Planet Waves Weekly for Feb. 8, 2024 by Eric Francis

Wurts St. Bridge connecting Kingston and Port Ewen, NY is about to reopen after four years of total rebuilding, from the cables to the deck to the lighting. Photo by Eric Francis.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Set aside any urge you have to conquer the world, and make friends with people instead. You’re looking at some tremendous opportunity, partly social and partly professional. Whether you manifest this depends on your ability to be friendly and receptive. Any drive or ambition you are feeling can safely linger in the background. You don’t need to push, but rather use the attractive power of curiosity. That’s where your true freedom resides: in the ability to respond to your environment in a way that inspires you to know more, and understand more deeply. The universe is organized in layers, and knowledge reveals itself as you go deeper into your experiences and your awareness. Get to know people, and allow their character to develop in your mind. First impressions sometimes mean a lot, and they can take on new meaning as you gently probe your own lived experience.


Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You have more power than you may imagine — or may notice. What that translates to in immediate terms is that your words and your actions influence situations and people in ways that you cannot foresee. It’s easy to casually toss out a suggestion, though at this stage in your growth you must be sure that you are correct when you do so. This also applies to your own choices. Pluto has now taken up residence in your 10th solar house — Aquarius, for you, the place associated with action (in Greek, praxis). Yet Pluto often acts invisibly, below the level of awareness. This cautions you to be aware of when the things you say and do end up setting chains of events into motion. And Mercury nearby cautions you to be aware of false certainty. Your chart is set up for some very unusual successes this year, though you must use your mind, and honor the law of unintended consequences.


Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Your connection to the greater world — what some think of as the world of spirit, or the outer realms — is through social contact. That means friendly associations with your fellow people. This is becoming increasingly difficult as people succumb to the digital trance. Yet you appear as the evolutionary force that can help focus a new kind of group consciousness. This is not about activism or making social change. For you, it’s about expressing your spiritual aspirations and connecting to your soul’s journey. These are stressful times for anyone who values ‘easygoing’ — the kind of social contact that comes naturally to you. Most people with a shred of sensitivity don’t want to meet people using an app on their phone. You at least remember that being together is the way that people discover one another. The seemingly modest gestures you make will have a way of breaking down boundaries and opening up possibilities for people that would otherwise not be available.


Cancer (June 21-July 22) — The forthcoming New Moon in a highly sensitive area of your chart has you in an introspective mood. Pluto in this same place is reminding you how little you can take for granted. You may feel isolated, and like there is no breaking through what seems to be some kind of invisible barrier. Yet if you pull in and take care of your spiritual needs, get enough rest and stay honest with yourself, you may find yourself in a place of deeper contact with others. Yet the journey seems to be from the direction of movement of inner through to outer. And if you follow that path, you will find that this is an unusually fruitful time to consider life’s deepest questions. Your perspective on these matters is highly unlikely to match consensus reality. You do not need approval for your observations and your point of view. Your journey is yours alone. That is why it’s so valuable.


Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — When “the gods” are speaking to you, that is you speaking. Such may be a voice in your mind, or a guy with a million followers. It may be someone trying to persuade you of something. It’s spiritually safer to take responsibility for what you hear, and not project the viewpoint onto another person, even if it seems like that’s where you’re getting it from. At the center of the matter is not what’s being said, or what you think is being said, but rather your response. So claim the whole business as your own — whatever it might be — and evaluate the seeming facts and your opinion of them as one thing. It’s also important to remember (with Pluto in your opposite sign) that just because a lot of people believe something does not make it true. The more people believe something, the more you must question it.


Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — There seems to be an idea you dearly want to express. It’s the thing that’s burning in your soul and has probably been brewing and simmering for a while. However, it looks like you might invest yourself in saying or making the thing that you’re not really interested in. There appears to be an easy route and a more challenging one; they correspond to something seemingly interesting and mental, versus something deep, a little dark, and more physical or emotional. The idea of easy translates to easy to express in words and seem intelligent. Challenging translates to difficult to put into words, and more emotionally complex — and seemingly risky, because you might get it wrong — and it will help if you face that fear. The end result is not the point; responding to a deep sense of necessity is.


Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — You are bursting into new territory in many ways, and to make the most of that, all you need is the courage to dare. You can succumb to insecurity and the desire to play it safe. You can also take an approach that might lead you somewhere: let’s try this and see. It will be more fun if you accept that there can be no predictable result. What you want is a live-action experiment. In whatever you reach for, stand back from any notion of the outcome. That may be challenging. However, randomness is a factor in most truly creative endeavors, and that is the thing to emphasize. Carry some dice and play with them. Watch the numbers that come up. Keep playing or tarot cards on your desk and see if you can spot patterns. Or maybe try this — Oblique Strategies by Brian Eno. Art is a game of both skill and chance.


Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — What is the foundation on which your life is standing? This is your central question, now and for the foreseeable future. You would feel more confident were your foundation about people rather than material security. Sometimes you substitute ideas, which often translates to ideology, which in turn translates to “people with whom you agree.” Yet that is shaky, because it’s rare to find someone whose stated viewpoint matches their principles. So the question is, what is the common bond among those you consider your friends? There’s another question about the common ground you share with those you consider your family. Who exactly has the ability to suspend judgment and look beyond the past? (Who is not obsessed with resentment?) Do you see people as they are today, or as you assessed them to be long ago? It’s vital to see people as they are now — and to show yourself to them as you are today.


Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You’re being invited into new creative territory. There seem to be some ideas in the form of bright, shiny objects, and others arriving that feel older and more traditional. You might not even notice them, though they are offering you much more. Their appeal is closer to a than an urgent attraction. Be careful of what seem like solutions that are not; consider carefully what problem you might be trying to solve. It may not be a genuine concern. Be aware of certainty in any form. Your chart is glaring with the caution to know when you do not know. Because this idea presents such confusion, it would also serve if you keep asking yourself how exactly you know everything you think you know, and not settle for any half-baked answers. You want to make your decisions based on real intelligence.

Astrology Studio for Sagittarius is now available.


Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — For now, everything must come down to how you feel. If you start noticing yourself rationalizing your choices, and if you notice that your mind is running a lot of words, that’s the opposite of feeling. It would not be correct to say “go with your gut.” I don’t think many people do that, but they use the words. Rather, go with what your body is telling you, including the choices that your body makes: for example, what foods you want, or whether you notice yourself being protective of someone. Ceres in your sign is saying take it slow, and remember that there is a time for every purpose. Most humans have lost contact with natural cycles — night and day, for example, the seasons and most of all, where they are in their lifecycle. If there is such a thing as perpetual youth, let it come to you in the form of the desire to express beauty. That implies experiencing it first.

Astrology Studio for Capricorn is available for instant access.

The Solstice Point — 2024 Astrology Studio for Capricorn — is a special edition helping you put the pieces of Pluto in Capricorn together. I look forward, but this is mostly a review and debriefing of your experience since 2008. I will highlight key dates and take a close look at what this transit has meant. I will include a review of Chiron in Aries as well as new factors now in Capricorn that will be present well into the next decade. This is a distinct reading covering different material than Somewhere In Between for Capricorn.


Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You’re about to experience a glorious New Moon in your birth sign, adorned by Mercury and Pluto (two small and mighty worlds). You may feel the drive to experience what life is offering all at once, with immediate urgency. You don’t need to go there — life is too good to rush. For the next few months, the emphasis of your solar chart astrology is on making improvements to your home. Let your quicksilver mind go to work on how to make the best use of your space, and how to solve practical problems that have persisted for a while. Your mind usually runs on two tracks: the rapid processing of your ideas, and the slow uptake of your emotional body and senses. Be patient with yourself and tune in. The kinds of changes you want to make in the long run do not have fast or easy solutions, though if you take your time, there will be moments of breakthrough.

Astrology Studio for Aquarius is available for instant access.

Check out the video preview here!


Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — With so much happening in the hidden dimension of your chart — Aquarius, your mysterious 12th place — you may be feeling uneasy but uncertain why that is. While it’s true that a theme of our times is waiting for the other shoe to drop, this sensation may be especially enhanced now. Just coast along with it. Your life is more stable than you may feel, and you’re headed in the direction of improvements rather than a shakeup of any kind. Yet there is a precondition: that you keep your awareness focused inwardly. That means getting enough rest, and listening to the aspects of your mind that don’t usually speak. If they do, they may speak quietly, and last. The more you’re able to do this, the more you will gently siphon off the psychic material that leads to the experience of fate. Make friends with your fears, and listen to what they have to say. Even if not ‘valid’, the feelings are coming from somewhere, and you can follow them in.


Coming soon from Planet Waves

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