| Mercury-Neptune Dreams The Virgo Full Moon is Wednesday, the 27th of February, at 1:17 am PST and 4:17 am EST, in the 9th degree of Virgo, exactly square Saturn. Mercury leaves what is called the shadow phase (transiting beyond any of the the degrees involved in the last retrograde) at the same time, ending one of the more psychologically confusing (for many) such events in recent seasons. This probably involved Mercury's three-time conjunction to Neptune, which occurred on Jan. 9, Jan. 26, and finally on February 24. With this series of events we were dealing with the meeting of energies from very different levels of awareness. Mercury and Neptune work in what you might call completely opposite ways. Mercury works quickly and consciously; Neptune works invisibly and over vast periods of time, doing its work silently, but never, ever relenting. The relationship is akin to that between the conscious and 'subconscious' minds, the waking world and the dreaming world, for example. We have, with this retrograde, experienced three complete intersections between these realms, which is more or less comfortable, depending on who you are and what your taste in, well, I was about to say 'drugs' and that may still be the right word, but we could also add religion, mysticism, meditation, film or theater (etc.), is. <> A brief plug for the Conversations series, which continues Thursday night. This is a chance to get together in real-time with people who read this web site, and talk about your experiences of life, and to have a real discussion of astrology with me and some of my friends whose astrological imaginations are pretty fine. It costs a small fraction of an astrological session (and scholarships are available) but is nicely fulfilling because of the contact with people who you will discover have a lot in common with yourself. Last week's call was co-hosted by Planet Waves writer Chris Grosso and myself and was a lot of fun. It consisted of Chris and I and a bunch of women having a real talk about relationships and growing up. Men, you're missing out! Some real babes read this website. <> My birthday is coming up in about a week, and I am giving myself a few creative gifts -- one is a week off from business-as-usual, which keeps me fresh (I will probably pre-write a horoscope, just because I like to). Another is delving into a musical collaboration with a friend named Bosch, who once turned one of my astrological readings into a song called Updraft. Another is that I am gearing up, for the first time in years, to get this column out to a wider audience, and hence, make it into a professional gig (believe it or not, the weekly horoscope is 100% amateur at this point, despite its half-million hits this year alone!). I have long experimented with the belief that if I do a good job, 'things will just happen'. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to work quite that way, and behind every professional success there is a success story that involves a serious effort, or a serious connection, into the world of corporate media. There are some important ways in which I would benefit from the support from my readers in this game, and if you are interested, you may write to me here. Please include your phone numbers, and thank you for all your loving support, your letters, your gifts and your cosmic friendship. <> From Eric and friends (the Vision List, the University of the Universe, and the rasporas, the red and blue tetras, the bala sharks, the silver dollars, the catfish, and of course, the nutty danios, happy Fool Moon. | 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 | | Aries (March 20-April 21) | | A shift in strategy may be necessary, an adjustment in the way you use your power. Your plan so far has worked well, but I suggest the change in tactics to match an approaching change in climate. Consider that it's time to let people and things come to you instead of you going to them. This may be an odd adjustment, but with Mars about to leave your sign and Venus on its way in, your power of attraction is a lot more potent than your power of assertion -- and it will only be more so as these last weeks of winter unfold. The coming few days are an especially important time to be careful about going after anything too aggressively; the window for error is open a little wider than usual. | | Taurus (April 21-May 20) | | It's time you recognized just how much energy fear consumes. Take careful stock of the costs, please. But as the natural balance of your life shifts from anxiety to action, you may get your proof in those kinds of tangible, practical ways that are difficult to forget. As you start to gear your reality to achievement and desire for self-expression, it would be a fine exercise to account for where the fear that was so predominant actually went. What were you concerned about three weeks ago, and why is it of so little importance now? And I believe there is, more or less, one right answer to this question. | | Gemini (May 20-June 21) | | It's critical that you know why you are doing what you are doing, and that you assess who your efforts are serving. I don't mean to suggest that you are doing the wrong thing for the wrong people, but it's possible that your current efforts have less to do with what you really need and more to do with a larger cause that it would be wise of you to keep your eye on. This is especially true if work-related experiences are distracting you from personal relationships. Relationships, of course, are always based on availability, be it yours or someone else's. Watch for openings, and you will see them. | | Cancer (June 21-July 22) | | Most Cancers, if I may dare to offer a general interpretation, are natural-born intellects. The world may perceive you as emotional, caring and happiest with a pot of hot soup on