Planet Waves :: Your Monday Morning Horoscope

New York, March 11, 2018 | View as Webpage | Order 2018 Annual Reading | Individual Signs

There's Such a Thing as Too Much Integrity

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Dear Friend and Reader:

The outstanding aspect today is Mars square Chiron. This aspect happens just once a year in some form, and it's about your relationship to the idea of integrity. We could say that about all Mars-Chiron meetings, though the square is one of the more significant aspects describing structure and strength.

In the case of the Mars-Chiron square, that strength is often used against itself, in the form of a mentally rigid quality.

Detail from a false-color view of Mars' Marathon Valley, taken March 13, 2015. Photo courtesy of NASA and Mars Rover Opportunity.

Mars is about desire and self-assertion. Chiron is about awareness and healing. The two combine in many forms to describe how one expresses the energy of the "spiritual warrior." That's one who uses the male energy for the purpose of growth and leading events in the direction of the right thing happening.

Yet when Mars and Chiron are in a square, there can be an obsession with integrity: with doing things right, with not making mistakes, and with not expressing sexual desire because it's supposedly not spiritual to do so. This manifests as blocks, hesitancy, refusal to assert oneself, and backing off from what one wants, due to self-doubts, or the desire to maintain an image. It can represent a fixed viewpoint; and thinking you know everything and therefore not being open-minded and finding out more.

This also manifests as making your mind up in advance (such thoughts as, "I will never do that"; "I will never have sex with that person"; "I will always be this certain way"). There can be difficulty flexing and bending one's views, or seeing other possibilities.

Fortunately, both elements are in the mutable signs Sagittarius and Pisces (respectively), which implies the ability to change. Being honest helps, such as admitting what you really want. This may come through a dialog between the Mars side of the square, and the Chiron side.

Mars is conjunct the Galactic Core, and Chiron is square it. The Galactic Core offers not just the idea of spirituality but the real thing; not just the concept of the mystical, but an actual source of mystery. How about this: let every day be different from the previous one. Make friends with the unknown.

Chiron is at the end of its journey in Pisces. Today's Mars-Chiron square is the last of about 14 that have occurred between 2010 and today. When next they make this aspect in May 2019, Mars will be in Cancer and Chiron will be in Aries.

Look to Thursday's weekly edition, and the daily Four Winds Report, for information about Saturday's Pisces New Moon conjunct Chiron.

With love,
eric

Planet Waves (ISSN 1933-9135) is published each Sunday and Thursday evening in Kingston, New York, Planet Waves, Inc. Core Community membership: $197/year. Editor and Publisher: Eric Francis Coppolino. Web Developer: Anatoly Ryzhenko. Astrology Editor: Amanda Painter. Eric's Assistant: Ellen Dockery. Client Services: Amy Elliott and Victoria Emory. Technical Assistant: Emily Thing. Astrology Fact Checker: Len Wallick. Copy Editor and Fact Checker: Jessica Keet. Media Consultant: Andrew McLuhan. Music Director: Daniel Sternstein. Bass and Drums: Daniel Grimsland. Additional Research, Writing and Opinions: Cindy Ragusa and Carol van Strum.

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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.

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 New York Daily News 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.

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Dear Friend and Reader:

This is my first week after finishing The Art of Becoming readings. That was a deep experience -- one of the most full-on phases of doing Planet Waves ever.

Me with Justin Castello, son of my eternal friend and chiropractor, Angelo Castello, taken by his wife (and Justin's mom) Julia Castello. This was today, in Germantown, NY. You can take one look at me and tell I'm finished writing the annual readings -- I'm somewhere other than Kingston.

Here was the challenge: weaving extended readings, each taking three days to write, into my most hectic horoscope schedule ever -- and doing it with technical accuracy, with love, and even with some eloquence.

This reading opens up all-new territory: Saturn in Capricorn, and the Saturn-Pluto conjunction; Chiron in Aries; Uranus in Taurus; and both Venus and Mars retrograde. I have explained these transits many times, many ways, from many viewpoints.

