Editor's Note: Wednesday night as Pluto was in its final hours in Sagittarius (a transit that has long been associated with religious extremism), Mumbai, India came under siege from terrorists. As of this morning, two of the remaining three standoffs appear to have been resolved. Terrorists have been cleared from the Oberol Trident Hotel and the Nariman House Jewish Center. There is still gunfire reported, as at least one gunman is occupying the Taj Mahal Hotel, according to CNN-IBN. At least 146 have been killed in the three-day incident, and hundreds injured.

Many are wondering whether this is a sign of things to come, or a kind of last gasp of the terrorist era. The astrology of the incident would support the idea that this is an artifact of the past and not the future. Pluto was changing signs and the Moon was in the last degrees before a New Moon, meaning it was at the end of a lunar cycle. There are indicators in India's chart that this is an issue that will be contained primarily to that country. However, this was a different kind of attack (not a suicide attack in the conventional sense, but rather a carefully coordinated, very well financed siege targeting Westerners and Israelis). It calls for careful analysis, which we're preparing for you.

Please check our main page for more frequent updates. I suggest you use the Internet and seek news from diverse sources. The South Asian Journalist Association (SAJA) is the most comprehensive source for news from Mumbai; they've organized a live call-in for Indian journalists and are doing a collective report every 12 hours. The streams are at 10-11:30 am and 10-11:30 pm New York time; that's 8:30-10 am and 8:30-10 pm India time, and you can listen to them here.





By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

I'D PLANNED on writing about gratitude today, with Thanksgiving upon us; considering the plenty that turns up on our tables this week, it seems ungrateful not to. But then my attention turned toward the Pilgrims. When you have little kids around, as I'm thankful to have this season, construction paper Pilgrim hats come home along with turkeys made of stuffed paper bags, and your mind just goes there.

Mayflower in Plymouth harbor, 1882. Painting by William Halsall.

In my particular case, my earliest ancestors on this continent arrived on the Mayflower. Seven of them embarked but when that first harsh winter was over there were only two, who married, no doubt out of necessity. My grandfather 13 generations removed was John Howland, a young indentured servant and a few years older than Elizabeth Tilley, the family matriarch. John received his freedom, and material reward for his loyalty, when HIS minister and employer, John Carver, died in the first years at Plymouth. The Howland's lived to a ripe old age and produced 88 grandchildren.

I think that's likely to mean I'm related to just about everybody in this hemisphere, at least by marriage. According to the records, I have distant cousins that include Churchill and FDR, as well as -- disturbingly, I might add -- Nixon and the Bushes. They say that the six degrees of separation theory has reduced itself to three degrees in the last few years; think about playing the Kevin Bacon game, only now it's a shorter version. Maybe soon we'll discover that there IS no separation, not a lick of it; that will be a true day of Thanksgiving.

Barack Obama is related to Dick Cheney, on his mother's side; I wonder which is the most embarrassed by that revelation. Perhaps it would be a more pertinent question to ask who we aren't related to, as opposed to who we are. I think we'd all be very surprised. A few  years ago, when DNA investigation became more available, an African-American professor of black studies, and civil rights activist, submitted his blood for analysis; the results turned his self-perception upside down. He found that his DNA revealed him to be mostly Northern European with a smidgeon of Asian. His self-definition -- indeed, the premise of his mission in life -- disappeared in a flash. What he had identified as exclusively his was, instead, all of ours; Americans are all a bit of this, a bit of that. It would be enlightening if we all had such a test and broadened our self-awareness.

The Pilgrims -- I think of them as the original boat people -- were a motley crew; partly religious exiles, partly entrepreneurs and opportunists. When I try to put myself in their place, I am left admiring their courage and their trust in the future. They might as well have planned a trip to Mars; they had no idea what tomorrow would bring them. In some ways, we're in similar energy today, all of us. We're reconfiguring the future out of the lessons of the past and the circumstances of the present; we're pushing off into an unknown future. We're a courageous lot, like it or not; pat yourself on the back. Our boat is bigger, but our figurative destination is as intriguingly unknown; the waters we cross, similarly uncharted.

