Be Yourself, No Matter What They Say

Dear Friend and Reader:

Chiron is now in Aries. Its eight-year trek through Pisces is ending, and a new era in astrological history is beginning. By any metric, the theme is individuality.

I don't mean individuality in the sense of being a member of a tribe, or a movement, or an organization, or a TIKI-torch brigade. I don't mean drinking Pepsi, which makes you different from someone who drinks Coke. This is not about something you tattoo onto your skin, but rather the cultivation of your soul.

Stains On Glass by Christine Yates.

Chiron in Aries can be summed up in two words: self-actualization.

This is usually defined as a noun, which is a thing: "the realization or fulfillment of one's talents and potentialities, especially considered as a drive or need present in everyone."

I think of it more as a verb, a process, and both a journey within oneself, and the experience of growing, and bringing what you contain outward to the world. This process and the natural impulse that drives it are often buried beneath thick blankets of denial and hazy self-awareness, lost in habit, and worn down by resistance.

Perhaps most of all, the desire to self-actualize is often sacrificed to what seems like a more primal need to conform to what others expect of you, or what you think they expect. This style of conformity is propagated in early childhood, by what Wilhelm Reich called the miniature authoritarian state, the family. Usually, curiosity is its first casualty; independent-minded people are always curious.

Why This is About Chiron in Aries

Aries is the sign related to self, to identity and to self-concept. You can take it on many different levels, from vanity to the quest for being. Part of what determines one's particular style of experiencing Aries are the planets placed there.

In many ways, Chiron is the very symbol of self-actualization. It was discovered in 1977, at the peak of what was called the Human Potential Movement. The concept "holistic" was finding its way into culture, and this is another idea represented by Chiron. Holistic means being a whole person, a meta-theme of Chiron.

The first keyword for this new planet came from its discoverer, Charles Kowal, who declared, "This thing is a maverick!" Old Samuel Maverick (1803-1870) was the rancher who refused to brand his cattle. Hence his name became synonymous with someone who refuses to conform. This turns out to be one of the most practical delineations of Chiron: people who have it prominently placed tend to stand out whether they like it or not. They're unlikely to do as told unless it suits their own purposes. If you have a prominent Chiron (which you can only tell from looking at your natal chart), you need to make peace with being different, and master the art of doing so.

Light and Smoke by Christine Yates.

Chiron is now prominently placed for everyone, hanging out near the first degree of the zodiac, called the Aries Point. The Aries Point is the location of the Sun on the day of the vernal equinox, when it enters Aries. The Aries Point's energy extends out to all of the cardinal points (the first degrees of Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, where the seasons begin); it's the big intersection between the personal and the collective.

Said another way, what happens involving the Aries Point can be multiplied over a large population, and also manifests in deeply personal ways. There can be seemingly external events with wide-scale but unusually personal impact. Waves can course through society and give the effect, or the reality, of significant change and progress.

Consider Chiron's hyper-self-awareness, its drive for distinction, and its ability to put a lens in front of anything and magnify all the details.

And Chiron often arrives with one other thing: a healing crisis. This typically happens when one makes a commitment to get well. You might think of it as the "things get worse right before they get better" phase of the process -- and it is the getting worse that many people resist, and therefore, avoid embarking on their healing journey.

Waking up to oneself, which is the only waking up there is, is not all sweetness and starlight. If you have reasons to stay asleep, awakening can be messy, though there's plenty of anticipation anxiety. One of the first things someone may have to admit is the extent of their pain and unresolved material; their still-unpacked personal baggage. It may seem easier to drag around, though this has a natural limit.

As for self-awareness, most people associate this with being self-conscious, which means feeling awkward. Thus the whole "raising awareness" thing is not necessarily a big seller, seemingly for this reason. However, like learning how to dance, do yoga, play music or write with a pencil, you must go through the awkward phase to gain some dexterity and get the rewards.

The Rage Problem

A Full Heart. Image by Christine Yates.

One situation society is facing at the moment is a rage problem. Many people are, at the least, frustrated, let down and pissed off, and many are packing some serious, unprocessed and unmanaged anger. Many are depressed, which is another way of saying angry but not giving it a voice.

Anger and rage show up in various forms, from hostility, to road rage, to domestic violence, to taking aggressive and self-righteous positions on issues, such as deporting “illegal” aliens.

