Tag Archives: Pluto

This Is About Your Children or Grandchildren

Note: I have released the first segment in the Generation: Millennials reading! You can order the full reading here; segments are being published individually.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Sometime in the early 1980s, people started displaying the ‘Baby on Board’ sign in the back windows of their cars. Far from being the Pet Rock of its day, this sign heralded new attitudes in parenting, and the arrival of a new generation — the Millennials.

Millennials on board. Illustration by Lizanne Webb.

These kids were welcomed to the world, and grew up amongst parents who really did their best for them. The cynical attitudes toward parenting of the 1960s and the 1970s were finally being left behind.

Now, the first arrivals from this generation are at or just beyond their first Saturn return, the astrological gateway into adulthood. Yet they face a world that seems openly hostile to their growth and progress.

For one thing, most of the Millennials who went to college carry a ridiculous amount of student loan debt. And there is a question whether their education even prepared them for life in the 21st century — and if not, how they are going to get that preparation.

Second, they are emerging into an economy where there are not many job opportunities for them. Said more precisely, the concept of a job is changing; some would say it’s evaporating. Millennials are coming of age in a world that is unrecognizable from anything their parents experienced.

Continue reading

Chiron and Pluto: An Evolutionary Moment

Dear Friend and Reader:

Today’s edition is a shorter one — I’ve designated the last week of the month the “cool our jets” week, wherein we get to take a breath and work on a few projects that get lost in the gust of astrology and news. This week’s horoscope was written by Genevieve Hathaway, who is roaming Egypt; I have done some light revisions. In a few moments I also have some information for you about this weekend’s astrology, which features Chiron and Pluto.

Planet Waves
Boitsens Restaurant in Kingston, looking at the Catskills. Photo (from the Red Goat benefit) by Eric Francis.

Earlier in the week we distributed the monthly horoscope. On Tuesday we will distribute the Inner Space horoscope online only. It will not be sent to your email account. We will post it to the subscriber area and send out a reminder by email, along with a product key update. We’re doing this because we want you to get into the archives to see what is there — one of the most amazing astrology libraries on the Internet, which is included with your subscription.

Speaking of, we’re starting to make progress on our subscriber area that has individual passwords and many more features — please be patient. Obviously these kinds of projects don’t happen overnight, but we have foregone “outside contractors” who bid the project in line with the cost of an RV, and we are doing the job ourselves. We still have some programming and presentation puzzles to crack but we’re on the way to opening up a beautiful new dimension of Planet Waves for our subscribers.

One other thing while I have your attention. Sunday evening we’re going to send out a letter inviting you to invite your friends into Planet Waves, on us. We know that many of you forward our editions all over the world; that can be helpful, though we have a better idea, which is to get some of those folks onto the list proper and into the renewal cycle, so that we can keep improving the service you receive, building the Planet Waves daily publication and keep feeding the tree.

So — look for that Sunday night. This is an offer limited in time but not in how many people you can send it to. The thing is, it has to come from you, to them, and then back to us — a direct referral. The details will be in the letter from Chelsea that you receive Sunday evening.

Here are some details of this weekend’s celestial events, beginning with a question: Can you imagine astrology without Pluto or Chiron? It wasn’t long ago that many astrologers doubted the influence of these planets, and not much earlier that they were discovered (in 1930 and 1977, respectively). They are distinctly modern reminders of how we can think of a person: as having depth and an inner life; as being capable of growth and healing; as wanting more out of life than the superficial.

Planet Waves
The Sun (in yellow, lower planet) aspects Chiron (orange key) and Pluto (red golf tee) for the next few days. Also shown is Neptune, the blue trident. This setup blends the qualities of these planets, with the Sun energizing and expressing the healing and growth-oriented energy of Chiron and Pluto. This is as gentle as a wake-up call gets.

For the next few days, the Sun aspects both Pluto and Chiron. While these two planets are often associated with enforced growth, they are now aligned with the Earth and Sun such that their influence is gentle, penetrating and effective. The Taurus Sun is moving into a trine with Pluto in Capricorn, opening up the flow of deep inspiration. And the Sun is sextile Chiron, a call to awakening that puts clarity and healing within reach.

Chiron and Pluto are now in a long sextile — a 60-degree aspect that will help them integrate their qualities. What happens to one basically happens to the other, since for the next year or so, any faster-moving body that aspects one of them will aspect the other. They are similar agents in the psyche but work differently.

Pluto often acts as an unconscious influence: as something working deep beneath the surface of awareness. Then all at once it manifests as a turning point. Chiron usually strives to get our attention all the time, using a series of measures that gradually grow more intense, until it finally reaches through the waking dream. Both almost always point out areas where we are striving to grow, or where we need to invest the most energy into growth. Sometimes they indicate where we are already making the most progress.

Both have a way of accelerating progress, when present in any situation or chart. We can be sure, at least, that something meaningful is going on when either of these critters is in the equation — and through the weekend, both will be in aspect to the Sun. This is an image of vitality with deep roots, with passion and intensity, striving to draw the vital force up from the core of our being, and to allow it to soak into any dry places. Many people experience resistance around Chiron and Pluto; the way this alignment is set up, that really should be at a minimum. At least it will be easier to let it go.

Though the word is used a bit too much and could use clarification, you could call this an evolutionary moment. There is an opening for those who want more out of life, who want greater depth and meaning, and who are willing to take the emotional and psychological risks to get there.

The turning point is illustrated other ways. Mars in Virgo is gradually gaining speed after its long retrograde, and is about to form a square to the lunar nodes. The nodes (currently in early Gemini and Sagittarius) are like a spiritual current that moves through our human constellation like the air in the jet stream — with strong, solid determination.

Juno is in Sagittarius, conjunct the North Node, and it too is taking a square from Mars: This is a compelling invitation (or firm push) into getting clear about the role of relationship partners in our lives. It’s a challenge to be alert and awake to the pitfalls of the relationship structures that we take for granted — the rules, the expectations, the double standards and on some level the drive for balance.

Juno on the North Node describes a yearning and pull into marriage that exceeds a religious vow and takes on the sensation of something more appropriately described as a cult. Retrograde, though, there is a question as to the meaning and relevance of this desire. And Mars square both Juno and the nodes is asking: What do you really want, and how much of it can you get from a relationship as you think of it? What about your drive for independence and autonomy? What is the balancing point of these themes in your life?

Lovingly,

Eric Francis

 

Planet Waves

Friday, April 27, 2012. Weekly Horoscope #901 | Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions
 

Taurus Birthdays This Week: Points of Contact

If your birthday is anywhere in the vicinity, you have Chiron and Pluto working on your natal Sun, which is serving to awaken your passion and your sense of mission. You may feel like you’re finally making actual contact with who you are and what you really want. Both of these planets can impart a sense of soul making itself known to you, of awaking, of the quest for healing your life. Whatever they touch, Chiron and Pluto go deep, and they get results. Even when aligned to your natal Sun by trine and sextile, they may not be easy — because you’ll have to go the challenge points, the hurt places and the leftover material from the past on the way to reaching down into your core — but you will get there. Even in a longterm growth or healing process, there can be immediate results: the choices you make in the moment are more relevant to who you actually are. You can release the things that drain your energy and thus have more to do what you want, and share with whom you want. Mars is pushing you to make decisions not just about a relationship but about the whole way you think of relationships. The decisions you make now can set you free for the next wave of progress, as Saturn gradually makes its way toward your opposite sign Scorpio and you begin a new phase of getting real with yourself and with others. — By Eric Francis

I’ve covered these topics in detail in the Taurus birthday reading, a truly inspirational, motivational (and juicy) session created using astrology, Tarot and my vivid imagination. You may treat yourself to that here.

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Feeling good about who you are is the most important stepping stone to building your vision of a successful life. But how do you get there? I suggest you continue to work and rework a tangible concept, which you may have discovered just recently, that applies to how you experience self-esteem and the ways in which you honor the importance of valuing yourself. As you push into this area of your psyche, notice any resistance that comes up. Examine what you find in terms of your mother’s attitude toward existence and her self-worth, and what she passed along to you. Her personal philosophy is the first one you learned as a small child, and the foundation from which yours grew. Acknowledge any of her ideas that do not fit with your own. You will be able penetrate a blind spot involving how your emotional body experiences the sensation of honoring your intrinsic value. In other words, upcoming aspects suggest you can actually feel how loved and beautiful you are. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Hello Aries — Eric has written a new description for your sign that you have access to from this link (no password needed).

Taurus (April 19- May 20)

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Having a healthy relationship with your community is vital to having a fulfilled existence. But how many people have that? Who even considers the issue? Your solar charts suggest that you’ve adjusted your behavior with the people around you to fit in with their expectations. This has brought you the illusion of stability because your group structures did not change like they would, had you asserted your creativity, passion or authentic self. Eventually illusions crack, and yours is doing so as you re-evaluate what is truly nurturing your highest needs. As your personal identity shifts in relation to your network, the community around you will change. I suggest you see this less as a disruption to your inner state of calm and more as a sign of progress toward a more authentic life. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Hello Taurus — Eric has written a new description for your sign that you have access to from this link (no password needed).

Gemini (May 20- June 21)

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Gaseous elements cannot be touched, felt or examined without special equipment. But if that gas is brought into solid form, you can hold the material in your hand. This is happening to a number of ideas that have been just beyond the reach of your awareness. Like the process of centrifuge, this material is getting stirred up so fast that the critical pieces of information are able to crystallize into solid form. What is taking shape are ideas surrounding your calling in life and others’ roles in the development of that process. Your life is your own, though others are available to help you. For you, any discussion of an idea involves more than one concept or perspective; your mind works best by seeing things from multiple points of view at the same time. I suggest you work with this multiplicity of your highest goals and achievements and not see them as mutually exclusive. Not only can they co-exist in your life at the same time — they support one another. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Hello Gemini — Eric has written a new description for your sign that you have access to from this link (no password needed).

Cancer (June 21- July 22)

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — As the week progresses, spend time out of the house meeting new people. You are in a period of forming new bonds and connections with individuals, groups and the environment that contains them all. I understand the world is filled with a lot of groups whose purposes range from meaningless to having ideals and values that do not support yours. Yet you only need to discover what will actually serve you, which is relatively little in contrast to the whole. And, there is another process in motion — a subtle shift is bringing more individuals into contact with an idea you embody. You could say there’s a tribe bonding together around unhindered acceptance of each other’s true self as the thing of mutual value. Proceed from a place of seeing each new person you meet as a possibility for connecting with a larger group united by the idea of caring for one another. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Hello Cancer — Eric has written a new description for your sign that you have access to from this link (no password needed).

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Before achievement is reached, a period of buildup occurs. Many times, work is done without necessarily fast advancement. That’s not a popular idea in a society where people line up to buy lottery tickets, but it’s a true fact. Real accomplishment is not instantaneous, but rather based on exponential growth. This type of progress appears to remain static for a while, though there is quiet multiplication going on behind the scenes. When the process reaches a threshold there is a burst of energy that moves events along quickly. Your projects, many which have appeared stalled, are approaching this point of acceleration. As the pace increases, maintain focus on the details. Harness the increased energy by applying it back to your work. Feed the tree, and remember your purpose. What you’re doing is producing work that has a long-lasting quality. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Hello Leo — Eric has written a new description for your sign that you have access to from this link (no password needed).

 


If you have more questions than answers, consider this.

We will soon figure out that it’s actually 2012. The recent retrogrades of Mars and Mercury seemed to create a delay, but really this winter and early spring has been a phase of gestation. Over the next four weeks, the energy starts to pick up pace dramatically, and we will discover where we are and that something unusual, and beautiful, is happening.

Even as we approach the truly beautiful potential of the astrology that’s developing, many people are struggling with their day-to-day lives. There are more questions than answers; the economic and political situations seem hopeless; the pace of existence is going so fast that there seems to be nowhere to get in a little meaning, or seek some peace of mind.

Planet Waves

Here is where astrology can help. Astrology looks at the longer cycles, and the deeper themes — and can help you see your life in context of the present moment, no matter how chaotic it may be. Context means a sense of where you fit in that will help you see your potential and make better choices.

For years, I’ve been helping my clients prepare for making the most of the astrology of the 2012 era. Based on this experience, and many years of study, I’ve prepared a set of readings for all 12 signs (and rising signs, and Moon signs) that guides you through this astrology, step by step. I cover the most challenging and energized developments of this spring, which includes eclipses, Venus retrograde, the Venus transit of the Sun, and then a few days after the Sun ingresses Cancer, the Uranus-Pluto square.

I suggest you get this report in its current form, where you have access to all 12 signs. This way, you will be able to listen to your Sun, Moon and ascendant, and gain added depth. You can listen to your opposite sign and learn something about how this astrology will influence your relationships. Each sign gets a half-hour discussion. These came through loud and clear, with strength and meaning. I spent a week designing and recording them, and I am grateful to be able to offer them to you as a tool to help you guide your decisions, as you seek deeper meaning along your journey.

Spring 2012 is a kind of checkpoint along the way to wherever you are going. But really it’s a calling into the adventure of existence, a bold invitation to go beyond your past limits and explore something truly new about yourself.

All 12 signs are now available for $19.95. Next week they will go on sale for $9.95 each with no discount for multiple signs. The report is getting rave reviews from people who are currently working with it, including these words from a customer named Donna: “OMG — thank you thank you thank you — just spent this morning listening to my [Spring Report] info, and am so blown away by the accuracy (and relief!) in this experience. Thanks so very much for your part in supporting this work and for showing up in the way that you do!”. Here is the link to order.

Individual signs will be available soon — please drop us a note if you want to be notified of when, or if you have any other questions.

Lovingly,

Eric Francis


 

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Your instinct when it comes to sudden change is to hang on even tighter to what you know as tried and true. That is not to say you’re afraid of change, more you hold yourself to such high standards that you want to ensure a ‘perfect’ outcome — and in your eyes that is done through controlling every aspect. Lately, your ability to find the tried and true methods of the past may feel compromised. This might feel like a sensation of being out on an edge with no map back to stable ground. Resist the urge to scramble around frantically for something to grab. What this experience is leading you into is the idea and the reality of flexibility. You’re learning how to bend and how to move with the flow of events. Once you do this, you might notice a seeming paradox: how well adapting blends with your love for preparation. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Hello Virgo — Eric has written a new description for your sign that you have access to from this link (no password needed).

Libra (Sep. 22 - Oct. 23)

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — For an agreement to be mutually beneficial both sides entering into the exchange must give and receive. This doesn’t have to be an equal exchange, but more of an equivalent one, based on what’s possible for everyone involved. As long as everyone feels that the contributions are fair, then that is fair enough. You can think of jointly profitable contracts in terms of a word you know very well — balance. Your special sensitivity to this aspect of life (not everyone has it) is one of your resources you have to offer to your current situations. With a short break in personal planet retrogrades, now is a good time to consider any contracts or agreements you’ve been delaying. You’re in a unique position at the moment to see all angles of the issue, and help craft an agreement that benefits all parties. More importantly, you now possess all the knowledge you need to make a good decision. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Hello Libra — Eric has written a new description for your sign that you have access to from this link (no password needed).

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — A close partnership is currently offering you much in the way of stability and nourishment. The challenge for you is slipping into a state of receptivity. Ask any therapist and they will tell you just how many people struggle with receiving, because receiving implies being open. I suggest you think of this less in terms of being vulnerable and more as allowing someone to walk with you. This is a simple idea. Your emotions are a complex layered web that often seem too murky and interwoven for you to be able to separate and explain. Don’t let this overwhelm you. Start small — your partner or someone you care about is not looking to see the entire web of your emotional sphere at once. Begin with the uppermost level, the piece you understand most clearly. This will provide you with the confidence you need to relinquish a measure of control over the outcome. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Hello Scorpio — Eric has written a new description for your sign that you have access to from this link (no password needed).

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Projects that have been on hold will move forward rapidly this week. The past few months may have felt like you were a horse at the starting gate of a race waiting for the gun to crack so you could burst forth. A kind of limbo settled in over your life surrounding your projects. What had the sensation of being stuck was in fact a building of energy, which is releasing in a series of stages. In terms of work and creative projects, proceed steadily and methodically. This will keep you from exerting energy in too many different directions. Energy spread out laterally is often wasted, yet energy focused like a laser can carve and craft and shape the world to your desires. This same formula will influence your personal life. Focus on the situations that you want the most, and that you think will be the most fulfilling — not on the rest of it. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Hello Sagittarius — Eric has written a new description for your sign that you have access to from this link (no password needed).

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — With Pluto moving through your birth sign, you are in a prolonged period of deep introspection. At times it may come with the sensation of being pulled so far into yourself that the light from the outer world does not reach you. Yet the Sun’s light is essential to feeling warm, strong and alive. Recently, you have started to make contact with that light, and have entered a period of revitalization. There will be a boost to your emotional resources, a chance to infuse your soul with the liquid light of Vitamin D. Take time this week to indulge in activities that make your highest sense of self feel alive and connected to the universe. Get out into the sunlight. Resist the urge to do more work (or housework). When you’ve fully charged your fuel cells, work will have an effortless feeling, and being introspective will be replaced by the sensation that you actually exist. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Hello Capricorn — Eric has written a new description for your sign that you have access to from this link (no password needed).

