Autumn Direct

Dear Friend and Client:

You may be noticing that Mars stationing and returning to direct motion has released a lot of energy, feeling, information and unexpected events. Mars in Pisces is volatile enough; the experience of retrograde Mars in Pisces has been extraordinary for a number of reasons, most notably the closest bypass of Earth and Mars in sixty millennia. The station to direct motion, over the weekend, also closely coincided with a Mercury station several days before, the Libra equinox and a new moon. It's also unusual because Mars retrograded back to just seven arc minutes (about a tenth of a degree) from the beginning of Pisces, where it remained for a week or so, before beginning its two year trip around the zodiac.

Over the next ten weeks we're going to experience a very thorough encounter between Mars and Pisces, which some people will find empowering and others will find rather disturbing. Pisces follows rules like water does. There are a few undeniable qualities of water (it flows downhill; it freezes and evaporates), but beyond these, water goes wherever water flows. Mars does what Mars does, but it's all about intention. Mars does what Mars desires, until it meets opposition or obstacles, in which case it either fights or retreats.

In Pisces, which is the ultimate hall of mirrors in astrology, Mars has to be careful not to fight itself. The other way to say this, borrowing from some New Age and perhaps ancient ideology, is that in the life of a spiritual warrior, every battle is ultimately with oneself. With Pisces it's always helpful to think in dualistic equations, to state the question two ways, or to think in terms of the inverse of any situation. Everything is subject to question. Mars may be saying plunge ahead when it may be time to pause, reflect, feel the environment and determine the correct action for any given situation.

All living things, from mold to jaguars to blue whales, are connected by their need for water, and all water mixes eventually. No matter what we may think, we are all one, and our actions ripple out into the hologram of reality. Remember that as you move, and remember that consciously stating your intentions to yourself, and making small moves toward what you want or feel is necessary, may be more than adequate. Trust that it will happen. Mars in Pisces is very easy to overdo, even though the effects may not be apparent for some time. A good maxim to consider is less is more.

We're now headed straight for one of the more significant astrological events of the past two years, the Harmonic Concordance, which I'll be covering in a series of articles that continues this week. My most recent essay on the Concordance is here.


Once Around the Star

Many people wish to live an aware life and put great energy into doing so, then select certain aspects of reality from which to deliberately withdraw awareness. Usually these fall into one or more of four categories of worldly experience: politics, sex, money and death.

Then the games begin.

Political news makes an interesting example. Many among us say we want to be whole and real while steadfastly ignoring the news because it's "all bad news." Politics is a dirty game for bad people, after all. It works the same way with money. Plenty of seekers strive to be spiritual and, because money is unspiritual, they ignore it and as a result live in material chaos and struggle. Money is "the root of all evil" so many feel that it's better left alone. As for sex, forget about it. It's nothing but trouble, right? Better not think about it too much! Most of us know we have important healing work to do in all of these areas.

I'm not arguing that contemplating any of these things is itself the way to peace. Rather, I want to propose a more challenging idea. We make life what it is. When we take one or more fundamental aspects of living and systematically subtract, ignore or suppress it, the result is that we have to amp down consciousness on a systemic level. Then that something we subtract from awareness becomes the mechanism of a withdrawn mind and shut-down feelings, and, reliably, problems start to fester.

It's a little like taking a painkiller. If you hurt your elbow, there is no drug that can go straight to that spot without dulling or shutting down your central nervous system. Even local injections of Novocaine, which can't be sustained for long, will reach your brain in a matter of minutes or less (no matter what the dentist says). Besides which, pain serves a biological purpose, which is to warn against further injury, to tell you to get help, and to direct the brain to send energy to the hurt place.

To say that pain has its use is not to make an argument for seeking out painful scenes. Rather, it's suggesting that we get the message of pain rather than merely withdraw from it.

If we take a whole-system approach to awareness, raising awareness of anything can lead to raising awareness of everything. More accurately, if we go toward the core of feeling or experience and work with the source of resistance or struggle on one particular issue, we're likely to find a means by which we can work out many seemingly unrelated issues. The key to this working well, I think, is not holding onto any one thing to deliberately shut out of our definition of life, for that one thing becomes a symbol of all that we deny, and the poison of ignorance spreads.

My fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Fennely, pointed out that ignorance does not mean stupidity; rather, the root of the word is ignore. Ignorance is a process of intentionally blocking the light, and that takes a lot of energy. The dark corner ignorance occupies can become the cornerstone of the psyche.

