Dear Friend and Reader:

Tuesday evening, Donald Trump unleashed yet another shit storm when he fired James Comey, the director of the FBI. The facts and particulars are extremely complicated, and are changing by the hour. But the bottom line is, this is what you get when you have a paranoid, narcissistic, borderline-personality person in a position of extreme power.

Comey’s seemingly ambiguous role in the U.S. political structure, and his loyalties, were difficult to pin down. But one thing is clear: Comey, as head of the nation’s top law-enforcement agency, was leading the investigation of the Trump campaign’s many ties to Russia. Just last week, he sought to expand that inquiry, and requested additional funding and resources.

It’s also obvious, given the astrology of the weekend (featuring Mercury conjunct Uranus, another peak of the recent Mercury retrograde), and the Full Moon on Wednesday afternoon, that he had a panic attack. Or as the Daily News put it succinctly on Thursday, he threw a “Trumper tantrum.” Comey was scheduled to testify about Russia before Congress on Thursday, and the reports about Russia seem to be coming out in a steady, nonstop trickle that indicates the existence of a well.

Lacking any real political will from Congress, Comey was the one person who was an actual threat to Trump’s power. Trump, acting as if he was on his reality TV show, gave him the big “You’re Fired!” However, he can still be called to testify about exactly what he knew.

The FBI director serves a 10-year term, designed by Congress to keep the position somewhat insulated from politics. Comey, a Republican, was appointed by Pres. Obama to lead the Bureau four years ago. Still, the president can legally fire the director, though there are political repercussions, particularly since Comey was so widely respected by Republicans.

And there can be legal repercussions. Interfering with a federal investigation can be charged criminally as obstruction of justice, which was the first offense listed in the articles of impeachment for Richard Nixon in 1974.

James B. Comey was appointed to a 10-year term as director of the FBI by Barack Obama in September 2013. Photo: Chicago Tribune.

Immortalizing the Russia Issue

Comey was no saint; he’s the guy who did what he could to throw the election to Trump, the very last week, by falsely bringing up the Clinton emails again — at which point she tanked in the polls.

His agency has a lot of problems, and he seemed to consider himself a king-maker and king-breaker in the spirit of J. Edgar Hoover, the only person who Richard Nixon actually feared.

Rather than derailing the investigation into the Russian connections, his firing immortalizes them. This is easier to fix in the script of a TV show than it is in real life, but this is better than TV.

News reports are swirling with all kinds of crazy details: our old friend Sean Spicer, the White House spokesman (immortalized by Melissa McCarthy’s portrayals on SNL), hid in the bushes outside the White House to avoid reporters who were demanding answers. Then he insisted that news crews’ lights be kept off, so he could avoid the TV cameras.

Best of all, just to rub it in or push things to the level of The Onion, Trump was meeting in the White House with two Russian officials AND with Henry Kissinger when the news broke. Trump banned the American press from photographing the event, but allowed in reporters from TASS, the official state-controlled Russian (formerly Soviet) news agency. I wish I was making this up; it would be some hilarious fiction.

For his part, Comey was informed of being fired via media reports while speaking at an event in Los Angeles. When news reports appeared on the video monitors in the room, apparently tuned to cable news channels, he thought it was a prank.

Sean Spicer, after hiding in the bushes, tries to hide in the dark to avoid television reporters wanting information on Comey’s firing. It does not seem to occur to people that this only makes the photo more interesting and reveals what’s going on. Photo by Carolyn Caster / AP.

And Trump’s letter to Comey was utterly bizarre. First, he blamed Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, for recommending the firing — but Sessions, because he lied about meeting with Russian officials during the campaign, had officially recused himself from “any and all” matters involving the Russia investigation.

In his own letter to Trump, Sessions said the FBI director must be someone who “follows faithfully the rules and principles of the Department of Justice and who sets the right example for our law enforcement officials.” This just drips with irony, as nobody sane would want him as a role model.

He also blamed the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, who allegedly threatened to resign because he did not actually recommend firing Comey.

Then there’s the now-famous second paragraph of the letter. Get ready:

While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau.

