Monday Evening Letter Retrograde Mars and Eris: The Central Alignment


Dear Friend and Reader:

This morning I dreamed I was walking around on a street corner, and hanging inside of a phone booth was a complete stack of set lists from a music tour that had ended the previous night. I looked through them with interest, curious why someone would go through the trouble of carefully making the lists, which were written on beautifully designed forms, and then leave them hanging somewhere. I took them and made them my own.

From the dream I received the message that one tour is over and complete, another is soon to begin. I am in Montauk at the moment, reflecting on everything that has happened this year, something few of us have had a chance to do.

We now live in the age of the new planet Eris. This distant world is an influence that represents a special kind of chaos: the one we are soaked in right now. It's been so long since we had any semblance of a different environment that it's nearly impossible to see what we are experiencing for what it really is. Some may remember.

Before going to bed, I was flipping around the channels and on some public access station, saw the rerun of a conversation from what looked like the 1980s. It was four women, seated around a table, making thoughtful statements, some of which went on for a few minutes. At the end of one person speaking, someone would say, something akin to, "I see where you're coming from. I would like to add this idea." And then she would speak for a while, and another person would be called on or speak up while the others listened.

I was witnessing actual civil discourse. It took me a moment to recognize it. The Retrograde Conjunction of Mars and Eris

At the moment we are experiencing the retrograde conjunction of Mars and Eris — which I consider the peak of Mars retrograde. There are three such conjunctions in this process, closely clustered: Aug. 17, Oct. 4, and then Dec. 22 (amidst much other activity). In a three-pass retrograde, I consider the middle alignment to be the "real" one.

Technically, it was exact to the degree (partile) for about the first four days of October.

This is what I call a "proving moment" for Mars retrograde and for Eris, as it is something that has never happened before. I use this term mainly to describe events that help delineate new planetary discoveries.

Eris, named for the Greek goddess of chaos and discord, is still a relatively new discovery, only having existed for astrologers since late 2005. The contrast is striking: the current distance of Mars from Earth is 62 million kilometers, about as close as it gets. The current distance of Eris is more than 14.2 billion kilometers, about as far as it gets. An Unusual Pairing — Never Before Consciously Experienced

The result of this unusual pairing (the first ever retrograde conjunction of Mars to Eris since its discovery) has indeed been chaotic. Throughout the year of this event, we have entered a new dimension of over-the-top.

Yet we are "accustomed" to this constant flood of conflicting information from numerous sources throughout the day, never sure who we can trust. Many people do not trust themselves. That is not surprising. We live in the day when "true" and "untrue" are allegedly meaningless terms, when "knowing something" is allegedly the same as "not knowing," and where there is no threshold or concept of understanding.

It is no wonder that we also live in the age of a digital test that gives results so unreliable as to be useless, which can vary from day to day, and which are being used to invoke terror and havoc in the population. It is the ambiguity that is the most pernicious element of the equation. This is the nature of the digital realm.

It's not going to be easy to get out of this. All the yoga classes in the world have not affirmed for healthy people that they have the right to breathe normally. Pres. Trump at Walter Reed

It was during these specific days of the partial conjunction that we were told that the president and many of his aides have tested positive for coronavirus.

A month before he is up for reelection, the president is said to be at Walter Reed, a military hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, though many are skeptical.

We are told he is being given experimental treatments by his doctors. He has made a few videos that are designed to show us he is strong and in good spirits. Then he was taken out on a little tour in an SUV with a full security detail to greet supporters, waving through the window of his vehicle. All of this while he is said to be suffering from sudden acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and is presumably contagious if that is true. So as usual, the pieces of the story are not fitting together.

Meanwhile, despite the glowing picture offered by the official White House doctor Saturday morning, it's come out that twice he was given oxygen and is on steroids. Experimental Test Protocols

Investigative reporter Jon Rappoport has been tracking the drug protocol issue carefully. This morning, he wrote in an email, "Trump is on three drugs whose combined effects have never been studied. Regeneron like other antibody drugs can cause escalation of infection — in this case, that could mean serious lung inflammation."

He continued, "This is a very serious situation. The steroid alone can cause severe mood swings, which in Trump's case would add to his usual mood swings. The doctors are recklessly experimenting on him."

