Dear Friend and Reader:

How did you come out of the three-fer series of eclipses that ended last Friday night? The sudden release of energy left many people feeling frayed, others like a sack of potatoes, and others like they emerged from an initiation ordeal.

Photo by Eric Francis.

To recap, we just lived through a partial eclipse of the Moon in Scorpio (a Full Moon) on April 25, an annular eclipse of the Sun on May 9 (a New Moon), and a penumbral eclipse of the Moon (a Full Moon) in Sagittarius on May 25.

Usually eclipses come in pairs; three is a substantial increase in the energy. There was also a reference to the past, with one extra eclipse along the Gemini/Sagittarius axis, which was so 2012. (Eclipses come in weird, interesting patterns, and are a topic of their own.)

We have all been through the paces. In the collective world, the proverbial poo hit the turbine with the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15 and the energy has barely relented since. The closest we’ve come to a break was last weekend’s Full Moon in Sagittarius passing by. That may have felt like climbing a high mountain, taking a look around and then falling asleep next to your backpack for six hours.

If you’re feeling stirred up, unsettled, or restless, I would not be surprised. This kind of astrology can provoke anxiety and depression. A Gemini friend said to me this week that it feels like the decline of civilization is making itself known these days. Whether he’s right or not, many people feel this way. A good few have given up, and others wish they could.

This is not an easy time in history to be alive. It’s lovely that most of us in the Western world live in dry spaces that keep out the rain, and might even have enough food to eat. Yet the spiritual and psychological strain at this time in history is unlike any other, and in truth it’s more than most people can bear.

Photo by Eric Francis.

If the strain gets to be too much, the typical approach is denial. There’s never been a more opportune moment to practice blissful ignorance as a way of life — that is, until something deeper calls you.

That may be happening soon, if it’s not happening now. This week, the cluster of planets that’s been following the Sun all year begins to enter Cancer. There’s a lot of energy in that first degree of Cancer (where the Sun is when summer begins, which happens in a few weeks). Any time planets cross the spot where a season changes we get what I call an Aries Point effect — individual and collective realms converge into one. We feel world problems more poignantly. This will persist till those problems get our attention. It seems like one purpose of the hyper-extended nervous system of the electronic media is to make sure we have access to the full picture of what is going wrong with the world, the better to get capable people to respond.

Friday, May 31, Mercury enters Cancer, where it will be into early August. That’s in part due to a spell of Mercury retrograde that begins at the end of June, though we’re a bit ahead of ourselves on that topic.

In the next few weeks, Venus, the Sun and Jupiter enter Cancer. There’s a lot going on in the water signs this year, and what happens this month is central to that.

Saturn is in Scorpio through early 2015 and Chiron and Neptune are in Pisces for the long haul. All these planets about to ingress Cancer will complete a grand trine in the water signs. This is rare and beautiful astrology. It’ll be excellent for anyone with a strong water sign signature in their chart (Sun, Moon, rising or any strong planet in water signs). And as previously mentioned here and there, Mercury is about to make its second of three retrogrades in a water sign this year.

This ongoing arrangement may be challenging for those who are overwhelmed by the rising tide of their emotions, or who are not good at sitting with their own emotions. For those with strong water sign charts, you might feel like you really do belong on the planet, at least a bit more than usual.

Near Sag Harbor, NY. Photo by Eric Francis.

In any event this is a time when it’ll be necessary to adjust to an extended moment when feelings really count and are more palpable than usual.

Remember that water signs imply that things may make less sense on the rational wavelength and more sense on the intuitive wavelength.

Once that grand water trine really takes hold in late June, with Jupiter’s arrival (and we’ll get our first taste of it this weekend), emotional patterns will tend to increase in momentum as if in a vortex. Therefore, make corrections as soon as you see something that needs to be addressed. Keep clarity with people. Put crazymakers as far away from the action as possible, which means don’t invite them into your house.

