Good morning.

I’m sitting at my desk watching files copy (soon to go out with my camera into the lovely late-morning). Just as Mercury went retrograde, a power outage damaged a 20TB disk drive, and I’m rescuing items from that drive so I can erase it and start over. Along the way I am dusting off ancient old drives looking for places to temporarily stash things. Finding all kinds of interesting stuff as I do…

I remember when I didn’t know the word “terabyte.” Aah how I long for the good old days when gigabytes were considered huge. Giga! Like wow. I thought mega was special…this copying project has gone on for days and days…

Lately as part of my ongoing master’s degree in digital and A.I. studies, besides copying files, I’ve been watching the YouTubes of a young man named Casey Simpson. You will not regret tapping on the video below — it’s not that often someone who actually tells me something that I don’t know (every 30 seconds).

A Massive Depletion in Literacy

And what I did not know is how bad the literacy crisis is, particularly here in the United States. As Casey is demonstrating, this is connected to a society-wide obsession with iPads and “phones,” which is especially dangerous for young children, teenagers and older folks.

This means overindulgence in, and addiction to, extremely stupid video games (for the toddlers) and wasting countless hundreds of hours watching TikTok and Instagram shorts. And it means obsession with appearances and glamour. Ohhh! An influencer!

The result is a severe depletion of literacy, which creates a depletion of inner identity — of an inner locus of personal experience. Especially in young kids, this is creating a violence epidemic, as well as students entering top colleges and universities unable to do basic arithmetic and read a basic sentence. Many adults still recognize words but “don’t have time” to read. Many cannot draw an inference, sum up a paragraph or recognize a joke unless it’s labeled, “This is a joke. Laugh in five seconds.”

How Planet Waves Is and Is Not Responding to This

What most online services are doing in response is dumbing down. Yes, the great race to the bottom! Be as idiotic as the other guy! Don’t say anything meaningful!

Ugh.

This has gone on for a while, but lately it feels like attempting a high-dive into a glass of water. I am not doing that; neither me nor my print-oriented editorial team (the Four Graces — Alison Ogden, Elizabeth Shepherd and Lisa Yorke, supported by our reading-obsessed technician Natalie Tolliday who probably reads more than the rest of us combined) are having NO part of making Planet Waves any less literate.

I recognize we distribute in digital form. We have no choice, though we make as much printable and downloadable as possible (the annual editions, for example, and more lately, our almanack and horoscopes). But we are not in or of the digital mindset. We offer context, texture, and real ideas that are connected to one another. We publish to a print standard — not a digital standard.

I Write for Adults and I’m Not Backing Down

While I don’t run my stuff through a grade-level checker, I aim my vocabulary and sentence structure at a level that an intelligent young adult, or ordinary adult, should be able to follow (I try to avoid fancy words and complicated sentences, for readability; we do the work to make it easier for you).

And yet that, it would seem, is way too smart for the United States.

But I’m not backing down; I am not succumbing to the rising tide of stupidity, and I know that my readers value this tremendously — by this, I mean being spoken to as if you’re still in possession of your natural and cultivated intelligence.

Astrology requires literacy, reading and writing. Digital astrology is vapid, and if it can be reduced to a “short,” it’s irrelevant as astrology because there is no context possible. Unless you count applying makeup whilst talking about the big aspect.

No False Dividers or Spiritual Bypass

My articles, while a little long, are more like condensed books that give full treatment to a topic. If you want to read books and don’t have time, reading one of my articles will leave you with a good feeling, something to think about, and in a mood to reflect on your own life.

My goal is always to guide you toward yourself, no matter what I’m covering.

I do something else that I think is unusual: I place no false divider between the “mundane” and the “spiritual.” This is the usual chop.

In both seeming facets of life, I strive to go deeper than appearances and the epidemic of what Alice A. Bailey calls the “world glamour.” I never use astrology as spiritual bypass (explaining things away to some cause or purpose outside of you).

There is no jargon, no coded language, the Anunnaki are not invited and I leave Lemuria to the real experts (audio below my signature). In other words, despite my formidable New Age background, I keep it real. With astrology, it’s easy to lay on the frothy bullshit, especially if most people can’t tell the difference.

And when the fit hits the shan, you expect me to show up and provide coverage — fast and complete. And I do — happily, because I love to, and as a matter of civic duty. I earn my press card every day.

Several Adaptations

At the direct suggestion of Marshall’s son Dr. Eric M. McLuhan (who evaluated Planet Waves), I write my articles in short sections of a few hundred words. He said: use subheaders.

I have modified that and I offer lots of photos between sections. The photos are designed to add beauty and either illustrate the article or provide a counterpoint.

In other words, if I’m writing about a global disaster, I might use nature photos. The pictures are always designed as photo essays (another all-but long lost art). Photography for me is a lifetime endeavor, to which I bring as much commitment and love as I do my writing. (All photos distributed with Planet Waves are scaled large enough to make a nice print.)

I also work in audio and (reluctantly) in video. Different minds take in things different ways. I learn from expressing similar ideas in different media. In video, I do straight presentations and also interviews; and my newish chart cam is a thing of beauty: I can draw the chart while you watch. Oh, that: I prefer handmade or at least hand-annotated charts. I want the human touch in all that I do.

We Are Here to Take Care of You

To my subscribers, customers, clients and financial supporters — thank you for supporting what really has become the unicorn of astrology — Planet Waves. Thank you for keeping your subscription active. If you are on a limited income, we will take care of you because that is why Planet Waves exists. Reach out. Our relationship is mutual. We are not a “subscription service.” We are a little town or villa.

Always know — your membership supports multiple layers of proofreading, hand-coded pages and exactly NO subscriptions to large language models, who can all go jump in a lake of zeros, ones and subatomic particles.

Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ — that is a Lakota expression for “all my relations” or “we are all related.” It’s similar to dharma — acting as if to hold the world together.

Please join me in that endeavor. It is our turn to take care of the world.

Comments and questions welcome — please take a minute if you’ve read this far.

With love from green Greene County,

PS — This is what I don’t do. The male voice is health freedom guru Sayer Ji; the female voice needs no introduction.

PPS — Please take a few minutes and see what Casey is up to. He’s a former Nickelodian kid star (he played Rickey) and my all-time favorite YouTuber (and one of the most intelligent beings I’ve ever encountered). He tells the truth. He is observant. His parents do not support his career as a YouTuber and actor. I guess they want him to work in the Post Office (like my father told me to do) or be a lawyer or something. I am honored to support him on Patreon at the highest level. I consider it the very least I can do, and I’ll be doing a radio piece featuring him in August. I have no children. He is the future.

A Moment of Exhale

This week the astrology is like a deep exhale after the more fiery and confrontational aspects at the end of June and first week of July.

Two fast but interesting events are Venus moving into Virgo (today) and into conjunction with the south node, as well as Mercury retrograding back into a conjunction with the Sun, marking the midway point of the retrograde cycle.

Venus in the Sign of the Goddess

Venus is considered to be in its “fall” in Virgo (opposite its exalted sign, Pisces). From a classical astrology standpoint, that is considered challenging (this, despite Virgo being the sign of the Goddess).

The translations of ancient concepts tend to polarize meanings into "good" or "bad," when it's always more nuanced than this. Eric’s classical astrology teacher David Arner suggested that astrologers look at planets in “detriment” (opposite rulership) and “fall” (opposite exaltation) as rising to a special challenge. Unusual properties will come out due to the extra effort required. In the end, this works a little like Chiron: an irritation that produces an unusual effect or talent.

Arriving in Virgo and immediately conjoining the south node could feel like most of the charismatic air suddenly leaving the room. The south node tends to reduce whatever is nearby and so Venusian themes may not have the usual energy or spark or may carry with them extra karmic weight, especially compared to her stay in bright and sparky Leo. The opportunity is to bring awareness into topics that arise on the Virgo-Pisces axis, as illustrated below.

There may be sparks of a different kind though, as Venus will also be applying to a square with Uranus. This is less of Venus’ “in love with life and love” fire and more like the Venusian soul getting shocked out of the karmic bog. This is good energy to use to leap out of any weepy replays of victim stories or pining obsessive worry, and into a more spacious place, offering a wider perspective free of unhelpful expectations. This may be exactly what Venus needs to find the fun, creative side of Virgo (yes, there is one).

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Here is the regular edition of Starcast for July 2, 2026.

