Tag Archives: Uranus

Opening the Parachute for Uranus in Taurus

By Amanda Painter

In just five days, Uranus will leave Aries and enter Taurus. Since Uranus is the planet of surprises and revolution, and Taurus is the sign of practicality and habit, this transition could feel a little jarring for some people. Yet this week’s astrology looks like it’s preparing the way — mentally, at least — for this transition.

Photo by Amanda Painter

Photo by Amanda Painter

This is because some of the most significant aspects over the next few days involve Mercury, the planet of the mind.

As we all know, often the biggest factor in how well we’re able to meet challenges, unexpected changes and flashes of insight is our state of mind. Attitude, perspective and openness can make all the difference in the world. You’ve heard the saying: a mind is like a parachute; it only functions when open.

Some of this week’s astrology looks like it will make it a little easier to live that maxim; some of it might present a reminder in the form of the opposite — that is, a struggle to be clear-headed. All of it reminds me that the more one can be the agent of change — rather than simply at its mercy — the better one can navigate life’s difficulties. For many of us, that’s easier said than done, but I think practicing with the ‘small stuff’ can help.

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Finding Strength No Matter How the Light Breaks Through

By Amanda Painter

Every once in a while, if I’m feeling a little stumped for an overarching theme for one of these columns, I’ll draw a tarot card or an oracle card of some sort, with a question: what do readers most need to hear — what serves their highest good — regarding this week’s astrology? Sometimes it takes some meditation for me to see how the card offers a way in; such was the case today.

Acadia National Park; photo by Amanda Painter.

Acadia National Park; photo by Amanda Painter.

I think that’s partly because this week’s Taurus Full Moon — which is exact on Saturday, Nov. 4, at 1:23 am EDT / 5:23 UTC — has a busy chart. There are several strong aspects involved, most of which are already palpable — either in people’s personal lives, or reflected in the news (think surprises — including sudden tragedies, disruptions, confrontations or stalemates, and an urge to do something).

Even so, it can be tough to see the big picture of a particular astrology chart when there’s so much detail begging for interpretation. So I’m going to start by describing the card I pulled: the Nine of Wands from the Rohrig Tarot, created by Carl-W. Rohrig.

Traditionally, the Nine of Wands is associated with resolve and resilience, often in the face of roadblocks. Those themes can still apply with the Rohrig Nine of Wands, which carries the word “Strength” at the bottom. But this card depicts the theme differently: as a brilliant burst of white light that has blasted some sort of stone container open.

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Uranus in Aries

Dear Friend and Reader:

Later today (overnight Friday in some time zones), Uranus leaves Pisces and enters Aries to stay for the next seven years. As the astrology picture of 2012-2015 assembles, this is one of the biggest pieces — the presence of Uranus representing the energy surge; the impulse to enter the future. This has been warming up for a few years, but now is the moment we go into warp speed. In the words of Richard Tarnas, Uranus is Prometheus, the awakener.

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The two sides of the planet Uranus, as viewed in this composite image, by the Keck II Telescope at near infrared wavelengths. These new images of the seventh planet from the sun promise to help scientists unravel the mysteries of the weather on Uranus. Photo credit: Courtesy Lawrence Sromovsky, UW-Madison Space Science and Engineering Center.

Bringing Uranus into such a prominent place as the first degree of the zodiac amplifies its influence, and Uranus is already pretty hot: its characteristics include fast, surprising developments; future-oriented thinking; moments of revolution; and shocking surges of awareness. As Uranus approaches its first exact square to Pluto in June 2012, we’re only going to see this whole process accelerate, bring in more communities and wake up more people. In a phrase, 2012 is about everything, all at once.

For some the awakening associated with this aspect will be extremely uncomfortable, challenging their old ways and pushing many out of their comfort zones. To do this astrology fully, it’s necessary either to challenge or break away from everyone who is not. For many, the developing energies will be the most exciting thing that’s ever happened, the moment of real involvement and participation. A lot of others will watch and shake their heads at how crazy the world is going. I reckon a good few will feel alienated and wish they could do more, having no idea how to.

Uranus in Aries actually began warming up its act last year, when Jupiter and Uranus briefly visited Aries and made a conjunction on June 8. That conjunction was in the first degree of Aries — the Aries Point itself, the first degree of the astrological wheel. The location of the conjunction was one of those clues that our personal lives and the seemingly inaccessible, usually abstract realm of public existence were going to merge rapidly and in a large way. We had a clue that the effects would be international — that was the presence of Jupiter. Sure enough, it has all happened.

