Sparking the Fires of Consciousness Dear Friend and Reader: Early Thursday morning, the Sun passed the midpoint of the sign Aquarius. In the old calendar, this is the sabbat of Imbolc, one of the four cross-quarter days. Said simply, we're at the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox -- at least here in the Northern Hemisphere.
There are four of these natural holidays. I will reference them in their Northern Hemisphere manifestations, to save confusion -- those of you down under may reverse them, or not, depending on your personal spiritual practice. In any event, the solar year is divided into eight major points, each separated by about 46 days. Our current sabbat is called Imbolc, which means "in the milk" or "in the belly." It's also called Midwinter Holiday. At this time of year, the days are still pretty short, the skies tend to be dark, and we are deep in the belly of the stars. The Christians adopted this as Candlemas, which indicates that it's a fire holiday. We'll come back to that in a moment. It exists in modern form as Groundhog Day, which is used for an odd form of weather divination involving a lot of TV cameras. This has roots in the tradition of all of the quarter days and cross-quarter days being time to cast divination. You might think of that as asking the universe a question, and getting an answer. Midway between spring equinox and summer solstice is Beltane. This shows up in Christian culture as the holiday with the maypole, and the crowning of the Queen of the May. It's usually around May 5; this year there is a New Moon on May 6, so that's when I would say is the time to have your celebration. That's a Friday night. This is the holiday of fertilizing the fields with sexual pleasure.
Midway between summer solstice and autumn equinox is Lughnasadh, pronounced "lu-nessa." Its Christian name is Lammas, which means "loaf mass." It's the first of three harvest celebrations; in some traditions it's called First Harvest or Second Planting. Midway between autumn equinox and winter solstice is Samhain (pronounced "sah-wen." This corresponds with modern Halloween, and Days of the Dead. It's perhaps the most ancient holiday, when the ancestors are honored. How You Might Celebrate Imbolc Imbolc is a time of preparation, and of renewal. Think of it as a seed of consciousness being born in the deeps of space and time; of a light in the darkness. I consider Imbolc a fire festival, which could mean lighting candles, and also tending the hearth. It's time to clean the ashes out of the fireplace or wood stove, knowing that most of winter is over and spring is on the way. Any metaphor you have for this -- any form of clearing and cleaning and removing obstacles -- would fit the idea of tending the hearth. This could translate into cleaning kitchen closets, cleaning the fridge and generally opening up interior space.
I also cleaned up the altar area. The whole ritual had the feeling of opening up the flow of energy, allowing for movement. I also arranged with my landlord to have the gas heater inspected this week. If you use the equation "space is intelligence," the wisdom of this will be clearer. The more space you have, the more free your mind is to do its thing. There is a direct parallel between physical and energetic environments. One other thing I did, without planning it, was take a friend down to an abandoned cement mine that I consecrated into a healing cave back in the early days of my astrological studies. This involved driving to a remote area, parking, and walking stealthily through the wet, foggy woods. We found the entrance to the cave and descended into the ground, about 20 feet down. Then we sat in total darkness; I really had that feeling of being "in the belly" of the Earth and the stars. In a sense, this holiday is a celebration of where dark and light meet up. It's about going to that liminal threshold where the seemingly unconscious mind meets awareness. It can be frightening there in that world of shadows; you might encounter unfamiliar beings, yet you live with them all the time. The Specific Astrology This Week This year, Imbolc happened right before the Aquarius New Moon, so we get a little extension on the window of using energy. The New Moon takes place Monday at 9:39 am EST (14:39 UTC). This is a particularly spectacular New Moon. The Moon-Sun conjunction makes many aspects, which means that it connects to other energy nodes in the chart.
