Planet Waves Weekly Horoscope — Dec. 17, 2015, #1080 | By Len Wallick
Proceed from your strengths, and keep an eye on your weaknesses. Easy to say, right? Not so easy to do. First, you must know your strengths. Next, you must admit to your weaknesses. It will help (at least to start with) if you think of yourself as having one strong foot and one weak foot. Then you should be conscious of how things came to be the way they are. If your stronger foot got to be that way because you favor it, then consciously using the weaker foot in its place more often should result in greater balance and a smoother stride — which will ultimately work its way up your being to make you more whole and hardy. Should your weaker foot have gotten to be that way because of injury or some other sort of affliction, you must first determine what kind of healing is possible. That way you will know if you need to resign yourself to keep pushing off your stronger foot indefinitely, or just in the interim.
Planet Waves Weekly Horoscope — Dec. 10, 2015, #1079 | By Len Wallick
There is a difference between complaining and expressing your needs. For you, realizing and leveraging that difference should require only small adjustments on your part so you can be understood as well as heard. Those adjustments would seem to entail putting things in a slightly different order. If you want to be understood, you must first seek to understand. While you probably have enough power and influence right now to simply coerce others into cooperating with you, any gain through duress would probably be as ephemeral as it is efficient. Rather than putting your objectives first, consider the advantages of making others feel as though your desires are their priority. The extra time and effort you invest to enlist support in kind will ultimately pay more than conscription will cost you.
Planet Waves Weekly Horoscope — Dec. 3, 2015, #1078 | By Len Wallick
Participating in an endeavor with another (or others) has many fringe benefits. Among those benefits is, or should be, the right to negotiate. The next several weeks will be a good time to at least evaluate the extent to which you have pooled your efforts and resources in partnership. Is it proportional to the license you have received to influence the nature and course of these joint enterprises? If your role or position in a venture is uncomfortably subordinate, consider how it got that way. It could be that you have created or tacitly accepted a niche that is implicitly unequal. If that is the case, negotiations must begin with you asking for and taking on greater responsibility rather than simply agitating for change. Show your partner(s) what they have to gain, and they will be more likely to give.
Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope — December 2015, #1077 | By Eric Francis
I’ve noticed a bias not just against anyone perceived as emotionally needy, but against those who express emotional needs. You may have to address that prejudice yourself some time in the next few weeks, as you actually get into closer contact with what your needs are. I would propose that in life, needs should be relatively few, and desires more abundant. ‘Needs’ really means your bottom line; one cannot have too many needs denied in a situation and still have it be tenable. So, I would suggest you consider what your bottom line is. What do you actually require? As a Taurus this is likely to be somewhere on the physical spectrum of food, rest, solitude, social contact, sex or some other biological element of life. If your physical needs are met, you’re usually pretty happy. Check those first, then move on to your emotional bottom line. Be real with yourself about what it is, and consider your environment and see if you are able to respond to the emotional bottom line of others. There is a meeting place; it’s just that you need to identify it, and do your best to get onto common ground with partners and actually make it happen. In any relationship, actual shared values will exist on the level of what is not negotiable for either of you. It’s worth the effort to get there.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015, #1076 | By Len Wallick
Surrender need not mean giving away your power. Surrender as a premeditated act of will actually has the potential to confer power. Few are those who can help you see the difference. Even more rare are those who can guide you to employ surrender as a skill for empowerment. For the next 12 months or so, you will be in a good position either to be among those few or to learn from them. First, however, you must assess which role is more appropriate for you. In all likelihood, your intuition will not help. Rather, embrace the counter-intuitive. The more you feel the need to learn, the more likely you are ready to teach. The less you feel a need to demand respect, the more prepared you are to earn it. Alternatively, if you are reflexively asserting yourself first and reflecting later — as in, always the first to raise your voice or to be continuously adamant — chances are you need to let go and allow yourself to be reshaped by at least some of what you currently resist.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015, #1075 | By Len Wallick
A select few probably have the status of VIP (Very Important Person) in your public life. If it is wealth or power that confers primacy in your workplace or community, that dynamic tells you something about the values that contribute to define those places. If significance accrues from skill, experience or wisdom, that tells you something else. Now is a good time to better understand how the VIPs in your corner of the world came to be perceived that way. Assuming you are in touch with your own values, such an understanding will give you a reading on who and what you are in relation to your public associations. You will also better know whether and how you fit into the surroundings and constituency where you labor and live. Furthermore, you will be equipped to act responsibly should any tension develop between you and the comrades or authority figures in your life. That way, any issues that might come up will tell you whether it is you or your surroundings that need changing.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015, #1074 | By Len Wallick
If you are not in a partnership now, there may be one looking for you. Should you already be navigating through an existence of co-mingled assets and mutual aspirations, you might soon need to adjust your style of participation so things work better for everybody involved. Either way, it would be a good idea to go back to basics and be fully aware of what you are either getting into, or working with. Here’s a primer: partnerships are neither independence nor dependence, at least ideally. Rather, there are elements of both. Two heads are better than one, unless those heads are butting. Labors shared are also less burdensome, so long as they are shared fairly. Communicating your values and keeping your balance are the crucial skills either to acquire or to enhance.
