Dear Friend and Reader:

It’s Monday morning, and Mercury is applying in a square aspect to the Galactic Core. The aspect is exact tomorrow, but it’s in full effect right now, and to make things interesting, Mercury is precisely square a point called Hades today. Hades is a touch of the dark side, and it’s likely the collective mind is grappling with a bit of that.

The Galactic Core is friendlier, but difficult to grasp. Since most people have not heard of the Galactic Core, I’ll link to an article about its discovery in 1932 from The Spiral Door, last year’s annual edition. It has a position in every astrological chart — approximately 26 degrees of Sagittarius. It is a fixed point. It does not move with the seasons or decades; it precesses very gradually as the Earth wobbles.

Normally when we think of God, we think of Him as being “up there, in heaven.” I am Quaker and we are the crazy lot who thinks of God as existing within — the Inner Light, as we call it in our little book, Faith and Practice. Many traditions teach this, from A Course in Miracles to Buddhism; God is something you carry with you, and which leads you to make loving decisions. This is contrary to the paranoid, divisive notions of the ego.

However, if there is a God “out there,” it is probably in the approximate direction of the Galactic Core. If that is not literally true, we may feel the pull in that direction. The Galactic Core is theВ centerВ of our very small island of 30 billion stars in the vast, endless deeps of space.

If anything should have what we think of as POWER in astrology, it is the Galactic Core. It is huge, it is broadcasting on nearly every frequency, and plainly visible all summer long. But more to the point, it source of “the force” that holds together our safe haven in space, without which our Sun would go flying off with all its planets. Thanks to the Galactic Core, we are held in a stable orbit along the galactic plane.

Now Mercury in Pisces is coming along and making a 90-degree angle to the Galactic Core. This is like the mind being at odds with the idea of God, or playing God, or violating its own inner spiritual guidance. It can feel like delusional judgments, or like the pressure to make a decision that violates one’s own instincts.

Astrology always presents us with a choice. We don’t have to play along with this, but if you’re feeling upset, freaked out or wondering where you fit into the picture, consider what you are doing with your mind.

Someone pointed out the other day that the entire planet is in a low-grade state of depression. We are quite literally held down — depressed, which means pressed — by some force, inner or outer or both. This is on a cultural level. I have been doing what I do since the mid-1980s — writing about issues, editing publications for a medium-sized audience, serving in communities in many contexts, and relating to people one-to-one. It is getting more difficult all the time to get anyone excited about anything — to get any response or even reaction at all.

It is difficult to notice nearly anyone looking forward to anything except their next vacation (if one is forthcoming) or cup of Starbucks (more within reach of most people). True, there are always the persistent ones whose good mood and positive outlook pervades funerals, train wrecks and stolen elections. There are the ones who get up and paint, take pictures, write and spread good vibes every day. If you’re not one of those people, you can be if you want.

But something is holding us down collectively. Call it sleep, or ignorance, or being exhausted from life. One of my editorial assistants is pretty sure it’s all about mood stabilizers, which tend to suppress both mood and affect, while lubricating our sense of worthlessness so that we can get through the day. This is Neptune in Aquarius at work, by the way. At a certain point, we have to live for another reason than that — a reference to Chiron in Aquarius, which is here as the awakening antidote.

Here are today’s aspects. My own writing project for the day is the Aries birthday letter, which will go out to subscribers first thing Tuesday morning.

Monday, 31 March 2008

Venus (22+ Pisces) trine Pandora (22+ Scorpio Rx)
Eros (28+ Aries) trine Juno (28+ Sagittarius)
Pallas (10+ Aries) trine Pholus (10+ Sagittarius Rx)
Juno (28+ Sagittarius) semisquare Nessus (13+ Aquarius)
Sun (11+ Aries) septile Chiron (19+ Aquarius)
Mercury (25+ Pisces) square Hades (25+ Gemini)
Sisyphus (27+ Libra Rx) septile Quaoar (18+ Sagittarius Rx)
Jupiter (20+ Capricorn) trine Sedna (20+ Taurus)
Amor (19+ Aries) sextile Chiron (19+ Aquarius)
Eros (29+ Aries) sesquiquadrate Great Attractor (14+ Sagittarius)

Mar 01, 2000 – CANCER – Monthly

Much of what we call the spiritual path involves a process of “finding oneself,” which is another way of saying being secure in who you are, or more accurately, who you are becoming. While unexpected or sudden change is not your favorite experience, these years have seen you accumulate so much sameness, so much predictability and, though it may not have felt that way, stability, that you seem to have forgotten how to change. Now, for an extended period, you will be reminded. But it’s worth mentioning just how stable you truly are, deep within, through any process of change that shakes your foundations. Much of that stability rests on what great friends you have, and how much they have to offer you, and how much you love them.

Attention Aries men who responded to my request for contact — I’ve devoted most of next week to writing chapter one of Mars Calling…so I plan to be back to you with an email by Monday.

Thank you for responding, and for your patience. I’ll be asking you about what, in your mind, are the ideas about Aries that you most relate to as a man; and what are the ones that you are working to transcend or integrate. Please check the email you sent me. If it does not have “Aries” in the subject header, it’s unlikely that I’ll find it, so please resend it with that one little word in the subject line. Thank you again, my brothers! — efc

Dear Friend and Reader,

Sometimes I am stunned by my horoscopes. I am a customer of the service mainly through the Oracle.

The columns that are current or recent never seem like much. It’s impossible for me to judge their relevance beyond the very obvious because I’m so close to all the contexts that the horoscopes exists within: history, relationships, growth, constant change, and the current aspects.

Then I click that Oracle button and something just leaps out of the past. This is what I got in response to an inquiry specifically for this page today, from nearly nine years ago:

Sep 10, 1999 – ARIES – Weekly

Among the many fine lines in this world is the one separating power and the abuse of power. This is slippery, because for the most part we are taught by parents and schools how to be victims and not assert ourselves, so when we have that first taste of authority or impact, the tendency is to see how far we can take things. I don’t recommend such a course of action right now. At the moment, there are far too many matters of deep inner concern, issues that could truly be called spiritual in nature because they involve the meaning of existence and facing some of the allegedly darker, but really just deeper, sides of your nature. Focusing your attention inwardly as much as possible, and on noticing what you don’t normally notice, will result in your taking concrete, measurable steps toward your freedom.

I mean, what can I really say except that while I was rearranging the computers in my space an hour ago, I realized that I had come to my real critique of feminism through the process of writing Friday’s Astrology News article, “Eris Notebook: Dancing with Discord.” What would that be? Well, it’s related to the Aries theme that is coming from behind every picture frame: starting things and not finishing them.

It is that feminism, the Movement, as I’ll call it, rarely addressed solutions. I am speaking of 70s feminism, the history I address in “Dancing with Discord.” Certain individuals at the time did offer some solutions, and I am here to acknowledge a few of them. For the most part, feminism pointed out problems; but without solutions, problems are useless.

