Uranus, Eris and the Riddle of the Internet

Dear Friend and Reader:

Have I mentioned that I’ve been trying to figure out the internet?

Mysterious by Charlie Lemay.

I was aware that when you click on something, something new appears on the screen. I knew if you post a naked picture to Facebook they kick you out for a while.

What I’m talking about is the same thing that you worry about: such as how Twitter is dumbing down the whole world. Things like the smartphone contributing to people being less smart and less able to concentrate, and someone crossing four lanes of Sixth Avenue in heavy rush-hour traffic while gazing at the screen (I actually saw that recently; apparently it’s commonplace).

Every time a new breed of communication devices is born, society is reshaped. The mother of all changes was the alphabet. Then came the book. Then came the telegraph, and the pace increased. Every time one of these things happened, society was reinvented in some fundamental way.

For the past couple of years, I’ve been going deep into the work of the first philosopher of media, Marshall McLuhan. With his grandson Andrew as my study buddy and collaborator, and Marshall’s son Eric as my ad-hoc grad school professor, I’ve made some progress that I will summarize for you in this article; but first I want to look at the astrology of the moment, and what it says about the so-called digital revolution.

However, keep this in mind, written by Prof. Eric McLuhan: “The body is everywhere assaulted by all of our new media, a state which has resulted in deep disorientation of intellect and destabilization of culture throughout the world. In the age of disembodied communication, the meaning and significance and experience of the body is utterly transformed and distorted.”

The Uranus-Eris Conjunction, Then and Now

We are now in the midst of an astrological event with profound and sweeping effects. This is the conjunction of two distinctly modern planets: Uranus (the first planet ever discovered by science, in 1781) and Eris (the 2005 discovery that resulted in the ‘demotion’ of Pluto).

Planet Waves
Helix by Charlie Lemay.

First of all, this is a conjunction: the most powerful aspect, and the one that marks the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. Second, when two planets that move this slowly join forces, the effects are profound, and often so vast that nobody can see them clearly till they’ve already happened.

There are many examples, but two might suffice. In the mid-1960s, slow-movers Uranus and Pluto joined forces (in Virgo), and we experienced one of the most amazing cultural upheavals in world history.

In the early 1990s, slow-movers Uranus and Neptune joined forces (in Capricorn), and global geopolitics rearranged itself. The USSR dissolved seemingly overnight. If you’re curious about this kind of astrology, I suggest you read a book called Cosmos and Psyche by Richard Tarnas, who gives 600 pages of these examples.

The current event involves two distinctly high-energy and unpredictable planets. Uranus covers themes of revolution, invention, technological breakthrough and social upheaval. Eris (a whole new kind of planet, with a 558-year orbit) is also a subversive and a revolutionary in her own right. It’s fair to say that themes of Eris include seeking identity through conflict, as well as up-ending the known social order. This is happening in Aries, the zodiac sign symbolizing the idea of self and perhaps the most potent of energies. Put this all together and it’s clear that the thing we need to be looking for is a revolution of identity.

I’ve been delineating and dismantling the symbolism of Eris since before it was named in late 2006. From my earliest work, it seemed to represent a deconstruction of identity. This partly involves Eris, and partly its action on Aries (which is about identity — Aries in its role as the sign of “I am”).

Eris moves so slowly that it spends 121 years in Aries — long enough for Uranus to make its way around the zodiac and meet up with Eris for a second conjunction in Aries. The last one was about 90 years ago, in 1927 and 1928, when Eris first arrived in Aries. These rare conjunctions can have a window of action of 15 years. They also represent points of no return.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been getting a handle on what that timeframe is about. The 1920s came with the advent of radio. The first mass medium not involving the printed word, radio shifted identity from something highly individualistic (cultivated by the book) back in the direction of tribal existence. It was also the first form of widely available instant communication, collapsing space and time.

Planet Waves
Ascent by Charlie Lemay.

For the first time people could hear an event as it was happening — something extremely destabilizing to both individual and collective identity. This may seem like so little today, when radio has been reduced to commercials, the worst music and Rush Limbaugh. When it first came out, however, it was a stunning revelation — that voice and music could be transmitted over long distances without physical presence or even with wires.

Two other vital things happened related to media technology. The first television image was broadcast (a Felix the Cat doll rotating on a turntable) in 1928, right during the Uranus-Eris conjunction. It might have taken some imagination to see what that scratchy image would become in the next few decades: how much would change, and what madness would ensue.

And in 1925, the first patent for a transistor was filed. The transistor led the way to every subsequent electronic development, but mostly to the computer and then, in turn, to the internet.

By the end of the 1920s, and the Uranus-Eris conjunction in Aries, the electronic revolution was not only well begun, but inevitable. By 1930, the BBC was in business, broadcasting five days a week.

New Media Change Everything

It’s difficult to describe in a few paragraphs what this did to society and to people, but it’s fair to say that it changed absolutely everything; most significantly, how we think about who we are. This had nothing to do with the content of the devices; it had everything to do with how they structured society.

It’s worth noting that this sweeping change from every perspective developed below the level of analysis or awareness, while it was happening. Our society tends to embrace new technologies with no forethought of their impact. There’s just the assumption that this will make things better. Yet there are always strange effects.

People’s concept of space and time was totally collapsed by instant communication. We moved rapidly from a society based on literacy to one based on the much older oral tradition of storytelling. A tribal quality took over, as personal identity gave way to the kinds of group identity fostered by electric media. This took a huge toll on literacy, which in turn has taken a toll on processes like reasoning.

