“That’s not the way the world really works anymore. We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”
— Karl Rove, advisor to George W. Bush, 2004

Pholus and the Pandemic of Panic

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New York, Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020

Dear Friend and Reader:

All of a sudden, the “novel” coronavirus is exploding into the news. That’s an interesting name — it does feel like it’s the plot from a novel: a government that has spent years getting rid of its scientists, deleting data from its websites and blocking access to health care is suddenly confronted by a global medical and scientific crisis.

Who would possibly have thunk such a thing were possible? How big a crisis, we don’t know. Sometimes that is a matter of how well public officials charged with the responsibility of averting the crisis handle things. Is this the moment of reckoning, when reality catches up with “history’s actors” and their cult of fantasy?

Wednesday’s press conference was something special. It was two of those “separate reality” bubbles overlapping one another: Trump telling the nation that the virus will magically go away.

Then, the venerated Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), explaining how complex the situation is, and describing the challenges of creating a vaccine.

As Dr. Fauci spoke, Trump’s attention seemed to wander and drift like a puppy who got into the pot candy, only less adorable. Or happy. Or harmless. He seemed to not be listening, or to be even meekly comprehending what Dr. Fauci was saying. Who cares anyway? He’s just one of those deep state scientists trying to take him down.

That things are getting real, very real, is indicated by the blood pressure of capitalism, the stock market. As of this writing Friday afternoon, the front of The New York Times was informing us rather loudly: “Market Plunge Deepens as Cornoavirus Spreads to 53 Nations.”

A selloff the past 10 days has driven stock markets down, resulting among other things in the biggest one-day drop in market history; we are in the worst financial incident since 2008. [Please see my clarification here; opens in newsletter format.]

The President revealed his true role when he assured the nation that the stock market would recover. Forget about all the infected patients. I know it’s not funny, but I’m sitting here laughing. Also, Trump claimed that half of the reason for the stock market dive was people’s fear that a Democrat might get elected president, instilled by the televised debate the previous night. Whatever it takes!

We got trouble! Right here in River City! C’mon snap your fingers everybody! Trouble! Trouble! Trouble! With a capital T and that rhymes with P…

The Dancing Skeleton

This is the resplendent beauty of Donald Trump: he exposes the presidency, our political system and our economic system, for exactly what they are. He exposes with every gesture not just the bald abuse of power, but how for him power is everything. “Late stage capitalism” is a dancing skeleton.

I am difficult to confuse; I have solid bearings, and yet I find his aggressive imposition of another reality a bit disorienting. For instance, I’m afraid to say the word Republican.

Excuse me for a moment while I do some self-therapy. Republican. REPUBLICAN. Republican. Republican. Republican. Say it enough times and it seems like a really weird word, like “chicken.” Say “chicken” enough times and you won’t want to eat it again. Go ahead, try it.

So yeah, Republican. Dismantlers of health care. Obsessive adopters of abortion bans. Climate change deniers. Science deniers. Obstructers of justice! Federalist Society Fellaters! Tax cuts for the extremely wealthy! Over and over again! Who put Mexican kids in cages and lose track of who their parents are. The party that has stolen every presidential election they’ve “won” since Tricky Dick ruining the Vietnam peace talks in 1968. And the very people who are currently dismantling the administrative state, just when we need it the most.

The people who are doing every last thing they can to break the government beyond any hope of repair or recognition.

Now let’s try Democrat. Democrat! Democrat! Codependent enablers! Corporate shills! Ultra-centrist radicals! Riggers of primaries! Look! It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s all those Superdelegates!

Who will throw their bodies into the party machine to Stop Bernie Sanders At Any And All Cost! Get The Gas Can! Get The Matches! Bern The Convention Center Down!!!

Cities in China and some in Europe are deserted, people are canceling vacations, supply lines are being disrupted, schools in Japan are closed, and the Olympics might be canceled.