Now, the critique was pretty smart, even at its most fopish or reactionary. Casting relationships as political or politicized institutions was right on; and for my part, I see the marriage contract as being the ultimate tool of the body politic in love.

Feminism was onto this for a while, recognizing that the marriage grants a property right that basically makes equality impossible. On another level, the integrity of individuals in a marriage can go a long way toward making the state second in priority to common sense and loyalty. But it rarely trumps the state’s power; too many of these contracts end in litigation, which really needs to be calling our attention to a problem. We do not need a state license to love or have sex. We “know” this, but look around and it’s obvious that we don’t know it.

The sex of marriage is intercourse. That is what marriage sanctions; that is the license you get, that makes fucking neither adultery nor rape nor libertinism. Perhaps the politics of state-sponsored relationship have encrypted themselves in this most private experience of relating.

The reason the state has an interest in penetrative conjugal coupling involves (as anyone who has made it two weeks into Anthro 101 knows) the movement of property; wills and trusts; dowries and inheritances and various other shared resources that gather around reproduction. Masturbation, to give an example of something that can’t get you pregnant, is irrelevant because it’s hard to see how cash can be transacted in the process.

(Actually I have some fun stories about this, playing with sex workers in Amsterdam.)

Most people, however, get the stuff for free.

Masturbation would be the most democratic form of sex, but most people don’t consider it sex; they consider it sexual, but somehow not relational. And what is the point of sex, if not to relate? Well, consider this — it’s a form of relating to yourself. That’s the gift — clearly spiritual in nature. Masturbation’s most subtle value is emotional. It is release, but you can take it deeper. You can set yourself free in there.

Most relational situations involve another person. The politics of love sneak in, and we all know where they sneaks in from, or through, or with — that would be sex. Sex can be used to work a lot of things out; such as the comingling of egos, a complex task. But usually we get in deeper than we’re ready, or go straight to familiar territory. There seems to be no middle of the tree — we are either all the way in, or all the way out. EveryoneВ knowsВ relationshipsВ areВ subtlerВ thanВ this.

YetВ sexВ hasВ aВ polarizingВ effect.В It’sВ pleasureВ isВ enoughВ to makeВ itВ theВ ultimateВ drug.

Common sense tells you that there are numerous inequities between any number of people of any number of genders; and we’re not a bunch of little driods all of whom have the same wattage.

Erica Jong tried to depoliticize sex by making it zipless: anonymous and unattached. In that z concept, which we claim to so deeply abhor but so dearly want, there is autonomy; there is self-direction; there is mutual choice by two individuals free of any other agenda. Zipless means it matters not how much money someone has, unless that fact turns you on. You’re not going to marry into that money, so whatever. He could be a bastard, but hot. She could be a shameless bitch and hot and you can deal with it, for a night. You might be married to someone else; there is no actual conflict because you don’t go shopping for curtains on Saturday morning.

By many, this kind of sex is considered suicidal conduct in today’s world, thanks not only to Aids but also to the community’s response to its existence: a response mixed with prejudice, ignorance, fear, stupidity and missing a great opportunity to earn or rather learn something new about ourselves. For most people, zipless is rendered impossible by Aids, such that the editor of one the Net’s most radical erotic sites once wrote about how it would be unthinkable to have sex with someone the first day you met them. Which is the whole point.

The thing zipless is free from is politics. It is free from jealousy, this most coveted emotion, which would need to be abandoned entirely in a world where equals relate sexually. This is what we mean when we say that sex messes up friendships: it creates an opportunity for the people to not give one another a fair shake, with as much efficacy as money does the same thing if things get a little weird.

Of course, you could get pregnant from sex with someone you don’t know, or a disease, and that would most likely become political: who pays, etc. So depoliticized sex involves a measure of health awareness and also the ability to restrict pregnancy. (This is why Roe vs Wade is so crucial to women’s equity: they get to decide on their own whether pregnancy creates that lifelong bond with a man.)

Feminism never really addressed any of this, at least not with men in the room. Kudos to the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective for making one amazing book — Our Bodies, Ourselves, available to women. There is no equivalent book that I know of for men, and one is distinctly necessary; and I think men need this particular book as much as women do (so they understand something about how women’s bodies work).

One of feminism’s best writers (Erica) had a sexual vision, but the topic never really came up as collective property of the Movement — what would sex, or relationships, be like in a world where men and women are basically equal?

Feminism did provide a partial answer — it would look like lesbianism. Yet all the woman-on-woman 69s in the universe are not going to stop men and women from wanting to fuck. Plus, she reverts to a kind of romanticism and concedes that there may be no such thing as sex between equals. (Somewhere, I have a copy of her article from Penthouse titled, “Is Sex Sexy Without Power?” and the answer she proposes is no, it is not — we crave power inequity.)

Those who are into it know this is an extraordinarily hot form of eroticism. The main reason it’s hot is you get to be sexual and you get to be yourself — entirely and explicitly yourself; and presumably, you do it for this reason. We so often say we want to be seen and recognized for who we are in our relationships; this an opportunity to take that in.

Common sense tells you that there are numerous inequities between any number of people of any number of genders; and we’re not a bunch of little driods all of whom have the same wattage. Powerful women are pleasantly shocking to many men: we all crave a strong mother-figure, and that fits the bill. That is, however, different than fraternity (as Germaine Greer put it) — the trick of cooperation. Part of that cooperation is consciously sharing the gender burden and its many inequities. And that, as anyone who attempts it soon discovers, requires a lot of effort.

So what would it look like, sex in a world of approximate equals? It might look like masturbating together. Not masturbation as maintenance; masturbation as relating.

Those who are into it know this is an extraordinarily hot form of eroticism. The main reason it’s hot is you get to be sexual and you get to be yourself — entirely and explicitly yourself; and presumably, you do it for this reason. We so often say we want to be seen and recognized for who we are in our relationships; this an opportunity to take that in. And being given the privilege of witnessing another person at his or her most inwardly expressive is the ultimate opportunity for empathy. That, by the way, is the emotion I think we need to bring most generously into sex. We say we want to bring “love,” but “love” has all kinds of baggage and expectation. Empathy is about beholding a person for who they are in that moment.

Sometimes I refer to this as compersion. I am not proposing masturbating together as the end-all of sex; not exactly. What I am proposing is that it’s very much its own journey, and that it’s a way to learn compersion and to learn a measure of sexual equanimity.

Politics can enter an environment where people relate erotically and independently, but it has less power over us. If you ask me this involves both the lack of a root chakra hookup and also the absence of a whole set of expectations that come with even one experience of fucking; this includes the hope or expectation that he or she will be available again; or even call again. You would not masturbate with someone and expect them to send flowers the next day. But in that moment, you cannot hide.

What does happen is this: a fundamental equality is forged, or rather, it can be created with awareness. When it works, there is such inherent honesty in this form of relating that all other forms must follow suit, or the relationship will probably dissolve. Honesty creates equality — but not everyone can take it.

