Aries (March 20-April 19) — Consider this a beginning, and pay attention to the conditions of your mind and in your environment. Make careful notes about your plans and your expectations. This is all in the spirit of applying conscious guidance to the flow of your affairs. What you have going for you is a simultaneous abundance of energy and ideas, as well as some really useful leverage points to make changes that have been overdue for a long time. Yet you need a guiding principle, which would come in the form of having an overview and some sense of where you are, what you want and where you’re actually headed. This is not the time for making impetuous decisions without any thought of the consequences. Yet if you focus and work with a solid basis for your decisions, nearly anything is possible.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — The next couple of months contain many opportunities to shift your relationship to the past. At first it may seem like the past has an unusual amount of influence on you now, but what you’re seeing is something that’s always a factor. What is changing is an awareness factor — in particular, seeing how over-focus on the past divides your attention, as well as leads you to invest precious energy in circumstances that don’t exist. Yet it’s necessary to see this before you let it go. It’s necessary to see and notice any inner division before you can work it out. Where you go from there is another question entirely, but one thing is sure: if you’re honest and forgiving first with yourself and with others, many interesting options will open before you.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Mercury is retrograde through April 4, and the few days surrounding that date may come with some turbulence, particularly in leadership situations or your professional life. Two suggestions may help you navigate these waters. Don’t push; rather, turn gently, and feel the movement of the currents around you. Second, insist on total honesty with yourself, and settle for no less from the people around you. In the spirit of ‘not pushing’, you may simply need to disregard the views of anyone who you discover lying. Or you may need to gently call them out. If the situation involves someone in a position of authority, be clear, be direct in a gentle way, and note how the perception of your authority or responsibility is influenced by your actions, though without that as a specific goal. Summing up in two words: Listen carefully.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — If you’ve ever wanted to advance your career, or launch a major new project, the time is approaching. Through April you have a series of gateways that are related to an idea or revelation you had in late March. This may not be a new idea, though what I see is that you’ve finally figured out how to put the pieces together into something that’s quite original for you. It’s crucial that you implement your plan in stages between now and late June. Don’t try to do it all at once; start with the basics, or with one solid core element, and gradually begin to refine and modify as you build. You can expedite matters by working within a small group, if that group is focused clearly on your goal, and understands it well enough to help with the refinements.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — A fog that has long shrouded your life has lifted, and you now have the benefit of being able to see far into the distance. As you look out at the horizon you may notice that your imagination is stirring to life again. That would come in the form of seeing first clear sky, then some intangible forms taking shape, and then a kind of animation. The idea here is to visualize what you want to happen. Visualize something different for yourself. Fully claim the power of inner seeing, and the influence that has over what actually manifests in your life. You’re now free in a way that you were not free before: in a way that liberates your spirit from day to day; free to move around and more than anything, free to see both yourself and the world from many different points of view.

Introducing the Planet Waves 2012 Spring Report by Eric Francis

Spring 2012 is the wildest season I’ve ever seen in 18 years of doing around-the-clock astrology [listen to short audio preview here]. It fits the 2012 pattern of ‘everything, all at once’, even making that sound like an understatement. I am working on the report even as we edit this issue, and it’s coming out beautifully — every sign is coming through loud and clear and distinctive.

We have retrogrades of all three inner planets involved — Mercury, Venus and Mars. There is a rare Venus transit of the Sun — an exact conjunction of Venus and the Sun that you will be able to see if you have a clear view during daylight hours (you will need special equipment to protect your eyes). There are eclipses of the Sun and the Moon. And then, just four days after the Cancer solstice, we have the first exact square of Uranus and Pluto.

In honor of putting all this action to work for you, I’m preparing a special Spring Report for all 12 Sun signs and rising signs, as well as an introduction to the astrology that will be useful to everyone. This is a package of all 12 signs for one price. I’m designing it so that you can actually put many of the signs into use — for example, Virgo will be able to use the Gemini report as a career reading. Pisces can use Virgo’s report as a relationship reading, and so on. I give suggestions at the end of each sign, and will do a detailed description so you can get maximum use from this product.