I’ll tell you this, though. Whenever I write about politics, I’m fully aware that for most people their contact with government consists of parking tickets, filing taxes and possibly watching television (which is the new scholarship).

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Handcuffs on the doors in the state capitol building attempt to lock out protesters. Photo by Robin Davies.

Most of us neither understand nor appreciate what happens in the wider society, and we’re pretty confused about it, too. How are we supposed to tell what’s important when there’s always a lot of action on TV? From what I could tell there were as many photographers outside Lindsay Lohan’s 10-minute hearing Thursday as there are in Madison, Wisconsin, where we have a revolution brewing. The fiasco at the Lohan court appearance (for a troubled rich girl attempting to steal an expensive necklace, to me representing all that’s wrong with the world) is part of a dumbing-down process that either creates distractions or makes us not care about what really matters.

It was fun watching Contessa Brewer on MSNBC Thursday afternoon get openly, vocally pissed off at her producer — talking through her earpiece — who informed her that she had to describe Lohan’s dress because people care. The obvious question is does anyone care, or are they brainwashed into thinking they care?

In Wisconsin, right now, we are witnessing a struggle over the future of the American labor movement, which is the only voice in politics large enough to compete with what can be understated as a right-wing corporatist movement: that is, banks and corporations taking over everything. Labor unions, which are traditionally very powerful in Wisconsin, are the backbone of the Democratic Party, the American equivalent of the Labor Party in other countries. When despotic right wing legislators want to gut the right of unions to exist, they’re saying they want all the marbles. And in a word, having all the marbles is tyranny.

When we look at the mess in politics (which primarily involves how sold out to corporate interests so many politicians are), any person with a shred of sensitivity will be repulsed; merely seeing the face of Scott Walker, the Tea Bagger puppet governor of Wisconsin (whose boss is a multi-billionaire oil and chemical guy from Texas), makes me a little nauseous. That, too, is part of the assault on common sense, empathy and humanity. What we’re witnessing in Wisconsin is supposed power that will stop at nothing. We are also witnessing an agenda. And we are seeing it everywhere, as an old concept of might makes right tries to hold on in a world that is about to deliver only change.

You may not have heard about this, but in Michigan, the state legislature is now passing a law that would allow the state government to enter a fiscally stressed municipality or school district, kick out the elected officials, take over — and strip union rights. Gee, what a coincidence.

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Protesters in Madison carry a picture of Gov. Scott Walker as the masked man/bandit/sidekick a la Robin. Walker is a puppet of the Koch brothers, the oil and chemical billionaires from Texas who funded and helped create the Tea Party movement that swept a bunch of right-wing pseudo Republicans into office last November. People who voted for them in good faith are starting to realize they got duped. Photo by Robin Davies.

Other places, on seemingly less important matters, public officials are digging in their heels and pushing their will on people, lying to them, often successfully convincing them that they’re powerless and basically doing anything to convince themselves they actually have power over others. This seems to be on the level of sport; something done for its own sake. In my own city I’m involved in an issue and one of the most perverse things I’m seeing is certain members of the community gloat that they are getting over on others — or so they think.

One problem with having a politically illiterate population is that hardly anyone can see the larger agenda. In fact most would deny there even is one — that all this movement in, shall we say, certain political directions is kind of a coincidence. People who espouse most of Ronald Reagan’s views today would be considered liberals (they are not).

We here in the United States have put up with a lot during the past 30 years that the Neoconservative movement has been rising to power, and we have said so very little. There has been war after war, and giveback after giveback (civil rights, privacy, standard of living, reproductive rights). There was a fraudulent presidential impeachment, two stolen elections and a false-flag attack that has been used to justify anything anyone feels needs some justification.

The U.S. is sitting on $14 trillion in public debt (nearly all of which went into private hands) that our children will either pay back or default on. Just about all the manufacturing jobs have gone to Indonesia and Mexico and China. We have seen the treasury looted again and again. Banks that were bailed out and profitable are sitting on trillions that they won’t lend to businesses. Four hundred people have as much wealth as half the U.S. population.

There is a faction of American politics that will not be satisfied until every real job is shipped overseas, till everyone works at Wal Mart, till nobody has health care, and until women’s rights are gutted entirely. What we’re seeing in Wisconsin is, in two words, resistance to that agenda, and progress toward the new.

