Tag Archives: Pisces

Flowing with the Currents and Lighting the Fire

By Amanda Painter

With the Sun now in Pisces as of this past weekend, winter starts to loosen its grip and we begin the approach to spring (even if the weather doesn’t play along consistently). Right now we have a concentration of planets in Pisces, the last sign of the zodiac; yet it won’t be long before the sky’s emphasis begins shifting again, from deep water to the fire of Aries.

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The Royal Scam

Dear Friend and Reader:

It’s been a surreal or perhaps even dadaist week in the news and in astrology. Starting with the sky, there are currently six planets, the Sun and some asteroids in Pisces right now, with one of the highlights being retrograde Mercury. This is astrology that is bending notes, blending colors and warping so-called reality into interesting shapes.

Planet Waves
The Lockheed Martin F-35 airplane.

Chiron and Neptune are the longterm visitors in Pisces, representing the spiritual quest of our extended moment in history. Currently they are joined by the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars. The seventh point in the alignment is the eminently Piscean Borasisi (a planet slightly beyond Pluto, which I last covered in early 2011). Borasisi is about questions of belief, and how believing something, for most practical purposes, makes it true. Borasisi is also about the lies that makeus feel good.

There’s rich creative potential in this setup, and it’s pretty sexy too — Venus is the planet of personal love and admiration, conjunct Neptune, the planet of universal love. These days, lust is meaningful and fantasies have a good chance of becoming real, if you put some creative energy into them. Venus-Neptune can come with an idealistic streak, and perhaps some unrealistic ideas — though with all this Pisces going on, the implausible could be right within reach. In many ways, the rules are suspended — though you won’t know that until you try to do something unusual.

Meanwhile, Mercury retrograde can be providing access to the past, helping you retrieve some gems you may have left behind or forgotten about. This is a great time to re-energize old projects and desires; I’m sure there are plenty of ideas (or people) you were hot for but which got lost in the tides of time. The tide has turned and some interesting stuff is going to be washing up on the beach.
Mercury retrograde could also serve to prod a kind of spiritual review, soul-search or deep personal inquiry — something that our government leaders could do with a little more of here in the United States.

There’s so much in the news this week that was so strange, that I can only give a few samples. Thursday, JosephRatzinger boarded a helicopter and flew away from the Vatican, the first pope to resign in six centuries.

Planet Waves
Joseph Ratzinger, or Pope Benedict XVI, says goodbye to the faithful in his last noon prayer from his studio overlooking St. Peter’s Square on Sunday. Vatican photo.

(So much for conspiracy rumors that he would not be leaving the Vatican’s walls, lest he be arrested.) Soon we’ll get to see who will lead the scandal-plagued church deeper into the 21st century. For a very interesting, well-worth-listening-to perspective on that, check out this edition of Fresh Air.

Wednesday during oral arguments in the Supreme Court on the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Justice Antonin Scalia described voting as a “racial entitlement,” which sent a gasp throughout the packed, lotus-flower-adorned courtroom.

The Civil Rights Act was and is about undoing the insidious scheme of racist laws and customs once known as Jim Crow. Everyone knows the problem still exists. We all saw the antics in many states during the past four or five election cycles, with all the voter purges and other games designed to block minority voters.

Antonin is a reactionary drama queen and seems to live for the pleasure of people thinking he’s a certified asshole. (Note, Scalia is a March 11 Pisces with his Sun right in the mix of the current alignment.) Many are speculating that key provisions of the nation’s most revered civil rights law, which monitors voting laws in several southern states, will be struck down. This, in an era when minority voting rights are constantly being threatened by new games on the state level.

Meanwhile, at the same moment right across town under the Statuary Hall of the Capitol building, Pres. Obama and others were dedicating a statue of civil rights activist Rosa Parks. How could both of these things be happening at same time and place? The current astrology is not lending itself to rationalism or logic.

A group of prominent conservatives, meanwhile, signed a legal petition (technically called an amicus brief) supporting the right of lesbian and gay couples to marry, on ‘family values’ grounds. This was filed in the case on Proposition 8, which is before the Supreme Court in its current term. Later in the week, Pres. Obama issued a statement saying that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional because it denies people equal protection under the law.

Planet Waves
Japanese police, wearing radiation suits search for victims inside the evacuation zone, established for the 20 km radius around the Fukushima nuclear reactors. Photo: David Guttenfelder.

In the social contract in the U.S., all citizens are supposed to have equal rights — such as the right to get married. (We’ll really be making progress when tax rates for single people are the same as those for married people.)

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives actually passed the Violence Against Women Act, expanding it to include lesbian, gay and transgender people under its programs. It’s actually an anti-domestic violence law.

The expanded Senate version of the bill, approved by the House Thursday, had been held up by a number of opponents for whom such a thing is not politically expedient. Now that the 2012 election is over, Republicans let it go through — though 138 representatives voted against it, many of them doing so proudly and to make a point. Apparently they have not outgrown the “No Girls Allowed” phase of pre-adolescence.

The nuclear Pinocchios at the World Health Organization this week said that anysickness caused by Fukushima is so minimal it will get lost in the statistics. Three nuclear power plants can explode and melt down, and dump highly radioactive materials into the land, groundwater, sea and oceans, and nothing bad will happen.

“The additional risk is quite small and will probably be hidden by the noise of other (cancer) risks like people’s lifestyle choices and statistical fluctuations,” said Richard Wakeford of the University of Manchester, one of the authors of the WHO report. “It’s more important not to start smoking than having been in Fukushima.”

In other words: nuclear meltdowns are good for you.

And topping off an interesting week, Miss Teen Delaware — Melissa King, age 18 — had to turn in her sash and crown after a sexy video of her went viral. Can you blame her? She thought it would be interesting and needed the money.

The Budget Doomsday Machine

Oh — there is one other story. On Thursday afternoon, the Senate failed to get the necessary votes to pass a resolution to stop mandatory budget cuts — called sequestration — from taking effect at midnight Friday.

Sequestration is a kind of ‘mutually assured budgetary destruction’ that was set into automatic motion nearly two years ago. The difference between this Doomsday Machine and the one in Dr. Strangelove is that Congress can turn the thing off if it wants to. Apparently, it does not. The whole episode is feeding the sick nihilism of people who are supposed to be stewards of government but claim they want to make it small enough to drown it in a bathtub.

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Matt Taibbi, one of my favorite writers, put it this way: “If you can get past how horrifying it is, the looming ‘sequestration cuts’ crisis is fascinating. It’s like watching a bunch of gambling addicts play craps by throwing dice into a four-dimensional wormhole.”

Our congressional representatives are playing with the lives of many millions of their constituents, who don’t draw lavish salaries or have free healthcare and staffs and offices and cars all paid for by the government, while they endanger the livelihood of people eking out a living. Meanwhile, many of us donate 40% of our wages to support their insanity. Sometimes when I am driving down the NYS Thruway, a very nice Interstate that my grandparents’ generation paid to build, I wonder what I get for my federal taxes — because I am paying by the mile to drive down that road.

Taibbi continues, “There are so many variables that neither side can possibly know the true outcome of a failure to make a deal — which means the only certainty is that what we’re watching is irresponsibility on an epic scale, wherein both of our major political parties seem to prefer government by random outcome over one managed by sensible compromise.”

This plan started back in April 2011, during the infamous debt ceiling battle, wherein congressional Republicans held the country hostage on threat of defaulting on our debt service to those who hold paper on the U.S. Note, this was not about new spending but about what Congress had already spent, in effect, being able to make our credit card payments.

Ransom was the Budget Control Act of 2011, which in theory would reduce federal spending by $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years, unless another budget reduction deal could be struck. This is all based on the premise that Washington has a “spending problem” (words that no doubt flowered from the dark mind of Republican meme-maker Frank Luntz, who also gave us “death tax” and “climate change”). Spending problem means “we’re not going to raise taxes on the wealthy oligarchs who run the economy.”

The deadline was midnight, Friday, March 1, at which time $85 billion in pre-planed and how ‘automatic’ federal spending cuts would take effect. While the current cuts are a relatively small percentage of the federal budget, they could amount to 750,000 layoffs and furloughs, taking money out of the economy and threatening the fragile recovery. Evidence that this is just a ridiculous drama is that a few years ago, the Fed came up with that much money to bail out Citigroup in one day.

Planet Waves
Dr. Strange — Speaker of the House, John Boehner, holds a news conference on the looming sequester in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 25, 2013. Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via Rolling Stone.

On Thursday, senators wanting to stop the mandatory cuts got a majority of 51 votes (all of them Democrats), but that’s not enough to get through the Senate, where the minority rules and everything takes 60 votes to pass.

That, of course, is just one kind of self-created booby trap that is constantly subverting progress and reason; according to the Constitution, in the Senate 51 votes is supposed to do the job. Then, what did Congress do next? It went home! They left! They walked out on America, come what may.

Sequestration was predicated on the idea that budget cuts were across the board, including to the military — and that Republicans would never want to be accused of weakening national security (or harming the business of their defense contractor campaign donors). But that didn’t work, and at the stroke of midnight, the cuts started to go into effect.

We’re being told that losing this $85 billion in federal spending is going to affect everyone in every state and county in the United States, with some areas (especially those with concentrated military industry) hit especially hard.

Yet many are suggesting that sequestration is another scam, just like the debt ceiling battle and the fiscal cliff. The point of the scam — a Shock Doctrine game of living from crisis to crisis — is to cut social programs (Medicaid and Social Security) while using the hostage crisis to make sure that taxes are not increased on the super-wealthy. There does seem to be a lie in the chart, indicated mainly by Venus conjunct Neptune.

This might be a nice aspect in personal astrology, though in the chart for an important national event — especially one about economics — it can indicate some form of fraud or deception.

That would be par for the course, when every one of these fake crises is designed to make the rich richer. If everyone paid their fair share — that is, if people like Mitt Romney and Warren Buffett paid a higher percentage in taxes than their secretaries do, and if major corporations paid their fair share of taxes, we would not be in our current condition.

The Little Airplane That Couldn’t

Without getting into the specifics of sequestration, let’s look at one federal program, to give ourselves the advantage of a sense of scale. That’s the F-35 fighter jet, a project that started in the 1990s and which is planned to be the all-purpose airplane.

Planet Waves
Test flight of F-35B. Photo from Lockheed Martin.

Let’s see, it’s supposed to serve the Air Force, the Navy and the Marines. It’s the plane that can land vertically, like a helicopter, land on a carrier or on a short runway. It’s supposed to replace all of its predecessors, such as the workhorse F-16 and many other airplanes. It’s designed to be good for ground attack, reconnaissance and air defense missions. The United Kingdom, Italy, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Norway, Denmark, and Turkey are part of the development program; Israel, Singapore and Japan may also equip their air services with the F-35.

Each unit goes for about a quarter billion dollars. The whole program is expected to cost the U.S. taxpayers $1.7 trillion — that is, before interest on the money borrowed to pay for it is compounded. The U.S. government claims the plane will cost $20,000 per flight hour in maintenance costs, plus gas and tolls. More realistic estimates have that cost at closer to $50,000 per hour. The U.S. plans to buy 2,443 of them.

The plane has just one problem.

It’s not safe to fly. In fact at the moment, it does not fly. The whole test fleet was grounded last week after routine inspection revealed cracks in engine turbine blades. If a turbine blade shatters in flight, the engine explodes and the airplane crashes.

Did I say one problem? Well, actually, it has a seemingly endless litany of problems, including an airframe that’s unlikely to last the lifetime of the plane; an eject system that has never been tested and which may not work; a fuel dump system that poses a fire hazard; a weight problem; thermal problems that include failure to keep the pilot and controls cool enough; the problem of a standard feature that damages the aircraft; software development that is behind schedule; critical functions have yet to be tested; and there are concerns about what will happen when the plane is struck by lightning.

Planet Waves
Tom Toles of the Washington Post on sequestration.

The program seems to be good for one thing: pouring an ocean of money into the hands of Lockheed Martin, its manufacturer.

That $1.7 trillion budget for the F-35 is 200 times the cost of the $85 billion sequestration that went into effect Friday morning — before interest. When you compound the interest that our children and grandchildren will pay, it’s likely to be at least 50% higher.

And the plane does not fly. Looking at the chart for the contract being awarded and the first test flight, it looks like it’s going to have problems for a long, long time and may even be scrapped.

So what are we really doing in a country that cannot pay for teachers and firefighters and to keep its bridges maintained, where many children cannot concentrate in school because they’re too hungry — but we have money to finance the F-35?

Kinda makes a person wonder.

Lovingly,

PS, If you’re on Facebook (we know that some of you despise the thing) would you please ‘like’ the new Planet Waves company page? There are excellent discussions, frequent news updates and generally a fun experience of microblogging.

 

Planet Waves

More Pisces Than You Think

We know there’s a lot of Pisces the sky right now, including the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Chiron and Neptune — though there are quite a few minor planets there as well. Let’s take a quick look at the better-known planets and then tune into the small ones.

Planet Waves
False-color photo of Mercury, as mapped by the NASA MESSENGER probe. The color variation signifies the varying composition of rocks on Mercury’s surface. Watch video here. Photo: NASA.

Venus has just made a conjunction to Neptune, beginning a new cycle between those two planets. This is the blend of tangible, worldly love and what you might think of as cosmic or mystical love. The two go well together, and while not lending themselves to realism, they can make your wildest ideals seem practical.

The Sun has just completed a conjunction to Chirion in Pisces, which took place in the midst of our Very Strange Week of politics; that was exact the day that Justice Scalia declared voting a racial entitlement and the statue of Rosa Parks was dedicated right down the street. Reality does not make as much sense as we think it should.

Chiron for its part is about to take a square aspect from Jupiter, the traditional ruler of Pisces. This has the flavor of activism to it; it’s fighting the good fight for the good cause, whatever you think that might be. We’re seeing some evidence of this in the now-heightened debate over gun control.

Then we have Sauer conjunct Chiron. To me that is saying: plot the orbit of justice, and follow the trajectory. Aim yourself in the direction of things going right. Stack the deck in your own favor, and if you know about this idea, in favor of the greatest good for all concerned.

While both sides are coming on pretty strong, clearly in Chiron style the underdogs — those without the guns — are going to win this round, and I believe the momentum will persist. This is due to Chiron-Jupiter; it’s also due to the Uranus-Pluto square, and I would remind everyone that the Newtown incident, which spurred the current phase of the discussion, happened during the last week of the Mayan 13th baktun.

Planet Waves
Calculations by Serennu.com.

Meanwhile, Mercury is retrograde, and will form its interior conjunction to the Sun on Monday, March 4. That is Mercury passing exactly between the Earth and Sun. It’a also the midway point of Mercury retrograde; the cycle is halfway over (Mercury stations direct on March 17).

What’s interesting about this conjunction is that it takes place conjunct a relatively newly discovered planet named Borasisi. Named for one of the gods in the Kurt Vonnegut novel Cat’s Cradle, Borasisi is about the relationship between truth, lies, belief and what we perceive as real. In a sense, it says, “reality is what you make it.”

Notably, the novel and the planet have an association to the nuclear lies of one company, General Electric, though this can be extrapolated to include the entire nuclear dilemma. With a powerful conjunction taking place exactly conjunct Borasisi, be ready for some news out of the nuclear industry (as if being told, again, that Fukushima was not really toxic and that Hanford is leaking were not enough). The event could be covered up quickly, or it could represent an intellectual development (such as new data) that is buried by the press.

There are a few other bits in Pisces as well — the full list is included in the chart to the right. Among the interesting aspects are Mars conjunct Heracles (as heroic as it gets, though in Pisces, you might not want credit), Amor conjunct Photographica and Salacia (great for creating sexy photos and for using photography to see someone differently) and Hygiea, which is reminding us that some Pisces are more obsessed with health, purity and neatness than many Virgos, which is not saying much at all.

 

Planet Waves

Senate Delays Brennan Vote; Hagel Sworn In

The Senate Intelligence Committee delayed its vote for the second time on the confirmation of nominee John Brennan to be director of the CIA.

Senator Rand Paul vowed to stall the vote until legal memos justifying the Obama administration’s assassination program, which Brennan has overseen, are released.

“We’re talking about someone eating at a cafe in Boston or in New York, and a Hellfire missile comes raining in on them,” the senator said. “There should be an easy answer from the administration on this. They should say, ‘Absolutely no, we will not kill Americans in America without an accusation, a trial and a jury.'”

The committee is expected to vote on Brennan next week.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is having an easier time of it. He was sworn in on Wednesday, one day after his confirmation was approved, despite Republican complaints about his readiness for the job.

Republicans Sign Brief Supporting Gay Marriage

Top advisers to former president George W. Bush, four former governors, two members of Congress and other prominent Republicans signed a legal brief earlier this week supporting gay people’s constitutional right to marry, directly challenging Speaker John A. Boehner’s position.

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It will be submitted to the Supreme Court in support of a suit to strike down Proposition 8, a California ballot initiative outlawing same-sex marriage. The Obama administration is urging the court to overturn the gay marriage ban.

Tom Goldstein, publisher of Scotusblog, a website that analyzes Supreme Court cases, said the amicus filing “has the potential to break through and make a real difference.”

He added, “The person who is going to decide this case, if it’s going to be close, is going to be a conservative justice who respects traditional marriage but nonetheless is sympathetic to the claims that this is just another form of hatred. If you’re trying to persuade someone like that, you can’t persuade them from the perspective of gay rights advocacy.”

Of course, this is the whole point — the law is supposed to be blind to that kind of thing, applying an even standard.