Betty Dodson was a pioneer of this relationship mode. You might say this took guts, but she was and is addressing an obvious problem. For the most part, Betty’s masturbation groups involved women only. For some reason — I am not sure she understands why (but I have a theory) — it never took off with men. (My theory is that she simply prefers women for this kind of fun.) Sharing masturbation among women is also a great way to cut through the duplicitous bullshit that women so often lay on one another, particularly about their own erotic nature.

If the concept of feminism is going to have any meaning, it must begin with women being honest with one another. And it must involve women being honest about their own desire, with one another and with men. This is where Betty Dodson and Erica Jong pushed the edge of human awareness, if only a little. Knowing that sex is political, they at least proposed side-doors out of the games and into an honest, real experience of relating and pleasure.

Each proposed a form of sex without a victim. And to most people — it is not that interesting, or it seems impossible. I have my own ideas. You can read about them here.

IВ wouldВ likeВ toВ hearВ yours.

Saturday 29 March 2008 — aspects by Serennu.

Jupiter (19+ Capricorn) sextile Uranus (19+ Pisces)
Venus (19+ Pisces) conjunct Vesta (19+ Pisces)
Venus (20+ Pisces) sextile Sedna (20+ Taurus)
Pandora (22+ Scorpio Rx) septile M87 (1+ Libra)
Atlantis (25+ Libra Rx) semisquare Pholus (10+ Sagittarius Rx)
Sun (8+ Aries) semisquare Admetos (23+ Taurus)
Venus (20+ Pisces) opposite Logos (20+ Virgo Rx)
Ceres enters Gemini (direct)
Ceres (0 Gemini) sextile Aries Point (0 Aries)
Vesta (20+ Pisces) sextile Sedna (20+ Taurus)
Mercury (22+ Pisces) trine Pandora (22+ Scorpio Rx)
Sisyphus (28+ Libra Rx) sextile Orcus (28+ Leo Rx)
Vesta (20+ Pisces) opposite Logos (20+ Virgo Rx)
Amor (18+ Aries) trine Quaoar (18+ Sagittarius Rx)
Eros (27+ Aries) quintile Mars (9+ Cancer)

Priya Kale bilocational blogging — on Planet Waves and on her own website.

Dear Friend and Reader:

WE’RE ABOUT to wrap up the Friday edition of Planet Waves Astrology News, and it is a hot one. Sometimes the editions I have the most doubts about turn out to be my favorites. This week we go over, through and around the new planet Eris. Just about everyone waking around the planet today has Eris in Aries, and so right now the Sun is going over the natal Eris of everyone. If you recall, Eris is the planet that forced the reorganization of the solar system and the supposed “demotion” of Pluto.

The editor and the astrologer in me said this was a good time to write about Eris. I remembered Tracy from Serennu.com casually mentioning to me a few months ago that there had been a Chiron-Eris conjunction back 1971-72. Chiron in an aspect like this is an excellent candidate to bring out the reality of what another planet is about.

We started with the charts and biographies of several women born during this era: Sofia Coppola, Leisha Hailey, Carmen Electra and one you may not have heard of — Samantha Reed Smith. She was the little girl who wrote to the Kremlin in the early 1980s and got invited to the USSR.

She died in an airplane crash in 1985. All of them are really exciting, interesting women. But something more compelling got me to set that leg of the project behind — we may come back to it later in the Aries cycle.

As a lifelong Women’s Studies major, I also knew that these were intense years in the history of feminism. So working with a researcher and my cellphone (which I will use for any excuse whatsoever to call Betty Dodson) I put together a history of that era. And it turned out to be a stunning revelation of what Eris can do when you bring her power out into the open. I think this is about my fifth major article on Eris — and it is by far my favorite. Here is the link.

# # #

But today I’m here to talk about something even more fun — the current conjunction of Venus and Uranus. I summed this up last night as “life and live free.” Venus is passion, pleasure, sex, value, admiration and sex. Uranus is revolution, liberation, freedom, true group awareness. Pisces is YUM: dreamy, watery, boundless, imaginative and knows what he or she wants. True, the world is not usually that sweet. People tend to have many devotions to things other than art and pleasure. However, sometimes the world turns ON. Let’s see if anyone besides a reader of this blog notices.

When I see and feel this conjunction, I don’t know whether to ask you if you are free, or remind you it’s okay to be free. Either way. But I suggest you notice your state of being. Can you say YES to life, love and sex? Can you really? So glad to hear that! Then go do it! Save yourself and the world a lot of trouble and go for it!

Wrap your head around this: Mercury, Venus, Uranus, Vesta, Orpheus, and Ophelia are all conjunct in Pisces right now, very precisely, with Venus and Uranus in their exact moment. All of these planets are about saying yes except for two concerns: Orpheus is about sad music, reminding us that love can be a sad story. Orpheus is also the poet laureate of the gods, and the perfecter of the lyre. Therefore, bring music and poetry into your erotic expressions.

Ophelia is that moment of doubt and hearbreak — the thing that says, “don’t take the risk.” Or she gets weak, over-emotional, dependent. (She drowns in a stream.)

Yet one cannot spend one’s life in regret, in love with someone who is not there, doubting whether there is such a thing as true love or idealizing it out of existence. Well, you can, but it’s (what used to be) called neurotic — living a dead script. It is clearly time to live NO script, that is, to simply live. Drown in that stream! Pour on the water of life! And in that spirit, Venus is cordially invited to sit on my face today.

And tomorrow for that matter and a bunch more tomorrows after that.

Below are the full aspects for the day.

All hail Venus conjunct Uranus! Catch you soon — and check your inbox for Planet Waves in a little while. I’ve got it in the queue to go out in about three minutes. For instant access, sign up here.

Yours & truly,

Friday 28 March 2008

Mercury (20+ Pisces) sextile Sedna (20+ Taurus)
Pallas (8+ Aries) semisquare Admetos (23+ Taurus)
Mercury (20+ Pisces) opposite Logos (20+ Virgo Rx)
Venus (18+ Pisces) square Quaoar (18+ Sagittarius Rx)
Hidalgo (16+ Scorpio Rx) semisquare M87 (1+ Libra)
Sun (8+ Aries) septile Ceres (29+ Taurus)
Sun (8+ Aries) semisquare Neptune (23+ Aquarius)
Vesta (19+ Pisces) sextile Jupiter (19+ Capricorn)
Vesta (19+ Pisces) conjunct Uranus (19+ Pisces)
Eros (26+ Aries) trine Galactic Center (26+ Sagittarius)
Sisyphus (28+ Libra Rx) sextile Juno (28+ Sagittarius)
Venus (19+ Pisces) sextile Jupiter (19+ Capricorn)
Venus (19+ Pisces) conjunct Uranus (19+ Pisces)

Oracle: Apr. 30, 1999 – GEMINI – Weekly

In the past 24 hours, I’ve spoken with two clients about their “Slut vs. Nun Complex.” A supposed struggle between two aspects of the feminine, the alleged virgin, and the alleged whore, it drives some women to the heights of madness trying to resolve which they really are; which is more divine. Dig this: you have many other options. The Slut-Nun complex is just the adult version of a line told to many kids — В­ the one that says either you’re absolutely chaste and pure, or you’re dirt. It’s a blatant, scalding lie. In reality, sluts are merely the people who admit they like sex, and thus threaten the people who feel they must repress themselves. As for all the the nuns in the reading audience — this is a survey. Sincere question: do you masturbate?

