Tag Archives: eclipse

Leo New Moon: Bridge to the Eclipse

By Amanda Painter

The sky is illustrating an interesting dynamic currently. On the one hand, the Moon is waning toward a New Moon in Leo on Sunday; waning Moon phases tend to feel lower-energy. On the other hand, accompanying aspects and planetary sign changes suggest an increase of energy. You might be experiencing this as tension or as feeling a little out of balance in some way.

Looking across the Two Cent Bridge over the Kennebec River at Waterville, Maine. Photo by Amanda Painter.

All of it relates to how you express yourself. And it all feeds directly into the Great American Eclipse on Aug. 21.

How conscious are you of the ways that you express yourself? That is to say, not only the words you use and the actions you take, but also how much energy is beaming through you at any given time, even when you’re not doing or saying anything? I’m referring to a variety of interrelated types of energy: emotional, mental, physical and sexual, as well ‘subtler’ forms (such as what you might tune into during meditation, reiki or t’ai chi, for example).

As Planet Waves reader Sue Edwards mentioned this week, even when you’re not speaking, some people are going to be quite sensitive to how you’re expressing yourself energetically. Think of it like the Sun itself: sometimes the Sun releases large amounts of plasma and electromagnetic radiation in the form of solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME); these events create direct and measurable disturbances in Earth’s atmosphere. Yet we don’t need that dramatic display to experience and notice the Sun’s expression of energy: it is constantly lighting and warming the Earth, both fostering life and (if we’re not careful) burning us.

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The Last Thing You Think About

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Journal Entry, Saturday, Aug. 27, 2016: I approach the coming of autumn as a time of profound energy. The kind of energy that moves life: the end of summer and the beginning of the school year, the bright colors of the leaves of deciduous trees. The time of harvest. Apple season. The cycle of life and death reflected in creation.

August has rarely been a good month for me. This month again has been no exception. I woke this morning determined not to have a normal day. I got up, got dressed, no shower. Drove to the Elmwood Cafe, ordered a coffee and a biscuit, settled in and started this entry.

Yesterday at my office my friend Wendy called and left a message. I retrieved it, calling her back. We’ve known each other over twenty years, so our calls are often filled with bouts of joyful, intense gossip: “Wendola!!! What’s happening girl?”

She answered, “Fe, Britt died.”

For a moment that seemed an hour I sat stunned, phone at my head, unable to speak. It felt as though my office was my own childhood bedroom, me staring at the empty presence of mundane life: four walls; a chair; a desk; a rug. Items without meaning existing to function. When my mind attempted to respond, every thought that made an attempt to scale the wall of my own shock failed, each thought sliding down and away into a swirling pool of emotion. I couldn’t even begin to name everything I felt.

Britt, Wendy’s step-daughter, was 39 years old. A mother of a six-year-old girl named Elsa. Wife to a chef. Teacher at Longfellow School in the Berkeley Unified School District. Only daughter of my beloved friend and mentor Bob. I helped organize her wedding. Every moment of all those facts helped me to begin speaking again, and yet in summoning the experience of her existence in my life I have still arrived at the unthinkable thought.

I finally asked Wendy about the how and why. Being a nurse, Wendy succinctly described the sequence of events: she got a call from her son-in-law Steve. Britt didn’t wake to her alarm. He couldn’t wake her. He called 911. The doctor at Alta Bates Hospital couldn’t revive her. One. Two. Three. That’s it. That’s all.

There was, on every level, no possible way to prepare for this. The closest thing was the last thing I wanted to think about: being witness to my father’s death. He was on the mend from a heart attack the year before. He lost 50 pounds, looked healthy and happy, relieved to be retired and free from the back-breaking work of being a cook. I didn’t know on that day — me being 18 and full of myself — how bad he felt the afternoon I went shopping for school with my aunt.

Our 12-sign Midyear Reading on forthcoming astrology, including Jupiter in Libra, is available for instant access. You can get all 12 signs for just $57, or choose your individual signs.

We were at Ford’s Department Store and while aimlessly window shopping, I felt a strange sensation — a vibratory anguish that called me home. Acting completely out of line and disrespectful to my aunt, I ordered us both back to the car. The urgency of my feelings transcended respect for one’s elders.

We arrived quickly home, pulling in to the driveway. We were fast followed by my Aunt Ethel’s car. Mom and dad in the back seat. They were coming back from the hospital. Mom and Ethel helped my dad up the stairs. It was three o’clock.

Dad looked furious. He told the doctor he wasn’t feeling right. Even though both EEG and EKG tests at the hospital were negative, he knew he was dying.

But the doctor sent him home. At 4:30 Mom was broiling lamb chops for dinner. I sat at the table with dad, talking about the meager things I bought at Ford’s. I noticed his eyes getting bigger, the blood pulsing through the veins of his head. He stopped looking at me and began to slide down his chair, collapsing onto the kitchen floor.

I remember Mom screaming. Me dialing emergency. Mom on the floor doing CPR. The siren. The gurney. Mom and Dad leaving to the hospital again, me staying behind, closing the front door, staring at the clock and praying to God. Forty-five minutes later the phone rang. It was Auntie Ethel.

“Fe, your father died.”

The world of place and things becomes meaningless when you’re faced with finite existence. Everything about your own breathing is the only reality. All your sensory perceptors become focused on your body, the shell, and the life essence — your soul, your symbiont — existing in it. At that moment I found myself in relationship with my soul, unprepared. I had no idea how to navigate it, discover it, allow it to express itself outside of the tsunami of grief coming over me. My world was cratered, and there was now a deep slippery hole that I would have to climb to get out.

It has taken years, decades to find and keep my soul intact from the grief of this sudden loss. My father’s death awakened me to the existence of soul, spirit, as I watched the dimming of his eyes while his own spirit passed from his body, lying on the kitchen floor. I’ve seen it again and again in the deaths of humans and animals. From that day, I had to grow up as my father’s daughter and my own. I had to finish the job of parenting my father couldn’t. Now I understand why I never had children.

I am 61 years old with a lifetime of friends, family and deeds. By the grace of this experience, I am grateful that I have lived this long and this hard and I still stand. I think about my friend Bob, a father, losing his daughter; and me, a daughter, losing my father. This terrible symmetry of loss binds us together, along with all parents who lose their children and all children who have lost parents. In my community, in the world.

Elsa is only six years old and without a mother, with her dad and family to support her. The only words, the only thoughts, the only feelings I could begin to muster to tell Wendy was this: “Everyone in your family needs to love that girl like no one else on earth could be loved.” In the firmness and determination of her nurse’s soul, Wendy said, “We’ve got to rise up and be as big as we can possibly be.”

Evolution Revelation: The Adventure Begins

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“Redemption.” Digital art by Charlie Lemay.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Vernal equinox arrived and the new season began yesterday on a fiery note, with the Sun joining many planets already in Aries — including Uranus. The Sun changing both signs and seasons made its annual conjunction to the Aries Point and the astrological year reset. The Sun’s presence in Aries keys us into the Uranus-Pluto square, which has been developing the past couple of years and reaches its first of seven peaks on June 24. This is what I’ve been calling the 2012 aspect — a juncture point in the cycles of revolution that had its last big celebration in 1965-1966.

In total, the many astonishing events of this Spring are like a garden path, or rather, wild safari that leads to the first of those seven exact Uranus-Pluto squares in late June. Yet because the Sun is in Aries now, it will be passing through the square, in effect setting it off a little early: the Sun conjoins Uranus on Saturday, March 24 and squares Pluto on Thursday, March 29.

Total solar eclipse on March 29, 2006. Photo by Anthony.

But we’re just a little ahead of ourselves: Thursday, March 22 is the Aries New Moon, a spectacular chart for many reasons, mainly because the New Moon happens so close to the Aries Point, that mysterious intersection of what we think of as ‘public’ and what we think of as ‘private’. That crossing has been getting a lot of traffic lately — so much someone should put in a big stop light with turn arrows. It seems like the only things that do end up on the political stage have nothing to do with public policy — such as how to run the government or regulate big corporations.

Rather, we’re in an era where debates over ‘public policy’ involve nothing but private matters, such as what your doctor can and cannot say to you, and in truth, whether you actually own your body. However, the real question is: Do you own your mind? Do you even influence it, and what do you do with the information it’s sending you?

Said another way, are you able to utilize your creative power? We see this in the form of Mercury retrograde on the Aries Point (the first degree of Aries) for the New Moon (heading into Pisces). And speaking of Aries, its ruler Mars is retrograde as well, in the brainy sign Virgo — at the moment the astrology seems to be asking more questions than it is giving answers, though that changes soon enough. Remember that the more sincere your questions, the better the responses you’ll get.

One other very noteworthy aspect in the New Moon chart is retrograde Mars opposite Chiron in Pisces. Mars retrograde has been stirring up all kinds of material, including the psychological baggage we carry around the theme of desire. Mars opposite Chiron focuses desire on the healing agenda, as Mars has a direct encounter with the deep consciousness and reparative quality of Chiron in Pisces.

In case you want to follow the play by play, here’s a detailed overview of the events of Spring 2012. These are descriptions of the events themselves; the sequence is interpreted for each of the Sun signs and rising signs in the Spring Report.

Aries Point New Moon on March 22 — A spectacular New Moon conjunct Mercury and Uranus, with many other planets in Aries — including Vesta, Uranus and Ceres. This event is a portent of the many surprising turns of events over the next three months. While it looks like an event in linear time, this electrifying New Moon sets the emotional and mental tone for the next three to four months.

Solstice Full Moon over Sounion (temple to Neptune) near Athens, taken in June 2010. Photo by Anthony.

Sun square Pluto on March 29 — A turning point in its own right, this aspect between the Sun and Pluto turns the questions internally. Behind the stage show we’re seeing in the media in the drama of our lives, there are pressing questions of growth, healing and personal evolution. Many of them involve our relationship to authority and how we tend to be willing to hand over our power — then wonder where it went.

Mercury retrograde ends April 4 — Mercury stations direct in Pisces, ending a three-week retrograde that began March 12. Mercury re-enters Aries on April 16, setting off the Aries Point again (ideas, drama, big news), and then makes a square to Pluto on April 25; once again we take what is personal personally rather than getting caught in the floor show.

Mars retrograde ends April 13 — Mars has been retrograde in Virgo since mid-January; it stations direct in early Virgo, in the process of making two oppositions to Chiron (as described above). There are many themes of focusing your healing mission and personal integrity; there is an essential blending of the concepts ‘spiritual’ and ‘psychological’. There’s something here about courage: invoking the warrior energy for the benefit of putting your knowledge to work. If you haven’t read much about the current Mars retrograde, I suggest you check it out. Here is an article that opens the topic.

Sun enters Taurus April 19 — Taurus is a fixed earth sign, and the home of the Beltane cross-quarter day. Are you born under this sign? Here is a description.

Venus retrograde starts May 15 — Venus is making a rare retrograde this spring. We’re going through a nearly simultaneous sequence of all three inner planets in retrograde motion in one season. Once again this focuses the energy inward and calls for a review of the past. Venus goes retrograde just after a natural holiday associated with her — Beltane. Astrological recommendation: have sex outside, praising the goddess of love and abundance.

Sun enters Gemini. Annular solar eclipse on May 20 — That would be annular, not annual. That’s a total eclipse with the Sun a bit too far from Earth to fully block the Sun, but a powerful eclipse no less, which takes place in Gemini — the scene of much other adventure this season. This happens the day the Sun enters Gemini, which is unusual and compelling in its own right. Eclipses pick up the pace of existence, and act like convergence points where many different themes and events merge together. Events take on the sensation of being more significant and driven by forces outside our control; therefore, maintaining your power of decision at these times is that much more meaningful.

Partial lunar eclipse on June 4 — Corresponding to the Gemini eclipse, this is a partial eclipse of the Moon in Sagittarius. Note, from this point on, eclipses start to shift onto the Taurus/Scorpio axis. The next set occurs in November 2012. If you’re super-curious about eclipses, here is a list of them from 2012 through 2017. The Sun also makes an occultation to Pluto in Capricorn — another eclipse-like event.

Among the most distinctive events of spring 2012 is the Venus transit of the Sun. 2012 event corresponds to one in 2004 — the next is in 2117. Photo by Anthony Ayiomamitis.

Venus transit of the Sun on June 5, in Gemini — The most distinctive event of 2012, a Venus transit is as rare as it is spectacular. If you have clear skies and daylight, you will be able to see Venus cross the disk of the Sun (using special glasses so you don’t fry your eyeballs). Think of this as the emergence of the solar feminine — the assertive, creative side of the feminine soul takes up residence in consciousness. For many this will be about resolving competing agendas and personality splits. Note that on this day, Wisconsin holds its recall election. Here is an article on the 2004 Venus transit of the Sun.

Gemini New Moon on the Atlantis Point on June 19 — I call the degree 28+ Gemini the Atlantis Point because so many really strange things happen when planets show up here. I cover them in the article Here at the Edge of the World from last year — worth reading if you’ve been noticing how strange everything is getting. This is the degree that links together such disparate events as the Sept. 11 incident, the 2004 tsunami, Wikileaks, the charts for Japan and the 2011 nuclear disaster and much else. This New Moon occurs right before the solstice (adding emphasis) and sets off all of those charts at once. I really don’t know what to say about this event but I predict it will be interesting — and we may get another little burst of the 911 Truth Movement.

Solstice on June 20 or 21 (depending on your time zone) — the new season begins, and the Sun once again aspects the Aries Point, Uranus and Pluto in close succession.

Uranus square Pluto June 24 — This is the first of seven squares between now and 2015, which focus the cycle that we last heard from in 1965-1966. We’ve been warming up to this event for a couple of years, particularly with the astonishing events of 2011, from Arab spring to the Wisconsin protests to the Occupy movement.

Venus stations direct on June 27 — This wraps up the rapid sequence of events with its roots in the Spring of 2012, and (with any luck) will come with a revelation about what it all meant.

Alrightie then! Now that I’ve left your head spinning, here is your extended monthly horoscope for April. If you’re curious how all of these events influence you, that’s why I’ve done the Spring Report. It’s a passionate, positive, motivational audio compilation that covers all 12 signs.

All hail the new season and its many mysteries.

Lovingly,

P.S. You can listen to audio that covers many of these events in our Top Five Events of 2012 series. This is free audio connected with the 2012 annual edition.

Monthly Horoscope for April 2012. | Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You could look at the whole human drama as a struggle with awareness. We already have the solutions to most problems; many of the most persistent have been solved at least 100 times. What stands between an issue and finding the answer is awareness, and often that translates to self-awareness. You have the answers you need; what you don’t have, you can invent. You may not believe that, though to test the theory you merely need to slow down and be with your existence in a conscious way. Do this often, and with a touch of faith that might feel like ‘suspending disbelief’. While your astrology certainly is illustrating an exciting trip through the outer world, other factors are pulling you deeper into yourself. Don’t get too distracted by all the activity and drama — keep your focus on your soul, which I assure you will be easier than you think. You may even have a breakthrough, which could feel like accessing a deeper part of your consciousness that offers you better information about yourself than you’ve ever had. Yet this is about far more than you. Being invited into a contact point reminds you that in waking up, you’re not alone — many other people are reaching a similar place within themselves. You’ll recognize them more by the look in their eyes than by face; more by their tone of voice rather than the words they say.

