Hello, I’ll be back Tuesday morning. This edition needs to stay up top one more day. I am grateful to my longtime reader Anthony Ocone for sending this Wikipedia link about the Canadian philosopher Harold Innis, apparently one of my ideological grandfathers on the role of advertising on our consciousness and civilization.

Dear Friend and Reader:

FOR YEARS, I have kept something secret from you, which as you know is not my style: it costs about $150,000 a year to run Planet Waves. In case you wonder why we market our services, experiment with new ideas and go out of our way to reach you, this solves the mystery.

I’ve been telling this to a few people lately just to gauge their reaction, and most are pretty surprised at this fact. It sounds like a lot of money, but we have a full time professional staff that handles many of our daily routines; we do our own programming; we run a petty tight ship, with a full time business manager, an excellent accountant and two guardian angel lawyers who keep an eye on us and our activities. All articles that are published are professionally edited and proofread, many of them twice.

We manage our ideas, our visual materials and our content. We do research and we fact check. Everyone goes through a lengthy training process and we hold ourselves to the standard of professionalism you would expect from any of our much larger news colleagues. Like them, we are not perfect. But we make a valiant effort.

We pay our writers and photographers as much as we are capable. You would be amazed how far we stretch our budget; most people with business experience are stunned that we do all of this for so little. When you figure how much it costs to produce a 15-second TV commercial, $150Gs sounds like spare change.

For a freelance writer and astrologer (such as I am), it’s a good bit of money. We don’t have an investor; we barely have any debt; we’ve built Planet Waves on love and the pay-as-you-go method. Everyone who gets paid works above the call of duty. Some of our most creative work is donated. Chelsea, our business manager, could make a waterproof tent out of a dollar bill. (I want to co-write a book with her called Livin’ Lean — it could send her kid to college.)

In 2002, we created Planet Waves Weekly (now Planet Waves Astrology News) and began offering subscriptions. That helped get you involved in supporting and building the project and we began (as promised) a long, still-in-progress journey of improving the publication, its staff and its infrastructure. We have established our own post office and created a custom client database that processes orders and gives us product flexibility. We offer actual, on the phone customer service during the business week and online tech support nearly around the clock. We are very much a daily publication and take that commitment seriously. There is never a feeling of nobody home at Planet Waves.

There is an old expression that freedom of the press belongs to those who own one. Planet Waves is the modern equivalent of owning a printing press. Along with owning this digital press comes a daily yoga of how we handle our responsibility to the public, and how we respond to the spiritual instructions that helped us create this venue for art and ideas. We understand the uncertainty of the times we are living through. We understand how scared, confused, inspired, curious, hung up, excited and willing to grow our readers are, and we respond to that.

Free press is extremely important right now. It’s very difficult to get a straight story from the mainstream media. Journalists are compelled to mask their real views on important subjects, and they are often in the best position to observe what’s really happening. As my reader, I am committed to giving you the truth as I see it, and to fearing no issue, theme or subject. And there are exceedingly few professional journalists capable of writing about astrology fairly, or taking an astrological perspective.

When I was at the United Astrology Conference — which we covered in this space for all of our readers, including pre-subscribers — many people commented to me about the quality of the work we do. Some people noticed we are doing real journalism, which happens to be spiritually and astrologically literate. But in particular many commented on the quality of our photography. This is a conscious plan, to create an aesthetically pleasing environment for you to visit in.

As part of that aesthetic, we don’t offer advertising. This may seem ridiculous, but all of us at Planet Waves feel that it would be a serious intrusion on your reading experience. And it would make us beholden to somebody besides you; and we take the integrity of our relationship to our subscribers as a top priority. Instead, we depend on readers to subscribe to our premium services to keep the bills paid. At the time we began offering subscriptions, we also chose to offer comp subscriptions to those who cannot afford to pay. I jokingly describe us as a business that doesn’t discriminate against people without money. I think people use our comp offer responsibly, and I would not want to be offering anything for sale without also offering comps.

We have some firm guidelines about how we offer our work. For example, we don’t scare you (“click here to find out how to avoid making the biggest mistake of your life”) and we don’t make false promises (“I see love in your charts, but you have to sign up to find out when”). Nearly every other astrology site sells its services using these bottom-trawler kind of tricks.

When revenue falls short, I personally make up the difference. Let’s just say this gesture has taught me the extent to which I believe in what I am doing. My outside writing fees, astrology consulting fees and donated work make sure that we are here for you every day. I estimate that I put twice as much money into the company as I take out. And this, in short, is why I personally need you to subscribe to one of our services, and to stay subscribed as long as you feel it’s worth it.

You come here and dip into the spiritual and artistic well. You get straight talk about sex and the astrology of sexuality. You rely on the many ways we feed you. You rely on our dependability and professionalism, and if we make a mistake or misstep, we hear about it fast. You browse through our many archives and features — everything from Options to Hysterectomy to Lunations to Psychsound, our civil rights blog. I know you appreciate that we’re here every day, every single day approaching 10 years in December.

We offer all kinds of odd, useful things — such as the daily minor planet aspects that (trust me here) no other astrologers can calculate with any accuracy. We have pushed the edge of this field of research and continue to develop our Planet Wiki feature.

We’re the only astrology website that I know of that is professionally accredited press; Planet Waves is recognized as a news service by the European Union, and I am personally accredited by the writer’s unions in England and the United States. That’s a fancy way of saying that I have this thing called access, and that when truly significant news breaks, you’re going to read about it here. Meanwhile, you can follow the news daily with Judith Gayle’s Political Waves feature. We do some pretty meaningful public service work as well.

I read your astonishing letters of goodwill and gratitude, and I try to return them all. (Click on this link and see what our subscribers and clients have to say.)

Now I am asking you to put your money where your love is and sign up for one or more of our services. If you are already a subscriber, thank you — and I trust that what you’ve just read is a reminder of how important your subscription renewal is, and how important it is to get your friends on board. Your subscription makes a difference. If we doubled our subscriber base, we would become a profitable company. Given how many people forward our materials to others, it certainly seems that the interest is there.

If you cannot afford the full fare, call up Chelsea at (877) 453-8265 and make her an offer. If you can’t afford anything right now, write to clare – at – planetwaves.net and request a comp. If you’re one of those folks who walks around spending money and buys the things you want and need, and if you show up here on a regular basis, please sign up and enjoy the benefits of our truly excellent services.

If you are feeling visionary, and you’re in a position to offer a major gift, which you may earmark for a special project (for example, photography, investigative journalism, astrology education or sex education), that would be most welcome — please call Chelsea directly.