VAWA Passed, Bill Goes to Obama for Signature

The GOP version of the Violence Against Women Act failed Thursday to win a majority after almost 90 minutes of debate. The House then voted 286-138 to pass the Senate version, with 87 Republicans joining all 199 Democrats to provide majority support.

This Senate bill includes expanded protections for gay women, Native Americans and female immigrants, absent in the Republican proposal.

A majority of Senate Republicans backed the act, along with every woman senator regardless of party, noted House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California.

“It’s really hard to explain why, what eyes the Republicans are looking through, that they do not see the folly of their ways in the legislation they are proposing,” Pelosi said.

 

Planet Waves

The Venus, Neptune and Chiron in Pisces Sessions

The movie The Sessions — which just won Independent Spirit Awards for Helen Hunt (best supporting actress) and John Hawkes (best male lead) and garnered nominations from the Oscars, the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild — is tailor-made for attention while Venus is conjunct Neptune and about to conjoin Chiron in Pisces.

Planet Waves
Helen Hunt and John Hawkes in The Sessions.

Venus-Neptune, at its best, is about elevating erotic love to the level of universal, divine compassion (its shadow expression cautions against illusions and expectations in love). Add Chiron, and we get the theme of allowing ourselves to receive sexual healing. The Sessions tells the real-life story of poet Mark O’Brien, paralyzed from the neck down due to polio, who hired a sex surrogate to lose his virginity.

The movie has spurred an informative post on Betty Dodson’s blog, written by former professional sex surrogate Stephanie Wadell, explaining how real-life sexual surrogacy compares to its depiction in the movie.

Wadell notes that, “the movie only shows the value of surrogate partner work for a severely disabled person. The majority of surrogate partner body therapy includes clients who have numerous sexual and social problems.”

She goes on to describe her work with socially inhibited Silicon Valley tech whizzes during the dot com boom, and one of her favorite clients: a 50-year-old man who had never experienced sexual intimacy with a woman. They spent many sessions just helping him learn to communicate feelings, and then practiced dating — beginning with actually unpacking trash bags of his belongings to set up his bedroom as a welcoming space.

Sexual surrogacy caught on for a short time in the 1970s, after Masters and Johnson introduced the idea as an adjunct to conventional therapy. Unfortunately, despite high success rates, the combination of complicated legal issues plus tremendous criticism from both the far Right and feminist organizations led to tighter and tighter restrictions on the field. By the time Wadell was practicing from 1987-1997, there were only 12 certified sex surrogates in the entire U.S. — leaving this modality of healing to that ‘oldest profession’ that operates in red light, not red tape.

 

Planet Waves

News from a Piscean Planet: Nuclear Leaks and Deep-Sea Wonder

The Hanford Nuclear Reservation, a nuclear weapons production and storage facility in southeastern Washington State known to have leaked more than 1 million gallons of nuclear waste into the desert soil over the years, has sprung a new breach.

Planet Waves
Nuclear reactors line the riverbank at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation along the Columbia River in January 1960. (Photo courtesy of the Department of Energy).

The current radioactive leak was detected coming from a 1940s-vintage radioactive sludge storage tank. The tank was originally designed to store nuclear waste for only 20 years. The Department of Energy announced this most recent discovery on Feb. 15.

The Hanford site has been plagued since 1989 by schemes to manage its nuclear waste that have faltered due to excessive cost, poor contractor performance and plain lack of credibility. The current plan to seal waste in glass-forming material is already delayed beyond 2019 due to spiraling costs.

Radioactive plumes are moving through groundwater toward the Columbia River. The Columbia borders 50 miles of the Hanford site, at times coming within seven miles of the tanks.

Meanwhile, in deep ocean waters on the other side of the continent, plumes of a different sort are stunning scientists. A U.K. team in the Caribbean Ocean have discovered the deepest thermal vents on record, releasing water that is among the hottest on the planet at 401 degrees Celsius (or about 754 Fahrenheit; the surrounding water is only about 4C, or 39F).

The scientists, using a remotely operated vehicle in the Cayman Trough, happened upon a previously unknown trough almost 5,000 meters (about three miles) deep. The water — pushing out from the seabed under incredible pressure — looks rather like black smoke. And yet despite the incredible heat, pressure and lack of sunlight, the area hosts curious, specially adapted forms of sea life including translucent, apparently blind shrimp with special organs to detect super-heated water.

“The beauty of working in the deep oceans is that you’re always stumbling over things that are completely new,” said Dr. Jon Copley of the National Oceanography Centre. “It’s teaching us how little we know and for a few minutes it’s not about the science, it’s about the wonder of the planet, something that’s been hidden for so long.”

Rather like current Mercury-retrograde explorations of our own inner Piscean depths. When Mercury stations direct, it will be time to apply what we’ve learned — though sooner rather than later would be better in the case of nuclear waste.

 

Planet Waves

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream… And to Be Photographed

With all the planets in Pisces, the skies are emphasizing inner vision and creative expression, dream exploration, erotic love, deep emotions and the permeability of shared consciousness. As if on cue to coincide with the conjunction of Venus with Neptune in Pisces (which was exact Thursday), Huffington Post ran a story this week on photographer Paul Schneggenburger’s surreal project titled The Sleep of the Beloved.

“What happens to lovers as they are sleeping? Is it a sleeping just next to each other, each on his own, or is there a sharing of certain places or emotions?” asks Schneggenburger. “Is there a conjunction with the other, with one’s self?”

Schneggenburger captures six-hour-long exposures of couples (sometimes with their toddlers) as they sleep. The resulting ephemeral, black and white images resemble mythical multi-headed, multi-limbed creatures. How does the intricate, unconscious dance of physically intertwining and separating compare with our inner dreamtime wanderings?

Volunteers for The Sleep of the Beloved slumber from midnight to 6:00 am after Schneggenburger sets up candles and camera in his studio — and the project is ongoing. If you’re planning travel to Vienna, you can contact him to see about becoming his next photo subject with your beloved.

 

Planet Waves

Lots and Lots of Pisces

This week I have an exciting edition of Planet Waves FM for you, covering the ongoing, rapidly developing astrology in Pisces. This includes the Sun, retrograde Mercury, Venus and Mars in Pisces, along with slow-movers Chiron and Neptune.

Planet Waves
Photo by Johanna.

This is a truly unusual alignment — looking for anything as interesting in Pisces I had to go back to around 1967 to find something this cool.

After I cover the astrology — and play a song by the Florida-based band Pilotwave — I take a gander through the news, including looking at the chart for sequestration (that is, mandatory budget cuts that are going into effect March 1 — today). I manage to skip the pope leaving office and look at the petition by a number of prominent Republicans who are supporting the right of lesbian and gay people to marry.

I read from and comment on an article in The New York Timeshere is that article. I had to leave out a lot of stories, though this week’s newspapers read more like something out of fiction than the real world — such is Mercury retrograde and a bunch of other planets in Pisces.

 

Planet Waves

Your Monthly Horoscopes — and our Publishing Schedule Notes

The March monthly extended horoscopes were published Friday, Feb. 22. The February monthly horoscope was published Friday, Jan. 25 — I recommend reviewing the monthly horoscope at the end of the month. Inner Space for March was published Tuesday, Feb. 26. Note that the longer monthly horoscope is being incorporated into the Friday issue after the Sun has entered a new sign; a new Inner Space is still emailed on the following Tuesday. We published the Moonshine Horoscope for the Virgo Full Moon on Tuesday, Feb. 19. We will be publishing the Pisces New Moon Moonshine horoscope Tuesday, March 5.

 

Planet Waves

Pisces Birthdays: The Living Reef

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)

Pisces is a school of fish right now. Your sign is your environment — there are likely to be a lot of interesting people around you. If there are not, make a conscious decision to open up and they are likely to arrive. Said another way, you have your options open, and because this is your solar return time, you will for at least the coming four seasons. Your life can become like a coral reef that hosts many different forms of life, many different kinds of people. Diversity is key, so make sure that you make your decisions accordingly. There is one reminder coming through — you are bigger than your relationships. Most people and many Pisces live as if they are smaller than, or submissive to, their relationships and their partners. Now is the time to adjust that scale. You are the owner of your existence, or at least you are its steward. You have a life, and in that life, there are other people. You are the focal point of your own world. If you remember that, you’ll be able to maintain a sense of scale and proportion. Remember, too, that the people who are drawn to you will make themselves known. They will demonstrate their care and respect. They will come in a spirit of exchange. You have plenty to offer them, and they have plenty to offer you, which sets the potential for an authentic sharing — do not settle for anything less.

Hello Pisces and Pisces rising — your birthday reading is ready to go. It’s two sessions of astrology covering all of the current wild astrology in your sign, a tarot reading and an extended sign description, plus charts and photos of the spread. All this is yours for just $19.95, money-back guarantee if you don’t love it.


Weekly Horoscope for Friday, March 1, 2013 #940 | By Eric Francis
 

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You may feel like you’re living in two worlds — one where you have to get everything right, and another where there are no rules. Actually the only rules you have to follow are the ones you’ve agreed to, and even those are probably negotiable. Check carefully for any sensation of being trapped, hemmed in or hidden away, and if you discover something, see if you can get a handle on why you feel that way. What seems to be happening is that you’re being drawn into a dimension of yourself that’s either unfamiliar or that has never been so present. This may have you feeling like you’re going to slip off a ledge and tumble into an inner abyss. Well, kind of — what’s happening is that your imagination is firing up. Think of it as an inner life, an inner dimension, that has all its own customs. The more you try to pretend it’s not there, the more chaotic you’ll feel. The more you focus your energy inward, the more you will tap a rich well of imagination.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

 

Taurus (April 19- May 20)

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — One way to let go of old or stuck patterns is to meet new people, experience them and learn from them. Think of it as a kind of creative and emotional cross-pollination. There seem to be plenty of people and scenes available right now — your social universe really is a universe, though to find it you’ll need to get out of your house. This one isn’t on the Internet; it’s the one you can meet with all of your senses. One element of the astrological pattern is the ability to experiment with who you are, to shape-shift and test out different self-portrayals. You might do that with clothing, makeup or character, but really this is about psychic posture: how it feels to be you, which is unusually flexible right now. One other thing — notice the role that people you already know have in your life, including those you’ve lost contact with and also those you’ve been in contact with all along. You can have a whole new conversation.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

 

Gemini (May 20- June 21)

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Please apply your imagination to your career. Do not look for a job. Do not re-do your resume. Use your incredibly beautiful imagination and consider the possibilities. Now is not the time to consider the flaws in your plan, your limits or any practical matters — it’s the time to unfold your idea of your potential. It’s also the time to consider the power and value of the experience you’ve already gained. Said another way, I suggest you take an inventory of what you know, what you’ve done and your talents. Then, think of them in different combinations and see if that sparks any ideas. As you do that, try to remember what you want to do. You may think that’s easy to recall, though I am proposing that you’re going to remember something you’ve forgotten. What were you doing and thinking in March 2010, February 2011 or February 2012? I suggest you go through your notebooks, email, diary and photo library and sift through them like you’re panning for gold.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

 

Cancer (June 21- July 22)

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — It is unfortunate that our ideas about birth, sex, the cosmos, consciousness and death have all been taken over by religion. I don’t mean influenced — I mean taken over, as in bought the bank, raided, invaded and infiltrated. It seems like you’re on a quest to set yourself free of these things, though it would help to know what you’re setting yourself free from. Don’t invest too much energy in that, however — just know that it’s something that has co-opted everything, or has tried to, and that your actual reality is about something entirely different. You may experience some discomfort as you stretch past your previous boundaries, a little like shimmying under barbed wire and getting scuffed up in the process. You may feel like someone is going to challenge or persecute you. You might feel guilty, as if you’re doing something wrong by opening up to your potential. If so, keep going — you’re moving in the direction of freedom of conscience, passion and love.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

 

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — This is the time to focus on money. No matter how spiritual, innocent, pure of heart, loving in your intentions, motivated by authentic creativity and truly generous you are, work what you’re doing until it creates the profits that are coming your way. All your other attributes are what is feeding your energy and your potential — not subtracting, or presenting any moral issues. There is (mainly fed by one reference in the Bible) an alleged prohibition on doing anything ‘good’ for money, which leads directly to a world where a lot of people think the only thing they can do is something detrimental, hurtful or exploitative. You are currently in the midst of some form of abundance; you have plenty to offer, and to share. There are many productive exchanges going on in your life, and what you’re involved with — or can choose to become involved with — is there to create benefit for everyone, including financial gain for you. PS, this is not a matter of ‘luck’.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

 

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You seem to be trying to sort out your relationships, though have you considered that this is a great time to be lost in the midst of them? By that I mean that they don’t need to make sense, they don’t need to stay the same and you don’t need to adhere to any one person or concept of what a relationship is. I know how nervous living this way can make some people feel — like they have no boundaries. The thing is, most people’s rules (which are like pretend boundaries) are so rigid that sooner or later they end up frustrated (or drunk) and throw them away and wing it. So while you’re exploring, be mindful of how you feel. Speaking of alcohol, have some ideas about what decisions you’ll make when this stuff is in the environment or in your body. Know where you are and what you’re doing there. Make sure you say yes when you mean yes, no when you mean no, and maybe when you need some time to think about it (those are the most useful boundaries anyone can have).

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

 

Libra (Sep. 22 - Oct. 23)

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — There are two approaches available to you: competitive or inclusive. Said this way, the choice seems obvious, though every influence in our society is about turning relationships into a zero-sum game. That means a game with many losers and just one winner. The game you want is one where everyone wins. One thing to remember is that there is plenty of you to go around: plenty of love, empathy and appreciation of diversity. You don’t have to ‘commit’ yourself to anyone or anything the way that you were told you had to in the past. The person you need to be committed to is yourself and your own cause, meaning: know your wants and needs. Know what values are guiding you. What I suggest is that you let your imagination guide you, and see who harmonizes with you. Remind yourself how much you have to offer, and you will also remember why it makes sense that others would have so much to offer you. If you bump up against some limit on your self-esteem, climb over it, walk around it or keep going.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

 

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — By almost every indication this will be one of the most interesting times in your erotic life — a big statement, when made in the company of Scorpio. Pisces, your solar house of art, sex, pleasure and taking risks, is swimming with planets right now, including Venus and Mars. I am sure you want to indulge yourself and really have some fun. Yet there seems to be something that’s holding you back, some hesitancy or misgiving. You may feel like your head is getting in the way of your heart. This is worth pausing over and considering what’s up. Do you have a commitment to someone else, whether in reality or in your own private thoughts? Do you feel guilty, as if you’re taking something away from someone else? Just because you feel that way doesn’t make it true, though there does seem to be something you need to disconnect from, rooted in the past — and there is nothing stopping you from doing so. The truth is you cannot love or make love at some abstract time in the future — these are pleasures reserved for those who are able to focus on the present. So call yourself into moment you’re actually in, and enjoy your life.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

 

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — I suggest you project all of your confidence into the relationship of your choice. Your life is not as complex as it seems; you’re merely allowing yourself to feel all the things that usually don’t influence you. The astrology is so strong that denial or pretending won’t work; it’s time to actually acknowledge how you feel. I suggest you do this regardless of the rules, or what you think anyone else might have to say about it. The message of the planets is that your life is your life; you and your time are not the property of someone else. That includes anyone in your family who, whether currently or in the past, has (or had) something to say about who you relate to and how. You may not think this a factor, but I suggest you investigate further. One of the issues involved seems to be that someone put into your mind the fear of going deep — the fear of emotional bonding, whether directly or indirectly — through their words or actions. You have a different idea about life, and a different plan for yourself.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

 

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — There’s no one correct answer to any of the questions you’re asking yourself, and no one right thing for you to be doing. I suggest therefore that you do what you feel good doing, to the extent that you can. I recognize you may have certain time constraints (such as work) but that’s unlikely to go 24 hours a day. With as much time as you have available, do what you feel good doing. This includes anything from the movies you feel like seeing to the books you feel like reading to the places you want to visit. Live like it’s your life, and like you’re free to move about, think and experience what you want. As you start to do this, you might notice some odd little reservations you have, as if you’re doing the wrong thing by making your own choices. It’s worth taking a moment to marvel at how that could possibly be — which can serve to enhance your resolve to fully take advantage of the bold but simple fact that you’re alive.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

 

Planet Waves

Note to Aquarius and Aquarius rising readers: Your birthday reading is ready. I cover entirely new territory from what I did in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition. I review the ways in which Aquarius itself has been changing and evolving. I describe your process of discovering your sense of mission; of opening up your inner life; and relationships based on creative exploration first and ‘commitment’ second. It’s two sessions of astrology plus tarot, with an extended description of your sign — and access to last year’s reading so that you can verify my accuracy. You can get instant access here.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — By one measure, everything comes down to self-esteem. I feel like I keep mentioning this for you, and given what’s developing in your chart, it’s worth another look. In fact, this is likely to be an ongoing spiritual project for the next few years, though you have a great opportunity to make some unusual progress right now. The only thing that could get in the way of feeling good about yourself is an incorrect idea, or a self-deception of some kind. Belief, and in particular, your beliefs about you, have a way of dictating your whole reality. You don’t need to worry about what is true — only what is false. Therefore, I suggest you go on a search for ideas or concepts that are in some way self-deceptive; for lies about yourself that you’ve believed; and for thoughts that are based on being in any way ‘less than’. If you recognize what is not true, what is true will be obvious, as will what to do about it.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

 

Planet Waves

Hello Pisces! So many planets in Pisces means this is a brilliant moment for you, and your 2013 birthday reading looks at this astrology carefully. Chiron, the planet of healing, Neptune, planet of inspiration, and Mercury retrograde are all included. You now have the ability to develop a gift for business and financial success, if you focus your creative talents and work cooperatively with others — and I explain how to do that effectively. This reading is two 40-minute sessions of astrology, a tarot reading and an extended written description of your astrological sign. I’ve also included access to last year’s reading so you can review the past 12 months and check my accuracy. Here is a link to that affordably priced reading — which is like an extended, personal meditation on your life. You will love it — promise.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — At the moment, under a sky with seven planets gathered in your sign, you have a remarkable ability to be seen for who you are. You also have the potential to demonstrate to others the aspects of your personality that you want to emphasize and be known for. However, I would suggest just one thing, in several different forms. Don’t try to convince anyone of anything. Nor is this the time to pursue anyone. Those who have an interest in you will come to you. Those who like and appreciate you will let you know. It may be possible to sell yourself to someone, or to be persuasive in some way. But it’s not necessary and I believe will ultimately work against your best interests. The people you want to connect with are those who are already committed, who see you as you want to be seen, and who value you for who you are. Focusing on anyone else will distract your attention and you may miss the very best that life has to offer you — and it’s definitely offering.

