Planet Waves :: Your Monday Morning Horoscope

New York, July 23, 2017 | View as Webpage | Pre-order Your Midyear Reading
True Value

Dear Friend and Reader:

As we begin moving onward and outward from today's Leo New Moon, the astrology seems to be setting us up to consider matters of the head and the heart. Where do they intersect, and where do they seem at odds with one another? What can one teach the other, and vice versa?

The centerpiece of the week is the conjunction between the Sun and Mars in Leo, exact Wednesday at 8:57 pm EDT (00:57 UTC Thursday).

Photo by Amanda Painter.

This certainly brings the heart into the equation; though it does so in a very expressive Mars style, rather than in the more receptive mode of Venus.

Sun-Mars conjunctions (especially in a sign like Leo) are about getting active to feel good: start a project, especially something you identify with closely, and get creative.

If you're feeling insecure about something, find a constructive outlet (especially anything physical) to help channel those emotions and buffer against recklessness. There is the potential here to get a little caught up in the energy and not notice how much you're putting out there.

On either side of Sun-Mars, Venus will make a series of aspects. Venus is in Gemini currently: an emotional planet in an airy, mental sign. Venus is said to be amiable in Gemini, but not known for its depth and steadfastness. One take on these Venus aspects is that you'll be confronted with interrelated facets of yourself, some of which you might rather not face. Yet, this is all knowledge that can help you in the long run.

Venus opposite Saturn in Sagittarius, on Monday, sets up the dynamic of the desire to enjoy oneself versus one's duty to other responsibilities. Where is your pleasure-seeking at odds with your work ethic?

Venus opposite Ixion (Wednesday) brings in the question of ethics. What you say about how you feel; how you feel about what you want; what you're actually willing to do or to allow others to do; where do all of these meet? Notice if you're running two sets of values at once, depending on what's at stake or who you're relating to.

Photo by Amanda Painter.

Friday, Venus opposes centaur Pholus and the Galactic Core. Remember that Pholus represents the small cause with the big effect, while the Galactic Core can be thought of as our 'cosmic homing signal'.

How do your values and your desires align with those principles -- and with each other? All work and no play is no good for anybody; look for the point of honest, ethical negotiation.

Finally, on Saturday, Venus squares Chiron in Pisces. According to Barbara Hand Clow, this aspect is about learning a lesson in receptivity and value systems, and connecting your feelings to your "higher self" or spirituality. Coming at the end of the series of aspects that it does, this makes sense. With all of the Venus aspects involving mutable signs, adjustment -- and healing any rift you feel -- looks especially possible. So take heart.

And: use your head. Mercury moving into Virgo on Tuesday at 7:41 pm EDT (23:41 UTC) brings a dose of mental stability, logic and practicality. This should help you to guide all the Sun/Mars/Leo energy, and to find tangible pathways for any tension the Venus aspects represent.

Speaking of Mercury: before it changes sign, it enters its pre-retrograde shadow phase on Monday. This is no reason to panic. But it is a good reminder to draw up a plan to tie up any financial and contractual loose ends, and to get to work enacting it this week and next. The Sun and Mars are offering the energy to do so; with any luck, Venus will help you to identify your highest priorities.

Yours & truly,

Amanda Painter

Please help us spread the word about The Gemstone File.
Your contribution is fully tax-deductible.

Eric Francis. Photo by Jeff Bisti.

You can support our special fundraising initiative -- to fund The Gemstone File project -- by contributing to Chiron Return. We are planning an international press release next week, in six languages, to North America and Western Europe.

We also have another 25,000 pages to scan (we've already scanned and posted 153,000 document sets, so that's not so many), though some of what we have is the best of the collection.

Our intention is to make The Gemstone File available to reporters, environmental activists and organizations, attorneys representing poisoning victims, and citizens who want to learn or do investigative reporting from the kitchen table.

Your contribution will support our class by that name -- Investigative Reporting from the Kitchen Table -- which we are planning to offer free in late August, just after the total solar eclipse.

Keep an eye on Planet Waves FM -- our internet community radio station -- for more information over the next week.

Thank you for your generosity! Let's do something amazing.

