| Planet Waves Weekly by Eric Francis Copyright © 2003 all rights reserved by Planet Waves Digital Media. Planet Waves offers syndicated monthly, weekly and daily horoscopes to the editorial community. Planet Waves Weekly is $50 per year for individuals, published 48 times per year. Not a subscriber? Send for a free three-week trial subscription by writing to orders@planetwaves.net. We know you'll be hooked. We're a wholesome habit. Or you can subscribe directly by secure credit card transaction at http://www.ericfrancis.com/orders.html Customer Service - Chelsea Bottinelli support@planetwaves.net | (206) 463-STAR (7827) For Friday, Feb. 14, 2003 | Version 1.1 |
| The Carlyle Group Dear Friend and Client: There's this bank, you see. Not a get-a-free-toaster bank, or a no-fee checking bank; rather, an investment bank. It was started in 1987 by then-President George H. W. Bush and several of his friends. It's called The Carlyle Group, and its main office is on Pennsylvania Avenue, conveniently located between the White House and the Capitol. It's a big management fund that is used to do things like buy companies and turn them profitable through various means. According to its web page, "As of September 30, 2002, the firm had more than $13.9 billion of committed capital under management." The group consists of more than 550 investors in 55 countries. "Carlyle's extensive transaction experience and network of global partners are sources of corporate opportunities unparalleled in the private equity investment community," boasts its web page. "Our mission is to become the premier global private equity firm and to generate extraordinary returns while maintaining our good name and the good name of our partners." Those partners include former secretary of defense Frank Carlucci, former secretary of state James Baker III, former British Prime Minister John Major, and other former heads of state. They include people who have served both Democratic and Republican presidents. The Guardian, a highly-respected UK newspaper, called the firm The Ex President's Club. "Since the start of the 'war on terrorism', the firm -- unofficially valued at $3.5bn -- has taken on an added significance," the newspaper reported in an October 2001 article. "Carlyle has become the thread which indirectly links American military policy in Afghanistan to the personal financial fortunes of its celebrity employees, not least the current president's father. And, until earlier this month, Carlyle provided another curious link to the Afghan crisis: among the firm's multi-million-dollar investors were members of the family of Osama bin Laden." Bush the First is Carlyle. Carlyle makes its profits on war; its largest clients are defense contractors who fulfill multi-billion dollar airplane orders. Bush the Second is commander in chief. He can make war. When he makes war, his family profits. Why doesn't the government get into organic farming, solar power, free speech and green bud? Well quite simply, it's in a different business. The men you see on television every night are merchants of death. They claim to have sound ideology and the welfare of the world in mind, but they are private merchants of death. The more people they kill, the more money they make. The old word for this was graft. My dictionary defines graft as, "Unscrupulous use of one's position to derive profit or advantages." It's in the dictionary -- so it must happen occasionally. Only now imagine that on a multinational scale, with the gain coming in the form of profits on bombs, and with the fate of the world involved. This war that Bush & Co. are trying to start is private business. It's not about a grudge, or the son avenging his father, and it's not about a bad man in Iraq, who used to be our government's best friend and weapons customer. It's about money, power and control. It's about a corporate dynasty cutting itself in on the oil endgame of the 21st century. Whoever has the oil has the power. If this were a computer game, everyone would understand. If you don't understand, ask your child. I assure you that the plans for this have been brewing since before the day President Kennedy was shot in Texas forty years ago. So, if you are wondering why it seems like one man wants a war and is obsessed with this even though there are so many other problems we need to solve, and even though every excuse for that war seems to be perfectly false, and when the public wants peace, and when so many children will be killed (half of Iraq's population is under the age of 15), and all after we have bombed and starved this same country for 11 years, and when so many families will be torn apart, and so much can go wrong, and when most of America's allies are against it, and hey, if you're wondering why Tony Blair is willing to risk his political career on this, and all the while, when there are so many alternatives, just think of The Carlyle Group. Just think of 20-year-old Scotch and the finest Dominican cigars from Cuban seed and men wearing $1,500 white shoes and brokering deals on laser-guided missiles and cluster bombs. And in case you are wondering what you can do about it, the answer in both spiritual and political terms is be aware. To learn more, see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/wtccrash/story/0,1300,583869,00.html http://www.redherring.com/vc/2002/0111/947.html Love Not War