This process called forth the Zen master, the novelist and the alchemist in me. Just the sheer volume of ideas that I had to treat with care, working on daily, weekly, monthly and annual cycles at the same time. While I was doing it, I was wondering how I was doing it. (It took a village.)

There are certain kinds of writing that can take what newspaper editors call the “get in and get out” approach.

The Art of Becoming is more like: get in, go deeper, keep going, explore that branch of the cave system, keep going deeper, come out at the Galactic Core, take a ride on Chiron, hang out with Saturn and catch my breath, consider 1992 QB1, explore the asteroid belt, investigate Venus and Mars retrograde yet again...and get out.

I did that 12 times, 12 different ways. I have cast nearly 100 astrology charts, written about 66,000 words, and invested about 144 hours into The Art of Becoming.

This is the 20th annual edition of Planet Waves. They don't get easier. They just get better, deeper, and easier to understand. They also get more beautiful -- you can visit the website here; there are many free features.

Why am I doing this?

Section of the chart I drew up for the Scorpio reading. The pencil chart is a summation of many pages of data. This one includes the Venus and Mars retrogrades, the cluster of planets entering Capricorn, and the hypothetical planet Apollon, which has begun a long trip across Scorpio.

I have experienced the elegance, the beauty and the healing power of astrology. Astonishing, mysterious things happen every day, which I can see because I have devoted so much of my life and talent to astrology.

I want everyone to be able to experience this. I want to convey that understanding to anyone who is interested. In a way that is fully accessible, that has lasting value, and that is affordable. While I do private consultations, I cannot do many. The demand is greater than the supply. Yet I am able to distill and concentrate the essence of planetary transits into written works that are accessible.

My intention is to light the way forward. Rather than predict, I do my best to describe the environment we are in.

Please do take advantage of this work. It will serve you for years, though it won't be the same reading in a year. It's designed to prepare you now, for what you are experiencing now and for the next four seasons.

The overwhelming majority of customers have invested in all 12 signs, which you can share with loved ones, relatives and housemates. It costs considerably less than most astrologers charge for a one-hour reading. You can also get individual signs.

Those on fixed incomes or experiencing financial hardship, please call (845) 481-5616 and speak to Ellen.

Thank you for being a Planet Waves customer, and for trusting me as your astrologer.

With love,
eric

PS -- your reading also comes with audio and video supplements, unique to each sign, and access to last year's amazing written readings -- The Book of Your Life.

Your Monthly Horoscopes and Publishing Schedule Notes

We published your extended monthly horoscopes for March on Thursday, Feb. 22. Your extended monthly horoscopes for February were published on Thursday, Jan. 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 March 12, 2018 | By Eric Francis Coppolino

Aries (March 20-April 19) -- If there's one solution to all problems, it is: proceed with irreverence. Make sure you notice the utterly ridiculous social conventions people are expected to follow, then do what you want. There may be some use (to others) in what seems useless (to you), and this may be about the ridiculous games people play. However, to break the rules, you must proceed in the right spirit, which would be irreverence in the spirit of reverence and respect. There's a whole tradition devoted to this approach, in the Lakota culture called the Heyoka; and, in societies more familiar to us, the Trickster. Those are the people who can get away with anything and enlighten us in the process: the South Park guys, everyone at The Onion, Stephen Colbert -- but, as Steve said, you can only pull it off when your material is good. Therefore, aspire to excellence.

