Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter April 2, 2008

Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
APRIL 2, 2008
FreeWillAstrology.com

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"When an old culture is dying, the new is created by a few people who are not afraid to be insecure."
- Rudolf Bahro

"You can think of the groundlessness and openness of insecurity as a chance that we're given over and over to choose a fresh alternative. Things happen to us all the time that open up the space. This spaciousness, this wide-open, unbiased, unprejudiced space is inexpressible and fundamentally good and sound. It's like the sky."
- Pema Chodron, Practicing Peace in Times of War

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ATTENTION ARTISTS . . .

I'm looking for artwork to illustrate my future books and CDs, and I'd like to consider using yours. Tell me where to view your work by sending me an email: sacreduproar@sbcglobal.net.

I'm interested in two kinds of work:

1. full-color images that would work well as covers for my books and CDs. To see what my previous covers look like, go to the pages below; click on the image to bring up a bigger version.

tinyurl.com/qaj62
tinyurl.com/2ftyq6
tinyurl.com/ynq56x

2. black-and-white line drawings or collages for illustrations inside the books and CDs. To see how I've done this in the past, go here:

tinyurl.com/26sbdj
tinyurl.com/yp58hn

If I decide to use your work for the cover of one of my books or CDs, I'll pay you $500.

What I pay for black-and-white illustrations inside the book will depend on how many I use and other factors.

I prefer to view your work on a web page, so optimally you will send me a URL where I can go to gaze upon your creations. You could also email me .jpgs.

What imagery do I like? What am I looking for? I don't necessarily know (surprise me!), but I am drawn to neo-primitive, archetypal imagery that blends ancient myth and future revelation.

I won't be able to respond to all inquiries, but will reply only to those whose art I think might work for me. Please don't take it personally if I don't choose yours. Of all the great art out there, only a small proportion will be right for my needs.

Thanks for giving me a chance to see your stuff!

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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

Here's an excerpt:

PRONOIA NEWS NETWORK

These are our top stories.

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THIS EARTH IS HONEY

"This earth is honey for all beings, and all beings are honey for this earth. The intelligent, immortal being, the soul of the earth, and the intelligent, immortal being, the soul in the individual being -- each is honey to the other."
- Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

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20,000 YEARS OF PROGRESS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

"Centuries ago people didn't think that the world was changing at all. Their grandparents had the same lives that they did, and they expected their grandchildren would do the same, and that expectation was largely fulfilled.

"Today it's an axiom that life is changing and that technology is affecting the nature of society. What's not fully understood is that the pace of change is itself accelerating, and the last 20 years are not a good guide to the next 20 years. We're doubling the paradigm shift rate, the rate of progress, every decade.

"The whole 20th century was like 25 years of change at today's rate of change. In the next 25 years we'll make four times the progress you saw in the 20th century. And we'll make 20,000 years of progress in the 21st century, which is almost a thousand times more technical change than we saw in the 20th century."
- Ray Kurzweil, excerpt from "The Singularity," on the Edge website, March 25, 2001,
tinyurl.com/2p5ywm

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OPEN SECRET REVEALED

"There is a great insight which our culture is deliberately designed to suppress, distort, and ignore: that Nature is a minded entity; that Nature is not simply the random flight of atoms through electromagnetic fields; that Nature is not the empty, despiritualized lumpen matter that we inherit from modern physics. But it is instead a kind of intelligence, a kind of mind."
- Terence McKenna, www.deoxy.org/mckenna.htm

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SIXTH-GRADE ZEITGEIRST UPDATE

The following bon mots were scrawled on the backpacks and binders of sixth grade girls at Greenwood School in Mill Valley, California:

Learn as if you'll live forever
Explain yourself wildly, not carefully
Wake up -- but not too fast, or you might hurt yourself
Question authority, including the authority that told you to question authority
Give me chocolate or I'll scream
It's all so funny -- how can you not be laughing?
When you shout "halaluya," never spell it right
Live the freakiest truth

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ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Multimillionaire pop star George Michael has decided to give away his music for free, posting it on the Internet for anyone to download. "I've been very well remunerated for my talents over the years," he told BBC, "so I really don't need the public's money."

