the vestals and their ritual of constant devotion, at least symbolically, held a dimension of Rome’s integrity. They could put this energy into their devotion because they were freed from the responsibilities of household relationships and child rearing. They used their time studying and working in the service of their patron goddess and in turn, the society around them.

Notably, their history seems to predate Rome itself. Rhea Silvia, the mythical mother of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, was said to be a vestal virgin; she claimed that the god Mars found her in a forest and seduced her, and she gave birth to the twins.

The Discovery of the Asteroids, and Vesta

In 1801, an astronomer discovered an orbiting body for the second time ever: that was Ceres. She was named for the goddess of agriculture. Two other asteroids were discovered soon after, Juno and Pallas.

In 1807, a German astronomer named Olbers discovered an orbiting body (at the time considered a planet), which he invited a colleague to name: that was Vesta. The brightest asteroid, comprising 9% of the mass of the inner belt, Vesta is supposedly visible without a telescope. We may wonder why the ancients, who had more time on their hands and much darker skies at night, did not note her wandering amidst the stars.

Vesta was the last asteroid discovered for 38 years. In 1845, Astraea was discovered, and the following year Neptune arrived. (This page provides a chronology of minor planet discoveries.)

Temple of the vestals on the Roman forum, reconstructed by old Benito — one of his true gifts to Italy. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The discovery of the asteroids opened the potential for additional feminine archetypes in astrology; it took about 150 years for astrologers to get going using them, and they’re still considered something of a boutique item today.

As an astrological factor, I delineate Vesta as the experience of tending the inner hearth of creativity and sexuality. Her primary quality is devotion. She also represents an organizing principle. Think of how old houses were designed around the hearth as the focal point, and how the hearth is the center of the home’s functions. Vesta describes how we organize physical space, and in a similar way, psychic space. If we devote ourselves to tending our creative processes, to tending our inner flame, we have a way to organize consciousness that is then reflected in our values and our expression of life force.

People with a strong Vesta placement will almost always have an unusual expression of sexuality. By strong placement, I mean making many aspects, conjunct the Sun or Moon, or placed on one of the chart’s angles — such as the ascendant or midheaven. Their relationship lives will ‘just be different’ than the people they know: the typical models of romance don’t quite work, and they will wonder why. Many with this kind of placement will be inclined to think it’s a relationship issue, and feel inadequate; with Vesta, the root of the matter is often how sexuality is processed differently. There is the element of service, and Vesta may be incarnating in her expression as the sacred prostitute.

Sacred prostitution means offering oneself sexually in the service of creation, or the service of the goddess, as you wish, but often another person is the direct beneficiary. This is the kind of erotic sharing that is neither romantic nor casual. It’s not quite a mutual marriage. It’s part of what I call the Third Way. Many people have touched upon this energy, but in my experience relatively few experience it consciously or consistently. Typically, we lack the language and the support systems that make it feasible, and we tend to take everything — and everyone — much too personally.

With a strong Vesta placement, there can also be an element of celibacy: that is, of long gaps in sexual activity, which can be particularly confusing for young women who are accustomed to getting plenty of sexual attention. It helps to hear about Vesta and the particular type of devotion she describes. This will often key in memories of past lives spent as some kind of temple priestess.

You may read other interpretations of Vesta. Martha Lang Wescott, for example, notes the mundane qualities: an obsession with projects instead of people; emotional distancing; hard work and career demands; being impersonal; sublimation of other interests into the career or vocation; sacrifice/denial of self (by others/self) for a ‘greater goal’.

One author I read in The Mountain Astrologer circa 2000 said he noticed intense experiences of shame around Vesta placements, often relating to sex and inappropriate childhood sexual contact. I think all these concepts are valid, and some are rather perceptive, yet what is central to Vesta — and to any planet — is the process that unites all of the seemingly separate definitions.

With Vesta, that process involves the devotion of tending the inner hearth, be it for creativity, healing or service. At the center of our inner space is the fire of the soul that, in the complexities of physical life, rarely seems to burn on its own — it needs to be tended, loved and honored continually, so that it can thrive and flourish. When the flame is tended, the empire of our lives can thrive because there is integrity at the core of who we are, and fidelity to our purpose.

Venus Retrograde, and Vesta in Scorpio

We’re now experiencing an impressive collection of planets in Scorpio, which include Venus retrograde. Vesta arrived about a week ago, and on Saturday Venus retrograde and Vesta will be making a conjunction.

Altar to Vesta. Photo by Eric Francis – Book of Blue.

Venus retrograde in Scorpio is an inner quest. Retrogrades imply internal orientation, movement of awareness toward the past, the search for something hidden, and an indication of what we turned off in childhood so as not to threaten our adult caregivers.

Scorpio implies sexuality and sexual themes. Certainly, we do a lot of shutting down here; even if our parents are not hung up on religiosity or their own untended injuries, few parents of prior generations (and, sadly, few today) encourage children to be comfortable with their sexuality.

Venus, one of two feminine archetypes from classical astrology, represents all facets of women, (usually) minus the maternal aspects covered by the Moon. Venus is the lover, the yin principle, the yearning kind of desire, and the most important indicator in the chart of what we value the most.

In Scorpio, Venus represents the powerful female desire nature, which some astrologers have associated with manipulation (associated with the power aspect of Scorpio). In a sense, Venus is out of place expressing desire directly; that is more the realm of Mars. Of course, this is in the opinion of the Holy See. If we want to know what sex was like before the Christians got hold of it and took over the topic completely, we need to study the bonobos. So far, no missionary has converted a single one. They are natural people. (You can read more about them, and what their lives say about humans, in an excellent new book called Sex At Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality.)

These critters, our closest primate cousins (with whom we share 98.5% of our DNA), use sex as a way of maintaining peace and harmony. They know nothing of the jealousy and control suggested by Venus in Scorpio. Rather, they know that keeping the energy moving keeps their society in harmony, and provides a constant source of pleasure and bonding. (The authors of Sex at Dawn note that this is something more likely to occur in a matriarchal culture than a patriarchal one.)

Blue Pool. Photo by Eric Francis – Book of Blue, NY.

With Venus retrograde, we have some introspection around the theme of jealousy and control (which exist as one concept). There are people who would argue that humans are incapable of learning or inventing something better than jealousy; that it’s this thing that will always get in the way of a more open-minded approach to loving relationships.

But emotional concepts run in trends; in our control-oriented phase of cultural history, we have a reverence for jealousy that is strictly optional, and based on insecurities that are optional as well. It’s all a matter of what we want. Incidentally, that something has already been invented: it’s called compersion, which you can think of as a plus-plus symbiosis in the emotional environment. Compersion is about allowing pleasure and emotional contact to exist in others, particularly the people you love. (Here is a keynote presentation I gave recently called Community and Compersion, which explains the concept.)

Venus retrograde is a quest to release jealousy and resentment in exchange for these other values. Indeed, this is a time to question what we value at all, and to examine the basis of our investment in relationships. Think of it this way: Venus is the ruler of Taurus. The sign opposite Taurus, therefore representing relationships, is Scorpio (counting signs, the 7th place). So Venus in her opposite sign will represent a relational involvement, and the retrograde is a kind of evaluation. What is the nature of this attachment, commitment or involvement? What are the definitions and boundaries involved, and how do I feel about them?

