Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter March 6, 2013

Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
MARCH 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

Lots of people I like and admire are not big fans of "God" -- or at least the fake "God" that the fundamentalists hallucinate about. In an effort to whip up a new, improved Divine Wow untainted by bigotry and delusion, I wrote a piece for my book entitled "Re-branding God." An excerpt is below. You can read it in its entirety here: bit.ly/8Nd0M5

RE-BRANDING GOD

1. Philosopher Robert Anton Wilson proposed that the single greatest contribution to world peace would come from there being over seven billion different religions -- a unique spiritual path for each person on the planet. The Beauty and Truth Lab urges you to get started on doing your part to make this happen. What will your religion be called? What rituals will you perform? Write down your three core tenets.

2. You'll also need a new name for the Creator. "God" and "Goddess" have been so overused and abused that most of us are numb to them. And given the spiritual opportunities that will open up for you as you explore pronoia, you can't afford to have an impaired sensitivity toward the Great Mystery.

Here's an idea to stimulate your search: The Russian word for God is "Bog." The Basques call the Supreme Being "Jingo." To purge your psychic dockets of built-up fixations about deity, you might try singing improvisational prayers to "Jingo Bog."

Here are a few other fresh names to inspire you:
Blooming HaHa
Divine Wow
Whirl-Zap-Gush
Sublime Cackler
Chthonic Riddler

3. Since ancient times, China has hosted three religions: Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Many Chinese people have cobbled together a melange of beliefs gathered from all three. This is different from the Western way, which is to be faithful to one religion or another, never mixing and matching.

But that's changing in certain enclaves in North America, where growing numbers of seekers are adopting the Chinese approach. They borrow elements from a variety of spiritual traditions to create a personalized path. Religious historians call this syncretism.

As you meditate on conjuring up your own unique mode of worship, think of the good parts you'd like to steal from other religions.

4. Most religions designate a special class of people -- priests, rabbis, ayatollahs -- to oversee official communications with the Source. This has led to a prevailing assumption, even among those who don't follow an established faith, that we can't initiate a divine conversation without the aid of a professional class of trained mediators. Among some sects of the ancient gnostics, in contrast, everyone was regarded as a potential prophet who could experience epiphanies worthy of becoming part of the ever-evolving doctrine.

The equivalent today would be if the Bible were regarded as an unfinished text to which every Christian or Jew might be eligible to add new content.

As you create your own spiritual path, experiment with this do-it-yourself approach. What might you do to eliminate the middleman and commune directly with the Source?

There's a lot more to this piece.
READ THE REST HERE: bit.ly/8Nd0M5

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IT'S NOT TOO LATE

Go here to read a compendium of your long-term, big-picture forecasts for 2013: bit.ly/BigLife2013

To hear my EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES for your long-range future, go here: tinyurl.com/BigPicture2013

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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:

PRACTICAL PRONOIA FOR NON-WEALTHY WESTERNERS
49 million people in the U.S. -- one in four children --don't know where their next meal is coming from, despite our having the means to provide nutritious, affordable food for all Americans. See the trailer for "A Place at the Table," a movie that wants to fix that problem.
magpictures.com/aplaceatthetable

PRACTICAL PRONOIA FOR NON-WEALTHY NON-WESTERNERS
Operation hope -- Permanent water and food security for Africa's impoverished millions.
tinyurl.com/coqnq39

GET YOUR MINIMUM DAILY REQUIREMENT OF BEAUTY
The Everglades
imgur.com/r/earthporn/vSqQSjz

(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 March 7

Copyright 2013 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

"Telling someone your goal makes it less likely to happen," says musician and businessman Derek Sivers. Numerous studies demonstrate that when you talk about your great new idea before you actually do it, your brain chemistry does an unexpected thing. It gives you the feeling that you have already accomplished the great new idea -- thereby sapping your willpower to make the effort necessary to accomplish it! The moral of the story: Don't brag about what you're going to do someday. Don't entertain people at parties with your fabulous plans. Shut up and get to work. This is especially important advice for you right now.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):

Maybe you're not literally in exile. You haven't been forced to abandon your home and you haven't been driven from your power spot against your will. But you may nevertheless be feeling banished or displaced. It could be due to one of the conditions that storyteller Michael Meade names: "We may experience exile as a lack of recognition, a period of transition, an identity crisis, a place of stuckness, or else having a gift and no place to give it." Do any of those describe your current predicament, Aries? The good news, Meade says, is that exile can shock you awake to the truth about where you belong. It can rouse your irrepressible motivation to get back to your rightful place.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

Do you have a recurring nightmare that has plagued you? If so, I suspect it will recur again soon. Only this time, Taurus, you will beat it. You will trick or escape or defeat the monster that's chasing you. Or else you will outrun the molten lava or disperse the tornado or fly up off the ground until the earth stops shaking. Congratulations on this epic shift, Taurus. Forever after you will have more power over the scary thing that has had so much power over you.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

