Planet Waves Weekly for September 24, 2004

Letter from the Apostle Francis
to the Americans

Once again it's time to write the weekly epistle and I'm sitting here trying to figure out how not to launch into another evangelistic missive about the war. I would love to write about how beautiful Paris is and I'm not sure why I don't just go for it. Or maybe there's some way to apply a little humor to the whole catastrophic Iraq situation, yes? I keep flashing to the image of Count Dracula in Fahrenheit 9/11 illustrating Romania's membership in the Coalition of the Willing. When in doubt, use file photo. Or rather, when in doubt, do what the Yankees want, we hear they pay cash. Then there were the thousand mine-sweeping monkeys offered from somewhere, who were volunteered but fortunately for them, were not called into service. Iceland, no army, but a nice wood Viking ship. Then there was the clip of the guy smoking hash for a visual of Holland's membership in the coalition. And if you ask me, Holland should also send some of its luxurious, highly skilled sexworkers to help ease a very tense situation.

Usually when I have what some call politics on my mind I use the literary device of an astrological lead, in journalism called a soft lead, finessing the theme of world affairs and the mounting political crisis. That theme just happens to be graffitied all over the charts right now, as planets begin their slide into Libra, the first sign where we meet The Other. Writing about the astrology is a little like waxing poetic about God, in 'thus spake the heavens' mode. It's a really fabulous literary disguise, and actually, not a bad spiritual one, either. Besides, the heavens appreciate when you say something on their behalf, and I don't need to be hearing voices or pretending to channel space aliens. I can just tell you about Chiron and Jupiter and we get along fine. The doctor and me, that is.

Then I think of everyone, myself included, who is deeply concerned about this situation, and I can't shut up, and I don't feel particularly writerly about it. In other words, I don't feel like being subtle and metaphorical, or dancing around the point. I think of everyone who is emotionally weighed down by the constant infusion of bad news and bad vibes and ridiculously transparent deception. I can smell the fear rising off of the shopping malls of America like steam. And the sense of loss. I remember everyone who is aware of the 150,000 families who have loved ones over there, and the guys and women themselves getting shot at in the heat and dust. And the ones who have no desire to ever hurt anyone who have to kill people. I feel the pain of all the people going deaf from the bombs. I remember all of us everywhere else who are doing what we can to keep our emotions stable enough to handle the responsibilities of living, while refusing to ignore this vicious affront to humanity and life. And I listen.

And the silence really is stunning. To anyone who can hear it, I would say the silence is terrifying.

I attended a reading of Lawrence Ferlinghetti's poetry the other night. The poet was supposed to attend, but his heart doctor wouldn't let him fly from San Francisco, where he lives and is the city's Poet Laureate. His new book, Blind Poet, opens by warning people to speak out lest they disappear. He wants to know why American sons and daughters are being sent to the Killing Fields again and yet all but a very few are silent, too few to make it safe for the less bold to speak up. I have been hanging out with young poets here. They know what's going on. They don't like it. They're not fooled. But there's not revolution in their hearts. Not yet.

Through the day as I work, I read ongoing updates on AOL's compulsory 'welcome' news page that pops up every time I log on. Earlier Thursday, Kenneth Bigley, a British hostage was pleading for Tony Blair to "please, please help me." I can feel Blair sitting there feeling that plea, wondering what the hell to do. England is a small country and politicians are a lot less insulated from the people than in the U.S. Later in the day I logged in again and the hostage's brother was accusing the U.S. of manipulating the Iraqi proxy government into not releasing the hostage even though the British judges complied with the terms demanded by his captors. Tonight, the face of Lil Bigley, the hostage's mother, was on the news panel, pleading with the Iraqi captors to have mercy on her son. Two hours later she collapsed and was hospitalized. All of England, which is basically a little island, shares her pain.