Whether you sign up or not, whether I’m kicking in tens of thousands of dollars a year or making a good income from this website, I’m going to come to work every day. I’m going to recruit, hire and train the best people so that the work you get is top-quality professional stuff, and so that the people leave Planet Waves with a portfolio and real editorial training. We will be here even if you’re not.

But while you’re here, let’s be here together.

Yours & truly,

PS, you can help by posting our link from your website or blog, and by consistently referring us readers. If you want some banners to use, write to anatoly – at – planetwaves.net and he will send you some. We encourage linking to and blogging about our stuff; we appreciate it if you send our links around to your friends and tell them what we’re up to. So yes — please spread the word, and contact me directly at info – at – planetwaves.net if you have any ideas for how we can convey this message better.

PPS, today Mercury is conjunct the asteroid Eros. That sounds like a lot of fun; it sounds like a love letter. It’s also my mother’s birthday, so hi Mom!Minor Planet Aspects for Saturday 31 May 2008

Apollo (2+ Leo) quintile Sedna (20+ Taurus)
Venus (7+ Gemini) trine Sisyphus (7+ Libra Rx)
Juno (24+ Sagittarius Rx) quincunx Admetos (24+ Taurus)
Mars (11+ Leo) semisquare Hades (26+ Gemini)
Venus (8+ Gemini) opposite Pholus (8+ Sagittarius Rx)
Mars (11+ Leo) sesquiquadrate Galactic Center (26+ Sagittarius)
Pandora (10+ Scorpio Rx) septile Logos (19+ Virgo Rx)
Jupiter (21+ Capricorn Rx) square Eris (21+ Aries)
Venus (8+ Gemini) semisquare 1992 QB1 (23+ Aries)
Mercury (20+ Gemini Rx) septile Mars (12+ Leo)
Eros (20+ Gemini) semisquare Asbolus (5+ Taurus)
Psyche (14+ Scorpio Rx) quintile Saturn (2+ Virgo)
Vesta (18+ Aries) sesquiquadrate Hylonome (3+ Sagittarius Rx)
Venus (8+ Gemini) quincunx Hidalgo (8+ Scorpio Rx)
Eros (20+ Gemini) quintile Saturn (2+ Virgo)
Pallas (4+ Taurus) sesquiquadrate Logos (19+ Virgo Rx)
Apollo (3+ Leo) sesquiquadrate Quaoar (18+ Sagittarius Rx)
Mars (12+ Leo) sextile Atlantis (12+ Libra Rx)
Mercury (20+ Gemini Rx) conjunct Eros (20+ Gemini)

Today’s Oracle takes us to March 20, 2006

Libra – daily from the Jonathan Cainer series. It’s interesting how many of these columns from the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror are in the database, and how infrequently they come out. This appeared in the Daily Mail.

You may be concerned that someone else’s changes are going to spill over into your life, even causing you to lose control of your affairs. You can always distance yourself. But that would be sending a false message that could complicate things. It would seem the real difference you need to work out is that you’re a lot calmer under pressure, and are willing to take bigger risks. But you may be surprised over the next week or two how willing certain partners or loved ones are to rise above their own fears and take a real chance on life, and on you.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Do you ever get into those really paranoid moods? Anything from FEMA camps to the economy collapsing on your head to your friends seeming to raise an insurrection against your ideals?

There has to be a better way. But it’s natural to be paranoid in freakish times; it is most unnatural to be chill and hang loose, while aware. Plenty who hang loose tune out; I think we, as in you and I, have a different agenda.

Paranoia seems to persist: disease is a big one; the fear of never finding a real relationship is another, borne out often enough to make the point.

One layer beneath that is the fear of abandonment, which is a death-related fear. It can affect anyone no matter how excellent a relationship they have managed to create. Then we’re jolted daily into being totally paranoid about sex, if you stop and think about diseases or tune into the latest herpes drug commercial on TV (anyone can spread it at any time so you better always be paranoid!). Not only that, anyone could be a spy, your house is bugged, they are reading your email and collecting your naked pictures in a big database.

Psyche square Nessus. The mind pressed into the corner of its own worst thoughts. Moreover, the thoughts that relate to this aspect would seem to come from a sense of having been psychologically abused or emotionally neglected. Psyche is the sense of the mind’s injury; the ‘wound of the soul’ that seems to arrive with the consciousness of the soul. Awareness of the soul is not always painful, but to be done well, it requires a continuous, Zen-like surf along the waves of feeling and compassion.

To do this, it helps to be aware of your own injuries and your own fears. Let’s consider the signs involved — Psyche in Scorpio, a sign that we all relate to individually as our desire nature and in particular sexual desire. Tell me, do you ever wonder if someone is going to come into your life who is able to give you the sex you really need? Or is that thought connected to a more or less permanent fear that it just will not happen; that your own needs are too buried to be reached by another; or that they are too unusual to even reveal? Psyche in Scorpio is like the sense of the perpetual erotic mental or emotional existential injury that will not resolve.

It has a meeting place in the common world — square Nessus in Aquarius. This is the pressure from society to conform, to suppress yourself, to be someone other than who you are, to conceal in all social contacts that you are a person with a sense of having been hurt and thus responding to even casual social encounters with a real sense of alienation; of needing attention; of needing to be who you are and NOT be rejected for it.

And obviously we are talking about so many layers of reinforced social and individual injury that if you really look at the problem there can seem to be no way out. I hold out the faith that this is not true; that there is a way out, that the aspects that point out the problem always have the solution. But I can tell you this, to find our way out we’re going to need to muster up the courage to express ourselves and the perhaps greater courage to respond to other people who are doing so.

It’s 8:25 am and Planet Waves Astrology News is a few minutes away from being distributed to our subscribers around the world. Are you one of them? Today’s edition covers the ethics of prediction in astrology, how to use astrology as a healing art, and my notes from training a group of astrologers last weekend at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY.

Our subscription service works on the honor system — sign up if you want it and can pay; sign up for a comp if you can’t pay. We keep it not only affordable, but worth every cent and guaranteed. You get a truly unique, professionally edited and illustrated astrology service with the Eric Francis horoscope; and your funds sponsor this blog, the daily photo and our many other features such as Psychsound by Steve Bergstein.