Mars Conjunct Uranus; Jupiter square Chiron

Dear Friend and Reader:

This week’s readings look closely at Mars Conjunct Uranus in Gemini, and the square of Jupiter and Chiron from Leo to Taurus. Next week I will begin coverage of the July 20 alignment, including the Jupiter-Pluto opposition. That will get two weeks of horoscopes plus extended articles and podcasts. Thank you to my subscribers — here on Substack, and on Planet Waves — who sponsor this work, and make it both possible and relevant.

Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ —

Tap to purchase.

For the price of a co-pay for one therapy session, you will get new viewpoints, practical ideas, expert opinions, and real help working through family situations. Planet Waves community elders have much to offer in support of your peace of mind.

Thanks to the diversity, generosity and talent of the Planet Waves community, I’ve pulled together wise teachers who have guidance that can help ease the burden of the challenges you may be facing within yourself, or with children, parents or your partner.

This includes special presentations on the Wisdom of the Grandmothers and the Grandfathers, Somatic Therapy, Homeopathy, Adoption and Chemical Dependency. I pay special attention to trauma passed along the maternal line.

This is a timeless resource and a self-therapy tool, as well as a set of astrology readings for all of the signs. I recognize the need for more than astrology, and also include new readings of the Family Constellations pattern.

“Eric has been deeply dedicated to astrology for decades, and his prolific work is based on the application of astrology to the living field of human experience — bringing awareness to the journey of deepening and awakening, both individual and collective.”

— Melanie Reinhart, author of Chiron and the Healing Journey

Thank you for your business and your trust.

Family Constellations is included with the Astrology Pass, the Galaxy Pass, or with upgrade to Substack Founding Member. Substack founders also get other benefits. Write to me or ask in a comment if you have a question.

Weekly Horoscope for July 2, 2026, by Eric Francis

Today is horoscope 1,611, the weekly for July 2, 2026. These are detailed readings for your Sun, Moon and Rising Sign. Subscribe to this Substack or become a Core Community Member at PlanetWaves.net. The Planet Waves horoscope premiered May 1, 1995 and has run continuously in many formats since that date. This is our 31st anniversary edition.

ARIES Sun + Rising

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American Dream and the American Experience

Dear Friend and Reader:

When I attended John Dewey High School in Brooklyn, named for the philosopher on whose educational theory the school was based, there was a class called American Dream. You could take ordinary, boring, junior-year U.S. history, or you could opt for what students called Dream.

A yearlong alt-American history class, in Dewey style, it was based on direct experience to the extent possible. It was taught by the cool Social Studies teachers, Len Mednick and Paul Weiss; and there were student teachers called Dream Planners. Everything at Dewey was about getting involved in your education. As the man himself said, give the students something to do and they will learn from experience.

Dewey, the school, had no grades, seven-week cycles rather than endless semesters, an open campus and a schedule designed for all homework to be completed during an extended, eight-hour school day: an all-American experiment.

It was never explicitly stated what the actual American Dream was, but we were all curious about the American experience; and it became clear the dream, such as it was, meant something different to everyone. In America, you are free to dream your very own dream. Maybe that solved the mystery, and at the time, it really seemed possible.

Horatio Alger, Kurt Vonnegut, Mario Puzo — and Miss Black Anthracite

In the Dream program, there were no boring, dry history texts. We read books by Horatio Alger (Ragged Dick, a rags-to-riches classic; interesting critique here) and Kurt Vonnegut (Breakfast of Champions, a scathing assessment of American capitalism). We read The Fortunate Pilgrim by Mario Puzo, about the experience of Italian immigrants. The program had its own textbook written by the creator of the class, Lew Smith, who later returned to Dewey as principal.

Instead of being drilled in the Constitution, Dream students held a day-long “constitutional convention” in a mini-theater section of the auditorium, starting from scratch and designing a government.

To learn how other people lived, there was the annual “urban-rural exchange.” Dream students, teachers and planners loaded into buses and headed for Chenango County in central New York, in our particular year spending a long weekend with students at Sherburne-Earlville Central High School. We went to their school for a couple of days and lived in their homes.

This was a place that had their annual “Miss Black Anthracite” beauty pageant (it was coal country; I never met her; she was probably not black).

Then the rural kids came to Brooklyn and lived with us for a few days, experiencing inner-city life in Coney Island, Marine Park, Park Slope and other neighborhoods. Usually New York City and upstate New York are mutually exclusive, but not for us. Plus this was kids actually doing something. Going someplace. Staying in the homes of people they had never met. I dare say we actually learned something.

My Favorite Holiday

When I was a kid, the 4th of July was my favorite holiday. I would look forward to it all year. I was patriotic, so it mattered to me. And instead of getting dressed up for dinners featuring my Sicilian family’s endless, wine-infused angst (to wit, relatives who all hated one another), only young relatives came for July 4.

It was a summer holiday, and not religious; there were fireworks and a barbecue and my Uncle Anthony would be there.

When I was in 6th grade, it was the Bicentennial year 1976. I guess after Vietnam and Watergate were over, some collective national pride was allowed. The 200th birthday of the United States was the theme of my grade school graduation ceremony and we buried a time capsule (which was just dug up in May 2025).

Everyone was painting everything red, white and blue. I went back a few years ago and there were still patriotically-painted fire hydrants. I can’t find my photos of them.

The tall ships came through New York Harbor (I missed this; my mother doesn’t like crowds). I’ve grown up to have a similar value. And as an adult, I despise fireworks. Every July 4, my canine friend Jonah would curl up near me on the desk, terrified of the sound of explosions coming from the sky. I would whisper in his ear, “I know, I don’t like it either.”

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Something Special About the United States

The message at the time was that there was something special about the United States of America. This has a term: American exceptionalism, which is the universal excuse and elixir for all that is wrong with our country.

It was not until I got to university that I started learning the details about American atrocities in Vietnam. Though that war was said to be over, there were new jungle wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua where the horrors continued.

In El Salvador, Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated while offering mass on March 24, 1980 (during the Carter administration). The CIA didn’t directly do the hit, but they knew it was going to happen and did nothing to stop it. High-level masterminds of the plot were trained by the CIA, and the Reagan administration provided funding to El Salvador to prevent a left-wing takeover of the government.

Reagan’s Iran-Contra Affair

When I graduated university in 1986, the Iran-Contra affair emerged. Back in 1980, all-American presidential candidate Ronald Reagan had cut a deal with the Iranian terrorists to hold the American hostages through the election, in exchange for purchase of U.S.-made weapons that would be used to fight our then-ally, Iraq. (At the time there was a long, vicious Iran-Iraq war wherein Iran was the U.S. enemy and Iraq was the U.S. ally.)

The profits from the arms sale were then diverted to the CIA-backed contras in Nicaragua (eventually violating a federal law called the Boland Amendment). The contras’ role was to attack soft targets such as farms, hospitals and schools, to make the Nicaraguan people dislike left-wing Pres. Daniel Ortega and then elect a right-wing government — to stop the killing of their children.

It is amazing that people can muster up this kind of cruelty and still count themselves as heroes and patriots and leaders of a “free country.”

From this, I learned that the right-wing government in the United States so detested anything on the left that it would commit mass murder to stop it. This was a country I did not recognize, and whose actions were the source of most of my grief.

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My Piece of the Dream

The thing about the American Dream is that someone might get a little piece of it. My bit was and is being a journalist. I understood from a young age, that I could practice journalism mostly with impunity, and it gradually became the framework of my life.

I understand the power of the 1st Amendment. It is my personal policy never to defend the “free press,” only to exercise it. I understood Article 1 of the Bill of Rights to be a uniquely American thing, and that is where I was called to make my investment in the Dream.

There were opportunities to edit and write, and I pretty much took them all. I have started many publications. When I was 25, I founded a student news service that covered the State and City Universities of New York (SUNY and CUNY, reporting on the central administrations, the governor, the state legislature and about 100 campuses in the systems).

This included organizing a network of correspondents around the state, and serving as a consultant to the newspapers. (Heartfelt shout-out to Pipe Dream at SUNY Binghamton, who loved and supported our mission the best.)

By distributing to student newspapers around the state, there were days when readership was in the hundreds of thousands. Notably, this was in the days well before the internet. We distributed by fax, ground mail and hand-delivery. This made the central administration very, very nervous. They had never encountered such a social or political force before.

A Modest Part of the Solution

For me, the most important thing about journalism is that it offers the opportunity to be part of remedies for the problems in American society. I have a way of getting results, modest though they may be. This is always the product of pluck, commitment and aspiring to do the best work I can.

