Dear Friend and Reader:
This weekend I made a discovery related to Tuesday’s chart for Mercury direct. This, of course, is the day of and therefore the chart for the U.S. election. As I’ve mentioned a few times, the last time Mercury stationed direct on Election Day was in 2000, when George W. Bush lost, but still took office.
Because he actually lost Florida, Bush lost both the electoral vote and the ‘popular’ vote (meaning the vote), but was inaugurated anyway. Democracy — ain’t it grand!
That was a genuinely extraordinary chart that I would love to teach in a mundane astrology seminar. Short story is, at the time the polls closed, Mercury was stationing direct conjunct asteroid Pallas (politics, law) in the very last arc minutes of the very last degree of Libra: hanging by a chad.
My old friend and very senior colleague, Jim Shawvan (famous for popularizing the phrases Mercury shadow and Mercury storm), predicted the events of the 2000 election as if he had copies of USA Today six months in advance. At least we had some entertaining astrology to help deflect the sting of Bush and Cheney stealing the election. It was not much consolation. But it was a great astrology lesson.
I remember that night. It felt like the bottom falling out of the world. Eleven months later was 9/11, the “galvanizing, Pearl Harbor-like event” at the outset of the 21st century. Then the bombing of Afghanistan. Then the bombing of Iraq, again.
Election Day 2020: Meet Asteroid (9248) Sauer
“I must have made it big, the crazies have found me!”
— Dr. Carl G Sauer, referencing Planet Waves, quoted in his obituary.
I’ve done a heck of a lot of work on the chart for 9/11, though in 2012, taking a fresh look at the chart, I made a new discovery. The well-known distinction of the 9/11 chart is that Mercury, the winged god, is rising to the degree at the time that the WTC North Tower was struck by Flight 11. More than a decade after the event, I put the chart under a microscope and discovered that there was an asteroid in there, exactly rising, exactly conjunct Mercury — (9248) Sauer.
Sauer? Was this the river in Belgium? Was it named for the gun manufacturer? Was it about sauerkraut? Or the patron saint of sauerbraten artisans? None of the above.
The asteroid was named for an American flight dynamics engineer named Dr. Carl G. Sauer. He worked for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory starting in 1952 — the private entity behind NASA, which is part of Caltech. Out of the rubble and the lies and the politics of a very strange airplane crash was the name of this revered figure in the history of aviation.
Sauer was no ordinary rocket scientist. His official bio says, “His work has included mission designs for advanced spacecraft propulsion systems, including solar electric ion propulsion, nuclear propulsion and solar sailing. His database of potential spacecraft trajectories to hundreds of comets and minor planets is an invaluable resource for mission design work at JPL.”
A flight dynamics engineer who understood how to get a spacecraft to an asteroid: imagine the mathematical steps, when you’re aiming for a moving rock so far away you can barely see it with a telescope — conjunct Mercury, rising, right at the moment the incident began, in Libra.
Sauer was so advanced at his work, and had made such a contribution to space travel system design, that he got his own little planet named after him. From that, I developed a delineation of (9248) Sauer: that which is engineered, and which flies on a carefully planned trajectory.
Over the weekend, I put the election chart under a microscope and made a discovery: Mercury stations direct exactly conjunct (9248) Sauer, in Libra. Here is what I would propose: what happens Tuesday has been planned, that is, engineered.
Let’s see how that works out. In the 9/11 chart, Mercury was exactly trine Saturn. The plan went brilliantly, for whomever designed it. In the 2020 election chart, Mercury is in a very close square to Saturn, and is stationary direct. I am certain there is a plan. In fact there are many plans. We spent three years investigating and litigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. We now also know about China and Iran. We know a lot more than that.
I am also confident that these various plans will unfold differently than they were designed. That will create an opening to shift the trajectory.
Mercury Direct is Square Saturn
When Mercury stations direct in Libra on Tuesday, it’s mixed up in the Aries-Capricorn alignment (that includes Mars and Eris in Aries, and Pallas, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn). The exact aspect is Mercury square Saturn, which happens Friday, Nov. 6.
That is providing a guardrail. Saturn can help set a limit or a boundary. It can also represent a delay, if in a square. Saturn is the latest planet out in this whole group; Mercury hooks the square by about one degree. Mercury will hang out there for a few days, while Tuesday’s mess is sorted out. The exact square represents an action, which I would propose is something getting kicked to the Supreme Court.