Coming Friday in Planet Waves Astrology News: An article called “Dancing with Discord,” on the new planet Eris. It sums up the recent history of feminism.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Vesta may be my favorite asteroid, surely up there with Psyche. Here are some Vesta notes from Planet Wiki, if you want to go deep into this topic. Do you remember that Bjork song, the one where she makes reference to “sex without touching”? Vesta is right there: she is the chaste sacred whore: the morph of virgin and prostitute. She offers herself in service, and in the service of pleasure; she sometimes goes “too far,” but that is part of her pleasure.She defines space — all local space is organized around fire, the hearth. She holds space for sex. She represents the divine creative and erotic fire at the core of each person. She is the energy of constant attention to that flame; she is the quality of devotion to the inner light, and inner life.

Mercury in Pisces is conjunct Vesta. This is an invitation to celebrate and put all those themes into words. Tell someone or tell yourself; write it down. When you write, guide yourself in the direction of maximum embarrassment. Write so explicitly it would make a hooker blush.

Speaking of. In the charts of sex workers, I don’t usually see a lot of Vesta. In one group I studied and got to know, the thing they had in common was a hot, hot Moon aspect structure. That is, a lot of planets talking to and from the Moon. This told me two things — one is that their entire personality was involved. Another is that there was an energy source coming directly from their mothers.

Venus in these charts was typically pretty potent as well, again meaning lots of aspects.

I am sure the nature of their natal Vesta placements told a story — I did not see the thread. Each in her own way seemed to struggle with the sexual giving aspect of the work, which for this group involved no intercourse, but rather a handjob or sometimes a body massages. A couple of the women told me this kind of experience (which would typically happen four or five times per working day) detracted from the erotic resources they had to share with their partners. Some felt guilty (such as for religious reasons). I knew that most could open up and be there for the guy’s orgasm, if they wanted to, and recognized the sacredness of the giving. A touch of Vesta: the slight detachment necessary to allow others to exist without fear; to be in one’s space, and also that of another.

Today, with Vesta conjunct Mercury in Pisces, there is something about liberating fantasy, imagination and feeling: about being the whore of your dreams, starting in your mind. Within our own psychic space, we are absolutely free to dream. For some, this is an exploration of the space of loneliness. For some, it’s an exploration of a desire to share. Feel it for yourself, but perhaps Mercury wants to express itself in some way: to write or to speak so that another may understand.

Here, Vesta says: throw open your empathy. Feel the erotic needs of those around you, and admit their beauty. Feel that deep-in pang in yourself, the one like a hot pencil that wants to burst this bubble you walk around in all day.

Peace & passion,

PS, Here is the Aries monthly horoscope for April 2008.

Most people take the necessity of communication for granted. Perhaps this is because so few people are actually willing to listen. More likely, it’s because when we reveal our plans, ideas or needs, we stand a pretty good chance of getting shot down or plagiarized. You have reached a point where you must put communication first. The thing is, you’re likely to need to communicate something new, something you have not heard yourself say before, and which you feel may be threatening to others. I suggest you practice for a while, until you take off any aggressive edge. It is possible to relate exactly what you need to and still do so in an endearing way. Revealing your vulnerability in speaking your truth helps a lot. The truth is daring enough; you don’t need to impress anyone with how gutsy you are, or how dedicated you are to conquering any prior system of ideas or beliefs. I suggest you use the identical method whether you’re relating to those you consider your peers, or those who you consider to be in positions of authority. They may not be the same, but you are.

Thursday 27 March 2008

Venus (17+ Pisces) trine Varuna (17+ Cancer Rx)
Eros (25+ Aries) quintile Nessus (13+ Aquarius)
Eros (25+ Aries) opposite Atlantis (25+ Libra Rx)
Vesta (18+ Pisces) square Quaoar (18+ Sagittarius Rx)
Sisyphus (29+ Libra Rx) quincunx Ceres (29+ Taurus)
Sun (6+ Aries) opposite Arachne (6+ Libra Rx)
Eros (25+ Aries) sextile Hades (25+ Gemini)
Sisyphus (29+ Libra Rx) opposite Asbolus (29+ Aries)
Mercury (18+ Pisces) square Quaoar (18+ Sagittarius Rx)
Mercury (19+ Pisces) conjunct Vesta (19+ Pisces)
Hidalgo (16+ Scorpio Rx) semisquare Pluto (1+ Capricorn)
Sisyphus (29+ Libra Rx) semisquare Great Attractor (14+ Sagittarius)
Mercury (19+ Pisces) sextile Jupiter (19+ Capricorn)
Mercury (19+ Pisces) conjunct Uranus (19+ Pisces)
Sun (7+ Aries) sesquiquadrate Pandora (22+ Scorpio Rx)
Mars (8+ Cancer) semisquare Admetos (23+ Taurus)

Nov 19, 1999 – SAGITTARIUS – Weekly

This is the year of no compromises. Even if you want to sleight yourself, you will find it difficult, if not impossible, so there is no point at all in resisting, or pretending what must be so; no point imagining you can hang out in the private reality of your desires and fantasies without acting on them directly, and with the full power of your spirit. This becomes increasingly natural as these months unfold, and as the extraordinary events of this next age of your life reveal themselves. You’re becoming the highest manifestation of Sagittarius: the arrow of intention released from its bow, bound straight for its destination.

Attention Aries Men: If you have a moment and are willing to talk a bit about yourself, please drop me a note at info@planetwaves.net. Please include your birth data, your phone number (s) and a good time or two to call. Depending on how many responses I get, I may or may not be able to get back to everyone…but I will do my best. Thank you and happy birthday! — efc

Dear Friend and Reader:

Today Mars in Cancer is square Pallas Athene in Aries — the very image of a clash of the unbridled emotional will with political sensibilities. The aspect feels like that crack in the Antarctic ice shelf that we learned about yesterday. It feels like Wal-Mart suing a former employee, who was severely brain damaged in a car accident, and winning the trust fund that was set up to provide for her long-term care.

We live in an era that is post-political. While politics is a neurotic game, it is at least reasonably predictable when played. It has rules; those rules to some extent limit greed and the appearance of impropriety. And they provide a forum, however corrupt, for getting things done. If you want a good, old-timey laugh, get yourself a copy of Plunkitt of Tammany Hall. It’s supposed to be about government shenanigans at its very worst, but these guys back from 19th century New York City look like Jesuits compared to the infidels we have in office now.

In politics, you may not care, but at least you make it look like you do. This may seem duplicitous, but it at least serves the purpose of setting a boundary on hypocrisy, which is usually the sense of what the public can stomach. You act, and you know your act can only go so far.

You don’t merely take advantage of your office; you give something back. Political is you trade jobs in your neighborhood for volunteer help on your campaign. You take bribes, and then you pay for the burial of a poor person who dies in your community.

