“Swarm” by Charlie Lemay.

Dear Friend and Reader:

When I went onto the Daily News website and saw a photo of Al Franken groping Leeann Tweeden, wearing a big grin on his face, first I felt disgusted, then I thought: the emotional plague.

That’s how Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957), a forgotten pioneer of psychiatry and psychology, described someone who, when shut down in early childhood, limps through life because his or her “natural, self-regulatory life manifestations have been suppressed.”

“Undulating” by Charlie Lemay.

He described it as a plague. Bigger than an epidemic. Bigger than a pandemic. Out of control. Wide-scale enough to lead to the rise of fascism in the 1930s, and in the 21st century.

People who are stricken with the emotional plague move through life as zombies, out of touch with their bodies and their environment. They rarely consider their potential, much less scratch the surface.

When you look at people and wonder what the heck is wrong with them, or why they’re so dense and out of it, it’s probably the emotional plague. When you wonder why you cannot dial in your own passion, or wonder where your curiosity went, consider this possibility. If you are looking for meaning in your life, your work and your relationships, consider this possibility.

Every day, we hear about the sordid past of another millionaire or power monger. Former Pres. George Bush (the elder) is a serial groper. According to a police report obtained by the Daily Mail, Sylvester Stallone forced a teenager to have sex with him and his bodyguard, threatening to “beat her head in.” George Takei, Mr. Sulu from the original Star Trek, was recently outed, and gave the lame excuse of his “dirty grandpa routine.”

I recently placed an op-ed column in the Daily News describing a sexual assault I experienced at age 23. Until that time, I had not read about any men who had come forward saying they were sexually abused by men in employment situations, and it seemed due time that someone start that conversation.

Shut-Down Kids Are More Convenient

Much spreading of the emotional plague involves systematically shutting down the sexuality of children so they are easier to handle. Reich was clear that, at least in his time — the early 20th century — sexual instincts of young children are not attacked by parents for primarily moral reasons. Rather, shut-down kids are easier to operate. They are easier to subject to one’s will. They ask fewer questions, they express fewer desires, and can be cowed into submission.

In 21st-century America, that remains true, as does what would appear to be the systematic sexual abuse of children. This includes people physically touching them, beating them to send a message about heterosexuality, emotionally scarring them, and denying them information about their bodies and their feelings.

“Exclusion” by Charlie Lemay.

The systematic denial of sexual information, and making that mandatory by law, is a Christian program. It’s not a secular program; it was pushed through the federal government by the many religious zealots who are currently in power and who have been for more than a generation.

Every revolution begins with words. The sexual revolution we need the most has less to do with sex and more to do with our ability to talk about it honestly. By “it” I mean our inner realities, what we’ve experienced, what we want, what we need, and what we have to heal. From there, maybe some people will answer the call, rise above their own ignorance, and serve as facilitators.

The Conversation
We Cannot Have, Yet

I’ve seen a few people comment that sexual assault is not really about sex. It’s actually about power. I would propose that it’s about both sex and power; and that an obsession with power is what happens when people have no other way to think about their sexuality.

One might become obsessed with power if they feel powerless. A profound element of the current sexual powerlessness is ignorance. Everyone is an expert at sex. Who has read a book about it?

I recognize that most of the men being accused of sexual assault are now in their 60s and 70s, seemingly the products of a different era. If that era had sexual ignorance as one of its distinctions, the United States has spent much of the past 40 years manufacturing that ignorance on an industrial scale. “Abstinence Only” indoctrination is a federally funded program based on shame, deception, silence and stupidity.

It’s based on a wider cultural pattern with all the same themes; abstinence indoctrination merely consecrated it with a budget and a formal curriculum. The problem is really much, much wider, deeper and more pervasive.

And now we live in an era when porno is considered a legitimate form of sex education — legit because it’s just about the only kind there is. Any kid looking for real information about sex online is going to find 51 varieties of the PornHub version starting with the first 10 returns from Google. Books are better; they restrict the subject matter.

