Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter October 29, 2008

Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
OCTOBER 29, 2008
FreeWillAstrology.com

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To hear a podcast of the piece below, "This Is a Perfect Moment," go here: tinyurl.com/3j8huc

To buy the book in which it appears, go here:
tinyurl.com/qaj62

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THIS IS A PERFECT MOMENT
by Rob Brezsny

This is a perfect moment.
It's a perfect moment for many reasons,
but especially because you and I are waking up
from our sleepwalking, thumb-sucking, dumb-clucking collusion
with the masters of illusion and destruction.

Thanks to them,
from whom the painful blessings flow,
we are waking up.

Their wars and tortures,
their crimes against nature,
extinctions of species
and brand new diseases.

Their spying and lying
in the name of the father,
sterilizing seeds and
trademarking water.

Molestations of God,
celebrations of shame,
stealing our dreams and
changing our names.

Their cunning commercials
and blood-sucking hustles,
their endless rehearsals
for the end of the world.

Thanks to them,
from whom the awful teachings flow,
we are waking up.

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Their painful blessings are cracking open
more and more gashes
in the shrunken and crippled mass hallucination
that is mistakenly called "reality."
And through the fractures,
ripe eternity is flooding in;
news of the soul's true home is pouring in;
our allies from the other side of the veil
are swarming in,
inspiring us to become smarter and wilder
and kinder and trickier.

We are waking up.

As heaven and earth come together,
as the dreamtime and daytime merge,
we register the shockingly exhilarating fact
that we are in charge
of creating a brand new world.
Not in some distant time or faraway place,
but right here and right now.

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As we stand on this brink,
as we dance on this verge,
we can't let the ruling fools of the dying world
sustain their curses.
We have to rise up
and fight their insane logic;
defy, resist, and prevent their tragic magic;
erupt with our sacred rage and supercharge it.

But overthrowing the living dead is not enough.
Protesting the well-dressed monsters is not enough.
We can't afford to be consumed with our anger;
we can't be obsessed and possessed by their danger.
Our mysterious bodies crave delight and fertility.
Our boisterous imaginations demand fresh tastes of infinity.

In the new world we're gestating,
we need to be suffused
with lusty compassion and ecstatic duty,
ingenious love and insurrectionary beauty.
We've got to be teeming with radical curiosity and reverent pranks, voracious listening and ferocious thanks.

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So I'm curious, my fellow creators.
Since you and I are in charge of making a new world
-- not just breaking down the old world --
where do we begin?
What stories do we want at the heart of our experiments?
What questions will be our oracles?

Here's what I say:
In the New World we're creating,
We will ridicule the cult of doom and gloom.
We will embrace the cause of zoom and boom.
We will laugh at the stupidity of evil and hate;
we'll summon the brilliance to praise and create.

No matter how upside-down it all may appear,
we will have no fear
because we know this big secret:
Pronoia is real.
All of creation is conspiring to shower us with blessings.
Life is crazily in love with us --
brazenly and innocently in love with us.

The universe always gives us
exactly what we need,
exactly when we need it.

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The winds and the tides are on our side,
forever and ever, amen.
The fire and the rain are scheming to steal our impossible pain.
The sun and the moon and the stars
remember our real names,
and our ancestors pray for us while we're dreaming.

We have guardian angels and thousands of teachers,
provocateurs with designs to unleash us,
helpers and saviors we can't even imagine,
brothers and sisters who want us to blossom.

Thanks to them,
from whom the blissful blessings flow,
we are waking up.

The roads they pave us,
the places they save us,
the tomatoes they grow us,
the rivers they flow us.

Their mysterious stories,
and morning glories,
their loaves and fishes,
granting our wishes.

The songs they sing us,
the gifts they bring us,
the secrets they show us,
above and below us.

Thanks to them,
from whom the blissful blessings flow,
we are waking up.

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Postscript:

I'm allergic to dogma.
I thrive on the riddles.
Any idea I believe, I reserve the right to disbelieve as well.
But more than any other vision I've ever tested,
pronoia describes the way the world actually is.
It's wetter than water,
stronger than death,
and truer than the news.
It smells like cedar smoke in the autumn rain,
and if you close your eyes right now,
you can feel it shimmering
like the aurora borealis
in your organs and muscles.
Its song is your blood's song.

