Editor’s note: this is the full PW members’ edition, featuring your Aquarius Full Moon horoscopes by Len Wallick, the Create feature, and more.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Here we are, on the doorstep of this summer’s eclipse season: on Monday, Aug. 7, at 2:10 pm EDT, we have an Aquarius Full Moon and partial lunar eclipse; then on Aug. 21, there’s the total solar eclipse and second Leo New Moon. You might be wondering how best to step into this metaphorical room once the door opens, and the chart for Monday’s lunar eclipse offers some ideas.

Pook’s Hill Lodge, Belize; photo by Hal Cohen.

Anytime you enter a room full of people, you encounter a specific dynamic: one in which you are aware of yourself as an individual and the impact you may have on the group, and are simultaneously aware of the group as an entity with its own presence and impact on you. At least, that’s the ideal.

Many people walk around completely oblivious to both sides of that equation, or else so over-focused on one side of the dynamic that they have no sense of the balancing half.

For example, someone who’s very egocentric might only be concerned about their own presence and making sure others respond to them. Someone with very low self-esteem might feel completely at the mercy of a group’s expectations and perceived pecking order, and think they have no impact on the other people at all.

It’s also possible not to give any of it much conscious thought. Yet here we are, just four days from an eclipse involving two very social zodiac signs: Leo (where the Sun is) and Aquarius (where the Moon will be). The Sun in Leo speaks to that idea of being aware of one’s own presence, and the influence or impact you can have on others. The Moon in Aquarius, on the other hand, relates to how group structures, customs and expectations affect you, particularly at the unconscious or emotional level.

Any Full Moon across Leo and Aquarius could speak to these internal and external social dynamics, and where they meet. What makes having an eclipse across these signs special is that it indicates the potential for a significant shift in how it all operates within your own experience.

Specifically, with the Moon conjunct the lunar South Node, it looks like there’s a real opportunity to shed certain group expectations, and the way they have been influencing (or even dictating) your life in unconscious ways. The most likely group this would apply to would be the very first group you ever belonged to: your family of origin. Yet, since we tend to re-create family dynamics in all of our relationships — and a group is merely a collection of interconnected relationships — chances are you can identify other groups that have some measure of unconscious or semi-conscious sway over you, and which fit the pattern of your family.

Note, this can be subtle. For example, it might not be as simple and obvious as having an overbearing boss, and then you outwardly rebel against him like you did with your strict father. It could be that you have a female friend or coworker who, for whatever reason, elicits from you a fight-or-flight emotional and energetic sensation that you’ve never quite understood, but which still relates to your dad. The permutations are endless, and can cross genders and obvious social roles.

Simplified chart for the Aug. 7 Aquarius Full Moon and eclipse. Counter-clockwise from top: Mars, the Sun and the North Node in Leo; Jupiter in Libra; Pluto in Capricorn; the Moon and South Node in Aquarius; Neptune in Pisces. View full chart here. View glyph key here.

You might not even be clear on what kind of inherent social/familial dynamics and ‘rules’ to look for. I suspect that’s okay — because it is, after all, the less conscious side of the eclipse equation. Though anything that raises guilt or the sensation of being ‘wrong’ for who you are is suspect. Thankfully, there’s some real energy feeding into the more conscious side (the Sun in Leo) via other aspects.

To me this says that it’s possible to work these more conscious aspects and reap some tangible benefit. All the better if you happen to journal your dreams, listen to your intuition and make note of any unexpected insights that pop up. Those could be key to helping you fill in the missing or ‘hidden’ side of things, and make real use of whatever else develops.

First of all, the Sun is still loosely conjunct Mars in Leo. That is all about energy, so you might as well use it while you have it, remembering to guide it with compassion, empathy, and self-awareness.

The Sun (and to a lesser degree, Mars) is also making aspects to Jupiter in Libra and Pluto in Capricorn — which themselves are in a square aspect (written about in Monday’s Astrology Diary).

The Sun-Mars sextile to Jupiter indicates a storehouse of positive energy you can tap into to really get something done. It’s very social energy, and Mars adds physical vitality. Jupiter is also lending the ability to see the big picture — both regarding your relationships (thanks to Libra) and any goals, plans for the future and ideals that you have.