Read the story behind the creation of The Art of Becoming -- your magnificent annual readings, which will help you navigate through this year's unusual, challenging astrology. Or you may visit our most beautiful website ever, which has lots of free features.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) -- You may recognize that partners or someone you love is coming from a very high place: you know they are doing work as directed by the light. This is worthy of your respect and cooperation; but more than that, your participation. You may already be directly involved, in a supporting role, as a trusted friend, as a lover, or confidant. Your contribution is more important than you may imagine, though you don't need to do more than recognize that you are indeed valued. Upcoming aspects may lead you to doubt that very fact. Don't fall for it. Proceed without any reassurance if you must, motivated purely by faith, love and respect for existence. In the kind of process we're talking about, there are not necessarily immediate rewards. But you can look around at the world and recognize that, mostly, it's in a very different state compared to the sphere that you inhabit.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) -- Your chart is the perfect blend of out and about, having fun, and the potential for serious business to come up. So, when you set foot out the door, be ready for anything. And when you're home, be open to anything, because this setup describes an intimate situation that will help you get underneath your public persona and reveal more deeply who you are. There's quite a bit of interplay between the public you and the private you. I once had a client claiming to have this situation in her life. She was a real estate broker whose face was on ads on shopping carts in all the local supermarkets. I did my best not to laugh. Your situation is more interesting than that, and much more fun. Get out into the neighborhood, ring some bells, push some buttons, and nudge your friends into having some actual fun in our all-too-stuck-up world.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) -- You seem like you're about to make contact on an important professional matter, after a good few near-hits and near-misses. Proceed slowly and carefully, checking your work as you go. Say what you mean, only considerably less. Stop and ask questions, and get whomever you're talking with to draw themselves out. If you have to slow down the movie, follow the wisdom of Kasia Urbaniak: repeat the last thing the person said to you. Don't interpret it; just repeat it, like that's just the thing to do. Then, don't make any commitment immediately. Read all the fine print in any written document, and give things a day or three. Remember: you're the one with the talent. The other guys may have the building, the lights, the seats, the box office and the tickets, but it's all useless without someone to look pretty and sing brilliantly on the stage, and that would be you.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) -- Being stuck is not an option, and freezing up and being unable to move or make a decision is not a sign of integrity. It would be better if you didn't sell it to yourself as such, or use that as a cover; if you're feeling blocked, say so. You contain all the building materials necessary to be a strong, balanced and integrated person, though flexibility is what makes any of this meaningful, or useful. That includes allowing your viewpoint to move, rather than thinking that you know something for sure. Be leery of certainty, or the feeling of absolute clarity. If you think you know for sure, set out to disprove your own theory, or at least to come up with two or more alternative possibilities. When an approach to a topic starts to feel dangerous, or like some comfort level is threatened, then you know you're on the trail.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) -- You may suddenly unravel a deep connection between your early family relationships and your adult intimate relationships. Everyone knows there's a connection, though due to various blind spots, many of them induced by insecurity, it's often difficult to see the association, much less do something with it. Here's the main thing, following the themes of your solar chart: in truth, your family is far less important than you may think, both as an early influence and as a current one. Your origins go much deeper. Your connection to source is more relevant than the psychology and politics of any household. Once you have that message in your body, it will be much easier to address the concerns of your worldly emotional affairs. Your presence is a kind of collective reference point for everyone else feeling safe. But this is not really about you; it's about something coming through you.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) -- Discussions in the early part of the week may take on a serious cast, though you can remain positive, which also includes curious. You'll give yourself an advantage if you take every opportunity to put yourself in the position of other people, and try to see the world from their point of view. You cannot do this 100%, as you cannot get into the mind and body of others; but you can, in a sense, sit in their seat, or walk a mile in their shoes. You can use your imagination and consider their concerns, feelings and complications. And you can imagine how they might see you. Just your willingness to do this will be helpful, because sometimes a little willingness is all it takes for the greater truth to come in. It always helps to listen, and in any conversation, to say, "This is what I hear you saying." Then, listen and see if anyone thinks you got it right.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) -- Jupiter has stationed retrograde in your sign, which will give you an opportunity to make some observations about the seemingly chaotic nature of your life. One thing to track is the fact that you're in a state of discovery, and that can be disruptive to what you thought you previously knew. Given the makeup of your psyche, a little shaking and quaking of the status quo is one of the more dependable ways to get through to you. To keep your mind fresh, you must question your beliefs; and to do that, you need to know what they are, and notice their effects. This is where the ripples of Jupiter retrograde, and its current aspect to Eris, will come in handy. Notice when things get a little weird, and ask yourself how and why that happened. Be observant any time one of your presumptions is challenged; for example, any time you make an incorrect guess.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) -- Mars in your sign is now conjunct the Galactic Core. It's also square Chiron, for one of the grand and glorious Sagittarius alignments in recent memory. In my highest reading of this aspect, you can feel the edge-like nature of existence, and of your own presence in the world. It's way too easy for us humans to troop across the city and take for granted the many unknowns about our experience here. With Mars, Chiron and the homing signal at the center of our spiral island in space all aligned, you can see and feel things that are seemingly impossible to perceive. Take slower, more careful steps. Breathe consciously, and feel, and listen. Imagine your body clinging delicately to the planet's surface, held down only by gravity. Walk like you're on a tightrope rather than on solid ground. Feel the vast expanse of space below our tiny planet. Notice where you are.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) -- You may decide that it's time to outgrow your insecurities. That would be a worthy goal, though it will help to understand where they come from. When you identify with something strongly, and invest your identity there, you give it power over you. It could be a relationship, it could be your family, it could be your social status. Then, if there is some change in that extrinsic thing, or if you feel like it's not working out, or not fully accepting of you, that has a way of bouncing back onto you and making you question your worth. This is the thing that has to end. Fortunately, you're now stronger within yourself, and you don't have to fall for the illusion that your identity is in any way threatened. You might even retire from identifying with things (movements, brands, opinions) and exist as your own independent critter. You do not need a master.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- The only way to learn how to say difficult things is to say them, and listen back, or read them over, and make revisions, and try again. This could relate to anything, whether some deeply intimate matter, or writing a sales presentation, prospectus or pitch. You just keep doing it over till you get it right. Often, the feeling of being blocked or uncertain is the feeling to work with rather than to retreat from. If you plunge in and dare to say what you really mean, you have a chance of getting it right. Just remember: if the feeling is there, don't edit yourself to death. Stay close to the original, and develop it a little -- remembering that these days, brevity is gold. Remember this in your thought process with yourself. The truth of how you feel and what you want is usually pretty simple.