Abuse and Assault Are the Only Legit Discussion, So Far

We’ve heard many times that the victims and survivors of sexual abuse have felt the need to remain silent, or like it was impossible to speak up. It turns out, though, that the only time society has a discussion about sex is when crime, abuse or scandal are involved. It may take a while; we may not hear from everyone; but if we hear about nothing else, we hear about abuse.

That’s because every other conversation is banned or reduced to a political issue. We can talk about bathroom laws, but we’re not allowed to know, or to be interested in knowing, what’s going on inside the mind of a trans person.

We still put pride parades on display, featuring every specimen of queerfolk, when the people who really need to come out of the closet are heterosexuals whose lives are based on lies, secrets and silence.

The queer movement is the perfect ruse for the great many heterosexuals who have not even considered the nuances of their sexual reality. Why do that, when you can just stream PornHub? Well, there are good reasons.

“Wrapped” by Charlie Lemay.

The current conversation will be out of runway soon: the issues are too big to merely fit into the framework of assault, crime or scandal. We need a wider, more human context.

We need reference points for what is sane and healthy. We need real conversation about our bodies, about the emotional content (and risks) of sex, and about the spiritual content of sex; and more than anything we need a conversation about masturbation.

To do this, we will need to confront the shame that stands between where we are today and an honest conversation. Without an honest conversation about sex, there can be no discussion of consent. And if there is going to be such a discussion, I propose that women must initiate it and set the tone, as a matter of survival.

This is About Trust and Respect

Underneath all of these sexual assaults, abuses of power, various “jokes,” things people didn’t think were bad, or whatever was done because that’s the way it was always done, are problems with trust and respect.

Anyone who respected people would not do these things, or facilitate them, or tolerate them, or pretend not to know what’s happening. And those who respect themselves would not put up with it anywhere in their environment. By anywhere, I really mean it: starting with your own home; in school; in any social situation; at work; anywhere. Whatever the cause of silence, the cost of that silence has been profound. And the cost will go up if the silence continues.

As for trust: that’s the main thing that’s being abused in all of these circumstances. I am beginning to think there’s no longer such a thing as trust. If you expect to be taken advantage of, that’s not trust. If you cannot confide in anyone, that’s about a lack of trust.

What we are seeing are the effects of a culture where respect and trust have been removed, yet people are expected to somehow function as members of civil society.

The Revolution We Need

We are facing many problems as a civilization and, whether directly or indirectly, as individuals. Through much of the autumn, we dealt with a series of hurricanes that are the result of global warming. Then we dealt with a series of mass murders. That gave way to our current volcanic, seemingly endless revelation of sexual crime, abuse and harassment. All of these things are related. The treatment of women is reflected in our treatment of the Earth. And as for mass killings, our war-obsessed society is now turning its sadism onto itself.

Whatever else we may need to do, no progress will be possible without learning to respect one another, and to trust one another. Before that can happen, we will need to learn how to trust and respect ourselves.

Learning to respect others is not just about respecting women, though that’s a good start. Respect is meaningless if it’s selective. This is about respecting all people.

It’s not as hard as it seems, especially if you’re motivated, and put your mind to it.

This is the sexual revolution we need — or, at least, where it will begin.

Lovingly,

How to Use Change to Your Benefit

Dear Friend and Reader:

From the way the news is moving, you would think that the outer-planet transits were already underway.

Major changes are coming, in two phases: the series of ingresses of very late 2017 and early 2018; and the beyond-extraordinary, world-changing events of 2020. Feel what is happening now: the truth coming out about so many things. We are directly experiencing the need to establish identity beyond the avatars and screen names that we’ve lived through for 20 years of the internet.

In late 2017, Saturn enters Capricorn, joining Pluto in that sign. For anyone with strongly-placed Aries, Cancer, Capricorn or Libra (just about everyone, regardless of your sign or rising sign), this will give you the opportunity to make real changes, and to begin to clean up from the turmoil and enforced changes associated with Pluto in Capricorn since 2008.