Consider how many people are shot every day in the United States: that is symptomatic of anger. The police randomly shooting people is about anger, and fear. Mass shootings are about anger. So, too, is thinking you need to have a gun.

The bullying problem that we’re seeing on every level of society: there’s a good example of rage.

The mob mentality that has surfaced everywhere from the alt-right to seemingly more wholesome social causes is emblematic of deep anger. One manifestation is gender rage, which often gets a pass because it can be connected to a "good cause." Gender rage goes in many directions, though this is an especially difficult time to be a man because there's so much anger being directed at them, and no community center to hang out in. There is such a thing as misandry, which is the equivalent of misogyny, but prejudice against men.

In his classic 1988 work on recovery, Healing the Shame that Binds You, John Bradshaw describes self-righteousness as one of the most addictive drugs in existence.

Yet there seems to be little interest in either harnessing this energy and using it for something productive, or healing it. To make the commitment to heal would require first admitting one's anger, and maybe declaring a truce. Then the next step is to be introspective and consider the root of one's feelings.

There is an idea going around that the solution to everything that makes us angry is to be more angry. Yet that is like trying to smooth out the surface of water with a canoe paddle. The "blow off rage" approach is likely to make matters worse, and to further damage the trust in one another that we need to do anything positive.

Aries is ruled by the planet Mars, and has many resonances with it. Mars is a kind of omnibus planet that addresses matters of desire, assertion, aggression, anger, warfare, and other forms of violence. This summer, Mars will be retrograde in Aquarius (from June 26 to Aug. 27). This is the astrology that will dominate the summer emotionally, and it could go a few different ways.

Aquarius is the sign of groups, social patterns, cultural patterns and the technology that binds them. Aquarius is not really the public, but more a subsection of the public that includes your circle of friends and the people they know. It involves organizations and informal associations, and the social patterns that they create or enforce. Aquarius is about the rules of civilization, whether helpful or not.

Seeing Things by Christine Yates.

Mars retrograde in Aquarius looks like some kind of current running through society. Mars in Aquarius describes the individual in relationship to the groups that he or she belongs to.

In retrograde motion, Mars is likely to assert itself against the group, and retrograde would represent old issues, anti-social conduct, or unpopular views. At its best, it looks like Chiron in Aries: the willingness to be a maverick and go against the grain.

Aquarius is the sign of groups. Yet most things that we think of as groups are really something else. Only individuals can form a group. Most people have not individuated; so when they get together, that is a mass, a crowd, a mob or a collective -- but not necessarily a group. Once people have individuated, they are capable of connecting on the level of group consciousness, which is different from mass consciousness.

The Issue With Being an Individual

Asserting oneself as an individual comes with risks. There are challenges to individuation and self-actualization, which are not often mentioned by those who proffer these ideas. Being an individual means standing out: your life is your own, you make your own choices, you have your own opinions, and you do things your own way.

To do this, there is, necessarily, the ingredient of, "I don't care what others think" involved in the process. No matter how polite you are about this, it's still possible to annoy people merely by being who you are. This is why being a conformist is so popular, and why so few people express their honest opinion: they "stay out of trouble" by being quiet. That, however, is not self-actualization.

Yet responding to both Chiron in Aries and to Mars retrograde in Aquarius will call for asserting oneself, standing out, being different, and addressing the results. This takes courage, which is the opposite of conformity.

We live in times when everyone is expected to make everyone else feel safe, secure and this odd thing called comfortable. Yet this does not work together with people asserting who they are against the norms of society, or their micro-culture. We have to choose: we either welcome or tolerate difference, which means tolerating what we don't like; or everyone is expected to fall in line.

The God Particle Blooms. Image by Christine Yates.

As someone learning, growing and self-actualizing, the comfort of other people is not your business, and it cannot be a factor that hinders your progress. For example, if a person is coming out as trans, how other people feel about that is not the point. The point is they are doing what they need to do.

Within the bounds of civil conduct (acting lawfully and with basic respect of others), you are free to conduct your life as you wish. You do not have a responsibility to protect the "comfort" of others or to ensure that you don't make them "uncomfortable." You are only required to respect their rights.