There is the question of attachment and how it so often substitutes for love; this one is rarely asked. More than anything, the Scorpio dimension will represent the deeper layers of the emotional bonds. With Venus retrograde, we now have a little more access to information than usual about how that connects to the past, and that emotional level.

Vesta: Devotion to Sexuality

It is rare to hear someone say that they are devoted to sexuality. Most places, to admit as much invites all kinds of judgments, or the fear of being judged. Instead, we admit to wanting relationships and to certain ideas about them; we’re obsessed with the notion of a soulmate or ‘the one’; we admit to wanting comfort and security; we admit to wanting to marry for money, or the devotion to some ideal form of love. But who unabashedly admits that sex is one of their devotions? What personal ad service allows you to check that off as one of your interests?

Heather Fae as Vestal virgin. Photo by Danielle Voirin – Book of Blue, NY.

Vesta in Scorpio speaks to just that common sense notion. When we consider the nuances of sexuality, we have to remember the wider cultural background that infuses the discussion and makes it all the more meaningful. Devotion to sexuality is a positive frame of reference; an affirmation of the importance and beauty of one of the best things that life has to offer, and the source of all existence. Part of the devotion is to keeping a constructive attitude, which is of course challenging when we get so few positive messages — we need to look for those messages, and dialog with them.

Think of Vesta in Scorpio as the specifically sexual flame that we must tend in order to have a healthy, wholesome existence. This tending can come in many forms, including nourishing desire, expressing that desire, encouraging ourselves to be curious, and applying our awareness to the healing projects that we know would help us. Many of these involve trust; injured trust is one of the most significant factors that affects our sexual needs. Vesta in Scorpio is about nourishing trust — in particular the kind that’s not based on the illusion of control.

There may be matters of sexual health that require regular or even daily maintenance. This is something we often take for granted. But the privy parts (as William Lilly describes them in the first description of Scorpio published in English) get a lot of other activity, and they require special care. Part of that special care is a ‘use it or lose it’ factor where sex is concerned.

There is also the dimension of knowledge. How many books about sexuality have you read? Not relationship theory; rather, books that actually consider the sexual nature of what a person is. Most of us think we know a lot about sex, but where exactly does that ‘knowledge’ come from? Even Rachel Maddow, the first lesbian prime time news anchor, can’t utter the word ‘masturbation’ when it’s called for in a news story. Part of devotion to sexuality is a commitment to awareness and honoring different viewpoints that exist, and to stretching your viewpoint. One measure of the ignorance of our culture is the current culture war being waged on same-sex lovers. There is no way that would fly unless a lot of people were scared, judgmental, ignorant and (on top of that) feeing guilty about something. That’s because attack is a projection of guilt, especially where sex is concerned.

Finally, there is the matter of tending one’s own sexual truth. Every person has a unique sexual identity; we each need different things. Every person has a unique sexual orientation: there’s a lot more than L, G, B, T and Q. Most of us try to fit our sexual orientation into a pre-fab theory that was basically forced on us as the only option. The source of that one option is usually religion — hardly a place to go for enlightened information about sex and relationships. For example, we might be bisexual or polyamorous, and try to fit ourselves into a monogamous, heterosexual concept of a relationship.

Vesta in Scorpio would say: devote yourself to who you truly are, practice authenticity about your sexuality from day to day and hour to hour, and see what happens.

The Sacred Space Within

Sexuality is deeply personal, and you may be aware of an inner sanctuary that is not someplace you regularly invite others — even your lovers. You can think of that as represented by your Vesta placement, and under the current sky, Vesta in Scorpio. In that sanctuary, you’re free to desire who and what you want, to dream any dream and to tend the flame of what makes you hot, no matter what anyone might think.

Caroline. Photo by Eric Francis – Book of Blue, Paris.

Now Venus is about to enter that inner sanctum. We could look at Venus retrograde contacting Vesta as a gesture of tending that inner flame. She is about to meet the element fire, and burn off what must be cleansed. Or, we could consider that Venus has returned to the sanctuary to relight her flame, or to connect with the passion of youth. Vesta represents young women, and Venus retrograde is about older women learning from the younger ones.

Think of Venus as entering the temple with her deepest needs and desires for healing and pleasure. Imagine that she is prepared to be absolutely honest in that space, to release what she doesn’t need, and to honor the core fire of her goddess within. This is a kind of initiation ritual, where the ordinary (Venus) makes contact with the extraordinary (Vesta) in a gesture of reconsidering one’s feelings, healing the past and, soon enough, moving forward with newfound passion. There may be an element of sacrifice involved — something that you don’t need that you give up, in order to accept what you truly need or want.

The sanctuary where this exchange takes place exists at the core of our identity. It’s the place where a transformative fire burns and identity is created from moment to moment. The embers have never gone out, and if we want to rekindle the flames, now is the time.

Yours & truly,

Judith Gayle’s Political Waves will now appear Saturdays on Daily Astrology & Adventure — the Planet Waves blog. She also has her own blog, called Political Waves.

Light Bridge, the 2011 Planet Waves annual — Watch your email this weekend for information about pre-ordering Light Bridge, the 2011 annual edition of Planet Waves. The first letter you receive will tell you how to get the best price as a current subscriber to Planet Waves or Cosmic Confidential. This initial pre-order price will include all 12 signs, a substantial (like 75%) savings over purchasing signs individually. The email header will have the words “Light Bridge” in it — a reference to the last year before 2012. That letter will contain a fairly short, limited-time offer for all 12 signs — valid for about 48 hours. So watch for that email! I will send it twice and post it to the subscriber homepage. Thanks! — efc

Astrology Ahead: Friday Moon, Saturday Venus & Vesta
Tonight’s edgy Aries Full Moon takes place at 9:36 EDT and 6:36 PDT, Saturday morning at 1:26 am GMT and later Saturday in Australia. I say edgy because both the Sun and Moon are in the last degrees of their signs — the Sun in Libra and the Moon in Aries. Just an hour after the opposition, the Moon enters Taurus; and 12 hours later, the Sun etners Scorpio, joining Mercury, Vesta and Venus.

At the time of the Full Moon, the Sun will be conjunct the asteroids Child and Panacea. The Full Moon’s closest aspect is to the hypothetical point Transpluto, which is in late Leo and will be for a while. Transpluto, rarely used by astrologers, is a point that narrows the focus of a conversation; in this case, it is encouraging you to focus on the most important priority in your life.

As regards the major planets, the Sun is trine Neptune and Chiron, and quincunx Jupiter and Uranus. So it’s picking up a lot of energy from these late degree planets, as they all get ready to change signs in the next few months, and completely alter the background colors of our lives.

Among the interesting aspects is Mars trine Jupier-Uranus and Mars square Neptune-Chiron. Basically, Mars is making two different kinds of aspects to a pair of conjunctions. The trine to Jupiter-Uranus is a flow of energy through the water signs. That should be exciting. There is an opening of potential here, and a natural flow of emotional energy.

As for Mars being square Chiron and Neptune, this is more complex. Mars-Chiron tends to have exaggerated boundaries, and Mars-Neptune tends to have boundary issues. So this setup feels a little like a recovering alcoholic sitting in a room full of liquor. It seems to be an all or nothing situation: either the boundary is locked up by the square to Chiron, or it busts loose uncontrollably in Kamikazi style with the Mars square to Neptune.