At the time of Monday’s eclipse, the Sun and Mars will still be building to their respective aspects to Jupiter. Which means that the eclipse is just the beginning; the potential for real progress, and to develop in a new trajectory — as you jettison something is no longer working for you — looks like it increases just after the partial lunar eclipse itself.

This makes sense, since the second eclipse of the pair, on Aug. 21, will be conjunct the lunar North Node. That’s the point that astrologers interpret as having to do with your path forward: growth, dharma, the soul-purpose that you can emerge into if you’re willing to make the effort and step toward the unknown.

Speaking of growth: that seems to be what Pluto is emphasizing in the lunar eclipse chart. It’s making ‘uncomfortable’ aspects to the Sun and Moon, and serves as a reminder that growth can be uncomfortable. If you feel at all stuck, keep making adjustments.

Most of all, stay in touch with your vision for the life you desire, and do what you can that’s related to that vision, and to what you love, leading up to and after Monday’s eclipse. Even if you aren’t ready to publicize your vision to the world, you might see if you can enlist others in it — including authority figures. As mentioned, this is social astrology. Shine the light, look around the room and in the shadows, and see if the dynamic changes as you do.

Yours & truly,

Amanda Painter

Just in time for the Great American Eclipse of Aug. 21, 2017, you’ll have access to a helpful, excellent video astrology reading. These will be done by sign and rising sign; each reading is about half an hour. Over the next few days, the price of this reading will be increasing. It’s now $77; by tomorrow evening, Aug. 4, it will be $88; and on Sunday it’ll be raised again. The final published price will be $111. You may pre-order here.

I’ve been a devoted student of eclipses since beginning astrology. Here’s some of my earlier writing, published before the grand cross and total solar eclipse of Aug. 11, 1999. These few paragraphs below will give you a feeling for just how significant eclipses are. This one is one of the most important in American history, which I’ve covered here.

Eclipses are astrology we can’t deny. If there is a conjunction between Saturn and Uranus, it’s invisible, and while many people may experience changes, only astrologers and their merry bands of readers and students know what’s happening. Yet when the Sun vanishes, you can be sure that normal activity will come to a stop.

Our busy world will pause, and everyone, from herbicide activists nestled in the hills of Oregon to rock stars in Nashville, will stand in the silent shadow of the cosmic order with the astonishment of small children coursing in their hearts.

This doesn’t happen often, and you can imagine the awesome power of so many people embraced in a kind of simultaneous, captive meditation as everything around them momentarily ceases to be normal. Call it a reality lapse, only it’s one into which the real reality can flow very easily.

In terms of their astrological meaning, eclipses of the Sun follow this image of collective awareness and radical break of continuity. Whether you can see the eclipse does not matter; part of the miracle of astrology is it works anyway. As many of us are discovering personally, eclipses are expanded moments of often uncontrollable, unpredictable change. They also bring the civilization and its communities together, usually through important collective events and the media.

Eclipses are evolutionary gateways, which is another way of saying that when they show up, we do a lot of growing in a short time. Delays are compensated. Old accounts can be wiped clean. While each is unique, eclipses often feel like being shot through a funnel of space-time, and we emerge somewhere different than where we entered. The key to making the best use of them is to move with the energy, not cling to anything or anyone too tightly, and to stay open.

Literally, breathe, communicate, feel, love, observe and receive. Remember your intentions. The sense of panic that sometimes accompanies them yields nicely to awareness and revelation, mental conditions that are more natural than we often realize.

This week on Planet Waves FM
Festival of Eclipses and Jerry Garcia at 75

Dear Friend and Listener:

[Play program here] Tuesday would have been Jerry Garcia’s 75th birthday, and commemorating that I have a musically rich program. I’ve squeezed my brain, my iTunes library and the internet to find the best of Jerry for those listening for the first time, or with new ears.

I’ve skipped over the 25-minute jams and the frightening hard rock, and begin with Garcia the bluegrass player; then play a gospel tune before offering a few well-chosen Grateful Dead numbers.

