Hands of Light

Today for the second time this month, the Earth is passing through the trail of comet Temple-Tuttle, a short-period artifact of ancient space that orbits our Sun in 33 years. Storms of meteors in the night skies tonight are particles of dust left behind from the 1333 passage of this comet. The Nov. 8 meteors were the remnants of the 1733 passage of the same body.

You could say that the streaks of light we see are direct evidence of the universe going by, though rather than being stars and galaxies, they are -- incredibly -- for the most part bits smaller than grains of sand. As our Earth's orbit intersects with the trail left behind by this comet, we stand in the intersection of two orders of reality, with our attention called to the cycle of 33 years -- the life of Jesus.

This occurs at the same time as the Venus-Jupiter conjunction continues to rise visibly in the pre-dawn skies -- a good approximation of the Star of Bethlehem, which led astrologers known as Magi or Zoroastrian priests, possibly Armenians, to the Christ child. Zorastrians were among the earlier religions to preach the notion of one god, and who followed the principle of Humata, Hukhta and Havarastra (good thoughts, good words and good deeds) -- a remarkable observation of the holistic quality of existence, and the relationship between thought, word and deed.

In other news, Uranus stationed direct in Pisces late Friday afternoon Nov. 12, the same day as the Scorpio New Moon. This planet, originally called Herschel and the first ever discovered by science (in 1781), reached its maximum longitude of 6 degrees and 48 minutes of Pisces on June 11 -- just four days after the Venus-Sun occultation -- and then stationed retrograde. Based on the Earth's shifting perspective as it orbits the Sun, Uranus moved back to 2 degrees and 52 minutes of Pisces, where it stayed for approximately one week, then returned to forward motion, albeit quite slow -- presently about two arc minutes per day.

This resumed forward motion of Uranus puts the spotlight on Pisces birthdays through March 1, Gemini birthdays through May 31, Virgo birthdays through Sept 2 and Sagittarius birthdays through Dec. 2; all of which are in the long process of receiving a direct conjunction from Uranus to their natal Sun. Direct transits from Uranus, whether by 'hard' or 'soft' aspect (a multiple of 90 degrees or 120 degrees respectively) means fast change: but the type of aspect tells us something about the quality of the energy, whether it be flow or impact; opportunity or surprise.

In addition, those born between September 1962 and August 1964 are experiencing their Uranian oppositions, a key midlife transit with a reputation for assisting the conscious in completely reshaping their lives, and helping the unconscious, the sleeping and the otherwise stupefied, to wake up. This transit involves Uranus reaching the exact opposition point to where it was at the time of their birth; one way to visualize the event is as two electrodes making contact with you right in the middle.

For many born in this date range, another midlife transit called Neptune-square-Neptune (or simply Neptune square) is in effect. This occurs when Neptune (now in Aquarius) reaches the 90-degree point to its position at the time of birth (when it was in Scorpio for this sub-generation). While Pluto has a longer overall orbit than does Neptune, everyone in this particular generation has experienced their Pluto-square-Pluto aspect prior to the Neptune-square-Neptune aspect; this is because for most of our lives, Neptune has been the slowest and outermost major planet, as the orbit of Pluto (now near its closest point to the Sun) was until recently inside that of Neptune.

Interesting that there are times in history when the Pluto square occurs as late as age 60, because in those years, Pluto takes 20 years to cross a single sign. These days, it takes about 12 years to cross a sign, hence people 35 to 36 years old are experiencing the Pluto square -- always a wrenching, remarkable event that, while difficult, promises much in the way of clarity and release from past conditions.

All outer planet transits are reckoning points in the cycle of an individual life, where knowledge is summarized, experience is consolidated, and there is typically a major shift in structure and energy that launches people on entirely new phases of their personal history. When these transits come, life changes, it changes dependably, and often it changes fast. There is no predicting what exactly will occur; but the one thing that is undeniable is that changes will come. The most dangerous thing one can do is to cling to their current reality for dear life, and the smartest is to hold a vision for the life you really want. Existence is guided by energy, and these are energies that will be available and moving with raw cosmic potency.

For everyone, the movements of outer planets -- whether they make major aspects to our personal charts or not -- represent profound influences in the total environment of life that we experience.

Uranus in Pisces is still a new phenomenon, having begun only in March of 2003. Pisces is the sign that deals with beliefs, illusions, faith, dreams, visions, bliss -- and the eventual dissolution of all known structural forms. Beyond the world of form is the world of the numinous: dreams, the psychic realm, the spiritual realm. Uranus in this sign is in the process of revolutionizing our experiences in all these dimensions. In much the same way that Uranus through Aquarius (1995-2003) completely altered our relationship to technology, Uranus in Pisces will up-end our relationship to mysticism, inform us of its profound influences -- and remind us that of all the powers of consciousness, belief is the most powerful and the most subject to abuse.