We are heading for another astonishing weekend of astrology. With the Leo Full Moon approaching, we are guaranteed an exciting time. But that is just the setting for some powerful high drama on the world stage. Aspects strongly suggest that whatever happens will affect us personally. Interesting, too, that all this action is unfolding during a rather personal holiday, a holiday of love. The Full Moon is a peak of energy that is usually some kind of outer expression of the New Moon two weeks prior. That New Moon, in Aquarius, was an unusual chart, as the Sun and Moon were conjunct Neptune, Asbolus and Hidalgo, planets which deal with truth and lies, and with exposing manipulation and deception. That was the weekend we saw the Space Shuttle go down. It seems like so long ago. Beware of that illusion. It was not even a fortnight ago. And beware that because Neptune was involved, we can't understand the true causes or see the full effects of the event. It's like it happened deep in the astral world, and is rippling out silent waves of energy. I am also taking Columbia as a war omen. Had the deaths of those astronauts and the crown jewel of American space technology not exploded right over George Bush's home and home state, and had it not happened on the brink of his (attempted) private war, I might not be so interested in taking the sign. But it was, you might say, meteoric. It was too obvious to miss. And think of it: the ship was named after the man we think discovered America. That astrology is the seed of what happens next. And something is definitely happening. We have witnessed the single most extraordinary week of world politics since what: the Cuban missile crisis? The fall of the USSR? The NATO alliance is in pieces for the first time in its history. An American president has ordered death and his allies are telling him to shove it. There is a switch from a world in which America is the sole superpower to a world where the newly united Europe is exercising the strength of its alliance. And there is a mass awakening happening, in earthly terms, mainly thanks to the Internet. There are protests about to erupt around the world. This is not merely about stopping one war. This is about the growing awareness that war is not the way to peace. Let's take a look at the chart. Consider that there are three close conjunctions this weekend, Mars with Pluto, Venus with Chiron and the Sun with Uranus. Conjunctions blend and concentrate energies, and create focus. They also are the beginnings of cycles, just like the New Moon begins the lunar cycle. Venus, Mars and the Sun are planets that work on a close-up and personal scale; we recognize and feel them easily. They are joining forces with Chiron, Pluto and Uranus, which work on a deep and soulful level, bring in unfamiliar energies, affect millions of people and create cultural movements. Put the two together and the forces that shape the world also shape us as individuals. The outer planets, which usually represent collective and non-ordinary states of consciousness, meet with those associated with what we usually call the personality. That means change. I'll go through these conjunctions one at a time in a moment. There are several oppositions as well. Luna is opposite Sol -- that is a Full Moon. Luna is also opposite Uranus. And rarest of all, Jupiter is opposite Neptune -- the two rulers of Pisces are facing one another, which happens once every 12 years. That goes back to the Jupiter-Neptune conjunction that happened in 1997, when the stunning Comet Hale-Bopp was within sight. Comet Hale-Bopp relates to a Chinese prophecy that there will be a "change of emperor" when two spectacular comets appear within a short time. The first one was just half a year prior, Comet Hyakutake, the green comet with the streaking tail 23 times the width of the Moon (I saw this from the Giza Plateau, it was amazing). While the presidency changes at least every eight years in this country, political dynasties can last much longer, and that sequence of comets foreboded a change of dynasty. In the years immediately following Hale-Bopp, certain people in Washington created the absurd chaos that allowed King George II and his entourage, through a series of criminal acts, to ascend to the throne. Then came 9-Eleven and the renewal of the promise of endless war. We might as well call him King Carlyle. But seriously, this astrology is anyone's game. Both sides of the issue will share page one of Sunday newspapers. The movement toward war is not just fragile; it is fraught with political peril. And that may make world leaders continue to move cautiously and consider their actions a little more carefully than usual. Let's look at the major chart elements. Sun conjunct Uranus. This is the aspect that heralded the first flight of an airplane, for example. True, it happens once a year, but it's happening now. And it's happening at the Full Moon, so it's being expressed tangibly. This is high energy, unpredictable, fast-changing and creative. Rebellious, with a will to be free. Revolutionary, even. People born with this aspect (thank you Richard Tarnas for the research) include Kepler, Freud, Descartes, Locke, Dylan, and Simone de Beauvoire (author of The Second Sex). It is shockingly intelligent astrology. It is the astrology under which people who can see through known reality are born. It is astrology