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You are currently working the fine edge of a question that has been drifting through your subconscious for some time. It’s not necessarily that you’re closer to having the answer — but with a well-considered question you’re most of the way there. The subject involves the nurturing you received as a child, and how this influenced everything you believe about yourself. Many people discount this transaction — but it’s one of the most potent in the universe. This material has been subtly crystallizing out of your subconscious, making the themes and issues easier to work with and consider. You’ll know you’re making headway processing this material when you run up against some tangible resistance. That’s a metaphor for blocks that were imposed on you long ago; it’s like you’ve reached the limit that was set on how you could define yourself. Once you get there, you’ll know where the edge is — and then you will figure out a way to cross the boundary. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Hello Aquarius — Eric has written a new description for your sign that you have access to from this link (no password needed).

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Like your symbol the fish, you are one with your environment. You absorb into your psychic system the people, places and environment around you, and you radiate an influence that has more of an effect than you think. This is both a gift and a challenge. On one hand, you receive much information from your environment and can utilize your surroundings to nourish your soul. Conversely, your environment can also drain you and overload your sensitive psychic body. Over the next few days, notice who and what is around you, and tune in to how they influence you. Be specific — your home, your neighborhood, the people you interact with on a daily basis. Assess each in terms of how it nourishes your connection to your vital life force. Some do this better than others; some influences are depleting, and the time has come to be certain of the difference. You’re approaching a truly unusual — maybe one of a kind — intersection along the path of your life, and this skill will help you make the best choices. — by Genevieve Hathaway

Hello Pisces — Eric has written a new description for your sign that you have access to from this link (no password needed).

What’s Your (Pluto) Sign? Wait — Let Me Guess!

Dear Friend and Reader:

Twenty-twelve is going to be a big year for Pluto. You could say it’s always a big year for Pluto, but this is the year of the Uranus-Pluto square you may have heard about. It’s the aspect that’s the “sign of our times” and which is going to make the next few years feel more like the Sixties than the Sixties. What we experience won’t just be the result of Pluto alone; it will be the rare combination of Uranus and Pluto; one will activate the other and you’ll be able to hear it from outside and see it on TV and watch it go by on Twitter. Heck, you might even want to get involved.

Planet Waves
Pluto the Dog has Pluto in Cancer.

In our era of history, Pluto moves through a sign in about 14 years. At other points in its orbit, further from the Sun, it can take 22 years. Pluto signs approximate generations. They’re a little quicker than a generation, but then what’s not a little quick right now. In recent years, in part thanks to the proliferation of astrology on the Internet, celebrating one’s “Pluto tribe” has become a thing, and I’m not sure it’s a good thing but it exists and there’s nothing we can really do about it except disseminate enlightening information.

This article is an analysis of what the different Pluto signs are about. Pluto grants intensity and it has a way of focusing a phase of history. Other outer planets do that as well, but Pluto (for all of its supposed subconscious action and invisibility) has a way of standing out and dropping a lens in front of the culture, which develops over a long time.

We recently lived through Pluto in Sagittarius and man did we get it. Think: Globalism, Fundamentalism, Millennialism, Terrorism, Neoconservatism and every other ism you can name, all seizing consciousness at once. The American Taliban was born and wants direct access to your uterus or that of someone you care about. Soon, they will be including sperm cells in the census. Notably, it was during Pluto in Sagittarius that Pluto was declared ‘not a planet’, and this was purely a matter of belief rather than based on scientific fact. We’ve never even seen clear photos of the thing so how could we possibly know?

Every generation has its Pluto drama, which often shows up in the form of a vast identity crisis. Some astrologers also say that Pluto is about evolution; that is another way of saying growth. Others say that Pluto comes along and shreds the old reality and revitalizes something on a deep level. Some blame Pluto for everything that goes wrong and others for everything that goes right. This article is a survey of all of the above.

Many writers helped contribute to this piece and I am grateful for the observations that they provided. However, I take responsibility for my perceptions. I do recognize that there are some limits on what I’m proposing here in terms of being applicable across race, class and country ‘divisions’; these interpretations would probably not work well for people living in rural Sweden or South Africa, but then you never know. That said, let’s consider the basic properties of Pluto through the signs, starting with Pluto in Cancer. Anyone offended by anything I’m saying can take it up with Pluto. I am merely reporting the facts.

Planet Waves

Pluto in Cancer
(1912-1937) was the greatest generation; there will never be a greater generation and anyone who comes after them who thinks there might be is sadly mistaken. This generation was so great that Pluto did them the honor of being discovered in the sign Cancer. The Star Spangled Banner was written just for them; Francis Scott Key knew they were coming. The family is everything, except for the church, God and country. Ultimate goal was to become an Eagle Scout and work for General Motors or IBM. Still saving for their child’s Ph.D., even though their child has retired. They are ‘still there’ for them. Proud of their children even though so many refused to join the Army, and the ones that did lost the Vietnam War. It wasn’t really their fault. Eventually we’ll win another war. Still get nervous when making a long-distance telephone call. Unconsciously flip through the channels at 7 pm looking for Walter Cronkite, but after an hour, keep finding Bill O’Reilly. Patiently waiting for the next Moon landing. Still astonished that appliances no longer come with a protective dust cover, and disappointed that you cannot order one even if you’re willing to pay for it.

Planet Waves

Pluto in Leo
(1937-1956) holds both copyright and patent to the term ‘baby’ including use in Baby BoomerTM and ‘Hey, baby’. Seventy is the new 40. This generation is so liberal they’re conservative or so conservative they are complete freaks. Home of the pot-smoking, guitar-playing Republican and the vegan, puritanical Democrat who has not had a drink since 1977. Vitamin C is still the cure for everything. In their day, they didn’t change the world; they were so cool, the world changed for them. Cool is what counts. What they say is cool is what is cool until they say it isn’t cool anymore. Any music recorded after 1970 is terrible unless they say otherwise. Tea Party conservatism is the new peace and love. There are a few who I call The Redeemers who want to dust off their activist Girl Scout merit badge sash and join the Occupy movement, or get involved because they missed their chance the first time around. Once tried an open marriage, but went back to getting divorced because it was simpler. Ultimate possession is an SUV with a Greenpeace sticker on it (or a Harley). Still has original AOL address from 1998. Starts a blog just to see how many hits it’s possible to get. Ruined astrology by asking, ‘What’s your sign?’ several thousand times too many. Many now live on a steady diet of Prozac, Viagra and porno.

Planet Waves

Pluto in Virgo (1956-1971) is between the Baby BoomersTM and Gen X, not as idealistic as the Boomers and not as cynical as Gen X. This generation seems immune from OCD. Nobody would even notice if they had a bad case; obsessive hyperfocus is what you do until ADD sets in. Balance means integrating the two in a perfect mix of 12-hour-a-day productivity. Materialism is cool, as long as it’s for a practical purpose. They remain trapped in extremely well-organized cubicles, spending years developing branding and marketing campaigns. Among the first programmers of the commercial Internet, they still say the word ‘computer’ and mean it. Activists among them send around email petitions, or even start an online petition service. They’re too busy to come to the protest, but they support it in principle and watch from the 30th floor window. They will change the system from within. They’re terrified to let their kids do any of the things that they did. They had sex, drugs and rock and roll (which their children are not allowed to know about). Their kids are growing up on supervised play dates and are not allowed to go to the mall alone. Obsessed with health, these people have more vitamins in their closet than the GNC warehouse, but their daughters will get six rounds of Gardasil. Have not had sex without a condom since 1989 and take an AIDS test every year even if they haven’t done the nasty. You never know; transmission through toilet seats has not been disproved.

Planet Waves

Pluto in Libra (1971-1982), sometimes called Gen X, is deeply concerned with fairness, equality and justice, which usually means getting married and going to enough weddings to open a secondhand dress shop with their diversity of unusually colored wedding party outfits. The men finally broke down and bought a tux, or considered it seriously. Men and women are equal. Gays and straights are equal. Humans and animals are equal. Willing to take a backseat in the relationship because “I will make this relationship work!” Everyone has the right and responsibility to get married. This is the new civil rights movement. Meanwhile, Roe v. Wade is being washed out from under their feet, birth control is about to become illegal, feminism exists only in certain classes on college campuses and Guantanamo Bay is still in business, but that’s all okay as long as everyone has the right to get married — unless that means getting married to more than one person. Obsessed with perfect looks, they have never been seen with a zit, and will spend hours getting ready to go out; but it’s not for anyone else — it’s ‘just for me’. Females have never left the house without a bra plus three extra layers on. The men make excellent single dads but their daughters will all be hell on wheels.

Planet Waves

Pluto in Scorpio (1982-1995), sometimes called the Millennials, does not believe in privacy. There’s no such thing. Nothing is taboo. Lady Gaga is their hero, and they’re the only ones who understand her. They cannot be more than five minutes away from social networking, and cannot do anything without their parents knowing about it. They are comforted that mom follows their every Tweet. Will take a lower-paying job with a longer commute that allows them to check Facebook, which for them is a verb. Everything must be interactive. Not afraid of ghosts. Older members of this generation used to practice telepathy in school, till texting came along. They used to have sex, till sexting came along. Aware of the deeper, darker side of human nature, they are convinced that the world is evil, so there’s no point doing anything about it. Everything is fucked. The government is fucked. The corporations are fucked. The environment is fucked. Everyone is going to get cancer, so who cares what we do or what we eat. Sex has three settings — the purity ring, hooking up and total commitment, which they think is stupid because sex is natural and everyone is really bisexual. But sex can also kill you, so it’s better to talk about it than to actually do it (or stick to oral, which for some reason is perfectly safe). Did not go to prom; went to purity ball instead, escorted by their Pluto in Virgo father, which they knew was creepy, but whatever.

Planet Waves

Pluto in Sagittarius (1995-2008) cannot spend more than 90 seconds away from social media. These kids are okay with everything, because that’s how the world is — there’s a lot of everything so you may as well be okay with it. There’s always a reason to be optimistic and that alone can get things done. We all live in one world so we should all be able to get along, and we can change the world if we want to. They know that if you believe something, that makes it true. Everything is already spiritual so who needs religion? Expect these children to want to do middle school in Santiago or Fiji. They are the ones being trained for jobs that don’t exist yet, which may involve working alongside extraterrestrials, for which they are perfectly suited.

Toddlers with Pluto in Capricorn (2008-2023) are already planning how to undermine the structure of your household, the neighborhood association and the local municipal government, so keep all your bank records, checkbooks, etc., under lock and key, and carry the key with you at all times. For your own safety, don’t keep your money in a TARP bailout bank. Block them from reading news websites; they won’t care about porno. Don’t reveal any sensitive information. Expect a call from the daycare that they started a campaign to get the director fired. Forget about toy trucks; start saving up for a real bulldozer, excavator or maybe a wrecking ball. They will be old enough to drive and operate heavy equipment by the time they’re seven. Maybe lease them something hefty and dangerous (a front-end loader perhaps) for a few weeks for that big birthday. If they have a business plan, go with it. They will make their fortunes mining abandoned 20th century garbage dumps.

Planet Waves

Future children with Pluto in Aquarius (2023-2043) will be the first generation of humans who are fully network compatible. Genetically modified to have nanotechnology in their blood from birth, none of these children will be conceived sexually; they will be generated in fetus farms to custom specifications. Born with an IP address rather than a Social Security number, they will give new meaning to the phrase, “I’m a Mac.” It will be deeply disappointing when they are finally ‘born’ only to discover that they no longer have any rights — except to marry a cyborg, which was generously guaranteed for them decades earlier by the Pluto in Libra generation. Ultimately however, they will be against computers and revolt against their origins, and their motto will be “Opt out, log off, shut down.” This is going to piss off their parents to no end, who by that point will be waging a pointless cyber-war against some developing country that has banned Facebook and refuses to join the global effort to stop climate change.

Planet Waves

Future children with Pluto in Pisces (2043-2066) will be the first generation indistinguishable from God. Kids are already pretty close to their divine source, but this generation will surpass all limits, walking on water before they walk on land. This will be easy because they’ll spend their entire gestation dreaming of dolphins and be born with dolphin souls. They are the children of God, one with God, part of God and God is part of them. God is sex and sex is God and we’re all one, and even Republicans will learn from them. They will recite nursery rhymes about quantum field theory and take field trips in black holes. These children will exist simultaneously on several dimensions, and won’t need babysitters because they’re one with God. Whereas children of previous generations had lemonade stands, some of these children will form successful cults by the time they’re 11 years old. War will be banned in their lifetimes.

Future children with Pluto in Aries (2066-2095) will give new meaning to the term Me Generation, winning the legal right to marry themselves. They will be the second most narcissistic generation in the history of humanity. Old books by Wayne Dyer and Werner Erhard will sell for $5,000 (not inflation adjusted). They will wage a civil rights movement for the right to fight in wars, repealing the ban passed by their Pluto in Pisces predecessors. This will be the time of the Second Coming of Heracles and the reincarnation of Patton. They will become despondent and require years of therapy when they discover that the Pluto in Leo generation they admire so greatly was against war, and even managed to stop one.

Future children with Pluto in Taurus (2095-2127) will be the ones who stubbornly survive and repopulate the Earth after Pluto in Aries has come through. Sex ban will be repealed. Silent movies will come back into style. In fact, language will all but disappear, with exceptions made for semi-verbal grunting and extremely vigorous arguments, which will become an official sport. Courtship traditions will be adhered to; calling cards (the old kind, left in a basket on a table by the door) will return; Emily Post will have a revival and become a bestselling author. For 22 years nobody will dare to wear white slacks after Labor Day.

Future children with Pluto in Gemini (2127-2157) will lift ban on non-sport use of words and entirely reinvent language based on words originally known only to one pair of twins. They will go on to reinvent psychotherapy, following in the footsteps of their Pluto in Gemini forebears.

Lovingly,

Eric Francis

Additional research and writing: Astrodem, Dale O’Brien, and many Planet Waves friends on Facebook who contributed their observations.

Image Credits: Most of the photos above are stock images licensed from iStockphoto researched by Chelsea Bottinnelli and Rachel Marco-Havens. The dolphin image with Pluto in Pisces is called Starchild by Jean-Luc Bozzoli, who produces some beautiful DVDs, children’s books and other materials. You can browse his products and look at his other images on his website.

If you would like to know more about Pluto — you can read this article in Small World Stories, and there’s another called Planet Why, which gives the history of our ideas about Pluto.

Schedule Note: There will be just one edition of Planet Waves next week, distributed Wednesday evening. This is the “monthly horoscope week” wherein we don’t do a Friday edition.

 

Planet Waves

The sky is about to get wetter, which has a lot of people excited. The waning Moon is on its way to the Pisces New Moon on Tuesday (but first it spends today in Capricorn and enters Aquarius Sunday at 5:28 am EST). The Sun, after making a last-degree trine to retrograde Saturn in Libra, ingresses Pisces at about 1:18 am EST Sunday; once there, the Sun conjoins Neptune. With the Sun expressing the energy of a planet named after the god of the oceans in a mutable water sign, don’t be surprised if you find yourself awash in flowing emotions, intuition, creativity – and possibly some actual rain. Astrology can be ridiculously literal sometimes. When the Sun and Moon align for their conjunction Tuesday just before 5:35 pm EST, take the opportunity to sow (and water) any seeds for creative and spiritual growth for the coming astrological year. The Pisces New Moon is the last New Moon of this zodiac cycle; the next New Moon in Aries begins a new trip around the wheel. Since the Sun’s ingress brings it into a sextile with Jupiter in Taurus, harness the extra visioning power granted by Pisces and Neptune and actually see what you’d like to create in the next 12 months. Chiron in Pisces, which has been holding this same sextile to Jupiter, is lending focus to your powers of manifestation.

 

Planet Waves

Planet Waves

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) walked out of a House committee hearing on Obama’s new contraception policies, accusing chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) of blocking female witnesses from testifying. Obama’s health care provision stipulates insurance companies must cover contraception directly for women without a co-pay, so that organizations affiliated with churches (such as hospitals founded by nuns in 1812) do not directly have to offer it to employees. Religious leaders claim their freedom of religion is being infringed upon, but what they’re actually doing is trying to compel others to follow their religion. That’s a First Amendment violation called coerced speech. Essentially the whole argument is bullshit designed to flare up moral sentiments because there’s nothing more important to worry about these days.

“I look at this panel [of witnesses], and I don’t see one single individual representing the tens of millions of women across the country who want and need insurance coverage for basic preventive health care services, including family planning,” said Maloney before walking out. Norton attempted to force a vote on seating Sandra Fluke, a law student from Georgetown University, saying the chairman was breaking committee rules. According to Issa, Fluke was “not found to be appropriate or qualified” to testify about religious liberty, claiming liberty, not contraception, was the topic of the hearing. The only female Republican on the House committee, Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-N.Y.), sided with Issa, claiming she finds it “so objectionable that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would characterize this as something so narrow as being about contraception. This is a fundamental assault on one’s conscience.” Indeed, it is — but not for the reasons Buerkle claims.

 

Planet Waves

In a landmark decision — the first in history — a French court ruled Monday that Monsanto is guilty of poisoning French farmer Paul Francois after failing to put adequate warnings on the product’s label. The product, Lasso, also known as Alachlor, is a chlorine-based plant killer that has been banned in the European Union since 2006. According to The (UK) Guardian, Francois said he suffered neurological problems, including memory loss, headaches and stammering, after inhaling Lasso in 2004. This is the first time that a pesticide maker has been found guilty of such a poisoning. Due to the difficulty of establishing clear links between illnesses and prolonged exposure to the chemicals, previous attempts to take action against companies like Monsanto have fallen short. The EU and its member countries now consider dangerous many of the chemicals previously used in major “crop protection” campaigns, and have since banned them. Planet Waves noted the conjunction of Ceres and Uranus on the Aries Point almost a month ago highlighting recent instances of food safety and regular people taking on corporate giants like Monsanto.