Part of the "return to old values" that we are seeing is precisely as a result of this loosening up and quickening of the Pisces field of reality by Uranus.

Neptune in Aquarius, a transit which reaches its exact midpoint early next year, has the same basic essence as Uranus in Pisces, though it seems to represent something applied to us from the outside (drugs, media, ideology). Aquarius is the most dependable sign or cosmic energy source that allows us to hold thought forms. Neptune dissolves those forms. This has its plusses and its minuses; but unfortunately, the effects of Neptune are invisible until long after their effects have taken hold. Tuning in to Neptune requires a level of clarity, honesty and sensitivity for which there are precious few examples in the world.

Suffice it to say that we are well into the slipstream, and that all our ideas about belief, thought and consciousness are melting like a cake left out in the rain. What we do with that potential is another story.


Observational Astrology: More Astrology News

By ERIC FRANCIS, From Cainer.com, republished here so you don't miss it. Don't miss that project at: http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/eric.html.

Well -- as reasonably expected -- a storm blew through paradise during the past seven days, as the Moon occulted one planet after the next: Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Mercury. An occultation is when the Moon passes directly over a planet, blocking it as it does, so it is a kind of eclipse. I have not contacted any of my heavy-duty research astrology colleagues about this, but I really wonder how rare such a concentration of occultations is. It amounts to about six months worth of occultations within something like 125 hours. Three were in Libra and the fourth was in Sagittarius on a powerful intergalactic point. These aspects came in the stream of turbulence created by a pair of eclipses and two prior planetary occultations last month.

Many have been feeling this turbulence personally, and the world is a different place than it was one week ago.

The most significant news was the passing of Rahman Abdel-Raouf Arafat Al-Qudwa on Thursday morning, known to the world as Yasser Arafat: terrorist to some, hero to others, and Nobel Prize winner. This will, no doubt, shuffle the deck on the balance of power in the Middle East. He died of unknown causes during the exact aspect of Moon occult Mars in the final degree of Libra, a fitting astrology for the death of a warrior. There is much speculation about the cause of his death, which is not being released at this time. The morning of Arafat's passing, the Moon and Mars proceeded directly into Scorpio, joining the Sun. The next day (Friday) was the Scorpio New Moon. With this lunation applying to within one degree of orb (that is, at the very end of the lunar cycle), Arafat's body arrived at Ramallah on the Gaza Strip amidst a crowd of tens of thousands of Palestinian men firing automatic weapons into the air for two hours. He was buried per Muslim law before sunset on the first day after his death.

The New Moon occurred tightly conjunct the centaur planet Hylonome, which has associations with grief and mass appeal. When research astrologers see extremely rare world events such as this combine with the prominent astrology of a relatively new planet, they come to understand that planet's significance. It is a slow process, but it has its transcendent moments. That Arafat's funeral occurred in the last moments before a Scorpio New Moon is stunning enough. However, the presence of Hylonome speaks to the grief created by this seemingly endless, unbearably violent struggle between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

The same week, coincidentally amidst widespread charges of election fraud, several of George W. Bush's top cabinet members resigned, including the man considered to be the most moderate voice in the administration and the one ally to Europe, Colin Powell. The infamous Attorney General John Ashcroft also resigned. President Bush nominated Alberto R. Gonzales to replace Ashcroft, a vocal critic of the Geneva Convention treaty (which among other things, prohibits the torture of prisoners of war). Plus, Bush named long-time family loyalist, former oil executive and hard-line hawk, Condoleeza Rice to replace Powell.

France, a country whose national horoscope has many planets in Libra in line with the occultations, has had big news the past week; Arafat died there and was given state honors; and the Ivory Coast, where France has a military presence, has exploded into crisis.

I am also getting reports from Puerto Rico, a shadow colony of the United States, that there are serious problems with the recent (Nov. 2) gubernatorial election there, and that this non-state, territory of the U.S. is in the midst of serious political turmoil -- a story which is of course not making any mainstream news.

And of course there has been, directly coinciding with the occultations, the battle in Falluja, which still rages on. Alleged war crimes were video taped by the embedded camera crew of a major U.S. network.

I am beginning to think that Moon occult Mars has distinct political implications. On one occasion last year, the aspect marked to the day the death of British weapons expert David Kelly. On another, it marked, again to the day, the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger to the governorship of California.

