Note: this post is a full members’ issue, complete with your short January horoscopes, the Create section, and usual features.

Dear Friend & Reader:

Welcome to 2017! This first week of the new year also ushers us into the final days of the current Mercury retrograde. And while this could mean that you’re feeling some difficulty in launching (especially if you’ve had significant time off for the holidays), there’s a deeper and more distinct message when Mercury stations direct this weekend.

Mercury has been retrograde since Dec. 19, the day the Electoral College cast their votes and affirmed the Trump presidency. It will station direct this Sunday, Jan. 8, at 4:42 am EST (9:43 UTC).

At that time, Mercury will be in the next-to-last degree of Sagittarius, after having spent more than two weeks moving backwards through Capricorn. (Mercury crept over the threshold from Capricorn through the back door of Sagittarius on Wednesday.)

The last few degrees of Sagittarius are currently populated by several complex and powerful bodies that suggest some very clear and evocative themes. Chief among them are the Trans-Neptunian Object Quaoar, centaur Pholus, and the very core of our Milky Way Galaxy, known as the Galactic Core. These bodies combine to emphasize kind of a two-pronged message for Sunday’s Mercury station direct.

I’ll start with Pholus. This is the centaur that signifies, provokes or suggests the sensation of something being right on the brink of going out of control. Its main key-phrase is, “small cause, big effect.” Think of it as that feeling of letting the genie out of the bottle, with all of the unforeseen consequences that calls to mind.

Mercury is the planet of communication and thought processes. In this week’s Planet Waves FM broadcast, Eric states that Mercury stationing direct conjunct Pholus could indicate you saying something that sends a conversation out of control. Or, even more likely, it may represent the thing that you’re not saying out of fear that it could send the conversation off the rails.

Quick question: What would you truly be risking if that did in fact happen? Can you be certain it would be a bad thing? After all, even uncomfortable events can lead to creative breakthroughs, opportunities and desperately needed shifts in circumstances. Human beings are famous for clinging to the false security of the status quo even when it has become desperately uncomfortable or untenable and is prohibiting growth.

Chart for Mercury stationing direct. Mercury is the dark green critter with horns on the left side, clustered with Pholus, Saturn and Juno in Sagittarius. Note the significant cluster of Pisces points at the bottom of the chart. View at larger size here; view glyph key here.

Speaking of security and the status quo: families are often famous for insisting on it. Many people struggle with the fear of being outcast from ‘the tribe’ if they deviate from their family’s way of doing things and thinking.

Which brings us to Quaoar.

Quaoar was the creation deity of the Tongva people of Southern California. Its myth involves Quaoar dancing and singing the sky god into existence, who then helps to dance the Earth Goddess into existence. As each deity joins the dance, they help to bring the next round of creation into being.

As Eric describes it, in modern astrology we can interpret Quaoar in two ways. One is your personal story of where you come from (such as what kind of soul you feel you have, etc.). The other is the collection of stories, usually taken for granted, about how you came to be in the long line of your family’s pattern of ancestry — family mythology that’s often taken on an unconscious level.

Next is the Galactic Core (GC): the center of our galaxy, where we seem to be able to access the most powerful cosmic homing signal. We can’t actually see the GC thanks to all the dust, gases, stars and whatnot between it and us.

Eric often describes contact with the GC as the sensation of finally understanding something profound, but then forgetting what you’ve learned. Mercury stationing direct conjunct such a powerful object suggests that any time you have an ‘a-ha’ moment in the next few days (and especially Sunday), write it down! Even if you are sure you’ll remember it, and especially if it comes through a dream, take the time to leave yourself a voice memo on your phone or scribble down a few words of reminder.

Quaoar and the GC bring out the second major message of Mercury stationing direct: this moment involves groups and families (and their patterns), and potentially some attractive force or even collective awakening. There’s an indication that it will be crucial to make a physical, tangible note about it. You want to be able to use what you learn as Mercury moves forward out of Sagittarius, and re-enters Capricorn on Jan. 12, slowly picking up speed.

List of points in late Sagittarius when Mercury stations direct, from Serennu.com.

A few quick notes about other objects making interesting aspects when Mercury stations direct, fleshed out in Planet Waves FM:

— Saturn square Manwe: tension between religiosity (or the posture of dogma) and the essence of the message itself (or the messenger).

— Eros square Ixion: What can you do to be kinder about sex, rather than getting caught up in the power trip? Can you reject people more compassionately? Can you accept those people you actually want?