Some people argue that life is strife
and suffering is normal.
Others swear we're born sinful
and only heaven can provide us with the peace
that passes understanding.
But pronoia says that being alive
on the rough green and brown earth
is the highest honor and privilege.
It's an invitation to work wonders
and perform miracles
that aren't possible in any nirvana, promised land, or afterlife.

I'm not exaggerating or indulging in poetic metaphor
when I tell you that we are already living in paradise.
Visualize it if you dare.
The sweet stuff that quenches all of our longing
is not far away in some other time and place.
It's right here and right now.
Poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning knew the truth:
"Earth's crammed with heaven."

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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:

DEMOCRACY NOT DEMOCRAZY
"12 Ways You Can Safeguard the Vote"
tinyurl.com/5zvfbt

EXPRESSING LOVE THROUGH OBJECTIVITY
"The Ten Signs of Intellectual Honesty" by Mike Gene
tinyurl.com/6felj2
"When it comes to just about any topic, it seems as if the public discourse is dominated by rhetoric and propaganda. People are either selling products or ideology. In fact, just because someone may come across as calm and knowledgeable does not mean you should let your guard down and trust what they say. What you need to look for is a track record of intellectual honesty. Let me therefore propose 10 signs of intellectual honesty."

BEFRIEND THE BEAST
Swimming with Tigers
tinyurl.com/5u3e3u

(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 October 30

Copyright 2008 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

In the coming week, you can generate a lot of good karma for yourself by being an initiator. That's why I advise you to never sit back passively and merely watch what's unfolding, but rather formulate a vision of what you'd like to see happen, set your intention to make it happen, and then plunge into action with brisk aplomb. Halloween costume suggestions: fire-starter, seed-planter, fertility god or goddess.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

Medical insurance is out of reach for 46 million of my fellow Americans. Our country is at war in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as with a ghostly omnipresent foe known as terrorism. Our national debt is stupendous, our stock market has plunged, and many companies once thought to be towers of strength have failed. Meanwhile, right next door, Canada has universal healthcare and a budget surplus. Its banks are solvent and it's embroiled in zero wars. Am I jealous? Of course. Am I planning to emigrate? No. I'm going to stay here and keep agitating for goodness and justice and beauty. After evaluating your astrological omens, Sagittarius, I suggest that you do the equivalent in your own life: Stand your ground as you work to fix the flawed situation you've been given; don't flee to where the grass seems greener. Halloween costume suggestions: an elder statesman, wise crone, or charismatic teacher.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

You have the potential to throw the best party ever, and also to elevate the radiance of other people's parties through the force of your personality. Your social instincts are superb, by which I mean they're brilliant when it comes to mixing business and pleasure and knowing how to strengthen alliances while invoking maximum fun. Your knack for getting people to work together in a noble purpose is at a peak. Halloween costume suggestion: a cross between a party animal and a community organizer. Or you and your friends could re-enact the Boston Tea Party.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

If I were dressing you for Halloween, I would be inclined to draw on the inspiration of those old fairy tales that feature the theme of restoration: like the prince who, because of a curse, has lived for years as a frog, only to be returned to his rightful body and role through the kiss of a merciful soul; or like a princess who is stolen as a baby from the royal family by an old bear and raised by the beast in a forest cave, but is finally tracked down and rescued by the queen on one of her endless searches. I bet your actual life will feature a storyline similar to those.

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LISTEN TO AN EXPANDED HOROSCOPE

In addition to the horoscopes that you read here, I create additional in-depth audio horoscopes for your inspiration.

They're not repeats or elaborations of the stuff you find here, but entirely fresh explorations of your astrological omens, designed to help you tune in to your soul's code.

Try them at RealAstrology.com.

They're available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

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

"Your audio horoscopes help me love myself better, and I mean that in a non-narcissistic way."
- Deva P., Indianapolis

"I'm really grateful for the way you pick up my telepathic requests and answer them in your expanded audio 'scopes."
- Marion H., Birmingham, AL

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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

If you knew how perfect a time it is for you to dance the forbidden dance, you would begin immediately. You would break out the sexy, world-in-upheaval grooves you sometimes slip into during your ecstatic flying dreams. You would unleash the words that have never been spoken, crack the codes that have never been broken, and give the love that has previously been verboten. Please, dear Pisces, have faith in your ability to thrive in the wild frontier where many of the rules are negotiable and every fantasy is ripe to be mutated. Halloween costume suggestion: the dancer who dances the forbidden dance.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):

What perplexing defeat was inflicted on you once upon a time -- a defeat that you still can't figure out how to rise above? What painful memory continues to lurk at the edges of your awareness, taunting you with its implication that you'll never be whole? This is the time and this is the place, Aries, to solve a riddle like that so that you can move on to the next chapter of your life. You will get unexpected help and inspiration if you make it your intention to heal what has been hard to heal. Halloween costume suggestion: a doctor or nurse wearing a sign that says, "Physician, heal thyself."