My personality theory #1 (which is probably not particularly original) is that when we hold back acknowledging the truth in any area of existence we can eventually feel like we're totally compromised. Compromised generally means afflicted by resentment, guilt, shame and fear of self-expression. In a word, trapped or frozen. Why would we do this to ourselves? It's pretty simple. Most of us grew up in family and cultural environments where this was the only normal way to be; we learned no other, and felt safe existing in no other. At the same time, we had to endure a lot of pain and humiliation. Shutting down is allegedly the safest way to exist. Which anyone who is shut down knows just ain't the case.


Unraveling the Cord

If there is one glitch in consciousness, it's that becoming aware is often painful. That hardly qualifies as incentive. Astrologers see this happening all the time -- major transits, seeming to be only painful, force people to recognize their reality, to grow, to be aware. But it's still not exactly a party.

Yet it works quite well that pain is an awakener. True, it's a last resort, the one thing that finally gets our attention when nothing else will. Awareness and pain tend to lead to one another.

Sometimes this works in the realm of politics, which is clearly a painful situation these days, if you look at the behavior of our leaders and its effect on the world. Unfortunately, the way it works is not through observation of the news, but through the personal effects of policy being felt in our lives. One might not care about a scandal in government until government funding for a service that you use disappears. Then, a kind of selfishness leads to its opposite, collective awareness.

Remember that Chiron is in Capricorn, and has been for two years; it will be for another two years. Chiron is about healing through raising awareness, and since the first thing Chiron can point to is evidence for, or the nature of, a problem, a struggle can be part of the healing process. By healing, I mean repair, making whole, and improving the health of the whole system in question. The trick to Chiron is seeing it as such and not getting caught up in the idea of struggle.

Capricorn, in the collective sense of the concept, is about top-down or vertically oriented power relationships, such as we find in government and corporate life, and which we take entirely for granted. Those relationships extend into all our dealings, beginning with our parents and school teachers. The dramas we see played out amongst royalty and their corrupt, back-stabbing and treasonous cronies often bears a resemblance to our workplace scenarios. The last time Chiron was in Capricorn, a guy named Joseph McCarthy came unstuck. I wrote an article about the Chiron in Capricorn pattern two years ago when the current transit began, which looks at some of these questions; it's posted at this link.

Considering politics involves considering the idea of social responsibility. Since we don't really want to think that a thousand people have to live in squalor and poverty so we can be driving around a nice new car, it is usually best not to think at all. Guilt doesn't work, either -- eat your food, there are starving children in India. Um, mom, should we send my leftover potatoes to Calcutta?

In ducking out on the collective responsibility issue, we can grow to believe that society exists to support us personally, and at the same time, that nothing we do actually contributes to building community. This thought in itself is enough to make itself real. It is the forfeiture of cooperation that makes community impossible.

Cooperation is also difficult when we get thousands of messages (mainly from the media) telling us not to trust anyone. One cannot cooperate with someone one does not trust. In this respect, the pain of hardship is very enlightening; one is compelled to trust, or to dare to trust, one's neighbors. The first step to healing political futility is finding common ground, hopefully in a cooperative rather than competitive way. As soon as you can say the word we, you're freed from the sentence of false isolation that our society so often imposes.


Messages in the Harmonic Concordance Chart

Let's consider some themes in the Harmonic Concordance chart, considering a couple of these issues. One of the interesting features of this chart, which I brought up last week, is how gender issues are raised. For example, the Moon is eclipsed totally in the sign Taurus, which some astrologers will tell you is the worst possible condition for the Moon. Venus is in a conjunction with Ixion and Vesta, which is an image of woman as servile victim. Sappho is conjunct Pluto, which may tell us that women's ability to bond with one another is under attack by some vast, overwhelming force. This chart is not especially kind to women, but really it's just telling us what we could find out many other ways.

The world is not kind to women, and America’s latest wars are not kind to women; vicious is the more accurate term. Check my facts if you wish. America’s war allegedly designed to liberate Iraq has made life much more dangerous and difficult for women. Under the secular government (a regime which was pretty mean to men) women were relatively safe and could both walk the streets freely and conduct business in Iraq. Today, as chaos and fundamentalist Islamic religion take over, women are in very bad shape, and often cannot leave their houses. Before the war, we knew that half of Iraq's population was children under the age of 14. Life has only gotten harder for them.

The Star of David (Grand Sextile or six-pointed star) pattern of the Nov. 8 eclipse is dominated by male actors (in the form of planets), all of which are located in feminine signs. We could, without a big stretch, say this is setup about men learning how to take the roles we expect more often to emerge from female consciousness, and which may reside there on some deep, organic level. These include taking a primary identity as nurturer, cooperating for its own sake instead of for competition against a rival, and recognizing the value of sharing resources, feelings and common needs.