Jerry Garcia photographed by Robbi Cohn, friend of Planet Waves, at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA, on June 30, 1995.

This week’s edition of Planet Waves FM takes you on a tour of the world, beginning with the question: how often do you freak out? Then we look at eclipses both lunar and solar, considering the implications thereof.

Monday’s lunar eclipse happens with the Moon and Sun at 15+ degrees of the fixed signs — at Lammas or midsummer holiday, and setting off the Aries Point.

The pace of events is already moving faster than anyone can keep track. Developments from four days ago seem like they happened months ago.

Then two weeks later, the solar eclipse is all over the United States of America and also all over the chart of Donald Trump. What is the connection? Are astrologers really “freaking out” or is there just a low-key conversation going on? Here’s the shrieking, white-hot sphere of pure rage that in 2012 The Onion predicted would be the 2016 GOP frontrunner.

After going over the astrology, I give a brief talk on The Gemstone File, which we published with your help last week. What was it like to publish 250,000 pages from the files of Monsanto, GE, Westinghouse, Dow, DuPont, the EPA, the Navy and the Air Force? It was just what you would expect!

Finally, in the Realm of Tantra, I consider what it means that Anthony Scaramucci broke the autofellatio barrier, which I take as a segue into understanding the power of inappropriateness. All of tantra takes place in the realm of taboo. If it’s “normal” or “socially acceptable,” it’s in the way.

Planet Waves FM is funded by your contributions to Chiron Return. You make this program possible. Thank you for your continued generosity.

With love,

PS — Songs on tonight’s program are: Whiskey in the Jar; Swing Low, Sweet Chariot; Uncle John’s Band; Lazy River Road; Terrapin Station; Ripple and then Ripple covered by Jane’s Addiction.

August Monthly Horoscopes and Publishing Schedule Notes

Your extended monthly horoscopes for August were published on Thursday, July 27.
We published your extended monthly horoscopes for July on Thursday, June 22. Your extended monthly horoscopes for June were published on Thursday, May 25. Note, the August horoscope is based on the total solar eclipse of Aug. 21. This is the one to clip and save for posterity.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Follow your excitement, but know how to guide it. Think of Sherlock Holmes. There has been at least one common thread connecting every version of this famous fictional detective. He thrived on stimulation. Granted, a sense of justice is apparent in each rendition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most celebrated character. Yet you never read or see portrayals of him lecturing at length about morals. It’s also evident that the legendary residence on Baker Street came with expenses. Even so, money was never his first motivation. What has always aroused every Holmes is a criminal to challenge his wit, combined with the confidence conferred by his skill set. It is likely you have an idea of what enlivens you, too. Now, the question is whether you’re also a master of your exhilaration. Gain greater command over whatever excites you in order to enhance both your esteem and satisfaction. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — It is likely you have recently had an experience that can be construed as liberating. If you can put your finger on an event (or timeframe) after which you felt more free, you will have valuable information. On the other hand, if the last three months or so have left you perceiving no more (or even less) latitude in your life, that would be vital data, too. Either way, it’s not a matter of right or wrong. Neither is a current estimation of your personal sovereignty indicative of whether your proverbial glass is either half-full or half-empty. Instead, any change in the amount of prerogative you have can be used to guide choices you may soon be making. Rather than discerning either more or less restriction resulting from the recent past, shift your point of view just a bit. Look for a better understanding of where (or what) you are coming from. Then, let your perceptions of freedom gained or lost help you to better see where you want to go. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — It is one thing to visit an unfamiliar place and learn. It is another thing entirely to either discover or foster change underfoot. Your best path into the future will probably entail a bit of both. Before you seek to break new ground, however, it appears advisable for you to both confront and rearrange your relationship with a long-established (and possibly internalized) order. To make things easier down the road, start by shaking things up on what may seem to be a trivial level. Then, take the necessary time to observe what shakes out. You might, for example, begin holding your fork or spoon in the hand you are not accustomed to eating with until it’s second nature, so as to see how doing something simple changes your life. The idea is to engage differently by choice with the here and now. That way, it will be easier to mesh smoothly with whatever emerges upon reaching there and then. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You may love taking care of others. You might also have had enough of it. You could also have avoided any such role. Regardless, now would be a good time to begin taking better care of yourself. Start with what you have to work with now. It will be enough. In the future things will be different, but you have to get there to find out how. To do so, take one step forward at a time. Think small. This month, endeavor to discern and discard just one practice you know to be bad for you. Choose what you are least likely to miss. Next month, start doing just one new thing you know to be good for you. Begin with the simplest and easiest. Continue alternating, one month at a time. Meanwhile, mark your calendar for sometime in February. Set a date to evaluate both your six small steps towards self-caring, and whether or not you feel any different about sharing. Make that date, and you will be glad you did. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Entering the Leo Birthday Eclipse Zone