Hollywood movie and music mogul David Geffen also believes he has enough money. The billionaire cofounder of DreamWorks told Forbes, "I have no interest in making money anymore. Everything I make in the entertainment business will go to charity."

CNN founder and billionaire Ted Turner is in the middle of a 10-year, billion-dollar giveaway to the United Nations. Since 1997, he has been donating annual installments of 100 million dollars, specifying that they not be used for administration costs but for programs like eliminating land mines, feeding children, and preventing disease.

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THIS WEEK IN PRONOIA HISTORY

Until she broke her foot as a teen, Paula Cole wanted to be a cheerleader like all the most popular girls. But the injury required her to wear a wooden shoe for an entire year, dashing her dreams and sending her in search of other identities. "That's when I found the piano, when music saved me," she said. "That's when I first attempted to write my own songs." Years later Cole became a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter.

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PNN is made possible by Tom Robbins belief, as stated in his book Jitterbug Perfume, that "The unhappy person resents it when you try to cheer him up, because that means he has to stop dwelling on himself and start paying attention to the universe. Unhappiness is the ultimate form of self-indulgence. When you're unhappy, you get to pay a lot of attention to yourself. And you get to take yourself oh so very seriously."

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INDIA AND CHINA GET RICH QUICK

China and India, which comprise one-third of the earth's population, have more than twice the wealth they had in 1989.
(Source: The Economist)

In the past twenty years, hundreds of millions of Chinese have escaped poverty and begun earning middle-class incomes. Economist Jeffrey Sachs, renowned for his work in assisting Third World nations to raise their standards of living, says, 'China is the most successful development story in world history."
(Source: Fareed Zakaria, "The Big Story Everyone Missed," Newsweek, December 30, 2002)

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PARTIAL TRUCE IN THE DRUG WAR

'The silver lining in the budget crisis affecting the states throughout this nation is that from Louisiana to Texas to Michigan, state governments are cutting prison budgets by releasing non-violent drug offenders. There has been a steady move toward treatment instead of incarceration, and a greater understanding that drug abuse should be handled in the doctors' office, not the prison cell."
- Medea Benjamin, AlterNet, www.alternet.org

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SCHOOL DAYS INCREASE

Literacy and education levels are rising steadily on a global scale. Since 1970, the percentage of students going to secondary school has more than doubled.
(Source: www.goodnewsnetwork.org)

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BLIND COMPASSION WATCH

"In January 2003, a Muslim gas station attendant saved a New York synagogue from arson with his phone call to 911. Pakistani immigrant Syed Ali watched as a man bought gasoline, marched across the street, and began dousing the front of the temple. Police responded to Ali's call in time to stop the crime. Ali declined the mantle of hero saying 'It was a sacred place he was going to destroy.'"
- Geraldine Weis-Corbley, www.goodnewsnetwork.org

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BENEVOLENT PRANKS

One night in February 2004, anonymous mischief-makers in the English town of Pembury sneaked into 100 gardens and secretly planted an ash sapling in each one. It was hard work. The weather was terrible, and each tree had to be carefully rooted in a six-inch hole. Some residents were pleased by the unsolicited gift, while others were confused.

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KARMA IN ACTION

In 2001, Mitzi Nichols of Virginia Beach anonymously donated one of her kidneys to a stranger. She got paid nothing for this rare act of generosity, and after recovering from surgery went back to her job as a cashier at a gift shop. It took the universe three years to figure out a way to compensate her properly. In June 2004, she won $500,000 in the Virginia state lottery.

