Goddamn well I declare! Have you seen the like?
Their walls are filled with cannonballs,
Their motto is 'Don't tread on me'
-- Grateful Dead, Uncle John's Band

Dear Planet Waves Subscriber:

I've been staying in Portland, Maine, for a couple of weeks. After enduring pouring down rain for just about the whole time (it was the rainiest March on record in Portland history), the clouds parted and on a beautiful April 1, Barack Obama showed up to stump for health care reform. So I postponed my day scheduled to write about Eris in the natal chart of MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow. She gave me her data last year, and I've been saving it for her birthday, which was the 1st; you will probably see that article next week. Instead, I went with my friend Amanda to drop in on the Saturn-Uranus opposition.

Flowers on the a barricade set up for Obama’s arrival in Portland, Maine. Photo by Eric Francis.

By that, I mean the cultural divide that has taken hold in the United States concurrent with the first exact opposition of Saturn (stability, structure, the order of reality) and Uranus (revolution, forward-thinking, invention), which was on Election Day 2008.

This aspect happens in a little cluster of events every 35 years, and we are toward the end of one of those clusters now. The synchronicity of the aspect forming exactly on Election Day characterized the vibe of the country perfectly: the outbreak of pluralism versus conservatism that characterized the campaign, and that we're still seeing in the form of the Tea Party movement (vigorously anti-Obama) versus the health insurance reform advocates (generally, pro-Obama).

I was curious to mix myself up amongst the Teabaggers and hear firsthand what they had going on. It was an interesting mix of energies: first of all they were all ringing bells endlessly (loud ones, torturing dogs and other critters), which I discovered was about 'letting freedom ring'. They recited the Pledge of Allegiance and sang "God Bless America." Some of them were quite angry with an in-your-face kind of flair. Many were indeed associating health reform with tyranny and socialism but seemed to lack any historical context to make the assertion. Many were absolutely convinced that "the government had taken over one sixth of the economy." Others objected to a compulsory purchase of health insurance, which takes place in a couple of years. Many were flying the Gadsden flag -- DONT TREAD ON ME [sic].

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Weekly Horoscope for Friday, April 2, 2010, #810 - BY ERIC FRANCIS

Aries Confidential	Most of what has held you back this year has been in the realm of relationships. Your desire nature is hot, and you're pushing for more freedom, more experience, more creative risks. Your relationship circumstances, at the moment, seem to be presenting you with quite the opposite equation: for every one of those things you want, there is an equal and opposite reaction -- and it must be frustrating. Think of it this way. At least you have something to push against. You have a structure that can serve as a container. I know it doesn't feel that way now. Before long, you're going to have some experiences as if that barrier is not there. Whatever reasons or circumstances you have encountered and have seen as a cause or an excuse will temporarily shift out of the way, and you will get a chance to experiment with your passion and your energy. Observe carefully what you do.
Aries Birthday Audio by Eric Francis is available. Check this link for more information.