Coronavirus is a Problem

Deadlier than the “seasonal flu” (a topic I still don’t understand), less deadly than H1N1 of 1918, COVID-19 (also called 2019-nCoV) now has approximately 10% of the world population under travel ban or quarantine (mostly in China, in one large region). The virus is now present on every continent except Antarctica. The first death in the United States is reported, and there are cases on the West Coast where there is no transmission path back to someone who has traveled to a region where the virus is known to be present.

At press time, Worldometer is reporting 84,174 cases, 2,376 deaths, and 36,883 patients recovered. This is obviously a vast understatement — it’s a count of the known and reported incidents. It has a long incubation period, during which it can be spread, according to deep state, allegedly partisan virologists immunologists. Corona is a weird virus in that one can get it a second time, and I’ve read that in that case the illness is worse.

Is the virus a biological weapon? Did it come out of a lab? Right in Wuhan? Is 5G millimeter wave technology involved? Is Wuhan really a major test city for 5G technology? I do not consider these unreasonable questions. They might not be reasonable statements at this time, but as questions, they are acceptable, and they have a basis in reality.

And how about this, reported by the South China Morning Post:

“The new coronavirus has an HIV-like mutation that means its ability to bind with human cells could be up to 1,000 times as strong as the SARS virus, according to new research by scientists in China and Europe.

“The discovery could help to explain not only how the infection has spread but also where it came from and how best to fight it.

“Scientists showed that SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) entered the human body by binding with a receptor protein called ACE2 on a cell membrane. And some early studies suggested that the new coronavirus, which shares about 80 per cent of the genetic structure of SARS, might follow a similar path.”

Cities in China and some in Europe are deserted, people are canceling vacations, supply lines are being disrupted, schools in Japan are closed, and the Olympics might be canceled.

We are getting a real-time test of how fragile the world is: its delicate systems, its economy, its communities.

We are getting a look at how unprepared we are for this kind of emergency, which has been waiting to happen. Does anyone remember books? There was one called The Stand by Stephen King, which seems eminently plausible: a virus jar gets out, and kills everyone except those with natural immunity.

When people worry about coronavirus, the thing worried about is death. Potentially on a very large scale, but certainly on an individual one. When any public health official speaks of the flu or any pandemic, they are aware, right off to the side of their mind, of the H1N1 incident of 1918, that killed some 85 million people, particularly attacking the young. H1N1 went after those with strong immune systems.

A Confrontation With Death

Whatever the economic, social and political implications may be, we are getting a confrontation with death. collective and individual. That this disease is so virulent and also kills about 2% of those infected is a very high mortality rate. Contrast with the murder rate of 5 per 100,000 in the United States. COVID-19 is 2,000 per 100,000. That is enough to take personally.

We in the United States do a lot of killing here, there and everywhere, you know atomic bombs and Vietnam and Iraq and Afghanistan and mass shootings and handgun killings and suicide and all of that. That and we sure like to go to the movies and watch people die.

But death, itself? That is a taboo subject. Many people are privately terrified, but in death we have a topic avoided in conversation more diligently than “my real feelings about oral sex.” Can you imagine having a Death Salon in your living room once a month? I cuddle my dogs and shiver at the thought of ever putting them down. This is not just difficult subject matter; it is made more difficult by our lack of experience with honest discussion and planning.

The confrontation with death element is reflected in the conjunction of Saturn and Pluto (the two planets officially and archetypally associated with death) in Grim Reaperish Capricorn. I didn’t see the megadeath angle covered anywhere, nor was I willing to break the ice. Then there is the approaching series of conjunctions between Jupiter and Pluto. These will magnify plutonian themes one way or the other: obsession with mortality, or spiritual wisdom and growth.

Public health officials know full well that there is very little they can do to stop an epidemic or pandemic like this one. So they stand around and look important and speak in expertly tones.

When people worry about coronavirus, the thing worried about is death. Potentially on a very large scale, but certainly on an individual one. When any public health official speaks of the flu or any pandemic, they are aware, right off to the side of their mind, of the H1N1 incident of 1918, that killed some 85 million people, particularly attacking the young. H1N1 went after those with strong immune systems.