However, there is a vent created by Mars trine Jupiter-Uranus, which will open up the flow of sensation and emotion, allowing for a healthy release or expression of energy. Since Mars is the planet making the aspects to all four other points, the thing that will make the difference is the conscious use of will.

On Saturday night, the Venus-Vesta conjunction takes place at 8+ Scorpio at about 10″30 pm EDT. One thing interesting about the placement of the conjunction is that it sextiles Juno, an asteroid associated with jealousy and scorekeeping in relationships. Given that Venus-Vesta itself is about letting go of attachment, this is a helpful placement.

Mercury is now in Scorpio as well. Mercury is making a sextile to Pluto and the lunar North Node. It will make conjunctions to Venus and Vesta, as will the Sun. So all in all, this is a busy week in Scorpio.

Mars enters Sagittarius Friday, Oct. 28.

Finding Safety, Making Home: Libra Audio for 2010

Dear Libra Sun, Moon or Ascendant:

Your life seems to be a quest to find home, sink your roots into existence and let go of your nagging fears. If that is true, you will love the 2010 Libra audio report, which is now available.

For information about zodiac sign greeting cards, drop a note to sarah@planetwaves.net

As someone with strong Libra in your chart, you are directly connected to the cardinal cross that has been shaking the world all year. And there are other factors on the way that will influence your life, connected to the astrology of 2012.

In this report, I cover Saturn in your birth sign, and what it meant to have Saturn in your 12th house (Virgo) for two years. Saturn in your sign is about coming to terms with yourself. Saturn is quite at home in Libra, so in this regard you are at a strong advantage.

Then there is Pluto in Capricorn. This is about going deep into your sense of what it means to be safe and grounded on the planet — and what it means to go beyond the influences of your family. This is one of the most meaningful quests on this journey we call ‘spiritual’ — to find your own way, gradually liberating yourself from the patterns of your family of origin.

Then there is the return of Uranus to your 7th house. After a brief visit, this aspect will begin early next year. This is why you want to be grounded and feel safe: Uranus in Aries is going to challenge you to explore entirely new horizons in your relationships.

The last segment is a tarot reading. Tarot takes a right-brain approach, using imagery and intuition to tell a story. The story in this spread, using the Voyager deck, is: what do you do with your potential for happiness? The cards came up extremely strong, positive and loving — if you will keep an open mind and a realistic perspective.

This is about 90 minutes of professional reading in four segments, all for $14.95. I combine my gift as a professional astrologer and card reader going back to 1989, as well as my skill for making the work personal even if it’s not quite a personal reading — I speak directly to you, giving you the most nourishing information that I have to offer, communicating in the vibration of voice.

See you there!

Yours & truly,

Weekly Horoscope for Friday, October 22, 2010, #836 – BY ERIC FRANCIS

Aries Confidential

You may be questioning whether someone you desire is ready for what you have to offer. Given the astrology, this is a fair question. You may be sensing that someone is distant, and attributing it to this question. Now is the time to set your doubts aside. Your confidence, and your simple knowledge of what you want, can make up for what anyone else may lack in the way of initiative. I would suggest this, however: place no attachment onto any unusual encounter that may occur. Allow whomever you’re thinking of to take the experience away and absorb it for themselves, giving it their own meaning. A cosmic door is open, and what comes through now may not be available again; and you increase the likelihood of more experiences by having no attachment to this one — generosity, love and appreciation are enough.

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

Taurus Confidential

A relationship is at a crossroads, though you may not understand the nature of the junction. The circumstance is more about you and how you perceive yourself than it is about any encounter with another person, though the two are connected. It would, however, help to have cause and effect in the right order. How you experience yourself determines how you experience yourself in any encounter with another person. You will see anyone else through the filters of your self-perception. So start there. What are you seeking in a relationship? Figure out where you can give it to yourself. What are you seeking in your creative life? You’re the source of your own creative energy. The more fire you bring into any encounter in your life, the more fire there will be. Relationships are an exchange, which begins with you.

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

Gemini Confidential

I’ve sometimes teased about the second kinkiest sign of the zodiac, without revealing my notion of who gets the ribbon. That would be Gemini; it’s the whole twin thing, which is a way of bypassing differentiation and merging with the other. If you’re not a Gemini don’t worry — everyone has the Twins in their chart (it’s just a matter of where), so anyone can tap into this benefit. For you, now, the sky is a playpen. It’s a waterworld of ideas and sensations, of feelings and the potential for deep nourishment. More than anything, the experiences you have can allow you to connect with something deep in yourself that would qualify as a core creativity, a source of pleasure and a mode of healing — all at once. Words are vital to this process: dare to speak the unspeakable and let that experience work its wonders on you. Speak to yourself or someone you care about, but learn to connect feelings with words and see where that leads you.

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

Cancer Confidential

All sex involves risk, and an element of the unknown. Study personal ads for half an hour and you will get a taste of the certainty that people are seeking. Usually, they look for people who claim to be ‘disease free’ and to have no emotional baggage. I suggest you look, or rather feel, for chemistry and authenticity. These are human qualities you can count on in the immediate moment, and the long run. At the moment, keeping a sense of adventure is essential. It’s true that part of you wants to blaze forward, and part of you is hesitating. You have some dark secrets you’re keeping, and you have a burning desire to speak about them. That would count for adventure, and it could lead to others — based on whether you feel heard, and whether you like what you hear. So speak and listen.

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

Leo Confidential

Stay close to home — that’s the point of maximum fulfillment and adventure. And I dare say quite an adventure is possible, right where you are (and at most within a mile or two). I suggest you plan some kind of gathering for Saturday night, at the center of which is a fire. A campfire, Chiminea pot or even a display with lots of candles will do (put someone in charge of fire safety if you take the candle route). Arrange the fire in the center of the space, so that it’s a focal point. In another time and place I might have suggested inviting over some sexually adventurous adults, arranging childcare for 24 hours, and disconnecting the phones and the computers. Food would be light fare, for maximum alertness; and easy on the libations — not too much: just enough. Who does these things anymore?

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

Virgo Confidential

Wow, your mind looks like a morph between NASCAR and stock car racing. Except for the part about everything making such perfect sense, when you look at it the right way. The intensity is hot, and you may be wondering how you’re going to get all those words, pictures, concepts and emotions onto paper. May I suggest you start with clay? You need something kinesthetic: something you can squash your hands into, that entirely bypasses the language and logic centers in your brain. Rather than abstraction, you seem to want the direct feedback of the sensual world. Even the most modest craft store has cheap clay — give it a try. Phase two would be images. Again, try to bypass any form of syntax or rationality. As you work with the parts of your mind and emotions that are oblivious to reason, your ideas will evolve into something you can handle, and you will love them when they do.

Libra Confidential

Is masturbation sex? Most people would say no — it’s something you do in the shower. I would say yes, and that it’s an attribute of the most important relationship you have, which is with yourself. Right now your masturbation practice is the canary in the coalmine of your erotic life; what you might call the indicator that will tell you about all the other erotic encounters in your life. Remember that a key element is imagination, which in this situation is the ability to simultaneously feel, conjure images and be in your body at the same time. How do partners feel about the sex you have with yourself, including what goes through your mind? Who that you know inspires you to go deeper into yourself? Who actually honors your inner relationship? That is a lover — especially if it’s you.

