Postcard from Miami Beach
I have exciting news about the future.
Dear Friend and Reader:
SOME OF YOU MAY REMEMBER back when I wrote my horoscope from Miami at a 1950s vintage hotel called the Dunes Beach Club.
That was in the winter of 1999-2000 — the big Y2K. It was a beautiful and yet ordinary place, with a chandelier in the lobby smuggled out of Cuba right before the revolution, a forgotten dinner theater and lots of rooms facing the ocean.
All up and down the beach, the Art Deco hotels built from its era and before were being torn down and replaced by skyscraper condos. As they went up they cut off the ocean view and breeze for all points inland, towering over the beach. Many were built as part of money laundering operations for South American drug cartels.
I loved my surfside room at the Dunes, from which I first emailed British astrologer Jonathan Cainer and introduced myself to him (leading to meeting many of you). Out on the beach at sunrise, I would walk past beautiful little places that had served for half a century and could have served for a century more — and were being viewed as potential vacant lots ready for 30 floors of glass and steel.
Before I continue, I want to thank my current customers, clients and subscribers who have come to rely on me — many of you since Planet Waves began in 1998.
The High Rises are Rising
These days, in the era of ChatGPT, I’m starting to feel like one of those little hotels — a boutique, mom-and-pop where the owner personally welcomes his guests and where his uncle is the chef. These are the spots that are gradually being forgotten (which often means going away), as big, allegedly glamorous hotel and condo complexes arise up and down the beach, casting massive shadows.
There are many trends working against Planet Waves, including being an independent publication owned exclusively by me. In other words, I have not sold out despite having had opportunities to do so. So I can’t throw the usual millions into deveopment and advertising.
Plus, on the current broken and untrustworthy internet, with its fake influencers and 100 ads a minute, there’s a paywall everywhere you look. The ‘net is dripping with meaningless “content,” having a love affair with rage, and there’s this destructive alien invasion (various GPTs) trying to eat anything creative in their path.
This has happened to many fields in our age of automation and corporatization. And still there are excellent vintage hotels. Many high-quality artisan and handcrafted products thrive because their customers care and invest, even despite brutal competition and cheap alternatives. People go out of their way to find the real thing — the thing of value. I drive 20 miles to get to my favorite farm stand.
You Know Why You Read Me
My subscribers know why you pay and you know why you read me: for my distinct viewpoint on the astrology of world events, which I morph with investigative reporting, transforming the news into a personal reading for you and humanity.
By some mysterious alchemy, I turn every news story inward and present as personally relevant what previously seemed like mere chaos.
Weekly articles come beautifully illustrated with what many people say is the best 12-sign horoscope they’ve ever read, both literate and relatable. This is presented with a short-form audio or video podcast.
People are stressed and financially stretched, and many are scared — and my work addresses those very issues. I explore astrology as the intersection of self and environment, tapping the underlying order of existence. This and my love for the world are the only antidotes I know of to the painful, psychotic times in which we live.
I cannot do this without you, my customers. At the same time, I provide for you a sane, stable reflection on life in the midst of our challenged and unstable hour. I show up for you week after week, decade after decade, determined to do better each time out. And Planet Waves is and has always been a team effort and a community. Many people are behind me, though I’m the (at times reluctant) front man.
Astrology itself has survived dark times going back thousands of years, and still exists in every culture on Earth. We astrologers have endured many religious and scientific onslaughts. I view myself as a keeper of an age-old tradition — crucial to uphold now in our age of deception and chaos; and of a second tradition: meaningful journalism.
Awaken, My Sleeping Beauties
Many readers (including nearly all former subscribers) and listeners resource my “free” materials, which have never been more popular. My work is in demand, and people seek me out every day.
Some say I should put up more paywalls! That’s the new universal solution. Yet that would defeat my purpose of being available. There are people who actually cannot pay. I truly despise paywalls, and I’m not the only one who does.
Meanwhile, I must leave some materials open-access because otherwise, how is anyone going to hear of me or pick up my signal?
As a subscriber commented on a recent YouTube, “Something about people is going away. I sense a dimming, almost, of their life force.”
Many are noticing this…and nobody seems to know what to do.
That is the very human situation I speak to. Let’s keep our life force strong now when we need it most. I’m here to address what we both know is a spiritual crisis — and a family crisis — and a society-wide crisis all at once.
I know it’s painful to be reminded of this. But if we’re going to find a way forward, we need to pay attention and make decisions. Planet Waves is healing balm in our deeply troubled times. My readings provide help that most people don’t know is possible.
You matter. Your involvement matters. Here’s how we can do this together.
— Revive your Planet Waves subscription. Or initiate one if you never have before. It’s affordable and your money goes a long way for both of us. Subscriptions hold up the floor on which everything else stands. The Astrology Pass is a fantastic deal. You can also get a basic subscription here on Substack by upgrading to paid. “Founding Member” on Substack is the same as the Astrology Pass on Planet Waves.
If you need a discount, ask for one. We do not turn people away for lack of funds. If you can only donate or micro-donate, please do that through my nonprofit organization. All donations are happily accepted and put to excellent service.
— Check out my excellent prepared readings, and treat yourself. My readings are helpful in these confused and unstable times, inspiring confidence and self-affirmation. Easy Does It, the brand new midyear reading, offers thoughtful, one-hour sessions that open a landscape of possibility where you might not have seen one. Once you experience one, you’ll want more.
— Refer new customers. Word of mouth has always been our best advertising. New customers are essential to ANY business. Personal referral is a matter of trust — not algorithm. Please share Planet Waves articles, horoscopes and readings with your friends. If they like my work, suggest that they purchase or sign up.
— Participate. Please leave comments on my articles and videos; upvote, share, print+share, and otherwise get involved in our Core Community. If you have skill in promoting online business, a knack for social media, or a talent for public relations, please reach out to me. I am assembling the “build new audience” team.
— Share my work with young men. Cindy, mother of two such people, writes that this is “an appeal to an older, more mature generation of women to reach out and include today's generation of men who have been tossed aside and excluded from meaningful interactions in a more feminine world of intuition and insights.”
Apropos of Who We Are: Mostly Women Over 50
I learned recently that nearly all of my readers are over 50 years old and 80% of you are women. Ain’t that special when the whole online world these days is geared toward Millennials, Gen Zs, and Alphas.
I am delighted to have mature, experienced, literate customers who remember something of the world that I remember, who can read an article longer than a tweet, and who actually care about relevant topics. I know many of you are giving up on digital life — but don’t give up on us.
Men — please get in touch.
Planet Waves is our meeting place. Let’s keep it healthy and thriving.
Thank you for your business and your trust. And please tell me this: how else can I be of service to you?
With love,
Your faithful astrolover and reporter,
— Thank you Deborah, Cindy, Lisa, Steve, Janice, Elizabeth, Dia and Alison for your help with this letter.
P.S. — Look for an announcement of a Core Community zoom meeting late afternoon Eastern time, Sunday, Sept. 21. And…
P.P.S. — Let us be your home page. Coming soon…with a mobile app…now fully designed and in production, built from scratch. It has many excellent features, it’ll work better — and contain all your existing Core, Astrology and Galaxy subscriptions and reading purchases. A sample layout is below; click for the full experience.
The new subscriber messages are all from paid subscriptions. Thank you! Let's keep going.
New Subscriber Message from Austin --
"Been following you for over a year. I'll never forget stumbling upon your work via the health freedom community, only to put the pieces together upon listening to your podcasts that you were born the exact same day and year as someone who I consider my "twin flame" (to use an overdiluted term) and it continues to blow my mind the things you two have in common. Cheers and it's an honor to support u"