Most viruses go after people with weak immune systems, which includes a lot of individuals right now — from stress, from lack of self-care, from allergies, from medication (many people are in drugs that specifically suppress their immune systems), from being older, from illnesses, from antibiotic-laced food, from eating chemical-based foods and so on. That is the thing that concerns me.

Public health officials know full well that there is very little they can do to stop an epidemic or pandemic like this one. So they stand around and look important and speak in expertly tones.

We hear a lot about washing one’s hands, and avoiding hand-mouth contact — that is quite literally your first and best line of defense. A century after H1N1, that is the best we can do, and fortunately it’s pretty good. Stop sneezing on people. Wash your hands. Hand “sanitizer” does not count, and I am aware of ongoing research that says it backfires; that it makes matters worse. The worst thing about hand “sanitizer” is that people who use it are less prone to wash their hands. Many do so for psychological edification — to feel better!

Whenever I sit down to dinner in a restaurant, I seem to be the only one in the group who comes in from public space and washes my hands. To me this seems like common sense. But it’s funny, I don’t see other people doing it.

Then there are those bathroom studies, where the observer stands primping in the mirror for several hours, and counts the number of people who handle their genitals and dig into their ass and walk past the observer without washing their hands — and return to work or to dine, in a restaurant. This is how disease spreads. And to think Americans and Europeans think they are obsessed with being sanitary!

Notes (and Photos) from China

In the United States, people are so economically stressed that they come to work while they are sick. And in my experience, Americans get sick a lot.

You may have noticed a lot of beautiful photos showing up on Planet Waves the past few years. Those were all taken by a photographer named Lanvi Nguyen, mostly in Asia. She worked in China for a few years.

I will spare you her description of marketplaces, and of human interaction with and consumption of “novel” animals. Many viruses gain their power by jumping from species to species. Coronavirus, along with many SARS-type infections, are believed to come from human interaction with bats, potentially including consumption of bats.

She recently sent this to our editor’s list, about how she handled herself while there:

“I will share with you that I would dodge every stream of liquid that I come across on the streets and sidewalks, because if you follow those trails of liquid, you will find at the other end of it, garbage, human waste both solid and liquid, or something raw and butchered. It became a game, to dodge and try not to step on any dark marks on the streets because of the stench and the sour foul smell of decay and waste and pollution heavy in the air. I would strip clean every piece of clothes and garment after walking outside and scrub and wash my shoes daily, or at least every other day. Shower, thorough cleansing of orifices like nose and eyes was mandatory after every excursion outside. I would touch nothing, or as minimal as possible, when outdoors.”

Many American cities are not so different.

My assessment is that Chiron in its square aspect is serving as a pressure valve for Pholus. We don’t want whatever it represents all at once, and we don’t want it to build up. Chiron is letting off the heat a little at a time.

One Glimpse at the Astrology: Chiron square Pholus

Let’s bring some astrology into the discussion. (In another article I will sum up the astrology upon which the horoscope below is based; most of them happen around March 21 and into April, so we have a minute for that.

The astrology of this mess is Chiron square Pholus.

These are the first two centaurs (discovered 1977 and 1992 respectively), and are in a square aspect, 90 degrees, exact and getting exacter, aligning on March 8. (This happens at the Virgo Full Moon and just as Mercury stations direct in Pisces.)

A square aspect is close to maximum dynamic. It is an inner confrontation that wants to express itself outwardly. It’s like a thing about to pop. Squares also have great integrity; the manmade world is made of them: tables and buildings and the chassis of vehicles and all that.

We are currently in the seventh exact square between these two extremely potent energies, which have been dancing around in this aspect since July 2016 — in case you forgot, the year that Trump was elected in what seemed like an out of control situation — the “Trumpster fire.”