Planet Waves
Persuasion by Charlie Lemay.

There is also something about collective memory here. Broadcast media is ephemeral. It tends to disappear. Until recently, you could not capture it for verification or re-watching.

It tends to depend on emotional triggers rather than facts or research. The TV image is so powerful that what we see is presumed to be true because it looks that way. Basically, electronic media is all about pressing your buttons, so to speak.

Yet it also nearly reversed 2,000 years of gradual progress made by literacy, progress that included individuality, inner awareness, and key reference points to the past. For example, Harry Truman claimed that God told him to detonate the atomic bomb over Hiroshima. It sounded good at the time, but because he said it on the radio, how and where exactly do you verify that? To this day, most people think it was a good idea to vaporize 150,000 people, and then to do it again a few days later to another city.

Radio, which does not foster critical thinking, is an amazing tool for propaganda, and for triggering group think.
Personal identity was being run through the blender. We entered the “no time to think” phase of history. Instant communication led the way to mass reaction rather than to individual response. This changed expectations on every level, such as notions of community and relationships and self.

By 1938, it was possible for Orson Welles to do a radio drama that in 45 minutes convinced millions of people that Martians were invading the planet. Like many charts in this genre, Eris shows up big time — in an exact, to the degree, opposition to Mars. Fantasy and reality — in this case, of interplanetary warfare — were seamlessly merged.

A German philosopher named Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) noted early on that these media have the effect of disembodying people. That is, they take us out of our bodies and thrust us onto some other level of awareness. He viewed this as a good thing, since being disembodied was one step closer to the angels and therefore a kind of path to finding God.

Really, what we got was what Eric McLuhan said in the quote above, worth printing in large format and hanging on the wall: “The body is everywhere assaulted by all of our new media, a state which has resulted in deep disorientation of intellect and destabilization of culture throughout the world. In the age of disembodied communication, the meaning and significance and experience of the body is utterly transformed and distorted.”

Planet Waves
Writhing by Charlie Lemay.

Part of that distortion involves the power of new media to extend our senses and awareness to the point of hypersensitivity; and then this is so overwhelming that the result is to numb out; to cut off; to retreat and to ignore. Further, the sensation that everything is happening everywhere, all at once (and the resulting overwhelm, leading to even more cutting off of awareness), is purely the creation of electric media.

Remember that new technological developments are never assessed in advance. Eric’s father, Marshall McLuhan, proposed that the people who push these devices and communications systems on us care no more what they are doing to us than a fighter pilot cares about the people and things he bombs. Apple does not care about the actual impact of the iPhone; it cares about making money selling as many iPhones as possible, no matter what they do to society or to people. Bombs away!

Which leads us to today. The first Uranus-Eris conjunction in Aries 90 years ago marked the beginning of a society driven by electric media, which has now come to full fruition today. The early internet accelerated all of these processes begun by electric media in the 1920s. Yet it was the advent of the pocket computer — the ‘smart’ phone — that swallowed us.

The internet used to be something that you went to; that you would have to consciously enter. Now it’s something that follows us everywhere. Nearly every financial transaction except putting a quarter in a gumball machine is tracked by the internet. Every relationship is conducted by internet, many exclusively so. Most shopping and purchasing happens by internet. Most information is conveyed by internet. Music, news, art — internet, internet, internet.

We project ourselves into various profiles and identities that have a way of fracturing and fragmenting what was already a fragile sense of self and of existence. This has nothing to do with the content that’s being broadcast; it’s about the structure.

Planet Waves
Outsider by Charlie Lemay.

No tweet has ever changed your life or changed the world. But the idea that one could say something meaningful and relevant in 140 characters has had an effect on all of thought. That’s the latest thing — say it in 140 characters, whatever it is: review a play, comment on global politics, run for president, break up with your lover: one size fits all.

Further, Twitter, in particular, is the very dynamo of lack of context.
This loss of context ends up as a feeling: of meaninglessness.

We can claim this back. There is time, and there is potential. The Uranus-Eris conjunction of 2016 and 2017 also can be read as a personal revolution, a reclaiming of personhood, of awareness, of identity — rather than of branding and tribal affiliation. Ah, but that will take what feels like work. What feels like entering the supposedly daring space of actually asking who you are and what you want. We would need to face some unpleasant truths about what has been done to us before we have any possibility of undoing those things.

Go ahead. It’s dangerous, but it’s worth it.

Lovingly,

eric
Planet Waves (ISSN 1933-9135) is published each Tuesday and Thursday evening in Kingston, New York, by Planet Waves, Inc. Core community membership: $197/year. Editor and Publisher: Eric Francis Coppolino. Web Developer: Anatoly Ryzhenko. Designer: Lizanne Webb. Finance: Victoria Pomante. Astrology Editor: Amanda Painter. Astrology Fact Checker: Len Wallick. Copy Editor and Fact Checker: Jessica Keet. Outreach Co-ordinator: Victoria Bodge. Client Services: Amy Elliott. Media Consultant: Andrew Marshall McLuhan. Research, Writing and Editing: In addition to those listed above, Planet Waves is produced by a team consisting of Fe Bongolan, Judith Gayle, Kelly Janes, Amanda Moreno and Carol van Strum.

Create

Planet Waves

Two members of Between Music — made up of Laila Skovmand, Robert Karlsson, Morten Poulsen, Dea Maria Kjeldsen and Nanna Bech — performing AquaSonic. They describe it as “the first part of Between Music’s Quadrology ‘Human Evolution’ (working title); a four-piece work inspired by the human evolution.”