Scorpio Confidential

You may be concerned about your image, or living up to some pretense of glamour, desirability or youth. What I suggest you invest your energy in is connecting with the eternally young person you contain within you, which is best described in the metaphor of a fire. The concept ‘old fire’ and ‘new fire’ don’t really mean much; hot fire, well-tended fire, and having enough fuel are more practical and useful. In the human journey, that fire is contained within. Others may inspire you, remind you of new directions that you might take and even pass some heat your way — yet you alone can tend to your creative flame. A rare alignment in your birth sign suggests that this is the moment where a little love will go a long way.

Look for the Scorpio Birthday Report next week.

Sagittarius Confidential

Your imagination must be running utterly wild. It may be wild with the possibilities, and among them may be a touch more fear and hesitancy than you’re accustomed to. It looks like there are moments when you’re afraid of falling off a cliff in your mind. I’m not making the case for mental instability or anything, but I would say that the edgy nature of your charts right now would accurately reflect an edgy state of mind; and that is something you can safely explore. Yes, explore responsibly, in a secure place and a nourishing, nontoxic way — but in many respects the usual rules are off. You simply have more flex in your swing and your thoughts have a bit more space between them. Perhaps you want to be alone, perhaps you want to be with someone you care about. Whatever the case, if you can name three people who love you, you’re fine.

Capricorn Confidential

Let the peak of energy connected with the Full Moon carry you to another place. You may have one destination or concept in mind; that will work as long as you hang loose and be ready to take another kind of ride. This weekend’s astrology really is a case of ‘one thing leads to another’, whatever that might mean for you: it could involve a partner, it could involve a project, it could be social. Speaking of projects, you seem to have one that’s been on your mind. It looks like a deeply personal endeavor of some kind, probably of the creative ilk. You may feel tension between whether you engage with others or engage with yourself. The astrology suggests that the truly one-of-a-kind, lavishly fulfilling opportunity involves your inner process rather than any kind of gathering.

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

Aquarius Confidential

Everyone has his or her own reason for respecting you, and the most likely one right now is that you’re in alignment with yourself. You have the ability to be who you are, with everyone, all the time. This is a particular kind of integrity, and it’s one that’s rarely seen in the world — so if you happen to get on this wavelength, you’re likely to stand out. Yet the quality that will stand out the most is quiet inner confidence that exudes both self-sufficiency and warmth. That is the key, the part about emitting heat. One thing we both know about Aquarians is that aura of cool detachment. You have another side, a passionate aspect of who you are, that is tuned directly into your emotions and your empathy. Put that forward first.

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

Pisces Confidential

Remember that in order to divide ‘sexual’ from ‘spiritual’, someone had to use an axe. Fortunately, this can only be done in concept, not in reality. In reality, loving, fully aware existence is what the seeker of truth reaches for. The thing to remember is that it’s not distant: it’s right with you now. Any aspect of existence, such as your own desire or passion, thirst for knowledge or loving drive to connect, would qualify as ‘spiritual’. You would be wise to pause and question any doubts you may have about whether this is true: whose doubts are they? If you think they’re your own, where did they come from? The simple truth of existence is that while you’re roaming around on this planet, you have the privilege of enjoying your life, and sharing your pleasure. At the heart of that is the privilege of desire.

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

But Is It Food? Ceres Conjunct Pluto in Capricorn

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Dear Planet Waves Reader:

The first four discovered asteroids all changed signs recently, and are making interesting moves in their new homes. Ceres, the first discovered asteroid, is newly arrived in Capricorn, after a long retrograde that took her back over the Galactic Center in Sagittarius. She’s returned to Capricorn and on Tuesday is making a conjunction to Pluto.

Photo by Eric Francis.

Ceres and Pluto have an infamous relationship in mythology, owing to their claims on Persephone (pronounced per-seff-o-nee); she was the daughter of Ceres/Demeter, and the consort of Pluto/Hades. Ceres is the Earth Mother of mythology and astrology, with associations to both food and mother-daughter relationships. On the latter topic, she signifies the bonding between mothers and daughters that is often about moms who don’t let go of their female children and strive to run their lives. There are also stories of loss, apropos of Ceres losing her daughter to the lord of the underworld, where (during the winter, anyway) she is the queen.

Ceres is also about balance: the myth is an explanation of how the seasons work, which is a story of equilibrium. So you can apply Ceres themes to any aspect of life that depends on processes involving cyclical balance. One of them is food, one of the basic themes covered by Ceres. Combining this with Pluto and Capricorn, we get an image of the way that the corporate system tries to control everything we eat, and in the process offers us what is eatable but not really edible. In our society, one of the most out of balance issues is food, which includes the economics of food production and availability; the availability of products in different regions, and the distribution of knowledge.

Ceres conjunct Pluto has a get-serious feeling to it, and a touch of life-or-death struggle. In trying to reclaim food, we come up against what The New York Times described Sunday as “some of the most sophisticated, powerful corporate interests in the world.” Most of them have more on their minds than putting dinner on the table.

Monsanto, which has taken over the seed industry during the past 20 years with its genetically modified organisms, recently hired Xe Services, formerly Blackwater — a company that rents out mercenary armies. In the past, Monsanto has been involved in providing Agent Orange to the military, as well as many instances of contamination within the food supply process, and conducting fraudulent safety testing to cover up the dangers.

The corporate food machine has given us many things that are not really food: hybridized and genetically modified wheat that has a ridiculously high gluten content; a country that gets 40% of its calories from high fructose corn syrup, which clogs the arteries and causes diabetes; numerous products still containing trans fats; dairy products and meats laced with toxins, stimulants and antibiotics — all of it standard fare. If we’re wondering why the cancer rate is about 50%, we need to wonder no more.

Photo by Eric Francis.

At the same time, we are seeing a renewal of local farming. This is part of a wider movement oriented on ‘organic’ foods, many of which have the life processed out of them as much as ordinary foods. Check out this discussion of ‘organic’ supermarket eggs on Mercola.com.

It’s true that the designation ‘organic’ can be truly helpful with certain vegetables and other products, such as rice. It can make a difference in the toxicity of the food, and it can signify that it’s non-GMO, since that violates the standards for organic food.

Organic farming, done right, takes a whole different approach to the planet and how she produces food. Something in Europe called biodynamic farming is an even better example of working with the cycles of the Earth in order to get helpful results. Remember that in this game of eating actual food, it’s not just the label ‘organic’ that’s going to save us. It’s being aware of what we actually eat and where it comes from. Food that’s processed or fractioned (such as white flour or refined sugar) has many of the same problems whether it’s organic or not.

It is true that organic helps. It’s also true that megabusiness is taking over the concept of organic food faster than we realize. And there is the difficulty discerning what is what. Some of this is about labeling; some is about how food is distributed. One of the most significant challenges we face is genetically modified or GMO grains, which are often sold unlabeled on the open market. Mostly banned in Europe, Americans are constantly eating GMO wheat, corn, potatoes and many other foods. What I find interesting is how submissive most people are, acting as if it’s some kind of trivial fact, or the ‘thing of the future’ that we’re going to have to live with no matter what.

We don’t want Monsanto in this business — it’s the same company that had entire factories contaminated with PCBs, and that sent out everyday household products (such as Lysol) knowingly, and preventably, contaminated with dioxin for years.

Ceres-Pluto in Capricorn is a call to revolution in what we eat and where we get it. It is an invitation to know the people who produce our food. Ridiculous as it seems, in many places (with love and attention, and hopefully a farmer’s market) it is possible. Whole products are better: that is, actual potatoes rather than frozen French fries, or actual ground beef from a butcher or supermarket meat counter rather than from a packing plant.