Even a mainstream program like Alcoholics Anonymous teaches that you cannot control what other people feel, so there’s no point trying.

Nobody has a right to tell you who you are, what you should wear, who you should associate with, how you're supposed to act -- nor, most significantly, how you're supposed to think. But you can be sure that someone will: when someone asserts their individuality, there is almost always some pushback, and sometimes a lot.

The most important place to watch for this is in your personal relationships. Within a couple situation, one partner will often be threatened by any sign of growth or awakening consciousness in their partner. Any time the identity of one person in a relationship begins to shift, the mental structure of the relationship can be threatened. This can lead to jealous episodes.

Unless you're someone who has an agreement with your partner to grow and to honor one another's individuality, there is likely to be some flack. This can involve resistance to anything from going to community college, to having opposite-sex friends, to wanting to take a trip. People can resist when you want to deepen your spiritual path or evolve your political thinking.

This puts pressure on many people in relationships to suppress change, growth, their opinions, their deeper needs, and their desire to be an independent person.

This scenario also happens in families, where people are under all kinds of pressure: to do what their father did for a living, to be in the family business, to stay in the same town, to get married, to be straight, to not go to college -- or just to be miserable like everyone else.

Sting summed it up beautifully in the song "History Will Teach Us Nothing":

If we seek solace in the prisons of the distant past
Security in human systems we're told will always always last
Emotions are the sail and blind faith is the mast
Without the breath of real freedom we're getting nowhere fast

Or as he offered in another song: be yourself, no matter what they say.

With love,

Chiron in Aries: The Challenge of Individuating

Dear Friend and Reader:

Chiron is now in Aries, for the first time since 1977. This is about the quest for individuality in the most deeply personal way: the cultivation and growth of your soul. There are challenges associated with doing this, which I plan to address eloquently and in a way that you will find reassuring and helpful.

Eric Francis at his video desk, in Kingston, NY.

Chiron in Aries is good news for those who love learning about themselves, growing and living in a way that is fully committed to who you are. Following up on The Art of Becoming 2018 annual edition, I'm honored to offer you The Sacred Space of Self spring reading.

The Sacred Space of Self will come in the form of 12 video presentations, each approximately half an hour in length. These readings will apply to Sun sign, Moon sign and rising sign. They are offered as a package, and will interlink with and support one another. 

One topic I will focus on is the special challenge of growing and evolving when you're involved in an intimate relationship -- and your partner is not growing as fast as you are, or does not want to.

The Sacred Space of Self will cover Chiron's transition into Aries over the next nine months. I will also look back at Chiron in Pisces, which began in 2010. I will give a detailed reading of Mars retrograde in Aquarius (June 26-Aug. 27). And I will introduce Uranus entering Taurus. (NOTE: In the Midyear Reading over the summer, I'll further develop Uranus in Taurus, and give a detailed reading of Venus retrograde in Scorpio.)

Delivery is projected for the month of May. Given the complexity of the project, there's no way to give a better estimate, but May (as early as possible) seems doable.

Pricing Policy: Please Read Carefully

First, this is one purchase per household. You may share with your significant other and relatives. This reading will contain useful information for both adults and children.

Planet Waves products are introduced at the lowest price, and then we increase gradually. We are introducing all 12 signs of The Sacred Space of Self for $66, which is $5.50 per sign. Soon after, we will increase to $77, then $88, and then, right before publication, $99. Once we publish, the final price will be $111. If you want the best bargain (nearly half price), please purchase early!

The current price of $66 will be valid through Sunday night, April 22, when we will go to the next price point. Therefore, please order before Sunday night. You will then get a delivery confirmation email, which would be good to print and keep in a safe place.

You may pre-order The Sacred Space of Self here.

Thank you for your business, and for trusting me as your astrologer.

With love,

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About My Readings

My readings are warm, personal, and presented in plain talk, not astrological jargon. When I make an astrological point, I will show you using a clear illustration. In these readings, I draw upon my experience as an astrological counselor, a workshop presenter, plus extensive therapy training, and tantric work. 

More than anything, I strive to be motivational. 

Over the past 24 years of doing this work, I have developed the "solar chart" method of reading more effectively than it's ever been used before. The solar chart allows me to give readings close in detail to a personal reading, but without needing your birth data.

