Dear Friend and Reader:

YESTERDAY we brought up the topic of queer, which is actually not a new topic for Planet Waves; we just don’t usually call it that. Queer means different, and it’s not that difficult to be different when it comes to sex. In fact, it’s the easiest thing in the world — we’re all different. However, many factors, such as social condition to act a certain way, or to seem a certain way, so that people think you’re not a certain something else, influence how people act. The truth is, we’re all different and we feel different on the inside. As my friend Beth once said, we’re all baskets inside of boxes.

Since this is about sex, it might help to take a moment and define that term; we all have a different concept. I mean a psychic, emotional, physical and spiritual conducting medium that helps us celebrate and perpetuate existence. When I say sex, I speak of an exploration of self-awareness and other-awareness. I believe it’s one of the highest forms of communication; but when it’s really working, we create as we communicate.

We all want and indeed need to do this differently, even if the differences are subtle. We all have different things to learn, even if we are lucky enough to find common ground with a partner or partners. More often, the feeling of being different is usually palpable and sometimes it’s overwhelming. And we don’t know how to handle it, usually.

I don’t know anyone who, when you get them in a space where they are willing to open up, does not state that they feel different: than their friends; different than their spouse; different than their family — and, notably, quite often not able to discuss it. And I don’t mean a conversation on the hobbled, agonizing level of Sex and the City. If the real discussion could go to a depth of 10, that kind of discussion to me counts for about .02.

Many, many spouses have exceedingly little in common sexually, and their lives are at the brink of bursting with sexual tension. Yes, there are monogamous marriages that work — but the quality control test doesn’t come back like kids are told it will. We are promised a flawless product, despite the experiences of our parents; we get something else.

Who is the more sexually open party in a relationship often shakes out along gender lines in the way exactly opposite you would expect — women being the ones craving exploration, and guys wanting the usual thing (or wicked jealous that his girl is gonna get laid). So in that case she usually gets her extracurricular excitement through masturbation, which includes a lot of fantasy. However, women tend to live with the fact, more or less willingly, that guys tend to fuck other women. (This basically means that a small few women are getting most of the sex.)

There are also plenty of marriages and partnerships where the female partner shuts down and the guy is left wanting, waiting and masturbating. So neither gender has a monopoly on being sexually withdrawn. Or on depending on themselves for sex. I have not done an official study, but I’m sure that masturbation is the hottest sex that most people have. It’s just not counted as sex! Or, it’s too embarrassing to claim and talk about.

Here is another example of feeling different and being closeted that I think makes someone queer.

And here is one last: a lot, a lot, a lot of people are secretly bisexual or gay inside of heterosexual marriages.

I would suggest that if you feel like this (any of the above), you consider your situation. Why exactly can’t you come out of the closet? There are all the usual reasons. Most of them involve money — that is, there are so many mutual assets held in the context of a relationship, and often children, that you may fear the apple cart may be upset. Someone can’t (for example) have the sex they want, even if it’s available, because of the house they live in or the car they drive. We can see from this how marriage is one of those building blocks that keeps society going exactly as it was going (and why I now feel that monogamy reform, not polyamory, is the first step in our freedom).

Personally, I am involved with both. I have had nonmonogamous feelings since around the 2nd or 3rd grade (sometime around 8 years old). It was simple — I was in love with two girls. That was normal for me. I’m also bisexual, which came a bit later in life (late teens/early 20s). I’ve had some very, very good sex with men. My primary erotic, emotional and affectual orientation is women. Like a lot of people, I find most women easier to relate to emotionally, more empathic and receptive, and more open to my feelings than nearly all men. There is no substitute for sex with a man, so I have to live with this dichotomy, at least for now.

I am an unabashed cunt worshipper. I often wonder what they smell and taste like, along with the psychic impression that comes with the pleasure of giving her that. This response is usually inspired by eye contact or the sight of someone’s face. Fucking women, especially the right woman, is gorgeous and necessary for me. But it is the experience of women from the perspective of being a man that makes me most grateful for being male.

With women, a great part of my erotic orientation involves the practice of compersion. That is, I am closely attuned to the full spectrum of the sexual life of the women who are close to me. It’s not enough for me to “have” a woman in a limited way; rather, I need to connect with all of who she is, including (when appropriate) her fantasy life, her relationships with past and current lovers, and her relationship to me. I live with the truth that the women in my life, including my primary partner, will have other lovers in the future.

Gradually I’ve been focusing my thoughts on polyamory and compersion. Here is an email I sent to Dani Katz, who as you may remember wrote the essay “The Magician” two weeks ago as the lead of Planet Waves Astrology News.

One of the distinctions of monogamy versus polyamory in terms of mindset is that monogamy is heavily focused on the goal of happily ever after; of finding the ‘right person’ and calling it a wrap. This obsession with The One, Forever defines the whole mating dance and many other aspects of life, and it denies the changes that are inherent in life and in death.

The thinking is that you are then relieved of the burden of any mystery in a relationship and in most cases this works out to be true. Often we are relieved of growth as well — many relationships function as pacts not to grow or change. You are expected to be the person you were, the day you got together or got married.

Polyamory, in whatever form it may take (there are dozens of them), is focused on process: of discovery, of communication, of the processes of change and growth and the adventure of the unknown with many more variables involved, and many fewer presumptions. It is necessary to consider different ideas about relationships, which often means considering any ideas at all. When you don’t set an end goal and define that as happiness (such as the search for, and marriage to, The One, Forever), what happens along the way hopefully counts for more.

Think of how ridiculous it would be if a polyamorous person said, “My goal is to have two husbands.” But somehow if makes sense if you say, “My goal is to get married.”

Finally, I am discovering and exploring what I call the third sexual orientation — self-sexuality. Really, it should be the first orientation; if we taught and practiced emotionally grounded masturbation, life would be simpler and there would be less pressure to date and/or marry. Self-sexuality is when someone’s primary sexual orientation is on oneself. It might be expressed through masturbation, or it could be expressed through having sex with a partner that is only minimally relational. In other words, one’s experience of sex is not inherently about the other but about oneself. I think this is the less honest form of self-sexuality, and I think that a great many people (conveniently) use sex as a substitute for masturbation.

In its more honest form, self-sexuality experiences masturbation and fantasy as a conscious journey. From there, both fantasy play and masturbation can be shared by two or more people; the individual sexual journey of each person, their feelings and the content of their emotions, can be embraced by themselves and certain key people around them, and expressed whether solo or together.

Our closest primate cousins, the bonobos, masturbate together for pleasure and communal expression of feelings, and many people have discovered this. It just has not been given a name. When you spend a lot of time exploring in this space, partnersex changes. It’s easier to recognize your partner for who he or she is; easier to feel compersion; easier to make the choices that are right for you, rather than what you think you’re supposed to do.

We live in a time when it’s considered dangerous to experiment. A faux conservatism has taken over, but I feel people getting sick of it: sick of not having options, tired of not being able to be themselves, angry about not feeling safe feeling what you feel, sick of living your life in cloaked fantasy or locked into virtual reality.