As Mars in early Gemini works its way into a square with Neptune, this is especially true. This aspect is potentially deeply creative, poetic and experimental — and also potentially self-destructive. See if you can stay on the creative side by giving yourself healthy outlets for your emotional energy.

Mars square Neptune is one of those aspects where I extend a substance use/abuse caution. Know when you’re doing things for fun and when you’re self-medicating (both have their moment). Know when enough is enough. There’s a calling here to embrace a spiritual level of experience rather than an escapist one. This aspect is an accelerant, but it can be directed inwardly as a kind of catalyst.

Planets in Cancer are a reminder to stay emotionally connected. Now is the time to get into the mode of slowing down a little and taking better care of yourself. Eat real food. Get actual rest. Get near some water. Don’t forget to drink some of it, too.

Lovingly,

Editor’s Note: News briefs below are researched and written by a team consisting of me, Liam Carey, Amanda Painter, Susan Scheck and Carol van Strum. Jessica Keet and Chelsea Bottinnelli provide editing support. Our fact checking list includes Alex Miller and Len Wallick. Note, even if other writers are working, I make the last call on all astrology interpretations in the Friday edition. To get on the Thursday night fact checking team please write directly to me at dreams@planetwaves.net — efc

 

Near Earth Asteroid Buzzing By; Sun Square Chiron

In other astrology news, Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) 285263 (1998 QE2) will pass 5.86 million km from the Earth on Friday, May 31 at 4:59 pm EDT. This is the closest approach of 1998 QE2 for this century, and it poses no impact threat since it’s currently at more than 15 times the Earth-Moon distance.

Radar images of 1998 QE2 showing its binary point — a little Moon that orbits with the asteroid — one of many binary minor planets orbiting our Sun.

Yet this is the latest in a series of near-miss asteroid passes, which you might think of as a defining metaphor of our time in history.

The Moon is in Pisces, and will make a conjunction to Chiron later today (Friday). That happens just after last quarter phase, also today. The Moon will ingress Aries Sunday, June 2 at 2:33 am EDT.

Mercury and Mars have both changed signs; Mercury is now in Cancer and Mars is in Gemini. Venus will ingress Cancer on Sunday, June 2 at 10:12 pm EDT. Immediately after that, the Aries Moon passes through the Uranus-Pluto square, making a conjunction to Uranus and a square to Pluto.

The Sun is reaching the sensitive midpoint of Gemini — sensitive due to the presence of the Great Attractor in mid-Sagittarius (a massive energy source and gravitational point), and also due to the most commonly used U.S.A. chart having mid-Sagittarius rising.

The Sun will also be square Chiron through the weekend and into early next week. The combination of Sun in Gemini and Chiron in Pisces is suggesting that you go past the idea of your creative potential or what you want to do, and past the words you use to describe it, and actually begin a new experiment. You might not want to talk about it at all, since it’s too easy to talk away a good idea.

There’s also a caution to be aware of what you were told you could not do, or what example was set by early male caregivers, and what you learned from their own (potentially ‘failed’) quest to express themselves. Their burdens are not yours; their lack of confidence is not yours — that is, not unless you allow it to be so.

 

Bachmann Exits Stage Right; Comey in the Wings to Head FBI Snake Pit

Michele Bachmann, former presidential candidate and congressional representative from an alternate universe, announced her exit from politics this week, at least as something besides a lobbyist. Known for her hilarious made-up facts about history, co-owning a We’ll Cure Your Gayness ‘therapy’ center and being investigated by five different law enforcement agencies for campaign finance issues, Bachman has been the Republican rodeo clown who distracts the attention from what is really going on around her.

We’ll miss you, Michele. Photo: Daily Kos.

Speaking of, Obama seemed ready to nominate James Comey, the former number-two official in the Justice Department under George W. Bush, as head of the FBI. He would replace Robert S. Mueller III when he retires in September.

