New Moon Opposite Saturn

Dear Friend and Reader:

Today's New Moon in Cancer is the second in a row — the first was the annular solar eclipse on the solstice, way back on June 21 (okay, just four weeks ago; it seems like longer, but I guess objects in the rearview are closer than they appear).

This is an unusual New Moon for other reasons, one of which is how much presence and activity there is in the sign opposite the conjunction, which is Capricorn. This creates balance and it also creates polarity; the two are related. It is also one of the official Last Hurrahs before the massive Capricorn part of the past 12 years winds down with the entry of Jupiter and Saturn into Aquarius in December.

But let's stick to the local news — what is happening today, which is the New Moon opposite Saturn in late Capricorn. The graphic at the right shows you what that looks like — focus on all the planets with a 28 next to them: there are three, the Moon, the Sun and Saturn.

	Condensed New Moon chart earlier Monday. You can see the Moon-Sun conjunction top left, and Saturn on the lower right — all have a 28 next to them. That is an exact opposition.

An Invitation to Reality

When Saturn enters the picture, which does not usually occur when there are water sign events because it is in Capricorn, we have a call to grounding and to stand on the foundations of tangible reality. We live in a disembodied age, so the whole concept of "real" is not quite real anymore; we expect everything to be some kind of virtual or "enhanced" event and that is what we get.

Yet for this most relevant lunation — the first, after a series of three eclipses, and the second consecutive one in the sign of incarnation — we are being asked to get real. Some are being told to get real and others will have no choice. For some this will feel like pushing against the wall of a swimming pool as you turn around doing laps.

Others might feel like their back is against the wall, or like they have reached some limit they must contend with. With all these planets retrograde in Capricorn — an impressive lineup, including a sample of nearly every kind of Solar System object — there is family material that must be addressed, and for many that means past trauma.

Trust and Family Baggage

Many times the past week or so, I've recommended the book A General Theory of Love. This was a basic text in my Hakomi therapy training work I did with Ron Kurtz in Seattle, earlier in this century.

This book offers a useful, emotionally and intellectually grounded analysis of the problem of family baggage and how it keeps coming up over and over again, such as in personal relationships and experiences of being triggered. It talks about how the primary goal of therapy is forming trusting relationships.

What we think of as healing process is only available where trust is possible; where it is cultivated and respected and recognized as a specific necessity. I would refer you back to my article Summer of Trust: The Great American Eclipse from three years ago.

Leo Ingress of the Sun

Wednesday at 4:37 am EDT, the Sun enters the tropical sign Leo. This is the peak of the season — the peak of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and of winter in the south. Between 6:28 pm EDT tonight and the time of the Leo ingress, the Sun is void of course. You never hear about this; I have stumped even classical astrologers with the reference that I read in a trusted old astrology book by William Lilly.

When the Moon, Sun or other body is void of course, that means it will not make an aspect to any other body prior to changing signs. Through this afternoon/evening in the U.S., the Sun is directly opposite Saturn, so we have some grounding to use and work with.

What I love about the void-of-course Sun is that unusual things are possible. It's as if a portal opens, into what is unlikely or unusual. There is also a transporting or transforming quality that can be worked with: that same door facilitates change.

Please follow Daily Astrology and Adventure for additional coverage tomorrow (Tuesday) of the Leo ingress of the Sun.

With love,

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Your spiritual orientation on doing the work that's right for you: a video reading by Eric Francis

Dear Friend and Reader:

Long before our current social and economic upheaval, I was designing a reading called THE DHARMA. Initially inspired by something I read in a book on Tibetan Buddhism last year, I wanted to focus a reading on connecting with purpose. The Sanskrit word "dharma" means acting as if to hold the world together.

	30th Street Guitars is one of my best examples of living dharma — acting as if to hold the world together. I describe the business in the Pisces reading.

There are not many cohesive ideas about this. Most are abstract. Therapy can sometimes help, but it's expensive, and most therapists are not creative or business consultants (a precious few are).

Then suddenly society went through all these changes, and my concept for a reading turned out to be right on time.

You may have been jolted out of your previous economic reality by the ongoing financial scenario. This has affected both salaried workers and the gig economy.

In my experience as an astrologer, I know that it often takes something like this to help people hear their calling.

THE DHARMA brings some exuberance to this process. I work with the astrology, describing the environment, looking for openings and opportunities, and offering ideas to connect you with your purpose. I am good at this because it's one of the true joys of my astrological journey. If I could do nothing but creative consulting, business planning and professional focus, I would.

This reading will help you go through the changes that are upon us, whatever their source. We are in a time of extreme flux, and so this potential is present. Society is making a big retreat, and that means there is space available for you to do what you do.

This moment will not last forever. Take advantage of it while you can.

THE DHARMA reading is available as single signs (starting at $44; $22 for each additional) and all 12 signs (for $111). Each reading is fresh and original, and complements the others. At least get your sign and rising sign. You may share with your household!

Personal consulting starts at $555.