That would be quite enough, but it’s just the beginning. Next spring, Chiron enters Aries, and Uranus enters Taurus. Both of these describe radical awakenings of identity. Then, several important minor planets change signs as well.

The world seems to be ahead of these transits. The unmistakable thunder of change can be heard everywhere you listen. People know even bigger changes are coming, like animals who can feel an earthquake.

The question is: will you be ready? Will you be able to use these transits to your benefit? Are you considering how you want to prepare, and position yourself, for a near-total shift of reality?

THE ART OF BECOMING is my 2018 annual reading — the 20th time I’ve done year-ahead readings for all the signs and rising signs. These are readings that will impress you as more comprehensive than a personal reading, for a tiny fraction of the cost. They are also readings that you will refer back to for years. (After 19 years of doing them, we know this.)

For all 12 signs, the pre-order price is still just $99.

As publication time approaches and people rush to purchase, we will increase that price. As a Planet Waves reader you get advanced notice.

One last thing: if you want to get a feeling for what I can do with these readings, check out the 2017 annual, The Book of Your Life. We’ve opened up access to all 12 signs. In another mailing, I will send access to 2016 and further back. Experience is the best witness.

Thank you for being a Planet Waves customer, and for trusting me as your astrologer.

With love,

Regeneration, Healing and the Scorpio New Moon

By Amanda Painter

There is plenty else going on in the world besides the calling out of sexual harassment and assault that needs our attention and energy. Yet, this is a huge topic at the moment — for good reason, given how much pain it has caused so many people. If you’re finding yourself constantly triggered and exhausted, know that you are not alone, and it’s okay to take care of yourself and to seek help.

In the moment before regeneration; photo by Amanda Painter.

With a New Moon in Scorpio on Saturday, exact at 6:42 am EST (11:42 UTC), it seems the cosmos is asking us to consider where we go from here.

Hopefully the current spotlight on the lopsided sexual power dynamic has gotten you thinking — I mean really thinking — about the many layers of this issue in our culture; about how we got here and what your own role has been; and, perhaps most importantly, how to move forward into healing individually and collectively.

That’s a lot to take on. You might find that you can handle some facets of the conversation but not others. Or you might find yourself at one end of the healing process (for example, just beginning to identify how you’ve been hurt, or how you’ve hurt others), and it might seem impossible to envision getting to a place where you’ll feel better and can stand more fully in your life.

Wherever you locate yourself, it’s okay to be where you are with it. And it’s okay if where you are in your process does not look much like where someone else is in their process. As Eric and I discussed in the Monday Astrology Diary, all of the perspectives along the continuum of healing — which includes holding space for others to heal — are valid and valuable.

There are many cultural and astrological factors contributing to why all of this is coming into widespread consciousness now. Rather than trying to enumerate all of them, I’d like to consider what the current astrology has to say about what we do next. Which brings me to this weekend’s Scorpio New Moon.

Read more…

The six DJs featured in the Amplify Her graphic novel and animated series, during the four-day creative retreat organized to get all the female creatives resonating together. One of the women involved in Amplify Her asks, “What does the true feminine look like if given a chance to express itself?” She answers, “And for us, we thought, the answer was, ‘everything’. It looks like everything.” Photo by Ian MacKenzie

Girl, Amplified

By Amanda Painter

Like many other areas of art, popular culture, technology — hell, Western culture in general — the electronic music scene is heavily dominated by men. Yet female DJs are increasingly making themselves known, and the 2017 documentary Amplify Her offers a look into this global cultural movement — and the innate, intuitive approach these women bring.

Directed by Ian MacKenzie and Nicole Sorochan, the movie primarily follows the stories of three DJs — Lux Moderna, AppleCat and Blondtron, along with others — as they “come-of-age amidst the emerging cultural renaissance of the feminine.” Amplify Her is not just a documentary, however; the title also serves as an umbrella for a six-chapter graphic novel (one chapter for each of six DJs) and an animated motion comic series — written and illustrated by female illustrators.

