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PlanetWaves
Paris, 15 October 2004
International Edition
By ERIC FRANCIS COPPOLINO Between the Eclipses, Between the Venus Transits
Wednesday night waiting for the solar eclipse presidential debate to come on, I mentioned to one of my house guests the Venus transit of the Sun earlier this summer. She had never heard of it, so I looked up a picture on Astronomy Picture of the Day and showed her. I explained a little about the event and how the next one comes in 2012, the year that the 13th Baktun of the Mayan Long Count reaches the end of its run -- essentially culminating a 1.8 million day, day count the same year as the next transit of the Sun by Venus.
We experienced a solar eclipse overnight Wednesday to Thursday, and there will be a lunar eclipse on October 28. We are now in the two-week interval between these two eclipses, which is a distinct phase of time, kind of like living in a hidden valley high in the mountains. The air is different, the weather is different, and the people are a bit unusual.
In much the same way, because we are between two Venus transits of the Sun, this is an unusual stretch of history. Those who follow the cycles and trends of history are no doubt noticing this. But what do these seven years until 2012 hold? A lot of changes, that's for sure, even based purely on looking at the number of outer planets that change signs between now and then. Though I think that, because these are the first eclipses of the Sun and Moon after the momentous June 8 Venus transit of the Sun, these weeks tell us a little something about the energy of the next seven years.
Let's look and listen carefully and see what the story of the world reveals, and what choices we have in the matter. Those choices matter, because making decisions is the way we exercise freedom. One of the ideas I'm drumming into my thought process is that 2012 is up for grabs. We get to decide what that time frame is about. Today, it's anybody's game, and anyone can call the theme. We can take some target practice on an impressive eclipse of the Moon in about 14 days, at the next Full Moon, that is developing as we speak.
These two weeks are a supremely important time for making patterns. The seeds are being planted now, and they will grow and develop as the Moon waxes toward the eclipse. Then we take another leap beyond what is familiar and comfortable into yet another a new reality. By this time the Sun will be in early Scorpio, the new season will be at full momentum. This is the moment to ride the winds of change to a better place, a better space and a better time. ++
ANNOUNCEMENTS Read Astro-Paris: By ERIC FRANCIS...every Wednesday at Parler Paris -- a tri-weekly free email newsletter written by American in Paris, Adrian Leeds. Visit http://www.parlerparis.com to subscribe. Also read Eric on http://Cainer.com/ each Thursday night. In each edition, Eric answers reader questions in essay format about astrology, their charts, and metaphysical and healing themes. Planet Waves readers are invited to participate! These columns, so far 20 in all, explore many, many themes of technical astrology, and are the most complete database of
astrological theory and technique ever written by Eric. Attention Philadelphia Readers: Planet Waves now appears in the Philadelphia Spirit group of community newspapers. Attention Parents: Look for the forthcoming announcement about Planet Waves Parenting, our new social issues, holistic health and astrology newsletter for parents, coming soon from Planet Waves. Speaking of Therapy: My former therapist and beloved mentor, Joseph Trusso, is now available for sessions in Manhattan. Please contact me or my office for direct contact information. His process is called Holistic Therapy. He uses gestalt techniques and many other processes created in the 1970s and beyond to help people raise awareness, take responsibility for their lives, and make sane decisions.
Latest Libra Birthdays
We are now in the last week of Libra birthdays -- those after the first solar eclipse in Libra in many years, located on the luscious outer edge of Libra that verges on Scorpio. This is a momentous, intense time for a great many people, and for you, as I am sure has been evidenced in the affairs of your life and those around you. As always during transitional moments, a special challenge is managing this energy and keeping it productive. This may take a high degree of attention and decision making, but I assure you that each step counts for a lot -- far more than may be evident now.
Your solar return this year falls during the waxing Moon, suggesting a time of renewal, commencement and building of momentum after the many changes that have led to this phase of your life. Symbolically, recent years and particularly the past year have been a time of winding down and preparation. Ends of cycles such as this can be quite challenging in the most annoying ways: times when there is not enough of what you need and more than enough stuck energy. Because it has been a long time since there was a solar eclipse in Libra, it's possible that your perspective grew quite old and tired, and if nothing else, developments of this time will serve to shake or shock you into a new viewpoint.
