Hello everyone,
My UK adventure continues... Truth is stranger than fiction...
Tonight (this afternoon in the US) is the Scorpio eclipse. If you are remotely interested in learning astrology, just look at the highly unusual news that has been coming out the past two weeks. Astrology is best when we can FEEL and SEE it in action. Remember how recently was the Condoleezza Rice testimony -- eclipses concentrate events and speed up time. Check out how personal the news has become, how critical, and the enhanced sense of impact that it has. As for our personal lives, the same wave is coursing through. A total eclipse of the Moon in Scorpio is deeply personal. Scorpio usually represents all we don't want to pay attention to... then it takes over our lives unless we pay attention and make choices.
I will repeat something I was taught about eclipses a long time ago by my old friend Dave at the Astrology Center of America, who gave me many free astrology lessons on his 800 number the first winter I was studying. Eclipses magnify reality. Look at your life today if you want to see what you're going to be doing. Make some choices about what you want (or don't want) to be doing in the near future -- the next six months to two years.
Last, this eclipse is a release point. Look at your darkness and let it go. No need to push or pull, just release and let gravity do the rest.
Back with another horoscope and some random thoughts tomorrow.
Faithfully,
Francis, in London
Today's column appears courtesy of Jonathan Cainer, http://cainer.com/
Thought of the Day
We live in a time of unprecedented astronomical discovery. Did you know that there are nearly a quarter-million known bodies orbiting our Sun? So much for the "nine planets!" As some of my readers may know, I've made a specialty of investigating small worlds. Some have names; some are called odd things like 1992 QB1. Today's column looks at the Scorpio total lunar eclipse (exact tonight at 8:26 pm BST, visible throughout England low in the eastern sky if skies are clear) factoring in the symbolism of some of the smaller worlds. As the Daily Mirror was the first mainstream English publication to feature an article on Chiron (by me, last autumn during the Harmonic Concordance), I'm going to name as many names as possible. My hope is not to break tradition but rather to enrich it, and lure you into the awesome world of the asteroids, centaur planets and the worlds beyond Pluto. Whereas the major planets paint in broad strokes and commonly seen colours, the minor planets fill in the details, make intricate rhythms and sing harmony in the chorus of life.
Aries (March 20-April 19)
The real woman within is a theme that may remind you of something or someone these days, whether your own secret self or that of your partner. She's no prude! While social conventions and family pressures may have taught her to mind her manners, that has not changed the truth within her one bit. Lillith, the first wife of biblical Adam, is speaking to you loud and clear right now. The Scorpio eclipse will push this intriguing, opinionated and powerful woman past her sexual inhibitions. The spirit of Beltane will pulse across the landscape tonight, dark, mysterious and very inviting.
Taurus (April 19-May 20)
You've taken on so much, and without realizing it, have taken responsibility for the pain, sadness or struggle of another person. Now is the time to set yourself free. Tonight's lunar eclipse is conjunct the centaur planet Hylonome, whose role is the healing of unnecessary grief. You may think this is a process that will be long and painstaking, but in fact you are at the end of something that's been unfolding for 18 months or more. What you need now is mobility. You need to be able to get in your car and drive, get on an airplane and fly, or simply walk out the door feeling the freedom to do so.
Gemini (May 20-June 21)
The universe is calling on you to take a load off your emotions. Nothng will improve your health more. You have many reasons to celebrate, though they will become more obvious as the truly astonishing events of May and June unfold. Meanwhile, the asteroid Apollo, so influential in your chart right now, is suggesting you look at the issues you seem to run into again and again, and the lessons you never seem to learn. You can learn them now. They are, no doubt, lessons of love. You seem to feel you have no options. Lesson one is you always have options, whether anyone else likes it or not.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
By now you're aware that Saturn is in your sign. You may associate this with the pressure to mature and take life seriously -- good move. But Saturn is supported by one of the most intriguing new discoveries beyond Pluto: the distant planet Varuna. The influence of this planet is to level the playing field of life. And while you are someone to whom honesty is natural, you've not always held people to such high standards. A combination of influences is making the world safe for fairness, truth and justice. Believe no lies, brook no liars, and dare to express the passion in your heart.