I know that most Brits are not fooled by the ruse of the war. Most of the ones that I know are pretty smart, and a bit cynical, as if for insurance, or because they know better. Their government may have lured them into this, but based on my discussions with as many as I could speak with, I seriously doubt if more than a tiny fraction of the UK population feels that there is any actual justification for what is happening, or that there is any actual war on terror. But then there are 10 newspapers in London and newspapers don't survive if people don't read. Both the liberal papers and many of the conservative ones have been expressing deep concerns, in different ways. Reading about something is a much more engaging process than watching it on television, and one's mind has to be a lot more alert.

Throughout Europe you're unlikely to meet anyone in several weeks of talking to people who thinks the Iraq war has anything to do with terrorism, except to make it worse. People who read understand that it's all about oil and money, and that the Bush family business (Carlyle Group, in which the bin Ladens were longtime investors) and the Cheney family business (Halliburton) will forever and always reap massive profits on this war. I can't believe that it's so obvious as the president's and vice president's companies being directly involved, and still there's just silence. Nobody's accusing them of what used to be called graft. Maybe it's stunned silence, or maybe we live in an age where people just expect total corruption and focus on eating, surviving and having a good time if they can.

Meanwhile, in the States, it's becoming clear that a major summoning of the reserves and National Guard is imminent, right after the 'election', in order to shore up what has become sheer anarchy in Iraq. And, as I have long suspected, it appears -- despite the promises this week of both campaigns -- that a military draft is in the works. (It's going to come from the Democrats, I'm pretty sure, even if Bush takes office.) One seemingly viable plan percolating through congressional committees would automatically enlist all Americans, men and women, between ages 18-26, into compulsory military service without the possibility of a college deferment. Personally, I think we will hear serious news of this when Chiron reaches Aquarius early next year. I have for two years been advising my peace-loving friends in this age group to begin collecting letters from their ministers, Scout leaders and sports coaches stating that they have always opposed war on religious grounds. Young readers, moms and dads, those with cousins and kid brothers and sisters: please tell them to get busy.

Then, I think about the many, many people who feel, as Nixon apologist Bob Dole said recently, that America is "fighting the terrorists" over there. I just have to accept that many people accept this at face value, and if you look at the surface layer it can appear to be dimly true. We are fighting and somebody is fighting back. Us and them. Them are killing us. It's not a position that's arguable because it's emotional and not factual. All the background is dropped from the story as if it never happened. Yet think of all we've learned in the 18 months since this war began.

I read recently that Dick Cheney is calling for the "elimination" of the enemy, again. This kind of talk gets a lot of people going. It also sounds to me like he's calling for ethnic cleansing of Arabs; we seem to have no problem imprisoning and torturing them, and denying them trials, so it wouldn't surprise me. Yet often it seems that there's nothing one can say about any of this. "Hey did ya hear him lie again?" or "Can you believe he said that?" just seem like stupid things to say. "How far do you think they'll go?" sounds paranoid. But as a student of the Holocaust since age 16, as someone who has seen the concentration camps, and who has spent time this summer in three previously Nazi-occupied or bombed cities (London, Paris and Amsterdam), what is happening turns my stomach. And this, I know, is some kind of offensive comparison to many people. The question is not where will it end. The question is where does it begin. How do you spot the beginning?

Then there are times when it seems like the only way to express my true sentiments about the world right now is to revert from analysis to art and poetry.

That, too, takes a while to sink in. In my collection I have a precious CD of Bob Dylan singing one of his first New York City concerts at the Gaslight Cafe in Greenwich Village. Dylan sounded the alarm first. He was already performing the song Hard Rain, the one that asks, "Where have you been, my blue-eyed son?" And then you find out where the boy's been. Ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard. He's seen guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children. He's heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world. And it's a hard, hard rain's a-gonna fall. That was in 1963, even before the war as we think of it officially started, the following year the Tonkien Gulf non-incident that was used to defraud Congress into allowing the carpet bombing of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Then Cambodia became the scene of a vast holocaust of its own. Meanwhile, it was not for three more years that it was in style to protest the Vietnam War and, even unto the end, there were people convinced we were fighting the Communists, not merely killing people, getting killed and spending money. Many who knew at the time said the government was lying. Many people called them unpatriotic or ignorant, or crazy.

