By Eric Francis
Weekly for Aug 27, 1999

Photo above by Neal McDonough / Luscious Photo

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Eric Francis in Central Florida

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Wild Virgo: The Mars-Chiron Conjunction

......I've been working with and hearing from an onslaught of Virgos these weeks, and it's no great mystery because it's the birthday time of this tribe -- the tribe of the Goddess, by the way, and of healing, and harvest. Virgo represents many of the best traits human beings have to offer, and not only are its natives often excellent teachers, they really have something to teach us.

......With the Sun moving through the first degrees of this sign (the third sign of Summer, what's called a mutable, earthy sign) about to square Pluto in early Sagittarius, we're in an intense and mental moment. To me, it's a perfect picture of harvest and of psychic clean-up time. Sun square Pluto works kind of like a lever, and when it works well, pops our minds to attention and focuses us on seemingly small details that can turn out to be very important for long-term survival. But this is potent medicine representing an eruption of what are normally unconscious forces. When it's not working so well, we can get caught in all kinds of obsessions. So, be aware. All I can say is get enough rest, remember to feel, and use your energy constructively. Know when you're becoming your own enemy, so you can do something different.

......But the real Sky News, in my opinion, involves a conjunction of Mars, a small and important planet called Chiron, and a meaningful asteroid called Juno. This takes place through this weekend in late Scorpio, just as all three planets make the shift into Sagittarius. We have been under intense Chiron-Juno influence all summer, as the two planets danced around in a retrograde pattern that is just now ending.

.......Keywords for Mars are: Energy, passion, anger, warrior spirit, desire and sexual prowess. Mars is most closely associated with the signs Aries, Scorpio and Capricorn.

......Keywords for Chiron are: Awareness, rapid growth, healing, visioning, transformation, holistic consciousness. Chiron is closely associated with the signs Virgo and Sagittarius.

......Keywords for Juno: Values around marriage and legal relationship, chracteristics of our desired partner, commitment, possessiveness, control, scorekeeping in relationship.

......Put the three planets together, as they will be this weekend, and you get quite a story (combine the archetypes and make up your own). The Mars-Chiron conjunction is always an excellent expression of mystic-warrior energy (a monumental one occurred in Virgo July 7, 1995). Yet add Juno, so clearly about marriage, and put it all in Scorpio, where so much happens that involves sex and relationships, and it becomes very personal, and a potentially tremendous shift of consciousness. To me, this astrology says that we have available to us a total rethinking of our values about love and sexual partnership, and of exchange in general. We can, if we want, revolt against (or however you look at it) the old structures and teachings that make people one anther's property, and turn love affairs into prisons. We can, if we want, do something about jealousy and all the vicious control that it represents. We can have relationships based on life and not on death. I think it can be summed up very nicely in one word: compersion.

......HeUh, um, heh??

......He "Compersion" is not in the dictionary, but here's a working definition -- it's the love we feel when others feel love. It's the passion we feel when others feel passion, and the sexual pleasure when others, especially our loved ones, are in their sexual pleasure. Compersion is the experience of what is beyond jealousy. It's the experience of true abundance in love, real love in an atmosphere of surrender and not clinging, and in which we have more than enough to share. ++

 

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Planet Waves Sign-by-Sign for Aug. 27, 1999
Copyright 1999 by Planet Waves Digital Media.

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ARIES (March 21-April 19)
It's often said that we need to be compromising in love, but I would suggest the opposite is true. People often define integrity on terms convenient to them, and unfair to others. We are taught to make demands where people are inclined to yield easily. Note that the compromises most people demand are often designed to protect their weaknesses, as well as their senses of lack and injury and insecurity, which are usually toxic tailings from their family history. In human ecology, this serves to contaminate the present and doom the future to the fates of the past. Somewhere, reality must set in, and I would suggest that it's the people who know how to draw lines around themselves, who know how to say no, and who are firm in their own sense of ethics that are the real pioneers.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
If you understood the extent to which you are obsessed with the past, you'd find it a lot more sensible to focus on the present. But what is sensible and what is emotionally possible are two rather different experiences. One way to view your quest is one of *finding* the present. Imagine "now" is something you have to hunt for amid the foggy ruins of time, and that *here* is only someplace you can be if you really put your feet on the ground, check your bearing and declare yourself situated. Meanwhile, it's surely possible to get the message of the past without dwelling on it, and believe me there is a message. Whether it's the one you want to hear is another story. Just remember that failure is an opinion, and often, an uneducated one.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
A series of fast progressions are stacked in the cards, presuming you deal from the top of the deck. This, I recommend, no matter what sleight of hand others may be inclined to try to fool you with, or sleight of mind, or glamorous allure. I predict more than a few pretty faces will appear in your vision, and I predict you'll have the intelligence to look deeper than the skin (their eyes would be sufficient). This weekend's stunning Full Moon across the power angles of your solar chart means people will be coming to you with all kinds of needs, desires, plans and offers, all of which are subject to question -- so ask. Meanwhile, stick to your agenda, and remember who your real friends are.

