Dear Eric,

Today as I opened your column, the word ‘holistic’ jumped off the page at me. That was precisely the word that came to mind last night as I re-read my annual horoscopes, yet again. Given your appeal today to PWAN subscribers who haven’t bought Cosmic Confidential (yet), I thought I’d write about it.

This year, I find myself referring to my annual reports about once a month, which is much more than I’ve done in the past. You had indicated when they first came out that there would be no quick fixes in this year’s annuals, no ‘this or that will happen to you in June’, and the first time I read mine I definitely did some head-scratching. I’ve had to really study these – I find myself reading each section at least twice through per sitting – but I think that’s part of their value. Like good therapy, you only make progress if you’re willing to put in some honest work of your own, but wow, what progress!

There is nothing in Cosmic Confidential that I’m going to read once and put aside forever. On the contrary, with every reading I pick up something entirely new, useful and relevant to my immediate personal (and ever shifting) circumstances. To be able to then place some new and very personal insight in the greater context of everything else being explored at PW has been helping me make more sense out of these extraordinary times and of my own situation within them. It is this, I think, that’s so special – the interplay between the personal, the societal and the cosmic. Add to that all the planetary articles in Confidential, and you’ve got a great, holistic navigation tool. Which is not a bad thing to have in this life

If my experience might help convince more folks to pony up, quote me as much or as little as you like. You deserve your many boosters, and more!

All the best,

Janet

Chiron is about to ingress Pisces for the first time since 1969, which is a powerfully spiritualizing influence. Chiron’s role is to focus that soul energy of Pisces, with a lot of practice during a long conjunction to Neptune. Both Jupiter and Uranus are about to make a sign change into Aries and form a spectacular conjunction. Closer to home, Mercury is getting ready to station retrograde in Taurus (on the 18th) and the Sun is about to enter Taurus (on the 20th).

So we have a time of anticipated movement; of big transitions and small ones; a moment of reshuffling and rearranging; of tectonic forces way beyond our control, which we can use to help shape our lives. In the midst of this, the New Moon is a time of setting intentions and focusing energy.

Any event in Aries reminds us that Mars, the ruler of Aries, is in direct motion: we need to keep remembering that, and recalling that we are still in the process of working out everything that happened during the Mars retrograde in Leo between Dec. 20 and March 10. Mars is slowly coming up to speed, reconnecting us with our creative fire, our sense of self and our sense of direction.

Mercury, as it tracks back through Taurus, will make a series of squares to Mars. This is tricky because we have a hot, impetuous aspect happening between two fixed signs (Taurus and Leo), so this may feel like coming up against some of your own stubbornness, or your own desire to bust out of whatever is holding you back. Mark down these dates: April 5, April 25 and June 11. These are the dates when Mercury and Mars [were/will be] in a square aspect. You will need to guard against getting frustrated with yourself, losing your temper or wanting too much to change too fast. Note how much is already in progress and add a little trust that the universe is going to produce some results, if you do your part and stay awake.

Dear Friend and Pisces:

Pisces has been under particularly bold astrology for the past year, with most major events coming from or being influenced by your sign. Let’s see: first there was the triple conjunction of Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune; that involved the two rulers of Pisces. Then there’s been the Saturn-Uranus opposition, which directly involved Pisces. Speaking of, Saturn in Virgo has had a profound effect on Pisces relationships.

For information about zodiac sign greeting cards, drop a note to sarah@planetwaves.net

Now we have Jupiter in Pisces, Chiron about to make its way into your sign next week, and finally, the conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus on June 8, again involving a Pisces planet.

And…what does it all mean? I’ve created an extended audio presentation for Pisces birthdays that gets into all this astrology in the kind of imaginative detail that you want. In one full segment of about 20 minutes, I look closely at Chiron in Pisces. And I’ve added a tarot card spread for Pisces, using the amazing Voyager deck by James Wanless.

This audio is available now. After the amazing success of the Aries birthday audio in March [please see feedback here], I thought I would cover Pisces before getting into Taurus (which will be next week). This audio reviews your transits going back to last year, and covers well into 2011. In all, it’s the length of one of my professional consultations, about 70+ minutes of astrology and tarot. I’ve been doing tarot for seven years longer than I’ve been doing astrology, and these birthday readings have been ringing the bell.

It’s presented in an easy-to-use audio format, divided into four sections. We’ve had very good success with this device working for all of our clients.

So if you’re a Pisces, treat yourself to a late birthday present. This audio is also great for Pisces rising and should be informative and helpful to anyone with a Pisces Moon; or a Pisces significant other who you’re trying to figure out. It’s priced to be affordable — the whole thing for just $14.99.

Here’s your sign-up link — and happy birthday, Pisces.

