Planet Waves by Eric Francis

Rasboras, or harlequin fishes. They like a slightly acidic pH (6.5-7.0), a dark bottom, real plants and bubbles to play in all day. They live wild in warm Asian climates like Vietnam.

Now is the time for all good men
to come to the aid of their country.
By Eric Francis | Feb. 21, 2002

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Frustrnation: Planet Waves Essay

Terra

In case you can't feel it, the planets are on the move. Retrograde after retrograde is ending, and the Moon is waxing toward full. It is Pisces time, time's journey through the end of winter (here up in the Northern hemisphere -- it is about to be Autumn down under) and we begin to emerge from our long inward journey, out into the world of light and life and growth. I am wondering what I can do to slow the pace of things, to appreciate the details more, to have more free hours in the day. Well, I'm taking a week off from astrology for my birthday in early March, pondering a place to visit to have some fun. I've rarely felt a stronger impulse to get my life organized, to get the help I need, and to balance my need to work and my desire to play. Full Moons are very good at resolving deadlocks, blocks and impasses. One is approaching in less than a week, the last one of the astrological year (Pisces is the last sign). We can expect to see some interesting developments from last week's more than interesting New Moon, where and when the seeds were planted. As for those harlequins (above), lots of them now live in my house. They are little guys, by the way, about 3/4 of an inch long.

Sign dates below are approximate. They now overlap by one day. The date and time of the Sun's ingress to the new sign changes a little each year, so please check with an astrologer if you want the exact position of your Sun, and while you're at it, your rising sign -- this horoscope is written for both your Sun and rising signs. If you find that some other sign's interpretations work for you, then go for it.

Astrology Readings on CD by Eric Francis

And a question: Does anyone in Internet land have experience with a database called ACCESS, particularly training people in ACCESS? Please email Angela@PlanetWaves.net. Thank you!

Aries (March 20-April 21)
Before Mars changes signs early next month, moving from Aries to Taurus, you have a few more projects to get moving. Astrology textbooks say that Aries folks are great at starting things but not so great at finishing them; whether both halves of this are true, the first half definitely is on point, so you get to play your strong suit now. Remember, what you are doing is planting seeds for the future. The strong emphasis in the current sky on Pisces means that you are in one of your richest visionary moments of the whole year. Remember that everything in this world starts with an idea. Action is important, but ideas come first.

Taurus (April 21-May 20)
With Venus and the Sun now making their way across Pisces and Mercury on the way, you have enormous support available to you from your friends, if you will ask for it. Your ruling planet moving through this sign also speaks about the rewards of your career, which are coming ripe. The important thing is that you be able to discern the difference between "work" and "career." There is a vast difference. Work is what you do for someone else. Career is what you do for the community, for your culture, and ultimately, to give the gift of yourself to the world. It is a greater gift to give, and there are greater rewards to receive.

Gemini (May 20-June 21)
With Mercury getting ready to cross over Neptune's lair for the third time in recent months, you're finally at reaching point of clarity on one particular issue. The thing with Neptune is that we don't usually know that it's working; it sneaks up on us, whether its influence is "negative" or "positive." It is just usually invisible. So the best advice astrology can offer you is to look for the invisible influences working in your life, the thoughts you don't know you're thinking, and the ideas you don't know that you believe. In any case, next week's Virgo full moon is likely to help you clarify a number of important issues, particularly work-related ones.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)
I know you are thinking thoughts of far away places you'd rather be, but your life would be easier if you remembered that you actually do have enough freedom of mobility to get to one or more of them. This is not a time to be thinking about heavy obligations, but rather a time to be enjoying life. There is plenty of opportunity for responsibility in this world, and though we live surrounded by "labor saving devices" we always tend to be working. But you'll have a better sense of how much is really possible when Jupiter, now crossing your sign, returns to direct motion in a week or so.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 22)
Your true self value is not the sum of all the details of your talents, skills and ideas. Your self value is the blessing of life that gives you the privilege of thinking, feeling and acting in the world. It's more often true than not that you don't feel recognized or appreciated for who you really are, but an upcoming turning point will more than compensate for any losses or difficulties in recent times. It would help if you banished the thought from your mind that you are in some way undeserving of what you feel you want or need, or to be known, felt and loved for who you know, in your heart, that you are.

