Of Gemini and Capricorn — and Pie for the People

Dear Friend and Reader:

Gemini is the happening place right now, home of the Sun, of Mercury, of Venus retrograde, and of the goddess Vesta.

Much of the year's most daunting astrology has been in Capricorn. All that has happened to society the past three months we can attribute to the Saturn-Pluto conjunction in that sign. Matters that fall under the Capricorn energy signature are not easily adjusted; they are more subject to breakdown and rebuilding, as we are seeing.

What happens in Gemini, though, is expressed through many adjustments, in a mentally dynamic environment.

Gemini's form of ambition is the drive to be curious, and to take an experimental approach where many different ideas are considered. At times this can seem like too much meandering and not enough action, though that will not be a problem this week.

Gemini planets Mercury and Vesta, and by extension Venus, are making contact with Jupiter and Pluto in Capricorn. This is a 'best of both worlds' scenario, combining Gemini's language ability, curiosity and exploration of alternatives with the gritty determination and building power of Capricorn.

The two groups of planets are joined by an aspect called a quincunx, also known as an inconjunct.

This is halfway between a trine and an opposition, resolving the problems inherent in those aspects: the trine is usually too easy and slippery, while the opposition can be too confrontational. The energy line of the quincunx will grant traction as well as the ability to be mutually accommodating toward a shared goal or intention.

If this is working right, there should be a lot of discussion both of theory and of method. Ideas need to be considered in theory, then put to the practical test immediately, and observations made.

Meanwhile, one outstanding aspect of the moment is the conjunction of Mars and Ceres in Pisces. This has a "rise up" quality — do not be content with being in the background, or of a lower caste. Be bold about asserting yourself. You don't need authorization from on high, but rather a spirit of Power to the People, or as a local pizzeria owned by my friend Stefan put it, Pie for the People.

Or speaking of pizzerias, Village Pizza in Saugerties, NY, has issued a statement: "Anyone out there who is in need of food, or can't afford groceries, or have children that need to eat, come see us 1 to 4 pm." I cannot remember the last time I reached for my debit card so fast.

Ceres is about food and the connection where emotional reality meets nourishment. You can take this as guidance in your personal life, and also in the form of community service. One of the best ways to help the world right now is to make sure the people near you have food to eat, even if it's just one other person that you manage to help. That is plenty, though you will likely be able to do much better.

With love,
Planet Waves FM How Not to Believe Lies, Venus Rx,
and your relationship with yourself.

Dear Friend and Listener:

In this week's program — the longest ever — I look into the psychology of why people resist considering ideas about environmental issues. I talk about getting out of the desperate, conflicted and authority-driven paradigm of health and wellness, and into a more autonomous model of self-care. In the second segment beginning at about one hour and four minutes, I explore the astrology of our moment, featuring Gemini galore, Vesta, Venus retrograde and Mercury. In the third segment beginning at about one hour and 49 minutes, there's a conversation with the artist PeaceHawk about the theories of Marshall McLuhan. Then in the fourth segment beginning at about three hours and 10 minutes, a deeply intimate Vesta Studio continuing the discussion of cultivating a sexual relationship with oneself, including some of my peak experiences on the Book of Blue journey. If I forgot to add a resource that I promised, please write to me. NOTE: The cold opener is from The Simpsons, Season 22, Episode 6.

Planet Waves FM is a project of Chiron Return, and an affiliate of the Pacifica Radio Network. We are supported by your generous contributions, large and small. If you come back every week, please consider getting on board.

Thank you for tuning in, and for your support.

With love,

"I just bought the Dharma Spring reading...Just Wow. My Cancer Sun and Rising reading is absolutely epic! This advice is priceless direction-finding, which I absolutely need right now. Thank you."

-- Helen B.

The DHARMA in Action — Free Video Samples Below Repositioning yourself in the next economy.
Doing what is right for you. Tapping your talent.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Whoever you are or whatever you may do, the reshuffling and reset of the economy will affect everyone to some degree. Anyone who plans on surviving and thriving will need to reinvent themselves. Though it's now being compelled of us, this is an excellent opportunity to do what you want to do.

Times of turmoil and change present opportunity. The structure has been crushed, and we know the big players are positioning themselves to make billions. Yet everyone who participates actively has the chance to find their niche. This is the time to make your choices based on your Dharma: your true calling, and acting as if to hold the world together.

	Shirt is Vashon-Maury Green Party. Pendant is by Gail Murphy on Vashon Island, which arrived today.