This attempt to cover his tracks actually does the opposite: it reveals his state of mind (in legal terms, mens rea, or guilty mind). He personally inserts the connection to the Russia investigation, making it irrevocable. This is the kind of thing a first-year law student would figure out not to do. It’s also not a true fact: the FBI is investigating the entire campaign’s connections to Russia, which includes the candidate himself.

A Full Moon much like this one happened Wednesday in the sign Scorpio. Photo from Farmer’s Almanac.

That Was the News; Now for the Weather

One of my favorite quotes of the week is a tweet from Jeff Flake, a Republican senator from Arizona: “I’ve spent the last several hours trying to find an acceptable rationale for the timing of Comey’s firing. I just can’t do it.”

Sen. Flake, you should ask an astrologer. And then check with a psychiatrist.

We are all sensitive to this kind of astrology, to some degree or another. Those who are already edgy, or who work with the public, and even some animals, are even more sensitive to intense astrology. And in Trump’s actions, that’s just what we got this past weekend and into Tuesday.

As you know, Mercury was recently retrograde, and that retrograde ended in a conjunction between Uranus and Eris — the aspect that’s currently driving society and everyone in it bat-shit crazy. It’s the feeling of relentless, nonstop change in that special, new, 21st century way.

It’s also the same aspect that could ignite a personal revolution in the hearts and souls of the millions — if anyone would look up from their iPhone or Android for a second.

On Sunday and into Monday, Mercury was in a one-degree conjunction with Uranus, which feels a little like putting a transistor radio into a microwave oven.

It was a high-voltage, jumpy aspect that could indeed push people to make some bad decisions. At the time the plan was put into action on Tuesday evening at about 5 pm, Mercury was pushing on Uranus to within one-sixth of a degree — the very closest category of conjunction.

This is from the chart for Comey’s firing, set for Washington, DC. Mercury is in green and has little horns, tucked snugly between Eris (in red) and Uranus (in blue). Note how close Mercury’s number is to that of Uranus. This chart is a bomb going off.

This was a spontaneous decision, made without careful forethought, planning or pondering of the potential consequences. I’ve seen government officials, so enamored of their own power and so often insulated from any results of their actions, do this many times.

The combination of Mercury and Uranus can be spontaneously brilliant, or, depending on one’s intelligence level, rash and self-destructive.

Then there’s the not-so-small matter of the Full Moon, which has a way of precipitating things. The Full Moon puts many people under psychological and emotional pressure; the word lunatic means “affected with periodic insanity dependent on the changes of the Moon.”

As the Moon and Sun align in an opposition, this can create a shake-out effect that, in turn, leads to a cascade of events. Overreaction is a typical effect of the Full Moon, and it happened that, when this was done, the Scorpio Moon’s next aspect was an abrasive angle to Mars in Gemini.

And Then There’s Trump’s Chart

Last year, I did an article on candidate Trump, focusing on his progressed horoscope. (I also did a similar piece on Hillary Clinton.)

Trump is under many difficult transits this year — that is, his natal chart is taking aspects from planets in the sky, which can be life-changing. The big ones include Saturn and Chiron, making aspects to his Sun, Moon and nodes. Trump was born during a lunar eclipse, and the effects follow him his whole life as the hand of fate on his shoulder.

The progressed chart is a different creature from transits; it’s a direct extension of the natal chart, showing phases of development. Transits involve real planets in real time; progressions are a way of tracking slow developments within the natal chart.

Here is a detail from Trump’s progressed chart, using the one day = one year method. Notice the position of the Moon, in the very last arc minute of Cancer. This is for the moment Comey was fired. The Moon was in Cancer for 30 months, then entered Leo very early Wednesday morning. Its next event is a conjunction to Saturn approximately 11 weeks from now.

If you’re curious about astrology, progressions are worth knowing about; my best definition is in the piece on Trump’s charts.

I cast Trump’s progressions for 5 pm Tuesday, when this all happened, and I discovered that his progressed Moon was one arc minute from entering Leo. An arc minute is 1/60th of a degree. The zodiac has 12 signs, 360 degrees, and 21,600 arc minutes.

Its position at the time of Comey’s firing was 29 degrees and 59 arc minutes of Cancer. His progressed Moon had spent about 30 months in Cancer, and by about 2 am local time Wednesday, it entered Leo, bringing with it a whole big bunch of regal problems.

