Editors Note: One of the research methods I’ve used preparing Cosmic Confidential was surveying my readers to ask how they responded to their astrology the past year or so. There were hundreds of detailed responses, which have been sorted by Genevieve Hathaway in Seattle. She has read through all of them, and provided a condensed version that will be included with Cosmic Confidential as a resource area. I asked her what she learned from doing this project the past few weeks, and this is what she wrote to me today. I thought I would share her thoughts with you. You can read the unedited full responses at this link. — efc

Dear Eric:

Hope the holidays are treating you well!! Ready to tackle finding quotes for the transits. Will work on Saturn Return this weekend.

As for what I learned from the signs – it was really insightful to pick out quotes. I learned that there were general themes for each of the signs. Astrology is real!! Well, duh, we already knew that. It’s just so cool to see astrology in action, bringing each sign it’s own specific adventures and themes and things to work on.

The Aries year seemed a lot about security and companionship and where the professional life intersects the personal life. Where career and relationships meet. There was a lot of discussion of expansion, especially in regards to people’s professional life.

For Pisceans, it was a year of delving into the self; redefining themselves; breaking down the old, outdated self and building a new self; building a foundation of self for the future; loving themselves and putting themselves 1st in their own life. There was also a lot of internal healing, new ways of viewing relationships and letting go of the people that energetically suck them dry. Aquarians’ year was about awareness (not surprising with Chiron there). There was a lot of instability and lack of pattern/routine in life, and people were having to make friends with it. Also more internal questioning and redefining of self.

Continue Reading »

We are now up to the last of the 12 signs, proceeding in order from Aries through Taurus. The project is Cosmic Confidential: A Future Investigation, the 2010 annual edition of Planet Waves. This is an invitation for Pisces and Pisces rising (or others with a strong signature from this sign) to contribute your experiences, ideas and responses to your astrology. Pisces of course has experienced Uranus in its sign for the past six or so years, and until recently, Saturn in Virgo — your opposite sign — for about two years. This has probably made for some interesting relationship/partnership stories, or ones about where and how you fit into the world.

Saturn has moved onto Libra, which may have brought some evolutionary steps in your relationships over the past couple of months — but I’ll leave that part to you. Even if you don’t know your astrology, you can riff on your life, your relationships and your creative/professional experiences. To comment, you will need to be a member of this blog, which is free and takes about a minute to join. You can also send them to be at dreams (at) planetwaves.net, though it’s a bit easier to keep them all in one place.

Thank you for your contributions.

From here, we will be moving onto age ranges, to cover key life transits. If you want to start thinking about that now, they will include: Saturn return (ages 27-31), Pluto square Pluto (ages 34-36), Uranian opposition (ages 39-41), Chiron return (ages 49-51) and second Saturn return (ages 56-59). Please do not add your comments yet — just start getting them ready. The one question is, what is unique, odd or special about this time in your life? How do you conceive of the “before” and “after” of this time in your life?

We will open these pages for comment starting Monday — beginning with the Saturn return.

Many thanks –

cosmicsigns

Good evening. Say hello to Cosmic Confidential: A Future Investigation. This is the 2010 annual edition of Planet Waves to which so many of you have contributed your thoughts, and which the rest of you have waited for eagerly. You will have to wait a while longer, because it doesn’t come out till the first week of January, But you can have the satisfaction of pre-ordering now and getting one article from the annual, called in the Shadow of Saturn — part of a series of how we think about Saturn, which is a good thing to think about these days. This page provides a description of the project. As a regular Planet Waves reader, I can offer you some promotion codes. First is the sign-by-sign option. There are two bundled options: Cosmic Confidential & Planet Waves Astrology News, and Cosmic Confidential & the new Astrology News Light.

While I’ve got your attention, today’s issue is hot. We will be posting a sample of it as soon as that page is finished, but that’s just the sample. [Note, we have not had time to do this today, sorry.] It’s not the whole plate of Irish peas. I have once again succeeded at decoding an entire week of insane news in one article, and even Carl Sagan contacted me from Jupiter and said that this week’s horoscope is hot. Use one of the combined subscription offers above for a good deal, but please don’t tell anyone you did.

