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THE SUN is currently in Capricorn for a few more days, but planets are gathering in Aquarius. It’s a cool setup. Aquarius is a cool, airy sign associated with novelty, invention and themes of social acceptance, and this chart is wearing some fancy shades. As I begin writing just before noon eastern standard time Thursday (in Woodstock), there is a precise triple conjunction of Vesta, Chiron and Mercury on the 11th house cusp.
Mercury talks, if astrologers (or anyone) will listen. This aspect is a cue to give a voice to that Vesta-Chiron conjunction, and I will do that in a few moments.
Also in Aquarius is Neptune. Mr. Blue has been there since the late 1990s, an artifact of the Clinton impeachment era — the most impressive act of public deception leading up to the false flag attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. And there is the North Node, recently arrived in late Aquarius (its overall motion is retrograde, so it starts at the end of a sign and works its way to the beginning). The Moon’s nodes tell you approximately where eclipses are going to happen, and we are indeed heading into an Aquarius solar eclipse, exact on Feb. 7. If you’re reading any chart, remember: if you see the Sun anywhere near one of the Moon’s nodes, an eclipse is in the immediate vicinity.
Somewhat off the charts is Nessus in Aquarius. Nessus is one of the small worlds, the third Centaur planet discovered and the first planet ever to be named by the International Astronomical Union at the recommendation of astrologers. It is not displayed by most commercial astrology software (with the exception of Solar Fire by Astrolabe). Nessus is an energy related to Chiron, which speaks to the theme of cause and effect. Nessus is like the point in a chart where we take responsibility for the actions of the past; we deal with the consequences; we see the results. Melanie Reinhart gives the key phrase, “The buck stops here.”
One of the Aquarius keywords is interesting, and this alignment qualifies, particularly with an eclipse zooming in and Mercury about to do its retrograde dance over the whole arrangement. Aquarius is the intersection of group consciousness and the quest for individuality. We all walk this line, or at least we talk it. We want to be unique, but we have a need to be acceptable to others. Which one wins out? Usually conformity.
Few people feel acceptable to others when they are actually being themselves. Indeed, few things in our society are more antithetical to the quest for group acceptance than expressing one’s individuality. The result is that most groups cease to be groups — they are more like swarms of robots. These swarms set a price for acceptance, they set rules for patterns of behavior, and most sickeningly, they tend to establish the value of self-esteem. In other words, within most groups, there is only so much you can love yourself, love your job, love your husband, and so on. If you’re in a group of people who hate life, you cannot love yours. If you’re in a group of women who resent their husband or partner, you cannot love yours.
I am wondering, then, how Aquarius came to be the sign of individuality. It may be the result of so many people who are born under the sign Aquarius being the ones who value the need to be an individual more than the need to submit to group values. Aquarians tend to be inventors, which means making something new or solving a problem nobody else bothered to address — including inventing themselves, no matter what anyone thinks.
The Aquarius Alignment of February 1962
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Before I get to the three immediate topics of this article — the Chiron/Vesta conjunction in Aquarius, Mercury retrograde in Aquarius and a brief introduction to the Feb. 7 eclipse — I would like to point out the chart that inspired this week’s writing. That is a solar eclipse back in February 1962, during an equally impressive Aquarius stellium.
This is the chart that presaged the phenomenon we know of as The Sixties, which crystallized (another Aquarius keyword) with the Kennedy assassination and then when the Beatles touched down 12 weeks later at Idlewild Airport in New York City 12 weeks later — notably, with the Sun in Aquarius.
Many astrology students go digging in the 1960s, in part because many of them were born there, and because it was one of the most distinctive phases of American social and political history. If you go poking around the Sixties, you’re going to find this chart and marvel. It feels like finding the secret engine room of all that happened during the decade that ensued.
Commercial versions of this chart give you an alignment of Mars, Saturn, the Moon, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, the South Node and Jupiter. Try reading that out loud. If you switch to either Solar Fire or a non-commercial chart service, you’ll discover two Centaurs (Pholus and Chariklo), and something called 1992 QB1. Chiron in Pisces has just covered the territory. A few years earlier when Chiron was in Aquarius, we experienced the Beat Generation, which opened the way for the social and creative experiments of the Sixties. The solar eclipse of Feb. 5, 1962 is a full activation of this alignment, just like the solar eclipse of Feb. 7, 2008 is the full activation of the current Aquarius alignment.
