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| Full Moon Door Dear Fellow Lunatic: I finished the horoscope last night and had nothing else to say. What a strange feeling. It was about two hours before the eclipse, and I had no idea what to write. That doesn't usually happen! It seemed like all that was left to do hang out for the eclipse, which turned out to be magnificent here -- some friends and I saw the last hour or so after the moon rose, the sky got dark and the clouds started to clear. Nothing was visible (except a fire in my Chiminea iron fire pot) until I checked my email and a client in Florida had sent me a picture of the beginning of the eclipse of St. Petersburg. Then suddenly over Tacoma the clouds opened up and there she was. The astrological revelation for the evening was that as the moon goes through an eclipse, she changes from full to new to full again in a couple of hours -- as if a month of experience is concentrated into a tiny stretch of time. This is one of many metaphors for concentrated experience that can show up with eclipses. Which is why at such times, small moves count for a lot. I am still left without a lot to say right now in terms of comment or reflection. Today's daily reflects this literary state: we're asking for people to share their dreams from last night, which we'll edit and compile into a little collective dream log of Planet Waves readers. In other astrological news, Venus returned home to Taurus in the past few hours, and is soon to cross the ever-interesting Chiron discovery degree (the 4th degree of Taurus, with the image of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that has come to signify so much of Chiron's power to bridge the celestial and the mundane). Mercury is getting ready to station again. We are in the 'Mercury storm' phase -- and I'm not sure I like the name of that any more, stormy though it may be for some, at some times. This is the slowest phase of Mercury retrograde. Just to give you an idea, when Mercury reaches its peak speed for the next cycle in early July, it will travel through the zodiac at 2 degrees and 11 minutes per day. Today, Mercury's daily motion is less than one-third of a degree and by the day before the station on May 19, the daily motion is just one arcminute -- considerably slower than Pluto! And then within a very short time, on June 1, it's resumed a motion of more than one degree per day. So with all things mercurial, we have not only the fact of the frequent shift in apparent motion, we also have the rates of acceleration and deceleration being the highest of any planet. Interesting that even as astronomers keep coming up with thousands of new celestial bodies in the outer solar system, it seems like Mercury really is a substantial inner limit (I am sure that with a little research I could find one or two things that cross Mercury's orbit -- I'll take a look). The sun makes its ingress to Gemini on May 21, moving into position for an annual eclipse on the 30th, which I'll cover in greater detail next week, and in the daily blog as well. Weekly Webcast Wednesday Every Wednesday at 8:45 (or 9) a.m. PST or 11:45 a.m. (or noon) EST, I do a live webcast at http://www.voiceofvashon.org/ hosted by Susan McCabe. Please spread the word. The time slides around a little -- we'll try to keep it at 8:45. Thanks for tuning in. It's usually really fun. Planet Waves by Eric Francis http://www.PlanetWaves.net/ Birthdays This Week If you're born in the last week of Taurus, there is a sense of resolving a nearly impossible deadlock that may have held certain aspects of your life in a grip for many years. There is an energy of clearing, and of being able to see yourself more clearly, with that astonished sense of oh, finally. The ingress of Venus into your sign is suggesting that, no matter how much movement comes through the life of stability-loving Taurus, you're very likely to feel at home in your skin, in your home and in your place in the world -- in motion though some or all of it may be. Taurus is not as stuffy as modern astrologers claim. Alice Bailey describes your sign as the blacksmith shop of the soul. Just imagine that deep in the core of every Taurus is a hot fire burning, and a fire-loving, powerful and precise man shaping the hot spiritual metal of which you are made. In planning your year and considering your growth, it might be helpful to look at whether situations in your current life that have emerged in the past one to four years actually have roots going back eight to ten years. Check for themes that seem to ring through periods of time -- similarities in relationships, health conditions and so forth -- those are the themes that are up for clearing and revision now. The result will be a distinctly transitional year in all respects, both personally and professionally. Because your natal sun is in the last degrees of Taurus, there will be one final square, or near-miss square, from Uranus through the autumn. This is going to provoke changes and arrive with a general sense of restlessness, reminders of what you want and need to do the most, and a few experiences of really being able to make important changes with relative ease, particularly changes