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Dear Friend and Reader:
We are in an unusual moment — though it’s typical in that hardly anyone is noticing. While it all seems like “madness as usual,” the forthcoming eclipse heralding Neptune entering Aries is something special.
As you will hear, this includes Mercury and Neptune changing places just as Neptune enters Aries. That this occurs on the Aries Point is saying look for something that may seem too big to understand (Aries Point) with personal implications (more Aries Point) combined with a reversal of some kind (the Mercury-Neptune sign switch) that also may be invisible to ordinary perception (Neptune).
The most important skill we can cultivate now is pattern recognition — that is the realm of the artist and the musician. It’s also the realm of astrology, which is all about seeing patterns in the seeming chaos. Not making up patterns or forcing meaning on them, but observing what is so and what it may represent.
It is crucial at this time to suspend belief and also to suspend disbelief. Any form of believing or refusing to believe gets in the way of direct perception.
Understanding what is happening is not a matter of choosing whose opinion you like the best. Rather, it’s a matter of doing the work of thinking for yourself. Yes, it’s challenging and it’s a lot of responsibility.
Below is the chart for the solar eclipse set for the Eastern U.S. at around dawn on Saturday, March 29.
If you can pick them out, you can see that Mercury and Neptune (just above the horizontal line on the left) are very close, and seem to move in opposite directions. Within hours, they form a conjunction in the last arc minute of Pisces, and then Neptune enters Aries for the first time since 1861. That means that we are entering a whole new reality — of The Awakening.
See chart segment below for a more detailed view that homes in on the Mercury-Neptune thing.
In support of these ideas, I have Starcast (above), a video (below) and a new edition of Planet Waves FM posted early. And if you are curious about how to work with this astrology personally, that’s what FOR THE FAITHFUL — my spring reading — is for.
With love,
Your faithful astrologer,
Here, it’s a little easier to see Mercury retrograde in the first arc minute of Aries and Neptune moving forward in the last arc minute of Pisces (at the bottom of the chart). They form a conjunction at 29 Pisces 59 (the last arc minute of the zodiac) before Neptune enters Aries.
Planet Waves FM is done early.
Two previews for each sign are here — just tap!
The 2025 spring reading is done. These are 50-minute readings that calmly explore our current astrological wilderness. I wanted to have your reading ready well in advance so you have time to work with the ideas I’m seeing in the astrology. We’re getting a lot of action all at once; I read the charts thoughtfully, in plain talk, in slow motion — so you can really get the feeling of these events and put them to maximum benefit. Note, it’s alternately called For the Faithful, Reckoning and the Spring Reading…you can choose your favorite name and color.
Aries Sun + Rising (Scroll down for other signs.)
Don’t be too sure of anything; there is not much certainty to go around. The best thing you can be doing for yourself is considering what you want, and making sure you know your top three items. Then, start experimenting with them: active excursions into your plans or endeavors to test the energy. These will serve as probes. These months of your life are an exploration of the possibilities that can manifest in the future if you want them to — and wanting is the operative concept here. This is why you must know. And also know what you don’t want, so that you’ve got that in your sights. In terms of probes and experiments, I am not talking about setting intentions. I am talking about knowing your intentions and then taking tangible and concrete action that will give you live feedback. Then you review, adjust and move forward.
Aries Astrology Studio has been published, preview below:
Do you need spiritual or emotional support? Are you feeling lonely, lonely, alienated or afraid? I offer are high-quality affordable, accessible and motivating readings for everyone at the Astrology Boutique. Tap the banner to visit…there is plenty there for free…lots of samples; you could explore the site for hours. Where do you begin? Try anything, such as a reading for your Sun or rising sign. We will work with you if you have not purchased the exactly right thing for you. Just get in touch…Planet Waves is staffed by people who read your emails and return your phone calls promptly. — efc
About My Horoscopes
We are in strange and intense times — characterized mostly by chaos and deception. It’s fair to ask “why do we need astrology?” My best answer is that it’s a way to see patterns and make some sense out of not just strange events, but also to get a better look at your possibilities. I’m here to bring the world a little closer into your reach and take the edge off of the fear.
I see my role as an astrologer as providing reassurance, and also seeing what cannot be easily seen from our limited viewpoints. This is about working with archetypes, cycles and patterns, and it takes practice to see them. I’ve been writing my horoscope for nearly 30 years, starting in the spring of 1995 — my anniversary is May 1. In all, I’ve written about 2,000 of these columns, which means about 24,000 individual entries. And it’s still fun and exciting to do.
I stand in the tradition of the British horoscope column (and have written for the Mail and the Mirror, as well as the New York Daily News). I was called to the work in the early 1990s by Patric Walker, who demonstrated that astrology is real. Over the years I have developed my own approach. Each entry for each sign is a little world of its own. I challenge the standard notions of what the signs are about, defining them my own way (which I advance every year when writing the annual edition).