Eric Francis Coppolino
Chiron Return

Just in time for the Great American Eclipse of Aug. 21, 2017, you'll have access to a helpful, excellent video astrology reading. These will be done by sign and rising sign; each reading is about half an hour. You can pre-order now for the best price: $66 for all 12 signs. The price for all 12 will gradually increase in $11 increments over the next few weeks, capping out at $111 once we publish.

I've been a devoted student of eclipses since beginning astrology. Here's some of my earlier writing, published before the grand cross and total solar eclipse of Aug. 11, 1999. These few paragraphs below will give you a feeling for just how significant eclipses are. This one is one of the most important in American history, which I've covered here.

Eclipses are astrology we can't deny. If there is a conjunction between Saturn and Uranus, it's invisible, and while many people may experience changes, only astrologers and their merry bands of readers and students know what's happening. Yet when the Sun vanishes, you can be sure that normal activity will come to a stop.

Our busy world will pause, and everyone, from shepherds in the hills of Bavaria to businessmen in London, will stand in the silent shadow of the cosmic order with the astonishment of small children coursing in their hearts.

This doesn't happen often, and you can imagine the awesome power of so many people embraced in a kind of simultaneous, captive meditation as everything around them momentarily ceases to be normal. Call it a reality lapse, only it's one into which the real reality can flow very easily.

In terms of their astrological meaning, eclipses of the Sun follow this image of collective awareness and radical break of continuity. Whether you can see the eclipse does not matter; part of the miracle of astrology is it works anyway. As many of us are discovering personally, eclipses are expanded moments of often uncontrollable, unpredictable change. They also bring the civilization and its communities together, usually through important collective events and the media.

Eclipses are evolutionary gateways, which is another way of saying that when they show up, we do a lot of growing in a short time. Delays are compensated. Old accounts can be wiped clean. While each is unique, eclipses often feel like being shot through a funnel of space-time, and we emerge somewhere different than where we entered. The key to making the best use of them is to move with the energy, not cling to anything or anyone too tightly, and to stay open.

Literally, breathe, communicate, feel, love, observe and receive. Remember your intentions. The sense of panic that sometimes accompanies them yields nicely to awareness and revelation, mental conditions that are more natural than we often realize.

Don't forget to take advantage of this special gift: Eric's Daily Horoscope can arrive in your mailbox by 7 am ET, containing great astrological guidance for all 12 signs. You can sign up with our compliments, though we welcome donations.

Your Monthly Horoscopes -- and our Publishing Schedule Notes

We published your extended monthly horoscopes for July on Thursday, June 22. Your extended monthly horoscopes for June were published on Thursday, May 25. Please note: we normally publish the extended monthly horoscope on the first Friday after the Sun has entered a new sign.

Monday Morning Horoscope for July 24, 2017 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Aries (March 20-April 19) -- People, especially younger ones, are systematically having their courage bred out of them. Older people tend to become more reserved and conservative because they think they have more to lose. Young ones have always provided a resource of willingness to try something new for its own sake. Sadly, that's being injected with a kind of psychic Botox. Your astrology is calling you in the opposite direction: to embrace the unknown with yearning, to directly enter what's unfamiliar, and to view your life as a creative experiment. This is not theoretical, but rather something you would do from day-to-day, even hour-to-hour, as a yoga of the mind. Be eager to do what you've never done. Travel back from someplace by a different route than how you got there. Contemplate how sex is the origin of all life.

You can now pre-order all 12 signs of the new Midyear Reading by Eric Francis, In the Shadow of the Moon, for the introductory price of just $66. Just in time for the Great American Eclipse of Aug. 21, 2017, Eric will record a helpful, top-quality video reading. Get your copy today.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) -- You may be feeling so much restless energy that it's scaring you. Your charts are definitely sending you a message to stay grounded in whatever connects you to the Earth, and to your body. Though you may feel like getting out of the house a lot; or if activities call you out of the house, to connect with your home base every day. That might mean preparing one meal, doing some housework for the pleasure of it, or taking a bath. The idea is to make contact with the solid ground beneath your feet and in your soul. Be cautious about getting into any conflicts with relatives or if you're in a shared living situation; make sure that you settle the matter of your psychic and physical space without being defensive. Your home is very, very important to your wellbeing right now.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) -- The essence of your learning path is to keep an open mind. Know when you don't know, which is likely anytime you think you're certain. Get into the habit of proving yourself wrong. Assume you know less than you know, even on subjects where you're considered an expert, and cycle some of your energy into finding out more. That will keep your mind open to the possibilities and ensure that you don't get stuck in a point of view, which would be all too easy right now. All certainty is potentially false; and ignorance is a synthetic product, bred entirely of the desire not to know, or not to admit the truth. You must stand boldly in between the two. Use what you know; be willing to be wrong; and make sure that all new information is subject to verification.

