 Planet Waves -- the Art of Service. Digital Illustration by Lizanne Webb.
Solstice Fire and The Art of ServiceDear 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 offer to you and the world -- Planet Waves newsletters and horoscopes, our daily magazine with many writers and artists, its diversity of topics and professional editing, the annual edition with written and audio readings, Planet Waves FM and Planet Waves TV, my classes and birthday readings -- all with only you as our sponsor.
My goal with this letter is to get you so psyched that you want to subscribe, and if you're already on board, to make a donation or give a gift subscription to a friend. First I want to begin with a story. When Planet Waves set sail on the Internet in December 1998 -- just a few months after Google launched its search engine -- the Internet was a quieter, simpler place. There was a sense of mystery, potential and discovery. Every website offered some new curiosity to be explored. Publishing anything -- a picture, an article, a graphic -- seemed daring and liberating. It was viscerally exciting to reach people in far-flung places, and to hear back from them. I began with one artist, and a couple of photographers. A friend taught me some very basic web programs (PageMill, Fetch). Using an antique Macintosh, we launched the first Planet Waves site in a few hours on the winter solstice of 1998. It was rather basic, consisting of a cover page, a contents page and a weekly horoscope. Planet Waves had begun. We have published every day since, nonstop for the past 16 years. When we started, the world was a quieter place. Do you remember? Nowadays there's hardly any recollection of life before 9/11. The peace, calm and relative prosperity were more fragile than we realized at the time, if anyone even noticed.
Yet beginning with the stolen election of November 2000, fear began seeping through consciousness, and much of it was conveyed on the Internet. The pace of the ‘net picked up, and the temperature dropped, as it became a place where one of the main commodities delivered was paranoia. It soon became clear that Planet Waves was an oasis within the madness. I figured out that our perspective was actually helping people keep some semblance of sanity. Others who refused to watch the news were telling me that I was their sole source of contact with the political realm. I was truly grateful to have put in 10 years as a full-time reporter and editor prior to touching astrology. World events made it easy for me to apply my astrology gift and my journalism skills. The most horrific developments lent themselves well to my combined method of news analysis and astrology. This in turn helped diffuse some of the pain and discern some meaning behind even the worst events. Astrology also helps decode the personal relevance of otherwise impersonal world events. Astrology is the shared ground, the point of contact, between the individual and the collective. Then came advertising. The 'net started with next to no advertising at all. Eventually big companies figured out they could reach people here. The Internet was very nearly reduced to a corporate tool, flooded with advertising and PR-generated 'viral' videos and spam.
As this tide has risen, Planet Waves has steadfastly remained free from corporate sponsorship and outside advertising. My goal is to present a clear environment where you're free to think for yourself. I don't want visual or mental clutter, noise or interruptions where you do your deep thinking. Most significantly, I don't want to be influenced by the political whims of advertisers. I am happy answering just to you. What I do offer -- my readings and subscriptions -- I take personal responsibility for. As things got ever-weirder, Planet Waves held open a bastion of sanity. We did so consciously, asking questions in a clear voice, taking nothing for granted and maintaining close contact with our readers. Many times I've worked around the clock to keep up with a major news story -- such as the Fukushima meltdown -- just because I knew people would be coming to Planet Waves for information. Many had already decided I was the one journalist they actually trusted. We've also remained a haven of creativity -- where artists and writers could easily find a place to develop their talent and get their vision out to the world. Planet Waves is the home of the well-crafted personal essay, from the heart. It's the home of the most magnificent photography. I would estimate that we have, over the years, hosted the work of more than 300 writers and artists.