As described in a recent issue of Jackrabbit Speaks, the official Burning Man newsletter (MacKenzie is a veteran Burner, and saw AppleCat play there in 2012):

“Imagined and brought to life by more than 21 female creators across North America, the 89-minute feature follows seven up-and-coming stars as they find their unique voices within a male-dominated realm. On the surface, it’s a story about women in the electronic music industry, but the film’s deeper message is the resurgence of the feminine in Western culture.”

According to the project’s website, Blondtron struggles to be taken seriously as she transitions into launching her own tech company, thanks to her openly sexual DJ sets; AppleCat creates soundscapes that “allow others to release their sexual shame,” yet seeks her own path to self-forgiveness; Lux Moderna faces the challenge of moving from one who creates shamanic dance-floor spaces from behind the mixing board to taking center-stage as a priestess.

As you can hear in the trailer, these women are deeply tuned in to what unique gifts they bring to a room full of people dancing to their amplified sounds. Strikingly, as the DJs and the illustrators note in the brief “making of” video, these stories are not your usual ‘hero’s journey’, because they involve embracing vulnerability — not erasing it.

Approaching the Scorpio New Moon — given the current cultural climate around feminine power, in which solidarity around the naming of sexual transgressors is being amplified by social media — Amplify Her is right on time. The film is on tour currently, featuring screenings, festivals, music shows, talks and workshops — and you can contact the filmmakers to see about bringing it to your town.

Suzanne Vega in a photo by National Public Radio.

This Week on Planet Waves FM

Our Extraordinary Teaching and Learning Moment

Dear Friend and Reader:

This week’s Planet Waves FM [play edition here] considers the deeper themes associated with all this outing of sexual abuse. It’s finally coming out: that’s something to celebrate. Yet we also need to take this opening, understand what we’ve learned, and take responsibility for making the changes that need to be made.

Sex scandals don’t usually result in progress, only in pain. Yet what we are witnessing is a sex scandal that involves all of society. We can all take this moment to assess our lives and make changes, whether it’s adjusting how we treat others, or setting limits on how others treat us.

This week’s musical guest is Suzanne Vega.

Planet Waves FM is part of the nonprofit Pacifica Radio Network. We do not accept or solicit advertising. If you come back to Planet Waves FM every week, please consider making a monthly donation — small, large, or whatever you can afford.

This program has real expenses: staffing, web hosting costs, and other things that are hidden from view, except for the program appearing in your inbox every Tuesday night at about 7 pm. We are in a moment of accountability in society. Please do your part, though only if you appreciate and benefit from what we’re doing here.

It’s good to be with you.