Friday 30 May 2008

Pallas (3+ Taurus) quincunx Hylonome (3+ Sagittarius Rx)
Eros (18+ Gemini) semisquare Pallas (3+ Taurus)
Vesta (18+ Aries) square Varuna (18+ Cancer)
Venus (6+ Gemini) quincunx Chariklo (6+ Scorpio Rx)
Mars (11+ Leo) square Pandora (11+ Scorpio Rx)
Venus (6+ Gemini) semisquare Eris (21+ Aries)
Vesta (18+ Aries) trine Quaoar (18+ Sagittarius Rx)
Venus (6+ Gemini) sesquiquadrate Jupiter (21+ Capricorn Rx)
Arachne (0+ Libra) quintile Varuna (18+ Cancer)
Juno (24+ Sagittarius Rx) opposite Ceres (24+ Gemini)
Psyche (14+ Scorpio Rx) square Nessus (14+ Aquarius Rx)
Sun (9+ Gemini) septile Vesta (18+ Aries)
Eros (19+ Gemini) square Logos (19+ Virgo Rx)

Oracle takes us to May 21, 2004 – Pisces – Weekly

You are about to take that big chance on the count of three. Taking a chance means no guarantees; that’s written right into the deal. But we are also not talking about going to Vegas and betting the house on a roulette wheel spin. Einstein was right. God does not play dice with the universe, and God does not play dice with you. So what happens over the next few days is anything but random, even though the events that feed into current developments have roots so far in the past you may not remember them. But think back; there are obvious connections.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Today the Sun is opposite Pholus.

We also have a Ceres aspect, trine Neptune. Though a number of different minor planets get my attention as needing to be front and center, I know that in my life Ceres needs a lot more attention — as a planet and as a habit. I am a pretty good eater, but I could be a lot better at it. I am sure that most people would say so! Try eliminating wheat from your diet and watch the list of junk food you get to cut out grow to the size of Santa’s New York City itinerary. Let’s come back to Ceres in a moment.

Pholus was the second centaur planet discovered. It’s discovery defined the class of small, orbit-crossing planets. Some encyclopedias say that all centaurs are icy and comet-like; Pholus is actually reddish and rocky.

Skipping over the mythology involved, Pholus tends to be about changes that come on rapidly. Chiron can come with a long ascent, struggle or cycle of activity: Pholus, in one of his incarnations, is fast acting. Its energy is like opening a hot, shaken-up bottle of ginger ale. It also has some subtler properties — things from past generations showing up, for example. And the keywords small cause, big effect (of Robert von Heeren) are some of the cleverest in the history of minor planet astrology.

The question is how we see this in the form of an opposition to the Sun. I would be looking for what is influencing (Pholus) how we express ourselves (the domain of the Sun). Pholus can represent a barely noticeable influence that turns out to have a profound effect. For example, someone explains something to you that shifts your perception of reality, or of yourself.

A conversation I had last night with a Pisces woman comes to mind. I found her outside my shop copying down the modeling info that’s in my window. I invited her in to see my work. We talked for about two hours. It was like hanging out in zero gravity. There was something about her mind, her speech and the way her thoughts are paced that was gradually shifting my consciousness.

In the last half hour, she started talking about David Bowie and Bono — how she feels that they are trying to convert her to being a lesbian. Now, thankfully I am an astrologer in my other job, so I am accustomed to people saying all manner of extremely interesting things, and I am great at giving the benefit of the doubt to the person talking. I may not “believe” them but I take what they are saying as true for them and as potentially true for me.

I am in the midst of yet another a deep exploration of my sexual orientation and gender identity, which has been going on quite a long time (Bowie was there at the beginning, incidentally, and photography is guiding the process in the present); and exploring my concept of what it means to be male; and how this influences my relationships with women. So I was very interested to hear her somewhat frightened notion of someone remotely accosting her sense of sexual orientation. I could feel her repulsion at the power afforded to these men by society; they are portrayed and treated as demigods.

Even though it seems like a conversation had in passing, her whole situation…her inner trip…is having an influence on me, if only because I can empathize what it feels like to have this kind of external control imposed on you and to not really understand what is going on. And as my own profile rises in the world, in particular as I refine my viewpoint and visual message to the point where their impact reaches out further, I need to keep a close eye on just what influence I have, as positive as people tell me that it is. What she expressed most was her disgust that she seemed to not have a choice in the matter, under the influence of these guys; I think that particularly in terms of sexuality, the prevailing message needs to be one of choice and emphasizing the fact that we have options.

So — a touch of Pholus. I plan to be completing a Book of Blue article about pornography for use with a series of articles Rachel Asher is developing for Planet Waves, and it will have some of this energy imprint.

Neptune is also in the picture today, with Ceres making a trine from Gemini to Aquarius. This is a caution to make sure your compromises are authentic. Tell the truth in any situation wherein you are called upon to compromise — that is the power you bring to the discussion. If you don’t fool yourself about what is true for you, you can make sure you hold other people to the fact of your existence.

Thursday 29 May 2008

Ceres (24+ Gemini) trine Neptune (24+ Aquarius Rx)
Sun (8+ Gemini) opposite Pholus (8+ Sagittarius Rx)
Amor (12+ Taurus) septile Kronos (3+ Cancer)
Sun (8+ Gemini) semisquare 1992 QB1 (23+ Aries)
Pallas (3+ Taurus) sextile Kronos (3+ Cancer)
Eros (18+ Gemini) opposite Quaoar (18+ Sagittarius Rx)
Arachne enters Libra (direct)
Arachne (0 Libra) opposite Aries Point (0 Aries)
Sun (8+ Gemini) quincunx Hidalgo (8+ Scorpio Rx)
Amor (12+ Taurus) quincunx Atlantis (12+ Libra Rx)
Mercury (21+ Gemini Rx) trine Chiron (21+ Aquarius Rx)

Today’s Oracle takes us back to Oct. 11, 2002

Aquarius – Weekly

In any aspect of your life that needs reshaping, strategy continues to be the main concept that will help you. There is a place in the world for written strategy, be it a business plan or agenda, but in any event, thinking strategically will be more than fruitful. Strategy involves thinking in terms of contingencies: that is, a series of possibilities, which can be combined with if/then statements. This may seem mathematical, and it is. While life is not made entirely of math, there are many aspects of living that respond well to mental structure. At the moment, professional plans and the way they intersect with personal relationships happens to be one of them.

Sponsored by Planet Waves Astrology News.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Among the astonishing experiences of this Mercury retrograde so far was my main computer, well, taking a break from reality last night. Basically, it just stopped — a pretty new, dependable and well maintained iMac. I happened to be on AIM with Danielle Voirin (who takes most of those gorgeous photos you see on page one) in Paris when I disappeared from the network, so I went on my laptop to mention the problem — at which moment she disappeared from the network. So I called her and both her phones were not answering in Paris at 3 am.