The following request for advice appeared on Reddit.com: "My identical twin is stuck in an alternate dimension and she can only communicate with me by appearing as my own reflection in mirrors and windows. How can I tell her I don't like what she's done to her hair?" This question is a variant of a type of dilemma that many of you Geminis are experiencing right now, so I'll respond to it here. I'm happy to say that you will soon get an unprecedented chance to commune directly with your alter egos. Your evil twin will be more available than usual to engage in meaningful dialog. So will your doppelganger, your shadow, your mirror self, and your stuntperson.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

Usually I advise Cancerians to draw up precise borders and maintain clear boundaries. As a Crab myself, I know how important it is for our well-being that we neither leak our life force all over everything nor allow others to leak their life force all over us. We thrive on making definitive choices and strong commitments. We get into trouble when we're wishy-washy about what we want. OK. Having said all that fatherly stuff, I now want to grant you a partial and temporary license to get a little wild and fuzzy. Don't overdo it, of course, but explore the smart fun you can have by breaking some of your own rules and transgressing some of the usual limits.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

In the course of formulating his theory of evolution, Charles Darwin read many books. He developed a rather ruthless approach to getting what he needed out of them. If there was a particular part of a book that he didn't find useful, he simply tore it out, cast it aside, and kept the rest. I recommend this as a general strategy for you in the coming week, Leo. In every situation you're in, figure out what's most valuable to you and home in on that. For now, forget the irrelevant and extraneous stuff.

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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.

"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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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

Here's a passage from Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations: "It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade." Judging from the astrological omens, Virgo, I suspect your life may be like that in the coming days. The emotional tone could be sharply mixed, with high contrasts between vivid sensations. The nature of your opportunities may seem warm and bright one moment, cool and dark the next. If you regard this as interesting rather than difficult, it won't be a problem, but rather an adventure.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

"I worked as a hair stylist in Chicago's Gold Coast for 20 years with some of the most gorgeous woman and men in the world," writes sculptor Rich Thomson. "Once I asked a photographer who shot for the big magazines how he picked out the very best models from among all these great-looking people. His response: 'Flaws. Our flaws are what make us interesting, special, and exotic. They define us.'" My challenge to you, Libra, is to meditate on how your supposed imperfections and oddities are essential to your unique beauty. It's a perfect moment to celebrate -- and make good use of -- your idiosyncrasies.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

The genius of Leonardo da Vinci was in part fueled by his buoyant curiosity. In his work as an artist, musician, inventor, engineer, and writer, he drew inspiration from pretty much everything. He's your role model for the coming week, Scorpio. Just assume that you will find useful cues and clues wherever you go. Act as if the world is full of teachers who have revelations and guidance specifically meant for you. Here's some advice from da Vinci himself: "It should not be hard for you to stop sometimes and look into the stains of walls, or ashes of a fire, or clouds, or mud or like places, in which, if you consider them well, you may find really marvelous ideas."

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

Ready for a reality check? It's time to assess how well you know the fundamental facts about where you are located. So let me ask you: Do you know which direction north is? Where does the water you drink come from? What phase of the moon is it today? What was the indigenous culture that once lived where you live now? Where is the power plant that generates the electricity you use? Can you name any constellations that are currently in the night sky? What species of trees do you see every day? Use these questions as a starting point as you deepen your connection with your specific neighborhood on planet Earth. Get yourself grounded!

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

There's a writer I know whose work is brilliant. Her ideas are fascinating. She's a champion of political issues I hold dear. She's well-read and smarter than me. Yet her speech is careless and sloppy. She rambles and interrupts herself. She says "uh," "you know," and "I mean" so frequently that I find it hard to listen, even when she's saying things I admire. I considered telling her about this, but decided against it. She's an acquaintance, not a friend. Instead, I resolved to clean up my own speech -- to make sure I don't do anything close to what she does. This is a strategy I suggest for you, Capricorn: Identify interesting people who are not fully living up to their potential, and change yourself in the exact ways you wish they would change.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

The German word Verschlimmbesserung refers to an attempted improvement that actually makes things worse. Be on guard against this, Aquarius. I fear that as you tinker, you may try too hard. I'm worried you'll be led astray by neurotic perfectionism. To make sure that your enhancements and enrichments will indeed be successful, keep these guidelines in mind: 1. Think about how to make things work better, not how to make things look better. 2. Be humble and relaxed. Don't worry about saving face and don't overwork yourself. 3. Forget about short-term fixes; serve long-range goals.

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HOMEWORK:

Describe how you plan to shake off some of your tame and overly civilized behavior. Testify at Freewillastrology.com

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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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