Tracking the Moon Through the Weekend

The waning Moon is currently in Libra, nearing its last quarter phase on Sunday. A Libra Moon encourages a sense of emotional balance and emphasizes a desire for accord in relationships. We are heading for a New Moon conjunct Nessus and square the lunar nodes on Sunday, Feb. 10. This will be an eclipse-like event, of which we will have more coverage next week.

At the time of this publishing, however, the Moon is opposing Eris in Aries. Note whether you experience a moment of feeling as though something within you is fighting to be recognized as separate from and equal to a relationship. Do 'self' and 'other' actually have to compete in a zero-sum game, or is there room for all of you?

Later in the evening, the Libra Moon trines Mercury and Nessus in late Aquarius. This is going to bring some harmony between your emotions and your mind, and whatever Nessus-type material you've been working through lately (see article above, and PW FM). In other words, even if you're dealing with difficult issues, your head, heart and gut will be sending you the same messages.

On Saturday, Feb. 2 at 7:01 am EST, the Moon ingresses Scorpio. A Scorpio Moon can feel at times deep and erotic, and at other times aggressive, moody and jealous. It immediately trines Mars, Neptune and Chiron in Pisces. You can expect your physical energy to mirror your emotions (and vice versa). If you can harness it all in some creative pursuit, especially one related to exploring or healing some aspect of your sexuality, you should get a green light.

The last quarter (waning) Moon is exact at 8:56 am EST Sunday Feb. 3. This is the Scorpio Moon square the Aquarius Sun, right in the middle of the signs, just after the Moon conjoins Saturn. Watch out for a sense of deadlock on some emotional issue within yourself. Moon-Saturn can alternately feel rather limited and negative, or else offer a sense of depth and responsibility. Since this is in a fixed sign, you may have to choose the latter very consciously if you start to notice the former.

Remember that the quarter Moon is a square, and squares mean tension that requires action to resolve it. When you see a solution present itself (whether for an external project, an inner emotional process or in a group dynamic) use it like a lever against a fulcrum to avoid camping out in any frustration or darker emotions that crop up. That is, 'just do it'.

Finally, the Moon ingresses Sagittarius Monday, Feb. 4, at 10:45 am EST. This is a fiery, friendly, optimistic, philosophical Moon. Don't be surprised if you feel the urge to take a new route to work or try a new restaurant for lunch on Monday and Tuesday. With this shift, we move into the Moon's last phase before the New Moon next weekend, which heralds the Chinese/Lunar New Year -- the Year of the Water Snake.




Nessus, and Mariel Hemingway

In this week's edition of Planet Waves FM, I look at the ongoing series of aspects involving the centaur planet Nessus. The next one up is Mercury conjunct Nessus on Saturday, so this is an invitation to keep the conversation going -- or to get one started.

On Friday, Venus and Mars change signs, which sets up the background of the conjunction -- there is a palpable shift in the energy happening.

In this edition, I play a segment of Amy Goodman's interview with Mariel Hemingway and Barbara Kopple, talking about their new film, Running from Crazy. This is about the suicides, substance abuse and sexual abuse in the Hemingway family. Here is Mariel's chart. Note that she is having a Nessus square and also has just had her Chiron return. I explain these transits in the program.

I also reference several articles, including Tools for the Frontier from the Daily Astrology series, an article by Amanda last week about a Nessus-like dream, and an oldie called How to Be Your Own Lover, which I read from.

Our musical guest is John Yaschur, a Planet Waves reader.




Your Monthly Horoscopes -- and our Publishing Schedule Notes

The February monthly horoscope was published Friday, Jan. 25. Inner Space for February was published Tuesday, Jan. 29. We published the January Moonshine Horoscope on Tuesday, Jan. 22. I recommend reviewing the monthly horoscope at the end of the month. Please note that the longer monthly horoscope is being incorporated into the Friday issue after the Sun has entered a new sign; a new Inner Space is still emailed on the following Tuesday.




Weekly Horoscope for Friday, Feb. 1, 2013 #936 | By Eric Francis

Our new zodiac glyphs are by Neisha Hirsch.

Mid-Aquarius Birthdays

As the Sun reaches its peak in your sign this week, Venus ingresses your sign, reminding you of something significant: live your beliefs with the full momentum of your life. This will do two things: strengthen your faith if they turn out to be worthwhile ideas, and demonstrate that it's time to change your mind if you figure out they don't work. What you're likely to discover is that your faith was well invested and that you really can push a few limits about what you will accomplish if you put that into action. There's also something about feeling safe and how you might go about that. What the astrology says is, live as if you are safe and see how that works. Safety is a feeling, and you will have that experience by creating space for it, practicing and strengthening it in your day-to-day affairs and your relationships. Your sense of belonging on the planet is not something that's given to you; it's something that you must actively create, and you can. Note to Aquarius and Aquarius Rising -- your birthday reading is ready. I go into entirely new territory from what I did in LISTEN, covering the ways in which Aquarius itself has been changing and evolving; discovering your sense of mission; opening up your inner life and relationships based on creative exploration. It's two sessions of astrology plus tarot, and an extended description of your sign. Get instant access here.