Then for the next week, through Nov. 13, Mars will gradually station direct, which happens concurrently with Jupiter conjunct Pluto. Jupiter can represent the justice system. Does that represent a decision? It just might.
So, prepare for a week or two of suspense. Who knows: it might be a landslide for someone. The thing is, with Mercury going direct that day, something works out other than according to the plan.
Mercury’s square to Saturn looks like another obstacle or object that affects the outcome. It’s a turning point, one in a series: Mercury direct, Mercury square Saturn, Jupiter conjunct Pluto, Mars direct.
Being at the precipice of so much astrology can feel suspenseful, though this is just the warm-up. The big event is when Jupiter forms a conjunction to Saturn on Dec. 21, the Northern Hemisphere winter solstice.
Whatever environment we may be in now, we will be in a different environment then. The technological endeavor known as “the internet” will once again become the focus and the frontier of life, in the world’s most epic drama of man versus machine. Only now the plan includes the project of including putting people on the internet of “things” by way of nanotechnology injections that report biometrics readable by devices.
The Quest to Remain Human
The quest in the next decade of our lives, dominated by Pluto in Aquarius, will be to remain human. We know from the work of Marshall McLuhan and other philosophers before him that people and societies become like the tools that they develop. Or said another way, we create our tools, and then they create us.
When we refer to a medium, we are talking about the underlying, invisible environment that is the vector of transmission of the information and services we receive. While the content and narratives we register consciously do tell us something, the underlying nature of the medium is more influential.
With the digital realm — which is artificial intelligence, which is virtual reality, now called virtual and enhanced reality, which is loosely synonymous with robotics — that underlying layer is made of zeros and ones — pure, cold binary.
If you’re wondering about the strange polarity we are seeing, which has an almost mechanical quality, consider the possibility that it’s an expression of binary code translated through the human experience. We are becoming like our tools, which have the property of doing what they are told, then flipping the script and telling us what to do. That is what a robot is: it follows the instructions of its programmer, until it seems to develop a mind of its own.
The United States has always been polarized, but not like we are seeing today. Americans have always been a little naive, but not like today. With our Puritan roots, we have always been a little distrustful of our bodies, but not like today. Americans could be persuaded of strange ideas, but not like today.
Take the Turing Test
The computer was invented by Alan Turing (1912-1954), a British mathematician who helped crack the German secret code during World War II. He had a way of anthropomorphizing his devices. He was a lonely man, and his creations kept him company. Even in the 1950s, he had the foresight to understand that computers could eventually be built that would not only mimic human presence, but be nearly indistinguishable from living people.
Turing invented something he called the “imitation game,” where a human is challenged to determine if he is dealing with a person or a machine. (Now called the Turing test, this was covered brilliantly in the 2014 film Ex Machina.)
We are rapidly becoming the products of our technology. There are some who would push that past all ethical, rational and necessary limits, purely because the human body and the human mind are the “final frontier” for their efforts.
It is not enough that exposure to technology has pushed us out of body. Now the plan is for our physical forms to be part of the internet itself. This includes placing humans onto the 5G internet, by injecting us with plasma that can be read by devices and WiFi signals, kind of like when you roll through E-ZPass.
The idea is that they don’t want to jam the thing up your nose; they want to just be able to scan people and see if they’ve had their most recent shot. Then you can get on the airplane. It is not enough to say this is too ridiculous to be true. Look at the technology that is emerging as I write.
I would propose that we subject ourselves to the Turing Test. When you feel and experience yourself, what do you think you are? Do you make your decisions through a process of deliberation, or do you follow an algorithm?
There are some robots walking around today who could convince themselves that they’re human, and some humans who aspire to be robots. Many who create the robot now know they work for it, rather than the other way around.
To some extent, I’m willing to work with AI (I am doing so right now, writing this), and I have no choice but to collaborate with programmers. I understand that I spend much of my day interacting with actual robots, such as Google and Facebook — as long as they follow the Three Laws of Robotics.
I’m just not willing to be one.