It is square the fiery planet Mars in Scorpio, which is conjunct Juno. This is passionate, sexual, given to jealousy and potentially driven by a sense of justice. It's also semi-sextile Pluto, which has been experiencing a lot of action lately. For example, there was a long conjunction between Mercury and Pluto associated with Mercury stationing direct. This had the feeling of penetrating truth, burning through the density of Mercury in Capricorn. This is like a new tradition emerging from what was left of the old one. Now Venus is about to make a conjunction to Pluto; this takes place Friday at 8:14 pm EST (Saturday at 01:14 UTC). This is passionate, lusty and defiant. At the moment Venus and Pluto line up, the Moon is right there. It's an absolutely gorgeous chart that I rant about on Planet Waves FM in a way that I can't quite do here in writing. I do suggest you listen (it's in the first segment of the program) to catch the feeling of this conjunction as I can only express it in spoken word format. The message, though, is to set yourself free from the need for the appearance of integrity. Too often this thing we call integrity is associated with appearance and not with being real. This distinction is essential; in growth, I reckon that we want the genuine article and not the charade. with love, 
Planet Waves (ISSN 1933-9135) is published each Tuesday and Thursday evening in Kingston, New York, by Planet Waves, Inc. Core community membership: $197/year. Editor and Publisher: Eric Francis Coppolino. Web Developer: Anatoly Ryzhenko. Designer: Lizanne Webb. Office Manager: Lauren Gdovin. Astrology Editor: Amanda Painter. Astrology Fact Checker: Len Wallick. Copy Editor and Fact Checker: Jessica Keet. Client Services: Amy Elliott. Media Consultant: Andrew Marshall McLuhan. Eric's Assistant: Whitney Beecroft. 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.
 Loving (or Lusting?) the Eruption Dear Friend and Reader: How often do you feel like you have to keep a lid on things -- your emotions, your sexual urges, your ambitions, your full power? Probably a lot of the time, right? After all, most social and professional situations call on us to temper our more primal sides in favor of being polite, proper, cool and in control.
What if you were to look at such an emergence simply as yet another step in your personal evolution; just one more facet of yourself to embrace and integrate on your way to wholeness? After all, humanity has a long history of sexual desire (as well as emotions, power and evolving). None of this is new material, though it might feel new (and therefore unusual) to express it in the way the astrology is indicating -- and still have it be productive, rather than destructive. Of course, one key to working with it productively is to own it. That deep, seemingly mysterious place under the surface where your sexuality, emotions and body intersect is all yours. Trying to project it onto others won't work; yes, they have their own lusty nexus. And you have yours. So what's the astrology at work here? The core aspect is a conjunction between Venus and Pluto in mid-Capricorn, exact at 8:15 pm EST Friday (1:15 UTC Saturday). (Ideal timing for most weekday nine-to-fivers, whether you're in a relationship or solo, to devote some attention to sexual expression and exploration; try it during the day if you work at night.) Eric Francis reminded me today of the late, great astrologer Al Morrison, saying, "One day astrologer Debbi Kempton-Smith (Morrison's student) asked him about the Venus-Pluto conjunction in his natal chart and he looked at her and said in his slow Arkansas drawl: Luuuuusst."
Our lustier urges, whether you take them literally or as metaphor, have evolutionary purposes. As Eric added in his email, "[Venus-Pluto] is about letting it out -- burning through the prim propriety of Capricorn and getting to the molten goat interior of Capricorn." Molten goat? If that image does not work for you, try imagining a volcanic mountain range. It's solid and strong and seemingly impermeable; but deep within is the magma that actually made the mountain. That magma is hot and looking for a way out. Will it ooze gently and carry you along as it reshapes the landscape? Or will it erupt suddenly, taking the top of the mountain with it and laying bare the power within? Both scenarios are possible, in terms of how your emotions, your body, and your sexuality may find expression. Current astrology provides an invitation to get in touch with this layer of yourself and your feelings about it. To the one side of Venus-Pluto is Mars (and Black Moon Lilith, a hypothetical lunar point) in Scorpio. From Scorpio to Capricorn is a sextile -- a harmonious, flowing aspect that only asks for some active cooperation from you to help things along. This looks like the image of someone who's willing to take the energy on, who perhaps is already doing their inner work with deep emotions, the shadow feminine, and their desires, and is open to doing more.
Yet it does have help. Vesta (an asteroid) and Uranus are conjunct in Aries, making a square to Venus-Pluto. Squares are the aspect of dynamic internal tension in astrology; the sense of feeling like you must do something to relieve it. In taking action, you also integrate whatever factors seemed to have been pushing on you to choose and move. Although the era-defining Uranus-Pluto square is no longer exact, it is still close and quite functional. The sexual and emotional energy of Venus and Pluto, which is looking for an outlet, have an evolutionary function -- and embracing it could feel quite revolutionary. Especially if Uranus (in a Mars-ruled sign) pushes out of you something that you've been trying very hard to suppress. Vesta adds a touch of the devotional; as in, devoting yourself to this process of self-discovery is integral to feeding your inner spark. The more self-directed you can be with it (as opposed to reactive), the better. Finally, note that the Moon will be in mid-Capricorn as Venus-Pluto is exact, sweeping through the aspect just afterwards. As mentioned, your emotions are deeply tied to this process, and efforts to mask them behind a poker face do not look tenable in this scenario. The urge to do so is likely related to very old past conditioning from childhood. Feel free to question it; it could be fun. Yours & truly,  Amanda Painter  This Week on Planet Waves FM The Strange World of U.S. Political Psychology Dear Friend and Listener:
I also introduce the perennially underestimated thinker Wilhelm Reich, and read some quotes (you can view these here) from his books. My main musical guest is Sondra Sun-Odeon, an artist who performed at O+ Festival last October; and I end the show with a song by Bob Dylan that should surely be one potential theme for recent Mercury retrogrades. W/love PS -- We published a special broadcast Tuesday night: my September interview with Andrew McLuhan on his grandfather Marshall. You may listen to that show here. 
