Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
JUNE 8, 2011
FreeWillAstrology.com
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The piece below is excerpted from my book PRONOIA IS THE
ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA
available at Amazon: bit.ly/Pronoia
or Powells: bit.ly/PronoiaPowells
ECSTATIC STUDY GUIDE
Strategies for plying a chronic, low-key, blissful union with
everything you're not
1. "Picture the Grand Canyon," says Buddhist teacher
Jack Kornfield. "Every hundred years, a child comes by and
throws a mustard seed into it. In the time it takes to fill the
hole in the earth with mustard seeds, one mahakalpas will have
passed. To perfect the virtuous heart -- the joy of integrity
-- takes a thousand mahakalpas."
If that's true, then you've still got a lot of work to do. The
good news is that civilization is in the midst of a critical turning
point that could tremendously expedite your ripening. So you could
make unusually great progress toward the goal of perfecting the
virtuous heart in the next 40 years.
For best results, meditate often on the phrase "the joy
of integrity." Get familiar with the pleasurable emotion
that comes from acting with impeccability. And try out this idea
from Gandhi: Integrity is the royal road to your inner freedom.
P.S. Oddly enough, the work of perfecting the virtuous heart
is very effective in helping you master the art of cultivating
everyday ecstasy. Meditate on the connection.
2. While loitering on a sidewalk outside a nightclub in San Francisco
on a September night in 1994, I found the cover of a booklet lying
in the gutter. Written by Marilena Silbey and Paul Ramana Das,
it was called How to Survive Passionate Intimacy with a Dreamy
Partner While Making a Fortune on the Path to Enlightenment.
Sadly, the rest of the text was missing. Ever since, hungry for
its wisdom, I've tried to hunt down a copy of the whole thing,
but to no avail.
I'm hoping that maybe you will consider writing your own version
of the subject. If you do, please send it to me.
3. The New York Times ran a story about philosopher
Nick Bostrom, who believes there's a significant chance our world
is actually a computer simulation. In his scenario, you and I
are living in a version of The Matrix. Our "brains"
are merely webs of computer circuits created by our post-human
descendants, who are studying "ancestor simulations"
of their past. I bring this to your attention because I'd like
to invite you to find out, one way or another, whether Bostrom
is correct.
Make it your intention to cultivate a talent for knowing what's
real and what's not. Develop a knack for escaping what's illusory
and gravitating toward what's authentic. If you do these simple
things, I bet you will earn a big reward: a chronic, low-key,
blissful sense of union with pretty much everything that's appealing
to you.
Bonus: Even if you do find out that we're living in The Matrix,
you could become a messiah with resemblances to the character
that Keanu Reeves played in the film trilogy. He could fly.
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
IF YOU CAN'T FIND ANY PRONOIA, CREATE SOME
Humdrum daily miracles
tinyurl.com/3e2ug9o
RADICAL OPTIMISM IS THE MOST REBELLIOUS STANCE YOU CAN TAKE
"We are becoming healthier, cleaner, smarter, kinder, happier,
and more peaceful."
tinyurl.com/3odd3fv
JUSTICE IS SPREADING
Bolivia passes laws granting the natural world basic rights
tinyurl.com/3h4r2wd
(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 June 9
Copyright 2011 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Primatologist Jane Goodall, who lived for years among chimpanzees
in Tanzania, is one of the world's top experts on the creatures.
Can you guess what her favorite toy was when she was young? A
stuffed monkey, of course. There were no doubt foreshadowings
like that in your own childhood or adolescence, Gemini. Right?
Signs of the magic you would eventually seek to ripen? Seeds of
destiny that had just begun to sprout? Now would be a good time
to reflect on those early hints. You'll benefit from updating
your understanding of and commitment to the capacities they revealed.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
After all these years, the American presidential election of
2000 still makes me cringe. Because of the archaic laws governing
the process, the candidate who "lost" the election actually
got 543,895 more votes than the guy who "won." How could
anyone in good conscience, even those who supported the less-popular
"winner," have sanctioned such a result? It was perverse.
It was pathological. It was crazy-making. I'd say the same thing
if the roles had been reversed, and Gore had become president
with a half-million fewer votes than Bush. You must not let something
comparable to this anomaly happen in your personal life in the
coming weeks, Cancerian. It is crucial that every winner be the
one who deserves to be. Don't sacrifice what's right in order
to serve corrupt protocol or outmoded conventions.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
I dreamed you had been tending an unusual garden for months.
Your crops weren't herbs or flowers or vegetables, but rather
miniature volcanoes. Each was now ripe and stood about waist-high.
They erupted with a steady flow of liquid blue fire that you were
harvesting in large, gold, Grail-like cups. Apparently this stuff
was not only safe to drink, but profoundly energizing. You sipped
some of the potion yourself and distributed the rest to a large
gathering of enthusiastic people who had come to imbibe your tasty
medicine. The mood was festive, and you were radiant. This dream
of mine is a good metaphor for your life in the immediate future.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Darryl Dawkins played professional basketball from 1975 to 1996.
