Dear Friend and Reader:

WE ARE HOURS from an eclipse of the Moon in Aquarius during an extended phase of important Aquarian astrology. The eclipse takes place Saturday in American and European time zones [5:16 pm in New York, 2:16 pm in California, 10:16 pm in London, 7:16 am Sunday in Sydney]. It's conjunct Neptune in Aquarius, a symbol of either mass delusion and media haze, or the guiding star of the groggy few who are gradually awakening. This eclipse corresponds to the Aug. 1 total solar eclipse in Leo that we covered two weeks ago.

Barred Spiral Milky Way. By R. Hurt.

The partial eclipse of the Moon occurs close to Chiron and Nessus -- Centaur planets that are quietly reshaping consciousness, pushing us along a little quicker and with a greater sense of urgency than Neptune. Mars (in Virgo) is square Pluto (in Sagittarius) for the eclipse Saturday, speaking either of some ideological clash, an actual military clash, or a deep inner process (individual and collective) of integrating mental patterns with spiritual ones.

Luna dimming out in Aquarius -- the sign most associated with social patterns -- is like a beacon for us to consider changing the ways we create society. This extends from the seemingly pettiest social patterns to how we relate to our families (Aquarius is all about tribal themes), and by extension, our communities, cities and as a nation.

Aquarius represents any group we can conceive of ourselves as being a part. We participate in the dance; we both make and are subjected to the patterns, though we have a way of fogging this out. Neptune in Aquarius, which is one with the eclipse, is a reminder to be aware of these patterns; to wake up and come out of the happy haze of caffeinated milk foam, 1,000 HD cable channels, mood stabilizers and climate-controlled vehicles.

As often happens near eclipses, the pace of the news is quickening and getting more than a little weird. We have seen some interesting, at times tragic, drama the past week. Let's do a quick recap. During a presidential campaign featuring just one actual candidate (is anyone taking John McCain seriously?), John Edwards was visibly outed last week, impacting a family with enough problems and spreading yet another hypocritical, anti-sex message. The revelation of his affair erased his political career and thus any possibility of this friendly white guy balancing out the Democratic ticket.

Bill Gwatney was assassinated on August 13, 2008.

Then on Wednesday, Bill Gwatney, chief of the Arkansas Democratic Party and close friend of the Clintons, was assassinated in his office. His killer was killed by the police an hour later. Astonishingly, all those talented cops could not bring in one suspect alive. Even more astonishingly, the story did not make the front page of either The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal.

Then a war flared up (or was flared up) between Russia and the former Soviet state, even more-former country of Georgia, and the (as in our) Army, Navy and Condi were all sent in. All of this is taking place not just in the approach to an eclipse of the Moon, but also the run-up to the nominating conventions. And there is a little problem. By late summer, there is no viable Republican candidate or campaign; there are just eight years of disaster for us to ponder.

Eight years of 9/11 and Iraq and no WMDs and Afghanistan and whatever the holy hell we have no clue about. Wednesday, Russia offered the choice between it and Georgia as allies, and the United States is choosing Georgia, effectively reviving the Cold War. Is Georgia really worth having all of Russia as an enemy? Or is it just too convenient, because at the moment there is no other enemy?

We have to be "at war" to elect a Republican because Karl Rove (who I am sure is back, in his incarnation as the Invisible Advisor) knows that the American public prefers not to change leadership during times of war.

Using the astrology chart for the Gwatney assassination as an epicenter of all of this, we see the Leo Sun up in the 10th house. That is the house of the king, in the king’s sign, and the Sun is his planet, too. Baby Bush may not be the actual boss, but he’s the titular boss and the public face of the cabal that is in charge, so we know who or at least what that Sun represents.

We have the image of a leader (Sun 10th) whose power is drawn (almost always from below) from the delusions of the public (Neptune in Aquarius in the 4th house, the homeland). But the eclipse has the image of pulling a veil off of Neptune: of seeing the lies for what they are. With Neptune, it always takes a while.