Local is indeed better: smaller-scale farming, using far less energy to transport the products, if you can get it. There are many communities where small-scale food production simply does not happen, though the number of family farms finally seems to be increasing many places for the first time in generations. A return to small-scale farming would indeed be a revolution, and one that will eventually prove itself to be inevitable as it ceases to be profitable to ship broccoli 2,000 miles.

Mostly though what we need is a revolution in our minds, involving the definition of what we consider food. There is something about learning from our grandparents here; there is something about creating the time and energy to incorporate more wholesome and aware food choices into our lives. It is amazing how little we know.

As I’ve written before, I have celiac. This means I cannot eat food containing or contaminated with wheat or several other grains (such as barley or rye). It also means that every time I eat out, I have a conversation with the server about how the food is prepared and what it contains. That, in turn, is like ongoing sociology research into what people in the food industry know about food.

At least five times, someone has said to me some version of, “Really? There’s wheat in pasta?”

Yours & truly,

One Life at a Time

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Workers of my country, I have faith in Chile and its destiny. Other men will overcome this dark and bitter moment when treason seeks to prevail. Keep in mind that, much sooner than later, the great avenues will again be opened through which will pass free men to construct a better society. Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers!

— Chilean President Salvador Allende‘s farewell speech, Sept. 11, 1973

Dear Friend and Reader:

Finally a bit of good news here in the Anti-Sixties, after a year featuring various scenarios of apocalypse, environmental devastation and intolerance: after more than two months of nonstop work, an international team successfully brought 33 Chilean miners safely home from half a mile beneath the Earth. I stayed up half the night Tuesday into Wednesday watching, one by one, as the men emerged from beneath the ground in a little capsule, and were greeted by loved ones, the president and his wife. It was better than the Beatles.

The last miner out, Luis Urzua, center, gestures with Chile’s president Sebastián Piñera standing on the right. Alex Ibanez/AP.”

In the anxious times we’re living through, this is a triumph of humanity, even though the problem was created by the people who run a massive corporation hiring people to dig for gold under extremely dangerous conditions. This was not a natural disaster. But the solution represented humanity at its best.

We could fault the worldwide vigil around the rescue as a feel-good event, but I daresay that’s what the world needs now: to actually feel good about life and love rather than the stock market or American Idol. We do a lot of getting pissed off and most of that involves how little regard is afforded to the worth of life. Watching those guys come out of the rescue pod one by one, and embrace their families, it was impossible not to appreciate being alive, right then, on the spot.

Yes, we can even feel good about humanity’s ability to cooperate at doing something helpful. There was a time those men would have been left for dead, even if some effort might have saved them. Part of what did save them was publicity — you’re always safer near a TV camera, unless it’s hidden in the ladies’ room. The drilling experts, engineers, submarine scientists, geologists and (actual) rocket scientists got the guys out. The doctors and psychologists on the surface actually seem to have offered some significant help.

Yet in reality it was the miners themselves who kept it together under some strange, extreme circumstances, rationing teaspoons of food and cups of milk for the first 17 days on the verge of starvation. They organized work tasks based on their specialties, keeping their living space clean, digging wells for fresh water and most of all, getting along. Or rather — getting along, eventually. Apparently the sanitized account of events has left out the at-times intense conflict that they experienced, and their darker thoughts of waiting to die during those first 17 days. In the end, the miners decided together that they were going to get out of that stuffy, 90-degree mine alive. For a more complete account of what happened, this article from The Guardian is worth reading.

Efforts for rescue began Aug. 5, without any knowledge of survivors, and for 17 days those efforts persisted nonstop without any success. The government and rescue teams kept trying, drilling bore holes into different layers and shafts of the mine, even sending rescuers down ventilation shafts that collapsed. Everyone is amazed by the success of this enterprise, but if rescuers had given up during those 17 days, there would have been no rescue. From that first day on, the message from the president on down was to spare absolutely no expense. If you look at the news coming out of Chile, you’ll see that the cost was never a factor, was never even mentioned until it was all over.

Chart for the first miner touching the surface had an ascendant of 1 Cancer — activating the Aries Point. Pluto is on the 7th house cusp, representing the escape from a near-death experience. Ceres is also there, as if negotiating for the release of the miners from the underworld. Note the 8th house of death and near-death experiences, which aligns with Aquarius, the sign of groups. The entire sign floats within the 8th house, called an interception. The cluster of planets in that house evokes the image of a group of people, under intense circumstances: the points shown are the vertex, Nessus, Neptune and Chiron.

Let’s go to the chart and see what story it tells. Remember that in doing mundane astrology like this, the first thing to do is observe whether, and how, the chart describes the event. That story starts straight away with the ascendant.

The time the first miner emerged was predicted, er, reported by BBC in its realtime chronology of the event as 12:11 am local time Wednesday. Astonishingly this gives us an ascendant in the first degree of Cancer, activating the world-as-one Aries Point — a kind of astrological jackpot. In case you think this is likely to happen (regardless of how often it’s been happening lately), remember that the ascendant degree changes every four minutes: it flies by. Any chart that highlights the early degrees of any cardinal sign (Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn), particularly the very first degree, qualifies, and in any one location, we get that chance for about 16 minutes out of every 24 hours.

Yes, the rescue of the miners was an event uncannily accurate for the chart for that moment.

With the Aries Point highlighted, the most intimately personal events mingle with the most public. We learned about the family lives of the miners, including some intimate details, but moreover, we felt close to them and their families, a Cancer theme. Over and over this week, we heard reporters from every network comment on how emotional the situation was. Hard-nosed Dylan Ratigan shamelessly asked one man on the scene to describe his experience from an emotional perspective — a giant leap for mankind. We could all empathize with these men and their families. That’s a nice image of the Aries Point with a Cancerian flavor: the world coming together emotionally as a family, including the girlfriends and mistresses.

Exactly opposite the Cancer ascendant is Pluto in early Capricorn, right on the 7th house cusp. Remember the cardinal cross I’ve written about 41 times this year? It made a big cameo Wednesday night, coming up angular: exactly on the horizon. In any chart, that means emphasis, and Pluto was one planet making the point. Ceres (the former asteroid, now dwarf planet) and mythological nemesis of Pluto, was in a conjunction to Pluto, as if directly negotiating for her daughter Persephone to be brought up from the underworld. Ceres had just arrived in Capricorn a few days earlier. It was as if she went down there personally and got the guys out.

Pluto in Capricorn has another incarnation — the corporate agenda that nearly killed these guys. Pluto shows up there as the near-death experience that they’re about to narrowly survive. This is the side of the coin where Pluto actually is the ‘lord of death’ and his realm, his current version of Hades, is the corporate system.

Flashback — one rendition of the cardinal grand cross of 2010, shown in the chart for the June 26 partial lunar eclipse conjunct Pluto. This is an Aries Point event, because all the planets aspect the first degree of Aries. Note the grand cross on the cardinal points — Jupiter and Uranus conjunct in Aries, the Sun and Mercury in Cancer, Saturn in late Virgo on its way into Libra, and Pluto with the Moon in Capricorn. The most intense phase of the cross has passed by, but the energy lingers and key elements remain in effect. This chart is explained in the article The Greatest Aries Point Show on Earth.