…Or, You Could Just Sing in the Shower…

By Amanda Painter

What to do with all those planets in water signs, swirling around in a loose grand trine? Well, if you like the song they’re playing, one option is to join them — literally, in the case of Danish musical group Between Music.

Their creation “AquaSonic” (video trailer here) takes “Water Music” (with my apologies to George Frideric Handel) to a whole new depth. You might call it immersive, even. AquaSonic is a years-long project that has resulted in the development of specialized instruments and singing techniques. As Between Music describe it on their website:

“The work presents five performers who submerge themselves in glass water tanks to play custom-made instruments and sing entirely underwater. Transformed inside these darkly glittering, aquatic chambers, they produce compositions that are both eerily melodic and powerfully resonant.”

Citing a “deeply mad inventor mindset” that drives the group, Between Music experimented for years — with “test-runs in close collaboration with everything from dedicated deep-sea divers to imaginative instrument makers and brilliant scientists — people driven by the same urge to break new ground and challenge existing worldviews.”

That’s beginning to sound like the Uranus-Eris conjunction in Aries, isn’t it? Given that Uranus-Eris connects to the water-sign activity through a quincunx to wet, deep, powerful Mars as it stations direct in Scorpio, perhaps a little submission to submersion is in order.
PWFM

This Week on Planet Waves FM
Our Wild World, Mars Stationing Direct and The Tunguska Incident

Dear Friend and Listener:

In this first Planet Waves FM of the season [play episode here], I offer a dramatic interpretation of the wild headlines that are flying past our news feeds: The United States Senate approving assault weapons for domestic terrorists, billionaire Donald Trump’s campaign is broke, top cops in Oakland and New York City busted, the Stairway to Heaven lawsuit and the “Brexit” vote — the U.K.’s referendum on quitting the European Union.

Planet Waves
Damage from the 1908 Tunguska incident — a probable meteor burst — as seen in 1929 on Leonid Kulik’s expedition.

In the second segment I give my last reading on Mars stationing direct, which takes place at 7:38 pm EDT (23:38:14 UTC) on Wednesday, June 29, 2016.

This is Mars direct in Scorpio, so Mars will be taking all that Scorpionic energy for a ride around the solar system the next two years.

As mentioned, if you missed the spring reading and are wondering what the holy heck has been happening to you the past 10 weeks, here’s a way to find out.

In the third segment, in honor of my closing song, I describe what is known as the Tunguska event — a meteor that exploded above Siberia around this time of year in 1908. I read the chart, and play an incredible piece of music by the incomparable Alan Parsons.

Other music for this edition is by Alison Moyet, formerly of Yazoo.

I plan to take next week off from Planet Waves FM, in honor of Mars direct and taking a little breather. The weekly horoscope, Planet Waves TV and a surprise new feature will all be prepared in advance and will be published on schedule.

Planet Waves is sponsored by your subscriptions. Find out why proofreading is going to save the world, and is worth paying for.

With love,

Sagittarius Full Moon and Summer Solstice in One

This week’s edition of Planet Waves TV [play video here] looks at the combination of summer solstice and Sagittarius Full Moon we just experienced. I also offer additional preparation for Mars stationing direct in Scorpio on June 29. That’s coming up fast — get ready. More on Planet Waves FM, and I’ll be covering Mars stationing direct in greater depth in the June 26 Planet Waves TV — so stay tuned. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel.

 

Planet Waves

Eric delivering the 44-minute preview to this past weekend’s Astrology of Now seminar — more like a real conversation about what is really happening now. The next seminar will focus on dream work.

It’s Not Too Late!

Did you miss Eric’s experiential astrology seminar, The Astrology of Now, on June 18? The class recording is already available at the Planet Waves Boutique, and includes all class materials. You can also watch a preview of the class here.

“I loved Eric’s patient manner with each of us, our questions and our learning styles. I also gleaned a lot from his way of explaining the sample charts, and using his and our experiences and potential scenarios, to open us to new levels of comprehension.”

— Rachel Schneiderman

Find The Astrology of Now and all of Eric’s classes and readings in the Boutique — including readings for all 12 signs — at affordable prices for such high quality and lasting value. When you find Planet Waves, you find yourself.

Scopes

Your Monthly Horoscopes — and our Publishing Schedule Notes

Your extended monthly horoscope for July is published below in this issue. We published your extended monthly horoscope for June on Thursday, May 26. We published your Moonshine horoscope for the second Sagittarius Full Moon, by Len Wallick, on Thursday, June 16. Please note: we normally publish the extended monthly horoscope on the first Friday after the Sun has entered a new sign.

Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for July 2016, #1105 | by Eric Francis
Aries

Aries (March 20-April 19) — What is it about sex? I mean, what is it exactly? Have you noticed that the world seems driven by something that it’s simultaneously obsessed with and terrified of? It’s time for you to put sex into the category of what is natural: like organic apples, playing Frisbee with a dog or dancing at a concert. Any time you have a question or a concern, imagine one of those things. Any time a power struggle manifests, think of a border collie leaping into the air and gleefully snapping a flying object in its jaws. While you’re at it, be aware of the faux moral trips that people lay into one another on a regular basis. At a certain point, any mature, happy person must decree that such is utter nonsense, if for no other reason than it’s useless for anyone to mind anyone else’s business. With this comes one particular necessity: dropping the control drama. This may seem like too much to ask, but freedom is to sexuality what breathing is to yoga. You can hold your breath through your Sun salutation, but only at the expense of depriving your brain of oxygen and turning blue. You can now do something radical: allow yourself to be free, and openly encourage others to be free. What do you do with jealousy? Recognize it as the toxic emotion that it is, and put it down — just like cigarettes. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Taurus

