Postcards from the Edge

Dear Friend and Reader: Our friendly little robot flew through the Pluto-Charon system on Tuesday morning, and people are talking about it. It’s beautiful how much everyone seems to care. Mike Brown, the discoverer of Eris and the demoter of Pluto, was right the first time around — Pluto is a cultural planet. Regardless of … Read more

The Mysterious Case of Mercury in Gemini

Dear Friend and Reader: Wednesday, July 8, was a strange day in world news. It was also the day that Mercury changed signs, ingressing Cancer after spending more than two months in Gemini due to the recent retrograde. (Normally, Mercury goes through a sign in about three weeks.) Remember that whole thing? That crazy psychic … Read more

Solstice Fire and The Art of Service

Dear Friend and Reader: This week, timed with the solstice and Mars entering Cancer, we are launching a membership and fundraising drive for Planet Waves. All of our work here is sponsored exclusively by you, our readers. For many reasons we remain free from corporate sponsorship and outside advertising. We create the work that we … Read more

Mercury Retrograde: Watch Your Speed

Dear Friend and Reader: When the dust settles on the wreck of Amtrak 188, and all the facts come out, I think the cause will turn out to be something simple: for example, the train’s driver not paying attention to the speed limit. Before I cast the chart for the crash, I had a feeling … Read more

Of Small Causes and Big Effects

Dear Friend and Reader: So much is happening. Sometimes it seems like one of our newfangled days is as eventful as an old-fashioned month. Domestic and international news have been as astonishing and infuriating as ever. War and famine still profoundly afflict the human race, which seems far more inventive at creating problems than at … Read more