The Fulcrum | A short Planet Waves essay from the archives (1999) Every day, humanity passes gateways into the future. Most of the time, we hear about the scary ones: species dying off that will never return; environmental disasters that can never truly be cleaned up; laws passed that will create generations of social regression; technological breakthroughs in fields like biotech that can never be reversed, and that threaten to lead humanity down some very dark roads. I believe we must pay attention to those kinds of thresholds, and do what we can about them, but at the moment there is a far more intriguing issue at hand. By now, you've probably heard about the total eclipse of the Sun on August 11th. This is a rare and beautiful astrological event, as unique as the appearance of a brilliant comet, but far more personal and tangible in its meaning. The solar eclipse is in the sign Leo, the sign of the Sun itself, but Taurus, Scorpio and Aquarius—the “fixed signs”—are very much involved. Speculation is running wild in the astrological community about what this eclipse means, with some suggesting that disaster is imminent, and others claiming that it’s about a planetary birthing and a dawn of consciousness. I believe the reality is that this eclipse represents a personal choice between the two, and that our personal choices will add up to a collective decision that will pour into the future. Normally, we are never given the opportunity to cast a vote about the fate of the Earth. We are told that we are powerless and meaningless, and that we just better work at personal survival (or greed) and forget the larger questions. Never was this cynical viewpoint more dangerous. Choice is at hand, and we will live with the consequences of our decisions for a long time to come. We live in a very special age in history—with its exceedingly rapid technological progress, with its seeming state of mass-hypnosis and mass-suicide, and yet with some unknown percentage of the human family experimenting with, or succeeding at, realizing its full potential. I believe we stand at a fulcrum point. The fulcrum is the pivotal instant of change that is magnified by time and space. It is the telescope that moves a millimeter on Earth and sees a difference in the heavens that can be expressed in light years. It is the seed we plant that cultivates through the ages, becoming something much larger in the future. At this fulcrum, everything we say, think and do is, I believe, entered into the long-term growth process of the planet, and has the potential to become greatly magnified in the times to come. So our choices, our ideas, our statements and especially our actions are truly vital right now, more than ever before. In the simplest terms, our choice is between whether we want to live a reality that is based on love, or one that is based on fear. Many of you who are reading this have spent countless hours in workshops, seminars and involved in spiritual devotions designed to create some kind of enlightenment or change in your life. But what is that change? And how do you know you are really there? It comes down to how we relate to fear. If you are still afraid, no matter how much work you have done on yourself in the past, you’re living in a state of limitation. You’ll know you’re afraid if you worry a lot, if you’re scared of people, and if you have a hard time surrendering to the future and your own highest potential (which are the same thing). Now, right now, you have a chance—a rare, brilliant and very potent opportunity—to take a quantum leap forward. You and only you have the power to let this be real in your own life, and to make your singular, authentic contribution to the fate of the Earth. And you have it right now. If there was ever a month when all the signs of the horoscope related to all people, this is the one. We all live in one universe. At the very least, the Leo horoscope is collective in nature, and Taurus, Scorpio and Aquarius will be meaningful to many of you as well. On this note, I would urge you to allow life itself—far more than your astrology—to be meaningful right now. Do what you must to let this moment be real. Because we are going forward, and we’re not going back. —ERIC FRANCIS Berkeley, California, July 1999