Said another way, this happened with his progressed Moon void of course, in the Moon’s own sign, Cancer. That is what you might call hypersensitive, and pushed out to the edge. He was simply lacking all judgment, which is a bad place to be when you have a lot of responsibility and difficulty keeping a grip on a good day.

Now, Trump’s progressed Moon is in Leo. In about 11 weeks, it’s about to make a conjunction to Saturn, which describes an encounter with some form of authority. Remember that Trump already has transits from Saturn and Chiron all over his natal chart at the moment, and for the rest of the year.

He lacks all internal discipline, and those are the people who get the most brutal impacts of Saturn. And he would seem to lack all self-awareness, and those are the people who usually experience Chiron in its most provocative form.

The Great American Eclipse

One last bit. On Aug. 21 of this year, there will be an extraordinary solar eclipse. The shadow of the Moon will cross the entire North American continent, passing just below Portland, OR, and traveling southeast past Memphis and finally through South Carolina before going out to sea. Nothing like this has happened in our lifetimes. The most recent comparable event was the Aug. 11, 1999, eclipse that made a streak across Europe and coincided somewhat with the impeachment of Bill Clinton.

The path of the Great American Eclipse of Aug. 21. The dark orange line is the path of totality, which swipes across the United States. Everywhere under the lightly shaded line — including all of the “lower 48” and much of Alaska — gets to see a partial eclipse. Photo from Time and Date.

For the United States, this is an eclipse of vast proportions. You might say that it’s the beginning of the U.S. Pluto return. It shows a divided nation — once again between north and south.

Here’s one thing I can say as a student of classical astrology: a solar eclipse in Leo is not good for the king, which in modern terms is the president.

As this eclipse approaches, the pressure is going to rise — in many, many facets of life. We’re still a bit far out to be feeling it now, though it’ll be noticeable soon enough. Eclipses tend to have wide, sweeping effects. Like the Aries Point, they activate that juncture between the individual and the collective.

But here’s the really interesting bit: the eclipse happens at 29 degrees of Leo. Donald Trump’s ascendant is in the 30th (the very last) degree of Leo. That makes it personal — extremely personal to him. To put it mildly, this is going to be a weird summer, especially for our alternative-facts, parallel-universe president.

One symbolic meaning of an eclipse is an alignment of the dimensions. From our perspective, an eclipse aligns longitude, declination and time. You might say that we are entering a time when “parallel universes” begin to merge.

Keep your eyes open, your ears on, and the pressure on.

With love,

— Additional research: Amy Elliott, Amanda Painter, Cindy Ragusa and Lizanne Webb.

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No Easy Way, Just Another Growth Opportunity

By Amanda Painter

Although the Scorpio Full Moon came and went last night and there’s other astrology brewing, you might still be feeling some ripples (or navigating some rapids). Sometimes a little framing after the fact can be very helpful in getting grounded enough to meet what’s next on the horizon.

Photo by Amanda Painter.

I’m writing this just a couple of short hours after receiving a surprise email that has thrown me a little off-balance — and just one day after the White House’s announcement Tuesday that it had fired FBI director James Comey, in the midst of the investigation into Trump’s ties with Russia. All of it fits bizarrely with the theme of secrets and “something coming to a head” that last night’s Scorpio Full Moon suggested.

It also fits amazingly well with the themes of “expect the unexpected,” “digital communication,” and “chaos/subversion” that go with Mercury — slow and powerful — still in close proximity to the Uranus-Eris conjunction.

Have you experienced your own personal “surprise news” this week? Is your head spinning from each newly revealed detail of Comey’s firing, or from other TV news?

Hopefully you’re finding ways to get your bearings and proceed forward. Yet the astrology from today into tomorrow is a mix of “challenging” and “supportive” aspects that ask you to stay fully aware of your choices and your motives.

Continue reading →

Dear Friend of Planet Waves:

I don’t say this out loud often, but the world is a scary place right now. While many spiritual traditions say that fear is never an appropriate response to life, it’s certainly understandable. It’s so intense that I have to talk myself down from the tree every now and then, and put myself back on solid ground.

