Good morning to you…

I just ran into Genevieve on the street, when I went out to feed the parking meter. She used to be one of the contributors to this page — she’s now a case worker for an organization called Family of Woodstock, a social services provider.

We chatted a little and then she said, “I’m really upset that the World Health Organization has raised the level of alert to Five,” on a scale of six. “Six is supposed to be the collapse of the infrastructure. It’s a world pandemic where there aren’t even police because they’re either sick or home taking care of someone who is. And here we are at a Five and everything is perfectly normal.”

It did seem to be fine, the Sun was shining and I had every expectation that within a few minutes I would have had a ticket.

This is kind of what I’ve been getting at.

Looking at this situation from what might be called a spiritual perspective, that is to say, some way other than the ordinary worldly Tamiflu perspective, informed by something other than fear, we face a potentially useful question.

Those who have done A Course in Miracles undoubtedly remember the exercise toward the beginning of the workbook where you run through this litany of disasters and in the interest of training yourself to see the deeper reality beyond them, say things to yourself like:

God did not create that airplane crash, therefore it’s not real.

God did not create that car accident, therefore it is not real.

God did not create that influenza virus, therefore it’s not real.

It occurred to me this morning waking up that this is basically what I’m doing when I either suggest that this flu pandemic is a gross exaggeration, make fun of it or in some way question the veracity of what we are being told. I’m not doing it as a ‘spiritual’ exercise but there is undoubtedly something metaphysical about a certain kind of joking around. It is a form of denial. One of the central teachings of A Course in Miracles is determining what is real and what is not, and denying what is not real, in favor of leaving space and creating energy for what is real. What is real is the healing and correction that can come if we leave space for it; and it is more difficult if we get caught up in the ‘reality’ of the problem.

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Porky Pig says, only you can prevent swine flu!

I had a couple of days off from TV, after being subjected to it nonstop at Scarlet O’Hara International Airport all day Monday. I’m now home (where I have a TV as opposed to my studio, where I stay in the dark), writing an August horoscope column for one of those magazines that works far in the future…and I just turned on NBC news for a little relaxing entertainment — which is sounding the alarm: it’s official, it’s a pandemic.

Watch out. It could get worse. Earlier, we said it wasn’t time to panic. Now it’s time to freak out. Wear a stethoscope like an iPod and walk around listening to make sure your heart is still beating. Don’t eat tacos, tortillas or chimichangas. If you don’t freak out you’re a total fucking idiot. Egypt is killing all baby boys, even though they haven’t been associated with spreading the disease.

Don’t step in pig poo. It’s safe to ride public transportation, just wash your hands. Use Purell as lube. Cover your mouth when you sneeze. If you don’t have any tissues, use the corner of your elbow or wear a plastic bag over your head. In case of nuclear war, get under the kitchen table. Happy spring! Thinking about sex, peace or prosperity is known to spread the flu virus.

Just kidding! Cancel – clear – cancel – clear – cancel – clear

World Health Organization today raised the rating on swine flu from a 4 to a 5, reflecting their belief that a worldwide pandemic is imminent. Also, someone died of the flu in the United States, but it was a Mexican child. Meanwhile, others have taken a more cautious approach to the issue. “Well, in some ways the term ‘swine flu’ is a misnomer,” says Dr. Gregory Gray, who heads the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Iowa. “This particular strain of influenza may have components of swine influenza,” Gray adds, “but it’s acting more like a traditional annual influenza that we see every year.” Here is a summary of the 2007-2008 flu season’s facts and figures. It states in part, “As of June 19, 2008, 83 deaths associated with laboratory-confirmed influenza infections have occurred among children aged < 18 years during the 2007-08 influenza season that were reported to CDC.”

Hi Folks,

This is Planet Waves shortstop Cam Hassard chiming in with some of the day’s juicier nuggets. If you have other bits of exciting or odd news, please do post them to the comments area below or email me at cam.hassard (at) gmail.com. They said after my 111th column I would get my own Planet Waves email address, so you’ll be hearing from me a lot.