The astrology section of the Gemini birthday reading has been recorded, and the Tarot reading will follow soon. Order here to get instant access, whether for yourself or the Gemini you love.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) -- Money is not the only measure of value. What's far more meaningful is how you perceive your own worth, and how you go about earning the money you acquire. Are you investing your precious days in something that genuinely matters to you? Would you do what you do for no pay? These questions will help guide you to a more meaningful existence. Most people think nothing of investing their lives in activity they are doing only because they get paid. Of course, this is related to the belief that what really matters to you is not worth someone investing in. More often, though, people are disconnected from what really matters to them, which is a situation you must resolve, if it's even vaguely true for you. Find that thing that you care about, and do it as much as you can.

Eric has just recorded your 2017 Cancer Birthday Reading. Eric's birthday readings are accurate, friendly and long-lasting, and they make the perfect gift. Order your copy here.

Leo Birthdays 2017:
How Will You Shine This Year?

"Thanks for reassuring this Leo, who is having a year 'for the books'! You get to the core of things."
-- Barbara Peaslee, on a previous Leo reading

Dear Friend and Reader:

Today, one day after the Sun entered your sign, there was a special New Moon in Leo -- special, because you get another one in a month. And that second Leo New Moon will be even more special: the highly anticipated Aug. 21 total solar eclipse (in between is a partial lunar eclipse in your 'relationship sign', Aquarius).

Eclipses are unique and powerful pattern-shifting events.

Or, at least, they can be -- especially if you can get clear on what you want, set your intentions, and then get the ball rolling in your desired direction.

Working with this kind of energy is one of Eric's specialties.

And he'll be giving you the benefit of his expertise in your 2017 Leo Birthday Reading -- suitable for anyone with a Leo Sun, Leo rising or a Leo Moon. Even better, Eric will look ahead to some of the other major astrology of the year, so you'll be better able to develop whatever happens with this eclipse for months to come.

Whether you need clarity with your intimate relationships, career, self-esteem or identity, creativity, spiritual healing or family issues, you'll find ideas, encouragement, new perspectives and reassurance in this reading.

"Your work has always offered me food for thought, options to consider and clarity when needed. Thank you very much for what you do and how you present it."
-- Victoria Bouet

I hope you'll pre-order your 2017 Leo Birthday Reading soon, while it's still available for the lowest price we're offering: $33.

Eric will record the two 30-minute astrology segments first; and then a little later, you'll receive your tarot reading for the year, using the vibrant Voyager Tarot by James Wanless. As these segments are completed, the price of the reading will increase.

Welcome to a year like no other, Leo. I hope you'll be in touch to tell us what you learn over the next month or so.

Yours & truly,

Amanda Painter

P.S. If you know and love a Leo, why not send them a birthday gift that will keep giving all year? You can give the 2017 Leo Birthday Reading here.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) -- Sunday there was the first of two New Moons in your birth sign, both of which are extraordinary events, and are here to deliver a message. At this stage of your life, you have little choice but to stand in your power. This is not a state of mind or a mood; it's not a thing you do. It's a property of who you are, though perhaps the more accurate word is influence. You cannot control the world around you, and you cannot force anything to happen. But you can influence the flow of events, in ways large and small. The single most relevant thing you can do is to know what you want, and have some idea why you want it. Don't make assumptions; check yourself, verify your ideas about life, and let curiosity be your guide.

