Mars sextile Jupiter. Sun sesquiquintile Uranus. Venus sextile Nessus. Mars square Chiron.

Photo by Eric Francis.

When it comes to trail blazing through new territory, courage is as valuable a tool as a good machete. Think of today as though you are an explorer in the jungle, wielding that machete, on a search for a part of history that has been lost in the undergrowth. When you find it, you are unnerved by the fact that you recognize it: it is a part of you that has been grown over by the processes of life.

Because Nessus and Chiron play a part here, this process may have something to do with physical denial. Either you are doing the denying, or someone else is denying you. Think of the reasons why you are being made to wait for recognition. With Mars sextile Jupiter, action is the key to bridging the gaps of your consciousness. The Sun/Uranus aspect suggests a social situation. Perhaps you will witness someone’s bruskness, or you will have the chance to be assertive.

Dear Friend and Reader,

While we’ll be looking at Obama and McCain’s charts in detail for the Friday edition of Planet Waves Astrology News, I’ve been talking to Eric about the placement of Mars in the opponents’ charts and they’re very different: Obama has Mars in Virgo, and McCain has Mars in Leo.

Clip from The Onion Video "McCain Vows to Replace Secret Service With His Own Bare Fists." This aggressive attitude exemplifies Mars in Leo.

Mars in Virgo is intellectual, technically astute, self-critical, critical and strives to express maleness as well thought out intelligence. It’s not necessarily that exciting. But he would do a good job fixing your computer or as a professor.

This aspect of Obama’s personality has come through, particularly in the debates. When he talks about going through government programs “line by line” or “with a scalpel,” that’s his Mars in Virgo talking.

Mars in Leo, on the other hand, is about being a hero. It’s the “Army of One.” It’s bravado, making an impression, being brash, bold, a man’s man, a hunter, a boxer who goes gloves off, just to make the point. It is this headline from The Onion: McCain Vows To Replace Secret Service With His Own Bare Fists.

In an exclusive interview with Wolf Blitzer, McCain was asked how he’s dealt with Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama. “All I can do is laugh,” McCain said. This Mars in Leo moment demonstrates McCain’s bravado, laughing off the rejection from Colin Powell, a key part of President Bush’s first term as Secretary of State (2001-05), retired General and former National Security Advisor (1987-89). The CNN article edited out McCain’s quote moments after it was published.

More election coverage to come in the Friday edition — be sure to sign up for Planet Waves Astrology News for Eric’s complete analysis of McCain’s (and especially Obama’s) charts.

Yours & truly,

Additional research: Eric Francis

*or wants to…

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Dear Friend and Reader:

DUTY REQUIRES me to comment on the occasion of today’s stunning news that John Edwards had sex. Those Democrats; they just can’t help themselves. Or is it always a bigger deal when a donkey does the deed?

Senator John Edwards.

Now, you’re probably saying, this wasn’t about Edwards having sex. It was about him lying. That’s fine, as long as we remember that there’s a rule in American politics that you have to lie about sex.

Then you have to get caught. If you’re a Democrat such as Bill Clinton, of whom this naturally reminds us, it has to be a heterosexual affair, and you have to get impeached, quit office or drop out of the campaign. If you’re a Republican, you can only get in trouble for having gay sex in a public place or with a child, and you get to keep your job to prove that you’ve redeemed yourself. Then everyone forgets because nobody wants to think about a distinguished senator looking for love in an airport men’s room stall.

Let’s look at John Edwards’ natal chart. Astrodatabank rates this as C status, which means the time is iffy (like so many ‘08 candidates before him), but we know where his planets are: most of them are in Gemini, Cancer and Libra. Cancer is the soft, cozy exterior this man presents - the perfect dad, the ultimate hubby. He has just enough woman in him not to track up the kitchen floor, and to spend whole Saturdays traipsing around town with his kids. He’s the kind of guy who takes care of America.

