Dear Friend and Reader,

There has never been a year in your life, nor will there ever be, like the one we’re approaching. Twenty-twelve will arrive with many life-changing events, and the astrology deserves all the attention we both can give it. For the past several months I have been doing precisely that, developing the 2012 annual readings of Planet Waves — the long-anticpated Revolution. Revelation. Reality Check. Included for each sign is an extended audio reading and a substantial written interpretation for your Sun, Moon or rising sign.

Photo by Elizabeth Joyce.

As I’m sure you’re overwhelmingly aware, we are deep into a phase of heightened and accelerated change. The much-fabled 2012 transition is now here. It doesn’t matter whether 2012 has a Mayan calendar root, whether it involves Uranus square Pluto or the extremely rare Venus event in June: the magnitude of this astrology and how it will influence us cannot be overstated. My annual edition breaks it down into three basic experiences for each of the 12 signs and rising signs:

Revelation. That means discovery. Material and information we were not expecting will come to the surface, at times rapidly. We will make discoveries about ourselves, our relationships and our society. Key decision points await you, but at this time so early in the process, it may be difficult to see what those decisions will be about. Here is where astrology can help provide a glance around the corner.

Revolution. We all talk about change. So many of us have been committed to inner growth and healing and outer social progress — going back years or even decades. You may have discovered that major changes are rarely possible. Yet the times, the causes and the conditions are all coming together this year. This is a time of revolutions — they’re not only possible but inevitable. The question is, what does this mean for you?

Reality Check. There will be more reality coming at us than most people have the stomach for. Yet when there is so much power in the air, one needs to check and balance oneself to keep on track. You’ll need to stay grounded, and have clear agreements with yourself about what matters the most. You will need to penetrate the layers of illusion that have delayed you or taken you off track. Things are moving so fast we need to do this on a constant basis.

In the 2012 annual edition, I provide you with the tools to work with all three factors.

Consider that we live in an era that will be studied by people far in the future. They will want to know not only what was happening, but what it was like to be here, what we perceived and what our options were. We have the incredible privilege of being present in this time. If you think life is intense, here is why: we are occupying and experiencing the moment of transition.

Every single person alive is going to be influenced by this astrology. If you’re in a body and on the planet, it’s not possible that you won’t be personally affected. There are many years when the astrology just sort of goes by. But this is astrology you will feel, experience and live through. The question is where and how; and how do you make the most of it?

Even if all you knew is that there’s a tremendous surge of transformation sweeping through the human environment, you would want to ask yourself: How do I catch this wave?

I ask for two reasons. One is to make the very most of it. Second is to have it manifest as something other than fear or chaos.

Astrology is more than a guidance tool. It’s a method you can use to influence the course of your life rather than merely being subject to what’s happening around you. Many people struggle to put themselves on track, or to attune to their own intentions — much less the world around them. The way I use astrology will give you tools to do both.

Current subscribers and customers to pre-order all 12 signs of the 2012 annual at a significant discount; but you may also pre-order individual signs at this link. If you are a subscriber and would like to order all 12 signs at the package price, please email Chelsea at chelsea@planetwaves.net or call her at (877) 453-8265.

Meanwhile, I suggest you check out my free audio series Top Five Events of 2012. It contains useful and exciting information about the upcoming year.

Lovingly,

Light Bridge, the 2011 annual edition of Planet Waves, is in progress. The astrology for 2011 is exciting, and it’s the last year before the full-contact point of 2012. So this is the year of preparation and transition: of new transits that will shape the background of life and challenge us to be in full integrity about who we are.

Light Bridge is available for purchase for $19.95 per sign with price breaks when you order multiple signs. Based on how I do this kind of detailed astrology, I consider the write-up for your rising sign to be as significant as the one for your Sun sign. I know this is supposed to be Sun sign astrology, but the houses play a huge role, so I suggest you take the extra step of finding your ascendant through a chart service (which is easy, and free, such as through Astro.com, and investigating your rising sign. That’s the sign that is rising in the east at the time of your birth, every bit as influential as your Sun.

You may also do this for family members or significant others whose astrology you’re investigating. This will be a mix of written and audio, with some overlap in the interpretations, though the audio piece and the written one will be their own entities. So there will be plenty of personal astrology in this annual.

