Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
FreeWillAstrology.com
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If you haven't actually read my book PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE
FOR PARANOIA, you may be surprised at a lot of the stuff
it contains. It's a genre-bending thing that doesn't fit into
the neat expectations and prejudices of either my critics or fans.
It's available at Amazon: bit.ly/Pronoia
or Powells: bit.ly/PronoiaPowells
Here's a piece from the book:
FURTHER EVIDENCE
In our quest to insinuate pronoia into dinner table discussions
taking place all over the world, we bring the following pieces
of evidence to your attention.
Exhibit A
The bible of the mental health community is a 943-page textbook
called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
Fourth Edition, or DSM-IV. Published by the American
Psychiatric Association, it's a standardized catalog of psychological
disorders that therapists use to evaluate and treat their patients.
Surprise! This ultimate word on the state of the human psyche
describes countless pathological states, but there's not a single
entry referring to good mental health.
You might imagine that shrinks would be mildly interested not
only in fixing what's wrong with their patients but also in helping
them cultivate what feels good. But how can that happen if the
feel-good states aren't even recognized as important enough to
name?
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Exhibit B
David G. Myers and Ed Diener authored an article called "The
Science of Happiness." "What causes happiness?"
they inquired. "This question not only went largely unanswered
during psychology's first century, it went largely unasked."
They note that from 1967 to 1995, essays on negative emotions
far outnumbered those on positive emotions in the psychological
literature. The ratio was 21:1.
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Exhibit C
Even those supreme perpetrators of pop nihilism, The New
York Times and The Washington Post, have a better
ratio than the psychological literature. They average only 12
negative stories to every one that might be construed to be non-negative.
Most other daily newspapers maintain a similar proportion.
Many of their non-negative stories, however, cover success in
sports and entertainment. For example: The Atlanta Braves won
their eighth straight game; the new book by Malcolm Gladwell is
pretty decent. Remove these feel-good stories from the equation,
and the media's Curse Quotient rises closer to that of the psychological
literature.
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Exhibit D
In his book Omens of Millennium, Harold Bloom hints
at the "reductive fallacy" that serves as a shibboleth
for intellectuals. Picture yourself, he says, in conversation
with a bright, literate acquaintance who asks you about someone
you know well: "Tell me what he or she is really like."
You reflect a moment and give a brief description of your impressions,
but your acquaintance isn't satisfied: "No, I mean really
like." And now you grasp the actual question: "What
is the very worst thing you can say about him or her that is true?"
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Exhibit E
Thousands of amazing, inexplicable, wondrous, and even supernatural
events occur every day. And yet most are unreported by the media.
The few that are cited are ridiculed.
Why? Here's one possible reason: The people most likely to believe
in miracles are superstitious, uneducated, and prone to having
a blind, literalist faith in their religions' myths. Those who
are least likely to believe in miracles are skilled at analytical
thought, well educated, and yet prone to having a blind, literalist
faith in the ideology of materialism, which dogmatically asserts
that the universe consists entirely of things that can be perceived
by the five human senses or detected by instruments that scientists
have thus far invented.
The media is largely composed of people from the second group.
It's virtually impossible for them to admit to the possibility
of miracles, let alone experience them. If anyone from this group
manages to escape peer pressure and cultivate a receptivity to
miracles, it's because they have successfully fought against being
demoralized by the unsophisticated way miracles are framed by
the first group.
At the Beauty and Truth Lab we're immune to the double-barreled
ignorance. When we behold astonishing synchronicities and numinous
breakthroughs that seem to violate natural law, we're willing
to consider the possibility that our understanding of natural
law is too narrow. And yet we also refrain from lapsing into irrational
gullibility; we actively seek mundane explanations for apparent
miracles.
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Exhibit F
Wes Nisker wrote a book called If You Don't Like the News
. . . Go Out and Make Some of Your Own.
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Exhibit G
Have you personally encountered evidence of any of the following
phenomena?
