New York, May 14, 2017 | Read on Web Dear Friend of Planet Waves: Venus retrograde morphing into Mercury retrograde all spring was like one of those crazy jams at the end of a Grateful Dead concert. Nobody's really sure what's happening, only that something is. Fractals by Barbara Lane. Amidst the swirling chaos, we had one amazing development that I'm eager to share with you: our nonprofit corporation was approved by the federal government.  This welcome news is wholly appropriate for us. Planet Waves has always put mission over money. As we say in our Editorial Policy, "We function as a community trust, on the level of sharing ideas, information, contacts, resources and images. We recognize that we are serving an international readership in a time of global transition." Serving a World in Transition -- And in Crisis When I say "global transition," I'm being polite. I really mean global crisis, one result of which is rampant fear and disorientation, and countless people struggling to get a spiritual bearing, or struggling to get through the day.  This is why so much of our work is available without a subscription, particularly Planet Waves FM. We want to be accessible to anyone who may need us. When I write and record, I'm thinking about the people who have nowhere else to turn, no reliable friends, no real community, and little other exposure to a conversation that could shine some light on what they're feeling or thinking. That approach, in turn, makes my work accessible to many other people. Fractals by Barbara Lane. In a world where pharmaceuticals, style, technology and warfare dominate the economy and the airwaves, we're offering social and spiritual ideas designed to help ease the transition to the next level of existence. In the right hands, astrology is the only system I know of that's elegant enough to provide a true mirror of what's happening, which goes right to the personal level. All astrology, no matter how far it reaches into the news or into the structures of society, is personal.  We have been able to do this thanks to our ethically-minded family of readers who know how much it takes to pull this act together.  In a world driven by greed, where it seems like every last thing is monetized, sponsored by drug and liquor companies or packed with dozens of ads on the page, we have remained exclusively supported by your memberships and reading purchases. As you may imagine, this has presented some challenges for us, particularly as the early gift economy of the internet has morphed into a theme of "grab it free." Our readers have remained loyal to the Planet Waves ethos, and I know that many of you deeply appreciate that there are no ads on our pages. Our Roots are in Journalism The purpose of Chiron Return goes back to the journalistic roots of Planet Waves. Our astrological mission is rooted in the ethos of honest journalism. We use the journalistic form to make astrology accessible to anyone who is interested.  It's an excellent blending of genres -- and we think it's a form of journalism whose time has come. The spiritual piece is the one thing missing from nearly all journalism -- and it's the thing that we include in everything we do. Fractals by Barbara Lane. In the summer of 2014, I founded a New York State nonprofit called Chiron Return, Inc. Earlier this year, we filed our application with the IRS to become a 501(c)(3) non-business entity -- that is, a public charity. In April, just eight weeks after we applied, we were approved by the federal government. We now have an official nonprofit arm. This happened thanks to our solid mission, the impeccable work of our accountant, Andrew Slater, and my using electional astrology to file the application. It's rare that this application takes less than a year to work out, usually closer to two years.  Since its founding, Chiron Return has served as publisher of Planet Waves FM, which is how we're associated with the Pacifica Radio Network (think WBAI in New York City, KPFA in Berkeley, KPFK in Los Angeles, plus Democracy Now! and 200 other affiliates around the country).  In addition to publishing Planet Waves FM, the organization will house hundreds of thousands of primary source documents from 50 years of lawsuits against Monsanto, the scanning of which is nearly complete. We're working for nearly a year with other organizations to make this happen, including the BioScience Resource Project, the Center for Media and Democracy, and investigative reporters Carol van Strum and Peter von Stackelberg. We will offer training for journalists and community activists, including an online, donation-only Investigative Reporting 101 class coming soon.  Global Awareness, Self Awareness Astrology as we do it in Planet Waves is journalism. We cover matters of personal growth, we cover the news, and we put them together into one presentation where self-awareness and global awareness are the same idea. Gradually, we'll bring more of Planet Waves under the umbrella of Chiron Return. One immediate benefit, though, is that your donations to Chiron Return are fully tax-deductible. Fractals by Barbara Lane. And, in turn, we can provide you with any Planet Waves services you like in exchange for your contributions to Chiron Return. Until that time, your memberships and reading purchases make everything we do possible. We ask that you renew, revive or extend your membership to Planet Waves. Memberships -- especially monthly ones -- are important because they provide us with base funding throughout the year that helps us pay our basic bills, things like ISP fees, payroll and rent. It costs more than $1,000 a day to run Planet Waves -- just for our basic costs, before any "profit." Given all we offer, that's actually surprisingly little. Each evening this week, I'll have a short letter focusing my thoughts about our mission, what it takes to make it real, and most of all, where we want to go in the future.  Society is changing so fast that it's all going by in a blur. My goal as the editor of Planet Waves is to make available at least one bandwidth where you can tune in and find some sanity, some clarity, and a few ideas to live by. Thank you for your kind and generous support so far. We could not do this without you. Lovingly, PS -- For those who feel inspired, you may make your tax-deductible donation to Chiron Return, Inc., by check made out to the name of the organization, sent to PO Box 3606, Kingston, NY, 12402. You will be sponsoring Planet Waves FM, and the forthcoming Investigative Reporting 101 class. Thank you for your donation. To unsubscribe, click here. To unsubscribe from all future Planet Waves emails, please write to cs@planetwaves.net Copyright © 2017 by Chiron Return, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Other copyrights may apply. Some images used under Fair Use or Creative Commons attribution.