Dear Friend and Reader:

New Moons tend to be rather quiet, internal events in our experience of them, unlike Full Moons. This morning’s Gemini New Moon, which was exact at 10:05 am EDT (14:05 UTC) may have felt more expressive to you — even if you have difficulty articulating the message that’s coming through; Mercury is, after all, still shaking off its recent retrograde, and many people I know are wrestling with the related challenges.

Photo by Amanda Painter.

Eric touched on a primary reason why this New Moon feels a little different in Monday’s Astrology Diary: Not only are the Sun and Moon aligned opposite the Galactic Core, which is the central ‘homing signal’ of our galaxy, but feisty Mars is also closely conjunct the Sun and Moon. Eric wrote, “This can feel like an invisible wave rising, and describe some event that has a wide and sweeping influence.”

On Planet Waves FM, Eric will cover this morning’s Gemini New Moon with a detailed look at that chart. In the second half of the program he will play his interview with Eric McLuhan on the currently unfolding renaissance. Eric McLuhan is the son of media theorist Marshall McLuhan. This will be published a bit earlier in the day than FM usually runs.

Continue reading →

Dear Friend and Reader:

In tonight’s Planet Waves FM, I will be covering Mercury stationing direct. I opened up this topic in a post Sunday night that talks about this event’s unusual square to Nessus.

Tonight’s musical guest on Planet Waves FM will be Jimmy be Free of Portland, Oregon.

The piece has generated some truly thought-provoking conversation, which I invite you to take part in.

This week we also have Mars in Gemini square Chiron in Pisces. This is the aspect that asks the question, is it possible to have too much integrity? What happens when you over-focus on getting it right, on being right, on following the rules? The combination of Mars and Chiron in a square aspect describes this effect.

As for the Mercury station, the essence is approaching the hidden issues of Nessus in Pisces. I would sum this up as a question: what is eating our creative energy? What is the conversation that needs to happen?

My musical guest on Planet Waves FM will be Jimmy Be Free of Portland, Oregon. Tune in tonight by 7 pm to stream or download the program. I will also be posting my slightly delayed interview with Eric McLuhan, the son of Marshall McLuhan, on the theme of renaissance.

Continue reading →

Dear Friend and Reader:

The Moon is in Sagittarius, moving into opposition with the Gemini Sun. That’s the Sagittarius Full Moon at 12:19 pm EDT (16:19 UTC) today, and chances are you’ve been feeling some form of energy peaking in the last day or so — possibly with the sensation of being in the right place, but at the wrong time.

Photo by Amanda Painter.

Eric explored the curious situation of this Full Moon in greater detail in his Monday Astrology Diary, with a hat-tip to Bob Dylan. The piece also updates the developing Mercury-Mars-Neptune pattern, and describes the asteroid Photographica conjunct the Full Moon.

In tonight’s Planet Waves FM, Eric’s topic is The Gemini Soul and the Sagittarius Full Moon. Eric will consider ideas from days of old that lead to the concept of Gemini, and consider where this idea fits the pattern of human experience.

He’ll also do a reading of the Sagittarius Full Moon, which is exact this afternoon. This week’s musical guest will be Bob Dylan, whose birthday was a few days ago.

Later in the week, Eric will post to Planet Waves FM his interview with Eric McLuhan, media theorist and the son of Marshall McLuhan. The topic is the renaissance that the world is experiencing now, and how the Internet is influencing consciousness. That will be posted to the Planet Waves FM site on Thursday or Friday.

Elsewhere on the Planet Waves website, check out this week’s sex-and-relationships guest-post by Charlie Glickman. He’s written about how trying to avoid disappointment (either your own or a partner’s) undermines relationships. Given the ‘right place, wrong time’ sensation you might be experiencing with the Full Moon — and since Full Moons often express themselves in our relationships — you might find some useful insights there.

Finally, in case you missed it Sunday, Eric put together a fantastic listing of the various unique-to-the-Internet (and incredibly relevant) audio readings currently offered by Planet Waves. You can read an updated version of that letter here.

It includes an audio preview of the Gemini birthday reading (which has been published!); a link to sign up for Eric’s upcoming live astrology class, called Retrogrades, Reincarnation, Re-Membering; and much more As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts about any of our readings.

Yours & truly,

Amanda Painter

P.S. In case you missed it last Tuesday, you can read your Moonshine horoscopes here. Len Wallick interpreted today’s Sagittarius Full Moon for all 12 Moon signs.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Our astrology this week is dominated by a potentially slippery, challenging aspect pattern: retrograde Mercury conjunct Mars in Gemini, square Neptune in Pisces. We have two different blog posts for you that offer a sense of what to look for and how to handle what might be cropping up for you as these energies peak.

Telephoning the Moon; photo by Amanda.