By Amanda Painter Aquarius, co-ruled as it is by Saturn (setting forms) and Uranus (inventiveness), presents a mode of expression that is curious for some. How does one integrate fixity and innovation? I think we can find an illustration in Joseph Gordon-Levitt's rather remarkable HitRecord production company. You might remember Gordon-Levitt as the space alien in the body of a teenage boy in the '90s hit TV comedy 3rd Rock From the Sun. Having transitioned successfully to life as an adult actor, he's clearly keeping his feet on planet Earth by investing time, energy, talent (and obviously the resources at his disposal that come with Hollywood success) into a collaborative endeavor anyone can join.
Or maybe you're itching to get into a project but you don't have an idea at your fingertips to play with; log onto the HitRecord site to see if any of the Creative Challenges posted by others inspire you to build on them. Anyone can work on anyone else's project and upload the result; if you add your project to HitRecord, you're agreeing to those terms. It does not mean that's the only thing that can be done with your idea, but it does mean that you could be beautifully surprised by where your online collaborators take it. You might upload something that seems to be in a set form (Saturn), but then another person evolves it into something else entirely (Uranus). As Gordon-Levitt says, "The point here is to make things together." There's even potential for projects to be monetized if Gordon-Levitt decides to take a project to the next level -- as in, take it to a film festival, release it as a book, etc. When that happens, the HitRecord collaborators involved in that project get paid fairly (and you still retain the rights to your individual little piece of it). Yep, you read that right. In the best possible Aquarian fashion, HitRecord members can reap tangible benefits through sharing their gifts through technology -- rather than just being slave labor at the bottom of a pecking order, giving away their talents. They're even collaborating with such partners as the ACLU and the US National Park Service. Oh, and a fun fact I discovered while working on this write-up: Joseph Gordon-Levitt was born Feb. 17, 1981. That's right: he's an Aquarius.  Your Monthly Horoscopes -- and our Publishing Schedule Notes We published your extended monthly horoscopes for February on Thursday, Jan. 21. We published your extended monthly horoscopes for January on Wednesday, Dec. 23. Please note that instead of a Full Moon Moonshine horoscope this month, we will be publishing a New Moon Moonshine horoscope by Len on Feb. 11. Please note, we normally publish the extended monthly horoscope on the first Friday after the Sun has entered a new sign.  Planet Waves Weekly Horoscope for Feb. 4, 2016, #1086 | By Len Wallick
 The audio readings for Vision Quest are now published. You may order by sign or receive all 12 signs here. Listen to samples at this link.
 The audio readings for Vision Quest are now published. You may order by sign or receive all 12 signs here. Listen to samples at this link.
 The audio readings for Vision Quest are now published. You may order by sign or receive all 12 signs here. Listen to samples at this link.
 The audio readings for Vision Quest are now published. You may order by sign or receive all 12 signs here. Listen to samples at this link.
 The audio readings for Vision Quest are now published. You may order by sign or receive all 12 signs here. Listen to samples at this link.
 The audio readings for Vision Quest are now published. You may order by sign or receive all 12 signs here. Listen to samples at this link.
 The audio readings for Vision Quest are now published. You may order by sign or receive all 12 signs here. Listen to samples at this link.
 The audio readings for Vision Quest are now published. You may order by sign or receive all 12 signs here. Listen to samples at this link.
 The audio readings for Vision Quest are now published. You may order by sign or receive all 12 signs here. Listen to samples at this link.
 The audio readings for Vision Quest are now published. You may order by sign or receive all 12 signs here. Listen to samples at this link.
 The audio readings for Vision Quest are now published. You may order by sign or receive all 12 signs here. Listen to samples at this link.
 The audio readings for Vision Quest are now published. You may order by sign or receive all 12 signs here. Listen to samples at this link.
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