Planet Waves Monthly for February by Eric Francis
Aries (March 20-April 19) — Your ruling planet Mars finally ends its retrograde on the 23rd. Yet along the way, it will form a tense 90-degree angle to Chiron in your birth sign. The result may be a need to control your feelings as a matter of integrity. It’s not your feelings that need modulating but rather what you do in reaction to them. Being justified in what you feel is not justification for conduct — and that includes toward yourself. While it’s dangerous to rationalize your emotions, you can learn a lot from observing them; and it’s possible to use wisdom or understanding to work them out. Feelings often have a source; and it’s usually not the thing we believe. The lesson from A Course in Miracles, “I am never upset for the reason I think,” is good for limitless help here on Planet Upset. If something is shaking you up, or bringing up resentment, you may be close to unraveling something that goes back a long way. The bottom line here is some lingering question about whether you are entitled to be who you are — or whether there is something allegedly wrong with that. I mean this on an existential level, though it may have some relationship to what you choose to do every day. We’re all a little hemmed in, but how much wiggle room do you give yourself? When do you get to go free range? Only when you let yourself.
Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Mars turns to direct motion on Feb. 23 after a 10-week retrograde — and that is an urgent caution against making any important commitments before then. Simply put, you could find yourself feeling very different on Feb. 24, and be left having to keep a promise that you made earlier in the month. There is no doubt your state of mind will suddenly take a new turn, and the critical fact is that you will want different things than you do now. Or perhaps more accurately, we may surmise that you don’t know what you want. Therefore, take the time to find out. Mars is also the planet that represents your relationships (via its connection to Scorpio) and your secret, inner, hidden self (via its connection to Aries). So that packs a lot of variables into one highly energetic planet (of motivation and drive) turning around in a sign so fickle as Cancer (think: the cycles of the Moon). Knowing and understanding what you want is very important to getting it, because if you have no specific goal, you will be throwing the dice. And this astrology is too potent and potentially productive to toss the dice in a game of craps. What you may find is that connecting with your true desire shakes you up. It’s not your usual MO of “let things come to you and see what happens.” You need an actual, winning strategy — not random chance.
Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Your financial scenarios are of top priority as Mars turns to direct motion in your house of personal resources. The money-related challenges for Gemini all involve dealing with cycles that seem to have nothing to do with you. Yet it’s a fact that they do; these involve your energy level, your priorities, the value that you hold of yourself, and your willingness to dare — all these run like the tides, and that can be frustrating. But the thing about the tides is that ultimately they are dependable. Yes, there are special events — like the occasional hurricane — but if the water recedes, eventually you know it’s coming back. And it’s this that you must learn to work with. However, another factor is in play right now: the planet of motivation and desire is coming to a halt right in your 2nd house. This takes us to a larger issue: knowing what motivates you right now, at this point in your life. Motivation is essential to any form of success with money, and your motivation must be internally connected to your organic, biological and spiritual priorities. You are not interested in money for its own sake, which works well for a vast portion of the population. And you are not interested in merely surviving either, which is a sad fact for most of the rest of the population. Events of the next few weeks will reveal the truth that you must have a meaningful emotional connection to anything related to your finances.
Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Retrograde Mars continues to dive backwards in your territory. This involves meeting Chiron in a crucial, structured 90-degree angle. This is yet another moment where your professional ambitions and plans will benefit from analysis, review and contingency planning. You’re heading into entirely new territory as a contributor to culture or to society. And if this bug has not bitten you yet, it’s almost certain to. It’s fair to say that this calls for a measure of impeccability. You don’t want too much integrity — you want just enough, and just enough flex. You may be walking around feeling like you’re being followed by a mobile press conference; it’s not just all the security cameras. You are visible, and audible, and it’s essential that you choose your words based on your knowledge of what is right for you. That is something you’re figuring out ongoing, though you’re in the midst of a series of events where the key turns the lock. In last week’s edition, I discussed the concept of pattern recognition. Today, let’s introduce the idea of a probe. This is an experiment that involves dropping something into your environment and listening for the response. It’s a gentle process, which involves taking a conscious action and listening for the echo. Even a mistake you make can serve as a probe. This is like using sonar to make a map of your surroundings, including who and what is there. Then develop a map of your total workspace.