For years, I have been calling for a discussion, but I am more lately calling for action: conscious community, open discussion, and a movement to get our exploration going on Earth, not just in virtualty. Action includes coming out of the closet, considering and working through the barriers that keep us from doing so, and on the inner level, addressing our rampant self-esteem issues that prevent us from thinking we have a right to exist. Among the major elements of healing self esteem, I think that satisfying, shockingly honest masturbation is a potent one. I consider it a yoga of self acceptance.

And this all is what I mean by queer — and what I mean by coming out of the basement. I would say if I have a personal goal, it is to be out to every person in my life; to be acknowledged with at least eye contact and a nod for my erotic identity; and to recognize the erotic identity of everyone in my life. This is about witnessing humanity.

With compersion, I get to feel the overflow of the pleasure everyone has, even if I’m not directly involved.

And I want as much good, loving sex as I can get, give or exchange.

I know I’m not alone in this general perspective; this bird’s eye view of Self.

If you’re interested in taking a step in your life and would like to dialog, contact me at info (at) planetwaves.net with a little about yourself (such as what you feel you have to offer to a shared community).

To you, and you, and you, and me — come out, come out, wherever you are.

This is a Sag horoscope from last year; I erased the exact date.

You have little patience for politics, perhaps too little. On our planet, when people get together, the collective power created by the encounter must be distributed. People have a synergistic effect, that is, greater than the sum of the parts. Any group can only hope to have someone in its midst who has some worthwhile ideas about what is fair and what is not, what is necessary and what is not — and who has the strength to stand up for them. Yes, there are honest and ethical people all around, but few give a voice to their heartfelt values. Too few are bold and creative. Too many fear ’stepping on the toes’ of those who step on heads. These days you not only have little choice in the matter of whether to voice your ideas, you also have every reason to speak up for the world you want to see born around you, indeed, a world you can live in and where you are welcome. That world needs you to act — before it takes up a life of its own, not after.

Wednesday 25 June 2008

Vesta (28+ Aries) sesquiquadrate Ixion (13+ Sagittarius Rx)
Sun (3+ Cancer) conjunct Kronos (3+ Cancer Rx)
Pandora (8+ Scorpio Rx) septile Pluto (29+ Sagittarius Rx) - Near Miss Only
Sun (4+ Cancer) sextile Saturn (4+ Virgo)
Eros (12+ Cancer) septile Sedna (21+ Taurus)
Apollo (12+ Leo) semisquare Hades (27+ Gemini)
Venus (8+ Cancer) trine Pandora (8+ Scorpio Rx)
Mercury (14+ Gemini) quintile Mars (26+ Leo)
Vesta (28+ Aries) trine Orcus (28+ Leo)
Eros (12+ Cancer) septile Saturn (4+ Virgo)
Venus (9+ Cancer) sesquiquadrate Neptune (24+ Aquarius Rx)
Asbolus (7+ Taurus) quincunx Pholus (7+ Sagittarius Rx)
Ceres (6+ Cancer) semisquare Sedna (21+ Taurus)
Arachne (3+ Libra) square Kronos (3+ Cancer)

Mail Bag…

My daughter, Gwen, has been talking to me for some time about what you people are about. I am very interested in everything you are discussing and want to order a subscription. You might find it interesting (or not) that at 75 years old I am very much in tune with what I hear you are saying….But after about 40 years in the arena of spiritual seeking and everything that implies, it might be more understandable. From what I have heard about you, your voice is that voice that I spent most of my life looking for in the world. I have since learned to listen diligently to my inner promptings. But now the two are coming together. Thank you…

Dear Friend and Reader,

It’s Rachel again, here with your Monday edition. Eric is taking a breather from blogging for the duration of the Sun’s transit through Gemini and will be back June 20. Weekly and monthly horoscopes continue at Planet Waves Astrology News.

Today I have an excerpt for you on the Mercury retrograde, in hopes that you’ll get some insight into the one we’re experiencing now. Eric writes about the effect that Mercury has on our perception and how there’s more to it than having all our technology go wonky.

This being said, this retrograde seems to be responsible for more than its share of car and computer problems, but it’s difficult to tell since it’s not studied scientifically. The bright side is that ideas are subject to change, revision, expansion and a test for whether they really hold water, or in this case (Gemini) air.

But he associates the experience of Mercury retrograde with the ideas of a Jesuit named Teilhard de Chardin. Have a look — it’s interesting.

Catch you tomorrow morning, bright and early.
– Rachel Asher, in Dublin, Ireland

The Swiftly Tilting Planet: Brussels, Friday, August 4, 2006

For individuals, the mind free in the cosmos, making its way along the web of humanity, Mercury itself presents real challenges when it changes directions. There is a phase of reorientation during and after the station. It’s a little like a magnetic pole shift which our brains take time to catch up with. I have no doubt that, though not ‘proven’, this is a physical as well as symbolic phenomenon, and I propose that we’re at a true advantage for being aware that it’s happening.

This environment goes beyond the devices and obvious connections. All that is broadcast enters consciousness and reverberates within a kind of mental or psychic environment that contains every sentient being. An early 20th century Jesuit scientist and philosopher named Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) called this the noosphere. Even if we attempt to pay no attention at all, we are affected; we swim in this environment, it is made of us and our awareness, and centuries of evolution have taken us to the point where psychic senses are now an accepted fact.

We feel the planet and we feel one another, all in addition to feeling ourselves at this urgent crux point of history where the momentum of change is gathering rapidly. Yet at the same time, many factors have conspired to create a mass shutdown of awareness. This, combined with the compression of time and new psychic portals opening, has a lot of people living with some pretty severe internal tension. It feels as if a balloon of awareness is growing inside everyone, waiting to burst.

Because tuning out and shutting down does not work on any level except the most temporary, those who plan to survive need to develop adaptation strategies, the first of which are psychological and emotional. Then we need processes to embrace the accelerating onrush of the future in more creative and efficient ways. Planetary awakening on any scale involves many combined individual awakenings, as well as a plasma-like gathering of energy. On the larger scale this is for the sake of the planetary evolution process, that is, our collective mission here and certain other goals seemingly beyond human awareness.

Read more here

Monday 09 June 2008

Apollo (6+ Leo) square Chariklo (6+ Scorpio Rx)
Juno (22+ Sagittarius Rx) sesquiquadrate Pallas (7+ Taurus)
Venus (18+ Gemini) conjunct Sun (18+ Gemini)
Jupiter (20+ Capricorn Rx) trine Sedna (20+ Taurus)
Eros (28+ Gemini) sextile Orcus (28+ Leo)
Eros (28+ Gemini) sesquiquadrate Psyche (13+ Scorpio Rx)
Mercury (16+ Gemini Rx) quintile Orcus (28+ Leo)
Chariklo (6+ Scorpio Rx) opposite Asbolus (6+ Taurus)
Venus (19+ Gemini) square Logos (19+ Virgo)
Sisyphus stations direct (7+ Libra)

Today’s Oracle takes us to September 23, 2005, Virgo - Weekly

To allow new energy into our lives and to express ourselves in new ways it’s vitally important to let go of what has occupied our spaces and priorities for so long. There are some people who cannot make a change without the sense that something is being taken away; there are others who will cling to negative circumstances simply because they’re familiar. Neither strategy is going to work for you now and you can be glad of that. The options you have before you are simply too compelling to ignore and too good to make excuses about why you don’t deserve them.