under which we can be totally free from the stuck ways of the world, a moment of revolutionary innovation, and it hits a peak with the Full Moon. I'm not really into "good" and "bad" astrology, but this seems a rather miserable alignment for people who are involved in keeping the world stuck in its old patterns of war and violence. Uranus is a great friend to humanity. This is the planet that should have been called Prometheus, the god of foresight, one of the Greek creator-gods, and the one who brought the fire-light of spirit to humanity. And the planet that was rising when Columbia fell out of the heavens two weeks ago. Mars conjunct Pluto. Pluto has been in Sagittarius since 1995, defining an astrological era. We have seen a rise in fundamentalism as an issue and as a movement. The United States is a theocracy run by fundamentalists who pray before committing mass murder, like grandma prays before eating her vegetable soup and bread. Melanie Reinhart said that this is the time in which we are breaking the taboo on God. And the Islamic movement, mainly with the assistance of Washington, is indeed becoming very popular. Meanwhile, with Sagittarius involved, there has been an emphasis on all things international, such as globalization and anti-globalization protests. We saw the first of these protests -- the anti-WTO extravaganza in Seattle -- when Chiron made its conjunction to Pluto for the first time since right before World War II in late 1999. The way I see the Pluto transit through Sagittarius working, it comes in bursts, as planets make major aspects to Pluto (such as Saturn, for instance, which attended the fall of the World Trade Center). Now we have Mars about to come in for its once-per-two-years conjunction. Not especially rare, but this conjunction is very well timed. It is the fiery expression of the commitment to world evolution indicated by Pluto in Sagittarius. The evolutionary message of Pluto and the wide, diverse awareness of Sagittarius are joined by the passion and warrior spirit of Mars. This would be good for war. And it would be good for peace. Over many years here in America and the UK, the intelligentsia, the educated folk, have spent billions of dollars and untold millions of hours "improving their spiritual lives." Workshops, astrology readings, yoga classes, mystical awakenings, training as healers, going to therapy, Courses in Miracles, Landmark Forums, healing our traumas, and so on -- they have all been on the agenda. Now, we get to do something with all that training. Now, as in NOW. What good is it otherwise? Is it not the role of people who know that war is wrong to stop war? Action is the fruit of knowledge. Writing in the 1970s, the magnificent Isabelle Hickey (one of the first astrologers to sort out Pluto) said of the Mars-Pluto conjunction, "This is a dynamic combination of energies that must be handled wisely," suggesting that the potential for ruthlessness and abuse of power is just all too real. But she added, "Whether used in a positive or negative way, a distinct disregard for the rules and regulations of society is in evidence. Both the destroyer and the reformer share the same discontent with the status quo." Venus conjunct Chiron. Chiron is a relative newcomer to Capricorn, having slipped in at the beginning of 2002; the last time around, 50 years ago, we saw the McCarthy hearings, those insane Congressional trials where movie stars were accused of being Communists and dragged shouting from the room. It was the most bizarre twist of anti-freedom paranoia that we've experienced until, well, the Patriot Act was passed, allowing the government to spy on churches and nursery schools to avert "terrorism." As I've written many times, the Chiron in Capricorn era has featured a cast of characters including Enron's Kenny Lay, Boston's Cardinal Law and lots of other top dogs of capitalism who have taken big falls. But what have we got with Venus here? Barbara Hand Clow described the meeting of Venus and Chiron as orgasmic fusion with the cosmos. Hmmmm. In Capricorn. Within the established structure and tradition of known reality. Does some message of love arrive in the halls of power? Do we have the harbinger of a tradition of mercy, or a reminder of the real values for which our society has been constructed -- that is, to take care of us, not to murder other people? Are we being reminded of the legitimacy of striving for peace? Or do we have the Sacred Whore showing up for work on the federal payroll? Are we getting a message that the killers in Washington are sexually wounded men, men whose pain is about love, and who have turned to greed and violence to compensate? Capricorn is also about religion. A friend in Atlanta tells me that every Sunday morning, church congregations become instant anti-war protests. Christians against war! Hallelujah! Hark the herald angels sing! Hark hear the frikkin bells! Jupiter opposite Neptune. Delusional, miraculous, or a recognition that miracles require a change of perception that allows the "impossible" to happen? Those are some questions to ask with Jupiter opposing Neptune. We can actually count on all three. For example, we are witnessing a move to war that is based on absolutely outrageous lies which many people believe. And we are witnessing a miraculous uprising among people around the world that few would have predicted