Unlike other federal agencies, the FBI director has a term limit (that’s because J. Edgar headed the agency for half a century under six presidents). Mueller has exceeded the 10-year term limit by two years.

Though a Republican (the ninth that Obama has left in place or appointed to a top-level position), Comey will probably face opposition in the Senate — get this, for new and novel — for his ties to Wall Street.

Comey has a reputation for standing up to Bush administration shenanigans (illegal wiretapping, in particular), which might be a useful character trait given that he would be stepping into an FBI that seems to be unraveling by the day. Already facing criticism for losing track of Tamerlan Tsarnaev before the Boston Marathon bombing, the question now is why one of Tsarnaev’s friends was killed in Florida last week during questioning by FBI agents.

The friend, Inbragim Todashev, was being interviewed by agents and state police about his possible involvement in a 2011 Boston-area triple murder when suddenly he ended up with a lot of bullets in him. There are conflicting reports whether he was armed with a pipe, a knife, a broomstick, reached for a sword or had no weapon at all. (Seriously? A broomstick? A sword? Is this Harry Potter or Dungeons and Dragons?)

FBI agents are not allowed to frisk questioning subjects when interviewing them inside their homes. While it’s possible that he could have had a knife, that doesn’t explain how he ended up with seven bullets in his body, including one in the crown of the head, according to his family.

Chart for the FBI’s creation in 1908 reveals a grouping of Cancer planets to the right, showing the extent to which the agency is ruled by its emotions. To the left is a group of planets in Leo, including a Mars-Jupiter conjunction — this gives a flair for drama, pride and being driven by a kind of religious ideology.

Autopsy photos were sent to the Todashevs in Russia this week after the body was released, and Ibragim’s father held a news conference in Moscow Thursday showing the images and demanding an explanation.

An article in Thursday’s New York Times included this explanation of what happened: “The agent fired several shots at Mr. Todashev, striking him and knocking him backward. But Mr. Todashev again charged at the agent. The agent fired several more shots at Mr. Todashev, killing him. The detective in the room did not fire his weapon, the official said.”

I know what everyone is thinking. Those Russian kids are so badass you can shoot them six times with a Glock and they just keep coming at you.

The Times added: “Under the F.B.I.’s guidelines, agents can fire a gun at someone if they feel the person is a threat to them or someone else. The episode is being reviewed by a team of F.B.I. investigators who specialize in shootings and by the district attorney in Orlando, the official said.”

I just took a look at the FBI’s chart. You would think it would be ruled by logic and wisdom. In fact, the chart is dominated by the rapid-cycling, emotional sign Cancer. The agency has Venus, Mercury, Neptune and the Moon, as well as the lunar North Node and the hypothetical planet Transpluto in that sign. The chart reads more like the script to a soap opera than an episode of CSI.

But with a Mercury-Neptune-Moon conjunction, it’s no wonder that paranormal-investigating agents Fox Mulder and Dale Cooper are among its time-honored fictional heroes. Think of Cooper using information from visionary dreams to solve crimes in Twin Peaks (Moon-Neptune), or Mulder’s nonstop emotional “it must be true” histrionics in X-Files. All of these Cancer planets are currently taking oppositions from Pluto and squares from Uranus, which will keep life interesting for years to come.

 

Another Political Prisoner for the U.S. Collection

The Obama administration is continuing its crackdown on political activists and whistleblowers. This week Jeremy Hammond, activist and computer security wunderkind, pleaded guilty to hacking into the private intelligence firm Stratfor, the FBI and other institutions, and to being affiliated with the hacktivist group Anonymous.

Booking file photo of Jeremy Hammond; Cook County Sheriff’s Department, Illinois.

“I did this because I believe people have a right to know what governments and corporations are doing behind closed doors,” said Hammond, 28, in a statement. “I did what I believe is right.”

