Feb. 14 | An Overview, by Jude from Political WavesNote from Eric: It's not easy to read about the current political situation. While I am not an old Yale historian, I've been personally watching for about 25 years, and I've even done a little homework. And I don't think there's been a time in the past century that the American political situation has been worse, except maybe the terrifying era during which the Rosenbergs were executed. In this short essay, Jude pulls it all together. Is there hope? I would say no, not a bit -- unless we're aware. This essay is not designed to cheer you up; it's designed to wake us up. I'M NOT SURE when I was completely convinced that this administration was set on pushing us all to the edge of the herd ... probably three years before we saw those desperate faces gathered in front of the New Orleans Convention Center. The string of assaults on the American middle class is like the beads on a [very long] rosary, each one counted in remembrance of laws passed, treasure squandered, safeguards eliminated, entitlements ignored. The poor? They don't even show up on the radar, to say that they are Nothing At All to Bushco would not be an understatement, or without plenty of footnote to back up. It's one thing to say that One Party America has embraced the philosophy of their leading right-wing strategist, Grover Norquist, who has famously said, "My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub." It's quite another to watch it happen on a daily basis, incident by incident, outrage by outrage for five long years. This is called "Starving the Beast" -- the "beast" is domestic spending, but it translates into ... us. The goal is to eliminate domestic spending, and only fund security needs ... we're already there, with a military budget now equaling that of the Cold War years -- almost 50% of monies called for. We hear a lot about those useless Democrats -- angry, temperamental, neither unified nor courageous enough to buck this system. While some of that may be true, it should be noted that the Bush Boyz have spent over $1.6 billion of our dollars with PR firms in the past 30 months, according to a newly-released General Accounting Office survey -- and one of the messages they've gotten out there is that the opposition party is fractured and worthless. It should also be remembered that the system, itself, has minimized the Dems' ability to do anything at all but scream and stonewall. If they seem angry, they have reason to be. The good news is that the polls dramatically show the American public no longer leaning in toward either the Republicans or their administration. They've finally woken up to the truth ... the "Trust Me" president is not trustworthy. It might be a good time to ask the Reganesque question that would put the nail in his coffin ... is it better now, under Pub leadership, than it was before? Anybody who answers yes, trades in oil stock or works for a subsidiary of Halliburton. The bad news is that still leaves three years of battle against what further mischief and mayhem Bush may plan. Clearly, if the Democrats can take either House or Senate in the fall, those years would be tied up in litigation, and probable impeachment. There is soooo much to be held accountable for -- and so little accountability. Witness today's White House "spin" on Cheney's hunting accident that blames the victim, a 78 year old man who will carry shot in his face to the grave. It's always somebody else's fault, isn't it. Pushed to the edge of the herd -- folded into Dub's whopping $2+ trillion budget is his failed plan to privatize Social Security; permanent tax relief for the richest Americans; drilling in ANWAR and opening up the protected waters of the gulf coast; elimination of oversight positions in the likes of mining and national health, and announced today, elimination of national weather service personnel; billions of dollars of funding cuts to health care, education, nutrition and social services. We're talking programs like Meals on Wheels, Social Security benefits to children and the disabled. We're talking survival. Kenye West took heat for saying that Bush doesn't like black people. I'd have to amend that to include all of us -- Bush apparently doesn't like anybody except his "one percent," and we'd do well to remember that. We're all in Nordquist's bathtub ... and the water's getting deep. But, in George's defense, he loves his dogs, and ... ohhhh, he just LOVES his oil cronies. Below, we find yet another big give away to an industry that announced all time profits in the last quarter, a program that a California Dem calls "... one of the greatest train robberies in the history of the world." It's impossible to justify this kind of windfall to oil giant while the needs of the American people slowly sink below the surface of the tub. Write your congressperson and let them know what you think in no uncertain terms. The good news -- we're beginning to notice how all these things fit together, somewhat new behavior from the public. The bad news -- we're still in One Party America. The hope? November's coming up fast, and if we pay attention, we can elect a whole new Congress. There are a few people who deserve to be collecting unemployment. -- Jude
Feb. 14 | Valentine's Day Article from Wiki "St. Valentine's Day falls on February 14, and is the traditional day on which lovers in certain cultures let each other know about their love, commonly by sending Valentine's cards, which are often anonymous. The history of Valentine's day can be traced back to a Catholic Church feast day, in honor of Saint Valentine. The day's associations with romantic love arrived after the High Middle Ages, during which the concept of romantic love was formulated. "The day is now most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines." Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, the practice of hand writing notes has largely given way to the exchange of mass-produced greeting cards. The Greeting Card Association estimates that, world-wide, approximately one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. The association also estimates that women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines." More at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine's_Day Political Waves blogs will resume later in the day. And happy Valentine's Day to Dr. Betty Dodson, http://bettydodson.com/ Feb. 13 | In Plame Sight, from Political Waves SO N OW it turns out that not only was Valerie indeed covert, despite Novak's allegations to the contrary, but deeply into tracking Iran's WMD. There has been speculation that as a CYA attempt, Uncle Dick could say he'd "declassified" Plame ... that looks harder to do today. Knowing these Boyz like we do, we could also speculate that if Valerie wasn't finding the WMD information the administration insisted on regarding Iran, husband Joe's defection would have made Val a "hostile" and highly expendable anyhow. The hysteria and growing paranoia about Iran's capability to produce nuclear threat is being sold with a vengeance in this nation; indeed, another war looms. The truth is that reports indicate they won't be prepared to use nuclear capability for a decade. If that was Valerie's finding, she would not have been considered a friend to our ambitious Commander in Chief. Excellent article on that topic, and the irresponsibility of press coverage, last. No matter how the wind blows, here -- this is not good news for Mr. Cheney. Jude Outed CIA officer was working on Iran, intelligence sources say http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Outed_CIA_officer_was_working_on_0213.html Valerie Plame Leak Sabotaged America's Iran-Watching Intelligence Effort http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/001246.php Frog-marching the Media to the Gallows http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11888.htm Feb. 13 | Create: Full Moon Guest Essay, by Natesh Before we begin with Jude's Political Waves blog, here is a guest entry by Natesh, our resident Vedic astrologer. - efc ART is the Divine in form. We take an inspiration, let it guide our actions and voila! We have something of meaning, even if only to ourselves. We allow the unfathomable to wash over us, and in an attempt to express it, we give it form. Art is an effective tool. It can move us to anger, help us to cry, lead us to action and teach us to love. Art shapes the way that we view things and give us a new perspective. Art is impulse aching to be released, just ask any artist. Art and consciousness are related. Just as we each gain different meaning from a work of art, the experience of consciousness means something different to each of us. Just as each artist will have a different style, we each have a different approach to the human experience. Art, consciousness and the feelings associated with them are mainly of a subjective nature. The subjective realm is associated with the Moon in astrology. The Moon is associated with the mind as it relates to feelings and emotions. As the Moon is associated with the feminine, it also rules the power of conception. The astrology of the Full Moon, and the week following it deals with the relationship between the senses, creativity and the path to fulfillment on both the personal and the global scale. Full Moon in Leo As I have stated in previous articles, in Vedic astrology the signs of the zodiac are divided into smaller sections that are called nakshatras, or lunar mansions. There are 27 of these and the Moon passes through approximately one of these a day. What this means is that after the ascendant or rising sign, the Moon moves most rapidly. The Moon is full in the sign of Leo and the lunar mansion of Magha in the U.S. on Sunday evening. It journeys this week through the signs of Leo into Virgo where it joins the South node of the Moon, and ends the week in the sign of Libra, where it joins Jupiter. From its point of being full in the lunar mansion of Magha, it travels through five other lunar mansions and ends the week in the nakshatra of Swati. When the Moon is in Magha, the themes of culture and individuality can become more prominent. Who are we? Where do we come from? How can we honor our past, shape our future and adapt to the present? These are the questions that present themselves. Valentine's Day finds the Moon in Purva Phalguni. Many of us are conditioned to believe pleasure to be sinful and sadly enough, never learn about the power of pleasure to heal. We find ourselves in jobs and other situations that are unfulfilling because on a deep level we think that the path of righteousness must be a painful one. It's a good time to toss that self-limiting attitude aside and embrace fulfillment. As the Moon moves into Uttara Phalguni on Wednesday, there can be the urge to share our fulfillment with others who may be less fortunate. Share the gift of abundance with those who feel that their lives are lacking it. But, make sure that your own needs are honored as you do so. On Thursday, the Moon moves into Hasta. Thought and speech are vibrations capable of creating much change in our environment. They can harm, or they can heal. Think of ways that you can make your life and the world a better place. Start from there, and walk the walk instead of just talking the talk. Let your actions be an influence for others. The importance of speech carries over to Friday as the Moon enters Chitra. Passions can be high, as well as impetuousness. It's important for us to think before speaking. Otherwise, rather than speaking our truth we may just be speaking our poop. And, as we all know, that can get rather stinky. With the input we receive from our senses at this time, we can arrange our lives much like we would arrange flowers in a vase to create a beautiful bouquet, or images on a canvas to make an illustrious painting. There is a need to adjust to the moment and remain flexible as the Moon moves into Swati on Saturday. Learn from sensation and your environment what works for your life and what doesn't. Make adjustments. Life is like art. Our field of consciousness is the canvas. Upon discovering our talents we apply the brush. Unlike the canvas, we have the ability to start fresh with each moment. We have the choice to participate artistically and create a better life not only for ourselves, but also for others. Are you more into Matisse, Van Gogh or 50 Cent? Painting, writing, or ice sculpture? It doesn't matter. Create! Natesh Reed is a Vedic astrologer, Kundalini Yoga teacher and Reiki practitioner living in Kingston, NY. For more information, or to schedule an appointment with him, visit http://nateshreed.com He can also be reached via e-mail at natesh@nateshreed.com Feb. 11 | Week Ahead Dear Readers: SIZING UP my writing schedule this week, I get the idea that it would be better if I skip the blogging department. I tend to get carried away and can easily add 5,000 words to my weekly writing schedule just in blogs. Pure madness! But the world is providing the content. If I were living on Tahiti, what would I write about? I would think of something for sure. Like 500 page erotic science fiction novels for instance. Anyway, this is an on week for Astrology Secrets Revealed, and we have some real questions to work with. And, in another zone, I'm developing something that will be a lot of fun for everyone -- my first attempt at zodiac sign interpretations, which will soon be attached to the horoscope columns. What I'm going to do is post Jude's Political Waves blogs to this space. I want to call attention to her exemplary commentaries. As time has gone on, she has come to be my number one favorite political commentator, based on her clear-headed analysis and dedication to maintaining a position of rock solid spiritual grounding and love. Her article selections are outstanding -- take a look above, or on the PlanetWaves.net home page. Natesh will also have some additional commentary on the Leo Full Moon (really the Cancer Full Moon in the Vedic system). We'll have that for you as well. And don't miss the special offer of a comp issue of Planet Waves Weekly -- scroll down and you'll see it. Today is Sunday, I'm supposed to give my big sermon about subscribing and supporting Planet Waves. But let's do this Quaker style -- let the Inner Light move you. Look at all the great work we do with our modest budget. See you soon enough. Yours and truly, ERIC FRANCIS Café Metro, 5e Paris PS, there is a great Psychsound by Steve Bergstein currently posted. You can now reach that feature directly at http://psychsound.com/ PPS, here's what I look like these days... http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=Photo6 PPPS, a note from Antarctica (we really do have readers on every continent): Hello e, Feb. 11 | Artifacts (and a gift) Here is a cover of Planet Waves from our first full year in print, 1999. The first edition in late 1998 looked pretty much like this. Feb. 10 | Private Thoughts? Not a subscriber? Special offer below... BACK IN spiritual boot camp (mid-1980s, Miracle Manor, Piscataway, New Jersey), I encountered the Course in Miracles lesson, "There are no private thoughts." This is an early lesson in the Course, aimed at helping people develop new approaches to the concept of separation. The point is, minds are joined and thus healing can occur. Separation is the cause and source of all illness. Union is the source of all healing. As the Course describes it, healing or release from dis-ease occurs when the light of one mind reaches into another. Soon after, I started having experiences with my then-girlfriend Ginger, including extraordinarily detailed telepathy connections that could occur between adjoining rooms, in the same room, or over hundreds of miles. When things like this happen enough times, it becomes clear that previous models of the psyche, of space and of time, don't quite hold up in light of the available data. Experience has a way of teaching that. Yet I remember a line from one of my poems of that era: I seen and I seen and I seen, and I hardly do believe... Gradually, belief becomes less dominant and awareness takes over. In many respects, belief is the opposite of awareness. This is because belief is like a preprinted screen through which we perceive the world. Many have experienced these moments of the mind and thus the world being transparent, whether it's through sharing dreams or having a premonition. I think these experiences are more a part of waking, or sleeping, life than we acknowledge -- and we do tend to forget them pretty quickly and our image of the world is smoothed over and returned to normal. Eventually though, the barrier between the 'ego' and the 'world', or the individual and other minds, grows thinner. It's more transparent in different places for some people than for others. Jonathan Cainer can see auras, like I can see a dog walking down the street. Other people have a gift for seeing an image in someone else's mind and making artwork out of it (Ginger was really good at that). I have a knack for working with time and seeing patterns, landscapes and doorways within time, usually using astrology, that I've never quite seen demonstrated elsewhere else. Aunt Josie used to pick up the phone knowing it was me. Hi Aunt Josie! However you add it up, a lot of evidence points to the fact that minds are joined and the world is not a separate place for each of us, despite the sometimes overwhelming sense that it is so. We make a very big deal about privacy in the world, and yet it works out, whether by way of the transparent psyche, the fact that nearly everything we think winds up on the Internet one way or another, or our journals are read after we die, there are no private thoughts. Consider your experiences of the Net. What exactly haven't you shared in an email? I am sure you did so presuming that the content would never be intercepted. I think we've all grown confident of this fact; if nothing else, there is too much email for anyone to ever sift through; many billions per day. Now, imagine everything you've ever emailed is in somebody's searchable database. Pretty weird, right? People who take part in online journaling are using the medium of the Internet specifically for the purpose of its transparency, for the rather amazing, liberating experience of revealing their minds to others. Except for an exceptionally talented author who had an explicit personal memoir published (rare enough), or for poets who publish or perform, there was never such an opportunity before. Historically, women have had relatively few books published and now the Internet allows women to have a voice, mainly because they need nobody's permission to do so. Never was this ability available on a wide scale where anyone can just start a public diary on nearly any subject (yes, 'they' are watching, and sometimes descriptions of illegal conduct are censored, but not usually). Many people who keep that kind of online diary, however, do so under the presumption of a measure of anonymity. But anyone who works or creates on the Net has considered the idea that it's not really so private. Is it, or isn't it? Where does this cool little camera on my iMac really lead to? Well, that takes some getting used to, doesn't it. The greater leap is to the awareness that none of our thoughts are private; that the illusion of separation is kind of like everyone walking around wearing a transparent sheet over their head, with the simple truth written on their face. It's a veil, but only if you think it is. ------- Feb. 9 | On the Road to Thought Crimes US plans massive data sweep Little-known data-collection system could troll news, blogs, even e-mails. Will it go too far? By Mark Clayton Christian Science Monitor, via Political Waves February 09, 2006 http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0209/p01s02-uspo.html The US government is developing a massive computer system that can collect huge amounts of data and, by linking far-flung information from blogs and e-mail to government records and intelligence reports, search for patterns of terrorist activity. The system - parts of which are operational, parts of which are still under development - is already credited with helping to foil some plots. It is the federal government's latest attempt to use broad data-collection and powerful analysis in the fight against terrorism. But by delving deeply into the digital minutiae of American life, the program is also raising concerns that the government is intruding too deeply into citizens' privacy. "We don't realize that, as we live our lives and make little choices, like buying groceries, buying on Amazon, Googling, we're leaving traces everywhere," says Lee Tien, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "We have an attitude that no one will connect all those dots. But these programs are about connecting those dots - analyzing and aggregating them - in a way that we haven't thought about. It's one of the underlying fundamental issues we have yet to come to grips with." Feb. 9 | Parallel Worlds Stories, part iii: Politics THE COMMENTS of Alberto Gonzales before the United States Senate yesterday prove that politics is a parallel world. Whatever you say is true, is true. When in doubt, just keep saying it, and embellish it a little, and it gradually becomes even more true. The video is linked below. It's really funny. Gonzales, the nation's top law enforcement officer, was being questioned before a Senate panel Wednesday on the Bush administration's illegal policy of spying on American citizens. And he said, "President Washington, President Lincoln, President Wilson, President Roosevelt have all authorized electronic surveillance on a far broader scale..." The hard part must have been for the Senators who wanted to bust a gut laughing, but through years of practice were able to just stay calm. Washington and Lincoln using electronic surveillance? I mean, the government is, in truth, a really boring place. That certainly livens things up a bit. I have a theory, though. Yes, I have a theory about everything. But anyway, Gonzales hitches a ride to the Capitol Building with one of the young, smart people on Bush's communications staff, who nobody listens to. Everyone knows things are a little glum over at the White House and the comm guy says, "Alberto, here's what you've got to do. You get up there and you say something like Lincoln used electronic spying. They'll get a big kick out of it, everyone's going to be watching you up in Cheney's office." And it's true, it's a brilliant line. So, it's time for testimony and he gets sworn in and gets his line straight in his mind, and, just like that, he