It turned out that lightning had hit the adjoining building there, partially knocking out power in her building; which was enough to take out the DSL system which conveys her phone calls. The lights were out but the electric outlets were on — except her uninterrupted power supply (standard issue equipment where a Planet Waves computer is kept) was beeping. And these two seemingly unrelated events happened within about five minutes.

Meanwhile, I had the problem of Rig #1 not being available — my main computer for photography. I tried to restart it about five times and no go. I stayed more or less calm, gave it a rest, and committed myself to hanging out with two friends who were in my studio as I had been happily working away printing recent pictures. I resolved to use a backup machine and not taking this one in for service till the station direct in three weeks. Fortunately before going to UAC, I had backed up about 175 gigabytes of recent photos.

This morning, the iMac failed to restart; I went back to bed, then two hours later it mysteriously restarted. Thrilling, right?

So at least for the moment, this fulfills my many-times repeated prophesy that Mercury retrograde is infamous for creating situations where something appears to be wrong or broken but is not. Let’s hope that actually turns out to be true, however I will be backing up the few remnants on this disk drive that didn’t make it onto the external drive. As an astrologer I am left with a somewhat disturbing question of causation. How exactly did this happen? It is so classically Mercury retrograde it’s ridiculous. But how exactly does that work? Is it some quantum phenomenon as yet undocumented by science? Or is it just the Trickster? I think I’ll stick the Magus card to this machine for “good luck.”

I’ll be back in a few with a riff on nourishing communication, today’s aspects and Michael Franti.

Oook, a reader writes in:

Eric!

Your blog today is fascinating…..talk more about “taking in nourishment.” What ways do you do that emotionally?

Thanks for the reminder,

Flavia

I picked up the concept of emotional nourishment from my Hakomi therapy training. Hakomi (an evolution on Gestalt therapy) trainers specifically ban the word “nurturing” because it’s so charged up. Instead, the word nourishment is used. Hakomi therapists are trained to identify something nourishing about every client. It’s not all about the therapist giving; it’s a little trick to facilitate exchange, and for the client, the experience of being appreciated. Nourishing might mean appreciating that the client is funny, or brave; they might be attractive or possess a certain quality that the therapist appreciates.

The idea is not to dwell on this, but rather to simply be present for it, and get into a space of appreciating the person. This facilitates an exchange. The therapist can make what are called contact statements back, such as “I love how funny you are,” as a means of acknowledging the gift that the person offers to the world. Once that reaction starts consciously, it has a way of growing. The client feels that they are appreciated for something authentic about who they are, and begins to relax. This makes it easier to take in the presence of the therapist, and what they have to offer. It is particularly important to do this when the client is in some way annoying. Therapists (and the rest of us) have to deal with annoying people/clients on a fairly regular basis, and if you hook into what is nourishing about them, you can gently sidestep what annoys you. This facilitates an exchange of nourishment that is so crucial to relationships.

The exchange of nourishment is a basic, fundamental human skill; indeed, an absolute necessity if people are going to respond to one another, get along and grow into a healthy space.

In my own life, I make a yoga out of accepting appreciation. I am good at expressing gratitude; the more difficult skill — and I believe this is true for most people — is about accepting love. Most of us simply don’t feel worthy of it, and many people resent those who do feel worthy of love.

Most of us come from compromised backgrounds in this respect. We often fear accepting an emotional gift because it might be taken away. We may be reluctant to do so on the basis of fearing that someone has an agenda; i.e., he thinks I’m beautiful, therefore he wants to fuck me. That’s not received as a gift, even if offered with the clearest intention, i.e., true appreciation. Indeed, in my other incarnation as the author of Book of Blue, the idea that many women go out of their way to enhance their beauty, then panic when someone notices, is primary subject matter.

The ability to have someone notice that you’re beautiful or attractive and take that in is specifically taking in emotional nourishment. There are many other forms but they all add up to the same thing. Accepting appreciation is a trusting gesture, and we do need to learn how to trust this way. Most of our psychic injuries directly involve the capacity to trust, and we almost always associate a gift with a hook.

I learned from Hakomi process to stop and make a direct gesture of taking in emotional nourishment. This might come in the form of a reader letter or a friend telling me they love me; I consciously pause and take in the feeling. I will often say so out loud, and ask my body and my ‘unconscious’ to accept the nourishment.

I happen to have an autoimmune issue (celiac) that when it’s acting up prevents my body from taking in nourishment. So I have to make a conscious gesture of this. But in the process of doing that, I have noticed how many more people have the same theme going on — the fear to accept what is given to them freely, and what might deeply benefit them. Despite the past, I think this is something we can learn to do consciously.

Apropos of this discussion, Venus is opposite Hylonome today. Hylonome is the astrological archetype of self-inflicted punishment. With Venus, the theme here is inflicting emotional wounds on oneself, perhaps because it was done to us so often in the past. We are always taught to be our own worst abusers, particularly psychologically. It is very difficult to be in relationship with someone who keeps hurting themselves. And sooner or later, they blame it on the relationship or on the partner, which only weakens the bond and alienates us further from ourselves and from others.

As for Michael Franti, I found out that I’ll be sharing the same stage as the esteemed poet/reggae artist Saturday at Mountain Jam at Hunter Mountain. My old friends at Radio Woodstock invited me to speak, where I’ll be Saturday afternoon. Michael is scheduled to go on about two hours before me, but I would not dare to call him the warm-up act.

Have a fine day and cheers to our computers, disk drives and electric guitars humming along brilliantly.

Wednesday 28 May 2008

Venus (3+ Gemini) opposite Hylonome (3+ Sagittarius Rx)
Vesta (17+ Aries) sesquiquadrate Saturn (2+ Virgo)
Psyche (15 Scorpio Rx) sesquiquadrate Aries Point (0 Aries)
Amor (11+ Taurus) semisquare Hades (26+ Gemini)
Ceres (23+ Gemini) sesquiquadrate Hidalgo (8+ Scorpio Rx)
Pholus (8+ Sagittarius Rx) sesquiquadrate 1992 QB1 (23+ Aries)
Eros (17+ Gemini) sextile Vesta (17+ Aries)
Pallas (3+ Taurus) quintile Chiron (21+ Aquarius Rx)
Venus (4+ Gemini) quintile Uranus (22+ Pisces)
Pallas (3+ Taurus) sesquiquadrate Quaoar (18+ Sagittarius Rx)
Arachne (29+ Virgo) semisquare Psyche (14+ Scorpio Rx)
Mars (10+ Leo) sesquiquadrate Juno (25+ Sagittarius Rx)
Sun (7+ Gemini) trine Sisyphus (7+ Libra Rx)
Amor (11+ Taurus) sesquiquadrate Galactic Center (26+ Sagittarius)

Oracle takes us to Nov. 05, 1999 – LEO – Weekly

You can get off the emotional roller coaster if you want to. Note that about every three minutes, the fast-moving train pulls through a tunnel, somebody collects your money, and you’re back on the ride. As you go through your ups, downs, twists and turns, see if you can notice at which point in the process you opt to stay on. Notice where the compulsion to do so comes from. Is it out of hope, fear, or an old habit? Are you responding as if one of your parents is shoving you back on? And, in those rare times when you have your feet on solid ground, do you consider your life carefully enough to have a sense of which way you really want to go?

