Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter February 6, 2013

Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
FEBRUARY 6, 2013
FreeWillAstrology.com

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My book
PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA
is available at Amazon: bit.ly/Pronoia
or Powells: bit.ly/PronoiaPowells

Below is an excerpt. (You can read the entire piece at bit.ly/4Zh0Qr.)

LIBERATE YOUR IMAGINATION

Let me remind you who you really are: You're an immortal freedom fighter who longs to liberate all sentient creatures from their suffering. You're a fun-loving messiah who devoutly wants to help all of your fellow messiahs claim the ecstatic awareness that is their birthright.

Try to remember. You're a vortex of fluidic light that has temporarily taken on the form of a human being, suffering amnesia about your true origins. And why did you do that? Because it was the best way to forge the identity that would make you such an elemental force in our 14-billion-year campaign to bring heaven all the way down to earth.

I'm not speaking metaphorically here. You are a mutant deity in disguise -- not a Buddha or a Christ exactly, but of the same lineage and conjured from the same fire. You have been around since the beginning of time and will be here after the end. Every day and in every way, you're getting better at playing the preposterously amusing master game we all dreamed up together before the Big Bang bloomed.

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Lately, I must admit, our work has seemed almost comically impossible. Many of us have given in to the temptation to believe that everything is upside-down and inside-out. Ignorance and inertia, partially camouflaged as time-honored morality, seem to surround us. Pessimism is enshrined as a hallmark of worldliness. Compulsive skepticism masquerades as perceptiveness. Mean-spirited irony is chic. Stories about treachery and degradation provoke a visceral thrill in millions of people who think of themselves as reasonable and smart. Beautiful truths are suspect and ugly truths are readily believed.

So no, at this peculiar turning point in the evolution of our 14-billion-year-old master game, it's not easy to carry out our mission. We've got to be both wrathful insurrectionaries and exuberant lovers of life. We've got to cultivate cheerful buoyancy even as we resist the temptation to swallow thousands of delusions that have been carefully crafted and seductively packaged by those messiahs among us who bravely volunteered to play the role of know-it-all deceivers.

We have to learn how to stay in a good yet unruly mood as we overthrow the sour, puckered mass hallucination that is mistakenly referred to as "reality."

Maybe most importantly, we have to be ferociously and single-mindedly dedicated to the cause of beauty and truth and love even as we keep our imaginations wild and hungry and free. We have to be both disciplined and rowdy.

What can we do to help each other in this work?

TO READ THE REST OF "LIBERATE YOUR IMAGINATION," GO HERE: bit.ly/4Zh0Qr

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Dear Readers,

In late December and early January, I wrote a series of long-term, big-picture horoscopes for you. Now I've gathered them together in one place. Go here to read them:
bit.ly/BigLife2013

In addition to these, I created EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES that go even further in exploring your destiny in 2013. Each report in the three-part series is 7-9 minutes long. Unlike the written freebies, the three-part audio reports cost money. Sign in and access them here:
tinyurl.com/BigPicture2013

A new audio forecast for this week is also available at the same place.

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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:

THE SOUL IS HERE FOR ITS OWN JOY
"For thousands of years, humans have had a profound need to create and enjoy objects that have no practical function, but have been created purely to delight, to entrance, or to inspire awe or reverence."
tinyurl.com/bjvsvyz

WHAT'S THIS WORLD COMING TO? EVEN BIG PHARMA CAN SUMMON COMPASSION?
The pharma company Merck developed a drug called Ivermectin to treat river blindness. They donate it to 3rd world countries that can't afford it, and sell it to farmers to treat worms in their animals. It has helped save millions of lives.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivermectin

HAVE YOU GOTTEN YOUR MINIMUM DAILY REQUIREMENT OF BEAUTY?
Dark Hedges, Northern Ireland
tinyurl.com/apm96md

(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 February 7

Copyright 2013 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

Young art student Andrzej Sobiepan sneaked into Poland's National Museum with a painting he had done himself and managed to surreptitiously mount it on one of the walls. It hung there for a while before authorities noticed it and took it down. "I decided that I will not wait 30 or 40 years for my works to appear at a place like this," he said. "I want to benefit from them in the here and now." This is the kind of aggressive self-expression I'd like to see you summon in the coming weeks, Aquarius. Don't wait for the world to come and invite you to do what you want to do. Invite yourself. P.S. The English translation of Sobiepan's Polish last name means "his own master." What can you do to be more of your own master?

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

Before any system can leap to a higher level of organization, says poet Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge, it has to undergo dissolution. "Unraveling or disintegrating is a vital, creative event making room for the new," she declares. Guess what time it is for the system we all know and love as YOU, Pisces? That's right: It's a perfect moment to undo, dismantle, and disperse . . . as well as to unscramble, disentangle, and disencumber. Be of good cheer! Have faith that you will be generating the conditions necessary for the rebirth that will follow. "To change from one reality to another," writes Wooldridge, "a thing first must turn into nothing." (Her book is Poemcrazy.)

ARIES (March 21-April 19):

"What we need is more people who specialize in the impossible," said poet Theodore Roethke. For the foreseeable future, Aries, you could and should be a person like that. I'm not saying that you will forevermore be a connoisseur of amazements and a massager of miracles and a magnet for unexpected beauty. But if you want to, you can play those roles for the next few weeks. How many exotic explorations and unlikely discoveries can you cram into your life between now and March 1? How many unimaginable transformations can you imagine?