With love,
New Planet Waves TV on Mercury direct conjunct Sauer, its impact on the election and some notes on the isolation, purification of SARS-CoV-2 and PCR | November 2
Planet Waves (ISSN 1933-9135) is published each Monday and Thursday evening in Kingston, New York, Planet Waves, Inc. Core Community membership: $197/year. Editor & Publisher: Eric F. Coppolino. Web Developer: Anatoly Ryzhenko. News Editor: Spencer Stevens. Assistant Editor: Anna K. Ball, Joshua Halinen. Client Services: Amy Elliott and Victoria Emory. Illustrator: Lanvi Nguyen. Senior Finance Minister, First Cavalry of the Local Economy: Andrew Slater. Archivist: Morgan Francis. Video Editor: Cate Ryzhenko. Proofreading: Jessica Keet. Media Consultant: Andrew McLuhan. Music Director: Daniel Sternstein. Bass and Drums: Daniel Grimsland. Additional Music: Zeljko. Additional Research, Writing and Opinions: Rachel Chaput, Loreen Costa, Robin Dann, Yuko Katori, Kirsti Melto, Cindy Tice Ragusa, Abby Rohrer, and Carol van Strum.
On the Toxicity of Masks, From a HazMat Expert
By Guy Crittenden
I happen to know a thing or two about masks and safety. Why? Because for 25 years I was the editor of an award-winning trade magazine called HazMat Management that covered such topics as pollution prevention and compliance with health & safety laws. We routinely published articles on masks, gloves, respirators and other forms of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Now let me tell you a few things about that mask you’re wearing. And please note that what I’m about to share was also stated in the most recent edition of Del Bigtree’s program The Highwire when two OSHA mask experts spoke to the fact that the kinds of masks people are wearing were never (never!) designed to be worn for long periods and doing so is very harmful.
The blue typical mask depicted in the photograph contain Teflon and other chemicals. A Facebook friend reminds us: 1. Masks are “sterilized” with Ethylene Oxide — a known carcinogen. Many teachers in various school boards have been experiencing significant symptoms as a direct result of the effects of this chemical. 2. The masks contain (not sprayed with) PTFE which makes up Teflon along with other chemicals.
I found and have posted the US patent to allow manufacturers to use PTFE as a filter in commercial masks — “breathing these for extended periods can lead to lung cancer.”
Don’t agree? Argue with the experts at OSHA, which is the main US agency, i.e., its Occupational Health & Safety Agency.
These masks are meant to be worn only for short periods, like say if you’re sanding a table for an hour and don’t want to inhale sawdust. They don’t do anything whatsoever to stop the spread of any virus, and the emerging science of virology now understands that viruses aren’t even passed person to person.
I know that sounds incredible, but it’s the case that the virus is in the air, you breath it in, there’s no way to prevent that short of living in an oxygen tent, and if you have a strong immune system you’ll be fine, and if you have a weak immune system you may have to deal with the effects of your immune system working to restore balance within your metabolism.
So let’s say you don’t wear the blue packaged masks, and instead wear a homemade cloth mask — the kind people wear over and over and hang on their rearview mirror and so on.
Those masks are completely useless against a virus, and are also very dangerous. OSHA would never condone a person wearing a mask of this kind for anything more than the shortest time. Re-breathing your own viral and bacterial debris is dangerous to health. The oxygen deprivation children suffer wearing such masks all day will certainly cause brain damage. I’m not making this up.
Again, you might say, well, Guy, you’re not a doctor. True, but I did edit that magazine for 25 years. That’s a long time and many articles on masks and PPE. I’ve attended numerous occupational health and safety conferences and listened to experts discussing these matters.
You may hear people saying that surgeons and nurses wear masks like this all day. Um, no. No they don’t. They’re trained in the proper use of masks, which is to wear them in the OR, then dispose of the mask when they leave that room. Are you aware that operating rooms are actually supplied extra oxygen, to compensate for the reduction in oxygen flow from mask wearing? To my mind, it’s criminal (not hyperbole) to force children to wear masks all day. Setting aside the very real psychological effects, we’re going to have a generation of brain damaged children.
Ever heard the expression, “Not enough oxygen at birth?” That’s a joke at the expense of a mentally challenged person, but that’s literally what we’re doing. And we’re told it’s to “keep us safe”! We’re told this by doctors who actually don’t know about PPE and laypeople who have no clue.
So, you can choose to believe me or not, but I was the editor for a quarter century of a magazine that had a strong occupational health and safety mandate, and I can tell you that the mask wearing currently mandated by governments and private businesses offers no health benefit whatsoever, in no way protects you or anyone else from any virus, and actually does you damage beyond wearing it for a few minutes.
Coming Soon! News About All Of Us Here
In honor of Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius, the annual readings this year are called ALL OF US HERE. I will have information about this Friday or Saturday when the pre-order begins. I am planning to have your extended audio readings (with a video introduction wherein I describe the charts) done by Dec. 21, the day of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction. There is also a separate written reading called AN AQUARIAN ERA, which covers 2021-2023. Many of you are already subscribers. I am still working out the schedule for AN AQUARIAN ERA.