Many events in this era have had the signature mark of Pholus: the runaway reaction. Pholus has a few interesting properties, detailed here, but things going out of control is the big one. It’s the energy of the chemical reactor that explodes or the mass shooting or the thing that won’t end. It’s the nothing can stop it Trump campaign. It’s the “MeToo” movement going on and on and on, seeming to have a life of its own.

It’s the metaphoric or literal genie coming out of the bottle. Eventually these things all run out of steam. Nothing is bestowed with perpetual motion, including the entire physical universe, whose stars will eventually all burn out, adorning every sky (such as they still exist) with black holes.

One key concept of Pholus is the “small cause with the big effect.” A little prevention goes a long way; one broken bottle can cause a global crisis.

Chiron, the other leg of the square, is the teacher, the mentor and the healer. He can be a provocateur. It’s also the element that brings things to the surface, such as the latent injury or feeling. So one energetic property of Chiron is that it can provoke a crisis. This can work on the level of the healing crisis, or the initiation and the thing that teaches the lesson through direct experience. If mishandled, it can be a real disaster.

My assessment is that Chiron in its square aspect is serving as a pressure valve for Pholus. We don’t want whatever it represents all at once, and we don’t want it to build up. Chiron is letting off the heat a little at a time. What we are seeing in many events related to this aspect is the mitigated version of the karma.

I for one am relieved to know that the last of the seven exact squares occurs March 8 (the last near miss is Jan. 24, 2021). But at the moment, this string is getting plucked and plucked good. It’s eventually going to run out of energy. So too are a lot of things that have their origin since 2016.

Still, that is no excuse not to take the lesson.

You know, wash your hands and don’t eat bats and appreciate your friends right now.

