 Mosaicultures Internationales Montreal team for their 2013 exhibition. Copyright © by Guy Boily.
Eyewitness to AstrologyDear Friend and Reader: So much is happening in the current astrology, and life reflected in the astrology, that it's nearly impossible to keep up. When things move this fast -- in the midst of a society that doesn't even know how fast it's going -- it becomes difficult to adapt to our environment and circumstances. There's something in biology called homeostasis: a creature's state of having successfully adapted to its environment. This is a relatively stable state of equilibrium that is necessary to attain for any measure of success as a living critter. When the pace of life moves so fast that it's difficult to remember what day it is, much less what happened last week, then it's nearly impossible to reach or maintain equilibrium.
Is it possible to flip on a light switch or move the thermostat without thinking about global warming? Or the decrepit, failing nuclear power plant 50 miles away? Is it possible to pull a sandwich bag out of the box and not think about the vast gyres of plastic clogging up the Pacific Ocean and all its inhabitants? Have you even tried to reduce the amount of plastic in your life, and figured out how difficult it is? When else in human history has there been so much ethical pressure placed on people about something as ordinary as making lunch for your kids? While this is a fair description of our current moment, really it extends far into the past and promises to extend into the future. We have been living this way for a long time; we're just creeping higher and higher along an exponential scale. Describing the astrology may provide a few metaphors, which might in turn help us map out various scenarios in our lives. Eclipse in Pisces, Retrograde Mercury in Virgo Many factors exist in the background of the astrology -- numerous simultaneous long-term, slow-to-develop aspects that represent a reshaping of our total environment. I'll come to some of those in a moment, in context (you're probably familiar with some of them by now).
The eclipse is both a peak and a release point. That the peak is happening in Pisces is a caution about needing an ongoing reality check. This is hotly emotional energy -- the heat coming mainly from Mars, and the emotion from the Moon and Pisces. The invitation is not about holding onto the anger indicated by Mars, but rather about letting it go. The problem is that the notion of letting go is likely to show up with the fear of unraveling or losing control. At the same time, Mercury is retrograde in Virgo. This can be described in a word as mental. Mercury is exceptionally influential in Virgo, a sign it both rules and is exalted in (the only planet and sign combination to have this distinction). Yet its retrograde condition feels intractable, and obsessed with the past. Many times, in the past few weeks, I've noticed the condition of the digital prison in which we're all living. Nearly everything we touch or do is conducted through the internet. That means several things: one involves the constant interrelation with robots; the internet is a robotic device. Another is the grid implied by all things digital. I cannot sketch on the margins of the document I'm now typing into, and this condition prevails over all things digital. They are processed in binary code, and exist on an invisible grid. This is more maddening than it seems.
Retrograde Mercury in Virgo also ramps up the criticism factor, which can be cast in any direction: toward oneself, or toward others, or taken on from the projections of others. This same condition does not make it easy to express oneself, nor is it particularly easy to do so. It's easy to be either misunderstood or heard as being more critical than one really is. When you combine this with the sensitivity of Friday's forthcoming Pisces Moon event, we're looking at the potential for some serious misunderstandings and resulting overreactions. Both factors -- the eclipse with so many aspects, and Mercury retrograde in Virgo -- are exceptionally strong, they are polarized, and there would seem to be little reconciling them. Little, except for one thing. Chiron in Pisces: The Healing Factor You might say that Chiron's prime directive is that healing comes to those who ask for it. It's possible to kick and scream, to resist, to try various forms of magic. Chiron is indeed a healing factor; that is, it keys in that discussion and that property. Yet on the spiritual level, healing -- the release from pain and from any other form of trouble -- is first granted by request. One must ask, and be willing to receive. I cannot think of one healing method or discipline that veers far from this concept, whether we're talking about consenting to treatment in the Western model, or 'offering it up to spirit' in the more mystical models.