Grandpa John was written into history as the guy who fell off the ship in a huge storm; he grabbed a rope and hung on until he was finally hauled back onto deck. I expect he had a moment of gratitude, right there. That's one perspective worth thanksgiving; solid footing. Grandma probably had another; being on that ship, tossed around like a beanbag on a seemingly endless sea would be different perspective. Finally landing on a shore both beautiful and hostile was a perspective that awaited them, surely a relief but with another set of problems. Life is like that; one shift after another; circumstantial adjustments that redefine the moment of reality.

Coastline at Big Sur, California. Photo by Doug Dolde.

This morning I had coffee outside, looking up into the California sky; traveling the 1500 or so miles from the Midwest each year is how I refresh my perspective and renew my heart, surrounded by loved ones. In one of those rare Southern California events, rain came yesterday and threatens today. The morning sky was almost white with fast-moving clouds, ragged patches of azure blue peeking through in interesting patterns. If you stare at something long enough, your eyes play tricks; as I watched the heavens, the blue shapes seemed like continents dotting a white sea, shifting and changing. It was like looking at a photographic negative and seeing the picture in a new way; it ran like a time-lapse, moving along quickly, pushing the sky-colored continents together and separating them again.

Our far past was like that, literally. With six, or perhaps only three, degrees of separation, our relationship to one another is like that as well; we're moving quickly, coming together and separating. Touching and moving along. If we have the larger perspective, everything's in its right place. If we're seeing the big picture, there is purpose in our meeting, moving, melting together and pulling apart.

We've found new ways to connect. We've identified the common thread that binds us all together, pulling us forward into the next discovery. Our very humanness is a blessing -- our ability to take a moment into our hearts and feel it so thoroughly it rattles our bones, imprints our brains and opens our souls. So are these extraordinary times that shift us forward into new perspective and new adventures. If we see anew what has always been here, while adjusting our perception of what can be, we can only look out at what's ahead with gratitude.

As I write, the children are squabbling in the other room. Brother and sister, seven and 10; beloved combatants. Some things don't change. I expect Grandma Elizabeth yelled at her share of quarrelsome children. It's perfect, just as it is; it's a major blessing to my senses, my heart, my imagination. When I'm missing the sound of them in March, I'll remember their squeals of indignation in November and smile. I'm very blessed that I can carry that resonance in my heart; never lose it. I'm very blessed to live in a time of growing awareness, so I don't have to lose anything.

We are all blessed; we survived the last eight years, a little the worse for wear but, hopefully, wiser. Many of us are facing challenges that seem dire, yet aren't; for those of us that are truly challenged, we must remember that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. We're all much stronger than we think we are; that's a good thing to remember in tough economic times. Maybe we learn to simplify our lives now; we'll appreciate simplicity when our perspective on clutter changes. The burden of too much is as heavy as that of too little; we might be shocked to discover that less is a blessing and not some great sorrow.

It would be wise and welcome to come to a deeper appreciation of family and friends now, as our ability to juggle all the balls becomes more difficult; perhaps there are some we can consider dropping without all falling to ruin. This is a time to reach out to one another, to help others carry their burden and taking delight in finding that somehow that makes our own lighter. Maybe we'll remember that our DNA would define us all as family, while being friends is a choice, worth making. Perhaps we'll discover that this grand social experiment belongs to all of us, equally.

I found this quote in the cartoon section of the paper today; it's by Thornton Wilder: We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.

The Aurora Australis. A Full Moon and 25 second exposure allowed sufficient light into this photo taken at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station during the long Antarctic night. Photo by Chris Danals, NSF.

Treasure is that thing you value above all else. I wonder what Grandma Elizabeth treasured most; certainly, fresh from the kind of life-altering adventure she'd lived, she had some consciousness of what she'd experienced. This is a good time to remind ourselves that we're adventurers, as well, and look at our lives through Grandma's eyes. She would be amazed at our bounty; she would be stunned by our progress. She would be staggered at our numbers and mystified, I think, by our fears.

All this talk of a financial depression signifies nothing much; if you are lucky enough to have an elder to consult, ask them what the Great Depression was actually like. The social structure in place through that financial emergency was much different than our own. I have no doubt we will be challenged by the times ahead, perhaps severely, but I can't help but think we're so much better equipped to deal with them than were our forbearers. We have safeguards. We have, thankfully, new leadership that puts our well-being much higher on the list than did the last. We've recently found a new spirit of compassion and cooperation, all good to have handy as we come together in difficult times.

