Planet Waves for August 2004

By ERIC FRANCIS

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Your sense of duty and service may collide with an urgent necessity to do things your own way, in your own time. It may be that the line between art and work is not caring what others think, and in that respect, your work now has the power to rise to the level of true creative passion. It's pretty much inevitable that this will take a toll on your mind and body, so I suggest you remember the ways you can best take care of yourself and actually do them. Yet it would appear that the more significant test of the next few weeks is learning how not to argue. In doing so, you merely devalue what's most important to you, and consume precious time and energy. Arguments begin inside us, as the process of rationalizing our actions. The key to tapping your hottest fire is letting it speak for itself; passion is blameless, and does not need a lawyer.

Taurus (April 19-May 20)

Pay attention to what you fear most, and feel free to count that possibility out. That being said, this month's aspects find you in an extraordinarily sensitive relationship to your past. It would seem you're struggling with the danger of letting something go, while you know letting go is absolutely essential to your forward progress. If you view the issue directly, you could simply say the past is over, period. There is a gentler way out of the paradox, which is to approach it indirectly. For example, stay close to your sensitivity without considering what, exactly, you're so sensitive to. Whatever may be the outer circumstances of your life, you're experiencing existence within your own heart and mind, and that experience is growing deeper by the hour. As for time: this is a far longer story than you've imagined: at minimum, a century old, and at longest, the story of humanity we are struggling to change.

Gemini (May 20-June 21)

The trick will be feeling at home in your own home, and if you find that you cannot, finding out why. It looks as if some mystery guest has showed up, and the question (as always, but I tend to be over-cautious) is, "friend, or foe?" That one should always be obvious; I don't think there's terribly much room for gray area with this particular issue. In any event, regardless of any potentially fictitious scenarios presented to you by horoscope columns, pay attention to who comes into your house. You have many preoccupations at the moment, and most of them should be directed inside your front door. You could do a lot to make your space be exactly as you want it, and I suggest you start with the kitchen. The second place to get clear is where you work. There is something developing in that department, and it needs a nice organized place to run around.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Brilliant plans often benefit from revision. This is less a matter of opinion and more a matter of timing; the best course of action you can take at the moment is to review your recent work, reconsider your designs, and see where things fit together. Let decisions be preliminary. Just get used to the whole work-in-progress state of affairs for now. It is the state of temporary uncertainty that will lead to the certainty you are seeking. When I say certainty, I speak mainly of an encounter with an idea you really believe in. But such must seek you, and not you it -- and it will, sooner than you think. Meanwhile I suggest coasting for a while as regards new projects, and keep your focus on people. They're a lot more interesting, and you're bound to meet one or two who really give you something to think about -- if you take the time.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23)

It is never much fun trying to ascertain the meaning of life in pennies, but I do suggest you keep a close eye on your funds this month. Money is one of your most astute areas of natural intelligence, so put it to work and you'll come out way ahead of the game. Yet with those details taken care of and thus removed from the list of potential worries, you can focus your attention on the emotional mystery that underlies your entire life. This mystery is not a problem to solve, but rather a foundation to build on. All great stories are built on a question. This one goes back to a time further than you have ever reckoned, to people you have never thought of, but whose blood runs in your veins. Mysteries draw power from standing unanswered. Let this one touch the waters of your deepest heart, deep below the torrents of mind.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)

If you feel the situation slipping out of control, remember there are greater virtues. Much of the craft of living involves turning bad scenes to good, rendering nourishment from destruction, life and fruition from fear. Though at times one must resolve to let the dice fall, because they will fall. Nobody knows where, and there is no cheating possible. If you're sick of your life being a game of chance, you must always use the right talent for the job. In this case, reason and intelligence will serve you fine, especially if you remember where you made your worst mistakes in the past. If, however, you're on a quest to expose your passion, your anger or your creative drive, then you must throw all other progress to the fates and surrender to a force that feels larger than you -- even if it is not, because it is merely part of you.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)