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We are now up to Aquarius comments for Cosmic Confidential: A Future Investigation. As you’ve been reading, this is the place to put your reflections on the astrology you’ve lived through in late 2008 and 2009 or, if you don’t know the astrology, to add your comments.

Much of the focus this year has been in Aquarius — the quadruple conjunction of Jupiter, Chiron, Nessus and Neptune is still working out, and it reached its first peak in April and May (the second peak is coming in December, as Jupiter makes conjunctions to Chiron and then Neptune).

This is the first annual where I am polling the public for news about its experiences and astrological insights in order to weave them into the annual edition, which offers extended length horoscopes for all the signs, We have begun offering Cosmic Confidential to our pre-subscriber readers. Here is the link. Subscribers are eligible to purchase at a significant discount — as much as half-off the price to the public (which is absolutely worth it — each sign takes me about 12 to 18 hours to create, and there is lots of good astrology information available nowhere else, in particular this year’s section on key life transits.

Subscribers received a special offer today — please check your inbox.

Onward, Aquarius — and thank you for your valuable contributions.

cosmicsigns

Yeah.

What a late, crazy, amazing night. I think I was up till about five going endlessly on AIM with an art student friend in Boston who showed up at Planet Waves several years ago when I was living in Paris, during production of Parallel Worlds. I have no idea where she came from but all of a sudden all these paintings started to show up in my inbox. She’s the one whose mom toured with the E Street Band in the early days, I have heard some stories. We’ve stayed in touch as I’ve moved and traveled from city to city these past few years, so now we feel like old friends. You have yet to see her artwork appear on Planet Waves, but you have definitely felt her influence.

Goat in Vermont somewhere who posed for the Billygoat Fever entry in the PW blog. Photo by Eric Francis.

I got myself out of bed and to the next to last installment of the Kingston Farmer’s Market for 2009, with the intention of getting vegetables, tamales, black currant juice (I am filling my freezer with Ray the Honey Guy’s 11 on a scale of 10 antioxidant), and to flirt with farm girls. (That was the thing that really motivated me, though supermarket carrots are not the same thing.) Ray, who is a bit older than I am and who works all the local farmer’s markets, explained to me one Saturday morning why these young farm women are so hot: they are healthy, strong, and beautiful and they’re also responsible, hard working, capable of doing business and handling money, and affable because they deal with the public.

“They’ve got it all,” he said.

Speaking of those virtues, it’s time for Capricorn, the last of the Earth Signs, to chime in with what your year has been about. Please let me know if you are an early Capricorn (i.e., Dec. 21 through 26), this way I will be able to size up your ongoing experience of Pluto conjunct the Sun/Saturn square the Sun. Pluto in Cap also means that Pluto has left your 12th solar house (Sagg) — the most challenging position for Pluto — and I am wondering what that was like for you. That transit of course goes back to 1995.

Today in the few hours remaining of the Libra Moon I will be sitting at Dominick’s Cafe doing the reading and note-taking for that sign. I am just barely keeping up with the Moon through the signs, but I will have a file with notes fairly soon. Yes, I was the kid who would never do my homework. I have been making up for it the past 20 years. Tonight I’ll be at TSL in Hudson, NY, once again stumping for the Yes Men. The screening of The Yes Men Fix the World is at 5:30 and I plan to be a little early.

Maybe see you there.

cosmicsigns

Good morning critters,

We’re now up to Sagittarius and Sagg rising on the comment project for the annual edition of Planet Waves. This has been a big year for Saggies due to the triple conjunction of Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune; and for the fact that Pluto has left your sign (and entered Capricorn, your sign of financial resources). What have these recent seasons been like? How are you handling the pace of time, the changes, and the calling to focus your mind? What have your relationships been like? And with Saturn moving through Virgo, your 10th house off profession and reputation, what steps have you taken during late 2008 and 2009 to focus this aspect of your life?

This is also a second shout out to Libra and Scorpio (including ascendants) for comments. Please use those direct links for those signs! The comments section below this entry is for Sagittarius.