The two charts talk to one another; in other words, when you pile up a dozen or so planets in Aquarius now, you’re also vibrating that chart from back in the day. Notably, the early 1960s, before the Kennedy assassination, were a moment when the American Dream perhaps had its most vivid potential. A young man was president, and even if you hadn’t voted for him, you could still respect him. The civil rights movements of the 1950s were finally getting results. The economy was good and the horrors of the Vietnam War were still under the rug.
But the Aquarius alignment foretold, mainly, the social eruption that was imminent and which it seems only Bob Dylan saw coming. It was an extremely interesting in between moment when the ground was rumbling and there was something in the air.
It was quite a year, but it seems they all were in that era. All of the following facts are from the Wikipedia 1962 chronology. Technology — an Aquarian subject — was astonishing news on many fronts. A couple of weeks after the eclipse, John Glenn, piloting the Friendship 7 spacecraft, became the first American to orbit the Earth. Twelve European countries formed the European Space Agency (ESA). It was a time of heightening tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, which culminated in the Cuban Missile Crisis later that year. French President Charles de Gaulle called for Algeria to be granted independence, beginning to heal the vicious colonial war between the two countries. Telstar, the world’s first commercial communication satellite, was launched into orbit and put into operation the next day.
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Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home. Rachel Carson, a nurse and author, published the book Silent Spring, spawning the modern environmentalist movement. The first black student, James Meredith, registered at the University of Mississippi, escorted by federal marshals. The term “personal computer” was first mentioned in the media. In a Nov. 3, 1962, New York Times article reporting John W. Mauchly’s vision of future computing was detailed at a meeting of the American Institute of Industrial Engineers. Mauchly stated, “There is no reason to suppose the average boy or girl cannot be master of a personal computer.” On Dec. 14, the U.S. spacecraft Mariner 2 flew past Venus, becoming the first probe to successfully transmit data from another planet. By year end, the Vietnam War was beginning to seep out of the shadows. After a trip to Vietnam at the request of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield became the first American official not to make an optimistic public comment on the war’s progress. Indeed, Mansfield became one of the war’s most vocal critics and helped bring it to an end a decade later.
While We’re Here: The 1962 Taurus Alignment
If you look at the 2/5/62 eclipse chart, you will see that there is a stellium (a row of planets) in Taurus as well. Vesta is in Taurus, square the whole Aquarius lineup. A square is not a conjunction, but it brings in the energy at pretty full strength and (more importantly) in a dynamic way. Squares stir the pot. Vesta was very much a question of that time: could we open up to all that energy and let it flow through us? That is the theme song with Vesta. Think of the world vessel. Vesta will become a vessel for whatever we want, whatever we allow.
The image in the glyph is a chevron with a fire burning, which represents the core creative and sexual fire of humanity. Typically in the United States and the rest of the New World, Europe and Asia, we assign our fire primarily to what we term “work” — something boring and obligatory. Some have noted that Vesta is associated with shame, which would explain why we avoid.
Imagine what it’s like living in a time just before people decide — in some numbers — that they are tired of being oppressed by ideas, conventions and social norms. It’s like this energy is surging upward, wanting to break free of the psychic prison it occupies. That prison is a function of society, but it’s also within us. There must be some struggle between fear/apprehension and the need for release from long bondage.
Ceres is also present, conjunct Vesta in Taurus. So Ceres squares the alignment as well. But in the background is (as yet undiscovered) Varuna, an energy that specializes in coloring the whole landscape, magnifying results and accenting the consequences of misdeeds; and a conjunction of two Centaurs (both as yet undiscovered) Nessus and Hylonome, a conjunction that I call the dark Sixties.
The result of all this was, apparently, explosive. It took about two years to go off, beginning Nov. 22, 1963 with the false-flag Kennedy assassination and then Feb. 7, 1964 with the arrival of the Beatles in New York. The Vesta channel opened up. It took time, grief, creative passion, the birth control pill, rock and roll and a few other notable planetary events — but the channel opened.
The Taurus alignment points to the underlying crisis of values that existed beneath all the social and individual changes of the 1960s.
Friday, Jan. 18, 2008: Vesta conjunct Chiron
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The Vesta-Chiron conjunction is exact today, and Mercury is still right nearby, exactly one degree away. Let’s briefly go over these energies in a paragraph or two each.
