Aries (March 20-April 19) — No matter what you may think or feel about the progress you’re making, you are building toward an unusual breakthrough. By unusual I mean once-in-a-lifetime, though it may happen in slow motion, such that you don’t notice for a while. Astrology, however, can help align you with your moment. There is a process that’s helping you get there, which may lead you to feel as if you’re delaying or lagging behind, though that’s not true. Mars retrograde in Sagittarius is inviting, enticing or compelling you to question your deepest-held beliefs about existence, which means about yourself. The situation as I see it is that who you are becoming is bigger than your current beliefs can contain. When you cross the boundary of a belief, you can stir up conflict about ‘trying to do the impossible’, which can be self-limiting. Therefore, before you strive to exceed what you think of as your current limitations, you will need to investigate them. One relationship that you’re in the process of changing is how you coexist with time. It will help immensely if you remember the ways you’ve learned what is possible when you use time well. Part of your assignment is learning the personal discipline to do what must be done each day. Part is remaining connected to your long-term goal. When you put the two together, you are unstoppable.

 

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Your charts come back to one theme, which is connecting: with yourself, with someone (or more than one person) that you want to be closer to and, ultimately, with your purpose. Let’s take them one at a time. Connecting with yourself means going deeper into your own mind, led by curiosity. You are at the point where you can no longer stand being such a mystery to yourself. You may see aspects of yourself dramatized in your relationships, without recognizing it at first. Look for the parallels; allow the psychology of others and how they make decisions help you figure out what you actually want and need. As you do this, you’re likely to see the parallels between your approach to life and that of someone close to you. The term ‘absolute equality’ is coming to mind: I suggest you trust no concept of superiority, which also implies you living up to your end of any agreement as a matter both of honor and of dharma. This will be an exploration that’s likely to take you ever deeper into your feelings, your motives and your understanding of life. From this journey, you’re likely to get some information about purpose. Remember that, like the theme of a novel, purpose is usually implied rather than stated overtly. It’s something that you figure out, notice and embrace in degrees, one day at a time.

 

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Once I wrote an article called “All Dogs Need Jobs.” Dogs want nothing more than to participate, which means having an assignment of some kind. This is an approach I suggest you apply to relationships as well. While the romantic notion of relationships is that they should exist for their own sake, I think that the lack of some agreed-upon purpose is where most relationships get lost. It could be a shared commitment to mutual happiness. It could be raising a family. It could be creating a business, or being missionaries in Zimbabwe. It could be giving one another the hottest sex ever. Whatever it is, I suggest that you define that thing as a tangible, observable purpose. You can proceed from this point with a commitment to explore, in what you might think of as a discovery process. First, notice what applying the concept of purpose does to your relationship and how you think about it. If you’re not currently in a partnership to which this applies, notice how it changes your thinking, or perhaps creates some apprehension. The reason I’m making this suggestion is that all relationships have a purpose, whether you’re aware of it or not, and whether you agree with your partner or not. The name of the game, in my view, is being fully connected to, devoted to, and responsive to a reason for being.

 

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Be conscious of how much effort you exert, and notice what energy gets what result or reward. There are two main approaches you might take for the next few weeks; one brings results with relatively little effort, and the other might lead you to work your buns off with few benefits. Since it so often happens that great effort leads to little return, you will need to pay attention, especially when something you do goes well. That is the direction in which to proceed. One distinction between easy and difficult probably involves cooperation. How you use the energy and brainpower provided by others, and made available to you, is a significant element in this story. How you feel when you try to go it alone will also be helpful. To put this simply, you would be wise to learn how to ask for assistance, to drum up some cooperation among your peers, and to offer yourself voluntarily when you notice you might be of service. Think of this as stimulating your local economy, of which you are part. Remember that little of any consequence or service to humanity was ever built or created by one person working independently. Let this be no affront to your pride, or to your sense of your self-worth. Indeed, the value you share and exchange with others is the one you can most vividly feel and relate to.

