Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from today's Planet Waves Astrology news, which continues our Haitian earthquake coverage and develops the issue of what is in the 2012 charts. Subscribers get immediate access. There are some nifty subscription packages listed on the Cosmic Confidential Diary. Read what one of our subscribers had to say about signing up during an economic downturn. --efc



Dear Reader:

First, a historical note. Did you know that when Christopher Columbus "discovered America," the thing he discovered was Haiti? So the island that was shaken and the country that was shaken to rubble this week has a hallowed place in the dark history of the New World, as the place where European feet first touched the ground. There, they met the native Tainos, one of the Arawak people; and made a settlement, called La Navidad, on the north coast of present-day Haiti.

Thus began a holocaust. In 2007, US News and World Report said that from an estimated initial population of 250,000 in 1492, the Arawaks had dropped to 14,000 by 1517. How did that happen? There's the famous entry from Columbus' log, reporting his first encounter with them; that pretty much explains it.

"They brought us barrels of cotton thread and parrots and other little things which it would be tedious to list, and exchanged everything for whatever we offered them...I kept my eyes open and tried to find out if there was any gold, and I saw that some of them had a little piece hanging from a hole in their nose. I gathered from their signs that if one goes south, or around the south side of the island, there is a king with great jars full of it, enormous amounts. I tried to persuade them to go there, but I saw that the idea was not to their liking...They would make fine servants...With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."

So much for Pat Robertson's theory that this week's quake happened because the Haitians had made a pact with the devil at Bois-Caiman near Cap-Haitien on Aug. 14, 1791. Yes, those in the slave revolt used Santeria at the commencement of the rebellion; that is historically documented. But even in the unlikely event that has some kind of karmic influence, it doesn't explain what had happened on Hispaniola for the prior 300 years: brutal slavery at the hands of the Spaniards and the sugar-addicted French. Bad things have been happening in Haiti since Columbus laid eyes on the place.

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Weekly Horoscope for Friday, January 15, 2010, #801 - BY ERIC FRANCIS

Taurus Confidential	The thing about your old beliefs is that you couldn't find yourself in them. The thing about your new beliefs is that you're right at the center of them. Let this be your guide to wider mental and geographic horizons, and to your notion of success. Despite many odds against you, the ways of the past that long predate your birth are yielding to your willpower and influence. Here's the thing to remember: while old beliefs can exist, and while they can guide our actions in ways that are not relevant to the present moment, the past itself does not exist. Or rather, it doesn't exist, if we notice that fact. Lately you are noticing; it's like you've climbed up onto an island of the future. Take a look around: this is where the journey begins.
Virgo Confidential	How do you really feel about sex? Do you secretly wish you could take off your socks? Do you wish you could take a shower right afterwards, but it's too rude? Or would you rather stay covered in your scent the whole day? Do you find the talking part as hot as the physical part? Do you like the risk of making someone guess what you want? Do you secretly swim in the direction of that which is forbidden, just because that makes it better? Yes, yes, I thought so. Your charts are super-sexy (as they would say in Germany) right now. I hope this means you are feeling equally sexed; and in terms of getting what you want, it's far likelier if you go for exactly what you want; what, and with whom.
Capricorn Confidential	What an interesting eclipse today. I wonder what's going on with you. You may file your iStrology report via email; juicy is welcome. As for my aStrology report: you seem to be claiming back some significant aspect of yourself or your autonomy that was previously invested in a relationship. What you're verging on is experiencing yourself as a whole person: independently of any other person, or in the context of a relationship. This ability will provide you with many opportunities to go over ground you've covered, and in a sense taken, during the past three or four months, smooth out problems and accomplish your goals with much greater efficiency. The truth is, you have a job to do. Get your intentions behind that every day.