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — The undeniable creative prowess of Taurus is rooted in the fact that you mean what you make down to your flesh and blood. Your words carry feeling. While your creative devotion goes in cycles, perhaps more distinct than other people’s, this is not a reflection of your talent, which is as solid and as alive as a magnificent old tree. You’ve reached a kind of harvest time around your creative gifts. Everything is aligned for you to tap into your potential. Not everyone is a writer, though you would benefit from at least experimenting with an idea you’ve been playing with, just to see how it feels. If you are a writer, the time is right to try something more ambitious, something you might ordinarily think is over your head. You may be calm on the outside, yet there is plenty moving and bubbling in you, and that energy is looking for a place to go, and to become. As you embark on this journey, you might find yourself going deeper than you expected, accessing something that feels like it’s ‘beyond you’. It’s not beyond anything: that’s actually who you are. One other bit: if you’re concerned that someone close to you won’t understand or appreciate what you’re learning, give them a chance. You’re closer to being on the same page than you may recognize. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Gemini

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — It’s time to go beyond any semblance of survival mode. This is particularly true when it comes to money. Your chart blends the theme of survivalism (accented by old lessons not learned) with the image of natural abundance, including financial. You might be wondering what the hang-up is. Money is its own special game, with its own skills and techniques. You are particularly susceptible to negative infiltration by ideas such as ‘money is bad’, or ‘people are corrupted by wealth’. Anyway, I don’t see your goal as being rich so much as having enough and some to share. There is a difference. One of the Gemini traits around finance is that you tend to run in cycles, and you must plan for those turns of the tide. You’re likely to be running on the abundant side more than usual right now, and that’s the time to set cash aside. In fact, you will sooner or later figure out that it’s always time to stash money aside, as a kind of religious devotion. One other bit: like many companies, you’re likely to have one profitable product. For you, fortunately, that something is likely to be a direct, tangible benefit to the people who take advantage of what you offer. Put some energy into that every day and you will have something that produces for you on a dependable basis. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Scopes

“I can’t imagine what I could ever suggest that could make your readings any more relevant or spot on than they already are. You are truly performing your true purpose during your sojourn here on earth, sharing your insights with the rest of us.”

— Cancer reader Lyn Quitslund

Eric asked our Cancer readers what they’d like to hear about in the forthcoming Cancer Birthday Reading. And we’re listening.

Questions of finding balance, clarity and focus are prominent for many. Especially career questions and transitions: doing something for the passion of it, rather than the money; feeling lost at sea, burned out or blocked; finally feeling ready to take a risk and move forward with a dream. Some are struggling to juggle and prioritize more opportunities than they know what to do with. What is the best path?

Your 2016-17 Reading — truly an illumination kit — will cover these topics of focus and career, but also much more. In two segments of audio plus a video tarot reading and summary, Eric will explain what the astrology describes for such topics as your sexual relationships, spiritual healing, home and sense of identity.

Remember, when you pre-order this reading — for yourself or as a gift — you secure the lowest pre-publication price.

 

Cancer

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Adjust to your physical surroundings as a conscious act. Notice your environment. Feel the heat for a moment before you flip on the air conditioning. Notice who is in a room when you walk in, and notice how air in the room smells. Notice how you feel. This is about being fully present where you are. If you can do that, you are likely to notice how supportive your environment is. Life is offering you a lot right now. You will experience that abundance and that support by harmonizing with your surroundings. That means being open and receptive to who and what is around you. Feel the natural tides of life and move with them. The result will be emphasizing the beauty of existence over and above any one task or goal. This, in turn, will make the things you do more meaningful. You have equally abundant opportunity for creativity, achievement and worldly success, though that is dependent entirely on your ability to tune in and see opportunities that other people would miss or misunderstand. It’s likely that your highest and most cherished goals involve things that have not been done before, or which are at least rare enough to find. This will require invoking calm focus and expanding your mind enough to embrace the unusual and the unlikely. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Leo

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Imagine a famous person who is really an introvert. It seems like a contradiction because so many people know their name and face. This is a fair description of you right now. You have a lavishly enterprising outer life, and yet you are an inwardly focused person; you must pull in and find a home within yourself. This is not optional; one way or another, it’s going to happen, so you may as well make some choices that work for you and give yourself all the space and time you need away from your usual activities. This will remind you what a private person you are. You might wonder how you engage in so much activity with so many people, and with so little time and space for yourself. Those are good questions and they are worth asking, and answering to the extent that you can. Your astrology, however, is encouraging you to take a more reflective view of life for a while. That means making fewer plans, not more of them. If you do make plans, such as to travel or take time off, minimize activity and give yourself plenty of time to sit on the porch and stare at the water or at some trees. This is not any kind of permanent state. Rather, you’re gathering your strength and awareness for the next stage of your journey, soon to arrive. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Virgo