I consider that the cost of the American Dream — in addition to raising every penny for printing, internet fees, equipment, picture cards and travel without accepting any advertising or corporate sponsorship.

In my life, the American Dream is not about wealth or a sports car or status. I get the privilege of being useful to society. Journalism provides me with the opportunity to learn and teach every day. I have access to many unusual people and places (anywhere I can talk my way in), and then I get to tell you the story.

Living as a reporter and photographer facilitates my being not just a passive observer but rather an active participant in the human experience no matter where I am. I have the added dharma of teaching journalism, which I do in everything that I produce and everyone that I come into professional contact with, as well as the reporters and editors who work with me.

As Opposed to Good Morning, America

It is true that I have met many other members of my profession, and I’ve noticed they’re not doing the same thing that I am.

Usually, the story they report is within pre-established parameters acceptable to advertisers. Mainstream reporters can’t say too much. They know everything and nearly always, conceal it with a smug look on their faces, doing what they must.

There is no actual critique contained in their work. Everything is transformed into Good Morning, America. This is why I start my own publications and develop my own issues. Once established, much larger media have picked up my reportage many times.

On a number of occasions, various authorities have attempted to interfere with my work. In the 1990s when I was reporting on contaminated dorms on the SUNY New Paltz campus, administrators declared me persona non grata for being a public nuisance.

After I filed a 1st Amendment lawsuit in federal court and litigated for a year, the state allowed me back on campus, paid damages (which went right into reporting costs) and admitted that my rights were violated. Within weeks of this, my coverage forced a partial cleanup of one of the dorms involved. (All of that coverage is archived here.)

Covering the Ongoing Tragedy

Now for the sad part. Working the way that I do, there is no looking away, no pretending that things are just fine, and no puzzle section to get lost in. Nobody tells me what is right or wrong; I have to slug that out for myself.

I’ve covered thousands of issues, and each one has some tragic element, often deeper than I can say. Every home destroyed in a flood or fire is a world of pain.

One tragedy I’ve covered since 1983 is the chemical contamination of the United States (and the world) by American chemical manufacturers.

With my colleagues shown above, I am the custodian of The Poison Papers, 100,000 pages of documents and testimony that reveal how American chemical companies systematically contaminated all of our food and the entire environment with pesticides and industrial compounds.

(Through my nonprofit journalism mentorship organization Chiron Return, I now hold the sole copy of the paper documents. They have been scanned, uploaded and are hosted by four different online archives, including at Columbia University. See coverage here.)

It was on this topic that I began my investigative reporting career at age 19 in 1983, at the Love Canal site in Western New York. When you learn that a local Board of Education can elect to build two schools floating on top of 23,000 tons of toxic waste, it’s hard to be idealistic about the country you live in.

The atrocious conduct of the chemical manufacturers was one thing. That the Niagara Falls Board of Education — residents of the city — knew about the problem, built the schools and sold off the rest of the land to 1,000 families, is another. This is not an isolated incident. It happens all the time. If part of the American Dream is the convenience of “better living through chemistry,” the nightmare on the other side is described in the dusty, aging boxes of court papers that have been passed on to me.

I have the proof. I cannot deny what happened. Justice has never been served. This is an important part of the truth about the United States and there is nothing to love about it.

A World Without Grieving

The reason you don’t hear much about the chemicals that have engulfed the U.S. and much of the world are the distractions of disaster capitalism. The Sept. 11, 2001 incident is a perfect example. There was not even a day of grieving; Pres. Bush said to go out for dinner to help the economy.

In addition to the shock of 9/11 and the ongoing death toll, society was conned into thinking that all the government responses would protect our freedom. In fact we got a massive expansion of the NSA and domestic spying; a boon for the police state (while ‘smaller government’ was being touted); air travel that is itself a form of terrorism; and our current existence of life in a surveillance prison.

Every major development since 9/11 has followed the same pattern: shock and disaster, more surveillance, reduced freedom, and unresolved, unacknowledged grief. Does anyone even remember all those school shootings of the 2010s? What happened to all that pain? Why did they suddenly stop? It was almost as if a kind of program just ended.

As for viruses: they are always blamed for what drug companies and chemical manufacturers do. When you let go of the concept of a virus, all you lose is an excuse.

From Disaster to Disaster, Then to Instagram and Porno

The horrid part of this scenario is that nobody seems to grieve anything. We just move on, from disaster to disaster, intermingled with spectacles like cage fighting on the White House lawn, carbonated with 737,000 daily Instagram shorts, 20 million daily YouTube videos and god knows how many hours of OnlyFans streaming.

American society is now sacrificing itself to its iPads. Many children cannot read or count. Music teachers say many kids don’t know the alphabet; the scale only goes up to G. As a result, kids — I mean from second grade down — are becoming increasingly violent.

They don’t know who they are, and violence is the quest for identity. Eventually these kids will be running society. Remember that the same forces that influence them, influence us all. Individual conscience is rooted in literacy. Every day there are fewer people capable of reading an article like this one. Civic participation is rooted in conscience. Reading makes public participation possible.

No Memorial to the First People or the Enslaved Africans

Between colonization and westward expansion, at least 574 Native American nations and tribes were conquered in the United States and another 634 in Canada.

The closest thing to a memorial we have in the United States is a marker at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. There on Dec. 29, 1890, the administration of Pres. Benjamin Harrison massacred between 150 and 300 Lakota Indians.

Shortly after the murder of Lakota leader Sitting Bull, the Army’s 7th Cavalry murdered the Indians with rapid-fire Hotchkiss cannons, mowing down an entire forced encampment and hunting down fleeing families in the snow.

Rather than one memorial such as in Washington, D.C., I would propose putting a Wounded Knee-type marker everyplace there was a battle where Indians fell.

Nor is there any memorial for the half-million Africans transported to the United States as chattel slaves, or for their descendants who lived and died under slavery. In my view, the fact that the American people do not grieve this tragedy is at the heart of the unrest that we suffer as a nation — and the injustice and cruelty we inflict on others.

Abolitionist Fredrick Douglass (1818-1895) wrote, “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.”

There Are No Certainties

We can get beyond this if we want — for now. I have never seen that there is much will to engage real questions or to confront the truth of anything. Doing what I do, I get to study people’s responses to what I do. There are always a few people who get it. Then there are the ongoing excuses for the lack of integrity in people who hold themselves up as trustworthy.

Mostly the response is either, “Good for you!” or “I don’t like what you’re saying, so you must be wrong.” To me, they are equivalent.

One of my most ardent supporters recently said that I don’t seem like someone who is confident that “the good” will prevail.

He is correct. I have no such confidence. If I did, I would be playing my guitar or out for a bike ride right now. Whether what is helpful to humanity — that is, the good — prevails is mostly up to us, and we will need to work for it against any assurance of success.

The Digital Tsunami

That is way too much responsibility for nearly everyone, and we barely remember how to work together, or work without getting paid — but there is something worse happening.

Today, the ongoing tsunami of toxic effluent created by “generative A.I.” is turning many of our minds, and our collective mind, into sludge. This sludge factory has infiltrated nearly every company and every government agency. Getting beyond our situation into something better will require creativity and motivation of an intensity that I’ve never seen before, and for which I believe there is no precedent.

Yet exposure to the A.I. environment itself damages and neutralizes those very abilities. This involves any form of letting one of those things run your life, or living any part of your life algorithmically. The more of your own choices you make, the more immunity that you have from the worst effects. The more creative you are in the digital environment, the less likely it is to damage you.

And it’s essential that you be discerning and disciplined in your use of the digital environment. It’s time to stop latching onto “what to believe.”

I’m not surprised that nobody much cares about the 250th anniversary of the United States. I’m not surprised that there is no sincere reflection on the state of our country, or its history, or the depleted and depressed mental and emotional condition of its people (including many children) — not to mention economic conditions.

All the federal government has to offer for the celebration is a Ferris wheel on the national mall and your official Trump commemorative passport.

Meanwhile, the bloated billionaire class sucks resources from society ongoing and people still look up to these greedy criminals as some sign of potential. Everyone is sick with the poison of living in a nation and indeed a world where everything is all about money.

The United States of America has no greatness left that it can fall back on. A free society is not one where you’re always being tracked, stalked, photographed and recorded. We have the right to be “secure in our papers” and all of our email is scanned and archived. In a free society, you have privacy.

