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And Now We Are Arming al-Qaeda

Dear Friend and Reader:

Let the Akashic Record reflect that on the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11 incident, the United States began providing weapons to al-Qaeda. It's not being advertised that way -- it's being advertised as the U.S. providing weapons to the Syrian anti-government rebels (who you might happen to know include al-Qaeda fighters).

George Bush, atop the WTC rubble with retired FDNY firefighter Bob Beckwith, promises to get the terrorists that his government accused of the Sept. 11 attack. Today we promise to get them some guns.

Thursday's Washington Post story doesn't include the term "al-Qaeda" -- that would be nauseating so close to the anniversary, though everyone involved in government and media knows the truth. Even Syrian Pres. Bashar al-Assad mentioned this fact in his recent interview with Charlie Rose.

This development fulfills yet again the astrological chart for the Sept. 11 incident, which has as its main feature an aspect pattern recognized back to the days of Ptolemy -- a mutual reception. Among other things, the chart pattern describes terrorists and the government trading places. Though it doesn't prove anything, the chart nicely illustrates the variable -- Mercury (representing the terrorists) is rising in Libra; Saturn (representing the government) is in Gemini. Saturn is exalted in Libra and Mercury rules Gemini.

The two planets can therefore reverse placements in the chart. They are also in a perfect trine, indicating cooperation and easy flow of energy (in whatever form). Spotters of the classical rules may note that the exact trine makes the mutual reception all the more prominent, as does the fact that Mercury is rising to the degree.

At least from the standpoint of traditional astrology, it's not stretching things at all to say that the chart illustrates a false flag event -- something where the wrong party was blamed, for a political or military purpose. It also suggests that the government was the terrorist. Twelve years later, this is not so shocking. Based on a seemingly endless flood of evidence, many people have figured out that something smells about the Sept. 11 story. Though the initial shock has taken a while to wear off, it's a little easier to see the many pieces of the story that don't fit together, that blatantly contradict one another or that are outright lies.

Though I fancy myself someone who has looked into the matter, I was not aware until this week of the numerous reports of what were called "secondary explosions" in World Trade Center towers 1 and 2 that on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, a top Fire Department official believed brought the buildings down, killing hundreds of firefighters. Now, those "secondary explosions" are esoteric knowledge or relegated to the realm of conspiracy theory.

Tried and convicted by 11:47 am, MSNBC shows a photo of Osama bin Laden, said by intelligence officials to be in Afghanistan. Even on the 11th, the government was promising military action against Afghanistan. The Army cornered him in late 2001, then let him go.

With the dust and smoke and pain still fresh in our hearts and minds, the United States proceeded to embark on an open-ended war for 12 years and counting, sacrificing more than 5,000 American lives and countless severe injuries to our troops, and millions of people displaced, and hundreds of thousands killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, all ostensibly to get al-Qaeda.

You might say it was costly, but that also translates to profitable. The trillions expended on these battles and on the national security state went somewhere, to people and corporations.

And now we are providing the supposed terrorists with weapons, which arrived in Syria none other than on Sept. 11, 2013. There was apparently some kind of bureaucratic delay that was resolved none other than on the anniversary.

You might think that someone could have delayed either the shipment or the announcement by a few days so as not to be crass about it. But it makes one wonder whether someone either has a sick sense of humor or they were sending a message to the American public that the whole business had finally come full circle.

Speaking of full circle, the one thing that has indeed come back around to where it started was Jupiter, which has returned to its natal position and just today just crossed the midheaven (the government angle) of the main chart for Sept. 11, 2001. We must once again ask the question: who benefits? Who in the corporate and government spheres is making a lot of money on this whole seemingly endless business? It's a very, very long list and it probably does not include you.

The gift of guns to al-Qaeda fighters arrives at the end of what was by any measure an astonishing week, which began Monday morning in London with a CBS News reporter named Margaret Brennan asking John Kerry what it might take to stop the attack on Syria. 

