Planet Waves for December 2004

By ERIC FRANCIS

Aries (March 20-April 19)

I truly hope these four seasons have taught you to get along better with people. Not better in the sense of learning to make more compromises, but rather in the fashion of being yourself without doubt or equivocation. At this point in your life, that's all you can really do. The first kind of getting along results in a lifetime of compromises. The second kind allows you to make your way in the world following your original and undeniable calling to truth and freedom. As you know, it's a lot easier to be free together than it is to be free alone. This is why so many people think liberty is a myth: they refuse to cooperate with the experience of others seeking release from what holds them back. Why, I don't know, but I do know that people learn from example, and value those who know how to give them the right nudge on the right day.

Taurus (April 19-May 20)

The story of your year is really the story of the past two years, back to the Venus retrograde in Scorpio in late 2002. I would hazard a guess that something in your life or within yourself transformed radically; I am reluctant to use the word died, but that's the word. For the next 18 months, you took this Scorpio power of death and transformation with you wherever you went. Nothing stayed the same in your presence. Everything was set in motion. I would imagine that you became lost in a world of transience and were compelled to come to terms with the exceedingly temporary nature of all things, all circumstances and all structures. The beauty of this process is that it released you from a situation, from a state of mind, and from a level of growth; not symbolically, but in actual reality. Now, you're free to choose again.

Gemini (May 20-June 21)

Is it any surprise the way events worked out this year? It's entirely likely that, looking back, you may feel that fate was operating. But from the viewpoint of four seasons ago, it's likely to have seemed like you were sailing blind into a mysterious abyss. Both are true. It's not really possible to measure the significance or impact of events of the past year based on the mundane turns of fortune, or twists in the outer story of your life. You could call these the most superficial effects of an inner revolution. What you've lived through will have impact that reverberates for the rest of your days, and perhaps for generations. Something has changed on a cosmic or cellular level, and it's not really possible, at this point, to give it too many words. For now, keep reminding yourself that the past is behind you. That takes some getting used to.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

There are times when you don't have to plan for change. And there are times when it's impossible to plan for change. Events of this year have taken you someplace you never expected to go; which is one part of the story. You've also resolved within yourself a nagging issue that you may have never expected to work out. Like most situations in your life, this had an emotional basis. We all know that attempting to change emotionally can feel like scooping water from one side of the bathtub to the other; all you really do is mix it up. What's been resolved is an inner division that was working so deep beneath your awareness that you likely had no way to give it a name. Results of this healing process will show themselves for years to come as you solve problems you didn't know you had.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23)

When a planet makes an unusually accurate conjunction to the Sun, the Sun (in the astrological sense) becomes that planet. When the Venus made its transit to the Sun in June, that signified your re-emergence into the world with confidence and a rather stunning degree of beauty and attractiveness that seemed to come from nowhere. This is astrology that marked you with an obvious purpose, not just in your own mind but in the minds of many people around you, and many you don't know and will never meet. It's not just that your persona changed, or your role, or how people perceive you; those are the effects of a much deeper cause. Being a weak or fearful person does not become you and never did. That deeper cause is something known as strength. You're a natural born leader, and to be happy, you have to be in your role. So be it.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)

I have so far managed to write this whole column without referring to a chart. After 12 months and looking at no fewer than 1,000 charts for 2004, I thought I knew what I was taking about; but the technical nature of Virgo sent me back to the documents. And if the documents say one word, that word is profession. Every other factor in your life, and there are many, should be conspiring to push, pull, stretch, tickle and tease you to a place where you know your work is meaningful. Now, Virgo is the sort that can see the deeper significance in being an office temp, but that's not what I'm talking about. I got one of those corny emails last night about "what I learned about growing up" or something, and one line reminds me of you. The mighty oak is the little nut that stood its ground.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)