Anyone who says that the U.S. is the greatest country in the history of the world — and you will still hear this — has never traveled, does not know history, is a con man, or is lying to themselves. I understand the need for such a lie. The corresponding truth takes a lot of work to unravel.

Greatness is not about the past. It’s about how we confront the present and build the future. That is asking a lot of anyone who doesn’t think that there is one.

And yes, I fly an American flag outside my house — a Betsy Ross edition.

Thank you for reading, if you’ve got this far. I am interested in your reflections on the 250th anniversary of the United States.

Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ — we are all related.

Dear Friend and Reader:

This month I have your July 2026 horoscopes and a new article.

From the Aries reading: “Next week, Jupiter makes its way into your fellow fire sign Leo, and this will feel like just the right amount of water, with your mind and body running at the right temperature.”

From the Cancer reading: “Jupiter’s ingress into Leo will bring good news for your financial situation. You have not been lacking for energy, only for results. It’s essential now that you focus on money with a conscious plan and dedication, and moreover, that you be open to success.” (I also have the extended Horizons video reading for you.)

From the Leo reading: “If astrology means anything, your confidence will be at an all-time high — though this calls for caution. Chiron’s presence in the picture indicates that you must pace yourself, act within your powers, and place your deepest personal values above success in any form.”

And from Aquarius: “You’re entering a best-of-all-worlds situation as Jupiter and Chiron complete a planetary pattern long in the making. Before I get into the details, I would remind you that Pluto in your sign is the prime mover; the central axis on which all the other astrology of our era turns.”

The corresponding article, on the Jupiter-Chiron square, is included in a Substack subscription as well as any level Planet Waves membership. I quote from three landmark books about Chiron and have a new interpretation from Melanie Reinhart.

Thanks both for your support, taking advantage of the work that I do, and making that work possible.

Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ —

Now underway: Family Constellation

Tap to purchase.

Are you struggling to work out family matters? Healing a relationship with a parent or child? Addressing an addiction or relative with a substance issue? Needing a wider context for personal healing? I have something for you.

Family Constellations is the Planet Waves midyear reading. The astrology interprets the Family Hunger Game pattern on the cardinal cross as a main theme of current astrology; I then personalize for all the signs so you know where to look. To this project, I bring the very best of my talent as a minor planet astrologer: that is where the action is right now.

A Self-Therapy Tool

Therapy is expensive, time consuming and often not reliable. Family Constellations is a self-therapy tool that provides many different resources, spanning from homeopathy to kinship to healing from addiction and prescription medicine.

I introduced the Family Hunger Game two years ago as part of a discussion of the impact of alcoholism on the family structure. It’s about a cluster of minor planets in Capricorn with centaur Pholus at the helm: three generations, small cause, big effect, and the power of addiction to cause multigenerational disruption. In this reading, I pay special attention to the matrilineal line — the line of mothers. This is where ancient evolutionary history is contained.

“Eric has been deeply dedicated to astrology for decades, and his prolific work is based on the application of astrology to the living field of human experience — bringing awareness to the journey of deepening and awakening, both individual and collective.”

— Melanie Reinhart, author of Chiron and the Healing Journey

The Need for More than Astrology

However, this astrology calls for more than reading charts. I’ve invited in many guest presenters to join me, on topics that include the wisdom of the grandmothers and the grandfathers, somatic therapy, homeopathy, A Course in Miracles, kinship and healing sexual abuse. I will most likely be delivering presentations well into July.

Interviews are already being posted; astrology readings will begin to go up today with a general introduction to the Family Hunger Game pattern.

The Matter of ‘Digital Products’

I know you may be sick of “digital products.” But “digital products” usually have two properties. One is that they come in digital form.

The other is that they tend to be biased, dishonest, overpriced, dumbed down and designed to hook the algorithm rather than help you. Family Constellations meets the first qualification but not any of the others. It is based on the the very best of what I have learned and delivers the transparency and accessibility that you expect from me and the people I know and respect.

Thank you for your business and your trust.

Family Constellations is included with the upgrade to Substack Founding Member, along with the 2026 annual Inner Light — Inner Peace. It’s a fantastic deal!

Monthly Horoscope for July 2026, by Eric Francis

Today is horoscope 1,610, the monthly for July 2026. These are detailed readings for your Sun, Moon and Rising Sign. Subscribe to this Substack or become a Core Community Member at PlanetWaves.net. The Planet Waves horoscope premiered May 1, 1995 and has run continuously in many formats since that date. This is our 31st anniversary edition.

ARIES Sun + Rising

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Caution: This article may be totally irrelevant under our current digital and A.I. conditions. But I quote some old Chiron books, introduce educational philosopher John Dewey, and we have new information from Melanie Reinhart not covered in Chiron and the Healing Journey.

Dear Friend and Reader:

As you probably know, Chiron is newly in Taurus. This first visitation started June 19 and lasts through Sept. 17 — basically, Northern Hemisphere summer. Then we get a retrograde back into Aries. The second and final Taurus ingress is April 17, 2027. Now that you know that…

Chiron in Taurus is the one outer planet sign change (of many since 2024) from a masculine to a feminine sign. Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Borasisi, Pluto and Sedna are all going Big Time Yang (now in Aries, Aquarius and Gemini).

Chiron will be our tap into the feminine (and I will suss out other lesser-known minor planets that will provide support — these include the Family Hunger Game pattern in Capricorn).

Also: Mars Enters Gemini, Squares the Lunar Nodes

Notably, on June 28, Mars enters Gemini, forming a square to the lunar nodes and also conjunctions to Uranus and Sedna. This adds some fire to Uranus and Sedna in their current state of “bending the nodes.” I will treat that in audio format in Starcast and again in a video. This is a complex pattern of its own that deserves a real description.

Jupiter square Chiron is the first major event in the nascent Chiron in Taurus era. It will be exact on Wednesday, July 1. At the same time, there is a Moon-Pluto conjunction, for emphasis. It is a one-off; Jupiter keeps going and does not retrograde back to that degree of Leo.

The combination of Jupiter and Chiron, I think, speaks to the theme of “the wisdom of the body” that we will be hearing more from. And while Jupiter-Chiron aspects describe spiritual processes and approaches to learning, the square (and the involvement of Taurus) are saying take action in the world in some tangible way.

The Chiron Return of Chiron — and the Musical Modes

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Professional homeopath notices that my astrology readings are based on homeopathy…

Hi Eric,

Thank you for your steady calm presence throughout this reading. I really appreciate the opportunity to partake of your navigational guidance right now.

I was curious to see how the new reading style would t…

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— Melanie Reinhart, author of Chiron and the Healing Journey

Now underway: Family Constellations — …

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Chiron enters Taurus in a few hours.

Good morning,

I am here to ask your participation in the article we published last evening (An Avalanche of Dearth). Please share your thoughts, reflections, ideas, questions and observations. Anything will do.

It was one of those p…

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Tap to purchase.

Are you struggling to work out family matters? Healing a relationship with a parent or child? Addressing an addiction or relative with a substance issue? Needing wider context for personal healing?

If so, I have something for you.

Family C…

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Part One of ‘The Return’, Covering Chiron in Tau…

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This week’s Planet Waves horoscope is based on Chiron entering Taurus for the first time since 1976

Dear Friend and Reader:

Chiron enters Taurus on Friday. It has a 50-year cycle and has not done this since 1976 (Gerald Ford was president and Elizabeth II was queen); prior to that was in 1926 (Calvin Coolidge was president, and George V was king), way back when radio was a special new thing.

For each of the 12 signs and rising signs, I suss out what this movement is about. I cover the topic historically in a new article called Tsunami of Dearth, that covers the history of Chiron in Aries (2018-2027) and the Uranus-Eris conjunctions (2016-2017).

In this first article in a series, I turn back the clock to 2015, when Donald Trump descended the “golden escalator” and the contemporary era began. When you’re done reading you will have a real understanding of the astrology behind the digital crisis we are living through, as well as why you may be struggling to keep your orientation.

There is no other article or podcast that will provide this kind of deep background and coherent understanding of Chiron, Eris or the sign change we are about to live through.

This article is included in a Substack subscription as well as any level Planet Waves membership. Thanks both for your support, taking advantage of the work that I do, and making that work possible.

Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ —

Now underway: Family Constellations

Tap to purchase.

Are you struggling to work out family matters? Healing a relationship with a parent or child? Addressing an addiction or relative with a substance issue? Needing a wider context for personal healing? I have something for you.