 

Planet Waves

A Few Highlights from UAC 2012

Each Friday we’re highlighting something from the forthcoming United Astrology Conference in New Orleans. This is NOT an annual conference; the last one was four years ago. Planet Waves will be there covering the event and doing other fun things. One thing about UAC is that there are lot of presenters from many viewpoints. I’ve selected two sample classes to give you an idea of the different levels of work that are being done.

Let’s start with a basic class by my old friend Rick Levine, editor of StarIQ: Understanding the Planets: From Moon to Pluto. Rick is excellent at pragmatic astrology with a touch of magic. He writes, “As astrologers we learn as much as much as we can about the signs. But the signs are just one part; they are brought to life by the planets as they move around the zodiac. This lecture covers the ten planets, their basic symbolism, and how they impact our lives. Whether you are a beginner or a more advanced student, there will be many useful tidbits for all in this general overview of the planets.”

Nick Dagan Best is a popular teacher who brings a touch of stagecraft to his work, an amazing memory for detail and a knowledge of culture that rivals any well-rounded critic. One of his classes is called Time Twins. He asks, “What better way to refine the techniques and interpretive skills of personal development than to contrast two or more nativities that are very similar? Time Twins is an investigation of birth charts of famous people born within a week of each other, using transits and secondary progressions to determine distinctions between their relatively similar charts. Subjects include Miles Davis/Marilyn Monroe/Allen Ginsberg (Gemini 1926), Oscar Wilde/Arthur Rimbaud (Libra 1854), William Shatner/Leonard Nimoy (Aries 1931), Lenny Bruce/Margaret Thatcher (Libra 1925), Elizabeth Taylor/Johnny Cash (Pisces 1931) and others.”

Note to UAC Presenters: If you’re teaching a class you would like to see highlighted in this space, please reply to this edition. If you’re going to be attending the conference and would like to assist Planet Waves covering the event or staying organized, please drop me a note as well. Thank you! –efc.

 

Planet Waves

Planet Waves
We don’t know who created this, but the meme has gone viral on Facebook. This is funny but you have to be an astrologer to get how vindicating it is. Have you created one for your profession yet?

 

Planet Waves

Planet Waves FM returns with special guest Rick Santorum

In this week’s spectacular Welcome Back edition of Planet Waves FM, Rick Santorum appears to explain himself. Rick is a product of the centaur planets Chiron and Nessus, which are conjunct his Moon and Sun respectively.

Before I get into that, however, I describe the current Pisces sky with the Sun in late Aquarius. Charts are posted in the Daily Astrology posts on the blog; not only are there currently many planets in Pisces, there is also a spectacular alignment today that I describe. That’s Mercury conjunct Chiron and sextile Jupiter — which bridges Pisces to Taurus and is just about as perfect an expression as you can get of blending these energies — earth and water, mind and knowledge, the misty light of Pisces with the focusing agent of Chiron. I won’t say much more here — the audio tells you most of what you’ll want to know and I can reply to your queries here.

 

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!”

Planet Waves
Mr. Reality Check. Painting by Carlos Cedillo.

“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. We also published the first edition of Moonshine Horoscope by Genevieve Hathaway. 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 will be just one issue next week, on Wednesday. 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.

 

Planet Waves

Friday, Feb. 17, 2012. Weekly Horoscope #891. | Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You seem to be in a reflective mood, looking back for a change rather than looking ahead. I think this is a good idea. You’re embarking on an important review of your recent relationships, and for that matter, all of your tendencies in relationships. That calls for some ongoing awareness and introspection. One thing on your agenda is making peace with your inherently rebellious nature. While the world needs people who are capable of shaking up the status quo (and you’re certainly one of them), this won’t work so well as a policy in your personal relationships. One key to happiness in this aspect of your life is choosing people against whom you don’t have to rebel. It’s true that it can be challenging to find a balance between too much structure and not enough; you do need grounding and commitment, but lately your tendency has been to get into situations that crowd your space and your freedom. As the next few years go on, this is going to become more of an issue, so I strongly suggest you identify people who authentically honor freedom and creativity. For you, that means choosing substance over form.

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) — Venus is now in Aries, and this may be taking you on a quest for your lost self. Your whole life may feel like a recovery mission that has you venturing into strange or unfamiliar territory. I suggest you stay in these regions of yourself until you gain some familiarity with the environment you’re uncovering. You might have a tendency to want to move on and have things get back to normal, but normal is not what you really want, as far as I can see, or what will really serve you. In fact becoming friendly with what you might otherwise decide is downright strange would be more the way to go. It’s time to throw away all of your prior notions of ‘normal’ and ‘proper’ and habitual in place of a recognition of what is so. Be mindful of your rituals and do things differently every chance you get. Experiment with your methods of working, relating and most of all the way you take risks (or struggle to do so). You’re going to learn a lot if you do, and the information will help you make some crucial decisions shortly after your birthday.

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) — Your current focus on your professional life is about to intensify — and you’re about to see whether your hard work has finally yielded any actual results. I have two suggestions. One is that you not only act and dress the part of success, but stand fully in the character of success. This is not merely about changing your affect; it’s about an internal shift where you orient on your goals. That said, there is a certain element of stagecraft that will come into play over the next week or so, where appearances will count for more than they usually do. You will be in a spotlight of some kind, and it’s essential that you work with this factor. It will count in both your visual appearance, the way you present yourself in spoken words and in writing, and most significantly the vibe that you put forward. Certain aspects indicate that you might be inclined to bend the truth or present two sides of a story; this is not the time to play any games at all with your integrity. Be clear and make sure there are at least two people close to you with whom you can reality check.

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) — With the Sun about to enter your sympathetic water sign Pisces on Sunday, there is some relief on the way, though till then I suggest you keep your focus on partnership issues, particularly where a group or organization is concerned. You may have figured out that there are too many people in your life for your comfort, and too many of them have access to you and your resources. You cannot just walk away but you can get clear in every situation where there is a need to be clear. Once the Sun changes signs, that’s your clue to spend some time away from the reservation and see what’s going on somewhere else. This will provide a change of scenery and put you into contact with people more in harmony with your nature. One advantage I’ve discovered about getting near the ocean is that it’s possible to see out to the horizon. You can look at the water and in a glance, know the conditions of the atmosphere. Whether you do this metaphorically or physically amounts to the same basic thing.

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) — Over the next few days, the Sun is going to work its way out of Aquarius and into Pisces. Before it does that, it will make a trine (flowing 120-degree aspect) to Saturn. This is the story of working out a relationship issue, though you’re the likely partner to come up with the idea, and it may be the solution to a problem that nobody has noticed yet. Even if it seems to arrive at one ‘last minute’ or another, it’s not too late, as long as you notice what there is to notice and put the information to work as soon as you know about it. There is a risk that you’ll tell yourself this will be worth something tomorrow, and you’ll take care of it then. But what you’re about to get is specific information for a precise purpose and time. From there you can move onto subtler matters of emotions and what it means to connect with others. Once the Sun changes signs on Sunday, the premium on clarity and honesty with yourself goes up. The Sun conjunct Neptune suggests you may be trying to deny or idealize something. Balance that out with some realism.

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.

– 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) — There’s quite a bit of activity in your opposite sign Pisces, and with the Sun on the way that means there will be even more energy (and people) in your environment. I am sure that plenty of the opportunities seem appealing and some seem really intriguing. There’s just one little problem: if you’re in one of those moods where you don’t know what you want, then all the options and opportunities can seem meaningless — and heck you might not even notice that they exist. Thing is, most of what you have open to you now is open to you now, not another day. So I suggest you have a talk with yourself and either decide what you want, or what you’re willing to experiment with. Part of how you can find out what you want is trying something, or someone, new. Despite whatever you may be feeling, or whatever frustrations you may be feeling associated with resolving a past issue, there are people around you who have some of what you want — and if they’re not there yet they are very likely to show up soon.

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’ve been through a tense few weeks, and you may not be feeling any more confident or like things are heading in any better of a direction. I promise you, however, that you will be able to pull back from the edge and that you’re not being pushed into anything you cannot handle. And events over the next few days will do a lot to reassure you that you’re not as close to the edge as you thought. You’ll feel more assured once you know that, and you’ll also feel less alone. There have been several moments the past week where you felt like you didn’t quite belong on the planet, but now even in the midst of similar circumstances, you seem to be aligning more closely with a source of nourishment. Also I would remind you — and you soon may discover — that you’re not alone in any way. But this will be more obvious over the next few days, as the Sun finishes its run through Aquarius and opens a few doors for you. One thing to keep in mind is that not only is there no rush; you’re in an important time of completions. Take those one at a 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.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Your life has presented you with many ideas and possibilities lately, though often falling short of the best possibilities actually materializing. That said, your imagination has been venturing into some daring territory and you seem to allow yourself to consider some of the saucier possibilities, at least in theory. As the Sun enters your fellow water sign Pisces over the weekend, you’ll either have opportunities to go beyond merely thinking or imagining, or you’ll feel more compelled to actually experiment. You’ve yet to discover whether what you feel in potential and what you can actually manifest will have much in common. There’s always a difference — we’re talking about two different realms, one of which is a lot more dense than the other, and where there are actual consequences of action. Just as with your imagination, it’s a good idea to open up to what you’re not expecting. That’s the one significant contact point between ‘fantasy’ and reality.

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) — You don’t need anyone else’s approval to make a decision. You may not recognize that you’re even seeking that approval. It may come in the form of ‘thinking like someone else’ or imagining what they would do. I suggest that you think like yourself, align with your own desires and needs, and make the decision that’s right for you. There’s a good chance that someone you know won’t agree with you, but what difference does that make? That person doesn’t have to live your life. As soon as you focus on your own intentions, and get centered about what is right for you, you’ll see how little the feelings of others matter. That said, if you can discern emotions from facts (both yours and anyone else’s), you might gain some clarity based on the actual data you become aware of. It will be an excellent exercise for you to stick strictly to the observable, verifiable facts. This won’t interfere with your intuition — it will only strengthen 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.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — The job of any leader is to get people working together. Humans are motivated by making money and going to war, so you might say that the job of any humane leader is to find motivations that are neither destructive nor based on greed. That’s another way of saying honoring life and what we do with it for its inherent value, which you have a gift for noticing and expressing at the moment. State the obvious both when writing and speaking. Get feedback and make sure people are onto what you’re talking about. It seems inevitable that you’ll be involved in some unusual depth or amount of written communication, and I suggest you begin any project by defining a clear strategy. The kind of writing you’re doing now is not about being inspired, though that would help. This is writing that has to work, like a sheepdog or plumber has to work. I’m not suggesting that you not use elegance or beauty, but rather that you set goals for your projects, so that you give yourself guidance and you have a way to measure whether your efforts are getting results.

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) — Yours is the sign of groups, but you’re equally invested in one-to-one relationships. Recent developments in an intimate situation are suggesting that it’s time to get out and be among people. You may have a tendency in the opposite direction: to withdraw, close up and avoid groups. However, I think you’ll find that once you get into a wider space and meet some new people you will feel like your old self or perhaps some new self you’ve never quite met before. Meanwhile, self-esteem questions persist. I suggest that you not view this as a crisis, but rather as an opportunity for growth. If you’re experiencing doubt in any form, one logical answer to that is to seek some information that might confirm or deny whatever issue you feel up against. However, the planets strongly suggest you look for the source of the doubt itself, remembering that it may have no basis in reality. The truth is, you’re a more sensitive person than you let on, and your sensitivity is running at an all-time high. So, proceed gently and the truth will come to you.

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) — Many factors have contributed to your having an unusually confident grip on your life, one of which has been a measure of self-reliance. Another has been an intuitive sense of belonging and purpose. Both of these point to the kind of autonomy that will be the thing to focus on as the next four weeks progress. The Sun enters your sign over the weekend, beginning with a conjunction to Neptune, also newly arrived in Pisces. Your charts indicate a powerful empathy with people around you, and you have their attention in more ways than you recognize. But attention is not what you want — focus, collaboration and a state of harmony are. Remember that your mission comes first and what others need comes second. I suggest you favor those who make themselves available and are willing to contribute positive energy and let everyone else do their thing. You are beginning what could be one of the most confident and creative years of your life, but the condition is living from the center of yourself and at the center of your 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.

Revolution in the Aries (or is it Pisces)

Dear Friend and Reader:

Revolution is seething in one of the unlikeliest regions of the world: not merely North Africa and the Middle East, but the United States. We might have asked when the people ruled by imams, mullahs, sultans, princes, kings, ayatollahs and ordinary leech despots were going to get restless. We might have guessed it would happen right around when Uranus and Pluto lined up in their current square aspect. And it looks like some of the same leadership styles are stirring up revolt to the United States as well. I’ll come back to that in a moment. Let’s start far from home and work our way back.

This combination of planets is the very signature of revolutionary eras. We are in one now — and it hasn’t reached its peak. We’ve just seen dictators tumble in Tunisia and Egypt, with uprisings currently underway in Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Morocco and Yemen — so far. Many have turned bloody in recent days.

The overthrow of the Mubarak dictatorship last month in Egypt was nothing short of astonishing, at least as it was happening. For 30 years, Mubarak ran the country brutally, with his secret police force ‘disappearing’ citizens into the Ministry of the Interior if they got out of line. He was turned into a fugitive in just 18 days. His spy chief, who had been Dick Cheney’s go-to guy on ‘extraordinary rendition’ (the U.S. offshore torture program), got to be vice president for two weeks, before he, too, was reduced to a political mummy.

And, though the news out of Egypt has turned dark with the sexual assault of CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan, the revolution there has continued to spread across the region, and in at least two countries this week there has been violent government pushback.

Focus on Libya and Bahrain

Libya is an Arabic country situated between Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia in Northern Africa. Libya’s autocratic ruler for the past four decades, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, responded in January to the unrest in Tunisia by reassuring the Libyan people that such protests were not necessary in their country. Apparently the people there decided otherwise. What keeps happening is some dictator tells the protestors to go home and they just get more worked up. Go figure.

Planet Waves
Chart for Bahrain’s supposed independence. This is the chart for when it was announced on BBC radio in a neighboring country — the best that world horoscope datameister Nick Campion could do.

Citing a Libyan newspaper, Quryna, Reuters reported that protesters, angered by the arrest of a human rights activist, rallied in Libya’s second largest city, Benghazi, on Tuesday night. Protests have continued in several Libyan cities, and on Thursday activists declared a ‘Day of Rage’ to oppose Qaddafi. Clashes with pro-Qaddafi supporters and snipers with the Internal Security Forces left several dead and many wounded in the eastern city of Beyida. There were simultaneous protests in at least five other Libyan cities.

Let’s consider Bahrain more closely. This is a little island nation in the Persian Gulf. It’s a U.S. client state, the docking port of our navy’s Fifth Fleet. It’s also a playground of the Bush family. I recall half the island being leased to a relative of the Bush family during Bush War I as an R & R depot for the coalition military. What is more interesting is that in 1990, months before the Gulf War started, Harken Energy, George W. Bush’s beleaguered company, was given drilling rights in and around Bahrain. Remember that this is the story of the Middle East — the lines on the map move from side to side; countries are treated like companies; leaders are installed, kingdoms made and unmade. I guess we could ask an Atlantean philosopher or historian why this is, but for now, we can just read about Churchill, who did a lot of this after World War II.

This week the people of that little country started protesting, and overnight Wednesday to Thursday were ambushed by the military. At least four people were killed and hundreds of others injured from buckshot, concussion grenades and rubber bullets. Bahrainians have experienced some of the most violent pushback from their government in the whole region. Let’s take a look at the national chart (posted above) and see what’s going on.

Unlike many other charts, distinctly influenced by Uranus and Pluto, to me it looks like Chiron is the star in Bahrain. This is the planet associated with transition, awareness and healing that was discovered in 1977 (Chiron is the first centaur, a type of minor planet). The only thing solid about Bahrain is how oppressive its government is. It’s a real stretch to call it a nation. The chart I’m using is for its ‘independence’, but to me that just says ‘availability to other interests’, all of whom are offshore.

We see the oppressive government show up as Saturn in the 7th house, sitting on the Moon like a hen sits on an egg. Those are on the right side of the chart. Saturn (the government) is yellow and the Moon (the people) is the grey crescent.

The egg seems like it’s hatching. Saturn and the Moon are in Gemini. Chiron has recently begun its trek across Pisces. It’s making an explosive square aspect to the Moon; eventually it will square Saturn too. This is going to go on for a few years, in waves. But the big push is now, because Chiron is conjunct centaur planet Pholus, which releases a lot of pent-up pressure. There is something here about getting sick of being lied to: Chiron square Neptune in Sagittarius.

Tremors in Madison and Puerto Rico

Revolution is quietly brewing in the hearts of Americans, though until recently it’s been introduced as a brand without a product. Americans have consented to wars, the looting of the treasury, billions in tax dollars being donated to massively wealthy stock traders, and the loss of civil liberties. Now that the government wants to take back union rights and pensions, people are getting angry — and it’s starting off somewhere excellent, in Madison, Wisconsin.