The same astrology that is stirring the political pot has also set the personal lives of many people spinning. Emotionally intense, unpredictable, deeply unsettling and even shocking, many relationships have come under stress with this aspect. Many born under the sign Libra, who have Libra Moon or rising, have experienced added stress and turbulence. But because Libra is the sign of relationships, and of balance, we are experiencing situations where that balance is being tested. Jupiter, however, is now serving as a protective and stabilizing force in Libra -- which you could say is holding some stability in balance with all the relationship issues signified by that sign, and there are many.

The Sun remains in Scorpio, and enters Sagittarius on Monday, Nov. 22. The Moon is now waxing toward a very impressive Full Moon in Gemini on Nov. 26: Sun and Moon square the unpredictable, exciting and inventive planet Uranus. The astrology of the coming weeks continues to be rebellious, shocking and challenging and, no doubt, unsettling to those who cling to security or stable patterns. Flexibility is a virtue, and living in the now gets quadruple bonus points.

Capping off an extra interesting astrological year, we have also entered a Mercury retrograde cycle. While the exact retrograde begins on Tuesday, Nov. 30 (afternoon in UK, early morning in USA), and ends early the morning of Monday, Dec. 20 (about 30 hours before the Capricorn solstice), the effects of this transit often spread out three weeks before and after the exact planetary stations. Hence, the real dates of Mercury retrograde are between Nov. 12 and Jan. 7, inclusive of any date on which Mercury occupies a degree where the retrograde occurs. In other words, on Jan. 7, (or the day after the Epiphany and Christmas in some Orthodox faiths), Mercury crosses the Galactic Core and enters new territory for the first time after the retrograde. Sounds like an epiphany.

Some people are more sensitive than others to Mercury retrograde; some thrive on it and some don't even notice. In general, it reminds those paying attention to the power of Mercury, to take a closer look into our society. This planet, the closest into the Sun, is associated with communications and communication networks; with ideas, education and thought; with the flow of money; with children and with our sense of self. The retrograde occurs entirely in Sagittarius, and involves three conjunctions to Pluto, plus two newly discovered planets, Ixion and Quaoar, as well as to something called the Great Attractor. Additionally, when Mercury stations retrograde the 30th, it will be in an exact conjunction to the core of the Milky Way galaxy. This is all very, very, very Sagittarius.

The best thing you can do is move with the energy, dance with the music, and glow with the flow of electrons. Because they will be flowing. It is a good idea to back up computers well before the exact station retrograde, and to avoid making major changes to equipment within a few days of the station. And, per astrological folklore, I have found it to be true from many experiences that it's really not a good idea to make important purchases anywhere near this cycle, unless you really, truly have to.


Scorpio Birthdays: A Few Career Notes for 2004/5

But first, consider that the very latest of the Scorpio birthdays will be experiencing the direct trine of Saturn to their natal Sun. This actually does put us on the topic of career quite nicely (there is much more), and puts the power of what you might call conscious reformation in your hands. Saturn (and his demented uncle, Pluto) are often experienced as what one astrologer called "enforced changes." But put Saturn in a trine to the Sun and there is a chance to create new patterns, cultivate discipline, and to a significant extent shape the world your way -- with greater ease than ordinary.

Saturn through your 9th solar house (Cancer) has been a long study in belief. There is nothing like getting rid of old beliefs about the world to make new things possible. More than they support us, I have noticed that beliefs get in the way, particularly if they don't have names. Saturn through this region of your chart has likely made you name and notice what you believe, and ascertain with the hard reality-check power of this particular planet whether it is true or not. While this process has been going on for all Scorpios for a while, the later in the sign your birthday is, the later Saturn will be speaking to you personally, and for the last week of Scorpio that time is now.

So much highly unusual activity involving Venus during the past year, and going back to 2002, has very likely provided the forum for you to question every belief you hold about relationships and the role of others in your life. There has been little you could take for granted, particularly given some of those very intense lessons of identifying with other people -- of feeling their direct struggles and to some extent taking them on. Could truer words describe your tendency -- despite all the horrid things said by the ignorant -- to be one of the great empaths of the zodiac? Particularly for Scorpios born between 1956 and 1970 -- many, many Planet Waves readers are born in this age range -- you are a member of the Honorary Pisces Society. The energy of Neptune in Scorpio is so very Piscean, though the first thing you need to learn how to do is not be in denial about that fact.