comes out with it: Lincoln and Washington used even more electronic surveillance that we do. He manages to say it without too big of a grin, throwing in Wilson and Roosevelt to kind of cover the joke a little. On the Senate panel, nobody even bats an eye. Just like he expected. These people are so fucking out of touch they don't even realize what he said. Up in Cheney's office, Condi Rice catches it halfway through the word "Washington" and loses her shit. She's actually the smartest one up there; it is quite literally her job security. She knows what idiots they all are, and she plays dumb, but everyone knows she has all the ideas and figures out all the solutions. Dick sees her laughing, plays the line back in his head, and he gets going. Now it's a laugh fest, including Cheney's secretary Janice and a food service guy who happened to be up there fixing coffee. A Secret Service dude hears the uproar and looks in the door to see what's going on. Nobody even notices. Rove is laughing so hard, he's wheezing. He has asthma. He can barely breathe as it is. But this is the funniest thing he's heard in about six months. He's sitting on the couch fishing through his jacket pocket looking for his Ventolin, which he whiffs on with great relief. The only person not in hysterics is George. He's confused. Condi tries to stop laughing so she can explain the joke. But she can't stop. Washington! And Lincoln! Even MORE electronic spying than the NSA! She nearly needs oxygen. Because of Dick's heart condition, there's always a paramedic around with defribs and an O2 tank, but he's laughed himself into hysterics too. George is still perplexed. He's sitting on Dick's big onyx desk -- his usual perch, swinging his feet over the edge. He can do that because he's the president and nobody can tell him he can't -- just as long as he doesn't mess up the papers too much. Cheney looks over and sees him sitting there, not laughing and with a dumb look on his face, and that's even funnier than Alberto's gag. And it goes on like this until about five minutes later, Condi catches her breath and explains that, you know, it was before electricity. And George says, "You mean, there weren't any light switches in the White House?" Feb. 8 | Okay, this has gotten out of hand "President Washington, President Lincoln, President Wilson, President Roosevelt have all authorized electronic surveillance on a far broader scale..." (VIDEO really worth watching...from today's hearing on NSA spying on the American public...) http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/02/06.html#a7043 Attorney General Alberto Gonzales... http://movies.crooksandliars.com/gonzales-Washington-electronic.wmv "Oh really? Presidents Washington and Lincoln used ELECTRONIC surveillance? Pretty impressive considering electricity hadn't been discovered yet. When is someone going to point out that the Emperor is stark raving naked?" -- Lane, old friend of Eric... Feb. 8 | The Cartoons I'm interrupting the current blog series based on numerous requests to comment on the situation going on with the Danish cartoons and the protests throughout the Islamic world. Hopefully I'll get back to it...but at the moment the news and the current astrology are calling.... I KNEW there was no telling what the Parallel Worlds alignment was, or what it would bring. Individually, through interpretations, I can help us steer toward the positive side of the collective wave; globally, we just have to wait and see what happens when such strong astrology is approaching. And it does not surprise me that we're seeing something unprecedented, at least in the history of the Iraq war, which is an uprising around the Islamic world, allegedly in response to cartoons published in Denmark depicting the prophet Mohammed with a bomb under his turban. Here is the parallel worlds angle: I believe that the protests we're seeing have nothing to do with the cartoons. They are not really about offending Mohammed by depicting him (prohibited under Islamic law) or by depicting him as a terrorist. That is the symbol. It is absolutely legitimate in the context of their culture for Moslems to rise up against an "offense to their religion." It is also a gag reflex; not a lot of thought it is going into it. To me, these are anti-war protests relating to Iraq. Does that sound weird? Try me out on this one. So let's see. The Western powers, UK and USA, led by Cheney, Bush and Blair and whatever corporate powers they represent, cooked up this evil plan to bomb and occupy a country they know doesn't deserve it. To pull it off they needed to trick everyone, so they blamed Saddam Hussein for Sept. 11. They knew in advance they were not going to find big weapons (WMDs really means atomic bombs, a program to make them, or significant chemical or biological weapons, i.e., not for example teargas canisters). They knew they were there for the oil, and to establish a permanent base in the Middle East. They also knew they've been bombing the place for 13 solid years at the time, and had killed a lot of children. Everyone simply MUST keep this in mind: after Bush War I in 1991, the US and UK never stopped bombing Iraq. We are now in the 16th year of nonstop war on Iraq -- longer than the "official" Vietnam war (10 years) and rivaling the "unofficial" one -- 25 years. Longer than World Wars I and II combined. Longer than Korea. We also blockaded Iraq; they could not get medical supplies, or water purification supplies, and we ("the allies") would punish countries that would help the Iraqis -- even as hundreds of thousands of their kids died of cholera. You know what? We're a bunch of cruel bastards here in the civilized world. Even when we're not ignorant of such atrocities, we barely give a shit. And, if I may step out of line and say so, I am disgusted by this fact. So anyway, as we have now learned from various testimonies and documents, B and B lied to Congress, Parliament, the press, the public and the United Nations. They pulled off what a former staff member of Colin Powell is now calling a big hoax at the UN, but we now know that they planned their war without UN approval and that Blair merely needed a pretext to trick his own government. And then we, the civilized world, started murdering civilians by the tens of thousands, destroying what remained of the infrastructure of the country, and then tortured and humiliated Iraqi prisoners on the pretext of interrogation. Photos of the torture were published around the world. And the bombing and chemical attacks by the US and UK on civilians continue today. They are also nuclear attacks; not the fancy kind of nuclear bomb, but crude little ones called depleted uranium shells. Give "depleted uranium" a google and see what comes back. And, for the most part, nothing happened as a result of all this. There were no global consequences. No backlash. There is a peace movement, but mostly it's a bunch of people emailing one another. I hear very little anger by Brits or Americans. I could go years in Paris (remember changing the name to "freedom fries" because France was so unpatriotic and anti-war?) and not hear a single discussion on the streets or in a café. It's like the whole thing is not even happening. For the most part, everybody, that is, the allegedly civilized world, steps into line. Most countries are still scared of the United States and its supposed economic power. People are making nice with the big bully. We have no right to an opinion. My computer is made of oil, so I had better shut up. Yes, there is a consequence in the form of an insurgency, but for the most part, it's basically localized to Iraq, someplace you would definitely expect people to fight back. And on one level, what we are seeing in Iraq is a civil war more than a war against the Brits and Americans, that genie having been released by the toppling of a fairly strong government that could at least keep a grip on the somewhat violence-prone locals. I mean real consequences. I mean outrage. And that is what we are seeing now. These are not just consequences of the war, but also of the widespread anger, frustration and poverty throughout the Islamic world that have persisted for generations and are only made worse under the bombs of the "free world." Does the fact that the issue is skewed (that is, supposedly about "cartoons") surprise me? With everything square Neptune, not at all. People are always deluded about religion. Religion is largely delusional to start with, so you can't blame people for being confused about it. I mean, who would Jesus bomb? Yet this is not entirely delusional: the one thing that men in the Islamic world have, and the one thing we in the West have not taken away, is the dignity of their religion. And it is, of all world religions, the one most widely practiced with great devotion. It's no wonder that the cartoons were the straw breaking the proverbial camel's back. Does it surprise me that the Western media is spinning this as a protest over cartoons, making Arabs look like idiots who don't understand "free speech"? Not at all. Does the fact that it is a turning point in the Jihad surprise me? With Pluto on the Galactic Core, not at all. Do I think this is a productive release of energy? Well, no. But is it necessary? Probably. Will it get worse? Probably. I say this because the astrology is very much on the upswing at the moment. That is, these "Danish cartoon protests" started early in a lunar cycle and are building momentum as the Moon reaches the full. Normally we would expect things to peak with the Full Moon. They are gaining momentum as Venus picks up speed. However, we are nowhere near the peak of the current astrological cycle; 2006 is a year of peaks and we are heading to a big one in late March with a total solar eclipse, the Pluto station on the Galactic Core, and some big developments in the Inauguration chart. Basically, we are seeing the beginning of something now. The beginning is the time for making sure that things are in balance, and that we have some clarity, because the beginning is just the beginning and we have a long way to go from here. The war in Iraq has been a holocaust. We have wrapped it in the flag and gone marching in with a cross and surrendered all our rights to dissent at home and given up elections and are watching the entire federal budget get heaped on the Pentagon so it can can continue its mission while the American people, who pay for it, are gradually ripped off for everything. There need to be consequences; we might not like them; but so far, we're not doing much about it. I'll take that latte with no foam, please. Feb. 7 | Parallel Worlds Stories, Part 2: Sex I'M ONE of those people who is really curious about sex. Who isn't? For me, this involves talking to just about every person I ever have a real conversation with about sex, at least once, and getting a sense of their values, ideas and experiences. I am able to ask meaningful questions and people usually give me meaningful answers. When I was a kid, I used to read a LOT. My mother's main form of passive sex education was to leave books around. They ranged from The Hite Report to The Joy of Sex. Reading them over as an adult, I saw just what influences touched my deepest sensual and emotional cravings. I was lucky. In other homes, sex is treated as if it does not exist, and really stands outside of consensus reality as a separate dimension. One of the sexual subjects I find most interesting, I think the word is "hot," is masturbation. This is not the only one, honest to God -- but there's more to masturbation than we're ever told, or usually ever reveal to others. Typically, at best it's sold as one of those "facts of life" that maybe "everyone does," kind of like using the toilet. But once looked at, this is an obvious ruse for something much more significant in our lives, for almost all of our lives. At worst, on the other side of the street, it's the most maligned thing since...well, the Devil herself. I've done extensive pondering, reading and inquiring as to why masturbation is so taboo. We like to say it's not; but everyone knows it is. There are the stock answers, and they have validity. We cannot forget the fact that many major religions make an extremely big deal about it; the absurd argument has even been made that it's a "greater sin than sex." Um why? How about it serves no purpose other than pleasure. It lacks a convenient excuse or cover story (pregnancy, for example, or a cash transaction). Those reasons were never fully satisfying. It's also true that there's something about masturbation that defies, and denies, what I'll call the "culture of committed relationship" -- the cult of get serious. Energetically it seems to run the exact opposite course; masturbation encourages and is rewarded by a real level of emotional self sufficiency. For many people this is a path to deep self awareness. And, oddly, that self awareness can be truly helpful in relationships, but this bit doesn't usually make the papers. Accordingly, there's a potential issue that if you can get your sexual needs met outside of a committed relationship, why would you bother with one? This is an exaggeration of course. People will always crave one another. I have an idea that masturbation is the portal to a parallel world of both Self, and of sexuality. For many people, with solo sex comes fantasy. And in that world, we can be anyone we want to be, or do anything we want to do. You would be surprised the things that happen in those inner spaces. How many people go by. Or who specifically shows up. What sex they are. What they do to us. What rules are tossed aside like a silk kimono. The roles and situations we may find ourselves in -- dungeons, tigers, group, public exposé, all things and people dangerous, illegal, immoral, unthinkable and unspeakable, from rituals to rape scenes. Sweet romantic love scenes. Much like dreams often disappear moments after we awaken, this other space of Self and sexuality is not necessarily available during the day, or when others are present. Probably, frontal lobe (cerebral) brain process covers it right over with rational conceptions the moment we're fully sentient (but not always -- some people really do have rather vivid two-track minds). The portal into this fantasy world of all that we would not reveal is often a physical experience, to which we give the kind of weird name, masturbation. It's the entrance foyer, and also the visible, documentable evidence in this world. If we are exposed or known for masturbating, we're exposed being in this other world, and the question is -- what, exactly, are we doing out there? Where do we go when we take the crystal spear of destiny into our hand? Who are we? Who are you? That, brothers and sisters, is the big secret. Feb. 6 | Parallel Worlds Stories, Part 1: The Internet ALLAN ROUSSELLE was the first person to advise me to get on the Internet. It was the summer of 1995. He said, "Eric, I think you need to be on the Internet." Since Allan could do stuff like program a computer and think for more than five seconds without stopping, I did what he said, bought a Mac laptop and started playing online. A decade later, the Net is a vast and complex dream that we've all dreamed up together, a "space" meaning an alternate dimension of consciousness where we find another life, different ideas, and dare to try out other facets of ourselves. We encounter people from around the world and find basically anything we need to know. Our ideas can find a place for expression, and an audience. It's also the place we pay our bills and send photos of our family around the world; find high school classmates; plan our vacations; dive into music and games and movies. None of this was possible before. Most of what we now do in the Net, you needed a private investigator, personal travel agent or shocking imagination for not long ago. It is the ultimate fantasy playground, if you don't mind camping out entirely there. Time and space have changed. Ideas move much more quickly. Old information is being heaped into Web servers every day, making it possible to go back in time with ever-greater detail. Distances can close up quickly as we make friends on other continents. It's the place where Big Brother is Watching You, or at least where it's pretty easy. It seems so blasé to say all this. And I realize that after two weeks, everyplace is the same. But when you think about it, the Internet is really weird. Not only has it defined the idea of "cyberspace" but it's also defined the idea of an alternate dimension which we all agree exists, or at least those of us who have heard of it -- and there are many. It is true that we need a lot of fairly expensive equipment to access this alternate dimension...a video monitor supports the visual illusion...but in essence we're training our minds to be steady and stable on another level of existence entirely. Yesterday, reading over the truthout.com article I've posted below ("The End of the Internet?"), I had the ominous feeling: what if it all went away? That thought is beyond weird because the Internet is where I have my community of conscience. It's where I organize my entire business. My life, creativity and work are all deeply embedded in the Net. The people with whom I share genuine values, a common purpose in life, and work with every day, I am connected to almost entirely through the Internet. Then, I step outside my front door -- and it's gone. The community where I share values, where I am known and accepted, is like a dream I had yesterday. It can be shocking, because I at least recognize the need for a community of conscience and shared work happening in person. And I think that as virtual community is building, its physical counterpart is getting thinner. But it may have been doing that for a long time; looked at another way, deteriorating community has begun to reconstitute itself on the Internet. But mostly, it's 'out of body'. There are exceptions. In-person conferences, now organized almost entirely on the Net, are one of them. But it's pretty rare that a group of people fly, drive and carry themselves to one meeting room or one hotel. There is Burning Man, where a piece of of virtual reality becomes a physical city for a week; it has been described by its creator, Larry Harvey, as an "analogue of the Internet." There are personal ads, where people can (if they want to relate offline) make arrangements to meet physically, but many seem quite satisfied to have a partner or partners exclusively online. And those are often strange encounters, because in one jump, we see the differences between the way one presents oneself in virtuality, and the way one manifests in physicality. Both are forms of reality, but they are different realities that exist parallel to one another, and you can really only be in one or the other. There are more details in physical reality, and they matter. How a person's breath smells -- which may have never occurred to you online -- suddenly becomes very important. Maybe you like their eyes; maybe you don't. We are exploring, and establishing ourselves someplace besides the four corners of the Earth -- and I think it's crucial that we're doing it now. But is there a risk involved? For sure. Yet far from the risks that most people think exist online (being exposed to new ideas, kids seeing nudity, or marrying a con artist, none of them new) there is an odd condition of media working at full strength that was first pointed out by Marshall McLuhan. He said: "We create it, and then it creates us." But at this point, who is busier, it, or us? There is a threshold and I think we're right on the line; and for many people, the line was crossed a long time ago. Many people are perfectly happy to be products of the media. We don't usually see the ways that we're created or uncreated by our technology. One thing that's being created by the Internet is the illusion of control -- and that's a dangerous one. But with that, we are learning to set boundaries (privacy controls, for example). Do we remember them elsewhere? Do we forget that people really do have a right to look at us when we're walking down the street? We don't necessarily miss what we've given up, particularly when we seem to get more in the digital version; for example, it very well may be that we have better communication with online partners than we do with ones we know physically. That level of mental connection can be very satisfying, particularly when it seems most of what relationships on Earth give is emotional and physical contact. Practicing expressing ourselves, it may be that our online friends accept us more for who we are than our husband or wife. But then, less is at stake. And in truth, maybe it should be. One thing about the Internet is that we have a lot less opportunity to cling emotionally, and up to a certain point, it seems pretty easy to delete yourself and start over somewhere else (this partly depends on how many Google hits you've racked up). So we're getting a little practice in reincarnation, and experiencing karma (the cached copy, or the Wayback Machine). There is always the new computer with the blank hard drive; the new, bigger iPod; the brighter and larger monitor that gives us more space. But we can't do that with the planet. The Earth is finite and we are part of a finite process, in a delicate equilibrium. We can't just erase it and start over. Feb. 6 | Parallel Worlds Stories TODAY is the day that the Sun makes an exact conjunction to Neptune in Aquarius, and a square to Jupiter in Scorpio. This appears to be the activating aspect in an alignment of planets at 15-16 degrees of south declination. Astrology charts are flat, but aspects are measured in three dimensions: as they form on a clock face-like dial, looked at from above (longitude, displayed in a conventional chart) and declination, or the alignment above or below the celestial equator. I make a few attempts to explain and illustrate this below, including the example using Saturn's rings to show the equivalent of the celestial equator for those people who are visual thinkers. Here are two versions of the chart: the aspectarian, to see the parallels -- http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=parallel_worlds_aspect and the normal longitude chart... http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=sun_conj_nep and the "selected points" edition, showing only planets involved in the parallel aspect. http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=parallel Many ideas and lots of reader comments are contained further down in this scroll. This week's entries will be devoted to the theme of Parallel Worlds stories as I've noticed them in the world and in my life. Bisexuality, political activism, spiritual growth, relationship models, astrology, the astral world -- these are some of the themes I'll be covering. Please tune in Monday morning. Dear Readers, This t r u t h o u t article, reprinted from The Nation, is of importance to everyone who values the Internet. Please take a look, and pass the link onto as many people as you can. Thank you -