This is part of a larger astrological picture. The cardinal cross that has been whipping, flogging and stressing us all year is thankfully not quite what it used to be, but it’s still a potent force. While major elements have either moved on (for example, Saturn is now clear of some extremely tense aspects to Uranus and Pluto, heading across mid-Libra) or are out of the way (Jupiter and Uranus are temporarily back in Pisces, about to head back into Aries), the energy pattern is still in effect. These kinds of astrological events have a long story arc, stretching out for years. We’re still close to the center of the story, but we’re coasting on the momentum of recently past aspects, rather than ones that are building up — with one exception, that is, which I will come back to.

That penetrating energy of Pluto in Capricorn has been all over the news. This year we’ve had at least two other major stories that involved digging deep beneath the Earth — the BP oil spill, and the loss of 29 miners at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia earlier this year. We also heard from a volcano in Iceland, which qualifies as news from beneath the crust. During an episode of Mercury retrograde this year, volcanic dust disrupted air travel all across Europe and by ripple effect, around the world.

The earthquake in Haiti had a similar feeling. All of these events are illustrated by Pluto in Capricorn: our relationship to what is happening deep within a solid substance (mountains, canyons, rocky land or the continental plates). Pluto can represent some immutable or unstoppable force moving beneath the crust of the Earth, such as the movement of the plates and geological faults.

One interesting feature of the chart is that the Moon is in very late Sagittarius. It is literally minutes from ingressing Capricorn. The Moon is a powerful force in this chart, because Cancer (ruled by the Moon) is in the ascendant. So in a sense, the Moon is the lead planet in the chart.

When the Moon is in such a late degree, that is often called void-of-course — when the Moon has made its last aspect to a major planet, but before it changes signs. Normally the void Moon is considered a kind of foul ball; what happens doesn’t count. But this late-degree Moon in Sagittarius seemed to represent the end of a long story involving considerable international cooperation. Even the Americans helped, which is impressive on the part of the Chileans given that the last thing we did in Chile was assassinate their president, Salvador Allende, in a CIA-sponsored coup on Sept. 11, 1973.

Rescued miner Victor Zamora is brought to the surface at the collapsed San Jose mine, 800 km north of the Chilean capital Santiago, on Oct. 13, 2010. (Xinhua/Martin Zabala).

The Sagittarius Moon was exactly trine an odd non-planet (a rarely used hypothetical) called Transpluto (narrowness, specialization) which reflected the apparently flawless passage up the extremely narrow rescue shaft by 33 miners and six rescue workers. The Sagittarius Moon floats; it rises up; it always comes back. Interestingly, the Moon was conjunct an asteroid called Eurydike, the wife of Orpheus, which is a myth about an attempted escape from Hades. That story didn’t work out so well — Orpheus looked back toward the gates of Hades and Eurydike was lost. I don’t think any of these miners looked back once they got out of that capsule.

One last image: the Moon on the edge of Sagittarius has the feeling of something about to be born, and that narrow passage, 24 inches in diameter, resembled a birth canal. Even the Chilean president described the whole experience as a rebirth.

Now for the moral of the story: the safety of mines. Will we get the message that mines and mining are extremely dangerous, and that we have to take better care of the people who spend their lives in them?

Venezuelan journalist Martin Granovsky wrote in Pagiana 12 yesterday: “There is evidence that more than two million people die each year worldwide as a direct result of their employment conditions or diseases contracted there. Nobody can seriously claim that the mere exposure of a problem to one billion people at a time, in transmission from Copiapo, will solve that problem. But if the political and trade union action effectively joined the public exposure it would count in its favor with an obvious fact: the rescue that ended last night made more visible to the world what life is like to a miner and what are the risks with the increasing disproportion between corporate profitability and worker safety.”

Glimpse at Hades: the rescue pod parked in the underground refuge. In just under 24 hours, 33 miners and six rescue workers were brought up in that vehicle, which was 24 inches in diameter. It was equipped with oxygen and digital communication features.

So, in the Aries Point moment, when the world is watching and the personal, the corporate and the political are one, let’s stay vocal on the issue.

Unfortunately, much other news has been pretty misanthropic lately. Earlier in the year, I described our moment in history as the Anti-Sixties. The astrology of 2010 is a kind of mirror image of what we experienced in 1969. The main feature of ’69 was a Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in Libra. Earlier this year we had one in Aries, opposite the Libra event to the degree. It’s just like the Sixties right now — only exactly opposite. This has come true once again as we are living through an election cycle that has been dominated by openly celebrated homophobia. The supposed love and peace theme of the Sixties has been replaced by publicly displayed hatred directed at a vast segment of our population: people who share affection with members of the same sex. In studying social history, it’s clear that political forces openly attacking any one form of sexual or relational expression spreads to the rest of them; we might want to consider stopping this pattern, if only out of self-interest.

The Teabagger movement has succeeded in floating candidates who have made homophobia their main platform. It’s the current version of red meat for their electoral base. One such candidate is so determined to make the point that she’s opposed to you having sex with yourself (which is obviously gay). Five different Teabagger candidates for U.S. Senate are against abortion even in cases when the pregnancy involves incest and rape. We now have several generations of girls, young women and early middle-aged women who have no recollection of life before Roe vs Wade and to whom the term “back room illegal abortion” means nothing. We might want to set about educating one another.

I am less astonished by this than I am by the tolerance of the American people for the viewpoint of total sexual intolerance. I mean, I’m really amazed. Even as the views of our supposed leaders translate into teenage suicides and a nationwide epidemic of bullying, most people are silent. The silence involves the nature of homophobia, which is the projection of self-judgment onto others. Most of us may not project that self-judgment, often focused on sex, so violently, but we do quietly harbor the judgments. Usually they involve guilt, and some element of jealousy that someone might have more fun than you.

The current sky is featuring a deep exploration of this subject in the form of three planets in Scorpio. One is Mars. That is the straightforward, no-need-to-be-explained nature of desire.

Relatives of trapped miner Florencio Avalos react while watching on a TV screen his rescue operation at the camp outside the San Jose mine near Copiapo, Chile, late Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010. Thirty-three miners became trapped when the gold and copper mine collapsed on Aug. 5. AP/Natacha Pisarenko.

One is retrograde Venus. That is an inquiry about how we really feel about our inherently sexual nature. Humans are the most hypersexual animals, and most of us go through the day acting like nuns and monks, mortified that anyone might realize we’re so much as thinking about sex. So this hypersexuality meets a kind of resistance that can only be put forth by the human mind, and the result is that many people are like walking pipe bombs. The question being asked by Venus retrograde is, how can we unravel that? What is the source of the challenge, the struggle, the difficulty, the resistance?

Venus retrograde in Scorpio is about going to the deepest aspects of these questions, describing a quest to understand our sexual histories and how they influence us. The retrograde describes a process of exploring how our sexual values influence our relationships and the kind of involvements and entanglements that we create.

Then there is Vesta. She’s just recently joined Venus and Mars, and she is the astrological guardian of what you might call sacred sexuality. Vesta is the faceless (never depicted) goddess of fire; her servants, the Vestal Virgins, tend the sacred hearth, keeping the fire burning around the clock. So there is a call to devotion here: of devotion not to ‘a relationship’ but to your sexuality. She stands as a kind of witness to the journey and the quest for self-understanding described by Venus and Mars in Scorpio. In a few words, I would sum up this transit at its best as a quest to be submissive to one’s own desire.

