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A Little More of Everything

Dear Friend and Reader:

First, for those following the George Zimmerman trial and wondering how he was acquitted, I've covered that in this week's edition of Planet Waves FM. While I look at some of the astrology associated with the verdict, mostly I provide a legal analysis. In the same podcast I also cover the astrology that I'm about to describe in an easy-to-follow audio presentation.

Photo by Chelsea from her recent visit to Iceland.

We are in one of those concentrated moments that's in tune with the 2012-era theme of everything all at once. In truth, it's a spectacular moment, featuring some of the most passionate astrology I've ever seen. At the same time, the next few days call for proceeding with awareness and precision, doing your best not to over-react, and being clear with others. Don't assume they understand you, or that your message has come across.

Politely verify everything, which also includes verifying how your words match with your feelings and your intentions. Because we're in a grand water trine, that's a reminder to guide yourself away from unhealthy or obsessive emotions if you encounter them. The grand trine will have a way of multiplying what you're feeling, so do your best to emphasize the positive, to nourish yourself and to feel good.

Along these lines, most of the United States is in a massive heat wave. Drink water. Pepsi is not water. Smart Water is not water. Coffee is not water. Tea is not water. Juice is really not water. Only water is water.

The main event, the one that we're most likely to be feeling, is Mercury stationing direct in Cancer on Saturday, July 20. Mercury has been retrograde since June 26. That was about three weeks ago. I know it simultaneously seems like a lot longer and like it was five minutes ago.

All the usual cautions apply: pay attention when handling technology and finances; avoid signing agreements till at least Tuesday if possible. The thing that is shifting is how you feel about what you may be committing to.

The real benefits of this event are emotional and intuitive. The Mercury station provides an opportunity to solve anything that seems like a persistent problem, though from an entirely new point of view.

Photo by Chelsea.

Remember that there is an emotional angle to everything; resistance will be best met on the level of feelings, which is to say, gently.

The really beautiful thing about this Mercury station (change of directions) is that it's happening in an exact trine to Chiron in Pisces. This opens up the flow of feelings, ideas and communications.

Mercury usually moves quickly; that is its specialty. The exception is during a station, when for a couple of days it slows down to the speed of an outer planet, thereby gaining emphasis and power. In this case that strength is enhanced and focused by the spiritual healing properties of Chiron, which will open the way to a real conversation about what you feel, what you need, what is influencing your life, and anything else that is deep and challenging to discuss.

There's an ease factor in this trine, which offers encouragement to actually open your mouth and speak, and open your ears and listen. Most of all, listen to yourself. This is astrology approaching a description of perfect intuition. In the style of Pisces and the water signs, let it percolate; feel what you discover. Let your learning process be a full-spectrum experience. Notice the meeting place of your mental knowledge and your intuitive or spiritual knowledge.

We then have a series of planetary sign changes. On Saturday, an important asteroid called Pallas Athene changes signs into Cancer. Monday, Venus changes signs to Virgo. These are two more changes that combine emotional and mental levels of intelligence. That is the theme of the weekend, and it comes up many different ways.

Venus in Virgo is a reminder that there's no such thing as purity. If you're not a virgin, don't try to pretend you are; you are a full adult. The notion of purity throws one of the biggest wrenches into the human experience, denying the creative power that comes with a sense of uncertainty. Feelings may be messy, unpredictable, strange or interesting -- that is their nature.

The purity trap takes many forms, mostly in the intellectualizing of emotional experiences, obsession with control and the notion that sex is too messy to really deal with in a conscious way.

Photo by Chelsea.

Denial often substitutes for purity -- and it's not the answer. Focus and awareness are the answer, which would lead to conscious choosing of your experience and what you want to share.

Pallas in Cancer reminds me of a recent New York Times article claiming that university-age women are seeking sex without the emotional complications of relationships. It's like responding to the desire to nurture someone with your presence by handling them with tongs and asbestos gloves. The question to ask is, what's the appropriate degree of commitment or emotional closeness for the situation that you're in?

Then Monday at 11:56 am EDT, the Sun changes signs to Leo. This happens just a few hours before the Aquarius Full Moon, which is at 2:15 pm EDT. These events may arrive with the sensation of everything coming to a head. As part of this process, the Sun and Moon change signs within a few hours of one another. That describes a situation that may be changing rapidly, and which may be confusing in the process -- but which has a dependable outcome.