Revolution. Revelation. Reality Check. has been published and is available. It is still available at the special subscriber discount price for all 12 signs, or the order price per sign. This year’s annual offers an extended written report plus 90 minutes of audio for each sign and rising sign. You will love it.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — The concepts ‘Taurus’ and ‘change’ sometimes seem to have nothing in common, but this is the season when you may shock yourself with how much stuck energy you can move in a short time. This month, Venus ingresses Gemini, where it will be until August — a long time for Venus to be in one sign. This is an extended special occasion, which includes Venus retrograde and the Venus transit of the Sun — a rare event that will be visible during daylight hours. One theme is a sudden, liberating release from the past. This includes moorings into history deeper than you remember, which will allow you to do something else — make contact with a point of origin or what you can think of as your original instructions for this lifetime. Don’t worry if today you don’t have any notion of what that means; live your life as normally as you can, but being responsive to opportunity, to chance encounters and to anything that has an odd sense of familia rity. In essence, the theme of this season is staying open to the experience of existence. Notice what seem to be random encounters, desires that come out of nowhere and people who you find unusually moving. Experiment with new activities, or going deeper into the ones that you love but have not had time for. What influences your life in these very days has the power to do so deeply, and in ways that can truly shift your reality.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Venus enters your sign this month, where it will be making some spectacular moves later in the season. These come along with eclipses in your sign and your opposite sign, Sagittarius — all of which I can sum up in one word: progress. This whole sequence of events is about getting all the seemingly separate parts of yourself talking to one another, working together, and gaining the kind of strength that comes from integrity. Whatever may change in the external world, remember that it’s part of a deeper inner project, a growth project whose time has come. We’re now at the very beginning of a long sequence of events that will gradually transform your life. The charts for April have a few bold reminders: one is to be flexible. This might include stretching out in the morning, considering different possibilities when you’re making a decision, and being circumspect when considering an important subject. Another hint is to listen. Be receptive to what other people say, and listen to what you say. Hear your own words and consider their meaning. Get a feeling for where you’re coming from. Part of the shift you’re making is from mental intelligence to emotional intelligence — and all factors are pointing in that direction. How you feel about what is said to you, or what you say to others, is just as meaningful as the content of the words. Of course this is so obvious, most of the time only dogs notice that it’s true, but we all have a lot to learn from them.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Maintain your devotion to your professional path — the one you’re on, the one you’ve chosen, or the one you want. Do this diligently, as if something larger than you depends on your actions. Follow the momentum of your life as it carries you, and add extra focus, as if you’re tending a fire that might go out, or might go out of control. You may not be able to see your destination (some would say destiny), and you may not be sure how to think about what you’re doing. As regards to ‘thinking’, the most significant thing you can do for yourself is be conscious and review events carefully, though without being too critical, or trying to judge. There’s a difference between judging and assessing; between criticizing and paying attention to details. Be particularly conscious of your use of language, which you can consider a kind of firepower. You’re visible right now — visible to more people than you might imagine, or than yo ur present circumstances might suggest. That of course is not a good enough reason for maintaining your integrity, but it’s as good as any. Over the course of the month, you begin to establish solid contact between your ideas and your aspirations. Old concepts that had merit come to life, and you will begin to see that there was a plan in motion all along. I’ll emphasize again that much of your success comes from your precise and careful use of language. Creativity will follow from precision — so say what you mean and mean what you say.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You’re near the end of a phase of sorting out. It’s good to go through these from time to time, so you can establish your real priorities. Sometimes the sorting is imposed on you, such as when you’re moving house and must decide what to keep and what to toss. Other times it’s an internally driven experience, which seems to be what happened this winter. Note, this assessment is not quite over — it will take all month for you to prepare your final report to yourself. Be aware that what you’re doing is establishing a kind of contract with yourself about what is the most important to you. You’re deciding what you want to do with your precious time and energy, and moreover, you’re making the decisions now that will influence your life for at least two years. There is part of you that wants to take a conservative approach, avoiding risks and staying to one side of a fine line. There’s another voice in your mind that’s saying now is the time to open up a bold vision and explore the world in a new way. The magnificent bird’s-eye view offered by astrology is suggesting that these two values need not conflict. You can remain true to your most basic values and ethics while pushing open a new world of possibilities. Here is a hint: your experience will follow your personal development. You will discover something about yourself, and your agenda will follow that revelation.

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) — Mars retrograde in your sign has been a long quest into yourself, which has taken you through many layers, and you’ve had a chance to get to witness your own process of conflict creation and resolution. In the process, you’ve passed through many different elements of your psyche: your desire nature, how and whether you have faith in yourself and others, and the interconnections between many seemingly separate things in your world. Yet this quest has had a deeper mission: learning how you experience and ultimately create your most intimate relationships. Many of the more painful questions of the past decade are starting to resolve themselves as you claim your strength with partners and loved ones. One element of this is recognizing what an integral role you play in the lives of the people you love; another is recognizing the ways in which you seek and offer healing in those situations. Yet the most meaningful information has come in understanding how significant it is to remain in contact with one fact: what you want. Desire in any form is often subject to a kind of guilt attack, especially for you. Yet you’re waging nothing less than a revolution against this unnecessary, unproductive state of affairs, and in the process, you’re regaining the ability to guide your life in healthy ways. You have learned that you cannot leave this to chance, nor can you leave it to others to decide what is good for you. Said another way, your life is your life.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — One thing you’ve likely discovered is that no matter how strange life gets, or how unpredictable, you’re standing on a solid foundation. Though this theme is emphasized now, I trust that it’s a gift you’ll take with you even as one phase of planetary history melts into the next, and the next. Yet what is strong can always be stronger; what functions well can always be refined. That’s the theme of the season that’s just begun, and that will arrive with some of the most interesting developments for many years. All eyes will be on Venus, the planet that represents you in your own chart. You are on a quest that involves assembling the different elements of what seem to be competing visions for yourself. The coming astrology, as it influences you and all things Libran, is so astonishing I am reticent to make any predictions — except I can offer a couple of thoughts. One is that elements of life, and your ideas about life, that you thou ght had to compete with one another, actually support one another. You can let go of many ‘either/or’ type of equations; they are simply no longer valid. Yet as you transition from that as an idea to that as a fact of your life, a kind of miracle happens. Many other nagging issues resolve themselves. You will redefine your notion of what a problem is to the point where you recognize you have exceedingly few of them — or maybe none at all.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — As you know, we live in a culture obsessed with image, too often lacking any expression of what is real or meaningful. Any time you try to make an impression on someone, or lead them to believe something about you, stop and ask yourself why. Image is powerful, even dangerous, and for you this power must be applied to honest and worthy causes. Given that you stand at a major signpost of your life, it’s time to inquire: who or what do your actions serve? Mars stationing direct (after a long retrograde which began in January) in an angle of your chart that includes the themes of service and your vision for your life, is a reminder that (in the words of Dylan) you’re gonna serve someone (or something). That fact you cannot alter, though you get to decide what that something is, based on your true values. I don’t just mean what might be external to you — I mean searching your depths for what you want to offer to the world. Mars retro grade in Virgo has infused your traditional ruling planet with all of the properties of that sign: attention to detail, devotion to healing, tempering aggressive impulses (particularly toward yourself), and the integration of your masculine and feminine sides. And then there is the famous Virgo theme of devotion to something beyond yourself. Yet what this really suggests is that you’re expanding your concept of yourself, and can now bring together many elements of life you might have thought were separate.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — One really beautiful element of your astrology right now is a rediscovery of what commitment means to you. You’ve had your ideas — and you know how well they’ve worked. You’re now expanding into a whole new concept. It’s more open minded and expansive than your prior ideas; you can think of the new concept as a house with many doors and windows, that allows in the light, and where everyone has enough room to exist comfortably. Said another way, commitment is about who you are, rather than what you promise. When you offer yourself, that’s something you do with your entire being. One recent lesson involved taking care of the details in advance, so that you can proceed with that full sense of engagement. The old astrology books sometimes tell us that Sagittarius likes to skip the details, being more concerned with the broad strokes. Yet one message of the current Mars retrograde is that the details can set you free — if you address them before they become problems. They are opportunities to refine your goals, and with Mars about to complete its long retrograde through your house of ambition, you’ve been doing a lot of that. Make sure that you condense and consolidate your smaller objectives and never lose sight of what inspired them in the first place, or what they add up to when you consider them together. This is likely to come down to one significant decision you make right around April 14 — no sooner.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — One thing about living on this planet is that it helps to make friends with chaos. I don’t mean warfare or pandemonium — I mean that slight sense of overwhelm, of not being able to keep your house neat, of orderly theories not quite fitting together with what we think of as reality. I am talking about the fertile chaos of not quite being sure what to do, and then you have a real idea. Or the feeling of figuring out that a whole bunch of what you believed in the past isn’t true, which shakes your moorings — and in that moment you figure out something that is actually true and relevant for you. Travel can have this effect on us, by cutting us loose from familiar moorings, which in turn allows us to have a different experience of being. One expression of fertile chaos this month involves certain long-held goals. Some elements are working for you and worth keeping; others on review need to be updated or discarded entirely, to make room for new ideas. One cue to observe for the points of chaotic creative contact are stumbling blocks. When something gets in the way, stop and rethink your plan. When you are typing and type a wrong word, read what that word is and see if you’re trying to tell yourself something. If you lose track of your plan, ask yourself what your objective really is. And most significantly, if someone randomly tries to mess with your idea, listen carefully.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Many years of relentless pressure have left you in possession of a secret. You hold the key to understanding evil. By this I mean the force within the psyche that guides people to treat one another badly, or unfairly, or dishonestly. I’m also speaking of the impulse to deny oneself, or to deny others. And I am speaking of that strange thing that encourages people to give up their power and go against their own values. You understand the concept of a motive. There are other ways to grasp this, though if you think about it starting with the dark end of the concept, you have the orientation you need to guide your experience into the light. You’re able to remember the one thing that everyone wants to forget, and that many are trying desperately to conceal from themselves — and because of this, you have a distinct advantage. One way to say this is that you’re not trying to fool yourself, or that your learning has reached the point w here you see the danger of trying to. Whatever you may be doing, one thing to remember this month is that you’re in a position of leadership. This may not be about formal authority — rather, it’s a leadership of ideas. You are setting the example of what it means to have a responsible worldview, and also one that’s oriented in the future. One of your most valuable teachings is reminding people that we must do better than ‘every man for himself’.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — This time in your life is an experiment with what it feels like to have an enhanced sense of self-esteem. This is the sensation that you belong on the planet, that you have a mission, and moreover, that you possess the personal resources to accomplish it. When we talk about the lack of self-esteem, these are the elements that are most often missing. I’m not sure, on the personal level, what it is that can make up for the loss; though it’s easy to see in your solar chart that you’re well on the way to doing precisely that. There are of course pitfalls that you’ll encounter along the way, but if you know what they are you won’t need to step into them — you can go around them. For example, you may be accompanied by some persistent questions about your existence. These can be turned to strengths. You may have the sensation that few others understand you. Yet if you’re alert for those who have similar values as you do, or similar mot ivations, you will feel a greater sense of companionship. As for personal resources: I do mean personal. This includes creativity, intelligence, problem-solving ability and ethics. Yet the bridge you will be crossing every day is the one that goes over the gap of applying these things to real-life situations. Your job is to put your mind to work — and this is about making a conscious and ongoing choice.

Mercury Stations Direct: Keep Your Promises

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Dear Friend and Reader:

Mercury stations direct in early Sagittarius tonight at 8:42 pm EST. This happens as we are still riding through the wake of Saturday’s total eclipse of the Moon in Gemini, the second of two eclipses for this mind-bending round that began in late November. Eclipses themselves offer an astrology lesson: borrowing a line from the late Patric Walker, “This sodding stuff works,” but how it works we discover when the eclipses themselves happen. Now as we consider the implications of recent events, Mercury stations direct in Sagittarius after 23 days retrograde, which will bring out a new layer of information, revelation or at least recognition.

Photo by Eric Francis — Blue Studio, New York.

Note that the next eclipses occur in May and June of 2012, in the midst of a concentrated series of events that leads into the first exact Uranus-Pluto square. I covered that in a recent special edition podcast on the top five events of 2012.

Tonight’s Mercury station direct makes a square aspect to a Pluto-like planet called Orcus. This is an underworld deity from the days of the Etruscans, or the dwellers of the European continent before what we think of as Europe. Orcus was probably a precursor to Hades and Pluto, but he has a special property involving the keeping of oaths, and holding to account those who swear false oaths. In our time this translates to promises and agreements. Whatever else may be going on for you at this time, please review the promises you’ve made and consider the ethics and the wisdom of coming through with them.

Given that Mercury is stationing direct (concentrated, slightly overwhelming mental energy; a point of turnaround) in a square to a planet similar to Pluto, I would include on the agenda careful consideration of what you may be obsessing over. Consider the use of power over others (direct or indirect), the use of religious power in any form (such as influencing people through their beliefs), and any attempts to run an agenda that you’re not disclosing. Subversive activity, including that which emerges as a result of your psychological tendencies, is not likely to go well. Said another way, keep your plans and your intentions above the boards, especially where prior commitments are concerned.

There are a number of other minor planets in the same aspect setup (at about 3 to 5 degrees of the mutable signs). Two aboriginal figures show up in the configuration: Altjira, an Australian keeper of the dreamtime, is one of them. Opposite Mercury, this contrasts the immediate needs of the moment (decisions, commitments, promises) with a kind of alternate reality. Just make sure that other dimension is a source of inspiration and nourishment rather than a source of delusion. It’s a reminder that this reality is not all that exists without negating the necessities of what we have to do here.

The other aboriginal god is Teharonhiawako, in Pisces. He is the Iroquois creator god depicted as a giant who holds up the sky. Coming from Pisces, you might ask: What is holding up your beliefs, or deeper in, what supports your faith? Does your faith feed you, or deplete you?

Finally, Mercury stations direct conjunct the centaur planet Okyrhoe, the daughter of Chiron and Chariklo. Okyrhoe was a prophet. Mercury conjunct Okyrhoe in Sagittarius carries a message to be aware of what you know, and to use what you know. While we like to pretend we live shrouded in mystery, in fact most of the time we know what we want, and we understand the meaning and implications of our particular circumstances. Using what you know comes back to the commitments you have to yourself, particularly to make honest decisions and follow through with them. It’s a reminder not to be surprised by what you knew all along. You are your own best divining oracle.

I’ll see you Friday with a regularly scheduled edition of Planet Waves, and I plan to have a regular edition podcast later today. Please check the Planet Waves Daily Astrology page for that.

If you’re looking for where to sign up for the 2012 annual edition with readings for all 12 signs, please use this link.

Lovingly,

Gemini Total Eclipse and the Sibling Society

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Dear Friend and Reader:

Saturday’s total eclipse of the Moon is in Gemini — the sign of siblings, often associated with young people, young attitudes and easy-to-grasp ideas. Many factors suggest that this is a volatile moment, calling for discernment and embracing the faculty of conscious choice. [Note, this is the last eclipse before the series that leads into the Venus transit of the Sun and Uranus square Pluto in late spring 2012. I have covered that group in my newest special edition podcast.]

French student drums on the shield of a riot cop during a takeover of Bastille Circle during the evening rush hour in Paris one afternoon in 2005. This is my idea of the police exercising actual restraint. Nobody was arrested, nobody got hurt, and the protest was diffused in a few hours. The cop is probably thinking, “Now how can I slip her my phone number?” Photo by Eric Francis. More related photos here.