— Nemesis conjunct Toro: We have a persistent problem with bullying and machismo, as evidenced by the incoming president. With these points conjunct the Galactic Core, are we in for some kind of transformation or awareness around this topic?

— Achilles conjunct Orpheus: Don’t let yourself be lulled or seduced by your insecurity or false lack of confidence. Insecurity is no excuse for not taking action! Recognize what you’ve accomplished, give yourself credit and take on some challenges.

Finally, just in case you need this basic reminder: the Mercury ‘storm’ phase, which is a few days on either side of Mercury changing apparent direction, is a time to be patient. Stay focused, and move slowly and consciously. You’d be wise to hold off on making any big changes between now and Jan. 10 or so.

Should you have the most brilliant new idea and can’t wait to get cracking on it, remember the lesson of the GC: write it down. You want to be sure it’s still there for you when you’ve sorted through any tangles and it’s truly time to put the wheels in motion. Onward!

Yours & truly,

Amanda Painter

Planet Waves (ISSN 1933-9135) is published each Tuesday and Thursday evening in Kingston, New York, by Planet Waves, Inc. Core Community membership: $197/year. Editor and Publisher: Eric Francis Coppolino. Web Developer: Anatoly Ryzhenko. Special Project Designer: Lizanne Webb. Finance: Jonathan McCarthy. Astrology Editor: Amanda Painter. Astrology Fact Checker: Len Wallick. Copy Editor and Fact Checker: Jessica Keet. Eric’s Assistant: Gale Jazylo. Client Services: Amy Elliott. Media Consultant: Andrew Ellis Marshall McLuhan. Music Director: Daniel Sternstein. Bass and Drums: Daniel Grimsland. Additional Research, Writing and Opinions: Amy Jacobs, Cindy Ragusa and Carol van Strum.

 

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Read All 18 Past Years’ Annuals!
A Tradition, a Feeling, and Great Readings: The Planet Waves Annual

Dear Friend and Reader:

Each year at this time, I am busy creating the Planet Waves annual edition. It’s an Internet tradition but it’s also a tradition in my life. I also consider it an invention: a way to get you a solid, detailed and authentic astrology reading, with information that makes a difference in your life — astrology that you remember and come back to — for a very modest fee.

It’s actually a rather astounding document that gives you access to 18 years of annuals so you can research your life.

This was me after finishing the 60,000 words of writing in Vision Quest at the end of December 2015.

Every year is a fresh reading with a new perspective, taking up the astrology of the moment. After many years of research and practice, I am able to use current transits and get more detail than most astrologers are able to get with a natal chart.

The Planet Waves annual is one of a kind. There is nothing else like it in the business: an alive, immediate, accessible reading of the astrology that is happening right now and in the coming few seasons. The readings work for your Sun sign and your rising sign. It’s a full-service offering.

I write and record the readings to be motivational and inspiring, as well as factually informative about the astrological influences you will actually experience. I also think of it as a kind of yearbook, recording the story of our moment, the issues that were occupying our thoughts, and the breakthroughs in astrology and astronomy. Every annual is created taking into account the newest planetary discoveries of the era when it was created.

Each annual has its own ambience, music and feeling tones that I associate with it, and memories of the place it was created. The Planet Waves annual has been a forum for developing the astonishing talent you see on our staff — a kind of learning laboratory and easy way to get involved, a place to try new ideas and, in truth, to invent the craft of astrology as we go.

Read more…

Old Soles Meet Good Souls

Note: TC, the part-time page administrator for the Bangor (Maine) Police Department’s Facebook page, has become something of a minor celebrity for his humane and often very funny posts about the BPD’s encounters — and their mascot Duck of Justice. TC’s post for today struck me as well-worth reprinting. — Amanda

The man had holes in his sneakers. He was walking up Hammond Street in the sleet, slush, and rushing water. When you walk uphill and the water is flowing downhill, it is better to have your soles attached to your shoes.

Oops — someone did not have the foresight to list “humor” and “compassion” on the shield.

His were not.

Probably hundreds of people drove by him, hundreds looked at him. But how many people actually saw him?

Dawn did.

She called us. She offered to purchase a pair of boots for the man. She hoped that we might find him and speak to him.

The man who was cold, had now been seen.

Officer Jermaine Walker located the man a short time later on a side street. Still walking. Still cold and wet. Old sneakers with flapping soles and socks that you would have thrown away a long time ago.