Madison is one of the last holdouts of the true American left, but its new Republican governor, product of the Tea Party movement, is now doing the bidding of corporate interests. In response to the Republican-backed plan to strip collective bargaining rights and pensions, there have been protests there day after day. On Thursday night, 30,000 people had shut down the city center. Rachel Maddow reported last night that Wisconsin actually had a budget surplus until Gov. Scott Walker started giving away tax credits to corporations, creating an artificial shortfall and using this as an excuse to take away pensions.

His minions proposed legislation to strip collective bargaining rights covers most public employee unions — but not all of them (police and firefighter unions were not included in the bill). Maddow’s analysis is that this measure, which saves the state no money, was designed to eliminate the only organized Democratic voter base in the state, the unions. (Watch her analysis here.) A number of Democratic state senators left the state to break the senate’s quorum and prevent it from adopting the law.

Many other locales that actually are facing a budget shortfall are proposing the same kinds of measures, however, and attempts at stripping benefits, eliminating pensions and busting unions are likely to be big news as public debt mounts (and bankers are given ever-larger bonuses). The thing about Uranus-Pluto is not just that people get rebellious — there’s usually something meaningful to rebel against.

What we have here, by the way, is Enron on a massive scale. Anyone remember Enron, the company that took over California’s electrical grid, stole the pensions of thousands of PE & G employees (and its own employees), ripped off the California ratepayers (of “f*ck Aunt Millie” fame) and then went bankrupt?

That whole mess came to the surface in late 2001, when Chiron entered Capricorn. I proposed at the time that Chiron was running vanguard for Pluto in Capricorn, and that if we didn’t clean up what came to light then, it would repeat with Pluto in Capricorn. So what we’re seeing is a national movement by government to bust unions and take back pensions. Maybe we think unions are quaint things like old Beatles albums, but pensions are the only real savings many people have.

Meanwhile in Puerto Rico, students this week got control of their campus after a violent police occupation that lasted two months. Given that Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States, or an occupied territory, I am very happy to see a revolt happening there. Puerto Rico is a place dear to my heart and is well worth a full edition. Let’s see if we have an occasion to do that.

Uranus Square Pluto and an Age of Awakening

Remember that in the background of all of this passion and protest is Uranus square Pluto. We have met this aspect before. Technically, Uranus square Pluto holds its exact geometry for just three years (this one goes from 2012 to 2015). Yet astro-historian Richard Tarnas, author of the acclaimed Cosmos and Psyche, notes that this aspect and those in its group (the conjunction and opposition) can have an orb of influence extending for more than a decade.

We see this in the cycles of history. The most recent major alignment of Uranus and Pluto happened in 1965-1966, fueling what we think of as the Sixties. Yet we can see early rumblings of what we think of as 1960s-styled social progress going back to the mid-1950s, when the Supreme Court ordered integration of public schools in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

In that same era, the Beat Generation of writers, known for its liberationist philosophy, drugs, rambling adventures, alternative forms of sexuality, freedom of expression and anti-materialism — all characteristic of Uranus-Pluto — came to prominence a full decade before the conjunction, breaking open barriers that millions of people would cross in the following years. Bob Dylan said he never would have become who he was if he hadn’t read On the Road by Jack Kerouac.

There is often a slow warm-up of Uranus-Pluto aspects, as events scattered across time and geography coalesce into what seems like one vast movement. One thing leads to another. Social change, pointed toward the future, gathers momentum and then feels inevitable.

It’s often in hindsight that we put together the effects of this type of astrology, though at the moment all we need to do is look at the front page of any newspaper or news website — and feel the vibes pulsing through the planet waves. This thing we keep describing as 2012 has as its epicenter the Uranus-Pluto square.

Pluto has been stirring the pot of Capricorn for two years now, and Uranus is about to make its ingress into Aries, where it will be the next seven years. You can think of Pluto as having softened up previously hard and fast institutions: banks and national economies have collapsed, dictators have fallen by the wayside. Moreover, ideas about power are changing. At the same time, it looks like the rich are getting ever richer and taking more and more from people. We don’t know how this is going to play out, but we can look at some astrological pictures of the future and see what they tell us. And what they suggest is that there is an awakening happening.

Around the corner from Capricorn is Aries, and Jupiter has recently arrived there. It’s currently square Pluto. Jupiter square Pluto is a passionate aspect, with the feeling of religious zeal and an all-or-nothing approach to existence. The elemental force of Pluto focuses the idealism of Jupiter into clarity and action, giving drive and substance to what were previously just interesting ideas. In early March, just before the equinox, Uranus arrives in Aries to stay for the next seven years. The ingress of this inventive, revolutionary energy into Aries feels like an extended springtime of the soul. It looks like the ultimate astrology of a global awakening, based on millions of individual awakenings.

There is the recognition that ‘the world is changing and so am I’. We get an invitation to expand our ideas about existence, and live closer to the edge with more vitality and explore life with an experimental spirit. Let’s face it. The smug piety that has permeated society during the past few decades could use a few friendly cosmic jolts of orgasm. Our ideas about relationships have grown so moldy and brittle the best thing we can do with them is chop them up and make a huge bonfire on the spring equinox.

The Charts of the United States and Iran

Astrological events that affect countries also affect people. We all live on the same planet. Let’s consider how that bonfire might look in two national horoscopes.

Planet Waves
The chart of the Iranian revolution of 1979 is due for a revolution of its own. Take a look at the left side of the chart — Aries rising, Aries Moon and Eris in Aries. Uranus is coming through, and it’s going to shake up the youth, the population at large and the national identity.

Let’s consider Iran, which seems to be the epicenter of the Western world’s worst imaginary fears. The chart I prefer for Iran is the return of the Ayatollah Khomeini to his country in February 1979 — which was the start of the revolution that year. The chart has early Aries rising and an Aries Moon. This is a spritely, adventurous chart on the outside, driven by emotion and a bit of chaos. It’s definitely the chart of a volatile revolution. Whatever you may think of the famous Ayatollah, the ousting of the U.S.-backed shah and Khomeini’s arrival was an exciting moment in world history.

Behind the revolutionary glee, masked by a kind of militant populism, is a conservative and authoritarian core. That is characterized in the chart by the government angle poking up into Capricorn. And behind that is all the religiosity we know is one of Iran’s most famous exports — Venus and Neptune are in Sagittarius in no less than the 9th house. This verges on comical. These people in charge don’t take religion seriously. To them it is what a beautiful woman was to Ernest Hemingway. Religion is sex, and their minds are on fire with the stuff in a way that we just do not understand here except maybe in the most electrified Baptist church. The thing is that all that lust is under the chilling effect of Saturn in Virgo. That’s like making love with the sex manual out. However, the new generation is simply not interested. In the sex manual that is. In other ways they seem like they’re on fire.

Now that Uranus is moving up on that Aries ascendant, a hidden factor is coming to light: the youth of the nation are rising up. There is a new generation that has no desire to be told what to believe, threatened with execution and told they’re bad people.

Pluto going through the government angle of the revolution is making the national leaders feel like they’re concentrating their power, but what they are really doing is collapsing their own structure. They seem like they’re on top of things, but they’re about to be met by a revolutionary force unlike anything they’ve ever encountered. Remember that Iran is a country prone to revolutions, and it has a long history. The mullahs are relative newcomers. The Persian people have been there a lot longer.

Revolt Against Commodification

As for revolution in the United States: it doesn’t look like a political event — it looks like a personal and economic one. I wish I could explain the horoscope of the United States to Karl Marx. I’m not sure if he would accept the premise of astrology, but he would recognize his idea that the primary U.S. chart paints the picture of a commodified nation. Everything becomes a commodity; if you get paid for something, you get respect. It allegedly matters less if you have talent — and most people seem to like it that way. [I covered this in Wednesday’s weekly audio.]

Planet Waves
This is the most widely used chart of the United States, called the Sibly Chart (named after the astrologer who provided the data). There are other charts, including an earlier chart with the Sun in Scorpio, as well as a Virgo rising chart. The story of how this chart came into being is a complex, interesting story stuffed with Masonic connections and Medieval techniques, which I’ll get to around July 4. The chart is the symbolic representation of the independence of the 13 new states.

Here’s how it looks in the chart: Sagittarius rising puts Cancer in an area of the chart called the 8th house. That’s the house of ‘other people’s resources’, a complex area which includes sex, banking, stock trading, inheritances, dowries and marriage contracts. That sounds like a weird mix, but they all have one thing in common, which is resources changing from one party to the other, or resources being traded. It’s a house where you can gain a lot, experience deep pleasure and, notably, sell out very easily.

You can also invest there and lose all your money. The 8th is the house of ‘sign your life away’: the house of commodification. Obviously people experience this in other countries, but there are few places on Earth that have turned everyone and everything into a commodity, where if you take care of people you can be accused of being a traitor. Our characteristically American expressions include, ‘You have to sell yourself all the time’ and ‘You have to give him credit, he’s making a lot of money’. I would contend that to the extent that these have been global values, they are American exports.

Our great nation has many planets in this house — Sun plus Venus, Jupiter and a few others. This alignment indicates how much wealth we actually have, but also the extent to which it’s been squandered in ‘investment’ institutions. The concentration is early in the sign, which in part explains what’s been happening to our banking system. Pluto in Capricorn has been coming at those Cancer planets like an evolutionary battering ram. The cardinal cross I’ve been writing about for a year is directly influencing this cluster, and this idea of everything is a commodity. Of course the plutocrats know how to make the most of this. They have concentrated a lot of wealth. The price we might have to pay for those bank executives losing all their money is the whole system coming down. Their message seems to be, you can have the crumbs if we get the meal. Then we all get to eat.

However, in the next act, Uranus, the planet of revolution, is going to make a series of square (90-degree) aspects to those planets. That is action. It tells me that we are starting to figure out how sold-out we are, how ripped off we’ve been, and in the same gesture, follow the impulse to do something about it. This is a rebellious impulse but it’s also self-creative, and in fact the self-creative seems to burst out first. I would propose that from a growth standpoint that’s a healthy thing. Rebelling for its own sake only goes so far, but following a creative impulse that moves blockages and stuck energy out of the way is another thing altogether.

For the United States, Aries occupies one of the most creative (and also sexual) angles of the chart, and Uranus in Aries is about self-actualization. Taken in the most positive light, I see this transit firing up the courage and thirst for freedom that many people need in order to be themselves. Authenticity is a concept we could use more of. I see a lot of energy being released for the American people by Uranus in Aries, and a widespread movement to claim ourselves back.

Of course, this process will threaten those who are attached to the past. And it will be risky for everyone. Along the way to getting free, we must encounter our own attachments, our own fear and guilt. But these tend to yield to creative impulses. And while humanity may seem like it’s in one of its most backwards moments ever, creativity, self-actualization and the drive for liberation are time-honored human traditions as old as the Great Sphinx — and equally mysterious.

Yours & truly,

Eric Francis

 

Two Hot Charts, Happening Right Now

Planet Waves
Jupiter is at the very top left. Pluto is the red golf tee on the lower right. Notice that they have the exact same numbers after them, in cardinal signs — that is the square aspect.

Two astonishing aspects are developing right now, both taking place the last week of February. I’m going to take them in reverse order. First, a reminder that the Sun ingresses Pisces today. Both of these charts involve Pisces planets, with the Sun in Pisces. That provides a lot of resonance for these events.

We’re currently in the run-up to an aspect called Jupiter square Pluto. This is an impassioned aspect that happens about every six years, so it’s not your everyday astrology. These two powerhouses combine to conduct the soulful, highly focused evolutionary power of Pluto through the cosmic intelligence of Jupiter. The square is obsessive and passionate; it is not given to the best judgment. It’s the kind of aspect that thinks it’s right whether it’s right or wrong, and we can look to this astrology for the religious zeal that both leaders and populations are pitting against one another in demonstrations in the Middle East and in the United States.

Let’s just say this comes with commitment if not discernment. At its worst it’s devious and at its best it’s on fire with drive and determination. That happens on Feb. 25, with Jupiter in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn. You can just feel this one pulsing through the ethers. Though Uranus square Pluto is brewing, Jupiter is what has facilitated the current burst of awareness and passion. It’s a kind of warmup for Uranus arriving in Aries on March 11.

Note that Jupiter is one of the ruling planets of Pisces. The two planets associated with Pisces are getting a lot of action in these years, and we’re starting to see it burst into consciousness. The second aspect  involves the ‘modern ruler’ of Pisces, which is Neptune. Still in late Aquarius for the moment, Neptune is about to take a simultaneous conjunction from Mars and Mercury. This happens Feb. 20, so we’re right in the mix now. To me this aspect looks like an invitation to do some fabulously hot writing. Like Jupiter square Saturn, it’s begging for positive expression, and that energy is abundantly available. Partly, it’s a matter of slowing down your mind enough to follow your own thoughts.

Planet Waves
The three critters with the number 28 next to them are Mars, Neptune and Mercury, in an exact conjunction. We’ve had quite a few triple conjunctions lately, but nothing
quite like this.

The combination is Mercury, Mars and Neptune. Mercury + Mars is fast mind, that can move from concept to conclusion instantly. It’s a good aspect for an editor or lawyer to have, assuming they are at least a bit tempered; this aspect can light a fire in the mind. Add Neptune to this and the flash goes off in the imagination. In Aquarius, it’s got a kinky, intellectual or technological feeling. This would be the perfect chart to launch a very smart porn site. While it’s not purely about sex, Mars (ruler of Scorpio) gives that feeling. Note that Jupiter (a planet connected to Pisces) is teaming up with Pluto (a planet connected to Scorpio) and we get a similar picture here.

This astrology is excellent for making movies, conceptualizing them or even watching them in good company (the friends are signified by Aquarius). However, if you’re not taking it on a creative level, and I mean consciously directed energy with some discipline mixed in, these might be slippery — for example, it’s easy DWI territory, good for misunderstandings and stupid fights, etc. So I suggest you focus your mind on something you’re passionate about, hang out with people you trust, and keep some basic boundaries in mind. Then, these aspects will be a lot of fun.


Planet Waves

Attention Light Bridge Subscribers: We are very close to finishing Light Bridge, the 2011 annual edition of Planet Waves. If you have purchased Light Bridge, please check your email right after the weekend for the notice that the site is live. If you have not signed up yet, you may do so here.


Planet Waves

Weekly Horoscope for Friday, February 18, 2011, #850 – BY ERIC FRANCIS

Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You feel like you lack the substance or the energy to live up to your potential. I don’t think you’ll be lacking energy for long, and as for substance, that is a matter of grounding. I suggest that you take the idea of grounding, initially, as focusing on a specific purpose. At the moment, you may find yourself being obsessed over a work-related goal, but I would propose you might want to shift that emphasis and make it a personal goal. That is, of course, if you think there’s a difference. If you don’t, more power to you: that’s a sign you’re already committed to a purpose and identify with it strongly. In truth we’re not ‘work people’ and ‘personal people’ or ‘relationship people’, we are one unified critter. The astrology of this moment is about getting as close to your core as you can, and thriving on that passion.

To pre-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) — There once was a writer named Simone de Beauvoir. I’ve only read her translated into English, but she is amazing. One thing I learned from her appears in your charts this week. She proposes that women and men are conditioned differently on a few key themes, one of which is the purpose of relationships in their lives. Men are trained that their relationships are part of their lives; women, she says, are trained to believe that their lives are about their relationships. I’m with Simone in my observation that underneath the conditioning, men and women have far more in common than most will admit, but this one observation has always impressed me as revealing so much. I can tell you that the astrology of the next few days can show you how big your world is, how many people care about you, and how many adventures you have available.

To pre-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) — Today the Sun enters Pisces, making a conjunction to Chiron (newly arrived in Pisces). The Sun sheds light, and I think this will answer some of your recent doubts about whether you’re really ‘good enough’ to do what you want to do, and whether you have what it takes to focus the talent that you want to express. The thing about seeking your fortunes in some creative way, and with that I would include taking creative approaches to everyday activities, is that your real assets sometimes feel intangible. Chiron’s presence in the angle of your chart that addresses reputation and achievement has two main influences: one is to stir up your doubts, and the other is to focus your power. I suggest you work with this polarity. There is good information on both sides of the dilemma, and both polarities can propel you nicely toward your most cherished goals.

To pre-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) — Take a breath. This really weird Full Moon is over, and the Moon has entered a more grounded sign — Virgo. You now get to think about everything you’ve just experienced. But don’t try to make it make too much sense. Take a light approach to your mental process. You might try to overcompensate for the warpy uncertainty of the past week with obsessive overthinking. Rather, put your ideas to work. Ride on the momentum of the Moon — it’s still at full phase. But let it light up your mind with ideas, new approaches to old problems, and clarity to help you remedy your self-critical tendencies. One way to catch the energy is to write. And I do mean Friday and Saturday, as soon as possible, particularly if you’re feeling the need or inspiration to put something into words.

To pre-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) — You like to give people the benefit of the doubt; for the next week or so, I suggest you hold them to a slightly higher standard. Verify what you’re told; you may be particularly inclined to believe people you find especially compelling. In this process, the first source of information is what you hear from them. You know those times when someone tells you, ‘I’m a total jerk,’ and you forget to notice or you think it doesn’t apply to you. Then, you’re surprised when the person turns out to actually be a jerk. Well, listen to all of that stuff, and remember it. Be particularly alert to people who tell you they have problems with honesty, or with alcohol or other substances. Be alert to those who only talk about their problems. There are other people available — people who have been there and done that, and are very cool.