Eric has written a Tuesday Diary (yesterday was the Memorial Day holiday here in the U.S.) explaining how the Moon moving through Virgo is interacting with the Mercury-Mars-Neptune square. Taking things step by step is the name of the game.

Amy Elliott and I have also tag-teamed on a piece emphasizing the need to channel any angry or reactive energy in constructive ways, should Mercury-Mars-Neptune bring deceptive or frustratingly unclear situations to a head for you. Compassion — including toward yourself — may be key.

Since the Sagittarius Full Moon is one week from today (June 2), we have your Moonshine horoscopes here for you. These are written by Len Wallick for your Moon sign, and include instructions for how to find out your Moon sign — but you can read them for your Sun and risings signs, too.

Last Thursday night Eric hosted a live call-in discussion about the current Mercury retrograde, as part of the Ultimate Mercury Retrograde Reading. If you were not able to join live, you may listen to a recording of the high-energy, lively community discussion, which focused on problem solving, contained some surprises, and featured Eric’s friend and adviser Andrew McLuhan (grandson to Marshall).

Also on Planet Waves FM, we’ve posted a special un-edited conversation (in two parts) between Eric and venerated astrologer Robert Hand. The original topic of the interview was the real position of the Catholic Church on astrology. Eric and Rob also cover the nature of Chiron and the minor planets, the age of minor planet discovery, how asteroids work, and then end up in a long conversation on the history of astrology.

Lastly, if you are a purchaser of the Generation: Millennials reading and were planning to attend the live discussion with Eric this Thursday, please note that it has been rescheduled for June 18. We will email you with updated call-in information closer to that date.

Yours & truly,

Amanda Painter

P.S. It’s not too late to reap the benefits of the Ultimate Mercury Retrograde Reading. In fact, you can still get it for the discounted pre-order price.

Dear Friend and Reader:

I was just informed by my editor Brian, at Chronogram, that due to the Memorial Day holiday our publishing schedule has been moved up by about four days; we have to ship the magazine at 1 pm Thursday. Therefore between now and tomorrow night I’ll be doing the most efficiently written monthly horoscope and lead article in astrology history (which you’ll receive Thursday evening).

Mercury Retrograde by Eric Francis.

Now, it occurs to me that this is the perfect Mercury retrograde blip. Anyway, the only impact on Planet Waves readers is that I’ll be moving Planet Waves FM and my tribute to B.B. King to Thursday. That will be followed by the Mercury retrograde conference call (a live edition of Planet Waves FM), which will take place at 8 pm EDT later that evening.

I am planning this as an open discussion about Mercury retrograde, and your ideas about it, and your experiences. This should be an interesting call. People who purchased the Mercury retrograde reading are invited, as are all Core Community members.

If you’re a Basic subscriber and want to attend the call, please send an email to mercury@planetwaves.net and we’ll reply with instructions for how to participate.

Meanwhile, I’ve had a few other thoughts about the current Mercury retrograde since publishing Thursday’s edition.

As mentioned, this retrograde comes to a head in about a week, with the alignment of Mercury, Mars and Neptune starting May 25 or so and peaking on May 27. There’s rather significant potential for self-desctructive behaviors to resurface. The coolest heads must prevail in all sensitive matters of communication, and even in the most ordinary.

But what I really see are privacy concerns. A superficial reading of these charts in 1990 or so would have come with a caution against gossip and deception. An astrologer might have warned about being careful what you say when drunk. All of that still stands as reasonable.

Now it’s 2015 and we are soaked in digital technology. There is a camera pointing at you everywhere, and we know everything that makes it onto the Internet is being saved in a database for possible future use. We also live within a maze of passwords, for everything from banking to investment portfolios to email to Facebook.

Don’t miss my tribute to B.B. King in Thursday’s edition of Planet Waves FM, available at about 5 pm that day.

Keep an eye on these things. Make sure your passwords are secure enough. Too many people still use passwords like “password,” which is an issue. So please shore up those boundaries.

All that action around Neptune is a caution we can only get from astrology. Neptune is even difficult to discern when you’re looking right at it in a chart. So I’m going to keep that focus through the end of the month.

Sunday I wrote a piece about the confluence of the Taurus New Moon and Mercury retrograde. That link is open without need for a password. I also published an older piece about my early days of reading Tarot cards, which I’m glad I dusted off — it’s from an unfinished book project whose time is approaching.

Meanwhile, remember — there’s an open meeting about Mercury retrograde Thursday at 8. I’ll record it for future reference.

Catch you Thursday afternoon with Planet Waves FM, Thursday evening with the monthly horoscope for June, and then live on the phone or the Net right after that.

