Dear Readers:
This week's essays are posted on PlanetWaves.net. There are two. The first is called Love in the Time of Depleted Uranium, which starts as a rant and then develops into a perspective piece on the similarity between the Vietnam War (1954-1975) and Bush War II. (Here is the cover that was devoted to that article.) The second is called Remember a Day, which is an astrological perspective piece looking at the effects of the total solar eclipse coming on Sunday in the sign Sagittarius. They are posted in the general access area of the site and will open in separate browser windows. I'd also like to suggest that you read an essay by William Rivers Pitt, the bestselling political author and editor of Truthout.org, called Without Honor.
Below is the birthday report and weekly horoscope.
Good to be with you,
Eric Francis
Vashon Island, WA
Sagittarius Birthdays This Week
If you have a birthday this week, you stand at a time in your life that marks a transition between the past and the future in the largest sense of those words. It may or may not be apparent from the events now unfolding, but sooner or later, probably sooner, you're likely to feel something telling you that you're experiencing a dimension shift in the way you perceive yourself and express yourself on a level so fundamental you've not experienced any comparably significant changes since childhood.
It is possible that you're in something of a spin at this moment, or that recent weeks have been chaotic, unusually exciting or just strange beyond measure. The whole notion of what you believe may seem like an absurd notion. And the sense that it's a larger world than you ever imagined is very much at hand. This feeling may be coming in the form of dreams or parallel reality experiences that you're waiting with some anxiety to burst into normal consciousness or alter the linear sequence of your life. But it's not that simple, because as you know, life is not linear.
It is as if right now every potential you contain is available: the capacity to appreciate any attribute or aspect of life, and the ability to access and develop any human quality or mode of feeling, a quality of human experience that usually diminishes as people get older, wiser and forget what is possible, or lose the brain capacity to have to be possible. But everything has come back to you at once. Every color crayon is in the box.
I've seen, in the Sagittarian spirit, a situation that can reach crisis proportions, which is the feeling that that one's mind does not belong in this world. It's worse than being a Macintosh on a network of PCs, or a one-eyed man in the land of the blind. It is the feeling of being from somewhere else, with perceptions, abilities, ideas and the sense that someone or something is missing here.
In what some call the advanced soul, the habitual reincarnator or deep learner, there may be the tendency to blame oneself for that missing quality. After all, you should be able to play the game by now, right? But that doesn't account for the reality that on this plane of existence, and on this planet (note the similarity between plane and planet -- they are the same basic concept) -- something is in fact missing. And if that missing quality is experienced as being within oneself, it creates a condition, Chiron style, where you might be inclined to do a lot of work,, gather knowledge or create mastery to compensate for the seeming lack. This is why Sagittarians can be so skilled, so intelligent and (unfortunately) aware that they really do have something that everyone else does not. The double sense of having something special and missing something special can be quite difficult to live with, however.
What has changed is that you now no longer need to compensate; rather, you can access potential freely within yourself. Potential is just that, however, and when this spell wears off, you will need to remember, cultivate and develop the qualities to which you want to possess ready access. In these weeks ahead, get a feeling for what those points of development might be. Choose from experiences you have not had. Experiment with who you have never been. Stay in unfamiliar psychic, emotional and physical territory to remind you that you're in a continuous process of creating life.
And most of all, make a conscious effort to meet your relationships without expectation that's based on what has happened before. This is the great trap of human interaction, that we so often hold everyone to our own past and to a great extent their past, and don't let the wide-open world of possibility that we meet when we encounter a new person be real. There is something very different about this moment, and the people in this moment, and it is a kind of doorway through the world of shadows into the world of light and choice.
Continued next week.
For a full solar return (birthday chart) reading in one or two sessions, you can call the office to make an appointment at (877) 453-8265.
Planet Waves Weekly Horoscope
for Nov. 21, 2003
Aries (March 20-April 19)
Whether fear is a universal condition on Earth or in the human psyche amounts to the same thing, with one exception: to the extent that fear is within us, we have some ability to learn different patterns of thought. It’s not easy, I know, particularly given that at the moment there appear to be a lot more sources of fear than of love. But you do have some added incentive: you’ve seen the creative power that can be released when you take that same energy and put it to work for a constructive cause. And you have help. For you, Sunday’s eclipse of the sun is all about solutions, openings and release of an old idea about yourself that you no longer need.
Taurus (April 19-May 20)
Since there is no way you’re going to do it alone, it’s time to put some people around you. I am not sure exactly what you’ll need to give up in order to allow yourself to do that. It may be the familiar patterns of life to which you’re a bit attached, but then, one of them may be the struggle that has become like second nature. The change you’re going through right now is, however, quite real, and there is no turning back. The most important thing you can learn right now is the difference between taking your power and giving your power away. It may seem subtle, but fortunately it’s nothing of the kind.