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Relax and feel appreciated. This is not easy for you, since you’re prone to doubt and rarely cut yourself any slack. Now would be a good time, actually. You know you’re in this moment where you must grow into a new form, even though it requires stretching. Depending on your psychological constitution and your life experience, this might be a significant challenge. It will help if you invoke the flexible quality of Virgo rather than the stubborn quality. It will help if you practice opening up in the face of feeling overwhelmed, rather than shutting down or resisting. There are two factors in your sign currently, and it’s rare to have them together. One is the North Node, which can feel like a magnetic pull toward a form of growth that you don’t necessarily trust. The other is Jupiter, which is making it necessary for you to fully engage with your relationships in a way that’s different from normal. You are experiencing increased sensitivity, and the seemingly external influences (mostly coming from your opposite sign Pisces) are unusually potent. Yet the real movement, the real tension, is entirely internal. You are having to consent to something that also feels inevitable. You know that the gig is up on certain persistent factors in your life. Yet you’re safe following this influence. The time is right. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Libra

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — For most people this is the time of year to take it easier. For you right now, it’s the time to accomplish great things. Do your best not to be distracted by the social fashion of the season, but rather put it to good use when you do get involved. You need less recreation than you think; in the language of your chart, what you need is the satisfaction of creative achievement. Your soul is calling out for the kind of fulfillment that can only come from doing something of genuine significance, in your own opinion. You cannot fake this, because when you invest yourself in your work, you do it with your body and your soul. And that, I believe, is the thing that will give you both emotional nourishment and an opportunity to mature in the ways that you want to grow, particularly as a person of influence. Remember that your sense of contact must flow all the way through from your inspiration or drive into what you create, and how it influences people. The sign that occupies your house of career is the one usually associated with feeding people, with rearing children, and with taking care of a family. That particular sign is Cancer, and right now you have enough to feed many hungry mouths, or hungry souls. Rise to your purpose. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Scorpio

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — At long last, Mars is returning to direct motion (on June 29). To the extent that you’ve been feeling out of sorts, you can now wiggle back into alignment with yourself. Mars, however, will spend the next month covering territory in your sign where it was retrograde. You are getting similar life lessons and life experiences in a new way. There are certain factors that you have to penetrate through in layers. In truth it’s taken most of the year, perhaps longer, to do this — though you’re at that point where you must get the point. You would do well to pause asking questions and look at what is blatantly obvious. That includes how you feel. Denial only works for so long. Then something else must take over: bold honesty, imagination, love, lust or all of the above. The nature of your life must be about who you really are, and if you don’t know, then the nature of your life must be about an honest experiment. The thing about that experiment is that you don’t know the outcome. That’s the whole thing. That’s the heart of the matter. However, it’s no longer possible for you to live only with what is predictable, or in ways of life that are pallid in comparison to the passion you feel inside. This is a rare time to move in daring new directions and, presently, the odds of success are stacked your way. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Sagittarius

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You are being pulled in what feels like the direction of your destiny. Factors that might otherwise make this particular movement feel strange or alien are balanced by confidence that you really can do what you’ve set out to do. I think that the most delicate challenge is balancing your wider vision with the microscopic details required to get anything done. I would describe this as one of the most elemental factors of being born under your sign. The key, I think, is to keep context. If you find yourself getting lost in the minutiae of something, ask yourself why you’re doing it. If you find yourself having wild, brilliant visions, acknowledge them and then notice if you take the steps toward making your visions real. You have the strength, the experience and the opportunity right now to blend practicality and vision. Just remember: in the end, this is a practical affair. Your vision does not need to be grandiose or even grand in order to be genuinely useful to yourself and your community. The outcome does not need to be certain. What matters is that you engage a specific idea with specific action — and strive to change yourself just a shade more than you’re striving to change the world. Ultimately you are not accountable to anyone or anything outside yourself. Good thing, too. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Capricorn

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — While life is emphasizing relationships, and offering you so much, it’s possible that you’re feeling isolated. That’s not certain but it’s a potential that’s necessary to address, and it seems to be related to wondering what impact you have on others. What I would propose is that the thing you want is for others to have an impact on you: to be moved by them. Pluto in your sign is strongly emphasized right now, as many planets are going by in the sign Cancer, making oppositions to it. You can be sure that you’re having an influence on people: that they feel you, and want your attention. You can be sure that they notice you, even in those times when you feel invisible. The question is: are you actually moved by them? Do you let yourself be moved? By moved, I mean movement in all its forms, whether physical, psychic, emotional or metaphorical. And I mean moved in the direction of the other, in reality rather than in your head. Pluto in your sign is likely to be making you feel vulnerable, yet at the same time, not necessarily willing to express that openly. Work with your willingness. Offer the very thing you want the most. Give people a chance to trust you, by being trustworthy. Give them a chance to feel you, by feeling them. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Aquarius

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You must trust your own leadership. It’s true that when you have to take over and get the job done, not everyone is happy. But more people will be. It’s essential to recognize how much humans need and depend on leadership. Crooks and tyrants know this; it’s time for wholesome people such as yourself to figure it out. It’s time to assert a few significant goals, and rally the jamboree. Do this in a spirit of service, in the spirit of what is right and true. Offer people the good feeling of cooperation and of assisting one another, and of working for a larger purpose. Say that over and over again until everyone around you is humming it like a catchy tune. There is one thing I suggest you remember, though: a key to your success is exercising your flexibility. As one born under a fixed sign, you have to work at this regularly, and I suggest you do that at every opportunity. Every discussion is an opportunity to compromise and be accommodating. Do this in conscious, measured ways; open up the give-and-take aspect of every situation, and make sure you establish an environment where ‘negotiable’ is a working theme. If you notice someone taking advantage of you, say something sooner rather than later. Keep everything above the boards and state your goals openly. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Pisces

