In Monday’s edition of his daily website, Jonathan Cainer wrote: “Hours before the tragedy in Haiti, my colleague Eric Francis, sent out an email warning of earthquakes. Other astrologers have also foreseen more natural disasters than usual this year. But what use is such a prediction unless it also says where and when? I’ve long hoped to create an international database of prophecies in the hope that it will help all in my profession pool their work. I’ll work harder on that soon. Meanwhile, now the eclipse is over and Mercury is no longer retrograde, most of us can expect less extreme temperatures and dramatic upheavals… for a while.”
I would agree with this assessment, and what he means about “for a while” is that the Aries Point is still really active. I often wonder about the value of astrological predictions, which is why I don’t usually make them. I was using the earthquake more as a metaphor to describe the feeling of the chart, in a personal context. A chart that can come with an earthquake must be pretty emotionally intense. I based the statement on a lot of planets close together, near an eclipse, in an Earth sign.
Perhaps a database of prophesies would help somehow, but the thing is, most prophesies are wrong. They are so wrong they don’t even warrant a few KBs of space on the net; all they do is propagate fear. If I had a dollar for every time someone sent me the date and time the world was supposed to end, asking me to check the chart, I would be, well, I’d be about $10 richer. Fortunately people don’t seem to be sending in these charts, but I’m asked about five times a week if the world is really going to end in 2012.
Prediction of specific events closes the door to a discussion of what we want in the future. It is uncreative use of astrology. Just to make sure the record is clear, here is what I actually wrote and sent out in a dispatch Tuesday morning to several Planet Waves lists. At least I can take credit for getting the day wrong, and not saying where it would happen.
“Assuming the world doesn’t crack open on Friday (I read a report recently that earthquakes are indeed associated with planetary alignments, and the alignment we now have is the perfect specimen) we will all feel better Saturday. Mercury stationing direct at the time of an eclipse has the feeling of significant, specific information coming out: it could be personal, and this week is one of those distinct personal watersheds where it’s possible to make some actual, deep decisions about ourselves and our lives that stick.”
paletiger – I don’t remember the Cainer piece, so I probably missed it altogether. I’ll look for it; today I am in serious need of a good bellylaugh. Thanks 🙂
I love PW and Cainer for different reasons. Whereas your writing, Eric, is indeed far deeper and speaks to me on a more personal level – while also then rippling that out into the collective and my place within it – Jonathan, I believe, does a service by focusing on the upside and the spiritual elements of any experience … which is in stark contrast to many widely read/syndicated horoscopes out there.
And like several Planet Wavers here, I found my way on to this site via Jonathan’s site – for which I am deeply grateful!
— Sarah
I worked for Jonathan for four years, writing daily horoscopes and Astrology Secrets Revealed — a great Q and A column. Some day I will tell the story of why I do not any longer. It is interesting and it will surprise you — but it’s not for today. I consider Jonathan a friend and an ally, though we have different literary and business models; different ways of approaching astrology writing as a business. And, notably, he taught me a lot about business. I would guess he does not consider me a competitor. Few have any idea how hard he worked to get me established as a writer in England — the only American have the distinction of writing in the British tabloids, I would add.
For today, Jonathan did me a big favor by acknowledging that I made an accurate call on that earthquake; but the truth is there have been numerous newsworthy quakes the past few days, and my comment applies to all of them. Here is a partial list. This is gathered by our writer “the other” Eric Francis of Little Rock, AK. Yes, I recruited another guy named Eric Francis to write for Planet Waves, and we have quite a bit in common. (My last name is actually Coppolino; but everyone who goes by the name Eric Francis seems to be a photographer or some kind of journalist or both. It’s quite weird in that cosmic way.)
The following is from http://www.earthquakes.USGS.gov
Jan. 18, 2010, 3:09 a.m. local time
Magnitude 5.7 earthquake off Santa Cruz Islands
125 miles S of Lata, Santa Cruz Islands, Solomon Islands
Jan. 18, 2010, 9 a.m. local time
Magnitude 2.5 earthquake, Yellowstone National Park, Wyo.
10 miles SE of West Yellowstone, Mont.
Jan. 18, 2010, 5:56 p.m. local time
Magnitude 5.0 earthquake in Greece
100 miles WNW of Athens, 20 miles NE of Patras
Jan. 18, 2010, 9:40 a.m. local time
Magnitude 5.8 earthquake offshore of Guatemala
65 miles SSE of Guatemala City
Jan. 18, 2010, 12:27 p.m. local time
Magnitude 4.9 earthquake off Sandwich Islands region
55 miles NNW of Visoloi Island, South Sandwich Islands
Jan. 15, 2010, 9:18 a.m. local time
Magnitude 4.0 earthquake in Oklahoma
17 miles ENE from Oklahoma City, 2 miles ENE from Jones, Okla.
Jan. 12, 2010, 4:53 p.m. local time
Magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Haiti
15 miles WSW Port-au-Prince
Jan. 10, 2010, 4:27 a.m. local time
Magnitude 6.5 earthquake off California coast
23 miles WNW of Ferndale, Calif.
Jan. 7, 2010, 10:09 a.m. local time
Magnitude 4.1 earthquake near Bay Area of Calif.
6 miles ENE from Milpitas, Calif.
