New York, March 11, 2019 | View in Browser

Birthday letter part two:
No computer can do my job

Dear Friend and Reader:

         In my letter last week, I described some of the challenges of running a little shop on a great big internet. Thank you for responding. It’s beautiful to know that “ask and you shall receive” still works. I am breathing easier. Your responses are still coming in. Thank you for being so helpful.

         Here’s a story I’ve been meaning to tell. It starts with this guy Benjamin. I’ve known him a few years and I’m happy every time I see him. He’s about six foot five, with long, curly, beautiful brown hair. I guess he’s around 35, and is in the food business: a consultant to farms and local food distribution networks.

         Very friendly, with that rare kind of warm, embracing charisma that’s impossible to fake.

         Whenever I see him, he always thanks me for my horoscope, and says how amazed he is by what I write, and all his friends agree that it’s right on point for what they’re going through in their lives.

         One day we were speaking and he said, “You should make an app.” I’ve heard that a lot; for a while, every other person wanted me to get one. So I asked him my usual question.

         “What would it do? You mean, to distribute the horoscope?”

         “No, to write it.”

         Oh dear. I could not believe he said that.

         I tried to be polite, but I suspect I started ranting and jumping up and down. I might have attempted a back flip. I was just incredulous. He actually meant it: I should get a programmer to write an application to -- yes -- do what I do. To write the Planet Waves horoscope. I tried to reason with him, and explain that it takes a soul to write something other people can feel and relate to, but I was not coming across. He was not getting why I didn’t think it was a great idea.

This is the whole problem.

         With the world right now. THE problem. There is this crazy notion running around that we can replace people with computers; can replace sensitive human awareness with artificial intelligence. And the people who believe it don’t think it’s weird. This was coming from a kind, sensitive, intellectually evolved, well-meaning person, whose purpose in life is feeding people -- not some techno-geek fool who spends their life playing World of Warcraft.

         The perception that a computer can write a horoscope may stem from some confusion about how I get from the chart to the idea to what I write for you. It’s not a mechanical process, no more than helping your kid with his homework or playing with a kitten. (And your kitten would not have much fun playing with a mechanical object anyway. They want a human who can feel them.)

         When I write for you, I’m aware of the human condition -- that elusive thing. I live on the planet, I feel what other people feel, and I experience the fear and the challenges of being here. I read my email and I know what people who read my work go through. When I write, I must be aware that people who are about to read could be in any condition, mentally or emotionally. People read the same horoscope when they are down and out, and when things are going beautifully.

         Some of my readers have a grip, and are content with their lives. I admire them and learn everything I can from them (something a computer cannot do). Some are going through very difficult times. All of us are living on the planet in a moment of potentially harrowing change: all this world karma coming up at once, in our faces.

It takes a village

         As you know, I do my work with the help of an editorial team -- a group of impressively literate, aware, intelligent people. We do something unusual for a group of astrology editors: were watching the news cycle seven days a week, we’re watching the planets go by, and we’re considering the spiritual implications of where the two meet.

         This is human work, to create articles to be read by our fellow humans. And many of us take part in the creative process. I consider the ideas and wisdom of people I trust. I write with equal regard for women and men.

         My articles are evaluated line by line, and we consider the phrasing, my angle of approach, my tone, and how the writing is likely to leave readers feeling. Images are chosen with impeccable care. For the sake of beauty, we do our page presentations by hand, working in a similar way print composition rooms work -- not using a digital page template.

         Meanwhile, technical development is happening; and bookkeeping, accounting and business management; and we’re taking care of you, our customers, one by one.

         No automated phone system; no getting referred to FAQs. We respond directly and talk to anyone on the phone who needs care and attention. We make arrangements for people on fixed and limited incomes. While other websites are hiring legions of consultants figuring out how to get the attention of “millennials,” we have many readers in their 70s and 80s who appreciate our old-school ways.

A personal approach

         I know we’re competing with every other website asking you for nine dollars a month, from NPR to The New York Times to The Atlantic to Netflix to your local daily or weekly newspaper.

         In response to this, we are offering personal service, not just an excellent, original, one-of-a-kind subscription.

         We know that astrology is about you, and we want to keep it that way.

         Subscribers are offered a beautifully presented set of astrology charts -- and we’ll even answer your basic questions. You can also get one of our journals; for a while I painted them by hand; current ones are embossed (it’s subtle). We want to give you something you’re going to live with and make your own and have for a while, maybe a lifetime. I want you to have something from Planet Waves that exists in real time and real space, not just on the internet.

We offer a refuge

         There’s one other thing. I’ve designed Planet Waves to be a refuge. You may have noticed how much is available to people who don’t subscribe. This may be counterintuitive to business, but not to our purpose.

         The internet is reaching sub-zero temperatures these days. It’s turning into a giant advertisement, popping up, bursting out, complete with flying chickens and ads in front of ads and on top of other ads. Yet it’s the only place many people have to go, for help, for companionship, for a view of the wider world.

         When you come to Planet Waves, you find a sane place to hang out. The monthly horoscopes are front and center. Many articles are available, in front of the paywall, for people curious or those doing research. Twenty years of annual readings are available free. My favorite new development is The Readings Channel (all readings, all the time). We took all of the Astrology Studio and Tarot Studio readings from 2018 and put them into a nonstop loop.

         My intention here is for someone freaking from an anxiety attack at 4 am to stumble into the reassuring sound of my voice.

Please help us do this

         I mentioned in my last letter that competition from thousands of other websites is eroding our subscription revenue. The thing that makes Planet Waves what it is are the people who create it. That’s what your subscription revenue supports.

         If you’re a past subscriber, please come back. If you’re a current subscriber, you may extend your subscription, upgrade and extend, or give someone a gift. Your membership matters. Those small monthly charges smooth over the ups and downs of our seasonal year, and make sure I can pay the bills and meet payroll every week.

         More than that, you are helping pave the way to the future: to new projects and creative ways to express and explore astrology and to tell the story of the world. I’ll have more about that in my next letter.

         Thank you for your participation and trust. We built this together.

With love,

PS -- if you would prefer to speak with us by phone, please leave a message at (845) 481-5616 and we will get back to you shortly. If you want to email us a question about your options, you may do so here.