Much of my work as an astrologer has been as a business and professional consultant.

It is my number one favorite kind of session to do: to help a musician plan their next creative phase; to help someone redesign their career; to work with an artist figuring out where their talents can best be connected to a clientele.

I've worked with many, many doctors and healers (I have a lot of Chiron in my chart), commodities traders, fine artists, attorneys, someone high up in bank security technology, a top-shelf country music star and people in every odd walk of life. I have learned many things from each of them.

This is my mission in The DHARMA, the 2020 spring reading.

Following the sign change of Saturn, Venus retrograde, Mars retrograde and finally the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction — all events describing a rearrangement of everyone and everything — I have sketched out the possibilities in detail. I suggest where to look for your talents, your energy and your marketplace.

I guide you to be the connection between someone who has something to offer and a need in society. I take a positive, motivating, passionate approach to each reading.

You may wonder how I can do this in video readings. It's a talent I've developed over many years, combined with my innate ability to see patterns and recognize solutions. My clients and customers know I put all of my intelligence and talent into everything I do. These readings are $111 for the set of 12 signs and rising signs. The way astrology works, one little idea is all you need to get you started, and I do a lot better than that.

People pay me five times that amount for a single 75-minute consultation (most people come in for two initially). I am one of the most expensive astrological consultants in the business, because I get results.

To my astrology talent I bring decades of experience as a journalist covering business, environmental issues and many other specialized fields.

The DHARMA readings will help you orient yourself. I will help you see your personal gifts and your opportunities, and put the two together. I consider your time much more valuable than your money, and use both efficiently and creatively.

The samples below are the first five minutes of each sign and rising sign. The readings go 40 to 45 minutes, and I tend to warm up and get cooking a little ways in, once I catch the groove of the chart.

The world needs your help right now. You have an opportunity to find the right thing to do. Take a positive approach to your situation, and follow your Dharma.

All 12 signs are available here for $111. There is something in each sign for everyone, and you may share the readings with your household.

Individual signs are available here starting at $44 for the first sign.

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

With love,

PS — This reading is included in the Backstage Pass. You may sign up for one year or on a quarterly recurring basis. Here are free five-minute reading samples of THE DHARMA:

Aries		Taurus		Gemini	Cancer		Leo		Virgo
Libra		Scorpio		Sagittarius	Capricorn		Aquarius		Pisces

Monthly Horoscopes and Publishing Schedule Notes

Your extended monthly horoscope for May was published on Saturday, April 25. We published your extended monthly horoscope for April on Saturday, March 28. Please note: we normally publish the extended monthly horoscope after the Sun has entered a new sign. Aries (March 20-April 19) — Lou Reed once said that you can't always trust your mother. The question is, do you, and on what topics? Whether she's in-body or not, that list will help you, because you're likely to take her advice quite a bit without thinking about it. If you're going to be influenced by the feelings or the emotional responses of your parents, let it be conscious and positive; take the good and make a choice to leave behind what does not work for you. There's another message about paying attention to when you're speaking from present conditions that are real now, or from a past emotional state that does not connect directly to the present. When you speak, be clear whether you're speaking from your position now, from feeling, or from a state of fear. It's too easy to confuse those, and it's why so many conversations go in unhelpful directions. Know where and when you are at all times. Get your full Aries reading by Eric here.



The Journey of You and Chiron | A New Reading by Eric Francis

Anyone who has encountered it is curious about Chiron. Planet Waves provides one of the few dependable online sources of information on this unusual planet. For the 10th anniversary Astrology Studio reading, I will be covering Chiron in Aries — a momentous event for all those born under this sign, and of high interest to everyone else. Get instant access to this reading here.

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Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Take advantage of this time of reevaluation. While on one level you can do almost anything at any time, there are moments that are appropriate to certain personal projects. And now, the purpose of the time is a reevaluation of your priorities. To do this, you can start with the big ones or the seemingly small ones, though eventually you get to the stuff that would seem never to be subject to question. One of the most significant themes involves your professional commitments. This is a message coming from Saturn in Aquarius the next three years. This may feel like enforced changes, though it's also granting you a kind of Midas touch when it comes to reinventing your career or vocation. To do that effectively, though, you need to go right to the core of your values, which means: what motivates you to get up every morning and live every day? Is there anything you're in conflict with? Now is the time of the season to work that through. Get your full Taurus reading by Eric here.