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Pat Dawson of NBC News reported that FDNY's chief of safety, Albert Turrey -- one of the first to respond to the scene -- said there were "secondary explosions" in the World Trade Center that he believes brought down the towers and killed hundreds of his men. Today, this is a conspiracy theory. View full video here -- skip to 1:25.

Kerry answered off the cuff that they could turn over all their chemical weapons stockpiles, which of course (in his opinion) would be impossible. The State Department issued a statement an hour later trying to walk back the offer, claiming that Kerry was merely speaking "rhetorically" (a good description of how Kerry talks). 

But Russia picked up on it, signaling that it was a good idea. Then Obama picked up on that -- for him, it was a great idea for many reasons: he didn't have the votes in Congress to approve the bombing campaign.

Peaceniks were aligning with hard-right Republicans in opposition to the attack. That's pretty amazing -- and it presents a template of how we can actually accomplish something difficult in times of strife and controversy. No matter how much centrist, conservative and liberal views may diverge, there is always common ground. There are always common values, even if they have seemingly different motives.

It helped that a wide swath of the American public was not signing on to the project, contacting their congressional representatives in droves. Many Democrats felt betrayed by Obama, who was not supposed to be following in George Bush's footsteps. So this provided Obama an important means of saving face before the public. Accounts of the alleged gas attack the night of Aug. 21 were not adding up -- they still are not, and the Internet was exploding with this sentiment.

Given that Kerry is touting an exact number of people presumably killed and an exact number of children presumably killed, to me the most significant missing fact is a list of the dead. We don't even have an accounting of how many are militants and how many are civilians, and also the time of the incident. If something really happened and if we have a body count, we should at least have those basic facts. It might be easier to accept this on faith, except we all know the story of Iraq: a war started on a litany of lies. Some people remember Vietnam, a war started on a total pretense; a fabrication called the Tonkin Gulf Incident.

Margaret Brennan of CBS News put the question to John Kerry: what would Syria have to do to avoid being bombed?

It was this rare combination of factors that prevented a bombing and missile campaign, one that could have inflamed a regional war, indeed, a kind of world war -- the planet is so rigged with nuclear bombs and other weapons systems that anything of this nature has the potential to run out of control.

So, we have a rare example of how the perfect storm of factors can actually stop a war, or at least the expansion of a civil war into a full-on bombing campaign by the United States, with an uncertain outcome. That's a pretty special moment.  

And back in Damascus, while that vicious civil war rages on, at least there is not, for now, the prospect of it raining artillery on civilians and the soldiers sitting in bunkers. But American arms, delivered by the CIA, are now going to the people who are fighting the Assad government. Among the organizations with an agenda taking advantage of this situation is al-Qaeda, which will now have access to fine American-made artillery.

This is enough to make anyone's head spin, except it's the normal way things go when war is on the agenda. It's one reason why it's safe to be against war in all circumstances -- there is always a sham of some kind, people are always hurt, and there is never an agenda that benefits people.

It's well about time we figured that out.

Lovingly,

Note, I've covered the events of the week, and of the Syria conflict and the associated astrology, in detail in two recent editions of Planet Waves FM. Additional research: Amanda Painter.


This week's news briefs were written and researched by Amanda Painter, Susan Scheck, Carol van Strum and your friendly neighborhood news editor, Eric Francis.

Mercury in Libra, Through the Maze

If this past week wasn't an exercise in anger management (or stress management) with Mars making a square to Saturn, consider yourself fortunate. While this astrology presented a diversity of emotional challenges and may have offered some back-handed progress, I would propose sending out a big rousing 'amen' for the fact that the U.S. didn't start bombing Syria, dragging Iran and Russia into another phase of endless war.

Jonah, with Virgo Sun-Moon, uses The Moment of Astrology by Geoff Cornelius as a pillow. Photo by Beth Bagner.

Mercury in Libra takes the lead through the weekend. Monday, Mercury reached Libra (representing news about diplomacy). That put it on course for the often-mentioned Jupiter-Uranus-Pluto configuration (sometimes called the Uranus-Pluto square, now with Jupiter in the mix).

