March 24, 2006 | An Intriguing Week TALES OF INTRIGUE are coming in from the four corners of the Planet Waves coverage area. There is an atmosphere of sudden change and transformation in the air. Layers are peeling off the Big Lie, not to mention small and medium lies; it's been quite a while since I've seen anything vague resembling this. Mercury retrograde (now stationing direct, in its phase of maximum emphasis or focus) in Pisces is proving to be a little too slick even for some masters of the game, and fresh air is competing with the fog machine. My astrological advice is to carry a little bag of sand in your pocket, and when in doubt, throw some on the floor. Have I ever mentioned that I carry a flashlight all the time? I used to carry one only at night. And I had this little joke I made up to go with it. I would say to people, "Hey, do you know why I carry a flashlight?" Nearly everyone says, um, no. Then I would say, "Because it's dark at night." I liked this joke because it feels rather existential...like, it reveals a basic property of life on Earth that many people miss and don't prepare for. However, on a number of occasions, having a flashlight in my pocket (the newer LED matrix kind, efficient and also very bright, with a slightly purple hue) has come in handy during the day. You know, like if you suddenly descend into a basement where the lights don't work and then you can actually see where you're going, or if you're trying to read a cereal box in a parking garage. A flashlight is one of my metaphors for Chiron. It allows light to be brought into dark areas, or clarity into foggy ones. Chiron is a factor in the current planetary equation because it aspects the eclipse precisely and is making many aspects to planets...giving us a good clear look into Aquarius, which has been missing for a while; and it provides us with concrete documentation of what we need to know, usually, right when we need to know it. Chiron is a factor with impeccable timing. He must have been a drummer, too. When you're thinking of Chiron, remember: there are always documents. This is a Virgo factor much of the time, and Virgo keeps neat files and thrives on the details. In essence, with so much Pisces in the air, attending to the finer points is the only way to go. And in the modern world, just about everything winds up on tape or in digital format, or both. For example, did everyone read the transcript of Helen Thomas going after George Bush earlier this week? It's super short, it's officially documented, and it's fun, in a twisted way because it involves Iraq and nothing that involves Iraq is fun, but here we can see what happens when the big cheese starts to really slip his clutch. Helen Thomas has been covering the White House since about the time of Roosevelt. She is the senior White House correspondent and probably the last real one on the job. You cannot fool her. And at age 80-something, she really doesn't care what anybody thinks, especially a little backwater twerp in a suit. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032206A.shtml Note the pressure he seems to be under. Note how he is losing his ability to Be Cool, such as he had it. What you see in this transcript is what cool covers up. I've tried a few times to explain the combination of an approaching solar eclipse combined with a Mercury station (in Pisces) and the two rulers of Pisces in a long, seemingly endless square aspect. Today is March 24, a Friday. Wednesday, March 29 is the eclipse -- and no ordinary eclipse at that. This is a total solar on the Aries Point, and we are approaching it very quickly. The fact that it occurs 8 degrees from the Aries Point doesn't matter -- that's not so far, and it's in an exact sextile to Chiron. There has been nothing like this eclipse since June 21, 2001. The week leading into a big solar eclipse can feel like gas getting compressed in a cylinder. The piston presses...and presses...and then Bang, the power is released. But the Pisces factor is putting that pressure on the truth itself. Pisces is the sign of fog, fantasy and dreams, but it's also the sign of what you might call ultimate truths, or the ones that matter. One must respect the energy of Pisces like children who grow up on the coast, and mariners, are taught to respect the ocean. A beach may be nice and cozy, with ice cream and pretty people, but the ocean is larger than you, there are tides and undertows, and suddenly you can wind up in very deep water without realizing how you got there. And a lot of people who go out in small crafts wind up in trouble with storms blowing in. Alternately, if you use Mercury, your seacraft, and you have awareness, and you look at the weather and see how many of those triangular red flags are flying, and you bring your chart, and you don't underestimate the sea, you can move around pretty smoothly. But the ocean is still the ocean. To her, you're very small, and hey, you would make good fish food. So when a lot is happening in Pisces, it's best to pay attention, watch the tide, and hey with Mercury stationing, one cannot communicate too well or too clearly; one needs to make sure one is understood, that one speaks in clear terms, and understanding what others are saying, and that agreements are clear, and mutually understood. Because they matter a lot now.