Healing in the style of Chiron embraces all the factors involved, and the total environment: figure and background in all their expressions. Typically, our perception is trained to focus on the figure in front of us -- to the point of obsession. Both Chiron and Pisces are suggesting that we look for, and study, background influences. It takes special training of perception to see the background environment, however, once you begin to tune in, that's where the real action is. The figure in front of you can start to seem like a distraction from something much more significant. Chiron is also a factor that connects Virgo and Pisces. It has strong affinity for both of these signs, and in a sense weaves together the energetic qualities that they represent. This might be concepts (Virgo) and intuition (Pisces); reason (Virgo) and creativity (Pisces); the facts (Virgo) and their interpretation (Pisces); what is allegedly provable (Virgo) and what is not subject to proof (Pisces). Healing is not all sweetness and starlight; or rather, the road to getting there is often fraught with tribulations, pain, insult and injury. When we look at the aspects to the Chiron lunar eclipse, we see all the things we may have dragged to this point in our lives, and need to heal and release: anger (Mars), issues related to addiction (Pholus), multigenerational issues pouring down through your DNA (more Pholus); division between mind and body, emotions and thoughts; an existential wound (Chiron in Pisces) that leads many people to feel like they are cut off from God. Whatever this chart may be describing, it also describes the availability of the tools to make whatever progress you may need, or the progress you discover you need in the future. That, however, takes willingness. Part of that willingness implies being both aware and more circumspect in your views. By this I mean being able to see whatever matters you may be facing in a way that has a moving viewpoint, and to observe what you're looking at from several different points of view -- not just one or two, this side or that side. It helps to be able to admit you're wrong, when you make that discovery. Then being wrong is not so wrong after all. It's pretty easy to correct. Lovingly,  Planet Waves (ISSN 1933-9135) is published each Tuesday and Thursday evening in Kingston, New York, by Planet Waves, Inc. Core community membership: $197/year. Editor and Publisher: Eric Francis Coppolino. Web Developer: Anatoly Ryzhenko. Designer: Lizanne Webb. Finance: Jonathan McCarthy. Astrology Editor: Amanda Painter. Astrology Fact Checker: Len Wallick. Copy Editor and Fact Checker: Jessica Keet. Eric's Assistant: Gale Jazylo. Client Services: Amy Elliott. Media Consultant: Andrew Marshall McLuhan. Research, Writing and Editing: In addition to those listed above, Planet Waves is produced by a team consisting of Fe Bongolan, Kelly Janes, Amanda Moreno and Carol van Strum.
Monsanto Purchased by Former IG Farben Unit This week Monsanto reached an agreement for cash sale of its stock to a German company called Bayer. This acquisition, valued at about $66 billion, creates the world's largest company involved in taking over medicine, food, agriculture, seeds and the chemicals used to grow them. The key to all of this is genetic modification of living things.
Farben, among other claims to infamy, was the company that owned the patent for Zyklon B gas, a form of cyanide that was used in the Nazi death camps. Farben was more than that, but manufacturing the murder weapon for industrial-scale genocide is special. The company also served as the working arm of the Nazi industrial machine, taking control of manufacturing plants in occupied territories. After World War II, the company was split back up into some of its component parts, including Bayer, Agfa and BASF -- some of the world's largest chemical and pharmaceutical companies, each of them infamous in its own way. (BASF, for example, had a chemical accident that resulted in the first discovery of dioxin.) In my approximately 25 years covering Monsanto, I have often compared it to Farben. The mindset (mass murder through bureaucracy), the MO (merging with government), and the results of their efforts, are so similar. Monsanto has had a hand in nearly every scientific disaster since the early 20th century, all of it perpetuated with foreknowledge and documented intent. These include DDT, PCBs, Agent Orange, Industrial Bio-Test Labs, dioxins in countless consumer products, the Copper 7 birth control device, the atomic bomb, genetic modification of crops, terminator seed technology, suing organic farmers who get contaminated by GMO pollen, and finally, soaking the planet in glyphosate (sold as Roundup).
The 1901 event was a one-time conjunction, by which I mean there was no Jupiter retrograde that made it into three events. It happened just once, and the day it happened, Teddy Roosevelt gave his famous trust-busting speech before Congress, and the next day, Monsanto -- which became one of the world's most powerful trusts -- was founded. The degree 14+ Capricorn might ring a bell: it's where Pluto is now. In my article, I wondered out loud what might happen when Pluto reached that degree -- what might happen to the company and its GMO issue. It turns out that after more than a century of acquiring other companies and their health and environmental disasters, Monsanto was itself acquired for the first time (along with all of its disasters).