Your astrologer,

Note to Readers: This is the introduction to Tuesday’s edition of Planet Waves Astrology News. The full edition has been emailed to our subscribers and posted to the members’ homepage. – efc

Dear Planet Waves Reader:

Wednesday’s New Moon in Aries arrives at a time when many transitions are brewing. The Moon and Sun will be conjunct Wednesday at 8:29 am EDT (New York daylight time) and 1:29 pm GMD/BST (London daylight time). This is the first New Moon of the astronomical and astrological year, and it takes place conjunct an outer planet that you won’t see listed in your usual ephemeris, astrology chart or read about anywhere else except an astrophysics journal: that is 1992 QB1.

Radharani is one of the most important incarnations of Goddess Lakshmi.

It’s strange that a minor planet (yes, orbiting our own Sun) that was discovered in 1992 still hasn’t been named — particularly one so historically significant. QB1 was the first object discovered orbiting our Sun beyond Pluto. It has an orbit of 289 years and is properly known as (15760) 1992 QB1. Today we know about Varuna, Chaos, Makemake and many others in this region of space; but QB1 was the very first, discovered in none other than the first degree of Aries: the Aries Point (technically, the sidereal vernal point).

The discovery was the confirmation of the existence of what is known as the Kuiper Belt, the vast region in space where Pluto resides. For this extraordinary discovery, I have proposed the name Radharani, the supreme goddess of Hindu mythology and the consort to Lord Krishna.

Let’s go over a few basics of this New Moon, and then add a few thoughts about 1992 QB1.

First, this New Moon marks a profound moment of transition, of many events about to happen. Saturn and Uranus are lining up for their next-to-last opposition for this cycle. That is a tense aspect between two wildly different kinds of energies. Many are feeling the tension and the pressure as the impetus to make radical changes. For some this is showing up as frustration and for others intense bursts of creative friction. These oppositions spark up the psyche, release energy and help us see what is what in our supposedly dualistic world of opposites. Carl Jung observed that no real progress came without this kind of opposition energy; let’s make the most of it. Meanwhile, Chiron is about to go into Pisces, a deeply spiritualizing influence that we will all notice. Continued in subscriber edition.

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Good Morning Starshine,

In today’s edition of Planet Waves Astrology News [separate subscription from Cosmic Confidential] we have an astrology scoop: the birth chart of Rachel Maddow, the MSNBC news anchor. Maddow is the freshest voice in American journalism, who has made a stunning ascent to prominence from radio sidekick to Air America reporter to Keith Olbermann’s stand-in to being the dominatrix of her own nightly program. Here is a sample of today’s edition.

Rachel Maddow

Maddow is a fast wit and a deep intellect, so it’s no surprise that her chart has a powerful 3rd house — but her chart is really about Eris, you know, the new planet that was discovered and named between 2003 and 2006. True, there are a lot of ‘new planets’, but Eris stands out as a scientific breakthrough, and Maddow is one of its most exemplary studies. She also has a good blast of Chiron coming through; she was born at the peak of 70s feminism, which is all about the conjunction of Chiron and Eris. I’ve covered that historical piece in earlier work.

The edition has been posted to the subscriber area and is being mailed out to our subscribers, contributors and colleagues now. Check your inbox, or check the subscriber area.

Thank you Rachel for your birth data (which I did not publish) and thank you Tracy Delaney for minor planet research and programming, and Amanda Painter for biographical research on Maddow. As you will read, Maddow has a conjunction of Venus, the Sun, Chiron, Eris — and the asteroid Sappho. It was Tracy who found Sappho…I missed it. Good catch!

– Eric Francis

Dear Cosmic Confidential Reader:

This is a letter for subscribers or prospective subscribers to this premium content area: Cosmic Confidential, the 2010 annual edition of Planet Waves. At long last, I have news on the Key Life Transits section. Work is underway and we are beginning to post it. I have done an introduction to the project, an introduction to Saturn and an introduction to Saturn transits. There will be one or two more Saturn sections added in the next few days.

The Key Life Transits area is available from the Cosmic Confidential main page. Your previous product keys (login and password) work for this area whether you bought one sign, a few signs or all 12 signs.

The presentation is in audio format, in an easy-to-use player that requires no upgrade or download for the vast majority of our clients. Once I finish Saturn, Chiron will be close behind, timed with the ingress of Chiron into Pisces. Then I will do Uranus and finally Pluto. I am making fairly steady progress, so I will likely post these in pace with your ability to listen.

I am using audio format for a few benefits. My writing schedule is pretty impressive even on a light week, so the ability to use another delivery method, and another part of my brain, not only helps — it’s making sure that I can do a good job for you. This also saves my hands and wrists some stress. But the main benefit is the sense of contact I get with you by explaining the astrology in a natural voice. This is in keeping with the storytelling tradition from which astrology emerged, long before writing and books.
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