Order your 2013 reading from Eric Francis now, in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition of Planet Waves. As a subscriber you can still get all 12 signs for the price of three. This is a detailed written and audio reading that you will love. You can also purchase signs one at a time (including audio and written, prior to our splitting those two products).

 

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An Ocean of Pisces

Dear Friend and Reader:

Spring 2012 looks like it will be a season unlike any other in our lives. That season begins March 20 with the vernal equinox, when the Sun enters Aries. That will be big news of its own, though before we get there, we are experiencing some of the most extraordinary Pisces energy anyone can remember.

Planet Waves
Orange fish with a big attitude. Photo by Bev Dulis.

I learned something about Pisces recently that I want to share with you. Dane Rudhyar, one of the inventors of astrology as we know it (humanistic with a touch of spiritual; psychological and compassionate) wrote that Pisces is the sign of courage and of faith in the future. He was emphatic about this. His other ideas about Pisces included the way in which, when faced with this cosmic energy wherein the ego can dissolve, we are able to see the world in a new way, without the trappings of the past.

And from this same sign we can draw on a wellspring of courage and faith in the future. I don’t know about you, but I’m through hearing from self-proclaimed prophets of doom who offer no practical ideas. Humanity is certainly in a predicament, but then if you read history, it always seems to be in one or another. And at this stage I can think of no better resources than courage or faith in the future.

Two slow-moving planets have taken up residence in Pisces — Chiron and Neptune. This is making the usually ineffable energy of this sign come through boldly and clearly. On Tuesday, Feb. 21, the Pisces New Moon happened conjunct both of those planets, setting off an age of Pisces that promises to be as challenging as it is beautiful in its potential. The world is a harsh place for Pisces energy. Think of how many of the most creative people of our time are recruited and basically bought off to make television commercials. Imagine if all that energy went into something that fed the soul and propagated beauty.

Or consider the subtle energy, the feelings and the ideas, that are drowned in the ocean of liquor that’s consumed around the world every day. Consider how most movies feature repeated scenes of death and no scenes of lovemaking, because sex is allegedly too controversial. Pisces is feminine energy, and notice the all-out war on women that is being waged by politicians right now, in the form of attempting to deny them their medical choices and personal autonomy. Consider the imagination energy that goes into making up lies as opposed to creating interesting stories.

Planet Waves
Four fish standing still, all in the same direction. Photo by Bev Dulis.

Pisces is easily exploited, but now there are some mighty players present there — the healer, Chiron; the lord of the seas, Neptune; the goddess of protection, Pallas Athene; and as of last week, the day before the quarter Moon, Mercury. So we have something durable to stand up with. Pisces now has substance; Neptune increases the inspiration factor, and Chiron focuses the gift of applying that inspiration to real situations in life.

This week I was corresponding with Zane Stein, who wrote the first book about Chiron. He offered some thoughts about the recent New Moon, which he said, “emphasizes the extremes of the two fish swimming in opposite directions (spiritual growth, for example, versus escapism). Consider the conjunction with Neptune as upping the ante. The potential for spiritual growth is so much, much more so now than any of us have ever experienced in this lifetime, but likewise the potential for self-destruction is equally greater.”

The recent new Moon was also conjunct Pallas Athene, a guardian asteroid with a gift for strategy. “Pallas/Chiron can enable us to fight against anything that is blocking us from trying to heal our wounds, and linked with Neptune enable us to see a much, much larger picture than we even dreamt possible. But there will be so many, many temptations to follow other pathways … false paths that lead nowhere, false gurus that are full of lies, drugs that promise enlightenment.”

And he concluded: “One key to making this the beginning of a positive new cycle is for each person to truly believe (Pisces’ keywords include ‘I believe’) in the basic goodness of the universe, and that we are all its children, made out of the same ‘goodness’. Then ask yourself, “What inner dichotomy, what inner battle, do I need to face, and heal, to make me more whole and more at one with Spirit?”

These are the real questions of our times.

Here is your extended horoscope for March 2012. These apply to your Sun, Moon and rising signs.

Lovingly,

Eric Francis

Note to Readers: Yesterday Amanda posted an interpretation of the chart of Anais Nin, a favorite writer of many. She’s a Pisces and the 21st was her birthday. You can read the whole article on the Planet Waves daily page.

Note About the Photos: The photos with this edition were taken by Bev Dulis, a great friend of Planet Waves and one of our amazing photographers. They are taken in the deep, cold waters of the Pacific Northwest — not in a big saltwater aquarium. We always contact Bev around Pisces time to request fish pictures out of her archives. She has since graduated to photographing cats.

 

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 astrology. 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.

Planet Waves

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.

We’re offering it at a special pre-sale price for current subscribers and customers — all 12 signs for $19.95. Once the report comes out, it will go on general sale for $24.95. The report will be ready by March 7, well before the spring equinox — I’m working on it now and it’s coming out amazing. Here is the link to pre-order. Thanks for signing up.

 

Planet Waves

Now on Planet Waves FM: The Fire Breathing Fish

Today’s edition of Planet Waves FM was recorded Tuesday right before the Pisces New Moon, by your host, the Fire Breathing Fish. It morphs from a reading of the New Moon chart into a rant on women’s autonomy and what used to be called reproductive rights. Casting the issue as total sovereignty is more accurate. But it lacks a certain appeal — where there are rights, there are responsibilities. Privilege without a corresponding sense of duty is inherently toxic — and even well-bred royalty know this. If we’re wondering why any woman is willing to give up her rights, her autonomy or her sovereignty, the answer may be found in her relationship to being a steward of her own body and the power that it contains.

Planet Waves
The Virgo Squad — Betty Dodson, right, with Planet Waves friend and contributor Beth Bagner.

At a certain point in the podcast I launch into a tirade on the religious ‘right’ doing its takedown of women, and then describe a new video by my mentor and friend Betty Dodson. She’s recently come out with a new video in her series on women’s sexuality, a documentary of one of her bodysex workshops.

It includes discussion of body image, sexual evolution, making choices, the struggle with sex within relationships and many other topics. Part of the problem we face is that we don’t know how to talk about sex, we’re embarrassed to do so, it rarely happens so we don’t get any practice, and we’re afraid that Western civilization (or at least our relationship) will collapse if we even try. I guess we will have to see. What this DVD offers most of all is a model for a sane conversation about sex and sexuality. If nothing else, we get a model for how to think and how to speak — in an original way, but within a framework that includes boundaries, a sense of purpose and most important, a sense of humor.

It’s twenty-sodding-twelve and we’re really discussing whether people have a right to use birth control? Or rather a bunch of men who want to take public office and be commander-in-chief are discussing whether women have a right to use birth control? Most of the time I look at this and I cannot believe it’s even happening.

I recommend all of Betty’s videos but my personal favorite is Her Life of Sex and Art, a frank (and frankly hilarious) talk given by Betty in good old politically correct, may I please glance at you Seattle. This is Betty at her most authentic and spontaneous — an off the cuff description of her life, that is, her life of art and sex. This DVD is $10 and it’s nothing but fun. If you would like to read more about Betty, here is one of my articles about her.

 

Planet Waves

Monthly Horoscope for March 2012 | Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You’re still figuring out how to handle the sensation of constant change, though I assure you that retreating to the past is not the way to do it. Understanding the past will help, to the extent that’s possible, though the past is usually more a question of interpretation than of ‘truth’. That said, certain facts are coming to light, about choices you’ve made, things that you’ve said and that have been said to you, and on a deeper level, how you felt about these things that influenced the direction of your life. If you’re going to let this information inform your choices today, do so creatively. Making choices based on past regrets doesn’t work. It’s far better to acknowledge what’s happened and then choose based on an open concept of the future. You know what you want. It’s different from what you wanted in the past, and that seems to be the whole point of your life now and for the foreseeable future: a different life, where different things happen. The way forward may not be clear now or for the next six weeks or so as Mars finishes up its long retrograde in Virgo. But you can go far to resolve old hangups, get a grip on your health, let go of attachments, and focus on getting clear about your top three priorities. I suggest you let yourself feel just fine if all three involve your drive for professional success and financial wellbeing. It’s about time, isn’t it?

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)

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Jerry Garcia used to remind us that, “Every silver lining’s got a touch of gray.” He meant that as a caution against believing in a perfect life, and there was something in there about making peace with growing older. Let me put it another way. The fact that you might be willing to take a gamble implies that you’ve got something to lose. You wouldn’t be taking a risk otherwise, would you? At the moment you may be remembering every bet you ever lost, and at the same time feeling less than willing to put something on the line. The truth is, something is at stake. And you might feel better about that if you felt more confident in who you are and what you want. Aspects this month seem destined to stir up that question again, but it’s not for nothing. You’re trying to break free of the past with every cell in your body, and with every photon in your aura. Who has held you down in the past, and how have they done it? That’s the place to set everyone else free. In any event, the whole matter of desire is up for review. How you feel about wanting, and how you feel about having, are at the heart of your struggle with contentment. If your standard is perfection, you may never get to the point where you feel satisfied. But there may be a way to change your standard without actually compromising what you want.

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.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — You’re figuring out that you have to be happy where you are, and at the moment the primary question seems to be whether you feel safe where you are. What you’re experiencing may be about your circumstances, but rather than wait for those circumstances to change, this would be a good time to start making adjustments. Make a list of everything in your life that has surpassed a limit: for example, too much, too little or too long. Focus on those first. Set some new limits on when you’re going to make at least one decision on each of them, related to taking action. If solving an old, persistent issue is too daunting, take some target practice on a few less intractable ones. I know you’re having to do this in a time when your patience might be running in short supply, and when people might not be acting in such a cooperative manner. So I suggest you give yourself some motivations to muster some gumption. Let one of them be creative fulfillment and a significant measure of professional success. These things matter to you now, and they will continue to gain importance to you over the next few years. There is a direct quotient. Think of it this way: Every quantum of energy you free from frustration will give you three quanta for something you like to do. Further, each time you do that you will be saving energy over an extended period of time.

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.

Cancer (June 21- July 22)

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — The stakes do seem to be going up, don’t they? You have more ideas, more to do and on a regular basis more is expected of you. But you can be thankful of one thing: you’re doing a fine job of bashing through the glass ceiling. What’s even more interesting is that you’re doing it against some considerable odds, and in your own way. I suggest at this relatively early juncture that you not put too much energy into fighting the battles of yesteryear, yesterdecade or yestercentury. In fact I suggest you get out of the business of battles entirely. Your real stock in trade is innovation. People are not only more open to new ideas than before, most are entirely confused and looking for anything with a vague shred of meaning, and you have a lot more than that going for you. While you’re likely to be as ambitious and energized about accomplishing real things as you’ve ever been (probably a lot more than ever), you’ve got the gift of insight right now, and faith in yourself. That’s the real source of your energy. It’s as if something, some source or flow, is coming in from another dimension and you can tap into it. The thing that can trip you up is your mind, and you have to practice a mix of multitasking and overfocus. There should be a word for it and someone — maybe you — can teach workshops. But don’t be too clever. If you’ve got to outsmart anyone, it’s yourself.

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.

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You know more about people close to you than you may think; you have all the information you need. Now it’s up to you to put that information to work for your mutual benefit. It’s good that your secrets are safe, and even better that you’re a natural-born diplomat who knows that part of your role in life is to help the world build cohesion. You’re in the perfect position to find the common ground among people that nobody else seems to be able to see. I suggest, however, not putting your own needs too far to the back. You’re able to do that, and I’m here to remind you that the very people you’re assisting are available to assist you, if you would be a little more open about your desires, and to receiving support. For the moment you may still be figuring out what matters, which is a plus — most people never even try. Others who know what they want can be dangerous because that blinds them to all else. You’re starting from the position of common ground, and have faith that it’s big enough for everyone. As you get closer to understanding what matters to you, and more to the point, why it matters, you’ll be able to balance your own priorities with those of the circumstances you’re in and get a strong mutual energy going. Keep working toward clarity about what you value, and purging your attachments to what no longer serves anyone.

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.

Introducing the Planet Waves All Access Pass for 2012

Last year we offered an All Access Pass for subscribers who wanted access to everything we offer in a calendar year. The response from our All Access subscribers was overwhelmingly positive, and we are happy to once again offer one of our most popular products: the Planet Waves All Access Pass for 2012. One price gets you a subscription to the weeklies and all other products on Planetwaves.net through December of 2012.

Planet Waves

Using one password for everything, which you choose yourself, you’ll have easy access to every product, including birthday reports and special audio recordings, weekly email service, the annual edition, and whatever additional projects we create. It’s a great discount on a year of our work.

We trust that this idea is a fun way to meet your needs, whether you use astrology for daily spiritual inspiration, therapeutic purposes or pragmatic decision-making. And it’s truly a valuable resource for students of Astrology.

With the All Access Pass you’ll receive:

– Tuesday/Friday Email editions of Planet Waves weekly content and horoscopes. Follow Eric’s weekly and monthly interpretations for all of 2012.

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Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You seem to be on a quest for something: the source of something within yourself. That same thing seems obvious about others when you look to them, though the inner blind spot you have is mysterious. What is the source of your energy, the source of love, the origin of creativity? It would help if you would trust instead of question. Yet that defies the very logic that you seek. You might ask: what is the source of logic, and of rationality? There’s a bold image in your charts about wanting to burst free, let go and run with life. You even seem to have the opportunities available. You don’t have to choose on the basis of ‘who you really are’. Experimenting is not a commitment to anything special, and I’m suggesting that your quest for self-knowledge might really be a challenge to meet the world on equal terms and plunge into experiences that will teach you about yourself. This is another way of saying you don’t need a theory; you’ll be a lot happier with direct impressions, and encounters with people that will challenge you in ways you’ve never experienced. I’m not, by the way, suggesting that you search for yourself outside yourself, but rather that you immerse yourself in a waiting and eager world and see what that does to your sense of who you are. Notice what it teaches you about what you want. Experience the challenge to trust in a way that is immediate and not theoretical.

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.

Libra (Sep. 22 - Oct. 23)

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Yours is the sign of balance, but right now you’re more like the hyperspace seesaw than you are a delicate scale. Yet what’s amazing is that you’re actually standing on solid ground, no matter how high the energy ramps up. In fact you’re providing a counterweight to your whole situation — including the super-high energy of many people around you. You’re good this way — providing a kind of opposite influence that’s able to embrace whatever is going on around you and still have fun in the mix of it all. Opportunities abound, including meetings with new people, and whole new communities of people, and they’re going to progress fast, so I suggest you not worry if you seem to miss something. I would offer a few words of caution, though. You need your rest. Don’t worry if you’re not half the party animal you used to be; you make up for it in appreciation. Any physical symptoms you may experience indicate whether your stress level is getting too high. Spend enough time alone so that you can actually feel what’s going on in your body and in your soul. Remember that while you love contact and thrive on relationships, your emotional independence is key to your happiness. Given your current circumstances, which will keep drawing you in, you’ll need to remind yourself of this. The more you cultivate some autonomy and even sovereignty, the more fully you’ll be able to indulge yourself in the amazing experiences that life is offering you right now.

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.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — When we use the phrase ‘change my mind’, we make it sound like a decision that we can change right back. I would propose that to change your mind is to change yourself, when you really do it. You actually rearrange aspects of not just your thought pattern but also your neurology. One special point of focus of your life now is changing your mind about how you respond to the expectations of others. Few would accuse you of being a conformist, but you’re someone who is keenly sensitive to what others believe. In recent months you’ve been sorting out this particular relationship — the one between you and ‘everyone else’. You’re not done with this process yet; you’ve yet to reach escape velocity, but I believe you’re at the point where you’re learning to notice that there is indeed a contrast between your ideas about life, and the things that you want, and those of others — including what others claim to want for you. Globally, this setup creates tension so subtle and so pervasive that few notice its existence, yet many are trapped within it. You may need to be pushy or what seems like overly assertive to establish your way of doing things, the one that’s right for you — and I suggest you err on the side of too bold rather than not bold enough. This will help you locate and learn to effectively work a boundary that you’ve been struggling with for a while.