Part of the volatility involves the eclipse spanning the mutable sign axis of Gemini/Sagittarius; some of it comes from the polarizing effect of a Full Moon (all lunar eclipses happen during the Full Moon). Mutable signs can have a nervous and unstable feeling, which will often serve as a power source. When those properties are prominent, it helps to impart the structure and discipline factor of Saturn, which thankfully is in harmony with the eclipse in fellow air sign Libra.

Another aspect of the volatility comes from planets that are close to the Sun’s position in Sagittarius. I’ve been writing a blue streak about this since the fall of 2010 — a collection of newly-discovered, slow-moving planets that span the middle of high-energy, high-velocity Sagittarius. The combination of slow-movers and the fiery energy of Sagittarius is pushing us to get clear about what we believe, and to embrace both ‘spiritual’ lessons and the direct information coming through about our origins. By origins I mean from the distant past, whether ancestral or cosmic.

They are related. We are stardust, and we are the children of our ancestors. You might not be pondering this stuck in traffic on the 101 or running for the D train, but it’s thinking of you, and the pot is currently being stirred at full strength by both the presence of these new planets and the accompanying eclipse that is compelling us to get practical in our ideas about existence. Internalize the learning, the spiritual theory, the concept you’re trying to grasp in therapy. Understand that growth is something pragmatic rather than esoteric.

Be proud of what you are! This womens’ ADHD T-shirt contours to your shape and always looks flattering, even if you forget where you left it. (Use the link to purchase the shirt.)

Then, the eclipse is square Mars in Virgo. That’s focusing attention on getting real about two points — anger, and perfectionism. Mars is slowly stationing retrograde in Virgo, compelling us to come to terms with all the ways we want to change, and focusing a demand on impeccability. But this may be manifesting as perfectionism and that, in turn, may be coming across as the feeling of being damaged if you cannot get yourself to that theoretically perfect place. The two are closely related.

Remember, this is not about theory: these aspects all point to taking practical action. The Virgo piece of the puzzle comes with an asteroid conjunction that offers some caution. The points are Apollo conjunct Psyche. Apollo is the experience of making the same mistakes over and over; of not getting ‘the lesson’. Psyche is the sense that you’re wounded, as in mentally wounded, and won’t ever be able to ‘fix’ yourself. It’s the loss of faith in healing, particularly where psychological material is concerned. In our era we tend to take these feelings and diagnose them into disorders that can be treated with meds: social anxiety disorder, ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, restless leg syndrome, and so on. That’s a way of compartmentalizing the situation, cutting it off rather than taking it on holistically. Instead of working through the many factors that contribute to a symptom, too often we give it a name and a drug — and many people are doing this to their children. Many of us had it done to us.

There are two other points in the Virgo mix, square the eclipse and close to Mars: an asteroid called Hebe, which often describes the codependent quality of the relationships involved; and Arachne, which imparts the sensation that this is all one vast conspiracy (ancestral in nature, that is, related to the family line and family of origin).

The ultimate in cynical politics, the Tea Party rallies outside an Obama visit to Portland, Maine. For all their sincere efforts, they will end up with Mr. Fraud himself, Newt Gingrich. Photo by Eric.

Alcohol is almost certainly involved. This may not involve current alcoholism but rather the legacy as it has been passed on through both the family and the social network that surrounds it. Remember being a kid at a ‘grownup’ party where all the adults did was drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes? That social ritual had an effect on you — and this eclipse is about figuring out, and healing, whatever that effect was. The emotional conditions around the abuse and even unconscious use of alcohol can be extremely debilitating in family relationships, creating isolation and deep distrust that can take decades (or generations) to finally unravel.

In the most basic colors, there is a petulant quality to this eclipse. It has the sensation of childhood rage, which would be rage against something much larger than oneself, and it’s combined with the sensation that the expression of anger is useless — but yet something that we cannot help. When that anger burns out, we’re often left with cynicism. That is the feeling of being burned out and defeated, with toxic, smoldering rage. This paralyzed sensation is not what you would call healthy — and if you’re feeling this eclipse you may be feeling a release point.

Enough is enough. It’s time to grow past this stuff and take command of our lives and our mental health in a tangible way. The eclipse square Mars is an action point. How long have you waited, or tried, or efforted? What is the one thing you’re not doing? What is the obvious factor, the obvious point of action that you’ve avoided for whatever reason?

The Davis Pepper Spray Incident and the Sibling Society

In a 1997 book, Robert Bly described what he called the sibling society, a world of half-formed adults who don’t want to take responsibility for their lives. This, he says, is the world we live in. We see it as the people who don’t want to pay taxes, who think someone else’s kids should fight the wars, and that someone else should stand up to the banks. Since The Sibling Society came out, the situation has only proliferated with the massive surge of infotainment that has come along with the Internet and lives lived mainly through apps and devices.

Iconic photo by Louise Macabitas of Lt. John Pike — a campus peace officer — casually spraying UC Davis students in the face with MK-9, an extra-strength oleoresin capsaicinoid (OC) weapon.

Saturday’s eclipse reminds me of his theory, in particular the relationship between the Moon in Gemini (siblings, children) opposite vast ancestral forces we cannot control (all those planets in Sagittarius) compounded by the square to Mars in Virgo. Add to this the frustrated ‘adult’ feeling of wanting to be perfect.

I remembered that book when a friend sent me the “what really happened” video of the Nov. 18 University of California at Davis pepper spray incident. This supposedly shows the context of what happened after riot police cleared a small Occupy protest off of a lawn at UC Davis. That is, instead of the short video of Lt. John Pike spraying the students, you see 15 minutes of video that led up to the actual spraying. Of course, this is not the full context. That goes back weeks, or even months; you’re never shown a single tent, for example. What you see is an out-of-context fuss, over what, you’re not sure unless you know.

Then, you’re treated to the scene of an officer in full riot gear, backed by about 30 of his colleagues (those visible in the frame), stating into a megaphone, “This is your last warning. Should you choose to remain, you do so with the understanding that a peace officer will place you under arrest for a violation of the law. Any resistance, whether passive or physical, shall result in additional charges. You shall be arrested, handcuffed and may be transported and incarcerated at the Yolo County Jail. Will you leave at this time?” The cop then barks into his megaphone something about “unlawful assembly.” He does not mention the potential use of chemical weapons.

Career Day with Lt. John Pike, one of countless parodies of Macabitas’ photo circulating on the Internet.

After the tents are cleared and some arrests are made, you see the young students with their book bags and preppy attire, circling about a group of heavily armed riot police, chanting “set them free.” Some of them sit down on a campus walk; these are the students who are sprayed at point-blank range with MK-9, an extra-strength oleoresin capsaicinoid (OC) weapon.

A lot has been said about this incident, which in the eyes of most people amounts not just to excessive force by the police, but to torture. When we tacitly (or directly) approve of the torture of Iraqi prisoners, we are inviting the same thing in our own communities. Is that obvious yet?

Meanwhile, local police departments have been militarized against terrorists, and in the absence of terrorists, any dissenter will do. I don’t say this lightly. One of the reasons conservatism has become so popular in recent years is that it’s a safe point of view to hold. There is a long tradition in the United States of treating anyone whose views are one inch left of center as a subversive or threat.

California is not new to the issue of police abusing chemical weapons, however. Given what it’s cost them in the past, you would think they might exercise a little restraint, but we don’t live in a perfect world. Use of pepper spray has been litigated up to the U.S. Supreme Court, in a famous case involving eight people who were protesting the killing of redwoods, and who were both sprayed point blank and had the chemical applied to their eyes by police using Q-tips. The protestors sued the police, and the litigation went on for years.

In that case, the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that the police officers’ “repeated use of pepper spray was also clearly unreasonable. As we recently concluded, the use of pepper spray ‘may be reasonable as a general policy to bring an arrestee under control, but in a situation in which an arrestee surrenders and is rendered helpless, any reasonable officer would know that a continued use of the weapon or a refusal without cause to alleviate its harmful effects constitutes excessive force’.” [Read the full decision here.]

Wake Up, Empire.

The “what really happened” video is an attempt to show how reasonable and restrained the police really were, because the kids were chanting and, for a few moments, had formed a one-person-deep ring around the cops. To my eyes, the video is an attempt to vindicate the sadistic behavior, in effect saying it was the fault of the students. One ex-FBI agent, the parent of a UC Davis student, wrote on a discussion list, “After viewing the entire video, I believe that the police acted with great restraint. I can only guess how the NYPD or the LAPD would have reacted to being surrounded by a hostile crowd demanding that they release their prisoners.”

Realistically, this “hostile crowd” consisting entirely of young students reminds me a lot more of the audience on the kids’ TV program Wonderama than an anarchist riot or even an ordinary student demonstration. And it started as a bunch of students living in tents on a lawn, protesting the demolition of the economy by a few banks and a few individuals who have profited from the losses of many, many people. That’s my view; I’ll leave it to you to decide if the police with their batons, helmets, sidearms, rifles, tear gas, Tasers, bulletproof vests, pocket knives and practically unlimited backup available, were justified in feeling threatened when confronted by unarmed kids dressed in clothes from The Gap chanting “set them free.”

Okay, now for the consciousness piece — the spiritual piece of the discussion. Let’s go deeper than the apparent circumstances to the underlying levels of causation. My take — as a matter of conscience — is that police are never justified in using weapons against unarmed people, and we have become a country way too willing to accept the use of violence by police on anyone who dissents. On a campus, in particular, I believe that the administration is morally bound to avoid hurting students by the legal doctrine In Loco Parentis, or “local parents.” This is one reason why campuses have their own police departments; the cops get to know the campus community and we have a truly local police force. It’s a great idea and usually it works pretty well.

But clearly something went wrong at Davis. A friend named Eric Traub offered another point of view that I’ve been considering carefully, and I will share it with you. Here is what he wrote (note, it’s a long quote, going to the end of the article):

Lt. John Pike, about to be surrounded by little blue people whose language only has one word, defends himself before something really bad happens. Apologies to Pierre Culliford and Papa Smurf.

“In Loco Parentis is exactly the takeaway I glean from the Davis video, in this way: human beings are still a childlike and developing young species. Whoever steps forward as a ‘parent’ tends to dominate. We are only now just beginning to emerge from the patriarchal paradigm that has dominated the past dozens of millennia of societal progress. Humans being human will, for the time being, seek somebody to be the parental guiding force in their lives, abdicating their will, intelligence and choices.

“Rather than allowing the bankers, government, and various other Saturnine structures to parent us, it’s time for ‘we the people’ to rise up and be as parents to ourselves and stewards to the world around us. The healthiest form of parenting is often called ‘authoritative’ versus authoritarian
parenting. Authoritative parenting takes the stance, ‘We will find the best way together.’ It leads, but from partnership. But it DOES lead, not just team up leaderlessly. This is parenting from a self-reflexive standpoint that recognizes respective roles, i.e., I’m the parent and it’s my role in our relationship to guide you as the child, but that doesn’t make me a demigod, just the parent at this time with a responsibility to fulfill. It’s a responsibility-driven orientation, balanced by reflexivity and compassion.

“The OWS movement so far has been more like children rising up against parents, than a new form of healthy, holistic leadership. Consequently, it reinforces and exacerbates the very thing it protests against. And here enters my bottom line to watching the Davis video.

And of course, the presentation of the Declaration of Independence by the drafters to the First Continental Congress. People seem to have a clue what the conduct of police during the Occupy movement actually means.

“We have to decide: do we truly want to effect change and accept all the implications of that change, including a far greater share of responsibility for making the world and its systems work, and the tremendous labors that entails? Or, do we simply want to protest and throw a collective tantrum against the way it’s been?

“The Davis incident illustrates, I believe, the latter. And demands the very question I am asking to be answered. The cops were wrong in almost every way. But the students were equally absurd in their tactics, lowering themselves to the same level of unconsciousness as the forces arrayed against them. The cops behaved exactly as one would expect them to behave, and actually with a reasonable degree of constraint for cops. The students, granted though they be immature and in need of In Loco Parentis, needed to be the more evolved human beings in that moment and they could have demonstrated something very powerful: that the ruling structures are unnecessary now; that we are rendering the old way of running this planet obsolete.

“If we are going to Occupy Wall Street, we better start thinking more like adults with responsibilities to one another, and less like petulant kids who want parents to rebel against as a cheap and fast means for carving out our identities. Davis turned into a fiasco, and I think its best value is to precipitate dialogue about how we can accelerate the maturation of OWS and get something accomplished, which accomplishment may well determine the future of humankind. This is not a task to be treated with childish emotionality. It’s time that we ALL grow up. Together.”

I think this is a sensitive and informed point of view, and it does not justify spraying unarmed students with pepper spray at point blank range. I would love to hear what you think.

Lovingly,

The Moon is in Gemini today, the sign it will be in for tomorrow’s total lunar eclipse at 9:32 am EST and Full Moon at 9:36 am EST (they are the same event, but the Full Moon is listed by most ephemerides as happening four minutes after the eclipse — we will explain why that is in the next edition). As the Sun in Sagittarius moves into position to oppose the Moon, it forms a conjunction with the centaur Pholus (small cause, big effect) today. Several hours before the eclipse on Saturday, Uranus stations direct in the first degree of Aries. Also on Saturday, the Sun makes a conjunction to minor planet Ixion (anyone is capable of anything) just before the eclipse. The Moon enters Cancer Sunday. This weekend marks the beginning of the Mercury ‘storm’ phase before it stations direct Tuesday Dec. 13. Monday, Mars squares the North Node and the Great Attractor, which are conjunct in Sagittarius as of Saturday. Also that day, the Sun squares Ceres in Pisces.

Easy does it as we move through Saturday’s eclipse and the reverberations that spread out from it. You must simply proceed with care and caution under astrology this potent. It is easy to take things for granted. Beware of polarized situations, people who are acting unconsciously or recklessly, and situations where there is too much talk and not enough awareness or action. This is a time to guide your life carefully and to learn from the example of others who choose to do so.

If you find yourself in a situation that is deadlocked, back off and allow the momentum of the astrology to carry you to the next place. We are past the point where pushing the river can work; what is most important is that you see contrasts for what they are, and look for the decision points that present themselves organically. Know what you’re feeling and under no circumstances is it wise to defy your intuition.

Eclipses imply completion, something that most people could use some practice at. Note what you’ve been through the past six months, where you’ve been and where you are heading. As the Moon sweeps through late Gemini and into Cancer, it enters the cardinal cross, squares Uranus and opposes Pluto, reinforcing the sense that you’ve come to a new phase of your life. This is not something you can control, but it’s definitely something you can work with and influence, making choices that are appropriate to the circumstances in which you find yourself — which are rich with potential.

Uranus is about to station direct in the first degree of Aries, signifying that it will be leaving its direct contact with the Aries Point and moving on. The Aries Point is famous for its “the personal is political” effect, which translates loosely to “the news actually matters” or as David Byrne put it, “the world crashes into your living room.” With Uranus occupying this degree, that has certainly been the case.

The very day when Uranus shifted into Aries to stay for the next seven years (March 11), there was a 9.0 earthquake in Fukushima, Japan, setting off the worst nuclear disaster in the history of science. This week, The New York Times reported, “At least 45 tons of highly radioactive water have leaked from a purification facility at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, and some of it may have reached the Pacific Ocean, the plant’s operator said Sunday.”

The story continues, “Nearly nine months after Fukushima Daiichi was ravaged by an earthquake and tsunami the plant continues to pose a major environmental threat. Before the latest leak, the Fukushima accident had been responsible for the largest single release of radioactivity into the ocean, threatening wildlife and fisheries in the region, experts have said. The new radioactive water leak called into question the progress that the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, appeared to have made in bringing its reactors under control. The company, known as Tepco, has said that it hopes to bring the plant to a stable state known as a cold shutdown by the end of the year.”