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — A close relationship may be presenting you with a diversity of mysteries, though you would go a long way by addressing two questions: what do you want, and what does a close partner or associate want? By “associate” I mean that this could pertain to a business-related partnership, though it’s more likely to be about a personal contact. There is another way to live, which is to take it all as it comes. However, your relationships have a profound influence on you. You have other commitments. You have other responsibilities, and you have other interests. So it therefore makes sense to have the nearly impossible conversation about what we want and what we are doing, which begins with understanding individual intentions. I think we all long for the days when we could go with the flow. Yet time is moving fast right now, and we stand at a fulcrum in nearly every moment. Small choices made today can have large influences further along in space and time — which tend to come quickly. The relationship described has a lot of energy and momentum, though I am suggesting you look at a map and a chronology. Also, there is something about your own intentions that you may not understand quite yet. There may be something you want that is playing hide and seek with you. To discern that will take some inner reflection, and some time to work out. A slow, steady inquiry will be the most helpful.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You will probably be happier if you allow your relationships to take their own course for a while, and focus instead on your creative pursuits and work-related projects. The Sun’s movement through Aquarius, which lasts until Feb. 18, is the perfect time for this. Mercury, Pluto and many other factors will lead you into spaces where you can express some of your many excellent ideas. I recognize that this may sound challenging if you are focused on merely getting through the week. Yet part of the creative instinct is to lead you beyond an existence where that is your limitation. You must have something better, and that something must be meaningful to yourself — and I reckon, to others. However, there is a catch, which is not letting any personal or social dramas distract you. Such are the antithesis of creativity and productivity. Most of what distracts people from living their best and most creative lives is not time or stress. It’s needless conflict, by which I mean negative interactions that are ultimately useless. These may be driven by a diversity of dark emotions, and if you indulge those, you will be distracted from your personal journey. There is no justification for jealousy or envy, professional or otherwise. And you owe it to yourself to work out the tendencies toward self-judgment that you may have picked up as a child from adults who should have known better but somehow did not. In a word, your remedy is gentleness.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — You are being invited to widen your creative horizons, gently. Seen one way, you want to soar to some new height. But I recommend against that, if you want some fulfillment for your effort. Work within a container where you can express yourself. That might mean working in a specific room, or a defined project that you feel is manageable. You might want to express a feeling, an experience or a sentiment. For a while, do just that. There is no rush. And I have a hunch there is something that will help if you focus on it. The opposite instinct is to fly in every direction; to have some peak experience. Those experiences tend to come accidentally, when you’re least expecting them. The metaphor for your existence right now is that kind of containment: a fire burning in a fireplace rather than running out of control. However, you may be running into the idea of some kind of sacrifice — that which you feel you must give up to have something that you want. This is a commonplace issue as people develop their creative or financial discipline (or both). Yet concentrating your power is the only way to do something productive with it. Once you learn how to do that — or relearn in our environment of total chaos — you will have many more options open.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — In this new stage of your world — the one defined by Pluto in Aquarius — matters of family will be delicate, fragile and subject to disruption from forces that seem outside of your control. What is in your control is how you handle those influences. That’s all about your response to what you see and feel. Your response will serve as an example to others and thus as a kind of amplifier or echo chamber. By your actions, you are sanctioning that form of treatment of others. You now have tremendous influence to set the tone of your environment, which influences whether people feel safe in your presence and — for lack of a better concept — under your authority. You can go in a number of directions with this — though approaches that may have ‘worked’ when you were younger (whatever ‘worked’ meant) will not get the same result today. Do you have it in you to be magnanimous, forgiving, open-minded, patient, tolerant and demonstrably caring? Your situation in full is calling for those very qualities. You need them as much as anyone; this is about peace of mind and a sane environment for the young ones. There is a rising tide crashing against the feet of the clay of humanity right now, and you must be strong. True strength can only be grounded in love — not the romantic kind, but the kind that is rooted in something much deeper and more enduring. One of its qualities is forgiveness.