With love,

Monthly Horoscopes and Publishing Schedule Notes

Your extended monthly horoscopes for
November were published on Thursday, Oct. 26. We published your extended monthly horoscopes for October on Thursday, Sept. 21. Please note: we normally publish the extended monthly horoscope on the first Friday after the Sun has entered a new sign.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Much depends on your ability to remain calm and centered. To the extent you may fancy yourself a provocateur, dial that back, and keep your mind in observation mode. Do your best to move in a predictable rather than erratic way. Take care of yourself rather than expecting others to do so and, at the same time, offer your support where you see that it’s called for, without needing to be asked. Take a benevolent view of people: see them as friends or allies until they demonstrate otherwise. Powerful forces are at work this week. Many things that seemed dormant will spring to life. Elements that seemed separate or disjointed will emerge as part of the same picture. It may not be clear where exactly you fit into the scenario that emerges, though you will benefit from studying the landscape, particularly the human aspects. This will provide information about what to do, and when to do it, assuming you need to do anything at all.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You may be the beneficiary of someone else’s good fortune. If so, be a contributor rather than a consumer. Here’s a metaphor that may help. Imagine that someone marries into money. It’s preferable if they take a stewardship approach to that fortune rather than setting about spending it. Make decisions, even small ones, in collaboration with close partners; and use your steel-trap mind to ferret out any weaknesses in the plan. That might include factual errors, mathematical errors, misstatements, and ungrounded expectations. Persist in this longer than you’d think is necessary, at least through the entire week, until you’re satisfied you’ve plucked out most of the relevant errors — and if you don’t find any, you’re not looking carefully enough. It’s true you may have made a contribution to whatever it is that develops. You are always an instrumental person. Yet be certain to make sure those who did most of the work get most of the appreciation.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Take nothing for granted this week. Accept no statements at face value, even from people you trust. This is not about being suspicious of anyone or anything. Rather, it’s about maintaining your awareness in a world where there is so much disinformation flying around, and so many agendas are at work. Remind yourself that believing is seeing (not the other way around). Then, be certain to size up what you believe, and why. One thing to be careful of is projecting your own motives, your own ideas of integrity, and your notion of being a good person, onto others. Where any form of power or influence are at stake, that’s where to be especially cautious of projection and belief infiltrating your thoughts. Find out from people in authority what they specifically want, and expect of you. When communicating with colleagues or people who work for you, be clear about your expectations, and ask them what they perceive your role to be. Then, amazing things are possible.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — This is a week to take careful notes. Keep records of what you say, what you do, what you commit to, and what others commit to, especially where work-related projects are involved. This may seem odd, or over-protective of yourself; though this data will come in handy, if for no other reason than to remind you what you’ve got going on, in a moment when you might be inclined to forget. You’ll also inevitably collect some interesting ideas for what to do going forward — ideas you might have missed entirely had you not been involved in your note-taking process. I’m an advocate for paper and pens (or pencils) rather than typing on little screens, though digital files are better than nothing at all. It’s just that you’ll be more creative and more inclined to remember what you’re thinking if you use physical paper. Speaking of digital, be doubly cautious about hitting the “send” or “post” buttons. Stop and think once, twice and (after pausing) thrice.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Monitor your emotional state carefully this week. Track your response to your environment, such as how you feel the moment you walk into a room. If you step into a restaurant and the air smells a bit off, that’s a sign you probably should eat somewhere else. If you get a burst of inviting vibes, sit down and eat. Take that as a metaphor for life, and take charge of your environment, particularly your home: it’s the perfect time to get your place ready for a season when you’ll be spending more time indoors. You’re also in a position to take some leadership with your household or family; astrology that will treat you kindly may be bringing on some stress for others. Pay attention to the wellbeing of close partners or your spouse; do what you can to provide some structure in areas such as food, rest and getting a little time off from work. You are respected, and you have a clue.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — What is the bone of contention in a relationship? That’s the place to focus your efforts, though not at picking said bone, but understanding there’s always something deeper. Start within yourself: if you feel hurt in any way, begin by assuming the cause is not the issue you think it is. Take some ownership and, first, consider your own vulnerability, your past history, and your own legacy of relationships. Consider what female role models taught you about how to relate to others, and what is supposedly expected of you. You may find your answer right there, without needing to analyze the feelings or actions of others. That said, you are ready for a new approach to relationships; your chart describes nothing less than an evolutionary moment in your approach to love and partnership. You may feel like you’re giving it all up. All you will need to let go of is what does not serve you.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — You are in a rare and meaningful moment for understanding your relationship to money. Amidst much other activity, two most generous planets, Venus and Jupiter, align this week in Scorpio, your 2nd house. Jupiter has just arrived here to stay for a year, so this is a medium-range project now moving with full momentum. Yet a full map to the 2nd house reveals that there are four related themes which you might want to write down somewhere: one is your available cash; the second is your access to all other resources; next is your system of values and priorities; and last is your self-esteem. Study the relationship between these four cardinal points and you will start to see many places you can make progress, invest in yourself, feel better about yourself and, finally, discover resources you had no clue even existed. You have plenty — something akin to a trust fund that nobody told you about, but which is waiting in your name, gathering interest.

Dear Friend of Planet Waves:

Sunday, on the eve of Venus conjunct Jupiter, I did the astrology portions of the Scorpio reading. That reading is ready for instant access.