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:

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.

Audio coverage from United Astrology Conference here! Check in for updates. The next audio will be an interview with Kelly Lee Phipps, director of the documentary Return of the Magi. Also, Planet Waves contributor Chris Brennan informs me that there is a discussion of the new data on Barack Obama on his Horoscopic Astrology group at Myspace. I can’t find it (I’m rushing a little), but I thought I would link to the page anyway. We’ll be hearing from Chris later in the weekend.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Being at UAC reminds me a little of attending a huge state university campus. There are approximately fifty astrology classes taught each day. The classes hold approximately 20 to 50 students; some are larger, if you’re a name astrologer.

I am not on the faculty — I prefer not to be, and I did not send an audition tape.

My job here as “official media” is to write these blogs about different conference events and topics, and also I’m now doing audio blogs that are linked above. These are 10-15 minute interviews with people who just seem interesting or like they have something to say.

I remain unconvinced that this kind of classroom/lecture structure, with somebody at the front, is really the way to teach astrology. Regardless, it’s the way it’s done at nearly all conferences, and it’s taken for granted. I know for certain that a lot of helpful ideas are going around; a few bad ones are as well, and we can hope that people have brought their discernment to the conference.

This kind of teaching method appeals to a certain segment of what I’ll reluctantly call the marketplace. It’s also good if you happen to be in an area, or of the personality type, where you don’t or cannot find mentors to guide you through your process of learning. Early in my studies, I got very lucky this way — through various means, I connected with three different people who set out the basics for me. I never took a single class; reflecting, I am not sure I’ve ever sat through an astrology class that I was not teaching.

What I am appreciating the most is the ability to connect with my readers; with old friends I’ve met during my 14 years on the astrology trail; and to meet people with whom I might collaborate. I am sure many people would tell you the same thing. There is a contingent of young, energetic and bright people who are a lot of fun to bounce ideas with. Many people feel rather profoundly insecure of their abilities, though. The amount of self-discipline and confidence necessary to learn sufficient astrology to have a grasp of the subject, then to work with others, is pretty significant. There is generally nobody to tell you when you’re actually ready to do so, and the truth is that most astrologers start off unprepared and learn on the job.

The conference itself is impeccably well organized. I would rate the quality of the faculty as very good, and I hear the thing is running at a profit. The organizers have been truly generous with Planet Waves.

I am noticing impressive details — today, a fresh fruit and fruit juice kiosk was set up in the main lobby. UAC negotiated free Internet for all people who are renting rooms through the conference agreement. Unless you’ve tried to do something on this scale, you probably cannot appreciate the effort, the coordination, the nonstop work. Every time I see one of the big bosses, they look genuinely serene. Maybe they are fabulous actors.

If I could change two things, the first would be at least some classes that break the usual format of lecturer + eager class listening with light discussion. We need to meet face to face as adults embracing the cosmic and human mysteries of existence. We need sessions demonstrating how to do astrology counseling. We need workshop spaces where we can work with our charts and with one another. We need real discussion of how difficult it is to be an astrologer, serving clients who show up needing five years of therapy expecting results in an hour.

Small group discussion format is helpful for this kind of thing, and it works well alternated with theoretical lecturing.

Second, there appears to be no serious discussion of sexuality. I have not read the whole catalog, but I have not seen anything even coming close to the topic. This verges on astonishing, given the number of people who come to astrology for sexually-related subject matter, and the even greater number for whom it surfaces as a theme or issue they need to address. How, exactly, are astrologers supposed to help anyone if they are not informed? How are they supposed to keep their composure and objectivity if they have no training or experience with these kinds of very necessary discussions?

I can think of about three or four reasons this material is not covered at an astrology conference — not just here, but anywhere I’ve ever been to one. The first reason is embarrassment. The second reason is lack of qualification by most presenters, and fear by the qualified ones that by being out of the closet they risk exclusion or harm to their reputation. Last, there is lack of interest; the topic, to many, just does not seem necessary.

Some attenders would also fear for their reputations were they to even attend such a discussion. In other words, the negative charge seems to be coming from the great battery of sexual repression — scandal and the fear thereof; ignorance and the perpetuation thereof. And of course, there is gender rage to thank. Most people feel that neither sex nor the opposite sex have been particularly good to them.

This being said, astrologers fancy themselves a freaky and experimental lot, and I am sure that plenty is going on behind the scenes, though nothing like the party days of years and decades past. Almost every astrologer prides herself or himself on being compassionate, humanitarian and nonjudgmental, be it true or not. So we can afford to call ourselves on our groovy sentiments and commitment to integrity.

What we need is a real conversation in front of the scenes, and the bravery to partake in it. Our clients need us to be prepared for them when they show up with their sexual subject matter, which too often gets classified in the “relationship” and “romance” categories, or cloaked in a discussion about Venus, Mars and maybe a daub of Pluto.

We can do better, and we owe it to the people who come to us for help.

Saturday 17th May 2008

Nessus (14+ Aquarius) semisquare Aries Point (0+ Aries) - Near Miss
Nessus stations retrograde (14+ Aquarius)
Vesta (12+ Aries) septile Chiron (21+ Aquarius)
Arachne stations direct (29+ Virgo)
Sisyphus (9+ Libra Rx) sesquiquadrate Admetos (24+ Taurus)
Venus (20+ Taurus) conjunct Sedna (20+ Taurus)
Mars (4+ Leo) square Asbolus (4+ Taurus)
Sun (26+ Taurus) quincunx Galactic Center (26+ Sagittarius)
Apollo (28+ Cancer) septile Logos (19+ Virgo Rx)
Mercury (18+ Gemini) opposite Quaoar (18+ Sagittarius Rx)
Venus (21+ Taurus) square Chiron (21+ Aquarius)
Mars (4+ Leo) trine Hylonome (4+ Sagittarius Rx)
Eros (8+ Gemini) semisquare 1992 QB1 (23+ Aries)
Sun (27+ Taurus) quincunx Juno (27+ Sagittarius Rx)
Pallas (28+ Aries) sesquiquadrate Ixion (13+ Sagittarius Rx)
Venus (21+ Taurus) septile Aries Point (0+ Aries)

Apr 01, 1999 - SAGITTARIUS - Monthly

There’s an esoteric tool called Karma Cards by Monte Farber. The cards are arranged in three little decks of 12 cards each; one deck for planets, one for signs and one for houses. You draw one card from each pack, and have an instant astrological reading. They teach you astrology, they’re spot-on as a fortune telling device, and they’re not even expensive. With Pluto in Sagittarius in your 2nd solar house so magnificently illuminated this week, I couldn’t even find the worlds to express my glee, so here’s Monte’s take on those stars: “Resurrect (Pluto) your highest ideals (Sagittarius) patiently (Second House). Get to the heart of (Pluto) the rules of (Sagittarius) what you want (Second House). Do or die! (Pluto) You must get it out to the world (Sagittarius) and get what you need (Second House).” So be it.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Beltane arrives with a very fine Earthy grand trine of Venus, Pluto and Saturn. We arrive at the holiday of sex with a purpose — ensuring enough food to eat, which in current times we consider to be prosperity. Most of us are pretty far removed from the production of food, except after it’s been frozen and wrapped in plastic and we toss it into the microwave (that is not production, it’s preparation). We involve ourselves with the gathering of money. That is a reasonable fit for Taurus, which is the sign associated with one’s personal resources.