Then in 2003, 40 years after Hard Rain, with a film called The Fog of War by Errol Morris, something new and different appeared. This Academy Award-winning documentary is an interview with Robert McNamara, who used to have Donald Rumsfeld's job under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He was the secretary of defense who engineered the Vietnam War. What he explains rather candidly is that he and his colleagues lied about the whole thing. He admits it outright: We lied to you; none of it was the way we said it was. They were all rationales. Sorry, you were not crazy, we were really laying it on thick and this is what we said, but this is what we knew, and look, here is how it works, and every word of it is applicable today. It's a very difficult film to watch, despite being vindicating. Here is one of the very gods of war himself coming clean, and clearing the fog. But it's painful and I could feel for him. I saw it with my father sitting next to me and I don't think I've ever loved him more.

Anyway, here are the young men and women we've lost in Iraq so far, eyes blue, eyes green and eyes brown, each with a flag-draped casket of his or her own. For each of them, remember that there is a family and a husband or wife or girlfriend or boyfriend, there are kids and buddies and nieces and nephews, and they were killed serving their country based on outright lies. For each, there are at least 10 dead Iraqis and 10 additional wounded or severely maimed American service members, if you don't count the fact that everyone living in or stationed in Iraq is inhaling depleted uranium, that is, radioactive fallout, with every single breath. ++

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/091004W.shtml

For out on the edge of darkness
There runs the peace train
Peace train take this country
Come take me home again
-- Cat Stevens

All Hail Libra!

Planets have begun to transit into the seventh mansion of the tropical zodiac, Libra. This began Wednesday (evening in Europe, afternoon in the States) with the equinox.

As I write, the Sun is conjunct the ominous M87 galaxy in the second degree of that sign (see last week's edition, or the September homepage). The shift continues this weekend with the transit of Jupiter from Virgo to Libra, and then Mars, Mercury and Ceres over the next week. I have a friend who has a late-degree Virgo Moon and has been fearing she may need to check into a psych hospital or go to a psychiatrist, ostensibly for meds: she's really feeling it. I suggested that she try mint tea and consider waiting a few days because as we speak the pressure is easing off. Anyone with Virgo points in those late degrees, including the rising degree, Moon, late birthdays, or other planets you may not know about, is very likely to be feeling it. Let these planets pass and see where you stand. Late degree Pisces planets or points may also be getting this energy at near full-strength.

Everyone born in the Sixties has gotten a big blast of energy as the Uranus-Pluto-Chiron configuration that is the backbone of our charts has come under numerous transits.

Autumn is the season of the U.S. election, which this year is held on All Soul's Day (the earliest possible day, within the seven-day range). This was an interesting time of year for the mystically-astute framers of the constitution to choose; I would imagine that Freemasons know about this kind of stuff. This holiday, called Samhain (pronounced sa-wen) is celebrated from ancient Egypt to modern Latin America, across millennia and continents. Known also as Days of the Dead, Dias de los Muertos, Halloween or, to astrologers, the midpoint of Scorpio (one of the cross-quarter sabbats), it is a potent time of year. Ah, but that's Scorpio news, and we're just beginning Libra.

During Libra time, we have a partial eclipse of the Sun on the 13th/14th depending on your time zone. We have two planetary occultations by the Moon, Mars on the 12th and Mercury on the 13th, clustered with and amping up the eclipse, which some are proposing is not such an impressive event. I beg to differ; among my dogmatic, catmatic or otherwise most frequently professed astrological advisories, is to always take your hat off to the nearest eclipses and get a dialog going early. Do not underestimate them; if anything, overestimate; leave some room to wiggle and adapt. And gear up to cross the mountains with gusto.