Walker brought the man back to the station to get him warmed up a bit. Walker was well aware that we have been overrun with donated socks this year. Simple gifts from local businesses. TJ Maxx, Winterport Boot, local people, and people from far way.

Walker helped the man find appropriate socks for the season and gave him a pair of his own boots to tide him over until the other boots could be secured. They fit nicely.

We all are more alike than we are different.

Tactical boots that are properly broken in by a world-class athlete are always more comfortable.

(Walker would expect me to say that. It’s all good.)

What you might not understand about folks that live on the street is that they don’t typically ask for help. Sometimes they just need to be seen.

Walker has more space in his locker, and the man can walk a little further knowing that someone had seen him.

Old soles meet good souls. It’s always darkest before Dawn.

Keep your hands to yourself, leave other people’s things alone, and be kind to one another.

All we have is each other.

We will be here.

— TC

History of the Planet Waves Annual — Multi-Year Access

This Week on Planet Waves FM
Mercury Direct, J. R. R. Tolkien’s History of the World

Dear Friend and Listener:

Tuesday was the 125th birth anniversary of J. R. R. Tolkien (1892-1973). This week’s edition of Planet Waves FM [play episode here] is an extended special edition in two segments, devoted to the work to which Tolkien himself was most devoted: The Silmarillion.

Published posthumously in 1977, Tolkien worked on The Silmarillion throughout his career, before The Hobbit and long after the completion and success of The Lord of the Rings.

J. R. R. Tolkien.

I begin the show with a half-hour roundup of Mercury direct and associated astrology. Then we check in with the Indigo Girls and I come back with a reading of Tolkien’s natal chart. For reasons I explain, I use the 9 pm version, with regal Leo rising and distinctive Chiron ascending on the eastern horizon.

The rest of the program intersperses samples of The Silmarillion read by Martin Shaw [access full recording here] and my commentary about them. I relate these much earlier works to what later develops in The Lord of the Rings.

I’ll say it again here: once you have some familiarity with The Silmarillion, then The Lord of the Rings bursts into another dimension of reality. The very thing about The Lord of the Rings is how real it feels, like he’s reporting a history that actually once happened and that he somehow witnessed.

When you know something about the histories he’s describing, for example when you know what that abandoned ancient foundation once was (such as at Weathertop), the story’s ancient and interwoven nature becomes more vivid. Tolkien’s work, in total, is called the “legendarium,” a term that applies to him alone.

Anyway — tonight, if you like, you’ll meet the original goddesses and gods who gave rise to Middle Earth, you’ll meet the Noldor elves, you’ll hear the history of Morgoth, mentor to Sauron. I end with a sample of The Rings of Power and The Third Age, a concise summation of the key plot elements leading into Frodo’s journey to Mordor with the One Ring.

Here is a map of Middle Earth. Tolkien’s writing method was to plot his stories on a map.

I make reference to Akallabeth: The Downfall of Numenor. This is Tolkien’s telling of the Atlantis myth, unlike any I’ve ever heard, reaching into the heart of the spiritual rather than technical crisis in that pre-history. You can hear Akallabeth on this website we found.

Here’s the natal and progressed charts I’m using for Prof. Tolkien.

Thanks for tuning in. Please do tell me your response to this program.

Planet Waves FM is part of the Pacifica Radio Network, published by Chiron Return, Inc., and distributed by Planet Waves.

Three rings for the Elven kings under the sky!

With love,

Your Monthly Horoscopes — and our Publishing Schedule Notes

We published your extended monthly horoscope for January on Thursday, Dec. 22. We published your extended monthly horoscope for December on Wednesday, Nov. 23. We published your Moonshine horoscope for the Capricorn New Moon on Thursday, Dec. 29. Your Moonshine horoscope for the Gemini Full Moon was published Thursday, Dec. 15. Please note: we normally publish the extended monthly horoscope on the first Friday after the Sun has entered a new sign.

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Love this horoscope? Read all Planet Waves horoscopes by Eric Francis. You can sign up monthly or for the full year.