the stove. But current aspects are highlighting just how potent your mind can be, particularly if you set out to do something like write, or tackle a difficult mental problem. The beauty is that, unlike many others who dare such endeavors, you can bring a natural compassion to your work that is easily left out of the relatively chilly world of thought and reason. I encourage you to share your words with others, and appreciate what they say. | | Leo (July 22-Aug. 22) | | In traditional astrology, this is a time when you should be doing very well economically. But to me this particular issue is worthless except in the most practical terms. The only real value to money that I see is how it reflects an inner state of self worth. And that is an area where you can make some great strides now. You have been at loggerheads with yourself over something in this department of your life. One set of beliefs or values has conflicted with another, resulting in a kind of paralysis. Now you get another chance to see how far a little compassion for yourself can get you toward peace of mind and happiness. | | Virgo (Aug. 22-Sep. 22) | | A certain situation is coming to a head. What is unfolding now has been in the making for quite some time, and if you look back, you will see that the signs have been there for a while. But there is an opportunity here, because, in a sense, you've been living in the past. In recent weeks you've made some important strides toward finding the present, but you've yet to fully enter what we can rightly call new territory. But you are very close, and you will know it when you get there. Let the mild sense of discomfort remind you that so much more is possible. | | Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) | | This week's Full Moon in the most sensitive angle of your chart may be highlighting certain fears of the unknown. I suggest you dance with them rather than keep them in the closet. What don't you know? Think about it -- it's a pretty long list. Each of those unknowns can correlate to potentials or to fears, to mysteries or a sense of loss. But I assure you that each is subject to interpretation. The more detail you apply to that interpretation, the more you seek for rational understanding of what, to most people, is completely irrational, the more you will be able to mine your fears for gems of wisdom and awareness. | | Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) | | Mars is about to enter your opposite sign, Taurus. This is not an everyday occurrence, and it can have a variety of implications. For now I want to leave the meaning to you. The last time this happened was March 2000. The time before that was May 1998. The time before that was May 1996. Is there a pattern to these seasons, particularly involving relationships? Can you check back in your diaries and see what you can piece together? The events of1998 may have been especially interesting due to other factors heightening your awareness and deepening your experiences. But the overall pattern will have implications for today. | | Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) | | One of the plights of Sagittarius goes something like this: If I commit myself to something, what about all the other possibilities that I close out of the picture? In this light, making any decision at all may feel like merely discarding much more valuable potential. But of course, if you make no decision at all, you are discarding even more of what might be by not allowing much of anything to materialize. This week's Virgo Full Moon, across the axis of your chart dealing with commitment and responsibility, urges you to remember that focus is the path to true freedom, and that the purpose of freedom is the power to choose. | | Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) | | Religion is not an exact science, and the fraud foisted on us is that it deals in precise measures of right and wrong. But tradition is not universal law, it is merely a course of conduct that has certain justifications in the past. Even if you don't consider yourself religious, it's worth remembering that we live in a kind of theocracy -- a system of government and culture in which religious symbols are endowed with mysterious power, and usually, this power involves death. But life is where it's at, right? Our lives, in any case, are usually based more on belief than on faith, and this distinction is worth making now. | | Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) | | You don't need to be among the many people in this world who has given up all of your sacred fire for the purposes of someone or something else. You are, in these months, faced with repeated options to do something known as sacrifice yourself. But at the same time, you are also faced with the option not to do so. Recent events should have clarified something related to this that was, in truth, very difficult to grasp, even though you may not have actually known what it was. That was part of the problem. More information will soon be available, like, real soon. | | Pisces (Feb. 19-Mar. 20) | | If you approach existence with a clearer picture of your strategy, life's problems will seem less like burdens and more like decisions that need to be made. The past may be weighing heavily on what is rightfully a brilliant moment in the here and now, but let that stand as a reminder that you are not in the past. No matter what tensions are confronting you now, everything is an opportunity to set yourself free, even if it's a process that must happen one step at a time. Just remember, some steps are bigger than others. | Search | Horoscopes | What's New | Index | Consultations  Space graphic above from the Rosette Nebula in Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Sulfur.
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