Lovingly,

Dear Friend and Reader:

We have two main themes or modes at play in the astrology this week: a more mental and verbal track (represented by the activities of Mercury and Mars in Gemini), and a more emotional or impressionistic track (represented by the Moon and other planets in Pisces). You might notice that as the next two days progress, and depending on how it all interacts with your natal chart, your personal experience toggles back and forth between these realms.

Puerto Rican street art in San Juan; photo by Amanda Painter.

Eric will get into this astrology and more in today’s Planet Waves FM. He will describe the forthcoming Mercury retrograde and what he’s learned doing the Mercury retrograde reading. In addition he’ll describe the rather interesting aspects coming up this week — Vesta conjunct Chiron, Psyche conjunct QB1, Mars opposite Saturn and Sun conjunct Sedna.

That’s a week of deep psychology, especially with Mercury slowing down to a station in a square to Neptune.
Eric will also have a look at the chart of Paul David Hewson, a/k/a Bono, and have a listen to some of his music. On the website today (in a post open to all readers) Eric has written about the Moon’s conjunctions to Neptune and Nessus.

Also coming up tomorrow, the Moon will pass through the conjunction of asteroid Vesta and centaur object Chiron (exact Wednesday at 3:16 pm EDT / 7:16 pm UTC). The Moon’s presence will heighten your sensitivity to this aspect, making it more emotionally palpable and accessible.

Chiron wants to teach you something about your relationship to your creativity and passion; Vesta gives some clues about how that relationship might be described. Have you sacrificed your devotion to your creative spark ‘for the good of the collective’? That is, have the demands or expectations of your parents, the needs of a family you’re raising, or some sense that you’ve needed to serve humanity in some more ‘worthy’ or practical way always superseded tending your own inner flame?

Simplified chart section for Wednesday. Counter-clockwise from top: Nessus, Neptune, Vesta conjunct Chiron and the Moon all in Pisces; Sun in Taurus; Mars and Mercury in Gemini; Venus in Cancer.

On the flip side, have you sacrificed stability, domestic comforts or doing adulthood ‘the way everyone else does it’ in favor of pursuing art and passion? Have you long carried some thorn of guilt about the perceived ‘selfishness’ of your devotion?

As the Moon gets you feeling very deeply about these questions today and tomorrow, remember that Chiron, in its role as teacher, facilitates healing by making us aware of what needs our attention. That can be uncomfortable — but it’s part of a process. You get to move through it, just like the Moon does, taking new understanding with you.

Chiron rewards documentation. Usually we think of that as being writing, such as in a journal. But with all this Pisces action, and given Vesta’s message, you might just find yourself called to paint it out, sculpt it, put it into song (or keep a soundtrack running in the background of all you do) or photograph it.

This serves double purpose: not only do you honor Chiron’s request for documentation, but you actively engage in the creativity Vesta is indicating. Simply doing can itself be a very healing act, as you cross that threshold between you and what your passion would have you devote some facet of your life to. Speaking of passion: these questions might also involve your relationship to your sexual energy.

Holding space for this is Venus in Cancer, a nurturing, beautiful influence asking you to feel at home in yourself. The Sun in Taurus offers stability and opportunity through a sextile (earth to water): engage your body in the physical act of healing and devotion, and tangible results might just manifest.

Yours & truly,

Amanda Painter

P.S. Eric is blazing away on the soon-to-be released Ultimate Mercury Retrograde Reading for this year! This product covers all 12 signs at one affordable price, and you can pre-order it now for only $29.97 (price will increase upon publication).

Planet Waves (ISSN 1933-9135) is published each Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon in Kingston, New York by Planet Waves, Inc. Annual basic subscription rate: $97/year. Core community membership: $197/year. Editor and Publisher: Eric Francis Coppolino. Web Developer: Anatoly Ryzhenko. Office Manager: Lauren Gdovin. Client Services: Amy Elliott, Lisa Gatto. Astrology Editor: Amanda Painter. Astrology Fact Checker: Len Wallick. Copy Editor and Fact Checker: Jessica Keet. Research, Writing and Editing: In addition to those listed above, Planet Waves is produced by a team consisting of Fe Bongolan, Judith Gayle, Kelly Janes, Amanda Moreno, Casey Smith, Carol van Strum, Len Wallick, Lizanne Webb and Chad Woodward.

Dear Friend and Reader:

The waxing Moon entered earthy, mutable Virgo today. In a nutshell, this means that as you move any projects into high gear, mind the details and work your plan for the next couple days.

Malamente, violinist in the Italian band Guappecarto, playing a gig in Paris. Photo by Dani Voirin; view a larger version here.

We’re on our way to the Scorpio Full Moon, which is on Sunday, May 3, at 11:42 pm EDT (3:42 am UTC Monday). We have your Moonshine horoscopes here, written for the occasion by Len Wallick.