1. bliss that flows toward you because you've made a habit of
expecting it and cultivating it;
2. good news that's really interesting; fascinating stories that
provide an antidote to the media's obsession with hardship, anguish,
deterioration, and death;
3. states of emotional wealth and psychological health: raw material
for the manual that will be the corrective for the DSM-IV;
the missing half of the story;
4. mirabilia: mysterious revelations, rejuvenating prodigies,
ineffable breakthroughs, beguiling ephemera, sudden deliverance
from boring evils;
5. plain old everyday miracles;
6. the good news you've gone out and created.
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
SMART PEOPLE ARE CONSPIRING BEHIND THE SCENES TO ENHANCE LIFE
ON THIS PLANET
21 Scientific Research Projects That Could Change the World
tinyurl.com/44kd2hn
THE MOST AMAZING EARTH ART ON EARTH
Whoever makes them, they're beautiful
tinyurl.com/3saqrun
tinyurl.com/3myleew
GOOD ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS
Huge Boost in Fish Numbers in Cabo Pulmo National Park
tinyurl.com/3exeqnr
(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 September 22
Copyright 2011 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
Your theme for the week comes from travel writer Stephen Graham
in his book The Gentle Art of Tramping: "As you
sit on the hillside, or lie prone under the trees of the forest,
or sprawl wet-legged on the shingly beach of a mountain stream,
the great door, that does not look like a door, opens." I
can't wait to see the expression on your face when a portal like
that appears for you sometime in the near future, Libra. I expect
your mood will be a mix of surprise, humility, vindication, joy,
and a pleasant kind of shock. By the way, you won't necessarily
have to be out in nature in order to become aware of the opening
door. But it will probably be crucial for you to simulate the
state that nature evokes in you. That's why I suggest you rev
up your aptitude for innocence and make sure your sense of wonder
is turned on full blast.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
More than a 100 years ago, a team of British adventurers led
by Ernest Shackleton trekked across Antarctica, attempting to
reach the South Pole. They ran out of supplies and had to turn
back before reaching their goal. In 2006, modern-day explorers
discovered a cache of stuff Shackleton had been forced to leave
behind, stashed in the ice. It included two cases of whiskey.
Some of the century-old liquor found its way back to England,
where it was quaffed by a few daring souls eager for an exotic
taste. I suspect you may soon stumble upon a metaphorically similar
curiosity, Scorpio: something like old spirits preserved in ice.
My advice: Try a small sample and wait a while to see what effect
it has before imbibing the whole thing.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Punk musician Wesley Willis was fond of greeting friends and
audience members alike with a headbutt. So prolific was he in
employing this ritual that he developed a permanent callus on
his forehead. Now would be an excellent time for you to make this
tradition your own, Sagittarius. Just think of all the affection
you'll generate and all the great conversations you'll stimulate
by ramming people! JUST KIDDING! I was exaggerating a bit. It's
true that now is an excellent time to ramp up your friendliness
and expand your social reach. But you probably shouldn't engage
in full-tilt headbutting unless you're extroverted, gregarious,
and so extravagantly charming you can get away with it.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
In Japan you can buy Vaam, a sports energy drink that contains
hornet saliva. It acquired a legendary reputation after Japanese
marathon runner Naoko Takahashi said she used it to propel herself
to a gold medal at the 2000 Olympics. Vaam's creator, biochemist
Takashi Abe, claims there is scientific evidence that it works
as well for humans as it does for wasps, which fly as much as
70 miles a day. According to my reading of the astrological omens,
the cosmos will be infusing you with a metaphorical version of
hornet saliva in the coming weeks, Capricorn. You'll have the
power to go further and be stronger for longer periods of time.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
I gathered together a panel of renegade astrologers to investigate
your imminent future. By a unanimous vote, they designated you,
out of all the signs of the zodiac, as the one "Most Likely
to Exceed the Boring Limitations of Good Taste," as well
as "Best Candidate to Slap the Conventional Wisdom Upside
the Head." That sounds fun. I hope you make good use of the
freedom that those roles entail. By the way, the general consensus
also suggested that you are primed to find valuable stuff in out-of-the-way
borderlands or in off-limits haunts where no one else even wants
to look.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
You're on course for a warm, wet, soft collision with the enigmas
of the libido. I urge you to give yourself fully to the exploration,
even if it stirs up feelings you have no names for. In my opinion,
the best way to use your intelligence right now is to undertake
a rigorous investigation into the heights and depths of your passion
. . . to experiment with new guidelines for your instinctual nature
. . . to make yourself extra receptive to the spiritual teachings
available through erotic communion.