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Police in Madison escort a protest march. Our reporter in Madison says that with rare exceptions, the cops have been extremely cool. Photo by Robin Davies.

Yet all of this can still seem so abstract. I ask you — why are so many people on antidepressants? Why do so many resort to fundamentalist religion? Why are so unbelievably many people drunk so often everywhere in the world? Why is there so much rage? Why are relationships so fragile? All of this relates to the political environment. Cause and effect are never separate; I cannot tell you which is causing which — but there are many connections.

In case you’re wondering about 2012, have a look around, and a look inside. Consider what is going on in your own life and see if you can discern a relationship to the wider world. That really is the exercise; at this moment, that’s one point of growth. Deeper in, there is, as I’ve suggested, a ubiquitous need for emotional healing that may affect every single person on the planet.

Meanwhile, outer circumstances keep getting our attention. Perhaps you have been, or will be, affected by a layoff, a foreclosure or a bank failure. You may have lost a loved one in one of these disgusting, illegal wars, which would certainly shape your worldview. You may personally be experiencing the effects of climate change.

Maybe your Social Security or disability will be cut because someone wants a new yacht, or holds in disdain those less ‘fortunate’ than themselves. You may be eating Corexit with your shrimp chow mein. Probably, though, your personal point of contact to the wider world will come in forms that differ slightly from someone you see interviewed on the news. (Then again, what you think of as the news may be coming to your town, your street or your living room any day.)

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Some kind of a protest thingie in Madison that sums up the feeling of Uranus-Pluto aspects. Photo by Robin Davies.

Maybe you know you’ve contributed to the problem over and over by not speaking up every time you’ve known you wanted to; every time you saw injustice — on whatever scale, including right in front of you — but decided you were powerless or that you didn’t want to bother. I promise you it’s not too late to care, and to take action on whatever level feels right. One thing that will make this easier is that others around you will be getting involved. You won’t need to feel like you’re the only one who cares.

For most people, the revolutionary surge of Uranus square Pluto — the epicenter of 2012 astrology — will arise as a sense of restlessness, as the awakening of conscience, as the desire to influence the world in a creative way. Maybe that, in turn, will be about growing into some of the potential you keep feeling, that keeps calling you, begging you to respond. You may wake up one day and decide the truth really does matter: on whatever level you take that concept. Apparently the people of Wisconsin heard the wake-up call.

“I never thought I’d be covering a pro-democracy movement in the United States, much less in my city,” said Elizabeth DiNovella, an editor for The Progressive. “I think people here really have this awareness of how money has spoiled politics. Even today a lot of people at the protest were chanting, ‘The banks got bailed out; the people got sold out’.”

The protests by far have been some of the most vibrant and sustained in the United States since the 1960s, with tens of thousands of people in the streets day after day, and an occupation of the capitol lasting for three weeks.

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Warm and sunny in Madison, WI? Fox News shows scene of police and protesters scuffling, claiming that it’s in Madison, WI. The only problem is that it’s warm, sunny and there are palm trees. The footage was shown in a segment with Bill O’Reilly whining about how people say Fox News is lying about the protests. The palm trees were spotted by some of those professional leftists who of course have a keen eye for trees.

DiNovella said that the whole experience has taught people a lot. “The propaganda of the right no longer works on the people of Wisconsin. People are aware of what’s going on and they recognize that something is wrong.” She gave as one example how Fox News, during a rant about how the protests were being staged by “professional leftists,” showed footage of violence at a union-related protest purportedly in Madison. The problem was that there were palm trees in the frame.

“Now people are carrying inflatable palm trees at protests,” she said. “The energy here has been so positive and people have been so creative.”

DiNovella has helped with protest movements in many parts of the world. “I’m so glad I didn’t have to build a low-power radio station. Compared to other places, we already have the infrastructure.” She said that recently the pipefitters union gave away 14,000 bratwurst and hot dogs, feeding hungry protesters — many of whom have spent days on end out in the cold.

“Wisconsin has its own progressive tradition, especially involving unions, that is part of the American fabric. It’s funny watching these reporters coming in from out of town who are surprised that this could happen here, including in the independent media,” she added.

