When the Molasses Levee Breaks

Regarding Saturn in Leo, I've said everything I have to say -- this week, anyway in my column on Jonathan's site, which is here:

http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/eric.html

This is the third in a series on Saturn in Leo. A prior edition ran the week before, and I posted an introduction about one month earlier, which is linked from the July 8 column.

But perhaps this is worth repeating, from this week's edition:

Every planet that moves in our charts presents challenges, rewards and opportunities. But planets are not anonymous actors with no agenda. Planets have names, and stories, and we have relationships with them that last all our lives. If you follow astrology, you're developing that relationship and you may want to do it as consciously as possible. Astrology is rather different when you see a transit and you understand it in terms of a lifelong process and a committed relationship with growth, on that particular planet's terms. When trouble comes, it usually comes from deliberately snubbing a process or experience we know is necessary or timely.

We bring our creativity and our intentions to the process of every astrological event, and every other event for that matter. Far from being helpless in the face of transits, they present us with information and energy, which we have the opportunity to evaluate and use.

I believe the real issue with transits and why they are so troublesome is that most people are not so often introspective enough to see that the process of taking over our lives comes as a series of decisions. These decisions are based on what we feel, where we find ourselves, and what we decide we want. We don't exactly have total control; but we have a lot of latitude in what we decide and in how we respond to both inner and outer circumstances. In fact, that's about all the control we have. Once we give up that ability to notice and decide, that's a situation called being powerless. And once we notice that, we have some power back.

Saturn is a planet that wants us to maintain awareness and take action. Saturn says work with your limits, work with them and work right to the edge of them. And then develop them. Saturn demands maturity. If we really do Saturn well, we begin to personally take over all those roles of controlling surrogate parents (inner voices of parents, including deceased parents; spouses functioning in parental roles; 'god'; bosses acting like parents or deities; and every form of a 'should' that we 'should' or 'should not' do). Saturn on one level represents those people, and those inner voices, which strive to control us; and on another level -- the more important one -- it represents personal mastery.

[Continued at link above.]

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Leo is the sign of generosity and kindness. Saturn's role is to keep us focused on a particular area of our mission, one of supreme importance. The role of Saturn in Leo is to teach us how to be kind and generous; to teach us how to get over our fear of kindness; and to get over the sense that as soon as we give anything, we give ourselves away and lose something.

This is an awful deception and I think it's most of why so many people claim they've failed to find their role in life. Is it possible to cling to yourself, and also to express yourself fully?

It takes some practice to learn that the more you give, the more you have to give. It's not even about what comes back, really; it's about discovering an inner, endless well that Saturn represents, no matter where it's placed in our charts. But Leo speaks to the necessity to be whole and coexist with others in a positive way. Leo is the source; Saturn is the agent of necessity. The message is to reach our own inner source and let that creative energy out as existence and expression.

In sharing our life force, our creativity, our passion and our love, we realize how alive we are. And that sense of being alive grows on itself, and we benefit from that, as does everyone else.

If we hold back, we can find ourselves with very little evidence available that we really do have anything to offer life, because that evidence has to come from within. No, if we hold back, we can find ourselves with very little evidence we're alive at all!

Saturn in Leo presents a challenge, which is to remember kindness and generosity all the time -- toward ourselves, toward those nearby, and as a cultural value. Saturn in Leo, as you'll read, gives birth to the most enduring inventions, from recorded music to the trademark "Microsoft." Perhaps in this phase of our lives and of the story of the world, we can invent a way to have some enduring peace of mind, to share that space with others, and to put our resources into that which gives only life.


Happy Birthday Cancer!

This must be a mysterious time for you. The whole cosmos feels like it's in freefall. And right around your solar return, Saturn shifts into Leo, into your house of personal resources, self esteem, and financial health.

From the look of such a striking development, it's clear that you're on the verge of something, perhaps a difficult decision about yourself and your life. But what does this decision really involve? What is the most important value operating beneath what you're feeling? Go to a deeper level and investigate. I suggest you take nothing at face value now.

But remember: Beneath the face of everything is how you feel about yourself. Understanding, developing and refining your relationship to you is the essence of Saturn in Leo. The previous two years have done much to eliminate what does not belong, and to clear away space for what may be. Now, you're at the point where your primary responsibility shifts to understanding the mysterious ways in which small developments in self-awareness can change the whole world.

Saturn in Leo is an entirely inward experience for you, which is truly good news. When we really do the work of Saturn, which is acting in the way most responsible to ourselves, we open up enormous resources, even limitless resources. For you (and indeed for all Cancers, and Cancer rising) this transit occurs in a region of your chart where you're already quite well endowed. To have Leo as your 2nd house suggests that you really do have an enormous amount to offer, and that your best approach to life would be to do just that.

The movement of this planet is a development in a long story of coming to terms with yourself. It follows many long phases of introspection, and perhaps of loneliness. The current movement represents a time of deep focus on what you feel you value most about yourself and in the world. This is not merely passive reflection, though; Saturn's method is by a gradual deepening of commitment and the resulting expression. This is a time of experimenting on the most practical daily level with your emotional responses, your choices, and how these are all mediated by your value on yourself.

At a certain point, in discovering the truth about yourself, you will encounter all the lies you were told about yourself. This is not for about another year or so, and you have that time to get prepared for that encounter by exploring the reality of what is true beyond everything that is not true. In a sense, you will be peeling back the layers of who you were on a quest for someone you are, who for a time only you will know.

And from that unique and beautiful viewpoint, you will relate to the world as the person you truly are inside. Go beyond your supposed motives; beyond how you think you feel. Look at the simple fact of your existence, and what this implies. No question is too great or too small in this process, and each response from your soul is a gift you give to yourself, and if you choose, to the world.