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WILDNESS REVISED

In his book The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart, Robert Bly says that to be wild is not to be crazy like a criminal or psychotic, but 'mad as the mist and snow." It has nothing to do with being childish or primitive, nor does it manifest as manic rebellion or self-damaging alienation. The real marks of wildness, he asserts, are a love of nature, a delight in silence, a voice free to say spontaneous things, and an exuberant curiosity in the face of the unknown.

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THE REST OF THE MIDDLE EAST NEWS

"In Israel, several thousand Israeli and Palestinian families living in relatively close proximity to one another, and each deeply proud of their respective nation's history and foundations and traditions, did not actively seethe in a roiling cauldron of hatred or religious bile, nor did they let the horrible atrocities some of their people are perpetrating on each other cause them to froth with self-righteousness and mad desire for war.

"They did not go about their day cowering in a pit of lost hope, fearing for their lives and wishing their neighbors extreme painful death and eternal damnation, despite all the painful evidence and political urgency currently screeching at them that they must do so immediately."
- Mark Morford, SFGate, tinyurl.com/38kgkk

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SACRED ADVERTISEMENT

PNN is brought to you by Albert Camus' belief that "Each of us is free to stoke the crematory fires of Buchenwald or nurse lepers in an African hospital."
(Notebooks 1935-1951)

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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:

BLESSERCISE
To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings by John O'Donohue
tinyurl.com/2k5xws

PRONOIAC GUIDELINES FROM A MASTER PLAYER
Thich Nhat Hanh tells the loving truth
tinyurl.com/96snk

REVERSE GREED
"Money Buys Happiness -- If You Spend It on Somebody Else"
tinyurl.com/3xks4o

(Note: I endorse these because I like them. They are not advertisements, and I get no kickbacks.)

Please tell me your own personal nominations for PRONOIA RESOURCES.

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning April 3

Copyright 2008 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com

ARIES (March 21-April 19):

In the film Fight Club, the character played by Brad Pitt storms into a convenience store with a gun, then herds the clerk out back and threatens to execute him. While the poor man quivers in terror, Pitt asks him questions about himself, extracting the confession that he had once wanted to be a veterinarian but had dropped out of school. After a few minutes, Pitt frees the clerk without harming him, but says that unless he takes steps to return to veterinary school in the next six weeks, he will hunt him down and kill him. In my opinion, that's an overly extreme way to motivate someone to do what's good for him. I wish I could come up with a less shocking approach to coax you into resuming the quest for your deferred dreams, Aries. Can you think of anything?

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

Financial columnist Bill Fleckstein says that by its very nature, capitalism continually cycles through periods of boom and bust. You can't have one without the other. The American economy is in trouble because for many years the federal government suppressed the down times in an effort to create a state of perpetual boom. The backlogged busts are now kicking in all at once. I bring this to your attention, Taurus, in the hope that you won't make a comparable mistake in your own sphere. Some tightly wound part of your life needs to unravel for a while. I advise you to consider going on a brief hiatus or sabbatical.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

Even if you have no plans to get married, I suggest you enter the Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest, in which rival designers compete to create beautiful bridal gowns using bathroom tissue. You just might win, thereby earning the cash prize. Why do I say that? Because according to my reading of the omens, you now have a special skill at conjuring up cheap elegance in service to your urge to merge. You have an unusual knack for turning things of little apparent worth into valuable aids to intimacy.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

In recent years there has been a rash of climbers shedding all their clothes on Mount Everest. A sherpa by the name of Lakpa Tharke claims the world's record for high-altitude nudity, having stood skyclad for three minutes at the 29,035-foot summit. Some Nepali authorities are seeking a ban on such displays, believing that it defiles the revered mountain. "How would Westerners feel about people stripping in church?" they ask. Not meaning any disrespect to them, I urge you, Cancerian, to make "in the buff on the holy mountaintop" your power metaphor of the week. Blend sacredness and nakedness in any way that appeals to your imagination, especially if it's in high places or makes you high.