Here’s what I think is the most frightening thing: the dim recognition that we cannot really do anything about the world’s problems. Even when you get to a place where you feel somewhat confident and stable, the crises of the planet — psychological, environmental, political, economic, all of it — are always right outside the front door. And people seem frozen, struggling even for the concept of solutions.

Uranus, the planet of revolution.

Think of it. Aware, sensitive people know there are problems, and we also feel the seeming paralysis. Not only that, we’re inundated with influences to shut down our awareness and sensitivity; and consciousness-raising tools are difficult to find, and they’re not usually so world-savvy: that is, they’re rarely grounded in actual experience.

Really, I’m amazed anyone finds any peace of mind at all. It is a struggle if not impossible, and it takes experience. And as Lou Reed said, a busload of faith.

My job these days is to fashion tools. Using astrology, spiritual paths, and everything I’ve learned both in therapy and working with people, I make resources that will help you learn, seek self-understanding, and meet the world around you eye to eye. I don’t provide answers. I’m good at something much better, and more relevant: which is helping you to ask the right questions.

I reckon that with the world as overly complicated and insane as it is, astrology is one of the few tools capable of embracing both problem and solution, both private and collective. This is the gift we have, which we need like never before.

My approach to astrology is designed to point you inward, in a way that feels safe, sane and loving. Right now I’m working on a new project, timed for spring 2017: INVOLUTION: The Revolution is Within.

As far as I can tell, our only option is to grow. That means that the revolution won’t be in the streets — or at least it won’t start there. For us, in our time, the revolution must be within. That’s the thing that’s been lacking — and it’s the cause of most of the problem.

In this 12-sign reading (which covers your Sun, Moon and rising signs, and those of your loved ones), I will look at the last seasons of Chiron in Pisces and Uranus in Aries. We’ll tap into Uranus conjunct Eris in a whole new way.

Yet the most helpful thing in this reading will be my first interpretation of the Great American Eclipse of August 21, 2017 — which will streak across the entire United States from coast to coast. That eclipse will change life as we know it in the United States, and you’ll want to have your surf board positioned correctly when the wave comes in.

Read more…

You Can Lead a Taurus to Water…

By Amanda Painter

John Wells, who has a very mellow and down-to-earth blog called The Field Lab, had his short video, “The Bucket,” go viral last week. Made for his “Friday Night Film” series, he placed a GoPro camera under the surface of the water in a bucket near his desert home, and recorded what showed up to drink.

“Everybody loves water in the desert. I was pleasantly surprised during the edit to see that George made an appearance. I know him from all the other rabbits because of the tiny notch in his ear,” writes Wells. “A burro just happened to come by in time to be included. Ben went against the script and decided to just nudge the bucket. You can lead a steer to water but you can’t make him drink. Note: The swimming bees were rescued.”

The video is visually unique, at times humorous, and downright meditative — about what you might expect from a creative ol’ homesteader type, originally from New York, who moved out to “the middle of nowhere” in southwest Texas to live off the grid. According to BoredPanda, Wells is “already known in certain ecology-conscious circles for managing to build a modern house with solar energy and composting for just $1600.”

If yesterday’s Scorpio Full Moon or today’s square between Mars and Neptune have you feeling like you’ve been dunked in a bucket yourself, Wells’ video might be just the ticket to help you climb back out. Or at least help you feel more at ease in there, with animal friends coming to visit.

Tunnel Collapses at Nation’s Most Polluted Nuclear Site

Tuesday morning, an emergency was declared at the Hanford nuclear waste site in Washington State. A portion of a tunnel that contains radioactive waste in rail cars had collapsed, apparently due to construction work nearby. No workers were inside the tunnel; but those nearby were evacuated, and told to shelter in place and avoid eating or drinking.

The Waste Treatment Plant, shown here in 2015, is used to stabilize the large inventory of high-level nuclear waste from Hanford’s tank farms. Workers there were ordered to take cover after a tunnel collapse on May 9, 2017. Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA.

Hanford has a troubled reputation. A 60 Minutes segment in 2006 outlined the many construction errors contributing to Hanford’s problems.

