Astrology is one form of seeing into the invisible. It's about tuning into what's usually happening below the level of full awareness.
Planet Waves

New York, March 15, 2017 | Read on Web

Dear Friend of Planet Waves:

Yesterday I introduced you to Dr. Ward B. Stone, a wildlife pathologist who was deeply helpful to me when I was covering toxins issues. If you missed that letter, you can read it here, and that contains a link to my interview with him, on Planet Waves FM.

This letter continues our fundraising drive. You've been doing brilliantly. I feel so good knowing that my readers are coming through for me, and putting our modest little operation onto solid ground. I am grateful to be going into the Daily News gig with the full backing of my old subscribers. That's a heartfelt form of confidence.

Planet Waves
Redwood roots on the Grandmother Land. Sculpture by Jim Dowd.
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My topic for the day is how astrology is a branch of environmental study, which is one and the same as media study. Media means environment. The most vital thing to know about environments is that they tend to be invisible, and need special training to observe and work with. 

Astrology is one form of seeing into the invisible. It's about tuning into what's usually happening below the level of full awareness. You might wonder, "Why is my life so challenging at the moment?" Then one day you find out that you're having a Saturn transit, which puts things into context. Suddenly you have a way to translate that into useful themes: use of time, applying your maturity, taking responsibility before others tell you to.

Perhaps the most invisible thing about existence is that as we go through our busy days, we have no contact with the fact that the Earth is a planet in a solar system connected to a star that's part of a galaxy. There's no way to really see that. When it's sunny you might put on sunglasses so you see a little less of it.

The mere notion of astrology shifts the context of life from something limited to our blue world, to something that stretches out into a much wider body. It's like being able to see into the dark, in the afternoon light. The solar system is our extended collective body. Said in terms of yoga or dance, it’s about radiating your energy and awareness into your fingers and toes.

Planet Waves
Coxing Creek running fast and strong, on the Grandmother Land, in Ulster County, New York. Photo (and photo above) by Eric Francis.
Astrology, environmental study and media study have one main thing in common: they are about looking into the background, to help us figure out what's happening in the foreground.

Most analysis focuses on the foreground only: it's the study of the figure in front of you, rather than the process that put the figure there.

The thing about astrology is that, when done gently and with some nuance, you can clearly see that you're responding to your environment with your own creativity. Good astrology describes your environment, and your options -- and it gives clues to what's underneath your state of mind.

Astrology places you into the context of your world, and it looks at the world around you with you as the primary context: as the person having the experience.

If we think of time as an environment, astrology gives us a way to study time with many more colors, shades and textures to work with. The question, "What time is it?" can be answered as, "It's 2:54 pm," or as, "I'm at my second Saturn return, and it's time for a change." That second Saturn return is a fact of your environment. You'll feel it either way, but once you know it's happening, you'll experience it with less pressure and more of a sense of adventure.

Planet Waves
Daniele on the Grandmother Land. Photo by Eric.
One environment we've been studying carefully, under the guidance of the McLuhan family (the pioneers of media study), is the internet. The internet has driven the world to the brink of total chaos.

To navigate this vastly complex environment, we need a tool that's complex enough, and flexible enough, and elegant enough, to embrace it.

And that would be astrology: a truly holistic art, that pretty much compels you to take a holographic view of the universe. Study astrology long enough and it becomes hilariously obvious that everything is interrelated, if we would only look. 

Or said another way, we're in the midst of one ginormous coincidence. Astrology makes that real, and useful and, in a strange way, perfectly understandable.

By the way: if you're wondering about the internet's impact on psyche and society, I have a compilation of 18 months of my work conveniently on one link.

Writing that group of articles is how I figured out what this Uranus-Eris conjunction is about -- exact for the last time tomorrow, till April 28, 2106.

This is exactly the kind of pioneering use of astrology that Planet Waves is about. Thank you for being part of our mission. Thank you for your membership, from all of us who love to do this work for you.

with love,

PS -- Since we have such excellent momentum, I have set a fundraising goal of an additional $25,000 for this drive. It would not take many renewals to do that -- just 250 or so. If we can reach that goal, I can pay some bills, solve some technical problems and have a cushion left over. Please join with me to make that happen. Thank you. Here are your membership options. You may write to me if you want to become a Galaxy Pass holder.

PPS -- If you're already a member or subscriber and would like to make a donation, here's a link where you may do that. Thank you.