The chart I've been watching with some serious concern is that of the Democratic National Convention. The DNC chart reminds me too much of the chart for the Sept. 11 incident, which in turn reminds me of the chart for the 2004 earthquake that caused the Asian tsunami.

The problem could be solved by waiting about two hours to begin the Convention, allowing the Moon to change signs from Gemini to Cancer.

I have to get a bit technical to explain the DNC chart's similarities to Sept. 11 and the tsunami, and its unique sense of threat -- and potential. I'll do my best to make it easy. The Moon, a key player in anyone's astrology (and that of most events), takes one month to go round the Earth. It moves through the sky at a rate of about 12 degrees a day (on average) or one degree every two hours. So the Moon occupies each degree of the zodiac for about two hours a month.

Now that you've heard the word 'degree' I'm about to introduce you to arc minutes, which are divisions of a single degree by 60 (we need to be that precise in order to appreciate the beauty of this synchronicity). Everybody put on your tinfoil thinking cap.

A photographic tribute to victims of the Sept. 11 false flag attacks. Click for larger image.

In the Sept. 11, 2001 chart, cast for the moment Flight 11 struck the World Trade Center, the Moon was at 28 Gemini and 5 arc minutes (abbreviated 28 Gemini 05). When the earthquake struck Indonesia and wiped out a quarter of a million people, the Moon was at 28 Gemini 11. This has boggled my mind for years; it is a synchronicity that should be perplexing to a scientist. In astrology you see a lot of weird coincidences, but not this weird. The Moon was a mere 1/10th of a degree apart for those two global events -- two of the most significant events of the 21st century so far, and it's been quite a little century.

What does this say? I am, by the way, one of the few people willing to blame the tsunami on corporate behavior, specifically, the combination of global warming and air-pressure oil drilling in Tasmania a few days before that I think set off a knock effect. So in that respect, the tsunami may be a conspiracy akin to Sept. 11: in my view, both are about the oil business.

Looking at the chart for 4 pm on Monday, Aug. 25, 2008 in Denver, CO, when the DNC opens, we find the Moon at 28 Gemini 38, about half a degree in distance from both Sept. 11 and the tsunami; and notably, occupying the same degree, 28+ Gemini. This is stunning and ominous. Were we considering the chart for any other campaign, or for a theater performance, it might not be so noticeable, so strange and deserving of so much consideration. But this is a very important election.

Let's zoom in a little more. In the DNC chart, the corresponding opposite degree in Sagittarius is rising, or the exact ascendant -- the way you would say that is 28+ Sagg is rising. Sagg is the rising sign and 28+ is the rising degree; this is an angle (the eastern horizon). This does several things.

This high-resolution satellite image, acquired by Space Imaging’s Ikonos satellite, shows Lhoknga after the earthquake and Tsunami. Almost all the trees, vegetation and buildings in the area were washed away.

One, it puts 28+ Gemini (and thus the Moon of all three events) on something called the descendant. The Convention begins with the Moon on an exact angle (the western horizon) at the precise moment of moonset. When you place a planet on an exact angle, you crank up its emphasis by quite a lot; name a proportion -- five-fold, 10-fold, pick a number. It puts it in the cosmic spotlight. And that planet happens to be the Sept. 11 and Tsunami Moon, which is now the DNC 2008 Moon.

Next, it puts Pluto precisely in the ascendant -- rising to one arc minute of exactitude. Pluto is 28 Sagittarius 33 and the ascendant is 28 Sagittarius 34. Pluto is rising to 1/60th of a degree. This verges on ridiculous and it makes you think they hired an astrologer to do the chart; that's usually how you get a chart like this. But they probably did not -- the convention started at 4 pm in 2004 and it's starting at 4 pm in 2008.

The Moon is opposite Pluto to within 1/10th of a degree: its position is 28 Gemini 38 and Pluto is at 28 Sagittarius 33. I have not called up every astrologer I know, but I don't think too many of them would rate this as a friendly arrangement, even subtracting the whole bizarre Sept. 11 / tsunami sync.