But the fact of the matter is Gemini. He has the Sun, Moon, Mars and Jupiter in this sign, most of them lingering in the 12th house. He is well-spoken. He is multifaceted. He is slightly delusional. He is a little kinky (Geminis get the whole twinning thing, one reason why they make hot lovers). A former Edwards’ staffer sent me the silk scarves he allegedly used to tie his illicit partner, purported femme fatale and filmmaker Rielle Hunter, to the bedposts. After experimenting with them for several days, we are now attempting to match the perfume found in the scarves with Rielle’s at the Planet Waves Sciences Center in Raleigh.

Geminis like diversity. So does everyone else, but what good is astrology if we can’t blame things on it?

Church choir like this one factored prominently into former Senator Edwards’ fantasies.

Even though this chart’s birth time is dodgy, this revelation fits well with a 12th house stellium. The 12th is where we keep all our most delicate secrets, particularly if they involve sex, such as illicit affairs on the campaign trail or wanting to have sex with the entire church choir, the choir director and his wife.

Now if you really want to blame something, look at his Saturn/Neptune conjunction (has difficulty assessing reality, and it often seems to be made of a sand-castle-like substance) square Uranus in the ascendant. This is clearly a person who feels he can make up the rules as he goes along. Of course, that’s how he got to be a presidential candidate in the first place. What good is a national leader if he’s not a warlock?

He has Chiron in the mix (square Neptune and and Saturn), in the 7th house (relationships). This makes him more charming to the ladies than a bleeding tourist is to a shark. It also means his relationships could have that quality of one disaster after the next, which would be true as long as you don’t notice how much he’s learning, or the level of authenticity he strives to bring to the people he’s involved with, or how deeply they touch him. Apparently he was truthful with his wife Elizabeth, and she would have preferred to keep the matter private.

That may be part of the problem. A writer for the Telegraph (UK) today reported that there may have been hush money involved - that is, a bribe to keep Hunter quiet. Here is his report on that.

It would have been very bad for America had he (for example) had got nominated president or been chosen as running mate. Had he been the candidate right now, it would have strengthened or guaranteed the possibility of a McCain presidency. It shows some off-key judgment that he didn’t think of that; that he didn’t allow his love for his country to trump his need to be its president.

But the deeper issue is the requirement in American politics to hide and/or obfuscate anything having to do with sex. Deeper still is that some people think you have to be sexually pure to lead the nation into war. We have come a long way since Caligula.

The issue is honesty, but lies are part of the political process. Why do we turn a blind eye to all the other lies, then gawk at an affair? Why, because we like it!

Yours & truly,

Happy New Years eve, everybody! So we made it — another trip around the Sun. Mars squares the Aries point and re-enters Gemini today, inching closer to his opposition to Pluto. I have a mixed bag of feelings as this year ends and the new one begins, albeit symbolically — some would say, it’s just another day isn’t it? In the astute words of the Onion: “What the fuck just happened?” It’s been an intense journey on all accounts; just thinking of the mindless war we seem to be sinking deeper into is enough to fry my brain.

Ever since I announced Jupiter was in my travel zone, I find myself overcome with wanderlust — I was in DC over Christmas, heading to India soon, and a friend just called me an hour ago with an offer for a possible free ticket to Egypt if I choose. I also just got back from visiting Eric in Kingston this weekend; he had invited his dad (Joe) and his wife over for dinner and they were kind enough to give me a ride upstate.

After dinner we were sitting around watching videos on the Onion website and the conversation turned to satire in the media — whether or not it was an effective medium of communication, when what we are dealing with in the world feels like a giant rubber band waiting to snap. Especially so, since what is supposed to be satire is unfortunately more true than what we hear in the news.

Joe observed that there was more apathy in the current and younger generations than there ever was before, with society more geared towards amusement than a making a meaningful contribution to the world we live in. That we could be doing more is hardly a debatable point, but I don’t think the problem lies with any particular generation.

Violence is so common these days, we have to try and avoid it rather than seek it. To be honest, it got so bad that sometime around summer I stopped watching the news. It can make one want to shut out and off — personally I don’t need to know a body count, because to me even one death is too many.

So what constitutes action? How can we say we are part of the solution and not the problem? With the highly charged Aries Point, (a point that illustrates ‘the personal is politcal’), about to be triggered again by the Mars about to oppose Pluto, we are now being called to action. It can be extremely overwhelming to make sense of the world we live in.