Uranus square Pluto is not just about addressing external oppression. It’s also about an inner revolution over dark mother and dark father: the oppressive forces that we’ve internalized over the years, and from which we seek freedom. It’s about breaking free from the structures that merely eat energy and feed negativity. Revolution is about getting out from under the shadow of the past, from guilt, and from the urge to suppress every creative or erotic or loving impulse you feel. Revolution is about figuring out you’re actually alive, and doing something about it.

Yours & truly,

Eric Francis

Planet Waves
Tsunami waves in Japan earlier today. Photo: Reuters.

Biggest Quake in 140 Years Hits Japan at 8.9;

Tsunami Warning Issued for 20 Countries including U.S

Uranus in Pisces is certainly going out with a bang. It’s been rippling through the political spheres for weeks. Today a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck near the city of Sendai, just north of Tokyo on the northeastern coast of Japan. This is being called the most powerful quake to strike Japan in 140 years. A debris-filled wall of water as high as 30 feet has washed over some cities and farmland.

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Chart for quake off the coast of Sendai, with the coordinates corrected for the actual location off the coast. Note the packed 8th house, including Chiron, Mars, the Sun, the Black Moon Lilith, Mercury and other points in Pisces (the 8th house by whole sign houses). Centaur Nessus is prominent in this chart — it’s angular on the 7th house cusp.

There are no known death tolls at this time; it’s impossible to estimate so early in the situation. One witness said the quake was so intense that it was impossible for him to stand up. First he and his wife clung to the outside of their house, then they had to curl up on the ground. Major aftershocks are expected. Train lines are down in Tokyo, a city of 13 million, and highways are closed. The quake happened in the mid-afternoon local time, with many people away from home and children in daycare centers.

Witnesses say this was an unusually long quake, with tremors lasting several minutes. It’s being called the 5th largest quake in the world since 1900, rivaling the Chile quake in 1960, Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1964 and the Sumatra quake of 2004. Remember that the Richter scale, used to measure quakes, is logarithmic; a 5.0 quake is 10 times more intense than a 4.0 quake. This increases proportionally as you go up the scale such that the energy increase from 8.0 to 9.0 is much greater than from 4.0 to 5.0.

There are four nuclear power plants in the area. CNN is reporting that one of the plants has a fire and one has a shutdown of the cooling system. CNN is also reporting that the International Atomic Energy Agency has said that the plants where shut down safely, so this is a potentially conflicting report.

Tsunamis have already reached Taiwan, and warnings are out for as far away as Hawaii, the entire West Coast of the United States and Canada, and coastal Chile. But only small waves are expected in these outlying areas. Due to the prevalence of video cameras, there are astonishing videos of both the quake and the waves in Japan. CNN is reporting that there are evacuations underway in coastal areas of Hawaii. Images of piles cars sitting in a harbor, an explosion at a refinery and other vivid images of devastation are being broadcast on television.

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These are the planets on a 90-degree dial aligned approximately with the Mars-Borasisi conjunction. In other words these are the points that are conjunct, square or opposite the conjunction.

Let’s take a look at the chart. We see a powerful 8th house in Pisces — with Chiron, Mars, Black Moon Lilith and Uranus present. Sometimes astrological symbolism can be glaringly literal; the 8th is the house of the ’cause of death’ and here we have many planets involved with a water sign, including three of the higher-impact ones — Mars, Chiron and Uranus. With Uranus just 3 arc minutes from Aries (where it arrives later today), this is an Aries Point event. Such a potent 8th house speaks to the possibility of both loss of life and economic impact. There is a lot of concentrated wealth and industry in this part of Japan, so the impact is being felt in markets and will be experienced by the insurance and reinsurance industries. (Reinsurance is an insurance policy held by an insurance company.)

The ascendant for the Japan chart comes up arc minutes from the degree of the total solar eclipse of Aug. 11, 1999 — demonstrating that eclipses can be active for many years after the event. This eclipse was also present in the Sept. 11, 2001 chart — Venus, the chart ruler was there.

In addition, the Moon’s South Node in the Japan chart, as mentioned in last week’s edition, is now in Gemini and in this chart is conjunct the Moon’s position in both the Sept. 11 chart and the Banda Aceh chart. The prevalence of this degree in global-scale disasters is pretty weird; I covered it in a recent article on Wikileaks.

The Moon phase is first quarter, which is unusual for such a large quake; they happen more often at new and full phase. The Moon had just entered Gemini and was in a close square to Chiron at the time. Last week we read about Borasisi; at the moment of the quake, Mars was (and remains for the moment) in a close conjunction to Borasisi.