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.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Focus on the task at hand and your goals will take care of themselves. Be grateful you have goals, anyway, even if you don’t quite understand the process of how you’re getting there. That aspect of your life is going considerably better than you may believe — whether you think it’s going brilliantly or a bit less than that. Your direction is well set, and the way I suggest you express it is through devoting yourself passionately to the quality of the work you’re doing rather than where you expect it to take you. This calls for an act of trust, but not such a big one. In fact, as you involve yourself directly in the tangible substance of what you’re working on, you’re learning many things that are helping you sort out elements of the big picture, refine your methods and get clear in your ideas about what you’re doing. One thing about your sense of mission — think of yourself on a quest for your roots. You’re working your way backwards through many different evolutions of your ‘goals’ toward a wellspring at the core of yourself. While you’re doing this, clear away everyone else’s goals that you might be influenced by. Do your best to scrap your ‘sense of service’ for something deeper: what you know is right for you (which will end up being of service even more). And please do something that many people scrap on the way to success: deepen your emotional roots rather than pull them up.

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.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — One challenge you face is maintaining your sense of integrity in the midst of constant change. Remember that integrity is something that you have or don’t have, but how you feel is another story. In fact, there are aspects of your consciousness and your psyche that are disintegrating. They are quite literally coming apart, and it’s about time. The purpose of this is to release energy that is trapped in structure, a little like taking the honey out of honeycombs. What you want is the substance that contains the nutrients — not the shape of the container. So, remember — this is about a feeling, and the feeling is having some sense of stability in the presence of the constant pressure for things to be different, and the experience of the ground shifting under your feet. You have your integrity if you’re up and walking. You have your integrity if you’re noticing the world around you, including noticing the changes to which you feel subjected. After a while — if it hasn’t already happened — you’ll find your center not in the sense of being attached to anything or anyplace, but in your way of perceiving your relationship to the world. Said more simply, everything changes and changes all the time. Stability is an illusion of perception. You will feel the most grounded when your perceptions change as fast as the events you’re noticing: when you match your vibration to your experience. There is nothing to cling to, and there never was.

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.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Imagine your life is a dream that’s about to become a lucid dream — one wherein you ‘wake up’ and figure out that you’re dreaming, and that quality of consciousness gives you the ability to guide the events that would only be ‘happening to you’ in a regular dream. The thing is that in a regular dream, your mind (which is an aspect of you) is still conjuring the whole scene. In a lucid dream, you know you’re doing it, and that knowledge gives you more influence. I’ve often wondered: what is the membrane that separates the two? Many spiritual traditions tell us that a similar veil exists in what we think of as waking life. It’s like a scrim thrown over consciousness that leads most people to be unaware of the fact that they exist. In plain talk, that’s a form of denial. As part of the waking-up process, I suggest you do a check-in and see if you’re denying anything important, or if there’s anything that’s persistently trying to get your attention. While the dreamy quality is cast over part of your chart, a boldly alert quality is vibrating out through your experience. But there is a third factor — a persistent sense of isolation that surfaces from time to time. That’s the wake-up call; what you might call the portal to lucidity. The deeper you enter your sense of isolation, the more you’ll be able to explore your sense of presence in and contact with the world.

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.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Dane Rudhyar, one of the 20th century’s deep philosophers of astrology, once wrote that, “Piscean winds of destiny may impel men of vision and courage to discover many a ‘new world’, as much as they do destroy or suffocate the many who stubbornly resist change.” Neptune, god of the sea and earthquakes, is newly arrived in your sign, and the Sun is racing toward equinox. This is a good time to remind you of this connection of Pisces to inspiration, vision and bravery. I know that for years, you’ve lived with the radically alien influence of Uranus in your sign, and may not quite trust that the world has grown a little closer to being your home. That, however, is exactly what is happening now. And in addition to Neptune in your sign, you also have Chiron — a source of reassurance for the underdog and an influence that will serve as a vehicle for your visions and desires. Very little happens fast in Pisces. There’s always a process of flow, and the previous seven years of Uranus (a pushy influence) may have you feeling burned out. Fortunately you’re in a time that will help you cool the fires of your soul and proceed with patience, clarity and a healthy touch of urgency. For your birthday, I will again quote Rudhyar: “Transcendence, overcoming, piercing through illusions and false security, severance of social ties, embarking for the great adventure with utter faith and in denuded simplicity of being: all these things are to be learned in Pisces. [Humanity] is here face to face with [oneself], and with that Greater Self which [s/he] names: God.”

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.

Schedule Update and the Pisces New Moon

Dear Friend and Reader:

This note is being sent to the main subscriber list and our product customer list, together. Reminder to horoscope subscribers that this is a ‘Wednesday night’ week; there’s just one horoscope mailing, on Wednesday evening EST. This week I’m recording some overdue birthday reports and the forthcoming Spring Report.

Planet Waves
Boats stored for the winter on Fort Pond, town of Montauk, NY. In the background on the left is Montauk Tower, part of the failed plan to make Montauk the ‘Miami of the North’. Photo by Eric.

Yesterday was the Pisces New Moon, and I wanted to make sure you had access to blog posts on that topic — An Age of Pisces and Pisces New Moon, Starring Chiron and Neptune.

As you may know, the New Moon that takes place at 5:34 pm EST on Tuesday is pretty special — the Sun and Moon are right at the midpoint of Chiron and Neptune, both newly arrived in Pisces for a long, long visit. It’s also conjunct an asteroid, Pallas Athene. I explain this in the posts above, which were written with input from our blogging team.

I correspond with many other writers, and I asked Zane Stein, author of the first book on Chiron, for his perspective. He’s one of the original Chiron pioneers (as far as I know, the first astrologer to ever see an ephemeris for Chiron). While I have your attention, here is what he said to me this morning, writing in from Australia:

New Moons mean new beginnings. They can be little beginnings or huge ones, but each month when the transiting Moon reaches the transiting Sun, a new cycle begins. The lunation influences everyone, to one degree or another, but its influence is felt the most by individuals who experience a contact from the New Moon to a personal part of the chart. For those individuals, the new beginning is something quite personal.

Planet Waves
Pisces New Moon — no houses, just signs. Look at all those planets gathered to one side of the sky, mostly in Pisces. The Sun and Moon are toward the top, in yellow and gray.

The energy of the New Moon is shaped, first of all, by the sign it is in. Today’s lunation falls in Pisces which is, positively, the energy of spiritual growth, imagination, and seeking to become one with the universe, and all of these things may be emphasized in the next few weeks following. The other side, though, is that the New Moon may force people to deal in new ways with some of the negative Piscean energy, such as illusions and delusions, as well as escapism.

When a lunation occurs very close to another body, that closeness emphasizes the effect, makes it stronger, more noticeable. And this lunation, falling at 2 Pisces 42, is conjunct Neptune (0 Pisces 41) on the one side, and Chiron (4 Pisces 59) on the other, and in fact is almost exactly on the midpoint of those two bodies. And in between the lunation and Chiron we also find one of the larger asteroids, Pallas, at 3 Pisces 14. Clearly there is much more to this than just another Pisces lunation.

Neptune has only recently entered Pisces, but it is feeling quite at home as it rules that sign. If a normal New Moon in this sign emphasizes the extremes of the two fish swimming in opposite directions (spiritual growth, for example, versus escapism), consider the conjunction with Neptune as upping the ante. The potential for spiritual growth is so much, much moreso now than any of us have ever experienced in this lifetime, but likewise the potential for self-destruction is equaly greater.

Many of you who read this may remember the last time Chiron was in Pisces (although as the old joke goes, “If you can remember the Sixties you weren’t there”). It passed through Pisces to teach us many things, but its method was to help us heal our wounds by first polarizing society so we could see just how far from whole we really were. Even if you don’t remember the Sixties you probably have read of all the ways we were pulled into two different directions. So add this to the mix, and you can easily see the polarization, which has already begun, intensifying as a result of the lunation.

Then there is Pallas. She doesn’t start fights, but if she feels a battle has begun she fights to defend her people. She also is quite adept at mapping out plans, perceiving patterns. Her part in this lunation, I fear, is to stir people to clearly draw out the battle lines.

The potential energy of this lunation is unbelievable. Pallas/Chiron can enable us to fight against anything that is blocking us from trying to heal our wounds, and linked with Neptune enable us to see a much, much larger picture than we even dreamt possible. But there will be so many, many temptations to follow other pathways…false paths that lead nowhere, false gurus that are full of lies, drugs that promise enlightenment.

One key to making this the beginning of a positive new cycle is for each person to truly believe (Pisces’ keywords include ‘I believe’) in the basic goodness of the universe, and that we are all its children, made out of the same ‘goodness’. Then ask yourself, “What inner dichotomy, what inner battle, do I need to face, and heal, to make me more whole and more at one with Spirit?”

Thank you for that perspective, Zane. Remember, whatever commentary you read from any astrologer is just that: a perspective on something with no truly objective interpretation. But interpretations can be more or less grounded, more or less trustworthy.

See you Wednesday night with the March horoscope. Note, in the introduction to the horoscope, I may be quoting some of the material you’ve read in this post. It seemed sensible to get it to you sooner rather than later.

Happy New Moon. It’s a regular Pisces Party.

Lovingly,

Eric Francis

Sea Changes: Neptune Enters Pisces

Dear Friend and Reader:

Today is the big day that Neptune ingresses Pisces to stay until 2025, the sign of which it’s the modern ruling planet. Neptune made a kind of test run into Pisces between April and August of last year; due to the retrograde effect we’ve had a few months since then to wrap up and review Neptune in Aquarius. While eras of history are seldom predictable, particularly down to the day, when a slow-moving, influential planet like Neptune changes signs, it’s something to take notice of. After 14 years in Aquarius, Neptune joins another slow-mover recently arrived in Pisces, Chiron. As I probably said about 10 times in the course of doing the annual readings, I would be a lot more nervous about Neptune in Pisces if not for Chiron’s grounded and pragmatic presence there.

Planet Waves

This is the last of the 2012 outer planet transits taking its position. Whatever challenges Neptune may present, Neptune in Pisces is going to add depth, as well as a reminder that sensory experience is the thing we really want to do with our bodies. Neptune in Aquarius has been a kind of dry experience. We have experienced Neptune in an abstract form, for the most part as an idea devoted to business and marketing. Say what you want about Pisces, it is the original sign of peace and love, and a wellspring of creativity. Neptune in Pisces will add some water to our experience of life, and not a moment too soon.

If we study the history of astrologers attempting to forecast Neptune transits, we figure out that they’re highly unpredictable. Most people don’t understand this elusive influence, and I think that most astrologers are only familiar with part of the story. Neptune is an easily corruptable influence. It’s associated with this thing we crave, a kind of mystical longing, and the directors of TV commercials know how to play right into that. So do politicians and religious hucksters. Most people run on belief, not on reason, and one motto of Neptune in Aquarius has been “if I believe it, then it must be true,” along with a good bit of “if I don’t pay attention to it, then it must not matter.”

One thing we became accustomed to during this era is the sensation of increasingly complex systems, which keep becoming more complex with each endless update. A cell phone, a computer, a company — all of these things were much more elementary in 1998. Now everything seems to have 20 layers and 100 components and endless uses and is networked into every other system.

One of the things Neptune represents is idealism — and our idealism is often used against us. This partly accounts for all kinds of rosy predictions made about Neptune transits that don’t come true, and how we miss the problems even as they arise. Instead many seemingly unforeseen things happen, from the light and dark sides, as well as plenty of gray areas. It’s easier to see the effects of Neptune in retrospect. It’s as if the theme is everywhere during the transit, and the signs of the times are painted onto every wall and mirror — but putting them together is a little like seeing the cohesiveness in the different ‘parts’ of a dream. I’ll give some examples from recent history in a moment, and it will be pretty obvious what happened.

Side By Side: Aquarius and Pisces are Opposite Signs

First let’s consider the astrology itself. That will give some context. A couple of weeks ago I opened my Friday article with the Patric Walker quote about scratching a Virgo and finding a Pisces (which by the way is a good image of Chiron in Pisces). The idea is that signs that oppose one another on the astrological wheel are really part of the same thing and have more in common than they have differences. Virgo and Pisces are both mutable signs (same basic mental properties such as flexibility and a bit of nervousness, and, in the cycle of the year, coming at the end of their respective seasons). They are both feminine signs (Virgo is an earthy sign and Pisces is a watery sign). They are both oriented on goddess energy — Virgo depicts a goddess and Venus is exalted (that is, happy and dignified) in Pisces.

Planet Waves
Photo by Eric Francis.

If you want to see the real opposite energies, look to the signs that are next-door neighbors. Aquarius and Pisces make a good example. Aquarius is a fixed sign (highly stable) whereas Pisces is a mutable one (changeable). Aquarius is a masculine sign and Pisces is a feminine sign. Aquarius is about rigid, stable patterns and Pisces is about how life is a watercolor in the rain.

Aquarius is an air sign and Pisces is a water sign. Aquarius represents the peak of energy of its season and Pisces represents the release of energy of the same season. The two have much less in common than Virgo and Pisces. Oh, one last thing — Aquarius is traditionally a Saturn-ruled sign (in modern astrology Uranus is the ruler but for many reasons, this is iffy); Pisces is traditionally ruled by Jupiter (and in modern astrology by Neptune, which works rather well). So when a planet moves across a sign cusp, there can be a dramatic shift in how that planet expresses itself. Neptune typically operates invisibly, as if in a hidden dimension, and that shift, as it manifests, can take everyone by surprise.

Neptune is an energy that blurs boundaries and dissolves structures and patterns. Aquarius is a sign that is all about structures and patterns, in particular, mental patterns, modes of social organization, concepts and technology. And for the past 14 years Neptune has been working its wonders on all of these things. One thing we can say for sure is that Neptune in Pisces is going to be a different story than Neptune in Aquarius. I think we’ll have a sense of relief with Neptune being in his own element. That is, of course, unless you prefer everything to be at arm’s length.

Neptune crossing the imaginary line between Aquarius and Pisces will change the rules to many games we have come to take for granted over a long span of time. We live in a culture that is just driven by Neptune, which relates to anything involving image, anything involving a mind-altering substance, anything involving a belief, and many different facets of creative thought, from visual art to music.

Water Under the Bridge: Neptune in Aquarius

Let’s look back for a moment before we look forward. Speaking in broad terms, Neptune in Aquarius has had two manifestations. One is the Internet, and by that, I mean the all-pervasive network that integrates web, email, streaming video, cable, and those programs that allow you to control your coffee pot, car and alarm system from your phone. One thing that’s happened during Neptune in Aquarius is that we have collectively projected ourselves into a new dimension of existence. This is at once a vast repository for fantasy (erotic, romantic and otherwise), marketing data, marketing opportunities, propaganda, incredible access to information, and one of the most astounding manifestations of freedom of speech in the history of history.

Planet Waves
Ulmo, Lord of Waters From The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien, speaks to Tuor (Earendil’s father and Elrond’s grandfather), warning him about the infiltration of Gondor. Ulmo is one of the few gods who never abandoned the dwellers of Middle-earth. He is in the cycle of sea-gods akin to Neptune. Painting is by Roger Garland.

The Internet is the first fully dependable alternate reality we have access to that does not require drugs. It is often described as a drug, appropriate enough in Neptune theory. Addiction to Facebook, porno, shopping, surfing — these are all things tossed about daily on talk shows. But this is to miss the point of the Internet entirely. It is the first place that large numbers of people can communicate freely with one another. If I had to choose an ‘addiction’, that’s the one I would pick. We have yet to understand the actual creative and political implications of having access to this realm.

Second, Neptune in Aquarius has represented a social pattern of mass deception, often involving violating the difference between truth and lies. One of the most telling quotes of the whole era came from Karl Rove, speaking anonymously to The New York Times, when he told the writer that guys like him (that is, the writer) were “in what we call the reality-based community,” which he defined as people who “believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.” … “That’s not the way the world really works anymore.”

The watershed events of this era included the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act that had separated investment banks from savings banks, one of the most damning boundary breaches of the whole era. That was followed by the fake impeachment of Bill Clinton (orchestrated in part by Newt Gingrich and Dark Lord of the Alternate Reality, Karl Rove) that started off the era.

Soon after came the stolen election of 2000, the false flag attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Enron/Arthur Andersen disaster, which became the business model of the new century, two incredibly deadly wars based on pretense and illusion (for the sake of profits and chaos), a second stolen election, hurricanes Rita and Katrina, the housing bubble burst / economic collapse and robbery of the Federal Reserve Bank of 2008, and finally the hope and change election of Barack Obama. Deep in there, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas that day in 2003, followed two weeks later by the dreamlike F-15 protests against the imminent Iraq war. There was Wikileaks, an absolutely perfect example of Neptune in Aquarius — basically, a boundary breach through which radical truth could emerge (though this had a lot of help from Chiron in Aquarius). And there was the Citizens’ United decision by the Supreme Court, which codified into law the notion that ‘corporations are people’ and can spend as much as they want buying elections.

Climate change sprung up a few times as an issue with Neptune in Aquarius, though primarily because it’s been reduced to a matter of belief. The denial machine just cranks out this notion that if you don’t believe it, it’s okay because that means it’s not true. The thing about scientific evidence (Aquarius) is anyone is free to ‘not accept it’ (a Neptune influence), especially in a mode of discourse that doesn’t have reason as a guardrail.

At the same time, fetuses were extremely busy becoming people as well (or at least their publicist-ministers were trying to convince us of that). It seemed that the only thing that was not a person was a person. We had the anti-abortion / anti-gay rights / anti-woman / anti-sex ‘Christian’ movement raising hell and brimstone and a big fuss about taxes. The anti-choice movement expanded its efforts into a campaign to ban birth control that few people have taken seriously enough to mention — let’s see how that works out. Despite this, the definition of marriage actually changed to include same-sex partnerships: a total rewrite of old religious law that some people somehow think has any meaning at all — which calls for executing homosexuals.