Free Access to Cosmic Confidential, the 2010 Annual Edition of Planet Waves

I’ve removed the passwords to Cosmic Confidential, the 2010 annual edition. If you didn’t subscribe, you have a chance to look in on what we said about your sign(s) for 2010, and to see the many reader comments. Here is your link to the full edition, and here is your link to the 12 signs of astrology.

One reader just wrote in, “Over the last few years, I have been grappling with a variety of deep internal issues, and what do you know — they are all listed in your horoscope! It’s a real affirmation for the set of choices I have made recently during a time when even I sometimes start to wonder about these choices.”

And another wrote this weekend, “Thanks for giving us access to these. The Virgo report is uncannily accurate; it is my rising sign . . . when I took astrology classes, I remember feeling so overwhelmed by the tons of information for each part of the chart; I never did master the art of knowing how to put it all together. Your ability to do so is amazing to me.”

I think that every astrologer dreams of being able to provide interpretations that work for people without the necessity for an individual reading. While a long one-on-one conversation takes things to a new level, in 15 years of doing sessions with clients, while writing nearly 1,000 astrology columns and far more articles, I’ve learned how to give you something truly useful in my interpretations.

And you’re invited to take advantage of this.

Yours & truly,
Eric Francis

Today’s podcast is done. Note, I’ve redone the audio, archiving the previous one — when you click it will go directly to the new version.

In this edition, I look at the Aries Full Moon, part two — there was one a month ago. I also describe Mars square Chiron and Neptune, which is a complex aspect in full force right now. Mars square Chiron is a kind of opposite energy of Mars square Neptune. One gets stuck in its boundaries, and the other struggles to keep them. So it’s an interesting mix of energies.

Most of what I cover in this podcast is the Venus-Vesta conjunction on Saturday, which takes place in Scorpio. I describe the goddess of fire and her servants, the Vestal Virgins, and how this translates to our experience now. I describe the themes of fire worship and how the Vestals were honored in ancient Rome, and how this imagery represents honoring the inner creative and sexual flame that is the organizing principle in a person who is actually alive. This fire needs to be tended continuously, with love and devotion.

Venus conjunct Vesta is also about older women reconnecting with the passion and energy of younger women, leaving their envy and resentment in the fire pit where it can be safely burned off. The conjunction is Saturday, the night after the Full Moon, and I am planning to cover the topic more thoroughly in Friday’s subscriber edition of Planet Waves.

June 20, 2003 – Aries – Weekly

I’ve said a few times this year that you need to pay attention to what seem like your worst fears, because they contain the seeds of your highest visions. No matter what you may be feeling, you can trust that there is a guardrail in place, or if you prefer a psychic metaphor, a guardian spirit. If you lapse in consciousness, you’ll be caught and awakened. But this guardian is highly negotiable. If you ask, you’ll be allowed past your limitations one at a time; the safety barriers open manually. That’s another way of saying be careful what you ask for, and be mindful of where you are at all times. A good mantra for these days: Where am I and what I am doing here?

Dear Friend and Reader:

Today’s podcast is ready. It addresses the charts for the Sept. 11, 2001 incident. The occasion is that Thursday’s New Moon falls within the very degree rising of the main Sept. 11 chart — what I call the North Tower chart. This is the first time this has ever happened, and the conjunction is remarkably close — just two arc minutes from the Sept. 11 ascendant at 14+ Libra.

In this podcast, I introduce a topic that I cover in-depth in Friday’s subscriber edition of Planet Waves. You will hear a discussion of the North Tower chart, set for 8:46 am, as well as another chart, the one for the mysterious collapse of WTC 7 that afternoon. We had a brief discussion of that chart on this page on Sept. 11. Here’s a link back to the chart and the conversation.

I make reference to two videos in the podcast. One is of Larry Silverstein, the landlord of the World Trade Center, describing what happened to WTC 7. Here is that video, which is from a PBS broadcast. I have personally confirmed that this segment was in the broadcast, as I’ve purchased a copy of the original from the station.

The second is a BBC World broadcast wherein the reporter, Jane Stanley, announces that WTC 7 has fallen down — while she’s standing in front of it, and it’s visible in the frame. She was 25 minutes ahead of her story. That video is longer, but even watching five minutes will give you a clue.