We continue to do all of this every day. We provide a place where you know you're going to read something reassuring, something that helps you feel better about yourself, something friendly or funny or loving or at least realistic. Fe Bongolan, one of our columnists, is fond of calling Planet Waves a psychic bomb shelter. When the shit hits the fan, people come flocking to us, and are invited to engage in a conversation. I also envision Planet Waves as a place where, together, we can imagine a better future. We do what we do on an incredibly small budget -- less than the salary of many modestly paid business executives. I work for less than the salary of a New York Times reporter. Every penny we make is invested into the work that we do. We are sustained by a combination of subscriptions and sales of my readings; about 80% of our content remains free of charge -- and 100% is free of advertising. Think about that for 10 seconds and you'll figure out what a miracle this all is. This week and next, along with my creative team, I am going to give you many, many reasons to subscribe to Planet Waves, and to become a customer of my excellent astrology readings. It's not just that the quality and volume of work that we do each day, week and year deserves your support. It's the fundamental values that drive us that I am asking you to vote for.
Our many projects, such as Planet Waves FM, Planet Waves TV, the annual edition and our library-scale archives, are all great reasons to subscribe and join others in supporting our work. I'm going to give you three better ones -- my summary of the values that underlie my philosophy as an editor, astrologer and publisher. Everything you read, hear or see on Planet Waves, everything and anything, especially astrology, has a foundation of underlying values. I am driven by several core values that inform everything I write, and everything published by Planet Waves. We Offer Tools For Living There exists the idea that astrology is supposed to provide predictions or easy answers. We take a different approach, a more responsible one, offering ideas and tools you can use to guide your creative process, to repair your life, to open locked doors and to release trapped potential. As you read, imagine yourself collecting ideas on a ring that you keep with you at all times.
The same is true for everyone I've selected as a writer. There are times you will discover one idea that you carry with you, and use regularly for the rest of your life. Our approach to the work is practical. Life is mystical and mysterious enough without bogging the mind in abstract notions. We do our best to deliver coherent, focused ideas that actually serve you. This leaves your creative power in your hands. We encourage you to use your creativity to heal and build your life, and to practice whatever you feel is your true art form. We Put Your Humanity, and Our Humanity, First Astrology is about people and our relationships. What we write and produce is offered from a place of vulnerability, which means being open, and taking risks. Our work is created and offered to you by real people, not a corporate machine -- or written by a computer. (Google has recently started offering computer-generated articles.) Creating authentic, well-crafted work takes experience, effort and resources. We invest those generously. Our writers and artists are people who have spent many years concentrating their knowledge and communication skills. We are generously willing to share ourselves with you. We sign our names to what we do, and hold ourselves accountable to editors, fact checkers and editorial standards. We are all available to be contacted. It's worth mentioning how rare this is on the contemporary Internet.
Planet Waves is based on a news reporting model, which evolved into an astrology project. We are worldly before we are spiritual. As the world seems to go insane with violence and greed -- sometimes gradually, sometimes rapidly -- we interpret global events in a way that helps you process them and understand your relationship to them. This saves you the vast ocean of energy that you might otherwise spend not paying attention or refusing to be overwhelmed by negativity. Miraculously, and unlike any other approach I've ever seen used, we use the news as a growth platform, guided by the idea that the political is personal and the personal is political. As people grow increasingly concerned about the global situation, we continue to focus our journalistic efforts at understanding what's happening and relating why it's relevant to you. We bring bold originality to everything we do -- in our use of astrology, our view of the world and most of all, our approach to you and your life. We do what we do every day for you. Each week hundreds of hours in research, writing, design and recording go into the creation of our materials, and we offer it to you as affordably as possible. You in turn have made Planet Waves possible all these years. We know that, and we strive to be as dependable as we depend on you. How You Can Get Involved or Bring Others On Board -- and Support the Growth of Planet Waves Planet Waves is a membership organization, and a place to get the highest-quality astrology readings. We thrive on your business and your generosity. Much of what we do is offered free. We depend on your membership and gift memberships, and gifts of readings and subscriptions given to others.