You can now get instant access to your 2020-21 Taurus Astrology Studio here for just $44. This reading focuses on a professional breakthrough toward the end of the year, and preparing you for this development. Venus retrograde in the spring is preparation. Mars retrograde in the autumn is preparation.

Ultimately this is a spiritual development, yet in reality we are talking about aligning your purpose with action, with a calling, and with an opportunity. Elements of the reading go out to a series of power steps in 2021. Read more.

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Gemini (May 20-June 21) — You are in one of those profound transformational moments. Yet this will only be the beginning that the astrology describes if you treat it as such, with the utmost respect for your mission on the Earth. If you're in any doubt or confusion about that, please don't push the issue. Instead, listen. Listen to your environment, and the people around you. Notice what you observe about the place and time in which you're alive. Mostly, listen to yourself. Hear well what you have said to yourself many times. These are often the things most easily ignored. Notice what keeps returning to you, that you set aside or put off to the future. The idea of a calling is not well understood. There is no direct path from the high school theater production to the red carpet at the Oscars, and you don't want one, anyway. Your journey, that is to say, the winding road of your life, is about what you are called to do, and to create, not so much where you think you might "end up." So listen, and also, observe, what you do with your days, when you sense you have the choice. Get your full Gemini reading by Eric here.

Your 2020-21 Gemini Astrology Studio, The Sacred Space of Self, is now available for pre-order at just $33. The reading covers Venus retrograde in your sign, Vesta in your sign, Saturn in Aquarius, and the momentous astrology at the end of the year. Get the best price by pre-ordering today. Thank you for your business and your trust.