The key here is not to push your need for certainty where it's not appropriate or not possible. Know what you want, be clear what you expect from others, observe the known facts and be aware when you're missing information. Focus on relating to others in a clear way. If they are acting foggy, help the situation by drawing information out gently, without attachment to what it might reveal. Your Buddha nature is strong enough to do this.

The sky and the situations that it describes are moving quickly, so I suggest that rather than grasp for certainty, guide yourself gently and consider everything a work in process -- especially you.

Lovingly,

Note to Readers: This week's news sections, below, are by Amanda Painter and Susan Scheck with additional research by Carol van Strum. --efc


Winning -- Fractivism Style

Energy companies Hess Corp. and Newfield Exploration Co. have run out of patience, officially pulling out of gas-drilling leases in northeastern Pennsylvania and effectively ending future hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations in the area. The Delaware River Basin Commission had imposed a three-year moratorium on gas drilling in 2010 on the Marcellus Shale in the Delaware watershed, citing the need to develop regulations to protect the environment.

Filmmaker Josh Fox walks along a stream running through his property in Milanville, Pennsylvania. Photo: Michael Rubinkam/AP.

The companies sent a letter earlier this month to the Northern Wayne Property Owners Alliance, which had negotiated a master lease on behalf of more than 1,300 families and businesses. At $3,000 per acre, the landowners' group said its members received about $150 million several years ago, and another $187.5 million would have been due had the companies been able to develop gas wells.

The property owners' group has threatened to sue the commission over the moratorium.

Yet environmentalists are celebrating, for sure. Josh Fox, director of the documentary "Gasland" that graphically depicts the horrors of fracking, was overjoyed and made this statement on Facebook:

''I can't believe it and I can't stop crying. The companies that leased 80,000 acres in my township, in the upper Delaware River Basin, are LEAVING. CANCELLING ALL THE LEASES. WE ARE FREE. THANK YOU ALL, FRACTIVISTS. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THIS AMAZING VICTORY. WE WIN! AND WE WON'T STOP UNTIL WE WIN EVERYWHERE. I'm speechless. This proves that people, organized and passionate, can actually win sometimes. In the grand scheme of things, this is a small victory, but it's HUGE. It's the Upper Delaware river.''


A Neonicotinoid Correction

Last week in MONSANTO WATCH, Planet Waves mistakenly reported that Monsanto's Roundup weed killer contains a chemical in the neonicotinoid class. Roundup, introduced by Monsanto in the 1970s, is glyphosate, an enzyme-based chemical that kills plants. It has nothing to do with neonicotinoids, which kill insects, not plants.
 

Bees can be exposed to neonicotinoids at low concentrations from corn pollen and windblown soil that lands on other flowers, and are exposed to much higher concentrations from contaminated talc that escapes from seed hoppers around planting time. Photo courtesy of Purdue entomology extension.

Neonicotinoids are a widely used class of insecticide that have come under fire as one of the culprits in mass bee die-offs in North America, Europe and around the world. Other factors in what is known as "colony collapse disorder" include mites and viruses, but scientists are still struggling to understand the phenomenon better. There has been a sharp increase in bee mortality over the last ten years or so.
 
In Switzerland, for example, "50 percent of colonies were lost in the winter of 2011-12, compared with about 10 percent in a normal year," according to Peter Neumann, a biology professor who studies bee health at the University of Bern, in the New York Times article linked to above.
 
In April the European Union voted to approve a two-year neonicotinoid ban (covered by Planet Waves here, in the ECO section). The Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S. is currently reviewing its conditional registration of some neonicotinoids, due to "uncertainties about these pesticides and their potential effects on bees."
 
Companies that make neonicotinoids include Bayer CropScience in Germany and Swiss biochemical company Syngenta -- both large companies with significant lobbying power in Europe.
 
In the U.S. neonicotinoids are used on virtually all of the massive Midwestern corn crop, as well as most soybeans. There is documentation of bee deaths coinciding with corn planting in nearby fields. And since 2003, at least one neonicotinoid, clothianidin, has been widely used as a seed treatment on GM corn -- most of which is Monsanto's.
 
On July 12, 2013, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Democrat of Oregon, introduced the Save American Pollinators Act in Congress. If passed, it would suspend the use of four neonicotinoids, including the three recently suspended by the E.U., until their EPA registration review is complete.


