Periscope
The world has that too weird to comment on feeling right now, but it's at least worth noting that this has been a significant week in the history of the post-9-Eleven world. Among the more astonishing events was the nationally televised apology by Richard Clarke, who served as a counterterrorism official under three presidents, for the failures that led to the Sept. 11 attacks. Apologising to the families of Sept. 11 victims is more than we've seen or heard anyone in a position of power do. Clarke told the Sept. 11 investigation panel that the Bush administration was more intent on building up to the Iraq war than it was interested in dealing with domestic threats from al Queda (these are of course two halves of the same policy). Once again, the truth comes out.
Meanwhile, Condi Rice, national security advisor to George Bush, continued to refuse and resist testifying publicly before the panel. I'm going to take a guess at why. To testify, she would have to tell some whopping lies -- under oath. She has never been shy about shooting her mouth off, but she seems to be adamant against raising her right hand and making it official if that means she could be sent to jail for lying. Meanwhile, she was one of the dogs barking loudest in the White House campaign to discredit Richard Clarke.
There was also testimony from a variety of war criminals and former administration officials: Colin Powell, Madeline K. Albright (who is on record as saying the half million kids killed by U.S. Iraq policy in the 90s was worth it), William S. Cohen, the defence secretary under Clinton, and my personal favourite member of the Reich, Defensive Secretary Donny Rumsfeld.
Impressive line-up, and following immediately the New Moon in Aries that was square to the very degree the June 21, 2001 total solar eclipse on the summer solstice that preceded the Sept. 11 attacks. That June 21 chart is working out to be a vital piece in the story of the world, matched only by the Sept. 11 chart itself. For a review of that chart, here's one of my more recent interpretations:
http://www.ericfrancis.com/planetwaves/9eleven1984.html
Yet isn't it strange how far this seems to be from most people's personal realities? No matter what is going on in "the world," the seemingly necessary focus of life is just getting through the day, and hopefully getting a little recreation in during off hours. However, another way to look at it is that most people cannot be bothered, and feel like if they lack any influence anyway, why bother?
It reminds me of baseball, a sport which seems really boring until it gets interesting around the World Series (this is debatable, I know). For us, the World Series of politics comes with the extraordinarily unpredictable, shaky and in all candour rather dark events that appear to surround the presidential election this fall. Then it will all seem very personal and important, and, as spiritual teachers and clear-headed therapists remind us, we'll have lots of opportunities to raise awareness.
That will be then; this is now. As I write, and through Friday, the Sun in Aries is in an exact square to Saturn in Cancer, and it feels like I'm picking up that rather serious tone, judging from the previous paragraph. The Sun-Saturn square has that bottom line, get real kind of feeling. This is a very good day to clean out the refrigerator.
In the same astrological moment, Mars in Gemini squares Uranus in Pisces, two of the most volatile planets, making sparks in the volatile signs Gemini and Pisces. This lasts all weekend and presents a considerably different energy than Sun-Saturn square: more spontaneous, argumentative and potentially creative. It has an accident-prone quality, but those accidents might be discoveries, solutions, ideas and inventions. Take notes on what you think, realise and recognise today. The insights are likely to flee as fast as they arrived unless preserved by the miracle of ink and paper.
Speaking of squares, Mercury in Aries meets Chiron in Capricorn at a right angle over the next 25 hours, while Venus in Taurus makes a trine. To me this says that following your feelings is the easier route, but not necessarily the most honest. There are, in any event, some mental vs emotional contradictions in the picture, and those always make life interesting, don't they. Speaking of Mercury, the forthcoming Mercury retrograde seems to be in full force, messing with computers and delivering all kinds of surprises. Back up your data and take it easy on your system and on your friends, please.
In all, this is a lot of mutual aspects for one weekend. Mutual aspects are aspects between two or more planets, including the Sun but not involving the Moon. Aspects including the Moon are called lunar aspects and they seem to come a dime a dozen (or a dozen a day). There can be days between mutual aspects, and here we have a whole cluster coming at us in one weekend, and most of them are squares. The keywords I use for the square aspect are SOMETHING HAPPENS.