 

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You seem ready to take your professional life more seriously; your timing is good. You will make the greatest strides by using unconventional means. These days, unconventional (verging on really weird) involves actually calling someone on the phone, or showing up somewhere that you think might have an opportunity waiting or where you will gain experience or learn something new. Any error you make, or miscommunication you encounter, might contain an opportunity. Pause and look for what that might be; for example, if you get an email from someone by mistake, or dial the wrong company. Investigate what truth might exist within a misunderstanding. Notice whom you ‘just bump into’. You might also intentionally call up some old contacts and see what they have going on. All of this is predicated, of course, on you having some idea what you want to do and why you want to do it: some actual goal. I suggest, however, that this really be a top priority, something with substance and with lasting value. It’s likely to be something you’ve wanted to do for a long time, and are just connecting or reconnecting with. It will be worth every bit of your energy right now, though I suggest you aim high: consider your most important professional goal. And remember that you might get there in a way you were not expecting.

 

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You seem to be walking that fine line between idealistic and practical. They only conflict if they are disconnected from one another. If you align the two, you will tap some unusual alchemy. This in itself is a practical exercise. You might have something you’re dreaming of. Can you describe it in words? Can you sketch it? Can you put a price on it? How long might it take to create? If you can answer a few of those questions, you’re entering the realm of the pragmatic. You might subject any desire to that kind of test; consider that anything you cannot ground in some describable, physical coordinates merely to be wishful thinking. The sketch, the outline and the timeline mean more than you might imagine. Then of course there is the question of how you could pay for it all. Yet once you have a concrete plan that you can describe to another person, money takes second place to ingenuity and drive. It’s often said that the airplane was invented for about $1,000, though it’s more impressive if you remember that money came from the profits of a bicycle shop. As my Godmother used to say in all sincerity, where there is a will, there is a way. Yet the vital thing is the will: the focused mix of desire and intention that you consciously devote to a purpose. And yes, your friends might think that’s radical or weird.

 

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — You can negotiate a better deal, though flexibility is a must. So, too, is a kind of optimism that you may not be feeling up to these days, though believe me when I tell you there is gold in them there hills. And not just gold: there is a potential meeting of the minds, on matters of real substance. Yet you must keep a positive frame of mind, and not allow frustration to get the best of you. Find reasons to rise above it; seek the ways to get hold of your mind and put your energy to work for you. You have plenty, if only you would tap into it creatively and constructively. If you find yourself blocked, look for workarounds. Slow your thoughts down; break complex tasks into steps; pause and ask yourself why you’re doing something. Most of all, use time as an ally rather than as an enemy. If you schedule things at a pace you can handle, and really ask yourself what has to be done by when, you will find your efforts easier to manage. But there is no substitute for understanding what you want, and what others want, and identifying the common ground between you. Those shared values are the basis of any real agreement, and you have plenty in common with key people in your life. They can easily be turned to mutual profit.

 

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — A relationship seems to be changing shapes and sizes faster than you can keep up with it; this is an illusion. Beneath the top layer there is a solid foundation of consistency and stability. Yet you cannot deny that you need to take a fresh look at things, which could start with a few new ideas, and reviving a few old ones that have been left by the wayside. It will help to take a light-hearted approach and to remind yourself that if a relationship is not fun, then what is its real purpose? There’s another thing that might be coming up, which is what to do about attractions outside your primary relationship. These things happen to everyone, and they are real. You might face the question of whether to discuss them with a partner or love interest, or to keep them quiet. I think this conceals a deeper question: do you bring all of yourself, or just part of yourself, into your relationships? Do you experience yourself in sections or fragments, or do you experience yourself as one holistic entity? What you do attests to what you believe. It’s true that you may relate to different people different ways, though that’s a natural effect of when the energy fields of two unique beings meet. Give yourself space to be who you are at any moment.

 

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You may be experiencing a side of yourself that you rarely admit to inwardly, much less talk about openly with others. You might, for example, be remembering desires that you left behind or forgot about long ago. You might feel drawn inward, and toward a form of self-discovery that you cannot explain to the people around you. There is no need to. You don’t have to distract yourself with the thought of what others might think. Within your own interior space, only your opinions and viewpoints count now. While you’re there, remember to be gentle. You don’t have to judge what you think, feel or want. You are free to assess and revise your most deeply held beliefs. In fact it’s the perfect time for that. Remember, though, that beliefs often serve as psychological stabilizing devices for what otherwise might be a shaky relationship to existence. You don’t have to worry about that. When you question your beliefs, you tend to build a stronger relationship to truth; that’s because what is untrue only interferes with what is true. You can, therefore, afford to be bold about this. Leave no stone unturned, no found scrap of paper unread, no door un-knocked upon. When you run into any difficulty, look for the belief that it’s not true, and notice whether what seemed to be a problem resolves, or turns to a gift.