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — In many ways, the river of life is flowing. Mars is returning to direct motion on June 29 in your fellow water sign Scorpio (after a long retrograde, dating back to mid-April). Planets are gathering in your fellow aquatic sign Cancer. There already was plenty happening in your sign. Planets in water signs are good for Pisces, which otherwise can feel like, well, a fish out of water. Now, the thing to do is swim. Send out your dolphin sonar and listen for the return signal. Yes, the oceans are large and potentially perilous, though you have the power to get wherever you want to be. In addition to all this water energy, there is the picture of some form of direct contact in your solar chart (illustrated by Jupiter in Virgo), which feels like empathy and the ability to identify with the experience of another person. You don’t have to worry about ‘losing’ your identity; rather, you can only gain from this situation, because you’ll be exposed to ideas and experiences that will compliment what you already have going on. Life is a creative experiment, or it’s very little at all. Circumstances this month will call you out of your old routines, into new ways of expressing yourself. Take the time to explore. Take the time to remember who you are and what you want. Let one good thing lead to another. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

22 thoughts on “Uranus, Eris and the Riddle of the Internet

  1. Barbara Koehler

    Fascinating stuff you have made us aware of Eric, I bet it was thrilling to research this piece. Thanks to you I dug out my old chart of the last Uranus-Chiron conjunction in 1898 to see where Eris was at that time. She was at 21+ Pisces and square Neptune (ruler of Pisces) at 23+ Gemini retrograde. The Uranus Chiron conjunction at 4+ Sagittarius formed a rarely used minor aspect called a tri-decile with Eris, considered by those who study these things as a mark of deeply occult and physically transcending abilities.

    I’m noting this information because Uranus and Chiron began their cycle about 30 years before this now-ended cycle between Uranus and Eris began, and it occurred to me that there was a link between them, the two cycles. You have shown how the advent of the computer, etc. has allowed a sense of disembodiment to affect masses of individuals which is frightening in one way but, could there be a purpose in that disembodiment I wondered. When Uranus and Chiron made that conjunction the Moon in Cancer was trine Eris in Pisces who was square Neptune who rules Pisces and is exalted in Cancer. Neptune can produce a sense of disembodiment as well.

    So here’s what I’m wondering about the distressing move away from literacy, which once guided us as individuals to find ourselves, and now into a new mass consciousness. Could it have something to do with the evolution of humanity in that some of our individuality is being supplanted with a sense of unity?

    If the Moon symbolizes the Masses and their Emotions, and at the time Uranus and Chiron began their cycle (30 years before Uranus and Eris started their cycle) and the Moon (in her own sign) being quite receptive to Eris (who was greatly under the influence of Neptune), could it have been a setup (of humanity) to lead It (humanity) into the (1st) Uranus-Eris in Aries cycle?

    That Chiron-Uranus cycle had an exact opposition between Pluto in Gemini and Saturn in Sagittarius, and Pluto was at 14+ Gemini retrograde and on the ascendant of a chart set in Washington DC. Sagittarius and Gemini are associated with all things literary as well as the Internet. Jupiter and Mercury, associated with Sagittarius and Gemini, were sextile in that chart for the Chiron-Uranus conjunction of December 1, 1998. Sun and Venus at 9+ Sagittarius were square Nessus at 8+ Pisces in that chart, approximately where Nessus is today. Nessus was exactly square the U.S. Uranus in Gemini. This was one generation before the 1st Uranus-Eris conjunction in Aries.

    This kind of stuff is why I’m so hooked on cycles; they keep me up at nights just marveling at how they can connect to one another and to present events with stomach-leaping clarity. Can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed reading and learning about Eris and Uranus together again, and perhaps taking us to where Man has never gone before.
    be

  2. Dorothy Rodriguez

    Eric, I haven’t read everything yet, just skimmed over, but – I did read my horoscope (rising and moon included) and not that I’m surprised, cause you do this often, but it’s deep and genuinely accurate in many ways. You are wonderful and so gifted; thank you for being around!

  3. Barbara Koehler

    Regarding the recent Uranus-Eris conjunction at 23+ Aries, the chart for England (1/1/1801) has natal Saturn at 23+ Leo in a pleasant trine with that conjunction. Britain will survive and perhaps even thrive with Brexit. However, England also has natal Vesta (investment) at 24+ Capricorn so the new Uranus-Eris conjunction squares England’s Vesta. Should we go or should we stay England has wondered.

    I also noticed that this chart for England (UK) has Chiron at 4+ Sagittarius, the same degree as the Uranus-Chiron conjunction of 1898. In addition, England’s Moon at 19+ Cancer conjuncts the Moon at 20+ Cancer in the old Chiron-Uranus conjunction chart. The England chart’s Nessus (8+ Aries) and Pallas (7+ Aries) form a T-square with the old Chiron-Uranus chart (cycle) nodes at 8+ Capricorn (North) and 8+ Cancer (South).

    This to me seems to say that Britain/England is emotionally (Moons in Cancer) tied to the old Chiron-Uranus cycle, but is also forced to challenge the cycle’s habit of keeping it all in the family (Cancer south node) versus going global (Capricorn north node).

    As well, England’s natal Chiron (that conjuncts the degree of the Uranus-Chiron conjunction) has been pushed lately by transiting Saturn in Sagittarius, followed by transiting Mars, now retrograde but coming back to 4+ Sagittarius, creating a painful situation.

    The 1898 Chiron-Uranus conjunction chart’s Vesta (investment) at 10+ Capricorn (and only 2 degrees from its North Node) conjuncts England’s natal Sun also at 10+ Capricorn. For over 100 years this cycle has provided England a sense of healing (England’s Chiron + Uranus-Chiron degree) as well as a conscious (natal Sun) dedication (cycle’s Vesta) to the path ahead (cycle’s NN).