Post-political is you’re just a fucking jerk. You steal, you poo all over your constituents, and then you laugh in their faces.

Post-political is when you deliberately flaunt the public will because you feel like it, or because that is the message you want to send. In other words, in the post-political world, leaders do things intentionally to disgust people. I am pretty sure that (for example) the handlers of George Bush spin his image not only to make him appealing to those with base sensibilities, but also to make him particularly disgusting to anyone with a shred of sensitivity. Well, maybe they don’t have to go that far, but that’s certainly what it seems like. Anybody remember “three minutes of hate” from the novel 1984?

An old example that comes to mind is the United States backing out of the Kyoto Protocol (problematic as that agreement is) even though the Bush administration knows most Americans want the federal government to take part, because we know all that ice is melting. A recent example (about two days old) is Dick Cheney saying, “So?” when told that two-thirds of the American public does not think the war in Iraq is worth it.

In Mars square Pallas Athene, we get an interesting astrological image of this kind of attitude.

Mars is about drive, yang energy, passion and initiative. Pallas, or Pallas Athene as she is usually called, is about strategy, mental calculation and the effective practice of law and government. When you see Pallas making an aspect, look for the political motivation or political role of her placement and other planets in the aspect structure.

Mars in Cancer (it’s been in Cancer a lot for the past few months, because of a recent retrograde) has an emotional bullying property. Cancer is a sign closely associated with the government of the United States (the famous Sibley Chart for July 4, 1776 has the Sun in Cancer) and the current president (Bush is a Cancer Sun). Imagine all the greedy, emotionally driven sensibilities that both Bush and the United States have come to represent. We have grown accustomed to nearly a decade of a guy whining like a baby in a business suit on national television and distinguishing it with a fancy title like The State of the Union Address. When we feel bad about it, Mars in Cancer says go out for a Slushy.

Pallas in Aries may be out for her own good, or the public good (she is still near the Aries Point, which is both personal and public; in politics you always have to make one thing look like the other) but she’s going to be clever about it. Pallas always comes from a strategic viewpoint. But there is usually that element of common ground.

When you put the two factors together, you get something distinctly impolitic. It’s like the game of politics gets so bad, you simply can’t run the city this way. At a certain point, things come to a halt.

In many respects we are seeing this with the economic news that was a big deal last week as the Full Moon was waxing and suddenly the recession was all over the media. Note that with the passing of the Full Moon the sense of panic and emotional drama is currently waning (with the Moon), but just like the Moon, it will be back.

Below are today’s aspects and a selection from the Planet Waves Oracle. Unlimited use of The Oracle is free to all subscribers. If you sign up, it’s good for you; you get to use the Oracle. If you sign up, it’s good for me; I get to pay for new keyboard every two weeks because I wore the old one out. The option above is for three months. I know what you are thinking: if the world ends, I don’t want my subscription to keep coming for no reason.

Have a fun day. Remember, it’s the first and last time you will experience March 26, 2008 ever again, and that is pretty special.

Wednesday 26 March 2008

Sun (5+ Aries) trine Hylonome (5+ Sagittarius Rx)
Sisyphus (29+ Libra Rx) semisquare Ixion (14+ Sagittarius Rx)
Mercury (16+ Pisces) quintile Ceres (28+ Taurus)
Venus (16+ Pisces) trine Hidalgo (16+ Scorpio Rx)
Pallas (8+ Aries) semisquare Neptune (23+ Aquarius)
Saturn (2+ Virgo Rx) sextile Kronos (2+ Cancer)
Asbolus (29+ Aries) sesquiquadrate Great Attractor (14+ Sagittarius)
Mars (8+ Cancer) sesquiquadrate Neptune (23+ Aquarius)
Mercury (17+ Pisces) trine Varuna (17+ Cancer Rx)
Mars (8+ Cancer) quintile Logos (20+ Virgo Rx)
Atlantis (25+ Libra Rx) trine Hades (25+ Gemini)
Eros (25+ Aries) sesquiquadrate Pholus (10+ Sagittarius Rx)
Eros (25+ Aries) quincunx Psyche (25+ Scorpio Rx)
Venus (17+ Pisces) quintile Ceres (29+ Taurus)
Juno (28+ Sagittarius) trine Orcus (28+ Leo Rx)
Amor (17+ Aries) sesquiquadrate Saturn (2+ Virgo Rx)
Arachne (6+ Libra Rx) quintile Quaoar (18+ Sagittarius Rx)
Mars (8+ Cancer) square Pallas (8+ Aries)

Jun 03, 2005 – Leo – Weekly

Whatever has been going on in your life lately the reasoning behind it is suddenly becoming a lot more transparent. There is nothing random about the path of your existence even though it’s had its erratic or unpredictable moments lately. You can now see the extent to which other people both friends and colleagues are poised to be far more helpful than you may have imagined and you may also be noticing how eager they are to go along with your strange or creative plans. Whatever you are scheming it has the power to benefit everyone. But you have a good track record so you don’t need to do any sell jobs.

Priya is blogging daily at PriyaKale.com.

Don’t miss this video of Dick Cheney saying he does not care that two-thirds of the American public are against the war. In particular, don’t miss his face. Dick is playing a game typical of intentional abusers — see how far you can push people. What used to be a smirk has morphed into a hearty smile. I suggest you watch it a few times and study him; focus on his very last line. The falsity of his tone sunk so deep that my belly twitched as he said it. The point is simply this — the majority of Americans did not elect him. When one is rightfully elected, one would naturally feel a sense of being beholden to the People. When one has gotten away with as much as he has, why should they care? And we have very good reason to ask: what is next?

Dear Friend and Reader:

One of my favorite asteroids is Hidalgo. I’ve always loved this one, but tonight since I’m writing about it, I gave it a Wiki. This is an asteroid associated with rebellion, and actually it’s pretty unique.

Most asteroids you’ve heard of (Vesta, Ceres, Pallas, Juno) have an orbit in range of four years. Hidalgo’s is 13.7 years, but its orbit is extremely eccentric (egg-shaped). On the close end, it comes into the usual range of the inner asteroid belt, and on the far end, it goes out nearly as far as Saturn. So it’s considered a “Saturn grazer,” a term I had not heard till three minutes ago.

It’s orbit is also extremely inclined against the ecliptic — it comes in at a 43 degree angle. Discovered in 1920, it was once thought to be a comet. In reality it has more in common with Chiron than it does with a regular asteroid. Chiron also straddles the definition between an asteroid and a comet. Its orbit is uber-elliptical, it’s steeply inclined to the ecliptic and it’s Uranus-grazer: Chirion goes almost out to Uranus but does not cross the orbit. On the close end (perihelion), Chiron enters inside the orbit of Saturn for part of every cycle — one of its most distinctive properties. Truthfully, I don’t know why Hidalgo isn’t considered a Centaur planet. I’ll poke around the astronomy neighborhood and see if I can find out why.