Thank you for your trust and your business.

With love,

PS — If you need a sliding-scale option for THE DHARMA, please write to cs@planetwaves.net.

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 July was published on Thursday, July 2. We published your extended monthly horoscope for June on Thursday, May 21. Please note: we normally publish the extended monthly horoscope after the Sun has entered a new sign.

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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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Aries (March 20-April 19) — The current phase of your life, through January, comes with the theme of cultivating self-confidence. You may think you're a self-assured person, though this astrology will take you deeper, and help you question yourself in some worthwhile ways. I'm talking about something different from assertiveness or being extraverted. True confidence leans back a little more than it leans forward. It includes the patience to pause and observe, and make the most of what you learn from doing so. Then there is how you deal with your own weaknesses and limitations, to turn them to your favor rather than have them work to your detriment. That may be the most important facet of self-confidence that you will discover early on in the experience, which involves Mars retrograde in your sign. This stretches (in total, including the actual retrograde in the autumn) from July into January. This is a rare event, and you have an unusual learning opportunity.

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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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Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Consider whether you still place too much emphasis on belief as a thing that guides you. There are many better ways to influence the course of your life, and belief tends to be a dangerous blind spot because it conceals lack of knowledge. You are soon to embark on a phase of your life where your leadership skills will be developed, expanded and tested by circumstances. For that, you will need to have excellent intelligence, in the sense of the presidential daily briefing: real information you can use to make important decisions. To clear space for this, develop the skill of knowing when you're speculating. When you are, admit it — it feels good, and it reminds you that you actually need to know what is available to find out. You don't need to be in possession of the bottom line fundamental truth at all times; that's an impossible standard. But you definitely must know when you don't know — that's the most valuable information there is.

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Your 2020-21 Gemini Astrology Studio, The Sacred Space of Self, is now available for instant access. 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.Thank you for your business and your trust.

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Gemini (May 20-June 21) — There's been a lot of activity in the financial sector of your chart these past couple of months, which will now culminate with a New Moon on Monday. One of the challenges of your financial picture is that it tends to run in cycles more than for most people. These might range from feast or famine scenarios, to busy season vs. slow season situations. Yet if you study these patterns, you will see that they're as predictable as the tides. One way to handle this is to put abundant energy into making sure you have sufficient cash reserves to smooth over some bumps (which I know is a stretch, but it's also a necessity). Yet you also want to work with the natural tendencies, such as heading out to sea when the tide is going out, and heading back to port when the tide is coming in. This way, you're not "going against the tide." Study your income and spending trends. Really — pull the numbers together and take a look at them and figure out what they mean.

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Your 2020-21 Cancer Astrology Studio is available for instant access. This year, the time of Cancer began with an eclipse on the solstice, as well as Mercury retrograde in your sign. This is astrology that points to you in a personal way, describing a transition you may not feel ready to make but have been preparing for over long years. Chiron in Aries is also a prominent factor, pointing to some pioneering developments in your professional life. I cover these aspects, and much more.

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Cancer (June 21-July 22) — The past lunar month has come with an impressive deluge of astrology in your sign, including a solar eclipse, Mercury retrograde making all kinds of fancy moves, and now, the New Moon opposite Saturn. Plus there has been no shortage of activity in your partnership house (Jupiter conjunct Pluto), and more still in your career house (Mars conjunct Chiron). So, how has it been? What have you been learning? Do you feel like you're making progress? For the current state of the nation, mere survival is doing well, though I reckon you're doing much better — and aspects continue to work in your favor. Therefore, proceed with awareness and a positive attitude when it comes to accomplishing your most cherished goals. Your work matters right now, you are visible, and people are counting on you. Those are ideal circumstances for living out your dharma. If others around you are not doing as well, remember: your role is to be helpful in the ways you can.

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You can now pre-order your 2020-21 Leo Astrology Studio, Notes on Love and Courage. The two giants of the solar system meet up at the end of this year in your opposite sign Aquarius. Eric will explore what this seminal conjunction means for you, and much more. Get your copy here for just $33.

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Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — The Sun is about to enter your sign, which always comes as a relief. Those last days of the sign Cancer can bring considerable emotional pressure, which lets go all at once when the Sun returns to its home sign. This year, that's on the 22nd. The bottom line message of your solar return chart is that you must take care of yourself. Through this whole Covid crisis, I've been studying people's ideas of self-care and noticing a deficit. Pretty much everything depends on how well you take care of yourself, and that will require having knowledge. By that I mean knowledge of what you eat, and what your body needs; of any health issues you may face, and any medications you may take; and how to reduce your stress level. All of this is founded on your ability to study, to learn, and to be introspective — commodities in short supply these days. Yet they must be in abundant supply for you.