Family Constellations is the Planet Waves midyear reading. The astrology interprets the Family Hunger Game pattern on the cardinal cross as a main theme of current astrology; I then personalize for all the signs so you know where to look. To this project, I bring the very best of my talent as a minor planet astrologer: that is where the action is right now.

A Self-Therapy Tool

Therapy is expensive, time consuming and often not reliable. Family Constellations is a self-therapy tool that provides many different resources, spanning from homeopathy to kinship to healing from addiction and prescription medicine.

I introduced the Family Hunger Game two years ago as part of a discussion of the impact of alcoholism on the family structure. It’s about a cluster of minor planets in Capricorn with centaur Pholus at the helm: three generations, small cause, big effect, and the power of addiction to cause multigenerational disruption. In this reading, I pay special attention to the matrilineal line — the line of mothers. This is where ancient evolutionary history is contained.

“Eric has been deeply dedicated to astrology for decades, and his prolific work is based on the application of astrology to the living field of human experience — bringing awareness to the journey of deepening and awakening, both individual and collective.”

— Melanie Reinhart, author of Chiron and the Healing Journey

The Need for More than Astrology

However, this astrology calls for more than reading charts. I’ve invited in many guest presenters to join me, on topics that include the wisdom of the grandmothers and the grandfathers, somatic therapy, homeopathy, A Course in Miracles, kinship and healing sexual abuse. I will most likely be delivering presentations well into July.

Interviews are already being posted; astrology readings will begin to go up today with a general introduction to the Family Hunger Game pattern.

The Matter of ‘Digital Products’

I know you may be sick of “digital products.” But “digital products” usually have two properties. One is that they come in digital form. The other is that they tend to be biased, dishonest, overpriced, dumbed down and designed to hook the algorithm rather than help you. Family Constellations meets the first qualification but not any of the others. It is based on the the very best of what I have learned and delivers the transparency and accessibility that you expect from me and the people I know and respect.

Thank you for your business and your trust.

Family Constellations is included with the upgrade to Substack Founding Member, along with the 2026 annual Inner Light — Inner Peace. It’s a fantastic deal!

Weekly Horoscope for June 18, 2026, by Eric Francis

Today is horoscope 1,609, the weekly for June 18, 2026. Detailed readings for your Sun, Moon and Rising Sign. Subscribe to this Substack or become a Core Community Member at PlanetWaves.net. The Planet Waves horoscope premiered May 1, 1995 and has run continuously in many formats since that date. This is our 31st anniversary edition.

ARIES Sun + Rising

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Cait McQ Instagram

And some excellent videos…one in the Family Constellations series. Sign up here or check the video notes on YouTube.

Introducing Josh Davidov contributing to the Family Constellations self-therapy series.

Josh’s young cousin or great nephew cousin he didn’t know about till now…Gen Z powerhouse…

Have you been tortured by the whole “virus question”? I’ve got a grip on that issue.

Chiron Return - Planet Waves FM

Del Bigtree Lives in the Virus Neighborhood of Make Believe. Where Do You Live?

The Only…

Listen now

a month ago · 45 likes · 63 comments · Eric F Coppolino

Gemini New Moon Opposite the Galactic Center

Dear Friend and Reader:

This week’s horoscope (below) is about the New Moon opposite the Galactic Core.

This is the time of year when the core of our galaxy is visible from much of the Northern Hemisphere. Folks down under get the most spectacular views, but at least we Yankees get a peek for a few months. On Saturday we will experience the Moon-Sun conjunction in Gemini opposite the Galactic Core in Sagittarius, so this seems like a good time to float the topic.

The astronomical and mythical details of our galaxy as I know them are great fun, though suffice it to say that at the core of the thing is a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A*. It does not have nearly enough gravity to hold our big spiral home together. Something else is doing that; I suspect that therein lies the secret of gravity, so far as elusive as “the aether.” The theorized thing that holds galaxies together is described as another elusive substance sans field or particle: dark matter.

There is a lot of energy behind this New Moon. More in the article sent separately, and posted to the Planet Waves home page.

Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ —

Coming Soon from Planet Waves: A self-therapy product to help with healing family patterns.

This year’s Planet Waves Midyear Reading examines family patterns and family constellations. We will use astrology to map our way back four generations, study your current environment to see who represents whom, consider substance abuse issues, repeating patterns in relationships. I will develop themes I’ve been developing in the Family Hunger Game series of articles. Available for a special pre-release price! Check your email for an announcement or tap here or on the image to learn more.

Included with upgrade to Substack Founding Member, along with the 2026 annual Inner Light — Inner Peace. It’s a deal!

Weekly Horoscope for June 11, 2026, by Eric Francis

Today is horoscope 1,608, the weekly for June 11, 2026. Detailed readings for your Sun, Moon and Rising Sign. Subscribe to this Substack or become a Core Community Member at PlanetWaves.net. The Planet Waves horoscope premiered May 1, 1995 and has run continuously in many formats since that date. This is our 31st anniversary edition.

ARIES Sun + Rising

Keep your ideas on a human scale, and remember you’re communicating with people and not the universe itself. That means speak in concrete, tangible terms about issues and situations that you and close partners understand. If you do that, you may end up discussing difficult legacy material, and that will need to be handled carefully. Think: less is more. Imagine a short, meaningful conversation that defines a topic that you can come back to, rather than a deep dive. What you have is an ideal moment to contemplate your own healing needs and how they might influence your relationships. And “the universe itself” is the vast, endless, oppressive digital environment that has swallowed all of existence. You can do yourself a big favor by keeping all intimate conversations off of the internet in any form. Assassinate your dating apps. Stick to physical existence. You will love it.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

TAURUS Sun + Rising

Mars in your sign is calling for a bold approach to existence, and allowing yourself to feel focused desire. The vague craving for sugar or attention does not count. Wanting to do something physical, wanting to meet that person or critter, needing to solve a problem — those all count. There is the added factor of Venus, about to be in Leo, which is tugging at you saying this might be dangerous; when you state what you want, even to yourself, you expose a vulnerability. You might feel like you’re inviting a power struggle, or giving someone power over you. Your desires are your property whether fulfilled or not. Your needs are your responsibility, and you have the privilege of enlisting the support of others. At times, you’re a practical person, and the current planetary set up is calling for a focused and tangible response to the world you’re in.

Looking for guidance, reassurance or company? Visit the Astrology Boutique.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

GEMINI Sun + Rising. The reading above is worth your 70 minutes!

The Gemini New Moon is face-to-face with the Galactic Center — the core of our Milky Way galaxy. This describes a relationship you live with all the time. While Gemini is said to be associated with matters simple, local and easily understood, you live in a wide world. This often leads you to shrink things down and stick to your little nook or maze. Yet you’re being invited out of your known existence into a wider sense of what your purpose is. This statement may seem vague, when described in this way. And it’s true that most such invitations are missed because they are so sublime, or just feel like a tug at your sleeve. Callings come in two ways: some distinct opportunity, event or incident (whether “bad” or “good”); and that little hint, clue, message or idea. And they are often missed for this reason. There are flavors other than salty, sweet and hot.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

Astrology that’s better than therapy. Visit the Astrology Boutique.

CANCER Sun + Rising

Only you know the truth of who you are inside, and that’s becoming increasingly difficult to see and feel. With all of the discussions about distorted body morphology and vast amounts of time spent in the online environment, there’s one thing I don’t hear much about: how consciousness is being vacuumed out of our bodies and into “the cloud.” The Gemini New Moon is boldly stating: Get back into your internal existence. This may feel awkward. You might feel like the interior you is a room you’ve left closed for some reason. There is definitely a reason, which is that something has been taken from you. You need that something, and when you discover it, you will want more of it. But it’s not the kind of thing you can forward to someone. If you’re inclined, you may write a poem or draw a sketch. But that will mostly be meaningful to you.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

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LEO Sun + Rising

It’s essential at this time that you focus on direct human experience in your social dimension of life. I don’t know where you live. There are places that feel like the neutron bomb went off, leaving just the buildings and no people. There are other places that feel like they’re inhabited by algorithms and LLMs in seemingly human bodies. There are other places that seem about the same as they always did, but I can’t name too many of them. How you respond to the idea of “direct human experience” will depend on your environment, though I mean face to face engagement with others. This must include some element of spontaneity: of doing what you didn’t plan, including with some people you don’t know well or just met an hour ago. I realize this may seem as bold as crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a raft. But rest assured, it’s safer and easier.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