Or you can give a gift subscription at a sliding scale rate for six months or one year. You may use these links to subscribe if you're currently not a Core Community member. If you have not read and listened to your 2015 annual reading, that's as fresh and alive as ever, waiting for you at a reduced midyear price. You'll have access to audio and written readings for all 12 signs, including your rising and Moon signs, and those of significant others. My annual edition is the richest astrology resource that we offer, in one place, for the cost of a tarot card reading. If you can afford to support us with a donation, we have four levels for that -- $100, $250, $500 and $1000. Through the next week or two, we will be continuing our membership drive. We'll be sharing more stories, archive offerings, and special editions of Planet Waves FM and TV. Please watch your inbox and pass these along to others. There's an Art of Service edition of Planet Waves FM below. I'm planning on doing a new episode of Planet Waves TV shortly as well. Most of all, thank you for collaborating with us on Planet Waves. With love,  Why I Support Planet Waves From a recent $1,000 Donor (a Capricorn) We all vote with our money every day...where we shop, whose label we buy, what causes we support.
It has become very clear to me to give to those whose work in the world can help change the world significantly, with a far-reaching impact. I look for people and places where even a little bit can have a big effect...like Pholus! Planet Waves is that place. Their work is woven with skill, integrity, authenticity, insight and empowerment. We are being awakened and attuned with the Cosmos, every time Eric and everyone on staff at PW give to us. Planet Waves' investment IS in us, so I invest in them! Planet Waves (ISSN 1933-9135) is published each Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon in Kingston, New York, by Planet Waves, Inc. Annual basic subscription rate: $97/year. Core community membership: $197/year. Editor and Publisher: Eric Francis Coppolino. Web Developer: Anatoly Ryzhenko. Office Manager: Lauren Gdovin. Astrology Editor: Amanda Painter. Astrology Fact Checker: Len Wallick. Copy Editor and Fact Checker: Jessica Keet. Client Services: Amy Elliott, Lisa Gatto. Media Consultant: Andrew Marshall McLuhan. Research, Writing and Editing: In addition to those listed above, Planet Waves is produced by a team consisting of Fe Bongolan, Judith Gayle, Kelly Janes, Amanda Moreno, Carol van Strum, Len Wallick, Lizanne Webb and Chad Woodward.
 Capricorn Full Moon: Turning the Tide This Wednesday, July 1, is the Capricorn Full Moon. The Moon opposes the Cancer Sun, and we get a peak of energy. The Full Moon is exact at 10:19 pm EDT (02:19 UTC July 2). This Full Moon (across a water-earth axis) coincides with lots of action in the fire signs. Venus is approaching its conjunction to Jupiter, which is exact a few hours before the Full Moon. Venus-Jupiter for its part is trine the Uranus-Eris conjunction in Aries, and also trine plenty of activity in Sagittarius, most notably Pholus (small cause, big effect).
Mercury is in an interesting position -- it forms what's called a kite pattern. In other words, it makes sextiles to two sides of the grand trine. Mercury, so recently involved with that endless square to Neptune, is now processing a lot of high-vibration energy. In addition to aspecting the whole grand fire trine, it's also square Chiron. That's a caution -- Mercury-to-Chiron aspects can feel like you don't know, or like you don't have enough information; they can be the cause of significant self-doubt of the "I'm stupid" kind. This is not true -- you know much more than you think. To get access to knowledge, you just have to think about what you know. That part, you cannot escape. Also in this chart is Saturn in the last degree of Scorpio, at the start of its last 90-day visit to that sign before embarking on more than two years in Sagittarius. As mentioned in last week's edition, Saturn is making a diversity of aspects, which describe a kind of struggle to get unstuck. It seems to be coming up against some kind of self-imposed delay, yet at the same time is under pressure to move more quickly or suddenly. The key with this Saturn is going to be consistent, gradual persistence. There's a subject here that needs to be discussed, first as an inner matter then as a relational one. The strange and powerful opposition between Saturn and Admetus (a hypothetical planet, without a body), is talking about the nature of inertia. What is it about humans that their personalities are so intractable? Thought is the most flexible substance in the universe. Why does it seem so rigid? The peaking of the Sun-Moon cycle is going to give these things a push. As for that Full Moon: it's conjunct Pluto, for one thing. It's also opposite Mars in Cancer. There is a Mars-Pluto opposition building. This Full Moon will give you the opportunity to defuse and diffuse that tension before it happens. Mars opposite Pluto is one of the more typical indicators of power struggles. Is that really necessary? Power struggles seem to be more about emotional overreaction than anything else. This Full Moon will light up your relationship dynamics and give you a chance to work things out. You might say it's an invitation not just to turn with the tide, but to turn with the changing tide. We will have more details on next week's Planet Waves FM and in the Tuesday letter. -- Eric Francis Coppolino   From Guatemala, only 14 degrees above the equator, the rings would begin to stretch across the horizon if Earth had Saturn's rings. Their reflected light would make the Moon much brighter. Image by Ron Miller.