Located in Aries, Cancer and Capricorn, that's a cardinal-sign T-square that's been setting the tone of the times we're living through.

Each week we live through a month of news or personal movement, remember that alignment. Every day that feels like everything, all at once, you know what to look to for information.

Libra is the open end of the square. It's the one cardinal sign without a (well-known or traditionally used) slow-mover present. (There is a not-so-well-known slow-mover there, called Typhon, a strange object discovered orbiting our Sun in 2002.)

On a fairly regular basis something we recognize passes through Libra and completes the square -- and currently that something is Mercury. Recently it was Venus; soon it will be the Sun. For now, it's Mercury. Though my astrology tends to depend on the slow-movers for its emphasis, I've noticed that Mercury is a planet of truly extraordinary influence -- underrated by most astrologers.

Its influence may come from the fact that we live in a time where nearly everything we do falls under a Mercury rulership -- all of our gadgets, everything we say with them, this ocean of 'communication' that we live in, all of it is thematically connected to Mercury.

But Mercury is more than the means of delivery, such as the device or the printing press -- it's also the message itself. And going closer to the source, it's also the awareness that conjures the thought -- borrowing from the Bhagavad Gita, "the mind of the senses, the consciousness of creatures."
 

Mercury square Pluto on Saturday, Sept. 14. Note the imminent conjunction of Venus to Saturn in Scorpio (upper right side of chart).

Libra is the sign of beauty, justice, balance and fairness. I suggest you make sure these things are ingredients in whatever you do.

For the next few days, Mercury is passing through one of the most powerful aspect patterns of our lifetimes. Putting things into context, in my opinion the Jupiter-Uranus-Pluto-Typhon alignment is up there with the top five most influential patterns of the past 50 years (two others took place from 1989-1991, and 2001-2002).

And now the 'mind of the senses' is about to jump into the fray. You may experience your thoughts going deeper, getting weirder, being more focused or more creative in unexpected ways. This aspect pattern has a touch of Tim Leary and Ram Dass to it -- it's the kind of thing that can change your perspective on life, and indeed can change you.

It's a time to respect the power of ideas, something that's too-rarely done, especially in our age of disposable thought. It's a time to be real with yourself and real with others; it's a time to recognize the importance of beginnings, endings and points of decision.

Venus emphasizes the point, now in Scorpio about to make a conjunction to Saturn. Along the way Venus will be part of the grand water trine, suggesting that you not allow emotions to rule everything -- a fact emphasized by both the approaching conjunction to Saturn (a full stop, and moment of reflection) and the aspects that Mercury is making, described above.

As this develops, the Moon waxes toward full phase in Pisces -- the Full Moon is on Sept. 19. That may come with a sense of gathering momentum, flashes of insight and maybe a touch of clairvoyance. You might be more sensitive, reactive or intuitive. You might find yourself up at night, which would be a time to use creatively rather than tossing and turning.

Yes, it may be a restless moment, and also a profoundly meaningful one, when real breakthroughs and turning points are possible.




We are happy to offer once again one of our most popular products: the Planet Waves All-Access Pass for 2014. The All-Access Pass is for members who want access to everything we offer in a calendar year. In recent years our product line has grown considerably, and the response from our All-Access subscribers has been overwhelmingly positive. You can read about everything that's included with an All-Access pass here. For those who can't get enough Planet Waves astrology, it's an unbeatable value. Plus, if you order now, we'll include the rest of the readings that come out in 2013, and you'll save $100.


NSA Passing Citizens' Data to Israel; Weakening Online Encryption

If you're already incensed about the NSA intercepting your private communications -- it gets worse. The Guardian reported Wednesday the NSA has routinely passed raw intelligence to Israel without first removing information about U.S. citizens.
 

Skype worked with intelligence agencies last year to allow Prism to collect video and audio conversations. With weakened encryption, why ask permission? Photo: Patrick Sinkel/AP.