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EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES

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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LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

The feats you're pulling off may not appear spectacular to a casual observer. But in my view, they are some of the most interesting accomplishments you've enjoyed in a while. Here's a brief description of some of your subtly glorious breakthroughs: 1. You've made yourself less susceptible to being manipulated by guilt or pushed around by bullies or fooled by phonies. 2. You're getting smarter about how you treat the people and things you love. 3. You're at the peak of your ability to discern the difference between rash risks motivated by fear and smart gambles driven by authentic intuition.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

Using a stopwatch, a sports statistician once figured out that the average baseball game has about nine minutes of action. The proceedings may last three hours from beginning to end, but the ball is actually in play just five percent of the time. What happens during the remaining 95 percent? Mostly a lot of standing around. I believe it'll be that kind of week for you, Virgo. The good news is that when the flurries of activity do erupt, they will be packed with drama and intrigue that you can really use.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

"I slept with faith and found a corpse in my arms on awakening," wrote occult philosopher Aleister Crowley in his flowery neo-Victorian style. "I drank and danced all night with doubt and found her a virgin in the morning." I think that formulation will serve you well in the coming days, Libra. There's little to be gained from clinging compulsively to your hopes and fantasies about what's true. Just the opposite: Momentous strength will rise up in you if you question everything you hold dear or assume to be fact.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

In her book Waiting for God, French mystic and political activist Simone Weil (1909-1943) wrote a passage I'd love for you to keep in mind during the coming weeks: "When an apprentice gets hurt, or complains of being tired, the workmen have this fine expression: 'It is the trade entering his body.' Each time that we have some pain to go through, we can say to ourselves quite truly that it is the order and beauty of the world that are entering our body." I encourage you, Scorpio, to adopt this redemptive attitude about the suffering you have been experiencing.

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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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SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

In his memoir, radio talk-show host Michael Krasny notes that he is "the inverse of writer Saul Bellow, who said that he was a bird and not an ornithologist." Even if you are usually more like Krasny, Sagittarius, I suggest that you be like Bellow in the coming weeks. In my astrological opinion, you need to be an embodiment of wild nature, not an observer and appreciator of wild nature. It's time for you to be a geyser, not an architect who critiques fountains; a bonfire, not a candle-gazer; a horse, not a gambler who bets on the ponies.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

A new Hawaiian island is in the process of creating itself. Called Loihi, it's an active volcano that still lies beneath the sea. As it vents lava in the millennia to come, it will eventually accumulate enough mass to rise above water level and make itself available for trees to grow on and animals to nest in and humans to dance on. In the coming days, Capricorn, I invite you to regard this as an important symbol. Think about what part of your life has a metaphorical resemblance to the threshold that Loihi will be approaching about 10,000 years from now: emerging out of the depths and breaking above the surface.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

Between 8 and 9 o'clock one morning, I made a 30-mile roundtrip from San Francisco to Marin County, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge twice in the process. In that brief time, I drove through five different micro-climates, some of them twice: 1. dense, blinding fog; 2. heavily overcast skies but no fog; 3. totally bright and sunny; 4. wispy fog with sun pouring down through it, creating a blend of grey and gold; 5. partially sunny with rolling bubbles of fog visible in the distance. Judging from your current astrological omens, Aquarius, I'm guessing that what I experienced is an apt metaphor for what your life will be like in the coming days: a quick-shifting kaleidoscope of vivid moods and rich textures. Celebrate each scene, knowing it will soon give way to a new one.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson told The Washington Post the following fun facts: "There are more molecules of water in a cup of water than cups of water in all the world's oceans. This means that some molecules in every cup of water you drink passed through the kidneys of Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Abe Lincoln, or any other historical person of your choosing." Your assignment this week, Pisces, is to choose three heroes you'd most like to be influenced and inspired by. Every time you drink water, be conscious of the fact that some of it was once inside the bodies of those exceptional people. Say a prayer that their mojo will become available to you.

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HOMEWORK:

Is there a place in your life where you're skilled at bending but not breaking? Brag about it 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 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 2008 Rob Brezsny

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