To say it’s been a difficult task to get away from the media saturation is a fair understatement. It’s like getting away from pork at a wedding. After waking up in a warm sweat this morning, I was thrilled to find that it was more due to the overheated roasting Sun spilling across Queens rather than a personal outbreak of swine flu. Despite growing reports of flu cases around the world, respectfully, no one has lost their life from it outside Mexico. Meanwhile thousands have died of complications from ordinary influenza this year; this is an ongoing issue. Flu is not good for you or other living things.

In an interesting lowdown from the ABC [kind of like the BBC, only American] the writers demonstrate a history of pandemic-esque circumstances and our collective tendency toward panic. it seems that when the big boys cry wolf, anxiety sets in so much that we remain essentially unsure whether to ignore it, pat it or shoot it.

We reported yesterday that the dubious corporation Baxter stands to make a lot of money from this whole situation, despite well-reported prior negligence where the health of the public is concerned. For big pharmaceuticals it’s business as usual — or, perhaps, unusual. With probable boosts in profit from anti-swine medicine, a number of drug companies’ share prices went up significantly this week, particularly Gilead Sciences, manufacturer of Tamiflu. (Gilead, in case you were wondering, was where Rummy used to make big, responsible decisions before becoming Bush’s number one defense lackey, and the co-inventor of that brilliant thing known as Iraq.)

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Revised. Non-collige virgo rosas.

Good Morning,

The Moon is in Cancer now, making a sextile to the Taurus Sun today. This water-to-earth combination should provide a little relief over yesterday’s scattered mental energy of the Gemini Moon with so many Aquarius planets in the scene; i.e.,. for a couple of days we had an Airy Overload.

Venus in Aries, just done being retrograde, is currently leaning into her third square to Pluto: I’ll come back to that in a second.

Mercury is doing something pretty interesting: he/she/it is in the last degree of Taurus, moving slower than one degree a day. This is a shift in consciousness, as Mercury slows to a station, which will occur in about one week in Gemini. The ingress to Gemini is Thursday afternoon/evening in USA time zones.

The forthcoming Mercury retrograde involves a series of transitions of Mercury between Gemini and Taurus, which will provide a useful and interesting contrast between airy Mercury and earthy Mercury.

Mercury in Gemini can be pretty gosh darned slippery and tricksterish, and now we’re going to have him/her/it slow to a station there, making a quincunx to Pluto and a trine to the North Node. Given the surge of vital force (i.e., sex energy) that is spouting at this time, and the way we are trained to convert that to fear, we may be in for an interesting ride on the back of a pig. Note, this is not the normal time of year to be talking about death. It is springtime here in the Northern Hemisphere, and it’s time to be frolicking in the fields and forests, flirting your head off and sniffing the pretty people as they walk by.

Then again it was T.S. Eliot who said that April is the cruelest month, breeding memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain. What he was saying is that if you’re feeling dead inside and springtime calls you to life, that will be painful.

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Dear Friend and Reader:

Planet Waves Radio will webcast our Beltane special edition on Blog Talk Radio at 10 pm ET / 7 pm PT tonight, Tuesday, April 28, 2009. Either of these links will get you there.

Yours & truly,

Unlike most astrology websites, our horoscopes are for subscribers and many other features are free. Subscribers to Planet Waves Astrology News receive a weekly horoscope and up to four different monthly horoscopes. Subscribers also get access to seven years of back issues, which includes article archives, horoscopes, and many, many Planet Waves ‘classics’ that have appeared on Fridays over the years. Take a step in human evolution! Subscribe to Planet Waves.

BY ERIC FRANCIS

Taurus (April 19- May 20)
I have by now mentioned several times that this is the year you engage with your professional aspirations. In my fantasy universe, professional and creativeВ can be different versions of the same idea; though it can take training and adaptation to get them in alignment. It is time to do what you want to do. If it’s been a while since that has happened, then consider it time to do what you need to do. Just remember: you’re not in this alone. Nobody accomplishes anything brilliant without considerable help. Notice who you vibe with. Notice who nourishes your spirit. Work with them consciously, and celebrate the truth.

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