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020406I.shtml
And, suggesting that there may be some hint of truth to this... http://snipurl.com/m8xd . Tomorrow I'll post the reply from a friend who is familiar with this is issue going back to the beginning of the consumer Internet -- where it has its origins. Feb. 5 | Subscription Pitch Day! Dear Friend and Reader: YOU'VE TUNED INTO Planet Waves just in time for my Sunday subscription pitch. Marketing is a religion, and this is why we reserve it for Sunday. All week long, I write thousands of words of astrology, horoscopes and essays -- and it's all one huge divine warm-up for this short, mystical, spiritual note, encouraging you to subscribe to Planet Waves Weekly and circulate the sacred energy of the universe our cosmic way. But I'd like to begin with giving you a couple of days gratis (you're never supposed to say "free" in a marketing letter, or "marketing" for that matter, or "pitch") access to our often spoken-of creation -- Parallel Worlds. This is partly in honor of the parallel worlds alignment taking shape as we speak, and partly to give you an idea of the kind of work on the other side of the keyword. And partly because in truth I would rather give everything away, and this is a convenient excuse. Traditional marketing, however, teaches that I should give you this "special offer" at the end of this letter, to cleverly trick you into reading it. But as usual at Planet Waves, we will wage a revolt against conventional thinking and start with the keyword at the beginning; it is "west," typed without the quotes. Go to the "subscriber area" above and type in "west," and you're there. It will work through Monday night, Eastern time. In fact, I don't care in the least bit if you finish reading this letter, if you happen to get distracted in the Parallel Worlds area. Because while you're there, you're definitely going to notice that this level of work is worth supporting. I know this because I've designed to make sure that you feel supported; that your questions are being met with information, insight and compassion; that you feel you're getting enough, and that you have lots of space to explore. It's an annual horoscope site and we've designed it to give you a year of stuff to think about and work with. This is not your average approach to marketing astrology. One of the tricks to selling astrology is to tease the reader with a leeeetle bit. Then, you offer them the rest for a fee. Grrrrrrr. We like to give you a lot all the time, and a lot more in our premium service. Another trick is to frighten the reader. You say things like, "I know something you don't know," or "Here is how you can avoid something really bad -- get out your credit card." Grrrrrrrrrr squared. We do our best to take a realistic approach and work with fear, rather than using it against anyone. Or you might say, "We will solve your problems." Grrrrrrr to the 99th power. The Planet Waves approach is to treat you like a living, breathing, thinking individual, who is on a quest for wholeness. We give you as much as we can as often as we can, in as many forms as we can -- and then to offer a subscription service with something extra: a weekly horoscope, birthday report, weekly essay, and bonus horoscope. It's sent by email and posted to the Web. There are searchable archives going back three years. There is fabulous customer service, if you need it. And there are comp and discount subscriptions available, if you need them. We call this service "weekly," but it's now up to three times a week -- as well as special bonuses like Parallel Worlds. Which you can tour around for a couple of days, on the house. We created it with you in mind -- and genuinely hope you like it. And the cool thing is, the more people who subscribe, the better our budget gets and the more we can give you and indeed everyone, because your subscriptions support all the free services of Planet Waves. It's a great plan... Thanks for tuning in today! The subscription link is below. Yours & truly, ERIC FRANCIS http://www.planetwavesweekly.com/sales/home.html Feb. 4 | From Political Waves By U.S. Senator Russ Feingold Many of you saw this week's story in the Washington Post on the exchange Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and I had during his confirmation hearing in January of last year. Mr. Gonzales misled me and the Senate Judiciary Committee under oath about whether the President could spy on Americans without a warrant. (Many of you blogged about it when the story first broke and I thank you for getting the word out.) That exchange is extremely telling about the depths to which this administration will go to grab power. I look forward to a little more honesty from the Attorney General when he testifies about the spying program before the Judiciary Committee on Monday. I don't have to tell you how important this issue is. It gets to the core of what we as a country are all about. We all agree that we must defeat the terrorists who threaten the safety and security of our families and loved ones. Why does this President feel we must sacrifice our freedoms to fight terrorism? This is a gut check moment for members of Congress. Do we sacrifice our liberty? Do we bow to those who try to use security issues for political gain? Do we stand and applaud when the President places himself above the law? Or, do we say enough? Stop the power grab, stop the politics, stop breaking the law. It's time to stand up - not to cheer, but to fight back. Feb. 4 | The Parallel Worlds Zone TO REKINDLE an old discussion, I don't believe in astrology. Maybe I should; but I'm not the type to say, "Oh wow, Venus is conjunct my Mars, this means I'm going to have the hottest sex of my life today." In truth, rather than treating it like a magic spell, I take a slightly detached attitude toward the stuff, describing it as best I can based on my training and experience; I open up a vision that I think is positive, new and interesting, and then when that part is done, I'm left to work with the information just like you are. I am on that same quest to see if it's true, to find out how well it works, to see what the cosmos has in store. Astrology is a journey of making the most of time; its landscapes and patterns are the shapes and textures of time itself. So, it's with this attitude that I would remind myself and everyone that we're now in The Zone of the parallel worlds aspect, and now, after writing about it and thinking about it for months, I can observe its effects in my own life and hear what everyone else is experiencing. I discovered this aspect pattern (described in a recent series of blogs, in this series -- see below, or very recent archive) last autumn browsing Raphael's Ephemeris, and noticed that around Imbolc (Midwinter Holiday) when the Sun made a conjunction to Neptune and a square to Jupiter, that there were a heck of a lot of parallel aspects involved. The glyph for this aspect is || and they are not much written about in the astrological literature. But we know something of their influence from occultations and eclipses. The pattern seems to define a new plane of reality. A kind of alternate reality to the one we now know, but because the Sun, the Earth and personal planets are involved, one that's quite real and tangible; available as something other than a concept. That is, as accessible reality. But how? Where is the door from one reality to another? Anyone with experience in conscious living knows that sometimes it's an attitude that shifts everything. Sometimes it's something like an acupuncture treatment, and sometimes it's unconscious: a coincidence, an event, a meeting, or the world just moves. Or something inside, we don't know what, shifts, and that opens a door in the 'outer' world. Breakthroughs are indeed mysterious, and though they often seem unrelated to specific acts of 'trying' or 'efforting' it may be just as true that our persistent efforts over the years lead the way to the spot where the change happens. Lately I've become very curious about patterns. I've been ranting about this in my Aquarius essays for Planet Waves Weekly: in particular, social patterns, the energy arrangements that people make among themselves, and that we carry around. I personally see and struggle with a world where these patterns seem just intractable. I keep living in places where the people seem absolutely dug into their ideas about what is proper and right and wrong in social interaction; the proper way to have relationships; the proper way to be. It seems so fear based and it seems to be the way of the world. I really hate to admit that I live in a world where how you look is more important than who you are; it cannot be, in the end. Paris is VERY intense this way. The social cues, the signals you send and receive, your haircut, your labels, the strict prohibition (by the French) on making new friends in public (it's like Gmail here, you must be sent an invitation to everything), and the bizarre way people plan their social agendas months in advance are providing me with a constant stream of imagery of what it means to be stuck and suffocate all spontaneity. And I have been looking and feeling for exits from those patterns, and for the connection points in myself that I can let go of. I am sure I'm not the only one -- despite being your faithful writer and missionary on the subject. So, cheers to the parallel worlds aspect. In honor of which, we're making available a free weekend pass to Parallel Worlds. Go to subscriber login above and type the keyword "west" without the quotes. That will take you to the annual horoscope pages, with all the articles too. Happy tripping! See you in the Parallel World. e Feb. 3 | Updates and Imbolc GOOD morning. Astrology Secrets Revealed on Cainer.com has been updated, and the new edition of Planet Waves Weekly has been sent out to subscribers. It covers the station of Venus, which happened at about 10:30 am Europe time. You can find that here: http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/eric.html I'll be back in touch later today; I'll be in transit from Brussels to Paris. Below is a reprint of my article about Midwinter holiday from my friends at http://StarIQ.com. There's a little trove of my writing from around 2000-2002 at the bottom. Have a great day. Imbolc: In the Belly of the Stars FEBRUARY ARRIVES at the depth of winter in most of the Northern Hemisphere, when we live in the shadow of cold, rain and snow. Within February’s first few days lies one of the four high holidays -- or sabbats -- of the pagan calendar, called Imbolc in Celtic times. One of the four "cross-quarter days," its corresponding holidays are Beltane (or May Day, May 1), Lammas (also called second planting in agricultural communities, August 1) and Samhain (also called Halloween, October 31). Imbolc, also called "Midwinter," literally means "in the belly," and at this time we are deep in the belly of winter, held in gestation for the coming spring at the Vernal Equinox around March 21. Imbolc is like the first movements of the fetus preparing for birth. Its precise timing is when the Sun crosses the middle degree of Aquarius, the symbolism of which we will visit in a moment. More at: http://www.stariq.com/Main/Articles/P0002096.HTM Feb. 2 | Video related to NSA wiretaps Michael Rogers at http://PageOneQ.com has posted a video clip related to the NSA spying on the American people. It lasts about 10 minutes. It's one of the most stunning video clips I've ever seen. Quotes from this video are in wide circulation in the Internet. Here is your chance to see the real thing. http://pageoneq.com/news/2006/bush_020206.html In other developing news... Bush and Blair discussed using American Spyplane in UN colours to lure Saddam into war. Channel 4 News tonight reveals extraordinary details of George Bush and Tony Blair's pre-war meeting in January 2003 at which they discussed plans to begin military action on 10 March 2003, irrespective of whether the United Nations had passed a new resolution authorising the use of force. Channel 4 News has seen minutes from that meeting, which took place in the White House on 31 January 2003. The two leaders discussed the possibility of securing further UN support, but President Bush made it clear that he had already decided to go to war. The details are contained in a new version of the book 'Lawless World' written by a leading British human rights lawyer, Philippe Sands QC. All the details at: http://www.channel4.com/news/special-reports/whitehouse_meeting_memo.html
Feb. 2 | From t r u t h o u t: Statement from U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey Editor's Note: Much has been made of the arrest of Gold Star mother Cindy Sheehan before last night's State of the Union address. Mainstream media coverage has made it seem as if Sheehan was in the balcony of the House of Representatives under false pretenses. In fact, she was invited. Representative Lynn Woolsey, Democrat of California, personally purchased a ticket to the speech for Sheehan. Below, please find Rep. Woolsey's statement regarding the arrest of Cindy Sheehan. --William Rivers Pitt/TO Woolsey Statement regarding Cindy Sheehan By Representative Lynn Woolsey t r u t h o u t | Statement Wednesday 01 February 2006 Washington, DC - US Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma) today issued the following statement regarding Cindy Sheehan's arrest in the gallery of the House of Representatives before the State of the Union address. Mrs. Sheehan was Rep. Lynn Woolsey's guest to the President's State of the Union address. "Since when is free speech conditional on whether you agree with the President? Cindy Sheehan, who gave her own flesh and blood for this disastrous war, did not violate any rules of the House of Representatives. She merely wore a shirt that highlighted the human cost of the Iraq war and expressed a view different than that of the President. Free speech and the First Amendment exist to protect dissenting statements like Ms. Sheehan's last night." "Stifling the truth will not blind Americans to the immorality of sending young Americans to die in an unnecessary war, against a nation that posed no threat to our security. The President's speech last night was yet another attempt to distort history, as he suggested - once again - that the 9/11 terrorists came from Iraq. Everyone knows this is not true. We must not be afraid to say that the emperor has no clothes. It's time to bring our troops home."
I do not use the word lightly: here are two "classics" from The Onion.
Feb. 1 | What Really Happened By Cindy Sheehan This is the unverified text of a letter from Cindy Sheehan from the feature "Cindy's Diary." I trust its veracity but will confirm with you later. -e.f. Dear Friends, As most of you have probably heard, I was arrested before the State of the Union Address tonight. I am speechless with fury at what happened and with grief over what we have lost in our country. There have been lies from the police and distortions by the press. (Shocker) So this is what really happened: This afternoon at the People's State of the Union Address in DC where I was joined by Congresspersons Lynn Woolsey and John Conyers, Ann Wright, Malik Rahim and John Cavanagh, Lynn brought me a ticket to the State of the Union Address. At that time, I was wearing the shirt that said: 2245 Dead. How many more? After the PSOTU press conference, I was having second thoughts about going to the SOTU at the Capitol. I didn't feel comfortable going. I knew George Bush would say things that would hurt me and anger me and I knew that I couldn't disrupt the address because Lynn had given me the ticket and I didn't want to be disruptive out of respect for her. I, in fact, had given the ticket to John Bruhns who is in Iraq Veterans Against the War. However, Lynn's office had already called the media and everyone knew I was going to be there so I sucked it up and went. I got the ticket back from John, and I met one of Congresswoman Barbara Lee's staffers in the Longworth Congressional Office building and we went to the Capitol via the undergroud tunnel. I went through security once, then had to use the rest room and went through security again. My ticket was in the 5th gallery, front row, fourth seat in. The person who in a few minutes was to arrest me, helped me to my seat. I had just sat down and I was warm from climbing 3 flights of stairs back up from the bathroom so I unzipped my jacket. I turned to the right to take my left arm out, when the same officer saw my shirt and yelled; "Protester." He then ran over to me, hauled me out of my seat and roughly (with my hands behind my back) shoved me up the stairs. I said something like "I'm going, do you have to be so rough?" By the way, his name is Mike Weight. The officer ran with me to the elevators yelling at everyone to move out of the way. When we got to the elevators, he cuffed me and took me outside to await a squad car. On the way out, someone behind me said, "That's Cindy Sheehan." At which point the officer who arrested me said: "Take these steps slowly." I said, "You didn't care about being careful when you were dragging me up the other steps." He said, "That's because you were protesting." Wow, I get hauled out of the People's House because I was, "Protesting." I was never told that I couldn't wear that shirt into the Congress. I was never asked to take it off or zip my jacket back up. If I had been asked to do any of those things...I would have, and written about the suppression of my freedom of speech later. I was immediately, and roughly (I have the bruises and muscle spasms to prove it) hauled off and arrested for "unlawful conduct." After I had my personal items inventoried and my fingers printed, a nice Sgt. came in and looked at my shirt and said, "2245, huh? I just got back from there." I told him that my son died there. That's when the enormity of my loss hit me. I have lost my son. I have lost my First Amendment rights. I have lost the country that I love. Where did America go? I started crying in pain. What did Casey die for? What did the 2244 other brave young Americans die for? What are tens of thousands of them over there in harm's way for still? For this? I can't even wear a shrit that has the number of troops on it that George Bush and his arrogant and ignorant policies are responsible for killing. I wore the shirt to make a statement. The press knew I was going to be there and I thought every once in awhile they would show me and I would have the shirt on. I did not wear it to be disruptive, or I would have unzipped my jacket during George's speech. If I had any idea what happens to people who wear shirts that make the neocons uncomfortable that I would be arrested...maybe I would have, but I didn't. There have already been many wild stories out there. I have some lawyers looking into filing a First Amendment lawsuit against the government for what happened tonight. I will file it. It is time to take our freedoms and our country back. I don't want to live in a country that prohibits any person, whether he/she has paid the ulitmate price for that country, from wearing, saying, writing, or telephoning any negative statements about the government. That's why I am going to take my freedoms and liberties back. That's why I am not going to let Bushco take anything else away from me...or you. I am so appreciative of the couple of hundred of protesters who came to the jail while I was locked up to show their support....we have so much potential for good...there is so much good in so many people. Four hours and two jails after I was arrested, I was let out. Again, I am so upset and sore it is hard to think straight. Keep up the struggle...I promise you I will too. Love and peace soon, Cindy Feb. 1 | Oh, God Cindy Sheehan was arrested in the Capitol at the State of the Union Address for wearing a t-shirt with the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq (and an anti-war slogan, according to CNN.com). This, whilst Bush lectured on and on ad nauseum infinitum about what a great freaking democracy we are. These peoples is embarrassin'! Do you realize the U.S. taxpayers are probably forking out millions of dollars a week to a Madison Avenue P.R. firm whose sole responsibility it is to tell them NOT to do that kind of thing because it gets her too much publicity? I can see them on the phone with Rove earlier in the day. "One last thing, Karl." "Ya, Jim?" "Leave Cindy alone tonight. If you touch her, the networks are going to be all over it and it's going to be included as a freaky top-story sidebar to the SOTU coverage. You'll just be giving her free air time and look like a bunch of hypocrites." [Rove says he's gotta go, his KFC has arrived.] However, this kind of "slapping yourself in the face" idiocy is typical, and it is, of course, good for the cause as it is for free speech, even though it was obviously not a free speech. It's enough to make you think that there are special angelic entities assigned to the case coaxing certain people to do stupid things that are exactly in their nature. If, on the other hand, I were the publicist from hell and wanted to sabotage my client (the White House) and do a big favor for the peace movement, I would be very clear: arrest Cindy Sheehan for nothing at a big high profile event like the State of the Union Address. Make sure she gets in, then arrest her. I waited up for hours and then watched five minutes of the speech (after that I could not stand it any more) -- the bit where Bush was going off about what a moral country we've become and how out national character has improved from sexual abstinence. Think of it. Here is the CNN.com coverage: http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/01/31/sheehan.arrest/index.html Here is MSNBC.com: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11120353/ Here is the story that just appeared on Political Waves. BREAKING: CINDY SHEEHAN ARRESTED BY CAPITOL POLICE INSIDE CAPITOL CHAMBER http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002355.htm Was to Attend State of the Union Address! [...] 9:30p ET - The BRAD BLOG has confirmed the arrest of Cindy Sheehan moments ago with David Swanson of AfterDowningStreet.org. According to Swanson, Sheehan was "arrested for wearing the shirt she was wearing all day, which had the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq...She was lifted out of her seat [in the Capitol Chamber gallery] by the Capitol Police and taken away." Swanson told The BRAD BLOG moment ago that Sheehan is "now under arrest and lockup by Capitol Police." He confirmed that moments ago with Gael Murphy, a co-founder of CodePink, an organization which has been working Sheehan. Murphy spoke by cell with Sheehan after the arrest, and they are currently arranging for an attorney for her. "This not the Park Police," said Swanson. "We're used to getting arrested by them. This was the Capitol Police....She didn't even want to go to the speech, she said she couldn't stand to listen to Bush, but she went. She didn't even protest, she was just wearing the same shirt she'd be wearing all day, a black shirt with the number of troops killed. It was already 'out of date' and she had to add 3 more to the previous one. ----- Your comments on the State of the Union may be sent to francis@planetwaves.net