About five million Stratfor emails ended up on the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, founded by Julian Assange, as a result of Hammond’s actions. Facing the possibility of overzealous prosecution (the likes of which contributed to the suicide death of activist Aaron Swartz earlier this year), Hammond took the guilty plea to avoid a potential maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

Hammond now faces up to 10 years of incarceration. He has already served 15 months, including weeks in solitary confinement.

“Obama has, in relation to the Espionage Act, applied it to more people, more journalistic sources and journalists, than any — than all previous administrations combined, going back to the origin of that act in 1917,” said Jullian Assange in an interview on Democracy Now! Wednesday. “And that’s part of a new centralization of power in the United States.”

Assange continued, “The Pentagon, allied institutions like Stratfor, can’t keep up a perception of authority if bright young men, determined, courageous and moral, like Jeremy Hammond, are seen to have struck a blow against them and exposed their corrupt activities.”

Hammond, who was programming video games by age 8, has also been a peace activist from a young age and started his own computer security training website when he was 18. In his freshman year at the University of Illinois, he approached administrators of the Computer Sciences Dept., alerting them to a security flaw in their website and offering to fix it. They thanked him by banning him from returning the next year.

Speaking truth to power is never appreciated by the powerful — and the stakes are getting higher and higher as the U.S. government continues to consolidate power and money under the ‘national security’ umbrella.

 

Fire Ignites to Burn Monsanto — and its GMO Seeds

Under the energies of a super-charged Full Moon and the third powerful eclipse in a month, Saturday’s worldwide March Against Monsanto reached farther and wider than its founder ever dreamed — yet major news outlets in the mass media brazenly ignored it. [We covered the astrology of the event in this blog post.]

Protesters in San Diego, California, on Saturday. Photo: March Against Monsanto.

Founder Tami Monroe Canal created a Facebook page on Feb. 28 calling for a rally against the company’s practices, and watched as sign-ups spread rapidly across the Internet.

“If I had gotten 3,000 people to join me, I would have considered that a success,” she said Saturday. Instead, she said an “incredible” number of people responded to her message: more than two million, in 52 countries and 436 cities.

The group plans to build on the momentum of the march to get GMOs out of the food supply.

“We will continue until Monsanto complies with consumer demand. They are poisoning our children, poisoning our planet,” she said. “If we don’t act, who’s going to?”

This is a movement started, organized and reported on only by social and alternative media. The mass media coverage blackout backfired, as alternative-media reporters such as Anthony Gucciardi of Natural Society and protesters worldwide documented the march via cell phones, Facebook and Twitter.

“We have so much support from so many different groups coming out and standing up against Monsanto that it just goes to show there is a ‘sleeping giant’ of awake individuals who thoroughly understand the challenges we face as a nation,” Gucciardi said from Philadelphia. “One only needs to tap into that powerful energy of resistance to ignite a movement, like a match to a gasoline-drenched fire pit.”

 

Forewarned is Forearmed — But Will Anyone Listen?

Residents of towns in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota affected by fracking (hydraulic fracturing) and related practices sent warning letters — an unprecedented move — to Illinois lawmakers this week, detailing a tragic impending “public health disaster” if that state allows the controversial practice.

An anti-fracking rally after a House Committee hearing at the Illinois State Capitol on May 21. Photo: AP/Seth Perlman.

They advised a moratorium “to take the time to visit areas with fracking, bring scientists and medical experts into the process, and undertake an environmental and public health study. If you allow fracking to go forward as planned, you will bring to your state the same horrific experiences we have suffered in Pennsylvania.”

Some of the text of the letter is below; you can read the entire letter here.

“The oil and gas industry promises that fracking is safe and that it will create jobs and bring your state riches, but Pennsylvania’s experience in the past five years tells a very different story. In short, water contamination has been widespread; our air has been polluted; countless individuals and families have been sickened; farms have been devastated, cattle have died, and our pristine streams and rivers have turned up dead fish; only a fraction of the promised jobs and revenue for the state have come to fruition; and our communities have been transformed into toxic industrial zones with 24/7 noise, flares, thousands of trucks, and increased crime. What’s more, the jobs have made many workers so sick that they can no longer work in the industry.”