"The NSA was sharing what they call raw signals intelligence, which includes things like who you are calling and when you are calling, the content of your phone call, the text of your emails, your text messages, your chat messages," said Alex Abdo of the American Civil Liberties Union on Democracy Now! "It sounds like all of that was handed over."  
 
Documents leaked by Edward Snowden detailed the secret intelligence-sharing agreement between the NSA and its Israeli counterpart, which places no legally binding limits on the use of the data by the Israelis. This is in contradiction of assurances by the Obama administration that safeguards exist to protect innocent citizens' data caught in transit.

News of this raw-signal sharing came less than a week after Glenn Greenwald, collaborating with The New York Times and ProPublica, revealed that the NSA has developed methods to crack online encryption used to protect emails, banking and medical records.
 
"Encryption is really the system that lets the Internet function as an important commercial instrument all around the world," said Greenwald.
 
Documents released by Snowden show the NSA spends $250 million a year on a program that works with technology companies to covertly influence their product designs, deliberately weakening international encryption standards. Documents also show the NSA's British counterpart, the GCHQ, is trying to gain access into encrypted traffic on Hotmail, Google, Yahoo and Facebook -- the "big four" service providers.


Public Asked to Protest Monsanto Protection Act

House Republicans are extending the controversial Monsanto Protection Act rider (officially named the Farmer Assurance Provision) that was quietly slipped into a governmental spending bill last spring, and later signed by the president amidst huge public protest. The previous bill containing the Monsanto rider is about to expire, and without action to remove it on the part of lawmakers, it will stay there.

The rider in essence prevents judges from placing injunctions on GM seeds even if they are deemed unsafe. Planet Waves reported last March on the legal issues surrounding the Monsanto Protection Act and the intense opposition to it at that time.
 
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), sponsor of a petition last spring that garnered more than 100,000 signatures against its inclusion, is taking action again. "I will fight the House's efforts to extend this special interest loophole that nullifies court orders that are protecting farmers, the environment, and public health."
 
GMO activists hope the public gets involved again, in greater numbers than they did before. Petitions last spring by Food Democracy Now picked up 100,000 signatures and one by CREDO Action, an online progressive group with about three million members, had more than 250,000 signatures.
 
"That's big for us, the fact that it went from zero to 100,000 in just 24 hours," Becky Bond, the head of CREDO, said in an article at the time. "People are really passionate about this issue. A lot of time people feel helpless with regard to corporate decisions ... The fact that there's someone in the Senate who's fighting for this is exciting to people, and they're eager to get their names on it."
 
Center for Food Safety, another organization critical of the Monsanto Protection Act, is asking Americans to protest the rider once more. You can sign on to the petition here.


After 'Secret Fracking' Expose, L.A. Leaders Call for Moratorium

City Council members in Los Angeles have called for a moratorium on fracking (hydraulic fracturing) in the region after residents near areas of the controversial drilling process reported increased health problems and severe property damage. Council members Paul Koretz and Mike Bonin are concerned that fracking threatens L.A.'s water supply, air quality and private property.
 

Actor and environmental activist Ed Begley Jr. speaks at a news conference on the City Hall steps in support of a ban on fracking in Los Angeles, with Councilmen Paul Koretz, left, and Mike Bonin, right. Photo: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times.

The move comes two months after Truthout and the Associated Press revealed that at least 12 fracking operations had been approved on oil rigs in the Santa Barbara Channel off the coast of California as long ago as 2009 -- minus the updated environmental impact review that federal law may require, and without any public notice.
 
The California Coastal Commission and other state officials reportedly had expressed surprise at the news.
 
Koretz and Bonin are hoping to outlaw fracking by changing the city's zoning laws. Several local and national citizen-action organizations are joining forces in support of the ban, in a state where the oil industry is the biggest corporate lobbyist and Governor Jerry Brown is reportedly fast-tracking a plan to build peripheral tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The tunnels would be used to transport massive quantities of water to oil companies' fracking sites, as well as to agribusiness -- threatening several species of fish.
 
"If a group of people poisoned millions of gallons of California's water while no one was looking we would label it terrorism and call out the troops,'' Koretz said. "Yet that is what's happening with fracking right now in California."
 