Dear Friend and Reader:

Well, it’s been two weeks on the road with a brief stop home last week — and at last I’m here for a while. I have been teaching, thinking about, writing about and doing astrology nonstop most of that time — and a lot of ideas have come up, particularly some excellent revelations in the Omega Institute workshop. Thankfully there are a lot of people waiting to have their pictures taken and I am definitely in the mood to indulge myself in art rather than in ideas.

One of the underlying themes underlying the Omega series of classes was the ethics of prediction. Using Chiron process as a tool, we learned how to listen to the client, how to observe the passage of time and events in the chart, and how to bring the discussion into the choices of the present moment. It pains me to think of it, but we are all aware that some people are attracted to astrology for the power that it will supposedly give them. And most of the time that is about predicting or in some way controlling the future.

Astrology does bestow a certain kind of power, but it’s merely an extension of the power of awareness. Awareness is connected to the power of decision. Between awareness and the ability to make decisions, we have just about all the power we need on this planet, where we feel irrelevant all too often. Awareness is the real energy that helps us witness the world and ourselves, and to make the changes we need to make.

Astrology provides a set of metaphors; a language of energy; a way to observe the passage of time; and a way to conceive of situations in their diverse aspects instead of as one amorphous blob. When you look at a chart, there is sometimes a strategic method of analysis that helps you spot issues and define themes. Once you have that, you have awareness and you can start making decisions if you want.

Yesterday for the final three-hour morning session (after doing Eris and the castaway woman, and then a discussion of key life transits), we took an hour and did the Sept. 11, 2001 chart. I’ve done this a lot of times, just one other time in a class (in Toronto), and I have to say it was beyond intriguing to talk about it.

Wish me luck that I got all of this on my digital recorder, because if so I plan to post some of the best discussions to the web for all of our readers here.

I can say this, by way of claiming a victory — by the end of the second day, we had a room full of mostly novice astrologers seeing the astrology go by, and many people doing it; everyone was trained in the use of the ephemeris; and by the last morning, I think everyone followed the discussion of the Sept. 11 chart point by point. This included house and sign rulers and even this fancy little thing called mutual reception that is so crucial in the Sept. 11 chart.

I want to thank Omega Institute for having me, for the on-the-ground conspiracy of Chronogram readers who apparently got me the gig, Genevieve Salerno for being a most excellent teaching assistant for the full four days of the work, and all my students who had the patience and energy to make 24 hours of astrology class over four days (!) fun, exciting and in truth pretty easy. I have always believed I could teach astrology in a day or two, and I feel like I gained some solid evidence for that theory this weekend.

As for today’s aspects. Mercury stationed retrograde yesterday. Besides any little bits you may have noticed about your computer acting odd (I noticed them acting slightly off last week, before the station, actually) or misplacing your cell phone, can you feel the shift in the course of the discussions with the people around you? It’s sometimes subtle — an alteration in direction, the conversation pauses or seems to jump tracks, issues appear or disappear, something unknown comes to the surface…if you can handle some of the frustrations that come along with it, and if you remember not to push the river of time too hard, it can be an extremely interesting time to sail through consciousness.

One minor planet aspect that jumps out is Amor opposing Pandora. Just the title of the aspect says a lot. Martha Wescott, one of my favorite astrologers, gives us the delineation “the ‘conditions’ that one places on unconditional love” for Amor.

For Pandora, she gives us: “Encountering unexpected consequences; getting ‘more than you bargained for’; being enticed by a curiosity, new idea, person or situation — and finding that it has set you on a whole new path.”

So when you put these two factors together, face to face in an opposition, you get an interesting equation, particularly with the aspect going from Taurus to Scorpio! The issue is attachment, but remember that the issue beneath that is self-esteem. If you have self-esteem, you believe people love you, and you will have the strength to give them the space to be free. If you believe that people don’t love you or you spend your precious time figuring out how to control them, I would say you need to work on that elusive self-esteem thing. The first and easiest place to start is by learning to take in nourishment.

Happy retrograding.

Tuesday 27 May 2008

Mercury (21+ Gemini Rx) sesquiquadrate Chariklo (6+ Scorpio Rx) – Near Miss Only
Mercury (21+ Gemini Rx) quincunx Jupiter (21+ Capricorn Rx) – Near Miss Only
Venus (3+ Gemini) semisquare Varuna (18+ Cancer)
Mars (9+ Leo) septile M87 (1+ Libra)
Sun (6+ Gemini) semisquare Eris (21+ Aries)
Eros (16+ Gemini) semisquare Apollo (1+ Leo)
Pandora (11+ Scorpio Rx) sesquiquadrate Hades (26+ Gemini)
Sun (6+ Gemini) quincunx Chariklo (6+ Scorpio Rx)
Sun (6+ Gemini) sesquiquadrate Jupiter (21+ Capricorn Rx)
Amor (11+ Taurus) opposite Pandora (11+ Scorpio Rx)

Aug 01, 2003 – Libra – Weekly

The double entendre of the planets has finally become clear. You’re being summoned by your sense of adult responsibility and the need to make your way in the world. And you are being summoned by a visionary sense of what’s possible beyond anything you’ve ever experienced — truly, the vision of a child. You may not think what you see in your heart is possible to attain in the world; you have been disappointed before. But the planets are not going to disappoint you this time, as long as you’re willing to experiment with the idea that your deepest true responsibility to yourself is to explore your highest ideals, and to put just a grain of faith in yourself.

Dear Friend and Reader:

I’m back in the Omega cafe and have a few minutes to do a Monday entry.

We concluded today’s session with a review of Betty Dodson‘s chart, by popular request to cover a sexual topic in astrology. Betty’s horoscope is an amazing thing — one of those charts that teaches you astrology as much as it reveals something about her. Actually it reveals plenty about both.

Speaking of Betty, I believe we are preparing a new article by her, released last week on the occasion of the warm-up for her 79th birthday. It’s called “Fucking Like a Feminist,” and it will be a page one feature for all readers.

