'Dickens' Dream' painted 1875 by Robert William Buss, portraying Dickens at his desk at Gads Hill Place, surrounded by many of his characters.

Today is the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens. Born in Portsmouth, England, he lived from Feb. 7, 1812 till June 9, 1870. The works of Charles Dickens — which include Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, David Copperfield and of course, A Christmas Carol, have been praised by other authors for their realism, skillful prose and treatment of social issues — and criticized by some for being sentimental, melodramatic and implausible. One thing is certain, however: his books are among the most famous in the world and have never gone out of print.

Natal chart of Charles Dickens, data rated A by the late Lois Rodden.

But who exactly was Charles Dickens, and why should we care today?

Our friend Carol van Strum said, “We should care for the same reasons Dickens himself did, passionately and unceasingly: his books were an early warning bell for civilization of the dangers of industrialization, colonization, empire, the class system and the obscene enrichment of a few at the cost of everyone else. I think his books are scorned today for the very reason that their message is so timely; far better people should think him out of fashion and cliche than that they actually read the books and look around them with newly opened eyes to the poverty and despair all around them; they might see with clearer vision the hypocrites and pompous moralizers dominating our airwaves, and they might learn to laugh at the idiots masquerading as our wise leaders. And to top it off, he is great fun to read.”

Dickens was an Aquarius, and when it’s working well, that is one of the most socially conscious signs. Yet it is his conjunction of the Moon and Neptune in Sagittarius that adds the visionary leavening to his chart. In fact, that visionary quality was truly wide: with both the Sun and Moon conjunct an outer planet (Vesta in the case of his Sun), Dickens could see a big world. That vision, in part, led him to visit the nascent United Sates twice in his life. The U.S. at that point was still expanding into its western frontier, during a rather unruly stage of its history, and an ocean crossing was still a relatively dangerous undertaking. His two trips across the Atlantic are markers of that Sagittarius Moon’s sense of adventure.

Dickens was, in part, a crusader for what he deemed the disproportionate economic burden placed on the backs of the poor in Victorian England, including work and sanitation conditions; a strong critic of class stratification at a time when England was the major world power. In addressing these subjects in his novels, he was able to embody the service aspect of his Virgo ascendant.

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Photo by Eric Francis.

And now for a friendly challenge — can you explain the game of football in a comment below? That is, explain it so that someone who has never played or followed a game can understand what the idea of the game is. Extra points for explaining what the different positions do. Also — if you have a photo you’ve taken that has some imagery of the New England Patriots and you’d like to see it posted, please send it to dreams@planetwaves.net.

By Health Day News, via Reader Supported News

About one million packets of birth control pills are being recalled in the United States by Pfizer Inc. because of a packaging error that could reduce the effectiveness of the pills and cause unintended pregnancies.

Video still from KBSW news broadcast.

The recall of 14 lots of Lo/Ovral-28 tablets and 14 lots of generic Norgestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol tablets was announced late Tuesday after Pfizer discovered that some blister packs may contain either too many or too few active pills and that the pills may be out of sequence. The expiration dates on the recalled packets range between July 31, 2013 and March 31, 2014.

The pills are packaged in blister packs containing 21 active tablets and seven inactive tablets. The packaging error means that the daily regimen for the pills may be incorrect and could leave women without adequate contraception and at risk for unintended pregnancy, Pfizer said in a news release.

Experts said the error could pose real problems for women using the pills.

“This is extremely important,” said Dr. Steven Goldstein, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at NYU Langone School of Medicine in New York City. “It is absolutely essential that birth control pills be taken as intended, with 21 medicated pills in a row. Otherwise ovulation could take place and an unintended pregnancy is definitely a possibility.”

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On Tuesday, Eric sent a letter to Planet Waves subscribers sharing his thoughts about Neptune in Aquarius (which ends Friday after 14 years). He has received many replies, including one from what Eric calls one of his “astrology guitar heroes,” Dale O’Brien. Dale has been one of the pioneering — and most innovative — writers about Chiron, going almost back to the beginning.

Dale considers the review of a recent, major transit to be critical to our understanding, and notes how few astrologers actually do so — perhaps due to the potential embarrassment of predictions that never manifested. Thankfully for Planet Waves readers, Eric is an astrologer of a slightly different stripe. Dale offers a little mythological perspective on Neptune in Aquarius, bringing a sense of “who” we’ve lived through — and “when” — as opposed to simply considering the planet and the sign as “whats.”

You can read Dale’s letter in full here on the RRR Diary — as well as Eric’s Tuesday letter.

While I’m out on the eastern tip of Long Island, I had a chance to visit John Steinbeck’s summer home and I reckon favorite place to live, at least on the East Coast. It’s a modest home — not a mansion — on about an acre of land in Sag Harbor, a few miles outside of East Hampton. He lived there, and on the upper east side of Manhattan, in the last years of his life. This was the house he left from on his 10,000 mile journey that became the book Travels with Charley.

Keep reading here.

I was introduced to these two guitarists, Frank Vignola (lead) and Vinny Raniolo (rhythm) last June at the Rosendale Cafe in New York, when Eric’s dad took us to see them play. They’re phenomenal. Go see them if they ever play near you — but be warned: Vinny is a wicked flirt of the Gemini kind. – amanda