In today’s Planet Waves FM, Eric will comment on the current assortment of turbulent world events — the quake in Nepal, the uprising in Baltimore, and the Supreme Court hearing a case that may establish the right to marriage for all people.

The program should post to the website by about 5 or 6 pm EDT.

In the second half of the broadcast, he’ll comment on what he’s learned doing the Millennials reading (now called GENERATION: Understanding Millennials). He is close to finishing that, which he’s figured out is the beginning of a discussion and an adventure reading for young people.

Recent features on the main Planet Waves website include:

— Judith Gayle’s call to citizen action on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP), in a week filled with political progress;

— Amanda Moreno’s examination of her evolving concept of ‘soul mates’. On a related note, the sex-and-relationships column revisits Eric’s “It’s Not About Sex. It’s About Self.” series;

— Sarah Taylor’s tarot reading for the week asks, what happens when the promise of something that has been calling to you — seemingly unobtainable — meets with what feels like the destruction of a part of your experience?

— Political and cultural observer Fe Bongolan has returned to Planet Waves. Her column will be appearing Mondays. This week’s topic: the state of disrepair in public discourse in America, against which backdrop Hillary Rodham Clinton is making her bid for President.

Len Wallick’s column for today has already published to the website, and both he and I will be back Thursday with your look at the weekend’s astrology. Tomorrow, keep an eye out for Madame Zolonga’s latest answer to a reader’s astrological quandary.

Yours & truly,

Amanda Painter

P.S. You can still pre-order the Taurus birthday reading at the lowest price for any of your friends and loved ones with a Taurus Sun or rising sign! Planet Waves readings make wonderful (and inspiring) gifts.

Planet Waves (ISSN 1933-9135) is published each Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon in Kingston, New York by Planet Waves, Inc. Annual basic subscription rate: $97/year. Core community membership: $197/year. Editor and Publisher: Eric Francis Coppolino. Business Manager: Chelsea Bottinelli. Web Developer: Anatoly Ryzhenko. Office Manager: Lauren Gdovin. Client Services: Amy Elliott, Lisa Gatto. Astrology Editor: Amanda Painter. Copy Editor: Jessica Keet. Research, Writing and Editing: In addition to those listed above, Planet Waves is produced by a team consisting of Fe Bongolan, Judith Gayle, Kelly Janes, Amanda Moreno, Casey Smith, Carol van Strum, Len Wallick, Lizanne Webb and Chad Woodward.

Dear Friend and Reader:

With the Sun now in Taurus, we enter the heart of this season. Whether it’s spring or autumn where you live, solar Taurus indicates we’re moving into Beltane territory: that marker between equinox and solstice infused with the theme of fertilizing the proverbial fields. That is, sex.

Photo by Amanda Painter.

In today’s Planet Waves FM, Eric will cover the ingress of the Sun into Taurus, which took place Monday. He will consider the secrets of Taurus and also the planets in Taurus — with special focus on 1992 QB1 and Sedna.

In the second part of the program, Eric and Planet Waves writer Sarah Taylor talk about masturbation, and in particular, its help as part of a sexual healing process.

Eric got the conversation started in Monday’s Astrology Diary, with a focus on how the external themes of Taurus are rooted in (and related to) the inner value of self — that is, self-esteem. Readers have been chiming in with their personal insights on that topic.

If you have a Taurus Sun or rising sign (or Moon), or if you know someone who does, you can be sure Eric will get even deeper into these ideas in the upcoming Taurus birthday reading (which makes a great gift!).

Not sure how the Sun sign, rising sign and Moon sign work together in a chart (or why they matter)? Eric will be conducting a class on the basics of reading your own chart on May 2.

He’s also getting started on the Millennials Reading, available for pre-order now for those in that generation and their parents (and grandparents).

Elsewhere on the Planet Waves website: Sarah Taylor describes an Ace up your sleeve that reunites you with your intuition (and heart); Judith Gayle considers Hillary Clinton’s declaration to run for President and the bizarre candidates on the Right; and Amanda Moreno considers some ways we can spiritually re-frame (and live differently) our online experience.

This week’s sex-and-relationships column asks about the difficulty Millennials seem to have with true intimacy in relationships. And Madame Zolonga has returned to Planet Waves with a cheeky astrological interpretation of the over-versus-under toilet paper question.

Note that if you are not a Core Community Pass or All-Access Pass holder, you’ll need a separate, free registration to read those columns (if you have not yet registered).

As always, be sure to check the website later today for Len Wallick’s newest blog post. I’ll be back on Thursday (as will Len) with your late-week astrology — and Eric will have your monthly horoscopes for May (sure to be juicy) in this week’s emailed Thursday edition.

Yours & truly,

Amanda Painter

P.S. If you’d like to get a deeper sense of how Eric is approaching the Millennials reading, give this letter a look.