Planet Waves Weekly for Oct. 17, 2024 by Eric Francis

Heat. Photo by Eric Francis.

Follow-up to the Aries Full Moon

Dear Friend and Reader:

I’ve had the adventure the past few weeks of writing out the astrological developments of the next two years, and also summing up many events back to major vents of 1993. This has given me some confidence to interpret 2025-26 astrology in The Awakening, which is the main emphasis of my writing these days.

Overnight we experienced the Aries Full Moon, which was exactly conjunct Eris. I keep forgetting to mention that both Bill Gates (Microsoft) and Steve Jobs (Apple) were born with this aspect in Aries. The Full Moon pointed directly to the Chiron-Eris conjunction that is now heating up, and which will hold well into 2026.

This is an astonishing aspect that stretches back in history, describing the 1970s, the World War I era, and the U.S. Civil War era. It now describes the world information war of full digital conditions.

Participation Mitigates Negative Consequences of Digital

This and many other aspect patterns suggest that the digital chickens are coming home to roost. Like many developments and movements in society, one thing is heaped on another and everyone plunges forward, pretending there will be no effect. But we’re witnessing the results, today, right now.

Every time you look at the world and notice something upsetting that you don’t understand, it will help to assess matters for the effects of digital. I am talking about what seems irrational, senseless, destabilizing and contrary to what you would consider basic sanity. I am talking about struggles your children might be having, or situations in your relationships.

McLuhan wrote, “To have a disease without its symptoms is to be immune. No society has ever known enough about its actions to have developed immunity to its new extensions or technologies. Today we have begun to sense that art may be able to provide such immunity.”

The only way to thrive in this environment is to stay awake, stay connected, and contribute to the digital sphere rather than merely “consuming” it. Participating and offering yourself is a means of staying alert and alive and not cutting off or numbing out, which is the essence of the digital haze.

Written in eternal chalk. Photo by Eric.

Shock Wave to Dyadic Relationships

The Full Moon stretched across an opposition of Juno (Libra) and Eris (Aries). To sum up, this looks like some kind of impasse- or deadlock-breaking turn of events (which may seem like a dealbreaker but may really be about making a new agreement). There are times when something must be seen as entirely futile for events to inspire a true reassessment.

This is the kind of astrology where honesty has power to facilitate changes. The easiest way to slow down movement is to withhold your truth or create an environment where a partner cannot share theirs without deep fear of the consequences. I’m curious the kinds of discussions that have happened over the past 24 hours, if you care to share them.

Note, I cover the impasse and deadlock-releasing quality of the Full Moon at the top of the new Planet Waves FM.

The cry of the poor: Hylonome was prominent in the chart of the funeral of Yassir Arafat, founder of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

Meanwhile the Sun Remains in Libra

The Sun remains in Libra through the Scorpio ingress on Tuesday, Oct. 22. The Sun is passing through the long, slow opposition of Zeus (a special point) and Eris. This is urging the use of directed and controlled energy. Given the Eris factor, less is more.

Over the next few days, the Sun makes a square to Hylonome. This is a centaur that raises the question of how one handles grief. It’s about the things we do to ourselves in the name of grieving, and contains the choice of whether one wants to consider living. [I found an old analysis of Hylonome here, in collaboration with Melanie Reinhart.]

Hylonome is also about “the cry of the poor,” which most can barely hear. It showed up powerfully in the funeral chart for Yassir Arafat, founder of the now defunct Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and in my mind is closely associated with the Palestinian people. More is in this article.

Check STARCAST for an audio update of current astrology. Your extended reading (by Sun and rising sign) for the week is below.

With love,

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O+ Photo by Eric Francis.

The Awa introduces the events of 2025 and catches up on the astrology leading to them. This eBook is the “reference reading” for The Awakening readings and is delivered now with any pre-order.

Planet Waves


Aries (March 20-April 19) — There is such a thing as having too much integrity. By that, I mean an obsession with being right such that you lose your flexibility. With that goes the ability to sway and move to the music of life, and to follow your attractions — and see where they may lead you. Existence is about flow and it’s rarely lived at right angles. It may be the fear of chaos that is keeping you in line: the sense that if you don’t hold a gathering grip, things will go out of control. Yet what’s going on beneath the surface is that you are changing. The deep forces in your psyche are in motion, and you want a new depth of who you are to emerge. And at times, that can feel like you’re on the verge of falling apart. You can afford to hang a little looser, to ask more questions of existence, and to dance to the music you love.


Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Do you respect the work that you do? One measure is whether you’re jealous of anyone else’s achievements — most likely someone in a field related to your own. Anyone who actually respects their own work is not jealous of, envious of, or even especially critical of, the work that others do. Critique is one thing; criticism is another. If you have true self-esteem about the products of your service or labor, you will leave others to their lives and focus on what you’re doing. Competition with others is another sign that you may lack true self-respect for what you’ve accomplished, related to all of the aforementioned. Should any of this be true for you, the appropriate response is to aspire to do the best work that you can, every single day. Strive to serve, and to get it right. Aspire to be yourself and nobody else. That would be an excellent start.


Gemini (May 20-June 21) — The Full Moon is making you wonder if anyone has retained a trace of their sanity. What you’re seeing are the social effects of digital conditions. The word for that used to be “computers,” which is seeming like a dusty relic now. Yet the first-ever philosopher of mass media, Marshall McLuhan, said that computers were LSD for the business community. This was from a time when there were only computers in offices, military installations and scientific labs — and they are the ones who drank the punch first. The trip started in business and anywhere the internet originated, and then spread through the veins and arteries of the communications network until the whole world was on an endless acid trip. And that is what you’re likely to see going on among the people you consider friends and social partners of any kind. The problem is, nobody but you knows they are all tripping.


Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Like it or not, your professional goals are in some way all linked with the digital environment. That’s the world in which we live, whether you hunt, fish and trap for living, or you make pottery, or you’re an appliance repair technician. The specific activity does not matter; the digital takeover of existence is what you are confronting. And this feels like uncertainty, chaos and a failure of logic. Yet you are in a strong position to see through the mess. And you are in an excellent position to have a sense of purpose in the midst of the maelstrom. This may not be the result of a thought process you can track; it’s more likely to be about something you just understand without needing to be told. Then, all you can do is experiment — and that will ensure that you try specific ideas out and see how they work


Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Something may be provoking an unusual degree of fear or even paranoia. Rather than avoid these feelings, I suggest you encounter them fully and see what is there. Let’s remember that at the moment, the all-subsuming digital space is brimming with tales of conspiracy, the deep state, imminent collapse and groups of men who secretly rule the world. It’s not exactly easy to attain calm or peace of mind if you have to be in this environment, and besides, it brims over into physical encounters. The nature of the split, as I see it, is between the desire to be idealistic and honoring of heritage, versus knowing that in most ways these things are mere fables that conceal a much darker reality. Remember that you contain your own traditions and your own heritage. You possess the spirit of the land and the soul of your nation. You are a direct descendent of the revolution.


Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Your concerns over finances are either exaggerated or overblown. Yet you must be careful that you don’t get drawn into the chaos or disorganization of someone else. Get underneath any shared finance situation and do what you can to check for any impact that might come back to you. Though we are not in tax season, look deeper into any matters you don’t understand and make sure everything is copacetic and on time. If there is a situation that is at a stalemate of some kind, you may be able to do one or two things that resolve the deadlock. In fact you may not need to do anything at all, except stay out of your own way and let the momentum of the situation bring about the shift in direction that you need. Pay more attention to how you and others feel than you do to the numbers.


Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Recent developments have been provoking you to be more ambitious about your professional goals. Yet keeping score and other expressions of jealousy and resentment will not help you and they never did. So throw them back into the cosmic ocean, where they will melt and do no harm. If you’re going to invest emotional energy into something, advocate for those who are at a clear disadvantage. In personal relationships especially, make an effort to discern where someone — or a few people — close to you are coming from. What are they experiencing? They are in the midst of what you are looking at from the outside, and there is a big difference between your two experiences. If someone is struggling, get their attention with a positive influence of some kind: good vibes, something fun to get their mind off of things or some help sorting out their situation.

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Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — I know it feels good to think there are absolutely true concepts of right and wrong. But this notion presents a number of practical and philosophical problems, one of which is that it prevents the process of learning through experience. You can’t have absolute morals when you don’t know everything, and nobody does. And holding such a position often serves as a great way to prevent yourself from facing both the adventure and the uncertainty of existence on our rather uncertain planet. Instead of emphasizing morals, ethics and principles, you might try having a sense of humor about all the madness of the world, and the mysteries of your own life. Also, there is a message to see who, in your ancestral tree, set the example of resentment being a good idea, or a form of justice. It’s neither.

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Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You may be headed for a power struggle or standoff that you can avoid. Instead of a crisis, you can co-create an outcome that works for everyone. However, this requires you to set aside any agenda that you may be concealing, especially if it involves sex or money (most likely, as part of the same relationship). To work this out, you will need to relate on honest emotional terms and not be focused on power. As part of this, consider the ways that anything you think someone else is feeling, doing, or planning is really about your own state of mind. You may also be providing a point of resistance without which there would not be a struggle. What, exactly, are you unwilling to compromise over? On what issue do you feel that your needs or priorities are more important than those of someone you say that you love?


Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — You must decide if someone who looks like an antagonist or rival is actually here to assist you. You will have to get past their emotional approach to existence, and see if they are willing to harness their energy for a wholesome purpose. The annoying thing may be their tendency to demand perfection, and to think that integrity is an absolute value. However, they may have a positive influence in that they are encouraging you to be a little less flexible in your views, and to focus on somewhat sharper ideas of right and wrong. What you can leave out, though, is the anger. That’s a kind of negative example of something you don’t want and don’t need. Instead, aspire to passion, and to deep motivation, and the drive to connect with people in a meaningful way. This is one week where even annoying people will teach you something valuable.


Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — It’s important that you gather those around you to whom you relate, as you need a family of the heart. This is not about obligation, guilt, drama, resentment and all the usual things that seem to bond families. Those things are not about commitment in any meaningful sense, but rather a distorted sense of obligation. Many things could motivate you to gather a family of choice around you, and not all such instincts are wholesome. You must sense when people have your interests at heart, and notice how people respond when you take care of them. Anyone who treats you badly after you have treated them well needs to find someplace else to get their nourishment. Remember, whatever you feed grows, and so it’s vitally important that you withdraw your support from those who harm you and those who are not respectful as a way of life.


Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) —You’re not in a tight spot; in fact, you got out of that a while ago, and you’re in full possession of your wits, your resources and your personal authority. Now it’s up to you to make use of them, which is the same thing as keeping hold of them. You will develop your abilities using the tools that you have, which is another way of saying that you will become like them. So for example, where the notion of “self-esteem” is considered this magical, mythical thing by psychology — as if it’s conjured by a wizard — actually, it’s a practical tool. And the more you use it, the more you make decisions from a place of self-respect, the more you will cultivate this ability and be more inclined to use it again. Your most important tool is the power of decision. Do not let the indecisive set a bad example for you.

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