After seeing Star Wars last week, I felt everything I've been writing about the astrology of winter 1997 light up in neon. George Lucas makes it beautifully simple: The Force is not just something you have the option to "believe in," but rather, something that you either work with, or you don't. 

If it's not totally obvious, The Force is God, the all-pervasive energy that links all minds and all living things even more efficiently than Central Hudson. It is a consistently present and available intelligence emanating from and surrounding the universe. I know, given our experiences here on Earth, it's the "intelligence" part that can really throw you, but anyway. By changing its name, Lucas erased all the old-man and granny-goes-to-church imagery that the concept of "god" is so loaded with. But I'm not talking about the concept of "god," I'm talking about the real thing — The Force. 

Luke Skywalker learns about The Force from his mentor, Obi-wan Kenobi. Like most peoples' encounters with their teachers, it is through a series of coincidences that Luke encounters Obi-wan, who has heard of the rebellion's plea for help and he decides to go back to work for the Force and help in the struggle against evil. He needs Luke's help, but does not coerce him into the service of light side, because coercion is a tool of darkness and used car salesmen. When Luke makes his own decision to serve and learn the ways of The Force, it's an act of free will.  

Flashing Green Lights: BIG IMPORTANT THEME. 

Then, once you have decided, you need to learn a whole new way of living, and unlearn many things that don't work. Luke learns to trust the flow of his life. He connects with his instincts, experiencing his natural second sight. Luke learns that The Force responds to your needs and requests, and is, in a sense, under your direct command when you are working with it, so there's no point whining. Luke builds loyal relationships with his new friends that are based first on his relationship with The Force. He does what he believes is right at all times, and never compromises his values. 

Most important, Luke actually listens to the calm, quiet voice within (in the form of the ascended Obi-wan) who helps him blow up the Death Star just moments before it is about to destroy the rebellion and the lovely Princess Leia.  

To get that far, Luke had to decide that he wasn't insignificant, which meant recognizing that even though he's just one person, his actions really mattered. Sound like a familiar struggle? 

In case you think this is science "fiction" or some kind of simplistic morality play, consider that right now many of us are involved in an actual, overwhelming struggle between light and darkness, and it can be very confusing. Discerning right and wrong is one of the biggest themes of our generation. Your personal struggle may be over being a slave of your employer, trying to get out of an insane relationship, getting healthy, fighting a major illness, or trying to quit alcohol, drugs or smoking. 

Faced with this situation, would you be helpless or powerful? If you would be powerful, would you learn the ways of power? Some people are too arrogant to call upon The Force. Often, this disguises as false humility: "Maybe there's a 'god', but why should he give a shit about me?" 

But most of the time, the crisis is one of choosing between light and darkness. Most of us hang out in the gray area between he two, in the shadows of indecision, addiction, the past, dissatisfying relationships, irrelevant work, incomplete happiness, sexual repression, self-censorship, negative self-esteem or outright self-hatred, belief in magic, or any of the other thousand shades of gray we're so used to living and breathing without question. (One of my favorite examples of gray thinking are The Grays, those wise, ever-popular space aliens who abduct kids, stick things up their noses and then mutilate cattle in their spare time, but nobody knows whether they're good or evil.) 

As for us. Most people who want to change their lives are partially committed to healing all the time, or totally committed some of the time, neither of which works. To heal our lives and grow strong, it needs to be a constant commitment, and this requires learning the art of vigilance. Usually, we miss the fact that willingness to heal — not the end result — is a prerequisite to growth and real service to God. Once initiated, this process will, and necessarily must, encompass all of our problems without exception. For me, this includes accepting that God will cooperate if I want a neat desk. 

You are free to believe anything you want, though we never find out what's true until we give it a try. In case you haven't figured it out yet, life is about experience, not theory. 

The Force is with you, but the first move is always yours.

THE MOON AND STUFF

Spring has been sneaking in between the little puffs of snow and is now just about official. Looks like we got a discount after last year's experience, when I vowed that the Hudson Valley would be a great place to live, if we had winter every other year. The Spring Equinox, when the Sun moves into the sign Aries, is March 20 1997 at 8:55 am EST. March is the month of eclipses. The Pisces New Moon and solar eclipse (first of a series of Pisces/Virgo eclipses) occurs March 8 at 8:15 pm EST. The Libra Full Moon and lunar eclipse (last of the Aries/Virgo eclipses) is March 23 at 11:45 pm. 

SUN SIGNS FOR MARCH 

ARIES — Do you feel like you're going backwards? Are you secretly terrified that you're  a wimp? Are you obsessed over details and feeling like you're missing the big picture? Has finding satisfying, meaningful work become an impossible dream? Well, you can blame the current Mars retrograde if you want, but it's clear that this is a time to really pay attention to all of these questions. Mars, your ruling planet, is generally great at providing thrust but not navigation, but currently it's the other way around. This is a time to plot your course, sharpen your tools, and more than anything, learn mindfulness. Opportunity will come to you soon enough, so you might as well be ready for it. 

