SIGN-BY-SIGN for March 2001

ARIES

ARIES (March 21-April 19)
For some time I’ve had a vision for an initiation ritual called “Self-Betrothal,” or a marriage to oneself. It seems often that we seek out highly committed relationships in an effort to complete ourselves, when we really need to do this completion work on our own, though surely with the support of friends. Ideally, there would be a time of preparation, perhaps a year, involving vision-questing, counseling and learning life skills, culminating in a rite-of-passage in which a person essentially marries himself or herself in a ceremony attended by their community. The “ego” and “spirit” would be joined as one entity; the “self” and “higher self” would, through ritual, be brought into ones awareness. My idea may be some time from manifesting, but for you, this is a powerful time of joining to yourself, of allowing what is above, what is below and what is at the center of your heart to merge in sacred matrimony.

TAURUS

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
You may think that current reform efforts will help you shed a skin or shift a relatively minor aspect of your life. In reality, your soul is screaming for you to release something that’s very nearly killing you: I don’t say this lightly, and I trust that with a few moments of meditation you’ll know what I am talking about. Events of the coming month may have a daunting quality, and all will present amazing opportunities to break free from that which is holding you down or back, whether self-imposed or put on you by another. It’s clear that the most intimidating person or circumstance is the most important, in that facing it consciously carries the greatest gift, the greatest potential for release. The stars say dare, and dare in a big way.

GEMINI

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
You may not be able to avoid a confrontation with what the circumstances of your life are set to offer, but you can count on several things. One is that if you look clearly, you’ll see clearly what is being presented. The second is that you do not need to accept, sign for or agree to anything immediately. Though messengers may present themselves as larger-than-life or more powerful than Thor, there are indeed higher powers at work; there are, in astrological terms, more brilliant aspects ahead that will present you with other dimensions of choice and freedom. It may be extremely difficult to resist what is being handed to you, all the more so because recent years have lacked such direct and compelling propositions. So accept only if you feel absolutely certain of what is right; otherwise, trust the flow of time and events, and you are unlikely to be disappointed.

CANCER

CANCER (June 21-July 22)
Emotional stability would not be a sensible goal for the foreseeable future—but devoting yourself to your rapidly emerging process of being alive surely would. Unusual plunges into passion, deep sensitivity and unexpected changes are all on your palate of colors for the coming season, but these things do not lend themselves to a predictable life. Instead, you are blessed with the ability to adapt, to act, and if need be, to face adversity directly. Remember that for you, the balance between empathy and detachment, between intuition and cognition, is a moving point rather than a black and white line. And if you feel trapped in a new world within an older personality structure, look for the doorway out in precisely the space in which you are standing, rather than wandering further off. To be sure, the future is within you.

LEO

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)
For ages you’ve had to define your ideals in the context of other people whose influences have both inspired you and created chaos in your life. This would not have happened unless you needed to be stirred up, and as a result, you’ve grown closer to yourself; some of your original core identity has been reborn. Circumstances have rarely been better for that original core identity to express something both visionary and yet unbearably human to the world— something such as yourself. With the wind in your sails and fire in your heart, now is the time to free your visions and take the first step toward creating the reality you want. Yet such freedom calls upon you to make many decisions, and to honor who you are without the hesitation that has marked your life for so long. Though you may change your mind at any time, I propose that you now know yourself very well, and have every right to feel confident in your choices.

VIRGO

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
I think one of my Virgo clients said it best when she commented, “I don’t want to be a nervous girl. I want to be a wise woman, in my body.” For women and for men, this could translate to bringing the consciousness and power of masculinity down from the cerebral cortex to the heart center, the solar plexus and the sex. In essence, we tend so hard to aspire or raise our energy upward that we forget who we are as earthly beings grounded in the awareness of our earthly body. In the weeks to come, I propose that you dedicate all of your erotic experiences to breaking down the control that keeps you locked into your mind, and therefore forgetful of who you are. The people whom you attract at this time are likely to remember, and know intuitively just what you need.