possible, particularly based on the past. One way to envision the opposition is that the Earth is suspended like a pea exactly between two huge planets. As the Earth turns, there is always someplace that is getting beamed not just by one of them, but also by their reverberating effect. And twice a day, the opposition is exactly on the meridian, and exactly on the horizon, being pulled into consciousness by a kind of tractor beam represented by the four angles. We are as aware of it as we can be. Remember: Neptune functions invisibly. I have seen it disappear from the chart many times, then re-appear exactly when I needed its voice. Jupiter-Neptune requires a light touch and subtle discernment. It requires a commitment to honesty. A mystical view of life would help quite a bit, that is, an acknowledgement that there is more to life than what we see with our eyes. Life is larger than we think. Life is more flexible than we think. Our planet is very small in comparison to the rest of what is. Now, these are the major planets I've covered here. Just remember. There are hoof prints all over this chart. ++ Orange Alert Just a reminder that the nation is currently under Orange Alert. Planet Waves has obtained government documents indicating that the alert system, developed by the Department of Homeland Security, is plagiarized from the chakra system of Eastern mysticism. It was altered slightly so that the theft of intellectual property would not be as apparent. The US system is Green, Blue, Yellow, Orange and Red, which is obviously in error. Notice that as the alert levels increase, from Yellow to Orange and ultimately to the dreaded Red Alert, the country moves down the chakra system toward survival, power and security issues. The higher (in reality, lower) the alert level, the more paranoid and threatened the government is, the more troops they deploy, thus increasing the level of threat, in an endless cycle. This happens even if the threats are false. The most recent threat was activated when Osama bin Laden released a new CD and government officials freaked out, thinking it was some kind of act of war. "It's a media product," his spokesman told Planet Waves. "They are confusing fantasy with reality." [In a related story, bin Laden, who records on Geffen Records, has sued Napster.com for attempting to release an MP3 of his speech. See page 24.] Part of the reason why the government is in chaos and sending and receiving false signals is because the Blue and Green alerts have been reversed, and Violet is missing. The result is that feelings from the government's heart chakra are becoming confused with the throat chakra, so that government officials can speak without consulting their hearts. However, given the change in alert level, it is advisable that Americans take this opportunity to tune into their Orange chakra, which also represents the genitals and erotic impulses. This is synchronously timed with Valentine's Day, when some people will most likely find it necessary to go on Red Alert. However, to do this, it's important that you straighten out the Green-Blue issue and also get some Violet energy going. If the Violet ray were to be activated, it would negate the need for the whole warning system. You can tune into Orange by eating Oranges (the Homeland Usage Committee has determined that, during Orange Alert, all use of the word Orange, even if referring to fruit, must be capitalized). You must also create a room in your home that is painted Orange and sealed with Orange duct tape. Also, new American flags are being issued, consisting of an Orange, white and blue design. In San Francisco, the Gay-Bi-Les-Trans Coalition has come out and demanded a Pink Alert. In other news, the French said that if necessary they would veto the Security Council resolution allowing the United States to bomb Iraq. "We would rather make love than make war," a spokesman for the government said yesterday.++ === Planet Waves by Eric Francis http://www.PlanetWaves.net/ Late Aquarius Birthdays You are at the break-free point, though you won't require any additional energy of your own -- no forces of will, no push power, no resistance -- to get the job done. Looked at one way, every cycle in your life seems to be renewing itself. With those renewals come a time of closure, which means wrapping up old business of a personal and professional nature. In truth, the energy of ending is much more important than that of beginning because once your mind, slate and plate are clear, you will naturally flow into the next realm of your existence. And at this point you have no way to estimate just how strange and beautiful that is going to be. You have grown very much accustomed to life being one particular way. Aquarius is said to be eccentric and revolutionary, but in truth this is a fixed sign and one of its primary functions is to crystallize reality into patterns. But those patterns can no longer stand the influx of strength and power that you are summoning, and which are your birthright. It has been said that people don't change, they only grow. This year, you are set to do a lot of both. Aries (March 20-April 19) You are in a unique position to define good and bad, true and false, and this adds up to quite a lot of power. Implore yourself to be a compassionate judge, and when you're done with that, trust your judgment. But know that you have no actual need