Pennsylvania residents also released links to a “List of the Harmed“, with names of affected citizens and their ailments.

The Illinois General Assembly was set to vote this week on the state’s fracking bill, after a House Executive Committee hearing on it revealed that none of the committee members had ever visited a fracking site.

Meanwhile, General Electric Co. has invested $15 billion in fracking in the last few years, and is set to invest more. Think of that next time you need a new appliance, or choose investments for your portfolio.

 

Syria: Another Proxy War, and a Volatile Chart  

What exactly is happening in Syria? The storyline in the mainstream media is that the government has been pummeling its citizens ever since the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011.

Child with her toy truck and adult wristwatch stands on a pile of rubble in Syria.

Those uprisings were among the first hints that the Uranus-Pluto square (the 2012-era aspect) was about to happen, though as is often true with aspects between these two planets, the gains are short-lived and easily spoiled. As we’ll see in a moment, Syria’s chart describes how the country is a tinderbox waiting to burst into flames.

Among the developments this week: U.S. Sen. John McCain (R, AZ) made a surprise visit to Syria, visiting the rebels. His daughter tweeted that she wished she hadn’t found out about it on Twitter.

McCain has been pushing for more direct involvement by the U.S. in Syria, but the question is, why? Is it humanitarian concern for the rebels? Or is he part of a team angling for a side-door into a war with Iran? What about making sure Lockheed Martin, et al., stay robust with new customers and new projects? War is always good for arms traders.

The Obama administration is backing a European Union decision to provide weapons to Syrian rebels. The statement came after the European Union was unable to reach a consensus on a previous arms ban, which Britain and France were pushing to ease.

“We disagree with and we condemn the continued supply of Russian weapons to the regime, and this includes all class of weapons. And we’ve been clear throughout and very direct with the Russian government about that. We’ve seen how the regime uses those arms,” a State Department spokesman said this week.

Russia, meanwhile, is providing arms to the al-Assad regime, which the E.U. denounced this week, including selling anti-aircraft missiles to the government. Both Russia and the U.S. claim to support global talks on ending the conflict, but their actions send another message.

“For a long time after Vietnam our government was paralysed with doubt; we are seeing that process again in the wake of the catastrophic war in Iraq,” U.S. ambassador to Syria Fred Hof said this week. He’s correct in one part of that analysis: Syria seems to be a proxy war, just like Vietnam was. (A recent meme among hawks is, “We cannot make the mistake of hesitating like we did during Vietnam stop us from getting into some new exciting, expensive, endless, pointless war.”)

Syria’s Astrology is On Fire

Thanks to an astrologer and historian named Nick Campion, we have accurate chart data for most countries of the world (if you’re studying astrology, The Book of World Horoscopes will be essential in your collection). The French gave actual power over the Syrian government to local rulers on Jan. 1, 1944, probably at midnight. Ceremonial independence was a few years earlier; the actual transfer of power is what this chart is for. Here is the pertinent section of that chart with a link to the full chart here.

One of Syria’s independence charts includes a conjunction of Mars, Vesta and Uranus, visible toward the upper right.

One of the most characteristic features of this chart is a triple conjunction of Vesta, Mars and Uranus in early Gemini. This is a rare triple conjunction to the degree, with all three points being about fire: Vesta’s central theme is fire, Uranus is like lightning or an electrical fire, and Mars is aggression or martial power, particularly when in aspect to Uranus.

All three planets are retrograde, suggesting that the energy has been directed inward as pent-up rage or aggression and could come unraveled at any time.

Mars has just ingressed Gemini and is about to walk right over that Mars-Vesta-Uranus conjunction. Gemini is a potentially volatile energy (an airy, mutable sign), and oxygen fuels fire. This is taking place in the 8th house, of transformation but also of crisis, death and tons of cash changing hands. Events could proceed rapidly over the next few days.