And we have gratitude; without which there is no metaphysical give-take; no opening of ourselves to receive more, to share more, to give more. Unless we realize that we are being blessed -- day in, day out -- we will miss the abundance of our experience and live in internal, if not external, poverty. Remember what they said, back in those bad old days? Money can't buy happiness. Ahhh -- but gratitude can.

So, with Thanksgiving behind me this year, I have 364 additional days ahead for gratitude. Today I'm thankful for you, my Planet Waves family. You've all blessed me this year; and in appreciation, I send you this YouTube from Gratefulness.org. Any pondering of our blessings should come with pictures and music; what is cool and dry in mind, is warm and fecund in heart. We need all our senses to appreciate what blessing really means; you can't watch this little clip without a heart-twitch or two.

We are all part of this lovely human family, lifting upward, moving forward; coming together. We are abundantly provided for, as long as we have the consciousness to accept and appreciate the myriad blessings that surround us. That makes this day ... and every day ... a day of thanksgiving. Grandma would be proud.

Weekly Horoscope for Friday, November 28, 2008, #742 - By ERIC FRANCIS

Aries (March 20-April 19)
As you enter a phase of your life where achievement becomes the thing you reach for and finally attain, remember that you don't matter quite as much without the people around you. Indeed, you may not matter at all. What you accomplish is meaningful in the context of community: be it your company, the locale you inhabit, or the culture wherein you are making your mark. Nothing is about you alone, though you may think it's supposed to be that way. Remember your context. Remember whom meaningful developments must serve, if indeed they deserve that name. To do any of this, you need to have faith in something larger than yourself.
 
Taurus (April 19-May 20)
The part of you that's a skeptic, traditionalist or purist is the part that's going to come under the most intense scrutiny now. This is the aspect of yourself that someone gave the job of blocking your progress. Why they may have done that is a story of its own, and it involves the rigid, fear-based psychology of one of your parents -- most likely your mother. The past makes a great refuge for people who don't want to face themselves, or embrace change. You are alive in a time when we are confronting nothing but change, and the values of the past cannot dictate our way of life in the present. I'm not proposing you throw tradition to the wind; only that you be aware of a deep desire to bring it, and yourself, up to date.
 
Gemini (May 20-June 21)
You may wonder how it is that people get so much power in your life. By now you've figured out that, in part, a key aspect of yourself is accustomed to thinking of relationships in terms of authority. I can tell you where this most likely comes from: a cosmic model wherein marriage is the central defining factor. It doesn't matter if you're married or not, or whether you believe in marriage; you have inherited a set of instructions, and you need to be conscious of them so that you can either dance to the music, or become the conductor of your own orchestra. The instructions you've received have you programmed to believe that a certain kind of commitment is the only thing deserving of the name, and that a certain kind of relationship is the only type that can be called authentic. And in this equation, you tend to lose. That is why I am suggesting you get hip to what is going on.
 
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
Think of a way to remember this time in your life. I used to get my ear pierced on very important occasions, and to mark key transitions in my life. Other times I pick a spot and make a fire big enough that I'll never forget it. Some people get tattoos and some take a trip to their favorite place. The autumn of 2008 will go down in the story of your life as a time when you finally figured out how to open up to others; how to embrace your relationships; when you actually got it that soul is the thing you want from your experiences of love -- and nothing more or less than that. Therefore, meet soul with soul. Allow others to touch you deeply. Give up that part of you that clings, and clings to yourself. Allow love to be what it is meant to be: something alive, with its own volition, owing nothing to the past.
 
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23)
Most of the people I serve as an astrology consultant are struggling for professional direction. The culture seems to be gradually shifting in this direction: from the search for the "special relationship," to the search for the special thing that we are supposed to do. Lately you may be feeling overwhelmed by a calling for that elusive something. I don't think it's going to be a struggle; that is, I think your calling is going to find you. Most people (as with love) will tell you that's usually what happens; there is something to do, and we do it. I would remind you to subtract the glamour from the equation. Keep your focus on what is practical; on what you can actually do; skip the appearances entirely. Then the clues will be obvious.
 