This message feels a lot like the Venus transit of the Sun in Gemini this summer. Because this event involved Venus, it involved you. The placement of this highly unusual event -- one that has not occurred since the late 19th century -- in Gemini suggests that you must come to terms with the dualistic side of your nature. Libra is dualistic, true, but Gemini is the seat of that idea; the core computer of the zodiac where the idea of polarity (in all its forms: opposition, considering alternative viewpoints, divided thinking, confrontation, cooperation, reflection, and so on) is processed.
Many zodiac signs have themes of dualism, in keeping with this prevailing theme of life on Earth. For example, the ram of Aries has two horns, as does the bull of Taurus. Gemini is two twins, who are alternately brothers, sisters or lovers. Cancer is one little crab, but mysteriously, the glyph for this sign is the yin-yang. Leo doesn't buy you too much dualism unless you consider that its substantial light can cast a shadow. Virgo the Virgin is constantly being subjected to opportunities for impregnation (implying the 'other', dualistic enough), but Virgo is a three- or four-fold sign (maiden, mother, whore and crone, and many other ways to think of it, and is really one of the oddest of the lot despite Virgo's exceptional expertise at appearing normal). Libra is a scale that can tip either way. Scorpio takes us to another three-fold reality (scorpion, eagle and fish, about as odd as Virgo -- Scorpio and Virgo are the official strange pair of the zodiac; Scorpio bears the reputation for being a bit stronger coffee). Sagittarius is the sharp and highly pointed arrow of thought (suggesting unity and focus -- these people accomplish a lot and if you want to get a job done, study them), but its original symbol is the centaur (half man, half horse), symbolizing human nature being trapped or expressed through the animal nature. Capricorn is the sea goat (half goat, half fish*). Aquarius is two wavy lines. And Pisces is a pair of fish said to be swimming in opposite directions.
Astrology is the study of the resolution and interplay of opposites. (But not if you ask Alice Bailey, who puts just as much emphasis on the science of triangles and will fill your head with many exercises of this nature to consider).
And on that point: the Venus transit happened in Gemini, that ominously glowing core of astrological dualism, leaving you to figure out a lot about each of your halves and your ambivalent nature. Have you had enough? I thought so. It's time to turn up the gas and start making pancakes. Or tamales. I am not asking you to be more resolute than your inner instruments, intuition and sensations are telling you that you are. I am not asking that you exceed the bounds of decency, or leap off a cliff. I am only asking you to be just as resolute as you know you are. I am suggesting that you do what you need to do, go where you need to go, be who you need to be, and perhaps most important, be with the person you need to be with.
The transits you've been experiencing, such as Chiron through your 4th solar house (Capricorn) and Saturn going through your 10th solar house (Cancer) have brought considerable responsibility into your life, and the awareness of how much work you have to do. These movements have taught you that you must stand up in the world and be counted; that you must take up the mantle of power, and of personal responsibility. And that you no longer live on the old homestead.
Yet, my dear cousin, the current moment is a time to see how much you have accomplished. This goes for everyone born under the sign Libra, or Libra rising, or Libra Moon. But especially if you were born between the 13th and the 22nd of October. So, if I may indulge you in a homework assignment, make yourself a list of all you've got done, and not only that, all you've started. And all you've got rid of. And while we're at it, a special list of the 10 most important things you know. This, in truth, is the best of these lists, because the 10 most important things you know are the basic material that will make all your decisions and choices possible.
Then, you need to live as if you know what you know.
That will make your life a lot easier.
The eclipse Saturday was square Chiron and Saturn, and sextile Pluto. That's some eclipse. Yet this also means that Chiron and Saturn will continue to make square aspects to your natal Sun for the foreseeable future, and that Pluto will make a long sextile to your Sun, providing exceptionally good support and a link into the spiritual side of life that for some people is rather elusive.
