Our American Disasters, and of ‘Liberal’ and ‘Conservative’

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In the Shadow of the Moon, the exciting new 2017 Midyear Reading by Eric Francis, is now published. Don’t miss this essential guide to life after the Great American Eclipse. Order all 12 signs here (recommended), or choose your individual signs.

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Dear Friend and Listener:

In tonight’s Planet Waves FM, I look at the recent disasters in our era of consequences. At the top of the show, I may have over-promised on the astrology, committing to a couple of charts that I don’t read out loud, though which I have in mind.

I look closely at the astrology of our moment, and recent events as an outgrowth or physical representation of the eclipse. In that vein, here’s a link to the Dale O’Brien talk that I mention, " target="_blank" rel="noopener">about American eclipses.

In this edition, I give a talk on the concepts “liberal” and “conservative,” and how these notions are completely convoluted and even reversed at this time. Liberal means generous and conservatives are certainly very generous with mega corporations, the military, the police and the war budget.

Here’s the Etymology Online page for liberal, and here’s the one for conservative.

Our musical guest is once again Steely Dan, with some B-Sides (well, “Deacon Blues” was a big hit). In my comment, I’m not fully grasping the idea of “Deacon Blues,” so here’s a bit from its co-author, Walter Becker, explaining the song:

“Donald had a house that sat on top of a sand dune with a small room with a piano. From the window, you could see the Pacific in between the other houses. ‘Crimson Tide’ didn’t mean anything to us except the exaggerated grandiosity that’s bestowed on winners. ‘Deacon Blues’ was the equivalent for the loser in our song,” who does seem to die in a drunk driving accident.

That’s The Dan, unglamorous as usual, reporting from the seamy side of life. Later in the show, I take off on their song “The Fez” and give a condom rant. Please share that with young people.

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With love,

PS — here’s the chart for Irma’s landfall, even though I forgot to read it.

Eclipses are astrology we can’t deny. If there is a conjunction between Saturn and Uranus, it’s invisible, and while many people may experience changes, only astrologers and their merry bands of readers and students know what’s shappening. Yet when the Sun vanishes, you can be sure that normal activity will come to a stop.

Our busy world will pause, and everyone, from herbicide activists nestled in the hills of Oregon to rock stars in Nashville, will stand in the silent shadow of the cosmic order with the astonishment of small children coursing in their hearts.

This doesn’t happen often, and you can imagine the awesome power of so many people embraced in a kind of simultaneous, captive meditation as everything around them momentarily ceases to be normal. Call it a reality lapse, only it’s one into which the real reality can flow very easily.

In terms of their astrological meaning, eclipses of the Sun follow this image of collective awareness and radical break of continuity. Whether you can see the eclipse does not matter; part of the miracle of astrology is it works anyway. As many of us are discovering personally, eclipses are expanded moments of often uncontrollable, unpredictable change. They also bring the civilization and its communities together, usually through important collective events and the media.

Eclipses are evolutionary gateways, which is another way of saying that when they show up, we do a lot of growing in a short time. Delays are compensated. Old accounts can be wiped clean. While each is unique, eclipses often feel like being shot through a funnel of space-time, and we emerge somewhere different than where we entered. The key to making the best use of them is to move with the energy, not cling to anything or anyone too tightly, and to stay open.

Literally, breathe, communicate, feel, love, observe and receive. Remember your intentions. The sense of panic that sometimes accompanies them yields nicely to awareness and revelation, mental conditions that are more natural than we often realize.