Koretz and Bonin's measure has gone to the Council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee for review and public hearings, which have yet to be scheduled. David Graham-Caso, communications director and environmental policy advisor to Bonin, let Planet Waves know yesterday that readers can support the moratorium by signing a petition with CREDO here.




Street Art vs. Street Harassment

When does someone cross the line from 'just trying to be friendly' to 'being invasive'? Is it the tone of voice, the words said or an expectation that the person one is speaking to is obligated to respond in kind? It's a fine line, and the men who cross it make life harder for those men who really do try to be sensitive, considerate and friendly -- though arguably things are even harder for women subjected to it.
 
Brooklyn-based artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh is challenging this rampant lack of awareness and respect through her street-art project Stop Telling Women to Smile. After talking to friends about their experiences with street harassment, she drew their portraits, coupled them with text speaking to offenders (who often are not called out), and began posting the work in Brooklyn and Philadelphia.
 
"For most of [my friends], we sat and had a conversation about their experiences and what it is they'd like to say back to harassers. I used those conversations as inspiration for the text underneath their portraits."
 
Fazlalizadeh says she is open to expanding the project to men who have experienced harassment:
 
"I know it happens, and it's important, and it's something I may take on in the future. Right now though, I want to focus on women -- of varying backgrounds -- to really tackle the ways in which our bodies are sexualized and mistreated in the public space."
 
Fazlalizadeh has started a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for traveling to other U.S. cities to talk to and draw women across the country, putting the art up in their neighborhoods.




Syria Scam Derailed; Sept. 11 Anniversary

In this week's edition of Planet Waves FM, I look at the astonishing events that began the week, including a diplomatic path of resolution suggested by Margaret Brennan, a CBS News reporter who questioned Kerry Monday morning about what it would take to stop the bombing proposal.

I describe the astrology associated with this, though I neglected one meaningful point -- there will be a development over the weekend when Mercury in Libra reaches its square to Pluto, and then continues on to an opposition to Uranus and then a square to Jupiter. That is to say, I hope the whole deal doesn't come unraveled -- however -- the longer this drags on, the less likely there is to be a bombing campaign.

After the music break I tell the story of how I figured out that the official story of the Sept. 11 incident was a lie -- from a photo of the Pentagon, reproduced in high resolution here. Look at the photo at full size and see if you can find any hint of an airplane crash. Remember, an airplane is 100 tons of aluminum, titanium and plastic, full of people, baggage and fuel.

I don't talk about the astrology -- though I've covered that many times. I reference an article called Were it So, in which I tell the story of my discovery of how the official story of Sept. 11 was not true.

My personal favorite astrology-news piece on Sept. 11 is called History, Turning on a Phrase. Here is last year's podcast going into detail on the Sept. 11 incident.




Your Monthly Horoscopes -- and our Publishing Schedule Notes

We published the extended monthly horoscopes for September on Friday, Aug. 23. We published the Inner Space horoscopes for September Friday, Aug. 30.  We published the Moonshine horoscopes for the Aquarius Full Moon on Tuesday, Aug. 20. The Moonshine horoscopes for the Virgo New Moon were published Tuesday, Sept. 3. Please note, we normally publish the extended monthly horoscopes on the first Friday after the Sun has entered a new sign; Inner Space usually publishes the following Tuesday.