One other appearance by Uranus, hardly a cameo: it’s about to go over the 7th house cusp of Syria’s natal chart. That can be disruptive, and the shakeup can come from the outside. Where Uranus is transiting the 7th house cusp, it’s easy to have aggravating factors in the environment. Note, there are creative ways to take this transit, which would depend on things like cooperation, unusual diplomatic arrangements and welcoming outside points of view — but that’s unlikely while everyone is funneling bombs into the country.

There’s one other complication — Neptune, currently in early Pisces, is making a square to that conjunction. If this situation seems confusing and painfully volatile, it is. Neptune can be fuel for the fire, it can be sarin gas, it can feed religious mania or mania of any kind, particularly when square Uranus.

Neptune in a square to this triple conjunction of Mars, Vesta and Uranus is given to dishonesty, self-deception and self-destructive behavior. Let’s hope this doesn’t get blown out of proportion, especially because some arms traders want to make a few bucks.

 

An Unlikely Orchestra

Mexican artist Pedro Reyes found a higher use for some of the illegal firearms ravaging his native country — many of which come from the United States. He’s turned them into musical instruments.

For Reyes the process of transforming weapons into objects of positive utility “… was more than physical. It’s important to consider that many lives were taken with these weapons; as if a sort of exorcism was taking place, the music expelled the demons they held, as well as being a requiem for the lives lost.”

The collection includes instruments created from firearms, including revolvers, shotguns and machine guns, which were crushed by tanks and steamrollers to render them useless. Played in concert, their cacophonous tones are reminders of the destruction they bred in their former incarnation.

 

Planet Waves FM Was on Break — Call for Blue Studio Sessions

Eric is looking for guests on his Blue Studio podcast. These began last year as readers came forward to describe their life journey of sex and sexuality. Rather than having ‘experts’ do the talking, this is a sex program created from the ground up. If you’re curious email him at dreams@planetwaves.net with the subject header Blue Studio Sessions.

 

Your Monthly Horoscopes — and our Publishing Schedule Notes

The June monthly extended horoscopes were published Friday, May 24. Inner Space horoscopes for June are published below in this issue. I recommend reviewing the previous month’s horoscope at the end of the month; you can see May’s monthly horoscope here.

 

Inner Space Horoscope for June 2013, #952 | By Eric Francis 

We’ve had a lot of intense months lately; June promises to be an interesting one. Eclipses are out of the way for a while, which will help everyone sleep a little better. Planets are gathering in the sign Cancer, which is a reminder that we need to take care of one another on the planet, as much for everyone else as for ourselves. You want the people around you to feel safe and strong, and the small gestures you make honoring that fact will come right back to you. Jupiter enters the sign Cancer for a year right after the solstice. Then on June 26, Mercury stations retrograde for three weeks. This may come with the feeling of re-evaluation, and the need to tune up your emotional body so that you may focus on what you want rather than what you define as a need.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Get ready to make a stretch — of your living space, of your emotional capacity, of your ability to take care of yourself and others. You don’t need to be afflicted by the same ‘there’s never enough’ bug that so many others seem unable or unwilling to shake off. You can afford to feel safe, and you will only benefit from encouraging the people you love to understand that they too are safe. Humans are critters that belong in broods, tribes and caravans. Our society falsely promises benefit and gain by striking off on one’s own or ignoring the needs of others. Everyone needs some time to themselves, but that’s a different thing. Anyone who feels the pleasure of cooperation and the benefits of solving collective problems collectively is unlikely to go back to the old way.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) –You may think you know what you’re saying, but do others understand what’s on your mind? I ask not for their sake but your own. You need to feel understood. You also need to feel like you understand yourself, though over the next couple of months that’s likely to come in layers rather than to burst out of the ground like a gusher. I suggest you be patient with yourself, and express your uncertainty gently. If you do, what you may notice is the presence of a rare kind of confidence that has roots going deeper than any questions your mind could come up with. Therefore, if you ask a question, assume that it has an answer. If you see a problem, assume there is a solution. It may not manifest overnight, though it will help move things along if you keep adjusting your point of view. You will see different things from different perspectives.