The basic operating philosophy of Monsanto has been to take over government regulatory functions, and therefore to remove any accountability for its actions. Its representatives in government include Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who was a Monsanto attorney at the height of the company's dioxin atrocities. By the way -- when you think of Bayer, you probably think of aspirin, the benign substance that cures headaches. Aspirin, by one formulation, is made of salicylic acid and acetyl chloride, which means that its manufacturing process has chlorine byproducts -- and those can include dioxin, the most potent toxin known to science. -- Eric Francis Coppolino 
It's All In the Houses: A Live Class with Eric Francis12 Noon to 4 pm EDT, Saturday, October 8, 2016 This live audio class (with a video introduction) covers the most basic level of astrology: where things happen, the houses. If you understand the houses as environments and groups of themes, you can read a chart. Eric will cover the 'debate' about whole sign houses and house systems, and show how these methods work together. We will use several houses as examples and provide study materials that will guide you through the rest. This class will last four hours, with a half-hour break. The class comes with a recording, and class materials will be preserved online, so you don't need to sit through the whole thing unless you want to. The class will be preceded by a video presentation that lays out the very basics, so that we will be starting with a foundation. We will hold the class by teleconference at noon EDT on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016. You may sign up here. If you're a Backstage Pass or Core Community Member, please watch your inbox for a discount offer.  Pisces Full Moon and Eclipse: React or Respond? By Amanda Painter Are you feeling the tension? I sure am. Not only are we getting close to the Pisces Full Moon on Friday (exact at 3:05 pm EDT / 19:05 UTC), but that Full Moon will also be a penumbral lunar eclipse: the Moon will pass through the outer ring of the Earth's shadow, called the penumbra, dimming slightly. More importantly, it will make rather intense astrological aspects to other planets.
Some people are great at letting a little pressure out of the proverbial tire -- gradually, consciously and proactively -- to prevent a blowout. Others get caught up in waiting for 'just the right moment', unwittingly giving the pressure a chance to reach the red zone and pop, seemingly out of nowhere. I'm actually writing this on Wednesday, and already today I've seen two friends (one being Ms. Moreno in her column here yesterday) write about how they're finally learning the difference between 'reacting' and 'responding', why it matters, and how to avert the former and choose the latter. It occurred to me that it's more than coincidence: it's an integral part of the message of the Full Moon and eclipse. The Sun is currently in late Virgo (in one week it will enter Libra for the equinox). On Friday, the Moon will oppose it from Pisces, conjunct centaur object Chiron. Leading up to a Full Moon people often experience high interpersonal tension anyway, such as an impasse or confrontation. Chiron conjunct the Moon ups the sensitivity level of an already very sensitive Moon placement. This could feel like 'too much' psychically or emotionally. Yet, Chiron calls attention to needed points of healing; opposite the Sun, you might feel called to express that need more than you would normally. Continue reading →  This Week on Planet Waves FM Lunar Eclipse in Pisces Conjunct Chiron We now have a brand-new Planet Waves FM listener feedback line for you to leave comments or questions. Eric got the number wrong the first time he announced it. Glad to have that out of the way! The correct number is (845) 977-3091. Dear Friend and Listener: This week's edition of Planet Waves FM [play episode here] begins with a discussion of the penumbral lunar eclipse in Pisces that the high priestesses, the shamans and the astrologers say is supposed to happen Friday afternoon.
These include Jupiter's recent ingress of Libra and the current exact aspects between Uranus and Eris (the conjunction), Saturn and Neptune (the square) and Chiron and Pholus (another square). If, under this astrology, you think that the election is going to turn out nice and tidy as planned, I suggest you guess again. Speaking of, in tonight's edition, I look at the health situation involving Hillary Clinton. It's one thing if you take each episode as a separate thing, unrelated to any other. It's another if you take them in sequence and consider that they're all related. This timeline provides a summary. I have not fact-checked each event listed, but I remember most of them. I look closely at her progressed chart, which you can see here. In the last segment, I look at the chart for the Fort Laramie Treaty, which established the Standing Rock Reservation, where 200 Native American tribes are in a standoff with North Dakota authorities. Our reporter Amy Jacobs is on the way there as I write. My musical guest is Blue Museum, who I met the other day when they were sound checking for the release of their EP single. You can find out more about Blue Museum at their website. One last -- we now have a Planet Waves FM feedback line: (845) 977-3091. You can speak for up to five minutes, and we'll listen and select the most interesting comments or questions for inclusion in Planet Waves FM. Thanks for tuning in. Lovingly,  Planet Waves TV: Total Solar Eclipse in Virgo This week's Planet Waves TV [play episode here] covers Friday's eclipse of the Moon in Pisces. This is a truly beautiful eclipse in that it really brings in a grouping of elements in Sagittarius: Mars, Pholus, Quaoar and the Galactic Core. So this version of TV is rich with information about the minor planets mentioned, and gives a good look at an under-appreciated topic, the center of our Milky Way galaxy -- our homing signal. Eric goes into the astrology of this eclipse in more detail in yesterday's episode of Planet Waves FM. By the way, we now have a brand-new feedback line for you to leave comments or questions: (845) 977-3091. We also now have Facebook commenting available on the Planet Waves FM website, so you don't have to register a separate account. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel.   Chuck McCarthy (who's also an actor) takes Circa interviewer Stephanie Abrams for a hike in the Los Angeles hills. His shirt reads, "The People Walker." Not surprisingly, clients often ask him not to wear it.