With love,

— Additional research: Amy Elliott, Victoria Emory, Yuko Katori, Cindy Ragusa, Melanie Reinhart, Carol van Strum.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — The Sun’s ingress into your sign March 19 sparks up your drive for individuality. This is mostly about the Sun’s conjunction to Chiron, the one planet that is not afraid to stand out. Yet being oneself demands actual courage, because there is so much pressure placed on all of us to fall in line and to go with the mob. People often struggle to stand up even to their closest friends on matters of deep personal importance. Usually, it’s easier to be quiet and pretend to agree, and this is not going to work. The Sun’s transit through your sign presents an adventure for everyone, particularly for you, and this will be encrypted into your year-ahead chart (called your solar return). At every corner, you will be faced with some version of the same question: do you have the guts to speak up, or to break from the crowd and do your thing? This is about living your truth: no small matter. You may find a greater sense of independence when Saturn enters Aquarius on the 21st, which will serve to put a boundary between you and those you relate to. This begins a long (three year) experiment in redefining yourself in the context of any and all groups; any and all communities. The general trend will be away from the digital sphere and toward the physical sphere. We all know it can be a little strange finally meeting someone in person whom you’ve known for years as an online friend. Now, imagine that multiplied by the whole world.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You have not made up your mind about a great many important matters in your life, nor do you have a clear vision of the future. Yet you’re in an excellent position to be at peace with this, and to take developments as they come. Remember that as far as re-envisioning your life is concerned, the only thing that can change is you. Your plans do not depend on the world changing, or rather, they cannot. One thing you tend to struggle with is changing your beliefs. This, in turn, relates to difficulty seeing what they are. You can only challenge an assumption if you catch yourself making it. And you would only do so if you thought that in challenging yourself you would gain more than you would lose. Anyway, the next few weeks will present you with many opportunities to question what you believe. This may come in the form of others who confront you in ways that may seem deeply personal or inappropriate. You may feel like someone is trying to prove you wrong. However, I suggest you remember your flexibility, which is your most important ally at this time of transformation in your life. Keep in mind how at times you’ve altered your views, seemingly pivoting on a twopence piece. You have been thinking certain matters through over and over again. When Venus enters your sign on March 4, you will have a better sense of where you stand with yourself, and then soon after will make a discovery about yourself more radical than what anyone else might say.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Mercury retrograde has been making it difficult to get a grip on certain professional matters and relationships for the past few weeks. Yet through the month, you’re likely to see how any delays or derailments you experienced will have worked to your benefit. However, you have some ground to cover between now and March 9 when Mercury changes directions. Don’t just bide your time; prepare for the future. If you are working on a concept to expand your business and financial horizons, take your time and get it right. Work through your plan several times before taking action. Be open to modifying your concept and your agenda several times, rather than falling in love with your idea in its original form. It’s true that sometimes the first thought is the best thought, and yet often there is something of the original in the later iterations. In any event the first concept will set you on your path. However, around the time that Mercury stations direct, you will be doing your very best and most intuitive thinking. This is why I suggest you hold off taking any action, other than on the research and development level. Make sure you honor the refinement process even for those ideas. The astrology suggests you might be in a rush, when that would not be helpful and is not necessary. Your ideas are good enough to warrant patience, and to take them to a few additional levels of depth. Remember, too, that reputations are built gradually over time.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You may be addressing all manner of confrontation and adversity, some of it blatant, some of it subtle. You’ve probably been wondering what’s up. Better things are happening than you may imagine. Your environment may be putting up resistance now, though that is about to change. Don’t hold your breath, though. Keep breathing. Every one of these overt and covert dances with aggression contains information for you. Some will describe what you need. Others will describe what you don’t need. A few will give you ideas about what changes you need to make. Consider that everything has, at minimum, information value. Mars has been causing some irritation in your relationship house, and will be doing so for a while longer. Do not take negative opinions as any kind of consensus, but listen to them, and see if you can get a sense of where the person is coming from. They are likely to be saying more about themselves than they are about you, though you still want to know that. Large developments are on the horizon; there is energy moving, which will begin to make itself known in more obvious ways amidst a tight cluster of developments around March 7-10. This is just the warm-up. Two things happen at the time of the equinox: the Sun illuminates your career angle, and Saturn enters your house of commitment. This will help solidify new commitments and agreements, and help you gain the visibility that you need. Persist in your efforts. Soon it will be new players in a whole new game.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You must be meticulous in your self-care the next few weeks. You have energy, and at the same time, there are high demands on your energy. So you must work to stay in balance, and to not let anything go out of control. Watch the road, be vigilant about weather conditions, and watch your speed. Ideally you will be depending on the strength of your ideas rather than your time and your labor. Yet when something needs to be done, it may serve your efficiency to do it yourself rather than to delegate to anyone else, that is, unless you’re certain they’re better at the task than you are. You may finally begin to encounter worthy collaborators toward the end of the month, when Saturn makes its way into your opposite sign Aquarius. This is a kind of homecoming for you — a reconciliation with those you may consider your equals. Don’t rush to any conclusions; give people time to demonstrate their commitment and their abilities. Not everyone will make the cut, which is just fine. Not everyone has to, though you need to be discerning and notice who is helpful. Some people currently in your life will go their own way, as one of the primary functions of Saturn is clearing space. Remember at all times that in the first instance, it is your ideas that bestow the mantle of leadership on you. And close behind it is your depth of commitment. Look for the most complex problems and then use your intelligence to develop efficient solutions that actually shift the dynamics of your situation. By this, I mean actual results.