Jan. 31 | Guest Blog, by digby "The last time we had a serious outpouring from the grassroots was the Iraq War resolution. My Senator DiFi commented at the time that she had never seen anything like the depth of passion coming from her constituents. But she voted for the war anyway. So did Bayh, Biden, Clinton, Dodd, Kerry and Reid. The entire leadership of the party. Every one of them went the other way this time. I know that some of you are cynical about these people (and ,well, they are politicians, so don't get all Claud Rains about it) but that means something. Every one of those people were running in one way or another in 2002 and they went the other way. The tide is shifting. There is something to be gained by doing the right thing." The rest is here, well worth reading, and thanks Eileen for sending it in. http://planetwavesweekly.com/drdc8/2006/20060131.html Jan. 31 | The Alito Confirmation Vote >> View chart: http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=alito_vote AS I BEGIN writing this, it occurs to me that the Sept. 11 chart would be instructive in understanding the confirmation of Samuel Alito, as this appears to be yet another step in the process issuing from the "attack on America." The attack continues: the long agenda of fear; the imposition of alien values; the deception about what's really going down. The chart above is a stated time chart -- the scheduled event, not the chart for the vote itself. We don't know that chart yet, but the stated time is a phenomenon; it consistently reveals something of the inner workings of a situation. Looking at nearly any chart, it's reasonable to start with the ascendant and its ruling planet, which will signify the question or the subject of the question: What is happening, or what kind of Supreme Court justice would Samuel Alito be? Taurus, the sign of values and money, is in the ascendant. Venus is its ruler, retrograde in Capricorn and in the 9th house. Capricorn is the sign of government; the 9th is the sign of the judiciary, so without looking much further, we have a chart that at least depicts the situation. The 9th is also the house of religion. When you overlay government (Capricorn), the judiciary (9th) and religion (9th) with values (Venus) going backwards (retrograde), you pretty much have an astrological digital photo of the situation. It is a ridiculously literal impression of the situation -- welcome to astrology. This happens more often than you would imagine. The strong presence of Venus and Taurus says this really is all about values. But Venus is stationing direct right now. It's gone nearly as far retrograde as it is going to go for this cycle, and it will soon turn to direct motion. Note the degree and minutes: in this chart, she is at 16 degrees and 10 arc minutes. She will retrograde back to 16 degrees and one arc minute over the next three days, meaning that she'll will move just nine arc minutes before stationing direct. Reluctant as I am to make such a pronouncement, the suggestion from this chart is that something close to a limit on the negative/regressive progress has been reached, and that -- specifically addressing the judiciary, ruled by the 9th house -- this may work out to be a helpful tipping point. This is the astrology talking, with me as its mouthpiece. I personally believe Alito's confirmation would be catastrophic for civil rights, and for creating an anything goes situation: if the highest court in the land is going to side with Bush & Co. 100% of the time, it's a rubber stamp and there is no [obvious] exit. But this does not always work out to be true. Sometimes being given a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court brings out something deeper in a person; but this could not happen if, deep down, they are shallow. But my experience reading these kinds of charts is clear. When something important occurs right before an inner planet stations direct, the situation is about to change. The change may be obvious or it may materialize in your face around the time of the station -- but something is in the process of changing directions; something you don't see is gathering energy and developing. A planet stationing direct in Capricorn in the 9th house suggests an end to regressive activity that we've become so accustomed to. Let's look a it further. The ruler of the 9th house is Saturn. This is because Capricorn is on the 9th cusp; Saturn rules Capricorn, so this is another important signifier for the judiciary itself. And we find Saturn retrograde, in Leo, in the 4th house. Could we have a better image for the prideful emotional insecurity and fear that have gripped the United States in the past five years? Saturn in the 4th house is very concerned with "security" and retrograde, in Leo, full of gusto. This is the agenda of fear at work. But Saturn is taking transits now. It will soon be opposed (yet again) by Chiron, and this could represent some kind of crisis in the judiciary or what the Trilateral Commission in an old report called a "crisis of democracy" -- that is, for some reason, the democratic process gets riled up and actually begins to have an effect. Saturn aspecting Chiron mainly changes Saturn. A door can open; an impenetrable barrier can give way. Returning to the Venus station, there are other possibilities to consider; as certain as it appears today that Alito will be confirmed quickly and easily, there may be a surprise in store. He may get in, only to resign soon after. He may not be who everyone thinks he is. There may be a backlash against his appointment that actually has an effect, though I admit this is a stretch because if everyone stops at Starbucks on the way to the backlash, that would keep things mellow. What I'll tell you with 100% certainty is that something is not as it appears right now. As for the progressed Sept. 11 chart I began mentioning, that's too much to cover for today, but here's the chart, progressed to the stated time of the Alito confirmation vote. In this form of progression, the ascendant advances about one degree per day. So it's just turned to Pisces and it happens to be making a conjunction to the progressed Sun in the Sibley [Declaration of Independence] chart. Here it is, have a look. http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=sept_11_progr And -- I am happily taking email from the Rock and Pebble Gallery on the subject of the minor planets, whether in the confirmation chart or the Sept. 11 charts. Thanks for checking in. Eric Francis in Brussels Hi Eric, This below is an excerpt from the first of the Leaflets of The White Rose, which people like Sophie Scholl were executed for distributing in Nazi Germany in 1943. Regards, Maria Nothing is so unworthy of a civilized nation as allowing itself to be governed without opposition by an irresponsible clique that has yielded to base instinct. It is certain that today every honest German is ashamed of his government. Who among us has any conception of the dimensions of shame that will befall us and our children when one day the veil has fallen from our eyes and the most horrible of crimes - crimes that infinitely outdistance every human measure - reach the light of day? If the German people are already so corrupted and spiritually crushed that they do not raise a hand, frivolously trusting in a questionable faith in lawful order of history; if they surrender man's highest principle, that which raises him above all other God’s creatures, his free will; if they abandon the will to take decisive action and turn the wheel of history and thus subject it to their own rational decision; if they are so devoid of all individuality, have already gone so far along the road toward turning into a spiritless and cowardly mass - then, yes, they deserve their downfall. Goethe speaks of the Germans as a tragic people, like the Jews and the Greeks, but today it would appear rather that they are a spineless, will-less herd of hangers-on, who now - the marrow sucked out of their bones, robbed of their center of stability - are waiting to be hounded to their destruction. So it seems - but it is not so. Rather, by means of gradual, treacherous, systematic abuse, the system has put every man into a spiritual prison. Only now, finding himself lying in fetters, has he become aware of his fate. Only a few recognized the threat of ruin, and the reward for their heroic warning was death. We will have more to say about the fate of these persons. If everyone waits until the other man makes a start, the messengers of avenging Nemesis will come steadily closer; then even the last victim will have been cast senselessly into the maw of the insatiable demon. Therefore every individual, conscious of his responsibility as a member of Christian and Western civilization, must defend himself as best he can at this late hour, he must work against the scourges of mankind, against fascism and any similar system of totalitarianism. Offer passive resistance - resistance - wherever you may be, forestall the spread of this atheistic war machine before it is too late, before the last cities, like Cologne, have been reduced to rubble, and before the nation’s last young man has given his blood on some battlefield for the hubris of a sub-human. Do not forget that every people deserves the regime it is willing to endure! Jan. 30 | Anger, Activism, Enlightenment I'VE BEEN having an interesting dialog with some readers this weekend about anger, activism and healing. Francine wrote, in part: I agree with what Jennifer had to say regarding Friday's essay and was happy to see there is another (if not more) who feels the same. I have also been cleaning my internal house and moving towards living a creative life. I think the shift we're currently moving towards is, as Jennifer puts it, an emergence of Woman's way. Is this what parallel worlds is all about? I know the current state of the world is very dark and grim, but things must get very dark before we can see the light. To which I responded: I think that every process has an internal and external expression. They are different sides of the same thing and, I feel, that to be balanced, any healer needs to have some experience rising up, and fighting, and making his or her way in the world; and every warrior needs experience as a healer. Remember in Lord of the Rings, one of the ways they know Aragorn (a great warrior and leader) is king is because he has the ability to heal the sick. (At the end, in Minas Tirath -- though he also tends to Frodo at Weathertop). Awareness is activism! The thing is that at this point, we may all have to go through a phase where awareness leads to a sense of anger. And, I realize that in our guilt-riddled culture, anger is considered inappropriate. Religion teaches this, in particular/. "You have no right to be angry -- you're a sinner, after all. Anger is disloyal, and besides, anger is power. If you're angry and powerful, you're just biting the hand that feeds you. After all, we are all living off of what we're supposed to be angry at. Right? So forget it, go back to what you were doing and let us big boys run the world." If anything needs healing, I think this is fair territory. Our right to be angry at the biggest rip-off in the world is obvious. We are not seeing the "here and now" messed with; the conduct of our so-called world leaders is cashing in the future as we speak, and will degrade the quality of life on the planet for centuries. Many generations will pay for the ongoing war in Iraq, which is robbing the life force of our children and their children; they will have to work a large portion of their lives to pay for a war fought many years earlier. Meantime, we have alternatives for energy, for materials, for the pollution causing vehicles; we have alternatives to war and most people don't want any part of killing anyway. We do need to keep an eye on the instigators, just like in the schoolyard. One of the things we need to heal is our voices. We can do that by speaking to others, and learning the words for what troubles us. We need to repair our sense of community. We need to learn that we're in this together, and learn to become effective at helping one another get clear and get free. It is not so difficult to be supportive; it's a lot of fun, actually, and what you might call good, honest work. We need to learn self-confidence in group environments; many or most of us have had this stripped away. This involves maintaining a sense of individuality in group environments rather than caving into what everyone else supposedly thinks. And to do that, we need to rise above our fear of being outcast for being an honest and independent thinking individual. We have a lot of work to do on the planet right now, and if we're going to do it, we need to stop being at war with ourselves. That's my Aquarius rant for the day. Jan. 29 | New Moon! Chinese New Year! Subscription Pitch! SUNDAY is a day I like to tickle the laptop with a pitch to my readers to sign up for a subscription to Planet Waves Weekly. First: THANK YOU to everyone who has subscribed. You are making our project possible for everyone. I know as well as anyone that you get a lot for free just by showing up here every day. We've all been watching Planet Waves develop in leaps and hounds. I often write in my daily blog the kind of essay I used to write in the weekly essay, and I've been having more fun than ever with those Friday excursions into the unknown. I'm going to keep this a short one; not one of my timeless classics, where I demonstrate that not only do you get the most awesome astrology and news publication with lots of information on planetary discoveries and how they affect you...but you also get my brilliant sales pitches! But not today! Today, I'm just going to remind you that Planet Waves, in its entirety, from this blog to the daily photo to Planet Waves Weekly to Astrology Secrets Revealed -- is supported by your subscriptions. And that your subscription includes things like Parallel Worlds -- our astonishingly awesome annual edition. Here is a sample of the contents page: http://planetwaves.net/astrology/horoscopes/contents_image.html If I were you, if I discovered that a bunch of freaks who work all night had created a reader-sponsored resource like this, that gives you more juicy writing, straight-up viewpoints, an advertising free space to hang out, magnificent photography and all the rest, I would be clicking on that "subscribe" link before I blinked. But, the Sun is now in Aquarius. Maybe you need to know what other people think! So here are two samples. The first is a summarized version of reader comments: http://www.planetwaves.net/editors/readers_comments.html And the other is comments from my colleagues: http://www.planetwaves.net/editors/colleague_comments.html And, for enduring this short, sweet subscription pitch, attached below is a collection of political articles from 2004 (and a couple from 2003) that might give you some insight into what's happening today -- and the extent to which we've got a grip on the news years before it happens. We're worth supporting -- but we feel the same way about you. Yours & truly, ERIC FRANCIS
Here's the link to sign up:
Eve of the Revolution
P.S. ANOTHER truly bizarre must-read article, this time from BBC News. From this information we can, at the least, infer that Internet activities by citizens are a significant concern of certain people who are acting in a significantly concerned way. Thank you BBC and George Washington University.
US plans to 'fight the net' revealed
Note: The BBC link above includes a separate link to a PDF of the full document describing the plan. Jan. 28 | Aquarius New Moon: Do Not Delay SO THERE IS quite a lineup in Aquarius for the New Moon this weekend, which takes place Sunday afternoon in Europe, Sunday morning in the States and very early Monday morning in Oz / Kiwi / Antarctica. Here is the chart, set for The Hague: http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=aqua_new_2006 Here is a snip to an ephemeris lookup over on Tracy's site, which will give positions of minor planets, asteroids, the Uranians and John Glenn's lost glove: http://snipurl.com/lzml --- This is a pretty extraordinary New Moon, being conjunct Chiron, Mercury and Neptune (all of which are now in the sign Aquarius, or in the case of the Moon, will be arriving shortly). This grouping of planets is opposed by Saturn in Leo. The opposition of Saturn in Leo to all these planets 'activates' or emphasizes the Leo-Aquarius polarity in an unusually strong way right how, a theme that carries through the year because Saturn and Chiron make two exact oppositions, and Saturn and Neptune make their first of three exact oppositions in late August. So we will really be feeling the balance between Leo (individual energy) and Aquarius (where the individual meets the group), and it's coming alive right now as we watch -- and feel, and experience. What does it all mean? Easy! Look at your life -- and look at the news. Get a load of the controversy over whether the government has the right to spy on individuals. Watch the intense debate going down over Sam Alito, who is poised to become the next Supreme Court justice. The issue: individual rights. And as for yourself: where do you find yourself now in relation to the group vs. individual question? How are you doing on expressing your individuality? Only you know, of course. The minor planets have a lot to add to this discussion. The lunation (the New Moon event) is exactly conjunct the asteroid Lachesis, that is, located less than one degree apart, with both the Sun and the Moon applying, that is, advancing toward it. The theme of this interesting little asteroid, according to Martha Wescott (see link to her site below) is interruption. As we discussed in today's Planet Waves Weekly (link below as well), Aquarius is a process that, once it gets going, is very difficult to stop; it involves authority and technology; all of this, as we are seeing with the development of the National Security State and the Spook Scandal issue. Martha's keywords for Lachesis are, "Intervention, assessment mid-way into a sequence, what 'interrupts' an evolving sequence from going as one would have expected (from the way it began or is underway)." Given the generally dismal direction of our societies right now, I'm going to take this as a positive omen. Surely, it is a turning point. In the legal sense, the term "laches" refers to the loss of legal rights based on a delay. The theme of time is involved with both ideas, but from a different viewpoint; Martha says interruption; legal scholarship says delay. According to one law dictionary, the term, "Is based on the maxim that equity aids the vigilant and not those who procrastinate regarding their rights; neglect to assert a right or claim that, together with lapse of time and other circumstances, prejudices an adverse party. Neglecting to do what should or could, have been done to assert a claim or right for an unreasonable and unjustified time causing disadvantage to another." In other words, assert your rights early and often, and you're more likely to keep them. Establish your territory sooner and it's more likely to remain yours. Is this discussion apropos of the moment? I will howl: IT IS EASIER TO BLOCK A SUPREME COURT NOMINATION THAN TO FIGHT 1,000 SEPRATE BATTLES WE ALREADY FOUGHT AND WON IN THE PAST HALF CENTURY. But, alas, if Sammy gets in -- that's going to be the size, shape and smell of things. "In general," the law book continues, "when a party has been guilty of laches in enforcing his right by great delay and lapse of time, this circumstance will at common law prejudice and sometimes operate in bar of a remedy which is discretionary for the court to afford. In courts of equity delay will also generally be prejudicial." The asteroid Icarus is right there as well. Keywords are: flight impulse, daring adventure, a sense of soaring higher, love of danger, and the hope of escape. Icarus is the one who flew too close to the Sun and melted his wings, but remember he was flying for the sake of escaping being held prisoner (by King Minos on Crete) with his father, Daedalus. The Icarus influence adds a sense of high tension -- certainly an appropriate mood, with the State of the Union Address scheduled for Monday and the vote on Alito, the Supreme Court nominee, due to happen some time next week (and some kind of battle in the Senate may be looming, but it's looking pretty half-baked as of tonight). Note that both political events occur after the New Moon. We can presume the beginning of something, but thanks to Lachesis, it's a beginning of a kind that arrives in the middle of something else. In theory, we should be witnessing an interruption. What might interrupt? With Aquarius present, highlighted by personal planets (the Sun, Moon and Mercury) it just might be us, we, the people. At the same time, Mercury (the mind, communication, the media) makes a sextile (harmonious, productive and relatively gentle aspect) to a minor planet called Ixion. The theme of Ixion is "what we are all capable of." With the Mercury sextile, there is the hope of communication with the darker aspects of human nature; the ones we don't like to think about -- the part that betrays trust and risks the stability of the community for no good reason at all. We do need to dialog with this bit of the human psyche, and who knows, maybe we'll be seeing some of that discussion this week. Maybe somebody will speak up. Maybe it will be you. Interesting times...