The Ring of Truth in Rings of FancyBy Amanda Painter With retrograde Saturn back in late Scorpio for a while, you may find yourself facing unfinished business along Scorpionic themes: sexuality, money, deep emotional transformation -- and the personal and collective laws that govern these areas of your life. Could be you’re diving into the process with gusto; or maybe you’ve been dreading whatever Saturn is dredging up. In either case, here’s a little Saturn-themed offering to help you come up for air before you dive too far into the watery depths. Illustrator and author Ron Miller is a specialist in scientifically accurate renderings of many parts of our solar system that cannot be viewed with the naked eye. Among his creations: images of the surface of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon; and the insides of black holes. He even designed a postage stamp of Pluto, which is traveling toward that planet on the New Horizons spacecraft (scheduled to arrive there July 14). But Miller’s photo-imaginings of what we might see if Earth had Saturn’s rings is the real draw. Available are views from Washington, D.C., the Tropic of Capricorn, the equator, and more. After all: astrologically speaking, Saturn exists here on Earth each time we build something, act with authority, or lay down the law. Make its processes your own, and you might even find yourself enjoying its benefits. Eventually.  Planet Waves :: The Art of Service In this week's edition of Planet Waves FM, I introduce Planet Waves as practitioners of the Art of Service. I describe our community and our mission, and share something of the history of Planet Waves. The music is two selections from The Grateful Dead -- Sage and Spirit, and Eyes of the World, two masterpieces by different writers in the group.  Your Monthly Horoscopes -- and our Publishing Schedule Notes Your extended monthly horoscopes for July are published below in this issue. We published your extended monthly horoscopes for June on Thursday, May 21. Your Moonshine horoscopes for the Sagittarius Full Moon were published Tuesday, May 26. Please note, we normally publish the extended monthly horoscope on the first Friday after the Sun has entered a new sign. Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for July 2015, #1055 | By Eric Francis   
Your 2015-2016 Cancer Reading
To Achieve the Most, Take Care of Yourself Dear Friend and Reader: The sign Cancer is associated with food, emotions, nurturing and bubble baths. Yet the astrology influencing your sign is about some stunning achievement. Your focus is being drawn ever-outward into the world, and if you have not noticed it yet, you will be soon.
It would be an understatement to say that this describes a breakthrough of some kind. Note that no astrology has happened like this in our lifetimes. The last time this aspect took place was in 1928! This conjunction is developing in the most outgoing, dynamic house in your chart -- the 10th. That's the one associated with career, reputation and what you achieve in the world. The planets are putting you on notice that your life is developing in some bold and positive ways. Going well beyond career, this astrology describes your overall role in the world, as a leader, as a creative force and as one contributing to solutions. I am about to prepare your 2015-2016 birthday reading. I'll be recording a clear, practical guide to working with your astrology over the next four seasons. In that reading, I will read this aspect that guides you to toward some unusual success. Yet there's a cautionary note here -- about the need to keep a clear focus on your home life and your relationships. Simply put, you can accomplish great things, if you take care of yourself. My Cancer reading will help you do just that. I will offer you a complete picture of your astrology, which looks at your life holistically. I'll remind you of the many facets of who you are, all of which add up to the whole person that is you. The key to this astrology is drawing on every facet of your creativity, strength and intelligence. Read more...          To unsubscribe, click here e Wiki | Friends | Editors | Contact Us Copyright © 2015 by Planet Waves, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Other copyrights may apply. >> Some images used under Fair Use or Creative Commons attribution. |