The triangle is interesting because May is traditionally the time to break the monogamy taboo and experiment with someone besides your lover; we get so frisky, the legend goes, we cannot resist. However, this is generally considered the purview of freaky heathen pagan communists such as myself, rather than proper Christians.

Venus is also conjunct an asteroid today, Amor. This one is a little trickier than your average talking rock. Amor is about the conditions on “unconditional love.” Amor could be the catch; it could be the exception. Both have the potential to be enormous, dominating the whole story. Giacomo Cassanova had Amor conjunct the Sun and his name remains a household word more than two centuries after his death.

Martha Lang Wescott once made a brutal commentary on trines. She said they are the aspect with the theme, “you lie and I’ll swear to it.” (In the same class, she also said they are rewards for past life struggles, which to me says that they grant some extraordinary power that can be used with more or less integrity.) In the image presented by the planets today, we have Venus conjunct Amor supposedly experiencing unconditional love, trine Saturn (the planet of boundaries, including the healthy ego) and Pluto (the planet of change, depth, transformation and surrender).

Ok, so what is the catch, that is, the condition on unconditional love? Well, we are guided by a lot more than love on this Earth, and unless one is a dog, one always puts conditions on it. We could be guided by just love, but it’s cold here: there is competition. There seems to be a lack of everything, most particularly truth, self-esteem, and the loving attention of others. It is fair to say that for most people, the whole concept of a relationship is in some chaos, and failing to provide what we need. Most of us are not quite able to articulate what we need, and if we do, it may seem untenable. If we do, that in itself may arrive with conflict or the sense of conflicting needs.

We are between paradigms now — that of the notion of romantic marriage, and whatever is going to come next. We may have thought the 1950s style of marriage went up in smoke along with the bra burning (and draft card burning) of the 1960s and 1970s. Yet there has been so much pressure on young people to do things like sign the Virginity Until Marriage Pledge (and to go to war), and so much economic pressure and religious pressure, that many people find themselves in an era of what you might call neotraditionalism, whether they like it or not.

Some people are happy; many would say that a lot of them are in a sugar trance. Many people are really struggling with a need for greater independence and the deep desire to define themselves outside their relationships but not sacrificing having a relationship.

Many strive to achieve some independence not knowing what they are up against, and not knowing how to handle their need for greater sexual independence because there are no models to follow. We pretty much have two legal options: one orgasm and we’re married; and the disposable one night stand. Safe to say that neither of these is working well for most people. I would propose that we are still too embarrassed about sex and our sexuality, and too stuck in the barbs of guilt, to even speak the words we need to say to redefine our relationships. We are too scared of the world collapsing around us; we depend on barely-functional models of a relationship to support us economically and psychologically.

So, here we have an image of Venus conjunct Amor. The two are trying to make an agreement with Saturn and Pluto, so that we can have some useful structures and boundaries, and also some hot sex, deep relating and relationships that give us (instead of deny us) what we need profoundly, personal transformation. One condition is that many people feel this is intelligent in principle, but are too terrified emotionally to dare or speak up.

Then there is the judgment factor. I have heard way too many stories of people [i.e., women] who declare themselves a little more free and then meet the wrath of coworkers, neighbors, friends and family. It is NOT your imagination: whether you live in the United States, the UK, Europe or Oz, you’re in a society that has very little clue how to handle sex, nor how to allow anyone to be more free than they are personally. Jealousy is a particularly vicious form of judgment, and it often exists between peers, not just within sexual relationships.

Any revolution begins with words, and to do this one we’re going to need to speak up about our needs. To do that, we’re going to need to have a long talk with ourselves and get a handle on those needs, remembering that they are likely to change as we grow. Some of those needs might be extremely frightening to discuss in church — the need for multiple partners; the need for same-sex erotic and emotional experiences or relationships; the need to do other things that threaten our partners (like get an education or do something that feeds our creativity).

We might need to admit that we’re in love with someone else; that we’ve outgrown a relationship; that we don’t know what we want (a good first step). We might decide we don’t want to have sex or relationships. If you believe the LA Weekly reporter who has been interviewing me lately, some women perceive that men there are turning down sex (the article discusses why this might be happening).

Processing the events of the past few days, I woke up this morning thinking about some wisdom imparted by Simeone de Beauvoir, who provided me with most of my map of gender relations. Simone pointed out that relationships, in particular, marriage and its analogues, provide two entirely different functions for men and women. She noted that there are no men whose entire goal in life is to get married. But you have many women who state this as a goal, and though this may seem to have changed in the past 50 or 60 years, very little changes that fast.

Men, she says, view or are conditioned to view a relationship as part of their life: they have a career, they go to the Elks, they build ships in bottles in their spare time. And they have a wife. Women traditionally view the relationship as the centerpiece of life; the defining factor. Note that this can be the determining factor on the spiritual meaning of sex: that is, why sex as a symbol takes on an entirely different meaning for women as for men in, if we remember this context.

We seem to be attempting to embark on a cultural trend for women to see a relationship as part of their life, not the whole thing; as one “goal” among many. But it’s not so easy.

For this to happen, everyone has to adjust, but the change is far greater for women, who must recontextualize everything about their existence. In other words, if their tattooed on, clobbered in identity was previously based on a relationship, many now face the formidable, at times seemingly impossible task of finding core self (perhaps for the first time) in another context. It may seem like grasping at the air. Many may feel their partner will be so threatened, nothing could ever happen; they would never dare the threat. (Usually this involves a threat to an economic structure of some kind, and less so, also an emotional threat.)

Most men have the built-in advantage of their relationships being part of their life, not the centerpiece (though some men are still extremely dependent on their partners for goods and services, as well as a sense of identity). Regardless, I suggest that the switch is far more difficult for women, when they must attempt to face the world on equal terms, having never done so before.

The kind of change we are talking about is not superficial; it is foundational, and that may at first feel like pulling the bottom cards out of the card house. In the end, it comes down to a struggle between what we need more: the structures of our lives, or the ability to express our vital force. One way or another, the vital force wins, or entropy wins, and we die (whether you take that spiritually, physically or both).

It really should not shock us that our pre-Christian predecessors associated vitality and prosperity with the opportunity to share sex outside of the marriage box. I would say that before we share sex, the freedom to prosper and thrive involves giving ourselves the freedom to feel what we are feeling, and to see a way out that does not involve death, but rather allows for change.