Here is my brief take on the six main planets in the setup. Let's imagine we can get awareness of them all going at the same time:

Moon, eclipsed in Taurus. One way to look at this is to say that a shadow is being cast over the customary role of women, which is supporting and taking care of the home, the children and the village, while men do most of the fighting and moneymaking. We have an image of women being silenced, pushed into the shadows, and subjected to danger. A lunar eclipse in Taurus also points to a crisis of accepting nourishment, the possibility of food shortages, and a cash or resources crisis. It is also a wake-up call to reach for our real values, and to live them like it matters. We can wait until we absolutely have to do this, or we can get in the groove now. I can tell you that sharing and asking for help have made my life a lot richer. It's good to know your neighbors, to be there for them, and to know they are there for you. In particular, it's good for what we call “self-esteem” which really means self-respect -- a very Taurus issue.

Jupiter in Virgo. This is about applying critical thinking to religious and academic dogma, a rare enough occurrence in the world. Typically we just accept what we're told by ministerial and professorial authority without asking any questions, and without even realizing we're doing it. Why are Jews, Africans, Queers, women and members of all other religious second-class citizens? Why do Catholics drink blood? Why is God nailed to a stick? Why do so many people who preach peace and love also froth at the mouth with excitement when speaking of bombing people? Why do so many people think Armageddon is approaching, and are so excited about it? Virgo is about reasoning power, discernment and intelligence. Jupiter in this sign says question reality. It says we need spiritual values that address the practical concerns of real people. What we have today are religious values that encourage deception, greed and abuse. Let's get some new ones.

Chiron in Capricorn. This is an image of the raising of awareness of political and social justice issues. Since Chiron has been in Capricorn (in December 2001), we've witnessed a long series of exposés about everything from sex abuse in churches to Enron, Worldcom and many other corporate scandals. There is a scandal a day coming out of the White House. But stuff that makes Reagan look like a schoolboy. This has gone on so long, with so little in the way of results or effects, that we may think there's no use paying attention. Chiron in Capricorn is compelling us to hold awareness of these issues, to bring the darkness to the light, and to own up to our part in the game. While awareness may seem to hurt, withdrawing it will ultimately hurt a lot more. Part of what we need to remain aware of is how serious our political problems are, and use that awareness to define those problems in ways that can be solved.

Sun in Scorpio. Shared resources and consciousness of power relationships are among the themes of Scorpio, as is the appropriate use of sex. The Sun-Moon opposition is a calling to be highly aware of inequity in our personal relationships. Scorpio is such a powerful border dissolver because people are, for the most part, totally dependent on one another for survival. When the survival needs of others are used to gain control of people, that's pretty dark karma. This eclipse happens shortly after Samhain, Halloween and Days of the Dead, which is calling on us to honor our common fate, the inevitable cycles of life and death and to establish contact with our ancestors and predecessors. Sun in Scorpio may illuminate awareness of a whole lot of problems, calling our attention to worlds of pain that we must acknowledge are harming us even though they are "in the past." But the Sun in Scorpio says we have the power, strength and resources to help ourselves and others.

Saturn in Cancer. Preserving the integrity of the home, setting limits within our homes, and structuring our homes for functionality as the foundation block of community are among the messages of this. The last time Saturn was in Cancer, there was an enormous burst of social consciousness, collective awareness, and the feeling that "the world is all of our home." The environmental movement -- that is, not just demonstrations, but solar power -- came into awareness. Saturn's greatest rewards come when we learn to work within limits; that's the essence of Saturn's game. We certainly do have limits to work with and that means very rich rewards if we don't ignore them. Saturn in Cancer opposite Chiron in Capricorn is reminding us to pay attention to the ways in which the political is distinctly personal. Every law that is passed eventually finds its way to your living room or your mind.

Mars in Pisces. This is about learning the difference between passion and aggression. There is a difference. It's also about taking on a warrior spirit on the issue of truth and lies. There is a difference, but it's often one that induces crisis. Mars in Pisces is saying believe no lies and speak only truth. Pisces is something of the ultimate spiritual energy and Mars is the consummate warrior. Spiritual types often have a hard time with warrior energy, as if standing up for something important or obvious to you is somehow going to offend God. It may well have offended your parents, who were as god and goddess to you. It may well offend the part of your mind that wants to maintain control by perpetuating denial. Telling the truth definitely offends unrighteous authority figures. But more important than that, it's good for the soul.