Planet Waves
Photo by Eric Francis.

Many other events fit the pattern — these are the ones that stand out in memory. In the last months of Neptune in Aquarius, we have been treated to two bonus events: one of the most bizarre, hallucinogenic political freak shows in history — the Republican primary race that is still underway; and Arab Spring / Wisconsin uprising / Occupy movement (which I consider one event that verges on the paranormal).

The odd thing about all of these events — especially the evil ones — is how they became water under the bridge the moment they happened. It’s like they were forgotten even as we watched them. More astute observers noticed the lack of anger, and the lack of resistance by the people who were directly influenced. Besides the F-15 protest and Code Pink, what other organized war resistance can you think of? During most of Neptune in Aquarius, a protest meant signing an email petition. One exception to this was the anti-globalization movement that would show up every time the big boys would gather for one of their meetings.

While the political, corporate and financial powers that be were trying again and again to bring on the fascism fast and furious, they could not get a grip. The mass fantasy and marketing paradise we know as the Internet provided a public forum that enabled sufficient spread of information that we were saved by the First Amendment — and the people who put it to good use. The Internet, as ephemeral and elusive as it is, has protected us from utter deception and the people who would use it to take control of everything. The lies of FOX News (a creature of Neptune in Aquarius) were not only being worn away by Stephen Colbert; there were and still are many thousands of websites that reduced its influence substantially, and sometimes even negated it. Toward the very end of Neptune in Aquarius, the feds made a move on the freedom of the ‘Net and the world rose up in protest.

Planet Waves
Photo by Eric Francis.

So, while a paradise didn’t exactly arise during Neptune in Aquarius, a free speech paradise certainly did. And hey, what good is free speech if you can’t use it to tell the truth or to lie like a banshee? The very thing we need with Neptune is discernment. The Internet has indeed presented us with a marketplace of ideas, and though it no longer works as a legal principle, caveat emptor is one of the most helpful rules of the road. In the verging-on-astral world of the Internet, you can expect some extreme polarities (apropos of the astral plane). Fact checking is a small price to pay for the ability to explore conscious dreamtime, where you can exist — at least in your mind and those of the people you correspond with — as anything you want. Boundaries of country, identity, gender, sex, political viewpoints and anything else that used to define us are now optional and entirely mutable.

For as vapid as the Internet can be on a bad day, and for the proliferation of spam and trivial, bottom-trawling websites, we really have co-created a place to meet, to engage with one another, to share ideas and to get work done. Many people who would not have had a way to express themselves can now speak to an actual audience. Though I admit my bias as a writer, publisher and artist, this is clearly an essential element of human freedom, and — at the moment, anyway — we actually have it.

Tear Down the Wall: Capricorn Alignment of 1989

Before I get into some ideas about Neptune in Pisces, let’s check in with an outer planet event focused on 1989: a series of conjunctions in Capricorn. These involved Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, which were basically all conjunct one another in a long series of events from ’89 through around ’94. In a sense, all the changes we are seeing in the world — including the manifestations of Neptune in Aquarius that we’ve been reviewing this week, as well as Uranus in Aries, come back to one particular epicenter in 1989: the chart for the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Planet Waves
Chart for news about the Berlin Wall opening up, which led to the Berlin Wall actually opening up. Notice the planets with a 10 next to them — the Saturn-Neptune conjunction, precisely opposed by Jupiter. Saturn, Uranus and Neptune were hanging around in a conjunction for a long time, and came with many changes in geopolitics. Conjunctions represent the beginnings of cycles, which are still active today. Then in a perfectly hilarious commentary, the chart says “broadcast with impact!” with the Sun, Mercury and Pluto in Scorpio rising. This astonishing story is worth reading — here is the Wikipedia page. Then look at the chart to see the similarities.

This is an important chart because of the conjunctions that it contains. Conjunctions start cycles, and this chart includes a triple conjunction of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune that is at the root of the world we currently inhabit (and often take for granted). This publication is produced with the help of our buddy Anatoly in the Ukraine. Before 1989, we were taught in school that he was ‘the enemy’. In 2012, he’s one of our best friends. Go figure.

Younger readers may not remember or even know about the manic terror of communism that was driven into the American soul between the late 1940s and the mid-1980s, which came down with a press release and the sound of a champagne bottle popping overnight between Nov. 9 and Nov. 10, 1989. Before then, you were either worried about Commies hanging out in garbage cans, or infiltrating Hollywood, or shooting missiles across the ocean at our cities. Many of our parents endured relentless duck and cover drills, hiding under their school desks, freaking out in honor of seemingly imminent nuclear war.

The chart is for the West German newscast the night of Nov. 9 that announced that East German refugees could exit directly through crossing points to West Germany, and that private travel between the two would be allowed. It’s one of the most amazing charts of the 20th century and I want to make contact with it for a moment, so we have some grounding. The events that were sparked off this day had a cascading effect that we are still living with today — as do the Neptune cycles that are described in the chart.

Let’s consider the aspects — then their implications. The simplified chart you’re looking at includes a four-planet conjunction in Capricorn, with Saturn and Neptune in a precise alignment. That aspect precipitated or symbolized (as you prefer) the dissolving of the boundary between East Berlin and West Berlin; hence, East Germany and West Germany; and hence, the whole “iron curtain” that divided Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe from capitalist Western Europe. The boundary is represented by Saturn and Capricorn; the dissolving by Neptune. The other two players are fast moving Venus (for love) and slow moving Uranus (for the sustained power of revolution).

To add a dash of humor to the chart, we have Jupiter exactly opposite Saturn and Neptune. To measure the alignments, look at the numbers next to the planets. The closer the numbers, the closer the alignments. These are really close. Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune are aligned with the Earth to the degree on that very day.

I’ve also left in an a witty conjunction that was rising exactly, as in exactly rising, exactly at the time of the event — a Sun-Pluto-Mercury conjunction in Scorpio. Remember that this is the chart for a news broadcast — talk about a TV show with impact. Remember how fast the ascendant moves — a degree every four minutes. You would think the announcement was timed by an astrologer. Actually, it was timed by the universe.

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Once the announcement was made on German television, life imitated the media and chunks of the Berlin Wall became hot souvenirs as the wall was torn down. Photo by Dmitry Vrubel.

Remember that this was the same year China came up on the radar — Tiananmen Square happened, having much the same effect as the fall of the Berlin Wall — the merging of the East and the West, the most significant global boundary at the time. In 1989, Walmart existed in much smaller form but more to the point, 90% of the products were not made in China. That all happens after the Tiananmen Square incident, which was supposedly about liberty and ended up being about capitalism.

Included in this alignment is a truly rare event — the Uranus-Neptune conjunction, which happens less than once per century. It hadn’t quite happened yet as of this chart, but it’s still very close, close enough to be in full effect during this chart and historical event. Lining up Uranus and Neptune in Capricorn blew up nearly every boundary you can think of, particularly in geopolitics. The Eastern Bloc fell apart and dozens of ‘new’ countries showed up on the map.

Within 10 years, the border crossings had disappeared from across Europe, the Euro was imminent, and the big boys were reorganizing the world into new trade zones, encoded in GATT, NAFTA and other treaties. One day in 2006, I was driving from France to Belgium and came across one of these abandoned border crossing checkpoints. Seeing the abandoned booths and parking lots with grass growing out of them made the whole notion of borders seem as ridiculous as it is.

So in our current era of boundaries falling and everything becoming more permeable and information from your wallet sitting on numerous computer servers around the world, remember that there was a brick and mortar parallel that happened long before what we are now experiencing — and it starts with the alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — the four largest planets, with three of the four being in Capricorn, the sign of boundaries and containers.

The moral of the story is that when these planets get busy, actual stuff happens. And this particular chart is becoming active again because Pluto is in Capricorn going over all those planets there, and Uranus is in Aries, about to square them all. Maybe that will help us get rid of the absurd new border crossings that have been installed — that is, the ones currently run by the ever-charming TSA, which can’t seem to stop groping people, stealing from them and accusing them of being terrorists on the basis of a bottle of Poland Spring water.

The Ocean Refuses No River

Okay, end of deep history lesson — let’s consider some of the possibilities of Neptune in Pisces. But let’s begin with a question: Could anyone have predicted everything you just read, all of which involved Neptune’s transit through its last two signs, Capricorn and Aquarius? But in the end it makes sense that Neptune would have this effect on the two Saturn-ruled signs.

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Photo by Eric Francis.

One thing we could say about Neptune in Aquarius is that a lot of people complained how shallow everything got. Aquarius really isn’t shallow (or deep); it represents the patterns of what we people do. It’s utilitarian, in a sense. Using a computer as a metaphor, it’s not good or bad — it does what it’s programmed to do, and then holds those patterns until something comes along to change them.

Aquarius has certainly become deeper and more visionary under the influence of Neptune. The whole enterprise is more flexible. Remember that this sign is represented by someone holding a jug of water — that jug is now full. And while we’re at it, computer programmers have become the high priests of our culture. For now, that is.

Pisces is a sign that is as deep and as vast as the ocean. It’s also as scary. The depths of creativity and surrender, the absence of logic, the open-ended encounter with the numinous — all of these are Pisces traits. There is something inherently mystical about Pisces, and that, too, is neutral until it’s polarized one way or the other. Pisces as we know it is limited only by our imagination.

And that is about to take a plunge. This could go a few ways; we could yearn for a simpler, more tactile and sensory means of creativity. Neptune in Pisces cannot be represented by zeros and ones. It’s not that zeros and ones will be a thing of the past; rather, many things that we might still remember will flood in and become more interesting. I could easily foresee a return to folk arts, actual non-digital music created with real instruments, and a desire for authentic, face-to-face human contact, complete with feelings.

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Photo by Eric Francis.

While most of the achievements under Neptune in Aquarius were technological, I can see the emphasis shifting onto creative endeavors, simpler pleasures and a more authentic spirituality than we’ve seen in many places over the past 14 years. Today geeks are cool and artists are not quite so cool. That may change tomorrow. This is about receptivity: those whose psyche is better tuned to the Pisces realm will have greater contact with what Neptune is offering.

We all know there is potentially a shadow side to Neptune in Pisces, just as there was to Neptune in Aquarius. That could be about the total immersion in the unreal, people taking truly irrational beliefs to even further extremes than we’ve seen, and a new depth of drugs being the answer to everything. Let’s not go there for now — we have time to investigate that. It would help to remember that what grows is generally what we feed and encourage.

I chose to spend the ingress of Neptune into Pisces close to the ocean, out at Montauk. It’s off-season, prices are low, the weather has been great and the Atlantic is still the Atlantic. My first few nights I stayed in a place called Gurney’s and basically ate nothing but seafood.

The place has a spa, and in the men’s jacuzzi room (which they call the Roman Bath) there is an enormous relief sculpture of Neptune. You don’t need to be a student of mythology to recognize him. You can feel his presence. I sat there in the rushing hot water studying that face, considering the ambiguity of wisdom, rage, passion and humor that seemed to morph from moment to moment. The environment — the steamy, dim light — made the whole effect more dramatic. I looked at him and he looked at me and we formed a relationship. I’ve spent the past bunch of days with that image lit up in my mind. And I’ve been thinking. If I were Neptune and I had just spent 14 years in a fixed air sign, I would be really, truly happy to be coming home to Pisces.

Lovingly,

Eric Francis

PS: If you haven’t read Dale O’Brien’s article on Neptune in Aquarius, please check it out on the Reality Check blog. It’s amazing. Also if you’ve written something about Neptune lately and you want to share it with the Planet Waves audience, please let me know. — efc

 

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Neptune enters Pisces today at 2:03 pm EST, after 14 years in Aquarius. It will stay in Pisces, the sign of which it’s the modern ruler, until 2025. The waxing Moon is in Gemini today, adding a chatty quality, and a sense of having some extra options, to complement the emotional/spiritual shift represented by Neptune ingressing Pisces. Tomorrow the Moon enters its own home sign Cancer just before 1:04 am EST. Monday morning the Moon slips into Leo at 8:24 am EST, on its way to the Leo Full Moon in Aquarius Tuesday at 5:54 pm EST (a Sun-Moon opposition). The Sun is halfway through Aquarius, which means it is halfway through the season, marking the cross-quarter days of Imbolc. Mercury conjoins the Sun in Aquarius Tuesday, marking the halfway point between retrogrades. Wednesday, Mercury sextiles Pholus in Sagittarius. Juno, newly in Sagittarius, is trine Uranus in Aries (exact Wednesday).

 

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The Occupy movement has slipped off the front pages, and Arab Spring began nearly a year ago, but neither is over. Democracy Now! reports that following Saturday’s mass arrests of Oakland protesters, The San Francisco Bay Guardian says prisoners were denied medication; some with food allergies were refused a substitute for more than 24 hours. Prisoners were also kept in overcrowded cells, and some were reportedly beaten. Florida riot police have cleared out the Occupy Miami encampment after three months.

And in Portland, Maine, a judge has ruled that a city ordinance banning overnight camping is not a violation of free speech rights. Occupiers have been given the weekend to break camp and clear out. Protesters had been ordered to leave the park last month but the city held off enforcing the order until a lawsuit filed in Cumberland County Superior Court could be heard.

Malcolm Harris, an Occupy Wall Street activist in New York City, says Twitter sent him a copy of a subpoena this week seeking all of his user information and three months’ worth of tweets from his Twitter account. He had been arrested in October while marching on the Brooklyn Bridge with hundreds of others.

 

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A waxing Cancer Moon tends to heighten emotional sensitivity, especially if the Moon is nearing full — as it is this weekend. You may find this is a good weekend for tending to your home environment and ‘nesting’. If you feel a strong urge to emote, give your feelings their space and see if you can harness some of the creative energy in the air right now to channel them in tangible, applied, beneficial ways. As you head into work Monday morning, use your foreknowledge of the coming Leo Full Moon on Tuesday to temper any ego flare-ups — your own, and your reactions to others’.

 

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There can hardly be a better summation to Neptune in Aquarius than Mark Zuckerberg’s letter to potential Facebook investors, published as the transit ends. Fittingly, it echoes another publication issued as Neptune last entered Pisces. Zuckerberg speaks of accomplishing a social mission rather than building a company; of building a network from the bottom up and giving people control over what they share; of a more open and connected world which will help create stronger economies building better products and services; of a time when governments will be more responsive to issues and concerns raised directly by all their people rather than through intermediaries controlled by a few. These fine words and noble sentiments could almost belong in The Communist Manifesto, published at the exact moment when Neptune last entered Pisces in February 1848.

The planet of belief in the sign of scientific fact shows what can be achieved when unswerving faith is applied to technological advances. It remains to be seen whether this enterprise can translate into a shareholding enterprise while remaining true to its founder’s intentions. Some might suspect that we are about to witness “a loss-of-face” book, with users abandoning the site for fear that their personal histories will be exploited by the highest bidders. It’s probably been that way for a while, but the game is open now and shareholders will want maximum profits. As Neptune begins its transit of Pisces, perhaps Mr. Zuckerberg — clearly among the richest 1% — will take the lead on philanthropy. But that may be wishful thinking.

 

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Now that we’ve collectively gotten to the point where we have to send a text message to see if it’s okay to call to find out if it’s a good time to stop by a friend’s house, Neptune in Pisces is here to bring back actual contact. As mentioned above, “Whatever challenges Neptune may present, Neptune in Pisces is going to add depth, as well as a reminder that sensory experience is the thing we really want to do with our bodies.” Massage therapist and writer Kate Bartolotta has experienced first hand (pun intended) how desperately we need the release of touch — physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. In her article “Eight Things I Learned from 50 Naked People,” she writes (among other things):

“Despite our obsession with sex, American culture doesn’t really encourage nakedness (physically or emotionally). And if all the pleasantries and social constructs we use weren’t bad enough, we add social media into the mix and distance each other even further. When we’re naked and silent, all of that falls away. What I learn from what a person tells me is miniscule compared to what I learn by feeling his skin, muscle and bone. By watching him move. By listening to his breath. By feeling his pulse.” When we stretch physically, we stretch emotionally, and vice versa — giving the soul room to breathe, in turn. And Neptune in Pisces is here to help.

 

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Astrology Writing Class with Eric Francis at UAC

Here is some news. After I lobbied for years at various astrology conferences, the Association for Astrological Networking (AFAN) has signed on to sponsor a day of astrology writing and astrology ‘marketing’ at the United Astrology Conference in late May. I’ll be co-teaching the day with Donna Woodwell. My part of the day will be teaching astrology writing; Donna’s will be teaching various facets of marketing one’s astrology business.

Basically, in my half of the day, I’m going to explain and demonstrate how to do the kind of astrology journalism that I present in Planet Waves and on our websites. I will get writers past the astro*psycho*babble that is so common to our profession, and into clear and cohesive story telling. We will cover how to apply the basics of journalism to presenting astrology, how to explain aspects in a cohesive way, and in general, how to write if you want to be understood by mortals.

This will be a pre-conference intensive, before the conference opens — so you’ll need to show up a day early; the class is Weds., May 23, 2012 — and it will be in New Orleans. This class will be useful to ANY writers, not just astrology writers. The concepts are applicable to all forms of writing for a popular audience, whether you’re a blogger, columnist or aspiring journalist. Donna’s portion of the day will focus on website development, graphic communication and how to actually sell your business. This, too, is applicable to any form of a private practice, whether you’re a massage therapist or professional astrologer. Here is the official website for the class. Please write to me directly if you’re interested.

