What is called a ‘zoom’ on your smart phone is not the genuine article. The zoom lens on a conventional camera is a mechanical device that ‘telescopes’ back and forth to change the focal length of the lens. The zoom on a smart phone is just a software program that takes the central portion of the image you’re seeing and enlarges it.

The example of an actual, mechanical zoom compared to a ‘fake’ (digital) zoom is an example of the distinctions to be made in the astrology this week. Your life will go on if you don’t know the difference. If quality matters, however, knowing the difference is important.

Billions of people all over the world continue living day-to-day without knowing anything about what’s going on with astrology. Nearly all of us, however, have had the experience of reading a horoscope (to cite just one example) that puts everything into a better perspective, improving the quality of life.

That’s because astrology is not fortune telling. Your fortune cannot be told by anybody or any system. Fortunes are made. The nature of your fortune, to the extent you make it, will be mostly determined by how aware you are and what choices you make. That’s where astrology comes in.

First off, astrology makes you aware that you are part of a system — the solar system. Unlike the objective detachment of science, which can leave you feeling alone and isolated in a big universe, astrology makes you the subject. Because you are the subject of an ethical astrologer’s work, you are the focus. As the focus, you get a perspective that can help you make a difference for you.

That perspective begins with the understanding that any part of any system (solar or otherwise) will tell you something about any other part of the system, and also will tell you about the system as a whole. With the awareness conferred by an astrologer’s interpretation of your part in the solar system comes data you can use when it comes time to make choices. Going back to our original example, knowing the difference between a mechanical zoom lens and the digital facsimile will provide you with information that will help you to choose the appropriate option when it comes time to take a quality photograph.

When it comes time to get some quality astrology, there is no place like right here at Planet Waves. For example, one big focus this week is the Mercury retrograde that begins on Thursday shortly before 1:20 pm EDT (17:19:40 UTC). Nearly any other source of astrological information will simply dish you the same old cookbook astrology that has rarely (if ever) been useful in helping you make a life of better quality for yourself.

The astrologers at Planet Waves, however, go the extra mile. This particular Mercury retrograde will not be the same-old, in part because of the context in which it is taking place. An important part of that context is the fact that several other planets (most notably Mars) are retrograde at the same time, which does not happen every year.

Therefore, to make the most of this particular Mercury retrograde in this particular year, you might want to take a look at Eric’s 2016 Spring Reading. With its sharp and specific focus on both Mars and you, the Spring Reading could very well make this the Mercury Retrograde you turn your fortune around from cookbook-level fare to something of gourmet quality, for a lot less than the price of a gourmet meal.

Another thing that will make this particular Mercury retrograde special is that Mercury will be moving across its own heliocentric node in the process. What does that mean for you? It means that you will be able to start planning now to see Mercury move across the face of the Sun on May 9, when retrograde Mercury reaches the degree of Taurus where its node is located. It will be an event without temporal equal since May of 1970, not to be even approximated again until May of 2095.

The Spring Reading is now published. You may order all 12 signs here or choose your individual signs here for immediate access. You may listen to a free audio introduction here now.

The reason you will want to plan for the Mercury transit is that looking at the Sun without the proper protection for your eyes can be dangerous. Also, your smart phone will almost certainly be of insufficient quality to take a photograph.

Granted, your life will go on whether or not you see Mercury’s solar transit, but if kids yet unborn ask you to tell them about it someday, being able to provide an eyewitness account (and even a photograph) could make a big difference in your relationship with them.

Furthermore, if you become a member of the Planet Waves Core Community before May 9, you will be able to provide those same kids with the collective perspective of perhaps the only astrological website that knows enough to inform you of such a distinctive event far enough in advance that you can make some good fortune out of it.

The Mercury transit will, in essence, be an eclipse. From an astrologer’s point of view, that means Mercury (which, among other things, represents your mind and its means of expressing itself) will be symbolically merging with the Sun (which, among other things, corresponds to consciousness) on May 9. As with biological forms of merger, the potential of this transit will be to yield progeny.

From astrology’s perspective the most meaningful offspring of Mercury’s transit of the Sun will be those (like you) both conscious and mindful of distinctions that most people will never know or care about. That awareness will in turn distinguish you, providing the means to live as a conscious and mindful part of a grand system, and thus experiencing a quality of existence most people will never know.

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