“I have just listened to your Part 1 and Part 2 readings and I am amazed at how accurate it has been. Like you have a telescope watching me shed a skin and transform into a totally changed person in the last 10 years.”
— Pauline Jones

Dear Friend and Reader:

If you have a Leo Sun, rising sign or Moon, I want to ask you something: How are you feeling about your vision for your life, and in what ways are you ready to take action toward it? What do you want to make room for, and what are you ready to leave behind?

With a partial lunar eclipse on Monday in your opposite sign Aquarius (your relationship sign), the door opens to one stage of potential transition. In just over two weeks, on Aug. 21, a total solar eclipse in Leo signals the second stage of whatever life-shifting process you’re engaged with.

The reverberations from these two eclipses will keep rippling out and developing through the next six to twelve months — and Eric’s upcoming 2017 Leo Birthday Reading will be designed to guide you through it all.

This is a unique year for you, Leo. In addition to these eclipses (and the double New Moons in your sign this month), Eric plans to discuss such astrological heavyweights as Chiron finishing up its journey through your 8th house; ever-surprising Uranus; and Saturn leaving your fellow fire sign, Sagittarius — plus more.

Are you navigating changes in your relationships or family paradigm? Do you find yourself at a career crossroads? Are you seeking clarity, encouragement and new perspectives on your creativity, self-esteem, sexuality or healing process? You’ll find ideas and reassurance in this reading.

“The past few years have been very difficult on many levels and it has been the readings I get through you that keep me going. Always, absolutely right on, every one of them.”

— Rhonda

Your reading is now priced at $44; so you’ll want to pre-order your 2017 Leo Reading very soon — definitely before it publishes, when the price is set to increase again.

I’m excited to see what you do with this year, Leo, and I hope you are, too. And remember: if you love a Leo, let them know: give them the gift of their special Leo Reading this year.