This allows me to bring you real astrology at a small fraction of the cost of a personal reading -- and often deliver observations and insights that might not make it into a one-on-one session.

Notably, this is the time of year when I can do a few individual readings, which you can learn more about here. Chiron in Aries and the Sun in Taurus
By Amanda Painter

Tonight, at 11:12 pm EDT (3:12 UTC Friday), the Sun enters Taurus. This happens just two days after Chiron's noteworthy move into Aries. You might be having an "interesting" week -- though having the Sun in Taurus should help you to ease back on the pace and find some solid footing.

Early sumac leaves; photo by Amanda Painter.

Part of the "interesting" factor likely comes from the fact that Mercury is still getting itself sorted out after its station direct in Aries this past Sunday.

While the planet of the mind gradually makes its way in forward apparent motion, things sometimes stay a little bumpy for a while. Often that's the result of new information leading to reversals of decisions, and new levels of insight.

In the midst of that, I hope you've taken a moment to notice some of the week's news stories, especially those that broke on Tuesday with Chiron's entrance into Aries. This is one way to gather clues about a planet's "message" in a new sign; that is, what it's trying to bring our attention to. When a planet enters Aries (or any of the cardinal signs, which also include Cancer, Libra and Capricorn) political events and news that embodies something of the current zeitgeist -- and which is personally relevant for many people -- can be very telling.

With Chiron in Aries (a sign ruled by Mars), you might think about events that include someone behaving as a "maverick," taking initiative, a sense of self, violence and war, sex drive and sex itself, motivation and assertion, how any of these themes intersect with collective and individual identity, and the question of what needs to be healed and learned from it all.

News stories that fit some of these themes include: reports on Tuesday that North and South Korea are set to announce an official end to the "war" between them (the two countries have technically been at war since the 1950-1953 Korean conflict ended with a truce -- and not a peace treaty); also on Tuesday, Starbucks announced it would close 8,000 stores on May 29 for a one-day racial bias training, after one of its employees in Philadelphia called the police on two black men there for a business meeting; and although Pres. Trump launched his airstrike on Syria on Friday and not on Tuesday, Chiron was definitely close enough to the Aries Point to be ringing that bell. Since Trump ignored opposition from his own defense secretary, James Mattis, who wanted Trump to first get congressional approval, it's also a clear image of "maverick" behavior.

Read more... The Strength of Grace, and Graceful Strength

By Amanda Painter

Chiron's ingress into Aries two days ago could bring some focus to things like fighting and athletics (thanks to Mars ruling Aries); the Sun joining Venus in Taurus tonight may well offer greater physical grace and aesthetic appreciation. A recent collaborative dance-and-movement project titled The Art of Boxing -- The Sport of Ballet marries these themes seamlessly.

As described in Dance Magazine, the collaboration was born from a serendipitous sharing of space: "St. Paul Ballet simply needed space to rehearse. The troupe found that, and so much more, at a local Minnesota boxing gym. Today, the dancers train side by side with boxers at Element Gym" -- and the two groups co-choreographed an interactive piece showcasing the grit, grace, and rituals of each discipline.

In fact, via this shared space -- with the boxers teaching the dancers some boxing, and the ballet company teaching the boxers some dance -- they discovered common ground in such things as the rigorous physical and mental training each requires, solitude, and attention to detail. Some of the cross-pollination has even affected their regular practice.

Says Element Boxing director Dalton Outlaw, "There's some different movements that I'm doing just based off of some of the moves that I've learned in ballet -- the way I coordinate it and the way that the balance is."

St. Paul Ballet's artistic director Zoé Emilie Henrot adds, "I found an inner strength in myself through boxing that I was able to then bring to my dancing."

In terms of the mission of Outlaw's boxing gym to foster community, and Henrot's interest in opening up the eyes of the ballet company (and their audiences) to question what is strength, what is art, what is sport, the collaboration seems to have succeeded -- certainly with the direct participants. With any luck, the new open-mindedness of both groups will ripple out far beyond them. It looks like it will, as the two have a vision of opening a movement space where their respective disciplines, plus others, are all offered.