Planet Waves by Eric Francis
Weekly Horoscope # 567, July 15, 2005

Aries (March 20-April 19)
There's a cosmic birthing process underway, as Saturn makes its change of signs in to Leo over the coming weekend. Leo is the angle of your solar chart that deals with risks, pleasure, romance and children. Saturn is the planet of structure and priorities, and of the most necessary changes. Put the two together and we get ideas like: calculated risk; doing what is daring, but necessary; exercising the caution you need to preserve all that you've gained. The important thing now is that you take your time, take one move at a time, and get a feeling for the new territory you're about to enter.

Taurus (April 19-May 20)
I suggest you take the view that all bets are off, all deals are suspended, and all decisions are on hold. Postpone normal business. Scale your life down to the minimal necessities for what you're actually responsible for to keep the ship running -- minimal. You need your brain capacity, and you also need to remove all unnecessary pressures and distractions so you can tell what is important, and respond to it in a meaningful way. Not tomorrow -- today.

Gemini (May 20-June 21)
There's a distinct feeling when your ideas push you forward with a force of their own rather than you having to coax them along. Now is likely to be a distinct moment in which you feel the strength and momentum within you -- a moment when, perhaps in what seems like a paradox, you have some unusual ability to work with your mind as a tool rather than being dominated by it. What you're about to gain, discover or get a handle on will more than compensate for the morass that certain aspects of your life have been for so long, and will allow you to claim responsibility for yourself and your destiny. Big stuff.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)
In the moment of a big change, it's good to have basic support around you -- food and a decent place to spend your time, and some extra hands on deck to make the work a little lighter. Get a sense of what you need, then look around, and ask around, and make sure you find most of it. You are clearly in transition, and for the most part there's little you can do to facilitate things any more than you already have. But you need to pay attention now, and provide yourself basic nourishment, and make sure your leadership of your life is balanced with good counsel.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23)
This is an edgy moment. But don't let it freak you out. Just hang loose. Or hang tight -- whichever feels better. It's only a matter of days now before you have some tangible sense of where you really stand in your life. You're likely to wind up saying, "What was the big deal about, anyway?" Once you recognize that all your careful planning, your willingness to work out your emotional life, and to take responsibility for your own problems really have worked, I think you'll know that you stand in a solid point of beginning, and a moment of truth, and to borrow a bit from Moses, that the truth has set you free.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
You've seen this all before. You know your way through the maze, and you know where everyone around you stands. If you don't think about it too much, the knowledge you possess will guide you on the level of what feels like intuition. But it's really a form of familiarity based on the fact that time is not something that moves only in one direction. Over the next few weeks, you'll be taken to a place where you can make a correction of your life course. You need to trust yourself, and trust your perceptions, for long enough to make amends or repair a breach of faith that only you have the ability to make right.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)
Few people have the guts to succeed in exactly their own precise and particular way -- but when you look around at the Libras who have really made a mark, one of their most distinct qualities is distinction itself. Therefore I suggest you pare away all the ideas you may be harboring about who and what you're supposed to be, or what is supposed to work and what is not. Rather, come from the inside out, which begins by standing deep and firm in the energy of exactly who you are. Then, do exactly what you do the best, and keep doing it until you succeed -- by your definition of success. You will.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
The kind of success you're looking at will be a lot easier than pessimists say; indeed, it's actually possible, which is more than most will concede. But the real challenges lay ahead, as do the true rewards of your efforts so far. Over the next two years, much will develop from concept to reality; from idea to experiment; from a sense of what is possible, to a test of what you can bring into the world. If I were to leave you with a fortune cookie before embarking on this journey, it would say, "Be resolutely who you are. Be humbly who you aspire to be."

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22)
Human life is governed largely by beliefs. This can be frustrating when we know it's true and can't do anything about it. Then there are times when our beliefs come up to a concrete test: you want to do something, or you absolutely must do something, and if you keep a grip on an idea that is not true, you know it'll never stand a chance of happening. Don't be so resistant to giving up what simply does not work; we live in a glorious universe of many, many possibilities, and if you can get the boring ones out of your way, you'll see the lush, rewarding ones right in front of you.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
You consider yourself part of the larger system of life; that's an extremely advanced philosophy to hold, you know, and if more people had an inkling as to how useful it is, maybe it would be more popular. What most people are afraid of is "losing themselves" into some kind of collective experience of life, as if their ego will suddenly dissolve the moment they start taking cooperation seriously. And to a real extent this is true. But something other than ego has to rule the day in our world where "every man for himself" has led us down one very dark road. We are counting on you to help lead us back out.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
There are so many possibilities. So many of them lead us nowhere. And the ones that are often the most valuable we rarely see for what they are. I suggest you look through your past history, and the façade of what seems impossible or improbable, and take a step toward what you know is the most important thing in your life. It is likely to come in the form of some kind of commitment and certainly some kind of decision. But the difference between false and true is that true comes from the inside, as an act of clarity, and in full devotion to who you are. Or to state it differently: let yourself do what is most obviously right.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Let's stick to the theme of closure: of endings, of emotional resolution and of making sure that all the hidden elements of karma are on the table. In these final days of Saturn in Cancer, my take is that the most important thing you can do is make sure everyone knows where you stand with them. And make sure everyone knows what you want to do with your life -- whatever that may be. I trust you're seeing one thing: you have options, and you have the strength and power to commit yourself to the ones you want. In fact, you're likely to see the only thing fishy about Pisces is how colorful you are.

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