Betty turns 79 Aug. 24 and she is planning her 80th year as her 80th birthday celebration. We will be participating. Besides adoring her, I am gaining an understanding of Betty as one of the most progressive contributors to feminism, sexuality and culture of our era. You don’t hear about these people on CNN too often, it’s true. So you need use your shortwave radio known as the Internet.

Today, Mercury stations retrograde, making a number of aspects while it does so; the first in an exact sextile to Eris. This is a dialog with all the aspects of the feminine that are cast off, ignored, dispossessed, disrespected: the whore, the witch, the spinster; the unwanted woman in any form, and she takes many forms. Mercury, slow and powerful in the sky, is encouraging us to take part in a real dialog with her, if we find her willing to talk.

Mercury’s station is also trine Chiron, which is an invitation to have those discussions that will facilitate healing. Talking is not everything, but if we use conversation to take us to a deeper level of emotional contact, it is more than words — it’s action.

Venus in Gemini is square Saturn in Virgo. This is potentially an image of alienation, if we take it the wrong way. It’s almost surely a turning point in the emotional tenor of our relationships, or a relationship. Turning point does not mean a reversal; it means a shift of direction, a change of trajectory. Mercury stationing is a reminder to internalize this energy: that is, to take it to the level of an inner dialog seeking an inner commitment or at least understanding.

But that Mercury retrograde is also a comment about internalizing something, absorbing or integrating the many events that have unfolded during the recent passage of time. Obviously, we don’t spend a lot of time contemplating our lives, and when we do, it’s often riddled with anxiety. I know how this feels, having wasted perhaps half of my lifetime-so-far allocation of mental energy on worry and fear. Enough is enough…

Neptune also stations today, adding to the inner intrigue. This is a rich moment, and it has a slow motion quality.

With love from Omega Institute,

Monday 26 May 2008

Venus (1+ Gemini) semisquare Vesta (16+ Aries)
Amor (10+ Taurus) sesquiquadrate Juno (25+ Sagittarius Rx)
Apollo (1+ Leo) sextile M87 (1+ Libra)
Eros (15+ Gemini) quincunx Psyche (15+ Scorpio Rx)
Mercury (21+ Gemini) square Uranus (22+ Pisces) – Near Miss Only
Mars (9+ Leo) square Hidalgo (9+ Scorpio Rx)
Mercury (21+ Gemini) sextile Eris (21+ Aries) – Near Miss Only
Mercury stations retrograde (21+ Gemini)
Hidalgo (9+ Scorpio Rx) septile Pluto (0+ Capricorn Rx)
Neptune stations retrograde (24+ Aquarius)
Venus (2+ Gemini) square Saturn (2+ Virgo)
Ceres (23+ Gemini) sextile 1992 QB1 (23+ Aries)
Eros (16+ Gemini) quintile Orcus (28+ Leo)

Today’s Oracle: Mar 23, 2007 – PISCES – Weekly

You are born under a water sign, but I assure you that the true nature of Pisces is about fire. Your sensitivity may mask your underlying impetuous nature; your willingness to come last for long periods of time conceals your knowledge that you will someday be able to take leadership. The lesson for Pisces more than all the other signs is about learning to take care of yourself so you can take care of the world — in that order. This would be a mere concept for anyone less concerned about the world, but now is the time to experiment, if you even vaguely suspect it’s true.

Dear Friend and Reader:

I’m in the Omega Institute cafe — enough of the cafeteria for a while. Our “Demystifying Astrology” class is going beautifully. By the end of the second day, 15 people, most of whom never owned an ephemeris, were working out one another’s Chiron transits.

Today I did a theory class that covered the types of signs (cardinal, fixed and mutable), the Aries Point, and then the first four asteroids. We concluded the morning session today with a look at the Sagittarius New Moon conjunct Pluto and the Galactic Center.

I am discovering how much I love teaching. I’ve taught before, at conferences and seminars; writing is a form of teaching; but I’ve never been given a forum like this, to work in a top-level center in a structured environment where people have traveled, planned to be here, most of them older than me.

It’s time for lunch — I’ll check back in the next chance I get.

– Eric Francis, in Rhinebeck, NY

Dear Friend and Reader:

Our Friday edition of Planet Waves Astrology News went out to subscribers. The lead is called “Crossing the Borders and Boundaries of Time,” and it’s an introduction to Chiron and astrology as a healing art. This is followed by our article from Planet Wiki introducing the basics of Chiron, with additional links. We also have Judith Gayle’s weekly essay and my weekly horoscope.

Our subscriber edition is an excellent weekly periodical (with a Tuesday supplement most weeks) that has gradually gained the recognition of the astrology community and of readers around the world. We’re occasionally asked why it’s not free — the reason being that each issue costs about $1,000 to write and produce. This may sound incredible, but that’s the cost of solid journalism, with real editors, researchers and a business team supporting the project. We are advertising-free: you are our sponsor.

Proceeds from Astrology News are put to work for the free side of Planet Waves, sponsoring this blog, the daily photo, many other in-house projects such as Psychsound, Lunations, Political Waves and Book of Blue (all under the Featured tab, above). It is true that we give a lot of content for “free,” though I suggest you give to Planet Waves in the proportion you feel that you receive from us. We have been here 365 days a year for 10 years, and we know many of you visit nearly as often.

Tonight I begin a four-day workshop called “Demystifying Astrology” at the Omega Institute across the Hudson River in Rhinebeck, so I’m spending the day preparing for this. I won’t be blogging from Omega, so the next time you hear from me will be Monday night.

For those who need to reach Planet Waves, our webmaster Anatoly is online at anatoly – at – planetwaves.net, and Chelsea in our business office checks messages a couple of times during the weekend. That number, where you can also subscribe by phone, is (206) 567-4455.

I’ll catch you late Monday night with a rundown of what I learned at Omega.

Have a safe and sane holiday weekend.