You're emerging from an unusual transition, signified and most likely created by the strange and awesome planetary movements of the past few months. This particular moment of high summer is a point of commencement for you, not an ending. The ending has come and gone; you have been living in limbo, which is hardly a thrill, though it's offered you enough space to sort out your thoughts and gain some perspective. The coming weeks are a time to make the first of a series of decisions that will set your feet firmly on your new journey. The associated feeling may be akin to waking up and noticing you're alive, or possessed with the sense that your soul has suddenly flooded into your body. Has it really? Has it not? How else do you account for this odd new sense of being connected to yourself, and the wisdom that this is worth any cost?

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)

If you measure your success against your popularity, you'll come up far shorter than if you make no measurements at all. Think of your greatest professional triumph as a process of peeling back the layers of what obscures your true being. Allow the sense that you are being seen -- which you are, it is true -- guide you to a greater depth of revealing yourself, your ideas, your poetry and even your raw intensity. Have you not figured out that this is why you are so well loved, even if people have their misgivings at times? It's not your job to make everyone comfortable. It's merely to be real. True art is a matter of existence, not of product, and there are phases when you must exist in a form that you can neither perceive accurately, nor understand. In this time when so much is possible, remember that you don't have what it takes; you are what it takes.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

If your charts reveal anything this month, it is wild faith in the face of petty adversity that it feels really good to overcome. Just don't ignore small problems. Some will have a tendency to nag you quietly until they suddenly magnify, and this would get in the way of your plans and projects no matter how bold, fortunate or creative you are, and those three factors happen to be running hot. So, stating this more clearly: big good stuff is in the works and the only thing that can stop progress is if you neglect certain matters that happen to involve partnership and money. On this note, those with whom you are doing business are in fact the ones with the cash, no matter what they say. You are the one with the talent and the minor obsession with poor self-esteem that can resolve itself very efficiently if you trust luck only enough to trust your brain.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)

You cannot judge meetings or the unusual relationship experiences you encounter this month as 'good' or 'bad'. They are likely to have a two-edged quality that will call for some extra mindfulness, yet the possibilities that exist within these meetings offer unusual depth and potential for growth. That is their pleasure, that is their meaning and that is their gift to you. You don't need to worry whether you are getting through to someone; you are, because you understand, from a deep place based on internal references, what it means to exist in a condition of enforced emotional growth. You understand what it means to have been pushed to maturity beyond your years. By your awareness alone you have the ability to lighten the burden of someone close to you. There is nothing you must do, nothing you must say: if you merely listen and understand, the world will move, just enough.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)

I trust that by now you see that faith has its rewards, and that these do not come as some promise long awaiting, but rather as immediate peace of mind, of clarity and of freedom from care. Faith changes your orientation to the world, and thus your relationship to everything and everyone. The story of the past seasons has been about embodying faith despite your many reasons to give up, to falter, to forget. One by one, those reasons have fallen into the stream of water that at once nourishes and cleanses your perceptions while pouring through your soul. Feel that movement and hear the rushing, eternal sound of freedom from your own pain from moment to moment. And when you look at someone outside yourself and glance at eternal beauty reflected in their face, remind yourself that it's not merely that person's eyes that are so clear, but rather your sight of them.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)

Fear or confusion others may experience is not betrayal, even if you can offer no solace. Your stability is more than enough of a gift. One of the great soul missions of a Pisces is to discern your existence from that of others around you. See the whole dance of creation in the greatest possible context, so you don't take it as personally as you otherwise might. You know so much, yet where others are concerned, there are limits to your power; there must be, if others are to have any semblance of freedom. People make their choices, and you're wise to offer the benefit of the doubt. You can afford to, because you have time, because you have the benefits of experience, and because you've finally gained some perspective on the essence of your own growth process. That means you can live but your life, and none other.


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2004 Annual Horoscope Pages

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