One of the sport's more colorful personalities, he said he lived
part-time on the planet Lovetron, a place where he perfected his
interplanetary funkmanship. He also liked to give names to his
slam dunks. The "Turbo Sexophonic Delight" was a favorite,
but the best was his "Chocolate-Thunder-Flying, Teeth-Shaking,
Glass-Breaking, Rump-Roasting, Bun-Toasting, Wham-Bam-I-Am Jam."
I encourage you to try some Darryl Dawkins-like behavior in your
own chosen field, Virgo. Give a name to your signature move or
your special play. With playful flair, let people know how much
you love what you do and how good you are at what you do.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
According to research published in The Journal of Personality
(tinyurl.com/NoToSex),
many college students prefer ego strokes to sex. Given the choice
between making love with a desirable partner and receiving a nice
big compliment, a majority opted for the latter. In the near future,
Libra, it's important that you not act like one of these self-esteem-starved
wimps. You need the emotional and physical catharsis that can
come from erotic union and other sources of pleasurable intensity
far more than you need to have your pride propped up.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
An uncanny stretching sensation will soon be upon you if it's
not already. Whether you're prepared or not, you will be asked,
prodded, and maybe even compelled to expand. It could feel stressful
or exhilarating or both. And it will probably force you to rethink
your fascination with anyone or anything you love to hate. For
best results, I suggest that you don't resist the elongation and
enlargement. In fact, it would be a very good idea to cooperate.
As the odd magic unfolds, it will increase your capacity for taking
advantage of paradox. It may also give you a surprising power
to harness the energy released by the friction between oppositional
forces.
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YOU'VE ALWAYS GOT MORE HELP AVAILABLE THAN YOU IMAGINE
What do you want to be when you grow up? Is it possible that
you will eventually develop beautiful capacities and sublime understandings
that you can't even imagine right now?
I might be able to help you move in the direction of becoming
more of the person you were born to be.
Tune in to my EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES
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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SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
You're in a phase of your astrological cycle when you're likely
to be as attractive and endearing and in demand as it's possible
for you to be. I am not making any absurdly extravagant claims
here -- am not implying you'll be as charismatic as a rock star
and as lovable as a kitten -- but you will be pushing the limits
of your innate allure. I bet your physical appearance will be
extra appealing, and you'll have an instinct for highlighting
the most winsome aspects of your personality. To help you take
advantage of the potential that's now available, please add the
following word to your vocabulary: "concupiscible,"
which means "worthy of being desired."
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Nicolas Cage is a Capricorn. While performing his film roles,
he often loses his composure. Of course the crazy things he does
as an actor aren't real and don't lead to dire consequences in
his actual life. But they afford him a great deal of emotional
release. Let's hypothesize that, like Cage, you could benefit
from expressing the hell out of yourself without causing any mayhem.
Is there a cork-lined sanctuary where you could go and safely
unveil explosions of extreme emotions? Or some equivalent? For
inspiration, check this Youtube compendium of Cage uncaged: bit.ly/CageUncaged.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
My divinations suggest that you'd be wise to assign yourself
an errand in the wilderness. The precise nature of the errand
has not been revealed to me, but I suspect it involves you going
to an untamed place whose provocative magic will tangibly alter
your consciousness, awakening you to some truth about your destiny
that you've been unable to decipher. I also believe your task
is more likely to succeed if you create a small, whimsical shrine
there in your ad hoc sanctuary.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Do you have any idea of how many of your diapers your mother
changed when you were a baby? It was almost certainly over 1,000.
Have you ever calculated how many meals she prepared for you?
That number probably exceeds 10,000. While we're on the subject,
do you remember who taught you to read and write? Can you visualize
the face of the first person besides your parents who made you
feel interesting or well-loved or real? I encourage you to follow
this line of thought as far as you can. It's a perfect time, astrologically
speaking, to visualize memories of specific times you've been
well cared for and thoroughly blessed.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
You have a poetic license, as well as astrological permission,
to be extra cute in the coming week. I mean you have a divine
mandate to exceed the usual levels of being adorable and charming
and delectable. Here's the potential problem with that, though:
Trying to be cute doesn't usually result in becoming
cuter; often it leads to being smarmy and pretentious. So how
can you take advantage of the cosmic imperative to be wildly,
extravagantly, sublimely cute -- without getting all self-conscious
about it? That's your riddle of the week.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
It would be an excellent week for you to declare war on everything
that wastes your time. Well, maybe "declaring war" is
not quite the right spirit to adopt; after all, we don't want
you to go around constantly enraged and hostile. How about if
we phrase it this way: It's prime time for you to ingeniously
and relentlessly elude all activities, invitations, temptations,
trains of thought, and habits that offer you nothing in return
for the precious energy you give to them. Of course this is always
a worthy project, but it so happens that you're likely to achieve
far more progress than usual if you do it now.
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HOMEWORK:
Tell a story about the time Spirit reached down and altered your
course in one tricky swoop. Write: Freewillastrology.com
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2011 Rob Brezsny
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