LIBRA

LIBRA (Sep. 23-Oct. 22)
We might well ask how much you’re willing to sacrifice to have what you want, because to sacrifice anything would be to miss the point entirely. So, ask the question. Dare to say what you would, among the qualities or experiences of life that you treasure, lay on the auction block or altar to receive in exchange for something you think you value more. And then remember: No such exchange is possible; the universe is not a marketplace, and neither is the life of the soul. The step you must take, in my view, is stating with utter clarity that which you so often find to be impossible to translate, conceptualize or explain. Go to that place of impossibility, then reach for words to describe your desires, then write them down. If they don’t sound correct, rewrite them, and rewrite them again. This is action enough. But notice: it has nothing to do with sacrifice.

SCORPIO

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
We live in a time when a big part of the story is men and women acting a lot like one another. We also live in a time when we’re playing a game that looks like dropping old roles, such as traditional ideas about work and relationships. This is more a charade than an experiment. To be true to ourselves, we must create reality from the inside out, intentionally blinding ourselves to the seeming requirements of the outer world. To live any other way is to reduce life to a mockery of itself. You have, at this time, rarely been presented with greater opportunity to find that inner reference point which will stabilize you within—not just your “belief system”—but within your entire reality framework. Just pay close attention to when you are doing, saying or not saying anything at all to please or meet the qualifications of another person, and come back to your center. They don’t matter now. You do.

SAGITTARIUS

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21)
David Bowie said, “One small move can mean a lot.” The danger now is feeling impelled to overact, or overreact; the other danger is not knowing how little of your own force or strength life will require to get the results you want. The critical issue here is not what you do, but rather what thoughts you hold where the mystery of your True Nature resides. You must live as if you already were what some mystics refer to as your Higher Self, though the catch is, this facet of your being may be very different than you imagined. She is, for one thing, really sexy, and her intelligence is fully resident—not something that must be learned. She possesses no other person. The “you” that already knows is, in truth, the respectful partner to the “you” that must live and experiment. Lean a little toward knowledge, step gently, and very amazing changes are likely to manifest.

CAPRICORN

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
You may need to work very consciously to keep your worst fears from haunting you, but the real challenge is turning your fears into the powerful visions for change that they really are. If you are obsessed with negative outcomes, or with the cruelty of the universe, you can be sure that you are magnifying your own negativity to a gross proportion. In that space, where you feel at the mercy of existence (which may be strongest predawn), deep healing is possible. In a parallel universe that is close enough to touch, the sense of being impacted upon by life is matched by your most idealistic visions and bold actions, moving the world to a better place. True, I don’t have much of your life history to serve up as proof, but evidence of human evolution is everywhere, if you will only look; and it’s deep within you, if you will only let yourself know.

AQUARIUS

AQUARIUS (Jan. 19-Feb. 18)
For such a bold person, you really make a fine job of being terrified of existence. You could say that that which you doubt the most about yourself offers you the greatest freedom. The two are the same thing; the habit of psychic withdrawal is often response to the “threat” of inner strength, particularly for you, and especially now. Because you have taken the particular mental posture you have, you’re forcing being human to come to you, when you could just as easily go to it. Remember, you came here to be in your body, and to have a physical experience; that involves not just understanding the peculiar, at times contradictory nature of feelings, but incarnating as feeling for long enough to move within emotional reality without lapsing back into conceptual abstraction. By now you know the difference. What you don’t know is how good it will feel to be so honest with yourself.

PISCES

PISCES (Feb. 19-Mar. 20)
So, little fish, the stellar alignment tells us basically this: it is time to hold a vision of what you want your life to become so clearly that you actually live this vision now, immediately. This will require knowing what you’re intending, maintaining a mental posture of awareness, and carefully stepping into that vision in the course of your normal routines. The potential is a rapid, undeniable shift of levels from idea to reality; heading in a whole new direction or creating a whole new life—or, you could say, experiencing your life transforming to precisely your immediate level of self-worth. In a sense, you are entering a critical phase in which you must live as if you understood your real value, and not in the typical human way of being in total disconnection and leaving it to chance. This is a potentially dangerous moment, but just as potentially, one of the most rewarding thresholds of your life.

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Cut the grease, clear your karma, be more free, have more sex. Eric Francis is a professional astrologer doing private consultations. For information about private readings, see http://www.PlanetWaves.net, or contact Eric at eric@PlanetWaves.net. Office phone: (845) 339-3339.

Eric Francis is an astrologer and writer roaming the galaxy, Visit his homepage at planetwaves.net, or e-mail him at eric@planetwaves.net.

Eric's favorite links this week:
Horoscopes4U.com RealAstrology.com Herstar.com