To pre-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) — You seem to be keeping your clarity and sailing your boat upright despite some stormy seas around you. If you had a completely warped week at the office, complete with clairvoyant events, dependable people slacking off, other people cranky from getting no sleep, and probably a computer or two taking on a life of its own. In the past, this is the kind of thing that might have spun you around; I foresee a time in your life when you have the pleasure of letting others do all the spinning around and getting dizzy, while you look for productive involvements. You will always be drawn into your community. Make sure you check at least two qualities on the short checklist of fun, helpful or interesting before you do.

To pre-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) — Your sign is the one cut from whole cloth on the theme of how any physical ailment has an emotional root. This will be true for many people but you’re particularly sensitive to this, and the emotional nature of what may ail you at any moment may be contagious. It’s not necessarily that there is a virus going around, but rather a feeling. It may seem odd to anyone whose sensibilities go in the direction of germ-based Western medicine to think that a feeling that leads to the sensation of being ill is contagious, but I am sure you could come up with many examples in a few minutes. This works for specific forms of discomfort, and happily the situation also points to the remedy existing on the level of understanding those feelings. The Sun making a conjunction to Chiron in the health and well-being area of your chart says that you can learn everything you need to know about how to feel good.

To pre-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) — For the moment, I don’t suggest you trust your emotions. Note what they are, but it would not be a wise idea to act on them, or make decisions or even judgments. It’s a great time for things like art, or sex with people you really, truly trust. Remember that you may have some extreme emotional responses or reactions, so whoever you share time and space with needs to be able to handle this. One useful approach to this astrology is to study things from your past that you have reason to doubt. This is a little like taking a homeopathic approach to something that requires clarity. The astrology has a deceptive, unstable quality, but this also gives it a penetrating effect. It has the feeling of ‘too rich for words’. You might want to express your discoveries in words, but the words will be more memorable and poignant if you illustrate them with pictures. These don’t have to be ones you make, but also movies you watch or images that you find.

To pre-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) — Jupiter, the planet of Sagittarius, is walking into a 90-degree aspect with Pluto — that’s called Jupiter square Pluto. This is designed to give you plenty of confidence in yourself, though I suggest you go light with that. There’s something passionate about this aspect, but it can be devious and self-destructive. Other aspects suggest you may not see the effects of your thinking until it’s a bit too late, so I suggest you delay decisions or ‘final conclusions’ for about five days. Making any moves or snap judgments under pressure is definitely not advisable, but you might want to save your first impressions for future review. You’re in a potent new phase where your creativity or some vibrant idea is taking over your life. The art to art and love is using these potent forces constructively, and considering the greatest good.

To pre-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) — You may be totally, completely wrong about a financial matter, so there is no use worrying. Nor should you get too excited if your balance is $50,000 too high. In fact, you might want to skip the whole money thing until next week, and focus on having fun. One element of your astrology gives you freedom from beliefs about what you think is true for you, and always has been. Another element offers an emotional power surge and an entirely different idea. This may feel like a sudden, fiery burst of awareness that feels like I am who I am. Remember that this is as much about forgetting who you thought you were as it is about remembering something new. In this kind of learning process, both are vital. This will teach you to let go of the habit of doing so much remembering who you were that you don’t have space to make a new discovery or two.

To pre-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) — Karma, translated as simply as possible, is about the results of your actions. The big joke of karma in Western civilization is that we forget that our actions have results (much less consequences), and thus we keep acting as if they do not. This causes a lot of problems, and we may wonder where they all came from. An aspect in your sign this week (a four-planet exact conjunction) is a reminder to study the process of cause and effect. In some ways it’s more obvious than it seems; in other ways it’s less obvious. Observe both, and see if you can get in on the game and use this mysterious translation from potential to manifestation for your benefit. Remember that there is no effect without a cause, and no cause without an effect. Where you have one you will have the other, which will resolve many mysteries for you — ongoing.

To pre-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) — For the past year, most of the standout astrological events have involved Pisces or one of the planets associated with it. But in that typically fishy way, many have been just offstage, behind the scenes or active in the background of your chart. That began to change recently, if you had not noticed from the intensified reactions of people around you, an increase in your sense of presence on the planet, and newfound energy that seems to be driving you toward specific goals. Fears that used to plague you have disappeared like steam. The odd sense that you had no idea what was bothering you has been replaced by a determination to solve your problems and move onto more creative things. The Sun enters your sign for a month today. Take that time and appreciate everything you’ve done for yourself and the world.

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

Let’s keep an eye on this one — or better yet, both eyes

Dear Planet Waves Reader:

Normally we distribute the early-week edition on Tuesday, but there’s an intriguing astrological event that takes place starting today. This extends overnight and into tomorrow afternoon, so I’ve decided to run this edition today. It’s based on a blog post from over the weekend though please note that there are some reinterpretations of the astrology in this version. Monthly horoscopes for January will be distributed after the solstice, schedule to be announced.

Mercury stationed retrograde in Capricorn Friday morning, close to a number of other planets and points. Monday night and into Tuesday, there is an unusual triple conjunction of Mercury, Mars and Pluto, all conjunct within one arc minute (that’s 1/60th of a degree). Perhaps you have to know a little astrology to appreciate this, but imagine three moving points of this potency just happening to be aligned with the Earth at the same time, with the added spin or influence of Mercury retrograde.

Planet Waves

Chart for 11:15 pm EST on Dec. 13, 2010, set for Kingston, NY — an exact Mercury, Mars, Pluto conjunction. The other points from left to right are Vesta, Pholus, Sun, Pallas, and the North Node; then to the far right is the largest asteroid, Ceres.

In case you’re new to charts, you’re looking at the three bodies with the bold 4 next to them. That’s the degree value; the arc minutes, or fractions of a degree, are the small numbers, and look how close they are as well. Mars and Pluto are in an exact conjunction, to the arc minute. And just as that’s happening, Mercury backs over them both within a few minutes of one another. I have to say, that is laser-like precision. Just consider that these planets are millions of miles from Earth, all moving at different speeds, and there are not three bodies aligned but four of them — that precise conjunction means they align not just with one another but with the Earth.

There is a message involved; that’s the nature of Mercury. Whatever this chart is about, there is a message. In personal matters, this is a day to either stay silent or if you want to speak, to choose your words carefully. That would include listening, a skill rare enough to find. Listening would include to yourself and to others. The retrograde advises introspection, thinking before you act, and focusing on psychology and motives, especially your own. The theme of ‘motives’ comes from Pluto, the prime mover, the unstoppable force, and the scent and sensation of hormones. The ‘think carefully’ theme comes from Mercury conjunct Mars, which says thinking fast, but Mercury may not be perceiving accurately: I am not suggesting you ‘second guess’ yourself but that you not be overconfident. A little conscious humility will suffice.

Mix this up with Capricorn and, in one dimension, you get the astrological incarnation of kinky. This would be kink in the form of wordplay and power exchange. On the most basic level, it could be a moment to speak softly and slowly with intimate partners and tell the truth about sex, something we need to do if we plan to reclaim the sensation of being alive. Capricorn adds the predisposition to guilt (or an inquiry into the topic), which is a response to perceived authority. The retrograde suggests you may be able to get beyond the sensation of guilt as a restrictive force, and allow your truth to come out. Once it does, you will begin a process of working that reality through the rest of your mental field, like kneading dough.

Though it’s not shown in the chart sample above, the Moon is also in the neighborhood — by aspect. In astrology planets can be grouped by being together, or being in the same degree range. Tuesday at 2:14 am EST, the Moon enters Aries and thus crosses the Aries Point, and soon after squares its own nodes; then Tuesday at 10:57 am EST it makes a square to Mercury, then to Pluto, then to Mars in rapid succession (in about the space of one hour). This is the Moon ‘setting off’ the aspect. A square is shorthand for ‘something happens’ and there is added emphasis in that the Moon is making a 90-degree aspect to its own nodes, which are hot and vibrating in anticipation of an eclipse on the solstice. And of course we are in Aries Point country — never left, we’ve been here since Pluto first touched Capricorn in 2008, though thanks to eclipses and other planets showing up lately, we are going through a series of peaks.

While this setup has some dark shades, I suggest that there is something to be learned about the current circumstances of the world. We are seeing some unprecedented things going on, as I described last week. There are mainly two groups of people who know what is in the rest of those 250,000 cables that WikiLeaks has not yet released — the Obama administration, and the WikiLeaks crew. (So do a bunch of Bushistas.)

Has everyone heard that Anna Ardin moved to the West Bank? I got this news a bit late. It was reported by the Australian website Crikey on Thursday and republished in The Huffington Post. She was the older of the two women who claimed that something inappropriate happened between her and Assange. She has stopped cooperating with prosecutors and has headed to do missionary work in the Holy Land. That sounds like a true calling.

According to Crikey, in a recent tweet she said, “CIA agent, rabid feminist / Muslim lover, a Christian fundamentalist, frigid & fatally in love with a man, can you be all that at the same time…” Yes, this woman sounds like she knows exactly what she wants out of life. Wait — she’s admitting to being a CIA agent? She seems to be kidding, but she makes a convincing case — and disappearing to a remote corner of the world when she’s become a star in this global crisis only emphasizes the point.

That leaves the stalker/groupie in the pink jump suit. Oops, that would be jumper, a sweater in England — my fantasies were running away with me. Is she a CIA agent too? She was recently seen in a police station collaborating with one.

I just read that Assange’s first extradition hearing is scheduled for Wednesday — right in the wake of this planetary alignment. You can be sure that there will be some interesting negotiations going on during the next 48 hours.

The Swedish sex case (such as it was) is unraveling, and the Brits and Yanks are going to be falling all over one another to figure out a way to keep Assange in jail. So far, no charges have been filed by Sweden for the alleged sexual misconduct, and no charges have been filed by the United States relating to the leaked documents. The Espionage Act was considered, but apparently that didn’t work when the US government tried to prosecute Daniel Ellsberg for releasing the Pentagon Papers. Instead, Nixon went after The New York Times — and that, too, failed; the Supreme Court would have no part of banning the newspaper’s coverage of the secret Vietnam War file that Ellsberg released. Besides all of which, Assange is a direct collaborator with the news entities of the world — not the leaker with security clearance as was Ellsberg.

 

Planet Waves
Minor planets, 90-degree sort, at Mercury-Mars-Pluto conjunct. Calculations by Serennu.com.

So, back to the astrology. Let’s look at some minor planets. Here is what’s called a 90-degree sort, looking only at the early cardinal signs. That’s another way of saying this is a list of planets and points that make conjunctions, squares or oppositions to the triple conjunction of Mercury, Mars and Pluto. A few stand out.

One is Hermes, an asteroid — that is right in the conjunction with Mercury, Mars and Pluto, to the degree. The Sabian symbol for this degree is: “Indians on the warpath; while some men row a well-filled canoe, others perform a war dance. Wait, didn’t this one turn up in the WikiLeaks cables?”

Hermes tossed into the mix adds a touch of the miraculous, or pertains to some secret matter. He is a rather meaningful figure in the history of astrology and other forms of magick, alchemy and science. (In the ancient astrological literature being translated by Project Hindsight, he is referred to as one of the ‘founders’ of astrology).

Across the dial in Cancer is Cyllarus. This is a centaur (Chiron-like body) that is exactly opposite the triple (quad, if you count Hermes) conjunction. One key phrase for Cyllarus is ‘out of the blue’. That is conjunct Kronos, a very slow-moving point (not a planet) that involves authority. Think of Kronos as a super-Saturn. This is not a day to cuss out a cop or to get pissed off at an IRS operator. It does seem like a great day to make some choices and take authority over your affairs.

Asteroid Amor is square the arrangement in Aries; that can represent “the conditions on unconditional love,” in the words of Martha Wescott, and this is conjunct Pelion — a centaur planet named for a mountain in Greece — but not just any old mountain. We are climbing the mountain of unconditional love. But it’s perilous, dark and shadowy. According to Ovid, Pelion is a remnant of the original creation of the world. It is prominent in the charts of Marilyn Monroe and Hitler, seeming to have a flare for drama and revenge.

Ophelia, an asteroid, is in Libra, also square the big conjunction; she is a character from Hamlet, the one who is “‘incapable of her own distress,” a reference to her being dead. With all this Mercury-Pluto going on, let’s give a big cancel-clear on that kind of message.

So what’s this all about? I don’t know really, except that we’re in the mix of it all right now; and I know that we’re likely to see the story of the ‘man from Mars’ advance this week, one way or another. We have an extremely angry, nervous political establishment in Washington, and we have a lot of banks on the brink of making a large investment in canned sardines seem sensible.

We also have a lot to learn — about knowledge, gaining knowledge and what to do with it once we have it. Mercury conjunct Hermes certainly emphasizes that point.

So, let’s keep an eye on this one. Pay attention to what you say, what you write and what you hear, and for sure, don’t text, or for that matter sext, while you’re driving. Especially in Buffalo.

Keep an eye on the Planet Waves daily blog for realtime updates, and remember to tune into my weekly podcast on Wednesday morning.

Yours & truly,

Eric Francis

 

One Life at a Time

Workers of my country, I have faith in Chile and its destiny. Other men will overcome this dark and bitter moment when treason seeks to prevail. Keep in mind that, much sooner than later, the great avenues will again be opened through which will pass free men to construct a better society. Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers!

— Chilean President Salvador Allende‘s farewell speech, Sept. 11, 1973

Dear Friend and Reader:

Finally a bit of good news here in the Anti-Sixties, after a year featuring various scenarios of apocalypse, environmental devastation and intolerance: after more than two months of nonstop work, an international team successfully brought 33 Chilean miners safely home from half a mile beneath the Earth. I stayed up half the night Tuesday into Wednesday watching, one by one, as the men emerged from beneath the ground in a little capsule, and were greeted by loved ones, the president and his wife. It was better than the Beatles.

The last miner out, Luis Urzua, center, gestures with Chile’s president Sebastián Piñera standing on the right. Alex Ibanez/AP.”

In the anxious times we’re living through, this is a triumph of humanity, even though the problem was created by the people who run a massive corporation hiring people to dig for gold under extremely dangerous conditions. This was not a natural disaster. But the solution represented humanity at its best.

We could fault the worldwide vigil around the rescue as a feel-good event, but I daresay that’s what the world needs now: to actually feel good about life and love rather than the stock market or American Idol. We do a lot of getting pissed off and most of that involves how little regard is afforded to the worth of life. Watching those guys come out of the rescue pod one by one, and embrace their families, it was impossible not to appreciate being alive, right then, on the spot.

Yes, we can even feel good about humanity’s ability to cooperate at doing something helpful. There was a time those men would have been left for dead, even if some effort might have saved them. Part of what did save them was publicity — you’re always safer near a TV camera, unless it’s hidden in the ladies’ room. The drilling experts, engineers, submarine scientists, geologists and (actual) rocket scientists got the guys out. The doctors and psychologists on the surface actually seem to have offered some significant help.

Yet in reality it was the miners themselves who kept it together under some strange, extreme circumstances, rationing teaspoons of food and cups of milk for the first 17 days on the verge of starvation. They organized work tasks based on their specialties, keeping their living space clean, digging wells for fresh water and most of all, getting along. Or rather — getting along, eventually. Apparently the sanitized account of events has left out the at-times intense conflict that they experienced, and their darker thoughts of waiting to die during those first 17 days. In the end, the miners decided together that they were going to get out of that stuffy, 90-degree mine alive. For a more complete account of what happened, this article from The Guardian is worth reading.

Efforts for rescue began Aug. 5, without any knowledge of survivors, and for 17 days those efforts persisted nonstop without any success. The government and rescue teams kept trying, drilling bore holes into different layers and shafts of the mine, even sending rescuers down ventilation shafts that collapsed. Everyone is amazed by the success of this enterprise, but if rescuers had given up during those 17 days, there would have been no rescue. From that first day on, the message from the president on down was to spare absolutely no expense. If you look at the news coming out of Chile, you’ll see that the cost was never a factor, was never even mentioned until it was all over.

Chart for the first miner touching the surface had an ascendant of 1 Cancer — activating the Aries Point. Pluto is on the 7th house cusp, representing the escape from a near-death experience. Ceres is also there, as if negotiating for the release of the miners from the underworld. Note the 8th house of death and near-death experiences, which aligns with Aquarius, the sign of groups. The entire sign floats within the 8th house, called an interception. The cluster of planets in that house evokes the image of a group of people, under intense circumstances: the points shown are the vertex, Nessus, Neptune and Chiron.

Let’s go to the chart and see what story it tells. Remember that in doing mundane astrology like this, the first thing to do is observe whether, and how, the chart describes the event. That story starts straight away with the ascendant.

The time the first miner emerged was predicted, er, reported by BBC in its realtime chronology of the event as 12:11 am local time Wednesday. Astonishingly this gives us an ascendant in the first degree of Cancer, activating the world-as-one Aries Point — a kind of astrological jackpot. In case you think this is likely to happen (regardless of how often it’s been happening lately), remember that the ascendant degree changes every four minutes: it flies by. Any chart that highlights the early degrees of any cardinal sign (Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn), particularly the very first degree, qualifies, and in any one location, we get that chance for about 16 minutes out of every 24 hours.

Yes, the rescue of the miners was an event uncannily accurate for the chart for that moment.