Whatever I personally think of any president, I care about their wellbeing, if for no other reason than the stability of the country. The "October surprise" development of Trump and many of his colleagues allegedly getting Covid is strange and destabilizing. That this is all being described by a blatantly flawed and misused test is also disturbing.

The conflicting reports about Trump's condition are nerve-wracking, and I agree with Rappoport that to use experimental treatments where cross-reactions are not carefully mapped out (especially on a sitting president) is dangerous. This is particularly so on a presumed virus that has not been isolated or purified and has not been shown to pass Koch's Postulates — the scientific method establishing causation that is specific to virology and central to its validity.

This fact underscores the whole issue we are confronted by. Said another way, is science a matter of faith, or a matter of documentation and proof? A Digital Problem, Not a Political Problem

The issue, the crisis, the challenge of our times, is how we are going to get our bearings in our digital environment. The waters continue to rise rapidly. We are confronting vaccines with nanotechnology (mRNA), ideas like using biometrics to "mine" bitcoin, connecting injected nanotechnology to location and automatic reporting of biometrics to central databases, virtual and enhanced "reality," and robotic technology that is today being used to "diagnose" disease without the input of doctors — and to set global social policy.

All of this is happening in a mental and psychic environment where it's extremely difficult to tell which way is up. That is something we definitely need to know. There is a difference between human and technologically induced "trans-human."

Over the summer I was in touch with a virologist at a major research university, who is about my age. During our correspondence, he wrote, "I've told a few people, people like you and I were too late for Vietnam, and too early for the Middle East Wars, but this is our war."

Thus spake Mars conjunct Eris. Or as Marshall McLuhan said it in 1970, "World War III is a guerrilla information war with no division between military and civilian participation." Note that he said is, not will be. This has been going on for a while.

We can do better. But at the moment, this is where we are.

With love,

PS — I do not have a horoscope for you this week. I must take a breather from such intense writing and reporting. The daily area on the website is being updated by Spencer and Victoria this week, and Spencer and Meri are handling Covid19 News. Please see the monthly horoscope — it took days to write and there is a lot in there. The weekly horoscope will resume Oct. 13, the day Mercury stations retrograde (and the day after Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples' Day in the United States). Planet Waves FM will resume Friday, Oct. 16. BREAKING: Angel heals Trump of Covid

BETHESDA, MD (AP) — An angel of the lord descended upon the Walter Reed Medical Center Saturday night, entered the Presidential Suite, and healed Pres. Trump of Covid-19.

	Archangel Michael, or possibly Gabriel, or maybe St. Germain, appears over the Walter Reed Medical Center. Photo: Getty Images/AFP.

"The whole building filled with light, and all the grounds around us," said Lt. Beth Bagler, the chief nightwatch nurse. "There was a humming sound, like a vibration, and this strange and beautiful glow," she added. The incident occurred at about 8:30 pm.

When nurses checked in on President, he was completely healed of Covid-19, from which he has been suffering the past four days.

"We found him jumping rope," said Capt. Jon Ringer, the chief physician on duty. "Not only was he healed, he was down to a trim 220 pounds," Capt. Ringer added.

"We believe it was Archangel Michael, or possibly Gabriel. It might have been St. Germain. I could not tell. I've only read about them in books," said Col. Norton Grimsland, the chaplain at Walter Reed, who happened to be on his way into the building, paying the president a visit to cheer him up.

"After the strange light passed and the angel returned to heaven, I went up to Pres. Trump's floor with a bag of Kentucky Fried Chicken and several Egg McMuffins. Nobody ever asks the chaplain what they've got in their bag. But incredibly, he was not interested," Col. Grimsland said.

"I was stunned. I said, 'I have extra crispy for you', but the President was not interested. He sent me out for a salad," he added. "That, after I convinced McDonald's to make breakfast sandwiches at night."

Col Grimsland said he went to the True Food Kitchen, a natural food restaurant on Wisconsin Ave., where the chefs immediately prepared two of every salad on the menu and offered it without charge, Col. Grimsland added.

	Pres. Trump's tweet earlier from this evening.

At 9:05 pm, Trump tweeted, "I am healed! I am healed! This is not a hoax. I have discovered the cure for Covid, and it is God."

"The lord works in mysterious ways," said Fr. Patrick J. Conroy, S.J., the Chaplain of the United States and a Jesuit priest. "I have asked my superiors to call off the New World Order," he said, adding that "by now, everyone knows it's the Jesuits. Well, not any more. Praise the lord!" he exclaimed, reaching his arms up to Heaven.