If I had to describe this chart, it's like the Democratic National Convention is a loaded gun pointed at itself, and consequently the public. If you had paid me a lot of money and I had venom in my heart, and I brought the full weight of my talent to the question, I could not have chosen a darker chart to commence the 2008 Democratic campaign.

The chart does have a few saving graces, though. First, dark may be exactly what we need. Second is that it's precise. That does not make it 'good' per se, but it does make it a clean work of cosmic engineering. Not to subtract from my saving grace theme here, but the last chart that came close to being this precise was the Sept. 11 chart, and that chart was certainly 'good' for whoever pulled it off. It was, however, more elegant and a little less in-your-face than the DNC 2008 chart. We, at least, have a clue that we're dealing with some potent astrology. The Sept. 11 chart is precise, but it's slippery, just like 9/11 itself.

Next is that the Galactic Core is not only rising in the DNC chart, it's in the ascendant to within about two degrees. This is the center of our Milky Way galaxy. If there is an astrological stand-in for the highest order of Divine consciousness, we can look for it in the Galactic Core. Whatever is there binds together our magnificent 300 billion-star spiral-barred galaxy.

Given these facts, we have an occasion to take the highest possible interpretation of the chart. To paraphrase the poet Donald Rumsfeld, you don't necessarily go into the future with the chart you want; you go with the chart you have. So -- let's go.

We live in dangerous times (which we prefer to zone out and deny), and those times are represented in this chart: reminders of the two enormous global disasters previously mentioned and often forgotten. The Moon is opposite Pluto (which feels like a weapon pointed at the public, which happens to be a true fact of our world); and a sharply-divided public suggested by both the Gemini Moon and Pluto seem to split it down the middle (let's see which cool-minded liberals can't quite bring themselves to vote for a black guy).

We are dealing with a mix of profound potential global threats, all of which seem to push the amazing potential of our era into the shadows. These threats, as we well know, include our perfect train wreck of an environmental crisis; fossil fuels running out; terrorism; false-flag terrorism (fake attacks coming from the inside and/or used for manipulative political purposes, such as Sept. 11), oil men and arms brokers in charge of the government stealing from absolutely everyone, and killing a few people along the way; a stressed-out public that is conditioned to believe lies and to expect the government and corporations to lie; and so on.

Senator Barack Obama (with Lincoln and King) in his Capitol Hill office. Photograph by Jonas Karlsson.

Indeed, our moment of history is so precisely reflected in this chart that we could say that whatever or whoever it represents is dealing in reality -- and that is Obama's appeal. He not only speaks in sentences, what he says is worth thinking about. He does not look like his aura is in 151 pieces, rearranged like a bad copy of a cubist painting. The public (Gemini Moon), divided though it may be, is precisely aligned with and looking straight into the power, the danger and the sense of what, spiritually, is at stake (Pluto and Galactic Core rising).

To get anything done, that is, for us as a people, a country or a world, we need to confront our moment directly, with a sense of history, particularly recent history. And this chart does not skew the issues. It is shaped like a key that could unlock the incredible paradox of our moment in history, a paradox comprised of monumental problems, the opportunity to apply our technology and our minds toward evolutionary purposes, combined with dinosaurism that is eating away at the integrity of what precious little progress we have been able to make in recent years.

The DNC chart has a feeling of homeopathy -- that like cures like. This means not conducting ourselves like the people who have made these problems (to which we are all more or less party), but rather, reflecting the ability to understand and bear witness to the real issues in order to do anything about them.

The Obama campaign, on the surface, is based on hope, but this chart says it's based on a sober understanding that the human race and in particular the American public need to grow and make some difficult decisions. Part of that difficulty involves confronting people who don't want the past to end, and who cannot drag themselves forward, and those who are quite literally violent toward any semblance of progress. To make progress, we have to face them, our problems and our own issues, and devise solutions, many or most of which will be spiritual, not political.

There is another dimension to this chart. We have all heard of 2012, and the evolutionary leap purported to be associated with it. This date is represented one way in Mayan astrology, but in the western zodiac, 2012 takes place precisely on the Sagittarius/ Capricorn cusp, where all these planets and the Galactic Core are so precisely aligned -- along with the great disasters of our day.