While I was working, I had a feeling I often get doing these readings: this is information I would want to know were I interested in astrology, if it was available. I would want to know about this, if only I had an astrologer I was fairly sure had a clue what was happening. [Listen to audio preview here.]

Over the next year or so, three critical planets will change signs: Saturn, Chiron and Uranus. (Chiron is often thought to be a morph of Saturn and Uranus, so that’s pretty cool.) Saturn will ingress Capricorn at the end of the year, then next year, Chiron will enter Aries and Uranus will enter Taurus. Plus, several important minor planets will change signs.

What you get with my birthday (and annual) readings is astrology that’s too complex to put into the horoscope column, but too personal to say much about in my articles. Using a very old technique called whole-sign houses, I am able to cast an actual chart and read that chart just like I would if you were sitting here.

For just $44, you get a reading that comes very close to a personal reading, containing much that a competent astrologer would say — if they understood both the classical and modern astrology. This is the thing.

So much of what’s happening now compels an understanding of contemporary developments in astrology. A minor planet that was discovered in 1999, and named a few weeks ago, fills in a missing piece of the puzzle in the current astrology. You can read about that above.

This reading, and my approach to by-sign readings, fills in a vast middle ground in astrology: we have horoscope columns (most of them irrelevant), we have blogs and newsletters (most of them speculative) and we have “prepared reports,” drawn from a database by your birthdate, which if you were lucky were written fewer than 15 years ago.

The reading I’m offering now was done today, based on research I’ve been doing with my team all week and weekend — and supported by my decades of work, writing, research and presenting in the astrology field.

I’ve included a graphic of the chart so you can see how sophisticated my approach is. In my presentation, though, I am speaking directly to you, in everyday language. You won’t need a Ph.D. in astrology to understand this: you just need to be curious about yourself. You may appreciate the fact that I am direct and honest about relationships, sexuality and the social constructs that influence them — a topic of vast importance today, and of interest to you. I cover much more than that, however.

You will love and benefit from this reading, or you may have your money back.

Here’s how to get instant access.

with love,

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Last month, the great planet Jupiter arrived in your sign. A miniature solar system, with 69 known natural satellites, and more solid even than Saturn, is now the dominant influence in your life. This is good news, given that Scorpio has had so little help and support during the past five years or so, and many stressful turns of astrology (and therefore, of events). Monday, Venus makes a conjunction to Jupiter. This is better than drawing the Wish Card out of the tarot; it’s a sign that you’re finally able to access your inner resources. There may be help coming from outside as well, though that will become more apparent when you take advantage of what you already have going. Your personal resources and sense of abundance will draw more to you. One other bit: it’s crucial that you not try to impress anyone, such as the public, or mommy/daddy figures of any shade, or the perfectionists and critics. They all have their own karma. You have yours.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — The theme of denial comes up this week, which puts you on notice to notice what you might be denying. The first thing to consider is yourself. Do you owe yourself anything? A good meal, a good time, a righteous decision, or remembering an important priority you set aside? There has to be something, and it’s likely that when you make your list, and put it aside for a while, you’ll remember the most important item last. Meanwhile, make a policy of taking account of what you know, and what you know to be true, and making sure you actually use that information. The biggest denial factor seems to relate to your own knowledge and awareness, as if you’re being hypnotized by some mysterious force in your environment. Wake up! Pay attention! Draw yourself out of any form of wishful thinking. You don’t need to dream, and you don’t need anesthesia. Reality is better.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — You may find yourself in the role of disruptor of social norms. Protocol is important; so is consciously breaking protocol and shaking things up a little. You can start with the expectations of your relationships. It would be disruptive enough to get those out onto the table, and inquire whether they matter, or why; it would be downright revolutionary to figure out where they came from, and question all other seeming information or influences that came from that same source. You have had enough of being the property of others. You have had enough of playing a role in your relationships. And you’ve had way more than enough of having to be silent when you know the difference between right and wrong. This is not about making a list of complaints. It’s about starting with the single most important issue, problem or situation, and making it right. Once you start, you won’t be able to stop.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — This week has the potential to be an astounding time for you professionally. You seem to get some long-overdue recognition that you genuinely deserve. Yet you must not take anything for granted: that’s the theme of the world right now. You must be the arbiter of truth in your own life and, moreover, keep a close eye on the financial compensation you receive for your work. You are likely to be undervaluing the worth of your creative products. What happens this week will give you some leverage to bootstrap your way to a better place. Bootstrapping is a concept once associated with the building of bridges: the idea goes, a bridge is easier to build if it’s already there. So the first thing to do is to create a basic structure over the river so that it’s easier to get the permanent structure in place. You already have that basic structure built. Get busy with the rest.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — The future opens up for you in an entirely new way: a dense, dark forest reveals itself to contain a clear trail and some kind of supernatural moonlight you’ve never seen before. It will take courage to embark on this path, though do you really have a choice in the matter? Courage means coming from the heart. You are good at that, though you’re often subtle about it. Even if you’re low-key with others, be bold with yourself, and really get the feeling of what it’s like to take your destiny into your hands. You can think of destiny as potential that you take up like the tools of an art, a craft or a science, and consciously put together into something that’s never been done before. In a world where most people are stuck selling their time and their labor, you have a distinct advantage: your ideas are your greatest asset. That may present you with a puzzle, though you have all the clues you need.