-- Additional research and ideas: Tracy Delaney
Jan. 27 | Response to today's Planet Waves Weekly Available to all readers here: http://planetwavesweekly.com/drdc8/2006/20060127.html Also, Jude is breathing fire on Political Waves, and Steve Bergstein is holding up the torch of freedom of expression for students on Psychsound -- now available at http://psychsound.com/ New Moon blog, collaborated with Tracy, coming soon. Here is the letter, from Jennifer, in response to today's column...hey I think she has a point... Dear Eric, Don't paint yourself into a corner by thinking that "a new world" must be built brick by brick. Beyond what our egos and intellects know is a realm far more flexible. Think intention and grace: this is called magic. Sri Aurobindo: If the universe was destroyed, the power of prana, of chi, would restore it. You can't put life down. We who believe in life and truth need to stand strong. There has been a period of crying that is turning into a period of singing out our love of life: our selves, families, communities, mother earth. It's all about a wild commitment to creativity. Personally, I am cleaning internal house, getting more honest and giving than ever, and writing songs in the moment instead of lecturing myself through the day. This may be Woman's way at this time, because I see similar idealistic/practical actions in my friends. One more thing: The New Moon in Aquarius is a time to conceive the next stage of human evolution. We are self-creating beings, able to shift DNA by shifting our thoughts. Allow genius to flow, even if the grand ideas tend to overpower our little egos. Each of us in our separate bodies is a node in the collective mind of humanity. Fresh connections of neurons release blizzards of brilliance that can change the world tomorrow, even as we struggle with its ordinary issues today. -- Jennnifer Friday, Jan. 27 | A few quotes from James Madison IN HONOR of Jude apologizing for yet again quoting a founder of the United States on the Political Waves list, here is a bit of Madison, namesake of my mother's high school. Actually, I think Jude dug up these quotes for me for the Republican National Convention coverage. Every word glows like burning coal... "I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." "It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad." "The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home." "Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." "Liberty may be endangered by the abuse of liberty, but also by the abuse of power." "The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty." "The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries." "We are right to take alarm at the first experiment upon our liberties." "Conscience is the most sacred of all property." "Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm." "The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." ++ Thurs., Jan. 26 | Mercury-Sun, Moon-Pluto BOTH THE Sun and the Moon are involved in exact conjunctions today, both involving outer planets. At 4:16 pm European time and 10:16 am New York Time, the Moon makes an exact conjunction to Pluto in Sagittarius, close to the Galactic Core. The Sun and Mercury make their exterior conjunction, which is close to Chiron. For the past few days, the Sun has been exactly conjunct Chiron and Nessus, so we're not in new territory -- but Mercury-Sun adds a dimension to the story, making it even more personal. Also, the exterior conjunction of Mercury and the Sun (the conjunction when Mercury is direct) marks the exact midpoint between Mercury retrogrades. I've been watching with some genuine amazement the unfolding story of George W. Bush turning the National Security Agency (NSA) loose on the American people. This is an organization that's designed to spy on foreign embassies and eavesdrop on Russian missile stations at the North Pole. It's not designed or empowered to be reading your church bulletin to find out when the Peace Committee meets. They are not supposed to be reading your email. And there is no legitimate reason for them to be doing so. I'll be developing this theme, apropos of Aquarius, in Planet Waves Weekly, and Thursday is my day to do that project -- so I'm going to make this a brief entry and wish you a great day. Note, this is an off-week for Astrology Secrets Revealed on Cainer.com. -- Eric Francis -------- PS, Elizabeth writes, Eric, Also Pallas conjoins Pluto on the 28th at 26 Sadge, near the GC, with a Sabian involving a flag, and Sun-Mercury is almost exacty opposite Rx Saturn. I seem to have experienced Pallas-Pluto as an implacable need to stand my ground (plant my flag), no matter what, in the face of an (outrageous!) attempt to manipulate me. Intersestingly, this closely squares natal Amor, which you quoted someone as saying is about compassion with boundaries. Eliz. Greetings, readers -- I've been in transit back to Paris, and then on horoscope detail. Thanks for tuning in today! Catch you Thursday. e Jan. 24 | Enron, Part Two AS I WROTE my toxics fraud articles all through the mid-1990s, and lived in an apartment piled so high with tapes and documents that my attorney at the time described it as one large file cabinet, I would often wonder what the people who perpetuated the fraud were thinking, and how they were feeling. As my cats would slide around on the piles of Xerox copies, I would sit day and night and read the evidence-tagged memos giving the 50 year play-by-play about how Monsanto Co. profited massively by perpetuating a plan to poison the world, and I would imagine the guys who wrote the memos during the day sitting at the dinner table with their wives and kids. What would they talk about? When I would call the company and talk to the secretaries and switchboard operators, I had to resist the temptation to ask them what it was like to be part of a culture of crime against humanity; to try and find out if they knew and if they cared about the tens of millions of people they were slowly contaminating, and the millions who would die of cancer and endocrine diseases. I never did. The public relations people, however, you could more reliably beat on, but they were just there to spew lies, and everyone knew it. They were the bona fide "nozzleheads" -- the device that sprays the pesticides. But their personalities were such that you could get absolutely no insight into the mentality behind the scenes. What can you say to a guy who claims he'll let his 10-year-old daughter spray the herbicide Roundup with perfect confidence, except for "man, you need help"? Seeing the film "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" gives some insight into the culture of fraud that has grown to become the dominant quality in multinational corporations and government today. Not that multinationals or governments were ever particularly honest -- but ask anyone, anyone who has been watching for the past 20 or more years, or who knows history, and they will tell you they've never seen anything like what's going on now. In this documentary about Enron, you learn about the numbers and the techniques for burying oceans of debt while making your company look like the best thing ever invented, while the stock soars; and you'll hear about the ton of documents that were shredded one day by Arthur Anderson, the auditing firm; but mainly you learn about the people who were involved. You see them in a combination of company video tapes (of those motivational meetings), interviews, company footage of events like the 2,000 kilometer off-road motorcycle trip along the Baha Peninsula, an astonishing company satire film about their accounting practices (they did have a sense of humor) -- and then from C-Span footage of congressional testimony after the downfall. There are astonishing telephone tapes of traders talking amongst themselves, and a conference call in which Jeffrey Skilling, once the Harvard-bred CEO of Enron, calls an investment bank client an asshole for asking how the company really makes its money. You watch Skilling slowly lose his mind, as, on the one hand, he must maintain the illusion that the company was the most successful and innovative enterprise in the world (at one point, it was ranked as the seventh largest company in America), and on the other, bear the knowledge that the whole thing is a vast illusion being perpetuated on everyone; that there really are no profit-making enterprises; that there are tens of billions of dollars in debt; and that the people being ripped off are the employees, the ratepayers of electricity in California, investors, and the entire public -- in the form of ripped-off trust. You hear from former public relations people for the company, and people who were close, long-time deputies of the people who were engineering the crimes, and you get the feeling that there was something truly human going on, but breathtaking no less. And then you see the guys being hauled off to their indictments in handcuffs: Kenny Lay, close friend of George W and George H.W. Bush; Skilling; Andy Fastow, the young executive who engineered the debt structure that concealed how the company was losing money; and others. The connection to the ouster of California Governor Gray Davis and the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger is documented; Arnie is Enron's boy and the recall election was a simple, effective plot to keep Davis out of the White House. For me, the most telling moment came after the film. I invited an economics student to my second time through, a young woman who had made her way to Brussels all the way from Tsingtao in northern China not speaking a word of English or French -- to come here and study economics. In Europe, everyone you meet in their 20s seems to be an economics student; Paris is overrun by them, and the weird part is that none of them seem to be remotely curious about economics, or have a thing to say about the subject. First, I want to say that from what I could tell, she was an honest person. Yet she was intrigued and indeed seemed a bit envious about how Skilling and Lay could be so smart and make so much money and keep it all going for 16 years. How smart they were. That's what impressed her the most -- stolen retirement funds and all, handcuffs and all. And there's no way she can be the only one with this basic point of view. The lesson of Enron is that far from being considered the great evil, most people feel that money is a virtue unto itself; as Skilling himself said, "We're on the side of angels." It reminds me of what some people still, to this day, say about Bush: "You have to admire him because he stands up for what he believes in." I'll tell you that story tomorrow. --- I'm interested in any articles you may come across on Enron, its main players and the upcoming trials of Lay and Skilling. If you notice any -- please do send them along. Here's an oldie from my archives. http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200103/smoke.asp Courtesy of Political Waves, Pod and The Independent, here is the article on the oil crisis: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Political_Waves/message/4788 e Dear Readers: We're aware of the problem logging into the oil article referenced in the entry below. The workaround will be to post the text to the Political Waves list shortly, and when that happens I'll post an update here. Thanks for tuning in -- and we'll have that resolved as soon as possible. e Jan. 23 | Art & Oil, Sun & Centaurs ART FIRST, oil second, and the Sun-Centaur configuration last. I'm writing from Brussels, the European capital, where I've come to get away from Paris for a few days for a change of scenery. I have barely left my apartment for four months! So it's good to be somewhere different, not particularly special, pretty interesting and a good bit more down to Earth than where I live. This week's cover photos will be by Paloma Todd, who was the photo editor of Parallel Worlds. Paloma has had a long relationship with photography, as part of her long relationship with visual art, including drawing; basically, she is one of those born artists. She's a photographer, video producer and is also extraordinarily well versed in the history of photography, and has taught university classes on the subject. She knows more about the history of erotic photography than you might imagine ever existed, which has roots nearly as old as photography itself. But her current work steps outside all of this -- which you'll see. Her pictures feel more like paintings and have a delicate, textured and natural quality that's remarkable for digital art. I have not seen many of the pieces that will be used, which I know she's been working on for months; she and Anatoly have worked out the details, and her pictures will all link back to a new Internet site that the two of them have created the past few weeks. So we'll get some magnificent covers, you'll meet Paloma, and I'll get a break from my nightly ritual of figuring what goes up tomorrow. As for oil, I've had two revelations this weekend. The first involved seeing "Enron," a documentary that's now in theaters. I don't know if it's still playing in the United States -- I imagine so. This is a must-see film that covers the history of the biggest bankruptcy and fraud case in U.S., and it involves energy. The company is intimately tied to the Cheney-Bush administration, and now its former CEO, Jeff Skilling, and its former chairman, Kenny Lay, are about to go on trial for a wide variety of serious federal crimes. I love exposés on fraud. I have written many of them, and it's an addictive, exciting subject. But what happened with Enron is really quite beyond anything you can really conceive of, and the film is done well -- understated, coherent, organized and moreover, accurate (particularly in comparison to Michael Moore's stuff that we're used to these days). I plan to go back tomorrow night and take some notes. Anyway, the drift is, Enron ran a completely and entirely fraudulent, made up, cooked books, fabricated, nonexistent reality, to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars from the 1980s through their bankruptcy in the weeks following the Sept. 11 attacks. The basis of it all was "mark to market" accounting. That is, you plan a project and then you claim the profits before it's even done. This is like having the blue prints for an apartment hours and claiming the rent for the next hundred years as profit, then taking that to a bank and getting a loan for an ocean liner based on those non-existent profits. Then when the company went into debt, the debt was made to look like additional profits and hidden in the books of non-existent subsidiary companies. They ran their fraud in cooperation with, and with the blessing of, some of the world's most prestigious banks, and did so right under the noses of federal stock, banking and energy regulators. When Bush, their Texas neighbor, took office, they functioned with the blessing of the White House. If you're from California and are still wondering about those rolling blackouts -- thank Enron. One of their games was, sell off California's abundant power, create a shortage, when the [deregulated] price goes up, sell the power back to them at a much higher price and make billions. Eight billion is what Enron made off with, actually, from California ratepayers. Later in the game, they figured out if you turn off power facilities, that, too, pushes the price up and you can once again gouge people. This is all the gift of Reagan-era deregulation. But it's also evidence of the kind of market manipulation possible as fuel supplies reach the end of their supplies -- or as the appearance of that takes hold in perception. Now for the current angle: the peak oil crisis is and will be a repeat version of Enron. We covered peak oil in Parallel Worlds; this is the issue about how the world has reached peak production of oil and supplies are now declining. The author of our piece on the subject, Pod, sent along this link (below) from the Independent in the UK, which goes over the issue in great detail. It's a long read -- it took me about 45 minutes and was quite disturbing -- but I feel it's worth it. Have a look and tell me what you think. http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article339928.ece The Enron angle on the peak oil issue is that the governments and oil companies are working with basically fraudulent, grossly inflated estimates about how much oil is in the ground, and how much they can get out. These estimates are propping up the economy. When the problem is acknowledged, things will start to go crazy. At the same time, world economies are developing and consuming more and more of the stuff, alternative energy is not being developed, and basically we appear to he heading for a point at which the lines cross (to put politely). That is, demand will far exceed ability to be met by supply. Now, I know that many practical people will take this on the horse shit theory. This was the theory back around the turn of the last century that said that if New York City kept developing at its current pace, then the city would be under so many feet of horse shit by such and such a year. What that theory did not take into account was the arrival of the car. So as members of a technological society, we are always taught to expect that technology will save us. And it probably will -- but not after a lot of chaos that may go on for decades. And it's entirely unnecessary because we have the technology now, but we need to develop and implement it; and we have the time, if we get off our butts. But who is in charge? Now as for the planets. Monday is the annual Sun-Chiron conjunction, which is really an aspect that brings in four different Centaur planets at least: Chiron and Nessus (both conjunct in early Aquarius), as well as Pholus in early Sagittarius and Asbolus in early Aries. This can be exciting and yet it has an edgy feeling as well -- the Centaurs always do. For those of you who have been reading this column the past week or so, you know it's just the opening salvo in what I'm calling the "parallel words alignment" in Aquarius and at about 15-16 south declination. I'm not making predictions here -- but I'll be watching carefully. Thanks for tuning in. Reporting from the kingdom of Albert II, this is Eric Francis. http://www.monarchie.be/en/family/albert/index.html
Jan. 20 | More reader impressions... Dear Friends and Readers: Welcome to Aquarius. Apropos of this sign and its community theme, here is another batch of reader responses to my question about what the Parallel Worlds chart reminds you of: http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=sun_conj_nep Man, there are some smart observations in here. I'll have more for you next week. Thank you to all the people who submitted responses -- which are still coming in. I'll be taking the weekend off from blogging, maybe even a three-day. But cover photos will continue to be updated daily. Today, the subscriber edition of Planet Waves Weekly went out with the weekly horoscope and an essay titled, Aquarius: In the On Position. And last night, Astrology Secrets Revealed No. 80 was posted to Cainer.com at this link: http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/eric.html -- One reader said it reminded her of a Cat's Cradle. Actually -- another one just wrote in Thursday and said the same thing with more details but the email has gone missing. I'll print it if you send it in again! Thank you. Here is the illustration sent in by the first reader: http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=catscradle -- First glance gave me the impression of a laser grid. All the squares, triangles are "consideration", or "contemplation" points/platforms that give one a breather before figuring out the gymnastics to get to the next level. Yikes, all those angles. Be well, from a Sun/Moon Scorpio, 9th house -- To me it looks like the pattern of moonlight on water. M -- Hi Eric, I don't know much about chart reading so I stared at the chart for awhile to see what I felt. It may seem obvious but I could feel a lot of energy in that house, the one with the Sun in it. It felt kind of intense around my heart the longer I stared at it. Not sure what that means. Also the idea of deception came up for me...now I do know about Neptune and I know the chart is called Sun conjunct Neptune but that word came up for me regardless. The other thing that came up for is the idea of "another clue"...a clue to what I am not sure... Those are what came up for me initially... L -- Eric. I felt I needed to send you my thoughts on several things. First in reference to this chart. I know nothing about astrology and so the notes you make about this chart I don't understand. What I will tell you is that I had a reading early in December 2005 and was told that something will happen on 2/06. So when I decided to look at the chart today It struck me that this alignment occurs on Feb. 6th. I hardly think it is coincidence. But I will watch to see what I will learn on that day. The other thing is that because of your articles on 2012 I have start to read "Maya Cosmogenesis 2012" by John Major Jenkins and finally am beginning to understand why that date 12/21/12 is extraordinary and why you feel it is up for grabs. Thanks for your dedication to your ideals and your hard work. Keeping you in mind, I am M. Here is the article on 2012 she is referencing: http://planetwavesweekly.com/twdco99%7E/open/2012upforgrabs.html -- Let me preface my impressions offered below by saying, I have no idea how to read charts. I'm in a doctoral program in psychology, and I consider myself to be very intuitive. Here is what I felt when I saw the chart... Core truths. Calm. The eye in the storm... like the eye of a hurricane. I felt pain... a catharsis that leads to a new beginning of unity. I felt actual pain in my chest, but felt a strong "knowing" that all will be ok. We are blessed. Sincerely, S -- Hi Eric, At your request, I had an "impression" look at that February 6 chart. Exact words in my head were "Wow. A great levelling. Something good is coming out of the congealed crap." The few minutes' pondering said "Flush? Cleanse? Earthquake? Coup?" Very calm afterward, very quick settling out. Good rising." C'est tout. As for the parallel universe and quantum physics, I don't have the article you're looking for, but I am devouring a book that "fell off the shelf" on me a few weeks ago. "Science and the Akashic Field - An integral Theory of Everything." by Ervin Laszlo, Phd., Inner Traditions Publishers, 2004. Laszlo, physicist, is presenting a case developed over 40 years for unifying hard science and consciousness...quantum, plasma, string, etc....he brings it all together in an intelligent and accessible read. For the record, I'm an artist interested in how it all flows together, and I'm getting it. Oh, and in thanks and for your enjoyment, a photograph of the Wonder from Irondequoit Bay last Saturday the 14th. Bright Blessings, Krysia -- I think that chart looks like a butterfly that is sitting with its wings spread out and then taking off (like that painting of a woman walking down stairs http://www.beatmuseum.org/duchamp/nude2.html -- but staring at the bottom and going up). -- Dear Eric, In response to your question 'What is your impression of this chart? The very first sensation I had was a tightness in my chest, like it was difficult to breathe, a sense of forboding. I don't know if this feeling relates at all to what this chart is about or not. I don't know much about astrology. That was just my first impression. Only then did I begin to look at placements and relationships, noticing that there are quite a few planets in the first house, pretty potent I expect,... I look forward to reading an explanation about it in due course! -- Hello Eric, You asked for feedback....... I felt like it was alot of tightropes and felt a heavy feeling in the left side of my solar plexus..... very lopsided! .... not a comfortable picture to look at for me and I saw my sign stuck up at the top all on it's own as usual..... it made me ask.... will I ever get unstuck?!!! Thanks Jil -- I know that we are displaced to the male. But not a strong male. Just a powerful male. I know that there is some centering that is to occur. I know that there is a balance to occur between male and female I feel “pulled” (in the direction of that which is powerful but not strong), but the pulling will not be successful. There is something underlying. An undertow. The something underlying has to do with the real power that does not overtly show it’s strength. L -- Eric, I don't know how to read charts.... but as I imagine the planets' alignments, I begin to imagine the preparation for a large opening... a dialated pupil, a birth canal -- in labor, a