The Resurrection of Newt Gingrich

After all that — after falling in love with, and rejecting, five other candidates, and the bus tours and the protests and the death panels and taking over Congress and getting the bad stuff out of government, and all its supposed “don’t tread on me” and social purity principles, the poor Tea Party is about to end up with Newt Gingrich (pronounced ging-rick, according to his sister) as its presidential candidate. The consummate, indeed verging on eternal Washington insider, adulterer and influence peddler, astro-biographer Lois Rodden described Newt thusly: “American politician who had a rapid rise to popularity in 1994 when he was named the first GOP Speaker of the House in 40 years, followed within two years by a downfall for indiscretion, lying to the House Committee and the illegal use of public funds. He has a reputation as a tart-tongued verbal congressional street-fighter who relishes a confrontation.”

Newt’s chart has unverified birth data (rated by DD by Rodden — Dirty Data, because there are conflicting reports) but is good enough to work with. He has Aquarius rising, for one thing, which is perfect. An aggressive political warrior, he has Mars (god of war) in Aries exactly conjunct Pallas Athene (goddess of politics). This is not as confident as it may seem, but at least he knows to work with a plan. He has more planets in Gemini than anyone could ever reasonably handle (okay, four, but that’s still a lot — the Sun, Mercury, Uranus and Saturn), which accounts for why he can have countless positions on any given issue. Add to that seven — yes, seven — points in Leo and a Sagittarius Moon, and you get the perfect image of the blustery, self-serving gasbag who is going to treat us to the most illustrious presidential campaign in postmodern history.

Prosecutors Drop Death Penalty Case Against Mumia Abu-Jamal

Philadelphia prosecutors have announced they will no longer seek the death penalty for the imprisoned journalist and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal. For decades, Abu-Jamal has argued racism by the trial judge and prosecutors led to his 1982 deeply-flawed conviction for killing Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. Two years ago, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a United States District Court judge who set aside Abu-Jamal’s death sentence after finding jurors were given confusing instructions that encouraged them to choose death rather than a life sentence. The U.S. Supreme Court then ordered the Third Circuit panel to re-examine the decision. In April, that ruling was upheld, and prosecutors had to determine whether they would seek a new death penalty against Abu-Jamal. On Wednesday, Philadelphia prosecutor Seth Williams said he opted for a life sentence rather than face what amounted to a whole new trial — because the ‘death’ phase of a capital prosecution is a trial of its own, and now that would require a new jury. The problem with a new trial is that nearly every witness lied at the first one, a fact to which everyone is hip. Eric has covered this issue here.

We cannot figure out who took this photo, but obviously it has gone viral.

Gemini Total Eclipse and the Sibling Society

This week’s edition of Planet Waves FM is ready. In the first half, I read and consider the chart of Saturday’s total eclipse of the Moon in Gemini. This eclipse happens across Gemini/Sagittarius while both Mercury and Jupiter are in the process of stationing direct. I take a close look at the conjunction of Psyche and Apollo that is square the eclipse (prominently aspected, which brings out the message of these two asteroids).

Then we take a song break, featuring the musical ensemble Girlyman. I am looking enviously at their tour schedule — they played Nashville tonight, then Decatur, then Durham, Asheville, Birmingham, McCook, NE and Loomis, NE. I don’t see a NY or MA or PA on the list. Come north, Girlyman! We will feed you and read your charts and donate publicity photos if you want, and I have a fantastic luthier if you need your guitars adjusted.

In the second half of the program I talk about what Robert Bly called “the sibling society” — that is, a society of non-adults who refuse to take responsibility for their lives and the culture around them. This is in the context of the Occupy movement, in particular a video about the UC Davis pepper spray incident that sparked the conversation.

I read from a PBS interview with Bly from about 15 years ago. Here is the thing — Bly took some shit for what he said when the book came out, but his perspective has only been supported or even proven. If you’re looking for the book, you can get it for less than a buck from Half.com.

At the end of the podcast I mention a paper called Are Student Governments Obsolete? by Ray Glass, one of the founders of SASU — the now-defunct Student Association of the State University of New York. Ray is a friend in spirit. He died when I was 11 years old but his work and his ideas have influenced my thinking, and I am happy to share a PDF of his paper on the Internet for the first time.

Today’s program is about 1:14 — a little longer than planned, but there you have it. Remember that Planet Waves FM is sponsored by your subscriptions and product purchases. We have cool stuff for you — well it’s not stuff, it’s ideas that you can take with you to your next incarnation!

P.S. The pocket watch dates to the 16th century.

Friday, Dec. 9, 2011. Weekly Horoscope #884. | Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You are in a seed moment. They come occasionally — phases of your life when what you do, think and feel creates who you are becoming; when you express intention through action, not by planning. You’re in a moment of not knowing what you’re getting yourself into, making choices you would not necessarily have made if you knew what they implied. Yet there are few other ways to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. Remember that one definition of an adventure is that you don’t know where you’re going to end up, and I promise you that this, at least, is true. What you do have control over is whether you are authentic in the moment. In a world where most people are taught to fake most of the time, that might be a stretch. Your most dependable path to right action is being entirely real, all of the time.

Aries, your birth sign or rising sign, is getting a transit from the planet Uranus — which is a wild wakeup call, and a bold creative influence. I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and a tarot card reading for you. Learn more by visiting this page.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You may feel like you’re racing toward some kind of limit, where an inner resource (such as faith in yourself) is running out. That sense of impending limitation or crux point is clear in your charts, but what stands out more boldly is that another limitation you cannot see is about to give way. Your current sense of urgency is more closely associated with the second situation than the first; in other words, something is happening other than what you’re obsessing over. Don’t waste time fussing over the form of the problem, or what you perceive your problem to be. This would be true especially if you are defining an issue in a way that has resisted resolution in the past. Take care of the practical matters at hand as efficiently as you can. Learn from your day-to-day experiences. Emphasize the positive role you play in the world. Heaven and Earth are indeed moving, and you are moving with them.

I’ve recorded an hour of astrology and done a tarot reading especially for you. It’s information that will help with your relationships, your professional life and your personal growth. Visit this page to find out more.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Occasionally you have a stunning breakthrough appreciating the person you are. It’s as if some mental block lets go, or some veil drops, and you can actually recognize and experience yourself as the strong, nurturing person you are. Something like this is happening right now. Your realization seems to come in two phases, something like this. You remember something amazing about yourself that you keep forgetting, which shifts your sense of identity. Just when that’s far enough in the past that you forgot it happened, a relationship changes. You become free within the relationship, or free yourself of the relationship. You may not see the connection between the two, but the turn of events proves that authentic self-respect can take you past any limitation in your relationships. If you remember that these two are directly related, you will save yourself incalculable time, energy and grief in the future.

Gemini is one of the most misunderstood signs — and as someone born under this sign, part of your role is to hold a mirror to the world. I’ve recorded an hour of audio for you, plus a 20-minute tarot reading. You can get access to these by visiting this page.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You may not consciously keep secrets from yourself, but you also may not see the ways you work against your own cause. What feels like the revelation of some deep inner truth is really about you aligning with yourself in a tangible way. In fact, you are healing a split in your mind that has presented you with many challenges that you did not understand. The split has outwardly manifested many ways: as holding competing goals, divided loyalties, or a sense that you could not get the ‘two halves’ of yourself working together. The thing is, once you can see something like this, however dimly, you increase the chances of doing something about it. And you are about to get a rare glimpse at this outdated aspect of your inner makeup, or rather, your self-perception. The simplest way to put this is that honesty with yourself will get you real results in the real world.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You are bigger than your public image. You are bigger than all the chatter or gossip in the world. Somewhere between nothing and exceedingly little that could become known about you would negatively influence the opinion of anyone who really mattered. Therefore, you are free to let the truth about yourself be known. Take the initiative and express your most daring innermost thoughts if that is what you choose to do. This can be in the context of an intimate relationship, or some much larger social context wherein you finally arrive at the recognition that you want to be known not just for what you do, but also for who you are. What most people have not figured out is that any aura of concealment breeds negativity just as dependably as truth and clarity dispel it. The sensation of potential risk you may be experiencing is not the same as an actual danger — it’s a lot more fun.

The 2011 Leo birthday report is 70 minutes of in-depth astrology plus a 20-minute tarot reading for you, exploring relationships, personal growth and your professional life. Visit this page for additional information.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You make your own definition of success — or rather, when you learn that you can, you will be much happier. One problem with what we think of as success is that we tend to be told what it is, over and over again, then we try to live up to the myth. Usually that comes in the form of approval of authority figures, fame or supposed security, all of which are transient. There is very little security possible; only confidence is worth reaching for, and that is an inner state. Success is about what you want, not what someone else wants for you. You are the one — and the only one — who must approve of what you do, so that you may have a clear conscience and grounded sense of purpose. What happens next will reveal these concepts as the simple and obvious facts that they are.

The 2011 Virgo birthday report is ready! I’ve recorded 70 minutes of astrology plus a tarot reading for you, exploring how you’re working through family material, your use of spirituality, some new energy in your relationships and your professional goals. Visit this page for additional information.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — It’s impressive, when you look at it, how beliefs get in the way of reality. This often happens below the boards of awareness, though of course at other times it gives people a false sense of control. If you don’t like a fact, you can always pretend it’s not true. Now, however, you are being called upon to understand not only the actual data but also its implications. Suspending your beliefs of what is true while you conduct this investigation is essential. And, I would remind you, none of this suggests that what you believe, or perceive, is wrong — only that it’s subject to verification. Along the spectrum of ‘true’ and ‘false’ I would add the distinction of ‘true enough’ — for a given purpose, for a given time. As time progresses, you may apply a different standard or metric, but the important thing is that you have a basis for validating what you believe — or not — without resorting to prejudice.

Your Libra birthday audio for 2011 is finished. Created outside next to an open fire, this reading covers the astrology for your sign in about 70 minutes (looking at career, relationship, home life and the many influences to change you’re now experiencing). It also includes a Voyager tarot reading. Visit this link for additional information.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — I’ve mentioned a few times this year something about not being afraid to be unpopular, while not going out of your way to have people dislike you. Typically how you handle any issue on this side of the spectrum is by brushing it off, but that is a way of denying your deeper emotional sensitivity. Who you are, what you say and what you do seems to be having a profound effect on someone. You don’t need to be self-righteous about your values; you don’t need to compensate for what you perceive as the weaknesses of others. All you need to do is to recognize the dynamic between you and someone close to you. Be receptive to the changes they are going through. This will help both of you, it will ease the tension of the situation and you will get to experience the pleasure of being consciously resonant with your environment in a new way.

Hello Scorpios! Your 2011 Birthday Report is ready. It’s about an hour of astrology, plus a 20-minute tarot reading. It’s hot with transformational energy. I focus on your ruling planet Mars, your imagination and desire nature, and a phase of solid achievement. Please check this page for more information.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You may be outgrowing a relationship or even a whole volume in the history of your relationships, and if that is true, I suggest you welcome the change. Yes, this can be easier said than done, but you have a lot going for you, and a lot going on, and it’s not healthy for you to suppress your energy or to give anyone else the role of doing so. That said, the situation you’re in could easily transform itself into something much better, on a different level of existence. And, that said, the thing to do is release your attachment to the form of the relationship, and then discover what the content actually is. Something that was veiled is coming to the surface, but it will take you a few days to figure out what that is; in fact, what you’re experiencing is a journey that will take you about six months to ‘figure out’, and during that time, I suggest you remain open to everyone and everything.

Sagittarius Birthday Audio Report

Dear Friend and Sagittarian:

I’ve just finished your Sagittarius birthday report and tarot reading. Sagittarius is encoded with a sense of cosmic mystery, and as I’ve written in many recent articles, there is a lot going on in your sign right now. I’ve broken this reading down into two parts: the first is about relationships and the second is about career and creativity — though the two are closely related.

Whiskey and Owen. Photo by Beki Herrbach.

The current Mercury retrograde and the upcoming lunar eclipse in Gemini will offer you the experience of relating to people you wouldn’t normally relate to. Think of this astrology as taking you on an introspective journey where you are able to make real contact and truly experience the “other” within yourself.

Your birthday report includes an hour of astrology that covers some of the more meaningful astrological influences that will bring you through to your next birthday, including the partial solar eclipse that occurred over the weekend and Mercury retrograde in your sign over the next few weeks.

My birthday readings all come with a tarot session, using the Voyager tarot by James Wanless. I include a 20-minute tarot reading (many people’s favorite part of my birthday products), which looks at your life using a tool that speaks in pictures. A photo of the spread is included, as are some supplemental articles.

The whole package is just $14.95 — priced to be affordable. It’s posted to a permanent link which you can play as many times as you like, or download into iTunes. I include the chart and the tarot spread for reference.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — There is no way to understate the size and scale of the transformation you’re going through. I would say that ‘it’ feels like it’s coming at you from every direction, but there is only one direction — from within. This weekend’s total eclipse of the Moon is encouraging you — indeed, necessitating — that you find a healthy and creative outlet for your energy and any frustration you may be feeling. If there is a healing agenda that seems to involve a relationship, I strongly suggest you do your part of the work first, then wait several days (say, till Wednesday) before you take any discussion into a situation involving a partner, spouse or adversary. If you don’t install a delay, you’re likely to get your wires crossed and blame someone for your material and potentially take on responsibility for what is not yours. Sort it out first, then have the conversation.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Capricorn, please go to this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Somewhere in A Course in Miracles is the notion that “you are an idea that can never leave its source.” This is directed at those who feel separate from spirit or from the rest of humanity; who feel alienated from the flow of creation. I bring it up today because your astrology presents that very image of connection that would obviate the sensation or illusion of being separate. Thought is creative, and you are made of thought. Thought is free, and you are free to create yourself into who you want to be. Yet the key words here are create and want — which imply conscious choices. This, in turn, implies taking full responsibility for the process. That one fact is enough to deter most people from ever daring to create who they are, or rather, from doing so consciously. You create yourself all the time, and the power to do so has never been more palpable or accessible to you.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Aquarius, please go to this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Imagine how different your life would be if you had felt confident and secure the whole time. Consider how much energy you have wasted on the fear of developments that never came to pass, on lack of faith that you could come through, and on anxiety that had no special source or identifiable topic. Saturday’s lunar eclipse illustrates a breakthrough on this theme. The essence of your fear is the experience of being divided against yourself, and you are now in a moment where those two seemingly different halves are joined together. Or, more accurately, a moment where you recognize they were never separate. This is something you will feel in your body first, before you begin to recognize it as a concept. In truth, this has been developing for a while, and now it’s finally becoming obvious enough to translate into authentic confidence you can apply toward your most cherished goals.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Pisces, please go to this link.

A Moment of Transparency

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Dear Friend and Reader:

So here we are in the thick of Mercury retrograde, with that giant magnet passing between the Sun and the Earth. The effect has nothing to do with superstition. The brain is an electrical device. The Sun is an electrical transmitter. Add a hunk of iron the size of a planet into the mix and there can be some weird effects that affect both your Flash player and where you thought your keys were.

Photo by Eric Francis.

We’re also approaching a total lunar eclipse in Gemini on Dec. 10, which is making all kinds of aspects to complicated psychological planets (centaurs Pholus and Hylonome, and a deep space point) that nobody really understands. The approaching eclipse might feel like a bubble growing inside you that refuses to burst, every minute leaving you wondering when it will. Or you might feel like you’re on a big adventure that’s on the verge of going out of control half the time.