Perhaps lessons about the strength inherent in grace, no matter its form -- and the graceful use of strength -- is something Chiron will be teaching us about ourselves.
This Week on Planet Waves FM Chiron in Aries, the Horoscope Hoax and Negotiating Boundaries

Dear Friend and Reader:

Here's this week's edition of Planet Waves AM/FM [play episode here], first broadcast live on Radio Kingston on Sunday night.

In addition to a discussion of Chiron in Aries through the frame of A Course in Miracles, this edition has two topics of interest: one is a discussion of how I write horoscope columns, debunking the concept that there is some kind of magic involved, and also describing the basic astrology techniques that I use and how I create the "effect" of the horoscope.

Second, in the last 45 minutes of the program, I offer a presentation on negotiating sexual boundaries. This topic is set in the context of a culture obsessed with victim-perpetrator thinking, which makes having a conversation on level ground nearly impossible; a culture where we lack proper sex education, and can hardly say the words we need to use to do this effectively; and where most sex happens drunk.

As ever, Planet Waves AM/FM is sponsored by the contributions of our listeners. Please consider making a one-time or monthly donation. These are fully tax-deductible if you're inside the U.S. Thank you for your support.

With love,

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Planet Waves Community: A Beacon in the Darkness

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Listen to Vision Quest on Live Stream

Planet Waves has an in-house music ensemble, called Vision Quest. We have a 38-hour loop of our music, which you can listen to any time. Included are finished pieces, rehearsals, live concerts, drum grooves, and spoken word recordings. I consider it a kind of musical divination. Click in randomly at different times of day and see what you discover.

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Four Winds Almanac Now Includes Daily Horoscope

Planet Waves publishes a nifty daily astrology newsletter called the Four Winds Report. Designed as a fast read arriving early in the morning, we're now trying an experiment -- we're including the daily horoscope for everyone.

Were it not for horoscopes, I wouldn't be an astrologer. It was the Patric Walker daily that convinced me there was actually something to astrology, and I got my basic education studying his column each day in the New York Post.

I pack a lot of energy into each sign's 50-word write up. Part of the value of astrology is the timing, and daily allows for precision, as well as chronicling a narrative day by day.

Your almanac also includes information about Mayan astrology (long count and short count dates), several formats of the current date (including Hebrew and Islamic), a daily birthday reading, and special discounts on products and services.

Best of all, we take no outside advertising.

Sign up free here. Monthly Horoscopes and Publishing Schedule Notes

Your extended monthly horoscopes for April were published Thursday, March 29. We published your extended monthly horoscopes for March on Thursday, Feb. 22. Please note: we normally publish the extended monthly horoscope on the first Thursday after the Sun has entered a new sign. Editor's Note: We are offering this re-print of the April Monthly Horoscope tonight because it deals directly with Chiron's ingress into Aries, which occurred on Tuesday, April 17. We will have your Monthly Horoscopes for May next Thursday, April 26.

Aries (March 20-April 19) -- You do exist. If you consider that long enough, and carefully enough, you will cause an earthquake. Much of the crisis of our society, its sickness and its violence and its obsession with identity, is all about a struggle to acknowledge existence. There are many ways to do this. Marshall McLuhan, the brilliant and infamous media theorist of the Sixties, said that identity is always established through aggression. I would say that's true, when other more elementary biological factors are missing, such as living passionately, and engaging your sexuality. Chiron is about to enter your birth sign and, after a brief phase-in, will be there for the next nine years. Along with Chiron is a potent, more recently discovered point called Salacia. Representing all things salty, you might say that Salacia offers the opportunity to grow and evolve through understanding and exploring your sexuality. When you combine this with Chiron -- which will be the case for the next few years -- you get an extended, though once-in-a-lifetime, opportunity to focus on an aspect of healing that everyone seems to understand needs emphasis, but few know how to approach. And how do you approach it? You just start; and keep reading, having conversations and exploring physically till you catch on to the rhythm. There is a world awaiting you, and the taboo is rapidly falling away. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

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Taurus Birthdays 2018: Here Comes the Sun, Taurus!

"The Taurus horoscope is so perfect, it's poetic -- but that doesn't say much -- so many of yours are, Eric."
-- Dorothy Rodriguez

Dear Friend and Reader with Taurus Sun, Rising or Moon:

Tonight, April 19, the Sun enters your sign. No matter how confusing, frustrating or surprising some of the recent astrology and events in your life have been, having the Sun in Taurus should help you to take things at your own pace and feel more like yourself -- even if you've been growing and changing in unexpected ways.

