Planet Waves Monthly for November by Eric Francis
Aries (March 20-April 19) — You live on a creative volcano. You may not know this; you may sense that it’s true; and you may wonder what it feels like to tap in. I’ll tell you: it feels good. However, there’s a struggle that nearly everyone faces, including some we think of as the most creative. It’s about what parents told them about themselves, or rather, ourselves. This includes a variety of untruths, spanning from “you will never succeed at that” to “you cannot sing/draw/write,” to “I want you to do this my way” to “you must get an accounting degree.” Curiosity, sexual feelings and excitement about life are severely limited or worse, turned against themselves as resentment and guilt. This kind of treatment, which nearly everyone has endured, does not cut off children, and hence adults, from activities. We’re cut off from ourselves, since these experiences lead people back to who we are. You’re now on a mission of reclaiming your core fire and passion. You are being invited to make friends with intense feelings that come from within you (for example, not from a movie or zip-lining or some other thrilling outer-world adventure). The mystery of who you are is within you, and you will benefit greatly from pointing your mind and your senses inward. You have available the full spectrum of who you ever were. But a risk is involved; even learning is not assured, as that is a deep personal voice. Therefore, your curiosity is essential to learning, growing and experiencing yourself.
Taurus (April 19-May 20) — How much anger are you carrying from your early life? Most people take for granted that they’re still pissed off about what happened to them as kids or teenagers. Many places we go in life, there are little potholes of missing experience or missing attention or voids of life that we can keep twisting and spraining ankles on, as if that’s natural. In my long and intimate observation of Taurus, one matter persists as essential: acknowledging and then understanding your anger. The alternative is to push it under the surface of your awareness, where it wreaks havoc in ways large and small. And this usually shows up mostly as seemingly external disruption (such as in relationships) and you might wonder where that came from. The upcoming Mars retrograde will keep you in contact with your feelings, and teach you the source of your emotions — if you tune in and listen within. You don’t need to take out anger on yourself that was imposed on you. You don’t need to treat yourself the way that you were treated. You don’t need to have relationships that are repeats of what your parents experienced or expected from life. One core lesson of Mars retrograde will be to teach you how your anger can warp your perceptions, your judgment and your decision-making process. When you see this for what it is, you’ll feel much more optimistic about admitting, understanding and addressing your anger. You will be happier, and remove a burden from the people you care about.
Gemini (May 20-June 21) — This time in your journey is all about ideas. I don’t mean what Netflix or Hulu series you want to watch. I mean more like the one you want to write. Here’s the problem with ideas: when you have a real one, it might shock you into a mild panic. That, perchance, might be a good reason to not do much about it. However, all of human existence is based on ideas. The world is an idea, and you are an idea. So this idea-making faculty is the only thing that could possibly get a result, when coupled with the willingness to communicate (which means speak AND listen). Mars retrograde will focus your mind and your spiritual abilities, if you let it. Your thoughts will teach you what you truly believe, and better still, focus your learning on who you are. Once you’re standing at the edge of that cliff, you might decide that you don’t want to be there. You might determine that it’s all too intense. And you can then go back to watching Netflix or scrolling up and down your news feed. These are perfect occupations for those with stifled creativity. But why? Why would anyone think this is better? Well, when you engage your awareness and your creative power, you have to change, which is implicit in growth. There are thousands of reasons to avoid this. However, these days you stand right at the line between living life, and life living you. The difference is all about how you use your mind.
Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Your work is designed to be your spiritual practice. In Eastern thought, this is known as Dharma, which means acting as if to hold the world together. Astrology books describe the sign Cancer’s maternal and nurturing tendencies, though it’s much more available to you. You are called in this lifetime to bring your soul into whatever you do. And yet to actually follow this calling is optional. Everyone seeks spiritual wholeness somehow, whether through living in a monastery, going to church, meditating, walking in the woods or smoking opium. You find yours in daily activity, in the good works of your hands and your mind. Since work is part of every life, you’re fortunate to have these two important elements of existence in the same place. The rules of work are different for you; it can never be drudgery (like it is for so many). It can never be involuntary servitude (like it is for so many). It can never be just for the sake of money (as it is for so many). With the Sun, Moon and now Mercury joining forces in Sagittarius, it’s time to make this personal quality as real as possible. You are not here just to live; you are here to live your truth and devote your most seemingly ordinary activities to the highest forces in the universe. How do you know this is real? A sense of meaning, a sense of ease, and consciously offering love to everyone you encounter.