You cannot, for example, pretend that you're not deeply sensitive. Why would you? Because Scorpio has so many other potentials, including an intuitive awareness of power dynamics to dwarf all the other signs combined. Neptune adds the idea that all power dynamics are bullshit because so many other factors really push us into the awareness of humbling equality.

Only the very worst Pisces resort to the egotism and detachment that such extreme sensitivity drives them to -- or alternately, drugs and alcohol, which are always isolating factors. For Scorpios with Neptune in their sign, there will be an awareness of others and what they go through; and at the same time, that may or may not be used compassionately. Your job is to do precisely that, particularly in light of a new transit in 2005 that will affect all Scorpios.

That would be Saturn in Leo. Leo is the 10th house from Scorpio, and hence the house representing matters of career and reputation. If taken properly, the currently ending journey of Saturn in the 9th will teach you a great deal about right and wrong, ethics, and the need to go into every situation with actual, concrete knowledge. This transit may have done a lot to remind you how little you know, but at the same time, such has been high motivation to find out.

When Saturn crosses your 10th house cusp (that is, enters Leo) in July 2005, you begin a whole new phase of your life. It would be fair to say that this will represent one of your greatest opportunities in years to express your maturity rather than to experience it as an internal phenomenon. You will see what it means to express something known as reputation; what it means to have actual power in your hands; and what it means to be given authority over matters with far-reaching effects.

I recognize that there are still about nine months till this transit commences. But all Saturn processes take time. Therefore, I suggest that you continue your study in ethics and the ways of the world -- particularly, looking for methods to make the world a more compassionate place and, simply put, a safer place for those less fortunate than yourself to be weak.

Of much more immediate concern to all Scorpios (and many others) is the ingress of Chiron to Aquarius early in 2005, and the conjunction between this first Centaur planet and the third, Nessus, which occurs in spring and lasts over the course of about a year. For you, this is about feeling safe on the planet, which is a necessary prerequisite for true strength.

The most serious personal issue you face -- so far as I can surmise from the information I have available -- is a deep and, at times, deeply troubling tendency to be insecure in ways you cannot name. Scorpio likes to function in patterns. This is partly because your Sun is in a fixed sign and also because all the other fixed signs, such as Taurus, Leo and Aquarius, are so influential in your solar chart. However, if you have not noticed, recent years of your life have offered you very little in the way of solid ground to stand on, particularly emotionally.

Where you have had the habit of relying on ideas about your feelings you have been slowly pushed into the water of actually experiencing your feelings and needing to navigate them emotionally rather than intellectually. To put it mildly, this changes everything. It is the reaching from idea to reality; from something you can control to something you must live with; from something that is clear cut and provable to something about yourself that you must take on faith.

But the many times in the life of a Scorpio that push finally comes to shove, that's what you rely on anyway. So you might as well start there and you'll be a lot happier to be living on this bizarre planet for a while.

Happy birthday, Scorpio. Life would not be the same without you here. Don't worry if nobody tells you that. You are our reality check. Be fair, play nice and we'll do anything you want. Anything at all.


Planet Waves Horoscope for Friday. Nov. 19, 2004

By ERIC FRANCIS

Aries (March 20-April 19)
Professional circumstances or business associates to whom you seem wedded, will pose less difficulty if you remember that for the most part they depend on you more than you depend on them. While there is little doubt that you rely on their support, they rely on your leadership. So you might as well live up to your long-term commitment to provide guidance and maturity, while bearing in mind that you are where you are for some excellent reasons. It's essential for your own growth and sanity that you stick with this program through the thick and thin, the worse and the better.

Taurus (April 19-May 20)
A situation that might, in previous times, have been extraordinarily intense, suddenly has less of a grip on your soul and seems far less able to influence you negatively. This gives you room for choice and the ability to make decisions that would have otherwise been skewed by pain and negativity. The funny thing beneath it all is that you do love, you love passionately, and you can see love reflected back at you that was always there. It's just that the whole situation is less compulsive, which must come as a great relief. Breathe into this and see where it takes you.

Gemini (May 20-June 21)
If you see yourself for who you truly are, it will be that much easier to see others for who they are -- at their very depths. What may have seemed like pain, chaos and darkness in them can take on whole new shades when your own inner lights come on. It still may seem like the process discovering of who you are is an endless and perilous path, yet you can only really know yourself in any one moment. This seemingly difficult fact leads many people to define themselves in inflexible ways, to staunch or even reverse the flow of time. Look at yourself now and you will know all you need to know.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)
There are certain people who cannot escape seeing the world only through their own eyes, and thankfully you are not one of them. The risk you run, however, is identifying yourself too closely with a situation that is actually external to yourself. The people to whom you are the most attracted or feel the closest affinity are going through some difficult but highly productive growth experiences that involve a complete reorientation on how they perceive intimate partnership, marriage and commitment. You may also be noticing that someone is caught in the past. Just don't get caught there with them.