 

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — It’s often said that fear is misdirected creative energy — though have you ever experienced that discovery for yourself? Remember that theory is not experience, and rationalizing is not a substitute for understanding. If you want to actually prove something, you must actually experiment. What would it mean to choose something you’re afraid of, face it and dance with it? There seem to be two levels of fear operating in you right now. One you can use as an excuse. The other presents some kind of a block. It’s difficult to see the real block if you’re fixating on the excuse. So you might just pause the story-generation machine and ask yourself what it is you’re concerned might happen if you truly confront what you’re afraid of. I have an idea what that might be: you might have the fun and pleasure you want to have. You might, as in you would likely, experience the love you say you seek and so often search for. Yet if you did, you would have to rearrange your whole belief system. If you confronted one fear successfully, you would then naturally want to confront the rest of them, since you would then be certain they are a waste of precious time and energy. Now for the real question: why ever would you hesitate to do that?

 

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — It’s time to feather your own nest. You are doing much else besides: your chart in many ways describes what one might call public responsibilities, things that happen outside your own home and which are intended for the benefit or service of others. At the same time, you are advancing in society, or at least your chart describes that potential vividly. This comes with various ups and downs; peaks and lulls in effort; and greater or lesser results, depending on the day and the week. Make this work for you. For all its reputation as an android, the Aquarius solar chart is oriented with Taurus on your home angle, which is another way of saying solid, comfortable, and providing space for you, your friends and maybe a few critters. Living well, as you know, is the ultimate statement of your success. Planets are now gathered in Taurus, emphasizing the point. I suggest you make your home as beautiful as you feel inclined to. Invest resources there. Upgrade or replace what is worn. One large gesture in that regard (a new bed or bedding, for example) would remind you that you are, in reality, feathering your nest in the literal sense. Dig out your cupboards, clean them and replace what you don’t like with what you do like (all while praising the Goddess). The investment will come back to you manifold.

 

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Pause and assess the progress you’ve made the past year. Slow down on your quest to take new territory, and develop what you’ve already begun, and begun well. Mars and Saturn continue to emphasize the theme of leadership, which means taking responsibility for your own life. As part of this pattern, you are doing some challenging work of integrating who you are as a person with the mission you came here to fulfill. This is integration on the level of total synthesis: there can no longer be a distinction between ‘you’ and ‘your mission’ or you and your message. Yet to do this well requires a level of self-awareness for which there are few examples to follow. This is why I’m suggesting a review phase, which would include filling in some gaps you may have left in your development process, organizing your physical space, evaluating your resources and getting a little rest. You need enough distance on your situation to get a fresh perspective or two. Remember that the thing you’re doing now is combining long-range commitment with the knack for discipline in the moment. These are two of the most essential factors for success; the third is vision, which for you means revision. Mars retrograde through late June is taking that to a deep level: connecting emotionally with your deepest commitment to your chosen purpose.

One day after the Sun ingressed Taurus — sign of material wealth and resources from the earth — the U.S. Treasury has announced that five women will grace the back of the $10 bill (Alexander Hamilton will remain on the front, perhaps helped in part by the smash-hit Broadway musical Hamilton.). Harriet Tubman, an African-American former slave who helped approximately 70 slaves to freedom, will replace slave-owning former president Andrew Jackson on the face of a new $20 bill.

According to The New York Times, other depictions of women and civil rights leaders will also be part of new currency designs.

What makes the timing of this announcement especially stunning is that Venus is heading for conjunctions to Uranus on Friday (just hours after the Scorpio Full Moon) and to Eris on Sunday. This puts Venus, ruler of Taurus and goddess of love, the feminine principle and, yes — MONEY — smack-dab into the Uranus-Eris conjunction, which is exact June 9.

It looks from here as though this confluence of Venus, Uranus and Eris is being illustrated by a significant, tangible and for many people perhaps unexpected change to one particular symbol of national identity: our currency. It’s a concrete, cultural phenomenon. And while it will not automatically make everyone think more inclusively, visual symbols have power. It is harder to ignore the role of women in shaping a nation when their faces look back at you each time you pay for groceries or gas for your car.