The president we elect now will most likely be the one to serve until 2012 and maybe beyond. Suffice it to say, this is a chance to take a leap forward, but it is indeed a chance. Do we have the guts to take it? We shall soon see.

Yours & truly,


PS, for those who are interested in the theme of Chiron moving through Aquarius, Tracy Delaney researched our prior coverage of the issue. Most of it dates back to 2004 and 2005, when Chiron initially made its ingress to this sign. More on Chiron is located in Planet Wiki on the Chiron page.

Chiron In Aquarius, from the Feb. 4, 2005 edition of Astrology Secrets Revealed.

Aquarius Is Rising, from the Feb. 11, 2005 edition of Planet Waves Weekly.

An Excellent Moral Crisis, article dated June 26, 2004.

Television, Man from the June 24, 2004 edition of Planet Waves.

All Of Us Here, dated Feb. 26, 2005.

This week we have another offer for you from DailyOm, this time it's a course by Peggy McColl called Achieving Your Goals. The course fee is optional, which jives with the Planet Waves business model too, and it's all about getting on track and achieving your greatest desires. If you do sign up, please write to us and let us know how you like it. Click here for the course details.

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

Everyone has an agenda. Everyone has something they want and are attempting to get. Desire fuels motivation on this planet of ours; it's the human condition. Buddhism speaks to that craving for satisfaction and achievement by offering up a philosophy based on becoming aware of this basic human drive and taming it. The Dalai Lama is perplexingly patient, for instance, and head-scratchingly cheerful in his displacement from his kingdom; that is the Buddhist way, the Middle Path. It will all come out in the wash.

The Dalai Lama.

Not all of us are so passive. Tearing up the headlines around the world, it appears that a large fish tried to swallow a little fish and a giant fish came along and swallowed both. That would be, in turn, Georgia, South Ossetia and Russia.

Georgia, a post-Soviet satellite state, has been a personal project of George W. Bush's in the last years, its leader a favorite of his and its future pushed forward by our eager president who has been trying to legitimize it with NATO membership. It has been important to him to groom an ally in close proximity to our old Cold War enemy. The Russian Bear has long looked across those invisible lines we call borders with grumpy interest.

In the last few days, Georgia has inexplicably attempted to absorb Russian-sympathetic South Ossetia and had the Bear land on it with both paws; this has put the international community on high alert, and reminded the world how dicey international affairs can be. John McCain is taking the opportunity to sound like John Wayne and Barack Obama, on a brief vacation, is urging stern diplomacy.

There is more than a tad of logic in considering that we are probably having a well-timed Republican moment; a Wag The Dog event of tragic stagecraft and political purpose. Buzz is that it began in the crafty but morally-unhinged mind of the Vice President of the United States; that's the Russian point of view and there appears to be a sturdy thread of connection between this event, Cheney and John McCain's Neoconservative advisors to further its credibility.

Weekly Horoscope for Friday, August 15, 2008, #727 - By ERIC FRANCIS

This Week in 2011 THE WHITE HOUSE announced that it had been visited by extraterrestrials at an unspecified time during the first week of July. The President, the First Lady, executive chef Jerome Cayce, a staff paramedic and several other staff members were involved in a situation that initially developed in the family kitchen on the second floor. There were no reported visual sightings of a spacecraft near the White House or over Washington. It was classified by the Air Force as an abduction because all of the individuals involved reported finding themselves in another location, though it was not known where. No one was injured, and though everyone remembered the dialog with remarkable precision, nobody could describe what the extraterrestrials looked like because their visual memory had been screened out. The content of the conversation involved climate change, a strategy for nuclear disarmament, and an emotion called compersion. The event, which had been kept quiet for more than a month at the behest of national security officials, was publicized in a press conference when Cayce, the executive chef, violated a security directive and went to Bob Woodward at The Washington Post with the story. "I had nothing to lose," he said in an interview. "I was not concerned about my life. They gave us some very helpful information that several generals wanted to hide because it would kill their budgets." Cayce said that he was not given a definition for compersion, but the feeling was related to everyone involved empathically, with the knowledge that it was the emotion underlying world peace. The word was not found in any dictionary, but its basic meaning was located through an Internet search. Woodward and The Post agreed to hold the story for 72 hours while the White House press team prepared a statement. It read simply, "The President, the First Lady and several members of the White House staff were visited and later abducted for several hours by extraterrestrials of a kind not previously known to scientists. The content of the discussion is not being disclosed at this time, though all parties interviewed by Air Force specialists said they did not feel the contact was hostile in nature." In its coverage, The Post reported that the Air Force had kept secret "hundreds of carefully documented contacts between humans and extraterrestrials that occurred between 1946 and December 2010."