flower getting ready to bloom.... an intake capacity increasing and strengthening by the way the outer edges are shored up. Musically, quite intense, complex, alchemical harmonies that, in their power, create receptivity. Sandra -- You wanted thoughts from readers who don't know how to read a chart? A chart is a picture to me -- I'm visual, but can't remember what all the symbols mean. I focus on the center lines & symbols first. From the squares at the bottom of the cluster, rising to triangles (trines?), my eyes float upward, then out for a three dimnensional view. This chart feels like there's an orderly progression -- but conflict within the multilayers. It feels like there's an escape -- or movement through the conflict. Climbing out of the box. Balance in the end. These are purely my feelings...will be interested in reading what the chart means! Debra -- With the "news" today about al OBL saying that there's a pending attack on the US, I thought of this chart. Venus in cap rising....authority is attractive ("father, help me") with chart ruler in 7th of open enemies. Link between the self ("father") and enemy...one and the same??? And people can't see clearly (neptune/sun square, notably in t square). Underlying cause hidden in the 12th. Yet, it's (pluto) opposite 9-11 moon. Will it stir it (fear) up, and make people not see clearly, or stir something else up that was embodied by that experience plus all of what has happened since (that is my hope) Yet, what feels safe to people is the use of force (moon/mars in 4th). Aggression in the home. The event speaks to the collective of us ....sun/neptune is on the us moon using the scorpio rising chart, as is mercury. Yet, maybe that is the "saving grace" here. What is the collective of the US? The moon is not in taurus, it's in aquarius. We want our freedom. Freedom from tyranny. That was the original idea. We threw off the tyrants as they encumbered our freedom. We created a bill of rights (ironically now we are having intense constitutional crises) Maybe, just maybe, the tyranny will be uncovered. After all, it's all connected, it's all aligned, the energies are "hanging out" in the same space. I'm going to meditate on the pluto and the north node on aries point and in the houses of our own resources/values to bring light to the dark, and awakeness to the sleeping (neptune/sun) and aquarian freedom. Much fishy love to you. S -- Hi Eric, Since I see you were still looking for some comments, I haven't yet read what you've posted from other readers. Here's my two cents worth... while still totally clueless as to how to read a chart. The other day when I first saw the chart, I thought rough waters as in high waves the kind you get out at sea during a storm, with a freighter trying to keep even keel, or would that be Noah's ark? We're getting to the point where we could soon have only two of each species left, let's hope they're of opposite sex and horny with the will to survive. Looking at the chart this evening, I'm thinking maybe it's the boat that's rocking and making a few waves... in which case there needs to be more of us in the boat who aren't afraid to sink or swim to shake things up, to bring all that hidden waste up to the surface where we can skim it off and call things what they really are. There's a see-saw and its under the leverage point where what we're not supposed to see is hidden, while we're busy getting the thrill or the scare of our lives going up and down, from one extreme to the other. The whole thing feels urgent and chaotic, yet it's so controlled that it's not natural. It's somehow fenced in or held in. The control is stirring the frenzy. There is a tug of war between many near the surface but lost below, and the few above pulling upward. Finally, I don't know why... a major underwater discovery? Attacks to an oil rig? From what I've been noticing lately... synchronicities are ever more intricate and common. Venus has been casting a rosy glow on everything, allowing for forgiveness and flexibility where there was little hope for any. Suddenly there is effort from others where there was none before. Attention to the little things has suddenly dawned for those more inclined to grand gestures. Things are almost perfect. It's a great song, the melody is captivating, but there's just one key out of tune on that baby grand. Something isn't right. Though whether the lights are on or off, whether the thing is hiding under the bed or in the closet... there's a troll somewhere in this story, soon to be showing his face. Hope the city of lights and lovers is treating you well. Kindest regards, Nika -- I cannot properly read astrology chart. But my first impression of this chart is: Quite different things are happening at the same time. And all of them are important. Mars near Moon --- some contants with new people or something which were unthinkable (for bothh collective and individual) before. They are also squaring Neptune and Sun (?), so depending on each person's karma, some imaginations are materialised for some? Saturn Chiron opposition is pushing to face some more past issues to be sorted out? Y PS -- After I sent you my amateur impression of 6Feb chart, I looked at 20 Feb's Saturn Chiron oppsision chart. And I had an interesting impression!! (though I know this may be stupid) In 20 Feb chart, Moon is near Jupiter, like talking to someone or something. (in 6 Feb chart, the moon was near Mars. And I had an impression of 'previously unthinkable contact with someone or something.) And, Sun is now approaching Uranus in 20 Feb chart, like (again) making another new contact. (sun was in aquarius in 6 Feb chart obviously) So I have a feeling that some of the things which started happening (or started being revealed) around 6 Feb may make a lot of progress within this short period of time. -- confused sober me me me mad -- Well, the first thing I see is the layer of squares at the base and then the several trines on top of that. Kind of like the numerological sense of the number 7 as the manifestation solidity of 4 plus the spirituality of 3. It looks quite stable. Like a kid's drawing of a house, you know, the square with the triangle on top. What's going on above that looks like the beginning of an armature for a structure that is not clear enough to see yet. I also notice the collection of planets in the lower left quadrant, which to me means inbreath, that which is inner and touching on that which is down under. I can't really read a chart but do have some familiarity. What I have been thinking about this configuration as you have been describing it is something like the potential for envisioning that which can harmonize, or at least show up on, the various points on the continuum of experience bracketed by Mercury on one end and Jupiter on the other....... Vague I know, but that's what keeps coming. Hope this is of use to your experiment. ;-) Thanks! K -- Regarding your take on 2006 and that 'shifting' feeling of human consciousness. I have to say that from a personal point of view I have found even this first few weeks of the new year to be pretty transformational already. Whereas last year I would say I began to feel the stirrings inside of a few things really needing to shift both internally and externally, it is these past few days that I really feel, well, 'zapped', I guess! I have completely transformed, with complete surety, may way of buying and eating food, for a start. I have long wanted to 'give the boot' to mass supermarket shopping, and after one final horrific ordeal just before Christmas last year, I vowed 'never again' and, well, so far so good! I now only buy from local shops, always organic where possible, and support our local farm shop. I cannot describe how much 'cleaner' inside I feel since taking that decision. Last year I also knew that I desperately wanted to become a vegetarian, made a half-hearted attempt but sadly lapsed; at the end of last year I moved to live on a farming estate, and have daily contact with the most glorious flock of sheep (and just recently lambs). Crazy I know, but I have to drive past them every day, they straddle the roadway in absolutely no hurry to move out of the way, and I swear I have identified a good few personality types among them; piscean fantasy, probably! However, since making 'friends' with my woolly creatures I made a vow on New Year's Eve never to touch meat again, asked the planets for a liitle assistance, and haven't touched it since, and I know I never will. As for politicians, never fear, they are completely transparent to me; I'm sure they think we must have our heads so heavily immersed in TV trash or sorting out our consumer debt, that we are complete buffoons; well, maybe some still are, but I certainly don't count myself amongst them. Many thanks for all your work; like many others I find it a heavenly retreat from the cares of the everyday world and a true inspiration. Well done. Kind regards Tr. -- Looking at the aspect pattern of the 2/6 chart, I see a cat's face behind a "cat's cradle" string game. The squiggles that look like squares with Ls are the eyes( Semisquares ???), while Jupiter & Saturn form the ear tips. At the top of the cat's head are the Qs.To me the Qs are questions. The aspect lines associated with the Qs are very pointed. The way the opposition aspects printed out on the copy I made of the chart, they form a small clock's face in the middle of the cats head, showing 4 o'clock. So we have a cat who is trying to figure out how to play the game. If he paws the right string, everything will unravel. The Qs and the clock say to me, it's time to ask pointed questions, instead of getting caught up in the murk or bogged down in trivial details. The sun is helping to break up the fog (Neptune). That says let's get going to stop the string ( us along) game, both in our personal lives, and in our political lives. ( No ideas really as to any significance for 4 o'clock-- tea time ? cocktails ? Shift change ? ) I think the big political pointed question to ask is regarding the NSA surveillance : "Since the FISA court pretty much rubber stamps warrant requests, WHO did the Bush administration want to spy on that would have been disallowed by the FISA court?" My bet is there are a couple of names that would shock America on Bush's secret NSA surveillance list, and the rest are all white noise cover-up. Otherwise, why break the law to conduct a survellaince that could quickly and easly be done though a valid warrant ? Other astrologcail ideas : A few days before the Sun/ Neptune conjunction, there is the Sun/ Saturn opposition that is a mutual reception. I see this as a reversal of power. This might be an interesting chart to look at also, especially in light of all the Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter aspects and Leo/ Aquarius issues that have recently or will soon come into play. A lot of these tie to GWB's natal chart. Other fun fact: the Gulf War had Saturn in Aquarius opposite Jupiter in Leo. That says to me the wierd stuff today is coming out of GWB family issues. Perhaps the Sun Aquarius opposition to Saturn Leo chart is the Oedipus Vexed chart ! Good thoughts back at ya ! ! ! Susan -- Hi Eric, Here is what I connect with the chart called Parallel Worlds: Selected Points: http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=parallel I picture parallels like a guitar chord, where certain strings (or planets) are held down simultaneously and equally to yield one musical note or one new sound. During the first February week with several combinations of parallel sets, there is a series of chords which make up a melody. Music eases atmosphere and in so doing eases change, and this to me is the parallel influence. Combine the Neptunian influence in this Capricorn ascendant chart. Dont forget to think Aquarius. Check out pleasant Venus at the ascendant.This is like music pleasantly changing structure or Musical Chairs but with enough chairs for all. Or like in school when the teacher announced a new seating arrangement in the classroom, and you get to sit next to someone you like, this is the seating arrangement for the eclipse at the end of March. Jupiter on the Midheaven parallel sun and Neptune: Expansive generosity can be tapped into if we want, like accessing a higher speed higher energy, like DSL but bigger, faster and available everywhere, but an option. Pluto in the 12th pretty close to the Galactic Core: Facing the hard truth at the core or getting constantly woken up from sleep by repetitive nightmares (which only destroy breakfast and get suppressed for the rest of the waking day). A viable option. Mars Triggering in Taurus from the fifth: Movement and change get triggered in some playful form, the musical chairs with enough chairs idea. The combination of a playful aggressive focus on a particular physical object or place (like a chair or an apartment or a country) combining with sun Neptune in Aquarius: boundaryless interchange to music in a group. Venus on the first house cusp: Polite and charming interchange. An interest in decorum. Capricorn Ascendant: Saturn is not parallel, but hires Venus because she is a cute model to moderate the Restructuring. Positions swapped, those very awake and active in the group can choose to interact in a Quaoar way (getting the job you found out your dad also once did, or), reflect and tap into the mega generous energy and share. There is also the option to get a sixth house, mercurial job, observing the core, and following the north node report the observations and creating connections. Sun Neptune conjunction and Parallel in Aquarius in the first house: This musical chairs and places and worlds could look like people moving office spaces or companies around, or a redistribution of rolls in a family system, or the noticeable change of partners within a group for the good of the individual or the noticeable change inside ourselves for the good of a group. Thanks for offering this platform for our thinking, Aquarian Love from a Pisces, D Jan. 19 | Reader Comments on the Parallel Worlds Chart Earlier I the week, I asked for your comments on this chart, whether or not you can read astrology: http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=sun_conj_nep Today I've posted some of the comments I received from you. I'll be back with more tomorrow. And if you have not yet written in -- please feel free to do so. I'm looking for comments from non-astrologers as well as those who read charts. In addition, later today, Astrology Secrets Revealed No. 80 will be posted on Cainer.com, covering the questions of whether astrology columns should cover more "shadow material"; the theme of charging clients for healing services; and how certain patterns run in families. Use the "Astrology Secrets Revealed" link on the main homepage to get there. Also note that we've updated the search engine and you can now research all 80 editions. Remember -- Planet Waves, this blog, the monthly horoscopes and Astrology Secrets Revealed are all sponsored by your subscriptions to Planet Waves Weekly. Thank you to everyone who has subscribed, and to the many people who refer your friends. All subscriptions currently include access to Parallel Worlds, the 2006 annual horoscope -- with lengthy write-ups for each sign and many articles about news and astrology for 2006 -- in addition to charts and ephemeris downloads. A team of 21 people worked for four months on Parallel Worlds -- we are sure you will love it. You can check out our reader feedback here: http://planetwavesweekly.com/feedback.html e Dear Eric, I know nothing of looking at charts but this one looks like: shifting back and forth as in shifting ones weight back and forth. As in un-ease. Accompanied by deep sighs. J. -- Ciao Francis, I see an hour glass floating on it's side in a dense sea of frenzied activity. There is a clear and serene sky above. Thanks for all the good work you do. I wish I could join your site, but I'm only a poor philosopher with little or no discretionary funds. With lovinkindness, Giuseppe -- Dear Eric, Looking at those charts, I realized how difficult it is for me to visualize space and to understand where we stand in those alignments. So this made me think about ellipses, the structure of the solar system and its position in the Big Picture. I don't know if something "big" is coming, but I personally feel in need of fresh inspiration in my life. As this book from Lolita Vargas that I was reading (Un recorrido hacia la luz) and where I found this nice little passage.Translated in my basic english, it would sound a bit like this: "The fact that we are different is not something bad and it doesn't mean that we are wrong either. This only means that we are on distinct paths. But sooner or later, we will meet on the top of the mountain, uniting and sharing the pieces that compose the puzzle of life." I thought it was a really beautiful image and I can't help but shed a tear when I think about this. Reconciliation. For once, the word sounds stronger and more powerful than "peace". Caro -- OK, since you specifically asked... from some one who can not read a chart.( but I do pretty well with bodies I'm a nurse & massage therapist on the side) Looking at this, as I see it, a clock, 12 is at the top... I see a congestion in the lower L hand side, this ( in my world of understanding) is about receiving movement--- the L side receives, the legs move ... the R side gives, there is little action there in the lower part, even less on the top half in the center where the aspects are, there are squares on the bottom , trines mid range, and square q's and q's on the top in almost a triangle shape. Geometrically, this is a sound construction, solid bottom to support the top, but all below the half way up part. Looks like a child's teeter totter with the black Q line as the lever. Then, it looks like a blue star drops the rope and a red square falls on the pink star on the L side which tips the lever so one end is way up _ pointing to Saturn_ the pink Q that was on the other side appears to have fallen off in the force of the dropping red square. The base of the pyramid shakes from the impact The body that looks like a Leo glyph on top in orange -- chakra 3, self esteem power, on bottom, in brown closest is red chakra 1 root, family, tribe, and arms now reaching upward ( the symbol next to the x in the circle by 20 Libra) where before, the body was bent over like a puppet hanging , waiting. -- Eric, You've been asking for comment on things – the parallel universe question, and the changes we're experiencing – I can't easily find a way to explain in language, or at least in a letter. I did look very briefly at your chart, which is just pictures to me, when you posted it. Couldn't say it's connected, but reading your column just now felt I ought to tell you this. Just to say – since around late November, I've been seeing and experiencing what some friends and I usually describe as 'the membranes getting thinner.' Meaning, well, things are more porous. Maybe it's other dimensions, or universes, or membranes in the quantum mechanics sense. (If you haven't, read Brian Greene's book and watch his PBS special – it's on the PBS site – "The Elegant Universe.") But physical objects are behaving differently – all of a sudden just gone, or falling out of places they've been in for years for no apparent reason, or easily fitting together to solve an intractable decade-old problem. Seeing or hearing from people you haven't seen in years, or a generation, or abruptly passing away after being near death for years and years. Animals we don't know coming to us. Occurrences that by alone wouldn't necessarily be that remarkable, but when it's your entire environment it's very obvious. And certainly, for me, very – the only word I can think of – lucid, transformational dreams every few days. Like I haven't had in more than 25 years. Like my father at the instant before the fall that caused his death several years ago, illuminated by a light that explained by its color the most profound issue between us. But last night, and I just remembered this reading your column after a very distracting sort of day, I dreamed this – I was in Vietnam in the war (I'm of that age group, but never there or in the military) in a room – whose walls were made of something like light – with a Vietnamese woman and another (more like a presence, or a thought, not a person per se) who was at war with her. It wanted to kill her, but couldn't quite. But one of her legs was broken from her and somehow became in my – or our? – care. And the lifetime since went by, all light, like a headlight sweeping across a window at night. And we looked at her limb; still suspended where it had been suspended in that illuminated space we were in. It was as it was when she lost it, before us perfect in texture but twisted distinctly, unnaturally, like bendable plastic. There was a sort of veil between us and the woman, hard to describe. And the understanding appeared, "that is over "(though not in any words, it just Was). Then the woman was whole and beautiful as she had been and perfectly with us again. None of this was in time; the "time" in which we would think we had lived was just patterns in the light that swept by. I can't tell you what this means in the physical world at all. But I know something has changed. Guess that's enough to say. By the way, when I wrote you from Houston after Katrina that everything was changed I just typed it out and sent it with no great thought, just a feeling. And wow, did "the flood" of events ever follow. Man. Meant to write again but no time available. Anyway, hope the message isn't too long, but you asked. (If you by any chance use anything here, drop the attribution if you don't mind.) Keep on; you're doing wonderful work. Regards. Russ -- Hi Eric I’m one of those who can’t ‘read’ a chart – but I’m happy to answer your query and give you my impression of http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=sun_conj_nep Something from outside stirring up: Community… Connectivity of homes and people… Humming… Touching… Unification I’m looking at the chart whilst sitting in my apartment directly facing the Peace Palace in The Hague. The ‘world capital of peace and justice’ is a wonderful place to live in, but it’s funny you should have picked The Hague and Holland for a chart I sense is all about community, connectivity and unity… They’re all things which seem to have diminished somewhat in society here the past few years… I feel hopeful! Maria -- Everything you've written about the possible implications of this configuration so far resonates strongly. Intuitively, it reminds me of when, in my early teens, I would disconcert my mother by telling her there that a) I knew somehow that there are an infinite number of parallel worlds in which we operate and b) that there are different Truths at different levels of "Reality." Today it came to me that the Moon-Mars conjunction ushering in the Sun-Neptune conjunction could represent the portal to entering Parallel Worlds, via its square to Mercury Thus Moon-Mars could hold the key to unlocking the "door," and/or provide a clue as to what we have to "check at the door," i.e., leave behind. At the time of this event Mars will be at 25 Taurus, very close to its powerful Rx station degree at 24 Taurus in close opposition to Venus on October 2nd and also aligned with the mid-November Full Moon degree. Mars and Venus are as much about manifestation though the balancing of Yin & Yang, doing and being, and efforting and allowing, as they are about relationship, 'cause Venus is our Heart's Desire and Mars is our Drive, and we get what we want by combining the two energies. So maybe this balancing of the God and Goddess energies is key to accessing Parallel Worlds? A little out there, and not complete, I know... That's as far as I can get with it for now. Eliz. -- Sun conjunct Neptune: I see a tightness below leading to a loosening above. A volcano. Or an earthquake. -d. -- I'm just now catching up on your postings after an intense week that included being fired for talking back to a passive-aggressive-abusive boss. How's that for Mars in my third house, squaring Neptune and Jupiter, with Full Moon in my sixth? Of course I saw it coming, but at that critical moment, there was only one right course of action. . . Very interesting discussion on parallels. My birthday is Feb. 2, and when I do tarot readings, I use the Star as my significator, number 17, associated with Aquarius. In case you didn't make that association with the all the 17s in the Neptune-Sun conjunction chart. Don't forget, either, that Neptune and Uranus are in mutual reception, and even though Uranus doesn't seem to have a big role in the Feb. 6 alignment, we are currently shifting out of the Age of