And THAT is just the listing of significant and most recent quakes. Go to this link for a list of ALL earthquakes in the last 7 days: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.php
There are DOZENS of them. List includes links to maps and other info.
oops – hit the button by mistake and I wasn’t finished. I was saying…diplomacy is one of my strong points, and so I would suggest that if E and JC are still friends or colleagues (didn’t JC give you a leg up at one point E?) that rather than speculate, why not ask JC where he was coming from.
Isn’t that what PW is about? – instead of taking umbrage where it might not be intended and slagging people off, why not actually talk to them and check it out. That would seem to me to be the adult approach. Though I don’t really value the marketing driven methods of JC these days, much preferring the approach here (for all the reasons you outline jinspace) I have yet to see JC slag people off on his site.
Maybe this was one of those times – and if so, it’s a bit silly. But what if it wasn’t?
jinspace – actually that’s not true – that E doesn’t write disparagingly about his peers – do you not recall the hilarious parody of Cainers horoscopes posted last year?
Er – diplomacy is my strong point, but
So much diplomacy in these comments (not one of my stronger points). Looks to me like a straightforward case of professional jealousy. I suspect he’s lost a lot of business to PW and/or Eric and it’s driving him crazy.
I don’t like Cainer. He may know what he’s talking about but he’s not too keen on sharing his knowledge. In my opinion his horoscopes are vague, his tone is supercilious, and his marketing is no better than a TV psychic’s. He actually promotes himself being “eerily accurate” (eerie? spooky? It’s something like that – and here he is poking fun at other astrolgers’ ‘predictions’).
He took a patronizing pot shot at Eric specifically, but the joke’s on him. Eric puts meaty content into his writing and he’s open in acknowledging how much he learns from others in his field. He genuinely wants to share, teach and inspire. And he certainly doesn’t write disparagingly about his peers.
“Perhaps a database of prophesies would help somehow, but the thing is, most prophesies are wrong. They are so wrong they don’t even warrant a few KBs of space on the net; all they do is propagate fear.”
my two cents is that prophecy is not meant to be a solid or literal prediction, but an interpretation of possibilities, a consideration of consequences of continued actions towards that prophecized/propheted (word?) end or not. i believe they are guideposts in that sense, much like many oracles serve – readings of time and patterns that are predictably and contextually based (sounds familiar eh?). i agree that fear has been their accompanied rally cry, more so now than ever (but personally i think that is due to social, cultural and historical ignorance and exploitation – ESPECIALLY about 2012), but many prophecies have also been right on (i’m thinking of the Hopi off the top). i think it highly depends on interpretation, as all meaning making does, and in that sense can be useful when considered in the multidimensional context it usually comes from.
Whether Jonathan meant to plainly compliment you or jokingly poke at you, it was kind of him to recognize both you and your work.
I believe he has a wide readership — so now that your fax’n’phone are ringing off the hook with those predictive charts….? heh-heh.
I think Mandy’s note to you is halarious!
I appreciate the sharing of Large Smiles like that one – thx Mandy! (and Eric 😉
He could have included the url to Planet Waves when he talked about you but hey that’s what Google is for. 😉
I do respect Jonathan – it was how I found this site in the first place. I remember reading Eric back in the mid 90’s when he was doing a spot on AOL and kinda wondered what sort of planet he was on. Dropped out of astrology for a long time, came back into via Cainer and found Eric doing his spot on Cainer and found here – I think that was back in 2004 / 5 and been here ever since…
Ha! I saw your Cainer press earlier this afternoon and wondered what you would think, although I kinda had an idea.
I am glad I discovered Planet Waves where I get a perspective from around the world, and around Ulster County and the Grandmother Land.
astrology smackdown! kidding, kidding. i actually wonder whether he meant to be damning or whether he meant well, in the way of free publicity. you two offer dramatically different goods to the world. i’ve been reading cainer for years so i guess there’s something i like about his horoscopes but sometimes the flippancy irks me. i want _more_. something more than the reassurance that life goes on and things will get better. maybe some empathy for what’s already happened? i’ve been reading pw for a long time too. what i love about your writing (and that of your contributors) is the depth. it’s like a big hug from the cosmic mom that gives you the confidence and perspective to go forward. anyway, i’m glad both of you are in the world offering your services to the public!
Mandy sent it to me with the subject header, “Damned by faint praise.” Which I’ve been laughing at for two hours. The good part is, if this calls attention to my other work…that will help; that will be good for all of us here. It’s not like I go around predicting floods and earthquakes…excepting when I kind of nailed Katrina a month ahead, while writing a parody of a Nostradamus quatrain in an edition of Planet Waves. But that, of course, was supposed to be light humor.
I try to be careful what I joke about.
Thank you for responding to that. I saw it too and it raised many of the same thoughts for me. Plus which, fond as I am of Jonathan Cainer (from a distance) something about that remark didn’t sit well with me……
I do not trust predictions. For one thing, stuff is changing way too fast and a prediction based on what someone knows and the energy they are fielding in one moment, even if they are 100 percent correct which no one is, could easily shift 180 before it has a chance to “come true” in this level of reality expression……. so anything that has lots of event predictions in it I generally pretty much ignore.
Glad you have a platform for a more supple version of astrological writing. 😉
Kyla