Planet Waves Daily Horoscope for Friday, Nov. 17, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Aries (March 20-April 19) — It’s essential that you learn to receive what’s offered to you. Many people say it’s easier for them to love than it is to be loved; and if this in any way describes you, then it’s time to confront this. You’ll ease considerable tension if you learn how to receive graciously.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — There are profound benefits to collaborating, to sharing responsibilities and to bringing the best of who you are to every situation. Holding back, doing the bare minimum, and exploiting every situation are all the rage — though all of this goes directly against your most deeply held ethics.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — There may be some tension building in a relationship, and it will be better if you’re proactive and make a choice to work it out consciously. It would be too easy to let things slide and then find yourself in a difficult spot. Have the courage to initiate the conversations that you need to have.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Your daring and self-expressive natures are running at a peak right now, though you must take the first steps. You, personally, are the only one who can activate your potential, even if you seem to have help or inspiration. Have the courage to dive into your passion, whatever that may be.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — If you’re the go-out type, this would be a good night to stay in. If you’re the stay-at-home type, this would be an excellent night to come out. You’ll feel even better when you return, and you’ll love your cozy space. More than anything, take a moment and feel good about your life and your world.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You have the best ideas, though ideas do not implement themselves. You must personally see to it that they are actually put into action, and then refined until they do their jobs well. This is one of the very most important forms of leadership in the world. Being intelligent demands responsibility.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — If you want something, put it in writing, and back that up with a spirited conversation when the opportunity arises. But the written bit is essential. You are persuasive in this mode; and there’s the side-benefit that nobody can mince your words, or pretend you didn’t say something.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — What you are feeling is not a passing whim. You’re just becoming more aware of what you’ve been feeling for a while. Now, you cannot deny it. The curtains have been opened and the Sun is shining into your mind. That’s the right time to make a commitment or a decision.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — If you could be granted one wish, what would it be? Think carefully, because your priorities matter. Would you choose love, or perfect health, or money? On what basis would you bump any of those priorities down to second or third place? Watch out: you might get what you’re after.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — We as a society, and you as a person, are past the time of mincing your words or fearing offending people with reality. This takes courage, and much of that is about finding a place of peace and sanity in your heart. As a great poet once wrote, let us not talk falsely now. The hour is getting late.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — With your chart currently featuring a growing collection of planets in your house of reputation and success, it might be difficult to take a humble approach to what you’re doing. Allow yourself just a little swagger, as long as it’s friendly. Then be understated about yourself, and shower praise on others.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Effort has its rewards. They may not come as soon as we want, or in exactly the same form. Yet they often arrive at the perfect time, and in ways better than we might have expected. As a Pisces, you are a visionary; though you need to dream much bigger, and act as if your dreams are real.