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Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Do everything you can to translate from fantasy to reality; from your imagination to the tangible thing or experiment you're working on. Set up the work flow, from your interior to expression. The standard is not perfection, success or viability. The standard is action, based on an idea. This is, you might say, the essential tantric act of the moment. We could sum it up as simply as getting real. Action counts for writing something down, and developing it within one day. Reaching to another person to discuss a plan, or seek advice or information, is action. Actually doing the thing is action (for instance, the thought, "I want to be a photographer," followed by taking photographs and then looking at them). You do not need to do anything well, or brilliantly, or confidently. The threshold here is doing it at all, about the thought you're thinking. This would include sharing and experimenting with living out any sexual fantasies you have rather than holding them in and keeping them to yourself. Get your full Cancer reading by Eric here.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — In the U.S. and other countries, we're now living through this weird time of "social distancing." The concept is supposed to be that we're being good neighbors and helping one another stay healthy. Even in the unlikely chance that's true, the collateral damage includes increasing paranoia, hypochondria, judgment of others, stress, isolation, and the fear of human contact that has become so pervasive in our digitized world. You have an opportunity to take leadership on the level of being social, and reminding people what that means and why we might want it. Yours is one of the most outgoing signs, partly for reasons of being easily conversant in nearly any situation. Even under 'normal' conditions, you don't have any use for being shy or demure. And now, under rather abnormal conditions, we need your example, and your courage. You know you would not be happy in a world where hugging is illegal or where band practice could lead to house arrest. Please show us the way out of this tangled web. Get your full Leo reading by Eric here.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You may be experiencing some mix of total confidence and incomprehensible uncertainty, particularly related to career or professional matters. At times you know exactly what you want, then this is thrown into reverse (or bumped sideways) by some competing influence. This has been true for you for a while; you always seem to have two major goals you're working with at once, two different ways you define yourself in a professional context, or options for what business card to give out. I suggest you make a card with your name, email address and phone number, and that's it. You give your contact information and nothing else, so that you cannot be directly tied to your past, or to a purpose that you may not have in that moment. What you present, personally and as a person, in the encounter where you hand someone the card is all that the person needs to know about you. You don't need to prove anything, and at the moment, you need to give yourself plenty of room to maneuver. Get your full Virgo reading by Eric here.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — You seem to be deep into the experience of determining what is true for you, and what is not, on some rather encompassing issues. Keep your sense of proportion as you are guided through this. You don't need to answer all of life's mysteries at once. It would help significantly if you didn't even try. There is a spiritual tool, not widely acknowledged but known to a few, that involves standing in the face of mystery for as long as possible. This is a way of keeping your mind open and uncluttered by what you presume or assume. It's a way of holding the ground clear of false answers or even "real" ones. You would be well served by seeking even one sincere question. That said, Venus retrograde describes a subject area that might be fertile territory for exploration: how you integrate your sexuality with your spiritual life. They are not opposites; they are facets of the same thing. To be one self, united with your creative power, notice and embrace the many ways that works. Get your full Libra reading by Eric here.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Notice what is exchanged when sex or money is transacted. It's not just those things: many other items come along for the ride. Feelings, ideas, commitments, assumptions, presumptions and expectations are often involved. Some are spoken and some are not. The message of your astrology for the foreseeable future is to get the contracts of your life into clear language. This begins with a review of all of your standing commitments. First make an inventory of the ones you know about. Then dredge up the ones you forgot about, whether they're unkept promises, missed emails, or recurring charges that don't belong on your debit card. That will be fruitful. Notice the contractual nature of nearly every human transaction, even if it's as minimal as "I'll call you Wednesday." It's likely that this process will extend into an existing long-term relationship, particularly one that has endured a few shocks or undergone some radical transformation. Update your files. Get your full Scorpio reading by Eric here.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — It's time to pluck up some courage, and keep it up. A little will go a long way and a modest amount will serve all of your purposes. This is true in when it comes to your personal relationships, your business dealings and your creative projects. The purpose of courage is to allow you to take action in the event of some situation demanding that very thing. You seem unsure what to make of your circumstances, and those of the wider world. You don't need certainty to get results. You surely don't need false certainty. You will feel better if you count your life as an experiment rather than as a program you must follow. The easiest way to connect with courage is to allow your curiosity to drive you. Find out who everyone you encounter is. Do things just to see what happens. Try taking the opposite approach when one method does not get a viable result. Your options are open, and you're free to explore them. Get your full Sagittarius reading by Eric here.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Like most occupants of the planet, you may be obsessing about your health. But are they really, and are you? You do have a fantastic opportunity to confront certain bottom-line issues related to how you take care of yourself. That's what your chart is all about. Lent is over, though there are definitely some things you need to give up. Most of them are mental and emotional habits, without which you will feel a lot better. It's still a challenge for you to be honest with yourself about a few topics that get lost in the clouds of your mental approach to life. You still have an idea that rationality will solve everything. Some things that are true cannot be proven, and many things that are false cannot easily be debunked. However, when the reality of something has established itself over and over again, you might want to take note of that. Also, where you resist will tell you a lot about what you're concerned might be true, rather than false. And if you listen carefully, you will notice when you're trying to prove something to someone. Who is that someone, and why do you want to win them over? Get your full Capricorn reading by Eric here.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Imagine your life is an art studio, with every supply you could ever want: anything from 100 colors of paint and any conceivable brush, to a block of stone and sculpting tools, to a recording studio. What would you create? This is a fair description of your spiritual state right now. You have all the physical means of creation, and people who will collaborate. You have ideas. All you need to do is channel them into physical manifestation. Remember that perfection is not a value and not your aspiration. You might strive for imperfection, in that exploring creativity is a matter of trial and error -- and it's often the errors that get you further than the trials. You are learning how to experiment with the physical space that you inhabit and that contains your physical life. Take some chances here. Move things around until you find a configuration that facilitates what you're doing, and then rearrange your space to accommodate your next idea. Even your desk would count. Get your full Aquarius reading by Eric here.



Astrology Studio for Pisces | A New Reading by Eric Francis

This is a momentous time in collective history, and a turning point in your life. As the year develops, most of the movement — including Pisces' ruling planet Jupiter, and the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction — will be pointing into Aquarius, the most sensitive and innermost angle of your chart. I will also cover the retrogrades of Venus and Mars, and the forthcoming Jupiter-Pluto conjunction in your friendship sign Capricorn. Mostly, I will help you orient on your profound journey, and offer guidance how to harmonize with the world at this unusual time. Get instant access to this reading here.

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Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — You are being called to participate in the world in an expanded way. In fact there are many calls and many openings. What would seem to be bad news for others reveals an opening for you to engage life more fully. This is not theoretical involvement; it's direct, physical, spiritual involvement. Your actions count, and what they mean to you and to others counts more. Your wide perspective is giving you many reasons to respond to current developments with something other than fear, and that something is the willingness to serve. This is a phase of deep evolutionary work for you, and it's not happening in a monastery or a cave in India. It's happening right where your contribution can be seen and felt, and you're learning as you go. Be flexible, and if you make a mistake, quickly make the necessary corrections, make an entry in your lab notebook, and keep going. The deeper your experiences touch you, and the more you learn, the greater the positive impact you will have on others. Get your full Pisces reading by Eric here.

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