Weekly horoscope for Friday, Sept. 13, 2013 #966 | By Eric Francis
Aries (March 20-April 19) -- Someone close to you is going through what you recently went through, or at least something similar. Even if it seems to be less meaningful (to you) or seems (to you) to have less impact, I suggest you recognize their emotional reality for what it is. You, and the people around you, are having certain experiences of coming up against your limitations, which you may be experiencing as reaching a breaking point. What you may observe as both interesting and informative is the way in which a partner or loved one demonstrates their flexibility in ways that you tend to be rigid, stuck or stubborn. It's not that they're going through less than you -- indeed, what they're experiencing appears to be profound and to reach a deep place. Their response and approach to the equation is informed by other values, including the concept of equilibrium. This is something you would do well to learn, and you can learn a lot from observation.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) -- Pause and reconsider your point of view. There's an urgent need for a mature approach to a relationship question, and that approach involves getting clear about how not to make everyone or anyone into your parent figure. Our society is rife with parent-child dynamics, from how we interact with cops and politicians, to how we relate with intimate partners, colleagues and bosses. It's up to each individual person to grow up and be an adult. Often the excuse for not doing so is not wanting to lose one's child-like nature. Yet that nature is vulnerable without an adult to protect it, and that adult must be you, not someone else -- despite what is currently a tremendous temptation to project that responsibility onto another person. This may be for the sake of companionship, or of seeking approval, or because you need protection. Yet is any of that true? I suggest you ask yourself whether how you're handling things is more or less likely to offer you the sense of belonging and safety that you need.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) -- Awareness of mortality is awareness of life. It's closely related to awareness of change and growth. How we feel about death closely resembles how we feel about existence. It's therefore unhelpful to deny mortality or to pretend that you have no relationship to death. Being mindful of how forms transform, and of what elements follow the story from one phase to the next, will all be helpful. If you find yourself feeling backed into a corner, like nothing matters or like your time is running out, you may be suppressing something from your awareness. In the most basic psychological terms, that might be the need to change. There appears to be some element in your environment that's inviting you to do just that. It might be a commitment to someone, your sense of contact with something greater than yourself, or your changing relationship to the passage of time. Work with it, not against it.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) -- There's certainly something elemental and childlike about sexual play, though for adults it calls for the conscious use of ethics. The way society deals with this is to turn sex into a moral issue, which it's not. Imposed morality only tends to make people less answerable to themselves. Morality makes everything wrong, especially pleasure. As I define the term, ethics is about the ability to discern the shades of appropriateness, and to make a decision about what is right for you at any given time. If you can do that, you'll have more freedom; if you cannot, you're more likely to encounter an imposed limitation. As well, what you have now is the opportunity to explore the nature of a certain blockage that's been lingering around in your body, emotions or energy field for the past few seasons. On one level this seems to be about what is right and wrong for you. On another it's about how you take a risk in an ethically conscious way.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) -- Mars in your sign is showing you how consistency and persistence are the way to work through obstacles. If you slow down just a little, you'll see that they are not providing the resistance that you thought they might offer. Brilliant ideas save work and get results. And they are available to you if you open up to them, which is another good reason for why you want to pause and think about any obstacle or problem before you attempt to tackle it. What you can have right now is a mix of inspiration and deep thinking. It's not a matter of one or the other -- every useful idea needs to be applied in a conscious way. The inspiration part is about the insight or the idea; the deep thinking part is about how to use it. Remember to match the right solution to the right problem. They may not be interchangeable but if you try out a few combinations, you will find a few perfect matches.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) -- Lately it's as if you've been making your way along a narrow ledge on a tall building. While this would obviously be a tense situation, you seem to have a source of anxiety originating somewhere else. This is not about whether you're right or wrong. You do so much of what is right that you should have no anxiety whatsoever. Here's a personal question: have you considered the possibility that much of the background static that you experience involves your experience of your sexuality? This is a specific form of anxiety that psychologists don't like to talk about that much, though not only is it real, it's connected to the core source of vital energy -- which is why it's so powerful. This, in turn, is perhaps the most significant factor for determining a person's self-esteem, particularly your own. Society sends many messages not to think about any of this, to focus on appearances and the supposed monetary value of your sexiness. What you experience over the next few days will reveal the value of going much deeper.