Vesta is the centerpiece of the home: the hearth. But this is no ordinary hearth; it’s the inner flame, which we must tend, lest it go out. And I daresay many of us have taken that sacred flame for granted, or used sex as a commodity rather than the beautiful celebration that it can be. Which leads me back to Pluto.

Pluto is one of the planets associated with Scorpio. And over the next phase of astrological history, Pluto is going to come into a kind of focus that we have not experienced in half a century. The Uranus-Pluto square of 2012-2017, which is about to start rumbling loudly in 2011 as it warms up to the first exact contact of June 2012, talks about total revolution of both the psyche and something much larger. Part of this revolution will be about the intersection of sex and identity. Then that meets up with the religious/corporate/governmental structure that we try to fit sex into — and where it doesn’t go.

Some of us will burst free because it feels great. Some of us will have to be extracted in a capsule through a 24-inch tube, one at a time. Some of us have no plans to come back to the surface. It would help if you decide which you want.

Yours & truly,

Judith Gayle’s Political Waves will now appear Saturdays on Daily Astrology & Adventure — the Planet Waves blog. She also has her own blog, called Political Waves.

Astrology Looking Ahead: Aries Full Moon #2

We are now at the Mercury-Sun exterior conjunction, which is the exact midpoint of the Mercury direct phase. The next Mercury shadow phase starts in a month, and the next retrograde starts in two months. Looking ahead, that retrograde will stretch from early Capricorn into Sagittarius, crossing a number of planets, the Moon’s North Node and the Galactic Center in the process.

The second Aries Full Moon of the year is next week. The first was on the equinox, across the first degrees of Aries/Libra, on Sept. 23. The next is on Friday, Oct. 22, in the very last degrees of Aries/Libra. Mercury will be in Scorpio, joining the conversation between Vesta, Venus and Mars; and then about 12 hours later, the Sun joins this grouping in Scorpio as well. Many Scorpio-type questions and themes that have long been ignored, suppressed or neglected will come up for conversation, healing and playtime. Part of that will involve speaking the unspeakable. Mercury makes conjunctions to each of those points in the next few weeks, giving them a voice.

Over the past week or so, the first four discovered asteroids — Ceres, Juno, Pallas and Vesta — all changed signs. Ceres entered Capricorn and is now in a conjunction with Pluto; Juno entered Virgo, Pallas entered Sagittarius and Vesta entered Scorpio. A more detailed description of these sign changes is at this link on Daily Astrology & Adventure.

The Chiron-Neptune conjunction is close to its most precise; the two points will not make an exact conjunction for their third encounter of the year, but rather a very near miss that comes within one-sixth of a degree. This is the aspect of clearing the fog, of seeing through the spider webs of deception and of fully appreciating the gift of inspiration, fantasy and ideas that we can manifest. Chiron can bring us out of the isolating feeling of Neptune and into contact with our own awareness and that of the people around us — especially in Aquarius.

— Eric Francis

Archive Flashback: Horoscopes — How Can They Possibly Work?

Light Bridge, the 2011 Planet Waves annual — Watch your email next week for information about pre-ordering Light Bridge, the 2011 annual edition of Planet Waves. The first letter you receive will tell you how to get the best price as a current subscriber to Planet Waves or Cosmic Confidential. This initial pre-order price will include all 12 signs, a substantial (like 75%) savings over purchasing signs individually. The email header will have the words “Light Bridge” in it — a reference to the last year before 2012. That letter will contain a fairly short, limited-time offer for all 12 signs — valid for about 48 hours). So watch for that email! I will send it twice and post it to the subscriber homepage. Thanks! — efc

Weekly Horoscope for Friday, October 15, 2010, #835 – BY ERIC FRANCIS

I’ve been emphasizing the theme of relationships in your horoscopes for a while. With Saturn in your solar 7th house (pair bonding, meeting the other, marriage, enmity), that’s as basic as it gets, though I’ve recently been asked by an Aries brother about your financial picture. It looks as though you’re trying to sort out your economic worth within a contractual situation, wondering how you could have got so involved in something that you’ve grown to question. In fact, at the heart of the matter is a question: Who sets your fee? Who determines your wage? Venus retrograde in Scorpio is a long episode of claiming back your power, which could be in a business deal, or it could be in some other kind of partnership. Remember that you set the terms of the negotiation, though this is a skill in itself and, as it turns out, it’s a human skill that will always come back to how you feel within the relationship where the transaction occurs.

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

Our experience of life ripples from the center of our existence outward into the world. Sometimes it seems like it’s happening the other way around, but that just switches the order of operations. At the moment you seem to be deciding how you feel about yourself based on how you perceive someone else to feel about you. Remember that your perception, that is, your experience and opinion of how whomever may feel is in actual fact your experience. This is the tricky part about sorting out projections. While it’s not a good idea to take responsibility for how everyone else feels, nor do you control how they feel, you interpret the data that you get, and you do so through your own inner filters. These, in turn, are based on your opinion of yourself. It’s strange, fun and true: change that and everything changes.

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

Even here in one of the few moments in modern history where Pagan is considered valid and interesting, many people still make a face when met with the idea that what we think of as ‘sexual’ and what we think of as ‘spiritual’ have anything in common. To some it’s obvious; others see a divide, and contemporary Evangelicals are on the warpath like they haven’t been since the crusades. I would note that both of these are false categories. If sex is at the root of our physical origins, then it’s not just sex. If the cosmic force that is within us, and surrounds us, is a real thing, then it embraces all forms of creation. You may say you believe this, but I would ask, as a reality check: what is the role of guilt in your life? And do you say yes when you mean yes?

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

Venus, Mars and Vesta are now transiting across Scorpio, your solar 5th house. The 5th and Scorpio are two of the most erotic archetypes in astrology, as are all three planets involved. Mars is keeping your desire at the center of your emotional experience. That, you can depend on. Venus is calling you deep into your experience of how you respond to the world. There seems to be a question about how, when you respond, it’s based on something happening now, or something that happened long ago — and that something may be hidden or veiled. Venus retrograde is guiding you to understand yourself better, and to be entirely present in your environment. As for Vesta: she’s calling on you to be devoted to the full spectrum of your erotic and creative potential. Devoted, as in attentive around the clock.

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

You’re more open to the ideas of others than usual — and they are more willing to share, and to listen. The results can be productive, healing, nourishing — and fun. You’re the one who needs to initiate the contact and get things flowing. I suggest that you take your time in any conversation; that is, let it last for a few days, maintaining some continuity, and allow the deeper subject matter to come forth. You have a lot to share, and you’re more likely to do so when you feel an authentic rapport with someone. You have some questions; you’re free to ask. The subject matter is likely to reach beyond what is considered ‘appropriate’, crossing boundaries with an ease of contact that is unusual for our particular place and time in history. Keep one eye on that, and notice how you respond to this kind of depth.

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

I suggest you consider erotic and creative activity as vital as food and air. I also suggest you notice where your blocks are, for example, to admitting what you want. If you find yourself having any defensive reactions to your own desires, that’s a good time to pause and consider that you’ve actually made a discovery. The thing to do is take this revelation to the level of experience. Let your curiosity lead you there; it’s one of the most seductive, honest emotions. You seem to be drawn to things that you think you’re too old to do, that you’ve outgrown. It’s true that curiosity is one of the defining features of a child. It’s also one of the best ways to reach into your heart and soul and come back with the spirit of a child. Curiosity dissolves guilt. Remember, if you ever need a dependable solvent.