Walking the Walk By Amanda Painter It's easy to psych yourself out about finding your ‘true purpose' in life, like it has to be some dramatically profound, planet-changing thing in order to justify one's existence. Yet more than a few well-regarded people have noted that simply doing what you love is a form of finding purpose and fulfilling potential. Enter Chuck McCarthy, who has created rather a unique business: people-walking. That's right: rather than walking dogs, his clients pay him to walk them. (Watch the Circa video about him here.) Initial reactions from friends of mine were along the lines of, ”How sad these people can't just walk and be alone with their thoughts for a few minutes! What has society come to?” I'll admit, part of me felt the same way. Yet I can also see how it's not so different from paying for a weekly yoga class so that the structured time and financial investment helps you to stay committed and accountable -- especially in a society that does not seem to value exercise outdoors as highly as it does working 60-hour weeks between bouts of on-screen entertainment. Plus, I give people-walking points for being an in-person (non-digital) point of connection and motivation. So, kudos to McCarthy for finding an occupation he enjoys and that helps others get outdoors and moving. I'll save my alarm for when it's the dog -- or the robot -- putting the leash on humans.  Your Monthly Horoscopes -- and our Publishing Schedule Notes Your extended monthly horoscope for September was published on Thursday, Aug. 25. We published your extended monthly horoscope for August on Thursday, July 28. We published the Moonshine horoscope for the Virgo New Moon, by Len Wallick, on Thursday, Sept. 1. Please note: we normally publish the extended monthly horoscope on the first Friday after the Sun has entered a new sign.  Pisces Full Moon Moonshine for Sept. 15, 2016, #1117 | By Len Wallick
     The audio segments of your Virgo 2016-17 Birthday Reading are available for immediate access, and the video Tarot reading will follow soon. You’re about to experience a second eclipse -- on Sept. 16 -- involving your sign, and its effects will ripple out for months to come. Order your birthday reading today.
 So Much Potential, Libra! Maximize It with Your Birthday Reading.
"The Sun is about to join Jupiter in your birth sign, which will emphasize what an unusual time this is in your life. By unusual I mean beautiful, and with your potential making itself known to you. The thing with potential, though, is that you must consciously choose to make it into something, and then take action."Dear Friend and Reader: What will you do with the potential greeting you now? Or, to lean on the oft-quoted Mary Oliver, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
"Once again, am bowled over by your extraordinary gifts, preparation and wisdom, dear Eric, and am filled with inspiration, courage and joy by your words." -- Liz Glanville This reading will be delivered in two phases: phase one is two segments of audio astrology (at least 30 minutes each). Phase two is your video tarot reading using the Voyager Tarot by James Wanless, and any astrology afterthoughts. All segments can be accessed as many times as you wish throughout the year (and people frequently do so). They are accompanied by an extended sign description and the charts Eric used, and you can leave comments right on the reading's webpage. Currently you can pre-order your reading at the discounted price of $19.97 -- once the reading publishes, the price increases. Motivational workshops cost exponentially more; yet what Eric offers here is nuanced, straightforward inspiration to help you identify blocks, hesitations and other challenges, and then get moving toward your personal, professional and creative goals. It's suitable for anyone with a Libra Sun, Moon or rising sign -- and it makes an incredible gift. "You are the absolute best astrologer I've encountered." -- Catherine Sullivan You know you have a purpose on this planet. When the Sun ingresses Libra on Sept. 22 and encounters Jupiter, the potential you can fulfill as you embody that purpose looks like it will open wide. Tune in, and make sure you have one of the most effective and personally relevant tools at your side as you navigate your solar year, with the 2016-17 Libra Birthday Reading. Yours & truly, Amanda Painter Planet Waves Astrology Editor       
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