VIRGO Sun + Rising

Various forces are trying to pop, pry or jolt you out of the tight spot you seem to be in. This may not be comfortable, but Virgo is nothing if not adaptable and durable. However, once you’re set in your ways, it’s not easy to get out; hence all the use of leverage and pressure and cosmic persuasion. The thing to remember is that comfort is not comfortable. It is impossible to live in the past, though you might think you can. And your spirit is calling you to be free in a way that involves action and participation rather than being shorn of responsibility. You want to be engaged with life; you were born for service, and you will serve one way or another. Yet what you get is considerable sway over where and how. Let it be with people you love, for a purpose that you love.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

LIBRA Sun + Rising

Sunday’s Gemini New Moon will be a breath of fresh air. Now it’s up to you to breathe. That means looking and feeling beyond what you think are your possibilities. This may be a stretch; the world feels especially jammed up right now, like there is no space between anyone’s thoughts or ideas. About 20 million YouTube videos are uploaded every day, which is perfectly outrageous and beyond human comprehension. Worse is the fact that only 2% of these get any views. This situation is reflective of a much wider mental environment where we’re flooded with information, disinformation and general data chaos. The doorway that opens will be within you, into a place that is away from all of that chaos and confusion. Gemini says work on a small to modest scale, emphasizing meaning rather than loudness or how many people you might connect with. This is about you.

SCORPIO Sun + Rising

As I’ve done my best to remind you many times, everything is a matter of negotiation. It’s true that people can seem hard-headed, and as one born under the fixed water sign, you have a streak of that yourself. The first thing you can do is to be negotiable. You can go into a situation knowing what you want. But please don’t determine that there is just one and only one outcome that’s acceptable. I suggest you do some exercises, a little yoga of the mind. In any situation, what are the points you’re willing to compromise on? What is the one point where you’re not willing to compromise, and why does it get that distinction? Is there some profound reason that it’s a deal-breaker, or is it really a proverbial red herring — that is, disagreement for its own sake? There’s no room for that in a happy life.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

All Scorpios Love Astrology. Share this post.

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SAGITTARIUS Sun + Rising

This weekend’s New Moon in your opposite sign Gemini will hold up a mirror that reflects back something you may not recognize. That something is ordinary. As someone born under what I consider to be the most cosmic sign (see this week’s article about the Galactic Core), ordinary is not part of your vocabulary. I propose that it would be a great addition to your personal lexicon. Let’s start with doing things for their own sake. In partnership, let the focus be on garden variety life on the smallest scale possible. I am in love with a phrase that does not originate in standard Spanish, which rocker Perry Farrell invented: “Ritual de lo Habitual.” For him, it meant the ritual of the customary (with a warning about substance abuse); and also honoring the sacredness of that which is the most ordinary. In relationships, making food, eating food, and resetting the kitchen are equal. Making love and making the bed both deserve attention and respect.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

CAPRICORN Sun + Rising

Your ruling planet Saturn in Aries is now putting the brakes on a runaway emotional reaction of some kind. The psychic state you’re getting control of seems to emerge from a pattern from your distant family. That’s the part that may be elusive; some are more aware and some are less aware of the strange power of legacy material transmitted down the generations. It does not come just from your parents. They struggled with the same things that you’re struggling with, but with fewer options and less in the way of resources. We are also more aware of the negative power of substance use and abuse, which continues to impact generation after generation. And while it seems that our parents could not be as aware of or as honest about the sexual element of their problem, the sad truth is that we still struggle to do so in the environment where we find ourselves. The current net effect of Saturn may feel like depression or suppression. Really, it’s here to cool off a reaction that often seems to be out of control. Keep your body warm, meanwhile, and get near some water.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

AQUARIUS Sun + Rising

The Gemini New Moon takes place in your fellow air sign, and in the zone of your chart associated with pleasure, play and creative experience. Gemini is about words and conversation. It’s also about all things local: neighbors and conversations over the backyard fence; neighborhood business and shopping on foot; farmer’s markets and food trucks. All of that will set you free in ways you have forgotten are possible. As an Aquarius, you’re especially susceptible to infiltration and psychic conversion by the digital environment. The effects it’s had on you may be imperceptible, though happily, you will discover them as you encounter the freedom of the physical world. You may decide there is nothing more fun than face-to-face conversation. Pay special attention to critters and the ideas of small children. They still have a kind of vitality and perception that will teach you everything you need to learn.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

PISCES Sun + Rising

This weekend’s New Moon in Gemini happens in your 4th place, said by the ancients to represent “the end of the matter.” Therefore, allow what is ending to end and have faith that this will serve you well. The Moon-Sun connection mirrors the Galactic Core in your area of vocation, profession and ‘career’. It represents condensing the spiritual power of the galaxy as an immediate, visceral and inner connection. By condense, I mean something like leaving crystals out under the Full Moon. But this is leaving the Moon and the Sun under the light of our galactic body to draw in a little of that intuitive and unspeakable spiritual strength that she offers. Resist the temptation to put this experience into words. Find some other form, for now, to express yourself. Make some changes to your home. Experience the joy of cleaning the yard or a closet.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

Dear Friend and Reader:

This is the time of year when the core of our galaxy is visible from much of the Northern Hemisphere. Folks down under get the most spectacular views, but at least we Yankees get a peek for a few months. On Saturday we will experience the Moon-Sun conjunction in Gemini opposite the Gal…

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Triple Conjunction: Mercury, Venus, Jupiter

Starcast opening music is “Erhu Echoes” by Vision Quest. The closing music is “Sitting Still” by Kristen Williams. —efc

Dear Friend and Reader:

We are now into some astrology you can actually see, evenings where you have a clear view near the western horizon. Soon after sunset, you can see the Venus-Jupiter conjunction, with Mercury below it closer to the horizon. Last year, the Venus-Jupiter pairing was visible just before sunrise. Venus as the morning star is a harbinger of war. We got plenty of that in 2025 and so far in 2026.

Now, Venus is the evening star, in her role of goddess of love. Venus and Jupiter form their exact conjunction on June 9, which will be visible as two unusually bright, yellowish stars in close proximity. You can see how that looked in the picture below.

Mercury Stations Retrograde as Jupiter Enters Leo

Mercury will work its way closer to Jupiter as Venus moves on to Leo. Mercury stations retrograde in Cancer on June 29, about three degrees away from Jupiter. For its part, Jupiter moves into Leo on June 30, an important point of transition on a wide diversity of matters both personal and collective.

By mid-June these planets may be too close to the Sun to see, though if you live by the shore and have an unobstructed view of the western horizon, it may be possible (check with an astronomy website like Space.com, or just have a look for yourself).

For anyone who thinks the Earth is “flat” (apparently this rumor is still popular among people who are easily confused or whose life experience is confined mostly to the internet), consider this. Why are these elliptical orbits so predictable in a heliocentric model (Sun at the center) with calculations based on the Sun 93 million miles from Earth and the Earth rotating on a 23 degree axial tilt? Oh my god that is SO confusing. It must be “flat.”

The Venus-Jupiter-Eris Pattern

Eris, a planet orbiting our Sun with a 554-year cycle, was discovered just 21 years ago; that came with “the demotion of Pluto.” Observations of patterns where Eris shows up prominently count for a lot, if you’re seeking an understanding.

The way a new planet is delineated is through observing real events in space, time, psyche and society. The June 9 pattern presents an interesting scenario, with Jupiter and Venus in Cancer forming their conjunction exactly square (90 degrees away from) Eris in Aries.

There are five factors here: Aries, Cancer, Venus, Jupiter and Eris. This contains a lot of energy, there’s the feeling of a shakeup, and some benefit coming from an inconvenient event of some kind. The German word Gemütlich has a number of inflections, though one is “a little too cozy and secure for one’s own good.” (It’s also about deep commitment, though I suspect in the sense of “we’re only good friends after we’ve known one another for 50 years.”)

Venus-Jupiter square Eris will shake that up, and to me says that it will be profitable to get out of one’s dependable patterns. You might have a little help doing that, but don’t worry, Venus and Jupiter have got your back.

And don’t forget, Chiron is inching its way toward Taurus. That is big news.

More details in Starcast. Planet Waves FM and Planet Waves TV are off this week.

Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ —

Coming Soon from Planet Waves: A self-therapy product to help with family patterns.