Marie Claire Horoscope for November 2015, #1073 | By Eric Francis
To do brilliant things, bring yourself to the work every day. The idea that comes to mind is applying yourself, but gently. It’s like applying thin layers of paint or polish to your project, one on top of the next. The gradually accumulating effort will lead to a breakthrough, though when that happens it will surprise you. Just keep going, one day at a time.
Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for November 2015, #1072 | By Eric Francis
For any individual in possession of talent or desire to accomplish something, there is a phase of learning about how the quality of your work and the audience response are two different things. This could be said about any phase of life, though let’s focus on the work you do: the thing you want to be known for, and what you feel is your true gift. One reason people hold back developing their talents (we all have them and in my experience, just about all people are aware of that fact) is out of fear of how they will be received. I would remind you that some of the very greatest artists and thinkers have received initial responses verging on insulting. To give one hilarious example (which I will come back to soon): the Wright brothers were busy flying an early model of their airplane around a field in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio, but the local newspaper refused to send a reporter. I could rattle off dozens of these tales from memory. The message of the story is that your work must proceed regardless of what you think people will think, what they actually think or whatever the heck else. This includes your friends, your ‘friends’, your family and so on. Ultimately you must resonate with your own creative core. Be true to your vision, come what may.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015 #1071 | By Eric Francis
You are getting a burst of creativity at the moment, though you will still have to hop over the idea that you’re not really so special or talented and therefore don’t deserve to be doing anything so spectacular. The way to do that is not to convince yourself of your specialness but rather to remember that what we call creative work is rather ordinary, like carpentry or gardening. There’s a way to infuse those ordinary tasks with quality and life, and that’s a moment-to-moment commitment. You know that it doesn’t happen by itself. You must focus on the details, with care and devotion. So then what is the creative piece? That enters with each moment of decision. This, in turn, begins with recognizing those decision points the moment they arrive. What’s a better way to do this? What is this really about? How can I do this differently, or better, than I have before? And most of all: what is my larger purpose for doing this? The game of true art is to make that connection from moment to moment, and then get lost in your work.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015 #1070 | By Eric Francis
You seem determined to push forward with your creative plans, and you will make plenty of progress over the next few days if you keep your focus. That means a few things. One is to stay close to your motivation. Something is driving you forward, and it would be helpful to work with whatever that is. It might be something personal, such as emotional or sexual attraction. You might be driven by service and your need to do the right thing. You might have a message you want to get out. Whatever may be moving you, stay close to it both mentally and emotionally. Second, don’t let yourself be driven mad by the details. Attend to them as necessary, though that’s different from obsession. Said another way, keep your larger goals in mind and guide everything in that direction. Last, remember that all collaboration is about relationships, and that means relating. Efficiently iron out any misunderstandings. Be flexible and respectful of the authority of others. Be willing to contribute a little extra to the solution, and to help reduce any tension in the environment.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015 #1069 | By Eric Francis
Most people you meet will talk about keeping work and relationships separate. A good few people cringe at the notion that they would work with their lover. Many companies have ethics codes prohibiting various modes of personal interaction, such as between people on different levels of a company and sometimes between any employees of a company. Meanwhile, it’s easy to forget that in a culture where people spend much of their time working, they’re most likely to encounter others on the job, and notably (very notably), in a sober state. My personal feeling is that relationships need jobs, or a job. They may be the hotbed of sex, the mutual admiration society or the space to explore shared interest. Yet more than that, I think that purpose, or shared dharma, is essential to healthy coexistence. Why that is considered a bad idea or a taboo is worth considering carefully. Why it might work for you exceedingly well is also worth considering. You are made for shared purpose, born of love.
Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for October 2015 #1068 | By Eric Francis
Regarding your work-related endeavors, make sure you include the most important element: yourself. You seem to be involved in a project that leaves out some essential element of your talent. Only you can incorporate that; it’s the essence of professionalism in a field where you care about what you’re doing. It’s not up to bosses, editors, directors or colleagues to make that happen. Only you can show up with that one ingredient that only you can bring. Alternately, it may be that you’re seeking to add this element to your life and work, and now is an excellent time to do that — especially if you’re interested in getting paid for your creativity. Seen one way, your charts tell the story of ‘professionalizing’ your innate talents. Most people take the opposite approach — they sell out on what they really want to do, and put all their energy into what they think will support them financially. You cannot and must not compromise here, but that runs in two directions. The first is making sure that you consider what you love the most as a viable job. The other is making sure that you bring your most authentic creativity into whatever you do, as a day-to-day discipline. That means putting love, care and real ideas into whatever you touch. Purpose is inherent in who you are, and it can be inherent in everything that you do.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015 #1067 | By Eric Francis
You certainly have a lot on your plate, though you’ll feel better once the Sun changes signs next week. Till then don’t stress. Pay enough attention to the details so that you know they’re covered, and leave yourself enough time and energy to have fun with the many creative aspects of what you’re doing. Remember that structure, planning and organization are tools to support your adventures, not take the place of them. As regards the sign-change of Saturn (from Scorpio into Sagittarius) I would take a similar approach. The purpose of a relationship structure is to support the relationship, not weigh down on the people involved. So make sure that your structures are minimal and that they are flexible. I suggest that they be based on agreements, not on rules; on ethics rather than morals; and that you invest more in building bridges than constructing walls. The most productive changes over the past few years have involved your focus on maturity and gathering mature people around you. This approach to life will continue to serve you well.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015 #1066 | By Eric Francis
This weekend’s solar eclipse is encouraging you to try a whole new thing creatively, by which I mean exploring in some direction you’ve never gone before. It’s true that your current endeavors will be expanding over the next year, though there’s a kind of leavening or catalyst that you will activate by doing something actually new for you. By new, I would include a passion that you gave up long ago, or have wanted to do for a long time. What you want is the feeling of unfamiliarity. You want something that shifts the continuity of your self-creative process. There is something here about sex as well. Anyone who has read more than 100 words of my writing knows I’m an advocate for developing a conscious, nourishing sexuality. For you, there are two elements that now come into focus. One of them is receiving. Open up to that. Another is a sense of experimentation — the willingness to try what is unusual, interesting and perhaps a little challenging to your sense of order and control. This, too, is a kind of leavening or catalyst for many things; many new horizons.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015 #1065 | By Eric Francis
Venus, the planet associated with Taurus, stations direct this week after spending much of the summer retrograde. This suggests a few shifts in your personal environment — one of which will be emphasizing the present rather than certain elements of the past, potentially household or family issues, which have taken some time and energy to resolve. The real threshold that I see is your stepping into understanding that you are the foundation of your own life. You, as in not anyone else: for example, partners or family. Your independence is the most significant ingredient in your personal happiness. You have learned many times that if you cannot count on others, you must count on yourself. But now you will see that if you can count on yourself, it takes significant pressure off of your relationships, leaving you and the people close to you free to experience things based on desire and not on need. The activating agent here is being real with yourself all the time. You may need to toss aside your expectations and just ask yourself: “What is so?”
Monthly Horoscope for Sept. 2015, #1064 | By Eric Francis
Venus finally stations direct on Sept. 7, which signals that you will soon be seeking broader horizons — especially at home. On one level you need more emotional space. You need the space to change and grow; to stretch into different feelings than the ones you’re so accustomed to. To what extent does your domestic space, and your relationship space, allow you this? If you get a change of scenery, you will get a good basis for comparison. Yet this also extends into the aspect of life that you might think of as creative and expressive. You are ready to take greater chances in whatever you think of as your true art or craft. You may be finally giving yourself permission to embark on this at all, or for the first time in a very long time. Be aware of your tendency to be cautious. It’s one thing to exercise restraint when you’re driving through the rain on a dark highway. It’s another matter entirely to contain yourself when you’re encountering a blank page or canvas. You don’t need to overthink any of that; in truth, when you want to express yourself, the less thinking you do, the better. Trust what you’re feeling, and connect that to what you say and what you express. Being this real with yourself might make you nervous at first, but it’s also great fun.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Aug. 20, 2015 #1063 | By Eric Francis
The Sun’s ingress into Virgo is an invitation to explore your ideas, bringing your body along. You’re being called beyond the mental experiment, and into the journey that you take with your hands, your senses and your sense of adventure. Treat any hesitation that you may feel as an ankle-high fence that you could hop over with one leg if you wanted to. You may have the sensation that your emotional experience will not translate into a specific form of expression that you want. I would propose that the most significant use of your emotions is for motivation; feel your energy in motion and embark on a conscious experience. You will tend to believe what you tell yourself, so therefore use language that describes curiosity, desire and craving for truth that goes beyond some concept of what is supposedly true. Use discipline gently as a tool fully under your control; return to any activity daily if you want to make it part of your life. What you’re experiencing is not a temporary phase but rather an opportunity to reorder your priorities and access a deeper level of what some call talent.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015 #1062 | By Eric Francis