With the Aries Point highlighted, the most intimately personal events mingle with the most public. We learned about the family lives of the miners, including some intimate details, but moreover, we felt close to them and their families, a Cancer theme. Over and over this week, we heard reporters from every network comment on how emotional the situation was. Hard-nosed Dylan Ratigan shamelessly asked one man on the scene to describe his experience from an emotional perspective — a giant leap for mankind. We could all empathize with these men and their families. That’s a nice image of the Aries Point with a Cancerian flavor: the world coming together emotionally as a family, including the girlfriends and mistresses.

Exactly opposite the Cancer ascendant is Pluto in early Capricorn, right on the 7th house cusp. Remember the cardinal cross I’ve written about 41 times this year? It made a big cameo Wednesday night, coming up angular: exactly on the horizon. In any chart, that means emphasis, and Pluto was one planet making the point. Ceres (the former asteroid, now dwarf planet) and mythological nemesis of Pluto, was in a conjunction to Pluto, as if directly negotiating for her daughter Persephone to be brought up from the underworld. Ceres had just arrived in Capricorn a few days earlier. It was as if she went down there personally and got the guys out.

Pluto in Capricorn has another incarnation — the corporate agenda that nearly killed these guys. Pluto shows up there as the near-death experience that they’re about to narrowly survive. This is the side of the coin where Pluto actually is the ‘lord of death’ and his realm, his current version of Hades, is the corporate system.

Flashback — one rendition of the cardinal grand cross of 2010, shown in the chart for the June 26 partial lunar eclipse conjunct Pluto. This is an Aries Point event, because all the planets aspect the first degree of Aries. Note the grand cross on the cardinal points — Jupiter and Uranus conjunct in Aries, the Sun and Mercury in Cancer, Saturn in late Virgo on its way into Libra, and Pluto with the Moon in Capricorn. The most intense phase of the cross has passed by, but the energy lingers and key elements remain in effect. This chart is explained in the article The Greatest Aries Point Show on Earth.

This is part of a larger astrological picture. The cardinal cross that has been whipping, flogging and stressing us all year is thankfully not quite what it used to be, but it’s still a potent force. While major elements have either moved on (for example, Saturn is now clear of some extremely tense aspects to Uranus and Pluto, heading across mid-Libra) or are out of the way (Jupiter and Uranus are temporarily back in Pisces, about to head back into Aries), the energy pattern is still in effect. These kinds of astrological events have a long story arc, stretching out for years. We’re still close to the center of the story, but we’re coasting on the momentum of recently past aspects, rather than ones that are building up — with one exception, that is, which I will come back to.

That penetrating energy of Pluto in Capricorn has been all over the news. This year we’ve had at least two other major stories that involved digging deep beneath the Earth — the BP oil spill, and the loss of 29 miners at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia earlier this year.  We also heard from a volcano in Iceland, which qualifies as news from beneath the crust. During an episode of Mercury retrograde this year, volcanic dust disrupted air travel all across Europe and by ripple effect, around the world.

The earthquake in Haiti had a similar feeling. All of these events are illustrated by Pluto in Capricorn: our relationship to what is happening deep within a solid substance (mountains, canyons, rocky land or the continental plates). Pluto can represent some immutable or unstoppable force moving beneath the crust of the Earth, such as the movement of the plates and geological faults.

One interesting feature of the chart is that the Moon is in very late Sagittarius. It is literally minutes from ingressing Capricorn. The Moon is a powerful force in this chart, because Cancer (ruled by the Moon) is in the ascendant. So in a sense, the Moon is the lead planet in the chart.

When the Moon is in such a late degree, that is often called void-of-course — when the Moon has made its last aspect to a major planet, but before it changes signs. Normally the void Moon is considered a kind of foul ball; what happens doesn’t count. But this late-degree Moon in Sagittarius seemed to represent the end of a long story involving considerable international cooperation. Even the Americans helped, which is impressive on the part of the Chileans given that the last thing we did in Chile was assassinate their president, Salvador Allende, in a CIA-sponsored coup on Sept. 11, 1973.

Rescued miner Victor Zamora is brought to the surface at the collapsed San Jose mine, 800 km north of the Chilean capital Santiago, on Oct. 13, 2010. (Xinhua/Martin Zabala).

The Sagittarius Moon was exactly trine an odd non-planet (a rarely used hypothetical) called Transpluto (narrowness, specialization) which reflected the apparently flawless passage up the extremely narrow rescue shaft by 33 miners and six rescue workers. The Sagittarius Moon floats; it rises up; it always comes back. Interestingly, the Moon was conjunct an asteroid called Eurydike, the wife of Orpheus, which is a myth about an attempted escape from Hades. That story didn’t work out so well — Orpheus looked back toward the gates of Hades and Eurydike was lost. I don’t think any of these miners looked back once they got out of that capsule.

One last image: the Moon on the edge of Sagittarius has the feeling of something about to be born, and that narrow passage, 24 inches in diameter, resembled a birth canal. Even the Chilean president described the whole experience as a rebirth.

Now for the moral of the story: the safety of mines. Will we get the message that mines and mining are extremely dangerous, and that we have to take better care of the people who spend their lives in them?

Venezuelan journalist Martin Granovsky wrote in Pagiana 12 yesterday: “There is evidence that more than two million people die each year worldwide as a direct result of their employment conditions or diseases contracted there. Nobody can seriously claim that the mere exposure of a problem to one billion people at a time, in transmission from Copiapo, will solve that problem. But if the political and trade union action effectively joined the public exposure it would count in its favor with an obvious fact: the rescue that ended last night made more visible to the world what life is like to a miner and what are the risks with the increasing disproportion between corporate profitability and worker safety.”

Glimpse at Hades: the rescue pod parked in the underground refuge. In just under 24 hours, 33 miners and six rescue workers were brought up in that vehicle, which was 24 inches in diameter. It was equipped with oxygen and digital communication features.

So, in the Aries Point moment, when the world is watching and the personal, the corporate and the political are one, let’s stay vocal on the issue.

Unfortunately, much other news has been pretty misanthropic lately. Earlier in the year, I described our moment in history as the Anti-Sixties. The astrology of 2010 is a kind of mirror image of what we experienced in 1969. The main feature of ’69 was a Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in Libra. Earlier this year we had one in Aries, opposite the Libra event to the degree. It’s just like the Sixties right now — only exactly opposite. This has come true once again as we are living through an election cycle that has been dominated by openly celebrated homophobia. The supposed love and peace theme of the Sixties has been replaced by publicly displayed hatred directed at a vast segment of our population: people who share affection with members of the same sex. In studying social history, it’s clear that political forces openly attacking any one form of sexual or relational expression spreads to the rest of them; we might want to consider stopping this pattern, if only out of self-interest.

The Teabagger movement has succeeded in floating candidates who have made homophobia their main platform. It’s the current version of red meat for their electoral base. One such candidate is so determined to make the point that she’s opposed to you having sex with yourself (which is obviously gay). Five different Teabagger candidates for U.S. Senate are against abortion even in cases when the pregnancy involves incest and rape. We now have several generations of girls, young women and early middle-aged women who have no recollection of life before Roe vs Wade and to whom the term “back room illegal abortion” means nothing. We might want to set about educating one another.

I am less astonished by this than I am by the tolerance of the American people for the viewpoint of total sexual intolerance. I mean, I’m really amazed. Even as the views of our supposed leaders translate into teenage suicides and a nationwide epidemic of bullying, most people are silent. The silence involves the nature of homophobia, which is the projection of self-judgment onto others. Most of us may not project that self-judgment, often focused on sex, so violently, but we do quietly harbor the judgments. Usually they involve guilt, and some element of jealousy that someone might have more fun than you.

The current sky is featuring a deep exploration of this subject in the form of three planets in Scorpio. One is Mars. That is the straightforward, no-need-to-be-explained nature of desire.

Relatives of trapped miner Florencio Avalos react while watching on a TV screen his rescue operation at the camp outside the San Jose mine near Copiapo, Chile, late Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010. Thirty-three miners became trapped when the gold and copper mine collapsed on Aug. 5. AP/Natacha Pisarenko.

One is retrograde Venus. That is an inquiry about how we really feel about our inherently sexual nature. Humans are the most hypersexual animals, and most of us go through the day acting like nuns and monks, mortified that anyone might realize we’re so much as thinking about sex. So this hypersexuality meets a kind of resistance that can only be put forth by the human mind, and the result is that many people are like walking pipe bombs. The question being asked by Venus retrograde is, how can we unravel that? What is the source of the challenge, the struggle, the difficulty, the resistance?

Venus retrograde in Scorpio is about going to the deepest aspects of these questions, describing a quest to understand our sexual histories and how they influence us. The retrograde describes a process of exploring how our sexual values influence our relationships and the kind of involvements and entanglements that we create.

Then there is Vesta. She’s just recently joined Venus and Mars, and she is the astrological guardian of what you might call sacred sexuality. Vesta is the faceless (never depicted) goddess of fire; her servants, the Vestal Virgins, tend the sacred hearth, keeping the fire burning around the clock. So there is a call to devotion here: of devotion not to ‘a relationship’ but to your sexuality. She stands as a kind of witness to the journey and the quest for self-understanding described by Venus and Mars in Scorpio. In a few words, I would sum up this transit at its best as a quest to be submissive to one’s own desire.

Vesta is the centerpiece of the home: the hearth. But this is no ordinary hearth; it’s the inner flame, which we must tend, lest it go out. And I daresay many of us have taken that sacred flame for granted, or used sex as a commodity rather than the beautiful celebration that it can be. Which leads me back to Pluto.

Pluto is one of the planets associated with Scorpio. And over the next phase of astrological history, Pluto is going to come into a kind of focus that we have not experienced in half a century. The Uranus-Pluto square of 2012-2017, which is about to start rumbling loudly in 2011 as it warms up to the first exact contact of June 2012, talks about total revolution of both the psyche and something much larger. Part of this revolution will be about the intersection of sex and identity. Then that meets up with the religious/corporate/governmental structure that we try to fit sex into — and where it doesn’t go.

Some of us will burst free because it feels great. Some of us will have to be extracted in a capsule through a 24-inch tube, one at a time. Some of us have no plans to come back to the surface. It would help if you decide which you want.

Yours & truly,

 

 

Judith Gayle’s Political Waves will now appear Saturdays on Daily Astrology & Adventure — the Planet Waves blog. She also has her own blog, called Political Waves.

 

Astrology Looking Ahead: Aries Full Moon #2

We are now at the Mercury-Sun exterior conjunction, which is the exact midpoint of the Mercury direct phase. The next Mercury shadow phase starts in a month, and the next retrograde starts in two months. Looking ahead, that retrograde will stretch from early Capricorn into Sagittarius, crossing a number of planets, the Moon’s North Node and the Galactic Center in the process.

The second Aries Full Moon of the year is next week. The first was on the equinox, across the first degrees of Aries/Libra, on Sept. 23. The next is on Friday, Oct. 22, in the very last degrees of Aries/Libra. Mercury will be in Scorpio, joining the conversation between Vesta, Venus and Mars; and then about 12 hours later, the Sun joins this grouping in Scorpio as well. Many Scorpio-type questions and themes that have long been ignored, suppressed or neglected will come up for conversation, healing and playtime. Part of that will involve speaking the unspeakable. Mercury makes conjunctions to each of those points in the next few weeks, giving them a voice.

Over the past week or so, the first four discovered asteroids — Ceres, Juno, Pallas and Vesta — all changed signs. Ceres entered Capricorn and is now in a conjunction with Pluto; Juno entered Virgo, Pallas entered Sagittarius and Vesta entered Scorpio. A more detailed description of these sign changes is at this link on Daily Astrology & Adventure.

The Chiron-Neptune conjunction is close to its most precise; the two points will not make an exact conjunction for their third encounter of the year, but rather a very near miss that comes within one-sixth of a degree. This is the aspect of clearing the fog, of seeing through the spider webs of deception and of fully appreciating the gift of inspiration, fantasy and ideas that we can manifest. Chiron can bring us out of the isolating feeling of Neptune and into contact with our own awareness and that of the people around us — especially in Aquarius.

Eric Francis

Archive Flashback: Horoscopes — How Can They Possibly Work?

 


Light Bridge, the 2011 Planet Waves annual — Watch your email next week for information about pre-ordering Light Bridge, the 2011 annual edition of Planet Waves. The first letter you receive will tell you how to get the best price as a current subscriber to Planet Waves or Cosmic Confidential. This initial pre-order price will include all 12 signs, a substantial (like 75%) savings over purchasing signs individually. The email header will have the words “Light Bridge” in it — a reference to the last year before 2012. That letter will contain a fairly short, limited-time offer for all 12 signs — valid for about 48 hours). So watch for that email! I will send it twice and post it to the subscriber homepage. Thanks! — efc


 

 

 

Weekly Horoscope for Friday, October 15, 2010, #835 – BY ERIC FRANCIS

I’ve been emphasizing the theme of relationships in your horoscopes for a while. With Saturn in your solar 7th house (pair bonding, meeting the other, marriage, enmity), that’s as basic as it gets, though I’ve recently been asked by an Aries brother about your financial picture. It looks as though you’re trying to sort out your economic worth within a contractual situation, wondering how you could have got so involved in something that you’ve grown to question. In fact, at the heart of the matter is a question: Who sets your fee? Who determines your wage? Venus retrograde in Scorpio is a long episode of claiming back your power, which could be in a business deal, or it could be in some other kind of partnership. Remember that you set the terms of the negotiation, though this is a skill in itself and, as it turns out, it’s a human skill that will always come back to how you feel within the relationship where the transaction occurs.

Aries Birthday Audio by Eric Francis is available. Check this link for more information.

Our experience of life ripples from the center of our existence outward into the world. Sometimes it seems like it’s happening the other way around, but that just switches the order of operations. At the moment you seem to be deciding how you feel about yourself based on how you perceive someone else to feel about you. Remember that your perception, that is, your experience and opinion of how whomever may feel is in actual fact your experience. This is the tricky part about sorting out projections. While it’s not a good idea to take responsibility for how everyone else feels, nor do you control how they feel, you interpret the data that you get, and you do so through your own inner filters. These, in turn, are based on your opinion of yourself. It’s strange, fun and true: change that and everything changes.

Taurus Birthday Audio by Eric Francis is available. Check this link for more information.

Even here in one of the few moments in modern history where Pagan is considered valid and interesting, many people still make a face when met with the idea that what we think of as ‘sexual’ and what we think of as ‘spiritual’ have anything in common. To some it’s obvious; others see a divide, and contemporary Evangelicals are on the warpath like they haven’t been since the crusades. I would note that both of these are false categories. If sex is at the root of our physical origins, then it’s not just sex. If the cosmic force that is within us, and surrounds us, is a real thing, then it embraces all forms of creation. You may say you believe this, but I would ask, as a reality check: what is the role of guilt in your life? And do you say yes when you mean yes?

Gemini Birthday Audio by Eric Francis is available. Check this link for more information.

Venus, Mars and Vesta are now transiting across Scorpio, your solar 5th house. The 5th and Scorpio are two of the most erotic archetypes in astrology, as are all three planets involved. Mars is keeping your desire at the center of your emotional experience. That, you can depend on. Venus is calling you deep into your experience of how you respond to the world. There seems to be a question about how, when you respond, it’s based on something happening now, or something that happened long ago — and that something may be hidden or veiled. Venus retrograde is guiding you to understand yourself better, and to be entirely present in your environment. As for Vesta: she’s calling on you to be devoted to the full spectrum of your erotic and creative potential. Devoted, as in attentive around the clock.

Cancer Birthday Audio by Eric Francis is available. Check this link for more information.

You’re more open to the ideas of others than usual — and they are more willing to share, and to listen. The results can be productive, healing, nourishing — and fun. You’re the one who needs to initiate the contact and get things flowing. I suggest that you take your time in any conversation; that is, let it last for a few days, maintaining some continuity, and allow the deeper subject matter to come forth. You have a lot to share, and you’re more likely to do so when you feel an authentic rapport with someone. You have some questions; you’re free to ask. The subject matter is likely to reach beyond what is considered ‘appropriate’, crossing boundaries with an ease of contact that is unusual for our particular place and time in history. Keep one eye on that, and notice how you respond to this kind of depth.

Leo Birthday Audio by Eric Francis is available. Check this link for more information.  

I suggest you consider erotic and creative activity as vital as food and air. I also suggest you notice where your blocks are, for example, to admitting what you want. If you find yourself having any defensive reactions to your own desires, that’s a good time to pause and consider that you’ve actually made a discovery. The thing to do is take this revelation to the level of experience. Let your curiosity lead you there; it’s one of the most seductive, honest emotions. You seem to be drawn to things that you think you’re too old to do, that you’ve outgrown. It’s true that curiosity is one of the defining features of a child. It’s also one of the best ways to reach into your heart and soul and come back with the spirit of a child. Curiosity dissolves guilt. Remember, if you ever need a dependable solvent.

The Virgo Audio Birthday Report is available. In the format of all the birthday audios, this offers more than an hour of astrology for Virgo and Virgo rising, covering the cardinal T-square from a personal perspective. I’ve also included a 20-minute tarot reading using the Voyager Deck. For instant access, order here for Virgo and Virgo Rising. Only $14.95, this also makes a meaningful and economical gift.