Chiron Return, our nonprofit arm, publishes Covid19 News every day, in fact several times a day. We have updated about 800 times since we began publishing on March 3. This old-style news weblog takes a panoramic view of the virus situation. We offer news and viewpoints from a wide diversity of sources, science news, international reporting, videos and other resources to help you see the wide diversity of information not making it onto television or major websites. We are tracking the vaccine and testing issues carefully.
Each Friday night, Chiron Return publishes Planet Waves FM. Running since 2010, with roots into Radio Woodstock in the 1990s, Planet Waves FM covers current events, current astrology, science history, personal growth and other themes. Includes music by Vision Quest, the in-house Planet Waves orchestra.
Planet Waves publishes daily astrology and birthdays through the week. This feature includes a daily extended birthday reading and ongoing commentaries on developing astrology as it happens. Check in whenever you want — no password required.
Every week or so, I do a new edition of Planet Waves TV. Usually these focus an astrological topic or chart in detail. After initially being resistant to video, I now love doing these. The more people click on them the more I will do — and I am interested in your suggestions. The link to PlanetWaves.TV redirects to our YouTube channel for easy access. We also post to Facebook, to our front page, and include one with the weekly newsletter.
Going back to February, I’ve developed a portfolio of essays, investigative articles, videos and audio presentations on the Covid situation. These include articles about the astrology of the situation, hand sanitizer, holistic care, social critique and a wide diversity of other topics. We’ve recently added a selection of my satires, such as CDC guidance on blowing kisses. This is a truly comprehensive look at the issues, written from a worldly, nonpolitical standpoint. Here is the link.
Monthly Horoscopes and Publishing Schedule Notes
Your extended monthly horoscope for November was published on Thursday, Oct. 29. We published your extended monthly horoscope for October on Thursday, Oct. 1. Please note: we normally publish the extended monthly horoscope after the Sun has entered a new sign.
Monday Evening Horoscope #251 for November 2, 2020 | By Eric Francis Coppolino
Aries (March 20-April 19) — Do not be too eager to move forward with your plans when Mercury stations direct on Tuesday. Mars, your ruling planet, is still retrograde until the 13th. You will have a whole other perspective at that point, and many more options available than the ones you see today. You may feel some temptation to act on something important this week, potentially a sensitive matter involving a relationship. However, all the next moves belong to someone else; this is not checkers, where you take turns. Rather, be observant, and listen, listen, listen. Listen for what people close to you say they’re planning and intending to do. Notice how they solve their problems, or attempt to do so. This phase of the discussion is not about you, so be careful not to take on what is not your own. Wait for events closer to the 13th, when Jupiter meets Pluto in your house of professional activity, and when Mars stations direct in your sign or rising sign. That is your signal to get into position but not move in a lurch. Move slowly and consciously, one decision at a time.
Taurus (April 19-May 20) — This past weekend’s Full Moon in your birth sign provided you with a jolt or shakeup of some kind. The dust is not only not done settling, it’s still getting churned up by events in Libra and Aries. These may seem to be slightly off your radar, though you must watch events as they unfold, because they are likely to at least influence you, directly or indirectly. Hang loose until Mars stations direct; this event will help you figure out where you stand with yourself more than with others — that is what you really need to know. There is something troubling you, a kind of inner irritant. This is rooted in some of your worst fears, and issues that have been following you around for a long time. You may not fully understand them yet, but if you do know some of the territory, you can go deeper into understanding your situation. In these days, you can make discoveries about guilt, anger and resentment that change your life, and help you get closer to the people you love, and who love you — if that is what you want. Your pain serves only to distance you from others.
Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Mercury stations direct Tuesday, though this is unlikely to be the usual all-green, spring forward variety. I suggest you be more cautious than usual. Your situation is not as complex as it may seem, though it’s taking place in your 5th solar house, Libra. This is the place where “one thing leads to another,” where decisions can have unintended consequences — which can cause difficulties, be brilliantly creative, or both. Give Mercury direct some time to gather momentum, and while you’re doing that, pay attention to your public flank. That would be Aries, where Mars is stationing direct over the next 10 days or so. At the moment we are all living in the echo chamber, hall of mirrors and circus of distractions known as the digital realm. Your role here can be significant, and you have more influence than you may think. You can also misread the signals, and misjudge public opinion, including that of your friends. And this could have some damaging results. I’m not saying keep quiet. I’m saying keep your ears on and get a sense not just of the weather but of how rapidly it’s changing. In fact, we are approaching “Opposite Day.” Many will be confused. Do not fall for it.
Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You seem to be in a professional situation that is balanced on a ledge. Though this is causing you some stress, it’s not all as bad as it may seem. The key, the very key, is to maintain your balance while you figure out the way forward. Balance means in your relationships, and in your various circumstances. You don’t need to throw your weight around; you barely need to shift your weight. Leaning into the situation is the right approach. Your mere presence will have an influence, so the only thing you need to signal is that you’re aware. It’s important that you not take the role of the ‘enforcer’. Keep that in the background, and delay taking any decisive action with people in your life, whomever they might be. However, you must be particularly careful with both employees and bosses. The crux of the matter involves power relationships, and there is a turning point when Mars stations direct on Nov. 13. At the moment, the way to maintain your power in those situations is to be a bit of the man behind the curtain. You will know people are wondering what you’re thinking if they ask you how they can help, and ask you to decide how.
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — The life you’re living now is different from the one you’ll be living in three months. You might not think that much could change that fast, though hindsight will tell. Now, however, is the time to be centered in the moment and to look ahead. Perhaps you’re familiar with the ‘wrap up loose business and plan your intentions’ quality toward the end of the lunar cycle, or during Mercury retrograde. Think of what’s happening now as the run-up to a New Moon that only happens once every 20 years. Someone might experience this three or four times in a lifetime. (By coincidence, they happen close to or directly within even zero years — 1960, 1980, 2000, 2020.) Yet this one is the most directly connected to you and your circumstances, particularly your relationships and your relationship to your environment (meaning, your surroundings in any sense of the idea). You’re about to live in a larger world, with more options than you’re accustomed to. This comes along with an increase in your responsibilities, which may at first feel like pressure. You’re accustomed to taking on a lot. However, the so-called civilized world has never needed leadership as much as it does today. You are on the team.
Tailored for Virgo Sun and rising, this new audio reading by Eric Francis introduces you to your astrology through the autumn of 2021. We will take maximum advantage of the power you are drawing from the Earth signs at the time of your solar return: Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, as well as Uranus in Taurus. This is a grand earth trine, and the thing to do is gather momentum in the direction you want to go, and then point yourself there. Eric describes the influence of Jupiter and Saturn ingressing Aquarius later this year. The reading looks closely at Chiron in Aries, accompanied by Mars retrograde in Aries — your most important relationship house. Now with full transcript. Order now for instant access. This reading is included with the Backstage Pass.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You can begin this week to work out certain financial issues that have been troubling you, though part of this is invested in a relationship or partnership of some kind. That will take time to work out, and it calls for both understanding and a measure of compromise. Bear in mind your identity is invested in a situation that is calling for you to be independent — within that scenario. This is not about revolting but rather understanding. Independence is not about a showdown. It’s more about showing up, and also knowing where the line is between you and another person. One of the distinctions of Virgo is the tendency of those with this sign strongly placed (Moon, Sun, rising, Chiron) to invest their reality in another person. Then when you grow out of that context, you become more independent, and seek to define your new reality through that independence. Then you tend to repeat the cycle. With the presence of Chiron in Aries, you are outgrowing this approach. It is being replaced with a more holistic point of view. Your life is about you, now, and the people in your life now. You are your own person and they are theirs. That’s the way it’s always been.
Notes to Myself is Ready | Astrology Studio for Libra
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Mercury stations direct in your birth sign Tuesday, which comes with a revelation or a discovery of some kind. Yet don’t take it too seriously, or rather, take it seriously enough to test it out for about a month or so. We live in the time when a hypothesis is confused with the scientifically established fact. That’s another way of saying a theory is often confused with the proven idea it might lead to. This is a mistake to avoid, and you can do so easily. Keep fact-checking yourself. That’s the “how do I know that?” meditation. Just keep asking yourself that. It’s much more fun than a video game. You will start to see how much of what you rely on is merely an assumption rather than knowledge. And as you exchange your suppositions for factually grounded analysis, you will feel better about yourself. You’ll feel solid in ways that you rarely do. You will have better leverage when it comes to making decisions. And you will not feel so much at the mercy of other people’s decisions. It’s also fair to ask them: how do you know that?
