Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter November 21, 2007

Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
NOVEMBER 21, 2007
FreeWillAstrology.com

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"I always wanted to be an activist because I knew that if I wasn't an activist I would have to close my eyes -- and I wanted to see the world. So I became an activist for very selfish reasons."
- Amiko Mayeno (Activist and Buddhist Practitioner)

"Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment."
- Shunryu Suzuki

"Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic."
- Frank Herbert

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My book
"PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA:
How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings"
is available for sale at
tinyurl.com/qaj62

To read news and features from the book, go here:
tinyurl.com/lhwx2

Here's an excerpt:

PRONOIA'S VILLAINS

According to Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges, Judas was actually a more exalted hero than Jesus. He unselfishly volunteered to perform the all-important villain's role in the resurrection saga, knowing he'd be reviled forever. It was a dirty job that only a supremely egoless saint could have done. Jesus suffered, true, but enjoyed glory and adoration as a result.

Let's apply this way of thinking to the task of understanding the role that seemingly bad people play in pronoia.

Interesting narratives play an essential role in the universal conspiracy to give us exactly what we need. All of us crave drama. We love to be beguiled by twists of fate that unfold the stories of our lives in unpredictable ways. Just as Judas played a key role in advancing the tale of Christ's quest, villains and con men and clowns may be crucial to the entertainment value of our personal journeys.

Try this: Imagine the people you fear and dislike as pivotal characters in a fascinating and ultimately redemptive plot that will take years or even lifetimes for the Divine Wow to elaborate.

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There is another reason to love our enemies: They force us to become smarter. The riddles they thrust in front of us sharpen our wits and sculpt our souls.

Try this: Act as if your adversaries are great teachers. Thank them for how crucial they've been in your education.

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Consider one more possibility: that the people who seem to slow us down and hold us back are actually preventing things from happening too fast.

Imagine that the evolution of your life or our culture is like a pregnancy: It needs to reach its full term. Just as a child isn't ready to be born after five months of gestation, the new world we're creating has to ripen in its own time. The recalcitrant reactionaries who resist the inevitable birth are simply making sure that the far-seeing revolutionaries don't conjure the future too suddenly. They serve the greater good.

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To read news and features from my book, go here: tinyurl.com/lhwx2

You can buy the book here:

AMAZON
tinyurl.com/qaj62

POWELLS
tinyurl.com/3dsx6q

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OTHER PRONOIA RESOURCES:

FOR INTELLIGENT OPTIMISTS
Ode magazine
www.odemagazine.com
Rob sez: The most pronoiac magazine on the planet

THE TALKING CURE
The World Café: Shaping Life-Affirming Futures Through Conversations That Matter by Juanita Brown and David Isaacs
tinyurl.com/2lt7we
plus:
Conversations to save the world
www.theworldcafe.com

RECYCLING GENIUS
Turning abandoned shopping carts into sculptures
tinyurl.com/glqvy

(Note: I endorse these because I like them. This isn't an advertisement, and I get no kickbacks.)

Please tell me your own personal nominations for PRONOIA RESOURCES.

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning November 22

Copyright 2007 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

The visionary genius Isaac Newton revolutionized science and math. His biographer James Gleick says he discovered "more of the essential core of human knowledge than anyone before or after." Ostensibly, Newton was humble, writing that "if I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." But he did not actually believe that, writes Salon.com's Farhad Manjoo in his review of Gleick's book. And the fact is that Newton's breakthroughs "were not incremental, not the logical conclusion to centuries of study," but rather the result of "a supernatural, superhuman intuition." This is the kind of intelligence I suspect you'll be able to summon in the coming weeks as you expand your understanding of your place in the world. It will be as if you're snatching raw truths fresh from eternity; as if you're the beneficiary of utterly novel insights that nothing in your life has prepared you for.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were great leaders who were instrumental in creating the United States, but they shared a flaw with most of the other founding fathers: They owned slaves. Only one of the men who midwifed the birth of the nation freed his human chattel: Virginia plantation owner Robert Carter, whose heroism has been largely unsung in the history books. Make him your role model in the coming weeks, Capricorn. It's a good time to meditate on those people you've held down, oppressed, or manipulated (even if it was inadvertent or unconscious), and then correct for how you've interfered with their full blossoming. I'm not saying you're any guiltier of this sin than the rest of us; just that this is your special time to atone.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

In the coming weeks, you will have an unusually large capacity to see what has been invisible and name what has been unspeakable. You will be adept at solving dull old problems and creating brilliant new ones. You will also have extraordinary power to dissolve restrictions and impose creative limitations, outwit evil and dream up tricky ways to be good, drum up freedom and escape apathy, and rebel against or uphold tradition as necessary. Use your amazing mojo craftily, Aquarius!

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

"You owe it to us all to get on with what you're good at," said poet W.H. Auden. Make that your motto in the coming weeks, Pisces. Your motivation for doing the useful work you love to do should not come from you alone. We, the rest of the world, want to be there inside you so that we can root you on and encourage you to give us your very best gifts. Tap into and refine and explore your talents for your own sake, yes -- but do it for us, too.

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AUDIO LOVE LETTERS

In addition to the horoscopes that come to you in this newsletter, I create audio horoscopes for your inspiration. They discuss themes and cover material that I don't have room to deal with in the written horoscopes.

They're $6 if you access them on the Web, or $1.99 per minute over the phone.

Try them at RealAstrology.com.