Aspects for Friday 23 May 2008

Mars (7+ Leo) sesquiquadrate Uranus (22+ Pisces)
Apollo enters Leo (direct)
Apollo (0 Leo) trine Aries Point (0 Aries)
Venus (27+ Taurus) sesquiquadrate Atlantis (12+ Libra Rx)
Pallas (1+ Taurus) quincunx M87 (1+ Libra)
Eros (12+ Gemini) trine Atlantis (12+ Libra Rx)
Asbolus (4+ Taurus) sesquiquadrate Logos (19+ Virgo Rx)
Sisyphus (8+ Libra Rx) sextile Pholus (8+ Sagittarius Rx)
Venus (27+ Taurus) square Orcus (27+ Leo)
Ceres (21+ Gemini) sesquiquadrate Chariklo (6+ Scorpio Rx)
Eros (12+ Gemini) septile Eris (21+ Aries)
Mercury (21+ Gemini) trine Chiron (21+ Aquarius)
Sun (2+ Gemini) semisquare Varuna (17+ Cancer)
Ceres (22+ Gemini) quincunx Jupiter (22+ Capricorn Rx)

Oracle for Jan. 31, 2003 – Sagittarius – Weekly

The seeming detachment for which Sagittarians are famous is but a thin veil over how much compassion and awareness you carry for what happens on the cosmic physical plane. It’s just not always that easy for you to express, and sometimes a little challenging to access the feelings in the odd language of Earth emotions. But may the world know that you surely do feel them — that is, that you feel yourself, and feel, beyond that, feel and experience your connection to the greater spheres. You have the power to make this very personal right now. You have the power to turn the fury and chaos of human emotion to soft, penetrating soul.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Today the Sun in Gemini is square Saturn in Virgo. This is Sun square Saturn — the first aspect I ever learned; though Flo Higgins, my then-editor and the astrologer who would rant about it, would call it “Saturn square the Sun.” This is incorrect astrological syntax because when describing a mutual aspect, that is, an aspect between two moving points, you state the faster one first.

Nonetheless, it meant what it meant, which is that you had to work harder than usual. She thought of it as an aspect of discipline, of needing to push ahead, a kind of strict and matronly way for the cosmos to whip your ass. Of course, in that newspaper office, we were always getting our ass kicked, producing 80 column inches of copy a week (about six hefty articles, which took about 60 hours) for a $250 paycheck. This is the thing about writers. Usually, they are not in it for the money, and it’s a miracle any of them ever learn.

Notably, Mercury is about to go retrograde, one of the first astrological events I learned about. Here is an entertaining book chapter telling these stories.

Mars is square the centaur planet Chariklo. This is a symbol of women getting frustrated taking care of men. Can they do anything about it? Well, that remains to be seen. Men and women are frequently raised to be helpless in their own way, the more so as time goes on and we are all just little consumers of packaged products. In recent decades it seems like exceedingly few people are taught to actually take care of themselves, and it’s even odds who learned how to cook food and who did not. Cook usually translates to how talented you are making cold cereal, scrambled eggs and putting what used to be called TV dinners in what is still called the microwave. Then when kids show up, who knows how to do all this basic housework?

I think Chariklo is about more than domestic chores, however; she is about that deep, abiding process of taking care of another person, and because Chiron (Chariklo’s husband) is transpersonal in nature, taking care of people in general. The square from Mars seems to be about resentment directed at this necessity. However, if we are not going to take care of one another, who is going to do it? We’re not exactly able to be autonomous on the physical plane. We depend on one another for support in nearly everything. Some notice and some do not. Some enjoy assisting the world and some do not. And indeed, some get quite resentful that anything is demanded of them at all.

There are, however, a few people who could use to rebel against taking care of other people as a way of life. They may not rebel today, but they may feel angry or resentful about it. And we all know that plenty of them don’t have the inclination to simply ask for help; to open up and speak of their necessities. This is a positively awesome formula for resentment. Anyway, in this whole equation, “thank you” goes a long way. Don’t be too proud to express gratitude.

Finally, an aspect of potential interest is Amor opposite Hidalgo. Both of these are interesting points. Amor is about the “conditions on unconditional love,” referencing Martha Wesott here; Hidalgo is a revolutionary against the patterns of unconscious social conformity. So do we have some kind of revolt against faux unconditional love? This little hook within romance that says that everything is always supposed to be perfect, or that we are expected to produce perfect fidelity with our patchwork of emotions, loyalties and needs?

There is a caution here that when we expect unconditional love, we’re going to get a revolt; when we expect ourselves to do so, we may find ourselves rebelling.

Below are the full aspects and today’s Oracle. The Oracle is a device that randomly selects a horoscope from the past nine years of my writing the things, in response to a question. It does not use keywords; the device is seeded by the time of day, and then it goes to the database and selects one sign entry totally at random. It is a popular feature among subscribers. You can also use it to research a horoscope, searching by keywords, date, frequency, sign, and so on. You can search how many times I said “God” or “sex” or “Chiron” in my horoscope over nearly a decade.

Tomorrow’s edition of Planet Waves Astrology News features an article on Chiron, a new piece by Judith Gayle and a new weekly horoscope. You can subscribe for three months, six months or a full year. When you sign up for Planet Waves, you not only get the most innovative, on-top-of-it astrology publication on the ‘Net; you provide a vital source of funding for the whole Planet Waves project, which is free from advertising and corporate sponsorship and thus a truly independent voice in the industry.

Regular readers of this daily feature please note, I will be presenting at Omega Institute this weekend, so I will be unlikely to do blogs for Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings (though I may do a weekend edition in advance). I’ll be back to a regular schedule Tuesday morning.

Full aspects for Thursday 22 May 2008

Venus (26+ Taurus) septile Varuna (17+ Cancer)
Mars (6+ Leo) quintile Admetos (24+ Taurus)
Venus (26+ Taurus) quincunx Juno (26+ Sagittarius Rx)
Juno (26+ Sagittarius Rx) opposite Hades (26+ Gemini)
Eros (12 Gemini) quintile Aries Point (0 Aries)
Mars (6+ Leo) square Chariklo (6+ Scorpio Rx)
Psyche (16+ Scorpio Rx) semisquare M87 (1+ Libra)
Amor (9+ Taurus) opposite Hidalgo (9+ Scorpio Rx)
Arachne (29+ Virgo) sesquiquadrate Nessus (14+ Aquarius Rx)
Venus (26+ Taurus) quincunx Galactic Center (26+ Sagittarius)
Ceres (21+ Gemini) sextile Eris (21+ Aries)
Sun (2+ Gemini) square Saturn (2+ Virgo)
Eros (12+ Gemini) quincunx Pandora (12+ Scorpio Rx)

Today’s Oracle, fully apropos of “Saturn square the Sun,” is:

July 08, 2005, Pisces – Weekly

You’re in the process of coming to closure on something that had long remained hidden in your life and which has finally revealed itself to you. I suspect that there has been a deep insecurity you carried, not knowing quite why that was, and at times not even knowing it was there. Saturn has lifted a burden off of your shoulders and your emotions. You will soon see what you’re free to do once your strength and power can finally be directed toward a positive cause, a mission in life, and a way to express your commitment to service and well-being with full creative power.