 

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Planet Waves
Jon Stewart: Newt Wants To Divorce Earth For Younger, Healthier Moon

Thursday, Jon Stewart noted that if Newt Gingrich wants to play down accusations that he is “grandiose,” then perhaps announcing his plans to establish a permanent, American lunar settlement if elected president might not be the way to go. Full of good ideas, he proposed that the Moon could apply for statehood if more than 13,000 people live there. But he’s opposed to statehood for Washington DC (and we would bet, for Puerto Rico).

 

Planet Waves
We’ve received much gratifying feedback on the 2012 annual edition, which provides readings for all 12 signs and rising signs. Here are a few of the notes that you’ve sent in. Subscribers may still purchase all 12 signs at the discounted price (12 signs for the price of three) or just get your individual sign.

“This is like you took a page from my soul and wrote it out for me to look at and remember, when I get lost, that there are breadcrumbs to knowing again. This is my first impression, that this is beautiful and accurate and poignant for us Tauruses this year. Thank you, Eric!”

“Ok were you a plant in my house when I was growing up? The Virgo audio and written parts (so far, I still have yet to listen to part 3) are EXACTLY what I have experienced. The section about sex is so true it is as though you have been privy to my innermost thoughts! How can you know these details and articulate them so well? Thank you SO much for doing what you do so perfectly. Like an intense and beautiful light in a dark room, your insights are a wonder and an inspiration.”

“I ride with great glee on the positive, hopeful, visionary challenge you present in your readings. You pour crystal-clear light into the chalice. Thank you. I have been so thirsty.”

“I just listened to Eric’s 2012 Taurus horoscope and it was AMAZING! I learned some crucial, new information about myself that is really vital to my self-healing. I am just constantly blown away not just by Eric’s ability, but also his compassion and sensitivity.”

“I am absolutely amazed and grateful at how deep you went and how accurately you managed to describe or tap into the essential Leo SELF. Some of which I have kept hidden from all except those closest to me… Much Gratitude, Appreciation and Love to you Eric.”

“This roadmap of a horoscope is phenomenal. You nailed it! I have become aware of the power I possess to change my world and use it on a daily basis. We are all powerful beings, we must acknowledge this power. And thanks to Eric’s prediction, I just might save the world (or at least my little corner of it — with lots of love to boot)!”

“I don’t know where to begin in saying thank you. Such a careful and thoughtful package of insights put together with love and craft and care. I am very grateful for this.”

 

Planet Waves The February monthly horoscope (long edition) was published Wednesday evening, Jan. 25. The long edition of the monthly horoscope is now on a new schedule — it will be the only Planet Waves mailing the week that it comes out, giving the Planet Waves team a chance to slow down a bit once a month. The next long edition monthly horoscope will be published the evening of Weds., Feb. 22. There was not an Inner Space monthly horoscope for February due to an overload of work during the production of the annual edition. The next Inner Space will be published the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 28.

 

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Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. Weekly Horoscope #889. | Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Where is your feminine side hiding out, and do you even like her? She’s guiding you to be, and feel, and do, so much of what you associate as being unlike you. Yet the you whom she is supposedly so unlike seems to be going deeper into the subtler aspects of your nature every day. Your charts suggest you’re looking for something in yourself, yet your search has an indirect quality, as if you’re trying to create something by a process of reduction. I think that a more direct approach would work — including tuning into your senses, and considering what your dreams are telling you. What you may discover is that you’re really on a search for your focused power of logic, will and discernment. These are tools you need — and tools you may have misplaced. The role of the feminine side of your nature will be to guide you in their proper use; to provide a basis of ethics, and grounding in purpose.

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)

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Do you have the guts to actually be the person you want the world to think you are? Or perhaps more to the point, the person you want to be? Projecting an image is relatively simple. Finding the truth of who you are can be complex and challenging. It takes less courage to create an image than it does to seek within yourself and identify the truth of what you are trying to weave for the world to see. Now is the time to dare and take that inner quest. It’s not neat or tidy; for example, the other side of appearing sexy is the truth of desire. The other side of external beauty is the psychological struggle associated with doubt. Concentrated exploration often precedes inspiration, and we often have to reckon with the inwardly violent aspects of our nature in order to experience the gentler ones. Embrace those contrasts as a sign of authentic exploration; as evidence that there is substance behind your image.

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.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Neptune now joins Chiron on the angle of your solar chart associated with achievement and reputation. For most people this would be challenging, because Neptune is difficult to grasp. But you’ve always had Pisces on this angle, and Neptune and Pisces are good friends. Chiron is currently on this angle as well, and Neptune and Chiron function well; you can think of Neptune as the paint and the idea, and Chiron as the discipline and refined talent that will help you express what you want. There is a catch, however. Some of the most amazing energy is focused in an aspect of life that you may not normally feel so ambitious about. Perhaps it occurs to you that you may create something special or leave your mark on the world, but in truth, do you? Now you have two compelling, longterm influences in this house. To accomplish anything, you will need to work diligently over a number of years. You will need to respect your own ideas. Most of all, you must be the very example of ethics.

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.

Cancer (June 21- July 22)

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — There is a difference between the mental sciences — reason, rationality and authentic intellectual creativity — and spiritual exploration. The two rarely work independently of one another. We all know this. Intellect without some inspiration will put an insomniac to sleep. Inspiration and even love without some grounding in cohesive thought can lead to huge struggles and misunderstandings. You may feel some inclination to experience these two elements of life as separate ‘things’. Yet since both are products or results of consciousness, they point to something deeper. What is that something? We’ve all heard the expression, “I think, therefore, I am” — though often without realizing how brilliant it is. We could add, “I feel connection, I experience beauty, I sense something larger than myself — therefore, I am alive.” Yet what is back there, deep in you, doing all this thinking and experiencing and feeling and noticing? It all points back to something, and that something is trying to get your attention.

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.

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You seem to be grappling with a question about how others perceive you. You may think that you’ve inadvertently misled someone into thinking you are who you are not. Or, you may feel like someone sees something in you that you’re not sure exists. I would turn that around; imagine that the truth of who you are is transparent, and that the people closest to you are not only capable of seeing you for who you actually are, they want to do so. What you have is an opportunity for an unusually intimate and revealing exchange, which may or may not be sexual; you will know which way to take things, and that question — considered so urgent and pressing most of the time — will have little of its usual weight or urgency. You have available one of those rare moments when intimacy is the true source of energy, which leads to many possible expressions. The ‘lesson’ if you could call it that is how being authentically yourself is the most fruitful way to live, and the easiest, and the one most likely to lead to peace of mind.

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.

Introducing the Planet Waves All Access Pass for 2012

Last year we offered an All Access Pass for subscribers who wanted access to everything we offer in a calendar year. The response from our All Access subscribers was overwhelmingly positive, and we are happy to once again offer one of our most popular products: the Planet Waves All Access Pass for 2012. One price gets you a subscription to the weeklies and all other products on Planetwaves.net through December of 2012.

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Using one password for everything, which you choose yourself, you’ll have easy access to every product, including birthday reports and special audio recordings, weekly email service, the annual edition, and whatever additional projects we create. It’s a great discount on a year of our work.

We trust that this idea is a fun way to meet your needs, whether you use astrology for daily spiritual inspiration, therapeutic purposes or pragmatic decision-making. And it’s truly a valuable resource for students of Astrology.

With the All Access Pass you’ll receive:

– Tuesday/Friday Email editions of Planet Waves weekly content and horoscopes. Follow Eric’s weekly and monthly interpretations for all of 2012.

– All sign birthday/ascendant audio for 2012. This is almost like getting a personal consultation with Eric for yourself and any loved ones whose astrology you track. Each audio report includes a fresh perspective on current transits and how they extend into the future, along with a special tarot reading for that sign.

– Your choice of the 2012 or 2013 annual edition, all 12 signs. This book-length online publication includes written and audio segments, is accessible by password at any time, and always meets rave reviews by readers who refer to it throughout the year for its long-range, big-picture guidance.

For More Benefits of the All Access Pass, Visit This Page.


 

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Neptune embarking on its long journey across your relationship sign Pisces on Friday is an invitation to see the deeper potential in your encounters with other people. You can afford to be a little more idealistic than usual because Chiron is already there, keeping an eye on practical matters, focusing your awareness and making sure that the endeavor of every relationship is oriented on healing. With Neptune, the thing to embrace is the seemingly fleeting nature of reality, as perceived by the ego. In truth, what you’re getting are glimpses beyond the veil of normal consciousness, and examples of how to get there more dependably. The question of your relationships now orients on you being true to yourself first, which is the prerequisite to any other form of being true. You would do well to ask why this is even an issue at all. Most of why we are so obsessed with denial is because of moral judgments on pleasure. In the current structure of society, pleasure is acceptable only as an escape from pain. Yet that won’t get you through the door — you know, the opening you want to go through so dearly.

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.

Libra (Sep. 22 - Oct. 23)

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — You may be feeling like you’ve gone all the way out to the edge, though with an unusual feeling. It’s like you’re having a dream of walking along a narrow walkway much higher up than you’re used to being, yet you’re not scared. If this were a dream, the meaning would in part come from the experience of the altitude but mostly from the feeling of not having any of the usual fear of altitude that you might have in such a delicate situation. If you tune in you may discover that most of your fears are operating in reverse. The things that might normally make you nervous are making you bolder. You know you live on the edge of time, but you’re somehow not concerned about time running out. This is a healthy way to approach your fears and your perceived limitations — as things that might be there but which don’t particularly bother you, or which are optional.

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.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Many have noted the difference between the sexual experience we have in a fantasy and the one we have in reality. What happens in actual 3-D reality is different than what happens in fantasy mainly because more than your intent is involved, and there can be physical effects, influences or consequences of the actions taken — much less likely in the imagination. That said, most people don’t even bother to try their fantasies, and then on the rare occasion when they might, there can be a setup for disappointment if it does not live up. This is one reason why I suggest trying every fantasy at least three times (three-way sex, same-sex experience, s/m experience, etc.). Once is not enough to get the feeling; things can go wrong, and you or someone else might be nervous. Everything takes practice and acclimation. I mention this now because Neptune in Pisces is about to stoke your fantasies big-time, and Chiron in Pisces is saying that this comes down to experience — real experience based on real curiosity.

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.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — The concept of ‘home’ has become elusive, as people become increasingly transient, as the family structure changes and as home — the building itself — has become the subject of a vast political and economic scandal. As well, the notion of what it means to feel ‘safe’ on the planet has changed and changed radically. The things my friends and I used to do as kids, unsupervised, would get some parents arrested today, while others neglect their children with bald, outrageous impunity. All of these questions are potential topics of Neptune ingressing the home and security angle of your solar chart. Yet the question is deeper and more personal: what do you need to do in order to feel like you’re safe on the planet, or in your home? You may come up with a long list of possibilities and I bet many of them would be valid. But I can sum it up in two words, if you like: emotional boundaries.

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.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — There seems to be some unusual potential opening up in your relationships. This is based on two things, I believe. One involves your gradually finding your way to people whose values are similar to your own — similar enough to have a real conversation. The second is the gradual dissolving of the formerly strict partition between ‘lovers’ and ‘friends’. There is a third factor as well, which is that you’ve experienced just about every insecurity about yourself that a person is capable of feeling, and you’re now ready to stand on more solid spiritual ground. Ideally, this combination of factors would lead you to make braver, bolder choices in life. It would lead you out of your shell and make you willing to at least approach other people on potentially equal terms. There seems to be something holding you back. Can you figure out what it is?

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.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — The prevailing theme at this truly meaningful juncture of your life is seeing the consequences of living unconsciously. It seems like every day you discover something new that you have to address, but that would have been prevented — had you only been more conscious at some other time in your life. One thing about the cleanup process is that you will be able to take some fairly large strides, if you devote yourself to it diligently, and proceed with a spirit of growth rather than of fixing. That said, you could become something of an expert in consequences, in general — of conscious or unconscious life; of being loving or unloving; of having faith, or not. For the foreseeable future the essence of your life story is about self-value and self-esteem. I believe that all of these themes are directly related. Feeling good about oneself is not an illusion or a flight of fancy. It can be solidly grounded in truth, and this seems to be your most important mission.

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.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Accept no illusions. That is the message of Neptune entering your birth sign. Many people in our society live and seem to thrive on illusions; just look at how many people are addicted to artificial sweeteners, and don’t mind the whole seizure/brain tumor thing. You can handle Neptune energy, because you’ve already got a lot of it in your chart. You may discover under this influence that you have more potential, and a lot more access to your deepest strengths, virtues and creativity. Yet the challenge is persisting in a boldly realistic view of life. Put up with nothing. Demand absolute authenticity, from yourself and from others. Being boldly realistic includes the well-established role of visionaries on our planet, no matter how large or small of a scale you work with that concept. Accurate perception balances realism and optimism, neither at the expense of the other. If you remember this, and practice it well, you can do, or experience, anything you want.

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.

Neptune Joins Chiron in Pisces

Chiron Files by Eric Francis

Neptune entered Pisces last month, joining Chiron in that sign. This is the full activation of Pisces, and combined, these transits are shifting the background of our lives. There may be other effects, which will be more or less subtle depending on your relationship to your intuition, your emotional body and your creativity.

Planet Waves

This is the first time Neptune has entered Pisces since 1847, that is, long before the Civil War. So this development is news. Neptune, discovered in 1846, is considered to be the modern ruling planet of Pisces (the traditional ruling planet is Jupiter, which still counts). So for our time, this is significant. No living person has been through this transit. We are actually the first to experience something.

And what would that something be? Many have noticed that we’ve been growing more clairvoyant over the past few decades. Does anyone remember back when it was taboo to mention clairvoyance, as if it were the equivalent of admitting to Devil worship? Now it’s considered normal, if only because so many people experience it directly, or know someone who does. At least once in their lives just about everyone has had a dream that gave a glimpse of the future.

Chiron made a brief ingress to Pisces last year, before entering to stay earlier this year. From the first moment, Chiron in Pisces emphasized the need for healing the oceans. BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill began within hours of its initial visit before stationing retrograde. Neptune’s current arrival for a longer stay has been synchronous with the Fukushima nuclear disaster, which is having profound effects on water as well. Yet both of these seem to be metaphors for the prevailing emotional state of humanity.

Chiron is calling for awareness, and Neptune is calling for cleansing. We need both. Many people flee to ‘spiritual’ solutions without recognizing that what they’re processing is much closer to the human realm. With healing on the level of water, it’s necessary to do the flush gradually. There are no fast solutions, though adding awareness is a very good first step, and adding water is an excellent second step.

My take is that this involves drinking more water, and at the same time cutting back on toxic substances in our diets and medicine cabinets. Every time you take a pharmaceutical product, I suggest you read the label and run the product through Google, looking for un-advertised effects. You might be surprised what you find.

You may be noticing an increase or distinctive change in your dreaming patterns. For example, someone who never remembers his or her dreams might notice they’re remembering them vividly.

Pisces has subtler frequencies, and these are often connected to imagery. We are bombarded with toxic images through news, advertising and cinema. Often this is violent and manipulative — and it takes a toll both on wellbeing and creativity. I think we would all be a lot more emotionally stable without advertising, and we would have a lot better sense of who we are. Indeed, if advertising promotes instability, the root is likely to be in getting us to doubt and even hate ourselves.

With these Pisces factors being so strong, and lasting for so long (Chiron for eight years and Neptune for more than 12 years) we need to pay attention to these influences, and choose healthy inflows in this watery realm. This choice of what we take in is one of the most basic elements of emotional healing. Often the more basic issue is being able to choose to let go of a toxic influence. How many times have you heard, or experienced, that one? The person who is in the damaging relationship or job but who cannot leave, for some reason they don’t understand?

Then there is the Piscean theme of creativity. One sad fact of childhood is that the naturally spontaneous, precocious quality of children is gradually supplanted with adult versions of rationality. We may not think we miss our creativity; we may think it’s okay to let others do this for us; but I think that secretly or not, everyone craves being an expressive person.

All of this Pisces is an invitation to express yourself, and this isn’t just a recreational indulgence. As my old therapist Joe is fond of saying, expression is the opposite of depression.


Planet Waves

Light Bridge: The 25-Year Span by Eric Francis is the story of irrevocable change told through the lens of astrology, history and self-awareness. This is a carefully selected set of articles and essays by Eric written since 1987, which take you through the transition of the millennium into 2012. The essays are a continuing meditation on the experience of confronting global changes from long before anyone was certain they would really happen. It begins in a spiritual community in 1987 and comes to the present day, including a look at the astrology of the 2012-2015 era. Included are Eric’s best essays on sweeping world changes, relationships and maintaining some sense of one’s inner life in the midst of it all. The book, available as a printable PDF, is 174 pages and is illustrated by Carol McCloud. It’s just $14.95. It’s the perfect companion to Light Bridge, the 2011 annual edition of Planet Waves. Purchase your copy here.

 


Just Before Midnight: The Last Days of Pisces

Dear Friend and Reader:

We’re now in the last days of the astrological year — the time before the vernal equinox. The Sun is moving through the final degrees of Pisces and thus wrapping up the cycle of the zodiac. In astrology (and astronomy) there is a time-measuring device rarely mentioned to the public, called sidereal time. This is a way of dividing the year into a scale that is based on 24 hours. The vernal equinox is midnight in this symbolic representation; that is the beginning.

Planet Waves
My original copy of An Astrological Mandala with a hunk of 500-year-old redwood root that floated on the Pacific Coast for a century. Photo by Eric Francis.