Trump said the would take off Sunday and spend the day in nature, and was planning a full day of work Monday. "Now I know how to solve this problem. It's time for Anthony Fauci to retire," he added, joking as he laughed, "You're retired!"

He said that James Redfield would be taking a 10 year leave of absence in Latvia. And he promised to tell the world about the problems with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. "Lying is a sin," Trump said. "This thing must be cast off."


We are at the Peak of Mars Retrograde

"Without knowing the issues I've been going through, you, Eric, have helped me to put it all into perspective. I can't help myself, I am who I am! Your encouragement to BE ME is medicine to the heart, cos I lost that footing over the years. Thank you VERY much."

— S.C., on The Story of I AM midyear 2020 reading

Dear Friend and Reader:

Mars retrograde in Aries is an important season for personal growth.

In Aries, Mars retrograde is about self-realization. It's about building your confidence. It's about claiming your soul back from the internet.

	You may watch the free video preview to the whole series at this link.

We live in serious times. This is for social, political and economic reasons, which are precipitating changes we all have to experience or endure. Yet the astrology provoking these changes is about to become deeply personal, now that Mars retrograde is in the picture.

Mars is about the drive to be human: the human engine, as T.S. Eliot put it. It's about desire, and need, and also about anger and aggression. Each of us contains all of these emotions, and they are about to be stirred up as Mars makes retrograde aspects to Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn.

Capricorn is the well of family material, which is sure to come up — and rather than seeing this as a problem, I see it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to resolve deep material, or to get a lot of the work out of the way. One rule of healing that I follow is if you have an opportunity to do a large portion of the work in one go, then do it.

I have created a series of astrology sessions for you, called The Story of I AM. You can think of these as video readings, or you can think of them as a series of processing sessions. Each is relevant to you. Your Sun and rising sign are the most helpful, though each and everyone has many gifts for you: ideas, strategies, discussion and analysis of deep personal material.

With warmth, gentleness and imparting the gifts I have gained through long experience, I take you through the material in clear, accessible language.

These days a single therapy session goes for up to $300 some places. For $111, you will have 12 astrology sessions and an introduction providing the background you need to understand what is happening in the planets. These readings will stand up to many playings, and can serve as a turning point in your life.

Please take advantage of this opportunity while you have the leverage to do the work in the most efficient way. We will never pass this way again — and where humanity is headed calls for your full preparation, availability and awareness.

You may purchase single signs here, or all 12 signs here. Free video samples are below!

Thank you for your business, and mostly, for your trust.

With love,

PS — This set of readings is included with the Backstage Pass. If you would like to purchase the Backstage Pass by phone, please call me at (845) 481-5616, up till 8 pm Eastern Time.

Listened to I Am last night. Extraordinary. Have been through Taurus, Leo, Cancer and Aquarius. The confirmatory understanding of the past cycle, the work it has taken to attend to and the nudges I am already feeling about the next phase, so helpful. Seriously, you continue to communicate in such a way that openings and accountability can be digested. I think your work just gets better.

— Customer from Australia

"Firstly I just wanted to say thank you. Listening to your Dharma reading earlier this summer was a real turning point during my lockdown. It gave me so much direction and trust, and acted quite literally like a galvaniser that has got to where I am now. Your weekly and monthly horoscopes are always very helpful for me."

Here are free five-minute reading samples for each sign:

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

Chiron Return, our nonprofit arm, publishes Covid19 News every day, in fact several times a day. We have updated about 740 times since we began publishing on March 3. This old-style news weblog takes a panoramic view of the virus situation. We offer news and viewpoints from a wide diversity of sources, science news, international reporting, videos and other resources to help you see the wide diversity of information not making it onto television or major websites. We are tracking the vaccine and testing issues carefully. Each Friday night, Chiron Return publishes Planet Waves FM. Running since 2010, with roots into Radio Woodstock in the 1990s, Planet Waves FM covers current events, current astrology, science history, personal growth and other themes. Includes music by Vision Quest, the in-house Planet Waves orchestra. Planet Waves publishes daily astrology and birthdays through the week. This feature includes a daily extended birthday reading and ongoing commentaries on developing astrology as it happens. Check in whenever you want — no password required. Going back to February, I've developed a portfolio of essays, investigative articles, videos and audio presentations on the Covid situation. These include articles about the astrology of the situation, hand sanitizer, holistic care, social critique and a wide diversity of other topics. We've recently added a selection of my satires, such as CDC guidance on blowing kisses. This is a truly comprehensive look at the issues, written from a worldly, nonpolitical standpoint. Here is the link. Monthly Horoscopes and Publishing Schedule Notes

