Note to Readers: This is an excerpt of today’s subscriber edition of Planet Waves Astrology News.
Dear Subscriber:
First, a historical note. Did you know that when Christopher Columbus “discovered America,” the thing he discovered was Haiti? So the island that was shaken and the country that was shaken to rubble this week has a hallowed place in the dark history of the New World, as the place where European feet first touched the ground. There, they met the native Tainos, one of the Arawak people; and made a settlement, called La Navidad, on the north coast of present-day Haiti.
Detail of Columbus Before the Queen, by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, 1843. No authentic portraits of Columbus exist. This is from imagination. Original is kept in the Brooklyn Museum.
Thus began a holocaust. In 2007, US News and World Report said that from an estimated initial population of 250,000 in 1492, the Arawaks had dropped to 14,000 by 1517. How did that happen? There’s the famous entry from Columbus’ log, reporting his first encounter with them; that pretty much explains it.
“They brought us barrels of cotton thread and parrots and other little things which it would be tedious to list, and exchanged everything for whatever we offered them…I kept my eyes open and tried to find out if there was any gold, and I saw that some of them had a little piece hanging from a hole in their nose. I gathered from their signs that if one goes south, or around the south side of the island, there is a king with great jars full of it, enormous amounts. I tried to persuade them to go there, but I saw that the idea was not to their liking…They would make fine servants…With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.”
So much for Pat Robertson’s theory that this week’s quake happened because the Haitians had made a pact with the devil at Bois-Caiman near Cap-Haitien on Aug. 14, 1791. Yes, those in the slave revolt used Santeria at the commencement of the rebellion; that is historically documented. But even in the unlikely event that has some kind of karmic influence, it doesn’t explain what had happened on Hispaniola for the prior 300 years: brutal slavery at the hands of the Spaniards and the sugar-addicted French. Bad things have been happening in Haiti since Columbus laid eyes on the place.
The thing about your old beliefs is that you couldn’t find yourself in them. The thing about your new beliefs is that you’re right at the center of them. Let this be your guide to wider mental and geographic horizons, and to your notion of success. Despite many odds against you, the ways of the past that long predate your birth are yielding to your willpower and influence. Here’s the thing to remember: while old beliefs can exist, and while they can guide our actions in ways that are not relevant to the present moment, the past itself does not exist. Or rather, it doesn’t exist, if we notice that fact. Lately you are noticing; it’s like you’ve climbed up onto an island of the future. Take a look around: this is where the journey begins.
How do you really feel about sex? Do you secretly wish you could take off your socks? Do you wish you could take a shower right afterwards, but it’s too rude? Or would you rather stay covered in your scent the whole day? Do you find the talking part as hot as the physical part? Do you like the risk of making someone guess what you want? Do you secretly swim in the direction of that which is forbidden, just because that makes it better? Yes, yes, I thought so. Your charts are super-sexy (as they would say in Germany) right now. I hope this means you are feeling equally sexed; and in terms of getting what you want, it’s far likelier if you go for exactly what you want; what, and with whom.
What an interesting eclipse today. I wonder what’s going on with you. You may file your iStrology report via email; juicy is welcome. As for my aStrology report: you seem to be claiming back some significant aspect of yourself or your autonomy that was previously invested in a relationship. What you’re verging on is experiencing yourself as a whole person: independently of any other person, or in the context of a relationship. This ability will provide you with many opportunities to go over ground you’ve covered, and in a sense taken, during the past three or four months, smooth out problems and accomplish your goals with much greater efficiency. The truth is, you have a job to do. Get your intentions behind that every day.
6 thoughts on “Everything, All at Once (or, Welcome to 2012)”
Whoo – Leo spot-on! My husband and I are both Leos, and will be using this information to start up a new business in a few weeks’ time. Thank you, Eric!
Great column and insightful reporting this week.
I love all of you!
Dearest Eric, You asked for juicy tidbits from caps… Couldn’t be any juicier than my life right now. I turned 52 dec 26 535a.m. SF CA
First thank you for releasing capricorns from that old stoic businessy type and allowing us to be the ones who need passion in our lives. Since I first subscribed in the summer I just read last years cosmic conf and you nailed my year.
The first monthly of yours I read urged me to identify my sexuality, this was perfect timing as i was moving into a relationship with a bi sexual man, I am a massage therapist 20+ years and the grey lines of sex were getting very vague especially last december/january and this year they are amazing.