Right now we are in the phase of the year that’s just before midnight. The sidereal time for Tuesday, March 8 is about 11:15 pm. For those of us who grew up casting charts on computers rather than calculating them by hand, this offers more of a poetic image than a useful fact, but I’ve always found it to be an interesting metaphor. As the equinox draws near, so too does the midnight of the year. Then a new day, a new year and a new season, begin.

There are ways other than the traditional calendar to observe the passage of time, and astrology provides many. In some past articles I’ve mentioned something called the Sabian symbols. These are an easy-to-use set of degree-by-degree images that were channeled by an astrologer and a clairvoyant in the 1920s. The symbols were channeled randomly and without the clairvoyant knowing which degree she was channeling. They were then revised later in the century by another astrologer.

If you have any interest in astrology besides being a casual reader of horoscopes, I suggest you get the book that makes this system easy and fun, and provides lots of philosophical ideas about personality development, nature and our lives within society. You don’t need a technical background to appreciate it. The book is called An Astrological Mandala by Dane Rudhyar. If you’re wanting to slip into the matrix of studying astrology, this is an excellent point of entree — a very simple technique that requires minimal technical understanding.

I would like to give you a taste of how the symbols work by sharing the last few degree symbols for the solar year, where we are now. There are 360 degrees in the zodiac and 365 days in most years. So each day the passage of the Sun gets (approximately) one symbol. Let’s look at the last 10 of the year. See if you can spot the theme. The degree given (in parentheses) is the position for sunrise in Eastern Standard Time. Note that the numbers are rounded up. For example, if something is at 17 degrees and 1 arc minute, that counts for the 18th degree. The degrees are not ‘split’ — rather, a degree is occupied in a way similar to how no matter what day in 2011 it is, we’re still ‘occupying’ 2011.

Planet Waves
Dane Rudhyar, 1895-1985, was an astrologer and musical composer (many good astrologers are) who reinterpreted the Sabian symbols that were originally created by Marc Edmund Jones and Elsie Wheeler. He was a leader in the movement for humanistic astrology.

Here are the images. Imagine them going by like a movie. Remember, the position given is for sunrise on the East Coast of the United States.

Tuesday, March 8 (Sun at 18 Pisces) — In a gigantic tent, villagers witness a spectacular performance.

Wednesday, March 9 (Sun at 19 Pisces) — A master instructing his disciple.

Thursday, March 10 (Sun at 20 Pisces) — A table set for an evening meal.

Friday, March 11 (Sun at 21 Pisces) — Under the watchful and kind eye of a Chinese servant, a girl fondles a little white lamb.

Saturday, March 12 (Sun at 22 Pisces) — A prophet carrying tablets of the new law is walking down the slopes of Mount Sinai.

Sunday, March 13 (Sun at 23 Pisces) — A ‘materializing’ medium giving a seance.

Monday, March 14 (Sun at 24 Pisces) — On a small island surrounded by the vast expanse of the sea, people are seen living in close interaction.

Tuesday, March 15 (Sun at 25 Pisces) — A religious organization succeeds in overcoming the corrupting influences of perverted practices and materialized ideals.

Wednesday, March 16 (Sun at 26 Pisces) — Watching the very thin Moon crescent appear at sunset, different people realize the time has come to go ahead with their different projects.

Thursday, March 17 (Sun at 27 Pisces) — The Harvest Moon illuminates a clear autumnal sky.

Friday, March 18 (Sun at 28 Pisces) — A fertile garden under the Full Moon reveals a variety of full-grown vegetables.

Saturday, March 19 (Sun at 29 Pisces) — Light breaking through many colors as it passes through a prism.

Sunday, March 20 (Sun at 30 Pisces) — A majestic rock formation resembling a face is idealized by a boy who takes it as his ideal of greatness, and as he grows up, he begins to look like it.

Now, this last degree is one of my favorites. The first and last degrees of each sign are an excellent study in the themes of the sign. And with Pisces we have the theme of creating yourself, from your highest vision of yourself.

At the moment, two planets are conjunct in this degree: Mercury and Uranus. This to me is about reinventing yourself from concept to reality. Think of Mercury as the idea of self, Uranus as the inventive/revolutionary impulse and Pisces as the fertile field of the imagination — right on the Aries Point, where both planets end up this week setting off a new phase of history; and where the Sun arrives the following week. That degree:

(Sun at 1 Aries) — A woman just risen from the sea. A seal embraces her.

Yours & truly,

Eric Francis


Planet Waves

Attention Light Bridge Subscribers: Light Bridge written readings are now available to those who pre-ordered. If you have not signed up yet, you may do so here. Everyone is invited to read the articles on the Light Bridge blog, which will update periodically. Customer reviews of Light Bridge are collecting here. Don’t miss the free audio introduction to the project that explains how I created these seven-year readings. To everyone: thank you for your patience while we completed the written phase of Light Bridge.


With Love From Borasisi

Dear Friend and Reader:

Anyone who works with ideas in a public forum figures out sooner or later that most people will believe anything, particularly if it’s not true. I’ve learned as much from writing satire as I have from writing about astrology or being an investigative reporter. I’ve noticed that many readers will readily accept something cut from the whole cloth of fiction, no matter how absurd, as long as it looks sort of good. There seems to be this crack in consciousness through which very nearly anything can go.

Planet Waves
Seven Deadly Sins window curtain in the bathroom of Taco Juan’s, where I write many of my articles and horoscopes. The owner is actually named Bobby — he’s a dyed-in-the wool Scorpio with a sense of humor to match. And great tacos. Photo by Eric.

Those whose intentions are more sinister than humorous will easily convince most of us that Al Qaeda is under the lid of every trash can and that Saddam Hussein has nuclear bombs he’s ready to use on us. You could look at this as a complex process involving many layers of psychology and incestuous relationships between the media, the government and the companies that profit from war; or you can look to that odd little property of consciousness where if you repeat something often enough, people tend to think it’s true — especially if they’re scared.

This also works with loving intentions. I like to play a game based on this theory with dogs. When I meet a dog for the first time, I’m a stranger. We sniff one another and get acquainted. When I meet the dog again 15 minutes later, we’re old friends. People are not that different. Familiarity breeds trust. More than looking for reasons to be suspicious, I think that most people are actually looking for reasons to trust and will take any opportunity. Con artists, drug manufacturers and politicians know this, and exploit it happily.

Pisces New Moon and a New Planet For You

Today is the Pisces New Moon. It’s exact at about 3:46 pm EST (12:46 pm in California, 8:46 pm in London and early Saturday morning in Oz). Usually, the Moon and Sun make a conjunction in Pisces just once a year, and this is the one. It’s also the last New Moon of the astrological year; we’re just two weeks from equinox, and a pretty hot equinox at that.

There’s a lot of action in Pisces right now: Chiron has recently arrived, beginning an eight-year trek; Uranus is about to make its final exit after seven years on March 11; and we have more transient visitors, with Mercury and Mars present at the moment.

Planet Waves
Religion makes a lot more sense when portrayed in science fiction. Bokononism in Cat’s Cradle is one well-done example. So is the Church of the Second Chance in the Riverworld series by Philip Jose Farmer, a story wherein a whole bunch of people are trying to figure out how and why they all reincarnated on a huge planet along the banks of a river. The first book in that series is To Your Scattered Bodies Go. Photo taken on Route 28 in Ulster County (the road to Woodstock) by Eric Francis.

There’s a longterm visitor I haven’t mentioned much — an outer planet discovered in 1999, called Borasisi. This friendly bit of ice and rock is located out in the Kuiper Belt, a region of space that was first discovered when Pluto made its arrival in 1930. Nobody knew it was the Kuiper Belt at the time; that wasn’t confirmed until 1992, when Jane X. Luu co-discovered something called 1992 QB1 and we had evidence that Pluto was not alone.

Pluto has an orbit of 248 years, as do many other small planets orbiting our Sun (known as Plutinos); 1992 QB1 has an orbit of 289 years, which puts it in a slightly different class (classical Kuiper Belt objects). One interesting thing about QB1 is that despite having its orbit confirmed and being assigned a minor planet number (15760), it hasn’t been named by its discoverers. (I’ve proposed Radharani, a name for the supreme goddess of Hinduism. I propose that she offers an alternate concept to the death and transformation that we typically get from Pluto.)

Five years later, two of the same astronomers discovered Borasisi in the same region of space. Traditionally the discoverer(s) get to name what they find, and they chose to name this one after something from a science fiction novel called Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.

This is unusual. Under naming guidelines, planets in this class are named for gods of creation or resurrection. Borasisi is a name for the Sun in the fictional religion central to Cat’s Cradle — Bokononism. In the novel, the Moon is known as Pabu, and the binary companion of Borasisi has been given that name.

Astrologically, to understand Borasisi we need to look to Cat’s Cradle, a wonderfully complex novel that addresses the themes of truth and lies, and technology and religion. One theme is that technology without conscience is very dangerous — a central theme of our lives. At the center of the story is what Vonnegut described as a whiz-bang sci-fi device: a substance called Ice Nine, water that is frozen and stable at room temperature. It’s a crystal that can teach any water with which it comes in contact to be frozen and stable at room temperature — including ocean water. If you eat just a speck, you turn into Ice Nine.

Planet Waves
Is the Ouija board real, or is it a crock? It’s sold as a game — but we all have our stories. I have been researching the history of the word ‘compersion’ and I have learned that it came out of a Ouija board. Photo by Eric Francis.

Vonnegut got the idea when he was working as a PR man at General Electric in Schenectady. The concept came from a GE scientist who had the job of entertaining H.G. Wells (author of The Time Machine and The Invisible Man) when he visited GE’s labs one day. Wells didn’t do anything with the idea; many years later, Vonnegut did.

As someone who has covered GE’s escapades for many years, I cannot think of a more apt metaphor than Ice Nine to describe the company’s products or its lack of conscience. I am familiar with PCBs, which were the Big Deal — as in miracle of modern science — at the time that Vonnegut was in the PR department. These highly persistent toxins spread through the environment and the food chain, but the problem is you cannot dilute them. No matter how low the concentration, they still have a biological effect, and then, wherever they end up no matter how small the concentration, they move right up the food chain and concentrate again.

PCBs are scary. They are described in the press as ‘potential carcinogens’, which is extremely polite of them. They are hormonally active, toxic to DNA, immune suppressing and yes, carcinogenic. But I’ll tell you a secret. If I were to call up the GE public relations department right now and say, “Hello, I’m a reporter. Are PCBs toxic?” they would fax back a press release that says they’re no more toxic than table salt. That is GE, and this attitude — along with all the lies connected to the atomic bomb — is what propelled Vonnegut to write Cat’s Cradle. He says so in this interview.

One of his comments is that science is supposedly interested in pursuing ‘the truth’, but doesn’t care what happens with the results of its discoveries. In the interview, he gives the example that ‘the truth’ is what exploded over Hiroshima.

Lies of Religion, Truth of Science

While Cat’s Cradle addresses the damage caused by technology’s pursuit of ‘scientific truth’, there is a deeply personal dimension, which Vonnegut addresses in the religion of Bokononism.

Planet Waves
While GE was telling us how we could get 10 hours of comfy cool breeze for the price of an ice cream cone, the company was busy installing an electrical grid insulated with chemicals called PCBs, which sickened many, polluted the Earth’s entire environment (up to the Arctic) and caused countless billions of dollars in damage.

Bokonon is a god who lives among his people. There is a Book of Bokonon, of which the first line is, “All of the true things I am about to tell you are shameless lies.” So it’s a ‘truthful’ religion in that it admits that it’s totally a lie; then it goes on to make up even more lies, designed to make its adherents feel better about their horrid existence.

This is a satire on the religions of the world that offer stories we are told, then which we tell ourselves, that make us feel better. You know, how Jesus died for our sins and how we have our little place in heaven and the Lord delivered the Jews from Egypt and all the animals visiting Buddha under a tree and this guy Arjuna being driven around in a chariot.

These are not usually understood to be stories or allegories; they are taken by most religious people, and taught to kids, as the actual truth, as God’s actual word and as infallible law. In fact they are nothing of the kind. Indeed they are usually hooked into a deeper layer of social psychology designed to do little other than get control of people who would be too scary to those in power if they could actually think independently. Almost every organized religion systematically oppresses women. Nearly every religion is used, at one time or another, as an excuse to go out and kill a lot of people. In fact, the day he ordered the bombing of Hiroshima, Harry Truman got on the radio and said that God told him to do it. Then they tell us that God is love.

Perhaps you’ve noticed that nearly all religion is rooted in the fear of death. There would be no use for religion if people were not scared of what happens after this existence seems to end, and then religion comes along and fills up the whole question with all kinds of stories and theories and things you’re supposed to do in order to go to heaven, be forgiven for sins you’re accused of (by religion), or be loved by God (who is available only from religion).

Vonnegut challenges his readers with the idea that these lies are actually fairly harmless contrasted to the ‘truths’ of science. He’s not exactly offering any commendations to either, just showing us the contrast. The lies lead to people being temporarily happier. Truths lead to mushroom clouds and Superfund sites so large nobody knows how large (such as GE’s contamination of the Hudson estuary system, which killed off fishing as far as the Long Island Sound).

But speaking of the Hudson, no amount of contamination could stop the 21st Annual Shad Festival, which is sponsored by none other than Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Hudson Riverkeeper. Just keep eating those fish if you want some evidence that the river is perfectly clean.

Sweet Little White Lies — and the Core Delusion

People tend to tell small lies for a few reasons. One is convenience, such as to smooth over the social environment. In order to avoid conflict, which most people don’t like, we are allowed to lie enough to camouflage our missteps or potentially offensive acts. It’s also convenient to believe that a drug is safe or that food is clean or that a politician is honest. Everything will probably be fine, right? As for politicians, for most of them, up until March 4, 2011, lying has been merely a way of life.

Planet Waves
It seems like you can’t have a cat food ad these days where the kitty isn’t on LSD. Advertising is full of the lies that we think make us feel good. It is the core Bokononism of our day.

Another is most people tend to lack the courage to tell the truth, or to hear it. It takes some guts to say what you really think and feel. And it takes some courage to call out someone you know is lying to you. Many people will live with a lover or spouse having an affair for years, with both parties ‘pretending it’s not happening’. So we live with a diversity of lies that simply go over the top of the maximum courage we can usually muster up.

Finally, people lie to keep a sense of control that they don’t have in real life. According to one of my grad school professors at Rutgers, James Joyce once said somewhere that he couldn’t understand why everyone doesn’t want to be a writer, because you get to play god in your own little universe. Lying, which means making up stories, is a form of playing god.

The actual events of the world we cannot control; fiction we can control. Some people enjoy (or are addicted to) lying simply because it gives them a sense of power in a world where they feel they have none. If you haven’t achieved much, you can make up a resume or tell a story of accomplishment to someone on a first date. In this sense, lies can also fulfill the expectation of what we’re ‘supposed to be’, which is itself a lie. If you do a little therapy or a little homework, you can figure out what these lies are, who told them to you and what effect they’re having. Those are the first steps toward growing up and moving on.

Planet Waves
To science, homeopathic remedies are a dose of absolutely nothing (unless you study them with nuclear magnetic resonance). To a homeopath, they are a potentized, nontoxic form of the original substance. Stock photo image.

The thing about lies is that they work two ways. Like dioxin (which is a kind of lie that circulates in our endocrine systems, and which is another product of GE) the receptor is as important as the chemical. Those who want to see accurately will sooner or later do so. Those who are committed to being deceived will be deceived till they change their mind about that. And those who get by on telling themselves lies about existence — and to some extent, we all do — we can do that as long as it’s convenient.

Here is the problem, though. This state of deceived/deceiving is a root of many, if not all, diseases. This works on the physical level (dioxin, as mentioned, is the great deceiver of the endocrine system, sending all kinds of weird messages) and it works on the energetic level. What we withhold, and refuse to reveal, can make us energetically sick, and that can make us physically sick. Deception, particularly self-deception, can and does keep us ‘trapped’ in situations that make us sick. Many healing processes begin with admitting the truth to ourselves or our loved ones.

This is why homeopathy, a branch of medicine I mentioned recently, is so concerned with identifying what some call the core delusion. It’s necessary to locate that place where people hold their deepest self-deception or mistaken belief so that the root of disease can be addressed. You don’t need homeopathy to do this; you just need some awareness and willingness to grow. One thing my favorite homeopath, Rajan Sankaran, suggests is that one clue to delusions can be found in one’s sense of humor (and I would add, lack thereof). As a writer who thrives on satire, I am familiar with this — the first place I go in doing a parody designed to unravel an injustice is straight into the delusion, and turn the thing inside out with a little joke. If you’re wondering how to apply this to your life or your healing process, I would start with considering what you cannot laugh about in yourself. That probably points to a hangup you would feel better if you addressed.

As for Borasisi

Now we have a planet that addresses this thematic matter. It’s fitting that Borasisi is a longterm resident of Pisces in our era — the sign of delusions and illusions, as well as beauty and creativity. This gives us an opportunity to see this territory for what it is.  We have the power of consciousness to distinguish truth, lies and stories. Where we might have made up lies, we can also make up a story or tell the truth. There is plenty of strength in that moment of choice. I think what Vonnegut is saying is that the real distinguishing factor is the motive. What I am suggesting is that the distinguishing factor is integrity.

Planet Waves
Chart for the Pisces New Moon set for Kingston, NY. The chart has a cluster of planets across Aquarius and Pisces. Uranus is about to leave Pisces. Neptune is about to enter. So we can look for changes in the whole field of reality expressed by Pisces. The deeper question is: how does astrology work? Skeptics are correct in saying that it’s an elaborate web of lies, but that critique lacks the very imagination by which we actually succeed at creating our lives.