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Free Will Astrology's
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secrets I was keeping from myself."
- Tara R., San Antonio, TX
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ARIES (March 21-April 19):
"I have a simple philosophy," said Alice Roosevelt
Longworth, a self-described hedonist who lived till the age of
96. "Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where
it itches." That's not an approach I recommend you pursue
all the time, Aries, but I think it could be both wise and fun
for you to do so in the coming weeks. Given the upcoming astrological
omens, you have a mandate to find out where the most interesting
action is, and dive in with the intent to generate even more action.
The catalysts need another catalyst like you.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
A guy on Reddit.com posted a photo that made me think of you.
He had been out walking in the wilds of Ontario, and found a single
ripe peach growing on a scraggly, skinny tree in the middle of
an abandoned quarry. There were no other peach trees in sight,
let alone peaches. I suspect that when you find beauty and sustenance
in the coming days, Taurus, they will be in similar situations:
unexpected and unlikely. That doesn't mean they'll be any less
sweet. (See the peach: http://bit.ly/lonelypeach.)
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
If you've ever been to a flavor-tripping party, you've eaten
"miracle fruit" -- berries with the scientific name
Synsepalum dulcificum. They coat your tongue with a substance
that makes all subsequent foods taste sweet. The effect lasts
no more than an hour, but while it does, lemons, radishes, and
pickles may as well be desserts. Be alert for a metaphorical version
of the miracle fruit, Gemini. There's an influence coming your
way that could temporarily make everything else seem extra delectable.
As long as you're aware of what's happening, it will be a quirky
blessing.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Born in Austria, Susanne Wenger became a high priestess of the
Yoruba religion in Nigeria. When she died in 2009 at the age of
93, she had devoted the last 50+ years of her life to protecting
and beautifying a sacred forest in the Osogbo area. It's hard
for most of us to imagine loving a place as much as she did, but
that's what I'm encouraging you to do. According to my reading
of the astrological omens, you will accrue unforeseen benefits
by becoming more deeply connected to a special patch of earth.
To do so will awaken a dormant part of your soul, for one thing.
It could also advance one of your lifelong quests, which is to
feel ever-more at home in the world.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
"Personally I'm always ready to learn," said Winston
Churchill, "although I do not always like being taught."
You may soon find yourself sharing that paradoxical state of mind,
Leo. It's time for you to receive the new teachings you have been
unconsciously preparing yourself to absorb. But at least in the
early stages, these useful lessons may get on your nerves or make
you squirm. Stick with them. Keep the faith. Sooner or later,
your crash course will become enjoyable.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
"Our job is to become more and more of what we are,"
says poet Marvin Bell. "The growth of a poet seems to be
related to his or her becoming less and less embarrassed about
more and more." Whether or not you're a poet, Virgo, I would
like to apply this gauge to your own growth. The way I see it,
your power to claim your birthright and fulfill your destiny will
ultimately hinge to a significant degree on your ability to shed
all residual shame about your true nature. And guess what: There
has never been a better time to work on that noble project than
right now.
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HOMEWORK:
Who's the person you'd most like to meet and have a drink with?
Why? Testify at Freewillastrology.com.
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2011 Rob Brezsny
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