Both points are square the Great Attractor, which is a force that magnifies the influence of whatever comes in contact with it and is associated with far-reaching effects extending beyond what can be readily perceived. Looking at a list of minor planets, we see the a concentration in the mutable signs around Mars-Borasisi, including Hopi, something that speaks of events with a rapid onset. One description of the quake that I heard a little while ago included the unusual sound of thousands of buildings creaking simultaneously. The asteroid Siwa, right in the mix (opposite the Great Attractor), is associated with sound.


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Weekly Horoscope for Friday, March 11, 2011, #852 – BY ERIC FRANCIS

Eric’s Zodiac Sign Descriptions

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Self is not static. Indeed, it’s about the most dynamic element in nature. It would help if we could distinguish self-concept from self. The thing that tends to get stuck is our idea of who we’re supposed to be, which has some relationship to who we were yesterday. I don’t suggest you get lost in the theory of this, except to remember that what tends to seize is an idea and what tends to flow is your actual being. With Uranus entering your sign today, you can pretty much forget the past and get ready for some nonstop motion. It will help if you allow your idea to be free, so that when the actual person you are finds itself in the midst of sudden progress, you can minimize inner conflict and go with the flow of existence. You’re unlikely to have any choice in the matter of whether your life takes some giant steps, though you have plenty of influence over what direction you choose.

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

Taurus (April 19- May 20)

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — To the extent that this is a moment of inner awakening for you, it’s also a moment of seeing what you’ve been missing. You’re being presented with an inner view that may be shocking, strange or feel like something to celebrate. It will help if you remember that what you’re experiencing is indeed an inner experience. Most of the people you meet every day have neither affinity for nor attraction to this thing sometimes called an inner life. If they do it’s often dressed in the garb of outer life: situations, personalities, physical objects, goals, etc. There is another inner life that is attached to none of those symbols. You could think of it as the clear essence of being; as pure energy; as your sense of presence within the universe. It’s what we think of as ‘alive’ the moment that concept has any meaning at all. To experience that on our planet at this time can be pretty shocking.

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

Gemini (May 20- June 21)

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — One good idea will lead to the next. One interesting encounter will point the way to the next, and the two are related. You’re being invited to feed your imagination on people: on their presence, what they say, and those to whom they introduce you. But don’t wait around for that; don’t be shy. Make your presence known, and pay attention to your environment. You’re in an unusual space where your circle of friends is growing outward and reaching into unfamiliar social patterns. People you never would have expected are positioned to reach toward you. One thing you might notice is that you’re no longer the weirdest person in your environment. Indeed, you may think you have some competition, but fortunately your life is more about collaboration than contest. If you keep that perspective you’re likely to make some very good friends over the next few days.

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

Cancer (June 21- July 22)

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — This is a particularly brilliant moment for your professional life. Do your best to set aside the sensation of ‘too much’ and put your intelligence to work making the most of the volume of events and of energy flow. Then open your mind to some of the possibilities that you actually have considered but have never quite given yourself credit for being up to. At the moment, just about everyone else thinks you are. You don’t need to do much except get out of your own way and not send yourself your usual litany of negative or questioning messages. Cancer is a yin (feminine, receptive) sign by nature; you are now embarking on one of the most yang phases of your life: a time of expression and what looks like wild innovation and creativity. The most important thing you can do is stay emotionally grounded: not stuck, but present in your feelings, even as they move at their unusual current pace.

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

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — As the next few days unfold, feel yourself approach a tipping point in a financial or partnership situation. This is a moment when the balance of inertia shifts toward being a thing in motion rather than a thing at rest; toward clarity rather than the soupy fog that has enveloped some aspects of your life; toward the future rather than lingering in the past. A doorway is opening for you, and it’s opening a lot wider and into a more interesting space than you may realize at the moment. You may feel like your horizons are widening, but what is really expanding is your idea of who you are and what you’re doing in the world. When that particular perspective takes on its full dimensions, the world itself seems to change. Remember, and remember again: it’s you who is bursting into full color. The world has always been this wild.