I use about 50 different planets, centaurs, asteroids, Pluto-like objects and special points, and weave the story of our lives from my understanding of the charts for the current week and the current season.
Here is the story of how I got into the work.
Weekly horoscope for March 26th by Eric Francis
Reckoning for Aries has been published, preview below. Note, more previews are on our YouTube channel.
ARIES Sun + Rising. Note, more previews are on our YouTube channel.
Don’t be too sure of anything; there is not much certainty to go around. The best thing you can be doing for yourself is considering what you want, and making sure you know your top three items. Then, start experimenting with them: active excursions into your plans or endeavors to test the energy. These will serve as probes. These months of your life are an exploration of the possibilities that can manifest in the future if you want them to — and wanting is the operative concept here. This is why you must know. And also know what you don’t want, so that you’ve got that in your sights. In terms of probes and experiments, I am not talking about setting intentions. I am talking about knowing your intentions and then taking tangible and concrete action that will give you live feedback. Then you review, adjust and move forward.
Reckoning for Taurus has been published, preview below. Note, more previews are on our YouTube channel.
TAURUS Sun + Rising
You know who your true friends are because you don’t have to do anything to impress them. They take you the way you are and are not especially influenced by the changes you go through. Take the wisdom of the Skunk, from animal medicine. If you repel someone, be grateful for it; they are not into you. If you attract someone, check them out and listen to what they have to say. Attract means not doing anything more than being present and seeing who responds to you. Their response is your invitation to engage. We are accustomed to half of the human race pursuing the other half, thinking this is somehow wholesome. So if you are usually one of the pursued, you might take a more active role and indicate your availability rather than leaving it a constant mystery. It’s up to you to respond in a comprehensible way.
Reckoning for Gemini has been published, preview below. Note, more previews are on our YouTube channel.
GEMINI Sun + Rising
Step by step, you’re feeling set free. Notice each time this happens; each time you step into a clear and unfamiliar space. You can think differently and conduct yourself in new ways. You can experiment with newly-discovered facets of who you are. And more than anything, explore the confidence that comes with feeling solid in yourself. You are no longer contained in a household or behind some garden walls with strict rules of behavior. You are now free-range, and you get to explore the possibilities of what works for you. This will include making mistakes, most of which are irrelevant except for what you learn about yourself and others. While freedom is not absolute, most people you’ve ever met have little idea what it means to do what you need to do, and to say what matters to you. None of these people are your mother, your father, your judge or your jury.
Reckoning for Cancer has been published, preview below. Note, more previews are on our YouTube channel.
CANCER Sun + Rising
You may be feeling highly confident right now, though I suggest you tone that down to the point where you’re still capable of uncertainty. For as bold as your charts are, Neptune is active right now, and that calls for caution. Neptune always represents a diversity of unknown variables. So any sense of clarity (which might feel VERY strong) can be false, and you will therefore need to verify your perceptions several different ways. I don’t mean convincing yourself of anything. I don’t mean calling on the witnesses you want to hear from. I mean bringing some curiosity and an investigative quality to your thoughts and your speech. There have never been more viewpoints available, and most people pushing them are merely trying to convince themselves of what they want to believe. This is dangerous, especially when you’re working with as much energy and influence as you are at the moment.
Reckoning for Leo has been published, preview below. Note, more previews are on our YouTube channel.
LEO Sun + Rising
What do you think constitutes a matter of morality? You have probably been overloaded with burdensome ideas that have nothing to do with right or wrong; or with what harms another person; and with a heap of guilt that only serves to suffocate the creative and pleasure-seeking elements of your soul. Consider the idea that guilt is an indication that you have been misled. It’s a big hint that something was taken away from you. Not everyone parses this out; the emotional content of ‘wrongness’ is so strong that it will derail almost everyone from accessing their creative gifts. What’s really going on, though, is that to express yourself in any original way requires a flow of energy that false notions of morality only thwart. Yet while it’s up to you to determine what is correct or incorrect for you, you can only do that if you go deeper than all those other influences. And that’s what’s happening now.
Reckoning for Virgo has been published, preview below. Note, more previews are on our YouTube channel.
VIRGO Sun + Rising
Venus retrograde in your opposite sign Pisces is reminding you of a commitment that you may have made and want to keep. It’s also an invitation to be open to what others have to offer even if they don’t advertise that fact in words. Meanwhile, if an intimate partner from your past has arrived, consider who they are with a new perspective and a trusting heart. The purpose of the encounter may be to help you both resolve something that was left unfinished; or there may be more of your story to be told. You cannot know until you actually live out the scenario and see what previously hidden elements may come to fruition. Give things a few weeks to unfold and see what is beneath the surface; it may take some time and building of trust for one or both of you to reveal your inner truth. So be patient with that.