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Creativity is only worth something if it has a job to do. It does not matter whether that job is a sculpture, a painting or solving a global problem. Therefore, do not be enamored of your own fountain of brilliance; rather engage yourself in finding a way through the maze that is your existence at the moment. Then work yourself into a position where you depend on your intellectual gifts because you need to. Skip the credit, the accolades and even the notion of being respected, and get down to the business at hand. Beware that there may be distractions in the form of “well-meaning” others who can sing, dance and twirl fire. Excuse yourself to another room, or advise them of the policy about no open flame. In general, the less you do with others the better — stick to what you can do for them, preferably that only you can do. Ideally, you will be in the position of weaving together the strands of a project or enterprise. Try on the notion that there is a right way to do things, and you have to find it. This will call for a series of modest experiments (and a few bold ones) that gradually morph into the right shape. You will know you’re heading in a productive direction because you will actively learn approaches that you apply. You will identify problems you solve, that ease the way. Group activities will become more efficient and tend toward simpler transactions. Notice and unravel your own tendency to overthink and overcomplicate.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Saturn entering Aquarius this month signifies a deliverance from your persistent self-confidence issues. The question remains whether you had a reason to feel like you’ve been living on shaky ground for so long, or you were merely caught in an emotional loop. The answer is probably both, though there is one crucial factor involved: somehow thinking you need the approval of your family to do what you want to do. This kind of insecurity often ends up being used as an excuse to avoid your desires and your talents, and is a good fodder for therapy that goes on for years and years. There comes a time, rapidly approaching, when you have to break some rules, and be determined to flunk the purity test. Rest assured that very few people actually care, and if they claim to care, it’s none of their business. Your life is now about honoring your plans and motives, or that must be central to your design scheme. Others will try to get your attention and insist that their priorities are the real ones for you to follow. You must resist these lobbying efforts, particularly at work. Events between March 4 and March 16 will provide the opportunity for you to focus efforts, with enough time to stabilize your work flow, get into a rhythm and have the feeling of accomplishment. Then hold that rhythm until Saturn changes signs on the 21st, and you will begin a whole new experiment in something truly impressive — not being distracted by the agendas of others, whether real or imagined.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — It is often hilarious what passes for originality — that thing everyone has heard about or done countless times. You know: the sandwich, the action thriller, the codependent love song. It’s time for you to stick out your thumb, or pack your bicycle, and head for the open road. It’s time to ascend to the high peaks of the mind, and see the landscape that few ever get to witness. To do this, you’ll need to leave something behind, which is a mentality you’ve dragged around for years, and which is an inherited item. You won’t know how good this feels until you do it, so I suggest you encourage yourself, and give yourself a push, and get out the door. If you cannot forget what other people think, then be a little aggressive about not caring. Or hand it back rebelliously. If you catch yourself seeking approval — of anyone, friends, family, colleagues, your partner, whomever — do your best to persist. This is not an easy thing to do in 2020, where it’s natural to worry about being canceled if you don’t have the same tattoo and the same ‘ideas’ as everyone else. However, new and different things are about to happen. It’s up to you whether you decide to stay home and feel insecure, or get out the door, and the door of your mind, and find out what the universe is made of. This is a journey, a trip, a trek. Experiencing the unfamiliar is directly involved. If you’re doing this right, you should feel a little nervous and have the sense that you’ll be some kind of outcast. Then, keep going.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — A lot changes in March. Saturn changes signs, rare alignments happen, and the world may seem to thunder and quake. Your challenge will be mediating between feeling your power and your emotional vulnerability. The question you must ask yourself is which one gets the last word, when it comes to the choices you make. For one born under a sign as supposedly bold as yours, you do tend to take safe (or seemingly safe) options on a fairly regular basis. This would seem to be motivated by self-preservation. However, you can no longer cling to the thing you think you’re preserving, because it no longer exists. That element of yourself which needs to be protected has long since exited the room, though it’s left its memory behind. Don’t try to live for that memory or ghost or nostalgia. Yes, both the present and the future seem a little dangerous, but living in any form of a fantasy is much more so. And that is where most of the world is at the moment, trying to convince itself of what is real and what is not, rather than directly seeking out the answer. Your astrology suggests that access to your confidence is now, more than ever, a personal choice. Think of your self-assurance as something you choose, rather than something you earn, aspire to or encounter by a freak accident. The question is whether you want it or not. The more you feel your strength, the more likely you are to want to use it. The more you use it, the greater challenges you will encounter. It’s better to take those on a voluntary basis.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — This is a month of significant events involving your sign. There are too many to go into here (I give additional details elsewhere). The big ones include Saturn exiting your sign and entering Aquarius on the 21st (a 29-year event), and the buildup of Jupiter conjunct Pluto (exact April 4, but cooking hot for you all month long). And Mars is driving this along, in both speed and intensity. You’ll probably feel like a different person, on an almost day-by-day basis. This in turn may come with the sensation of being a snake or crab who has just molted its skin or shell. Yet you will also be able to experience your surroundings in a new way, which means, above all else, to feel yourself. You cannot really feel anything else, can you? Whatever that something else may be, the sensation is coming through you. The crust you’re shedding was serving a purpose, which was a form of insulation. The substance was made of various excuses, insecurities and scenarios: in essence, stories. I have a suggestion for you — reject the concept of a story. I know it’s all the rage now; the story of everyone and everything is plastered everywhere. This word has become a verbal tick, and I consider it a form of a cover-up. You have something better available, which is direct revelation of the world as it is now. This is more than perception, which is also a form of made-up story. What you have available is for the world to reveal itself, and for you to reveal yourself.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — One of the best things in all of astrology happens this month: Saturn enters your sign, on a test run between March 21 and when it re-enters Capricorn on July 1. For Aquarius Sun and rising, this will feel like some version of a container cracking open and suddenly allowing in light and oxygen. Saturn is not just very well placed in Aquarius; it is a central concept in astrology. I am aware of the negative propaganda circulating about “Saturn entering a sign [allegedly] ruled by Uranus,” though you can count this on the level of Burger King astrology (complete with day-old French fries). Saturn in Aquarius is more like your favorite band taking the stage on a really good night. Or it’s a professor you meet as a sophomore who explains your chosen subject to you in a way that fully engages your mind, and your motivation. This is only the warm-up. The focus of your astrology has long been one sign back, in Capricorn, which has been a constant source of pressure, instability, fear, and a measure of introspection — if you could go there. That continues, with the stunning conjunction of Jupiter and Pluto, which you could describe as the inner light. Saturn in Aquarius will invite you into the feeling of stability, which has been rare to find the past few years. It will get you out of your head, and help you externalize an element of your deep inner world and integrate it into the self you utilize and communicate through every day.