Vesta is an impersonal energy that is the core creative and erotic human fire. Most people crave and are terrified by this energy. We dance around it like a moth before a flame. If we submit, we must give ourselves over. To what? To what we must do: create, serve, fuck, celebrate, teach, learn. Vesta is about total commitment to our most inherent humanity. When we approach this energy, it can seem like too much — and we must be shorn of who and what we were previously.
Vesta is the energy of the sacred prostitute. She gives her sex for the benefit of the Goddess and humanity. She allows herself to be a vessel for her core creativity, which will usually be a hybrid of sex, art and service. It’s not about her, personally; but of course, she can benefit. Most people, unable to admit that kind of scenario, will take the default position, toil. If you resentfully consider yourself a whore to your work, you have Vesta issues and you are probably in denial of what your core creative energy is telling you to do. Ditto if you carry shame about your sexuality.
Vesta calls on us to open up and allow that core fire to burn hot and come through us.
Chiron, for its part, acts as a focal point of awareness. Since we humans usually require pain to be aware, Chiron typically manifests as a wound that calls us to get help with something else, an injury that causes us to focus power, or a debility that helps us find some inner strength. Very simply, by whatever mechanism it works, Chiron helps us raise awareness, whether we like it or not.
Chiron conjunct Vesta is saying: are you aware of the extent to which your sexuality and your creativity are inherently linked? Do you see the ways in which you sublimate — that is, direct sexual energy into work or supposedly creative endeavors, because it’s “more socially acceptable” to do so?
Looked at another way, the conjunction is asking: do we allow our Vestal channel to open up to the healing energy of Chiron? Do we see that our ability to be in accord with our core creative/erotic fire is the main element of being able to inspire, share with and assist others?
Mercury in Aquarius: Discussing the Social Standard
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We may not be admitting the extent to which social norms cause us to deny our strength on all these accounts. People tend to act like prudes because they are expected to, and/or because they expect to be shunned if they don’t. Chiron always wants to stand out. Vesta wants us to bring our fire through. Why would we not do these things? Fear of being judged, of course. Shame is a form of internalized self-judgment.
Guilt is internalized resentment of others who hold us down, usually people we threatened with how alive we were as kids.Both involve sex, and both involve the fear of being alive. Chiron is saying: these are the injuries we need not only to deal with, but to use as a source of strength, and as a means to set ourselves free.
Mercury in Aquarius is set up for an exciting retrograde across all these points. Mercury entered the degrees where it will be retrograde this week (called by some the shadow phase, and which I call the echo phase). The actual retrograde is from Jan. 28 through Feb. 18. The discussion can happen three times — direct through the middle degrees of Aquarius (as in right now); retrograde over them again (Jan. 28 through Feb 18); and direct for a second time (Feb. 18 through March 10).
Here is the theme, as I see it: are we willing to challenge social norms, among the people closest to us, by having an open discussion about those social rules? Or are we so terrified that we think that people will judge us merely for thinking a thought or challenging an idea we notice is holding us down?
If you want to have a discussion, you need the words to have it. I am certain that approximately half the reason conversation of these themes does not occur is that we lack the language to speak about our feelings and desires. Maybe you want to read and learn some words, or maybe you want to use the ones you have, being blatantly simple and descriptive about yourself.
Using traditional astrology keys (term and face), Mercury is strongly dignified in the middle degrees of Aquarius. Now is a good time to open up and start talking, and start listening. It’s time to own up to the past and tell the people supposedly important to us what really makes us who we actually are. What challenges social norms that are the things to bring up first: the things that make us fear rejection. If you’re trying to have a safe discussion where in you shelter yourself from saying anything that risks rejection, you’re not really doing it. Now, take a chance. Go deeper and try again.
The Aquarius Eclipse: From Idea to Reality
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The Feb. 7 eclipse in Aquarius will magnify your personal efforts and call your attention to how many people are feeling the same thing you are feeing.
Here, we have a chance to get some relief from the paradox of shame. If everyone is ashamed of nearly the same thing, why are we all bothering?
Well, we may have similar unresolved injuries that we’re afraid to talk about. Sometimes there is something holding us down from below, and to unhook that thing, we need to get down there. But both Chiron and the eclipse are saying that while discussion is important, there is no substitute for experience.