Pisces and into the Age of Aquarius (thus the name of my blog, The Pisces Chronicles). As usual, your observations of planetary movements and other cosmic phenomenon are brilliant. I will be very, very curious to see what plays out as a result of these influences. Thanks for bringing them to everyone's attention. Having finished the Aries and Cancer ingress charts, I'm now working on Libra, with some stunning consistencies. Check it out a day or two, or if you want, I'll send you a quick note when my posting is up. Bush is toast. OH -- had to move my blog from Typepad, so it can now be found at http://pisces-chronicles.blogspot.com/ Many blessings Pat Paquette Jan. 17 | Parallel Worlds Alignment, part iii. YOU would think what's happening the world was more serious if you were more concerned about it. I am not advocating fear. And I'm not saying that your fear makes the thing to be concerned about. What I'm saying is that the sense of emergency (as Jude put it the other day on Pol Waves) is what is missing, and if we had that sense of emergency we would indeed see things differently and be able to respond to them. What I do think we have at this point are a lot of people watching with baited breath...to see what will happen next. This is, at lest, a form of concentrated awareness. It's clear enough that we're dealing with a "something is up" chart. So many planets involved by both longitude and declination aspects are well-established conditions under which great movement can happen, something can shift, we can tune in. Most of the responses I received on the what do you see in this chart theme suggested this kind of breakthrough. I'll publish those a bit later in the week. It's also true that the very most significant events where "something actually was up" are not necessarily predicted by astrology, or rather, by astrologers; and that if they were, it would make little difference. Gone are the days when you could predict that something would happen; then predict that it would not happen; and then when it did happen, everyone thought you were brilliant because you predicted it. We are not such fools any more. We know the truth: absolutely nothing is important -- or so we are eloquently conned into believing. After all, what difference did the tsunami make? Or New Orleans? Life went on (for most of us) just like before. Now those are stories you might be reading about in old newspapers as you light wood stove (always the best time to read the paper). Yet at the same time, we are also conned into constant fear. But it's a fear of paralysis -- not a fear of action. Fear is different than a sense of emergency, which is a kind of urgent non-fear. The person who lays in bed all night afraid that the house is going to burn down is not necessarily the person you want helping out in the event of a fire. The question many people seem to be asking is: how bad is this dream going to get before the great masses of people begin waking up? It's very frustrating to watch so many people sleep through what appears to be either the end of something, maybe even the end of our civilization (or Gaia's environment) as we know it, or such a crucial moment of transition when we really could get it and really could make [or have made] a difference -- but instead of taking action, chose to sleep. The survivors of our not so little experiment may well wonder what we were thinking, and how could we have possibly let it happen. Here is the simplified chart I posed yesterday, reducing the number of planets: http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=parallel What we have on one level -- mainly -- is Neptune + Sun in Aquarius (highlighting the long Neptune in Aquarius era of television addiction, freebase religion, invisible corporate control of media, and the use of mood-enhancing drugs on a mass scale), square Jupiter in Scorpio -- a very tight aspect and it works on two levels. It's as close to a "perfect square" as you can get because not only do the planets align at 90 degrees, they are all on one plane of space. Now, ordinarily we could say that Sun-Neptune-Aquarius, and then adding in Jupiter Scorpio has something to do with lies. It does not look like an honest story, but then it looks so extreme as to point to awareness. The "big lie" may be a concept that some of you are familiar with. I quote from the autobiography of the guy whose photograph appears on the cover today: "...the magnitude of a lie always contains a certain factor of credibility, since the great masses of the people in the very bottom of their hearts tend to be corrupted rather than consciously and purposely evil, and that, therefore, in view of the primitive simplicity of their minds they more easily fall a victim to a big lie than to a little one, since they themselves lie in little things, but would be ashamed of lies that were too big. Such a falsehood will never enter their heads and they will not be able to believe in the possibility of such monstrous effrontery and infamous misrepresentation in others; yes, even when enlightened on the subject, they will long doubt and waver, and continue to accept at least one of these causes as true. Therefore, something of even the most insolent lie will always remain and stick – a fact which all the great lie-virtuosi and lying-clubs in this world know only too well and also make the most treacherous use of." This is an extremely famous quotation, but it should be a lot more famous, particularly in the United States. So, in the surface chart, the longitude chart, we have the big lie that nearly everyone is falling for; or enough people who could DO something (such as senators and editors) are either directly involved, profiting from the situation, too embarrassed to come out and are thus hiding behind the lie, or falling for it -- and this is pretty much keeping everyone else stuck. You could say the lie goes as far as anyone's refusal to take action. That's pretty far. Yet the overwhelming amount of water energy in this chart does look a little like a flood. As one of my old friends once wrote in a song, "What can you say to a tidal wave?" The Moon-Mars-Mercury configuration that goes off about eight hours earlier starts a kind of knock effect. Something happens; there is a triggering event. Indeed, about two days earlier, when the Sun makes an exact 45 degree angle (semi-square) to the Aries Point...we get a little more trigger-type event, and that's when the knock effect really begins. Whatever occurs, it seems to involve becoming aware of the big lie. We can then go to a new level: beneath the chart, as it were, to south declination. There, we find that several planets that don't appear to be part of the main pattern (the Sun-Neptune-Jupiter square), but are hanging out down there on the same level: Mercury, Pluto and Venus, to name three well-known ones; and Quaoar and Hylonome, to name two newer ones that are working their way into the astrological discussion some places. We could say: there is more to the picture than meets the eye, and this is what it is. Or, look a this chart differently and you will see different things. Now, Pluto, Mars and Venus down there are really interesting. They add a personal quality. So does Mercury. What the first three have in common is sex energy. Pluto drives sex and sexual consciousness forward; Venus and Mars are its polarized expressions. It remains unrecognized by most mortals the extent to which this drives all activity on the physical plane -- unrecognized except for by the advertising industry, which makes brilliant use of this fact to power the wheels of nearly every consumer industry. But people, in their embarrassment and religiosity, deny themselves the basic strength that awareness of Venus and Mars would offer them. Pluto, we cannot deny, but usually he comes through in the end. Then we have Quaoar: that is the pattern in the community, the family of society that allows the weirdness to happen, but when we go to that level, we can see it for what it is. Quaoar is a kind of setup. We enter this dance, we think it's all there is, we hear the rhythm and we do our part in the choreography. Quaoar is one of those planets that seems to introduce a "new concept" that most astrologers don't even realize is missing in the first place: the tightly interwoven family pattern that, in a holographic sense, makes up the whole of how society is organized. Another aspect of Quaoar is the personal creation myth. For most people, this is unconscious material. Quaoar is about bringing the personal creation myth -- so basic to our experience of existence -- to the surface and understanding what that myth is about. Then, there is Hylonome: that looks like how we really feel, how much this all hurts, and how we know we have done it to ourselves. Mercury: this adds the power to talk about it (deja vu writing that). The celestial event of Feb. 2 through 6 opens up the close in the approach to the cluster of events of March 29, lead to an extraordinary total eclipse of the Sun on the Aries Point. As for events of the next few weeks we see these triggers? I don't know. I strongly suspect so; or rather, that those who are looking will see. Many are waking up. I read this week that a Zogby poll suggests that 52% of the American public believe that Bush should be impeached for spying on Americans. I have no doubt about the events of late March, however, because they are accentuated by an eclipse. What I certain about is that the turns in the historical process and the related developments in the personal process of each person who is observing or participating will open up another layer between Feb. 2 and 6. Something else besides paralyzing fear becomes available as an inner choice; enough people "get it" to establish a second entirely valid level of reality where we can share and interact. Till now, the only valid level of awareness has been paralyzing fear. Gradually, something becomes too obvious to deny, and we can meet at the Town Square and talk about it, even though millions of others remain asleep. The effect on us as individuals becomes too obvious to deny, but what's better is that the ability to respond, and the state of mind from which to respond, becomes available in a new way. Preview of Tuesday's Blog Here is the chart that will be covered in Tuesday's blog. There is an explanation in the caption below the title on this page from the chart database. http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=parallel What is interesting and what I just forgot to mention in the caption is that all the points involved in the "grand parallel" aspect are to one side of the lunar node. They are situated from Rahu to Ketu -- the North Node to the South Node -- a situation in Vedic astrology (though not my speciality) called Kala Sarpa Yoga. It's one of those "something definitely happens" kinds of yogas. Remember that the Moon is at 28+ Taurus, just past a conjunction to Mars; when the Moon makes is conjunction to Mars and a square to Mercury about eight hours before this event, all the planets will still be nearly perfectly aligned -- suggesting that the Moon is a trigger in this event as well. I've received quite a few responses from the query below. Please keep them coming in. Your impressions mean a lot to me and it's a big responsibility interpreting a chart like this for so many people -- and I appreciate your adding your visions to the mix. I am getting a significant number of basically the same response. What's your impression of this chart? I ask particularly people who "cannot read" a chart -- when you look at it, how do you feel, and what do you see? But astrologers and astrology students are welcome to answer as well. Please respond to francis@planetwaves.net. I may quote your responses -- but I'll leave your name out. Thank you! http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=sun_conj_nep Jan. 17 | Parallel Worlds Alignment, part ii. WHEN some kind of significant astrological event is about to happen, I like to check as many kinds of charts for the same event as possible. This week I'll take you on a tour of that process, which will give you an introduction to astrological thinking -- a little cosmos of its own. Most astrology is based on inductive reasoning rather than deductive. With inductive reasoning, you don't prove something; you have evidence of it, and you allow that to support your beliefs. For example, you can say that "all observed crows are black" and thus, "all crows are black." But that doesn't make it true; but it's logical. It's a kind of circumstantial evidence. So in looking at astrology, we want to count up the crows and see what we get, and we do that by looking at different charts. Yesterday, we looked at the aspectarian for Sun conjunct Neptune. This showed us that there were many planets making a parallel aspect -- all hanging out at about the same distance below the celestial equator, around 15 to 16 degrees. I'll post it again at the bottom, in case you need it. For now let's look at the conventional horoscope chart for the event, cast with nine planets, four asteroids and Chiron. It will open in a new window. This chart does NOT show the phenomenon we are looking at, which involves three dimensional space. Charts are flat; the planets both orbit the Sun, and also bob above and below the celestial equator (see yesterday's discussion). When they align, that is called a parallel aspect. Here is a chart more like you're accustomed to seeing, a typical horoscope chart for the conjunction of the Sun and Neptune on Feb. 6. http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=sun_conj_nep First, I would mention this. Usually, when you look at a chart, you're looking at a chart for something; the first airplane flight, or the time a president takes office. Here, we have a chart for a celestial event, without the trappings of a worldly event; so as a result, the "meaning" of the chart is more obscure. We cannot say based on the definite rules of astrology that this planet represents this part of the event and this other planet represents that part. But the game I am playing with this chart is: let's see what meaning it seems to have inherently, or what meaning we can give it based on the events of our lives, our perception of these events and those of the world around us, then use the celestial marker to make some choices. Another procedural note: the ascendant is always based on the place a chart is cast; and then the time as well. So it is dependent on both. For most "world horoscopes" like this, unless they have a specific place (the presidential inauguration in Washington, for example), I use The Hague in The Netherlands, which for the past century has served as the world capital of peace and justice. This is arbitrary, just like using the nation's capital; but it's logical and consistent. The first thing that stands out for me in this chart is the position of Jupiter, on the 10th house cusp. Note that the houses are of rather unequal sizes, due to it being winter in the North and The Netherlands being pretty far north as well. So the "top" of the chart is skewed off to the left, because the Sun is so far to the south at this time of year. But there is Jupiter, located just two arc minutes from the 10th house cusp -- look at the numbers, arc minutes are the little ones, representing divisions of a degree -- the 10th house cusp (the dark line) is at 17 degrees of Scorpio and 44 minutes; Jupiter (the orange "4") is at 17 degrees and 46 minutes. That's a very close alignment -- one-thirtieth of a degree. What does it mean? Let's just count that as one crow. This fact gets some emphasis because we're doing the chart of a Sun-Neptune conjunction that is at 17+ degrees of Aquarius. So we have a precise alignment between Jupiter, the 10th house cusp, the Sun, and Neptune. Notice also that Venus is rising. The ascendant is in Capricorn (on the left), and Venus is in Capricorn; so we have a planet "in" (meaning close to) the ascendant, and that is Venus. She is in a sextile aspect to Jupiter. Note that the Sun, Venus, Neptune and Jupiter are all involved in the Grand Parallel described yesterday. So we have what some astrologers call a "super aspect" -- which is an alignment of several planets by longitude and by declination. And in our chart, these are also angular -- making aspects to the angles of the chart, the ascendant and 10th cusp. There are a few more crows for you. Interesting that Venus, Neptune and Jupiter are the three planets associated with Pisces, and they align many ways in this chart. The signs involved are Scorpio, Capricorn and Aquarius. Is this making any pictures for anyone? One last note: the Moon. The Moon is what's called void of course. It is so late in its sign, Taurus, that it's not making any new aspects to other planets in this chart -- with one exception -- a 150 degree angle to Pallas. Most calendars, when calculating the void of course Moon, a) don't count Pallas and b) based on old rules, they are not supposed to count the quincunx aspect. So we can leave it in limbo. Pallas, however, is interesting in terms of political and legal issues, which are certainly meaningful on our particular day of history. But in any event, both the Moon and Pallas are super late in their signs, and that Moon is for all (intuitive) purposes void-of-course: about to drift into Gemini. The void Moon often has a feeling of driving with the clutch down to the floor; coasting; things that happen either go differently than you planned, or don't seem to matter at all; or there is an opening created and we can work with that opening. The Moon has a lot to do with the PERSONLAITY and with the Moon void, we can sometimes get that out of the way -- good thing, too. Here is the chart from yesterday. http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=parallel_worlds_aspect Here is a chart I'll go over tomorrow, which adds two other planets (in red) to the Grand Parallel aspect: Hylonome and Quaoar. The column you want to read for the parallel aspect is the one on the right --declination. Note that all the lines in red have very similar declination. This is what we're talking about here. This chart was sent to me by Kirsi Melto, who does excellent astrology research for Planet Waves in addition to doing the Sphinx web site in Finland. She used Riyal software to calculate it. (Depending on your browser, it may not show up aligned; it needs to appear in the font Courier to do so). This list includes a variety of minor planets. We will look at more minor planets in the coming days, using a different tool -- but let's start with these. Most of the names that you don't recognize are Centaurs (like Chiron) or TNOs (like Varuna). OOPS AND I JUST NOTICED...the signs given are the sidereal signs! So most planets are one sign back from the chart you're looking at today, and there are some constellations given from the sidereal zodiac that I don't recognize. I was going to save sidereal for another day -- but here you have it. In any event, the last column on the right is declination, and that is what we're talking about. Data for Sun Conjunct Neptune - Feb. 6, 2006 Planet Longitude Sign Latit. Ascension DECLINATION Moon = 28Ta55'41" Tau 4,07' 3h42m53s 23n57 Sun = 17Aq17'08" Cap 0,00' 21h18m56s 15s39 Mercury = 24Aq55'27" Cap -1,45' 21h51m16s 14s52 Venus = 16Cp10'56" Sgr 6,54' 19h06m46s 15s36 Mars = 24Ta24'04" Ari 1,48' 3h26m16s 20n37 Jupiter = 17Sc46'51" Lib 1,11' 15h02m39s 16s00 Saturn = 7Le06'31" Cnc 0,42' 8h38m47s 19n10 Uranus = 9Pi24'37" Aqr -0,44' 22h45m03s 8s43 Neptune = 17Aq17'08" Cap -0,10' 21h19m08s 15s49 Pluto = 26Sa03'10" Ser 7,29' 17h43m43s 15s54 Chiron = 4Aq55'51" Cap 6,28' 20h22m45s 12s45 Pholus = 3Sa51'43" Oph 21,07' 16h22m57s 0s09 Nessus = 4Aq16'51" Mic -14,56' 20h43m17s 33s38 Asbolus = 4Ar11'05" Psc 0,45' 0h14m11s 2n21 Chariklo = 23Li08'34" Cen -23,42' 12h45m43s 30s48 Hylonome = 27Sc14'56" Lib 3,25' 15h43m07s 16s13 Pylenor = 8Ge32'42" Tau -5,03' 4h30m33s 16n44 Okyrhoe = 1Ca09'40" Ori -17,04' 6h04m28s 6n23 Pelion = 15Pi53'55" Aqr -5,48' 23h17m14s 10s54 Elatus = 29Ca19'00" Cnc 3,10' 8h08m44s 23n23 Cyllarus = 15Ge40'54" Tau 5,44' 4h55m03s 28n22 Bienor = 22Pi05'53" Psc 5,42' 23h21m59s 2n06 Thereus = 22Ar01'19" Psc -0,34' 1h22m18s 8n03 Varuna = 15Ca26'13" Gem 2,44' 7h08m24s 25n16 Chaos = 5Ge01'13" Tau 3,26' 4h09m36s 24n31 Radamantu = 13Li33'36" Vir -0,31' 12h49m06s 5s50 Deucalion = 4Sc03'59" Vir 0,07' 14h07m25s 12s46 Huya = 4Sc22'51" Vir 10,47' 14h22m57s 2s49 Ixion = 12Sa03'26" Oph 0,06' 16h42m18s 22s09 Quaoar = 16Sa06'10" Oph 7,14' 17h02m44s 15s32 Sedna = 18Ta36'49" Cet -11,53' 3h17m42s 5n55 Orcus = 27Le09'52" Hya -18,04' 9h33m02s 4s33 Tuesday Blog Preview Here's the chart I'll be covering in Tuesday's daily edition of Planet Waves. It's the Sun-Neptune conjunction from Feb. 6 (what I'm calling the Parallel Worlds Alignment), a continuation of Monday's discussion. http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=sun_conj_nep e Jan. 16 | The Parallel Worlds Aspect NOW, I have no clue what it all means; I'm figuring this stuff out just like you are. However, we are fast approaching a very interesting astrological time-space in the form of the Parallel Worlds aspect. This does not come out of an astrology dictionary; I gave it its name. First let's get a sense of it physically, and take it one step at a time and get a sense of what's developing. Last autumn, I was hunting around the new Raphael's Ephemeris, just getting started on the 2006 annual horoscope, which at that point did not have a title. I happened to notice that around Feb. 2 (Groundhog Day, Candlemas, Imbolc, Midwinter Holiday or the Purification of the Blessed Virgin -- lots of parallel holidays in one), there were also a lot of parallel aspects forming. A parallel is an aspect by declination, rather than longitude. When we look at an astrology chart, it's like watching the planets go around a clock. That is longitude. And at times, they make aspects. When you get a configuration like 3 o'clock, with the hands at 90 degrees, that's a square. Noon is like a conjunction. We're all familiar with these, more or less. But now imagine looking at the clock sideways, and imaging that the hands, in addition to going around, also cycle above and below above the clock face. That's declination -- how the planets orbit the Earth. If you extend the equator out into space, and imagine a flat plane, the planets are constantly bobbing above and below this level. This plane aligned with the equator is called the "celestial equator." This would look a lot like Saturn's rings: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010307.html Declination is the distance of a planet above or below the celestial equator. When two planets are on the same level above or below the celestial equator, that's called a "parallel" aspect. If you look up a parallel in an astrology book to find out what it "means," you may read something like, "This aspect is considered to have the power of a conjunction, but is given a much smaller orb, about one degree." I don't think it's so simple; a parallel is on a different dimension of reality, quite literally. It may be like a conjunction in some respects -- but the feeling of causality; the sense of what's available; the way the energy is concentrated; and the idea of a LEVEL (rather than a DIRECTION) are all entirely different than the focused, potent force of the conjunction. Take a look at this chart, which is an aspectarian for the moment of the Sun-Neptune conjunction. This is a different kind of chart than you may be used to seeing; it's square. It gives all the angles between the major planets, asteroids and Chiron. Above the diagonal are the conventional aspects; below are the parallels. There are 15 of them shown. http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=parallel_worlds_aspect Just consider the right-hand column: everything that aligns with the Sun. Going down the list, we have Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto. Since the Sun is parallel all those planets at once, the implication is that they are ALL in one giant parallel aspect. Hmm? At the same time, the Sun is making an exact conjunction to Neptune and a close square to Jupiter. So these two Pisces planets in aspect to the Sun are like the bridge that crosses between one dimension of reality and another; between the ordinary world of things going around and around, and the unusual world of a lot of planets vibrating on one level of reality. In addition, we are at a seasonal shift as well -- the midpoint between an equinox and solstice, which brings in another dimensional measurement. It's one of those "almost everything is going off at once" moments -- but the energy is dominantly Sun-Neptune in Aquarius: there is a visioning process involved. On the level of individual choice, there is a highly unusual intersection or crossroads that becomes available IF we are able to stay clear on the vibe of Neptune, which is not so easy -- the signal is usually jammed by television, deception and alcohol. The way to tune into Neptune with more clarity is through your dreams, your imagination, your artwork, your journaling or creative writing...your intuition...and with a little help from divination, such as cards, runes, astrology or whatever you like. It's a time to look for what seem like subtle choices now that won't seem so subtle in hindsight. This alignment is forming now...and gradually coming into focus over about the next two-plus weeks. Let the images form and let them help you decide where you're taking your life. More tomorrow. And -- since I'm just as new at you at deciphering a "grand parallel" aspect -- I would love to hear your ideas and interpretations, some of which I'll quote here. Preview from Monday blog... HERE'S a chart I'll be writing about quite a lot in the next three weeks: the Parallel Worlds aspect. There's a short caption on the chart...but a lot more to talk about. And I am definitely interested in your impressions. This is the astrology we're rapidly moving toward, which occurs just at the Midwinter point -- when the Sun is halfway between the Solstice and the Equinox. http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=parallel_worlds_aspect PS, note that a whole bunch of excellent articles have recently come down the pike on Political Waves list, linked here -- including an unbelievable one on the cost of the war in Iraq. Consider, if you would: Astoundingly, U.S. military spending in 2006 will equal the rest of the world's total combined military expenditures. I just saw an ad for the new, $115-million F-22 Raptor stealth fighter, trumpeting how its radar can "intercept communications of insurgents." Using a $115-million aircraft to listen to cellphone calls by a bunch of jihadis in Waziristan staggers the imagination. http://planetwaves.info/polwaves.php Research Request IN CASE there is a quantum physics freak in the reading audience: a few years ago, one of the big scientific journals ran an article about how the universe is so big, there basically has to be another one of you somewhere. Quantum laws state a certain probability of that being true; and then the size of the universe essentially exceeds the probability factor of those laws and says not only that it can be true, but that it must be true. Does anyone remember this article, and better still, have a link to it -- and do you have any familiarity with the mathematics or physics of the quantum principles involved? If so, please drop me a note at francis@planetwaves.net. Thank you! e Jan. 14 | Blog