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You have a lot of energy and you may be wondering where it’s coming from, and what to do with it. And you may be wondering if it’s going to last. It’s rare enough to have a true surplus of anything on the planet at the moment. Systems are running tight, and people are nervous. Your chart suggests that your most productive activity is going to surround the research, design and planning of something that you know you want to do: that is to say, being fully present now, and thinking for the future. There is no immediate rush (as in days or weeks), and several factors saying that you will profit from what seem like delays (of weeks or months). You are working with incomplete information at the moment — that is indicated by Mercury retrograde, which spans from Nov. 25 through Dec. 15. Your files are not complete, and won’t be for a while. And there is a question about your personal goal. You’re on the right track and it feels good to want to focus your desire and get moving on something. Mars retrograde in your own sign cautions you to make sure you know what you want before you take action. The retrograde of Mars is the desire tune-up, and you have this right in your little pocket of the sky. As Mars treks backwards between Dec. 6 and Feb. 23, you will get a look below the level of “normal awareness” into your unconscious motives. The more about those you know, the better choices you will make.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Sometimes it seems the whole world runs on fear that masquerades as desire. And desire — wanting — is an all-powerful force on the physical plane, though it’s dangerous when it’s motivated by any form of anxiety, expectation of loss or aggression. Such is the perfect formula for wanting the wrong thing, and then getting it. Therefore, use your power of desire to want what is good for you, and grow into the experience. In everything you do, you express your creative power. This is not an option. The only option is what you choose to make with your time, your hands and your intelligence. It’s true that choosing a path of sincere creation presents challenges. And these challenges can seem inconvenient. Yet there is nothing less convenient than being stranded on a planet that calls forth your very best, and refusing or resisting when it comes time to offer yourself. I know there are times when you’re shaken by insecurity and uncertainty. Consider the possibility that when you’re grounded in correct action, you will feel much safer and more confident. Consider that tapping into your own cosmic origins and your mission on our little world will grant you access to support and energy that is not available otherwise. You have a deep need to feel at home, and that means one thing for you — having nothing to do with the color of your furniture. Really living on this planet, for you, is about being grounded firmly in your origins and your purpose.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Sometimes it seems a shame that so much of life is about buying and selling. We live in times where everything seems to either be a commodity, or is about to become one. Since it’s possible to invoice your friends for a dinner party, I’m waiting for an app where couples can charge one another for sexual favors, and rate one another’s performance. Before we get to that sad day, however, it’s possible to use the commercial aspects of life as meaningful social experiences. It’s up to you to bring the intelligence and the relevance. Any human contact can be sincere, or not. This implies getting off the internet and into your community to do your shopping. And while you’re there, treat each person you encounter like they exist. Make each cash exchange come with a conversation. Find out how people are doing. Thank them for helping you in their small way. If you eat out, leave a cash tip and a little gift or note. While the mass hypnosis campaign is in full swing, participating is an option. However, part of that option means specifically not being in a trance. Eye contact, holding doors for others, and a generally friendly attitude will do you and everyone around you a lot of good. You will feel better, and more significantly, the influence of taking time to stop and express your care or concern to one person can turn their day around. Of this, the more the better.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — What is a reputation these days? Anyone can put anything online, and unless you employ a private detective or a curious teenager to dig in, it’s difficult to tell what is real and what is not. This is a product of digital chaos: the free exchange between the real and the unreal, the physical and the astral. Along a similar line, what is a career? You can cobble together anything to make it look like you have one of those, and who will even know? Yet these things deserve to be of the utmost importance to you. Your good name will never matter more to anyone than it does to you. And a career is far different from a vocation, which means a purpose to which you have been called (the ‘voc’ in vocation is the same as the ‘voc’ in vocal). My question for you at this time, as your ruling planet Mars moves to retrograde motion in your house of professional activity, is this: What are you called to do? I mean really summoned? Are you heeding that calling? When you go to work every day, do you take up your responsibilities with a sense of joy and purpose? This is what you want, and you can take a ride on Mars retrograde to get there. Yet to have what you want, you must be willing to set aside what you do not want, and what does not serve. Old goals must go in the bin. Get ready for some sorting out.