What we do — not what we say or think — is what turns the ignition key to life. Words are critical factors, and the ideas they convey even more so: but what we do around the time of an eclipse helps set the pattern for the life we’re going to be living. The pattern is set by actual physical movement; by making choices and acting on them. Aquarius in the current day, particularly with Neptune there in the background, presents an overwhelming temptation to work it all out in virtual reality and wash it down with a Starbucks.
Reading something on the Internet is not enough. It’s too damned safe. You don’t even need to walk into a bookstore and be seen buying something that could besmirch your reputation. You don’t need to be seen reading it in the employee break room, and you can delete it if you want.
Therefore, this eclipse says take a chance. When you’re done with that, take another chance. Regardless of how that one works out, go for it again. Just remember, if you’re not taking an actual social risk of some kind, you’re just pretending — and we’ve all had more than enough of that lately. You’re not pretending if you dare to get your biology involved; your body; your home; your friends; the world in which you live.
Not PS: Mars is Stationing Direct
IT’S ALMOST TIME — Mars has gone nearly as far as it’s going to go backwards in Gemini, and is about to station direct. It will station direct overnight from Jan. 30 to Jan. 31 (we incorrectly reported early February in Tuesday’s edition — it’s a little difficult to discern in Raphael’s Ephemeris). In any event, the energy of the station direct is all around us. Combining Mars, Gemini and a planetary station, it’s all about the other side of desire.
And what side would that be? But of course — the one that we deny. I’ll have more to say about it next week, but for starters, the entire above article could easily be themed on Mars stationing, particularly the theme of communicating about desire.
Fortuitously, Mars trines the Aquarius alignment. It will open the valve to something. As well, the station occurs opposite the Galactic Core. Finally, Mars will cross back over the Aries Point (that is, the first degree of Cancer, referred to as the Aries Point because it’s exactly 90-degrees from the Aries Point) and then make its third exact opposition to Pluto — across the very first degrees of Cancer-Capricorn. All very exciting. Something is definitely in the air and the water, and for a big change it ain’t Prozac.
Full Moon in Leo
By Kirsti Melto and Eric Francis | Lunations
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THE MOON AND SUN will soon oppose each other in the early degrees of Leo and Aquarius, respectively. This is the Full Moon. It always happens with the two lights, or luminaries, in opposing signs, activating a full polarity. Leo and Aquarius deal with self-consciousness and group-consciousness. The Moon in Leo can have a dramatizing feeling in it.
This is the last Full Moon before Pluto ingresses Capricorn, the sign that represents corporations, government and the structure of society. It is also the last Full Moon before a series of eclipses. Pluto then aligns with the position of the winter solstice Sun, which brings in something called the Aries Point. In other words, we are about to experience a Full Moon on the brink of both eclipses and Aries Point events, and the total result may be dramatic or precipitous.
In the Full Moon chart, Pluto is in the challenging last degree of Sagittarius (the last degree of any sign is transitional, and humans tend to have difficulty adapting to change). But this degree has an interesting Sabian symbol, apropos of Sagittarius: The Pope blessing the faithful. It’s as if we made it this far on this seemingly endless Sagittarian journey, we get to experience some reward or blessing for our sustained faith and conscious effort.
Venus, meanwhile, is conjunct the Galactic Core — take it as you will, the planet of love, abundance and eroticism conjunct the Source at the core of our galaxy. It forms an exact conjunction to Pluto close to the eve of Pluto’s transit into Capricorn.
So this chart contains the energy of that combined transit — Venus plus Pluto plus the Galactic Core. The three are square the Aries Point (the potent first degree of Aries). This suggests some kind of cultural struggle where love, lust, sex and our notion of spirituality (the conjunction) challenge that of the prevailing culture (the Aries Point).
Remember that Pluto is a binary planet. Its binary nature reminds us that there are two sides to the story. One of the earliest works on Pluto, called Pluto or Minerva: The Choice is Yours (published in 1973) proposed that there are two sides to Pluto. One what we normally think of as the Plutonian aspect of Pluto (intense, dark, shadowy, irresistible), and then the wisdom aspect, which she described as Minerva, or wisdom. “In unevolved souls,” she wrote, “Venus-Pluto contacts are often indicative of those who tie sex and money together.”
However, she adds, “There is a potentiality for universal love when the Minerva aspect is in operation. This is the love principle that is able to transcend ethnic, racial, cultural and social barriers.”