This most recent campaign to get women’s faces on U.S. currency began in late 2014 or early 2015, as a viral online campaign (how Uranus!) spearheaded by Barbara Ortiz Howard, the owner of an exterior restoration company, and Susan Ades Stone, a journalist. An article in The Atlantic from March of last year describes the process and includes an interview with these two founders of Women on $20s. Apparently changing the portraits on currency is at the sole discretion of the Treasury secretary and needs no Congressional approval.

That said, to date, only two women have appeared on U.S. currency in the Treasury’s history: the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin, minted from 1979 to 1981; and the Sacagawea dollar, minted every year since 2000. Although, according to Wikipedia, the Sacagawea dollar “[has not been] released for general circulation from 2002 through 2008 and again from 2012 onward due to its general unpopularity with the public and low business demand for the coin.”

Martha Washington previously was the only woman whose portrait has appeared on U.S. paper currency. It appeared on $1 Silver Certificates, Series 1886, 1891 and 1896. Also, apparently Pocahontas appears in the engraving “Introduction of the Old World to the New World,” which was featured on several pieces of American currency. Only one Native American, Running Antelope (a Sioux chief) seems to have appeared on U.S. currency, on the $5 Silver Certificate in 1899. (See list of banknote portraits here.)

The additional bill redesigns will reportedly be announced in 2020, in time for the centennial of woman’s suffrage and the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

The Times notes that, “It was unclear whether details of the unexpectedly sweeping changes would mollify some women’s groups, who had excoriated Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew for reneging on his 10-month-old commitment to put a woman on the face of the $10 bill, which is the one currently in line for an anti-counterfeiting makeover.”

“It’s yet another ‘wait your turn’ moment for American women,” political commentator Cokie Roberts wrote Wednesday in The New York Times.

Apparently there’s still no business like show business, at least in terms of Pres. Hamilton’s reprieve (he was also the first Treasury secretary). It remains to be seen whether Eris has any tricks up her sleeve regarding Lew’s backtracking on his commitment, or whether Venus in the mix will offer some receptivity.

Editor’s Note: This essay originally appeared in the April 24, 2012 Members’ Issue of Planet Waves. Since the Sun ingressed Taurus earlier today, it seemed like a fitting choice; this year, Venus is in Aries, not Gemini as it was in 2012 for solar Taurus. — Amanda

Dear Friend and Reader:

The Sun is now in Taurus, the first earth sign of the astrological year, and the first fixed sign. After the fiery start of the cycle in Aries, Taurus stands as an anchor in the zodiac, making sure that the cosmic wheel doesn’t go flying off the axle. Taurus offers consistency, a sense of grounding in the sensual world, and its own special kind of fertile chaos.

The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali, 1931. The landscape is as much part of the message as are the melting pocket watches. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

I’m sure many of you who attract those from among the herd of Taurus people have noticed some of this. With that stability covered, then comes the need for flexibility and change. That’s not always so easy in Taurus Land, though the configuration of the sky is telling a different story this year. Two main features describe this, though by the time I’m done writing this article I am sure I’ll come up with a few more.

Think of this sign as a place where the soul goes through a tempering process. Just like the Earth itself, Taureans are hot, hot, hot on the inside and cooler on the outside. Just like the Earth, they can be all temperatures and all climates on the outside, though that core is always burning. To an observer looking at the exterior of a person, they might see a slow-moving majestic quality, the kind of quiet dignity that you feel in a forest.

Yet this inner-outer temperature differential creates a pressure dynamic within the person. Looking at or even speaking casually to someone with this sign strongly placed in their chart, you might not figure that out. It’s revealed in the indescribable magnetism they have; a certain compelling quality that almost everyone notices. It’s a subtle kind of intensity, and it’s powerfully creative.

My personal favorite Taurus artists include Bono, David Byrne, Brian Eno and Salvador Dali; then there is Carrie Fisher (Moon in Taurus), Audrey Hepburn, Meryl Streep (Moon in Taurus), Dionne Warwick (Moon in Taurus) and Barbra Streisand — notice more than a few unforgettable voices among them. Taurus is the sign associated with the throat, speech and vocal quality.

The Lady With the Lamp (Miss Nightingale at Scutari, 1854). From the painting by Henrietta Rae, Library of Congr. Prints & Photos Division.

Taurus energy can be obsessive, and driven to service in a way often ascribed to Virgo. Pioneering nurse Florence Nightingale had both the Sun and the Moon in Taurus, in a close conjunction.