Everyone who has contributed so far — these comments have been amazingly helpful at getting a handle on what you’re really going through and how you’re handling your changes and opportunities.

Please keep them coming. Additional details on the annual edition are in the post below, the one with the campfire. Subscribers — please check your inboxes for your special offer for the annual; I will be back with another one this weekend. One of the benefits of being a subscriber to Planet Waves is getting substantial discounts on my special projects, such as the annual edition, or the Midyear Report.

The Website you’re reading is sponsored by its customers — a big experiment on the Internet that has so far succeeded for more than seven years since we first offered subscriptions in 2002. We offer a one of a kind astrology service featuring my horoscope and personal growth writing; and news coverage where you are part of every story. And — no ads. I know we’re so pounded by advertising that we might not even notice when it’s not there, but if you tune in you’ll see part of why this is a pleasant, easy to be in environment is because Planet Waves is not plastered with commercials. If you come to the site regularly and have never subscribed, options are at the top of the right column.

Each year we publish a special annual edition with extended writeups for all the signs. These editions have included Aquasphere, Bridge to the Core, Parallel Worlds, The Spiral Door, Small World Stories, Next World Stories and now, Cosmic Confidential: A Future Investigation.

cosmicsigns

Good evening. From the political to the personal to the more deeply personal, it’s now time for Scorpios to add their piece to the discussion of recent life events, growth, relationships and the creative experience of life. People with Scorpio as a Sun or rising sign are invited to comment, even if you’ve commented before; and let’s leave it open to those with a strong Scorpio signature in your chart — for example, a stellium that you can track transits to.

Even if you’re not familiar with the astrological level of the conversation, I would ask those who have this Sun or rising sign to add your comments, questions and thoughts.

I’ve been reading the previous signs carefully and the information is authentically useful. As most of you know, I’m working on Cosmic Confidential: A Future Investigation, the 2010 annual edition of Planet Waves.

cosmicsigns

As most readers have been following with, I’m polling the Sun signs and the rising signs to get a sense of what your past four or five seasons have been about; how you’ve been responding to the challenges you’ve been facing, the opportunities, and the astrology so far as you know it. This is in preparation for Cosmic Confidential, the 2010 annual edition. [We are currently offering pre-orders of the annual to subscribers to Planet Waves and Next World Stories, and it's already a bestseller.]

We are now up to Libra. Librans experienced something interesting earlier this year — Venus retrograde in their opposite sign; with a bit of the retrograde touching on Pisces. This is a kind of ultimate astrological mirror: your ‘ruling’ planet, showing up in your opposite sign.

More recently, Saturn left your 12th solar house Virgo and entered your birth sign, where it’s now about to square Pluto. This would have something to do with how you reconcile your identity with the one your family thought it gave you. There’s something here about going beyond appearances. Please let me know in the comment space below, or via email.

Virgos — you must be very busy — we heard the least from you. Would you be kind enough to add your comments to the Virgo entry, below? Many thanks.

cosmicsigns

Hello in Internet Land. I am moving along on Cosmic Confidential, the 2010 the annual edition of Planet Waves. It’s time to hear from Virgo and Virgo rising readers about their experiences the past year or so. Saturn has either been in your sign or gone over your ascendant. And of course, Saturn has been opposite Uranus. Plenty of action, and I’m curious how you’ve responded to these and other transits. If the astrology is unfamiliar to you, please comment as best you can.

Comments from the previous signs have been truly helpful. Thank you for your contribution.

cosmicsigns

Good afternoon Leos and Leo rising. We’ve heard from the first four signs with feedback about how their year has progressed. Much of the action has been taking place in your opposite sign Aquarius, which tells us something — I’m not sure what, really — about your life. Pluto has moved into Capricorn, your 6th solar house. I’m wondering what you think about these transits. Even if you don’t grasp the astrology, please chime in about the ecology of your life, your work and your relationships.

Thank you to everyone who has already contributed — this information has been very helpful to my research for the 2010 annual edition of Planet Waves.

cosmicsigns