Dear Friend and Reader:

I am home safe on the ground in New York. This was my first trip away from the Hudson Valley since returning from nearly four years in Europe last summer, and it was all worth it for the feeling of opening my studio door and walking into my creative space. The odd scent in the air of the semi-industrial building, the roar of the overpowered heater and the familiar faces of my photographs all reminded me that I was home.

The drive down the Thruway was easy and the cool night air reminded me that I love New York. Cruise control protected me from radar traps, and I glided through the dream of state-of-the-art automotive travel toward home. I got tired of music and listened to skip signals on late-night AM talk radio: picking up a kind of New Age fundamentalist explaining to a guy of 38 that he was an alcoholic and suffered from anxiety because on a deep level he lacked confidence and was spending his life trying to live up to what everyone else thought he should be.

“You’re not a bad person,” he said to the guy. “But you’re not a good person yet either because you lack contact with the source at the core of your being.”

On the second leg of my flight (Chicago to Albany) I was sitting next to a woman from the San Francisco Bay-area who turned out to be a psychotherapist specializing in 8th house themes — sex and money; but specifically money.

She was not an astrologer but she knew her chart; lots of Sagittarius with Venus retrograde in Scorpio. She had some of the most interesting views on sexuality that I’ve ever heard another human being describe, including the awareness that it is shadow material such as jealousy and abandonment that bring us into the deepest erotic feelings we can experience. I have noticed this many times, and it was gratifying to hear someone from another world, a hardwired monogamist as she described herself, and a well-experienced therapist, make some of the same observations I had made as someone exploring a very different path. In my own walk of life, I call it compersion.

I will have more to say about what I learned at UAC, and a number of other audio interviews that will be posted through the rest of the week. Thank you Lion for producing the broadcasts and to Anatoly for maintaining the audio database of conference coverage. I was very happy to fold up my Planet Waves banner and leave the hotel complex in downtown Denver where the conference took place. Nearly a week inside a building is a lot. I got out, but not much — my evenings mainly consisted of writing and photo editing. In addition to providing you with plenty of conference coverage, this had the advantage of making sure I got some of the internal time that I need to keep my creative well full. I went through nearly all 10 pounds of Epsom salts that I bought the first night, comfortably avoiding burnout by keeping an inner focus, avoiding parties and anything not directly associated with what I was writing or photographing.

My best social time was one-on-one, some of it with a mystery Planet Waves reader who picked me up at the airport with a picnic basket, took me to my hotel, did all of the copying of articles that we distributed to give readers a taste of what Planet Waves is about and then showed up with a cooler full of gluten-free food so that I could avoid restaurants. Several times she told me that the reason for this treatment was that for several extremely difficult years of her life, my writing is what got her through. I heard the whole story. They were indeed extremely difficult times, she is a fighter and she is all soul — a fact with which she connected in the process of a struggle being slugged out on one of the top floors of corporate America.

So my friend — for making sure my trips to and from the airport were fun and easy and warm; for enough to eat in a world where Food # 1 is wheat; for all those copies we gave out; for your ideas and brainstorming; and for your faith and encouragement, thank you. This enterprise would in truth have been impossible without you.
I am grateful to a number of other Planet Waves readers who supported me and provided a high-vibe presence at the conference: Renee, Csilla, Jennifer, and Duke, who took the lead on our outreach efforts. Ray Merriman, Madalyn Hillis-Dineen and Shelley Ackerman, three of the key UAC people I worked with, were cooperative and generous with Planet Waves and seemed to genuinely appreciate our presence. Shelley, a New York astrologer who I met when we both appeared in the same article in The Wall Street Journal, served as the UAC publicist and managed to spin-doctor the event into world news. Go figure.

Two of my deepest, most amazing astrological mentors were there — Rick Tarnas and Melanie Reinhart — and I got to spend generous amounts of time with both of them. I’ve become Rick’s personal paparazzo (I am striving for the definitive photo of Mr. Tarnas and I may have succeeded), and Melanie also spent a good half hour in front of my camera outside in the Denver sunshine as she talked with two of my oldest friends from Planet Waves, Denice Taylor and Carol Burkhart.

Then came a real surprise: Keiko Ito appeared at the Planet Waves table. There is no way to explain Keiko except to say that she is a human being of infinite complexity, curiosity and the most subtle humor. She makes her way through the world as a simultaneous interpreter in four languages (Japanese, Italian, French and English) who one night in the winter of 1998 visited me in New Jersey and sat there with the Adobe Pagemill instructions in her lap as I posted the first-ever Planet Waves website. I hadn’t seen her since 2000 at latest and had not heard from her in perhaps seven years.

So — quite a journey. UAC was a most amazing meeting of human spirits, all in the name of astrology — a moment for the ages, as Ray Merriman said with a smile on his face one fine evening over the weekend.

* * *

Scanning the aspect list below, it looks like Wednesday is Jupiter retrograde sextile Uranus — a major alignment that comes with a reminder that great meetings are taking place, and that science and art are gathering their strength for a leap forward.

Mercury is conjunct Ceres, which is giving us the words and the ideas necessary for balance and healthy compromise. Vesta is sextile Nessus — the sexual healer talking with and working with a potential sexual perpetrator. Pallas has entered Taurus and is exactly trine Pluto, picking up the theme of the power of negotiation.

Sounds good to me.

Thanks for tuning in.

Today’s Oracle: Feb. 09, 2007 – PISCES – Weekly

The important thing is this: don’t expect others to go along with your plan 100% all the way right at this moment. You can, though, trust that people know you’re onto something, and reasonably expect them to do a little thinking and catch up. Meanwhile, keep your focus on appreciating life and doing your part to feed your own happiness. No law requires you to be happy, but no law prevents it, either. Some say that the key to contentment is compromise, and I would agree that this is one ingredient; the lock itself is knowing who and what matters to you, and keeping your focus there with no guilt, only love.

Today’s Aspects: Wednesday 21 May 2008

Atlantis (12+ Libra Rx) semisquare Orcus (27+ Leo)
Sun (0+ Gemini) quincunx Pluto (0+ Capricorn Rx)
Mercury (20+ Gemini) conjunct Ceres (20+ Gemini) – Near Miss Only
Jupiter (22+ Capricorn Rx) sextile Uranus (22+ Pisces)
Sun (1+ Gemini) trine M87 (1+ Libra)
Ceres (21+ Gemini) trine Chiron (21+ Aquarius)
Vesta (14+ Aries) quintile Hades (26+ Gemini)
Apollo (29+ Cancer) sextile Arachne (29+ Virgo)
Pallas (0+ Taurus) trine Pluto (0+ Capricorn Rx)
Vesta (14+ Aries) sextile Nessus (14+ Aquarius Rx)