From what my readers and clients are telling me, responses to this astrology range from “feeling compelled to clean my desk off completely and organize everything, everywhere, and be in charge of my own existence” to what one described as a “huge spiritual crisis, massive internal overhaul” in her partner. She added, “I feel like my world has turned upside down. So much going on. WHEN does it get easier?”

Someone wrote to me and said it seemed like every person in New York City was horny. Now that would be an adventure.

In the Northern Hemisphere late autumn is always a high-pressure time of year, accentuated by the very short days that seem to compress time. The Earth and Sun gradually aligning with the Galactic Center (a supermassive black hole) provides another kind of acceleration effect, as does the mundane fact of the calendar wrapping up another year. Plus we’ve just had an eclipse of the Sun, and that’s making it feel like the river is moving a little more swiftly than usual.

The forthcoming Dec. 10 lunar eclipse is a clear release point, as will be Mercury stationing direct three days later. Yet I don’t suggest you merely wait these things out, hoping your life will calm down and you can get back to normal. That is not the point at all. These moments of high intensity can be uncomfortable, but they are rich with information and potential growth. In particular, Mercury retrograding over two centaur planets this past week (Pholus and Hylonome, referenced above) can be opening up a wealth of inner information. The North Node is right there and that is about opening you to new territory and experience.

Toss your concepts of ‘spiritual’ and go right for discovering the missing data and exploring new or missing experiences. This will be revealed through inner sources, contact you initiate with family members, things that just happen, and subtle things you notice in your environment. The key to this is not letting your mind run past the best information. We’ve all had the experience of noticing some interesting detail (or person or critter or building) a few steps from our house, something that we’ve walked past many times a week for years but somehow mysteriously did not notice. That is how psychology often works. Vital information can be right in front of us, but we just don’t notice, or make the connection. It’s like looking everywhere for your reading glasses, when they’re happily parked on your nose and ears.

Photo by Eric Francis.

This is the time to make the connection. Mercury retrograde comes with a powerful inward tug. That tug may be making you feel like your life is waaaay too busy. It’s also pulling you in the direction of what you can think of as a direct ancestral energy line — a kind of bridge to the core, leading right into your ancestral history. Is that too heady or ‘out there’?
Consider what you’re experiencing now, in terms of the deeper material you’re noticing. If something comes up as an ‘issue’, ask yourself what it’s really about and wait for the answer.

You can quite literally decode crucial aspects of your childhood under this astrology. You may gain some clarity into what was so weird about certain people who could not tell right from wrong, and why so many other people tolerated that. But there is a bigger mission implied, which is opening up the adventure of your life mission. Sagittarius is all about the adventure of life (just ask one) and this astrology is a calling for everyone.

See if you can develop this into a conversation. These are deep, brave aspects going by right now — faster than you may think, if they’re getting to you — and while they last you could learn a lot.

What do you do with what you learn? You might discover something that resolves an old (and I mean very old) issue. These things happen; there are moments when learning something actually changes you. It’s deeper than ‘insight’, which can feel more like popcorn. When a missing key shows up, it can arrive with a solid sensation, such as release or actual clarity. Don’t forget the feeling that comes with the discovery. Ask how your life can be different, now that you’ve made this connection.

Personal Healing, Going Global

We’re in a moment when personal healing is unlocking the potential for global healing. One little problem with the upheavals of the 1960s was that working out our most significant troubles was not really on the agenda. Feeling good was. Standing up to power was. Great music, drugs, sex, sure. But the deeper work was generally left out of the picture. Well, it was included if you were doing Primal Therapy, but for the most part people brought their baggage with them, and kept hold of it. That’s why so many hippies ended up as stock brokers.

Photo by Eric Francis.

We are now in a moment not only when we have to take world issues personally, but when we must recognize that taking real steps toward personal healing and growth are vital steps toward world healing. In our era, we often make the mistake of stopping on the personal level and not reaching for the next step.

However, Uranus in Aries is shocking many people out of their self-absorption, and if that is not doing the trick, the ongoing earthquake of Uranus in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn is providing some shock therapy in the form of a world changing in ways that are very difficult to understand. Such as, where are the jobs and the opportunities? The unemployment rate is technically 9% but that does not include the under-employed, people who have given up and those who are on public assistance — which means that about a third of the country is in or very close to poverty. Many people are painfully aware that they could be next. With Uranus-Pluto focusing from Aries to Capricorn, this could mean a huge (and well-deserved) uprising against ‘the system’.

Why does it look like the euro and numerous European governments may all go down? Why have there been vicious crackdowns on Occupy movements across the country? Let’s pretend it has something to do with the issues they’re calling to light, such as the biggest bank robbery in the history of the world. We are literally living through the expression of unchecked corporate abuse that could put millions of people onto breadlines overnight. The personal side of this is, we could be casting ourselves into roles as victims — or as protagonists who rise to the occasion. That might be because you have nothing left lose, and it might be because you have no choice in the matter.

Knowing that, we have the options to pay attention or bury our heads in the sand. Fortunately, the ostrich maneuver is getting old and paying attention to what is obvious is becoming compelling. And one thing that’s obvious is that pretending it doesn’t matter to us is just that — making believe.

Photo by Eric Francis.

Pluto in Capricorn is ripping through global systems and institutions like Lord Shiva himself. It’s also up-ending our beliefs, our sense of stability, our relationship to the past and how we perceive the world around us.

Uranus in Aries is providing the individuality, inventiveness and a calling to wake up and take advantage of the changes the world is going through, whether you want to or whether you have to. You might be asking if you’ve woken up too late. I would say that between the two is what you decide to do when you notice your awareness is coming on. That is a sensitive moment, when you could proceed in one of many directions, some more productive than others.

You will have the opportunity to test what you believe about yourself and about life. It could be an extremely vulnerable moment. That’s the spot we’re reaching for — self-honesty beyond judgment, a moment of truth and of necessity. You could say, a moment of transparency, when the mirror suddenly goes clear.

Lovingly,

P.S. Since sending out last night’s audio on 2012 aspects, we’ve had a lot of requests from subscribers how to purchase the product. Here is the page about the 2012 annual (Revolution. Revelation. Reality Check.) and here is a direct link to the product page.

Mercury is still in retrograde motion in Sagittarius, and today it is conjunct the lunar North Node and Great Attractor. The peak of the Mercury retrograde cycle happens Sunday at 4:52 am with the interior conjunction of Mercury and the Sun. At the same time, Mercury will square both Mars in Virgo and an outer planet called Borasisi. Venus is pulling away from its conjunction with Pluto in Capricorn, and forms an earth trine with Mars on Monday. This time of year the Sun is heading into a conjunction with two deep-space points — the Great Attractor (on Dec. 6) and the Galactic Core (Dec. 19). Between those two events, we are approaching a total eclipse of the Moon in Gemini. Though it’s a little early to be talking about the Full Moon, this is an eclipse and we are currently under its influence now (please see article above).

The Moon is moving slowly across Pisces, which is delicate terrain. This is accentuated by the presence of Chiron in early Pisces and Ceres just past the midpoint; the imperative is for sensitivity to one’s own feelings and those around us. As it moves through Pisces Friday and Saturday, this porous, receptive and introspective Moon will make squares to many points in Sagittarius, which may have a provocative effect on many people. Efforts to treat this rationally will be complicated by Mercury retrograde, so some extra care will be required. Shy away from disagreements and keep conversations light if necessary. Gauge whether others display any self-understanding and respond appropriately. Saturday evening at 9:51 pm EST the Moon enters Aries, immediately forming a conjunction with Uranus — that will make for an interesting Saturday night, especially on the heels of all this inner-seeing and inner-feeling of the prior two days. The fiery moon will come with a boost of confidence, and potentially false confidence. Continue to proceed with caution, check your facts and especially check your opinions.

The recent Venus-Pluto conjunction seemed to have half the world hot and bothered, determined to express their sexuality in some direct way. The conjunction, though now growing wider, is still having an influence as Venus works its way into a trine with Mars in Virgo. Blending Venus and Mars in earthy signs is a calling to guide one’s feelings into the body, though Mars in Virgo is about expressing the exact nature of desire — and that calls for words. Mars in Virgo has very specific desires, and everyone will have more fun if these are identified, expressed and explored playfully. There is an interesting alignment involving a number of points that center on the asteroid Photographica, the planet Neptune and something called Admetos. This is about exploring the dark side of one’s visual imagination. More people are curious about this thing called ‘porno’ than are willing to admit to it, but admitting your curiosity to yourself is a great place to start. It is not a fact that ‘men are more visual than women’. Many factors demonstrate the opposite — explore and decide for yourself, though be aware that the current astrology is pointing to the darker, more transgressive side of visual expression.

Democaracy Now! is reporting that the total number of arrested in the raids on Occupy encampments in Los Angeles and Philadelphia early Wednesday morning has now topped 350 people. Nearly 300 were arrested when around 1,400 officers raided the Occupy LA site at city hall. Fifty people were arrested when Philadelphia police cleared the protest camp at Dilworth Plaza. To date, more than 5,000 people have been arrested in Occupy Wall Street crackdowns nationwide. That is about 5,000 more than were ever arrested in Tea Party protests.

Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the richest man in the city by the way, boasted to an audience at MIT Tuesday night that the New York City Police Department is his own personal army. Bloomberg said, “I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh biggest army in the world.” The mayor has been accused of using New York City’s massive police department as his own private force to clear out Occupy Wall Street protesters from their home base in Lower Manhattan and to execute scores of arrests throughout the city. Now we may have an answer to the question once posed by Radiohead, “You and whose army?”

While Occupy movements continue to be evicted from their camps, there is an equally important issue to watch: the suppression of voter rights. Half of the states have passed or are considering laws suppressing voter rights, which include stricter ID requirements, cutting down pre-election day voting time and figuring out how to keep the young, the elderly and minorities away from the polls. We need to meet this with determination and appropriate indignation. It used to be said that if voting got results, it would be illegal — and that is precisely what we see happening now. Here is a Wikipedia article that outlines the issue. This is definitely in the “think globally, act locally” category — it’s a national issue but it’s possible to take local action, which begins with registering to vote and getting your friends to do the same thing.

“On Nov. 25, two days after a failed German government bond auction in which Germany was unable to sell 35% of its offerings of 10-year bonds, the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said that Germany might retreat from its demands that the private banks that hold the troubled sovereign debt from Greece, Italy and Spain must accept part of the cost of their bailout by writing off some of the debt. The private banks want to avoid any losses either by forcing the Greek, Italian and Spanish governments to make good on the bonds by imposing extreme austerity on their citizens, or by having the European Central Bank print euros with which to buy the sovereign debt from the private banks. Printing money to make good on debt is contrary to the ECB’s charter and especially frightens Germans, because of the Weimar experience with hyperinflation.” Read more at Global Research.

Eclipses, Mercury and Thoughts on Occupy

This is the new (regular) edition of Planet Waves FM. In the first half, I cover the current astrology: Mercury retrograde, the approaching lunar eclipse, and Venus conjunct Pluto — the aspect of lust. In the second half of the program, I discuss some issues involving the Occupy movement, relaying some information I received from C.T. Butler, a previous guest on Planet Waves.

Here you’ll find the full archives and a downloadable zip file. They’re also available on iTunes.

P.S. Check Planet Waves FM Special Edition: Top Five Events of 2012.

Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. Weekly Horoscope #883. | Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Your rational ideas may be coming into conflict with things to take for granted or on faith. If you’re in any conflict, I suggest you check where these two seemingly different levels of reality are trying to establish the truth of something, or vying for supremacy. This kind of tension can be uncomfortable, particularly if you find yourself questioning cherished beliefs that you don’t want to let go of. It would be worth your time, however, to ask yourself why you believe what you believe. It would be just as worthwhile to inquire whether your ideas about life stand up to the available facts, and for that matter, a few other facts that you are currently digging out. The good news is that baseless beliefs don’t really provide you with any comfort, and the even better news is that facts don’t always add up to the truth.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You may feel like you’ve gone through a transformation of some kind, perhaps right down to the cellular level, which has left you feeling raw and vulnerable. At the same time, you’re in a highly structured environment, which you may think is limiting you but which is really providing you with a measure of stability as you go through some deep and necessary changes. Therefore you can focus on your growth, trusting that you’re supported in that experience. Whether you feel safe is another question, but I suggest you treat vulnerability as an opportunity rather than as any kind of threat. All of the finer things in life — love, sensuality, desire, self-expression, learning and friendship, are facilitated by your being open, receptive and in harmony with your environment. You may have the feeling that your surroundings are not supportive of these things, but your astrology suggests that you have some excellent opportunities for authentic contact.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Anger is a controversial emotion among spiritual types, most of whom would prefer to outlaw it or at least banish it to the dark side. However, the fact is that anger exists, and it has many causes. Whether it’s a productive emotion in the long-run is another question, but in the immediate timeframe it is calling your attention to something that you should pay attention to. The danger of anger is festering on it or turning it inward. Another danger is projecting it outward in ways that are not healthy or respectful, but it’s probably better to err on the side of expression rather than suppression. In any event, your attention is being called to a truly significant issue, and you know that you will need to take action sooner rather than later. There is no rush, however; I suggest you investigate your feelings and the history behind them for a while before you make any final decisions.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — This is a good time to consider what you owe the world, or what you absolutely want above all else to give the world. You may have a significant debt that you are here to pay off in some form of selfless service. Or, you may have noticed that you’ve been doing that for a long time and need to think of it in a different way. You may be someone who has never considered the concept of world service. It’s time to give that idea a thorough and introspective investigation and find out what it means for you. You are formulating a deep relationship to this idea, and something akin to being a spiritual disciple is awakening in you. Whatever the karma behind this awakening may be, you are receiving a deep inheritance. True, you may not think of gaining an inheritance as ‘taking action’, but what you have is the privilege of authentic participation.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You have a creative opportunity to make a lot of money, with the emphasis on creative first and money second. This will require you to take some specific, carefully chosen action, which I suggest you think of as an experiment. You can wait for ‘something to happen’ but you would benefit from knowing your goal, planning your approach and making a move to see how it goes. An old friend or colleague may be involved, such as in the role of reminding you of an old idea you had, or providing you with some resources or inspiration. During this Mercury retrograde, you may find yourself digging up undeveloped ideas, dreams or desires that serve a diversity of purposes — and which will enrich your life if you follow up on them. If you’re discovering an abundance of these, pick from the ones that you think will make you the happiest. There will be many other benefits.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You are gaining confidence, but it seems to be a delicate walk because losing your courage is only a thought away. The good news is that reconnecting with your courage is only a thought away. But here is a clue: Being rebellious is not enough to get you there. Rebellion in itself is a tool, not a value, and I suggest you be cautious where you apply it. The uprisings that worked for you as a child no longer work today; the things that got the attention of your parents will no longer get the attention of anyone in authority now. Anyway, there is something else you want from your predecessors, which is the example of their authentic relationship to the world. You will gain confidence by being fully in your environment, and by proceeding if not with a sense of entitlement, a sense of belonging to the human family. You are not an outcast. You are a fully vested participant in life on the planet.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — I suggest you acquire some political skills, or refine and enhance the ones you have. Politics is the basic game of human society. It’s influenced by many things: privilege, sex, strength, resources and the propensity of certain individuals to violence — but at the end of the day, to be a skilled player you need none of that. You merely need an understanding of the game and why it is important. I am suggesting this not to get you further entrenched in an idea or an institution of some kind but rather to help you find some freedom. Getting along with others, learning to get your agenda going, and having some skill in give and take, are all essential talents worth developing. In any situation where politics is a necessary art, the antithesis is to stay in touch with your sexual desire. When you lose that vital contact, the game can become dangerous indeed.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — You may be inclined to push a financial deal, but you had better check the details carefully before you sign anything. There is promise and potential here, and possibly the chance to realize a very specific dream or desire. Yet the combination of a stellar Mars aspect (driving you forward) simultaneously with Mercury retrograde (potential misunderstanding or misinformation) is the cause for concern. You could do a handshake deal now, and finalize the real agreement in the last two weeks of the year, after Mercury stations direct and become privy to certain levels of information that you may not be aware even exist. The details count for a lot, and I suggest you invest your time finding out what is going on below the surface. Chances are you will be able to use the information well, and resolve your lingering questions — but those questions have to come to the surface before you can do that.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You had better make sure your opinions are backed up by some data. It would be adequate to be able to say, “In my opinion, such and such is true, for the following three reasons.” I don’t mean to undermine your confidence in what you know is right, but rather bolster your confidence when it comes to knowing you’re not always right. I would give yourself extra points if you or anyone else spots an error in your thinking, particularly an error of interpretation. This may come from someone who you are sure is inexperienced or uninformed; don’t let that stop you from fact-checking if someone nudges you. At the heart of the matter, though, is a lingering question about something you believe and are inclined to hold onto at all costs, despite your doubts. You may think you’re a brave holdout, but I would say check the freshness date.