When a potent lunation happens very close to a newly discovered point, we get a kind of ‘proving’ (by which I mean demonstration) of some of the implications of that point. I would note that Donald Rumsfeld is out on the media circuit making up stories about his made-up stories about why we are (still) at war in Iraq. We can also take a look at the films that are currently showing or are about to come out right around now for additional information. There’s one I keep seeing an ad for about all those guys chasing this other guy because they’re in charge of his destiny. And I keep thinking, that’s a heck of a lot of work. Anything with a theme of illusion, deception or image is fair game for consideration.

We can look to our relationships, and see the investment we have in being perceived a certain way because we have a certain partner; or how we want our partner to perceive us. One of my photo models this week used the term ‘honest woman’ to describe herself, as someone who is too modest to admit how much she likes sex. She is deeply invested in that image (meanwhile it’s a challenge to look at her and not think of sex). Many people want to be perceived as a good boy, even though they might be a criminal. This is a theme of Borasisi: the lies we tell ourselves in order to feel better. Yet remember, most of those ‘necessary’ lies are the result of guilt, which is an artificial toxic contaminant created by the industry of religion — particularly where sex and relationship values are concerned.

There is another dimension of Borasisi that I’ll get into another time, which involves nothingness. My friend and co-planetary delineator Tracy Delaney reminds me this is considered “to be the highest ‘spiritual truth’ of what we are, e.g., in Buddhism. So we perhaps have a cosmic equivalent of The Fool here — the zero that can be first or last, deeply ignorant or enlightened.” She notes that science vs. religion is “a false dichotomy. You can’t fight nothingness; you can’t fight something that has no opposite, which is why spirit is invincible.” These are the kinds of ideas she connects with Borasisi. We have scientific ‘truths’ of our era that suggest that a vacuum is not empty and atoms are not solid, which have implications for how we think and relate to existence.

Planet Waves
Detail of the Pisces New Moon. Borasisi is not shown; it’s at 12+ Pisces, about one degree from the Sun and Moon.

Friday’s New Moon is square a thing called the Great Attractor. It would take another thousand words to describe that — I will point you to my audio from earlier in the week, which tells the story. To sum up: the connection from the New Moon to this high-potency point in Sagittarius is about the intersection not only of two belief systems (such as science and religion) but of two entirely different orders of reality. And that intersection contains a whole lot of energy.

We have a lot of action developing in Pisces right now. Chiron has just entered this sign, which is pulling things into focus — things many people would rather not see, or have seen about themselves. As I write on Thursday, the Moon is conjunct Chiron. Uranus is about to make its exit, which is going to shift the whole vibrational field of Pisces, if you believe that even exists, and in a little while Neptune is about to dip in.

To me, Chiron provides the most clarification of what the whole Borasisi thing is about: Chiron is insisting that we get some clarity here in the world of maya. Notably, Chiron makes a conjunction to Borasisi in Pisces between 2014 and 2016. For those two years we will have a gradual merging of those energy fields, calling us to be clear about what we say and why we say it. It will be interesting to go back through history and look at the conjunctions, and see what they tell us. Here is a list, programmed by Tracy. (Gee f*cking whiz, the creation of the U.S. Constitution comes up as one of the very few dates listed.)

There is something in Borasisi about the use of creativity and narrative for constructive manifestation. There is also something about the conscious use of interpretation as a means of improving our lives. An entity named Abraham I am fond of suggests that we keep telling ourselves better and better stories about who we are and what we’re capable of — and eventually they will come true.

Yours & truly,

Eric Francis

PS, Here is a poem for you: The Good Go Down by Marge Piercy (my reading).

 

Rahu, Ketu Change Signs (or, Cause and Effect are Never Separate)

The Lunar Nodes changed signs yesterday, from Cancer/Capricorn to Gemini/Sagittarius. Many astrology students consider the nodes so difficult to interpret they don’t bother. While I don’t have the bandwidth available today to do a full treatment, you’ve read about them every time I write about eclipses. The nodes and eclipses are directly linked; where the nodes go, eclipses follow — approximately. The nodes therefore have an eclipse effect all year long, even though eclipses are concentrated into intense periods that occur twice a year.

If you’re paying attention you noticed that the nodes changed signs backwards. The overall direction of the lunar nodes is retrograde. They have brief intervals of direct motion, but calculating their position is a matter of mathematical theory. As I understand it, the nodes represent a hypothetical point of intersection where the Moon would contact the ecliptic if it were there at that moment. When an eclipse happens, it’s usually anywhere from two to 15 degrees away from the nearest node. That is why I say it’s a theoretical thing.

Planet Waves
The old time Vedic loremasters associated the lunar nodes with a dragon — and our past lives. Dragons usually look a little grumpier than they actually are. They have seen so much and the world seems a bit old and worn out to them. But they’re always looking for an adventure and love making new friends. Digital art by Kaek.

The nodes take about 18 months to go through a sign. The full cycle is about 18 years. But every nine years, they are in their reversed position; that is, about nine years ago, the nodes were in Gemini and Sagittarius, but in the opposite direction, with the North Node in Gemini and the South Node in Sagittarius. They always travel in an exact opposition. The direction of the Mean Node is an average; it is always retrograde. The direction of the True Node switches between retrograde and direct, but the overall direction is retrograde.

The nodes have a life of their own; they are interpreted differently than eclipses and nearly every description of their meaning that I’ve read omits any discussion of eclipses — something that has always struck me as weird. It’s not that eclipses are involved in the whole interpretation; but they do have a connection, and the presence of an eclipse emphasizes the node, draws on its influence. In an article I wrote many years ago, I describe them as ‘a different kind of thing’ — made of nothing, but seeming to be emanating a lot of something — information, energy, tendencies, needs, habits.

The nodes are connected to our concepts of the past and the future, which translates more to the distant past and what we do now that creates the future. In a natal chart, the South Node or Ketu (sometimes called the Dragon’s Tail) seems to show tendencies that in some astrological systems are associated with the results of actions we took and things we learned before we arrived in this incarnation. Ketu is often associated with ‘past lives’, though I think that only an approximate reading is possible, most of the time. We need other data to refine that, and if you must know, there are a heck of a lot of past lives to consider. Humans seem to take a while to wake up. So in most readings, Ketu will more tend to represent a general tendency in this lifetime of what we are comfortable with or depend on, perhaps a bit too much. Some call this karma.

The North Node is about pressing into the unfamiliar. It is about the action we are drawn to take and might be hesitant about; it represents a potentially unfamiliar point of consciousness, or somewhere we need to go. It is about the actions we can take now that point us to what we are creating in the future. The North Node represents the future that begins now. The South Node represents the past that began a moment ago, and which goes all the way back. The thing about reading your nodes is that once you figure out what is going on, it seems brutally obvious and you might wonder how you missed it all along.

Planet Waves
This is the chart for the true node changing signs on Thursday. The direction of the mean node pair is always reverse, as it represents an average. The direction of the true node pair is overall retrograde, with brief intervals of direct motion. Note the Moon-Neptune conjunction at the moment the nodes changed signs.

The nodes bind together two opposing signs, and help us understand the ways in which integrating opposites is a vital part of astrology and of life. Note that in astrology there are six pairs of opposites. There is not merely ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ or ‘dark’ and ‘light’. We get this six ways — and note as well that opposite signs are of the same gender classification (for example, Gemini and Sagittarius are both considered masculine signs). Adjoining signs are of opposite gender (such as Aries and Taurus).

So we have something here about parental reality (Cancer and Capricorn) giving way to something more fraternal and/or cousin-like or ovuncular (involving aunts and uncles). These are mellower relationships. Gemini and Sagg are also more concerned with information than tradition. I plan to say more about this as the eclipses approach.

When the nodes change signs, the eclipses do not always follow suit immediately. For example, later this year, we have a fairly unusual situation where there are partial solar eclipses two months in a row. One is in Gemini and one is in Cancer. The corresponding lunar eclipse is in Sagittarius. Here is a list from Serennu.com, programmed by Tracy Delaney. Note that the list also includes special planetary eclipses called occultations.

One interesting thing about the nodes shifting into Gemini and Sagittarius is that those are the signs associated with the nodes in ancient astrology. If you look on the Table of Essential Dignities that was all the rage during the Greek Empire, you find out that the the North Node ‘rules’ Gemini and the South Node ‘rules’ Sagittarius. Now they are in their opposite positions, but from what I hear that’s not a very big difference — the nodes have an affinity with these signs.

Two things I would point out for those who are working with the nodes in their natal chart is:

1. The house placement is more significant than the sign placement. The sign is definitely important, but the house has a lot to say about where the tendency indicated by the sign shows up. The houses give the location or situation in which the situation manifests.

2. The sign placement tells you what planet is associated with that node. For example, let’s say you have the North Node in Cancer. To find out more about how that node manifests, you would study the Moon carefully. You would also have the South Node in Capricorn; thus you would study Saturn carefully. To find out more about how the nodes relate, you would study the relationship between the Moon and Saturn.

Following this idea, when the transiting nodes change signs as they are doing now, we have a different pair of planetary rulers to consider. For the past 18 months we have been focused on the mommy/daddy world of the Moon and Saturn; now we get to have a long conversation with Mercury and Jupiter.

As I suggested a moment ago, many people work on charts for years and feel like they have no clue what the nodes are about. One reason the nodes are problematic for us here in the West is that we don’t understand cause and effect. We think that things just happen for no reason and that things we do have no effects. The nodes are here to remind us that cause and effect are never separate.


Planet Waves

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Planet Waves

Weekly Horoscope for Friday, March 4, 2011, #851 – BY ERIC FRANCIS

Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You may have some wild dreams, and most of them are possible. Yet as you activate your potential you’re also likely to activate your fear. Here is something to consider: Fear showing up in the same approximate gesture as desire is one of the main excuses for people to deny what they want and to stuff down their potential. You’re in an extended phase when nearly all of your potential becomes available. At the same time you’re going to encounter your shadow material. You will make use of your potential by consciously processing your fear, guilt and denial. At the moment things may arise in a mixture that is challenging to sort, though the main character traits you will depend on are willingness and faith. When you’re wondering which is true, your potential or your fear, ask yourself: which do I want to be true?

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)

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You are more than a detached bystander; you’re a direct participant in whatever game you’re playing, whatever goal you have or whatever process you’re part of. I suggest that rather than deny your influence or the value of your experience, affirm these things regularly, and go on learning. Talent is not a destination, it’s something that you keep on growing and developing. That’s to say, it’s not about a goal, but rather an ongoing process of becoming. When you make this shift, you take yourself out of a linear process. That will save you from going in straight lines, as well as straight up hills, and it may go a long way toward preventing you from running in circles. Think of yourself as rippling out from a pond or exploring a labyrinth. Be alert for when you — or anyone else — thinks something original.

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)

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — There are times in life when you have to take authority, and this is one of them. I suggest, however, that you not announce this fact, but rather allow it to be. There are many people involved, and some of them think they’re more experienced or have more authority than you do. Everyone needs to be treated differently, that is, uniquely; and in every case I suggest you honor who they think they are rather than who you think they are. This is Politics 101, and it helps to go into the game with a plan. The implication is to know both your perceptions and the self-perceptions of the ones you’re in some way dealing with. When it comes to matters of authority, power and politics, perception is most of the game. That includes when people underestimate you, which is precisely what will serve to your advantage. Just be sure of one thing — that you don’t overestimate yourself. With the South Node now in your sign, your own past might become a factor. Therefore, be humble, and work for the common good

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)

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You may believe that what you want is far away in space or in time. I would say it’s closer than you think, and if you can tune your feelings to reflect that, you will get some confirmation. By tune your feelings, I mean feeling a sense of faithful anticipation, pleasure or attractiveness. Allow yourself into the possibility that the circumstances of your life are working together to help you manifest your desire. You can feel your desire to accelerate that, and I suggest you feel the pleasure of contact a little in advance. Visualize in all your senses, and in detail — you certainly have the imaginative power at the moment, only it’s about a lot more than ‘mere’ imagination: what you are experimenting with is the process of conscious manifestation, which always begins with a vision of some kind. Once you have the vision, you’re close to the reality.

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)

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Belief is taking on a particularly powerful role in your relationships, be they business or deeply personal. Mostly this is about the belief in commitment and how this manifests as commitment. You get to start by having faith in the people around you. One property to the evolution happening in your life is how all of your meaningful relationships are essentially in the same category: that is to say, meaningful. These are the ones that you have an unusual ability to shape with your ideas about them. Once you discover this property of thought, that’s a good time to express a vision for the relationship. A vision would be anything that you want, anywhere you want to go, anything you want to do. It’s true that this is influenced by the people with whom you share energy. But in the first instance, I suggest you be honest about what you want and see who shows up or rises to the calling.

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)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Well, you don’t need me to tell you that your relationships are showing up in a whole new way. You may need to filter out some static to get to the music: people you don’t quite want but who want you; desire that comes in an unappealing form; those who don’t give you enough space. Move through those factors quickly and efficiently so you don’t miss the good stuff: the people who are willing to dare, the ones whose desire speaks to you emotionally, in a specific way. There may be more than one person, by the way — and if you need permission, you have it. Be receptive to what the wildly diverse human race has to offer and closer to home, be open to the different ways you want to relate to others. Some will speak in words, some in feelings and others in a method or approach to life. You will know who you can relate to by how you feel in their presence.

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)

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Do you have this sneaking feeling that you’re being asked to give up something so that you can have a secure home? That’s what it looks like. If you remember that you can have a secure home anyway, you won’t feel so compromised. That could make a big difference; acting voluntarily rather than feeling in any way coerced. You may also be aware of how honoring your deep nesting instinct requires you to live a certain way, within certain constraints — but I would propose that you have more flexibility in this mode than you may have guessed previously. There’s also more respectability than we tend to think is available to those for whom home and relationship are authentic life priorities. It’s true that you have other ways that you express devotion and service, and part of what you’re learning is the necessity for creating balance among the most meaningful facets of your life.

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)

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — I have been emphasizing the theme of erotic experience. Mars has now made its way into Pisces, which is the lush, imaginal, erotic angle of your solar chart. Chiron arrived a few weeks ago, so you have a combination of energies that is driving your desire and your curiosity. The interesting thing about sex in our era is how much of it happens with digital assistance. These transits are encouraging you to use your own imagination (rather than that of some producer somewhere), your senses and your body. Chiron is reminding you that the way to free up healing energy and pleasure is to allow yourself to be inquisitive and to approach all matters of sexuality as if they’re an experiment. You can think of what you don’t know, and what you don’t know about yourself, as your friends. Imagination and reality are closer than they’ve ever been, though I suggest you lean gently into the physical world of contact and sensation.

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)

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — I pay close attention to the kids in my environment; it’s part out of fascination with human nature and part about being protective. Here is what I’ve noticed: Kids truly appreciate being acknowledged as people. Noticing their existence in a non-patronizing way, such as simply saying hello to them, is meaningful — more than you may have imagined. That is, unless you remember those who acknowledged your existence when you were young and so many people treated you as if you were invisible. You are in a phase of your life where you’re embarking on a kind of second childhood. This is about experimentation, creativity, pushing boundaries and enjoying the freedom of curiosity. While you’re on this journey, notice who notices and acknowledges your existence. When you’re in an open and loving state, those are the friends you need.

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)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — What do you make? If you want a question by which to guide your career, that’s the one. Think deep on this. What is the product of the work you do? Let’s pretend you’re a lawyer. You could say your product is legal briefs and arguments, or you could say your product is justice (or at least satisfied clients). If you’re an artist, you could say you make paintings, but you also help co-create the responses that people have to your work. Your career is a generative process. That is the thing to remember: you will always be making something. No matter what you do, there’s a product. Do you like what it is? Are you a friend to the one who ultimately benefits? The law of karma is working particularly strongly in this area of your life. You’re likely to reap what you sow; therefore choose your seeds well.

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)

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Your imagination is taking you somewhere specific. You may feel like you keep having the same fantasy or the same idea over and over again. May I suggest that you not worry about that, if it happens to be true? If it’s something you don’t want, or that you know might hurt you, that does lead to a question, but if we’re talking about something you’re curious about or fascinated by, you get to indulge yourself. If there’s a message involved, it’s likely to become obvious fairly soon. Here’s the thing to remember at this rather unusual moment of your growth: you can become anyone you want to be. You can use the power of your imagination to recreate this entity known as a ‘self’ into whatever turns you on. All you need is the vision and to focus on it. On our planet, those are two fairly big prerequisites for some, but I don’t think they will be for 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)

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Have you ever wondered why same-sex relationships and erotic contact are considered taboo? I know the Bible has a few things to say about that and eating shellfish. I mean have you ever really tried to figure it out? I suggest you give it a try. Why is it considered the unholiest of things, to the point where constitutional amendments get passed by freaked-out voters? Bisexuality can become an issue in hetero couples, people can have misgivings about their bi fantasies, and there is often considerable fear and shame about any of this being known. But — why? That’s the question of the week. It may be the question of the month and indeed of the century. I have my theories, which I will share with you in a future entry. For now I want to hear yours, particularly regarding what comes up during the Pisces New Moon today and this weekend.

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

———

Eric Francis, the founder and editor of Planet Waves, is an astrologer and investigative journalist. He was working in his first job as a municipal newspaper reporter when he discovered that his editor also owned an astrology bookstore. This began a long relationship between astrology and journalism, which has taken Eric through the pages of many newspapers as a horoscope writer, including the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror plus numerous other venues. Today, Eric covers global turning point events through the lens of astrology. He is a specialist in newly-discovered planets.