We’ve all noted the tenuous relationship between fantasy and reality. You can be all kinds, and do all kinds of things, in your imagination. Then when it comes to trying them, that little barrier known as the ego can get in the way. For the next few days, that crude psychic device that causes so many issues will be tame and under your command. It won’t disappear completely, but you will be able to override its fears and expectations and grant yourself experiences that surpass your usual barriers. The thing to remember is that the real-life experience will be different than the one you envision in your mind; it may be more fun, or it may seem to be less, till you acquire a taste. Where turning fantasy into reality is concerned, I have a motto I keep close to my heart. What’s worth trying once is worth trying twice.

The Libra audio is done. This reading includes more than an hour of astrology and 20 minutes of tarot custom created for those with Libra Sun, Moon or rising. We’re still tying up the technical end of the project and will have the product code available shortly — so check your email in a little while for that.

The thought of consciously pausing sexual activity sends chills down the spines of many people. I don’t mean encountering a dry spell or a phase of low libido; these are considered necessary (if annoying) facts of life. I mean a conscious decision. Vesta, newly in your birth sign, suggests that you may be walking the line between the two points of view, wondering how to handle your situation. Here’s how it looks from another perspective. Mars, also in your sign, suggests that your desire is running at its usual strength. Venus retrograde in your sign indicates a kind of hesitancy, and a calling to be introspective not only about what you want, but what your desire says about your state of growth and healing. Together, all of this points to a contemplative pause: neither denial of your desire, nor of your questions, but a moment to consider what they mean together. Remember a key concept of Vesta: for a specific purpose.

You finally seem to be working with a cohesive plan, or you see the good sense in doing so. You already know the value of moving based on inspiration, initiating action on the energy of your ideas and of riding the waves of synchronicity. Now a guiding or organizing principle has entered your life. It may be a personal code; it may be the clarification of an agenda; you may have decided that it’s time to state a goal, and then create a plan of action based on where you want to end up. Work backward from there. You don’t need to overplan, but rather, sketch out some basic steps that you know you’ll need to take to get where you want to be. The most important of them is stating the goal in a clear way. Make sure it’s what you really want. Remember, you’re free to change your mind.

‘Food first’ would be an excellent guiding principle for the next few weeks. Americans in particular have a knack for eating substances that are clearly other than food: things with ingredients that cannot be pronounced, where the source is unknown, or that we know harm our bodies. Ceres conjunct Pluto in Capricorn is suggesting that focusing on food will have a much greater effect than you think, and also that the topic deserves your focus right now. You came close to making some changes earlier in the year, and now it’s time to bring those developments to fruition. You may feel on some level that this is a matter of life and death; that’s a mental factor any time Pluto is involved in one’s chart. A better way to say it is that your quality of life is directly involved, in the deepest meaning of those words.

Capricorn Birthday Audio by Eric Francis is available. Check this link for more information.

All the factors that astrologers would normally describe as Aquarian are now focused on qualities related to Pisces. For example, there’s a conjunction involving Neptune (a Pisces planet) with Chiron in your birth sign. Your non-traditional ruling planet, Uranus, is conjunct Jupiter (another Pisces planet). And your traditional ruler, Saturn, is in Libra, a sign connected to Pisces through the planet Venus. What this suggests is that your mind may be stepping outside of its normal processes of logic and reasoning. You may be more inclined to focus on your inner life; on art; on faith; on mysticism. You may find this disorienting, as if your mind is going soft. More likely, this is providing solace and relief in that you no longer need to have everything make so much sense. Relax a bit and appreciate that feeling. There’s a whole new kind of sense available to you.

Aquarius Birthday Audio by Eric Francis is available. Check this link for more information.

For more than a decade, Pluto was crossing your solar 10th house of professional aspirations, reputation and drive for worldly success in many forms. That provided a sense of drive and seemingly boundless energy — as well as a guiding principle. Pluto in this house served as the impetus to pour your soul into your work, recognizing that this is the unstoppable force. Now that Pluto has moved onto Capricorn, you’ve reached a phase of attending to the practical details of applying your ideas; notably, ideas which may be ahead of their time. Over the past few days, a new influence entered your 10th house — Pallas Athene, the goddess who guards the city of Athens. Her presence is suggesting that it’s time to work with a strategy. Not very Fishy, I know — but helpful in ways you’ll soon discover.

Pisces Birthday Audio by Eric Francis is available. Check this link for more information.

Pluto, Stationing Direct

Dear Fellow Seeker:

This week I am writing the October monthly horoscopes. I’m here today with a brief check-in, following up for a moment on Mercury stationing direct Sunday evening, and Pluto in Capricorn stationing direct today (Tuesday).

The Pluto system, seen from Hubble. This shows the four known points that orbit with Pluto, including Charon (not Chiron, that is someplace else), Nix and Hydra. The four points orbit around one common point, a gravitational center called the barycenter.

Mercury stationing direct happens instantly when you look at the mathematically calculated position of the planet. There can be a sense of immediate relief, and that would be welcome given the psychologically edgy quality of this recent transit.

Yet in reality, there are a few days on either side of Mercury stationing that require getting re-stabilized and adapting to the new environment. Some astrologers call this the “storm phase” of Mercury — when Mercury is moving less than half a degree a day. According to Raphael’s Ephemeris, which gives the daily speed of the planets, this phase stretches from Sept. 6 to Sept. 18. This is like an extra-sensitive zone where we get to integrate the revelations that came during the retrograde, and set a new agenda for the next three months.

This Mercury retrograde has a special message for those born in the 1960s, as it’s making a series of conjunctions to the Uranus-Pluto placements of millions of people. In its day, the Uranus-Pluto conjunction was radical astrology. It stirred up both the revolutionary and the evolutionary impulses in humanity and — though you might not know about it now — society took some great strides forward in that era. We understood something about community, about civil rights and about the need to participate that is rare to find today. Art, music, technology, advertising — all of it surged into the future, and we never went back.

What Sixties kids need to know is that Uranus and Pluto are again in aspect. Though not exact until June 2012, Uranus square Pluto has effects years ahead of the precise alignment, and we are deep into that phase now. So if you’re feeling a revolutionary impulse, or the desire to teach, to learn and to grow, look to the Uranus-Pluto cycle for clues as to what that’s about.

Today Pluto stations direct, and ventures forth deeper into Capricorn. For the rest of 2010 it will cover the territory where it’s been retrograde for the past five months. Then in January it will enter new territory, going out as far as 7+ degrees. That means there will be a whole new wave of Pluto conjunct the Sun transit candidates: Aries birthdays out to the end of March will feel it, and Cancer birthdays out to the end of June, Libra birthdays out to late September and Capricorn birthdays out to around Dec. 29 will experience this transit.

Section of chart for the collapse of WTC 7 on Sept. 11, 2001. This is the Capricorn angle of the chart: notice the concentration in the early degrees, where Pluto currently is.

People born between 1972 and 1974 will get an experience of Pluto square its natal position, the first major turning point after the Saturn return at age 30. Others around that age are warming up into or cooling down from that transit (or due to certain variances, may be in the middle of it, so let’s expand those dates from 1971 to 1975). Many other people will experience Pluto in the coming months due to direct transits in their charts. While the effects are deeply individual, Pluto is also a collective experience that everyone taps into; Pluto is truly the planet of the millions. And given the state of society, we surely need to hear from the millions, the sooner the better.

Those born in 1954, mid-1959 through mid-1960, 1964, late 1968 through early 1969, and 1973 currently have Pluto aspecting their lunar nodes: that is a turning point in the direction of their lives: a release of the past, a ready-or-not moment to plunge into the future, or a tipping point where the past and future are reconciled and a new direction chosen. Many others will get a new wave of Pluto transits, though this requires looking at the natal chart for points (including the ascendant and midheaven) in the early cardinal signs — where the cardinal T-square has been hovering around all year.

Pluto’s station today at 2+ Capricorn also stirs up one of the deepest, most painful controversies in U.S. history — the chart for Sept. 11, 2001. Whatever you may think of Sept. 11, and whatever your political persuasions, we know this is an event that touched us all. Pluto stations direct exactly conjunct the South Node of Sept. 11, 2001, which is to say, the deep history, connected to all of American history. It exactly opposes the 2+ Cancer Moon of one of the charts, all of which means that whatever happened on that day is directly relevant to what the American people are going through on this day. That is how transits work — they connect a cause, seemingly in the past, to a result, apparently in the present.

Yet cause and effect are never separate. That, you might say, is the law of karma, and something we need to be vigilant about right now. The United States of America has some growing up to do. Some call this 2012. Some call it the Age of Aquarius. Some call it Peak Oil and some call it embracing Gaia consciousness. They are all terms for the same thing — taking the next step in human evolution, and doing our part to shape the world in which we live.

See you tomorrow with Wednesday audio, and Friday with a new edition.

Yours & truly,

 

 

Planet Waves Gemini monthly horoscope for Aug. 1, 1999

Consciousness is the medium of reality. For all the debates over how the world physically manifested, evolved or was created, our real journey here is an endless stream of observations, decisions and emotional reactions. Rarely do we consider the genesis of awareness itself. It’s arguable that awareness is the only thing that can ever truly change, or activate change. And while the notion of “evolution” used to be about apes becoming people, we now know it is an evolutionary journey of consciousness. The mind interprets the meaning of what we experience, and adapts to the necessities with which we are faced. We are now learning the extent to which we can change our beliefs and make the “impossible” happen. We are slowly learning to use thought to direct and create our values and emotional responses. The important thing to remember is that we are the ones deciding; we are steering the vehicle of consciousness. In this moment, you stand in a place that is at once unfamiliar, unpredictable and may be truly daunting in its power. You stand on the threshold beyond thought. What you possess — as ever — is a most agile ability to respond, and to adapt; this means you really can create a new universe for yourself from the exceedingly fertile ingredients available to you right now, in this moment. You get to create the choices that will take you to the next place in life. At least on the level of ideas — where everything begins — limits are perfectly meaningless.

Mercury Retrograde: What Did You Learn?

Dear Earthly Voyager:

My old friend Christopher McGregor, a self-taught lawyer who approaches jurisprudence from a metaphysical angle, is fond of asking people, ‘What did you learn?’

Planet Waves
Laser-engraved, dual-honed redundant gigabit network patch board and modem-router at Brainstorm Computers and Technology in Kingston. They will engrave your laptop too! Photo by Eric Francis.

I always thought this was clever, and I consciously picked up the habit. Now when someone visits a foreign country or comes back from Burning Man or a therapy session, or has a relationship encounter they choose to tell me about, I will often ask: what did you learn?

I’ve learned something from their responses. There are people who right away jump into describing what they observed, experienced and deduced from a seemingly mundane experience. They know without thinking that they learned something, even if it’s something ‘small’. Some know that it’s possible to learn something about the world, and to learn something about yourself at the same time.

There are others who look at me and say, ‘What did I learn? What do you mean?’ — as if it’s impossible to learn something when visiting your aunt or from taking a ride on the Staten Island Ferry.

So, on the cusp of Mercury stationing direct in Virgo (that happens Sunday, Sept. 12), I’m here to ask: what did you learn during these past three weeks of Mercury retrograde? And, since Pluto returns to direct motion Sept. 14, we can expand that timeframe a little — but first let’s consider Mercury.

This has been one of the psychologically deepest, edgiest and most challenging spells of the Mercury dance in a long time. These qualities relate to Mercury being retrograde in Virgo, one of its home signs. Virgo is not an easy energy, being so mentally focused to the point of obsession, often on self-criticism. It’s given to bearing down on small details rather than the bigger scenarios of life; whether we love the details or despise them, they require attention.

Political news during this retrograde has verged on psychotic, in the clinical sense of the word. Rage about the economy is being directed into racial hatred, emulating a condition that those who know 20th century European history might be familiar with. We are living inside an economic and political tinderbox.

Speaking of, there have been an unusual series of fires this week in the United States, in or near urban neighborhoods — one in Detroit, where 85 homes were destroyed, with the cause still unknown. There was a gas explosion and fire in San Bruno, CA, last night, where so far 120 homes have been damaged or destroyed. As of late Thursday the fire was only half contained. Residents said they smelled gas coming out of sewers for weeks. And 169 homes were destroyed and 1,000 families evacuated in Boulder, CO as a fire engulfed the forest near the city, and moved in on residential areas. City residents were being asked to prepare for possible evacuation. As of last night the fire was still expected to burn for 10 more days. Wind gusts up to 64 mph were fueling the fire and making it very difficult to contain.

Speaking of fire, the little minister down in Florida who was going to burn the Koran seems to have put his plans on hold. Everyone but him seemed to get that this was a bad idea. Thursday the Department of Homeland Security descended on his church and set up a security checkpoint. He also got a call from Robert Gates, the defense secretary, explaining that this could cause serious problems for our troops were it to happen.

Fire has been a factor in the minds of some as well, and not necessarily as passion. Mercury retrograde in this sign has stirred up all kinds of doubts and, in a way typical of Chiron (another factor related to Virgo), revealed the weaknesses in the various systems of our lives. If this is true for you, the question is, what did you do about it?

Virgo is a key energy in our lifetimes because it’s so closely related to information technology. In 1990, hardly anyone had a computer in their house, and next to nobody had the Internet. Now many people carry the Internet in their pockets and have three separate connections. When we get a compact set of events involving Mercury or Virgo, that can get overwhelming; hardware and software can fail; we can sense how meaningless it all might be. Yet there are gems at the bottom of all the static.

Planet Waves
Gigabyte logic board photographed at Brainstorm in Kingston. Photo by Eric Francis.

We’ve also had a few visits from the land of shadows. As I described last week, Mercury has been, and still is, contacting a diversity of points in Sagittarius. These are minor planets and a deep-space point called the Great Attractor, which was closely involved in Wednesday’s New Moon. One minor planet is called Ixion. It’s a Pluto-like body, with a 249-year orbit (Pluto’s is 250), though it has a particularly dark theme. My key phrase for Ixion is, “Anyone is capable of anything.”

Among the themes that came up are: what is the world like when people lose any perception of ethics? Everyone knows that locks keep an honest man honest and that there’s a sucker born every minute. So what keeps people from prying into our doors or lying about anything that can give them an advantage? Well that would be ethics. Ixion on the Great Attractor is stretching that concept a little thin. And, it’s going to be with us for a while.

The connection between Virgo and Sagittarius is asking about what material we have inherited from our family line, going back several generations. This includes the information contained in the deeper pool of our DNA. What is the influence of alcohol on our lives, and how has it shaped the emotional environment of our families?

What about those unfinished healing projects indicated by the retrograde (reference to the past) in Virgo (all matters of healing and wellness; holistic themes; mind-body connection). What’s the story with this little kid we contain, who so often tries to get our attention?

Mercury stations direct on Sunday, Sept. 12. The learning process is not over, but by now we should have the hang of things. In fact, thanks to the fact that Mercury covers the same ground three times, we get one last review of the subject matter as it moves from 5+ Virgo to 19+ Virgo, covering the territory where it was just retrograde for the third time — known as the ‘second shadow phase.’ Then in late September, Mercury will take new territory for the first time in six weeks.

The day of a Mercury station can have that feeling of the truth revealed. Odd bits of missing information can come out. Something that made no sense can suddenly make a lot of sense; what you know can assemble itself like a puzzle, though of course it’s really your mind doing the assembling. There’s a question, though: do we use that information? Do we assemble the final piece, which is bringing it into a decision process?

Pluto Stations Direct in Capricorn

Pluto in Capricorn is still a new influence. It’s the transit that is, in many ways, the pivotal energy of nearly every other event we’ve been experiencing this year and indeed going back nearly two years. Pluto was extremely active prior to that, because it spent the last few years of its trip through Sagittarius crossing over the Galactic Center. It was quite a culmination to a long transit that was dominated mainly by warfare and religious obsession.

Planet Waves
DFI Lan Party logic board, sans CPU, at Brainstorm in Kingston, NY. Photo by Eric Francis.

Then came Pluto in Capricorn. Astrologers have understood this pretty well long in advance; Capricorn is about the structure of society, so the combination of the two meant a lot of changes in society’s institutions. Yet it also portends a refreshing of passion and celebration for which Capricorn is lesser known.

Pluto is about the soul’s journey. Often it’s difficult, here on the dense material plane; at other times we can easily flow with synchronicity. Yet in this phase of history, when we’re so obsessed by fear and when so many people live entirely dispassionate lives, and when so many are afraid to have new experiences, we need help: and Pluto in Capricorn is just that. It represents a new phase of evolution wherein we can crack the casing on those areas where we’re entrenched or stuck, and break out of the many ‘traditions’ that low-grade Capricorn represents in our era of history — like the one that tells us how cool it is to be totally hung up, smug or centered on personal ‘necessities’. This is not a time for purity, for orthodoxy or for leaning on the past; it’s a time to be flexible, adventurous and face the future, and that engine is coming right from Pluto in Cap.

Pluto first ingressed Capricorn on Jan. 25, 2008, staying for about five months. It returned to Capricorn to stay on Nov. 26, 2008. That was the year of the Wall Street banking collapse (the official beginning of the economic crisis, in the public’s perception) as well as the election of Barack Obama. It was the year that we began to see the hideous split in American culture between the Obsessive Regressives and the Supposed Progressives. Obama was elected during the last gasp of Pluto in Sagittarius, and we’re starting to see that have its manifestations now.

Pluto is retrograde the most of all the ‘nine planets’ — 44% of the time. This is because of its great distance to the Sun. This is the third retrograde in Capricorn; lately, it goes retrograde in early April and direct in mid-September. Because it’s retrograde so often, it’s a normal feeling for Pluto, which is a deeply introverted, introspective process most days. Then when it turns direct, it will have a moment of expression: growth and evolution are something that seem obvious, necessary, even desirable.