CANCER (June 21-July 22)
You are standing in the midst of considerable protection, but protection has its aggressive side. That which is being protected against sometimes needs a little pointed reminder that encroaching or invading is dangerous. Remember that you have powerful allies, and are as well-positioned to strike with force as you are to respond with compassion when reasonable offers are presented. Meanwhile, I suggest you not make any threats, simply act decisively, and don't remove your eyes from the action. Given the best possible circumstances indicated by the current stellar configuration, you can put your adversaries to work for you, and can maneuver your way to a whole new level of reality and place of power.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)
The Full Moon this weekend should be bringing to light a taste of the real meaning of the total solar eclipse two weeks ago. While the full effects will take a year or more to manifest, sign posts will mark your way, and this is one of them, if you will pay attention to what your inner voices and outer experiences are telling you -- and they are telling you quite a bit. Human consciousness resides within layers of denial, desire, resentment and confusion, yet in the middle of these things, you can be as aware of your real process of growth, maturing and creative exploration as you want. Notice how solid you really are. Notice what you really have. Pay attention to what others are now offering. It's probably real.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
Please do not mistake the power, charisma or success of others as forces that are in some way competing with you. Enormous gains are possible now in many areas of your life, and this particular birthday invokes a year of unusual cooperation with the world around you, freeing you from many annoying limitations and blocked opportunities. Your way is open, and opening wider. Yet the opportunity to cooperate and collaborate means you will need to see yourself as the equal of the people around you, claiming your position as someone of clear intentions, and taking actual initiative. Let people know that you are prepared to use your power, take steps to enlist their support, and don't be too surprised when they respond favorably.

LIBRA (Sep. 23-Oct. 22)
Maintaining a sense of proportion between what you know is possible and what you're aware is practical will serve you well these weeks. Unusual and tempting opportunities will continue to present themselves, though you may be feeling distinct limits on your energy, and would be wise to hold off on making too many new commitments. Instead, I suggest you make commitments to explore the possibilities. Given your talent and your very real potential, the promise to take a month and investigate your own interests in something, and to consider the credibility of any potential partners, will be more than adequate for everyone.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
So often, you play the role of a weak person when you're really in a position of strength, and play the role of a powerful person when you're feeling weak and compromised. It may not be obvious the extent to which this split mind weakens your resolve and reinforces old, false ideas about yourself, and blocks your true awareness, especially when you try to have relationships. Though you are loathe to openly reveal your vulnerabilities, I suggest you practice admitting you are weak when you are feeling that way, admit that you're wrong when you notice it, and act from your strength and clarity when you know you're really there.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21)
Years ago I made up a button that said "Ignore Fear," and every now and then I find one stuck on somebody's wall or American flag. For you, for these weeks, I rescind that imperative, for now you will benefit greatly from listening to your fear. Part of that fear involves the nature of power, the use of which can harm us as well as it can hurt us, but your opportunity to make your very positive mark on the world is too great now to back down from your rightful authority, and you know that people are watching. But note carefully the nature and content of the fears that percolate through your dreams and background thoughts. Trace them to the angry memories they represent, vent the pressure and drain the toxins, and you'll find yourself on an unusual path of freedom and clarity.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
The associations of your sign are deeply involved with the past and tradition. But the past currently consists of wreckage, or at best, difficult lessons, and the great traditions are all corrupted, so to hold onto either is to remain lodged in structures of negativity. Yet you've learned well, and your values are well tested, and you have every reason to be confident that this is the moment you'll have the strength and resolve to begin moving in your own direction. It's currently very difficult for people to interfere with you, no matter how jarring or competitive recent events may have been. Take your time, take your space and go your own way.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 19-Feb. 18)
Whatever you lost in the way of relationships in the wake of this month's total solar eclipse was not a loss, as far as I can tell. In this particular moment of rapid change, we need to be very practiced in the art of letting go of people without a lot of fuss when they are ready to move on, or when we are ready to move on. There is a frontier on the scale of Alaska in the realm of your relationships, though exploring frontiers requires the desire and the guts to venture into places that are unfamiliar, as well as potentially dangerous, and a little scary. Yet there are real rewards.

PISCES (Feb. 19-Mar. 20)
Many people have a kind of policy of "not having sex with their friends." As a direct result, they often end up in bed with their enemies. This sets up an energy pattern in the life of bringing disloyal people close to us, which fits many other patterns of handing our power over to those whose interests directly conflict with our own, including in business and so-called friendship. And how we handle sex sets the pattern. I suggest you look closely at the connections here, and use your considerable power to break any lingering deadlocks in your life, deepen your contact with people with whom you share your deepest values, and move on from the rest.

For the Faithful
Every time I hear the words "spiritual sex," my stomach turns and the hair on my head stands up, which is a pretty funny sight. After about twenty years of ignoring sex entirely, the "new age," which, believe it or not, is an actual consciousness movement with substantial influence, decided sex would be okay as long as it was preceded by a little ceremony and followed certain positions described in a book of alleged Taoist practices. This, cousins, is as Catholic as First Holy Communion. Sex, almost across the cultures, is contaminated by issues of control, profit, scandal, disease, secrecy, jealousy and guilt. If you want good sex, try it without these seven deadly sins. Remember, lust ain't one of them.

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