Looked at one way, life is an emotional experience. Everything else may be a disguise to hide that fact. But you don’t need to look far to see that how we feel, and in particular how you feel, determines what is possible, what you think is possible, what you want and what you need. If you feel good, it doesn’t matter if you’re sitting in your favorite old leather chair or on your favorite park bench or a nice big rock you happened to notice. If you’re feeling good, a Snickers bar can feel as nourishing as a lobster dinner or vegan banquet. Therefore, focus on how you feel. For you this is like tapping into a core of energy within you that is, in truth, infinite. Imagine that you pull up an old carpet in your home, or rip up some old floors, and suddenly you’re looking right at the Sun blazing into your home. By the way, those old floors or rugs may represent some inheritance from your family that only serves to block your light. You may think it holds you up, or like it’s some essential ground of being, but you might want to test that theory assertively.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015 #1061 | By Len Wallick
You would help your own cause by paying special attention to the people, places and situations you take for granted the most. Consider developing your enhanced awareness in three steps. The first step will require you to both catch yourself and acknowledge being caught in moments of inattention, without feeling either diminished or defensive about the experience. The next step will require a concerted ongoing attempt to remember when you are most vulnerable to ‘spacing out’, then applying yourself to see those situations coming. Finally, once you know when to focus on focusing, make a special effort to see what’s unexpected or new in what you have otherwise become accustomed to. This is not a good time for you to drive on cruise control or fly on autopilot in any sense. Rather, it’s your time to update and ground your sense of all you know and love best.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, July 30, 2015 #1060 | By Eric Francis
You’re probably figuring out that the way to access your true brilliance and what some call talent is to go with your creative flow. Just let yourself be yourself and do what you feel like doing and you will come up with great ideas. The challenge, as you’ve encountered many times, involves this thing that is described as the inner critic. If not for this, you and many other people would be much happier and more productive, and access their flow of ideas with greater ease. You have more control over this than you may think. You could go a long way toward subverting this insidious thing by getting your hands into your work. By this I mean your hands rather than your mind. Your hands have no comment about how good or bad you supposedly are. Once you put your body into the material you’re working with, the problem is just about solved. You can supplant the after-the-fact qualitative assessment by counting what you’ve learned from any project, including the subtle points.
Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for August 2015, #1059 | By Eric Francis
Your central question seems to involve your relationship to risk. This may show up a few different ways, but mainly I mean creative and sexual risk. Let’s start by admitting that anything either truly creative or sexual involves taking a chance. You might say that’s the sensation of authenticity — dancing with a measure of uncertainty and potentially with fear. Most of this is a head-trip. Just about everything is uncertain. Nearly all the time, fear turns out to be unfounded. So these concepts are mostly psychological, especially when we’re talking about an idea or a loving experience rather than, say, jumping off a building with a parachute. That would be an entirely different kind of fear or uncertainty. But it’s funny how expressing or even thinking about an idea can come with a daunting sensation. In this way, we’re taught to confuse that which is perfectly safe with what is allegedly dangerous. Yet that sense of an energy charge attached to something perfectly safe is the feeling I suggest you court. Use the sensation of risk or of taking a chance as an attractive force. Be mindful of your points of resistance, of concern, of aversion. Consider the worst-case scenario. Ask yourself if it’s really plausible. Consider the best-case scenario. Is that a direction you would like to go? Consider, above all, that you’re actually safe.
Weekly Horoscope for Wednesday, July 15, 2015 #1058 | By Eric Francis
You will be amazed how persuasive you are, if you have any persuading to do. You don’t need to be forceful; you merely need to be clear. Your own inner clarity will lead to the possibility of directness of a kind that you may notice is unusual for you. What you’re experiencing is the reality of having more than your mind made up, and more than a little wind behind you. You now have the full force of the currents and tides propelling you. Therefore, you don’t need to exert too much energy. You just need to choose your words carefully. It would also be wise never to meet force with force, or anger with anger. Always stay 10 degrees cooler than your environment, and make sure that you interpose some delays between thinking, speaking and acting. Slow down your mental clock speed; you’re likely to want to move quickly. Take the extra time and listen, look, feel and otherwise pay attention. You are reaching for precision, so look for your opening and make your moves when you feel in your body that the time is right.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, July 9th, 2015 #1057 | By Eric Francis
You may be in a tight emotional squeeze of some kind, or feel as if some authority is cramping your style. This is an old story, however, I suspect you’re onto it. Astrology offers the following clues: Some factor out of the past may be masquerading as a presence in your life currently. For example, your mother’s tendencies might be showing up in the form of a partner who doesn’t even remind you of your mother. That points to an internal situation, though it’s one that you’re not only ready to address — you have already done so to a significant degree. I suggest you feel this squeeze consciously and get a sense of its emotional contours. Notice how you’re affected; for example, what exactly do you hesitate doing, or do you feel constrained from doing? This scenario does not affect every aspect of your life. Some things are immune, some things are especially vulnerable. Get a handle on this. You can, and you’ll be happy you did, as more interesting astrology offers you more productive challenges to meet.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, July 2nd, 2015 #1056 | By Eric Francis
You’re getting a chance to re-evaluate a relationship, or an approach to all of your relationships. Think of where you were two years ago, and consider where you are today. If you do, you’ll be surprised at the progress you’ve made. Go deep with this one. See if you can remember your fears and your concerns in all their different forms. Remember all the cleanup work you felt you had to do, perhaps dreading it. Think of how restless and self-searching you felt. Now consider how you feel today, especially if you’re being reminded that you have some other projects ahead. In all likelihood they are a lot less daunting than what you’ve been through. You have any skills you need. But mostly what you’ve acquired is clarity and the ability to speak for yourself, remaining connected to your feelings. Go back and consider how many seemingly intractable problems that one skill has helped you work out. Remember, you’ve still got it to work with.
Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for July 2015, #1055 | By Eric Francis
You seem to be stretching your creative capacities. There is some bold adventure ahead of you, and you will be reaching for it in many different ways in the coming months and into the coming year. This is healthy; and as you know, it’s long overdue. Your chart suggests you’re venturing in the direction of taking sincere risks and accepting uncertainty about what you’re doing and how it will be received. This suggests declaring your freedom from expectation and predictability. Even if you don’t consider yourself an artist, this is how you’ll be living for a while. And this entails one special fact: you might get to the place where your creativity seems to run out. This is something you could consider an authentic initiation. You will have several options; the most viable one seems to be going back to the source of your inspiration. Yet, in any event, you will need to take chances. You will need to be open to revision. You will need to address the nature of what it means to be stuck creatively, so that you have dependable ways to get out of that place and back into the flow of your ideas — and of your life. On some level the topic of sex is related. In order to be fun and nourishing, you need to take your eroticism beyond familiar territory. That is the story of your life.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, June 18th, 2015 #1054 | By Len Wallick
Try behaving as if all the world is indeed a stage (with you a willing and enthusiastic player upon that stage) at this time. Look to associate with those who have something substantially illuminating to share. Show those potential associates how the light you bring could serve to enhance, harmonize with, and bring attention to the brilliance of your intended collaborators. There will be no need to come on strong. Attract rather than pursue. Persuade and win over those whom you perceive to be your fellow players as if they are your audience, at least at first. Then, continually emphasize how you are open to integrating their visions and their aspirations with the role you most want to play in the world. Above all, never doubt your own value and the value of what is within you.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, June 11th, 2015 #1053 | By Eric Francis
Consider how good it is to have a home, and a country to live in. We don’t need images of the homeless, or guilt, or fear of loss, to make contact with the benefits of having some grounding. Instead it’s possible simply to appreciate what you have, your stability and the benefits of your physical existence. Of course marketing culture takes this simple appreciation away from us with its constant pushing everyone to want more. From that context, there’s never an appropriate time to appreciate what you have, because when you’re appreciating you’re probably not reaching for your debit card. By all indications you’re living a remarkable life right now. The larger factors are in order and so are many of the smaller details. Any concerns you might have about money can be addressed by two factors — organization and motivation. Thankfully you have access to those assets as well. And from this place, you have options. Many of them would afford you extraordinary creative possibilities. All you would need is faith in yourself.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, June 4th, 2015 #1052 | By Eric Francis
Venus joins Jupiter in the angle of your chart associated with family, home and security. It’s going to be there for a while, so you don’t have to rush to get the benefits of this transit. Indeed I would propose that it represents a longterm exploration of something else, which is an experiment in what you can accomplish when your life is reasonably stable and grounded. It’s true that living on the edge of a galaxy on a little planet run by psychopaths, it’s possible never to feel safe or grounded, but if ever there was a time, this is it. Now, how much creativity can you muster up, whether directed at the way you live, or what you do with the privilege of living? In other words, what are you here to create and can you act on that drive? This is not something restricted to a few special activities. It can extend to any activity, whether it’s doing your laundry, painting your masterpiece or plotting the revolution. Think of yourself as a benefactor, breathing life, beauty and value into everyone and everything you touch.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, May 28th, 2015 #1051 | By Eric Francis
Take nothing for granted where money is concerned. That means you must think for yourself — actual, original thoughts that lead to intelligent strategies. Although you may think so at times, this is not about going anything alone. There’s a strong element of partnership and collaboration to your astrology now; all good things come from working with others in a dedicated way. You add an essential set of elements to any collaboration, most of which is your point of view. Yet remember that’s a work in progress; you are learning as you go, and part of how you learn is from environmental feedback. Part of how you get that is from expressing yourself. So keep the dialog, or dialogs, going. Make sure that you are fully informed and that you keep others around you informed. Know when you don’t know; notice when information comes your way. Act appropriately on your knowledge or lack thereof.
Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for June 2015 #1050 | By Eric Francis
The return of Saturn to your opposite sign Scorpio will slow down the movie and allow you to evaluate whether a new commitment is right for you. Evaluation does not imply that something is wrong, or that you need to step back; rather, it implies an experiment that will help you suss out what you really want. What you also get is a reminder of what your life was like going back a few years. If any old fears or sadness come to the surface, you can trust that they’re arising in your awareness so that you can see where you were and remember how you felt. This is for the purpose of gaining clarity and resolution. The resounding message of your charts, and the reminder going forward, is about keeping your commitments loose enough that you have room to move. As someone born under a fixed sign, you tend to think in terms of permanence. This can include the desire to honor tradition, or to maintain bonds with others for the sake of doing so. Those have a real value, which does not conflict with leaving some options open. Seen one way, what you seem to be doing is revising a time-honored tradition and making it suitable for your life (and the world) as they are now. That is progress.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, May 14th, 2015 #1049 | By Eric Francis
Organize your finances: that is the message of this Mercury retrograde. Start with the basics, such as cleaning your desk and getting any necessary and relevant documents and records together. Notice what’s missing and fill in the gaps; go to the source and get the things you need, so that you can be ready to take the next necessary steps. Yet the deeper message of this retrograde is about prioritizing. You need to know what is important to you and why. By what, I mean your spending priorities, including what it costs to maintain what you already own. The most significant question seems to be your relationship to the income that comes from your professional activities. You’re at a moment in your life when you can only do well what you do with full commitment. I suggest you map out what that concept means to you and what it does not mean. Over the next few weeks you may need to make an investment in your own future. Align yourself and do it well.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, May 7th, 2015 #1048 | By Eric Francis
Your current aspects are all about writing. This comes in several flavors. One is writing to express the beauty that you see and feel. This might be expressing yourself to another person, or using words for the sake of creating art. You could count either of these as love letters to existence. But there’s something deeper, which will be in effect over the next couple of months, which is writing to understand yourself. There’s no human who does not exist within their own contradictions; that’s the nature of existence on our planet, or part of its nature anyway. Don’t let this bother you. Rather, use any seeming inner polarity or opposition like a battery that is providing you with energy. Count this time in your life as an opportunity to conduct a sincere personal inventory, which includes your many excellent ideas. Take things in layers. Proceed slowly and gently. Listen to your own words.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, April 30th, 2015 #1047 | By Eric Francis
This weekend’s Full Moon across the Taurus-Scorpio axis is going to bring certain relationship matters to a head. If the air is clear, this could be great fun; the peak of energy would manifest as something erotic or passionate. If the air is not quite clear, small matters could become large ones, and that has the potential to do some damage. Therefore, I would suggest maintaining a policy of gentle clarity, and at the same time, maintaining a perspective on what really matters. You are in an unusual position to notice the feelings and viewpoint of others. If you can do that, you will have a realistic sense of scale. You will be less likely to overreact or over-compensate. I suggest you make sure that every relationship in your life is assigned a larger purpose. Some relationships take them on naturally; some need to be trained. From the look of the planets over the next week or so, I suggest you work both of those approaches.
Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for May 2015 #1046 | By Eric Francis
You seem determined to sort out the money issue, which is a good thing. Remember though that money is not usually something that comes to you. Rather, it’s something you go out and get. And if it does come to you, it’s often the result of long preparation. That’s actually good news, because there are likely to be several skills you’ve developed that qualify. In that light, I have two suggestions: One is to embark on a personal resources inventory. What do you know, or what skills do you have, that are of value to others? What do you currently get paid for that you can improve, so as to increase its value? Before you go striking things off your list for not being perfect, or well-developed enough, take it slow and consider carefully what you’re working with. Communicate with people who pay you and find out how you can snuggle tighter with the larger business plan. Second, you need to connect to your motivation. That’s another way of saying what drives you, and allow it to do so. Skip excuses like ‘money isn’t everything’ or ‘money doesn’t really matter that much’ and actually make contact with your need or desire to improve your life from a material standpoint. If you look carefully you’ll find many matches between your resources and your motivation to succeed.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, April 16th, 2015 #1045 | By Eric Francis
You may feel like there is some mystery you’re not understanding, or like you’re under some pressure you have not given a name to. You may feel some relief with Saturday’s Sun-Moon conjunction, and certainly when the Sun enters your birth sign on Monday the 20th. Here is the thing: you’re actually working with quite a bit of information. You know more than you think you know. It’s the sensation of not knowing, or of wondering, that is causing the distraction. If you focus on what you know rather than what you think you don’t know, you will have something to build on. What you may discover is that you’re of two different opinions about something important. Your chart suggests considering the possibility that they’re both true. This is less about making a contradiction and more about resolving one.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, April 9, 2015 #1044 | By Eric Francis
You contain a person or personality who is not concerned with the normal rules of social conduct. This is the truly free aspect of who you are. The thing is, most of the rest of who you are is deeply concerned with social conduct and appearances, and this can set up a struggle. It would help if you allowed the different facets of your inner existence to coexist. This would begin with acknowledging the many personalities you contain as you become aware of them. Yet there’s a risk in doing so, which is a risk to your self-image of propriety. I would say that’s a good thing to challenge, to gamble, to experiment with. You can only have self-respect if you see yourself for who you are (the word respect is about witnessing; it literally means ‘to see again’). Self-respect means looking at yourself over and over, and raising the level of your inner conversation to something you can hear and share with others. Do tell. We will all find it interesting.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, April 2, 2015 #1043 | By Eric Francis
Focus your efforts, your energy and your intentions on specific goals; or perhaps even one of them. There is plenty going through your mind; many ideas, desires, visions. In fact you may be feeling a level of chaos brewing on that off-to-the-side level of awareness. At the same time, you have the ability to concentrate your strength and really get something done — as long as you don’t distract yourself with too much head-tripping. That will be easier said than done, till you actually step up to the challenge with some determination. Make a few decisions about what your top priorities are. Make sure you’re not neglecting anything that simply cannot wait. Then ride the wave of momentum connected to the Full Moon eclipse and notice how much you get done. As for the carnival of inner distractions, that is your power source. The specifics matter less than the energy that’s brewing.
Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for April 2015 #1042 | By Eric Francis
What’s happening in a relationship is an expression of a process within you — one over which you might seem to have little control. That, however, is not true. To establish your dominion over your own mind, the first step to take is to observe yourself carefully. In particular, keep an eye on what most would call ‘unconscious’ processes, feelings, ideas and expectations. Those have power over you to the extent that you withdraw awareness. You will have power over them to the extent that you raise your awareness. Once you start paying attention, you’re likely to notice there are specific ways you’re seeking freedom from a certain kind of confinement that has grown old for you. I would define confinement as a need to remain stable in a certain element of your identity, seemingly for its own sake. But now you are changing in ways you cannot contain in any previous personality construct. You are waking up; you are finding yourself; you have tasted a measure of freedom, and you want more. You may be wondering if you can have all of this without up-ending your life as you know it. That is a question you can only answer through experience, though it’s clear that certain long-standing factors of your existence could use a little friendly shaking up and shaking loose.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, March 19, 2015 #1041 | By Eric Francis
Venus has arrived in your sign, which is always a comforting experience for you. Venus in Taurus wants the best: of material things, which is totally legitimate by the way, and also of feelings and human contact and authentic understanding. These things are related on the dimension known as quality. Though this word is often abused by advertisers, there is such a thing, and you know it. In fact it’s so closely related to the core of who you are that you know very little else. I suggest that you recognize how much both within you and around you is the real thing. On that line of thought, I suggest you never doubt your validity. Never doubt how solid and real you are. And as a direct extension, you can have full confidence in what you create. It is as real and as wholesome as you are, infused with that all-too-rare thing known as practicality.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, March 12, 2015 #1040 | By Eric Francis
I suggest you keep your focus off of yourself and on others for the next week or so, so that you don’t get lost in your own head. Keep the conversations going. Explore the world and challenge yourself with what is unfamiliar to you. If you’re one of those people who can do your job on your laptop, work in social environments where you can see others and they can see you. One interesting thing you might notice is for conversations in these settings to go unusually deep. You won’t even need to guide them that way. You just might find yourself talking about some taboo subject surrounded by people. My suggestion is to act as if this is perfectly normal and pay no mind to the fact that others might hear what you’re saying. In this simple gesture there is strength and integrity.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, March 5, 2015 #1039 | By Len Wallick
Going off is no way to go. Not for you, not now. You have it in you to convince the multitudes simply by being soft spoken. Neither is there any need to brandish a big stick to get what you want. In a loud world, your whisper will not only be heard, it will be welcomed. In a violent world, your ability to gently and instructively persuade will move others to further your ends — even as they pursue the simple rewards dealing with you has to offer. Rather than rigidly defending boundaries from real or imagined slights, give offense no place to enter by not responding in kind. Instead of protesting apparent or illusory assaults on your pride, decline to dignify that which does not become you. In that way you will better become what others want to be. — by Len Wallick
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015 #1038 | By Len Wallick
Your native authenticity is the one thing you should indulge to the max going into next month. Other forms of indulgence may also be beneficial so long as your mind is engaged like an easygoing gatekeeper following a simple protocol. There may be times when you feel as though you are walking a very fine line between excessive inhibition and just plain excess. In fact, there is no need to put yourself on a tightrope. Just be true to yourself. At every sensible opportunity, touch yourself in some way, somehow. The sense of grounding that results will likely preclude nearly any possible error. — by Len Wallick
Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for March 2015 #1037 | By Eric Francis
Your charts are blaring out for physical activity, just in time for the weather to ease off a bit. So get physical. But that is not enough; this is a means to an end, and that objective would be tapping your mental agility and a new crop of ideas that has been growing in your heart and soul. You have an imagination that is so assertive and so potent that it can indeed infuse your body with energy. That, by the way, is part of what makes you into the lover that you are, the fusion of body-level with psychic level into one reality, which is you. Your creative process works the same way. In fact it’s the same process. At the moment, many desires and intentions are pushing their way through your consciousness, eagerly reaching for manifestation. There is so much brewing that you might find it slightly unsettling, which could, in turn, be an excuse to avoid it. I suggest you move toward yourself rather than away from yourself. Go in the direction of maximum heat. Follow your curiosity; that is the seed of passion. If you get to the point where you know you’re expressing passion, remember to follow the thread of your curiosity. The two are intimate and necessary elements of the same basic process.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015 #1036 | By Eric Francis
You are discovering how subtle leadership is — and self-leadership as well. You know that you must be your own best example, which qualifies as authentic maturity. The real revelation is how much freedom that offers you. This includes the freedom both to think and to act, and to navigate the many rules and regulations of society in a way that facilitates your creative mission. You can afford to experiment more boldly on the level of your message. Clearly you have something to say, and if you act on that you would potentially be transgressing certain customs or the expectations of others. That, however, seems to be the point of having anything original to say. Doing so is about neither mischief nor approval; rather, it’s a kind of probe into reality to see what happens. Keep your sense of humor.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015 #1035 | By Eric Francis