Birthdays This Week

The Planet Waves Weekly birthday report is not written for a specific day but rather for a week that may begin several days before the stated issue date, and which may extend several days after. I recommend that natives of each sign consider the whole month of birthday reports while the Sun is in their sign, though the ones on either side of your birthday are more likely to be applicable. Astrology is not an exact science, and imagination -- the ability to apply images to reality and vice versa -- is as important as the facts. Hang loose, and happy birthday, Libra.

This is the year to make sure you're living your own relationships, not those of your parents. I would extend this reading to apply to anyone born under the sign Libra, but it's going to have some very specific, unmistakable expressions for those born in the current stretch of time. This is the year to solve your own problems, not those of your family. It is the time to do your life's work, not that of anyone else. You may have to take a few steps along the way to getting there. There are questions around both parents, but your father, and various paternal figures, show up strongly in your anniversary chart this year.

To understand the emotional workings of this, it's going to be necessary to look at the experiences of men in our society, taking a collective view, and applying that information to your father and your father-figures. Consider the paradox which so many men face, particularly if they're of the Baby Boomer generation (1945-1963). First, they were generally raised thinking they were going to walk on the Moon, fly a fighter jet or cure cancer. Most got to walk around an industrial park, pay taxes to support fighter jets, and many had jobs that were part of the cancer factory.

In other words, most men live with the feeling that they've been ripped off. Sometimes it's subtle and they're injured on the inside and stay silent about it. Other times, they live with rage (often medicated by alcohol), and the feeling that they haven't really lived at all. Then, feminism, political correctness and various other philosophies come along and say Men Are The Oppressor. It Is All The Fault of Men. When these men have children, those children can inherit the sense of a wounded ego or soul that dad struggles with. That can be passed along a number of ways, including the fear of expressing oneself, or the sense that one is just simply too injured to express oneself.

There can also be the overburdened sense of responsibility, the sense that one must always do what is right all the time and never really live. This extends into personal relationships as well as the professional and creative life. Not only does one abdicate the choice to choose partners, one must live under the tyranny of a domestic partnership that prevents self-expression in so many other ways.

We have with this psychology the story of the wounded king. The king is still the king, but he's powerless, impotent or at the mercy of circumstances outside his control. The father represents the possibility of what we can do and express in the outer world; sharing and expressing one's glory and mission; and being who one is with full acceptance. When one's father is wounded -- and almost all of our fathers are -- those faculties of who we are can be seriously compromised.

To get past this, we often need a crisis. We also need to get past the idea that "I thought I had worked out all my parent issues" (which usually means I've compromised my life sufficiently so as not to arouse the attention of the parental inner persecutors). There is a necessary element of subtlety. To see the permutations of childhood conditions, one must be very astute. For example, when you're at the grocery store, watch your parents' values influencing you. When you go to work, see your father's values telling you what to do. You may find this to be rather unpleasant, but once you get hip to the game, you will, I think, be very happy you decided to pay attention.

In summary, whether you're considering your most personal relationships, your work, or your creative life, look for all the ways you're not living your life but rather living that of someone else. Then you can go past that limitation and have new glimpses of what it will be like to live for yourself and be who you are.

For a full solar return (birthday chart) reading, you can call Eric's office to make an appointment at (877) 453-8265.


Aries (March 20-April 19)
Don't let small differences of opinion or unconscious fears divide you from your friends. In sum, it would be wise to avoid the game of politics. Presently it's imperative that you keep the wider picture in view, which may turn out to require assembling many smaller images that others are just not seeing. At this point, I wouldn't bother trying to show anyone anything they're not willing to look at; rather, strong aspects suggest that you can put what you know to work and accomplish an enormous amount in a short time. You can see well enough what needs to be done; you might as well do it and be grateful you can.

Taurus (April 19-May 20)
Keep your list of what you want to let go of close at hand, for example, in your schedule diary. These days it's likely to be fairly long but somehow you are not so daunted as you were. Even if these are complicated times, they are good times. There is nothing cynical about life's challenges offering us much deeper meaning to the experience of existence. It is not judgmental to see people for who and what they are, because it's only through that perception that you can relate to them as who they are and not who you would have them be. This is quite daring, isn't it?