Thursday, 01 May 2008

Mercury (26+ Taurus) septile Vesta (5+ Aries)
Vesta (5+ Aries) sesquiquadrate Psyche (20+ Scorpio Rx)
Mercury (26+ Taurus) quincunx Galactic Center (26+ Sagittarius)
Pallas (22+ Aries) square Jupiter (22+ Capricorn)
Sun (11+ Taurus) semisquare Hades (26+ Gemini)
Jupiter (22+ Capricorn) square 1992 QB1 (22+ Aries) - Near Miss Only
Venus (0+ Taurus) trine Pluto (0+ Capricorn Rx)
Venus (1+ Taurus) quincunx M87 (1+ Libra)
Eros (24+ Taurus) square Neptune (24+ Aquarius)
Ceres (12+ Gemini) septile Eris (21+ Aries)
Sisyphus (14+ Libra Rx) sextile Ixion (14+ Sagittarius Rx)
Mercury (27+ Taurus) square Orcus (27+ Leo Rx)
Sun (11+ Taurus) septile Kronos (3+ Cancer)
Eros (24+ Taurus) conjunct Admetos (24+ Taurus)
Venus (1+ Taurus) conjunct Amor (1+ Taurus)
Venus (1+ Taurus) trine Saturn (1+ Virgo Rx)

The Oracle takes us back to Sep 01, 2006, Aries - Monthly

You may be feeling like it’s time for a new job. Wider horizons are calling, perhaps painfully, but most definitely. Often we need to reach a limit to go beyond whatever familiar territory becomes enmeshed in our patterns of living. Even if rearranging your day-to-day affairs seems impossible right now, you have an opportunity to make an adjustment in the way you express or exert yourself in the place you call work. I suggest you look at how you use your energy; study the patterns; account for where your time goes, and what you actually accomplish. Notice how you feel about it. Because this promises to be such an incredibly busy and productive month, it’s an interesting phase for a study. While you’re at it, notice what you like to do the most, and what you set out to do first when you have several choices. Getting a new job is precisely the time to choose, so practice now.

Dear Friend and Reader:

I’d like to offer a few comments about yesterday’s Mercury square Neptune. This is a challenging aspect, as many people experienced. Yesterday, it was connected to the North Node of the Moon (Neptune on the North Node like a big, foggy headlamp) and Mercury exactly square the Nodes. Anything exactly square the nodes can act like a tipping point or factor.

Then the Moon itself swept through the arrangement, making an exact occultation to Neptune (like an eclipse), listing the ship and sending the feeling through our collective emotional bodies with a surge. A number of other planets and asteroids were in the dance — Mars, for instance, in Cancer (hence connected to the Moon). So if you thought yesterday was a strange day, there you have it. I am not one who gets up every morning and studies Raphael’s Ephemeris, which is where I would have seen the Moon-Neptune occultation, but this is good incentive to. However, if you live by the ephemeris like that, you risk going insane, and I do mean it.

On its own, Mercury square Neptune is often about self-deception. Think of a square as a structure that contains energy. Mercury and Neptune in this position, together in a natal chart, have been described as signifying the consummate liar. I don’t think any aspect automatically predisposes us to having or lacking integrity, but this one seems to create a world within one’s own awareness that functions with little regard for what exists outside one’s inner sense of reality. Notably, it may not be experienced as inner — it may be peered through like a pair of binoculars that selectively magnify certain aspects of life. This can flush things out of the pipes; usually, it keeps them in, or creates a sufficient distortion to miss the big picture.

A closed psychic ecosystem such as this is the perfect setup for dishonesty, because self-deception is almost always the root of any lie. This, in turn, is an interesting model of how we process information in a competitive market environment; there is so much competition for our mental capacity that we have to be selective. So much of what we might discover is unpleasant that we have incentive to be so. If we allow in outside evidence, that pierces the inner veil and compels a reality check: not always so popular. Or it creates an unusually potent obsession with seeking and finding the truth, even the Truth. I know someone with this aspect natally who does such things as (in her own words) take a God Squad down to Mexico to do multiple lifetime healing work. She certainly believes it and that makes it believable.

Joseph Campbell had Mercury square Neptune and was able to decode humanity’s complex relationship with myth. Bob Dylan has this aspect; he has been viewed as a prophet, a modern Shakespeare and the master of the poison pen letter. Interestingly, Jim Morrison also had this aspect. Sean Penn does as well, and he is an example of someone regarded with extremely high integrity; when I think of him I think of Dead Man Walking, the film that blew the whistle on the death penalty.

The thing to be cautious of in the charts of famous people is that they always put their resources to work in ways that get unusual results. That is why they are famous; why we can recite their ideas, lyrics and hum their music. I have no idea what it’s like to talk to or live with any of the guys I mentioned. One thing is for sure, they moved a lot of energy and they got results.

In my personal dealings I can tell you this aspect is a bit more challenging than putting Light My Fire on iTunes. Whether we noticed it or not, we all lived through it (and it’s still pretty close). There can be a disregard for truth, or lack of concern for the truth, that would be stunning, except usually you were already anesthetized when the stun hit. Sometimes it seems absolutely sincere to you or to others. Watch this aspect carefully. Pay attention to what you sign and check the claims of others carefully for factual veracity, significance and what they might be cloaking, inadvertently or not.

Yesterday in the news, we saw two uproars that fit this description: the exciting sequel in the Obama’s pastor furor, and one that (naturally) I think is far more interesting — the absurd fuss over Annie Leibovitz’s photo of Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus.

Mercury is about vectors of thought in any form, from language to a radio tower. Neptune is about images, film, illusion, dreams, fantasies and drug-induced experiences. It has a lot to do with photography, which functions with a touch of all of these themes. Mercury coming in for a square felt like an airplane landing on the water with its gear down. The New York Post and I gather plenty of other news outlets went wild with this non-story about a 15-year-old star photographed by portrait master Leibovitz with her shoulder and part of her back exposed.

It is being characterized as veritable kiddie porn; her family is ‘mortified’; though you can hear the laughter as the Magic Kingdom, home of her billion dollar entertainment empire, goes through its appearances of moral spasms of shock and outrage. Miley, for those unhip as myself who needed to Wiki her, plays a normal girl who moonlights as a rock star. Leave it to Disney to create a virgin rocker. Then she has her portrait done and the war in Iraq evaporates.

The Miley scandal is not a relevant version of the truth: the episode, in addition to sending up a smoke screen, is one vast public relations boon for Disney, who rather than attempting to purify its magnificent gleam is decorating its enterprises with a few tons of free ink. And do we think the Vanity Fair production manager called the print plant yesterday ordering up a few hundred thousand more copies for good measure?

One huge lie being propagated, regardless of who profits, is that a teenage young adults are asexual, or that it’s somehow inappropriate to represent them as sexual even though it’s done all the time. This is like freebasing denial, particularly if we care enough to help them stay healthy and unpregnant. Go ahead, teach them abstinence, then watch what happens in the onslaught of hormones. It seems like we have projected so much sexuality onto young people, and fetishized the appearances of youth, that we now feel a need as a culture to strip it off with a sandblaster.

Furthermore, the world seems to have a need for Miley not to grow up. To me this is the psychic, media-driven version of that Austrian guy who locked his daughter in the basement, taking total possession of her. Here, the world seems to need to lock Miley in the basement and never allow her to become Destiny Hope Cyrus, the mature woman.

Scandals are scams. They are never what they are about. Deeper down they are always about repression. If there is a grain of truth to them, it’s usually employed to seed the greater lie. If you look closely enough, or look in the opposite direction (perhaps within), sometimes you can see a little gleam of light.