I take on these issues and others in Friday’s subscriber edition of Planet Waves. See you there.

Yours & truly,

Nov. 13, 2009 – Sagittarius – Weekly

If you’ve been keeping any secrets from yourself, they are about to burst into your awareness with a passion. If you’ve been feeling lost, murky or depressed, you’re about to wake up, and wake up rather suddenly. If you’ve been feeling bored, get ready to feel extremely curious. You will benefit from encouraging yourself to be extra passionate or expressive, to the point of what may even feel like lewd; that’s the hot zone. This is the moment when you discover how ridiculous it is to maintain an image. You’ve been feeling held down because you’re holding so much inside, and that includes what you cannot admit in polite company. So get yourself into some inappropriate company as soon as possible, and check your judgments at the door.

This week’s audio describes the simultaneous conjunctions in Libra and Scorpio. Over the next 48 hours, the Sun is conjunct Saturn in Libra. And we are in an extended conjunction of Venus and Mars next door in Scorpio.

The first conjunction describes our obsession with “proper relationships” and “doing it right.” Saturn is involved — there is a sense of duty and obligation.

The second conjunction describes what we really do, which is get it on, think about getting it on, want to get it on, need to get it on and hopefully get to get it on, despite the rules; despite what is right; despite our image and propriety and whatever else we finally end up not caring about when the time comes to not care about it.

The astrology describes how to work with this setup. Mars in Scorpio, and Venus retrograde in Scorpio, are both illustrations of authentic desire, and Venus retrograde is a deep personal inquiry. So — let’s inquire.

That’s this week’s audio — brought to you by our subscribers. Comments are welcome below.

Yours & truly,

March 1, 2000 – Aries – Monthly

Anything you do that reminds you how much you already have will serve to enhance your sense of prosperity and good fortune. So the idea is to keep reminding yourself, indulging or experiencing those areas of your life in which you have plenty. If you do, I suggest that lack of any kind will prove to be some form of an illusion, which means a misperception or an easily-remedied situation. By “easily” I don’t mean to imply effortless, but rather involving effort in which your movements are not frustrated by pointless setbacks. And it’s all for a very good cause. You are well-poised to enter an unprecedented phase of earning your living by doing what you truly believe in — so, consider once again what that might be.

This week’s free audio is done. And, I’ve also revised it in an entirely new recording. Part one, my weekly podcast, covers the Libra equinox followed by the Full Moon. I then look at the Venus-Mars conjunction in Scorpio and consider yesterday’s vote by the Senate to keep in place the “don’t ask, don’t tell” provision of military law.

This allows military brass to go after people just for being gay or lesbian, as if it were possible to root all the queers out of any group of two million people. It’s ridiculous, and politicians are using this as red meat for their political base — but why is it happening? What is the biology and the psychology beneath the politics? In a somewhat froggy voice (apologies) and a slightly foggy mind, I do my best to put this in to the context of the Venus-Mars conjunction in Scorpio.

The second part is a story about horoscope writing and what it means to work in the astrology business on the Internet. That has just been posted. Just reload the audio file page to get that second recording. It’s titled, “So You Hate Advertising.”

Have a great day — see you with a subscriber edition Friday.

June 24, 2008 – Virgo – Weekly

You have a right to change who you are, and you’ve probably decided the time to do so is now. Indeed, it would appear that you have embarked on one of the most detailed and energetic self-improvement programs of your life. Before you get too far, I would propose that changing who you are is not nearly as important as re-visioning how you feel about yourself. Notably, the influences that are pushing you, and pushing you so hard, to improve yourself are likely to be sending you negative, conflicted or frustrated signals. Another set of influences is encouraging you to accept yourself exactly as you are right now. I recognize the difficulty of this paradox, and I know how pervasive it is in spiritual and self-help circles. The whole game seems to be founded in the need to change, and is activated by acceptance. But we don’t necessarily see that acceptance is the form of change that makes all others possible. Obviously, putting yourself under a lot of pressure does not work. If, however, you discover that you are already under some enormous psychic pressure or carrying what seems to be a burden you don’t understand, that is a sign that you need to switch methods. You may not recognize that what you are going through now is indeed a burden, even though you may feel it is a virtue.