We’ve all noted the tenuous relationship between fantasy and reality. You can be all kinds, and do all kinds of things, in your imagination. Then when it comes to trying them, that little barrier known as the ego can get in the way. For the next few days, that crude psychic device that causes so many issues will be tame and under your command. It won’t disappear completely, but you will be able to override its fears and expectations and grant yourself experiences that surpass your usual barriers. The thing to remember is that the real-life experience will be different than the one you envision in your mind; it may be more fun, or it may seem to be less, till you acquire a taste. Where turning fantasy into reality is concerned, I have a motto I keep close to my heart. What’s worth trying once is worth trying twice.

The Libra audio is done. This reading includes more than an hour of astrology and 20 minutes of tarot custom created for those with Libra Sun, Moon or rising. We’re still tying up the technical end of the project and will have the product code available shortly — so check your email in a little while for that.

The thought of consciously pausing sexual activity sends chills down the spines of many people. I don’t mean encountering a dry spell or a phase of low libido; these are considered necessary (if annoying) facts of life. I mean a conscious decision. Vesta, newly in your birth sign, suggests that you may be walking the line between the two points of view, wondering how to handle your situation. Here’s how it looks from another perspective. Mars, also in your sign, suggests that your desire is running at its usual strength. Venus retrograde in your sign indicates a kind of hesitancy, and a calling to be introspective not only about what you want, but what your desire says about your state of growth and healing. Together, all of this points to a contemplative pause: neither denial of your desire, nor of your questions, but a moment to consider what they mean together. Remember a key concept of Vesta: for a specific purpose.

You finally seem to be working with a cohesive plan, or you see the good sense in doing so. You already know the value of moving based on inspiration, initiating action on the energy of your ideas and of riding the waves of synchronicity. Now a guiding or organizing principle has entered your life. It may be a personal code; it may be the clarification of an agenda; you may have decided that it’s time to state a goal, and then create a plan of action based on where you want to end up. Work backward from there. You don’t need to overplan, but rather, sketch out some basic steps that you know you’ll need to take to get where you want to be. The most important of them is stating the goal in a clear way. Make sure it’s what you really want. Remember, you’re free to change your mind.

‘Food first’ would be an excellent guiding principle for the next few weeks. Americans in particular have a knack for eating substances that are clearly other than food: things with ingredients that cannot be pronounced, where the source is unknown, or that we know harm our bodies. Ceres conjunct Pluto in Capricorn is suggesting that focusing on food will have a much greater effect than you think, and also that the topic deserves your focus right now. You came close to making some changes earlier in the year, and now it’s time to bring those developments to fruition. You may feel on some level that this is a matter of life and death; that’s a mental factor any time Pluto is involved in one’s chart. A better way to say it is that your quality of life is directly involved, in the deepest meaning of those words.

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

All the factors that astrologers would normally describe as Aquarian are now focused on qualities related to Pisces. For example, there’s a conjunction involving Neptune (a Pisces planet) with Chiron in your birth sign. Your non-traditional ruling planet, Uranus, is conjunct Jupiter (another Pisces planet). And your traditional ruler, Saturn, is in Libra, a sign connected to Pisces through the planet Venus. What this suggests is that your mind may be stepping outside of its normal processes of logic and reasoning. You may be more inclined to focus on your inner life; on art; on faith; on mysticism. You may find this disorienting, as if your mind is going soft. More likely, this is providing solace and relief in that you no longer need to have everything make so much sense. Relax a bit and appreciate that feeling. There’s a whole new kind of sense available to you.

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

For more than a decade, Pluto was crossing your solar 10th house of professional aspirations, reputation and drive for worldly success in many forms. That provided a sense of drive and seemingly boundless energy — as well as a guiding principle. Pluto in this house served as the impetus to pour your soul into your work, recognizing that this is the unstoppable force. Now that Pluto has moved onto Capricorn, you’ve reached a phase of attending to the practical details of applying your ideas; notably, ideas which may be ahead of their time. Over the past few days, a new influence entered your 10th house — Pallas Athene, the goddess who guards the city of Athens. Her presence is suggesting that it’s time to work with a strategy. Not very Fishy, I know — but helpful in ways you’ll soon discover.

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

Chiron Files: All Health is Holistic Health

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Editor’s Note: Tuesdays after we finish with monthly horoscopes, Planet Waves publishes other articles in newsletter format. This is a new series called the Chiron Files, which will focus on astrology and health. This series will generally run the first Tuesday after the Inner Space horoscope is published. — efc

Dear Friend and Reader:

Using astrology to focus on health, the first place to look is Chiron. Chiron is a minor planet — not an asteroid — discovered in 1977, which has deep connections to health and wellbeing. Chiron, the mythological figure, was a surgeon and healer, who was given his knowledge directly by the Sun-god Apollo. He in turn passed his knowledge on to Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine. So he is a pivotal figure in the history of the healing process.

Chiron, the first centaur, is the founder of the art of medicine. He was the teacher of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine.

In astrology, Chiron is the planet that reminds us that health is a whole-system affair. The issues we face are not strictly mental, or physical, or emotional — rather, these different facets of how we express our energy each influence the others.

Chiron, which takes 51 years to move around the Sun, is currently in a gradual transition from Aquarius to Pisces. This transition finishes in February when Chiron arrives in Pisces to stay for the next eight years. This transition emphasizes the relationship between what we think and how we feel. In recent months, we’ve been learning to observe and come to terms with environmental pollutants — whether that means an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (which happened precisely during Chiron’s brief visit to Pisces in late spring and early summer) to toxins in the mental environment (advertising, media chaos) to the psychic environment (the effects of microwaves, cell phones and mental overstimulation).

Through this past September, with Mercury retrograde in Virgo, we learned the importance of our state of mind on our total health. Psychological stress can throw us out of whack, which is to say that keeping ourselves reasonably calm and rested can bring us back into alignment. The last remnants of Mercury retrograde were still wearing off through early October; with Mercury in Libra, a state of mental clarity is getting easier to grasp.

Through October and into November, Venus takes her turn being retrograde, in Scorpio. This is a complex transit because Venus rules Taurus — the sign opposite Scorpio, and Libra, the sign adjacent to Scorpio. So we have Venus out of her element for most of the retrograde, which is going to call attention to what is usually the most difficult to see and feel. This is the deep layer of emotions that we don’t usually notice, or acknowledge, and which will be truly helpful to focus our attention on. Much of this involves desire, and in particular, sexual desire — there is no simpler way to describe Venus in Scorpio.

There are related questions — how does attachment influence our health? By that I mean attachment to our feelings, our emotional habits and to people. Venus in Scorpio can indicate jealousy, and with the retrograde we can get a sense of where within us, or in the past, this jealousy is rooted.

What about our attachments to food, material possessions and to luxury? This transit, which lasts through mid-November, will bring this material to the surface, and give us the opportunity to prioritize. Doing this, do we really consider what is the most meaningful, or do we count coffee, the electric bill and new shoes as being on the same level? In this process we need to emphasize what we truly want and let go of what we don’t need. Remember, we don’t resolve this material in theory; we do it in reality: with actual physical experiences, conversations that evoke deep emotion and by saying hello and goodbye consciously.

Yours & truly,

For more about Chiron, please visit this link.