Politics Really Does Make Strange Bedfellows

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) announced this week that it is representing nearly two dozen organizations as diverse as the Calguns Foundation (a gun ownership advocacy group), Greenpeace, Human Rights Watch, TechFreedom and the Council on American-Islamic Relations in First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles v. NSA.
 
The core of the lawsuit is that the National Security Agency's dragnet spying violates First Amendment rights, which include the freedom to associate and express political views as a group. Phone records can show what groups people belong to or are interested in, their political interests and religious ties.
 
"… [F]ear of individual exposure when participating in political debates over high-stakes issues can dissuade people from taking part," said Cindy Cohn, EFF's Legal Director.

"That's why the Supreme Court ruled in 1958 that membership lists of groups have strong First Amendment protection. Telephone records, especially complete records collected over many years, are even more invasive than membership lists, since they show casual or repeated inquiries as well as full membership."
 
The plaintiffs seek an injunction to stop the NSA's "Associational Tracking Program," which gathers and stores a staggering amount of phone records from U.S. telecommunications companies. EFF is also engaged in another long-running suit against the NSA over surveillance programs.
   
The First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles has a long history of working to protect people jeopardized by their political views, including Hollywood actors and writers blacklisted during the 1950s by McCarthyism, and refugees from Central American civil wars in the 1980s.
 
"The principles of our faith often require our church to take bold stands on controversial issues," said Rev. Rick Hoyt.


U.K. Approves Marriage Bill for Same-Sex Couples

The U.K. government's controversial Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill received Royal Assent on Wednesday and same-sex couples will now be legally entitled to marry in England and Wales. The first unions are expected to take place by summer of next year.
 

Shortly after Queen Elizabeth gave her royal stamp of approval on same-sex marriage in the U.K., this image went viral -- and Andy Borowitz had fun with the situation to great satirical effect.

Religious organizations will have to "opt in" to offering weddings, with the Church of England and Church in Wales being banned by law from doing so.

Equalities Minister Maria Miller said the passing of the bill was "clear affirmation" that "respect for each and every person is paramount, regardless of age, religion, gender, ethnicity or sexuality."

Not everyone was happy with the bill's passage, however. Conservative MP Sir Gerald Howarth, one of the bill's opponents, said it was "astonishing that a bill for which there is absolutely no mandate, against which a majority of Conservatives voted, has been bulldozed through both Houses. I think the government should think very carefully in the future if they want the support of these benches. Offending large swathes of the Conservative Party is not a good way of going about it."


A Bad Day for Slut-Shaming
 
The Daily Mail -- like other U.K. tabloids -- makes it its mission to sensationalize every baby bump, accidental panty-less crotch shot and sexual dalliance by the rich and famous. It's a media economy that runs on shame. But what happens when a tabloid target refuses to play the game by the old rules?
 

Amanda Palmer performing at Glastonbury, attention-seeking breast under cover. Photo: WENN.com.

The Daily Mail met its match recently when it rambled on about punk-cabaret singer and performance artist Amanda Palmer, after her bra rose up during her set at the famous Glastonbury Festival in June. Palmer was largely ignored by the British media, but the Daily Mail slapped her (or, rather, her anatomy) into its headline: Making a boob of herself! Amanda Palmer's breast escapes her bra as she performs on stage at Glastonbury.
 
The rag clearly had no idea who they were tangling with. Her letter to the editor -- written and performed here in three-quarter time, makes it quite clear she is perfectly happy to own all of herself with pride and creativity, no matter who happens to see it:
 
Although there are millions of people
Who will accept the cultural bar where you have it at
There are plenty of others who are perfectly willing
To see breasts in their natural habitat
I keenly anticipate your highly literate
Coverage of upcoming tours
Dear Daily Mail
Up Yours!

Could it be that with the Internet and the NSA reminding us how little is truly ‘private', we might all get to a point where our bodies and our sexuality no longer count as ‘dirty little secrets'? Really -- how much longer must it take?




No Such Thing as a Happy Period?

When Richard Neill's humorous rant about U.K. maxipad maker Bodyform appeared on its Facebook wall, claiming they lied in ads making women's periods seem all goodness and light, it received 84,000 likes. Other companies might be embarrassed -- not Bodyform. The company took it all in good fun and replied with a brilliant and hilarious video, owning up to the claim.

Yulia Kretova, brand controller for Bodyform, said: "We found Richard's post very amusing and wanted to continue the positive dialogue around periods that this generated … Breaking down the taboo around Bodyform and periods has always been a challenge, and I hope that we have started to address this."





