Journey to the Deeps of Time

Scientists with NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are awaiting data from the Huygens Space Probe, which earlier today was dropped to the surface of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. Huygens is part of the larger Cassini mission to Saturn, which was launched in 1997 and has been 20 years in the planning and preparation. While Cassini, the mothership, orbits Saturn, Huygens has plunged into the atmosphere of Titan, which is believed to be a perfectly preserved specimen of what our Earth was like four billion years and two weeks ago.

Do space missions have astrological consequences? That is to say, can scientific equipment working in space have an impact in consciousness akin to a planetary event? I would say so -- it is a powerfully symbolic planetary event, and nothing less. With the Huygens probe, we get some rather awesome imagery of science (another word for consciousness) diving into the primordial soup of humanity's origins. With any luck, we will soon see visual imagery of this ancient world, which we can allow to have life-changing impact on our self-awareness.

Think of it this way. Modern humanity has reached back into time with its sensory equipment and touched something deep in its own past, perhaps before sentient consciousness itself existed as we think of it. Yet Titan represents the climate and atmosphere that attracted the soul or divine consciousness that mixed with matter and created life as we experience it.

Life and the chemistry that led to it were not born in Tahiti. Rather, Titan is a cold, dark and greasy world, with oceans of methane or ethane jelly and where, at most, only 1% of the sunlight that reaches Earth gets through to the surface. It is covered with thick clouds all the time. There is no oxygen. I just heard on the BBC (where I get all my education these days) that drops of methane rain fall from the sky 10 times slower than on Earth. It seems an unlikely place for the birth of life, but apparently where life was born once resembled Titan quite closely. Do you remember that part of your existence? Were you part of that story?

The entire Huygens experiment was designed to last about two hours: the interval between when the probe entered the atmosphere, sending back photos and data, and when it "splashed, rolled or crashed" onto the surface, to borrow some language from the mission's scientific objective. The probe includes experiments for both liquid and solid landings, as the landing site is random. The surface experiments in any event would not last longer than a few minutes because the atmosphere on Titan is so hostile to things like batteries. And there is only a small window wherein the data can be transmitted from the surface back to the mothership.

This all seems rather fitting of the Pisces Moon (primordial), the Sun-Chiron conjunction now forming (questions about existence), and the Mercury-Venus conjunction in Capricorn (a very expensive technical gadget being sent on a trip through time back to the past). Today would be a good day to dig out ancient family photo albums and see what you discover. More astrology when an exact landing time is announced.

For a bit of potentially worthwhile background on Cassini Space Probe, please see this link. http://www.planetwaves.net/thinking.html


Work-Career Article Update

Before the tsunami, I had embarked on a mini-series on finding one's true work. I've been exploring the subject daily (not just as I sit here writing, but that's definitely been an experience to remember), but also while reading a book by someone named Wilhelm Reich, which is my morning reading at the local coffee shop, taking notes. Reich was a psychiatrist who devoted his life to understanding sexual energy and how it affects psychological health, personality development, mass psychology, contentment and work. Per the instructions of my friend James, who assured me the book is dense, I was told to keep at it even if at the rate of a page a day. So that's what I do.

I'm making some exciting connections to the Chiron in Aquarius situation (control versus freedom, individuality versus conformism), which in one sense this book is all about. Reich's excellent, careful and well thought-out writing is making a lot of connections between doing good, satisfying work and having healthy, fulfilling relationships -- he viewed the two as being part of the same process -- life! He identifies moralism, that is, the strict, controlling rules of what one should and should not do, as being the common nemesis of both love and work. This morning I read about three pages and covered half a placemat with notes. Here are a few.

"The moralistic bureaucrat remains so even in bed" [-Reich]. "One cannot destroy moral regulation without replacing it with something else, something better" [-Reich]. He suggests people struggle with fear of the "meat grinder" -- "the serious encounter with the world of today which arranges and judges everything in existence according to the principles of moral compulsion" [-Reich]. He was writing in the 20s and 30s by the way. "There is a certain kind of logic which one cannot escape, even though one would like to" [-Reich]. "One's work must be arousing, not deadening" [-ef].

I've been looking for some astrological symbolism or structure with which to associate these ideas, and I'm finding it. I'll leave you with one idea. The house of work and service, the 6th house, is surrounded by two others: the 5th and the 7th. Neighboring houses have corresponding themes and represent a kind of map to the healthy psyche. The house cusps play an important role in integrating the material of adjoining houses; this is why planets changing houses is so important.