    What once appeared to be beneficial for the country from a financial viewpoint has been tarnished of late. England looks to be somewhat out of step with the new Uranus-Eris cycle because the country’s natal Vesta in Capricorn squares that recent conjunction, even as the old Uranus-Chiron cycle that began 117 years ago was in lockstep with England. Times have changed but the People have spoken and they are divided. It would appear then that the new Uranus-Eris conjunction – as you say – represents a point of no return.
    be

    1. puma pink

      Be… i m sharing this piece by Leah Whitehorse (never heard of until this morning) that i came upon by fluke this morning.

      ———- Honestly, I have been too scared to look at the astrology for the EU Referendum because I have such a vested interest in staying part of the EU but anyway…after a few people asked for some thoughts, I have just made a few notes below. I haven’t studied it extensively, but these are the things that stood out to me…The chart used is the 1801 chart for the United Kingdom.

      The first thing I noticed is Mars, ruler of the 7th house (partnerships) is on the cusp of the 12th house in the progressed chart. Now, we could read that many ways but I don’t think it bodes particularly well. It’s all hidden motivations, back room dealings. There’s a lot going on that we don’t know about.

      Of course I would read this in other ways for a person’s chart but still, Mars in the 12th can mean hidden enemies as well as self-sabotage (acting against our own interests). The progressed Sun is also about to square natal Mars in September so there’s a whole lot of Mars going on here – independence, fighting, anger, aggression, the struggle to assert ourselves. Mars in the 12th is also hidden anger and Mars is going to be in that part of the chart for a VERY long time to come…

      It’s fascinating too that right now, the progressed Moon is about to conjunct the progressed ASC – the Moon represents the people so that’s a real literal symbol for the people changing the face of the country…The conjunction between the Moon and the ASC will take place on the Sabian I talked about today in my cosmic tides update!

      ‘The Head Of A Robust Youth Changes Into That Of A Mature Thinker’. Hopefully, we can learn something from all of this, whatever way it goes. The prog MC is currently on ‘During A Silent Hour, A Man Receives A New Inspiration Which May Change His Life’. Let’s hope so.

      Transiting Saturn will conjunct Mercury – ruler of 9th house (overseas) in September so some kind of serious negotiations around that time where we may have restricted (Saturn), dialogue (Mercury).

      Also, what catches my eye is that transiting Pluto will oppose the Moon (the people) in 2018 – it would take around two years to leave. Pluto is a force to be reckoned with. Saturn will also conjunct the Sun that year – again, restrictive.

      Uranus transiting the 7th house generally is a separative force – we want [as a country] change in our relationships with others. But progressed Uranus will conjunct the progressed South Node in years to come in the 12th house – our ‘independence’ could be our undoing.

      The chart for the end of voting time (10pm UK time) puts Pluto on the ASC. Whatever the outcome, there is irrevocable change coming.

      —————————
      I agree with your take that Britain will thrive Brexit however, not so for its people.

      I also fully agree that the evolution of humanity is heading towards integrating unity consciousness, wanted or not.

      I marvel at how you spin the astrology light-threads Be.

      lindeelou

      Great work as always Eric

      1. Amanda Painter

        Puma Pink — do you happen to know what house system or method of progression Leah Whitehorse used for the progressed chart she cites? We’ve been bouncing around a progressed chart for the UK behind the scenes at PW, but it does not match the progressed Moon/ASC she mentions — our *progressed* chart for the UK has the Moon approaching the 9th house cusp in Gemini…

        (Leah’s description of transiting planets to the natal chart for the UK, however, match the natal chart we’re using.)

        1. Eric Francis Post author

          A — there are a lot of ways to move the ANGLES in secondary progressions; the planets are the same (day per year) but the movement of the angles changes. I use Quotidian or sometimes called Q2 method. I discovered and then researched why, they are linked to sidereal time so you get a real chart for a progressed event, meaning, the angles are not theoretical in Quotidian, they move a degree per day as the year progresses. This keeps the chart moving, it’s comprehensible and by real chart, I mean that if you have a progressed New Moon in your chart and you were in Casco, Maine as a kid, the New Moon chart cast for Casco would match the progressed New Moon to the degree, angles and all. Most other people don’t use this method or even know about it, hence, their progressions don’t match mine. When I do my article on progressions I’ll cover this topic.

      2. Barbara Koehler

        puma pink, thanks so much for sharing the above article. I’m glad she speaks about the progressed planets in the 1801 chart in her preliminary examination. Where to start at times like this is debatable and I automatically go to the natal chart. The great thing about sharing astrology on the Internet is you can get several (or many) perspectives all at one time. There is so much to consider, especially now, that it (the astrology) can overwhelm any one person.

        Only time will clarify the various clues we are picking out and studying, but I’m grateful my observation of how the Uranus-Eris conjunction (and the Uranus-Chiron cycle) affects the 1801 chart interested you enough to comment. Much appreciated!
        be

    2. Amanda Painter

      Be —

      I’m a little confused by your use of “England” in your comment. I have a chart for the Act of Union for the United Kingdom that is for Jan. 1, 1801, but the UK is more than just England. So are you referring to the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — the current whole country), or just to the England part of it?

      Thank you for clarifying!

      1. Barbara Koehler

        Amanda, I’m referring to whatever the 1/1/1801, London chart refers to. Technically, it may be Great Britain but as a child of the 40’s, London is England – be it Great Britain or just England alone. Sorry if my word usage makes a difference but the thoughts are based on 1/1/1801 London. Since the vote to leave or stay in the EU was being considered by all members and not just England, and since it seems no other chart is being discussed so far, my apologies for confusing you or anyone else.