Yours & truly,

Amanda Painter

P.S. If you’re new to Planet Waves and Eric’s audio readings, I’d like to offer a special gift: listen to last year’s Leo Reading for free, to review your year (and Eric’s accuracy) before you make the quantum leap forward.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — The greatest service is rarely rendered by a subordinate. The most rewarding of undertakings are seldom assigned. Those who would lead must set an example of what it means to follow, and right now that probably means you. For the time being, at least, you are among the best equipped to see what needs to be done for the greatest good. To go even further, it would not be surprising if you felt it was your duty to get those needs met. What you want to avoid is getting burned out or otherwise disillusioned. Hence, don’t be a lone wolf. Continuous sustenance for your commitment to others will only be drawn from fraternizing as an equal, distinguished only by the deference you earn. What’s more, everybody concerned would be better off if you considered your time and energy as limited assets to be invested carefully, only where and when you can rightfully expect a just return. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — What you did not know you had in you will soon be more likely than ever to make itself known — at least to you. The key to unlocking the door and gaining access to some previously hidden personal resources is to believe they are there. Reason to believe will, in turn, be found in what you have done at least once before: previously in your life, you have reached back to get what you needed to go forward. You may not know how you did it, but that’s not important. What is important is not to fall prey to any notion that you cannot somehow do it again. In addition to believing that you have precisely what you need to bring to the table, it would also be useful to remember that what you need to do probably entails a different sort of game than you have mastered before. So long as you are open to learning and playing by some new rules, faith in yourself will prove justified. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — The next few months could very well represent your finest hour, at least for a while. Everything you have done, and all you have been through for at least a decade, has prepared you for any trial or triumph you are likely to experience. However, in order someday to look back both fondly and proudly on the period now initiating, it will be absolutely necessary that you make the most of every opportunity to have fun. Given how the tapestry of this season is bound to include at least as much challenging warp as intoxicating weft, the idea of having fun may seem, for some at least, to be frivolous. Don’t you believe it. What will make this time worth all the wax it will burn is the joy available in return. Let those who can only justify diligence at this time go their own way. If you cannot find time for enjoyment now, how do you expect to fully appreciate it later? — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Even for the most wise and powerful, contentment has always been an elusive state. The ambitious cannot rest; and because of that, their heart’s desire can never be satisfied. Interestingly enough, the same can be said for those who have abandoned aspirations. Yet, it is not necessary to attain or sustain elation in order to know gratification. Indeed, it is perhaps only those who have settled unresolved issues and become more grounded who find serenity within. Just such a simple yet underrated form of tranquility appears to be available to you now; but to have it, you will need to settle something peacefully. Whether it be grievance or grudge, resentment or regret, it’s time to let go and get on with what you have and where you are. You can come home again, but not by going back to what’s no longer (or never was) there. Grounding and equanimity are now yours to find only where you find yourself. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — If you can think back and recall a period of transition sometime between ten and twelve years ago, you will have the perspective you need to understand your present situation. If memory does not serve you quite well enough to remember what your life was like as the previous decade was entering its later years, you will not be far wrong to think of yourself as somehow returning to your native element at this time. What water is to a fish, and what the air is to a bird, resonates with what the next few years could be for you — if you will but envision it coming. For now, and for as long as three years to come, it may not be obvious how well you are equipped to make the most of what you have, while also making a bigger difference than you can possibly know. Ultimately, there will be clarity about having come into your own, but if you want to get a head start, keep at least one eye out for what looks like home. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — It’s evident that you have finally made (or, more likely, remade) a place in the world. This does not mean you have no farther to go. The greatest of your lifetime accomplishments are probably just beginning to manifest. Nonetheless, unless you are a late-blooming exception, you have at least found a foothold among us. Now it’s time to start getting more comfortable with, and in, your own body. Your physical being may not be perfect, but it is yours, representing both everything you have inherited and all you have experienced so far in your life. If you are ultimately to feel complete and whole, it will have to be because you have come to terms with your own flesh and found it to be every bit as worthy as any of your achievements or acquisitions. Even if your physical growth is long past complete, it’s still important (and maybe even necessary) to further grow into what must certainly be your most important possession. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — If anybody knows that it’s almost never (if ever) about you, it’s you. That being said, the never-ending process of maturation and individualization also requires that you know when and to what extent you must accept responsibility. This paradoxical principle is especially true regarding individual relationships. Above all else, do not demand (or even expect) perfection from yourself. When and where you err, admit it, but only to those who need to know that you are owning what is yours. If and when you need to apologize or otherwise express remorse, do so, but only within reason. Finally, if the situation dictates that you must make amends, accept the need for it, but also acknowledge when your debt has been paid. It’s not about you. Yet, you have a place and a purpose that nobody else could possibly fill. Appreciate that, and you will have laid the groundwork for what could be your best relationships ever. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — When the great Miles Davis was a very young man, he burned the candle at both ends. By day he was a bright and promising student. At night, he was a talented and brilliant apprentice. Very early one morning, half asleep, and while commuting between his two musical worlds he heard the door on an otherwise empty subway car open, and instinctively pressed the keys of his trumpet so as to make that sound. From that moment on he knew that he could play anything he heard. It was the beginning of a mastery that echoes through the world to this day. You may never have quite the same amount influence or degree of stature that Miles Davis enjoyed. Nonetheless, you could very well be ready to experience something along the lines of the epiphany he had beneath a slumbering city so long ago. You have paid your dues. Perhaps you too will need to be half asleep to take that final step, but wouldn’t it be great if your door opened while you were wide awake? — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.