This is information you would find out if you did a personal astrology reading, or certainly one of the most important factors that most astrologers would take under advisement in helping you sort out your life at this time. Patric Walker used to call transits such as these the sort that represent 'enforced changes'. The enforced part means you can't escape the changes; but it also tells me that there is a lot of transformational energy in the stars for you, and that circumstances will continue to conspire to make these changes real. Saturn, on the one hand, is helping you restructure and renovate your life. Chiron, on the other, is provoking you into awareness of everything that bothers you or likely has ever bothered you.
Note that everyone born early in Libra has either gone through these, or is in the process of finishing. For late Libra, the pace of change is being turned up -- at the same time as the eclipse occurred near your Sun and less than five months after the Venus transit to the Sun. While I'm back on that theme, it's worth mentioning that the Venus transit occurred in your 9th solar house. The 9th is the house of expanded horizons, wider fields of thought and vision, the higher self, higher learning and higher about anything else, and was the central focus of the annual horoscope report that appeared on the aquasphere site.
http://planetwaves.net/aquasphere/norlnpgg/signs/libra.html
The 9th house door created by the Venus transit has never been open wider, and in this respect I speak to all Libras. That is another way of saying that your field of possibilities, your access to other cultures, and your access to information is wide enough to drive the Eurostar through. If you have not made plans to travel abroad, get with it. It is true that traveling costs money, but it does something else, which is widen your horizons, which will suit you very well. I don't suggest you wait any longer than you have to: take the risk, or make the stretch, but get your head out of your culture. If you live anywhere in the northern United States, get to Canada at least; in the south, Mexico. If you're from England, flights cost less than chocolate in the airport.
Last, before signing off on Libra birthdays for the year, I must add a bit more about personal relationships. There has been a lot of emphasis on your inner life and I don't imagine that you've been able to share much, even if you've been so inclined. Plus, the shocking events of the summer of 2003 were not likely to have instilled a lot of faith in romance for you. That was, by the way, Mars (your opposite sign's ruler) retrograde in Pisces (the crowning anti-romantic astrological event of the past five years). Did anyone have sex once under that astrology? Well somebody must have, kids were born nine months later. But I would bet that the birth rate dropped. Yet the real challenge was a big affront to your ability to trust people in close partnerships, or at best, a growth curve the size, temperature and pressure of Mt. St. Helen's.
Is there any hope, and if so, what is it?
There is hope if you become a mastermind of family patterns (very Saturn/Chiron - Cancer/Capricorn) and know them when you see them. Work in or out of therapy and get a handle on this stuff. Build your relationships on completely new patterns; this can be done. At the very least, perhaps do something my therapist once recommended. Every time you meet a new person (generally a potential romantic interest) look at their face and say to yourself, "THIS [MAN/WOMAN] IS NOT MY [FATHER/MOTHER]. This is very gestalt. It is explaining reality to yourself. You could do more than that, you could listen, and you would be sure to receive the benefits of all you've done for yourself these past several years -- effects which have, for the most part, yet to arrive, and which are on the way. ++
Planet Waves Horoscope for the week of October 15, 2004 By ERIC FRANCIS
Aries (March 20-April 19)
What were you thinking? Ah well maybe you weren't thinking, and maybe that's just fine. The wheels are very much set in motion, particularly where one particular relationship is concerned, and you now have little choice but to allow nature to take its true course. There's no use clinging, or trying to force an outcome. There is no use praying to the gods of fate. I suggest you view this as an experiment; most surely, participate in the experience of your life fully, but do so with a spirit of 'see what happens next'. The right thing will.
Taurus (April 19-May 20)
Difficult as it is to imagine the right person for you, it seems like even more of a challenge to let yourself be with the wrong person. You can trust that entirely; it's wise of you to take a protective attitude toward yourself physically and emotionally, particularly where erotic encounters are concerned. Yet the right sex just may exist outside what you think is the right relationship -- or it may arrive within a friendship where you never in a million years imagined it would happen. There's just one simple thing you need to avoid, which is secrecy. Keep your heart open.