        1. Amanda Painter

          Thank you for clarifying, Be!

          The chart that Eric sent around with the Jan. 1, 1801, date — while set for Westminster — is titled “Act of Union — UK.”

          So I would say that it is important to distinguish that it’s a chart for the union of the land bodies that currently make up the UK, rather than a chart for England, which is only one of those land bodies in the UK. 🙂 Believe me — UK natives take the names seriously!

          1. Barbara Koehler

            Well I appreciate your edification Amanda, and while I did not get my chart from Eric or this website, but rather from a Google search for London, England, details do matter in times like this. I stand corrected and will be more sensitive to this in future comments here.

            Another chart that might be revealing is dated April 12, 1927, midnight, London, as it takes into consideration the departure of most of Ireland from the Union. I’ll let you know if I find something of interest.
            be

          2. Eric Francis Post author

            Aside, there are a lot of ways to do charts of countries. The founding treaty works. For Israel, the singing of the national anthem on that day in 1945 is the chart that sings. The most recent coronation of the monarch works (we MUST check that, it’s well known), as does the inauguration of the president (in concert with some founding chart).

            In the case of the Act of Union, it’s helpful to have the time that this treaty which defines “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.” This is as opposed to the British Empire or England, both impossible to time. Amy or someone can you please dig out the chart of Lizzy’s coronation? Let’s do the Quotidian progressions on that. We might also check Lizzy herself.

  4. Amanda Moreno

    That lead article knocked me on my ass both times I read it. And I need to read it again, and then let what I’m recognizing as previously unarticulated (to me) truths settle in for a while. My response to the article is one of hopelessness, I won’t lie. But…maybe that’s part of my own personal Neptunization process that’s going on (or that’s the lens I’m currently using) — I think the subtitle of Maurice Fernandez’s Neptune book fits well here: The end of hope, the beginning of truth.

    Thanks for synthesizing what you’ve been learning. I’m particularly intrigued by the interplay between lack of context and lack of meaning, as I’ve become pretty clear that meaninglessness is a core problem in our culture. So fascinating.

    More later.

  5. Geoff Marsh

    The end of hope, the beginning of truth. Sounds like the beginning of the Aquarian age to me, Amanda.

    No need to fear this progression, the most fertile soil for hope is truth. Without truth, hope is often an illusion. With truth, it is a possibility, sometimes even a likelihood.

    The more that we know to be true, the more likely we are to benefit from that knowledge.

  6. Mary

    Eris and your delineations, Eric, have captured my interest since I first signed on here. For me, not sure where Eris falls in my chart — I’m on a library computer that does not allow connection with normal ephemeris sites (I know … what?) but, obviously Eris was in Aries. My natal mars is there, too, at 21 degrees trine my pluto and in aspect to my mercury on the ascending/Sun as well my Scorpio Moon @ 21 degrees. It’s been my sense that Eris has represented this crazy family thing where I get the role that I am assigned from my family — a role that was available and quite ill-fitting. To the extent that I had serious anger issues growing up, I’m thinking Eris helped me uncover this mystery.

    m.

  7. Greg Macdougall

    this is not anything to do with the astrology around internet and communications or anything, but just a piece on an aspect of the internet ‘puzzle’ that seems to oft be overlooked

    has to do with the ‘political economy’ of the internet, tendencies to monopolization, etc – pretty interesting and important stuff (imho – I did write this review)

    Digital revolution: ‘Digital Disconnect’ analyzes corporate control of our digital communications future
    http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2013/08/digital-revolution-digital-disconnect-analyzes-corporate-control-our-digital-c

  8. Barbara Koehler

    Amanda,
    As promised, I checked out the alternate date for the UK birth, April 12, 1927, midnight, London, which recognizes the removal of most of Ireland from the Union as a new birthday. The Sun was at 21 Aries 03.

    Reiterating the importance of the Uranus-Eris (+ Ceres) conjunction at 23+ Aries, I thought you would be interested that on this new date the Moon at 24 Leo 21 was conjunct Neptune at 24 Leo 20. The Neptune-Moon conjunction was square the same chart’s Venus at 24 Taurus 11, while also quincunx Mercury at 23 Pisces 28.

    This would place the present day Uranus-Eris conjunction in Aries in the 4th house of the 1927 UK chart and that chart’s natal Moon-Neptune conjunction in the 8th house. The present day transiting Mars at 23+ Scorpio then would (from the 1927 chart’s 12th house) square the chart’s Moon-Neptune in Leo, while opposing its Venus in Taurus and trining its Mercury in Pisces.

    I was personally fascinated with the 1927 UK chart’s T-square between its nodes (North 0+ Cancer and South 0+ Capricorn) and its Uranus at 0+ Aries. On September 9th, 2016, transiting Jupiter reaches 0+ Libra, completing a cardinal cross with this chart, which could quite well ascertain whether or not this is a valid chart for the UK.

    Furthermore, when transiting Jupiter reaches 23+ Libra it would sextile the 1927 Moon-Neptune conjunction in Leo and therefore complete a Yod when taken together with the 1927 Mercury in Pisces at the apex point. In fact, transiting Jupiter will station retrograde at 23+ Libra on February 6, 2017. Uncanny don’t you think?

    I wish I could remember the site where I got this date, but if you are interested you can google it (that’s how I got it).
    be

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