But the way I see it, we get to choose how we express our concern for the larger world. Some risk their lives, some write, some serve and some make people laugh. We all have our innate abilities, and not everybody was born to be an activist. This to me is the message of the Aries Point — that we do what we can to make a difference, however inconsequential or insignificant it feels. Even if it means making just one person smile, or listening when someone wants to talk.

As Mars approaches his opposition to Pluto, it’s classic story of an ending and a beginning. We are on the brink of evolution. The Aries Point suggests this is a very personal story and each persons story is a mirror for us all to learn from. The coming year has much in store for us in the way of change, which we can do lot in steering the direction of — we will have the opportunity now.

Looking back on the year personally, I feel a sense of peace and triumph. I have learnt to be more forgiving of myself, and I find this makes it really easy to forgive others. If I am not perfect, how can I expect anyone else to be. There is a quiet knowing, learning and accepting that in reality, I really don’t know anything. All I am aware of is that there is a ‘now’ and this ‘now’, holds the potential for as much joy as it does sorrow. It is my choice that dictates my experience, and every moment is a moment to choose again.

I will probably head out with my friend Cole tonight and try to get into the spirit of things. As I look forward to 2008, I can sum it up to the lyrics of ‘The Wind’ by the then Cat Stevens, playing on my Itunes right now. I wish all of you a happy, joyous, lovey, New Year under the ever charming Libra Moon. Make nice, let bygones be bygones, let’s learn our lessons and move on. Be safe, I leave you with the Oracle and I’ll catch you in 2008!

Love,

Priya

==

I am now available for private astrology consultations. Please email me at priya@planetwaves.net to schedule an appointment or for more information. You can also of course email me to say hi!

== Full Aspects

Amor (18+ Pisces) septile Ceres (9+ Taurus)
Moon (9+ Libra) square Sun (9+ Capricorn) - Last Quarter Moon
Eros (26+ Aquarius) trine Hades (26+ Gemini Rx)
Sisyphus enters Scorpio (direct)
Sisyphus (0 Scorpio) quincunx Aries Point (0 Aries)
Psyche (13+ Scorpio) septile Logos (21+ Virgo Rx)
Saturn (8+ Virgo Rx) square Pholus (8+ Sagittarius)
Ceres (9+ Taurus) sextile Pallas (9+ Pisces)
Sun (9+ Capricorn) sextile Chariklo (9+ Scorpio)
Mars (0+ Cancer Rx) trine Sisyphus (0+ Scorpio)
Venus (1+ Sagittarius) sextile M87 (1+ Libra)
Mars enters Gemini (retrograde)
Mars (0 Cancer Rx) square Aries Point (0 Aries)
Vesta (5+ Aquarius) septile Great Attractor (14+ Sagittarius)
Apollo (3+ Leo Rx) trine Hylonome (3+ Sagittarius)
Venus (1+ Sagittarius) quintile Chiron (13+ Aquarius)
Sun (9+ Capricorn) trine Ceres (9+ Taurus)
Mercury (18 Capricorn) quintile Aries Point (0 Aries)
Sun (9+ Capricorn) sextile Pallas (9+ Pisces)
Psyche (13+ Scorpio) square Chiron (13+ Aquarius)
Venus (1+ Sagittarius) septile Arachne (10+ Libra)

== Archive Quote

“Perhaps you liked it better in the dark, though by now, with your eyes adjusted and the landscape of life making an impression on your brain, you’re probably not complaining so much any more. Shifts ranging from the subtle to the not-so-subtle have occurred on all levels and in all directions of your life. Your task now is reorientation, and this means reassessment of purpose and redistribution of time. The phase of fertilization and seeding is now complete, though if you create an atmosphere conducive to growth, you will be quite surprised the gusto with which your creations go from sprout to bloom to fruit. What would be conducive to such growth? Devote your life to working-out, to human contact, and mainly to simplicity — then watch those flowers grow.”

– Eric Francis, Planet Waves Oracle, Mar 01, 2000, Pisces - Monthly