All 12 signs are now available for $24.95. The report is getting rave reviews from people who pre-ordered, including these words from a customer named Donna: “OMG — thank you thank you thank you — just spent this morning listening to my [Spring Report] info, and am so blown away by the accuracy (and relief!) in this experience. Thanks so very much for your part in supporting this work and for showing up in the way that you do!”. Here is the link to order. Thank you, and enjoy.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You’re drawing near the end of a long phase of review, in particular, of the whole matter of desire. This is a controversial subject and I trust that when you wandered into this project, you discovered that it’s a region where healing is necessary. Much of that has come in the form of understanding the role of guilt in your life; as you know, its effects are toxic, but there’s just so much of the stuff that we might think there’s no escape. There is a way out, and it comes with a decision — one that you may have been holding off on making, despite all that you’ve learned. Think of your desire as the irrefutable truth. What you do with it is another question, but I think you’ll find some authentic peace in simply letting it be what it is.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Venus begins its journey across Gemini this month — where we will all experience the Venus transit of the Sun in early June. That’s two months away, but it’s an event so rare that you’re likely to be feeling the energy rising now. The theme, for you, is healing a false split in your mind. At some point, what was considered ‘spiritual’ may have divided off from what is considered ‘unspiritual’. Usually this kind of moral divide involves love and sex, which is constantly cast in an aura of impurity. However you may have decided in the past that this is not true, you’re now at the point where you can embody the message fully, and then continue with your life from a new place of confidence. Affirm with the full power of your faith that love is all that matters, and proceed as if that alone is true.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Mars — the oldest of the Scorpio planets — finally stations direct this month, and I trust that by now you’ve figured out who your friends are, and who they are not. You’ve had a few false hopes dashed, and have replaced them with some practical plans to do the things you want the most. If you haven’t arrived at that step, make a list of three things you’ve always wanted to do, and plan to do them this year. I suggest that you get to at least one of them by the time this month is over, and the other two by the end of June. Get some momentum going. The key to wish fulfillment for you is to be specific. Know what you want, in particular. Forget about why you want it — that may be the thing you discover last.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You’re at the point where your plans are starting to materialize, and maybe even bear fruit. But I suggest you make an offering of pleasure, in the spirit of Beltane (which for everyone else is around May 5 but for you is all of the coming month). I suggest you do things that celebrate your abundance: a gathering or two of your true friends and supporters, an investment in your career (such as a new piece of gear) and an update of your business plan. There’s one other — in the spirit of Beltane, I suggest you offer at least one experience of erotic pleasure to the Earth, the Universe or the Goddess (however you think of it) as a fully conscious affirmation of where you want your life to be going. Celebrate healing, freedom and most of all, the fact of being alive.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Leadership implies service. When the service aspect is removed, obsession with power rushes into the space, which is precisely not what you want. There are at least two levels to what you offer the world. One comes from the visible aspect of your position: what you’re expected to do, and what you observe needs to be done. The other is subtler, even covert. It’s what you do for others because you can make it happen. You’re the one who decides whether any such action is ethical, and whether you’re willing to face any consequences (the first question is the more important one). Then you act because you can. This may involve assisting someone through an obstacle they could not get past on their own. This may give you an idea — how to do this for more people.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You may not feel like you’re making the progress you want — as if part of you wants to lurch forward while some other part of you is holding off. I suggest you resolve the tension by deferring to the voice that is hesitating. I can see something in the charts that you may not be able to see from your viewpoint in the world — which is that there’s a doorway you can go through. Visualize yourself in a dark room, so dark you cannot see where you are. But you have other senses: you can feel the surfaces around you. You can make a sound and estimate the size of the space. If you proceed slowly and thoughtfully you’re more likely to find your way out — and that is what your astrology is suggesting you do now.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — One of the boldest themes in your chart right now is how you acquire and use resources. This includes money, though I am using a word that expands the idea to any available materials which you can put to work for a creative purpose. One feeling connected to this experience is that of drawing energy, ideas and funding from a broad base of support. Another is a stark reminder to apply those resources in ways that are authentically representative of who you are and what you want. This is indeed the time to vote with your wallet, but the thing you’re voting for is yourself. Think of every dollar, quid or euro you spend as an affirmation of what you truly believe. If something doesn’t stand up to the test, don’t make the investment.