Gemini (May 20-June 21)
Everything about your charts this month is bursting with the message, 'take the plunge'. I know you want to, yet you're likely harboring doubts about whether you deserve so much fun, or to do something so impassioned or creative. That doubt is an important part of who you are. It's like a brake pedal that's always there when you need it. What you must be mindful of is precisely when you need it, and when you don't. It's handy for backing out of the driveway and for the stop sign in town. Then it's time for the open road, baby, full throttle.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
Few things have been remotely predictable this year, and the one prediction I can make about October is that it's going to follow the pattern. But honestly, who needs that much control over their life? I suggest you reserve control for very specific purposes, like getting your work done, or making sure you have enough money for the very basics. With those bases covered, you'll feel a lot better about the extraordinary changes that promise to flood into your home, your life and your emotions. This may not be the most stable time of all your days, but it's certainly one of the most real.
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23)
With all you learned about money the past two months you could write a book. You just might be inclined to do that except for the fact that October promises to be one of the busiest and most exciting months in many moons. Whether you put your ideas onto paper or not, they deserve your respect, because you've become quite a daring thinker, and you seem to be hatching a plot to make the world a better place. Take things one step at a time and you're very likely to succeed.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
I can see that you've been something of a natural gathering point for many people, some of whom you know and others who have just shown up out of nowhere. I hope you're not reluctant about this. I hope you don't think it's dangerous to draw people to you, or to teach the women in your life that unless people work together we get nothing done. Boys are trained to play on teams and have a good laugh when the game is over. Girls are generally taught to compete with one another and take everything personally. Save yourself from this madness.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)
It would be easier to say that you're unlikely to be the same person on one side of October as you are on the other. It would be fair to say that this is the moment you've been waiting for: a time when you can break free of some really old and useless idea of who you are, and let the true person within you be free in the world. For you, that freedom is likely to mean grabbing hold of your sense of purpose and mission, an act which many other people would view as limiting. You know better, Libra child.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
If you've ever fancied being a private investigator (fact: as a Scorpio, you're an honorary Private Eye no matter what) put your sleuthing skills to work this month. Don't do it so you can increase your power over others, but rather so you can be free of their unwholesome influences. I suggest you start with discovering what motivates certain people to treat you a certain way. I suggest you talk to your grandmother (both if possible) and ask her everything you've ever wondered about life. Make the list of questions in advance, and plan for a discussion that lasts an entire day.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)
Forget about being popular. You already are, and rather than in the shallow way, you're someone who is a true gift to your community. Focus on what you have to offer to the world, and I assure you that you have plenty. Everyone needs to define their role in life, and for many reasons you have the privilege of being generous. It so happens that these days, the people you know have some truly important needs, so be there when they ask for your help. There may be one moment when you can offer your assistance without being asked; look for it carefully.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
Jupiter has recently moved to an exceptionally strong position in your life, and traditional astrology says this will be exceptionally good for your career. There are likely to be some big changes on the job front in the coming weeks, and you need to ride them out like the professional you are. Remember that every change is really an opportunity. Know that no matter how weird things get, and they may get awfully strange, you are well protected. Stand to the side of the drama, not at center stage; your opportunity for leadership will have your name written in bold, clear letters.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
Have you considered taking your life to a foreign country? As a wise old man of 40, I can tell you it's a fine idea to do this long before you've made up your mind about how the world is. I know that not everyone can quit their job and head for Tokyo, but with planning, I assure you it's possible. You may, however, need to get yourself to what I will refer to as Destination One before you come up with a final plan. Where do you want to go? Type it into Google, raise one eyebrow and say softly to yourself: I'm an Aquarius. I'll figure it out.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
You may be presented with an exceptional business opportunity this month, which is yours for the keeping, if you want it. But you must maintain a sense of humility. It's one thing to take pride in your work; it's another thing to be haughty or live with a sense of entitlement. I say this knowing that most Pisces, tempered by the many inner challenges they face, naturally steer clear from having a big attitude, but even a little big attitude could cause real problems. Consider yourself fortunate to be a part of something so real, and do your best work every day.
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