Gemini (May 20-June 21)
The message of Sunday’s total eclipse in your opposite sign, Sagittarius, may seem to be that you’re forever and always at the mercy of other people. But you are other people to as many as are other people to you. Notice how even those with whom you share no significant relationship can shape your experience with the smallest gestures. Let that be a reminder that how you feel, what you say and what you believe affect all of the people around you. You can build a whole new view of relationships based on this simple fact, and you would be a lot more happy with them than you’ve come to expect is possible.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
Work has obviously been overwhelming lately, but there is hope in sight. You have become too bogged down in the details and with your sense of responsibility, and have forgotten to assess the much larger patterns that make up your life pattern and creative process. Right now, the larger the better: look at long periods of time, patterns that you have always taken for granted, and your opinion on your correct role in the world. It is different than you thought -- very different. It would be a true blessing if you suddenly realized that you can control some things, you can influence other things, and can merely observe others. Note carefully which is which.
Leo (July 22-Aug 23)
The most daring thing anyone can do is to consider a different idea. Climbing a mountain, jumping out of an airplane, starting a company, taking a different approach to a relationship or following your passion all start with an idea. The most fertile state of mind for ideas is curiosity. Curiosity is what separates those who are awake from those who are asleep. It is the daring quality that distinguishes children from adults. Your curiosity is being reawakened. It’s been dreaming an interesting dream, but now it’s about to experience a truly exciting reality. Take notice: you are about to be handed a key to the world, and a hint that so much more is possible.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
I had a shocking moment a few years ago, which I still process daily, when I read in the work of Alice Miller that all children in our society are abused. The reason, she says, is because the structure, patterns and climate of our culture are inherently destructive, negligent and insensitive to the needs of defenseless growing young people. Having experienced that, there appear to be two questions: one, how do we get out of what was done to us, and two, how do we prevent ourselves from spreading the abuse? It’s a lot easier if we consider that the two questions are really the exact same thing.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)
No one would willingly climb into a big juicing machine and get squashed to pulp, but these days you may be feeling like that’s exactly what you’re doing. I’m not sure how voluntary it is, however. There appear to be a great many overwhelming influences in your life right now, but you are attempting to process them mentally rather than dealing with how you actually feel. Events are conspiring to make sure you actually notice that important factor. All the details in the world don’t add up to an understanding of your emotional state, and you are not going to solve these problems one at a time. The larger the solutions, the better.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
In a world where there is so much to be angry about, but where open show of anger is rarely welcome or considered appropriate, you certainly do have a dilemma on your hands. But anger, while often taking a long time to uncover, is usually the wrapper around a much deeper layer of inner experience. To reach that space requires a mix of bravery and humility, and more often than not, the willingness to go there alone. Currently, that’s not necessary. The more real your feelings, the closer some people will become. And, by the same process, the further those who cannot understand who you are will retreat. Both will help.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)
Sunday's eclipse in your birth sign marks an extraordinary turning point in your life. True, there will be plenty of people, Sagittarians (in any form) or not, for whom these are just average, ordinary days, and it’s true that sometimes the most vital and pivotal astrological events take effect over time. But regardless of what you may think at the present, it's clear that you stand in the most influential moment right now, when the power of decision has the most leverage. You have been getting many messages in recent weeks and months that you have a lot to leave behind, but the new data, if you read it, will be telling you just how much you have available in this very time and place, and how much to look forward to.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
Most things that actually have the power to heal us also have the power to cause great damage, but that is the result of resorting to more and more dangerous solutions to problems that have grown out of bounds. I suggest you look for methods of resolving your difficulties that don’t come with warnings on the bottle and that don’t have two edges. You may be feeling a lot of pressure to make certain situations work out exactly as you feel you need, and as soon as you need, but therein lies the trap of resorting to the poison that cures. Real science, which is the application of knowledge, is patient before it’s anything else. Combine that with awareness and you will find the method you seek.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
Everyone has something to contribute to the world, but few people ever have the pleasure of connecting with what that something is. You may be a little overwhelmed with the possibilities right now, but as these next few days emerge, you are likely to come to a new understanding of what you really have to offer. You may not believe the message when it arrives, and you may feel that time is going to have to bear it out. But this is not a passive process. You cannot simply wait. Mission, purpose, calling and offering your talents are all active processes that involve contact with people, experimentation and growing through periods of difficulty. Those are the real rewards.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Few question the source of consciousness. The nature of consciousness is examined like an insect, but where all this awareness and sensation spring from remain a mystery. The change you are going through is taking you a lot closer to the source, and the intense, dynamic nature of the interactions you are experiencing is compelling you to be clear and alert. Be grateful for that. While the flow of events may seem to be quite out of your control, the attention and mindfulness you offer to your environment and inner space are the most potent factors influencing the changes in your life. This is not an especially easy process to see when you’re in the middle of it, but that’s the point of mentioning it.