Your extended monthly horoscope for October was published on Thursday, Oct. 1. We published your extended monthly horoscope for September on Wednesday, Sept. 2. Please note: we normally publish the extended monthly horoscope after the Sun has entered a new sign.

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Aries (March 20-April 19) — You have far greater influence than you may think. However, if you're not regulating your emotions, then you're likely to stir up chaos in your environment and think you have no influence at all. You will keep spin control on your environment by doing so with yourself. There are people around you who are modeling stability and balance. This is not coming at the expense of their vitality or creativity. Rather, it is a product of two qualities. One is applied intelligence. The other is the practiced ability to change, and to help others change. Look around for who is setting a positive example for you, and spend some time with them learning their methods. Meanwhile, you are still in the midst of Mars retrograde, which is a deep review. If you are over the age of 40, you may be experiencing one of the most comprehensive personal inner delves of your entire life. If you are younger, you are being taken on an introspective journey that will set the template for what would be helpful to do on a regular basis. You may notice that people tend to be obsessed with the past without learning much from it. They tend to be stuck in the ways of the past without the benefits of true wisdom that could be found there. These are not luxuries and you cannot afford to waste your time. Use what you know, use what you're learning, and make sure you have reference points around you in the form of people with whom you can reality check on a regular basis.

Story of I AM: All 12 signs | Choose your signs | Aries preview video

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Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Your beliefs are changing, and that is leading to your taking action. The question is, which beliefs are leading to which choices? This is less about the world around you and far more about your perception of it. The structure of your psyche, your personal expectations and the myths you live by are what tend to influence your worldview the most. Now, those things are shifting, shaking and collapsing. You have few reference points for how to perceive the world -- in a time when it's already difficult to make sense of things. Yet your personal mythology is not going to save you. Your latent past impressions of life are not going to give you clear vision; they are throwing various obstacles in front of your eyes. Your expectations about life have proven to be false many times. So what else is left? The first time you look at the world through a clear lens, or no lens at all, the effect is stunning. Even one glimpse can lead people to entirely reevaluate their existence and their purpose. Yet that would be the point of avoiding such a thing. Preconceived ideas serve a purpose, which is to lock the mind in the past. This prevents the actual confrontation with existence known as being alive. It is a 'safe space' where everything is predictable and 'makes sense'. However, when that crumbles, you're left standing where you are. From there, you can open your eyes or not; you can listen to what you hear or not; you can stand at a crossroads, or choose some direction in which to travel. Just remember, your beliefs are not strong enough to hold up the whole world, and never were.

Story of I AM: All 12 signs | Choose your signs | Taurus preview video

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Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Mercury's station retrograde on Oct. 13 is encouraging you strongly to take care of unfinished business related to your health. Any lingering conditions, questions or material can now be addressed with an enhanced opportunity for success. This includes both physical health issues, workplace health, and also emotional and psychological matters that have been left unaddressed or have been lurking behind the curtain. Those may be the most significant, as yours is one of the signs that has the strongest association between emotional health and overall health. You may now be able to tap into underlying subject matter that may be quite sensitive, to the degree where you tend to tune it out. If something fitting that description bubbles to awareness, you can treat it as coming up for healing. This may be subtle; it may be overt. You are unlikely to be confronted directly but rather to be presented with an opportunity or occasion to consider or review something. Even thinking it through carefully, in the sense of feeling while you think and doing a thorough review, will help you make progress. If you're going to speak with someone, make sure that it's someone who has successfully resolved something similar. You will be able to tell this because the things resolved are, specifically, anger, guilt and self-blame. Addressing those things in particular is the healing I'm talking about. There is also one other matter: making sure that what you pass forward is healing and not further damage to anyone. There is only one way to do that, in truth, which is to take care of yourself and not be vexed by the past.