In 2011, employee Mike Geffre detected signs of a slow leak in one of the double-shell tanks that are supposed to be safe waste containers. His findings were ignored for nearly a year, and those events became part of a 2013 news series by local investigators, titled “Hanford’s Dirty Secrets.” Geffre suggested that there is a culture of complacency at Hanford.

In April last year, the leak expanded significantly, causing serious risks to workers. Meanwhile, a report last November by NBC cited employees with lung disease, dementia and nerve damage, despite the Department of Energy’s insistence that the location was safe.

The area is described by Tom Carpenter of Hanford Challenge as “the nation’s most contaminated site,” containing about 56 million gallons of dangerous waste. Maintenance reputedly costs $2 billion per year; that the site is failing despite such a hefty budget suggests bigger problems.

“It’s hard to describe exactly how bad this place is,” Carpenter told Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman. “This one little tunnel that was the subject of Tuesday’s collapse was really a small thing compared to what else is out at that site.” He added, “Those tanks are in no better shape than this tunnel.”

Hanford Challenge has brought a lawsuit for better worker protections. Whether cleanup policy will change as a result of Tuesday’s incident is unclear.

— Amy Elliott, with Carol van Strum and Lizanne Webb.

Polyamory In the Open

By Amy Elliott

Honoring the Scorpio Full Moon in this week’s Planet Waves FM, Eric discussed the limitations of exclusive monogamy, the benefits of being open to other kinds of relationships, and the lack of well-known role models who are openly polyamorous.

Tim Aguero and Luce Cousineau met in 1991, married in 1997, and opened their relationship in 2011. Photo by Holly Andres/NYT.

In a beautiful instance of synchronicity, just this morning The New York Times published a feature titled “Is an Open Marriage a Happier Marriage?” by relationship writer Susan Dominus.

The article is a surprisingly humane, non-judgmental and thoughtful look at open marriages, through the eyes of several non-monogamous couples.

By telling their stories, Dominus gently and vividly sheds light on how people are led to this decision, how it enriches their relationships and their understanding of people as well as their sex life, and the challenges of jealousy and social expectations.

Dominus writes, “I interviewed more than 50 members of open marriages, some of them a dozen or more times. I was drawn to the couples who were just starting out: What would the following months bring, what would they learn about themselves? I knew I wanted to follow the arc of their marriages, but I underestimated what, in so doing, I might learn about my own.”

Importantly, the author also touches on the sense of taboo felt by many she had interviewed, expressed in what she describes as “visceral resistance” and an inability to process the idea that permitted extramarital sex is even possible. The piece itself feels rather like a baby step into the world of polyamory; arguably open marriages are the form that deviates least from the familiar monogamous framework. That in itself shows how far our collective understanding has to develop in order to catch up with our needs and desires in sophisticated modern life.

Yet this piece is definitely a good beginning; it’s sympathetic and helpful, and a good introduction for anyone who is new to these ideas. My favorite quote is from one interviewee, talking about his wife and her boyfriend, “It’s a person I love, loving someone. How is love bad?” That seems like compersion in a nutshell.

This Week on Planet Waves FM
Scorpio Full Moon and Brian Eno

Dear Planet Waves Listener:

This week, celebrating the 69th birthday of Brian Eno, Planet Waves FM [play episode here] is a tribute to his music, as well as to art and sex. We’ll hear music spanning about 30 years of Brian’s career, from his early solo days to the early 21st century, including one movement of Music For Airports, covered by the virtuoso ensemble, Bang on a Can.

This is the program to chill out and play while you’re making art, making love, organizing your space, or spacing out. It’s the first of two programs including the work of Eno; next week I’ll feature the bands he’s produced.

I cover the Scorpio Full Moon, which was exact at 5:42 pm EDT on Wednesday, May 10, including a close look at Juno conjunct Pluto in Capricorn (both are retrograde). I also look closely at the chart of Brian Eno, whose Chiron is retrograde in the 8th house, in Scorpio. This is a fascinating chart by one of the most creative and interesting people of our lifetimes.

If you don’t know Eno, you certainly know his work: he produced Talking Heads starting with Fear of Music; U2 starting with The Unforgettable Fire; and some of David Bowie’s best work — among many, many others.