She laid the foundation for the modern nursing profession with her devotion, foresight and attention to detail. So on the one hand we could say that while Taurus energy is resistant to change, that’s another way of saying it has the stability to be a pillar of society. Her contributions went on and on, and she lived to the age of 90. If you’re curious about this sign, I suggest you read about her truly fascinating and visionary life.

Time feels different when you’re a Taurus (depicted by Dali’s visions of melting clocks; they were autobiographical). It’s rather like how a geologist will look at a mountain range and see an animation: they see the glaciers in motion (even though that was 25,000 years ago), they see the gradual uplifting taking place, and they see the evidence of long spans of time.

Most of us look at a mountain and see something just standing there, and it is — but the motion is subtle and persistent. Like mountains, Taurus has an enduring quality (Queen Elizabeth II) — but it is far from stagnant.

As for what is different about our current Taurus experience. One salient quality of our moment is that Jupiter is in Taurus. It has been there for just under a year; all Taurus birthday (solar return) charts for 2012 will have Jupiter in Taurus as a distinctive feature.

Jupiter’s energy expands and magnifies. In a fixed sign, it will offer some extra flexibility. It can bring to visibility the best qualities of this sign, as well as have a softening quality. This lightens the energy of what can be a serious and reserved sign. If Taurus tends to see the world in sharp contrasts (it often seems this way), Jupiter is adding subtle shades and hues. That includes a more philosophical approach to life and a wider worldview and self-concept. For many with strong Taurus placements, this is a time of spiritual awakening. For everyone, Jupiter in Taurus is an opportunity to notice what is valuable, and treat it that way (that’s a useful description of spiritual).

Venus in Gemini. Photo by Eric Francis / Book of Blue – New York. Link to higher resolution version.

The other standout feature this year is that Venus, the traditional ruling planet of Taurus, is in Gemini for an extended visit. This is another picture of mutable energy influencing Taurus, as Gemini is all about flexibility. We’re also about to experience Venus retrograde in Gemini, though this is a special event because it involves the Venus transit of the Sun in early June. All Taurus solar return charts include Venus in Gemini, which brings the quality of mental vibrance to all things Taurean this year. I think of Venus in Gemini as a picture of emotional (Venus) intelligence (Gemini). This will serve to make Venus more expressive in words and tangible ideas than it might ordinarily be.

Venus is our most vivid representation of goddess energy in traditional astrology, and we sure could use some of that now. The professional pool sharks we call politicians have resurrected every anti-woman concept, policy and plan they can cram onto the airwaves. The Venus transit of the Sun, which takes place June 5, is a moment when the world will see Venus not as a bright feature of the night world, as we’re accustomed, but rather as a celestial feature visible in the light of day.

Astrologer Adam Gainsburg has described this as the emergence of the solar feminine — the boldly creative expression of feminine energy. Think of the Sun being penetrated by Venus, then pouring the energy out in all directions as pure, vivid light. One gift this will offer is some balance, yet it’s more than that. Fully expressed, hot, clear, creative feminine energy is something that most people have not considered, much less experienced, and as you might imagine it’s making some people nervous.

It will be beautiful to see what influence this has on the world, and on you.

Lovingly,

I am watching and listening with bemusement as both alleged pundits and many everyday Joes bash Bernie Sanders for making promises he cannot keep. One among them is free public higher education.

I respond to that by telling people that I attended SUNY Buffalo, which had an English department to rival that of any private school, for $550 a semester. My parents, who are still walking around using their educations, attended Brooklyn College in the early 1960s, paying a $5 registration fee per semester, plus books. It was not easy to get in; you had to do things like read and write and maybe have a talent to share.

Bernie is not making a promise he cannot keep. He’s trying to keep a promise that was made a long time ago. He understands that WE — you, me, our parents, our grandparents and their parents — paid for the public higher education system, which was intended as a point of access, not as a bargain education for the super wealthy.

Perhaps we could also pay for medical care for everyone if we stopped paying pharma giants $5000 a day for the privilege of people dying, or paying a doctor $50,000 to perform a laparoscopic spleen removal. It’s all a matter of priorities.