Story of I AM: All 12 signs | Choose your signs | Gemini preview video

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Cancer (June 21-July 22) — To succeed, you must embrace that you are different, and that you do things differently — and then live that truth. I don't just mean different, though. I mean outstanding in the form of standing out. When you listen to people say what they want from life, for many, it is the courage to assert themselves, to be real, and to live without compromising themselves. Those are worthy goals, though the intention is not enough. There are ways to get there, and there are developmental experiences necessary. Most of those involve addressing the fear associated with taking such risks, or perceived risks; if that factor did not exist, nobody would hesitate. For example, anyone who speaks out and stands out becomes a target, whether for the projections of others, or some more significant controversy. Yet when you break down the issues, it's all about family, and one's sense of acceptance. What most people fear the most is rejection. And so by living lives of seeming safety, through not risking being cast off in some way, the result is smothering in self-deception. There is nothing safe about this, in any sense of the word. Your truth is your life. Nothing short of living your truth deserves the term. That means standing up to people you perceive as powerful. And that, in turn, means understanding your family of origin and its conditioning on you, and the ways you were coerced into backing down so as not to threaten others. Slogans such as "speak truth to power" do not clarify this process. It is about emotional growth, and you are ready.

Story of I AM: All 12 signs | Choose your signs | Cancer preview video

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Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — What you have to say may be simple and clear, yet you may wonder how it could be possible that anyone will ever hear you. You may develop your ideas and wonder how they are ever going to cut through the noise. I suggest you concern yourself with nothing other than presenting yourself in such a way that you may be understood. This is why people do not become writers. It takes work to be understood. It is also why people become liars: it is easy to use deception to convince people that they understand something, usually by grossly oversimplifying it, or fabricating a more emotionally acceptable version of events. However, it is now your mission to be understood. You have something to say, and it's your responsibility to do so in a way that comes across. The part about how far your message goes is not your responsibility. All you can do is mediate between what you need to say and how it may be received by others. This will take experimentation, and it will require your personal ability to shift perspectives from speaker to listener. Based on your current solar chart, I can offer a couple of ideas. One is that understatement helps. You do not need to argue loudly, nor over-emphasize your case. Also, people respect and are drawn to beauty, which in this situation means balance, and a touch of elegance. Slow down and make your points carefully. Writing is almost always about rewriting, so you will need to be flexible and patient. Yet in all of this, you must never, ever compromise the basic truth you are asserting. It would be a good idea to start with whatever that is, and proceed from there.

Story of I AM: All 12 signs | Choose your signs | Leo preview video

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Tailored for Virgo Sun and rising, this new audio reading by Eric Francis introduces you to your astrology through the autumn of 2021. We will take maximum advantage of the power you are drawing from the Earth signs at the time of your solar return: Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, as well as Uranus in Taurus. This is a grand earth trine, and the thing to do is gather momentum in the direction you want to go, and then point yourself there. Eric describes the influence of Jupiter and Saturn ingressing Aquarius later this year. The reading looks closely at Chiron in Aries, accompanied by Mars retrograde in Aries — your most important relationship house. Now with full transcript. Order now for instant access. This reading is included with the Backstage Pass.

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Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You will fare better financially if you're not too tied up in the affairs of others. Keep count of your assets, and keep control of them as well. Your whole life right now is about extracting yourself from where others control you. Yet if you're paying attention you will see how much of that 'control' is really just a head trip, a compilation of all you have not resolved. So while you may assert yourself against others, remember you're actually pushing back against your own beliefs about yourself. True, most of those ideas came from other people, though they are your property now. Therefore, you can relax about having to fight back or struggle or make any demands. All you need is to make up your mind about what you want and let that be your guide. By guide, I mean the thing that becomes the basis of your decisions. It is crucial in this process that you sort out the difference between inner authority and outer. It is not always so easy to see. The two are often confused. Yet it is possible to learn the difference, and then master it — and for you, now is the time. This is the same difference as that between 'self' and 'other', something that is blurred by oppressive situations, and agreements you don't want to be in. The place to start is with understanding your needs and your motives. I know others present endless fodder for intrigue, though please do not be distracted by the spiritual equivalent of gossip. Your life is about you. No debate is possible here.

Story of I AM: All 12 signs | Choose your signs | Virgo preview video

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Notes to Myself is Ready | Astrology Studio for Libra

Dear Friend and Reader:

Your reading is done, and in true Libra fashion, it is beautiful.