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

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — I’m here to remind you once again that everything is negotiable. I know that hardly anyone lives this way except for a few billionaires and con artists, but I’m telling you that — with rare exceptions, which probably have many exceptions — everything is up for discussion. That includes every agreement or commitment you ever made; every seemingly intractable situation; your entire concept of your finances; and the way you project yourself into the world and seek identity in the people that you meet. How they see and experience you is entirely up for grabs, and you get to set the terms of the discussion. One last — you’re not alone. There’s that old song that says two is the loneliest number, after one. This moment is your opening to meeting many kindred spirits, as long as you are authentically, unequivocally yourself.

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

Libra (Sep. 22 - Oct. 23)

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — You’re being a gem with someone you work with who may be getting on your nerves or going through a difficult emotional time. You have a way of channeling your energy into creative directions, which really is the name of the game. And you actually have a life. Yes, there may be a lot of movement, unpredictable developments and perhaps a bit more energy than you would prefer, but in actual fact you have a rich existence and I think you know it. That provides you with both reassurance and a cushion. But I suggest you stay as far outside of your safe zone as you can, because that’s where you’ll find your maximum creativity. You tend to like stability and you’re thriving on it at the moment; events may seem to conspire to draw you out of your comfort zone and into what may feel like an entirely unfamiliar place. The way your chart is set up at the moment, you can have both.

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

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — You may have to assert yourself against someone close to you. This person’s reluctance to speak up, live up to a commitment or respond to your needs has been a cause for concern. I would caution you against exerting too much energy their way; a little is all it will take. There are many other influences that are sending the same message in his or her life, and I assure you that this person feels like they’re in a bit over their head. There are aspects to their life that you don’t know about yet. I would not go so far as to say that they’re actually living a double life, but there is likely to be an element of that. Because of your proximity, you’re likely to be someone to whom they respond. So I suggest you make your feelings known in the form of a direct request rather than a hint of some kind, and then listen to what you hear. Leave the door open.

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

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Many things exist in potential: talent, ideas and your ability to project yourself into your goals. What makes the difference is action, and on that particular score I can give you a clue: you may never quite feel ready for what you want to do, or what you plan to do. You may never meet all the prerequisites, have enough knowledge or be certain enough. And you know what? That doesn’t matter. You’re not exactly unprepared at this point; in fact you have far more experience than you think, and that experience is worth more than you imagine. Still, you may think that makes little difference when you don’t have the certainty or the confidence that you need. It’s true that some of the most worthwhile accomplishments in the long story of humanity have happened when they were good and ready. Most of them seized the lives of people who had little preparation and no idea what they were getting into.

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

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Your astrology offers several different images for what might be coming. One is you transform your basement into a laboratory and start working on those inventions you’ve been planning all these years. Or, the Cirque du Soleil arrives in town and you’re the host to the fire-eaters and sword swallowers, who stay for at least three weeks; while they’re living with you, they teach you all their tricks and you join their troupe and go on the road for seven years. Or you buy an old summer camp in your area and found a special program for child prodigies. In any event, expect some new energy to come into your home; reconsider what it means to feel safe in a time of rapid change. At the very least, consider redecorating, remodeling or moving to bigger digs. And if you currently live with your family, get ready to consider some much better options.

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

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Having the life you want is suddenly no longer a matter of power or resources; it’s a matter of people, and you’re person one. Normally we think of success as being upwardly mobile; for you it’s more about being able to extend yourself among your peers. You practice a kind of lateral success, which is another way of saying weaving community. You may have a sense that you’re at the center of that community, but that’s only true from a limited perspective. You’re participating in a much wider cosmic project of re-weaving the human family. I am sure you’ve noticed how fragmented our communities are and how alienated so many people feel. I promise you, you’re one of the people who feels less estranged. That’s a special distinction. And you don’t have to let on. Just keep weaving.

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

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — With everything else going on in your sign (and thus your life), you might not notice that Uranus is slipping into Aries this week, ending a seven-year spell of rampant whatever-it-is that you’re probably sure is not over. However, I have a question: Have you ever had one of those revelations wherein you realize the one thing you need to do is relax, cease from exerting so much effort and energy, and allow ‘pure mind’ to get your results? That is, to allow consciousness to be the potent activating agent that it is, and then experience the universe responding in its quantum way? I thought so! Well, it may take you a few weeks to get there. You can start by making the conscious choice to gear down, even if your life doesn’t respond in 10 seconds. Obviously many things would be easier if you had no concerns about where money was supposed to come from, and if one aspect of life is poised to respond to the whole quantum mind-power thing, that’s the one that’s gonna happen first.

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

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.