TAURUS — Giving and receiving may be the same  thing in some religions, but for now, let's make a distinction. I am not talking about having, possessing, keeping or holding. I am talking about receiving. Not receiving through giving, but receiving through receiving. Not in semantics, in reality. This may take the form of becoming very sensitive to the world around you, becoming aware of the feelings people have for you, attuning to beauty or becoming more accepting of yourself in a very kind way. One specific event around March 22 will likely make this very obvious. We shall see. 

GEMINI — Unlike new years, changing seasons are things we can actually feel. There's a theme for you this spring, and that is taking yourself more seriously. Wouldn't that be great? Wouldn't you love to be able to get it together and move in one direction that you knew was right and that you really believed in? Imagine having the focusing power of an architect combined with the predictive power of an incredible coffee grind reader in a Turkish restaurant. Imagine being able to think in terms of creating your visions and not just glimpsing at them, or being able to think about something long enough to write it down. It's coming soon. 

CANCER — Among the world's delusions about success is that there is such a thing — that there's some destination or final point of arrival when you've Made it and Gotten There. Particularly for a Cancer, the best There is usually here anyway, but this happens to be a good time in your life to consider all of your values about success, all of your options, what your real goals are, what you want, what you need and what you're willing to do to get it. Just considering the possibilities will be a very enlightening exercise. Then for contrast, call your father and ask him what he thinks. 

LEO — Now that you have no secrets any more, you have the opportunity to put your freedom to work for you. That's a loaded sentence, I know. Read it again. I'm making a connection between self-disclosure and freedom. And since the most dangerous secrets are the ones we keep from ourselves, I'm especially making the connection between self-knowledge and freedom. I think  the reason for this connection is that other people can only hold against us what remains hidden in the shadows of our minds, experiences and beliefs. Your planet is the Sun, so let it shine. 

VIRGO — Thinking about sex lately? Well, it's not just because birds are chirping and spring is in the air, though that never hurts. It's because you are currently on the avant-garde of those people for whom sex can become a religion — that is, a sacred path of becoming your true self, finding your healing powers, tapping your inner spiritual source and, more than anything, helping everyone else who's willing get away from the idea that there's some kind of sin or violation of Divine law when people experience pleasure. This is your mission if you choose to accept it. 

LIBRA — Think about all your springtimes of your life, Libra: who you knew, the changes you made, and what you observed about the world. Put them together in kind of movie of memory, and see if they tell a story, and if they do, figure out what that story tells you about you. This is a moment of the most profound reflections from the universe, when there is the thinnest possible veil between yourself and everything else. Reach through it. 

SCORPIO — During the past year, a new kind of self-sufficiency has moved into your consciousness, and it has changed every aspect of who you are. In a sense, you are being taught to value yourself above anyone else, and this has a profound effect on your relationships because you are being forced to come from a position of strength rather than weakness. What you feared was the worst failed to occur: that the more you became, the less of an effect you thought people would have on you. The truth is that only by being yourself and depending on yourself can you truly be moved by another. 

SAGITTARIUS — While Dona, my massage therapist, was working on me the other day, she started telling me about a book called Conversations With God by Neale Donald Walsch, of which I immediately obtained a copy. God says, and I quote: "Be patient. You are gaining wisdom. And your joys are now increasingly available without pain. That, too, is a very good sign. You are learning (remembering how) to love without pain, to let go without pain; to create without pain; even to cry without pain.  Yes, you're even able to have your pain without pain, if you know what I mean."  

CAPRICORN — It also turns out that God is not a prude, he has a smart sense of humor, and wants us to have fun here. Who would have thought? If I may continue quoting, "For thousands of years people have disbelieved the promises of God for the most extraordinary reason: they were too good to be true. So you have chosen a lesser promise — a lesser love. For the highest promise of God proceeds from the highest love. Yet you cannot conceive of a perfect love, and so a perfect promise is inconceivable. As is the perfect person. Therefore you cannot believe even in your Self." Hmmmmm. 

AQUARIUS — Forget about being afraid that what you're now experiencing isn't real or is too much to handle. Face it — you're under a lot of pressure to get happy. It may feel like "just pressure," but I assure you that just pressure feels a lot worse (remember last August, everyone?). This is a about electricity, expansiveness, celebration, creativity and love. A sense of vibrancy unlike any other you've ever felt. It's a clarion call to freedom and ecstasy. Pay attention, this is one of a kind. 

PISCES — This is the month of the Cosmic Passport for you, Pisces, which means fear no evil, make your plans, and go about your business as if your every step, word and deed were speeding you toward your least probable but most dreamed of future. A wind of change that came out of nowhere has taken to blowing at your back, and where it takes you is beyond my predictive powers, but not beyond your imagination.

Eric Francis is a professional astrologer living in the Kingston area. He does private readings for people interested in improving any aspect of their lives. Reach his office at 914 339 3339, or visit his website at www.mhv.net/~efrancis. "Radio Navigator" airs Sundays at 11 p.m. on WDST, Radio Woodstock.