to how you view your role in the world as an expressive person. In a sense, during this transition, you will have a few choice opportunities to reinvent your life. And with such a strong eclipse in Scorpio around your solar return, the emphasis, as I've been saying in the weekly entries, is on a close personal relationship -- but really, on the whole issue of personal relationship. Questions like, how much do we reveal to people close to us, and how much do we know about them, are fairly obvious ones -- though not always, of course, usually we just take the status quo for granted and don't want to find out, or reveal, 'too much information'. But there are power dynamics hidden in those choices, which are going to have an opportunity to air themselves out in the course of the current year. If you have children, the responsibility for fairness is on you; this is a time of learning equanimity and feeling compassion for how challenging it is for kids these days. You will have some opportunities to forgive transgressions or at least see them in a realistic light, taking life and growing up as it comes. Remember that in raising children we are faced each day with the choice to either resolve the neglect and sinful ways of our predecessors, or continue them, and the choice is often subtle. You do have help in this regard, and the continued willingness of partners to look at certain issues from their own deep past will be very helpful in the daily work of helping kids grow. Aries (March 20-April 19) Look closely at the vision you're being given before it fades to a kind of dream. From my perspective it looks like both a social vision and a vision of intimate partnership, which are rightfully part of the same process. But more than anything, you're in a position to see with stunning clarity the role you want to play in our culture, and to feel the power and beauty of the gift you have to offer. There is always a translation or growth process between feeling one's talent and offering it to the world in a tangible way, but that process starts with an idea and a sense of what is possible, and what you truly want to share. Taurus (April 19-May 20) Venus changes signs tomorrow, moving into Taurus, reaching halfway around the zodiac from the location of her long retrograde in Scorpio late last year. It's time to take stock of a relationship situation and size up your long-term process. An eclipse in your opposite sign Thursday night has about the same message. One thing that might be helpful is creating an inventory of secrets you're keeping. Even if you don't reveal them, it's vital to the wholeness of your soul to have a clear picture of what you're withholding, and why. This exercise could help clarify any questions you're having about sex, because only the truth is erotic. Gemini (May 20-June 21) The current process of Mercury stationing direct is not what you could call a moment of silence. If anything you're shooting the rapids of the datastream, but there is that odd sense that it's all happening in a dream. If so, this is a dream of being able to handle extreme opinions, unusually intense feelings, unworldly passions and stunning contradictions. What you think, feel, know and believe will slowly develop in its importance over the next week, after which time you'll be in a position to offer your clarity from an unusually deep place. In the meantime, keep a close watch on what you choose to believe in general, and what you choose to believe about yourself in particular. Cancer (June 21-July 22) There's a perception in the world that new ideas are bad ideas, that nothing is really innovative, and that innovation doesn't really help much. We are on the other hand a culture obsessed with newness and invention. At this moment, you are considering some things about yourself that are truly different. For a long time you've lived with the idea that some kind of 'hidden karma' has blocked your ability to share and receive love. This has certainly seemed true enough, gauging from the seeming outward effects of a cause you didn't understand. Something has changed recently. Letting go of something old is surely something new, and by all indications, you can trust that it's real. Leo (July 22-Aug 23) There's a direct relationship between how secure we feel and how much power we project into the world. Often it's an inverse relationship -- freaky types can become tyrants of the first order. Presently you're on a path of learning authentic security that's based not on illusions of power, but rather on an intuitive sense that you are safe, and thus in a safe position to express yourself. When false security gives way, there can be a frightening moment until real safety takes its place. Presently, the issue is how to respond when you receive an intuitive warning. Remember, the information itself is not a threat, and it gives you time to respond in the best possible way. Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) There seems to be some real tension between what you know and what you feel you have to do about it. And while knowledge itself may be getting more vivid, the possibilities for how to ground that as action are getting a bit chaotic. Why not stick to the awareness and knowledge you're discovering? Well, there is no reason why not -- unless you find that you're threatened. If you're decoding the threat, look first to your childhood relationships to your siblings, and what secrets they kept from you. Certainly, a major infusion of self knowledge could wreak a little havoc on a much older self-concept that was based on being kept in the dark. Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) Take it slow on an emerging business deal, especially if you're the talented, rare and beautiful thing being offered for sale or rent. A few details need to be worked out and at this point you're not likely to have the better end of the deal, which is to presuppose an inequity. You could do some personal work around just how you let yourself get into this situation, but don't be too Aquarian or New Agey about this -- protect your interests and make sure your compensation is fair. The best tactic will be to delay, by at least a week, perhaps two or three, and watch how things work out. You have learned this lesson before, by the way -- just think back to Halloween. Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) The recent eclipse of the moon in your birth sign has done some cellular rearranging of your awareness, but it may be a while before that percolates to the surface -- long enough for you to forget what happened. No matter how subtle the events of the current days may seem or, for that matter, how blatantly strange, remember what occurred, and how you responded. The best way to do that is by paying attention now. In particular, one matter of a deeply emotional nature seems to have you on edge, and is leaving you wondering if you can trust anyone. Right now trust is valuable: the more you trust, the greater your rewards will be. Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22) Well it certainly has been interesting. Are you looking at mirages, mirrors, ghosts, your own visions, or stark, raving reality? Does it matter? Your imagination is well-fed at the moment, which is good for your spirit. But you need to take a realistic view about a situation you may not have noticed the existence of until very recently. Whether the issue surrounds one of your children, one of your creative children, or a romantic interest, check back over the past week or two of communications and make sure you've caught all the details, particularly what's being asked of you. And you might as well get clear about what you need, a subject which may have gotten lost in the shuffle. Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) Given the wrenching changes of recent years, current developments must come as a relief. On one level, you're personally out of the spot light and on another, this gives you a chance to focus on your desires. The lesson you're probably learning is that life is based exclusively on values. If two people agree on their values, then it's easy to connect. But it's difficult enough to get any one person to agree with herself about the things that really matter. What recently seemed like a loss or sacrifice now has the very discernible benefit of reaffirming what is most important to you in the world. Doubt may come and go, but the truth is unlikely to change. Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) You have been doing a lot of exploring of your self-concept, but remember that this is quite a different thing than your actual self. How does one tell the difference? When you reach a feeling of who you are that defies any simple conceptual definition, you're getting warm. There seems to be a question about whether what you think, how you feel or what you do is the real you. I assure you that it's none of the above. You have a relationship with existence that goes beyond all these fleeting qualities. That relationship is calling you to make important changes right now, just who it is that makes the deeper decisions that result is the voice you want to be paying the closest attention to. Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) Life wouldn't be what it is without a touch of controversy and consternation, but it's clear you have more important things on your mind. We can look at world events (that is, any events we see in the world) as projections of ourselves, or we can look at them as a kind of visual catalogue of available choices for where to place our attention. Whatever works -- that is, whatever helps you translate your ideas into reality more easily, and whatever helps you exist in a comfortable proximity to the people you love. Recent events have provided you with exercises in self-mastery akin to walking on a slippery roof. The funny thing is, you stayed upright. How do newspaper horoscopes work? Planet Waves Weekly and PlanetWaves.net are edited by Eric Francis, with help from Chelsea Bottinelli and the Vision List. This newsletter is $49.95 per year and published 52 times per year plus the monthly horoscope. We encourage our readers to contribute their artwork and writing to the Planet Waves project and to cultivate themselves as creative forces in the unusual and socially formative times in which we live. |
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