Continue reading →

By Amanda Painter

Today on Democracy Now! Amy Goodman interviewed Robin McDowell and Martha Mendoza: two investigative reporters working for the Associated Press who, over the course of 18 months, revealed the extent to which Burmese slaves are worked nearly to death on Thai fishing boats. And yes, the catch from those boats makes it into popular U.S. restaurants and supermarkets all the time.

The AP series is up for a Pulitzer Award, which will be announced sometime today.

McDowell and Mendoza — along with their photographer and videographer — traveled to the remote island of Benjina in Indonesia. As Goodman states, “They found workers trapped in cages, whipped with toxic stingray tails for punishment, and forced to work 22 hours a day for almost no compensation.”

Their quest began with painstaking digital research — and warnings from people that they would not get anywhere with the investigation. Slave-caught fish gets mingled on transport ships with legally caught fish; records are falsified regularly; people lie. Then they were told of men abandoned by these fishing companies on islands in Indonesia — men who had been tricked or sometimes even drugged or kidnapped. McDowell and Mendoza knew that they had to go to the island, and had to get photographic proof of men caged in the “company prison.” They did.

Even more amazingly, nine days after the AP team broke the story, Indonesian government officials decided to go to Benjina to investigate for themselves, and asked the AP reporters to go with them. The Indonesian officials interviewed not only the company site manager and others higher-ups, they took aside 20 Burmese fisherman and interviewed them.

Realizing it would be dangerous for these men to be left behind on the island, the officials told the reporters they’d be taking the men with them — obviously not realizing how many men were on the island. As word spread, men began appearing from the hills, the woods — hundreds of men who had not seen their families for years; one man had been enslaved there for 22 years. Eventually, more than 2,000 Burmese fishing slaves were freed.

Read or watch the entire Democracy Now! interview here, or read the full AP expose here for the whole, compelling story. But know this: McDowell and Mendoza were able to track slave-caught fish from Thailand to small U.S. chains such as Schnucks or Piggly Wiggly, and also to major chains such as Wal-Mart, Safeway, Kroger, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, major food distributor Sysco and many, many others.

In other words, if you have eaten fish whose national origin is not explicitly known, it is pretty much guaranteed that you have eaten slave-caught fish at some point. Why is this, when the U.S. has laws against importing goods that have been made or procured through slave labor or human trafficking?

Because of the ‘consumptive demand’ loophole.

As Mendoza explains, “If there’s a consumptive demand for an item, then, even if it’s slave-produced, it can be allowed in. After we published a story about this, the entire Congress agreed to change the loophole. And about a month ago, Obama signed into law a measure that included a provision closing that loophole.”

That will help, but the fight will continue; not only in the fishing industry — where fishing in southeast Asia has been forced far offshore due to overfishing inshore — but in any industry that makes consumer goods sold cheaply overseas. Once again, it comes down to individual consumers to push for change and justice. McDowell explains:

“It almost doesn’t matter, to a degree, what governments are saying, what labor rights groups are saying, what human rights organizations are saying”; in other words, “it is really when the businesses that are buying and the consumers start screaming that things start to change. So I really believe the voice of the American consumer is the biggest impetus to change for these Thai seafood companies.”

In my column last week, I noted that Ceres landing on the Aries Point (early degrees of Aries) indicates that, “what genuinely nourishes the individual Self also feeds the collective, and vice versa.” Today Democracy Now! served up a story that fits the description perfectly — right down to it being feminine persistence (in the form of a four-woman team) bringing an underground, hellish story to light; a story about how your choices about where and what you eat do make a difference for entire groups of people across the globe.

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Today’s Oracle takes us to the Taurus weekly for Feb. 13, 2004

It seems you’re struggling with the issue of respect. You’ve got an ideal in mind of what it means to be respected, but at the same time, this notion has a way of getting you into trouble with yourself. I suggest you look for the most persistent respect issues you’ve faced going back as long as you care to look. Is there ever a time when you’re accused of demanding too much, and when that happens, how do you respond? What’s different about now is that you have the self-respect to support you from the inside while you seek a reflection of who and what you need in the world around you.

The Daily Oracle offers a horoscope selected randomly by our Intelligent Archive Oracle program, unique to Planet Waves. It’s also a database of my horoscopes going back to the late 1990s. You can use the Intelligent Archive Oracle to answer questions and give you ideas for how to handle problems and situations you cannot see through. This feature is available to our Galaxy, Backstage and Core Community members. See this link for more information.