I consider the implications of the “sexy health care video” from Funny or Die, and visit the Adopt-a-District meeting held in Kingston Monday night by a congressman from our neighboring district, standing in for MIA Rep. John Fasso (R-NY). And in Tantra Corner, I look at Masturbation Month and talk about why masturbation is the core of all sexuality.

Planet Waves is sponsored by your subscriptions and memberships to Planet Waves. Subscribe, renew or revive your membership here.

Planet Waves FM is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation affiliated with the Pacifica Radio Network.

Thanks for listening.

With love,

Your Monthly Horoscopes — and our Publishing Schedule Notes

We published your extended monthly horoscopes for May on Thursday, April 20. We published your extended monthly horoscopes for April on Thursday, March 23. Your Moonshine horoscope for the Aries New Moon were published on Thursday, March 30. Please note: we normally publish the extended monthly horoscope on the first Thursday after the Sun has entered a new sign.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — It would be fair to say you underestimate both the extent and nature of your influence. You exist in the conscious continuum of a greater number than you likely know. What’s more, as formidable as your mind is, it’s almost certain that your greatest and deepest impressions have been made by your physical presence. Something about your hands, eyes, voice, smell, laugh or just hanging out in the same room with you has been retained by many long after conversational content has been forgotten by most. Now, as your effect in the flesh has accumulated to the point where it is coming back around, it would not be unusual if you were to see something of what you once were embodied in others. When that happens, respond as you would once like to have been received. Affirm and validate the living portion of your legacy, and ‘immortality’ will manifest as more than just a word. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — For you, and at this time, it is not narcissism to believe in yourself — it is essential. Neither does confidence necessarily imply hubris for you. The key is balance. Self-assurance is most productive when you have something to do with it. Therefore, should you not already have specific objectives to pursue over the next six months or so, it’s probably high time to develop some. If, on the other hand, you already have some well-defined personal aspirations for the immediate future, the next logical step would be to clearly visualize what it will take to attain them. In order to measure your progress, pay attention to your responses when others weigh in regarding either your conduct or endeavors. When you reach the point where you can listen to what others think, and accept their input as something you can further your work with, vindication will accrue of its own accord. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Maintain the health of your body, and your mind is more likely to be healthy, too. For the foreseeable future, sustaining your physical well being will begin with knowing when to say when — especially as regards to activity. It’s good to be busy. It is not helpful, however, to be exhausted. Now, perhaps more than anytime during the past two years, the quantity and quality of sleep you get will probably be more important than the content of any to-do lists. To make sure your energy remains constant while you are awake, try an experiment. Start each day by leaving something to look forward to under your pillow or bed covers, and end each day by leaving your personal electronic devices in another room. After a while, the result should turn out to be not only enhanced health but also more happiness. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Not all yearnings are equal. The best desires are definable, measurable and attainable. Now would be an excellent time to take stock of all you currently hanker after. Simply making a handwritten list of all you crave will go a long way towards making at least some of them seem more tangibly real. Carrying that itemization around in your wallet or purse, and referring to it daily, will also do potential wonders when it comes to your self-awareness, direction and purpose. Prioritizing your itemized wants and needs according to both importance and simplicity could go even further. If you can isolate just two easy longings and fulfill them with dispatch, a third and fourth will seem that much closer. All it will take to accomplish what may now seem like miracles is a bit of paper, a writing instrument and a little faith that needs expressed are just around the corner from fulfillment. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Somewhere in the details of what has undoubtedly been a busy time for you lately are likely intimations of potential futures. Perhaps a superior at your employment has broached the subject of a promotion. Maybe a personal relationship has evolved towards greater commitment. It could even be that somebody has noticed a heretofore hidden talent or proficiency you have, and brought it to your attention. No matter what form these inklings of ‘what could be’ have taken, they will remain only notions unless pursued. Luckily, it appears that you have at least six months to lay the groundwork and another year to get there. In the meantime, pay attention to how you respond whenever your life goes from routine to challenging. That’s because your present will someday be revealed to be a rehearsal for what is yet to come. If you want to play well then, practice well now. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Indications are that something in your life is ready to move on. It could be you. Now would be a good time to look around and see both what’s culminating and the more promising possibilities just beginning to take shape. Whatever it is that’s coming to some sort of conclusion is also probably what you should begin to let go of. Concurrently, what seems to be just recently taking shape is something you should consider embracing more fully. It’s almost as if you are in the position of an arboreal dweller who is about to move from one branch to another. Having something specific to reach for is a necessary part of the scenario, but no less important than knowing when and how to release attachment to where you no longer really need to be. Even more vital is your timing. Combine being patient enough not to rush with being ready to move before push comes to shove, and you will take any impending transitions in stride. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — It seems likely that you have recently had at least one experience (and possibly two) that changed your perspective regarding the size of the world. It does not matter so much if Earth seems either greater or smaller for you now than it did in, say, January. Of more profound importance is whether or not you understand that the next similar shift in perception can be yours to make. Even if it’s not currently clear to you, most of what you have lived through over the last four months or so indicates you have more power over your environment than most people ever think possible. For example, whether you feel free or lost while in a vast wilderness has a lot more to do with what you bring in than what is waiting there. The way things appear now, you are probably about a month away from looking around and realizing how much the nature of your external surroundings depends on where you’re at within yourself. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — You have almost certainly heard somebody say “don’t go there” at least once in your life. It’s a term people usually use to set a boundary whenever they are uncomfortable with whatever subject matter is being brought up. Your astrological mission over the next month or so is to develop a greater proficiency for perceiving and respecting the frontiers of both your own comfort zones and those of others, long before unease is either felt or taken. The benefits of undertaking such a process are at least two in number. First, you will acquire a greater understanding and appreciation of how your own sensitivities can make the world a better place. Next, you will be better able to show others how to do the same on their own. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Doing the right thing for others need not mean making a sacrifice yourself. Whether in a couple or a collective situation it’s nearly always possible for each of those involved to feel like a winner after any form of interaction has been completed. You in particular are now in a better position than ever to facilitate scenarios where every participant in a given social situation emerges as a victor. In a way, the consequences of every personal choice you have made over the last year-and-a-half have in fact been lessons. If you think back to only about two years ago, you will be able to see how those self-made tutorials have reshaped you. Even more to the point, from where you are now, you should be able to look ahead as much as two years and see what and how you might contribute towards reshaping the world in a similar way — one relationship (or set of relationships) at a time. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Now you’ve got it. Admit it. Internal processing that used to take months for you to move through is now usually completed in a matter of days. Of course, you have probably had some help. Be sure to thank those who have demonstrated their love and shown their support by helping you to move on from what was more of an existence, and into what is clearly a more authentic life. While you are in the process of expressing gratitude, don’t forget yourself. After all, it has been your desires that have motivated you. It has also been your strong sense of self-worth that kept you from settling for less than you need. In addition, without your commitment to a vision of what could be, nobody else would have known enough to do more than simply encourage you to accept what is. Yep, you may have had help, but what you did on your own to improve the quality of your life is something you should never forget. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Take note of any tight muscles in your body. Then, look around for metaphorically tight situations in your life. Finally, consider a simple experiment. Among all those symbolically tight spots in your life, pick the simplest and easiest to deal with — and resolve it for good. After doing so, pay attention to what happens inside your skin. Based on what’s recently been going on in the skies, it would appear distinctly possible that you are in physical sympathy with at least some of your experience. If you can find at least some correlation between physical symptoms and external events, you will open the door to an alternative means of relief with some real chance of success. In addition, if you do in fact find that your body effectively ‘maps’ at least some of the world, you will have gone a long way towards being able to feel your way through current events. And you’ll do so without having to rely so much on (or be confused by) a disembodied electronic media. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Much of your early upbringing at home probably went a long way towards preparing you for school. By the same token, your formal education probably contributed a lot to help you find, and take, a place in the world. If there is anything to current cosmological indicators, the next four weeks or so should represent the final days of yet another preparative stage in your life. Something about what you have been doing over the last decade or so is beginning to look and feel like it was all a prerequisite for matriculation into, and participation with, a different and more consequential level of being than you have ever known before. To get a handle on where and what you are in the process of ascending to, keep your eyes and ears open next month. If something looks and sounds like a graduation of sorts, that’s probably what it will be. — by Len Wallick. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.