The 5th is the house of art, curiosity, risks, romantic stuff, kids, play and sex of the playful kind. On the other side, the 7th is the house of committed partnerships, contact with the world, and human interrelations. It's interesting and sad how far we have to go to build walls around the 6th house to separate it from both the playful, spontaneous ways of the 5th; and the deep partnership of the 7th. But we are made to do this by the rigid dictates of society -- which is still rife with ideas like, "You can't have fun at work" or "work has to be boring." To really find our home in the 6th house, we're going to need to reach out in either direction to its neighbors and bring some of those qualities into our daily service.

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Planet Waves Parenting Update

Parent Waves is in the very end of production. Subscribers will most likely be hearing from us this weekend -- but Monday the latest. Thank you!

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Planet Waves Horoscope By Eric Francis
for Friday, January 14, 2005

Happy Birthday, Capricorn!

The world is a strange place these days, and there seem to be few reasons for hope. But nature is full of surprises. One theme of 2005 is suddenly becoming clear: that despite all odds to the contrary, the truth comes out, and it matters. You're likely to find yourself in many situations where you become the source of that truth: the provocateur, the maverick, the one who is not afraid to speak up.

But it gets much more personal than this. There is such a thing as integrity, and it's available to everyone who chooses it as a way of life -- and that is a choice you seem to be making as if it really mattered. It does. In the end, it's up to each of us to feel honest within our own souls based on our actions and words -- and to know this is changing the world. Nothing else can.

What did your father teach you about integrity? Your history and relationship with him become important growth points this year. I see a situation in which you may be wondering whether the minuses add up to anything that makes the advantages worth it. If so, I suggest that it would be healthier not to think in this kind of polarized way. Chiron, very active in your chart in recent seasons and through this year (as it works the last degrees of Capricorn) is about seeing things holistically, rather than in black and white.

There is a also a reminder not to view your past problems as the way you define your personality. You have, in truth, so much more going for you. This week's stunning, long and languid conjunction between Mercury and Venus evokes a reminder of a time when you were simply content with yourself, which once again you have the freedom to me. The question is where you choose to invest your identity.

It would be healthy to make contact with your father, if possible. See if you can get a little philosophical perspective and use the opportunity to get an understanding of his whole life; the trajectory of his journey here; and where it has led him today. If he's not available, you can work with family history, talk to his relatives, or just consider your relationship to him. In any event, you need firm reminders that you are not him. You don't need to be; you are you and that is quite enough.

In your most personal life, there seems to be a paradox brewing between having boundaries that don't work, and responding by retreating into yourself, which leads to a sense of loneliness and isolation. I suggest you be mindful about this issue, and recognize it for the false paradox that it is. You are likely to be responding from old information and not new information. In fact, you are a sensitive, deep and emotional person, and you need both space and human contact. If you can gently recognize the potential obstacles to both of those things, you can gradually move them out of the way.

Aries (March 20-April 19)
Professional developments have somehow found their way from a far-fetched vision to actual achievement. The twists and turns have taken long enough to work out, and you've been exceptionally patient. Yet there's a potent force in your psyche calling on you to remain aware of your principles, and keep your mind on the big picture. What you've accomplished has nothing to do with personal gain or ambition even though you're on the receiving end of some genuine worldly gains. Though this would be enough to jade some people, the personal changes you're experiencing remind you at every turn that the purpose of your life is to serve and to learn.

Taurus (April 19-May 20)
It's not your style to live on whims and wishes. In the universe of Taurus, when the good Lord makes a promise, it comes in writing. Yet while certain aspects of your current situation are very much assured, there's a personal element that, in truth, can come with no guarantees. That's because so much depends on the choices you make in your heart, one of which is whether you identify with the person you were in the past, or the person you are today. You have the potential to stand confidently in your highest possible reality; you merely need to agree you're going to do nothing else.