Break
To daily visitors -- I'll be taking a little blog break this weekend and giving my mind a rest from writing. We've got a nice collection of Venus images to share with you over the next couple of days in honor of the Venus-Sun conjunction, so check back for visual bonbons. Unless Dick Cheney steps up to the podium to reveal that he is in fact a reptilian brother from another planet, I'll catch you Monday. Meanwhile, Political Waves and Psychsound have been superb reading the past week, with Steve covering the Alito hearings and the issue of a 5-4 Supreme Court, and Jude taking a look at the revelation that George W. Bush has indeed issued a set of executive orders allowing him to dream that he can suspend constitutional rights and essentially take over the whole show. Have fun, pay attention... e PS, if anyone has experience setting up streaming audio and/or podcasting, would you please drop me a note at francis@planetwaves.net? Thank you! Jan. 13 | Goddess Country Here is today's article portion of Planet Waves Weekly. The full edition with the weekly horoscopes went out to subscribers earlier today. OVERNIGHT Friday to Saturday in the States (and at 9:48 am Saturday in London) is the Cancer Full Moon. When the Sun and Moon are in opposite signs, this is the Full Moon. Sure as the Lord made little green men, the Full Moon involves a polarity of the zodiac. We are now toward the end of the Sun's journey through Capricorn, the 10th sign; the Moon is now in Cancer; when the two make an exact opposition, or 180 degree aspect, that is the moment of the Full Moon. Full Moons have a number of properties; they are the essence of full polarity. Differences can be seen and felt; deadlocks can just slip away; this-a-way and that-a-way become more obvious. People do tend to get wiggy; if they are not aware they are responding to the natural environment, you can be. The Cancer Full Moon places the Moon in her home sign, offering her greatest light. We can surely accept this as a gift of nurturing, nourishment, caring for our fellow humans and critters, and living in a spirit of compassion and peace. We all have some of what the people around us need. If we all shared a little more, there would be a lot less lack and deprivation around us. Under the light of the Cancer Full Moon, I would invite you to offer what you can to those who you see really need it. Moon in Cancer is cozy, strong, aware and takes initiative. But due to another factor, we have one of the big-time Goddess Loving Full Moons of the year. Venus Conjunction Involved What's interesting and a bit unique about this lunar event is that about ten hours earlier, Venus and the Sun make an exact alignment. Venus is now passing between the Sun and the Earth, which is called "Venus retrograde." Venus moves faster than the Earth, and every now and then it "laps" the Earth and passes us on the inside curve (about once per 18 months). That's what it's doing now. And once during this part of the cycle, it aligns directly with the Sun, which is called a conjunction. Because Venus is "inside," between the Sun and Earth, this is called the "interior conjunction." It used to be called the "inferior conjunction" because it was allegedly inferior to the superior conjunction, but a couple of years ago, a colleague and I decided to change the name, so now it has a more helpful and less derogatory term. The other kind of conjunction is the "exterior conjunction," when Venus is on the other side of the Sun (outside of the space between the Sun and the Earth); this used to be called the "superior conjunction." The name change is not mere geopolitical correctness; it helps when the names of things, particularly descriptive terms, both describe something about them and do not give misleading information -- as I am certain "inferior" and "superior" do mislead. Indeed, it would be difficult to think of a more meaningful inner planet event than a Venus Transit of the Sun, which under the old language would have been described as less-than-something. Anyway, the most recent prior interior conjunction was the Venus Transit of the Sun of June 2004. That was an interior conjunction where Venus crossed the disk of the Sun exactly, which it does on an odd cycle that can skip a century and then show up eight years later, which it does this time round, in June 2012 -- just in time for the last six months of the baktun and 13-baktun grouping in the Mayan calendar (i.e., the "end" of the calendar). The Mayans were fascinated by the cycles of Venus, which is a planetary cycle that is easy to see and easy to reckon, and thus could be calculated with no technology other than basic observation and mathematics. So the current Full Moon has a Mayan flavor; imagine a nice, perfectly round, perfectly toasted corn tortilla. Venus Retrograde in Capricorn In traditional astrology, Venus rules two signs: Taurus and Libra. Taurus is an earthy sign and Libra is a cardinal sign. Capricorn is both at once: a cardinal and earthy sign. One would think that Venus would be very happy in this sign, and surely for many people she must be. But Venus represents values and their expression. There is the tendency of Capricorn to hold a past orientation, and to cling to traditions beyond their useful term of service. The result of Capricorn Venus is sometimes a kind of reticence to feel too much, do too much exploration, or declare oneself too different -- even though one may be quite different. Venus in Capricorn says: don't fold up your clothes before having sex. My take on the Venus retrograde in Capricorn is that for many people, as a general transit we're all getting somewhere, it represents an exploration of past values as they affect us today. Prudery, repression, denial of erotic feelings and desires, and worse, squeamishness with discussing matters of an erotic, amorous or affectionate nature, are all alive and well today. Sex is one of those subjects where you give someone a tiny little bit information and they really think they know a lot. The thing is, we would know a lot, if we would listen to our bodies, which we are trained to steadfastly NOT do. We are living in a kind of modern Victorian Age. We believe there is such a thing as purity when in truth much of society is going in every other direction; but there is this concept that some people (young ones, mainly) are expected to live up to, and expect themselves to live up to. Some fall for it. Some know it's ridiculous and do whatever they want. And some get their heads seriously screwed up with a kind of inner conflict that the human race should have left behind a LONG time ago. And many get pregnant in the process...because they were misinformed in school. Regressive attitudes are being taught in schools as "abstinence only sex education" (which is a little like saying "air-only culinary education" -- but hey, it's low carb!). And not just regressive: blatantly false -- it is being taught in schools (for example) that condoms don't help stop or slow the spread of STDs, they don't really help prevent pregnancy, and adolescents with raging hormones are expected to sign an "abstinence pledge" (i.e., promising strict abstinence until heterosexual marriage). This is just simply mean. The result, according to a federal study, is that the onset of sex is delayed by just a few months and then when it does happen, it's less likely to involve condoms or other birth control. And it's an extremely expensive educational policy that's being proliferated, at least in part, by a bunch of Pluto in Leo baby boomer politicians and church ladies, many of whom partied their way through the 1970s "me generation" era of sex, drugs and rock and roll. Now it's time for saintliness -- for other people! I could also see Abstinence Only being a genuinely twisted manifestation of Pluto in Virgo (which would be in the charts of most adults born after 1958). Virgo certainly does have an emphasis on purity (which takes many forms) and Pluto certainly has an obsessive tendency. I think maybe it's time to round up the charts of the Abstinence Only gurus and see what's going on there. In any event, Venus is retrograde in Capricorn and is about to come to her big peak today, and she is talking: the message is: look at old values; dust off the antiques and see if you want them; take the ones you don't want to the shop and collect a few quid; look at power dynamics involving sex, particularly the ones you were taught "unconsciously" by your parents and grandparents and the minister and the anti-sex, anti-queer Boy Scouts and the old boyfriend who was grossed out by your pussy; ask if you really want them; if you don't, make a decision to get RID of them; and definitely check out guilt patterns and observe them moving around in yourself and your relationships. Guilt is contagious. Fortunately, so is love. The discussion of erotic reality needs to begin with the statement, "Sex is a natural part of life. Sexual desire is natural and healthy." We would do well to add, "Sex is a community subject because we're all connected and it involves all of us. We need to learn how to discuss this, especially with our children and our intimate partners." And finally, "When sex happens, there is always an exchange of some kind. What exactly do you want to give and receive in that experience?" Card from the Voyager Tarot: XXI - Universe. --- Here is a Planet Waves Weekly from a couple of years ago that covers Abstinence Only Sex Education: http://planetwavesweekly.com/2003/senators_pubes.html Note, I've just read that Marge Piercy has a new historical novel out that covers the life of Victoria Woodhull. Jan. 13 | Just a question... STILL decompressing from Parallel Worlds...that was quite a trip, with a long push from Thanksgiving through this past Monday morning. Now it's the Fool Moon...Moon in Cancer, just squared the Aries Point, just squared the degree of the March 29 eclipse...and about to make an interesting configuration wherein the Moon opposes both the Sun and Venus simultaneously. When I am actually awake and functioning tomorrow, I'll post that chart using a new Chart Posting Gizmo that mysteriously sprouted out in the back yard. Going into a Senate confirmation hearing on Samuel Alito will be an interesting experiment in the deadlock breaking power of Full Moons. One of the issues that came up was wiretapping. I just watched some interesting video of New York Senator Charles Schumer questioning Alito on whether if, in the event that Bush's tapping of phones and emails is held to be constitutional, that means that entering homes and searching them without a warrant is also constitutional. Alito said he didn't know; it could work out any way. Have you ever heard of the 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution? It's part of what's called the Bill of Rights. What do you think? It reads, in its entirety: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Just a reminder... Steve Bergstein, a constitutional attorney in New York, is providing daily coverage of the Alito confirmation hearings in his Psychsound blog. That's listed continuously from the Planet Waves home page, from the Friends page, and for convenience, from this link as well. It's worth checking out. Steve is a former journalist and editor who went to law school and pursued his passion for constitutional law. The world needs more people like that and we're fortunate to have one of them contributing to Planet Waves. http://planetwaves.info/blog2.html e Jan. 11 | Kind of not ignoring the news WELL, OKAY the digital chip card you stick inside a cable box in France ran out and left me high and dry without BBC World, just as I was wrapping up Parallel W. So this has kept me slightly out of the loop, if you don't count reading Psychsound, Political Waves and seeing truthout emails come floating in all day. And I have noticed something, which is that there really is a discussion about Samuel Alito going on. This is good. There cannot be too much discussion. We are talking about THE swing vote that shifts the United States Supreme Court one way or the other, or that leaves it pretty neutral, about where it is now. Neutral is not really a possibility these days. Let me put it this way. Getting this Supreme Court is the last hurrah of the Neocon PNAC Christian Right movement we've been seeing gain momentum the past five or so years. The same political philosophy that has landed a lot of people under criminal indictment. Even if the Bush administration croaks an early death, choked in its own failures and scandals, this viewpoint will get the last laugh every time a Supreme Court decision comes out. The Agenda -- and there is an agenda, which is fear-based, backward-looking responses to EVERYTHING -- will be in place. Now I'm not sayin' that Jesus can't cure little Sammy of his hurts. But what I am saying is, we better start acting like it's our government and our country and our world before it ain't any more. Please do take a look at some of this coverage, particularly a letter written by Senator Ed Kenndey about where this guy really stands on issues that you might think are pretty important [posted at very end]. A lot is documented about him; many of his views are on paper and belie his "I promise to follow the law" rhetoric. A president, no matter how good or bad, gets out in so many years. When a person holds a job with limited time office, the end is always looming, and if you fuck up you can get dumped in the next election. Supreme Court justices are appointed for life, and they can influence the direction of the court and therefore the nation for generations. Once they get out, if we want things back the other way, it can take many years, if it happens at all. Think Pholus in Sagittarius: This is to say, small cause: one guy appointed to a job; big effect; based on what we know, which is all we know, he tips the vote of the court in the direction against individual rights, against privacy, against smaller entitles (people, women, the poor, workers, the planet) in favor of bigger ones (multinationals, universities, the church and government itself). Do you care? I thought so. Basically, to put it in crude terms, Sam Alito may be getting appointed "god." One guy who decides for the rest of us what is right and what is wrong; who you did not vote for; appointed by a guy who hacked the vote; this is not representative government. And it is not representative of mainstream opinion, either. Yes, I think most of America is conservative, and I think that for most people, that means minding their own business and letting you mind yours. It is a little mob of loud-mouths who are at the moment capitalizing on a lot of fear they helped create, using that climate to stuff in a national agenda that has nothing to do with reality; nothing to do with anything except fear, which is control, and contempt for life. Now, I'm not supposed to sit here and cry wolf as Mr. Planet Waves. I am also an optimist. I am merely saying pay attention, because we are at a moment of reckoning even though it might not really look like one. Somebody is going to be awarded the deciding seat on the Supreme Court, which is now up for grabs on the messy floor of the U.S. Senate. This Senate is itself shaking from the Abramoff influence-peddling deal, i.e., a very big bribery scandal. And whoever the Senate approves is going to be an important person in our lives, whether we know him or not, have heard of him or not, like him or not, Alito or not. Man, I feel like a bearded rabble rouser sanding on top of a picnic table in my hiking boots speaking on that verge of yelling in a clear voice into a bullhorn to a mob of people who care and I'm saying check it out, people, get it. So, small cause, you and me, big effect: we tell the Senate what we think. Today I'm going to call the offices of a eight senators of every state I've lived in: New York, New Jersey, Florida and Washington, and when the person answers the phone, if you are so inclined, say: Vote NO on Alito. Sending emails is NOT enough! But please send a bunch of those too while you're at it. Senator Kennedy's letter to the
Washington Post on Sam Alito would curdle milk
Jan. 10 | Monthly horoscopes posted, and... MONTHLY horoscopes are updated, starring Fais Dodo on PW Monthly page, and with Inner Space "Decoroscope" (yes, I have written a decorating horoscope) featuring Buddy and Aspen. Thanks for your patience, everyone, while we paused free horoscopes in honor of finishing Parallel Worlds. And to our readers who sent in pictures of their beloved dogs for our pages this month, I've loved every single one of them -- though we could only use four of them. Perhaps we'll use more during the Year of the Dog. Remember, the beautiful Parallel Worlds project, completed over the past four months by 21 different writers, artists and programmers from around the world and featuring full length sign write-ups (more than 2,000 words per sign), is included with all subscriptions to Planet Waves Weekly. We have created a publication designed to satisfy your astrological cravings, fulfill your thirst for knowledge, expand your creative horizons, get your juices flowing and most of all, get your attention with something really good that will last you for months. Then we'll be following up with our weekly newsletter, birthday reports and horoscope. It's easy to subscribe to Planet Waves Weekly, it's reasonably priced, we offer discounts and comps if you need them, you can order by phone if you don't like making purchases on the Net, so get with it! Go for it! No excuses left! -------------- ...and last but not least I must thank Jessica Keet, our horoscope proofreader and distributor at Planet Waves, who proofread 25,000 words of annual horoscopes not once but twice on Sunday as we went to press with Parallel Worlds. Most of the people who work at Planet Waves are freelance whatevers (editor, in the case of Jessica; designer, in the case of Deirdre, and lots of others) and if you want to contact any of them, please write to me. ...and lastest but not leastest, thank you to my neighbors who have endured my playing U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind at floor-shaking volumes over and over again for the past week. Jan. 10 | A bit about the Parallel Worlds cover PARALLEL WORLDS by Deirdre Tanton (shown on main homepage) is a Photoshop collage. We designed it together over the course of about a month; she did the graphic work on a Mac Powerbook. She started with Venus and added the fanned out cards, which are actually playing cards. We then went back and forth, adding and modifying elements from many different sources, until, about 14 editions later, we had the final one. However, we had a resolution problem -- we could not make the piece large (and clear at the same time) because a few of the elements were low-resolution. So she found high-res versions of those bits and basically stared over at the end, using version 14 or so as the model. The finished edition is composed of 34 layers in Photoshop. We'll soon be posting high-resolution copies of this image, as well as the interior contents page image to the Parallel Worlds site, which you'll be able to download. Monthly Horoscopes & Alito Confirmation Hearing Coverage FOR THOSE readers looking for your regular January monthly horoscope, for now I suggest you get it over at Chronogram.com, where the column originates in New York. We'll have it posted to our own site soon, but the URL is: http://www.chronogram.com/issue/2006/01/planetwaves/horoscopes.php Note, also, that in his Psychsound blog, civil rights lawyer Steve Bergstein is covering the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. He says this will be daily coverage. Alito is poised to become the new "swing vote" on the court, but unlike Sandra Day O'Connor, it appears he only swings in one direction. Jan. 9 | Parallel Worlds PARALLEL WORLDS, the 2006 annual edition of Planet Waves, is ready and posted. Please check your inbox for the keyword shortly. This project covers not just astrology, but a number of rather pressing issues of our day: the history and treatment of Avian Influenza, for example, and the political situation in the United States (including astrological). In two different articles, we have taken a look at the state of water on Earth, and the oil supply. Some of these articles have taken the writers months to prepare. There are three additional "resource areas" with dozens of researched links that are designed to facilitate research on several subjects where it's difficult to get a straight story: Avian Influenza, the Sept. 11 attacks, and water safety and environmental concerns. In addition, many of the articles (such as the one on Influenza and Homeopathy) contain additional resources. Additional info above. Thanks for your patience. Jan. 7 | Pause Dear Readers: The Parallel Worlds annual edition project, which has taken about 20 people four months to develop -- is done (except for my horoscopes). I am fairly well along, but there is still some distance to cover. So, I'm going to pause in all other aspects of Planet Waves, including blogging, cover photo changes (so daily visitors will be looking at the piano for a little while), and so on -- until I am finished with this central aspect of the project; and that will happen when it happens. I feel it's necessary to finish at a measured pace, so that's what I'm doing. I recognize there is big world news developing -- and likely to be more on Sunday. Jude will keep Political Waves blogs going (see main cover page, http://PlanetWaves.net ), and Steve is writing Psychsound, ongoing. Parallel Worlds is a subscriber service; everyone who receives Planet Waves Weekly will get the keyword. To find out more, have a lo Archives 2006: December 1 to January 4 Archives 2005: Dec. 29 to Feb. 7 | Feb. 8 to March 15 | March 16 to April 25 | April 26 to May 25 | May 26 to July 17 | July 18 to August 9 | August 10 to September 19 | September 21 to October 19 | October 22 to December 1 Archives 2004: Oct. 25 to Nov. 9 | Nov. 10 to 23 | Nov. 24 to Dec. 28 |