Hidalgo is named for Padre Hidalgo (1753-1811). Wiki says, “He is regarded by most Mexican people as the ‘Father of the Country’; and was the founder of the Mexican War of Independence movement which fought for independence from Spain in the early 19th century.”

When you delineate an asteroid, it usually differs from the root source of its name in history or mythology. Of course there can be some striking parallels between the myth and the delineation, but not always. Hidalgo, for example, seems to be associated with questioning stupid social conventions on the one hand; and putting up with them, on the other. It’s also connected with all things Latino. You may wonder: how is it possible that an asteroid named for one of the great historical figures who stood up against the Spanish comes to represent social double standards?

Maybe it’s as difficult for most people as it was for Padre Hidalgo to stand up to the Conquistadors!

Also, if I were doing a reading and saw Hidalgo very prominent — in the ascendant, conjunct the Sun or Moon or sitting in an important midpoint, I would give it much more emphasis.

Asteroid Hidalgo is in Scorpio at the moment, so Mercury and Venus in Pisces are about to trine it. Trines open the discussion, the energy flow, the sequence of events. What do you associate with Scorpio? That is the discussion that can happen. It’s Pisces styled — oriented on pleasure. As an astrological theme park, Scorpio is associated with all the most controversial things in our society; with all the taboos, such as sex, money and death. Pisces, graced by Venus and Mercury, takes these on a poetic level.

Today I saw a stunning display of honesty when Dave Peterson, the new governor of New York State, admitted to having used cocaine in a televised interview. (He didn’t do it on the show, but rather when he was about 23, he said. He did not try to claim that he hadn’t inhaled the cocaine.) This extravaganza was broadcast on Channel 1, a slightly kitsch station out of New York City. I knew I was witnessing a moment of history. And I dig Dave Peterson a thousand percent — it’s fun to say that about a politician.

This episode is what I would call a beautiful moment of truth-telling that did not result in a scandal; it’s so disarming, what can you say? And like, duh, how much of the audience has done the same thing?

Of note, in another part of the sky, Pluto is slowing to a station-retrograde. It’s currently at 1 degree and 8 arc minutes of Capricorn — the exact location where it will turn retrograde on April 2. In other words, it’s currently at a dead halt in longitude, relative to the Earth’s movement. Once it changes apparent direction, it slowly heads back into Sagittarius, where it will remain until November, before entering Capricorn until approximately 2023.

Below are the full aspects of the day, followed by a random selection from the Planet Waves Oracle.

Tuesday is the day I write the weekly horoscope. Usually it’s my day to get out of the house and write somewhere new. I feel like I’ve been riveted to my desk for two weeks! It’s a good thing I live next door to a deli, so I can slip in and read the Sally Brompton horoscope in the New York Post, get a small coffee and disappear back into my treehouse to keep writing.

Tuesday 25 March 2008, aspects by Serennu.

Pandora (22+ Scorpio Rx) sesquiquadrate Pallas (7+ Aries)
Venus (15+ Pisces) sesquiquadrate Sisyphus (0+ Scorpio Rx)
Sisyphus (0 Scorpio Rx) quincunx Aries Point (0 Aries)
Sisyphus enters Libra (retrograde)
Mars (7+ Cancer) sesquiquadrate Pandora (22+ Scorpio Rx)
Sun (5+ Aries) septile Nessus (13+ Aquarius)
Sun (5+ Aries) semisquare Sedna (20+ Taurus)
Amor (17+ Aries) square Varuna (17+ Cancer Rx)
Mercury (16+ Pisces) trine Hidalgo (16+ Scorpio Rx)
Apollo (14+ Cancer) quincunx Ixion (14+ Sagittarius Rx)

Dec 03, 2004 Virgo – Weekly

Relatives have a way of not just pushing our buttons but also of enticing us to regress to the people they are more comfortable knowing and manipulating. If you find yourself bogged down in such a state unable to defend yourself or even speak your mind just remember to say Hmmm, this really sucks. Then add Wow, I wonder what it felt like to be a little kid in this very position. Then throw in But I’m not a kid. I’m a grownup with car keys in my pocket and an actual life of my own. Then wait 30 seconds for the remedy to take effect.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Today the major planets are telling one story; the minor planets are telling another. You could call the planets we know the top layer — today, for example, Mercury and Venus are conjunct, which is one of those really excellent aspects.

Both are close to sextiles with Jupiter (this aspect structure is still developing, so we say they are applying sextiles), and both Mercury and Venus are approaching a conjunction to Uranus. If you keep your vibe positive, constructive and creative, there is at minimum a message of affirmation. The best way to do that is to start with being honest with yourself.

In Mercury and Venus, there is a reconciliation of opposites — Venus is connected to Pisces, and Mercury to Virgo (these are opposite signs).

With a pretty thorough list of minor planet aspects, we learn things you’re not going to find in any ephemeris. There is a subtext. First, Mercury and Venus square something called the Great Attractor. The Great Attractor is located on the other side of the Galactic Core (both are in Sagittarius), and many light years beyond. It dwarfs any galaxy; it is sucking galaxies toward it like a magnet picks up little bits of metal.

This is going to magnify the effect of the conjunction, broadcasting the effect of Mercury and Venus on a cosmic scale. The two planets also make a trine to Apollo, which is a reminder not to make the same mistakes over and over again. A trine makes things easy; Apollo is about mistakes. This might be about not making the mistake of squandering love and affection. You might think, in a spiritual context, is that really possible? In a human context, it surely is.

A small planet called Ixion is currently working over the Great Attractor, and once again Mercury and Venus are square that. From our PlanetWiki project, here are a few thoughts about Ixion:

Ixion is the pattern or psychological construction which says we cannot change our inherent nature no matter what the consequences or punishment. It’s not that we cannot actually change; rather, it’s that we carry the idea that we cannot. It is a kind of mental affliction that needs to be addressed on that level — on the level of an idea.

The aspects today are so interesting I could go on for pages; I have time to address two more. First, notice that the Sun is semisquare Chiron. This is a reminder to be conscious of male wounding just below the surface. Semisquares are squares working just out of sight; they can function like hidden turning points, or points of provocation. If you are man, be aware that you may be unusually sensitive today (Chiron often suggests a sensitivity or vulnerability).

If you are anyone (female or otherwise) dealing with a man, pay attention. Be conscious of his feelings. In a world where men allegedly don’t have feelings, just about everyone pretends this is true. Hey, it’s easier, you just gloss over the surface or whack people around. But just because guys don’t usually break down in tears at the least offense doesn’t mean we’re not just as hurt emotionally as someone going through half a box of tissues. If you can pay attention to the emotional level, you’ll get a lot further. It does not help that the world outside the confines of the family pushes most of the responsibility for making decisions and taking action onto men, which as it turns out often requires a level of insensitivity.

So, to sum up, take it easy on men and on people who play visible roles; on anyone who has to express their solar will. The last aspect I’ll cover emphasizes this point — Mars square Arachne. Feeling this aspect out, I get two key phrases. One is a turning point in the story. The second is everything feels like a conspiracy. Arachne has connections to both conspiracy and story. Closer to the truth is the notion that everything is a story, and we need to be careful how we interpret developments. More to the point, beware how you act based on the idea of a plot.