Attention Libras (and those with Libra rising or Moon): To get the best price on your 2013 birthday reading by Eric Francis, pre-order now here. Pre-ordering gets you $10 off the published price, and we'll email the access info to you as soon as it is ready.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) -- You have many options open, though they may feel like situations to which you must respond. That's a compelling kind of option, and included in it is the chance to turn what looks like a problem into an opportunity. I know a lot of people have probably made a lot of money with that statement, which relatively few people know what to do with. Here's how it looks in the chart: You encounter something that triggers you emotionally. You have the option to gloss over the issue and move on, or figure out what was at the bottom of your response. I suggest you do that, because as Mercury moves through your sign, it does so in an increasingly provocative and emotional way. The sooner you make contact with the material at the root of the matter, the sooner you will make sense of your situation and be able to find the opportunities within it. Most of them involve emotional healing and finding a place of clarity with someone who you really wish you could understand a lot better.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) -- When in doubt, be brave. Take a chance. You have an emotional state that's urging you to caution at the same time you have one that's encouraging you to be bold and determined. The question is which one you're going to listen to. I suggest you listen to the one that's really you. Here is a clue: There's one level of worry or concern that belongs to someone else. It comes from somewhere else and belongs to another place and time. There's another dimension to what you're experiencing that feels unusually bold, and in some ways unlike you but in other ways familiar and welcome. Though this feels good, and may make you a little nervous, you may be wondering whether that's accurate or whether you're feeling too big for your britches. Now take these two emotions and match them to people in your family of origin. What feeling resembles whom the most accurately? Which feeling seems unique to you?

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) -- It's time for a dialog about what makes you the most uncomfortable -- that is, your personal taboo. This will seem bolder and braver before you do it and maybe for the first five minutes, and then it's likely to feel perfectly normal. Whomever you're discussing this with is likely to have a similar experience, so don't worry about burdening them or thinking that you're pushing them into weird territory. Rather than push, lead the way with a personal disclosure that at least seems daring and like you must cross an inner boundary to get there. That will get the discussion going. There are likely to be a few surprises as you proceed, potentially quite pleasant and liberating. While there are a few possible emotional and intellectual destinations, you will discover something about your own point of view as well as that of your conversation partner. One discovery might be something like how little you need to have in common in order to have something really special between you.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) -- Focus on your message, which means having clear ideas and putting them into clear words. Keep it simple: don't worry about being deep. You can do this without dumbing down anything, or compromising your point of view. Indeed, the idea is to get closer to your actual position, so that it can be more understandable to others. In that spirit, be accurate, precise and clear. If you're writing and you make an error, admit to it and correct it visibly. Impeccability will lead you in the direction you want to go. Along this same line of reasoning: it's important that you not push an argument or point of view; state it clearly and wait for a reply, even if that response takes several days to come back. Your words carry considerable authority, and one reason that someone may delay in responding is because they are having a response that they cannot articulate yet. Give any scenario till the 22nd to work out -- the equinox is an obvious turning point. Till then, be patient. And be precise.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- You have a lot on your hands, including much that you were not expecting to be dealing with. Help is on the way. The key element in receiving that help will be trust, in particular, trusting whomever responds to your needs is not also running another agenda. If you have a real question, ask -- and listen to the answer. You may choose to have faith in the situation despite some actual concerns. Sort those out. If you do, you'll see that some are old and no longer apply to you or your current environment; this is a good time to address any lingering hangover from the past. Some will involve what may be a level of mistrusting women. That, too, is a lingering artifact of history. Treat people as who they are today. Setting all that aside, you need to delegate at least some of your responsibility to someone who arrives to assist you, which is always a matter of having faith in a person; so keep this on a human level and start there.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) -- Emotions are complex; lately yours have been especially so, though you now seem to be in a moment of clarity. I would suggest you not push too hard against anyone or anything. There is always an easier way to get a result, and I suggest you look for that easier way. One thing to bear in mind is that time is on your side, and that momentum is carrying you in the right direction. Plant the seed of an idea in anyone you need to persuade, and then allow the conversation to develop. Don't worry if negotiations are stalled or if you seem to hold inferior cards. There are a number of developments that will come to light, as partners and associates gain an understanding of the environment and their own responsibilities. Then over the next week, as the Full Moon in your birth sign approaches, it will be easier for you to work out stalemates, deadlocks and impasses without needing to exert much effort.