Sagittarius Birthday Audio Report

Dear Friend and Sagittarian:

Whiskey and Owen. Photo by Beki Herrbach.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — I am pretty sure you have not heard of the Red Goat incident in the little town where I live. This consisted of two artists tagging these brand-new, certifiably ugly white tree planters with a stencil of red goats. A little street art caused one of the biggest uproars of the year. Everyone (including me) was suspect in what amounted to a two-week police dragnet. The mayor took it so personally he nearly had an aneurysm. The masses were rallied for a fantastic cause. It was great fun — and the symbol of the unintentional revolt was a goat, just being him/herself. Over the next few days you’re likely to have a similar kind of impulse power, causing reactions you could never have predicted and getting results you were not expecting. This will be fun, if you keep your eye on the effects you’re having. For one thing, you have some luscious, charismatic sex appeal working for you. Lest you’re in doubt — people are noticing.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Capricorn, please go to this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — The deepest core of your psyche has gone from spitting out demons, to the sensation of angels flying out the windows of your soul. I would dare say there have likely been a few spaces in between, when you wondered just what it was you were possessed by. All of this is part of a necessary catharsis that will extend into early next year, when Neptune leaves your sign and enters Pisces. This is a phase of resolution; of tying up the loose ends and making sure that you’re being honest with yourself, and with the people around you, before you move onto your next major adventure. What feels like madness or turmoil in your soul will connect you to your deepest and most authentic creativity. It only feels like angels and devils when it’s suppressed. Then it has a way of turning into art, music and celebration.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Aquarius, please go to this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — The emphasis of your charts is focused on your career — and I suggest that’s where you keep the emphasis of your energy flow. There is more happening there than you recognize, and despite a few things that could be going better than they seem to be, you will have energy to spare as long as you moderate your pace and keep your communications clear. This is a seed moment for you, a time when you will make decisions and act on long-delayed plans. But don’t stop there. You are under rare astrology that is about expanding your vision and making forays into the world that you might have deemed impossible just months or weeks ago. Part of the emphasis is on partnership; the people you encounter now could prove to be truly significant collaborators. Strive for clarity and you will get clear results.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Pisces, please go to this link.

Between Two Worlds

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Note: I’m at Omega Institute this week, doing a visiting faculty retreat, and just gave a talk on Dharma and Biological Integrity. That link will take you to the full recording –efc

Dear Friend and Reader:

We’re about to experience the last of three closely-related eclipses — a partial solar eclipse that occurs on Friday at 4:54 am EDT. This eclipse will be in Cancer, and is the first in a cycle of eclipses that span far into the future. Centuries from now, astrologers will look back at this event for information about the times they are in, and will use Friday’s chart as a reference point. They will also be curious what was going on in our phase of history, and if they are vaguely imaginative, they’ll wonder what it felt like to be alive now.

Simplified chart for the solar eclipse Friday morning. The eclipse itself is the conjunction of the Sun and the Moon on the left side. You can tell they are conjunct because they are next to one another and have the same number value. The ‘grand cross’ (also called a ‘grand square’) is everything that meets the eclipse at right angles (traced by the purple lines making a cross, or the red lines making a square, in the center of the chart). Pluto (the red golf tee) is opposite the eclipse with a respectable three-degree orb; Uranus is at 90 degrees (the blue capital H, on top of the chart) and Saturn is the yellow lowercase H at the bottom of the chart. The cross includes many separate aspects, such as Saturn opposite Uranus, and Uranus square Pluto. Chiron and Neptune are together in Pisces on top toward the right, and Jupiter in Taurus is above and toward the left.

Astrological charts are composed of some patterns that move quickly, and some that move relatively slowly. The slow-moving patterns describe the historical context that reveals the state of society and frame the personal changes we’re living through. Simply put, the outer planets point to some of our deepest changes and where we fit into the larger changes in the world around us. If we look at the slow-moving patterns in this chart, it’s possible to see this event as a kind of bridge between two astrological eras. One era is what you might call the warmup to the long-speculated-about 2012-2015 period, and the other era is the thing itself — rather than the myth.

The main structure of the eclipse chart is arranged as a crossroads in the early cardinal signs — the early degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. This is called a grand cross, and its position aligns it with something called the Aries Point — the first degree of the zodiac. When the Aries Point is activated, the energy rises, and a space opens up where deeply personal events share the room with sweeping changes in society. What we call individual experience stands in the same place as collective experience. Of course, it always does. Our private lives are influenced by the public realm more than we think, but when the Aries Point is cooking, the intersection is a little more obvious. We can tell because we feel the sense of urgency, the pull to get involved, and we might take the sense of a critical moment a little more personally.

I trust that readers outside the U.S. will indulge my giving examples using American culture; you can look to your own community for similar examples that will illustrate the point equally well — and if you have examples I would love to hear about them (including how you’re personally experiencing those changes or the call to action).

We have all been eyewitnesses to the effects of this astrology. Between 2007 and the present time, American society has been through a dramatic polarization. Social conservatives and the extremely wealthy have worked together to push through an agenda that both restricts personal rights and concentrates resources at the top. It is indeed one agenda that cuts off resources to the poor, runs wrangle on reproductive rights and attempts to restrict the movement of ordinary folks. This in turn is reflective of a society that’s being run on a divide and conquer theory. In the astrology, we’ve seen this as a series of oppositions between Saturn (a planet said to represent structure) and Uranus (a planet said to represent energy). With that opposition you get some hotly polarized tension. The typical narrative is of regressive versus progressive thinking. We saw one of the last acts in this drama play out in New York State when the Knights of Columbus, worried about what allegedly happened to Sodom and Gomorrah, pitted themselves against people who want to be free to choose their partners on their own terms.

Ferns grow out of a cliff behind the Sanctuary teaching space at Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York. Photo by Eric.

This may seem ridiculous, but it illustrates the point of how attached to the past, or an idea from the past, it’s possible to be, and how powerfully this can influence the present moment. The many dramas of this sort have paralleled the Saturn-Uranus opposition in a way that makes you wonder if life isn’t some kind of puppet theater with the planets pulling the strings. Of course, looked at honestly, this can seem like a lot of unnecessary head bashing. Perhaps it took this polarized astrology to make the issue seem obvious.

We’re now leaving behind the Saturn-Uranus opposition — Friday’s eclipse seems to be the last major event in which the aspect features prominently. Saturn is now heading for late Libra and eventually Scorpio, leaving Uranus in early Aries to do its work on the level of individual and collective awakening. Uranus is the planet of revolution and Aries is the sign where we not only hold our sense of self, but where we create it as we go. So, a long series of personal revolutions that spill over into collective progress are on their way.

In this chart, the Saturn-Uranus opposition intersects with another aspect — one that’s just warming up. That’s the Uranus-Pluto square. When you think of 2012, this is the aspect to remember, and remember that it makes seven exact contacts between June 24, 2012 and March 16, 2015. (This same cycle next comes into play in 2046, when Saturn and Pluto make an opposition.) Note that the square has a wider time orb than this 2012-2015 date range. We’ve been feeling its effects for several years, and it will continue to have effects into the end of the decade. But the peak phase of this aspect is going to be interesting, a time when we see some extraordinary changes in society. By that I don’t mean the usual litany of disasters, but some unusual developments that we might have claimed were impossible right up till they happened.

The Hermitage at Omega Institute. Photo by Eric.

The long square between Uranus and Pluto is one of the threshold eras of our lifetimes. It’s the time when anything can change, and most anything will — our job is to participate, envision and adapt.

Yet this will be small comfort for those who are clinging to the past in desperate fear. It might not feel like ‘the past’ to them by the way — it might feel like the only thing they know. We’ve all got a little piece of this working somewhere, and it’s good to know about it because that bit of clinging can be the one thing that holds you back.

There will be people, potentially right near you, who fall anywhere on the range from frightened to terrified. Part of not being scared is being able to assist those who are, to the degree that it’s possible. We all make up our own agendas in life, and if someone’s agenda is to be paralyzed, there is little anyone else can do about it. It would make a lot more sense to observe your own fear dynamics and see how they create resistance within you, and what you discover you can do about this. Remember, you’re not being loyal to your parents by being scared of the same things they are.

The opposite of fear is love, and this can turn up as trust, imagination, a sense of community, a sense of your own potential or what we might get done if we cooperate. There’s the thing we need to figure out the very most: we’re all in this together. Once you’ve tuned out the ongoing propaganda campaign that we have nothing in common, it’s easy to see how much common ground we share (such as the planet itself, the air, the water, the need for companionship, and so on). The common ground in this chart is indicated by Pisces and the planets associated with it.

Fretboard of G&L Comanche. Photo by Eric.

There is a direct energy line into Pisces because the eclipse is trine Chiron and Neptune in that sign (that’s the double green line in the center going up to the right). Pisces is the sign of the imagination, representing the endless cosmic ocean of creativity we can tap into at any time. Chiron is helping us focus our minds on this wavelength; Neptune is providing a rush of fresh, new water into the ocean it rules over. Amidst this clash of the titans, the chart points the way into rich potential and actual freedom.

Yet this is freedom you have to take for yourself rather than be given. The circumstances of your life or the world may require you to make significant changes, or rather to make a conscious choice to alter the flow of your existence. Yes, some things develop in what seems like a natural way and some develop by an overt decision. And who knows: this may turn out to be easier than you think it will be.

Last, Jupiter, the other ruler of Pisces, is in Taurus. This blends the populist realm of Pisces with the individual possession realm of Taurus, enriching both. Our individual lives indeed benefit by a connection to collective resources, and we all have something to offer that will make the world a better place. The thing about Pisces in any form is that it calls for clarity. It’s necessary to be awake, honest and more than a little scrupulous, or it’s possible to slip or get lost in denial. This chart has a lot of protection against such possibilities; with the least cooperation on your part, Chiron in Pisces will keep you focused and awake as you cross this bridge into the unknown.

Remember: the water of Pisces is inherently erotic. If you’re interested in creation, creativity, celebrating the Earth or your own nature, growing, evolving, loving God or Goddess, or loving existence, that’s the one thing to bring with you; the one thing that has no substitute. If you only have one birthright here, that is the fact of being alive and creative. If this is true, it’s true down to the cellular level. Think of your passion, your pleasure and your creativity (they are closely related) as being the deepest expression of your integrity.

Yours & truly,

To discover how these changes influence you personally, check out the Planet Waves 2011 Midyear Report by Eric Francis.

Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for July 2011

Revised and Updated! Click for Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19) — How does it come to be that we get so over-identified with our relationships? How is it that we confuse them with who we are, and can even think we lack validity, existence or citizenship unless we are certifiably partnered? There are actually answers to those questions if we look at them sincerely. At the moment you seem to be in a situation where your inner development is exceeding the capacity of a relationship. This, in turn, may be conflicting with your tendency to identify with your situation. Now, the cosmic beauty of this is that you will get to define a boundary between you and your circumstances. Indeed, as you clarify this, you will see what you’ve been trying to do for a long time, much longer than you realize. I would remind you that our culture provides exceedingly few examples of what it means to be in a relationship as an individual. For many people, being in a relationship or a family environment is a hedge against that individuality — and I suggest you examine your family line for information about how this may be true in the people who raised you. Ultimately, your drive to grow and become far exceeds any circumstances or the limits that can be imposed by an agreement. If you are indeed growing faster than someone, or many people, around you, then this is something to admit directly, and promptly. At this stage of your life there is no time for faking it, and plenty of incentive to be real with yourself and others.

Click here to order your 2011 Aries Audio Birthday Report.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — There are rewards for letting go of what troubled you in the past, and the things you were attached to in the past that you no longer want or need. Those rewards begin with acknowledging what is real to you, and worthwhile for you, in this moment. That will provide a way to invest yourself in your immediately available environment. You are training yourself in what nourishes you and what does not. Then of course you have a choice of what you imbibe. I recognize the matter of the past can seem extremely complicated. But if we look at its basic elements, we can see that for the most part, the past consists of unresolved feelings that give us very little. Instead of spending our lives unconsciously chasing things that we supposed might fill that gap, we can look directly at those feelings and the situations that gave rise to them. I would note that the situations are arranged in layers. It’s not as simple as linear cause and effect; when you make a discovery, be sure to keep your inquisitive mind on, rather than use a feeling of discovery as a point of conclusion. If you’re just a little persistent, and practice being self-reflective, you can find your way to a new perspective. And while you may be inclined to think of this as a new idea, I would describe it as a new emotional perspective on your own existence — literally, a feeling that describes who you are when you’re not encumbered by expectations of any kind.

Click here to order your 2011 Taurus Audio Birthday Report.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — You have long wanted to stabilize your financial situation and you now have a plan for doing so. The key is going to be sticking to that plan long enough to demonstrate to yourself that it works and is therefore worth pursuing and developing. I would remind you that most of what we learned about money we learned from people who were 1. Not that good at handling the stuff and 2. Happy to impart all kinds of emotional baggage and barbs that came along with their philosophy. Usually, there is a close relationship between being financially independent and being emotionally and psychically independent from your parents. In our society money is one of the ultimate forms of power in our own lives. It’s the freedom to stay or to go; the freedom to be who you are no matter what anyone may think. If you look at the times in your life when you had the least such freedoms, they were likely to be in your family of origin, or within relationships that emulated your family of origin. By emulated, I mean which duplicated the sense of powerlessness over your circumstances that you may have felt as a child. At this stage of your growth, ‘power’ and ‘freedom’ translate to being free from the games of others, financial and otherwise; they translate to the ability to trust your own resourcefulness, and most of all, the ability to feel what you feel without the fear of consequences.

