Planet Waves: An Extraordinary Space

The purpose of Planet Waves is to create a conscious experiment in ideas that will take us out of the creaky, cranky, square excuse for a notion of self and society that we have been given in these first years of the 21st century. We are here to help open up the door to another way of looking at ourselves and the world.”

Dear Friend and Reader:

On the occasion of our unannounced but long anticipated move to our new server, I am here to reintroduce Planet Waves. As of today, we have migrated from shared hosting (splitting a server with about 500 other sites, which we’ve done since 2005) to our own dedicated hosting. Our technicians, Chris and Anatoly, accomplished this with a mere 26 minute service outage. The old website has been preserved intact. Every file is where it was. The result will be faster, more dependable service, and the ability to handle far greater traffic: as in the thousands of times more visits per day that we anticipate arriving shortly. I am ready for the Daily Show; now the website is too.

Eric at the Muddy Cup in New Paltz, listening to the amazing Richard Rizzi perform. See featured photo below.

My name is Eric Francis Coppolino, the founder of Planet Waves, Inc. — patron of many web spaces and projects. In one sentence, Planet Waves is the result of someone who put his English major to work. I have not had a job since 1990. This is what I do.

PlanetWaves.net went live on Dec. 20, 1998 and has published continuously every day since. I edit the site personally, assisted by a creative team and a business team. Among my roles here is Fisher of Women and of Men, some of whom you will meet regularly on these pages, and others who work, assist or explore in the background. If you meet me or write to me, I might recruit you to contribute. Take that as a compliment, an invitation or a sign from destiny.

Planet Waves regularly covers and moreover originates discussion in the primary areas of astrology, sex and politics, and I do my best to integrate the three. I make room for all of it. We make room for all of it. I strive for an unfettered discussion and to advance the cause of awareness and liberation, reaching for and moreover embracing the same process every day in my own life.

You will find lots of my observations on astrology, my use of which is metaprogrammed to be mind-opening, sexpositive and life-affirming. You might read what I have to say about Betty Dodson, 7-Up or cunnilingus and clover and other aspects of sex, relationships and their many journeys. All of my sex writing is based on two things: masturbation and compersion. I expand outward from there to seemingly more complex issues. In this work, we stand in a long tradition of those who are protecting an ethos of individual freedom and personal responsibility.

Along the way, I write weekly, monthly, annual and special event horoscopes (and have since 1995), which support our whole enterprise by way of your subscriptions. What other websites give away, we offer as premium content: sign-by-sign readings. People seem to like them. They are a fun puzzle to write — translating astrology charts into something immediate and practical, in plain English.

I have the distinction of being one of the pioneers of minor planet astrology, coupled with being the only American to ever write horoscopes for the tabloid press on Fleet Street in England. That’s a little like racing a taradactyl in the Churchill Downs. Once I succeeded in publishing a daily horoscope based entirely on asteroids in the Daily Mirror (you may have to be English to appreciate that literary feat).

As part of the same content stream, you can read Fe Bongolan’s take on the inner psychology of politics, Judith Gayle’s articles about social movements and follow Len Wallick drawing pictures in the sky. We cover science and science fiction and some places where the two meet. Two of our writers have a focus on environmental toxins.

And we publish a diversity of art, mainly of the photographic variety, and have some talented contributors who appear regularly or occasionally, my favorite of whom I am gradually luring back from hiatus. The more talent we attract, the more we do. The more money we have, the more we spend it on you. Thank you to our subscribers and if you’re sitting on the fence, please get off your arse and subscribe. I price the service to be competitive with coffee. And don’t worry — if you don’t like it or find it useful — if my work doesn’t pay for itself — we will refund your money. For example, if you’re looking for a job, use my horoscopes to set some goals, refine your timing and help you find a better one than you’re hoping for.

The purpose of Planet Waves is to create a conscious experiment in ideas that will take us out of the creaky, cranky, square excuse for a notion of self and society that we have been given in these first years of the 21st century. We are here to help open up the door to another way of looking at ourselves and the world.