Gemini (May 20-June 21)
An agreement or arrangement that has recently come to fruition is actually a much better version of the same basic idea that you considered around the first of the year. You're actually on a lot more solid ground today than you were then, despite only a couple of weeks having passed. The details make more sense; at the same time you're under a lot less pressure. You are someone who has to make decisions in your own time, and when you honor that about yourself, things go a lot smoother. The current development has the potential to work out very well for everyone.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)
There's so much happening in your personal life right now that you're running the risk of losing awareness of yourself. Yet if you cling to yourself too much, you're just as likely to miss the beauty, passion and intensity of the moment. It's possible to maintain some boundaries while you have a boundless experience of life. This is done by maintaining awareness, and by communicating your feelings in the moment. Partners and loved ones are just as eager to be authentic and maintain their integrity as you are, perhaps a bit more so. Remember, you have nothing to hide.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23)
You may feel like there will be huge consequences involved with unleashing some aspect of who you are, as if you're taking an enormous risk of some kind. Actually, it's a good idea to remember that what you say, do and create all have real effects in the real world, and current circumstances are serving to remind you of that. Some current project or endeavor is likely to reach far beyond what you intended. You can, however, trust that your efforts are not only carried out with awareness and clear intentions, but also that they will have positive effects to match.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
You're not usually one to make rash decisions, but that means the subtle ones count for a lot. The effects of the small choices you make this week, or the cautious opportunities to express yourself that you dare to take, will be far from petty. You're being presented with an opportunity to outgrow so many of the inhibitions that hold you back, and that you've been bargaining with for years on end. Ultimately, there is no deal to be made or bargain to strike; you just do what is right for you. You act in the name of love, and set yourself free.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)
You may feel like you have to walk the rather fine line between confidence and caution, but I strongly suggest you choose one path or the other. Either will work to get you through the week. But one offers you a sense of safety, while the other will keep you vigilant. Chaos only arises when you attempt to straddle those options, and commit yourself to neither path. Remember, though, that creativity requires little other than the willingness to feel. Keeping your eyes and ears peeled for danger is good for cops, but terrible for artists and lovers. Hang loose and you'll be told everything you need to know.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
The solution to problems you've been struggling to solve is in your hand. In fact, it works out that you were thinking too hard to have this simple idea. This is, by the way, your second reminder. You actually figured it out a few weeks ago, and it may have arrived as a stunning revelation, one of those transcendent moments of truth that you forgot to write down in your notebook. This time, you're not going to forget, because it's so obvious. Still, the benefits will take some time to sink in. When the Sun changes signs Thursday, you'll feel safe and sound as you truly should.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22)
You're finally holding in your hand the 'metaphysical' theory that you are who you think you are. The value you place on yourself is the actual value you possess and can share. Often it's difficult to see this idea, and more rare still to feel it actually working. The events of this week promise, if nothing else, to make this lesson vividly clear. You will, I trust, discover that the moment of deepest doubt is the doorway to authentic certainty. Spiritual as you are, you're still not someone who takes things merely on faith, or worse, on hope. Tangible evidence is what you need, and it's what you'll get.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
Many factors suggest strongly that over the next few days your life is going to shift radically, and for the better. Lasting change almost always arrives with a feeling of vulnerability, yet this is the emotional opening through which you can experience so much that is new in your world. I know that recent times have brought you little other than tests and trials that seem to have had no rewards. Your gift for enduring all these changes is who you have become -- a person deeply sensitive to beauty, whose voice speaks for the poet in your heart. Feel what you've been missing for so long.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
Before the Sun enters your sign later this week, you're likely to be taken on a tour of your worst fears and insecurities. A bout with commitment-phobia is possible, particularly if you feel you're encountering guilt or obligation. I don't suggest you take any of this too seriously. It's likely to vanish like the illusion that it is, though one with the potential to take a toll on you emotionally. Somewhere, there are actual psychological issues surrounding the baggage your parents passed along to you, and if you're paying attention you'll get a map of their fears, and some handy clues about how to leave them behind.
 
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
You're finally able to keep your highest objectives in mind long enough to do something about them. Months of preparation and enduring setbacks have led to this moment, but the most important benefits will arise from your steadfast commitment to cooperating with people. As a result, everyone will gain, and nobody will lose. Certainly, it's humbling enough to receive the kind of support that you're getting, and I don't see you gloating or doing back flips. I see you taking your place in a world of people you've committed to serve, and doing it well. Just remember, recognition is always nice, and you deserve it.

Planet Waves is a subscription service. Please invite your friends to subscribe by visiting this link: http://planetwavesweekly.com/sales/home.html. Subscriptions include free access to Bridge to the Core, the Planet Waves annual edition for 2005.

Planet Waves for Friday, Jan. 14, 2005, with horoscope #541

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