Note, please watch the front page of Planet Waves for a discussion (probably in video, and definitely on my radio show) about what planet rules Aquarius. I’ll have that fairly soon, and you will love it.

Astrology Studio for Pisces | A New Reading by Eric Francis

This is a momentous time in collective history, and a turning point in your life. As the year develops, most of the movement — including Pisces’ ruling planet Jupiter, and the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction — will be pointing into Aquarius, the most sensitive and innermost angle of your chart. I will also cover the retrogrades of Venus and Mars, and the forthcoming Jupiter-Pluto conjunction in your friendship sign Capricorn. Mostly, I will help you orient on your profound journey, and offer guidance how to harmonize with the world at this unusual time. Pre-order this reading here.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — A Course in Miracles is replete with statements the like of, “Only the truth is true, and nothing else matters.” You can cut through a lot of toxic sludge with an idea like that, and I suggest you keep it close to your heart. Don’t worry about the definition of the truth, or whether it has a big T or a little T, or the nature of truth in the quantum polyverse or in our modern insanity. The truth is an orientation. It is a commitment. It is an understanding you have with yourself and with existence. There is no rationalizing or explaining or splitting hairs. It is not an intellectual thing. It’s your essential contract with life. Your assignment is to find the feeling of standing and of being in your truth, and stay there. Stay there till you don’t want to be anywhere else. Endure any strange reactions you may get, and try not to be too distracted if you notice the heaps of denial that so many and so much is buried in. Yes, there is vulnerability in being open about this, though the truth, your truth, is not a private thing you keep in a little box — not if it’s going to be allowed to possess the power it has to heal you and re-orient your relationship with the world. By this I mean the world you see and live in every day. There are lots of zombies walking around, that is true; just stand back a little and let them pass. There are lots more alive people, people who want to express being alive, and who are going to notice you and the energy you’re emanating. All you need to say is hello.