Recent news events can serve to do at least one thing — they are sending a reminder that we need to carry ourselves with a measure of impeccability, taking responsibility for our actions and considering the future. In my opinion, the world needs to be a lot less casual place than we’ve grown accustomed to it being, while at the same time, we put our emphasis on control in nearly all the wrong places.

Today is not the day to go into it, but people getting into staggering debt bears a direct relationship to another D word, death. Both are functions of the 8th house, and if any chickens have come home to roost, that is where they are sitting on their eggs. The relationship may seem a bit abstract or sublime, but consider the relationship between debt and one’s perception of the future; and the future as it relates to that point when the future abruptly ends.

At any point before you take action, you ask yourself, “What is the right thing to do?” and pause as if the question really matters, you might do something different.

Here is what came up when I clicked on the Oracle, apropos of Pisces.

Peace & passion,

PS, If you’re not a subscriber to Planet Waves Astrology News, it’s hotter than ever.

Feb. 07, 2002 – Pisces – Weekly

There is a great deal taking shape in the unmanifest world right now cousin Fish and there are many omens (I typed ‘opens’) of stability prosperity and lucid thinking in your life. Can you feel the rare clarity of this moment of your personal history? Can you feel the illusions giving way to layers of truth even as they make faces and bitch a little? This is the most awesome time in many years for you to get your priorities in order, and this may involve staging several insurrections over belief systems that have nothing to do with you what you want or what you need. If those beliefs come from people remember you need to deal first with the beliefs and second with the folks. Both gently.

Monday 24 March 2008, Aspects by Serennu.

Venus (13+ Pisces) semisquare Asbolus (28+ Aries)
Mercury (13+ Pisces) semisquare Asbolus (28+ Aries)
Venus (14+ Pisces) square Great Attractor (14+ Sagittarius)
Mercury (14+ Pisces) square Great Attractor (14+ Sagittarius)
Arachne (7+ Libra Rx) opposite Pallas (7+ Aries)
Sun (4+ Aries) semisquare Chiron (19+ Aquarius)
Mercury (14+ Pisces) conjunct Venus (14+ Pisces)
Mars (7+ Cancer) square Arachne (7+ Libra Rx)
Mercury (14+ Pisces) trine Apollo (14+ Cancer)
Venus (14+ Pisces) trine Apollo (14+ Cancer)
Mercury (14+ Pisces) square Ixion (14+ Sagittarius Rx)
Venus (14+ Pisces) square Ixion (14+ Sagittarius Rx)
Ceres (28+ Taurus) square Orcus (28+ Leo Rx)
Mercury (15+ Pisces) sesquiquadrate Sisyphus (0+ Scorpio Rx)

Dear Friend and Reader:

Today I have a reference to a new piece of writing by a close friend, Carol van Strum out in Tidewater, Oregon. Carol has mentored my environmental investigative reporting for many years. She’s currently doing a series of book reviews for a website called Department of the Planet Earth. Here are her latest reviews — pretty interesting stuff, if you ask me, most of it related to the ethics of the atomic bomb.
For environmental junkies out there, Carol is the author of the book A Bitter Fog, and is one of the people who helped me learn how to do this kind of journalism, posted to the Dioxin Dorms website.

Dear Friend and Reader:

PLANET WAVES is supported by grants from Exxon-Mobil, The Nuclear Energy Foundation and Eat the Little Bunniesв„ў.

Ookk — just kidding! Planet Waves is actually sponsored by us — by you and me. We’re an astrology publishing house based in my kitchen (where I can watch the stove from my desk), providing you with some of the world’s finest home-made astrological products. This kind of publishing is an American tradition — Lila and DeWitt Wallace founded Reader’s Digest in their garage. Today, it’s (still) the bestselling consumer magazine in the United States.

Most Planet Waves products are available on the Internet. We’re currently designing some stuff to be bestselling books, and from time to time, I also teach. For example, in May I’m doing a three-day weekend class called Demystifying Astrology at the highly regarded Omega Institute near where I live. Mostly, we offer some very cool stuff on the Internet.

Every Friday in Planet Waves Astrology News, I combine my skills as astrologer and investigative reporter in a piece of writing that explores the meeting places between the inner world and the outer. I consciously do my best to reinvent the whole concept of news — yep, that is what I am doing — providing something that tells you about the world you live in and also about human nature and our inner lives. This is the journalism we need right now — the kind that seeks the truth, but that also knows the truth is an inner experience, not merely something you document with a stack of papers in a file.

It’s easy to combine astrology and the news. Okay, maybe not every shomoe on the street can do the chart of a government scandal. But by itself, such is of limited value. Who freakin’ cares if the horoscope tells you a scandal is dark and mysterious? You already knew that. That is the astrological equivalent of levitating the coffee table.

Planet Waves Astrology News explores the astrology of world events in the context of living, growing, surviving and becoming aware in the world. I am aware that you are doing your best to be the best person you can on a planet where that is not easy. Those of us who attempt spiritual growth, compassion and consciousness are doing so in a world where nearly every force seems to be pushing us in some other direction.

Please allow me to let you in on a not-so-little secret of my life as a writer and as a publisher. I am aware that as a person who basically offers ideas for sale, I am competing with food, rent and with other more addictive forms of entertainment. Cable television now offers 1,000 channels of psychosis and Discovery, and man there’s nothing like a karma macchiato. But then, there’s nothing like a good meal. Therefore, I work every single day to provide you with something that is on the level of information so nourishing, you might decide you can’t live without it.

You may be able to live without it, but I’m going to give you the passion, the detail and the insight that might lead you to notice that ideas and perspectives help give us life and give our lives meaning.

I’m aware that tens of millions of astrology sites give you plenty or everything for free. You can be sure that if I’m going to ask you for a subscription fee, I want you to feel like it’s worth every penny.

To do this, I must bring all of my resources to every project every single time I write. Most of these are done in collaboration with others. I work with a creative team of talented people whose skills we refine every single day. My home sometimes more resembles a journalism school than it does an apartment, and literally hundreds of people have come through Planet Waves and learned skills that are in many ways being lost to the world.

But it’s an unusual kind of J-school. Everyone who takes part gets a copy of Raphael’s Ephemeris of the Planets’ Places. You might walk in and find the charts of Judy Garland and Dick Cheney on the kitchen table, along with The Wall Street Journal.

Not everyone works here, however. Since returning to New York, I’ve discovered many talented people in my community. Yet our team of writers, astrologers, artists and programmers comes from 10 countries and as many states. Our subscribers — not just our free readers, our paying subscribers — come from every state in the union and more than 25 countries.

Planet Waves combines attention to detail, attention to the soul, and a drive to help us understand the world, understand ourselves and grow in the world. That is why what we do is absolutely unique — the journalism of the future right now. That is to say, journalism that actually matters and makes a difference, because you make a difference.