May be something good, or at least productive.
Meantime, please drive like a professional.
Aries Birthdays This Week
That some perceive you as not acting in the most mature manner ignores just how serious you are about certain points of ideology, business and emotional growth. It's not for anyone else to judge your progress or integrity, particularly siblings who are themselves not exactly the picture of worldly stability. It's not that you can stop people from thinking what they think or saying what they say, but you can decide what to take on.
You and I know that you've got quite a bit on your agenda. This project of cleansing your insecurities and building a more stable foundation has taken quite a lot of your time lately, and whether you realise it or not, at this point you've come around a corner and are looking at another set of potentials entirely. If you feel like you've lost something, it's very likely to be accompanied by the sense that you've gained something else equally important, or more likely of far greater value.
Though yours is the sign of warriors and bravado, one of the most serious personal issues that confronts many Aries is one of confidence. This is related to your deeply sensitive emotional nature and your idealistic sense that the world really can live up to its promises. Idealism is a vulnerable space in which to live, but you have few other options. I think you'll find that as these four seasons progress, you've grown a little thicker skin and a more solid bone structure where your emotional responses are concerned.
Much of that surrounds the recent installation of some intellectual equipment that is allowing you to be a lot more clear about right and wrong, and to speak up for your views in a way that exceeds all previous efforts in this direction. Your ideas now have a certain power to cut through the nonsense like never before, and to take "both sides" of every issue into account in an instant and come up with additional options that are more suited to your new way of viewing life.
Remember that if you're combative and challenging to others, you may get results, and you may not always like those results. The best part of this is that for once you've learned not to take things so personally. What people say is personal -- for them. It's just difficult to recognise this when we're responding with all the emotional intensity of a child. You are no longer a child, however, and while saying it doesn't make it so, everyone needs to be reminded from time to time.
Not being a child means among other things that you are free to move about the planet. I suggest you beware of dwelling places that are either owned by your family, involve your family, or remind you of the too-distant past. This year would be an excellent time to consider relocating to somewhere beyond where your family of origin has its roots, so that this way you can explore your independence in an environment that doesn't constantly remind you of when you were a second-class citizen, or someone expected to take care of everyone else all the time.
This spring and summer bring a substantial reassessment of the people in your life and your ideas about relationship. I suggest you make this a partnership project -- that is, it's not your reassessment alone, in part because it involves someone you care about deeply and their own changes and personal growth are a major factor. If you undertake this process with sincerity and clarity, you can, if nothing else, expect something totally different to emerge from the discussion, something so different it will take you some time to figure out just what -- or who -- it is.
Your Friday Horoscope
for the week of March 26, 2004
Aries (March 20-April 19)
You may be subject to some wild fits of changing your mind during the next few days, which will surely drive certain people a little nuts (particularly if they're born under Aquarius or Scorpio, but you didn't hear that from me). Just make sure you reserve your privilege of making decisions for ideas, and not for cutting across three lanes of traffic to make your expressway exit. Take the long way around, stop at 7-Eleven for decaf and see who you meet. Any and all social encounters this weekend promise to be intriguing and a bit weird, but who's complaining.
Taurus (April 19-May 20)
You seem to be squarely seated in your discomfort zone, which is not an easy place for you to be. The stress of one particular adjustment, though, is compelling you to make your life really work for you, bringing up issues dating back to November 2002 that will be very much part of the spiritual territory you cover this spring and summer. Annoying though it is, this particular moment presents an opportunity to get yourself more firmly seated in your soul. It's amazing how far we can wander and never find out until we find out.