It's funny how, after so much anticipation and such a long road traveled, everything came together at the last moment. You may be thinking, 'What's he mean? It seems more like everything fell apart at the last second'. That's a matter of perspective, and of individual experience. Plenty of times, keeping a firm grip on reality is the best way to keep reality at bay. There remains one pressing question in your life, which is whether you feel more safe being conventional and a bit conformist, or being highly original and an iconoclast. Recent seasons of your life have likely delivered a clash of these cosmic forces. The blinding light of Chiron has made you aware, on the one hand, of what you cling to; on the other, it has proven that you need to go beyond it. Don't worry if the process has been messy. The important thing is that you blew a hole in the wall big enough crawl through.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)

Well now. Did you dare? Life has been calling you to take a big risk. It's true that of all the signs, Scorpio is aware that once you turn you can't turn back. That leads you to exercise an unusual degree of caution in some of the more intimate areas of your life. You have, however, slowly been coaxed into being less hesitant than you might otherwise be. Potential lures have included a dedication to serving someone or something; your ever-present appreciation of a good idea; and the sense that you carry an usual degree of protection from the very worst possibilities. All true. But I'm not sure you actually felt free in your heart to take that big chance. There will be many opportunities, but the way this game is played, one leads to the next. This is not a question of all or nothing; you just go, and keep going, and see where you wind up.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

To write this horoscope correctly, I'll need to add a new hard drive onto my laptop. Just what hasn't happened this year? Let's see -- you managed to stay alive, you've skated through or around a few little health crises, your relationship situation took some major developments (some amazing, some unusually painful), you claimed ownership of your ideas and, in the end, you re-emerged in society as the person you knew you were on the inside but could never quite carry forth. Was it worth it? Well, since you haven't stopped a single day and have worked even through most of the nights, is that really a fair question? Consider that all the big changes you must make are done; now you have one necessity and one alone: live each day for the love and beauty of it. I'm with you: we're seeing hard times on a weird planet, but so what.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)

Capricorn is the sign of history, antiques and tradition. The phase of your life that is finally in the process of concluding is in fact something of a dusty relic, dating to just before Christmas 2001. That was an extremely uncomfortable time. I was there, too, and I remember the sense of insanity and instability. But you kept on truckin'. One thing we can say with some certainty about Capricorn is that its natives feel not so much a right to exist but rather an obligation to do so. This helps keep things simple. You do what you must, instead of what you want, which reduces the number of possibilities to a finite quantity. One way to view the past three years is as an encounter with infinity. And, arriving as you have on the cosmic frontier, you've had to claim your space, your role, and a definition of yourself that you own and understand. Good work, kid.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)

This edition is designed to look at the past, but for one sign, Aquarius, that's not appropriate. As the foreseeable future unfolds (which I would define as between now and your birthday in 2011), the world is going to be getting a lot of Aquarius. More than it's had in centuries, as Chiron, Neptune and an other planet called Nessus join forces and shake the universe. I predict with joy that this astrology will shock the minds of all the little people of our society who comprise what is known as the Rear Guard: those whose only solace comes from desperately clinging to the past. But as for you: the past is taken care of, yes? If not, get to it before late winter. Settle your physical affairs, drop the weight of what you carry in the world, and get ready to be one of the lord's divine harbingers of faith and progress.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)

Given that the Venus-Sun occultation occurred in Gemini, the 4th solar house for Pisces -- representing home base, security, and emotional grounding -- it seems pretty interesting that between January and September, your Fishy astrologer was pretty much a perpetual motion machine. However, I can remember just one day when I woke up not knowing where I was: the afternoon of the occultation on June 8, and a strange day that was indeed. Just what effects this had on other Pisces I can only imagine; but whatever they may be, your relationship to your foundations has changed. Events have shaken you up so you could settle back down. As my friend Karen so eloquently put it, this year was about dropping an anchor of light deep into the world. The 4th house has a lot to do with the past. The past is experienced by most people as an extremely annoying situation. For Pisces, it's the ground that holds you up, but best not to be the house you live in.





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2004 Annual Horoscope Pages

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