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

You don't have to be anything you don't want to be, Taurus. Please read that last sentence again, drinking it in as if it were an elixir you've been longing for since you were 13 years old. Here are some corollaries: You don't have to live up to anyone's expectations. There's no need to strive for a kind of perfection that's not very interesting to you. You don't have to believe in ideas that make you sad or tormented, and you don't have to feel emotions that others try to manipulate you into feeling. In short, you are free to be exactly who you want to be. Celebrate that this Halloween season. Costume yourself as the person you've been hiding.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

On some occasions in the coming week, you'll be wise to act loyal, playful, and unironically enthusiastic. At those times, you will attract the influences you need if you adopt the mindset of a dog that loves to play Frisbee. On other occasions, Gemini, I advise you to be cannily self-possessed, fiercely attuned to your own needs, and determined to move at your own pace. Cat-like behavior will be rewarded at those times. Halloween costume suggestion: half-dog and half-cat.

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LISTEN TO AN EXPANDED HOROSCOPE

In addition to the horoscopes that you're reading here, I create more in-depth audio horoscopes for your 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.

"The best part about your audio horoscopes is that they pat me on the head and kick me in the ass at the same time."
- Rita L., San Diego

"Your audio oracles go beyond helping me find the truth -- they inspire me to find the WILD truth."
- Patrick K., Montreal

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CANCER (June 21-July 22):

"I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past," said Thomas Jefferson. It might feel a bit unnatural to live as if that were your motto, Cancerian, but I hope you'll try it for a while. Here's the experiment I propose: Whenever you have a spare moment, visualize a pleasurable and interesting scene you would like to create for yourself in the future. If a fearful image pops into your mind as you do that, imagine yourself rolling that image up into a ball and throwing it into a roaring fire. Meanwhile, any time your attention begins to wander off in the direction of the old days and old ways, pounce on it and redirect it into a vision of a fulfillment to come. Halloween costume suggestion: the person you'll be five years from now.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

According to San Francisco's Famous Wayne, the shoeshine king of the world, very few women get their shoes shined. Meanwhile, Ngo Thi Lam, the proprietress of the nail salon near my house, says that only a tiny percentage of her pedicure customers are men. I hope that you Leos buck these trends in the coming days. It's high time for you to try new approaches to the lowest part of you. You need to become more grounded, and an excellent way to expedite the shift will be to pay close, creative attention to your feet. Halloween costume suggestion: Find or create gorgeous, extravagant shoes that don't make your feet hurt.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

If you and I were members of the French Resistance during the German occupation of our country in World War II, I'd want you to serve as the communication hub for our community. With understated ferocity, you would gather data about what's going on behind the scenes. You'd be precise and economical in relaying messages between your comrades and allies, accurately representing the information people entrusted you with. You would be alert without being overwrought, and discerning without getting distracted by inefficient rage. In that dire setting, Virgo, I bet you'd be indispensable. I challenge you to bring those same skills to bear in the relatively benign circumstances you're now in the midst of. Halloween costume suggestion: French Resistance leader.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

"If you don't make mistakes," says Nobel Prize-winning physicist Frank Wilczek, "you're not working on hard enough problems. And that's a big mistake." Take that to heart, Libra. Here are some of the questions you might want to ask yourself in the coming days: 1. "Am I dallying with minor challenges that are beneath me?" 2. "Are my current dilemmas truly worthy of my soulful intelligence?" 3. "Should I go in search of more interesting problems?" 4. "Is it time to upgrade the level of mistakes that I'm risking?" Halloween costume suggestions: a magnificent klutz, a daring clown, or a pioneer wearing a big band-aid on your booboo.

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HOMEWORK:

What is your greatest fear? Make fun of it this Halloween. Tell me 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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