PS. I just went down for coffee and the Sally Brompton horoscope and encountered an explanation of just what is going on with Miley, courtesy of the profound social criticism of the New York Post, my third favorite newspaper. To wit, Todd Venezia writes, “The young Cyrus and photo diva Leibovitz have created an international firestorm with Vanity Fair pics showing the all-American Tennessee girl with a bare back, turgid lips and suggestively tussled hair — all while being wrapped in nothing more than a piece of cloth.”

Have I got a piece of cloth for you, guys: it’s called a burka.

Today’s Aspects: Wednesday 30 April 2008

Venus (29+ Aries) trine Juno (29+ Sagittarius Rx)
Amor (0+ Taurus) trine Pluto (0+ Capricorn Rx)
Ceres (12+ Gemini) quincunx Hidalgo (12+ Scorpio Rx)
Neptune (24+ Aquarius) square Admetos (24+ Taurus) - Near Miss Only
Amor (1+ Taurus) quincunx M87 (1+ Libra)
Atlantis (16+ Libra Rx) semisquare Saturn (1+ Virgo Rx)
Venus enters Taurus (direct)
Mercury (26+ Taurus) septile Varuna (17+ Cancer)
Sisyphus (14+ Libra Rx) trine Nessus (14+ Aquarius)
Venus (0+ Taurus) quincunx Arachne (0+ Libra Rx)
Sun (10+ Taurus) quintile Apollo (22+ Cancer)
Psyche (20+ Scorpio Rx) opposite Sedna (20+ Taurus)

Oracle takes us back to Dec. 12, 2005 - Gemini - monthly

I don’t know if people have been accusing you of being stubborn lately, but these days persistence is good for you. A series of recent personal developments finally seems to have got you sorted out in terms of keeping both twins focused on one goal. You now have a kind of miraculous moment of diplomacy coming, where you can basically convince anyone of anything. The only thing that could stop you is if you persuade yourself that certain people who are friends are really something else. They are not; it’s just a little touch of mild paranoia bugging you.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Mercury is conjunct Eros today. I take this as a personal invitation from the cosmos to continue my discussion of astrology and sexuality. True, my kitchen table is piled high with these invitations. But this is a good one.

Where you see Mercury, you can fill in the verb ‘communicate’, ‘express’, ‘idea’ or ‘message’. What is being expressed will be modified or described by the sign, the aspects and if you are using a natal or horary chart, the house involved. Today Mercury is exactly conjunct Eros, so presumably we have some form of a message of love or erotic feeling. Note, the god Eros is the root of the word ‘erotic’. So highly did the Greeks value this concept that they assigned it a deity. You may say that everything in Greek myth gets a deity, and you would be right — they lived in a different world than we did; a world that was worthy of respect and awareness.

However, Eros is not just one of the Gods. Eros is one of the prime creation deities, along with Gaia. So with Eros we are on another level entirely, than, say, the Olympian gods and goddesses. (The name Eros should be given to a trans-Neptunian object in the Kuiper Belt, but because it’s assigned to an asteroid, it cannot be.)

Martha Lang-Wescott is one of the modern masters of asteroid delineations. I respect her work deeply and I tend to use her ideas as a solid starting point for the asteroids. (For centaurs, I depend on the work of Melanie Reinhart, Juan Revilla and Phil Sedgwick, who I’ll introduce properly on other days.) I also have a friend in Wales whose insight is so clear that she makes this rather highly competent lot look like the three blind mice.

Of the themes of Eros, Martha says: Sexuality; reproductive organs; the heart & cardiac system; the history, experience and behavioral repertoire of eroticism; joie de vivre; what “turns you on;” the Will to Live (the “passion” for life.)

People who wonder why they need to consider sex more fully, investigate their hangups and commit to letting go of them; or who want to live with greater gusto, might well consider how all these things are wrapped up in one idea: Eros. Even astrology, as defined by a careful, even prudent astrologer, is connected with the Will to Live and the joy of life. We all know this. Why do we shun it? Are we ashamed not just of sex, but to live fully? Maybe we’re being influenced by something. Maybe it’s the Church of the Marketing Culture, which says “be ashamed of your body so you buy our products.” If you catch yourself feeling that one, tap your knuckle three times and say, “I don’t need that.”

Mercury is conjunct this point in Taurus today. Taurus is the sign of the season of Beltane, where we are right now. Taurus and Beltane connect the ideas of eroticism and the flow of resources; access to our own resources; and feeling good enough about who we are to enjoy life and pleasure. The astrological cue is to express yourself on what in this subject area is important to you. If you have a lover or partner, say clearly what you like and see if that gets the energy moving in a new way.

If you are afraid to do so, perhaps consider all the things you have not said, and use that as a measure of your intimacy. We are in an unusually potent time for concealing our truth as a way of supporting the structure of a relationship. If this seems like a virtue, it’s in the short run. The longterm cost is incalculable. Eventually, lies , secrets and silence smother passion and the joy of living. As William Pennell Rock said on one of the most searched pages on Planet Waves, “Only the truth is erotic.”

* * *

Saturday, I went to the Beltane celebration at the Center for Symbolic Studies in Tillson. This is an annual event hosted by Robin and Steve Larsen, perhaps best known outside the local area for their book A Fire in the Mind, the biography of Joseph Campbell. This was my first opportunity to go in many years. I’ve been away in Europe for five of the last 10 Beltanes, and spent most of the rest of the time on the West Coast and in Florida.

I’ll post pictures from the event on the cover for the next few days, to give you the feeling. This was Beltane for the whole family. There was a pageant with droves of young people (between five and maybe 16) acting, singing and dancing the drama of the change of seasons (organized by the old-timers of my generation). The wee ones danced the May Pole (see today’s cover) and there was a kind of prancing pony show in a mini-Stonehenge that has been constructed on the property. At night we had a fire ritual without the fire (forest too dry to risk that) and then drumming well into the night. I drummed for the first time in years. it’s one of my passions, and it’s part of my Plan For More, Better Sex.

But what I must congratulate the Larsens on is making Beltane normal. It isn’t even easy to put together a Beltane celebration among the Pagans and pseudo-Pagans in your community. I tried on the West Coast, in Washington, and to my shock, nobody was even interested. Here, in sophisticated rednecky upstate New York, we have this celebration where everyone brings their kids and the girls are all wearing little floral wreaths and the May Pole is danced (which weaves the cosmic vulva [the ribbons] around the cosmic cock [the pole].)

In the world of liberating the sensibilities that defined humanity before Constantine, St. Peter and all those popes, what is missing is some sense that these old rituals are normal. Normal, as in Christmas, softball or a barbecue. With the worldly wisdom I have gained from a decade of traveling and living in different parts of the world, I returned to where I started and saw it as someplace new.

Here are today’s aspects, Note Mercury sextile Uranus and trine Jupiter, and Pallas conjunct Eris.

Have a great day. If you love Planet Waves, please sign up.