Aries (March 20-April 19) -- You may find excellent company among those others think of as strange. Let yourself be guided by intuition, instinct or the angels -- speak to whom you're guided or gravitate towards. If you have to get over a little bump of fear to do that, and to make contact, all the better. In some ways this is an exercise in trust, and you really don't have much to lose, especially in the social realm. However, in today's chilly version of society, it seems like nearly everyone has inflammations of social phobia, accentuated by the fear of what you might do in the event that something real actually happens. What you want is exactly, precisely, something real. As such, it may be a little strange, having that slightly alien feeling. That's the idea. If you're at a party, the person you want to talk to is the one with the pointy ears, the color eyes you've never seen, or the unusual scent.


Taurus (April 19-May 20) -- Your professional life continues to be the focus. If you're experiencing some form of success, this is just a hint of what is possible. But you might consider how you got here: by taking chances, by challenging your own boundaries, by deciding to have the confidence to bring up supposedly taboo subject matter, and by embracing what you think of as your opposite. There's a finesse to all of this, and for you that has a lot to do with logic. It's also associated with being able to express yourself. If you're articulate and you have some respect for the reasoning process, you can cover a lot of ground in territory that seemed impassable just the day before. There's something else here as well, which is your willingness to face your challenges directly. That willingness builds confidence in you and it's evidence of your confidence to others. What you may be discovering is that you are more cut out for leadership than you ever thought, and much of that involves being something of a pioneer on the level of ideas.


Gemini (May 20-June 21) -- You may be one of those people who is too smart to have been influenced by religion, though I would propose that you would have to be a ninja-from-birth kind of critical thinker to avoid that. If you're having any angst at all, particularly a struggle with the past or some psychological pattern, I suggest you go digging on the history of religion in your life and in your family. Getting beyond this is not merely a matter of 'mental override'. It's about understanding the ways in which you were influenced by specific ideas that influenced you -- including by the values of any atheists or agnostics in your history. You will be able to use logic to get you out of this, though it's a special kind of logic in that it involves understanding the nature of how you think and why you think that way, not merely the nature of a few specific thoughts. In the end you must have conscious faith in something; it's a matter of what, and now seems like a good time to find out.


Cancer (June 21-July 22) -- You're starting to figure out that you must have a vision for your life, though the even better news is that you're starting to get one. Sometimes this seems easy and sometimes it seems much more difficult. Recent developments are giving you a clue how much progress you've made over the past couple of years, and now you seem to be at a flashpoint. It is essential that you think in terms of what is possible, coupled with your willingness to take the steps to make it actually happen. It's also vital that you focus on cooperation with others rather than competition -- which means casting others in the role of supporter, collaborator or partner. If you allow yourself to have a bias that others are here to help you, you're more likely to think of them that way. And there's a pretty good chance it's true, so you have the odds in your favor here. Keep an eye out for the person who knows how to influence others.


Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) -- If any children or young people around you are acting strangely, look at what's in their environment, particularly their media environment. I suggest that you pay attention to this for the foreseeable future. In many ways the whole thing seems out of control -- you cannot walk into a restaurant without being pelted by five flat screen monitors. There may, however, be specific things to look for -- games, websites, applications. Nearly all films coming out of Hollywood are designed to manipulate and undermine self-esteem. Then they are impregnated with violence and images of superhuman power. I don't have kids, but if I did, with rare exceptions, I would not be taking them to the movies for the latest thriller. Don't come down like an authoritarian, though. Instead, do a survey of the media intake of the kids. Have a clue what it is. You will have a lot more influence if you can add in positive factors: books, music, recorded books and other carefully selected materials that have a purpose besides entertainment.


Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) -- Be careful what you say, and be mindful as you interpret what you hear. Take conversations slowly, especially at work -- there is significant potential for misunderstanding. It's one of those situations where the more you analyze, the less you may actually know. Meanwhile, passions are running high in your environment, so there's added potential for things to get weird. Therefore, take a minimalist approach. I would advise against trying to solve anything or fix anyone; this is a moment to adapt and lay low for a few days. It's definitely not the time to take people on their word, though it's not an especially great time to doubt them either. It's an excellent time to put most discussions on hold, sniff around for missing information and see what comes out in the wash. Resist, evade, avoid or eschew your impulse to state your opinion anywhere but in your journal -- at least till early next week. Especially at work. Meanwhile, if you're involved in a matter of personal healing, focus on the mind level first. Don't take the opinions of others too seriously, till you have your own facts correct.


Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) -- People seem to be treating you with more respect these days. It's as if they have some kind of interest in keeping you as a friend or ally, after experimenting with a diversity of other approaches to your presence. At the same time, you are starting to focus your faith in yourself, your creativity and your longterm vision for your life. The two are working together to point you in the direction of some positive outcomes -- especially in relationship situations, which have been something of a tender spot for the past year or so. It's time for you to take some new risks, and one of them is a creative orientation on your partnerships. I believe that a central question in any relationship is, what are we going to make, as opposed to what are we going to do? Making love is a good start, but I don't think it's enough. The idea is more like, what are we going to make with love? All that creative energy wants to go somewhere -- you get to decide where.


Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) -- This time of year is always a point of reorientation. The Sun is now passing across the backbone of the fixed cross, which includes your sign. The Sun is at the midpoint of Aquarius, where Venus is approaching and Mercury has just been. This is a time to clean and maintain your foundations, to repair cracks and to process through the feelings that are coming up. Note, some of these feelings are ancestral -- they involve people in your family much more than they actually involve you, though you've inherited the situation. Over the next few days, it's essential that you not indulge any self-destructive conduct. I would keep alcohol use to an extremely modest level, and I don't recommend doing anything that changes your mind or feelings anywhere but in the safety of your home. When you're speaking to anyone, if you hear yourself say anything but the truth, pause and consider why you're saying what you're saying. Your integrity is being tested. Honor that test and you will find yourself in a new place.


Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) -- Your ruling planet Jupiter stationed direct this week, which is a sign that certain wrinkles in your relationships are ironing themselves out. You may also experience a gush of subject matter coming up that was held in reserve or at bay by the retrograde, but I don't suggest you have all the conversations at once. Give things a week to unfold on their own. There's a lot of hot astrology coming up in your chart over the next week, and the potential for exaggerated emotional reactions is pretty high. So I suggest you focus on being observant, on listening and on noticing what you're feeling. Your emotions are likely to be somewhat contradictory at times, so don't expect them to make sense, or try to force them to. If you take things slowly and gently, the roots of those contradictions will make themselves known. That information will help you, though it's essential that you not come to conclusions. Rather, be happy with observations that lead you a little deeper into your understanding of yourself.


Note to Capricorn and Capricorn rising readers: Your birthday reading is ready. It's a whole new thing, separate from LISTEN, covering different subject matter. It includes two sessions of astrology, a tarot reading, an extended description of your astrological sign, the charts and spreads used in the creation of the work, as well as access to last year's reading so you can check for accuracy. You can order that here. If you're a subscriber to LISTEN, check your email later today for a reduced price offer.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) -- You may be tempted to say what you don't like, or to articulate what has hurt you -- though I suggest that you keep things positive. When you notice what you don't want, turn that into an affirmative and state what you want. I know that you have a list of things that you would rearrange if you could, and that the conduct of the human race has you confused at least half the time. The main difference between you and so many people is that you have options, and you're starting to figure this out. This is the thing to remember: No matter what you like about the world or don't like about it, you have the power to choose and the choices to choose among. If you're feeling like you're boxed in, make a list of your options. Then remind yourself that you can choose. If you have any misgivings about that, then I suggest you note that fact and see if you can figure out who you might be 'betraying' by making your own choices.


Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- Over the next few days, Mercury will be conjunct Nessus in your birth sign. This is going to focus some ideas for you, and you may become passionate about them. Let's start with Nessus, which I've been writing about frequently -- just check the Planet Waves blog for deeper information about this planet associated with healing abuse and betrayal. On one level, Nessus describes the failure of ethics that we experience, so often associated with sexuality. Your chart suggests you may find yourself feeling obsessed with resolving all that has happened to you -- other aspects are adding passionate drive to your experience of life, and a sense of immediacy. Actually what you're figuring out now has been trying to get your attention for a long time. Certain fixed ideas were getting in the way: beliefs you refused to change, an attachment to your public image and the fear of being less than perfect. These are all a ruse thrown over your fear of simply admitting what is true for you. That's the place to start. Action comes later.

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Note to Aquarius and Aquarius rising readers: Your birthday reading is ready. I cover entirely new territory from what I did in LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition. I review the ways in which Aquarius itself has been changing and evolving. I describe your process of discovering your sense of mission; of opening up your inner life; and relationships based on creative exploration first and 'commitment' second. It's two sessions of astrology plus tarot, with an extended description of your sign coming soon -- and access to last year's reading so that you can verify my accuracy. You can get instant access here.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) -- As of Friday, Mars has arrived in your sign for the first time in two years. This is bringing your passions to a boil, which were already going at a nice simmer. Everything is likely to feel more vibrant, direct and intense. Deeper truths are likely to come flowing into your awareness. People will respond to you more strongly than they usually do -- perhaps attracted, perhaps repelled. This will help you see the world in more vivid contrast. And this is your opportunity to see who and what is around you, and choose based on what you want, and what you observe to be true. You may, however, feel pushed to rush ahead; I suggest you slow down. This, I know, is challenging for someone under the influence of Mars, but the thing is, you don't really know the environment you're in, because Mars is conjunct Neptune. The only thing you can really trust is your imagination, and that, for purposes of creativity. In all matters relational, sexual and otherwise impassioned, look closely and listen carefully, including to yourself. Pause and think before you do anything you cannot reverse.