Hers is how to subscribe to Planet Waves Astrology News. If you subscribe, you get instant access to Friday’s edition and five years of amazing archives that chronicle our lives and the recent history of the world.

And of course, you get my weekly and monthly horoscopes.

Thanks for reading. Have a safe and sane holiday weekend.

Yours & truly,

Today’s Aspects – Saturday 22 March 2008

Vesta (16+ Pisces) trine Hidalgo (16+ Scorpio Rx)
Venus (11+ Pisces) sesquiquadrate Atlantis (26+ Libra Rx)
Venus (11+ Pisces) quintile Admetos (23+ Taurus)
Sun (2+ Aries) septile Admetos (23+ Taurus)
Mercury (11+ Pisces) sesquiquadrate Atlantis (26+ Libra Rx)

Thought du Jour

We are conditioned as kids to respond to guilt. The problem really sets in when that’s the only thing we respond to. It gets difficult to relate to people when their receptivity to pleasure or accomplishment is not anywhere near as sensitive as their responsiveness to resentment and punishment. When that is true, we tend to seek those things out and give others a narrow set of choices for how to communicate with us, most of which are either difficult or seem abusive.

Today’s Oracle

In my reading of the charts, the astrology of the coming few days is just the kind that either a) will feel really good to you because it’s such a luscious escape from the intensity and seriousness of this phase in your life, or b) represents a state of mind which makes you nervous because it’s brimming with uncertainties and the sense that invisible forces and vague emotions are at play. However, if you focus on yourself and what you need to be happy, you’re likely to discover that either it comes to you, or you’re suddenly in a great position to negotiate exactly what you want, in part because you are so relaxed.

Dear Friend and Reader:

NEWS HAS been pretty glum this week. I spent most of the day Thursday sorting out the credit crisis that has Wall Street paralyzed. In theory, it’s complicated. In practice, it seems pretty simple — many banks, based on what can truly be termed greedy practices with their customers, made a lot of very bad decisions about who to sell mortgages to, and then home prices plummeted. The mortgages were worth more than the homes. As far as I understand it, this is the root of the issue.

Then those bad mortgages were turned into a second product, residential mortgage backed securities or RMBS, and these completely contaminated the securities market. These RMBS products are purchased only by banks or other major investors, such as governments. Homeowners then defaulted; the securities were worthless; enormous insitutions such as Bear Stearns (whose assets consisted of 53% RMBS securities!) felt the floor cave in.

How did this happen? Well, it used to be that one’s home was the most precious investment. It was one of those American rites of passage — you earned being a homeowner. A mortgage was considered an extremely safe product for a bank to sell because, after all, it was connected to a deed for a piece of land and a building. It was the perfect collateral. There is a reason it’s called REAL estate — it’s REAL. But then, real estate became bullshit, based on one little factor: banks selling mortgages to people could not afford them, on overpriced homes.

Two clear-headed, competent Wall Street sources helped me put the pieces together, both taking time out of their busy schedules to answer my numerous questions. I am lucky this way — people have always taken the time to explain things to me, so that I can take the time to explain them to you.

What is particularly striking is how this crisis becoming major news, in the words of the New York Times, moving from Wall St. to Main St., coincides with several astrological factors: Saturn opposite Neptune, Pluto in Capricorn, the Aries ingress of the Sun and the Libra Full Moon. It is one of those moments where one realizes that astrology just works, even if we don’t know how. If you sign up for Planet Waves now, you’ll get instant access to full coverage by email and online. Today’s edition also includes a new article by Eris discoverer Mike Brown, as well as an essay by Judith Gayle and my weekly horoscope.

Looking at today’s minor planet aspect list, two of the most palpable inner planets — Venus and Mercury — form a square aspect to Pholus. That this happens during such a volatile Full Moon is meaningful; minor planet astrologers consider Pholus to be one of the more unpredictable planets, having fast action that can be triggered by nearly invisible forces.

Two Pisces planets square Pholus feels like the release of creative energy — a lot of it; for those not inclined to art or passion, the result could be histrionics. That’s a fancy word for spazzing out emotionally. You could panic, if you want, or if you want you can direct all that energy into something passionate, creative, inventive; something that you know will change you.

It’s funny, here in the States everyone is convinced there is a monetary crisis. The truth is that most of the best things in life are either free or you can have them for the cost of supplies and some friends coming over.

Planet Waves is nearly done for the week. I’ll be up as usual early Friday morning with the editing team, putting the final touches on the edition. Friday’s aspects follow, and then the daily oracle. The daily oracle is selected at random by a program on the Planet Waves site that chooses from about 8,000 daily, weekly and monthly horoscope entries. Unlimited use is free to all subscribers to Planet Waves Astrology News.

Here are today’s aspects, prepared from a list of the major planets, about 100 minor planets and the Uranian points. Thanks for tuning in.

Friday 21 March 2008

Atlantis (26+ Libra Rx) sextile Galactic Center (26+ Sagittarius)
Chiron (18+ Aquarius) sextile Quaoar (18+ Sagittarius Rx)
Mercury (8+ Pisces) quintile Galactic Center (26+ Sagittarius)
Venus (10+ Pisces) septile Jupiter (18+ Capricorn)
Venus (10+ Pisces) square Pholus (10+ Sagittarius Rx)
Venus (10+ Pisces) trine Chariklo (10+ Scorpio Rx)
Sun (1+ Aries) opposite M87 (1+ Libra)
Sun (1+ Aries) square Pluto (1+ Capricorn)
Sun (1+ Aries) quincunx Sisyphus (1+ Scorpio Rx)
Sisyphus (1+ Scorpio Rx) sesquiquadrate Vesta (16+ Pisces)
Mercury (9+ Pisces) quintile Juno (27+ Sagittarius)
Apollo (14+ Cancer) quincunx Great Attractor (14+ Sagittarius)
Eros (21+ Aries) conjunct 1992 QB1 (21+ Aries)
Sun (1+ Aries) opposite Moon (1+ Libra) – Full Moon
Sun (1+ Aries) sesquiquadrate Hidalgo (16+ Scorpio Rx)
Mercury (10+ Pisces) square Pholus (10+ Sagittarius Rx)
Sisyphus (1+ Scorpio Rx) sextile Pluto (1+ Capricorn)
Arachne (8+ Libra Rx) sesquiquadrate Neptune (23+ Aquarius)
Mercury (10+ Pisces) trine Chariklo (10+ Scorpio Rx)
Mercury (10+ Pisces) septile Jupiter (18+ Capricorn)

Dec 24, 1999 – TAURUS – Weekly

It would be difficult for either of us to predict the outcome of the encounters that now seem all but fated in your life. Whatever anyone else may say about the wisdom of your pursuits, I consider it a positive development that you have finally seen the value of taking on your role as aggressor rather than merely as one who attracts what you want. In the end, you may end up with the same thing, but in actively seeking fulfillment, you are learning to exert your will and influence on the world. More important, you are learning to take risks. But to better suit your purposes, it would be wise to pull off a bit of the divine hypocrisy of creating the illusion that what you want has really come to you.