Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2006 This just in, I have somehow figured out the fact that Wednesday is the Mercury transit of the Sun. Thank Jesus and the saints this thing didn't have some huge, quasi-apocalyptic drama built up around it, such as the Cosmic Monosmurfence with 88 different web pages springing up extolling its miraculous powers. We now get to experience what a fairly unusual astronomical event feels like without a lot of prejudice heaped on it. A transit of the Sun is a precise conjunction, in that it's exact by both longitude and declination. In other words, the conjunction doesn't pass over or under the Sun (the typical kind that happens all the time) but rather it crosses directly over the disk of the Sun. Now, this ripples out on every level, pick one and it's easy to consider how; the physical-plane reality of a visible event that you can watch with your eyes as it happens always adds to the thrill and the effectiveness of a cosmic alignment. I mean, the realer, the better, however you make it real. Most people will not get to see it -- but, notice what you do today. There is likely to be something special emerging from the ordinary; something that lasts. The moment speaks for itself. I'm writing this Tuesday night (eurotime) when the poll returns are not in yet and whenever controversy has not officially begun. [As of this revision Weds. Morning eurotime, Democrats have taken back the House of Representatives and there are two cliffhangers determining the fate of the Senate. Civics lesson in upcoming Planet Waves Weekly.] The most interesting story of Tuesday night was that Chelsea Clinton could not vote in Manhattan because of a government bungle. Diebold voting machines started to look like they were growing horns and smelled of sulfur. The hard part of the past couple of weeks was facing the possibility that the demonizing, war, fear and negativity would never end; that with control of all branches of government, there would continue to be no checks whatsoever. We live in a time when one political party has turned itself into the Marlboro of the mind, made itself addictive (fear is very addictive, and guilt is worse) and convinced us it's great tasting and good for you no matter what happened to your uncle. But the force of history is gathering. Anything that spins eventually stops, unless it's a gyroscope in zero gravity. I haven't seen one of those anywhere lately. I read in an email tonight that Mercury transit of the Sun has happened 13 times the past century, so that's a bit unusual. This may be a little low of an estimate; there have been a series of Mercury transits the past seven years or so, and I need to get an accurate calculation. In any event, a transit of the Sun is spectacular to see, and Mercury never disappoints us with real-world effects of his/her movements. What is more interesting is that it occurs just as Mercury and Venus are in a close parallel, and conjunct -- so Venus is involved (though will not be making another exact transit of the Sun till 2012), as is Neptune (two planets sharing the common thread of affiliation with Pisces). Mercury, the ruler of Virgo (the sign opposite Pisces) blends right into the mix, retrograde (as usual), which seems to be the moment of an awakening. I feel it in the air, I know a lot of my friends have got here before me -- that the six-year heat wave broke at some point not long ago. No matter how rich or mad an enemy of truth we may face, what they oppose is an underground force in humanity that is a network of light weaving itself around the planet, a web of protection and integrity, interestingly, mostly conducted over a thing we call the Web, but existing on many other planes as well. We are, each of us, in minding the network, beacons for one another, and anchors for the movement of energy throughout consciousness. Each of us reaches out with thoughts, ideas and the message we convey through our own existence. -eric francis