Gemini (May 20-June 21)
My friend Greg, a Gemini moonboy, had a most interesting experience recently. Quite by surprise, his own reflection called to him from a mirror, and a kind of dimension shift happened. After a while, his reflection started speaking to him, representing the mind beyond his normal waking consciousness -- what some call the higher self or superconscious: "I don't understand you any better than you understand me," is what it said. And then: "You are one of the more interesting ones." And finally, the promise that his self-beyond-self would always be there with him, no matter how close he got to the edge, watching and protecting him through his journey in this strange world.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)
Empathy for your fellowman or fellow woman needs limits. One practical guide is that it's reasonable to do anything anyone asks of you, as long as it hurts neither of you. This includes recognizing and commiserating the pain of others. There is, in these days, a new pathway opening up beyond seemingly necessary struggle. You'll find it in paying very close attention to the relationships between parents and children. Tune into the feelings of both. With whom do you identify more? Where is the failure of communication, and whose responsibility is it to bridge the gap? The answers will be obvious, as is what happens when they are ignored.

Leo (July 22-Aug 23)
Everything is negotiable, but beware of those who play power games, because they don't think anything is negotiable. To quickly establish who is who, feel for when certain people you encounter have any emotional flexibility at all, that is, whether you sense that they can feel you. If you think they cannot, politely excuse yourself to pee or make a cell call, and slip out the back door. With those who can negotiate, put it all on the table, especially where money is concerned. This is no time to be a wimp, wuss or mush in your financial arrangements; it's time to be a lion. As such, be alert for the assistance of a mouse.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
Be careful when taking a conspiratorial view of events and motives; give people the benefit of the doubt. The other side of conspiracy theory, the holistic and life-affirming side, is that we are, in fact, all connected, and this is a mighty fine time to see the links, strands and threads of the web of life. Identify with the part of you that is all and only about cooperation and you will find yourself in unusually cooperative circumstances. Your example is simply a reminder of what is both possible and necessary, and this relates to circumstances involving work, love and play. Sometimes great wisdom seems like less than it is.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)
The next few days are poised to take you on a little ride as far as the "idealism" versus "realism" roller coaster is concerned. Some will experience this as ease versus challenge and others as delusion versus practicality. It can seem like a horrible paradox. But I have the solution to the riddle, and it's brilliant, if a bit mundane. One cannot accomplish anything without a vision, and as the weekend approaches, that comes into focus; there is an apparent solution or plan. By the beginning of the work week, it comes time to take action. Plans always revise themselves when transposed from the ethereal world to the physical world; something else emerges. In the process, something else disappears. Inventing is not for the faint of heart.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
I would imagine that for a while now, you may feel too long, you've been assessing a certain situation and deciding just what action is necessary, and why. I imagine you've also been sizing up the potential risks and benefits. They are what they are, and I would not blame you for being a bit nervous about what you know you need to do. I wouldn't blame you if you opted out of the gig, either, but you might blame yourself, recognizing how rare this particular opportunity is.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)
Monitor your frustration carefully and you may notice whether what angers you the most actually has anything to do with present circumstances. But unraveling that frustration is very much a present reality, and it involves taking a series of steps in which you slowly surrender your sense of powerlessness that is a product of the distant past. In this process you may notice you feel like two distinctly different people, which I imagine would be a distinctly uncomfortable sensation for you. There is, for example, the one who hurts from neglect, and the one who knows you must be free. This differentiation will assist you greatly in seeing, and being, who you are, rather than who you are not.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
It's funny how different the world looks when you cross the street. And it's really weird how few people never cross the street! You'll live a year in a week if you don't do anything the same way twice. You're also likely to notice how wedged into our patterns you and the whole human race is. Be mindful of the roles you play as you move through your day. Who are you to each of the people you encounter? What if you traded places with them as a conscious game? You might discover that you were a parent to your parents, and that this royally skewed your perception of reality. It's not to late to give it up.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
The message of the next three months, in total, is going to be that you are ready. Readiness implies you are aware that there is a difference between thought and action, and take that awareness to heart. When you're called upon to do something, that's when it reveals who you are. For most people, something must happen to them before they take action, which is a passive approach to existence. The active approach is to heed your callings and move your feet or take a chance when the information comes to you that it is time to do so. As you know, it is long past the time when you can live without fully honoring that which is most important to you.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Maintain your patience and your vigilance, and keep your emphasis on focussing your long-term intentions. It will take some time for Mars in Pisces to pick up speed, and these mental postures will be revealed as greater virtues than they may seem today. In reality, there no rush to achieve your goals, because the strength and momentum that you've been gathering will carry through the full two years of the recently begun Mars cycle. If you embody the aspect of yourself that knows your true desires, you'll have opportunities to express them from a great many angles, perspectives and roles as the seasons progress.