 

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Gemini Sun and Rising — a Reading for You

Dear Gemini Reader:

Last week I recorded your birthday reading for 2013-2014. It’s become the bestselling birthday reading of the year. I bring to life the truly beautiful astrology that you’ll be experiencing over the next four seasons.

Eric and his astrology assistant Jonah, who has Virgo Sun and Moon.

I begin with a discussion of what every Gemini should know about his or her sign, and then I cover a diversity of transits that you’ve read about elsewhere but may not have put into the context of your life.

Jupiter is in your sign now, joined by Mercury and Venus. Soon planets will move into Cancer, the sign associated with resources, money and self-esteem — that is good news on all of those topics. I describe what it means to have your ruling planet Mercury retrograde three times in water signs — covering seven months of the year.

I talk about Pluto going through your 8th house, which is raising all kinds of questions about the role that structure plays in your relationships — and your desire to burst free and express yourself. I cover Saturday’s eclipse of the Moon in Sagittarius, your relationship sign.

I have created my 2013 Gemini reading specifically to help you tap into the very unique energy coming your way — energy with the potential to transform how you feel, think and relate. This is a truly helpful moment in your life, one that can make up for some of the challenges of recent years.

The reading will be accurate, informative and fun for Gemini rising and Moon as well. You can listen to a short audio preview here.

Your reading is now ready. If you’ve already purchased or are an all-access member, you should receive an email shortly. The price for this hour of astrology plus tarot reading (and bonus materials) is $29.95. You may order your Gemini birthday reading here.

I know you’ll love this reading. Please do check it out.