By phone: 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

"I always feel like I know myself better after listening to your audio 'scopes."
- June R., Austin, TX

"Your audio horoscopes calm me down when I'm too manic and pep me up when I'm down."
- Arthur T., Cleveland, OH

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ARIES (March 21-April 19):

When life gets weird, should you take refuge in decorum and tradition? Should you intensify your commitment to the humdrum? Is it wise to dress more conservatively, act more dignified, and smile more automatically? I say no. When the daily rhythm veers off track into unexpected detours, I say it's prime time to gleefully depart from The Way Things Have Always Been Done. In fact, I advise you to cultivate your rebellious questions and celebrate the unusual impulses that bubble up. They will help you harvest the epiphanies that life's weirdness is tempting you to pursue.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

"When you die," says the Koran, "God will call upon you to account for all the permitted pleasures you did not enjoy while on earth." There's a similar idea in the Talmud: "A person will be called upon to account, on Judgment Day, for all the permitted pleasures he might have enjoyed but did not." This thought should serve as a central theme for you in the coming weeks, Taurus. Don't worry, you won't die for many years. But to activate your highest spiritual potentials in the near future, you must plumb the depths of bliss, joy, amusement, and fun.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

Your intentions have been fine, but you've been a bit off in executing your intentions. It's like you were building a love nest in a parking garage; as if you've been hosting a dinner party with fascinating guests at McDonald's; as if you were confessing profound secrets to a narcissist who wasn't really interested. In other words, Gemini, you have been doing the right things in the wrong places. But I expect that a lucky break will soon shove you out of this awkward disjunction, bringing your style and content into harmony. (P.S. Why not go out and induce that lucky break immediately?)

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

Lishui is a rapidly growing industrial city in China. With the government's help and blessing, developers have been transforming rugged farmland into level parcels suitable for manufacturing facilities. In recent years, engineers have used dynamite and dump trucks to flatten 108 hills and mountains. The official motto that guides workers is "Each person does the work of two; two days' work is done in one." While I don't normally recommend that you engage in such extreme labors, the coming weeks will be a favorable time to make an exception. You'll have cosmic forces on your side if you do the work of two as you carry out the equivalent of demolishing mountains.

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AUDIO HOROSCOPES

In addition to the horoscopes that you're reading here, I create audio horoscopes for your amusement and inspiration. Find out more at RealAstrology.com.

The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

"Your audio horoscopes work better than my therapist and cost me five percent of what he charges."
- Chris M., San Francisco, CO

"You've helped me remember important things about myself that I'd forgotten."
- Ruth V., Toronto

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LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

The bad news is that Indonesia has the fastest rate of deforestation on the planet, and is one of the top three producers of greenhouse gas pollution. The good news is that on November 28, the people of Indonesia will unleash the most intense orgy of tree-growing in the history of the world. They're scheduled to plant 79 million saplings in 24 hours. You Leos might also consider undertaking a massive display of fertility in the next three weeks. Your creative powers will be at a peak; your ability to coax abundant life out of seeds and sprouts will be extraordinary.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

Because of changes in agricultural techniques, food is nowhere near as nutritious as it used to be. Vegetables grown on modern factory farms have 27 percent less calcium and 37 percent less iron than they did in 1975, for example, as well as 21 percent less Vitamin A and 30 percent less Vitamin C. So if you want to avoid being starved of essential nutrients, you either have to eat a huge amount, take supplements, or consume organic food. Are there any other areas of your life where the sustenance levels have dropped, perhaps without your full awareness? Is there an activity that no longer provides you with the boost it used to? Your assignment is to explore this possibility. If you find something's lacking, take immediate measures to make up for what you've been missing. (For more info about food's shrinking nutritional value, go here: tinyurl.com/yrw4ht.)

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

Talk normally as little as possible in the coming week. Instead, try to communicate primarily by whispering, singing, laughing, speaking in rhyme, using foreign accents, making animal noises, and imitating cartoon characters. In my astrological opinion, this could free you to express feelings and thoughts that you've been unwisely suppressing. It would give you the power to access potent information that neither your monkey mind nor your rational mind has much interest in.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

A while back I asked my readers, "What conditions would you need in your world in order to feel you were living in paradise?" I'll report to you how one Scorpio responded, since it's very apropos to your immediate future. "My utopia," wrote Sandra Boyd of Vancouver, "would require me to be desired, loved, and satiated amidst messy order and cockeyed perfection." I urge you to create that exact set of conditions, Scorpio. Get out there and cultivate the funny logic, wild discipline, and chaotic organization that will help ensure you'll be fiercely adored.

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HOMEWORK:

What gifts do you want to give the people you love for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Yule, and the winter solstice? Write to Buddha Claus by going to FreeWillAstrology.com and clicking on "Email Rob."

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WANT TO GET YOUR CHART DONE?

I'm not doing personal charts, but I highly recommend my astrological colleague, RO LOUGHRAN. Her approach closely matches my own. In our many discussions about astrology over the years, we've had a major influence on each other's work.

Ro utilizes a blend of well-trained intuition, emotional warmth, and a high degree of technical proficiency in horoscope interpretation; she is skilled at exploring the mysteries of your life's purpose and nurturing your connection with your own inner wisdom.

Ro is based in California, but can do phone consultations and otherwise work with you regardless of geographic boundaries.

Ro's website is at www.YourSoulJourney.com

She can also be reached at roloughran@comcast.net

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Submissions sent to the Free Will Astrology Weekly Newsletter or in response to "homework assignments" may be published in a variety of formats at Rob Brezsny's discretion, including but not limited to newsletters, books, the Free Will Astrology column, and Free Will Astrology website. We reserve the right to edit such submissions for length, style, and content. Requests for anonymity will be honored with submissions; otherwise, reader names, screen names, or initials will be used. Please be sure to note your preference when sending to us. We are not responsible for unsolicited submission of any creative material.

Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright 2007 Rob Brezsny

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