Venus in Pisces is working its way toward a conjunction with Chiron, the planet of healing and awareness. The combination of these three factors looks spectacular, as if you get to reveal or express yourself in some unusual way. The feeling described by this aspect is bold and vulnerable, yet because it’s in Pisces, it has a public quality, extending outward. It would be ideal for some kind of musical or theatrical performance, art exhibition or coming-out party. Even if you’ve got nothing special planned, at least two factors will follow you around. One is that you will have some more-potent-than-average impact or influence on the people around you. The other is that you get some out-of-the-ordinary confirmation of your talent, such as getting a glimpse of what it feels like to truly be recognized. With that in mind, turn it up and shine out.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015 #1034 | By Eric Francis
I suggest you not let a little resistance or seeming obstacle persuade you of anything. Indeed, should you encounter something that seems to be slowing you down, I suggest you just try a little harder. If you focus on what you want to create in your most idealistic concept of life, you will have more strength and motivation to address any practical issues that may arise. Dispense with them efficiently, take care of the basics and move on to what you know matters more. And at the moment, I assure you that pleasure matters a good deal more than business, than profits, than most responsibility. I would, however, maintain some awareness if you are needed to make a spot decision or to resolve a situation that someone brings to your attention. Again, be efficient, check your work and move on.
Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for February, 2015 #1033 | By Eric Francis
You’re getting a chance to experience what it’s like to be driven by a purpose you are fully confident in. When that happens, there is a certain ease involved because you don’t have to think much about what to do, or why. There is often conflict involved in the need to consciously prioritize, and if you ease into this experience you can take a ride on the sensation of what it’s like when what you have to do is so obvious there is no question about it. Though some of this is driven by an idea or a task, really a deeply compelling factor is how you feel around certain people you’re surrounded by. You have one of the most palpable, distinct experiences of connection going for you right now. This is connection that has a purpose extant on many levels, though the deepest level is the human bond that, for whatever reason, exists on a truly deep level. I would point out one thing, that for most people, it’s rare to experience a social bond that embraces love, purpose and a sense of mission. I think that once you tune into this reality, you will never want anything less. And since it’s something you ultimately contain as a capability within yourself, you have no need for anything less — and you may discover that a great deal more is possible.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015 #1032 | By Eric Francis
Step up to the challenge where professional responsibilities are concerned. You are no longer playing in the minor leagues. You’re working on a level where people are depending on your judgment, your knowledge and your skill at handling potentially complex situations. This has taken you time and a real investment, and you have every reason to be confident in yourself. Invariably, complex situations involve people, their personalities and coordinating communication among them. That seems to be the only management skill that matters these days. You’re in an excellent position to do something that many people find challenging — to listen. That will give you access to the mysterious power known as having a clue what people are saying. That will give you the opportunity to solve a problem, which by the way you may need to solve twice.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015 #1031 | By Eric Francis
Leadership can be perilous. When you get to the point of involvement in life where you exceed the limits set by your parents (or where you know you have to), it can be frightening — until it’s not. You look like you’re ready to see not just how far, but how well you can push those limits. All parents set them, consciously or unconsciously, and they end up being the template of how we interact in situations where authority is involved. For you this is about taking a new role in the structure of any group you are involved with. This role depends entirely on your intelligence and creativity; that is the theme. Your breakthrough is figuring out that you’re one of the smartest people in the room and not caring if that offends anyone. A happy day.
Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for January 2015, #1030 | By Eric Francis
One by one this month, planets make their way across your midheaven — the angle of your solar chart that describes your highest goals, your achievements and your reputation. This is calling on you to take on a leadership role that you might think is not quite in your nature; however, at least in astrological fact, it’s the essence of your nature. Have you tuned into the fact that you’re a leader in whatever you do, even if you never hold yourself out as one? You lead by example, and you lead with the quality of your ideas. So I suggest you start with being bolder, more vocal and more articulate about what you’re thinking and what your priorities are. Follow that up with careful observation of the people around you, and several rounds of listening. The chances are that whatever you’re doing is going to require two revisions before it settles into a stable form, and this process takes you into mid-February. Till then, hang loose and allow your ideas to evolve. Look at things sideways, from different perspectives and from the opposite point of view. Your tree-like stability sometimes resists that process, though trees are exceptionally responsive to their environments and more communicative than nearly everyone imagines. Among the many people offering ideas, there will be a few gems. Look for them with your eyes, and feel for them with your hands.