Your 2017-18 Leo Birthday Reading by Eric is now available for pre-order. This is a seminal year for Leo Sun, rising and Moon, with two New Moons in your sign, the second one a powerful solar eclipse. Make this dynamic energy work for you -- pre-order your reading today.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) -- You may feel like you're living your life for someone else, or are serving as a vehicle for their growth. That may be true, and it's a meaningful role to play; others have done this for you many times. Yet it would help if you took a broader-minded look at your situation. You're doing plenty else in the world, though on some level, it's almost always true that one's most important responsibilities involve serving others. Still, you seem to keep encountering a persistent mystery about your role, purpose or the meaning of your life. To answer this riddle only requires that you be a little more courageous, and a lot more honest with yourself. If you find yourself being passive or ambivalent, turn up your courage and honesty. You don't impress anyone by being meek and mild, and you don't help yourself, either.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) -- It's time to step into a more public role, though the chances are that without doing much, circumstances will call you there. Your challenge will be minimizing conflict and controversy, and knowing how to deal with it when it happens. First, I suggest you only be as public as you need to be, and no more. This is not the time for notoriety or influence purely for fun. Everything you say and do must be connected to a purpose, and applied with a minimalist philosophy guiding you. You're working with more mojo than you may think, and at the same time, it will be easy to get caught in the rather nasty trap of glamour. The safe and practical way to do this will be to take a conservative approach, using the right tools at the right time.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) -- Power for its own sake is always toxic, both to you and to others. With the Sun, the Moon, Mars and other planets moving across the fame and recognition angle of your chart, the thing you must focus on is accountability. The world is not encouraging this right now. It seems every day like we're in the "get away with whatever you can" Olympics. If you play that way, it will come back to bite you so fast you won't know what got you. Therefore, use your power judiciously, and stay close to the purpose of whatever system you're influencing. You must proceed with dignity at all times, even if that means cramping your usual style. It's not enough to be ethical; you must have the appearance of being so. It's not enough to be honest. You must be willingly vulnerable as well.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) -- Over the weekend, the Sun and the Moon entered your fellow fire sign Leo, which is stoking up your confidence and your sense of purpose. As a Sagittarius, you can handle this better than most. Yet, because Saturn has been in your sign for so long, you may be eager to push the edges of your newfound freedom. Ease back on your restlessness and carefully consider your possibilities. Understand that your potential can describe your future, if you take yourself seriously enough to recognize that you do, indeed, grow. You don't need to impress anyone; you don't need their permission; you do need to trust yourself. When travelers who had come thousands of miles reached the Delphic Oracle in the ancient days of Greece, they were met with the message: Know Thyself. Take that as your mantra.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) -- Sunday's Leo New Moon happened in the angle of your chart associated with deep sexual and emotional bonding -- and financial legacies, inheritances and marriage. You must treat each of these subjects separately, rather than allowing them all to merge into one thing. You will have more influence over your own life if you see each of the issues for what they are. Make no mistake, there are others who would prefer if you remained confused or, at least, so swept up in your own passion that you don't bother understanding what's really happening. You can have great fun right now, and make considerable progress in the most meaningful areas of your life; though the cost of that will be vigilance, self-awareness and maintaining clear agreements with the people around you -- especially those you find most frightening.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- There are some song lyrics I love, which come out of the Grateful Dead camp: "Stake my future on a hell of a past / looks like tomorrow is comin' on fast." That about sums up your life at the moment, and this can be a beautiful thing. Change is upon you, and it's likely to enter your experience through other people. Therefore, you must constantly distinguish between what they want and what you want. It will be too easy to get vacuumed into the desires of others without much thought on your part, and once that happens, it'll be difficult to get out of those situations. Therefore, know your own desires, and make sure they're a match for any circumstances you find yourself in. Step back or step forward according to what's appropriate, making a conscious choice one way or the other.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) -- This may be one of the most productive months of your recent life, as long as you pace yourself. It would be easy to burn yourself out on activity and even on success; you will need to moderate your level of energy output, and prioritize your tasks. Taking proper care of yourself is a top priority. If you've committed to something there's no turning back on, embrace that fact, then figure out a way to make it work for you. Remember what you've learned about leadership the past few years, and the most effective ways to take charge of your own life. You have plenty of help available, though you'll need to distinguish between situations when the presence of others makes your life easier and when it's more challenging. And know that you have far more control over timing than you may realize.

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