I have explored open relationships, being unwilling to take my mediocre sex life and call it quits or settling there… i want more. New territory, but edgy and juicy
I am divorcing a 30 year marriage. I have had several soft landings this year all supported by the wonderful community of goddesses in my life. I am living the life i want, practice being here and now. I am in relationship, very new…. with a man who wants to rock my world!
I also see a new role with these young women and their families, not quite sage, but an intuitive friend and perhaps teacher.
I Love who i am, where i am going is exciting and edgy, as you said todays horo , I am becoming a whole person… one i always knew i was.
Love to you, len and chelsea, keep up the good work, what you do is making a difference in the world and my world is better for it…. XOOOOOX, vicky chase
Here is the out-take of the Libra horoscope, written at about 2 pm Tuesday. We pulled it from the main edition for sensitivity; it would be really weird to turn to your scope and see this, after what happened this week. I definitely had earthquakes on my mind on Tuesday. efc
LIBRA — Have you ever lived through an earthquake? I have. Four, actually. The first one, the whole house started to shake; I ran outside with my laptop and the whole island was shaking like a Jell-o mold. The feeling was exhilarating: the Earth was moving; it was alive and throbbing. The ground is shaking under you right now, and that means that energy is rising up from the Earth. Feel the power. Feel your stability deepening, even as your structures are challenged. Notice how the brittle spots are cracking and settling into place; and how the strong, flexible ones are standing strong and true. Don’t be annoyed by that one lingering anxiety; don’t let it hold you back; it’s just a thought.
Thank you Fe. Thank you for your energy and vision and ideas, and your help coordinating our digital circus!
eric francissimo:
Every day it seems, Planet Waves is like a telescope looking out over the horizon as the boat called “us” moves forward. The closer we get to the new horizon, the more PW sees and gives sharper and clearer images of where and how we’re going.
I really do appreciate and feel honored working for and with this amazing community.
Whoo – Leo spot-on! My husband and I are both Leos, and will be using this information to start up a new business in a few weeks’ time. Thank you, Eric!
Great column and insightful reporting this week.
I love all of you!
Dearest Eric, You asked for juicy tidbits from caps… Couldn’t be any juicier than my life right now. I turned 52 dec 26 535a.m. SF CA
First thank you for releasing capricorns from that old stoic businessy type and allowing us to be the ones who need passion in our lives. Since I first subscribed in the summer I just read last years cosmic conf and you nailed my year.
The first monthly of yours I read urged me to identify my sexuality, this was perfect timing as i was moving into a relationship with a bi sexual man, I am a massage therapist 20+ years and the grey lines of sex were getting very vague especially last december/january and this year they are amazing.
I have explored open relationships, being unwilling to take my mediocre sex life and call it quits or settling there… i want more. New territory, but edgy and juicy
I am divorcing a 30 year marriage. I have had several soft landings this year all supported by the wonderful community of goddesses in my life. I am living the life i want, practice being here and now. I am in relationship, very new…. with a man who wants to rock my world!
I also see a new role with these young women and their families, not quite sage, but an intuitive friend and perhaps teacher.
I Love who i am, where i am going is exciting and edgy, as you said todays horo , I am becoming a whole person… one i always knew i was.
Love to you, len and chelsea, keep up the good work, what you do is making a difference in the world and my world is better for it…. XOOOOOX, vicky chase
Here is the out-take of the Libra horoscope, written at about 2 pm Tuesday. We pulled it from the main edition for sensitivity; it would be really weird to turn to your scope and see this, after what happened this week. I definitely had earthquakes on my mind on Tuesday. efc
LIBRA — Have you ever lived through an earthquake? I have. Four, actually. The first one, the whole house started to shake; I ran outside with my laptop and the whole island was shaking like a Jell-o mold. The feeling was exhilarating: the Earth was moving; it was alive and throbbing. The ground is shaking under you right now, and that means that energy is rising up from the Earth. Feel the power. Feel your stability deepening, even as your structures are challenged. Notice how the brittle spots are cracking and settling into place; and how the strong, flexible ones are standing strong and true. Don’t be annoyed by that one lingering anxiety; don’t let it hold you back; it’s just a thought.
Thank you Fe. Thank you for your energy and vision and ideas, and your help coordinating our digital circus!
eric francissimo:
Every day it seems, Planet Waves is like a telescope looking out over the horizon as the boat called “us” moves forward. The closer we get to the new horizon, the more PW sees and gives sharper and clearer images of where and how we’re going.
I really do appreciate and feel honored working for and with this amazing community.