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23)
Of all the signs Leo can afford to let the world be the way it is, because you know everything under the Sun is in tune. Ah, but would you have the world be different? Would you end the perfectly stupid suffering with which the world reeks, particularly today? I think you would give your life to do so, if you could. But you are nobody's martyr. The asteroid Requiem, powerfully placed in your sign during tonight's eclipse, is putting you in touch with the soul of the world, and allowing you to bring into your relationships the healing power that calls forth light where others see only darkness.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
Virgo is associated with details. Now Jupiter is pushing you to see the big picture, and consider your life in the context of new ideas and unfamiliar people. Still, something in you wants to count every fact, figure and concept, as if you could measure a waterfall with a teaspoon. You are also under the influence of asteroid Isis, the Egyptian goddess who reassembled the scattered pieces of her brother Osiris. Nobody is better suited to assemble the puzzle of your life than you. This a puzzle to which there is no correct answer. You can't look at the box. Sharpen a pencil and get out the sketch pad.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)
Your life has been overrun with momentous changes, and you may suspect more are coming. You've surely noticed that you can work with this process rather than against it. At the same time, you're being compelled to see the relationship between your personal development and the upheavals of the world. "Some day," you may be thinking, "people will rise up and claim their rights." And so will you! The asteroid Arachne in your sign says you need to tell your story. Spin your tapestry until you see where your awakening meets the world's awakening. It will be impossible to miss.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
That tonight's total eclipse happens in your sign is meaningful enough, but the gods are summoning you from the four directions. And you are responding. To be the master of your own destiny is not to rise above your station, for you are not a victim of fate. Yet you are compelled, as the chief decision-maker of your life, to confront many paradoxes, some of which have their roots in the deep past. The powerful asteroid Psyche is reminding you how much you have learned from the struggles of your family. Never fear that you must repeat their mistakes. You are not merely strong; you are wise.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)
If the library at the core of our galaxy (located in your birth sign) has a keeper, I assure you she's either Sagittarian or a Sagittarian's daughter. Humanity has many potentials, something which is painfully obvious as we watch the cradle of civilisation become the spawning ground of world war. As the worldwise person you are, you are allowed to take this personally. You also feel each and every human potential within you. And you have the awesome responsibility of stopping many times per day and asking the only question that really matters, and doing so on the deepest personal level: Will it be love, or fear?
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
Go ahead and ask the deepest questions about partnership. Get your list out; say your piece. The influence of Juno, the Divine Consort, promises it doesn't matter if you're right or wrong, if you're being fair or not, or how other people perceive you. Reality is what reality is, and the only good relationship is an honest one. When we say the word "faith" this is precisely what we mean. Someone close to you is far more willing to stand aside and let you live your dreams than you've imagined. If you discover you were the one who happened to be holding up the works, just forgive yourself. Oh wait, you're the Capricorn, you should be telling me.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
Amor, Psyche, Icarus and Neptune are in your sign. Are you afraid you'll always flee from true love or meaningful sexual opportunity? The same four planets can be read with another meaning entirely. Aware of your deepest desires, you have set out to learn your lessons well enough to remove as many obstacles to your fulfilment as possible. Here is the incredible part: that you're thinking about yourself not in terms of what you need but rather what you want. Desire! It's a beautiful thing, no matter what the Buddhists say. It better be, because you're feeling it now.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Do you believe in your dreams? Are you afraid that the universe conspires to hold you down, or do you have faith that even in the world of limitations, windows to the infinite open up? Much depends on your ability to identify with your highest potential right now. The Scorpio eclipse is calling you far beyond anything you've ever known. This may seem like awfully risky territory. And in actual fact, there is a dare involved; there is a certain challenge to orthodoxy; and -- says the centaur planet Asbolus, now in your sign -- you must trust your deepest instincts. Not at all costs, but to all gain.