Here's the drill. We are now approaching the Aries Full Moon, exact Sept. 28. When you see that Moon in the sky, remember that as it wanes down to New Moon, that's the eclipse. Also be reminded that the next FULL Moon exactly one lunar month later is a total eclipse (of the Moon). Pick up the rhythm, listen to the ethers, and then start to move your body to the music. Notice your dreams and sleep patterns. Notice the mood of the people around you. Pay attention to what your kids are going through with a little extra care. Notice the news and the events of your life and those you hang out with. Notice in general. Do some of what you love the days of the eclipses.

Much of the ruse known as society is designed to hide the natural cycles that affect every single person and the entire environment. We are all supposed to be the same every day. Women know that they are different people every single day, they just become good at maintaining an outer layer that looks sort of the same, mostly for the sake of getting along with men in the world of men. But the joke is on us, guys, because we're cycling right along with them. And while we tend to have fixed viewpoints, they learn a heck of a lot from seeing the world from a different angle every day. Some every 20 minutes. That's why they're so perceptive, but also so difficult to figure out.

At the moment, as the movie of supposed reality is being projected through a new sign (multiple Libra ingresses), season and brand new hemisphere of reality, we're getting another viewpoint in a big way: and it's coming on fast enough to notice, just keep your eyes open and perhaps give a look with your eyes closed. This is once in a lifetime. ++

Libra Birthdays: An Overview

Though I run the risk of sounding like I'm exaggerating a bit, the next four seasons promise to be some of the most exciting, productive and progressive of many years. With any luck you will finally have the chance to rise to a new station in life, to broaden your horizons of both heart and wealth, and to finally get yourself on a truly positive track. This is, in part, owing to the fact that Jupiter will be in your birth sign until next autumn, beginning its journey there Sunday. Jupiter can act as a stabilizing influence, but also one that promotes growth, expression and opens the mind to new ideas. At the very least you are going to be invited in all these directions. Jupiter can take us far, far away from where we were standing at the moment he arrived. Therefore it is wise to have some sense of where you want to be, rather than where you think you should be or think you can get to.

Recent seasons have brought many unexpected changes. For an explanation or symbolic reading, we need look no further than the Venus-Sun occultation that occurred just over three months ago, in early June. It seems like so much longer, doesn't it? This event seems to have shaken many people up, challenged them to rise to a new level, and then done something exceptionally odd for Libras and their second cousins, Taurans: challenge them to be seen in a whole new way. Consider the metaphor. Throughout time, Venus can only be seen at night. Then, for about six hours every century or so, Venus is visible during the day. Most people never even see her; some do. But she is there, suddenly visible directly against a bright light that either obscures her entirely, or which she only reflects.

I see a metaphor here for coming into your own. But looking at the charts for Libra as the next few weeks unfold -- charts that are highly influential in your story for the remainder of the year, and which promise to reshape your life entirely -- there are many other factors. Yet none of this may seem believable, in part because for so long there has been considerable pressure on Virgo (a blind spot in your chart) that has likely riddled you with worry, with the sense of events out of your control, or just simply feeling overwhelmed and totally out of balance.

Now, balance is an interesting issue for Libra, and it's something of a Fig Newton. You never do know what's ground up and put into those cookies. And much that happens in your life in the name of balance is really a disguise for issues surrounding living decisively and being willing to forego one reality for another. The problem is that in withholding action or attempting to reach the middle ground, you are often denied opportunities that would otherwise be open to you. An old Greek dude encoded the idea of the Golden Mean a couple of thousand years ago, but it turns out he was just an Average Joe. You are not any kind of Average Joe or Jane; you are, so far as astrology is concerned, an intensely passionate, attractive, creative and opinionated person. The products of your hands and of your mind are always exceptional, because they have the touch of love and the expression of beauty as quality. This is not average, but rather, far above average. Why you may have become obsessed with the idea of seeming normal is another discussion, but this would be a very good year to give up those aspirations.

Know when you're aspiring to mediocrity and then reach for something else.