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Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You need to express yourself where people can see and hear you. The desire to do so may be bursting out of you right now. The solution to your creative challenges is not to be more perfect. The solution is to take a chance and put your most personal, most meaningful work into the public eye. True art, though it must aspire to quality, is always an experiment. To be meaningful, the maker of the work must go so far as to wake up with a vulnerability hangover for a few days. For you, this means going out to a personal emotional edge and revealing something of yourself about which you feel a combination of reluctance and urgency. While this could include viewpoints on certain issues (about which you will feel better being honest), this looks like something deeper and more personal. You are in a moment of breakthrough. If you aspire for that to be creative, your springboard is the intimately personal nature of what you share or describe about yourself.

Pre-order your full 2020-21 Virgo reading by Eric here.

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Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — If there is an important matter of your professional life that you're working through, particularly a decision that must be made, you are in your moment. It's likely you've thought it through many times over and know exactly where you stand with yourself. You do not need to accomplish the thing you're wanting to do or create, though a decision supported by decisive action will be enough to get you started. The real choice is not just the mental state; what you actually do is what pushes your edge and establishes you in new territory. You now have the emotional confidence and foundation to take this step. Your reputation is sufficiently established to stand in who you are with your whole being. One of the most brilliant fortune cookies I ever got read, "Be resolutely who you are. Be humbly who you aspire to be." That would serve you well at this time in your life.

Pre-order your full 2020-21 Libra reading by Eric here.

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Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — This is a good time to contemplate the extent to which every question is actually a spiritual question — meaning, something pertaining to the nature of your existence. Perhaps you've already known this for a long time, or maybe have not given it words and formed concepts. Any real question you ask ought to shake you up a little. That's how you know it's real, and the shakeup can make little cracks in your psyche that allow the truth and the light to shine in. Your chart at the moment is focused on the theme of wellness, and how you take care of yourself, and what you do with your days: the purpose you serve, and whether you have arranged your life such that fulfilling your purpose nourishes you. This is not about work-life balance. Rather, it's about being alive, in all that you do. Ultimately the question of life, and the fact of existence, is a spiritual issue, and it's one that you are at a point where you must ask sincerely. That means giving up all the fake answers that were thrust upon you so many times. You need and deserve better.

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Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Part of getting your financial house in order involves resolving a situation with a partner. This could be the lingering results of a past situation, or getting a new or current agreement tuned to mutually beneficial terms. If this represents something from the past, use the leverage you now have and address the situation. There is plenty you can do. If this is about present circumstances, keep the discussion focused on what works for everyone. Between you there are sufficient resources to go around. Yet the most important resources are emotional, and those will lead to awareness of the others. This is a situation where all parties must see the relationship from the viewpoint of the other, to have a sense of what is happening. Too often, people experience partnership from only their point of view. Others give that up entirely and live vicariously through the other. Nether of these will help you now. You must be on mutually helpful terms, or none at all.

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Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — The New Moon in your opposite sign Cancer takes place in opposition to Saturn and several other retrograde planets in your sign. This is an urgent reminder that you must update your files and live in the present rather than in the past. Even if you have lingering matters to resolve, you can only do that now. You might not think you're ready, though in the way you view it, readiness is a standard you might not ever attain. There is a difference between wanting to be prepared, and being reticent to experiment. A relationship may provide an opportunity for you to enter new territory, though the motivation must come from you. There is only one way to gain confidence, which is to gain experience — of a kind you've never had before. We might sum this up in one question: should you choose to grow or explore something unfamiliar, who do you fear would not approve? Why do you care?

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Your 2020-21 Aquarius Astrology Studio is available for instant access. This coming winter, your sign hosts a major conjunction: Jupiter conjunct Saturn, the traditional ruler of Aquarius. That event is exact on Dec. 21, 2020. Eric also covers Saturn moving into your sign from Capricorn during the year, in this not-to-be-missed reading. Order your copy here.

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Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — The past seems to weigh on you, even as you know so much more is possible. Your situation appears to be self-contained, as if you live in a reality you cannot escape. This seems to "prove" itself through experience, though maybe that is the thing you need more of. There is a concept of karma which holds that "no one can escape what they create." Even if that were true, it would seem the way to escape would be to create something else, something beyond what you know. As it turns out, at the moment, this would be something about yourself. Your ancestors are involved, so your introspective search might need to go back three generations before you find the gem you are seeking. Note that when you have it in your hand, it might not seem like much. You might not be impressed. If you sit with it a while, you will discover something meaningful about yourself, something that will change your life if you let it.

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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) — There is only so much you may be able to do to change the world, though there is plenty you can learn from observing it. You might not like what you see. You are keenly aware of the kinds of cruelty and actions based in ignorance that people are capable of perpetuating against one another, and at times, against everyone. As an old soul, born in the sign of the fishes in the great cosmic ocean, you have learned the art of adaptation — and that is what you need to do. One of the ways you will benefit from adapting is through bringing your curiosity and creativity into this weird new world we are living in. Where you want to assert yourself is not against anything, but creatively, into your personal frontier: artistic, erotic, romantic — whatever you feel called to, curious about or desiring of. You can adopt a strategy of letting everyone else do all the freaking out. The truth is, people live out their agenda, whatever the weather.

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