to inflict it on anyone; you merely need to resonate with what you think is right and good. Most people spend their entire lives either avoiding or trying to find their soul or higher self. I don't believe you do much of either, which is part of your secret of success and happiness. Yet it's worth mentioning that, if ever there was a time when you stood perfectly aligned with your soul's mission, it is today. The benefit of this can apply to each and every aspect of your life. This is the time to aim higher. This is the time to be very clear about what you want to accomplish, and set forth. Taurus (April 19-May 20) People are starting to figure out that it is possible to find God through sex. Not only is it possible, it may be inevitable that we take this path in a time in history when we've all been fed the lie that God and sex are mutually exclusive. To say that there is an endless nightmare of control dynamics buried in that equation is an understatement. But you are in a rather unique position right now to free yourself from control by doing nothing other than feel good. You are blessed in this mission. There are angels all around, and your own higher self leading the way. On one level, you may think that your desires defy tradition, and that may indeed irk some people in your world. But there is another tradition involved, a much older and wiser one, and that, in the name of Venus, is your guide. Gemini (May 20-June 21) You are finally in the clear, having worked your way out of what felt like the most strange, convoluted detour in recent world history. Where did you go? Who did you meet? What happened to you? Or is it best not to put any emphasis on the past? Probably so. The future is calling you -- and you have a right to respond. What you may not like is that the future is not sending you a detailed itinerary like you get from a travel agent. Rather, it is arriving as a total immersion in energy, ideas and a quest for freedom. Anything that leads to actual freedom is likely to come with a feeling that you're waging some kind of insurrection, and as a result, a measure of guilt. But resolving that guilt is precisely the point. Looking back for a moment, you gathered a lot of information on that particular theme between mid-December and today. Cancer (June 21-July 22) What is happening in your life is nothing less than tangible evidence of the results that you get when you value yourself. Everything fluctuates in the life of a Cancerian, but this is a different kind of wave pattern that you're encountering, as if a high tide is rolling in that floods the land, clears away debris and leaves all kinds of beautiful creatures swimming in tidal pools. The universe is being unusually generous with you as a result of your willingness to receive. This is the kind of spiritual lesson we all could use. The important thing is remembering that it holds equally true when the tide is low or when your life seems to be a collection of little other than unmet needs. Fortunately it has not been so for quite a while, nor will it be for the foreseeable future. Leo (July 22-Aug 23) You are getting a shock to your system, and it's doing you some good. That you cannot ignore certain domestic needs any longer should come as no surprise. But that you have lacked the impetus to deal with the situation is a realization you might not want to make. Fortunately, there is an idea that will save you. I don't rightly know what it is. It is not among any of the usual plans to improve things, and the solution is likely to arrive at what feels like the 11th hour, just when things could not get any worse. Keep your cool; the energy of resolution and releasing deadlocks is in the air. At the same time, a tide of emotion is rising. Go with it, but keep breathing, and remember that no problem was ever solved without the application of creativity. You are creative, so like, no problem. Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) If you have been holding back your passion, I want to offer you more than empathy. I want to offer you the opportunity to be at peace with your anger, particularly with the anger at never seeming to find a safe place on the planet. I want to offer you the opportunity to see that there are at least two ways you can handle this. If you don't feel safe feeling angry, you will respond by becoming a petty tyrant. If you do feel safe feeling angry, you will also feel safe enough to feel the rest of what you need to feel, for instance, your need for a secure home, and your need for a deeper level of connection to spirit than most people can imagine. These circumstances are immediate, not theoretical. And they are likely to relate to the events in your home right now and in the next few days. Please, be gentle with yourself, and be gentle with us. Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) The better things become, the more you recognize that there is a problem you have not dealt with. Just what it means to deal with this problem, however, is the question. It might be summed up in the contradiction: how can I feel so good when there is so much pain in the world? What right to I have do feel so alive? I suspect you have noticed the beauty and poignancy of the human dramas now unfolding in the world around you, and in your private world. Imagine that your role is simply to feel. That can be anything from an anti-war statement to a bold quest for liberation in a relationship to a solution to a family crisis. The problem you've inherited is trying to feel and not feel at the same time -- to keep your feelings in the next room, or in a proverbial heart-shape box. Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) If you are struggling with the pain of an old psychic, psychological or spiritual wound and feel like you're going to come undone any moment, you're in just exactly the right space. The energy of release is powerful in your chart right now, but it's specifically tuned to what you might describe as the inner crisis that seemed it was never going to heal. These situations contain energy. When they resolve, they release some or much of that energy, and it can be in the form of a crisis, physical symptoms, or just simply pressure. But the sense that 'this will never resolve' is precisely the illusion. The injury is the idea that you can never heal. And make no mistake: it's old stuff. But not so old that you don't know the name of the ancestor from whom you inherited it. Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22) When you look at the world right now, what do you see? You may not be seeing something that is right there. You may not be noticing what should be obvious. The elusive quality of an invisible influence may have you siphoning energy into some frustration that you don't need. In the short run, what you can do to further your own cause is insist that people be honest with you, and insist that you be honest with them. As I have mentioned before leading up to this particular moment, you are more powerful than you may realize, and the smallest statements of your intention and your feelings are likely to have profound results. People around you sense this, which is why they have resorted to shape-shifting and disappearing acts. Easy does it. Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) It would be so fine if you did not allow the fact that you seem to present a paradox both to yourself and the world deter you from feeling like your existence is meaningful. There are no easy answers, but that's because the mind is in truth more complicated than the emotions, and only the mind seeks answers. You are seeking, and finding, a much deeper intelligence, and that alone can heal you. All you need to do now is relax into existence, basically, to become one with whatever you feel, as you feel it. You know this would be a most exquisite experience, and all that stands in the way is the belief that you 'don't make sense'. What you may not have noticed is that you make perfect sense. But others have. So just ease on in. Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) This weekend's spectacular Full Moon, though centered in Leo, is all about Aquarius -- when you see its light reflecting back in the night sky, remember that it's being gathered from the Sun in your own constellation. This gives you the ability to see by day (normal consciousness and the senses) and by night (instinct and its cousin, intuition). But at the moment these are little more than your backup systems. You are standing in what I can only call the 'third light' -- the superconscious ray of pure inspiration, ingenuity and rebellion from the known patterns of your life. It is safe to say that anything that happens now is here to set you free. You know you have little choice but to trust the process you are in, even if you have no real confirmation of success. But very good news is on the way. Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) There are some dim prophesies circulating in the world right now. Many people, most of them TV-watchers, are feeling a lot of fear and uncertainty running through their bodies right now. Why, then, do you feel like everything is going to be fine? The answer is because you root your reality on a level other than the merely physical. Your creation story is made of more than cut-and-dried cause and effect. You know there are other causes, and that those causes have results beyond what people are trained to expect in the world. Your perception is changing, and as a result, your world is changing. I know that you long considered that change of perception an impossibility. Now you know that it is not, and as a result, truly unusual developments are made possible. What you experience next is just the beginning. How do newspaper horoscopes work? http://www.stariq.com/pagetemplate/article.asp?PageID=1153 Planet Waves Weekly and PlanetWaves.net are edited by Eric Francis, with help from Chelsea Bottinelli and the Planet Waves Editorial Consortium. This newsletter is $50 per year and published 48 times per year. That's about $1.04 per issue. It supports our office, pays people to host our lists and web pages, and pays Chelsea to be so cheerful to you on the phone (she would be anyway). So please subscribe! If you would like to be on our discussion list, please email vision@planetwaves.net with the word Vision in the subject header -- that's important. It may take us a week or so to get back to you, and admission to the Vision List is by interview only. We encourage our readers to contribute their artwork and writing to the Planet Waves project and to cultivate themselves as creative forces in the unusual and socially formative times in which we live. |
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