This scheme follows Planet Waves back to its first days on the Internet: that’s the invention; what makes us the on-fire, one of a kind thing that we are, and me the hot-blooded, incomparable whatever-it-is that I am.

Our discussion of sex, sexuality and relationships is conducted in the open. I steward a discussion that challenges all assumptions. The written works are illustrated, sometimes explicitly. The ideas you will read here are real, and they may be edgy, they may provoke you and I trust they will get you to consider your values and seek out a sense of where your real boundaries are.

In any real discussion of the occult, sex, culture, psychology, politics or art, there is always sure to be something that offends someone. Your role as an active reader is to be aware of your growth process, your needs and your willingness to stretch into a new dimension of yourself. You are invited to participate, in the spirit of an open dialog. As the editor, I hold the standard that any opinions stated be supported by facts to pass basic journalistic muster. Anyone who contributes does so with the understanding I may initiate a dialog about what you’ve written. In turn, I make myself available to the community as best I can, time and energy permitting.

I recognize how unusual this space is, that we are creating together. We have taken extraordinary freedom in this world: the freedom to be real, and to allow the discussion to be born every second.

With the Moon conjunct Venus, and Venus conjunct Jupiter,

Yours & truly,
Eric Francis

11 thoughts on “Planet Waves: An Extraordinary Space”

  1. Happy New Server!

    It made me remember all those different stages PW went trough, remember the PW cover page with the book store picture? And then daily images, Eric’s and Danniel’s, then Priya’s wonderful insights and many many more treats i enjoeyed here, thank you one more time. Then, wordpress came and a community was established 🙂
    Been a subscriber since 2006, amazing how time flies…

    I knew almost nothing about astrology, when i came searching for the author of “How to be your own lover”, and discovered a new warm home!

    Started from scratch, in the first few months i admit skippng all the sentences begining with astro terms. hahaha, it took some time, it was like cleaning rust from my brain while learning a new language.

    cast my chart online, looking at it puzzeled, reading one more of eric’s article, and another and the weekly and monthly and yearly horoscope, and the resources area and took a tarot course and … one day it finally hit home. i started getting the feeling or maybe the sense of the astrological events i read about or saw in a chart.
    it started to make sense, i guess 🙂

    e and PW staff,
    love and thanks for creating this home,
    will be glad to contribute to the minisite concept with links to the articles i found very helpfull and interesting,
    allways yours,
    simona

  2. Grand reaffirmation, E and HOORAY for the new server. I said it at the turn of the century, I’ll say it again: Planet Waves is a ‘light island’ … a cyber-place of our own where we all invest ourselves in discovery and remembrance and community to share ideas and, most importantly, love and respect one another. It doesn’t matter what you don’t know in this mindful company — it only matters that you’re willing to jump in and explore. This is a family, gathering itself.

    Still, next time perhaps you could work the word ‘spirituality’ into your intro — it goes without saying, I suppose, that those who come into awareness of self and others through these reflections become less dogmatic and more expansive in their understanding of the All, but the word itself carries a vibration that fits our purpose and invites in those who feel abandoned by what no longer touches their emotions or sparks their soul.

    Speaking of vibration, there was a time when I made a living offering astrological, tarot and psychic services for a ‘love offering.’ As I worked with the client, I could always tell if that would be meager, about right or generous. Those who gave without hesitation always seemed to be those who knew they’d been given something valuable; more, I always felt they’d make good use of the insights they’d received. Planet Waves is all about that kind of positive energy exchange; which is why I appreciate being a part of it and encourage those who have received bits of wisdom and direction here to tell their friends and get the word out.

    Waves is one of those invaluable tools you can rely on, and metaphysically, when we fully support what feeds us, we’re in a loop of prosperity — that’s exactly the right vibration for today, tomorrow and well into the future.

  3. Asha – I couldn’t agree with you more. A like minded friend with whom I can discuss much that I am interested in and discover much about what I want to learn about. Even things I didn’t know I wanted to know about…

    I really like the way PW stretches my head – encouraging me to simultaneously question the familiar and wander into the unfamiliar. And I really appreciate the bloggers and contributors who join in here. Thanks for putting it all out there – it’s taken in and considered even if not directly responded to.