The reading all moves toward the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Aquarius, your 5th house of curiosity, art, pleasure and passion.

Before we get there, I review the Pluto in Capricorn era that began in 2008, and bring that up to the present. I look at the aftershocks of the Saturn-Pluto conjunction back in January, all of which is about your drive to be secure and stable in a rapidly changing world.

	Eric Francis.

Aries, your 7th house of relationships, figures prominently, beginning with a discussion of Chiron in Aries and what that represents: healing in relationships, and also the presence of teachers and mentors.

And I look at Mars retrograde in Aries and describe how it is necessary to take an arm's length approach to the affairs of others, even if it impacts you directly. You may listen to a sample of your reading here.

Exciting Extras Included — Including my Millennials Reading

Special features include a full transcript coming in about a week, articles related to the topics I discuss (such as the Aries written reading for INTELLIGENCE), and free access to the Understanding Millennials reading I did a few years back. This reading looks closely at the Capricorn events of the early 1990s.

Understanding Millennials is an exciting look at the astrology of its era, and also will help you understand either yourself or young people you may know.

All of this is yours for just $44. The reading will be available for instant access.

This reading is included with the Backstage Pass, without a personal reading, or with a 20-minute custom look at your chart.

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

With love,

PS — You may subscribe to Core Community or Backstage Pass by phone, by calling (845) 481-5616.

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Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — The Oct. 16 New Moon in your birth sign puts you face to face with your challenges, which is right where you want to be. Call people and things what they are. However, the deeper matter is your investment in the past, particularly addressing any nostalgia about your family. This includes toxic residue, memories and influences, which can be like a box of old photos you keep looking through without noticing anything different. If you study these images and your memories with a little detachment, you will see new things. Turn them upside down. Recite the lines others said to you and feel how it might have felt to say them. William Faulkner once wrote, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." Not only that, the past keeps changing. It squirms around and rearranges itself, yet is often viewed as a fixed thing. Once you see it changing before your eyes, you will know that your interpretation of the past is unreliable. It is possible to see things an entirely new way, and to be informed by that, and at the same time set free from what seemed to bind you. Then, it is up to you to find your way to the present, and when you get here, it's going to look a lot different than it did yesterday. That is how you know you have arrived. You do not need to work out the past. You do not need to resolve all that was done to you. You do not need to account for every bit of jetsam and flotsam in your aura. You merely need to be truthful with yourself and with others. And you may decide that this is a truly pleasant activity.

Story of I AM: All 12 signs | Choose your signs | Libra preview video

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Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Now is not the time to come to any final determinations about anything. Final is a strong word, though you tend to make up your mind and that is that, and at the moment such would be ill advised. You do not have a clear view of your own life, and at the same time, you may be experiencing a sense of pressure from a source you cannot identify. Hence, you don't have a basis for any decision you might make, though I would also caution that your observations are all likely to be a little skewed as well. So you might not take them so seriously at the moment, and just watch the movie of your life from a slight distance and without your usual emotional investment. You really can do this. You will have increasing clarity after the New Moon on the 16th, then after the Sun enters your sign on the 22nd. Still -- keep observing. Mercury stations direct on Nov. 3 and finally, Jupiter makes its last conjunction to Pluto on Nov. 12. So if you start to rearrange your life before those things occur, you will have this sense of wishing you knew then what you know now, though there will be no turning back. Give yourself time and space to work out the questions you have, in writing if possible, and preferably in a notebook. This way you will have a record of all the things you thought and be able to follow the route to your point of view — and beyond it. You are heading somewhere different. You are heading toward a new understanding of your existence. Trace your steps carefully.

Story of I AM: All 12 signs | Choose your signs | Scorpio preview video

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Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — The crucial phase you are at is coming to an understanding of your values. Since that word is overused, another way to say this is your personal constitution. That is the most basic and fundamental level of law upon which all other laws are based. It's the place you come back to when making decisions about right and wrong. Though your sign tends to be viewed as forward-thinking, you tend to have old-school values and even a measure of orthodox thinking. This includes a perspective on right and wrong that is based on the past, has an orientation in tradition, and that can be somewhat rigid. What you are learning is to be adaptable, flexible and movable. You will benefit more from understanding and working with the spirit of the law much more than the letter of the law. Traditions die and can suffocate their adherents if they are not keeping up with the times. You are a living, growing, evolving being. You are learning about yourself every day, which is one of the privileges of being both sentient and self-aware. Most of what your soul is calling for now is direct experience. In recent decades, the line has been blurred between the real and the virtual. This word has long carried the meaning "being something in essence or effect, though not actually or in fact," and more recently, an illusion created by software. The experience you need is the kind that demonstrates to you that you exist in fact, and are not an illusion created by computer code. The challenges are greater. The risks are higher. The difference is everything.