This year’s Planet Waves Midyear Reading will examine family patterns and family constellations. We will use astrology to map our way back four generations, study your current environment to see who represents whom, consider substance abuse issues, repeating patterns in relationships. I will develop themes I’ve been developing in the Family Hunger Game series of articles. Available for a special pre-release price! Check your email for an announcement or tap here or on the image to learn more.

Were you born between 1955 and 1965? This video tests out the Generation Jones theory. Never seen one of my videos? They are frightening!

Do you have your Sun, Moon or rising sign in Gemini? I have a new reading for you, available now. The video below is a free preview. Cancer reading coming soon!

Weekly Horoscope for June 4, 2026, by Eric Francis

Today is horoscope 1,607, the weekly for June 4, 2026. Detailed readings for your Sun, Moon and Rising Sign. Subscribe to this Substack or become a Core Community Member at PlanetWaves.net. The Planet Waves horoscope premiered May 1, 1995 and has run continuously in many formats since that date. This is our 31st anniversary edition.

ARIES Sun + Rising

You can afford to feel safe. I know this seems like a risk in the current iteration of our planet, but for you at least, it’s true and it’s true right now. Even if there seems to be some conflict in your environment or a clash of realities that’s sending the sparks flying, you’re safe within yourself if you’re true to who you are. It’s also essential that you feel secure and confident within your physical space. In truth you probably are, though that is something to aspire to every day of your life. Frequently people find themselves in living situations where they cannot ‘be themselves’. Sometimes you have to push this to find out whether it’s true. If you share a space, you must occupy that space and settle into it as a conscious exploration. Let your loving and positive feelings, your trust and generosity lead the way.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

TAURUS Sun + Rising

Your situation would seem less complex if you allowed yourself to feel rather than trying to think things through. While feelings seem to resist being put into words, fewer (rather than a lot, or none at all) is usually better. And you are feeling plenty and you seem eager to express yourself. Yet you would be speaking into a mystery, and also potentially raising the stakes of a confrontation that you don’t understand. While discussions are rarely this simple, you might first compare notes on where you and a close partner are coming from. Most of the mystery you are feeling is not about their reality but about your own, and you will learn plenty from listening carefully to the words that you say. If you’re trying to persuade anyone, it’s likely to be yourself. But of what exactly? Most of what you need to know is plainly obvious, if you would step back and notice.

Looking for guidance, reassurance or company? Visit the Astrology Boutique.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

GEMINI Sun + Rising. The reading above is worth your 70 minutes!

For the next few weeks your whole life will seem to be in the balance. Yet you may not be able to tell what’s on the scales. I would say that it’s your ability to confront the future. One of the illusions or delusions we are living through in these dark times is that there is no potential, nowhere to grow, nothing to aspire to. This campaign says that there is nothing worth doing except to fill in time, stave off boredom or indulge in luxury: a nonstop advertisement for giving up. In this environment, futility is the ultimate temptation. I’ve observed that the most serious problem we face is social: the way that relationships have been reshaped by over-immersion in technological ‘solutions’ to nonexistent problems. This has imposed itself on every relationship in the world. You are in a position to bring awareness, creativity and good vibes into this seemingly hopeless situation.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

Astrology that’s better than therapy. Visit the Astrology Boutique.

CANCER Sun + Rising

Having ethics can be a real pain in the ass, which is why the topic is so unpopular. But there’s a far worse problem. When people see someone doing the right thing, they are inclined to think they’re doing the wrong thing. When people hear someone telling the truth, they’re likely to see a liar (whether this is accurate or not). I suggest you limit your inner ethical debate to considering the consequences of your actions on you and the people around you, making any adjustments, and getting on with the show. Let your mantra be fulfilling the greatest good for all concerned. Then, play to your advantages, trust who you are and what you want, and do exactly what you feel is the right thing. At this stage of your growth, you cannot afford to hesitate or guess a second time before you know if you got it right the first.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

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LEO Sun + Rising

Whatever you’re doing, if you do it with love, you will be protected. The combination of Mercury, Venus and Jupiter in your 12th place is like a committee of guardian angels working personally for you. You’ll lose this protection if you harbor ill will toward others, or believe that for you to succeed, they must fail. That’s not true, but the world as we know it loves to play the zero-sum game. This is one of the beliefs you’re now being jolted out of. There’s room for everyone to do their thing. Such is not a ‘communist’ idea but rather an affirmation that there’s plenty of energy to go around; and more than enough opportunity for everyone. That is, unless you believe that there must be winners and losers. What exactly are you trying to accomplish? What do you have to offer that only you can give? That’s the place to focus your creativity.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

VIRGO Sun + Rising

Is there one person who is always the source of consequences? If so, what’s this about? An unusual, even once in a lifetime pattern in your chart is pushing you to open your mind to the wider possibilities of who you are. Consider that you attach to life situations in order to maintain a limited experience of yourself. Then it seems like the limits are coming from the outside, or that the narrow view of who you are is a judgment imposed on you by someone else. A confrontation, inner or outer, may arise when you acknowledge that you are more than whatever limits you experience. One of the ways you’re set up to break free is in your vocation or professional calling. Yet this will summon a high degree of responsibility, for self and others, that extends far outside of your household or social sphere. Are you ready?

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

LIBRA Sun + Rising

Whatever you do, make sure that you don’t think you know something when you don’t. True, that mental mode is more popular than cotton candy at the county fair. But it’s a trap and like cotton candy, will give you only a sugar high and no knowledge or wisdom. It’s far better to imagine that you don’t know, and let your curiosity drive you to collect clues and make observations. What’s so great about false certainty? And how much certainty do you need to make a decision? What will help you is the ability to look at a wide field of experience and spot patterns in the seeming chaos. This is not about seeing what you want to see but rather noticing what is so. Any valid pattern will start to repeat in bold ways as you notice its existence. Then you get to decide what you do with the information.

Book of Blue is a diary of sex from the Before Times — before digital conditions and as they gradually set in during the 21st century. The stories (about 100 or so, illustrated with Book of Blue photos) offer a sense of sexual and relational communication, experimentation and exploration without the burden and intrusion of political concepts and prefab ideas of relationships or morality. Any payment is voluntary, by donation; the link will prompt you to request a free subscription in Substack. I will then write to you and find out who you are before approving your subscription.

SCORPIO Sun + Rising

The current Venus-Jupiter connection is inviting you to make a wish. By that I mean a big wish for how you want your life to be, and perhaps what you want for others. You might, though, wish them happiness and success generally, and stick to your own personal goals and desires for the specifics. There is an image in your chart suggesting that what you believe is what you perceive to be true; and if you don’t believe something, you’re unlikely to even notice that it exists. As you open your mind, the range of possibilities will expand. You’ll see that you have the option to choose more of what you want. But go beyond that: what do you want beyond any sense that it’s even possible? Where would you go if you could go anywhere? And if you could be bestowed with knowledge and love of the truth, would you accept it?

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

All Scorpios Love Astrology

SAGITTARIUS Sun + Rising

Uranus moving across your 7th house of relationships and your overall environment may seem to present distractions: unusual people showing up, social opportunities and feeling the chaos of society. There’s another side to this transit, which is that you have room to experiment and explore and go largely unnoticed. This is the time to stand up and take some risks. The positive side of the equation is that you will not draw special attention to yourself. The other side of the equation is that if you want attention, it will be harder to find in such a chaotic environment where nobody much pays attention to anything for very long. I suggest working with the first quality, and allow yourself out of your various shells and containers and see how far you can let yourself go in testing out a concept as artist, creator or entrepreneur. The business plan is another matter.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

CAPRICORN Sun + Rising

Open your heart, your mind and your eyes and you will see how much the world is offering you. But to experience it, you need to crawl out of your shell, both psychically and physically. Begin with psychic and experiment with being open to receive. Trust what is offered to you, particularly in the form of good vibes, positive affirmation, acceptance and love in any form. Your whole exercise is about receiving and absorbing. This is challenging for many people who have had skimpy upbringings or who have been conditioned to set their expectations to extra low mode. A Course in Miracles reminds us: “You do not ask too much from life, but far too little.” Any remedy would begin with asking, and asking to be open to receive. Then it’s helpful to remind yourself to stay open while you engage with life: people, creatures, ideas and situations.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

AQUARIUS Sun + Rising

Perhaps the truest words in the Bible are, “By their works you shall know them.” This is a measure of leadership, a reality check and common sense. The spiritual life is not about what you think or believe; it’s about what you do and what you create. This is more controversial than it would seem on the surface; many spiritual traditions (especially Christian) insist that what God wants is for us to believe and not act on the basis of faith. This is so ridiculous I don’t have words for it, but I will try. It’s essential to do what is right; to offer what you have; to speak truthfully; and to be generous. Essential for what and to whom? I would say: essential to a sane existence, wherein you know for sure you’re not the only person on the planet. Essential, meaning that you are part of a greater whole.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

PISCES Sun + Rising

Be bold and act as if the universe is set up in your favor and to your benefit. This is as good of an assumption as any, though with Venus and Jupiter forming a conjunction in your fellow water sign Cancer, you make your presence on the planet known. This seems to be the real challenge: though there are exceptions, you tend to be a more reclusive, retiring type who prefers to stay behind the scenes. If so, this is the time to be out of character, or rather, to fully inhabit your character. If you have a choice to do something or not do something, and you’re wondering which way luck will tip the scales, this is one of those rare moments when it’s entirely preferable to trust in luck. That said, if you’re of child-bearing age or connected to someone who is, this is an ideal week to create a pregnancy. And if not a baby, an idea.