Yours & truly,

Monday 28 April 2008

Pallas (20+ Aries) quincunx Psyche (20+ Scorpio Rx)
Mercury (21+ Taurus) conjunct Eros (21+ Taurus)
Mercury (21+ Taurus) sextile Uranus (21+ Pisces)
Venus (26+ Aries) trine Galactic Center (26+ Sagittarius)
Eros (21+ Taurus) sextile Uranus (21+ Pisces)
Mercury (21+ Taurus) septile Aries Point (0+ Aries)
Sun (8+ Taurus) opposite Chariklo (8+ Scorpio Rx)
Pallas (21+ Aries) quintile Kronos (3+ Cancer)
Eros (21+ Taurus) septile Aries Point (0+ Aries)
Apollo (22+ Cancer) opposite Jupiter (22+ Capricorn)
Vesta (4+ Aries) quintile Jupiter (22+ Capricorn)
Mars (24+ Cancer) quincunx Neptune (24+ Aquarius)
Mercury (22+ Taurus) trine Jupiter (22+ Capricorn)
Mercury (22+ Taurus) sextile Apollo (22+ Cancer)
Pallas (21+ Aries) conjunct Eris (21+ Aries)
Venus (27+ Aries) trine Orcus (27+ Leo Rx)

Today’s Oracle takes us to Jan. 24, 2002, Aquarius - Weekly

Since Mercury went retrograde in Aquarius I’ve been having little problems with contained water: leaks, pH problems in my fish tank spilling things and so forth. It seems like the water bearer is reminding me of her existence. How are you doing in this regard? Are you sufficiently hydrated both physically and emotionally? If you want to feel a lot better for relatively little work, drink more water than you think you need, get your body into water and near a lot of water if you can. Step two would be plugging any leaks that you’ve noticed on the emotional level just by getting clear with the people around you — a fine way to start the year or better to define it.

Good morning,

The diversity of aspects every day is so incredibly interesting. Every day there are at least five I could riff on. Asteroid Apollo is always worth a good ponder, commenting on the way we learn or don’t learn lessons from repeated experiences. Today Apollo is conjunct Mars and square Venus. The Ceres-Pholus opposition brings in a newer influence (Pholus, the second Centaur, after Chiron) and one we need to be paying a lot more attention to — the first-ever minor planet, Ceres (which started as a planet, then became an asteroid and is now considered a dwarf planet, along with Pluto and Eris). Many of these planets are covered in Small World Stories, by the way.

And then there is Eris. This is the discovery that shook up the solar system: it forced astronomers to define this elusive and wandering word, planet, and in the process conclude that there is this new thing called a dwarf planet. In my view it’s a meaningless phrase, but today’s not the day for a rant on this. [Here is an article from right when the "dwarf planet" class was created, in the summer of 2006.]

There are two aspects to Eris today — Venus conjunct Eris and Mars square Eris. That’s another way of saying that Venus and Mars are in a square aspect and that Eris is caught in the middle — a reasonable enough illustration of the relationships between men and women. Yes, things used to be easier: when sex roles were clearly defined and everyone supposedly knew who was boss. I am referring to days when the family structure was more predictable and when there were higher expectations on proper behavior.

Some would say that men were boss and some would say that women knew how to top from the bottom. Some would say that there was a complex power sharing arrangement in a world where men were supposedly in charge. Whatever you may believe about the days of yore, we live in an era when sex roles, sexual orientation and gender itself are in flux and in question.

Eris illustrates this point beautifully. The ‘discord’ to which she refers is precisely the kind of situation where there is a measure of anarchy, and this we have in our gender relations. It is true that many people cling to the old rules: men ask women out, gay and lesbian people don’t get married and if you have any alt tendencies, you stay in the closet.

I know I live in the supposedly blue state of New York, but I also live in a small rural city and on a street corner that I pass every day on the way into my studio, there is a huge sign for the LGBTQ Center (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer). Note, I will soon embark on a campaign to get an M stuck on that sign because I believe that masturbation is a kind of sexual orientation.

In any event, Eris to me represents some of the gender chaos we live with here in the early 21st century, which represents a change in the structure of society far greater than we can actually see with our own eyes so close to the events and developments. It looks perhaps like fashion; it is actually the world changing.

Another way the world is changing is the dioxin level. By dioxin, I mean all chemicals which disrupt the hormones — we are swimming in an ocean of them. Heavy metals (like mercury in your tuna salad) do the same thing. And this, I believe, is partly to account for all the Viagra ads that you get in your inbox, and for many things besides, for example, the apparent loss of sexual instinct that many people in our society are suffering from. I don’t believe that this is caused only by conservatism and abstinence only sex indoctrination in schools: it has a chemical aspect as well.

Eris is about a lot more than this. Psychically, she is about reclaiming the lost woman within; the castaway powerhouse; the archetype of the the female shaman, the healer, the witch, the whore, the independent woman of any stripe who is depicted in myth as one who allegedly causes chaos in society. Everything that represents independence is attributed to catastrophe. And every group in our society that claims any sexual independence, for the history of the puritanical Western world, has been blamed with the imminent collapse of civilization.

Venus conjunct this factor is about a return to this core of the disowned female archetype. Mars square Eris is about men clashing with that new-found power, if they act unconsciously. Mars happens to be conjunct Apollo, which can have a feeling of bucking the odds or doing something the same way over and over, hoping for a different result.

In a world of changing roles, men and women need to do things differently. I believe that heterosexuals also need to follow the example of that assorted thing called LGBTQ and come out of the closet. Modern views of heterosexuality have cast it as a form of perversion or deviance, which in the view of many we cannot talk about, describe or be open about in other ways. It’s extremely common to keep secrets from or partners (a form of being a closet case) and it’s considered dangerous to step outside the box (to live openly as polyamorous or one who has more than one lover or partner, even though nearly everyone wishes they could at least one day a week).

And then there is masturbation, the biggest closet of them all.

Eris challenges us to live openly, to let those secrets out of the dark basement, and to experience the freedom of living in the open air and the light of day. If not, she will surely give us a taste of what she’s so famous for.

Wednesday 23 April 2008

Venus (20+ Aries) square Apollo (20+ Cancer)
Mars (21+ Cancer) square Eris (21+ Aries)
Mercury (11+ Taurus) semisquare Hades (26+ Gemini)
Sisyphus (17+ Libra Rx) quintile Juno (29+ Sagittarius Rx)
Vesta (1+ Aries) quincunx Saturn (1+ Virgo Rx)
Saturn (1+ Virgo Rx) trine Asbolus (1+ Taurus)
Venus (21+ Aries) quintile Kronos (3+ Cancer)
Sisyphus (17+ Libra Rx) square Varuna (17+ Cancer)
Mercury (11+ Taurus) septile Kronos (3+ Cancer)
Venus (21+ Aries) conjunct Eris (21+ Aries)
Eros (17+ Taurus) quincunx Sisyphus (17+ Libra Rx)
Ceres (9+ Gemini) opposite Pholus (9+ Sagittarius Rx)
Mercury (11+ Taurus) sesquiquadrate Galactic Center (26+ Sagittarius)
Sun (3+ Taurus) sesquiquadrate Quaoar (18+ Sagittarius Rx)
Eros (17+ Taurus) sextile Varuna (17+ Cancer)
Venus (21+ Aries) square Mars (21+ Cancer)
Mercury (12+ Taurus) septile Uranus (21+ Pisces)
Venus (21+ Aries) quincunx Psyche (21+ Scorpio Rx)

Today’s Oracle takes us back to…Jan. 27, 2006, Virgo - Weekly

Whatever pressures you’ve been under lately, you seem to be getting accustomed to them. You thrive on demands because you thrive on being in service, and we are certainly living through high times in that regard. People such as yourself are the ones who will in fact help the world through its current mess, because you have the vision, you have the energy and you have the completely overdeveloped sense of responsibility that doing anything with integrity demands in these strange years. Just make sure you take care of yourself; get away from the structure from time to time, and give yourself space.