The Scorpio File: Astrology Studio 2020
What’s in the Scorpio file? Does anyone really know? This year for your solar return, Mercury is retrograde in your sign. Adding to the mystery, Mars, your classical ruling planet, is retrograde in Aries, about to station direct. Then Jupiter forms a conjunction with Pluto, which takes the story to the level of your soul’s mission on Earth. In this 76-minute astrology reading, Eric Francis unravels the secrets of your sign, and helps you guide yourself through this strange new time we are living in. Price is $44. Original music by Vision Quest. Get instant access here!
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Tuesday’s Mercury station direct takes place in an angle of your chart that focuses the question: what do you allow yourself to think? And if you don’t allow something, how exactly do you disallow it? What is your method of enforcement? This can go so far that people can live in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, or their own Private Idaho. Please don’t go there. Yes, you have the capacity to, because you have such a strong and creative mind. Yet at this stage of your life it’s time to commit yourself to understanding your personal truth, and living as if it were true. Both count. Whatever your mind is conjuring up at the moment is going to pass through a filter that we could call a reality check. You may ask yourself if what you’re considering or thinking is true. You might tell yourself that it’s not. Frame the question another way, or work the analysis out differently. You may not get a different answer, but you will advance your thinking on the issue. Think of this as a filtration process. Be as objective as you can be and let the facts lead you where they will.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You may sense that some tremendous change is coming, though one way to describe this is to say you’re aligning with your personal truth. Your underlying reality is not changing much. Rather, you’re catching up with yourself on a journey long in motion. Ultimately this comes down to your priorities. That’s another way of saying your agenda. What typically happens is that people allow others to set their agenda for them, usually connected to some form of obligation. You might ask yourself: if you suddenly found yourself freed from all of your commitments, what would you do? You might choose some of them again immediately. Others, you might dispense with and never miss them. Yet some things you would never miss offer the greatest promise of growth, strength and expression of your potential. Some things you want, you don’t need much and would not miss. Think of the next few weeks as a time of sorting your desires from your needs, sorting your expectations from what you understand to be the potential product of a valid agreement. More than anything, ask yourself what you want, and ask the question every day of your life.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — A professional situation that seemed stuck the past couple of weeks will resolve itself, and be revealed as the consequence of a misunderstanding. The question is, what was the source of that confusion? You could size this up several ways, though I suggest you begin with how things might have gone differently if you’d had more confidence in yourself. Did you balk or falter or hesitate to stand up for yourself at any point along the way? If so, what did that feel like at the time? My hunch is that there’s something going on about confidence related to whether your family will accept you as you are. This then translates into many other situations in your life. It’s important that you spend some of your time around people you’re certain accept you, though of course, this is always subject to various tests of circumstance. You might one day say something that others decide does not fit their particular bill. It is, however, equally important that you learn how to conduct yourself where you fear that others might not approve of you, your politics, your sexuality, your opinions or whatever. Simply put, you must be a bigger person than all of that. And you are.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — If you want to reach people with an idea, that must be your intent, and also built into the design scheme. It’s easy to envision something you see as beautiful. That does not mean you will reach others the way you want — and that may not be its purpose. But when this becomes the focus, when you know your need is to connect, then that calls for special practices to ensure you’re coming across. I was once writing an investigative article after five years of research and reporting. I would print the article, copy it 10 times, and give it out to people in the neighborhood — friends, shopkeepers, street urchins, and ask them to read it, and tell them I would be back in an hour. I would then ask what they read. Based on what they got wrong, I would rewrite the piece to make it stronger, clearer, easier to follow. Sometimes you need to leave out details. Sometimes one perfect detail gets the result you want. Getting an effect or a result is as much about others as it is about you. For that to work, you need to tune into where others are coming from. This is not about ‘pure art’. It’s about communication.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — A situation involving a joint financial interest or venture may have been delayed or stuck, symbolized by Mercury retrograde in your house of shared resources. There were communication issues that needed to be worked out, though some of those involved you giving up certain oversight roles that you now need to reclaim. Ask yourself, as well, whose vision is being created; in this, and anything that you are doing now. You are naturally the collaborative type, and you’re often willing to compromise to keep people involved, or because you think they may be more qualified. What you find, over and over, is that you know what you’re doing while others do not always come close to meeting that distinction. Keep this in mind as you meet and engage with people this week. Meanwhile, Mars is getting ready to station direct in your 2nd solar house, Aries. That will also help your cash flow, and now is the time to prepare for this by getting your business affairs and plans in order, pronto. The world has changed, particularly where business is concerned. Deal yourself into the game.