Leo (July 22-Aug 23)
Fortunately you are someone who both believes in and respects practical limits, because certain situations have gotten a bit out of hand lately. Social expectations may have taken you from one high to the next, only to leave you wondering what it was all worth in the end. I'm an advocate of asking that question, but not in the context of judging yourself. You know that the main condition you need to create in your life is a set of circumstances within which you feel safe, held and appreciated. Hold yourself within your limits and you'll be off to an excellent start.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
It's good for you that what most people find to be boring drudgery, you find to be a source of secret pleasure. It's probably a good idea that you don't advertise your inclinations, but you can surely put them to work. The sorry state of the world right now is no match for the potential of creative, talented human beings such as yourself to rise up and take notice of their calling. The gift of survival in the 21st century will be bestowed upon those who can surrender to the work at hand and know deep in their hearts that every little bit helps save the world.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)
If you're exploding in your skin, don't worry, that's healthy and normal. You're not the type to go running for cover in the nearest church when you feel the life force pulsing through your nerves and veins. What I think is happening is that you've finally cracked the shell on all the expectations and rules you were programmed with for so long, indeed for most of your life. Those rigid patterns hold in creative spontaneity, they make work boring, and they create circumstances where passion must be expressed inside a wood box down in the basement. Break free and step into the sunlight where you belong.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
Mars has plunged into your sign in recent days, and its first visit was the south node of the Moon. This tells astrologers that you've recently had an intense run-in with a past circumstance, feeling or state of mind, but it was all for the purpose of liberating yourself for the future. What I hope you've learned is that a situation can stir up a lot of fear and then turn out to be nothing that you particularly needed to worry about. You are not the victim of your own compulsion, and no matter what others may say or do, you're not a drama queen. Anymore.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)
I am sure more than a few astrologers have attempted to paint Sagittarians as having various shades of fear of commitment. The thing that they may not recognize is how this fear leads you into situations that require you to devote yourself with the utmost care and conviction. We are living this life, in part anyway, to overcome fear in any form. It is possible to be deeply invested in your commitments and to be free at the same time. People should be envious of your ability to do this, except that you also teach the rest of us how it's done, without making us feel like fools for judging you.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
Saturn came close to the edge of your opposite sign, and in the past two weeks has turned around and begun to travel in reverse. You may not welcome the prospect of going over certain relationship territory for the second time, but those who do not know history unfortunately do wind up repeating it. I suggest you look at your history as if it were a projection on a screen. It is not real, but how you respond to it is real. Once you get used to the fact that most of life is responding to imagined past situations, you will figure out how to create your reality as you like it.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
It's funny how some people accuse you of being too logical and others say you're too much in your own bizarre world. Yet, is it necessary to be too much anything? In the cosmos of salt and pepper, good old oregano can feel like a space alien. Remember, it's entirely likely that what people are responding to are your motives. Since you have an unusual capacity to see the bigger scene, and a built-in desire to make the world better, it's possible for you to feel lonely and isolated at the feast of gloating and self-interest. Have a little faith, though. Your luck is running high, and your love is sure to attract more love. Nobody who knows what it is can mistake the fine scent of the spice you are.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Don't you love how the world professes its utterly simplistic ideas about relationships, while at the same time is trapped in twenty degrees of complexity where any issue of partnership is concerned? Like many things, people want the world to be one way, largely as a reaction to it being quite another. And while you may be a dreamer, you're also growing more practical about your need to exchange energy and resources as a primary requirement of partnership. You are being called upon to lead the way in some highly sensitive situations. The world is fair, but only if you say it's so.

PS for Scorpio: The time has come to stop defining yourself by what you are not, and to begin defining yourself as who you are. Yes, it was necessary to strip away everything that could possibly get in the way of the subtle expression of human love, perception and kindness that you possess. And you have had more than a little work to do squirming out of the perceptions that others have trapped you in your whole life. But that work is just about done; you are ready to stand in your own footsteps with more clarity, desire and sense of direction than you have had in a long time. I would love to hear you say just once: I knew this was possible. I always knew I was this person.

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Planet Waves Weekly for Nov. 19, 2004 with Horoscope #533

Published by Planet Waves, Inc. of  Vashon Island, WA. Written in Paris, Ile de France, 75005.

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