Midnight greetings from Book of Blue studio…it is two minutes to 12 (first edition). This is now the second edition, which revises last night’s adding dates of Nessus sign changes courtesy of Serennu. Note that Nessus, the third Centaur (discovered 1993) usually takes two years to change signs. Nessus, which orbits the Sun between Saturn and Neptune, is similar to Chiron in many ways, but with more specific themes. Two other aspects support today’s main discussion — Venus trine Pholus, and Sun conjunct Amor — an interesting day for real developments in love stories and the values that inform them.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Hidalgo square Nessus is the aspect of the day.

Hidalgo (an asteroid named for the priest who started the Mexican revolution) is the rebel who pulls it off. A square involving Hidalgo represents an inner revolt, and square Nessus is against the things that shut us down: negativity, mistrust, fear and abuse. Alice Miller points out that we must come to the recognition that we were all abused kids growing up in Western society. Growing up in an extremely judgmental, often blatantly racist society and instructed to hate a wide diversity of supposed enemies, we can become pretty freaky fish.

Nessus tells us where we have internalized these things. A lot of us alive today have Nessus in Taurus or Gemini. In Taurus (1938/40 through 1961/63), it could be a crack in the values system that allows for certain hypocrisies to pass through. One result, Chiron-styled, could be a defender of truth and justice; the good cause, which is always a matter of values.

In Gemini (1961/63-1974/76) there is something afflicted with the inner twin. This is nothing less than the relationship with oneself.

The ideoglosia, the secret language of our inner twins, may be difficult for one or the other to understand. Nessus here can also talk about a difficult situation with siblings. I have never heard about a study on how well siblings get along through different phases of history. I think it would be really interesting to have a window into that.

In Cancer (starting 1974/76 through July 19, 1982), we might get a crack in the home, a little vent for darkness regarding whether one is ever safe. In the Western world, the divorce rate was skyrocketing, though for many families this represented a significant improvement over the prior state of affairs.

This being said, the mid- to late 1970s was a time focused on the home and making home for many people, after the tumult of the 1960s and early 1970s. It was a time of beginning to heal the wounds of the Vietnam War, when nearly all the troops came home. This was also the post-Watergate phase of American history, when people had a healthy mistrust in the government and when many paranoid policies of the Nixon administration (such as COINTELPRO) were reversed, corrected or finally revealed to the public. For example, the FISA court was created so that Americans could not be spied on willy-nilly by the government, but that is another issue: the Bush administration has done its best to subvert that court.

Cancer is not just the home, as in one’s hovel. It is home in the ecological sense; our planet. Eco literally means home and thus ecology is the study of home. In Esoteric Astrology by Bailey, she describes Cancer as a sign of the initiation of incarnation. In other words, Cancer is a kind of portal through which souls enter the planetary field. So it is our collective home, and then it represents our individual home (though Capricorn is influential here as well). This is a perfect ring with the Aries Point, which is personal, but then collectivizes.

Anyway — our aspect today is retrograde Hidalgo in Scoprio square Nessus in Aquarius. Gee whiz, Hidalgo in Scorpio: a sexual rebellion. Perhaps not a revolution, but an inward (retrograde) claiming of that Scorpionic sea of pleasure, depth and the shadow material that makes sex interesting. The problem with sex is that we keep it secret — often from ourselves as well, a Scorpio theme. So Hidalgo here to me is saying, reveal all secrets to yourself.

Aquarius takes this into a group context. Nessus currently in Aquarius is telling us we have a collective sexual injury that we need to heal together.

I have a clue for you: the sexuality of other people is interesting and beautiful. Listening in detail to what others experience is not just the Chivas Regal of porno; you learn about yourself with every word and nuance of feeling. I suggest we talk to ourselves and then one another on two topics.

One is the extremely dark experiences we carry, in particular from childhood abuse. It is like everyone drags this stuff into their relationships behind their back. Let’s get it on the table where we can use it to heal our lives.

The second are our secret pleasures or unspoken needs. Listen up people, we simply must break and free up the taboo on revealing ourselves for real. No charade. It feels really good to have people know what makes you feel good, and you get the amazing added benefit of letting go of guilt because what you feel is ok.

Aquarius is another of the astrological “individual via collective and back” archetypes. It is the emblem of rebellion and the rebel, but also the most insidious kinds of social metaprograms — you know, groupthink on some very scary scales.

Nessus in Aquarius is reminding us we have some significant cultural darkness we are working through or attempting to work through. It is collective darkness, not just individual. Chiron has been in Aqua for the same three years or so that Nessus has been there. Together, they are doing what they can to ignite a kind of insurrection of consciousness.

Padre Hidalgo, the High Priest of Scorpio, is here to inform the gringo forces of whoever would take sex away, that we are taking it back.

Yours & truly,

Aspects for Monday 14 April 2008, courtesy of Serennu.

Mercury (22+ Aries) conjunct 1992 QB1 (22+ Aries)
Eros (9+ Taurus) quincunx Pholus (9+ Sagittarius Rx)
Venus (9+ Aries) trine Pholus (9+ Sagittarius Rx)
Amor (24+ Aries) sesquiquadrate Pholus (9+ Sagittarius Rx)
Atlantis (20+ Libra Rx) sesquiquadrate Ceres (5+ Gemini)
Hidalgo (14+ Scorpio Rx) square Nessus (14+ Aquarius)
Sun (24+ Aries) sesquiquadrate Pholus (9+ Sagittarius Rx)
Mars (16+ Cancer) semisquare Saturn (1+ Virgo Rx)
Sisyphus (21+ Libra Rx) square Jupiter (21+ Capricorn)
Sun (24+ Aries) conjunct Amor (24+ Aries)
Mercury (23+ Aries) quincunx Psyche (23+ Scorpio Rx)
Ceres (6+ Gemini) semisquare Eris (21+ Aries)
Sisyphus (21+ Libra Rx) sesquiquadrate Ceres (6+ Gemini)
Mercury (23+ Aries) sextile Neptune (23+ Aquarius)

Oracle takes us back to Aug 01, 2002

Taurus - Planet Waves Weekly by Eric Francis

A rapidly-developing set of influences will help you resolve certain challenges that may have recently developed in your home or family situation. But is the healthy new influence luck or is it the intervention of someone’s goodwill? Once you decide to give thanks where it’s due. While we’re on the theme of problems and solutions we can (as friends and with any luck as a culture) acknowledge that fear and insecurity are among the greatest drains on peace and happiness. There is an old Yiddish saying that if something does not have a solution then it’s not a problem. These would be good words to live by as the next week progresses.