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Aries (March 20-April 19) — Your power to achieve great things this year is only limited by your imagination, which means no limits at all. Yet you need to make a conscious choice to dream of the possibilities and then take action. You can see potential where nobody else can. You can feel your talent, though others might not notice at first. Yet you would be wise to focus your goals into something that you understand and can explain to another person. Many things are possible, and many possibilities are appealing. Concentrate your efforts on your most cherished priorities and you will be unstoppable. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — It’s time to challenge your beliefs. Your unquestioned ideas about life hold you back or slow you down. It takes special vision and sensitivity to see beyond what was always so, and right now you have that in abundance. So what is your attachment to the past? Sure, it’s familiar. Yet the thing about the past is that it doesn’t require you to think so much. You don’t have to take risks or change patterns or consider what needs to be reshaped and revised. Look around and imagine that everything is subject to improvement. Then dig into the corners and get busy. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — One central question of your life is how much energy to invest in relationships versus how much in your independent activities. Right now it seems like you really need to liberate yourself and invest some long overdue attention in your career. If you have to remove yourself from the distractions and excesses of other people, make sure you leave the door open for when you want to come back. And remember, when you encounter a person you don’t need to take on all of their problems. Remind yourself to keep some objectivity, no matter how much you care. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Your working relationships must take precedence over personal relationships at the moment. If your working relationships are personal, then you’ll need to balance the emotional aspects with the practical ones, though pragmatism and attention to taking care of business will get you far. You will need to be the one who sets that agenda, and maintains it. The easiest way to proceed is that everyone agrees on what must be done and why, and then does their bit. You can think of this as an organizing principle that focuses hearts, and leads to tangible results. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Stay away from making ‘final’ arrangements until the end of the month, particularly on matters involving contracts and financial agreements. A diversity of factors are clouding your view, namely of what’s really your responsibility and what is not. Under current conditions, you might be persuaded to pay, or do, far more than your fair share. A few weeks from now you’ll have a much clearer view and deeper understanding of why you need to be on the receiving end of the agreement rather than the one paying. This theme will come up again — pay attention. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — If you’re feeling insecure, focus on your wellbeing rather than leaning on someone, or thinking that a relationship is going to transform your life. You would benefit from considering the ideas of several people you trust, though with some detachment. If you’re setting yourself free from one thing, it’s a fixed point of view rather than considering all the possibilities. The solution to whatever puzzle you face is not intellectual; that is, not an idea about what’s right for you. Rather, you need a bold experiment in what you might find fulfilling. Go beyond opinion and give yourself direct experience. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — People, circumstances and issues that might have rattled you just a few months ago are suddenly no big deal. In fact, what was previously an annoyance may now be an inspiration. What seemed incomprehensible may now make sense as necessary and helpful. What has changed is that you’re accessing deeper wisdom than ever before. You’re able to reach a new level of understanding and see connections that eluded you in the past. This gives you access to people, to resources and to ideas that you might have ordinarily missed. You possess a transformative power. Use and offer this gift generously. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — You clearly have something to say, though you might try pictures rather than words, or better, music. Your chart is so rich with creativity right now that words might detract or distract. Your solar chart is more about dancing than it is about writing; more about painting than arithmetic. This is an invitation to get out of your head and into your feelings. The moment that you do, a whole world of potential will open up, and you might find yourself in the company of painters, musicians and revolutionaries. You might decide you’re one of them after all. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You’re on a quest to increase your value, which is to say, to get paid more for what you do. That’s admirable; yet you need to ensure that despite your wholesome motivation, you’re thinking clearly. Pushing a lot of motivation into an uncertain mind is like shining light into a fog. You need to develop some clear strategies, one of which is to sustain your drive for financial success over the long run, a little bit every day. Don’t confuse greed with the kind of organic success you’re seeking. You are gifted and that deserves creative and spiritual rewards. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Take your time. There is no rush. You might feel like you have to arrive at some clear conclusion on short notice, though that’s unlikely to be true. If you pause, observe and listen, you’ll gather some essential information that will give you an advantage you might not have had otherwise. This information may seem like it’s coming from the world around you, though it’s really a personal revelation, a discovery about yourself, around the time Mercury retrograde ends on the 8th. Inner discoveries are the ones that change everything, because the world you live in is the one in your mind. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — There’s only so much you want to be influenced by the opinions of others, particularly where a business or creative project is involved. Yet there’s only so much you want to filter out. It’s the oddball, unusual people who will give you the best information and provide the keenest insights — those whose opinions you might ordinarily dismiss. As the old saying goes, God watches over drunks, fools and little children, and those are the people to listen to the most carefully. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — There are so many planets in your sign right now that you might wonder how they all fit. Well, you have a lot of space inside you, and you contain all that potential and much more. It seems the thing you’re craving the most is an exchange with people you care about. Stay open to that, no matter what other factors or commitments might distract you. So mix it up. Get with people, and hang out long enough for something interesting to happen. They have something for you, you have something for them, and this adds up to plenty more than double. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.