    H.

  4. sorry, I didn’t quite finish my thought.
    I said the world will come to you, so I hope you bought a server with the fastest CPU, lots and lots of memory and huge amounts of DASD!!

  5. The very first article I read on PW was Cancer birthdays in 2008. Each and every word in that article spoke volumes to me. I had always longed to find a like minded friend with who I could discuss the deep spiritual quest that I have had it since my childhood. I found that on PW. I would also say that I would not have survived the emotional, spiritual upheaval of 2009 had I not had help from PW.

    So I would say to Eric that the world needs PW and it will come to you !!!

    Thanks
    asha

  6. Many thanks to Anatoly and Chris. Without you, nothing.

    Eric – that’s quite a mission statement. Hopefully nobody will catch on to the fact that Len pretty creaky, cranky and square and in that case what’s he doing here.

    To anybody reading this who has not subscribed, this is the time for all good human beings to participate in the vessel of love that is Planet Waves.

  7. congrats on the server move! and big hugs & pats on the back to chris and anatoly. well done. i’m very excited to no longer receive “maximum number of processes” messages every so often when i access the database to process a subscription.

    speaking of which: i’ve been speaking with subscribers over the phone for the last few months, and one thing i keep hearing is, “i used to read so-and-so’s horoscope (or a few different ones), but now eric’s is the only one i read.”

    i’m not making this up, and i’ve seen a similar shift in my own horoscope reading.

    yes, eric’s writing really is that different, and is that good. yes, you get tastes of it here on the blog, but it’s not always as concentrated, not as sign-specific (though it is wonderfully integrated with everything else mentioned above, which connection/context junkies like me appreciate).

    i think it’s worth hanging out with the horoscopes for a few months; and by that i mean: pick a sentence or two each week and meditate on it. let it brew in the back of your mind. mull it over while running or swimming. do some journaling around it. give it a little space in yourself every day and see what starts to percolate through your consciousness. you might actually be able to see those moments when your perception shifts.

    these horoscopes might not tell you you’re likely to meet your soul mate on any given day. but working with them regularly might just help you get reacquainted with your own soul; they’ve certainly been an essential tool in that endeavor for me these last 3 1/2 years.

    curious? drop a line to me or chelsea if you want a little more detail on subscriber options or have any other questions. i’m even happy to call you if you’d rather speak to a live person; just let me know.

    with love at the end of valentine’s day,
    amanda painter

    amanda(at)planetwaves.net

    p.s. fe — is it really possible to still buy a bottle of wine for less than $5??! 🙂

  8. Fe,

    Thank you for that.

    I have priced our services to be competitive with American coffee — not even karma macchiato. For example, Cosmic Confidential can be accessed for as little as $19 for the year. A fully decked out subscription costs about two cups of American coffee a week, for which you get access to the whole archive: years and years of work.

    I design my writing to help you improve your life: to express your creativity, to recognize your value, to improve your relationships. All our services come with a money-back guarantee. My work pays for itself over and over again. Subscribing is a gesture of putting some of your money into something you truly value.

    ef

  9. Hey there Planet Wavelengthers!!!

    Sending out love vis-a-vis our new server and saying a great big hello.

    As Eric mentioned above, subscribing is the best way to support PW, but we can always use a little love now and then in the in-between time.

    If the cost of a subscription seems daunting, and you still want to support and recognize Planet Waves, there’s a little button near the bottom of the page where you can make a donation of $5, which is a little less than a pack of cigarettes in California and more than a bottle of cheap wine.

    But the rewards at PW are much greater than those addictive substances, and the rewards PW continues to give provide a nice bright reading lamp on the world as we move towards 2012, follow Pluto’s march and Saturn’s square, and spin in the heavens made by Chiron and Neptune in Aquarius.

    This is an amazing time. Anything goes as far as the world we can create, and this here Planet Waves site is an alchemical time and place to help us create the world we want.

    Planet Waves helps move you through these great transitions, and for that we could use all the love we can get!!!

    With love and biscuits,

    Yours and truly,

    Fe

Leave a Comment