Lovingly,

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Gemini (May 20-June 21) — How you feel about yourself determines what you think is possible. That in turn is the most dependable metric on what is possible, for you. Events this month seem determined to teach you what you have to offer, and the many ways your gifts and your efforts can be of service to the world. One thing is for certain: if you think you have nothing to offer, you must think again. It may take you a little time to figure out what your gifts are and what you can do with them, but that’s different than doubt or despondency. If you’re just not seeing the possibility, it’s likely that something is blocking your view. That something may be an outdated attitude or value about the meaning of work, or a negative emotional attachment that you can now, at long last, dissolve.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Stay as close to the edge as possible, for as long as you can. Keep your options open. You may be inclined to take the ‘safe’ route because the thing you want seems impossible, too challenging or too remote to be viable. You may feel like your deepest desire has gone missing. Please be patient, and appreciate the experience of uncertainty as much as you can, and remember that your main job right now is to keep the door open for the best potentials when they begin to show up, which could stretch out a few weeks from now. You will feel when they arrive; you’ll recognize them. My sense is that you will feel the tide is turning and know that you can move with it. What arrives is not a one-off but evidence that you have entered a new time in your life, one that will offer you many gifts that you merely need to open up and receive consciously.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — There seems to be so much you can’t do anything about, though what you have going for you is the ability to access what I will call spiritual help. Any mystery, any problem, any challenge, is inviting you to ‘offer it up’ to natural healing forces and ease your mind. One thing is certain: those forces are real, and they are willing to help you. Since you’ve got the responsibility to take care of so many people, count it as a good thing you have support. Yet you have more help than you may know. While it’s clear that you will need to help guide certain events in a positive direction, your leadership style would benefit from a major revision from anything your parents or early authority figures inflicted on you. There’s a new way to do things — and you’re bringing it into existence.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — As the month develops, you may feel like you’re swimming against the tide of social opinion, or perhaps more subtly, that you just start to feel different than the people around you. What I suggest is that you not try to prove yourself or allow any discussion to degrade into a power struggle. You have a right to be independent, particularly in your emotional response. Who is right or wrong doesn’t matter; what matters is that you’re at peace with yourself. If you recognize that there is only a limited extent to which anyone is entitled to an opinion about your life, this will be a lot easier. There’s also missing information, though you’re the one most likely to be ahead of the curve figuring out that the knowledge that’s coming will validate your hunch or point of view about what is right for you.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Events that develop this month will be enough to focus your priorities on what you know matters — what you’ve said so many times is your top priority. You may start to feel like you have some catching up to do, yet I would caution against acting like you have to make up for lost time. Rather, work with the idea that what you’re doing and the choices you’re making now are right on time. Take the steps you need to prepare for the steps you’re about to take. Perhaps the most important thing to remember is how much you’ve learned the past year. Make sure that you consider what some call ‘both’ sides of every issue and what I would say amounts to taking a circumspect, open-minded approach, never being too invested in your own opinions.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — When you have faith in yourself, the universe will provide for you. Or rather, it will provide for you anyway but you may not notice that’s what’s happening. It’s your faith that will inform you and that, thankfully, is something you’re learning to make friends with. Here are some clues that this arrangement is working well: One is that you have enough of what you need. Another is that you have a vision for the future that you trust. Rather than being a vague hope or wish, your vision is something that you can see in a focused way, even if it doesn’t exist yet, and that you trust despite any questions you may have — questions I suggest you ask gently, and wait earnestly for the answers. You know more than you think, though to access the information you must listen and trust.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Relationships are about an exchange of something substantial, be it feelings, resources, ideas or effort. What happens this month will be enough to illustrate the point. You’re ending a phase of your life and beginning another where ‘too much of nothing’ is no longer enough. Once you’re clear about that, it’ll be obvious who is offering you something, without needing to understand the motive. This may be the exercise in trust that you’ve been planning to embark on for so long. Remember that it takes some trust to trust, and at first you may seem to have no special reason to do so. Not at least based on certain elements of your past — though there are others you may not have considered. And they are reminding you they exist. They’re reminding you there is something about yourself that it’s time to reclaim.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Suddenly you have more options than you know what to do with, or you will soon. As you consider these options, you may also be inclined to hesitate. But rather than do that, you have an opportunity to experiment, and to explore who makes you feel how. Relationships are not theoretical. They are not about pondering who or what might work, or how a situation might feel. They are about experience, and an experiment, and you don’t need to commit to more than that when you want to explore someone. You are not married after the third date, you don’t have to have sex, and the person is not your boyfriend or girlfriend. You can explore sex and you’re still not married. Rather than the social conventions, the thing to pay attention to is your own need for contact. Remember, this is more important than your need to bond. Start with contact and see where things go.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — What your life hinges on is your ability to state your needs and your desires. It would help if you could tell them apart, and have clear ideas what constitutes one or the other (clue, you will have very few needs, and a good few more desires). Knowing about this is not enough; being clear with yourself is not enough. You need to put this information to use. You may have been taught to ‘expect’ your needs and desires to be met, or to hope that doing so for others would result in someone showing up and doing that for you. Many things preclude that, including the aura of independence you put out, however what I suggest you do is tell people — the ones that matter — what your life is about and what role you want them to have. How they respond is up to them, though you’ll learn a lot either way.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — The more fun you have, the better you will feel. While on one level this is a serious time in your life with so much at stake, what matters more is your motivation to succeed. What some call luck will play a role in this; you’re about to have a rare collection arriving in your solar 5th house, including Venus and Jupiter. This is an invitation to take action rather than to wait for good things to happen. For a Pisces there is no better incentive to live well than play, creative exploration and sex. It’s not every day that you get an opportunity like the one you have now, and if career questions or business are on your mind, you will get better results from fun than from labor. Along a similar line of thought, working in a creative mode is more important than working hard.