Mercury Direct, Full Moon and the Zimmerman Verdict

In this week's edition of Planet Waves FM, I cover the intriguing astrology coming up this weekend and into Monday -- Mercury stationing direct on Saturday, followed by the Sun ingressing Leo, the Aquarius Full Moon and Mars conjunct Jupter (in other words, a lot). Then I talk about the Trayvon Martin case. Our musical guest is Jason Okamoto. Here's your link to become a member of Planet Waves FM.




Your Monthly Horoscopes -- and our Publishing Schedule Notes

The extended monthly horoscopes for July were published Friday, June 21. We published Inner Space for July on Friday, June 28. We published the Moonshine horoscopes for the Cancer New Moon Tuesday, July 2. On Tuesday, July 15, we published the Moonshine horoscopes for the Aquarius Full Moon. Please note, we normally publish the extended monthly horoscopes on the first Friday after the Sun has entered a new sign; Inner Space usually publishes the following Tuesday.




Weekly Horoscope for Friday, July 19, 2013, #959 | By Eric Francis
Aries (March 20-April 19) -- Since the last time Jupiter was in Cancer, we've become surrounded by a 'national security state', designed to defend us against enemies who don't really exist. Everything about your chart is suggesting that you consider the theme of your need to defend yourself, why you might need to do so, and against whom. What I see going on is that you're trying to integrate some aspect of yourself that you've been in denial of, some wild, expressive aspect of who you are that looks like it's been buried in your psyche despite your being an Aries. You don't need to defend yourself; I suggest that you express yourself. The question is, do you feel safe enough to do that? If you don't, the answer is not more resistance, or pushing back against anything that seems to threaten you. The way forward involves courage. It's closer than you think.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) -- Always remember: It's not really lovemaking if you fold your clothes first. As a Taurus, you have your own ways of taking risks. One involves thinking through every detail of your plan until there is absolutely no chance for spontaneity. Another involves not thinking at all. There are many spaces to explore that are far less frustrating and more fulfilling than these two polarities. At this point, it's enough to know that you want to do something, and to be aware that there's a risk involved in everything -- especially matters of the heart. Make peace with the risk factor as a conscious choice. Then it'll be easier to make contact with the creative factor: your ability to think on your feet in any situation. Trust that and you'll worry less and have considerably more fun.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) -- Keep your focus on money, but more to the point, keep your focus on what is important to you, and how it factors into every facet of your life. I am often amazed at the extent to which people omit the importance of their own values, whether in their relationships or in the work that they do. Often this is because they've been overpowered. There seems to be some matter involving the way your parents influenced not just your attitude about money but also your ability to act on what is the most meaningful to you. Mercury stationing direct this weekend looks like a revolution, where you not only throw off the influences of people who have no business running your life and could probably not care less about what you actually feel; this is a revolution driven by a discovery of your passion and the resulting drive to be free.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) -- Many planets are focused on your sign right now, painting a scene that shows you unearthing long-denied aspects of your being. The feelings involved are encrypted on some of your deepest psychological levels. They represent the very things that make contemporary people the most nervous -- our deepest desires, our fears, our needs, the pain we've denied, what we feel ashamed of and every other shade of shadow. Yet these very feelings are where we hold the power that we so often say we want to make contact with. One aspect of your astrology is magnifying all this and making it clear what you've been holding onto. Another factor is an opening for a dialog with yourself: the ability to be vividly honest. Worry not what other people might think. This is not about your relationships; it's about healing and growing into your relationship to yourself.