Gemini (May 20-June 21)
Events of the next few days have the power to spur you toward professional changes that you've long been contemplating but which have seemed out of reach. The problem -- if you can call it that, and as an astrologer I do -- with your chart's professional angle is how innovative it is. I have rarely seen people do much with the kind of advantages, opportunities and ideas you have available. On some level you understand that thinking outside the box involves challenging authority. Now you have the guts and the energy to do it, and it's merely a question of action.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
The taskmaster in you is coming out, and if you feel called to devote the weekend to professional or otherwise practical matters, it would be a very good use of your time and likely be rewarded well. This is a time for getting done what will not budge under any other conditions, and for feeling yourself change as a result. You may feel yourself making some of the more mature choices you've made in many months, and you can trust that where you see limitations you will also see the avenues for going past those limits. Just take things one step at a time and watch the miracle of progress.
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23)
That strange pressure you may be feeling is really a sense of possibility. Possibility sometimes invokes fear because in order to open the door to any one stream of events, it's often necessary to at least acknowledge what else is possible. "Fear of success" really means fear of all the possibilities, greater or lesser, and it means taking personal responsibility for outcomes in a way that's rather unusual for this world, where we're taught to surrender to the corporate fates. You are your own boss, which means you have your work cut out for you. And you can handle it.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
For much of the year your relationship angle (the seventh solar house, which covers partnership, marriage, confrontation and how you meet the world) has been pretty darned interesting. Now your sex angle has become the scene of intrigue (your eighth solar house, which covers all forms of surrender). You must, however, keep these interchanges on a high level. Be leery of anything that looks like it might be a power trip of any kind. You don't need games, you need pleasure -- that, or resolving old entanglements, for which this is a very good time.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)
You may be caught in a distinctly uncomfortable spot right now, and knowing you, you don't like it much. This is not the kind of energy you thrive on; that's for others who can stomach politics, a game I'm afraid to say is not well suited to a Libra. The only trump for politics is honesty, principally honesty with yourself since politics requires considerable self-deception to work. Know your motives so you can assess whether they are worth being the guiding forces in your life. Know who you are dealing with and what mutual benefit can come from the relationship. Know thyself.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
Someone is being forced to conform with your values, and it's not happening easily. As a Scorpio you are blessed with the ability to tune that kind of thing out; so what if it's difficult? As long as it's necessary! I propose, however, that you take a little time and space and check in with what this person -- who is obviously an important and devoted partner -- is feeling. There's a lot you can do to facilitate their changes, and it would be more than magnanimous to do so. It would suit your eminently practical nature, and make everyone happier, too.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)
How much of yourself are you willing to lay on the line, now that you're being called upon to take a chance? You can only risk what you have. And if you don't extend yourself in this situation, you're taking another kind of chance, which is more or less a guarantee that you're not going to get what you want or need at all. The real struggle is that you're fighting a somewhat low opinion of yourself, and you're assuming that other people share this opinion when in fact nothing of the sort is true. Let the people in your life think for themselves, and while you're at it, listen to what they say.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
This weekend's aspects at least impose some structure on what has otherwise been a rather chaotic and unpredictable time. The uncertainty factors have, however, not been products of the outer world, but rather of emotional factors that are on one level strictly private, and on another, being acted out in the world around you. This inner vs outer illusion is going to continue, as will the sense that you're not sure if you're experiencing yesterday's emotions, or those of tomorrow. It doesn't matter. The here and now is where it's at, and I'm assuming you're interested in where it's at.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
Your current financial crisis is very much an illusion. While you're getting one set of signals that says "you must do what you must," part of that picture is a radical change of values about certain critical aspects of your life. What we value is really all that matters, and I would propose an original modern Buddhist idea that says living out of accord with your values is the root of all suffering. What exactly do you value? This is a question only you can answer, but the first clue is that it's not likely to have much in common with what most other people on the planet value. Not an easy place to be, but certainly meaningful.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
I recently (unpacking from a move, of course) found my 2004 Llewellyn astrological calendar, and looked up Pisces for March. Here is what the horoscope said: "Demands of work and career have placed your home life in total disarray. It has come down to boundaries, and it is high time you establish some. Others won't mind when you ask for the respect you have earned and deserve. Issues with siblings are also prominent at the moment, but again, it is a boundary issue." Good astrology, yes? As March winds up, this weekend is a great time to lay down some of those lines, and clean up others.