 
Aries (March 20-April 19)
Many people feel there is no room for who they are in the world, but now the world is standing aside and making some space. Perhaps certain people aren't paying attention; perhaps others have got over their prejudices and expectations; others know that we need a blast of innovation and idealism if anything is going to move the story of the world forward. All this you bring, and much more. The only thing that could stop you is looking around you at eyes that are painted with the hues and images of the past. Look around and see the world the way it is today, free from anything you previously believed. Recognize that you have the strength and innovation to make the contribution you came here to make -- sooner rather than later. Freedom is not something you can have in the future. You can only have it now.
 
Taurus (April 19-May 20)
You have a calling, and you know it. As I may have mentioned in previous interpretations for your sign, there are two major influences working on the professional angle of your chart. One fills you with idealism and a sense of longing for your highest hopes. Another is leading you to focus, to cover the details and to confront the struggle for acceptance. Together, the two represent the quest for taking what exists in potential and creating a space for it in your own life, which translates to a space in the world. You may feel this process is taking a lot longer than it should. Indeed, by this time next year, you will be impressed with the progress you have made. But by this time next week, you will stand firmer in your belief in what is possible, what is necessary and what you know you must do.
 
Gemini (May 20-June 21)
Einstein said that imagination was more powerful than knowledge, but at the moment you have both going for you. The kind of imagination you have is the visionary kind, and the kind of knowledge you possess is the emotional kind. Accessing either requires that you relax your mind and allow the data from your subtler senses to come through. This is all about the flow of ideas, not their accumulation. Your growth process is about seeing things differently than you did yesterday, which may mean embracing that what you have once deemed impossible is truly accessible. You're not being asked to take anything purely on faith, but at the same time, you cannot expect every question you have to be answered immediately. The kind of knowledge you are gaining access to requires a fair amount of embracing the unknown. It's easier than you think.
 
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
It has been said that we can offer three things for sale: our labor, our ideas and our time. Of the three, your ideas are by far the most valuable. In order to create a life where you can live on your ideas, you need to take emphasis off of time and labor. You also need to see a particular opening when the clouds part and the gateway is standing in front of you. Then you need the confidence to know if it's the right one. In other words, you are standing very close to the place where preparation and opportunity intersect. The third factor is your having solid faith in what you have to offer, and noticing the guidance that tells you that this is the time to make a difference. Even you who have long wondered if the products of your mind have a tangible value will get some unusual evidence of that fact. But once the world opens up and proves this point, it is you who must remember every day.
 
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23)
Most people make a religion out of doubt, and this becomes a magnificent resource for those who would exploit them. Others make a religion out of certainty, which drags plenty of people along whether that certainty is true or false. At the moment, you are walking the line between the two. One idea can tip the scale in either direction. You may feel certain, then get stuck on an imperfection that negates that certainty. You may feel doubt, and then remember that you have prepared long and hard for the moment in which you are standing. I suggest that you not look to the world for feedback, because the reflection you see will not necessarily be accurate. I suggest you take your advice about life from yourself. Indeed, at the moment, it is the vague or noncommittal quality of the world around you that is your greatest resource.
 