Get your full 2026 reading at this link.

And in Other Critter Rescue News - Rosie Found After Ocean Voyage; and Lost Pet Extortion Scam Alert

Rosie is a 10-year-old cockatiel who flew away from her owners Harry and Laurie in Hopkinson, Rhode Island on May 28. She is extremely attached to Harry and sleeps on a perch next to his side of the bed.

She has no prior history of attempting to escape, but flew off while she was with her people on a camping trip.

She was found seven days later with the help of Lost Pets Rhode Island — on Block Island, 26 miles away from where she got lost, including a 13-mile flight over the open Atlantic Ocean.

“She never flew any further than the living room to the bedroom,” Harry said of Rosie and her newfound ability to fly the marathon. He trusts her so much that he does not clip her flight feathers. After a week of not seeing her, he was sure she was gone forever — particularly with the unseasonably cold weather in the region the past week.

However, Rosie completed her flight and landed, hungry and tired, at the home of one of two people on Block Island known to keep cockatiels. They took care of her and kept her safe. The people who found her checked Lost Pets of R.I. website and contacted her owners. Block Island is an island off of the Rhode Island mainland.

But this was not before Harry was reached by scammers who claimed to have found her and asked for $100 (which he paid). Somewhat realistic generative A.I. photos were created to prove that they “had” Rosie. After he paid, he waited for hours outside a Dollar General where they promised to bring her. They then asked for another $200, which clued him into the fraud.

I have seen the fake photos; they are convincing. So now we can add lost pet extortion scams to the long list of problems created by artificial intelligence. In any event, Rosie is safe and happy to be with her people again as they are to be with her. I met them all this afternoon on the Block Island ferry while making rounds visiting various dogs aboard the boat.

And for ardent Carole King fans…this obscure number…

From this week’s article about the Sagittarius Full Moon — find it on your Planet Waves feed or on Substack.

The first thing to remember about the Full Moon is that it has a way of arriving with resolving deadlocks; difficult things can just slip by — not always, but dependably enough they do — so keep a positive outlook. The key here is not pushing too hard but rather pointing yourself in the direction you want to go, knowing what you want from a situation, and knowing which points you’re willing to compromise on.

Drawing its optimism from seeing or maybe feeling possibilities that others do not, the resilient Sagittarius Moon seems to never give up or succumb to pessimism; it helps to consciously set limits.

This lunation takes place with the Moon near the Great Attractor, a multi-galaxy nodal point that makes the ultimate Sagittarian statement, “don’t crowd my space.”

It’s also trine a cluster of planets in early Aries, including Borasisi, Neptune, Vesta, Pallas and Saturn. A good approach would be to see your opportunities and take the path of least resistance

Coming Soon from Planet Waves

This year’s Planet Waves Midyear Reading will examine family patterns and family constellations. We will use astrology to map our way back four generations, study your current environment to see who represents whom, consider substance abuse issues, repeating patterns in relationships. I will develop themes I’ve been developing in the Family Hunger Game series of articles. Launching tonight! Check your email for an announcement or tap here or on the image to learn more.

Were you born between 1955 and 1965? This video tests out the Generation Jones theory.

Do you have your Sun, Moon or rising sign in Gemini? I have new reading for you, available now. The video below is a free preview.

Planet Waves Weekly Horoscope for May 28, 2026
By Eric Francis

Today is horoscope 1,606, the weekly for May 28, 2026. Detailed readings for your Sun, Moon and Rising Sign. Subscribe to this Substack or become a Core Community Member at PlanetWaves.net. The Planet Waves horoscope premiered May 1, 1995 and has run continuously in many formats since that date. This is our 31st anniversary edition.

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Dear Friend and Reader:

Sunday at 4:45 am EDT the Sagittarius Moon opposes the Gemini Sun, also known as the Full Moon. This is also a “Blue Moon,” meaning the second Full Moon in a calendar month (this occurs every two or three years); and the Moon will be at apogee (close to its furthest point from Earth in its orbit), and will therefore appear smaller and less bright than the average Full Moon.

The Full Moon of May goes by other names, such as the Milk Moon, the Planting Moon, the Hare Moon, the Frog Moon, the Budding Moon and to its ardent fans, Oswaldo.

In this article I’ll be covering some of the major planets and get to the sublime, esoteric or finer details in Starcast posted above the weekly horoscope (including a comment on the now-very-active Family Hunger Game pattern in Capricorn).

Resolving Deadlocks Without Pushing Too Hard

The first thing to remember about the Full Moon is that it has a way of arriving with resolving deadlocks; difficult things can just slip by — not always, but dependably enough they do — so keep a positive outlook. The key here is not pushing too hard but rather pointing yourself in the direction you want to go, knowing what you want from a situation, and knowing which points you’re willing to compromise on.

Drawing its optimism from seeing or maybe feeling possibilities that others do not, the resilient Sagittarius Moon seems to never give up or succumb to pessimism; it helps to consciously set limits.

This lunation takes place with the Moon near the Great Attractor, a multi-galaxy nodal point that makes the ultimate Sagittarian statement, “don’t crowd my space.”

It’s also trine a cluster of planets in early Aries, including Borasisi, Neptune, Vesta, Pallas and Saturn. A good approach would be to see your opportunities and take the path of least resistance.

Ceres, Uranus and Sedna Bend the Nodes

The lunar nodes are retrograding through very early Pisces and Virgo after about 18 months in those signs. The nodes (whose average motion is always retrograde) activate their signs’ polarity, describe the processing of what some call karma (or simply, experience), and describe something in the chart that must be reckoned with.

It happens that in early Gemini, there are three important factors that are currently at 90 degrees to the nodal axis (a condition called bending the nodes, which some consider to be one of the most influential aspects in astrology).

In recent weeks, I’ve been writing about how Sedna is a factor of environmental awareness. For approximately 60 years of Sedna in Taurus (1966-2025), we learned that the Earth is an ecosystem, that it is fragile and that human involvement matters.

At the beginning of those six decades, in the late 1960s, major corporations were (in internal memos) admitting both the pollution problem and the planetary warming problem. Now we all know, and yet this information has never seemed to matter less.

Awareness of the Mental Environment

Sedna in Gemini is about awareness of the mental environment; which is related to the data environment and how technology impacts consciousness. People are as clueless about this today as they were about environmental toxins in the 1960s. Nobody much cares what’s coming out of those smokestacks as long as we have plastic garbage bags.

Uranus has now worked its way into Gemini, demanding focus on the relationship between technology and consciousness. This relationship is controversial — as if technology itself has no effect — and I’m tellin’ ya, this is the heart of the matter.

Now Ceres, mother Gaia and goddess of grain, is in Gemini, which makes the matter much more tangible. Ceres adds the theme: you are what you think. The state of mind created by the technology environment drives you to seek out or have an affinity for certain kinds of material in the environment. Toxic environments beget toxic consumption.

In this way, the energy multiples upon itself until you get a handle on it, which starts with noticing. It’s one thing to choose foods that you like to eat. It’s another to assess how you feel after you’ve eaten something.

You might say that the Sagittarius Moon holds up a spiritual mirror to what might otherwise be ordinary and taken for granted.

A Cry for Help

Al Morrison, the original Chiron and minor planet pioneer, pointed out that Ceres is about mechanization of any kind. This would include thought itself, which is the latest techno drug we are being sold. Don’t worry! Don’t think! This little “app” will do it for you!

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Dear Friend and Reader:

During my glorious one-…

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