Click here to order your 2011 Gemini Audio Birthday Report.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — The July 1 eclipse in your birth sign is about tying together many loose ends, and reminding you that despite the many stories these threads represent, your life has one theme. We tend to think of existence in categories: self-development, work, relationships, home life and so on. This is a glitch in consciousness that veils the fact that we are each one person living one life. Indeed, thinking in boxes does something more detrimental — it creates the notion that we are separate people within ourselves, dividing our character between worker, parent, individual who grows, person who aspires and so on. Many who have attempted can report on the challenge of seeing yourself as something beyond all of these concepts, and indeed recognizing yourself as something other than a concept. Yet I am intimately aware of the sense of a divided self that afflicts many humans, and which can be especially tricky and tiresome for those born under your sign or with Cancer rising. If you start to feel an inner division, I suggest you turn it into a dialog. Get the aspects of yourself conversing, and consider the viewpoints of both of them, or however many there are. You may be aware of how testy this dialog can get, and thus might want to avoid knowing too much about it. However, you’re on the verge of a major self-discovery that could go a long way toward resolving your differences with yourself. You will then discover that your differences with others were a kind of shadow.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Cancer, please go to this link.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You may have discovered that you’re more driven by your emotional nature than by your intellect. While this is true for most people (otherwise, advertising would not work as well as it does), in your life this factor can have a veil thrown over it. That veil is being pulled back by the July 1 solar eclipse in your adjoining sign Cancer. If you can see and understand this tendency, it doesn’t have to run your life. There are more creative ways to live, and the other side of that very same emotional aspect of yourself is a deeply nurturing spirit that is both generous and conscious. You can get into some conflict if you resist that quality, and you may be figuring out that you’re a lot happier when you’re offering others the best of who you are. The eclipse is focused on your 12th solar house — the part of the mind that we rarely get to see, or which disappears into the waking dream of life. The 12th is an inner environment, and the eclipse resembles an opening through which you can allow fear, negativity and attachment to the past to be flushed out of your psyche. Let it do its work. The process is not over; it will go on for months, and speed you through the many self-improvement projects you have going. On that note, I would paraphrase Abraham, an entity I started looking into while researching Leo astrology a few years ago. He suggested that the only thing worthy of discipline is feeling good. From that, everything else will follow.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Leo, please go to this link.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You’re rather sensitive to what others think of you, though it looks like you’re seeing the benefits in setting some limits to how much you let it affect you. There’s something deep here, and very likely something old. All humans and many other critters need affirmation and approval. That much we can all agree on. What we might disagree on is whether it’s a healthy impulse. I would say that it is, if we can manage to be the first place we go for that approval. Here’s why: If you seek acknowledgement outside yourself, you may be validating your doubt with greater strength than the affirmation providing nourishment. That is counterproductive. If, instead, you get into the habit of answering your own questions (primarily with yes) you will gradually discover that you exist, and that you have a right to exist. That’s what it all boils down to, kid. It’s not about winning the Grammy, the Oscar or even a ribbon at the county fair. All of these things are, at least in theory, designed to inform you that you have a right to be here and to do what you really want to do. At this stage of your life, certain primal instincts are starting to wake up and inform you just how true this is. So if you feel your passion stir, don’t go back to sleep. If you feel your curiosity get restless, go seeking clues rather than assuming you know the answer. And if you desire validation, remind yourself that not only do you belong here — you’re actually here, and you know it.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Virgo, please go to this link.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — You’re figuring out how not to overreact in relationship situations, though there seems to be a good bit available that you can overreact to. The skill of maintaining your balance no matter what others are going through — or offering you, or luring you with — is something that you seem destined to learn. As you do, remember that balance is not a static position. Rather, it’s the art of continual adjustment to your environment. This keeps life interesting and lets you perceive experiences as creative fodder. Saturn currently moving through your sign is a moment of reckoning with yourself: of discovering what it means to be fully authentic with yourself, and then as a direct result, with everyone else. This will teach you to be balanced, stable and optimistic. Saturn moving through your sign will only last a little more than one year from now, and is providing a constant reference point of your boundaries. But Uranus will be in Aries, your opposite sign, for the next seven years, stirring up your environment and offering a steady flow of interesting people and situations. There will, as a result, be plenty to test how steady you are on your pins. Remember that much of balance is flexibility, and you may want to consider embracing models of relationship that offer that above all else. It’s not just that you need freedom; you need to live in an environment where it’s considered healthy.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Libra, please go to this link.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Mars in Gemini may be making obvious certain splits in your opinion, desires or intentions that have been lurking below the boards for some time. I suggest you not hold yourself as someone of ‘low integrity’ because you have a divided opinion, or seeming inner conflict in a value, or have discovered that you might act some ways and speak other ways that seem to contradict them. We all must come to terms with dualism while we are here in the world of duality. It is ultimately the unified mind that can make this recognition and have the desire to do something about it — though that unified mind can be a challenge to dial in consistently. The more we do so, the stronger we become. As you observe the many ways there are two of anything in your life — viewpoints, people you care about, financial options, diverging ways of life — remember that the mere observation of this indicates both an advanced level of awareness and the power to do something with the information. Seeing the pattern is the first step in the healing process, assuming it’s even bothering you. In fact there are many times in life when we get to have our cake and eat it too; the either-or choices for who we are tend to be false dichotomies. By that, I mean the two viewpoints or possibilities we are presented with conceal something deeper, greater possibilities, or alternatives to the problem that take us to a higher level.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Scorpio, please go to this link.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — The most ordinary matters are the most meaningful right now. You don’t need to worry about big goals, grand destinations or even your personal destiny. Stay focused in what you’re doing, and in particular, take care of the material aspects: focus on keeping things running more or less on time; keep your sink empty and your sheets fresh and live the life you’re living. This is a moment when the very larger and seemingly more significant things are incorporated into the seemingly most mundane. Here’s the thing, though — they always are. When you’re working at your very highest potential, what you’re doing is part of life. And as part of that, you always have a basic need to maintain yourself, take care of basic creature comforts, and be present in the moment. What you have now is a setup where focusing on your immediate environment leads you to a sense of a much larger world. This could come from, for example, being more attentive to your phone messages or email, which directly leads to an opportunity. Or the effect may be indirect: you’re feeling rested and like you’ve got a handle on your life, and this gives you a little more space to have ideas, and engage people in conversations. One over-arching message of your solar chart is enjoy what you have. Enjoy the health, the wellbeing, the opportunity to serve and create, that you have at this moment. Relax into this space and you will find it offers you lots of unexpected potential.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Sagittarius, please go to this link.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Someone close to you seems to have shifted their perspective of who you are. That, or you’ve shifted your perspective and you are seeing someone in a different way, a different light. There is something in your charts about you and the people in your life making emotional space for one another. You need the space to be yourself, and to some extent that exists within the awareness of others; really, it’s something that you give to yourself. At the same time, you have the ongoing opportunity to open space within yourself for the changes and movements of others; that is, to be one who allows rather than resists. Relationships are complex, typically because we try to fit complex individual lives into a format that is way too simple to leave room for anyone to have actual space to grow. You are growing; you are changing; you know this, and at times it has you pretty nervous. Imagine how confident you would be if you knew people would embrace you no matter who you become. Now imagine how confident you will be if you know you’ll embrace yourself, no matter who you become. Self-forgiveness, and self-allowing, are by far the most significant pieces of this equation. Most of what the adults around us taught us when we were little was wrong. In that same spirit, it’s true that guilt is inflicted on us in the first instance, but there is nobody who can un-inflict it except for you.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Capricorn, please go to this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — It’s safe to let your curiosity be free. Indeed, this may be the only safety because it’s an aware state of mind: curiosity is engaging the world with receptivity. You may have a craving to explore the other side of a feeling, or the deeper, darker side of a creative idea. The thing with curiosity is that typically, when we’re very young, a boundary is set on it. We’re told that it’s dangerous to be curious and everyone has heard the rumor about that cat. This association with curiosity and death actually does a fairly good job of anaesthetizing the inquisitive factor of the mind. Right now that part of you is waking up, in a little tempest. As that develops you may feel like you’re going to exceed some boundary, rule or limit; that’s the thing to cross over. That’s the place where the best feelings are, and it’s a sure way to gradually lure yourself out of the boxed-in enterprise that life has become here in the 21st century. Though there are many external factors that try to push us into a kind of rigidity and then profit from it, we’re the only ones who are able to lead ourselves out. And the way we do that is by getting acquainted with the subtle conflicts, masked desires and odd ways we want to work out our inner polarities. The sensation when you get there is something akin to a blend of danger, release and pleasure. And when you feel that you’re on one of the most elemental levels of the human experience — which is the same thing as spiritual experience.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Aquarius, please go to this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Your sign is currently providing an alternative to much of the negativity of the world: the peace-loving nature of Pisces is starting to become an obvious path to many who have thrived on conflict. I suggest you open up to this yourself. Humans are pleasure-seeking creatures. Humans are creative, they love beauty and they’re inherently erotic. Therefore, you may discover that you’re the flavor of the month for a lot longer than a month. Now is the time to allow yourself to be the ultimate Piscean you’ve always wanted to be. Keep easing into the flow of life; make sure you keep the mystery of existence closely in your thoughts. Avoid people who thrive on conflict, or who are trapped in it — and remember, it’s not your job to cure them of anything. You may, at first, need to make certain discoveries on your own about what keeps you alert to beauty, feeling good and craving new experiences. As you learn from those, you will gradually attract people who are curious about your idea of fun. The coming weeks and indeed seasons of your life may feel like someone has handed you the ‘missing piece’ of your emotional psyche. Suddenly you don’t need others for your pleasure; you have yourself, and they are inclined to need you just a bit more than you’ve noticed before. Relax into this reality. You will wear it well; contentment breeds contentment, and as you value happiness, you will draw toward you people who are seeking the same thing.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Pisces, please go to this link.

Yearning for Dharma: An Epistle of the Eclipses

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Garden of Earthly Delights – Gemini solar eclipse. The bright spot at the top of this photo is the Moon and the Sun, about an hour after the conjunction. All photos in this edition were taken recently on the land (which also tells stories). Contact me if you if you would like larger versions, such as to decorate your website or illustrate an article — or as prints for your home or office. Photo by Eric.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Wednesday, I got a fortune cookie that said, “Cleaning up the past will always clear up the future!”

Who the heck writes these things, and how did I get one so perfectly describing a solar eclipse on the South Node, on the day of that eclipse? It’s a simple, elegant description of something we all know to be true, but often have so much difficulty with. After all, the past is so abundant, and it can be so problematic. The future seems to barely exist, if it exists at all; and it’s entirely uncertain.

Natural archway in the woods of the Grandmother Land in High Falls, NY. Photo by Eric Francis.

But it keeps happening; it comes at us faster than we realize. Well, the past couple of years, we’ve been getting a clue.

Eclipses involve these alignment points called the lunar nodes. There are two — North and South. In my podcast this week, I described how the South Node is about the expression or resolution of karma. Karma is the end result of the past; we experience it as the effect part of cause and effect, though the way to get a handle on karma is to figure out what the cause is about, and do your best to intervene in the process as consciously and as often as you can. After a while you start to figure it out. However the responsibility of knowing and actually living the truth that your actions have consequences can feel daunting. Part of why the past is so intimidating is that the world can not only be extremely unforgiving, but some take pleasure in inflicting that. It’s easy to get the sense that there is no point bothering with healing, making reparations or getting clear. But resolving the past is not about them; it’s about you. For those who figure it’s just easier pretending nothing matters, there may be less to keep you up at night. Yet those concerns can be subverted into what psychologists call generalized anxiety that may very well be the result of not focusing on what is important. By important, I don’t mean your taxes; I mean what is meaningful to your soul.

Though the eclipse happened two days ago, we can still work with it. We’re now in a kind of hot zone of several eclipses (and the sign change of Jupiter, a related story) wherein it’s possible to metaprogram our lives. A South Node eclipse in Gemini is about acknowledging and releasing mental patterns that don’t work for us. Indeed, the whole 18-month transit of the South Node through Gemini is about doing this, though we have eclipses as focal points to help us move the energy along faster.

The South Node represents a point in consciousness where the past enters the chart, and where it can accumulate. Planets in the natal chart near the South Node can represent longterm manifestations of the past — including of past lives — that we’re experiencing now. Planets transiting the South Node can represent situations that come up for healing, awareness and release. So the South Node really has this double function of representing what accumulates, and then the place we release it. By place, I mean in the manner suggested by the chart.

Photo by Eric Francis.

With the South Node (and eclipses) in Gemini, we’re letting go of old mental patterns, a sense of split reality, conflict and mental chatter. And while we seem to crave doing this, to get to a point of freedom within ourselves, there is another calling that most people feel at the same time, which is represented by the North Node. This is the pull toward new, unfamiliar experiences, though it has a subtle urgency more than an obvious one. The North Node can be the sense of what we came here to do. But it’s often a calling left unanswered.

We tend to lean heavily on the South Node. It’s familiar, it’s got a sticky quality and a habitual feeling, and that can often overpower the tentative quest of the North Node. You know the feeling — it’s the tension between what you do and what you really want to do. It’s the pull between what occupies your time now and what you wish you could be doing. It can also be tension between your need to make a living and your need to express yourself fully. Though many astrology students struggle with understanding the lunar nodes, they represent some of the most basic things that people go through.

Or shall I say people who are waking up to the idea that there may be a difference between what you’re doing and what you want to be doing; what you feel stuck with versus what you crave. Not everyone experiences this. If you do, though it may be frustrating, it’s a sure sign of awakening. There is a challenge involved, and the challenge makes it appealing to go back to sleep and pretend you don’t have that certain desire: to be more authentic, to do something more meaningful, or to support your own growth through your choices and actions. I would note — as we also know — that there are many potential distractions and temptations. If you want to live your dream without quitting your job just yet, there may come a time when you have to stay home and work every weekend instead of socialize. And if you’ve done that for a while, what you may need is balance in the other direction.

The nodes are an axis, and that means they are about balance. Usually, we must balance in the direction of the North Node. And it is an ongoing quest. Working as an astrologer for what feels like a good portion of eternity, I hear about this all the time. Besides wanting the perfect relationship, it’s the thing that most people come in with: a clear case of their North Node waking up, and not knowing how to handle it. It can be a strange feeling, compelling to some, annoying to others, but in the long run unavoidable — and we know it.

Photo by Eric Francis.

It will manifest as a person wanting to do what they came here to do, though often feeling helpless to get there, or even to begin. There are both counseling techniques and astrological techniques that can facilitate this, but really the client needs to be willing to cooperate with what is indeed his or her own agenda. It will usually help to clear some baggage out of the past, which might come in the form of dysfunctional beliefs or the agendas that others attached to us with that glue known as guilt.

Guilt can take many forms — that’s the first thing to understand about it. We may have to work through many forms of guilt to get unstuck, such as feeling it’s ‘too late’, the sense that there’s ‘not enough time’, and a past sense of failure. Note, these can all crumble or melt when life is taken over by a sense of adventure, curiosity or the need to go on a mission of some kind. We’ve all heard people say, “Had I known what I was getting involved in, I wouldn’t have done it, but I’m glad that I did.” That’s the North Node.

Eclipses — which activate both the North and South nodes, because they come in pairs or threes — are times when this whole process is shaken up and accelerated. Eclipses push the lunar nodes and the process they represent into overdrive. The South Node eclipse in Gemini has started a process of clearing out thought patterns, beliefs and ideas that don’t work for us.

How do you know what doesn’t work? Well, you probably already know, and it’s not that hard to figure out if you gather some evidence. In any event the process starts moving as the eclipse happens, and you’re probably getting some information from your direct experiences. Or as The Onion put it this week, all American problems could be solved by just stopping and thinking for two seconds. That would go for Canadian, English and Australian problems too. A lot of what I do as an astrologer is hang out with people and think. We apply reasoning methods; we think through the issues. (I offer many of the thought processes in this column, having learned them from experience in therapy and working with people.) With the nodes, the thing to remember is: work out both sides of the equation.