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
You're figuring out that you like yourself, which is a huge step in the right direction. You now need to connect that improved opinion of your existence with permission to be motivated in the direction you want to go. At this point, you run the risk of giving up, but you could just as easily choose to face the repeated challenges of existence in a truly positive way. The past month or so has been an extended experiment in determining what right you have to take action, and on what rationale. You may, at the moment, be observing that you were motivated for the 'wrong' reasons; you may decide that you have been too aggressive with yourself and with others; that you are critical to the point of negating your right to exist. I know you are committed to  maintaining a realistic, balanced view of yourself, but remember, you exist and you exist for a reason. If you remember that, much else will be perfectly obvious.
 
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)
You many sense by now that you're going through a profound shift in personal identity. You may also feel that if you could only be a little less paranoid or consumed by anxiety it would be so much easier. Then you are probably wondering what you have to worry about; after all, if you're worried, there must be something. The main thing that's causing you anxiety is what I can only describe as an overwhelming need for you to express yourself. You are holding onto a lot. You are bound up in so many concepts about what is true or false; what is valid or not; what is important or meaningless. What you are really trying to do is validate that you have a right to exist. It would be a lot simpler if you accepted the fact that you do exist, and that to a real degree this means that everyone else has to get out of the way. It would help much more if you calmly stepped out of your own way.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
Public opinion rises and falls like the tides at the Bay of Fundy, and at the moment you seem to be the flavor of the month. This is nice, but I suggest you worry less about what anyone thinks and instead harness the changes you sense in others as a source of energy. When people appreciate you, sign them up for your projects, and give them the sense that they are part of the community. When people seem aggressive, harness their energy for positive purposes, and let it motivate you to clean up your act. Thank them and put them on the long-term list of potential allies. This relates to the question of how you handle your own fear; that is, what you do with this energy once you feel it. Fear is supposed to be a warning that something is wrong, but in our current era of history it is usually an indicator that nothing is wrong (just that our minds are acting up). Remember.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22)
It really helps to have cooperation, but when the help you need is extremely specific, on our particular planet you're lucky to have it at all. Still, I suggest you hold out for exactly the assistance you need, and make sure you demonstrate the kind of leadership that will draw it to you. You can help the process by being specific with yourself, and very clear with others around you. What you really need is patience for those whose minds are not quite as fast and as sharp as yours, while you keep your eyes out for someone equally intelligent, brave and conscious. This may seem like a tall order. Just remember what you are doing is gutsy but also calls for a high degree of attention to detail. Don't skimp on either, and don't let anyone else do so either.
 
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
Bear in mind the long-term nature of the work you are doing. The world knows very little about this lately; everything is supposed to be perfect out of the box, with 24-hour customer care. Like any large vision, it is crafted into reality one beam, brick or page at a time. Along the way, you need to refine your process and perhaps redo many things that you learned how to do correctly only after you had the opportunity to do them wrong. The accumulated benefit and worth of your efforts is what you learn rather than what you accomplish. Still, when Mars changes signs early next week, you're likely to decide that knowledge is good and that tangible results are better.
 
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
You can work out the details of what seems like an impossibly complex arrangement. True, you've endured all kinds of starts and stops, and you've played a role in this process -- mainly because you have a habit of making only the commitments you can keep. And to put it mildly, you've been on the cautious side, because you know that the particular commitment you seem on the verge of making will change you. But the truth is, you are changing, and that change is leaving you open for something, or someone, new -- perhaps both. The thing to focus on is the nature of your inner process. It seems to be partly about forgetting something and partly about remembering something much deeper. And to put it mildly, this process has just begun.
 
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
You're about to make an inner discovery that will, to put it mildly, come as a surprise. Fortunately it's a discovery about yourself, and truth be told, I think you will appreciate what you learn. You are getting plenty of affirmation from the world that you're on the right path, even if it's wildly overgrown and difficult to follow. You will have even more reassurance when the Sun enters your opposite sign Virgo in about a week. But what you discover on a purely inward level will reveal to you that in actual fact, you understood yourself perfectly; and that you made your choices to get where you are today according to what I can only describe as a divinely ordained plan. Others may line up to tell you that they knew all along; what's more impressive is that you knew all along.