Leo readers: you can read a little more about your 2013-2014 birthday reading here -- or go straight to this page to take advantage of the $19.95 pre-order price. That's a savings of $10 on an hour of astrology plus a tarot reading by Eric Francis.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) -- The Sun enters your sign in grand style this year, just hours before Monday's Aquarius Full Moon. Until then you may feel like you're in some kind of psychic or emotional morass. Struggling or resisting is not going to help; I suggest you conserve your energy, find the most efficient ways to do things, then actually follow the plan. Avoid anything that seems to be taking too much effort; it'll be easier once Mercury has stationed direct (Saturday), the Sun has ingressed your sign and the Moon reaches full phase (Monday). That means planning for modest achievements until then, taking the care to analyze your methods and your approaches and to actually notice where your energy is going, where it's being wasted and where it's getting results. This is extremely valuable information.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) -- Sometimes when I write about being clear in one's communication, I forget how much people struggle to express themselves, how daring it can feel and how fogged over so many minds are. I forget how little effort many people put into listening, even when something directly impacts them. I put all this to you right now. If you want to get anywhere, you must be clear with yourself; you must be clear with others; and you must listen to what is said to you, without making up any stories in the absence of real understanding. This may require you to have extra patience, to insist that others both be clear and have patience, and that you be willing to know what is actually true for you and for others without going into any form of denial. In our world that is asking a lot. But it's not a lot if it's the only thing standing between you and progress.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) -- There is something specific on your mind. I don't reckon you've figured out what it is yet, but it's there, and it's nagging you to pay attention. Looked at one way, you're trying to keep a secret from yourself. Yet it looks like something that you dearly want to reveal -- not just to yourself but also to others. You seem right on the verge of discovery. But here is the catch. Just as fast as you discover what this thing is, you might forget, or you might decide that it's too personal or private to consider for long, or to dare even considering revealing to others. Yet that does not make it any less important, helpful or meaningful. I suggest that the moment you discover what this is, write it down. If you wake up in the middle of the night, write it down. If you're driving on the highway, stop and write it down. Then read it and elaborate and make sure that you remember.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) -- More than anything I see you struggling to have a wider perspective. If you want to do that, you need an accurate assessment of how wide or narrow your current perspective is. Since that measure is subjective, and since you're in your own mind, this is not necessarily easy to deduce. So I suggest you do a little comparison-shopping. Set aside, for a few minutes, any tendencies toward jealousy; that just gets in the way. Then consider the viewpoints of people you know for sure have a broader, deeper, more creative approach to life than you do. Consider people who apply more imagination than you do. Notice what they're doing and how they're doing it -- then consider your own life in that kind of style. If you start to feel panicky, that's a hint that you're going in the right direction.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) -- If you're going to explore your passion, your desire or your need to surrender, choose someone who is either a match for your energy or who has a lot more mojo than you do. Then, bring yourself fully into the situation. Allow yourself to participate. Set aside the approach-avoid routine, for which you're so notorious; remember how long you've waited to let go of all this energy that you're holding onto. In case you're tempted to keep holding on, I suggest you ask yourself how that's serving you -- even if that 'service' is negative. There's a long list of possibilities, and it would be excellent if you were really familiar with this material. There are many more reasons why you will be happier if you uncork the bottle and let yourself breathe, feel and spill over your brim.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) -- Are there enough influences in our society designed to make us all paranoid? I suggest you filter them out for the next few days, and invest your energy in people and activities that cultivate positive responses in you. You will need to use some discernment in order to do that, because not everyone who seems positive really is. You will be able to tell who is life-affirming by your emotional response. Yet you may also discover as you do this just how much negativity there is: how much fear, how much hostility, how much corruption. What you're faced with is a spiritual question, in particular, of how you want these things to influence you. The external factors are there. Your mission is to determine what power you have over how you respond to your environment and who and what you allow closer to you. Discernment is the key. This will require vigilance and care, and moreover, a commitment to love and life.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) --Wise old astrology books remind Aquarians to fill their urn before trying to ladle out the water to everyone else. This is spiritual healing 101 -- take care of yourself so that you can take care of others. There is some good logic to this, including the fact that when you're nourished, prepared and alert, you will be more helpful and less at risk of hurting anyone in the process of assisting or serving them. That is the message of your charts now. Get yourself oriented in your physical space, which seems to have undergone some changes lately. Make sure that you have whatever provisions you need. Get your work organized to the level where at least you know what you need to do and approximately when you need to do it. This will create some boundaries to work within. Over the next few days, make sure you take plenty of time to yourself. Set aside obligations to others. Get rest and drink water.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) --This is the boldest and most confident I've ever seen the charts for Pisces. Therefore if you're not feeling good, you need to make some adjustments, by which I mean basic adjustments. One of them is to set aside your fears. As a Pisces you're more aware than anyone that all things are possible, though at this point you can afford to consider the better possibilities and the highest potentials. The word confidence means 'with faith', and I suggest that you find that within yourself. It won't be difficult, and one success will build on another. If you're not the outgoing type, now is the time to practice that. Go to the point where you feel a little pushy or like you're winning people over with your charm and the force of your personality. Trust that your ideas probably are the best ones in the neighborhood, and remind yourself every now and then about all you've accomplished. The best is yet to come.