In refusing to be normal (add twenty pairs of quotes around that word) you will, however, have to stand out. You will need to be seen for who you are inside, not as the bright, shining and luminous beacon on the dim horizon, but rather as the pinpoint of focus you are capable of being, and that you know you are on the inside. You will need to give up your fear of being right, and ignore all the spiritual admonitions against it. After one has been wrong or wronged for so long, there comes a time when it's appropriate to be right, steadfast and true. This will of course make you subject to criticism, but we all know it's easier to write a newspaper column than it is to put on a Broadway production. Besides which, you might try the theory that any press is good press. That's not always true, but people have far kinder things to say about you than you may realize.

There is, anyway, no point in assuming that you cannot be seen for who you are. You have been seen for who you are, and cannot take back that perception. People are aware of your inner qualities, your secret talent for standing up to authority, and for making the truth seem clear and simple even if it threatens people. So, how bad is that? Isn't it much better to let people know where you stand with them, and tell them if you change your mind tomorrow?

If it has seemed that you've been all good and solid intentions for some time but have lacked the resources to get the job done, I think you'll be pleased at the way things begin to turn in your life. One by one, your assets, your energy and your sense of potential will return to you. Those Libras who are sensitive will be feeling this already, though the next seven days should be rather helpful.

One particular planet, amongst the many that are now arriving in Libra, functions there in an unusual way. Mars, which shows up next week, works quietly and somewhat introspectively in Libra, which is precisely what you need. Mars should provide you with an inner image of a warrior, when you seek within yourself. This is your true being, but you often experience it as the opposite, as someone who is a conciliator or diplomat. If you were to look within yourself and actually see and feel the quiet strength you possess, that would probably be pretty inspiring. And think of it this way: if all the anxiety you've been going through were converted to something much more productive, that would be a lot of psychic energy made available, and you would be a heck of a lot more comfortable in your skin.

Don't worry if you're still squirming. A new season has arrived, and it is your season. And as the next few days arrive, that season will show up in bigger and more vivid ways, each bringing a wider perspective and new surprises that will shock you into realizing that your life is something made of your choices.

But the one thing that must change is your sense of scale. Perhaps some words from A Course in Miracles might be of good use to you. I must paraphrase, as I don't have the book around. Every decision you make stems from what you think you are. If you believe you are little, you will feel little and create littleness. The decision to be otherwise may seem hard at first, but soon you will come to love it and realize that living with a sense of authenticity and fullness is both your birthright and a testament to something much greater than you.

And consider this. You cannot change reality, you can only be who you are -- or attempt to do otherwise.

Happy birthday, Libra. Enjoy the changes -- they are coming on strong. More next week. ++

Planet Waves by Eric Francis
for Sept. 24, 2004

Aries (March 20-April 19)
In a short time it may appear that you have absolutely no control over your life because so many people, things and opportunities are coming at you so fast. Yet I assure you that each of those entrances represents a point of decision. You may not see it that way yet. Neither may people who have some idea of what they want from you, or for you. The choice in any matter, however, is yours right now, and in choosing you must have faith in what you've elected for yourself. This is the process of freedom. Do your best.

Taurus (April 19-May 20)
Some devote a lifetime and all its creative potential to holding others down. Others make every sacrifice in the world so that their loved ones may be free. You have met many of one kind of person, and have become the other. Yet there are times you've chosen to sacrifice your own needs to the detriment of everyone. The time has arrived to make sure that you achieve a state of positive symbiosis in the world. Your actions must feed other people at the same time they feed you -- you need to make sure that everyone else in your life has the same idea.