Virgo (Aug. 22-Sep. 22)
Next week's annual Full Moon in your birth sign will help break a long-standing impasse in your personal life. If the music of the spheres plays out anything like the notes are written on the page, you're in for a surprise when you notice how fast things can change for the better. Your part in the deal is just a little more of the patience you're probably not so famous for, but know you can muster when you need to. There is a real sense of things needing to come ripe, or more literally, of the planets needing to align. Pay close attention to your dreams in the early part of the week (Sunday through Tuesday) for clues.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)
The Sun's dynamic square to Saturn in the coming days may be pushing you to work harder than you really need to toward attaining one particular ideal. No doubt, this particular aspect (Sun in Pisces square Saturn in Gemini) will provide some serious motivation and a sense of importance of what you're now doing. The idea is to apply your effort wisely, however, and that means making choices. The wider your perspective, the more intelligent will be your decisions, so take a step back and look at the biggest picture you can see.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
With the Venus and the Sun moving through the juiciest, romanticest and creativest angle of your solar chart, you are probably feeling springtime's arrival a little early, at the same time, you're feeling certain limits on your ability to express yourself. I was going to write "natural limits" but then I was not so sure. Some limits are natural and others are artificial. The natural ones, at least, we can write off as things like landscapes, mountain ranges and geographic distance. The artificial ones are more like ideas we put in the way of what we want. It's a fine time to work through that particular kind of obstruction.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22)
The approaching Full Moon shines brightly in the career and reputation aspect of your chart, but the Sun, which is providing the light, is in the hearth and home dimension. This is a memo in astrobabble reminding you that no matter how important the affairs of the world are, your real source of strength is your inner life. Now is the time to work out a long-needed balance between what you feel, and what you do; between who you are inside, and who you are on the outside. There is no need for a lot of divergence, just conscious equilibrium. Easy does it, and it will work its way into your life.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
If these planets (Chiron's somewhat tense angle to Saturn, and minor planet Vesta creeping up on Saturn, in your sixth house of doing everything yourself) mean anything, you are working a bit too hard, and playing a bit too meekly. If you go through your life and make a list of everything you want to do but don't because you feel a little guilty, and make another list of everything you are doing because you feel a bit guilty, and a third list of everything you're doing because you're supposed to do it, you will see plenty of room for adjustment. Then all you have to do is make the adjustments. But please, don't do it because you feel guilty, do it because you can.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
Is the fog lifting, or is it getting thicker? Is the fog in your mind, or is it blowing in from over the water? Or is it rain? Or is it dusk? Or is this all a dream? If you are sleeping, it's a dream, and if you're awake, it's an interesting stretch of the inner journey during which the normal rules of thought and reality are suspended, and the principles of quantum physics, of poets and of shamans are invoked. In other words, your week will go a lot easier if you don't attempt to apply any rational or linear thought to your reality, but instead, just observe and interpret the pictures you see in a gentle, flowing way.

Pisces (Feb. 19-Mar. 20)
Okay, so, what advice do I need to give myself here? I am acutely aware that there are no guarantees, even though the planets look really, really good. In my own life, my ability to have faith is somewhat linked to how good I feel, and that seems to have a lot more sway over how people treat me than anything that's going on with them. I don't want to appoint myself King of the Universe, but it seems that my thoughts are rather influential in the affairs of my world, which can be annoying because it usually feels like I can't be so influential in the process of my thoughts. But as I have already said, the stars are looking good, Venus and the Sun shine on us, and the fast-approaching Virgo Mull Moon might be just what it takes to shake the tree of life. I choose faith, and, okay, I'll do my best to be patient with the people in my life.

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Space graphic above from the Rosette Nebula in Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Sulfur.
Credit: T. A. Rector, B. Wolpa, M. Hanna. Planet Waves logo by Eric, and Via Davis.