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

North America's most powerful and iconic waterfall is Niagara Falls, which straddles the border between the U.S. and Canada. In 1969, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers managed to shut down the American side of this elemental surge for a few months. They performed their monumental magic by building a dam made with 27,800 tons of rocks. Their purpose was to do research and maintenance on the stony foundation that lies beneath the water. I'm thinking that you Tauruses could accomplish a metaphorical version of that feat in the coming weeks: some awesome task that allows you to peer beneath the surface and make refinements that enhance your stability for a long time.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

National Geographic reports that dung beetles have an intimate relationship not only with the earth but also with the stars. Scientists in South Africa found that the bugs use the Milky Way Galaxy to orient themselves while rolling their precious balls of dung to the right spot for safekeeping. The bright band of starlight in the sky serves as a navigational aid. I nominate the dung beetle to be your power animal in the coming weeks, Gemini. It will be prime time for you, too, to align your movements and decisions with a bigger picture and a higher power. (Read about the research here: tinyurl.com/GalacticBeetles.)

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

You should go right ahead and compare oranges and apples in the coming week, Cancerian. Honey and butter, too: It's fine to compare and contrast them. Science and religion. Bulldogs and Siamese cats. Dew and thunderclaps. Your assignment is to create connections that no one else would be able to make . . . to seek out seemingly improbable harmonies between unlikely partners . . . to dream up interesting juxtapositions that generate fertile ideas. Your soul needs the delight and challenge of unexpected blending.

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Free Will Astrology's
EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES
feature advice you can use
to transform yourself
and fine-tune your life
in accordance with your soul's code

. . . and maybe even help you get access
to your own SUPERBRAIN

Register and/or sign in at RealAstrology.com.

The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888.

"With your Expanded Audio Horoscopes, I feel like you have somehow burrowed into my unconscious mind and smuggled out the secrets I was keeping from myself."
- Tara R., San Antonio, TX

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LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

The collection called Grimm's Fairy Tales includes the story "The Devil and His Grandmother." In one scene, the devil's grandmother is petting and rubbing her grandson's head. Or at least that's what the English translations say. But the authors wrote in German, and in their original version of the text, grandma is in fact plucking lice from the devil's hair. Your job in the coming week, Leo, is to ensure that no one sanitizes earthy details like that. Be vigilant for subtle censorship. Keep watch for bits of truth that have been suppressed. You need the raw feed that comes straight from the source.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

In her book Jung and Tarot, Sallie Nichols notes that the sixteenth card in most Tarot decks portrays lightning as a hostile force: "jagged, zigzag strokes that slash across the sky like angry teeth." But there's one deck, the Marseilles Tarot, that suggests a kinder, gentler lightning. The yellow and red phenomenon descending from the heavens resembles a giant feather duster; it looks like it would tickle and clean rather than burn. I suspect you'll be visited by a metaphorical version of this second kind of lightning sometime soon, Virgo. Prepare to be tickled and cleaned!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

Years ago, "bastard" was a derisive term for a child born to unmarried parents. It reflected the conventional moral code, which regarded a "birth out of wedlock" as scandalous. But I think we can safely say that this old dogma has been officially retired. According to recent statistics compiled by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), over 40 percent of the kids born in the U.S. are to unmarried mothers. Just goes to show you that not all forbidden acts remain forbidden forever. What was unthinkable or out of bounds or not allowed at one time may evolve into what's normal. I bring this up, Libra, because it's an excellent time for you to divest yourself of a certain taboo that's no longer necessary or meaningful.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

While trekking up Mount Katahdin in Maine, naturalist Henry David Thoreau had a "mountain-top experience" that moved him to observe, "I stand in awe of my body." You're due for a similar splash of illumination, Scorpio. The time is right for you to arrive at a reverent new appreciation for the prodigious feats that your physical organism endlessly performs for you. What could you do to encourage such a breakthrough? How can you elevate your love for the flesh and blood that houses your divine spark?

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

How do you like your caviar? Do you prefer it to be velvety and smooth, or would you rather have it be full of strong, fishy taste? If it's the first option, beluga caviar is your best option. If the second, sevruga should be your favorite. What? You say you never eat caviar? Well, even if you don't, you should regard the choice between types of caviar as an apt metaphor for the coming week. You can either have velvety smoothness or a strong taste, but not both. Which will it be? Set your intention.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

"Dear Astrology Guy: I have been reading your horoscopes since I was 19. For a while, I liked them. They were fun riddles that made me think. But now I've soured on them. I'm sick and tired of you asking me to transform myself. You just keep pushing and pushing, never satisfied, always saying it's time to improve myself or get smarter or fix one of my bad habits. It's too much! I can't take it any more! Sometimes I just want to be idle and lazy. Your horoscopes piss me off! - Crabby Capricorn." Dear Crabby: I've got some good news. In the coming week, you are completely excused from having to change anything about yourself or your life. Stay exactly the same! Be frozen in time. Resist the urge to tinker. Take a vacation from life's relentless command to evolve.

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HOMEWORK:

If you'd like to join the Flaming Jewel Church of Living Outside of Time, simply smash a clock or watch with a hammer on February 9 at exactly 12:20 p.m.

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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 2013 Rob Brezsny

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