Of particular note is that when the Sun arrives in your sign, it will be in a beneficial aspect to Chiron, which just arrived in Aries earlier this week.

We have yet to get a sense of what Chiron in Aries is like, but this aspect looks like it's offering you a point of inner orientation to help you get your solar year started right.

Your upcoming 2018 Taurus Birthday Reading will flesh out the details. In the two astrology segments (at least 30 minutes each), Eric will also give you the lowdown on how to cultivate the flexibility, and openness to adventure, that Uranus -- which enters your sign in just four weeks -- will call for.

In addition to the astrology segments, you'll receive access to an extended description of your sign and last year's Taurus Birthday Reading (which you can listen to here, as an early gift) -- all of it in pro-quality audio you can download and listen to on any device, at any time, as often as you wish.

"I am listening to it again now, and there are so many more gems coming to me. Profound, deep and so thought provoking...inspired!"
-- Rhonda Benson

Even better, you'll get the best of Eric's decades of astrology experience, therapy training, and investigative curiosity -- all in accessible language. In other words, this is more than an hour of some of the most motivating, inspiring, practical, reassuring and perspective-broadening astrology coaching you can find on the internet -- personal resonance at a fraction of the cost of a personal consultation.

I hope you won't take your sweet, Taurean time in pre-ordering (I can say that because I'm a Taurus, too!). When you pre-order before the 2018 Taurus Reading is published, you secure the best value: an expert reading at its lowest price. The price increases the closer Eric gets to publishing the reading.

May the Sun shine on you and within you.

Yours & truly,

Amanda Painter

P.S. Even though all the books say Taurus likes material things, any Taurus you care about would love to receive their 2018 Birthday Reading as a gift. Remember, you can always set up your order by phone: (877) 453-8265, or (206) 567-4455 if you're calling from outside the US.