Notably, Mars retrograde is opposing Venus, Pluto and the Galactic Core. The Mars-Pluto opposition can be forceful and needs to be handled carefully. The opposition emphasizes the diametrically opposed viewpoints we think of men and women as having. Given that the “female” side of the equation is conjunct God, Lust and Wisdom, and the “male” side is in Gemini, we need to remember that these two supposedly distinct viewpoints are not as simplistic as they may seem.
Mars conjuncts Centaur planet Cyllarus, who reminds us to be conscious of the choices we are making in our lives — particularly the choice to fight, or walk away from one. Cyllarus says that the decisions we make directly affect our relationships, and we need to be conscious of our choices in this context.
Mercury, which is already in its echo phase preparing for a retrograde, is in exact conjunction with Neptune in Aquarius. This can be an excellent aspect for artistic work, but also be associated with idealizing things or telling lies. Focus your creative on that which calls for it, and ride that Mercury conjunct Neptune to stations retrograde on Jan. 28.
Jupiter in Capricorn is in close trine to Saturn. This suggests that the two biggest planets — one representing structure (Saturn) and the other representing expansion (Jupiter) are working together. With a trine, we get the feeling of a door or energy pathway opening, and the planets can be mutually supportive.
All in all, we are in a doorway with this Full Moon represented by Pluto about to enter Capricorn, and being on the verge of two eclipses. Pay attention and transition gently. You have gained momentum, and now you can let the cosmic movement carry you through the opening.
Weekly Horoscope for Friday, January 18, 2008, #697 – By ERIC FRANCIS
Aries (March 20-April 19)
In just over a week from now, Mars stations direct in Gemini. When a planet stations, it changes its direction of movement relative to the Earth and this can put a strain on people and the situations we create. You appear to have come as far as you can in one particular direction of thought and reassessing your short-term goals and values. You may feel like you’ve waited long enough to put them into action. Other moving planets are sending you the message that indeed the time has arrived for you to engage certain long-term plans that, for whatever reason, have been put off on. Rather than analyze the delays, I suggest you focus on speaking up when you have an opinion, even if it means admitting you’ve changed your mind about a long-held belief. You will be doing a lot of that in the foreseeable future, so get used to it.
Taurus (April 19-May 20)
You’re coming up on some big moves. The soon-to-arrive nearly simultaneous sign changes of Venus (your ruling planet) and Pluto (everyone’s ruling planet) promise to carry you far from where you started on this very long phase of your journey. What these movements are telling me is that your most far-sighted visions and ideas have been something of a secret to you. Although it seems you’re now ready to hear what you’ve been keeping from yourself. Your future is a mansion with many rooms, and you’re now in the process of opening the first of those doors. You’re standing in a long corridor with numerous choices for where to go. Remember, you didn’t come here to wander in a hallway, and for your purposes now, it doesn’t really matter which door you select first — only that you choose.
Gemini (May 20-June 21)
You seem to be experimenting with a great diversity of beliefs, including a few about your mission in life. I mean this in the greatest possible sense. By now you have figured out that you arrived on this planet with a purpose, and in these very days and weeks, new information about that purpose is being revealed to you. However, I am wondering about why that is happening now. It seems that the actual thing you’re getting into contact with is your will. You seem to be deciding what you want. As a result of that — not the other way around — your sense of purpose is formulating in a meaningful, understandable way. Remember this moment any time you’re ever waiting around for the future to happen.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
You may not be sure what is troubling you, and you may not be sure what it was when it stops doing so. If you’re experiencing some kind of nameless fear, a hint of paranoia or a sense of conflict with yourself, stick with the feeling even (and especially) if you don’t understand it. The scenario may seem bigger than you; I assure you that it’s not; you are the boss. It’s just that you’re attempting to address a concern that is a bit thinner than air, or is something more appropriate to experience in a dream. This something is providing some excellent fuel for the imagination. That you’re not feeling 100% confident is a healthy sign, and there is wisdom to be found in your doubts. Listen carefully and you will learn something about yourself that verges on impossible to learn any other time.