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — My core theory of Sagittarius is that you’re a kind of extraterrestrial spirit visiting Earth, and for that reason, you must take special care to adapt to the conditions here. You need to know what is good for you and what is not, then avoid what harms and encourage what helps. However, there are two main things you must be cautious of. One is overreliance on ‘positive thinking’. Such can be helpful but it will only get you so far. Rather, it’s necessary to be circumspect in your approach, considering all possibilities, and making sure you’re prepared. There’s another situation, which is about where you seek your grounding. Here on Earth, people rely too heavily on their families. That worked well in times long past; it does not work well today. And there are some profound negative attachments that people have to the muggles who raised them. Often those bonds don’t seem what they are; despite many disappointments we might still expect people who should care for us to do so. Yet here’s the catch: often, what we get from them is being emotionally triggered. No wisdom; no needs fulfilled; only the shock of being thrown back to a helpless childhood state, but in an adult body with adult concerns. Please be cautious of this. If someone has hurt you in the past, you’re the only one who can call a stop to that. Even then it will take time. Here on Earth, hope is a dangerous substance.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — These days it’s difficult to consider what you’ve learned over a 16-year period. However, I would propose that this is an excellent time to ponder that. In digital time, we are leaping forward in dog years. But in physical time, in real experiences, in time spent outside, and with friends, we are moving a lot slower than real time. Pluto has now made its way completely through your sign or rising sign. The beginning was January 2008, when so much changed so fast. Pluto finally left your sign on November 19, mere days ago. So: what was your story arc? Do you recognize the person you were at the beginning of this transit, and could you possibly fit into the shoes you wore then? Another way to consider these years is that Pluto was a sculptor, removing much of the stone from the original block. What can you now see that you did not see or know about then? The you who you’ve become was contained in that original material. Were you aware of that shape concealed within something larger? The next epoch of Pluto lasts 20 years — a long time, by any measure. The message of this new phase is to use what you learned in the last one, specifically about your core values and principles. These foundational personal laws must then match your priorities, your choices and your actions. Yet this all depends on your having learned something tangible about who you are and what resides at the essence of your being.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — At last, Pluto has entered your sign to stay — until its final ingress into Pisces in January 2044. Whether you’re young, old or somewhere in between, this is a length of time verging on impossible to consider as one concept. There will be many curves, peaks and valleys, though the beginning is the time to set your intentions and orient yourself toward the future. That means, specifically, not being oriented toward the past. Yet we know that the past can seem to stalk us. For this reason, it’s vitally important that you use the spiritual tools you’ve acquired: the ones that teach you how to be present for yourself right now. At the same time, that means entering new territory within yourself. And along the way, consider that your most helpful project will be finding the one voice who speaks for all of you. We all contain a multitude of past selves, personality husks we have abandoned or outgrown that still have life, and threads that connect us to past incarnations. It may seem impossible, but it’s not: there is one you, who speaks for all of you. You have one voice whose job is to assert your will and your intent to everyone else. That we experience ourselves otherwise is a problem that has not been given a name. Yet once you feel and hear yourself speak your core truth, you will never want to go back to any other state of being. You will experience the beauty of being you.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — What do you envision for yourself, related to your worldly accomplishments? This is calling for true reflection and also stoking the fires of creative intention. Given the ever-mounting chaos on the planet, the one steady thing in your life must be your vision. This is practiced as a skill. It exists in the immediate sense of what you do with each day, then the medium sense on the scale of a year or so. And though it’s difficult, you will benefit greatly from holding a vision of yourself in five years. This may be the most important of all, though they all count. Who and what do you want to grow into? Here, what is possible is irrelevant; there is enough time to realize any potential, particularly if you can imagine it. And that power of conscious imaging has a way of bending events on the physical plane toward it. Nobody really understands this, except people we perceive as influential and powerful use this property all the time. It’s not just money. It’s not just will or ambition — though these all count for some. More than anything, learning how to see your creations and then move into your vision is the most essential skill. And here, you must honor your preference, your calling and your sense of potential. The truly bold thing about living this way is seeing yourself as capable of more than you are today, and more than seeing, feeling, knowing and believing. Start with a blank page and remind yourself that anything is possible.