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Taurus (April 19-May 20) -- Inner awareness is a gift, and it's one you can cultivate for yourself. This month, the very search-beam of consciousness -- the minor planet Chiron -- moves into the most sensitive and, in truth, amazing angle of your solar chart: your 12th solar house, Aries. I am always amazed when I hear about the lack of personal association with the notion of inner life or inner awareness, as if the whole universe exists outside of us. You, however, are aware that your reality is mostly within you; and though at times you may feel like a hot mess (particularly in recent years, with Uranus passing through Aries), you are very much awake and alert to your existence within yourself. Chiron is going to focus this for you, and make your quest for identity feel like a natural process -- if you are willing to cooperate. People tend to cling to ideas about who they are, rather than seeking to understand what exactly they are drawing up out of the Earth, and synthesizing into the fabric of their soul. This is not a conceptual process. It's not an intellectual exercise. You are a cosmic being, co-creating yourself with the universal creative force that sustains all life. You bring your absolutely unique approach to existence. Chiron will help you let yourself grow, and let yourself shine. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link. Gemini (May 20-June 21) -- Yours is one of the most social signs. This is partly about your being willing to converse with anyone, such as gangsters, monks, fromageurs, philosophers and space aliens. Yet the more interesting thing is why you do that: you establish and stabilize your presence in the world through social means. It would be nice if everyone did that; we would have more potluck dinners and fewer school shootings. However, there is an astonishing social phobia in the world, which is fueled by an obsession with elitism that is just torturing many, many people. Psychologists have studied ingroup/outgroup phenomena for years, and that has not helped matters much. You can, however. Your healing role through the extended run of Chiron in Aries (which will last into 2027) is that of social ambassador. You are excellent at subverting absurd social rules, mainly by walking up to people and talking to them. In everything you do, you will be helping usher people through the barriers, the security checkpoints and the glass walls of our world. This is the work of a master healer; and if you don't qualify today, you will embark on that path. At the outset, consider that what benefits others benefits you -- and that the secret to your magic is self-acceptance. A fairer, more open and communicative world, without absurd social barriers, will be a much happier world. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link. Cancer (June 21-July 22) -- Chiron in Aries is the transit you've been waiting for. You will either discover your true calling or, more likely, confirm that you've been following it all along. The added factor of Chiron is one of leadership. You must be willing to be visible, and to be an example and mentor to others. And it's essential that you venture into some new territory every single day. You may not think of yourself as a pioneer, though at least you tend to be an early settler in new and unusual country. You are counted on as someone who establishes basic norms, roles and protocols, because your mind works well that way. You might think of these as family traditions. There is more, though. Chiron moving through the 10th has been described in the early literature as taking on the mantle of power. This may be subtle; it may be overt; though one thing is for sure: our world and our society needs a new concept of authority; one that is responsive to people's feelings, needs and personal gifts, and is not strictly centered on profit as its concept of the greatest good. If all this sounds appealing, the potential downside will be the need to live as if you have a TV camera trained on you at all times. In terms of your ethics, you will have zero wiggle room. You don't need much anyway. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link. Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) -- The notion of "God" or even "god" has been so abused over the centuries that it's warned many people off of their natural spiritual quest. Then, looking at things from the other direction, the notion of religion has been turned into a kind of mental virus, turning everything from Coca-Cola to the Republican Party into an act of worship. Yet you have a relationship to existence, and your sense of being and your relationship to the world depend on it. Enter Chiron into your 9th house, which is the astrological sigil of the spiritual quest. This is not about theory or armchair travel: it's about gaining experience. It's about the genuine practice of Know Thyself, seek and ye shall find, and learning as discovering that something is possible. There is an aspect to your journey that will benefit from reading and study, though I suggest you go to the old books rather than the new ones. You want literature written by authors, not marketing execs, and that never came close to the New York Times bestseller list. The way to travel places is by yourself, not with a group. You want the independence to spend three days somewhere that a group might spend three hours. Most of all, you need to seek your own understanding of reality and of existence. This is the beginning of a great adventure. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link. Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) -- Barbara Hand Clow, author of one of the original books on Chiron, said she had very few clients with Chiron in the 8th house, because they were so secretive. Now, Chiron is about to enter your 8th solar house; after a nine-month transition in, it will remain there for almost a decade, which is similar to a natal placement. One thing we can say for sure is that this will take you on a journey through the mysteries of sex, death, transformation, rebirth and money -- all usually cloaked from view or considered too taboo to discuss. Your most vital task in these years will be to practice self-disclosure. Virgo has a way of acting conspiratorially, concealing your plans till the last minute and conducting your life on a "need to know" basis, like in a spy novel. While this focuses your sense of your own power, it limits your capacity for intimacy. It has a way of isolating you, and making you seem self-centered in a way that you don't want to be. Revealing the truth of your reality, especially to the people you consider intimates, is the very essence of what will set you free. Allowing yourself to transcend any fear that might block you from doing this will help you learn how to be vulnerable; which, contrary to popular belief, is the only way to feel safe. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link. Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) -- Have you been able to make any sense at all of your relationships during the past seven years or so? There have been nonstop changes, genuinely odd people coming and going, various misadventures, and perhaps some who have stuck with you through thick and thin. With Chiron entering Aries, your mirror house of partnerships, you will soon feel drawn to engaging in a healing process where close partners are concerned. This will apply to relationships in general, and the way that you see and experience the world (all of which also count for your experience of your environment). Chiron is going to drop a lens in front of this facet of your reality, and all at once you will see what you've been missing. I propose one discovery you'll make is that you've learned things you would never give up or do over, even if it meant your life being simpler or more stable. One of the crucial things you did during this phase is a kind of unlearning of patterns and tendencies that may have ruled your life in the past. You now get to re-focus, and redesign your relationships in a way that works for you. Or, at least, you get to set some goals and boundaries, and experiment with whether the people currently in your life are interested in playing along. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link. Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) -- Work is a vital part of your life, your growth, your wellbeing and who you feel you are. This is sometimes said to be an American phenomenon, though anyone who likes going to work is extremely fortunate. Seen another way, such people are not wasting their lives -- and this is something that you of all people cannot do. Your work must be meaningful to you, and you must be the person you really are, when you're in your day job. If this does not apply to you, you can still have a good long (or maybe short) talk with yourself about what you really want to do with your precious time and your precious mind. You have a calling. There is something you want to spend your days doing. Does it pay as well as what you do now? If it does not at the beginning, there's nothing blocking your success in that regard, since you happen to be good with money. However, money is not the issue. Your ability to live with yourself is. Your ability to thrive is. Whatever you do, you will find a way to identify with it. Therefore, invest your energy into what you value, what you can be proud of, and what you can actually love. There is a word for this: Dharma, acting as if to hold the world together. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link. Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) -- You're in something of a personal renaissance. That's a beautiful thing. From the look of your solar chart, you seem open to all kinds of experiences, which you want in actual, physical form -- not in virtual form. You can afford to push your courage, and try things you never would have done, as long as you remember that life is an experiment (which I like to call an experi-o-ment, because it's about gaining experience). Now, Chiron is about to enter Aries. This is going to push the matter more than it already has been, which is quite a lot, over the past few years. If you've been living out your astrology during that time, you may have made a decision similar to my Sagittarius bandmate and music teacher Daniel Marc: you quit being the assistant manager of a little club in upstate New York, so you can play music all the time. This is the moment when your art has to take over your life. Your art is the thing you do where you stay awake and alive the whole time. Your art is where you want to keep extending your awareness, creativity and consciousness into existence, and you don't want to pull back because it gets too intense. Your art is your passion, your true erotic connection, your sense of personal quest, and validation that you're alive for a very good reason. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link. Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) -- The theme of your life these days involves understanding your family connection. Family is tribe, in the closest sense we as members of Western civilization can get to the hunter-gatherers roaming around Africa eating magic mushrooms a million years ago. You identify strongly both with family and with the concept of the tribe; though, with Chiron's arrival in Aries, you may start to question that. The thing with a tribe is that it tends to subjugate, or outright ban, too much individuality. And it would seem that the thing you want the most is to live life as a discrete being rather than as a member of a hive or collective organism. One way to do some reality testing is to consider all the things you cannot say to your family of origin or your family of choice (including your closest friends). What you cannot say may be something you've stuffed so deep under the surface, in order to conform, that you've lost track of it. If you retrieve that feeling, thought or idea, you get a little panicky about whether you'll still be acceptable to those you seemingly identify with so strongly. Pick the thing that would potentially be the most offensive, shocking or embarrassing, and imagine having a little coming-out party. Could you actually do it? Could you say what you really say, do, feel, want, or know is true? For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link. Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- Yours is somewhat famously the sign associated with inventors, inventions and technology. That's another way of saying that Aquarius is one of the signs most associated with ideas. This appears astrologically for you as Aries, the sign of identity, in your 3rd solar house of ideas. You are your ideas; you cannot help yourself. Others may think you're into abstractions and concepts for their own sake, but they are like food and water to you. Later this month, Chiron will make its first foray into Aries since the late 1960s. Your experience of life as mind as idea as invention will find a new peak and, in particular, a point of focus. Here is a clue: apart from any intellectual pursuit you may spark up, or deepen, the 3rd house is also about your community. It has its origins in describing the little cluster of homes that starts as a family farm and then becomes a hamlet and then a village. This is not community as in all the nurses of the world, or people on a Facebook group; this is the community where you can walk around, open doors and visit people face to face. It's the community that can have potluck dinners and Scrabble night or contra dancing, or a political event; that can get together and solve a vexing problem requiring the brainpower of intelligent people. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link. Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) -- Chiron has been in your sign since April 20, 2010. That was a long time ago. In a certain way, despite much other astrology going by, this one transit has been a defining factor in your life. Chiron (a not-so-minor minor planet discovered in 1977) has a way of doing that: it makes itself known, and the more you acknowledge the subject matter that it's presenting, the more productive that is. Chiron can also bring crisis (or one after the next), which would be especially possible if you were born between 1960 and 1968 and experienced your Chiron return in recent years. Yet despite any inconvenience, the role of Chiron is to help clarify and resolve the past, and to put you in contact with your deeper being. It is fair to say that in these past eight years, you have made significant discoveries about who you are. Now that Chiron is entering Aries, you're being called to invest these ideas into yourself, with full commitment. Aries is about taking action, based on what you have learned. You've been experimenting with this for a long time, since there's been no shortage of planets in Aries, going back many years. Yet Chiron's change of signs will enhance your focusing power, help you identify your priorities and, most of all, guide you to connect with the resources (both inner and outer) to make things happen. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

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