Photo by Eric Francis.

If you’re working with the nodes in your chart, or if you want to, I suggest you check a diversity of sources for what your placements are about — but emphasize the house placement over the sign placement. (Note, some sources are a bit overconfident about what these placements mean, and make statements that are not supportable. Therefore, read with an open mind, compare the sources and make sure the statements are supportable before you take them on board.) The sign placement is useful because the sign has a ruling planet and you can get some big clues — indeed some of the most meaningful clues — about what the nodes mean by studying the condition of the planet associated with that sign. For example, if your North Node is in Sagittarius, look at what Jupiter is doing for information about how you use your North Node. Remember — planets are not merely symbols; symbols stand for something in your life. Doing astrology is partly about figuring out what reality the symbols correspond with.

The next eclipse is a total lunar on June 15, a potent one on the North Node that happens to be conjunct the Galactic Center. I described this with the monthly horoscope a few weeks ago; that introduction is probably worth checking out again, since these ideas seem to take some repetition. Here we see the progression from letting go of ideas and patterns that don’t work and plunging into something bigger. Bigger, as in the soul-level calling represented by the Galactic Center; the sense of global reality, expressed in an individual way. The forthcoming eclipse on the North Node is about the undeniable yearning for dharma, and connecting what you might think of as the deepest calling you can connect with. It’s a moment to refresh your mind with your original commitments, instructions or inspiration for coming here (however you choose to think of it).

I will admit, whatever the GC represents is going to be a pretty high calling. It may feel intangible or, if you have a sense of what it is, impossible. Yet it’s about nothing less than the constant calling you feel, sometimes in the background, sometimes in the front of your thoughts, that there is something you want to do and need to do. That is the calling to dharma — your personal calling to do what is right for you, and acting for the greatest good for all concerned (the two are related, but they come in that order). Dharma is a form of integrity wherein personal right action and the cohesion of the world are recognized as being part of the same thing.

Remember, it’s an experience, not merely an idea. And that experience may feel strange and tentative at first, and that’s the feeling to follow, and to follow into yourself.

Lovingly,

Photo by Eric Francis.

Weekend Astrology: Jupiter in Taurus

Today is Friday, June 3, 2011. This weekend, Jupiter enters Taurus, where it will be through the spring of 2012. Unlike its recent visits to Pisces and Aries, Jupiter’s visit to Taurus is uninterrupted by retrograde back into Aries. The Taurus placement and Jupiter’s consistency there speak to a sense of stability, consistency and even-tempered growth. We have been living with a lot of Aries lately, and that’s had a hot, scorching feeling. Taurus will cool Jupiter off, like how taking a walk in a forest is good for your mind. Forests offer wisdom that cities do not.

Taurus appreciates that sense of continuity, and Jupiter — the ruling planet of Pisces — is great friends with Venus. I am not suggesting that life will be peaches and cream; we still live in challenging, even aggressively challenging, times, but this transit will be helpful, and a point of cooperation with much else going on. For example, Jupiter in an earth sign begins to pick up Pluto in Capricorn, which opens the way for the expression of ideas, passion and handy stuff like devotion that could be directed politically (among other ways).

Before I go on, here’s a quick rundown of current placements. The Moon ingressed Cancer Friday at 4:36 am EDT. The Sun, of course, is still in Gemini, about to get to the midpoint of that sign. Mercury just went into Gemini as well, and is making a square to both Neptune and Chiron. The Mercury-Neptune square can struggle with integrity (it’s important to state the truth under this aspect, and you might say to understate it). Mercury square Chiron can have the feeling of self-doubt, how could I be such an idiot, or thinking you’re wrong when you’re actually perceiving things accurately. I suggest you cross-reference, reality check against the viewpoints of others, and don’t be too frustrated by the sensation of not knowing. Being aware that you don’t know is the first step toward finding out.

Now, as for Jupiter in Taurus. Note that in less than two weeks, we’re having an eclipse of the Moon in Sagittarius. The North Node is also in Sagittarius, hence we will be having an eclipse there. The sign change of Jupiter, and the aspects that Jupiter makes, are connected to the themes of this eclipse. Remember that as you consider what you’re reading. The North Node is on the Galactic Core and that represents the direction of the pull; but where Jupiter is represents the worldly application of that quest, and there is hardly a sign more earthy than Taurus. You might say that Sagittarius is the concept, or the way the idea manifests in your crown chakara; Jupiter is telling us about how and where to express that.

Jupiter is the principle of expansion, as well as fortune, and wisdom. Grounding Jupiter in Taurus takes away nothing, and the cooler temperature allows for a more deliberate approach than we get in Aries. We need this: a sense of persistent expansion rather than the aggressive striving and vying that are so characteristic of our world. This won’t be boring. Taurus is restless down there, take it from someone who collects these people in my life. They are not as calm as they seem; they are on fire inside. But that fire is being expressed like trees pushing up from the Earth, or those volcanoes in Hawaii that expand the island a little bit every day.

Let’s take a look back and consider the last time this transit happened. Jupiter last entered Taurus in early 2000. That was a monumental year — the year of the Metal Dragon, and the year of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Taurus. A lot happened, and it was not all so happy — including events that paved the way for where we are today, most particularly the [stolen] election of the Cheney/Bush administration. Fortunately — very fortunately, since we have quite enough on our hands — there’s not a Jupiter-Saturn conjunction this time around (that won’t happen again till late 2020, in Aquarius). Still, it would make sense to take a moment to review where you’ve been and what you’ve done since 2000, which (like 2012 ahead of us) was a fabled, mythologized year. If the optimism of 2000 turned out to have been squandered, perhaps the abundant pessimism associated with 2012 will turn out to be false. If you would like to peer back into the astrology of 2000, here is an article from that era called The River of Night.

The first thing Jupiter does when it changes signs is make aspects to Neptune and Chiron. Jupiter is associated with Pisces and both of these planets are in Pisces; that is a strong connection. Jupiter has traction in this relationship, and those planets in Pisces have a means of expression. Think of all that Pisces energy flowing into Taurus through Jupiter. Now imagine Jupiter making contact with Pluto in Capricorn — all that nerve-wracking, precipitous, crumbling sense of change that Pluto is creating in Capricorn but translated into something more stable and easy to handle.

So, while we could say that Jupiter in Taurus is all about Jupiter in Taurus, what it actually does is connect that Sagittarius energy to the Earth, where it can express itself tangibly; and open a doorway to putting the energy of three outer planets to good use. You could say this is the perfect connection between the ‘spiritual’ and the ‘material’ — though you have to admit, any planet where mold spontaneously grows in the basement and where critters are found on the bottoms of the oceans and the tops of mountains — and everywhere in between — is pretty spiritual to begin with.

U.S. government issues new dietary chart

Weekly Horoscope for Friday, June 3, 2011, #862 – BY ERIC FRANCIS

Revised and Updated! Click for Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You really can let bygones be bygones with a sibling. At the same time, it’s always useful to recognize who a person is and accept them for that, rather than trying to change them in any way — and I do mean any way. Most people are committed to who they have become rather than to who they are becoming. You don’t live that way, and your charts are all about moving on. You see a bigger world; you are aware of the existence of horizons much wider than you’ve ever lived. That really is the difference between you and the people you grew up around. The challenging part of accepting that difference is feeling free to be who you are as an active process, rather than a fixed notion — and not using your past, or the figures of the past, as a point of comparison by which you judge yourself. A little compare and contrast is okay, but not too much. You are learning to see yourself in the context of wider potentials than you, or they, ever have, and the habit of comparison is a way to block that. Aim for the sky.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Aries, please go to this link.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Earlier in the week there was a solar eclipse in the financial angle of your chart. Did you figure out anything about how your two contrasting views of money tend to deny one another rather than support one another? I’ve described this before: a double values system. On one side, you might like money, but on the other be convinced that money corrupts people. Or you might appreciate good things but feel guilty about having too much. Recent events are likely to point out the contrast, which can be frustrating if you don’t have a way around it. The thing is, you do. You know that there’s a solution set, and you’re close to having it figured out. The key rather than figuring it out is to live the version of the truth that you want to be true. Conflict serves a purpose — usually to appease someone in authority. Once you let go of the conflict, you move into a position where you serve yourself, and are therefore also useful to others.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Taurus, please go to this link.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — When eclipses reach your birth sign (something that just happened this week) you can be thrown into an identity crisis. That’s actually a good thing, as long as you know what’s going on. And what would that be? Identity is more flexible than we like to think. Indeed, it is our choice to cling to who we think we are that tends to throw us into crisis, particularly when we don’t quite know. The way to find out who you are is to let go of your old ideas of who you thought you were. I know that this is more difficult than it seems, but that’s generally because we don’t know what those old ideas are. I would say, you have bumped into one any time you encounter frustration or a sense of failure. Think of that as a matter of identity rather than as a fact of the world. See how far back you can trace the story of that particular emotion. It’s often liberating to put together the simple fact that something has a history. Then remind yourself that you’re in a different place and time, under different rules. Stay conscious and you can change the game.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Gemini, please go to this link.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — The thing about having any feelings at all is that they sometimes lead to deep feelings, which can lead to a sensation of being out of control. The fear of this turn of events leads many people to skim the surface of their feelings like an insect skeets along the surface of water. Bugs can do that using a natural thing called surface tension — and that is what you feel when you meet many people. It’s a defensive layer that coats the outside of their psyche that makes them seem impenetrable. While doing this may seem like a prudent thing to do (after all, it keeps people out) it also blocks the feelings of those you might want to encounter in a deeper way. Most of that surface tension is expressed through the personality as indifference, which is a little like cutting off the flow of blood to your brain. You’re not indifferent; in fact, you’re very different, and you’re curious about other people who are different as well. Open the door and let them in.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Cancer, please go to this link.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — I suggest you notice the direct relationship between what you set as a goal and what you accomplish. I am not here to tell you that you can do this; I am here to suggest that you investigate the ways you do so regularly. Once you notice this, you will have evidence how important your goals actually are, because they’re the thing you actually get done. This is a pivotal moment for adjusting your goals. Choose what you want; let go of what you do not want. Work for what you want. Stop working for what you don’t want. Observe any conflicts in your plan. Perhaps most significantly, resurrect old plans that you may have forgotten about the past few years. Dust them off and see what they say. At the very least there will be some gems in there that you can apply to your current projects. One last thing — a sense of play is vital to anything you begin now. The more fun something is, the greater chance of success you have, in part because you’re succeeding from the beginning.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Leo, please go to this link.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — As I have written many times, one interesting thing about your sign is your tendency to have two distinct careers. I say this knowing that many people walk around with an assortment of business cards, and have five different web identities. I don’t mean that — I mean that you have the potential, and the inclination, to be a master of two distinct professional activities. On the surface, they may seem to have little in common. Yet they are informed by the same values. You do them for the same inner reasons, though they might appear to fulfill different outer purposes. Right now I suggest you emphasize the unity of these two modes of your existence, particularly if you’ve been feeling out of balance about your work. Do your best to feel good about whatever you’re doing, which will help you succeed and also provide a positive frame of reference for the decisions you’re about to make.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Virgo, please go to this link.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Saturn stations direct on June 12, which tells me you’re in the process of coming to terms with who you are. This is a matter of taking authority over yourself, rather than letting others have that privilege. This may be eminently pleasant. But if you’re struggling a little, note that this is one of the most challenging things that a human being can do on this planet and in our time of history. The story of Earth is the story of people giving up their power and then trying to get it back. Beneath this drama there is a tendency that we are dealing with, which you could call planetary in nature; it’s about how we get control over kids. Indeed, we treat children as things to get control over; then we treat women that way; then we treat men that way; and soon enough we all walk around believing that it’s our God-given right to make sure that people feel like they have control over us. That’s why coming to terms with who you are and what you want can feel like no less than waging the French Revolution. If so, then Liberté! Egalité! Fraternité!

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Libra, please go to this link.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — A subject that has, for weeks, seemed intractable is now open to discussion. Something changed — don’t worry about what. The effect won’t be influenced by whether you understand why the air seems clearer, or why others seem less attached to their past positions, or more accurately, their past contradictions. I suggest you invest your energy in listening and inquiring rather than making statements. This is a fairly rare opportunity to experience the people around you going against what they think of as their nature, and in the process, being of service to the whole situation. I would remind you, however, that there are much more important matters on the line than what is currently up for discussion, and by that I mean fundamental matters of your own integrity. Don’t get lost in the details, the trivia, or the gossip. In fact, move on from them as fast as you can.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Scorpio, please go to this link.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — This week’s eclipse in your opposite sign has done a good job of stirring the pot in your relationships, which is another way of saying: in your life. What seems to be an external circumstance is really a projection of your own thoughts. It’s not always easy to see this, but your perspective at the moment is well suited to work with this dimension of reality. When you see or experience something outside yourself, follow that inward. This counts for ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ developments. The current experiment may take a couple of weeks to yield the full effect, which is about discovering how you influence your world. One thing to keep an eye on is that the effect will proceed from the outer to the inner; something will happen, and then you will discover how you influenced that, or how it worked out for you. Practice noticing and then you can start using this as a method to live by.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Sagittarius, please go to this link.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — You may not feel ready, but you have an opportunity. The lack of readiness has a few components, one of which is being reluctant to take on any more responsibility than you already have. However, if you’re thinking this, you may be working with an outdated concept of responsibility. We could start with an easy shift into the ‘able to respond’ definition of that word; explore that for a while and check out how you feel. In practical terms, doing more is not always a matter of working harder. There are three factors at play: awareness, efficiency and desire. Start by being aware of your surroundings and how they are changing. This includes what supposed authority figures are saying, doing and planning. Next, look for simple solutions to what may seem like complex problems. You should be able to see through the issues and observe them for what they are. Last, the desire factor addresses any additional work. It’s not work if you really, truly, want to do it.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Capricorn, please go to this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Your homing instinct is going at full strength, and it’s closely related to your sexual instincts. Indeed, it would be safe to say that they are one and the same at this point. That does not assure that they are ‘correct’ — we live in a world that tends to go counter to what we know in our cells. So you will need to conduct an investigation, or more accurately, an experiment. The essential nature of the experiment is communication, but it’s a fairly daring kind. A door that was closed is now open; it’s both an inner door and an outer one. There is a mirror effect going on; you are in an environment that is at once social and also psychological. So as you explore, remember you’re exploring yourself — and that you’re providing a space for someone to explore who they are as well. The key is to keep the flow of communication open in the midst of any communing that may be going on. Listen and speak as your environment rapidly evolves.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Aquarius, please go to this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Your home is becoming a busier place, and I suggest you welcome that fact. As always, you need to make sure that you have the time and space to retreat and do what you can only do alone, but besides that, leave your doors open. Explore your neighborhood and make new friends, even if you thought there weren’t any to meet. Look up some old friends and see what’s going on with them. Your environment is shifting and at the moment distinctly lacks the inert quality that so much of the world’s environment has right now. There is just the right touch of reactivity in the air; just the right touch of the miraculous or the odd chance. The zone you’re looking for is the one where you’re pushing your boundary of safety or confidence but you know you’re probably okay. This is a way of discovering that your sense of security has you hemmed in, and that you’re definitely safe and grounded — the more so for taking some actual risks for the sake of your happiness.

To order Light Bridge, your full-length 2011 reading including written and audio segments for Pisces, please go to this link.