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
You have learned many times that anticipation is more difficult than action. How many times? Only you know that. I think you're through hesitating, though. I think you are craving experience that is devoted to pleasure and creation, not merely to growth and knowledge. You can take your first steps into this endeavor slowly and gently, one at a time. The vortex will take you in the right moment. In this first moment of tasting freedom, tune into your senses. Look around at the world and imagine what you would change if you could. Remember that the past is becoming the present and being drawn toward the future with every passing moment; remember that everything, no matter how old and permanent it may seem, is transient. The difference between your life yesterday and your life today is that you are taking part in that transience consciously.
 
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)
You have deep roots, and you know it. But you don't always reveal this fact about yourself, cautious as you are in a world that so often shuns that with strong vitality. However, you seem to be craving a means of expressing your sense of positive potential, and I suggest that you do so at your pleasure. I know that you're a modest person; you prefer understated beauty to anything flashy or pretentious. Yet what you're feeling is anything but understated right now: clearly stated describes the feeling better, yet passionate and driven make the point more vividly. I don't suggest you hold back. Yes, approach the world with your usual grace. And say what you mean, when you mean it. The way your charts look, this would work better in writing than verbally, and get accustomed to the fact that others will read it sooner rather than later. That would appear to be its purpose.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
Existence is continuous; you are your dreams, your desires, your fears, your experiences and your ideas. Most of what we call mundane or ordinary consciousness is about seeing as divided that which is blended into a gentle and unique holism. The journey of your life is, at the moment, about recognizing and embracing the continuity of who you are. Aspects of your experience only seem dark and dense if you deny them, or withhold energy from them. In these very days, you are working to push energy into aspects of yourself that will drink it up like water. You are even succeeding; just work into the territory gently; allow a new state of consciousness to take over gradually. You will see the world differently; you will perceive people in unusual ways; you will finally recognize the extent to which the past dominated your thoughts, precisely because you are growing free of that affliction.
 
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22)
Nothing can stop you now, and you may be wondering how you ever thought it could. All through your life, you have been the person with vision, with a sense of potential and with a connection to your inner truth that was not merely confounding to the world; it seemed like nobody even noticed. Here is the problem: you grew up and never got over that belief or observation. Now when people do notice, you may be the one who doesn't quite get it; you may be the skeptic or the one whose perception can't quite contain the truth that you are making contact. One of the odd ways you work around this point is by having certain people in your life who reflect the strange idea that you are somehow less than you are. These people don't need that job; and you need a wider field of consciousness to express your true self. Let it happen -- or rather, check it out: you're actually happening.
 
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
Pluto's ingress to your sign is a distinctly psychological event for you; you have been under pressure you don't understand, for longer than you understand. At times it felt like the urgent need to change, to grow or to become, without any corresponding sense that this is possible; even to change your own way of thinking. The shift in the energy not only makes it possible that you can do so, but suddenly makes it necessary. A hope becomes a requirement, and you may feel that this is somehow unfair because you don't actually get to appreciate that moment of doing something because you can. Well, the truth is, that doesn't make a difference. You are going to become the person you want to become because you desire doing so, but the truth is, you know you really need to.
 
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
The question or quest of your life right now is the balance between inner and outer. Most people struggle with this profoundly. For example, in intimate partnerships, many have the sense that if they are with a partner, they must neglect an aspect of themselves, specifically, their individuality. If they are free of a relationship, they must reject intimacy as threatening to their identity. This may be one expression of your situation; another involves the distinctly social and antisocial attributes of your personality. You live with a lot of tension here, between being so oriented on what only you understand, and wanting contact with people you can relate to as a community. It may take you a while to work this out -- but resolve to use the time well. There is strength and energy in there.
 
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Patric Walker, whose daily horoscope demonstrated to me that astrology is real, wrote his last column the weekend that Pluto entered Sagittarius, on Nov. 12, 1995. He had died a month before, with a month of columns written ahead. His parting comment to Pisces: "You will shine in your chosen field." I've always appreciated his emphasis on choosing your walk of life; and the insinuation that success and decisions arrive together. I would ask, in these years that Pluto has been working its way across your 10th solar house, what have you created a reputation for? Have you brought your vision into focus in any way? Have you appreciated the extraordinary freedom granted by this transit? And if you had an unusual chance to direct your energy and your intentions, where would you apply your impact? The planets are ripe for a revolution, and you seem to be brewing an idea or two.