Reckoning for Libra has been published, preview below. Note, more previews are on our YouTube channel.
LIBRA Sun + Rising
You may not fully understand what is happening to you or to your world, though Saturday’s eclipse of the Sun will help you see through the layers. For the first time in ages, you can recognize the true and underlying theme of your life — and it’s up to you not to forget. You may even find an opening into the present. This is exceedingly rare in human experience; the mind seems to run on an alternating current that flashes between the past and the future. What you need to know you can know right now, if you stay focused on your immediate sensory and emotional experience. Feel and listen to what your body is saying to you. Part of you may not ‘agree’ with your deepest truth, yet that does not make your honest reality any less true. As the world grows more chaotic and less human, the essential skill for both surviving and thriving is to Be Here Now. Right here, right now.
Reckoning for Scorpio has been published, preview below. Note, more previews are on our YouTube channel.
SCORPIO Sun + Rising
I suggest you be cautious about any metaphors involving struggle, battle, combat, fighting or standing up to the world. Rather, stick to desire, intention and persistence. You seem to be having a confidence issue, and notions of war and struggle are not likely to help you in any way. They will only engender conflict and the idea that if you gain, then someone else must lose. Is that your intent? Maybe it is, though this is an unholy pleasure. Your spirit is calling for the beauty and freedom of creation. This comes with challenges, and you’re ready for this basic confrontation with yourself. You are ready to engage your full potential, which is done one step at a time and never all at once. There’s no conquering involved, only the ongoing expansion into the beauty and the mystery of who you are.
Reckoning for Sagittarius has been published, preview below. Note, more previews are on our YouTube channel.
SAGITTARIUS Sun + Rising
Your family history has you in a tighter box than you may realize. Your early environment set certain limits on your ideas about the possibilities and the potential that you contain. Yet there is also a certain comfort you may experience from being wedged into a corner; this is why so many people stay there so willingly and for so long. After a while it becomes the only thing they know. Yet you are aware, more than dimly, that something else is possible. You know you are more than your limitations and the ideas of life that confined your ancestors. However, the moment you step out of this tight spot you will discover something about your need for a healing process. To heal is not to fix; it’s not really about repair, though there is a little of that. Healing is about creation. It requires love and courage.
Reckoning for Capricorn has been published, preview below. Note, more previews are on our YouTube channel.
CAPRICORN Sun + Rising
Your body is the seat of your identity and your home while you are alive on Earth. This is a “for better or worse” kind of situation: you are married to yourself. Right now, the body is under every different kind of assault, mostly from exposure to the digital environment; we have all, to some extent, dissociated from our bodies and planted important elements of our identity into virtual space. The appeal here is that such offers a kind of transcendence. A Course in Miracles emphasizes the important distinction between identifying with body/ego and spirit/God-essence. At one point it says something like: There is one thing you have not done yet, which is to completely and utterly forget the body.” The object lesson here is that there is life and consciousness outside of the body’s existence. What digital existence does is side-step that, providing a false spiritual paradigm. The real one still exists, and it’s tugging at your hand.
Reckoning for Aquarius has been published, preview below. Note, more previews are on our YouTube channel.
AQUARIUS Sun + Rising
The question is not what to do; the question is how you can perceive your environment accurately. There is a temptation to devote one’s attention to the big national and international issues that are being shot at us from a fire hose via every newsfeed in existence. I suggest you look around your immediate world and ask what is going on. Look at the ground below your feet, and explore everything within a half-hour walk and a one-hour drive and notice how the world is changing. You are under the ultimate astrology of “it’s time to think for yourself.” This was never something that people have excelled at, and now software developers, teachers and doctors are being told their jobs will be replaced by data centers — and nobody is raising a fuss. So you might want to verify that you’re actually awake, approximately once every five minutes. Just asking the question will help you remain situationally aware and tuned into your inner and outer environments. So be bold.
Reckoning for Pisces has been published, preview below. Note, more previews are on our YouTube channel.
PISCES Sun + Rising
Here’s a question for you that nobody may have ever asked you: what is the sex that is both appropriate for you, and that you want? They are related but distinct. Too often, sex is a kind of token offered to another person, in exchange for something else. Unless you want to become an OnlyFans star, I suggest you cancel any such policy that you ever may have had. This elusive thing called sex stands at the core of your existence, even though I may be the only person who dares to utter that idea. It’s not just you; sex created all of us and therefore is the creative force of nature. More than anything, what is right for you is not up for negotiation. Within the context of what is right for you there is plenty of room for discussion — but not until you have a tangible agreement with yourself. With Saturday’s eclipse in Aries conjunct Salacia, information is forthcoming. Listen to yourself.
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