Gemini (May 20-June 21)
One of the long-term benefactors of my career has been a Gemini named Gerry Montano, who once told me that luck is where preparation meets opportunity. He and many of the other Geminis I've known, ranging from my mother to many of my clients, have been among the hardest working, best prepared people you could ever hope to meet. And they are among the most flexible, adapting to the wild storms of change on the planet like true champions. This being said, Gerry's definition of luck should suit you just fine as the next chapter of your life opens.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)
A surge of creative energy, strength, love or some form of natural power is rising up from beneath you. This may coincide with your long-term project of building Noah's Ark -- a containment structure for just such energy, when the big flood arrives. You probably feel as if the boat is not quite done, or even seaworthy, and that's true. So keep building, and more important than that, prioritize your needs and responsibilities. There are some areas of your life where efficiency will serve you well. There are others where you need to lay it on a little thick, like enjoying being alive.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23)
You may be having a little trouble figuring out what's truly important to you, but I have not a doubt in the universe that you know perfectly well. One of the great challenges of life is how long it can take to act on what is the most important, which in itself can become a source of doubt. But delay does not mean denial, and in a little while, what may seem confusing or purely intellectual is about to come through in vivid colors and undaunted feeling. This will come in waves that are not only driven by wind, but also by the currents, tides and the movement of the world.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
So, kid, you lived to celebrate another birthday. But if you ask astrology, the four seasons that are unfolding promise to be like nothing you've ever encountered. It's as if a whole new personality has taken root in your psyche, and is growing strong. We forget how flexible one's self-concept is. That's often because we live and dance to the expectations of others just about every day of our lives. Suddenly there's another dimension of commitment opening up: your deep devotion to who you truly are, and are truly becoming. Yes, you have much to do. Do it joyfully, do it with gusto, and you'll do it well.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)
I'm starting to get emails from my Libra friends, a wee bit concerned about what to do next. ('I am such a Libra' is a frequent admission for people born under this sign, who seem well acquainted with their frequent crisis of indecision.) There is Gail, for example, one of the most loving, intelligent, powerful and fragile people I've ever met, who has devoted a lifetime to her knowledge of midwifery and herbalism, and who is now searching for a way to put this to work supporting her. I can give no greater reassurance than to say listen carefully as these next weeks unfold. Help really is on the way.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
You're a person driven by deep forces, and they're about to get deeper. Scorpio is the original sign that can see in the dark, breathe under water and go to the dentist without Novocain. It appears on one level that the world is moving into exactly the position you want it, somehow coming under your spell. But for the foreseeable future I suggest strongly that you rely on external clues for reassurance that you're on the right track. Your intuition will be good, but not good enough. Notice the words people say, the expressions on their faces, and how they feel when they're near you.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)
Jupiter, the planet of Sagittarius, changes signs over the weekend. (Please see Pisces, below, as well.) And you have been your usual dauntless self in navigating the extremely challenging times you've recently passed through. I know you're doubting that these labors of Heracles could somehow be over and have come to a good end. I would say that the most difficult of your labors are over and have come to a very good beginning. You've done much to help many; make sure you ask for the help you need today, if for no other reason than to be reminded just how much your friends adore you.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
Capricorn is the sign of aspiration. It is also the sign of ambition. There is a difference, and now is the time to consider that difference. It is a very healthy impulse to improve yourself, the quality of your life, and the state of your relationship to the community. It is quite another thing to strive to achieve for the sake of achievement. You are about to be presented with many opportunities to rise above conditions that have held you down for a long time. Make sure you devote each choice and action to the greatest good for all concerned.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
The risk in considering the blessing of your life is often a fear that in doing so, you'll have the rug pulled out from beneath you. Many Aquarians are so accustomed to delays, obstructions and partial fulfillment that eating and drinking at the banquet of life is truly a world of missing experience. Yet to marry gratitude with loss is the cruelest kind of fear. To move through that fear is an authentic act of courage. You have, in recent seasons and particularly the past few weeks, passed through some rather dark territory. Let the light come, and let it be.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
We all live in the world of maya: of the 'real illusion' that we must call life whether it's true or not. As your first ruling planet, Jupiter (no offense to Neptune, who seems to be having quite a party in Aquarius these days -- but he came second) makes its way into Libra this weekend, you're going to notice that your life changes -- radically, really, truly, deeply, and in relationship to everyone and everything around you. Don't worry about what you're being asked to give up. What comes to you will more than compensate, and besides, life is but a dream. Breathe each breath and dream on.