Story of I AM: All 12 signs | Choose your signs | Sagittarius preview video

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Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Your world centers around you. If you start from that premise, it will be easier where "you" are part of what is "around you." There is freedom in doing this, of the kind you want and need, which is the ability to choose your destiny or at least set an agenda for yourself that you can follow, express and live with. You are gradually coming into alignment with yourself, and making important discoveries about your reality every day. You are now at the point where you must express these discoveries in a tangible way if you want to develop your potential. It is easy to sit around waiting for a moment that never arrives -- the perfect invitation or opportunity. This is the thing you must make for yourself, and take for yourself. There can be no other leader in your life except for yourself. I recognize that we are in the time of outer authority, even autocracy, when many people are waiting around to be told what to do. That, however, is not really about expressing yourself. The point of contention is taking that step into being visible, being real, being seen as an example — and the potential to fail. You might be amazed how these factors can all add up to paralysis, yet you've likely experienced it a few times. What I think is going on underneath is the need for approval, and the fear that you might somehow not have this when you think you need it the most. That moment, however, is when you need it the very least and when it can be the most debilitating. In all ways, this is the time to cut the apron strings and encounter the big, beautiful, dangerous world.

Story of I AM: All 12 signs | Choose your signs | Capricorn preview video

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Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You might be pretty restless, or agitated. If you're connected to yourself, you might be experiencing this astrology as motivation — so I suggest you connect. There's some deep element of your psyche that is wanting to shake loose from the past. If you are feeling frustration, consider whether that is the point of contention, and then imagine yourself cracking through a psychic husk. You are growing from the inside out right now. You are catching up with yourself. That's the beautiful part, and the one you will appreciate forever. Yet the feeling of vulnerability you may be experiencing is also essential to your progress. It is evidence that you are actually in motion within yourself. So don't back off from that feeling in any of its potential forms, which may include uncertainty, embarrassment, or the urge to throw your whole life into your progress. That is going to happen whether you plan it or not, want it or not — so you may as well figure out what you want and align yourself with your desire. There is a mental aspect to this, though ultimately, you will know what you want because you feel driven and motivated. It's that feeling of wanting to clear your agenda entirely and do that one thing. If you have the feeling that you would do it if only you could, the chances are high that you can, though you will need to make some decisions and get busy. If you are doing the thing you want, then focus on that and do more of it. Powerful forces are at work in your life, and when that is the case, your commitment is worth a thousand times its usual value. And that is something.

Story of I AM: All 12 signs | Choose your signs | Aquarius preview video

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Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — You are in one of those 'damn the torpedoes' moments, whatever they may represent in your life. Now is the time to resolve to let nothing stop you, which means keepin' on, every day, one step at a time. Do not let the opinions of others slow you down. You have a different perspective than they do. Do not let the fears of others interfere with your mission; you have worked for and earned your courage. Most of all, resist any temptation to be anything other than truly yourself. This is where there can be no compromise. You cannot be anyone but yourself, so there is no point trying, or even meekly considering the possibility. Yet to be real means to feel like you're on the edge, such as on the margin of public opinion, or the cusp of your own consciousness. You are indeed exploring a borderland, and you will find that this becomes more interesting as the days and weeks go on. Note that if you are feeling fear, panic, polarization, or any form of emotional hype, that is a sign of lack of confidence, and some evidence that you are attempting to compromise. Borrowing another nautical concept, what you want to feel is steady as she goes. Yes, there is plenty that can go wrong. Any ship can founder. An unexpected storm may blow in. A meteorite may hit the Earth. Your mother might call when you're doing something important. True, true. You have a mission and you know what it is. Others in the equation can and will be exceedingly helpful, though they are counting on your steady guidance, and your balanced, circumspect point of view.

Story of I AM: All 12 signs | Choose your signs | Pisces preview video

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