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Your idea of integrity must include a great deal more flexibility. Much of the stress you’ve been experiencing involves pressures exerted on elements of your psyche that don’t want to bend. Another word for bend is to give, and in order to have anything, you must give a little. Having more flexibility would also help you account for the possibility that you may be wrong about a few things. Be happy that this is so. Much of what you’re certain of does not lead to helpful outcomes or conclusions, and some of those involve yourself. A diversity of developing factors indicate that without some intervention, your mind may be in a tense, anxious state. I am speculating, though you appear to be holding your breath in anticipation of something. What’s going on? What are you concerned about? If you don’t know, let’s change the frame. What would your mother be worried about right now, if she was in your situation? This is a thought exercise. Nearly everyone is dragging their parents around by the hair, though this often conceals itself as a practical approach to life. When you leave the house, imagine you have safely stashed your mom and potentially both parents with a babysitter and you don’t have to worry about them. I suggest you concern yourself with the contribution that you want to make to society, and leave the idle worrying to others.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — With Pluto now solidly in Aquarius, the responsibility is on you to find your own way. It’s all too easy to allow others to set your priorities on a kind of committee basis. It’s easy for you to go along with groups, or it has been through much of your past. People like to think they think for themselves, until they find themselves going against prevailing norms and group opinions. Then suddenly they retreat into being good boys and girls. The question now is how much you’ve learned from the Pluto in Capricorn experience, which spanned early 2008 through late 2024 — which was a major investment of time, personal challenge and inconvenience. Do you feel like you learned something from that journey through time? What did you give up and what did you gain? Put that to work now, when it matters more than ever. Among the most intense pressures the world puts people under are to give up their priorities and their values. This goes beyond the ad that tells you how much you simply must have that diamond ring and is well into the territory of terrorism: believe this, or else. I could ask something like,
“So what or where has this got you in the past?” And you could say, “It’s got me to where I am today.” The follow-up question, of course, is: where exactly is that? And how do you feel? Are you able to make decisions you can live with?
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You seem to have a choice of going high, or going deep. But what you might really be looking for is a peak experience of inner awareness. The whole nature of the digital environment is to take people out of direct experience of ourselves; that’s what I mean by inner experience. The nature of your astrology now strongly favors living from your core outward, and not letting the outward part of the experience distract you from the core part. This is true confidence, undistracted by external responses. It takes practice; people respond to you, and you’re more emotionally sensitive than you let on. So you may need a routine of clearing your energy field of disturbance. This can also involve a practice of engaging with people close to you in specific and structured ways, such as regularly asking them, “So what’s on your mind?” This counts for being receptive and it also counts for giving people a chance to speak up if they have any grievances. And you limit your concerns to the specific things they say rather than what you imagine they might be. This is all rather honest and direct, which is exactly the point. There is a measure of immunity in insisting that people be on the level — and being so yourself. The benefit is that you get to focus on what really matters, rather than being distracted by drama, gossip, and other forms of social games. Just remember, those games serve their purpose — toxic though it is.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — The theme this month is not just taking personal responsibility for your life, but also claiming the rewards that come with it. I raise this issue in a time when the role of “victim” is exalted and rewarded; when it is unassailable; when anyone who questions this social theory is just perpetuating “victimization.” Whole empires are built on the notion of the victim (Oprah) and it’s the easiest way to take a rocket ride to one’s 15 minutes of world-fame. And, it’s wholly self-defeating. Yes there are times when people are entirely passive and shit just happens. (Those too call for careful forensic analysis — and appropriate response.) But that’s not what I’m on about. I mean boldly taking over your function of making your decisions, for better or worse. And I’m talking about going back through your history and doing some cleanup work on what has happened in the past (by whatever means) and taking full ownership. Hence, a history of childhood abuse calls for therapy (not raging against or blaming others). Bad relationship choices call for making better ones. And the ways in which your neglect or self-interest have hurt others also call for a reckoning, which may include making that difficult phone call to apologize. Our society is in a grotesque state right now, largely because nobody wants to take responsibility for anything — and is not encouraged to do so. The upshot here is that in your life, the buck stops with you.