Full Moon Door: Your Pisces Reading is Ready

Dear Fellow Pisces, Pisces Rising or Pisces Lover:

It was crazy busy the week I finished The Art of Becoming, while also keeping up with horoscopes and playing investigative reporter -- but I just had to do the Pisces birthday reading in time for the Virgo Full Moon.

From your fellow Pisces, Eric Francis.

That is now ready for instant access, at the pre-order price (till Friday evening, when it goes up to $44, and then stops at $66).

My job is to provide encouragement, reassurance, and actual information about your transits. I do my best to provide just that.

This is a mellow, but detailed, reading, which starts with a long discussion of relationships and the need to be discerning. This is directly related to claiming your full value in the world, and feeling good about yourself: what some call self-esteem.

I expound on two different interpretations of the Virgo Full Moon -- one based on my own writeup in the Daily News, and for contrast, the other based on Sally Brompton's interpretation in The New York Post.

From there, I talk about the ingress of planets from water sign Pisces to fire sign Aries, which in the coming days will include Mercury and Venus, then Chiron.

In the second segment I talk mainly about career, profession and community involvement -- this is a discussion of Saturn from Sagittarius into Capricorn.

There is plenty more. You can get a personal reading from me lasting 75 minutes for $555 -- or a reading I would be very happy to get, 75 minutes for $33. Get instant access now.

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

With love,
eric

P.S. The Art of Becoming is now ready. This reading is a very detailed report on Chiron moving from Pisces to Aries, among other things. You can get individual signs here.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) -- This week's aspects will bring out the best in you. We are nearing the end of Chiron in Pisces, which has driven your growth, maturity and awareness for the past seven years. Saturn has successfully passed through your 10th house, demanding that you take total responsibility for your affairs. You are still learning; though you've learned a lot, and now is the time to put that experience to use. This week you're likely to encounter a series of discussions about your professional advancement, which you must approach with modest confidence and a cool head. Know that you have something valuable to offer, and remember that you set your own goals. Prod the conversation along, and don't fall for anyone bluffing you or feigning ignorance. You know who you are and what you're capable of -- and so does everyone else. Now, you must get everyone onto the same page.

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