Of course, Pluto has been the focus of a good bit of stress and enforced changes the past year or so. We’ve recently experienced the third of three squares between Saturn and Pluto. This is the turning point we felt but didn’t necessarily see; it’s the one that actually made the difference. But it may take a little time to manifest — and Pluto direct is the time that’s likely to happen.

Among the first events of this Pluto direct is the Ceres-Pluto conjunction. This is about food. It’s about the food we eat as individuals, and the food we all eat collectively — the food supply, particularly the corporate one. The recent egg scandal, where half a billion eggs were recalled for salmonella, and then the disgusting conditions at the factories were revealed, is a hint of Ceres-Pluto — and that is a reminder to go small, to rely on local farmers as much as possible.

The Sky on the Cusp of Many Other Changes

Planet Waves
Coils of Ethernet network cable at Brainstorm. Photo by Eric Francis.

After so many unbearably intense aspects and events through 2010, the sky (believe it or not) is currently at a bit of a lull. Jupiter and Uranus have backed off the Aries Point a little; Saturn has passed its square to Pluto. However, soon enough we will enter one of those phases when everything will seem to happen all at once. Over the next few weeks I will provide articles that detail these events.

Meantime, this segment of a chart will give you a clue. In the image at this link, take a look at those four planets with very high numbers — close to 30. To the left is the Chiron-Neptune conjunction, which is in its last months. Both planets are heading for Pisces; Chiron makes its last ingress in February, and Neptune transitions in during 2011 and 2012.

To the right is the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction. We’re about to experience the second of three; this one takes place in Pisces. As I mentioned Tuesday, this is the first Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in Pisces since 1334. In astrology, rare qualifies as potent. There will be one other exact alignment early next year, and then both planets will head into Aries again.

When outer planets change signs, life changes in sweeping ways. At such times, it’s vital to become a visionary of your own life. You have many precedents for this working — all the times you actually did something you previously thought was impossible. It’s wise not just to go with the flow but look where you want to be, and guide yourself there. And where would that be? I suggest you give that some thought as Mercury and Pluto change directions in the next few days. If you’ve been keeping any secrets from yourself, they’re likely to come out. Just remember, they’re coming out for a good reason.

See you next week.

Yours & truly,

Eric Francis

PS: In this week’s podcast, I stated my plans to write about the Sept. 11 chart in this week’s edition, but every time I would touch the chart or the associated materials, I would get a heavy feeling that warned me off the issue. So, I will spare myself the umpteenth article about the incident, and provide you with a link to three back issues: Sept. 11, 1984, The Gingerbread House and Were It So. I think that the most interesting current development in the chart is that the lunar nodes (and thus, eclipses) have returned to Cancer and Capricorn, where they were when the initial event happened, only they have reversed positions. This is a little like saying that the karma of Sept. 11, whatever it was, has done a 180, which is partly why this anniversary is getting so much attention.

Meanwhile, in case you don’t know his name, I suggest you check into the work of a guy named Steven E. Jones, an engineer who has proven that the World Trade Center could not have been taken down by an airplane crash or diesel fuel. He is not a hippy conspiracy theorist; he’s a physicist who understands how buildings go up and how they come down. And there is only one way a steel skyscraper comes down: you demolish it. Nearly a decade on, we only know one thing for sure about the Sept. 11 incident: it could not have happened the way the official account says it did. It definitely happened and all those lives were lost — but it happened some other way.

The Courage Of Our Convictions

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

Editor’s Note: This article covers the antics of a Florida pastor named Terry Jones, who plans to have his second annual burning of the Koran on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 incident. Thursday afternoon certain cable stations were reporting that Jones, under pressure from just about everyone, had called off his book burning. He’s been saying all week that he would await the word of his god, but I don’t think Barack Obama counts. Jude cautioned that there are conflicting reports and that Mercury is retrograde. Let’s hope the little weasel is telling the truth. Meanwhile, last I heard, DHS and other fancy cops had turned the entry driveway to his church into a security checkpoint. The things people will do for a little attention. — efc

It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when Americans lost their sense of themselves. I’d be surprised if the majority still considers our country the ‘land of the free and the home of the brave,’ but I’d probably be in the minority in thinking we’re more free than courageous. Deeply polarized, we take advantage of our constitutionally-protected free speech, a liberty exploited by those who limit, hate and oppose the tolerance that democracy requires. We are free to speak our hearts in this nation, and some of our hearts are very small and dark, indeed.

In a tiny church in Florida, a minister named Terry Jones plans a book burning. He intends to gather his handful of parishioners together on Sept. 11 to burn copies of the Islamic Koran. This obscure little group, which calls itself the Dove World Outreach Center, believes that Islam is the antichrist. Last year, Jones’s book burning was attended by about 30 congregants and local press, including The Independent Florida Alligator. Now, thanks to the liberal use of YouTube and an uptick in hatespeak from the likes of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, Jones’s book-burning has become a current cause celebre.

General Petraeus, seconded by Hillary Clinton and the White House, warns that Jones’s media event presents a danger to U.S. troops. Even the Vatican disapproves, but Jones is determined. A YouTube segment showing an American tossing Korans into a bonfire will be a made-to-order recruiting video for terrorists, gasoline on the fire of global jihad. Someone from Homeland Security might have a chat with Dr. Jones in the next couple of days.

Nine years ago we surrendered freedom for ‘safety’ and declared war on an emotion: terror. Bush the Younger had systematically dismantled the programs and protections that Americans counted on in emergencies, but we didn’t notice because we weren’t expecting any emergencies. And then it happened, televised on a clear September morning. The planes came, the Towers fell. We were shocked that anyone would want to wound us, horrified that the sanctity of our shores had been breached. We looked for answers and found the easy ones, the kind of simplistic mythology we tell our children to lull them to sleep: don’t worry about a thing — America is a shining city on a hill and Daddy’s got a gun.

It’s About You: Capricorn Birthdays for 2010

Dear Capricorn or Capricorn Rising:

The Capricorn birthday audio presentation for 2010 is ready. This is a combination of astrology and tarot, suitable for Capricorn Sun, Moon or rising. I know Capricorn birthdays often get glossed over in the midst of the end-of-year/new year holidays, so I’m happy to be able to offer you this fresh look at your current astrology now.

Planet Waves
For information about zodiac sign greeting cards, drop a note to sarah@planetwaves.net

It was an exciting report to record, since the focus of everyone’s astrology right now is Pluto in your sign, putting you at the vanguard of internal evolution as you develop your mission in the world — a world ready for your participation and, as I’ve been suggesting in recent horoscopes, your leadership.

Your Capricorn reading is a careful look at your astrology from before your last birthday through 2010. I touch on the significant astrology from the past few years and make connections to Capricorn’s role in the 2012 alignment.

The current astrology directly influences all the most important aspects of your life: your personal evolution, your career, your home base and sense of security, your family life and your relationships.

You are being called to develop your integrity, Capricorn; in fact, one of my readers once described Uranus in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn as mandatory integrity. As you’ll hear in this audio birthday report, you are up to the task of leading by example.

I’ve included a 20-minute tarot card reading, using the Voyager deck by James Wanless. You can order now and get instant access. This is high-quality stereo audio which you can listen to as many times as you like, for as long as you like — these files will be preserved in their original location. It’s priced to be affordable — $14.95 for about an hour of material (this is an extra-long edition of birthday audio).

Because my astrology writing is focused on the houses, I recommend this audio for Capricorn rising as well. This audio report makes an excellent companion to Capricorn Confidential, the 2010 annual edition of Planet Waves, which is in written form.

Thanks for your participation, and for doing your metaphysical shopping at Planet Waves.

Yours & truly,

Eric Francis

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Dear Planet Waves Reader:

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As this Mercury retrograde draws to a close, we’re tidying up some projects and following through on old plans. I have a favor to ask.

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PS, I also have a personal page and you’re invited to “friend” me. I promise not to get sucked into Facebook! But it would be great to see you there.

PPS, In this recent edition of Astrology News, I publish an interview with one of the big gaming websites about my feelings on Facebook. I thought I would share it with you — it’s the second article down, at this link.

Planet WavesWeekly Horoscope for Friday, September 10, 2010, #830 – BY ERIC FRANCIS
Aries (March 20-April 19)
In many relationships there is often that feeling of one person being ahead of the other. This might involve personal growth, apparent commitment to the relationship, desire to experience new things within or outside the partnership, and many other possibilities. The current distinctions may involve whether one partner is more into sex, more into relating, or able to understand the way that these things integrate. With Venus and Mars doing an interesting dance in your partnership angle, this theme may surface, and the way the planets are arranged, the story is going to evolve. One day someone may seem to be running ahead of you; another day they may backtrack or need to revisit something from the past. I suggest you participate in this dance as an active partner, which means knowing what you want, and listening to what others want. Remember, desire is subject to change.
Aries Birthday Audio by Eric Francis is available. Check this link for more information.
Taurus (April 19- May 20)
The most dynamic and creative angle of your solar chart is connected to the sign Virgo, which suggests that your passions can get bogged down in many layers of psychology. By passions, I mean your creativity, your curiosity, your sexuality and your desire to experiment with anything new. By psychology, I mean things like rationalizing, guilt, denial or critiquing your desires and ideas out of existence. You alone know how much time you waste doing these things, and by time I mean hours and years. Mercury is about to end its retrograde phase in this part of your chart, suggesting that you can work out a chunk of this material with something that equates to a single idea. You may not be familiar with the power of ideas to transform your life; to you, one may seem like another. Yet ideas are no more abstract than you are. If you are handed a solution or an approach, I suggest you try it for a while and see where you end up.
Taurus Birthday Audio by Eric Francis is available. Check this link for more information.
Gemini (May 20- June 21)
Lately, it seems that everything comes back to safety and security. From airport screening, to every package coming with two or three safety wrappers, to Net Nannies and spam filters and a password for everything, we are a world obsessed with security. Yet rarely do we notice that security is in our minds. Whether we actually feel safe is a thought; it’s not connected to how many locks we have on our door. You inherited your concept of safety from your elders, who in turn got it from your mutual ancestors. If you’re a clear observer of yourself, you see the way the ideas of all these other (mostly neurotic) people influence whether you feel safe at night. Yet you’re entitled to your own absolutely unique concept of what constitutes peace of mind. If you’re paying attention you might notice that it has very little to do with secrecy, guns, locks or things that filter your email for you.
Gemini Birthday Audio by Eric Francis is available. Check this link for more information.
Cancer (June 21- July 22)
Mercury’s retrograde in Virgo, your 3rd solar house — communications, ideas, writing, state of mind, your neighborhood — has likely come with a reassessment or a crisis. Let’s talk about mental health first, a topic we need to consider in how colonized our minds are by a constant barrage of ‘information’ and messages, all of which we’re supposedly responsible for. This is enough to drive anyone into madness and frustration. You’ve seen the need to not only reorganize but to also be vigilant about the workflow and the impact of data as it moves through your life. But there is something deeper, which is an idea that may be deeply meaningful to you, and something you’ve wanted to act on for a long time. I suggest you do what you need to organize your life around making that happen. Small moves will mean a lot, and one step will lead to another.

Cancer Birthday Audio by Eric Francis is available. Check this link for more information.

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)
How is your financial reassessment coming? Have you figured out that your resource base comes in many different forms, not just money? We’re obsessed with cash in our current era, to the extent where there is a price connected to very nearly everything. Yet when your neighbor knocks on your door to borrow a cup of sugar, do you write it down in a book? Or have we stopped depending on our neighbors for that kind of thing? I suggest you consider what you’ve learned about how resourceful you are, and how this connects to the diversity of forms of wealth. What they all have in common is that they arise from the Earth. That makes a case for developing grounded ideas about how you come to have enough. Meanwhile, cash itself is the focus, and as I mentioned at the beginning of this Mercury retrograde, taking a look at your accounting methods and, at the least, knowing how much money you actually have.

Leo Birthday Audio by Eric Francis is available. Check this link for more information.

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
I am going to take an educated guess that these have been psychologically trying weeks for you. That won’t be true for all Virgos but I know that this has been a particularly challenging Mercury retrograde for some, given its presence in your sign. What may be making the difference is how much progress you’ve made, till now, addressing the past. If you’re someone who lives with a sense that the past is unresolved, you may be feeling this more than others. It’s true — family history presents us with many challenges. Ghosts of the past can arise in the form of people with new names and faces. Old relationships can haunt our current ones and patterns tend to repeat themselves. However you may handle the past, you still need to navigate through the present, and this comes down to making decisions. Once Mercury stations direct this weekend, you’ll be working with information or at least an angle you haven’t considered yet — and this will make the correct choice seem obvious.

Attention Virgos — Mercury retrograde has NOT eaten your birthday report, but I’m a little delayed. I plan to do it early next week. A thousand pardons! I still suggest checking in with the Mercury retrograde in Virgo report which is like taking a trek on Virgo through the 12 houses of the zodiac. There is an abundance of information in there offered in service of a sign that deserves more attention than it usually gets. Here is the link to connect with that product. Here is the link to connect with that product.

Planet Waves

Libra (Sep. 22 - Oct. 23)
If you hesitate, you’re in a position where someone else might make a decision about what is important to you. The thing is, you may not be sure quite what to do, or what feels right. And you may need some time to decide, especially if the question involves a relationship. I suggest that, despite however much influence someone has had on you, that you pause for long enough to get a sense of where you’re really coming from. That may take you a couple of months. This is a deep situation, and parts of it are veiled in shadow. But here is what I can tell you at the outset. Relationships are based on shared values. Yes, they are based on chemistry and other kinds of attraction, but what makes a relationship last, and grow, is a foundation on values. So I suggest you evaluate this carefully in your inner world, and listen to those you meet and get a sense of what is the very most important to them. Make this a way of life.
Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
I don’t think anyone has to encourage you to experience desire, but what I think could be meaningful to you is some encouragement to explore that desire on the level of curiosity, creativity and play. You don’t need to participate in the exceptionally uptight times in which we live. I don’t think you want to. However, it may be that ‘other people’ have an idea of commitment that interferes with your concept of what it means to simply be free — to breathe, to socialize, to explore your curiosity, to explore your feelings, to experiment. You know, all those things that commitment supposedly prevents. I suggest you not be afraid of what you want. I would also suggest that you ask directly and find out what the people or person closest to you wants. And if you’re not in a relationship situation that prevents you from being a different person every day, well — there are some amazing options available to you.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)
The next few days offer something of a cosmic trigger for you to move forward on a career or professional matter that has taken its time, and recently been beset with delays or complications. I suggest that you go over all of your prior work; sort through your files and correspondence records, and give yourself a sense of perspective. You need to know enough of the details to make a timeline, and to have a sense of how this idea has evolved. Remember, you need this overview because you’re the one who has to manage the project. Your role is in part political — that of getting people to work together toward a common goal. For that to happen, you have to know what the goal is, and that means what it was and what it is becoming. And the missing factor you’ve been seeking for so long — it may well make itself known this weekend or early next week.
Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
Be particularly mindful of any correspondence that goes across the ocean or the continent. You can also put this to work for you. If you’re trying to figure something out, call your friends on the other coast, or across the pond. Look for someone with a distant, removed or elevated perspective. In fact whatever mystery you’re now facing would look easier to solve if you personally traveled and looked at it from across the plane of reality. If you’re trying to solve a problem, look carefully about how your beliefs influence your perspective on the situation. You seem to be caught in a small idea where a big one is called for; you’re using an analytical tool where a creative solution is what you need. What you think is the issue may not be the issue at all — and as the next month or so progress, you will focus on what you’re trying to change and become, within yourself.

The Capricorn Audio Birthday Report is now ready. This is more than an hour of astrology for Capricorn and Capricorn rising, covering the cardinal T-square from a personal perspective. I’ve also included a 20-minute tarot reading using the Voyager Deck. For instant access, order here for Capricorn and Capricorn Rising. Only $14.95, this also makes a meaningful and economical gift.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
You have more freedom than you think; you’ve done the deep work of breaking free, you’ve endured the pain and the struggle, and you have experienced many enforced changes. Now comes the greatest challenge and the true reward — taking up life as a creative journey. That journey, if you allow it to, could take you far from where you are today, but you still seem to have some lingering emotional attachment or nostalgia. Just remember, that’s what’s keeping you tethered rather than some huge obstacle or impossible task. Yet if you’re not accustomed to the idea that you create your reality, the notion of doing precisely that may itself be daunting. I suggest you tempt yourself with the idea of what you truly want, especially if it seems impossible to attain.

Aquarius Birthday Audio by Eric Francis is available. Check this link for more information.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)
Once people start cooperating with you, you will recognize how vital it is that you cooperate with yourself. Or perhaps if you are true to your own cause, others will feel compelled to get behind you. Either way, this is the time to focus on your deepest, highest or best vision. It’s also time to stop assuming that it’s not going to happen and, to the contrary, assuming that it is going to happen. Indeed, what is possible, even probable, is something extremely rare, in fact, a development that may be unprecedented. And while others may play a supportive or pivotal role, I suggest you not delude yourself with any idea of not having exactly what you need right now. The more you focus on the truth that you are exactly who you need to be, and that you have exactly the resources you want the most, the more you will let go of your resistance, get into the flow and let your dreams manifest.
Pisces Birthday Audio by Eric Francis is available. Check this link for more information.