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23)
With the amount of activity in your opposite sign Aquarius, you must be incredibly busy. Just be sure you’re busy with business and not with busy-ness. There is a fine line between the two, and much of what you don’t need to do is disguised as what you must urgently attend to. Think clearly, and avoid commitments that you’re not ready to make or are uncertain of their importance. Developments over the next few days are going to completely rearrange your priorities. They will convince you that you will need to go in a few other directions than the ones you’re currently planning. Meanwhile, this would be a good time to allow a friend to demonstrate his or her commitment to you, before you go out of your way to demonstrate your commitment to them.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
A professional development, that seemed to have been hung up for months, is about to come unstuck. When this happens, you may observe that someone you respected as an authority figure was concealing a less than wholesome side to their nature. That may have involved the fear of competition, jealousy or an opinion about something they were not sharing. This is not the end of the world, and what is more important than how you feel about someone else is how you feel about your own objectives. You’re resolving some doubts about what you want, but remember, most of them came from trying to decide whether or not what you wanted was attainable. That’s no way to size up a goal! Regardless, what you want is clearly something you’re capable of achieving.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)
Sometimes there are those moments in life when everything seems absolutely perfect, and you know it’s about to change. In those times, it’s helpful to recognize that the change is part of the perfection; and also that what we think of as perfection always has its flaws. That said, take in the moment, and ask yourself what process, long ago set in motion, is beginning to take root in your life. One trick to enjoying our brief journey on the planet, if I may be so bold as to propose such a thing, is to exist gently within an exquisite moment without clinging to it. That’s the option you have now. Anyway, the approaching changes will come on gradually, though certain events that set the process in motion may seem abrupt. Never forget the real goal, which is you cultivating a sense of safety on the planet, and one that is not based on how effective you are at barricading yourself in. Imagine living someplace where you don’t need to lock the doors.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
Much of your focus the past several months has involved renegotiating contracts, commitments and long-term involvements. You are about to discover what a great job you did. I can tell you now, before you figure it out (and without spoiling any surprises) that you have cleared the way for the next major phase of your life. Most of what holds us back are entanglements we don’t exactly understand and cannot, therefore, sort out. You figured this out a long time ago, though it’s taken some time and effort to understand the roots of these involvements, the mixed feelings and ambivalence involved. Now, at least, you’re in a conscious relationship with these things. It’s clear that you’re planning to be a lot more cautious before making bold promises or commitments in the future.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22)
Make yourself at home on the planet! You belong here. Pluto in your sign, which has lasted damn nearly forever, has made you question that fact more than once. But the benefit of this transit is that you have nudged, muscled and dynamited your way into your very own space on the planet. People actually accept you for who you are — there came a time in their lives when they decided it was ridiculous not to do so. They recognized something about you, and looked up to it: that being your longstanding commitment to your values. Now, you’re about to go on a journey investigating precisely that aspect of your being. You’re going to discover things about yourself that nobody else knows, and neither could they figure it out. You may fear that anything you uncover could cost you the respect of people you care about, but I sincerely doubt that it will.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
Enjoy this moment of profound transition. The more uncertain you are the better. The more you are wondering what is next, the more fun it will be discovering what it is. Or rather — discovering who and what you are. Pluto through Capricorn is a time of major adventure of becoming who you are, of discovering who you are, and experimenting with the impact you have on the world. But remember, existence is a relationship. You influence the world and it influences you. The membrane that normally separates the two is becoming mighty thin. It is true, you’re more vulnerable than usual, and at the same time, the people around you are feeling your influence more poignantly than ever.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
Put a flower in your hair. You’ll smell fresh, and people will smile at you. That’s how simple it is — sometimes. This is one of those times. No matter how complicated your life seems at the moment. Embrace the simplicity if your existence. Breathe in your commitment to change as the mere (and mighty) willingness to change. But more than anything, allow people to see, feel and be witness to who you are at your most honest. Remember that you experience your contradictions in an entirely different way than others do. You experience them as emotional conflict; others see them as character. You’re transparent — but not so transparent that people can look at your face and see your brain. Therefore, you can afford to have them see the most honest expression on your face. When someone looks you in the eyes, look back at them and relax.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Watch where you’re walking. Keep a little bag of sand on your belt, and when the going gets slippery, take charge and throw it on the ground. (Even a conscious visualization to this effect will work.) Do your best to back off from the fast-talking, hard-driving types; you don’t need them, and they don’t need you. Direct the course of your existence gently — at the moment. It’s subject to change, and that’s going to prove to be extremely helpful, if you use this opportunity consciously. You are lighting up on the inside; you are gaining self-knowledge and familiarity with your inner journey. This is a rare state in the world, and a delicate one. Beware of ice, drive like a professional, and when you see one of those yellow “Wet Floor” signs, assume it’s there as a personal message for you.