Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
APRIL 3, 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
Here are excerpts:
LETTERS TO THE BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB, Part 1
We who are devoted to pronoia created the Beauty and Truth Lab
and not the Beauty and Truth Think Tank because we want to put
our ideas to the test in the field -- to apply them in unpredictable
situations beyond our control and see whether they're useful to
people who aren't necessarily steeped in the mystique of pronoia.
One way we've gone about that is to encourage the public to testify
and ask questions about their practical experiences with pronoia.
Below is Part 1 of a collection of exchanges that have unfolded
since we began discussing pronoiac themes on the BeautyandTruth.com
website and in the weekly astrology newsletter.
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DEAR BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB: I'm a very analytical person, with
a doctorate in nuclear physics and a high-tech job. All my training
and business savvy tell me that Rob Brezsny's astrology column
is superstitious mumbo jumbo, yet every time I've faced a crisis
in the last 10 years, his horoscopes have provided accurate wisdom
and counsel when things seemed darkest.
The same is true about the book Pronoia. The scientist
in me knows that you Beauty and Truth Lab people are utopian nutcases.
It's absolutely demented to regard the universe as friendly and
to fantasize that there's some vast, invisible conspiracy of blessing-bestowers.
And yet I have to confess that whenever I try the pronoiac strategies
you describe, my life veers in the direction of synchronicity
and delight.
On the one hand, none of this makes any sense. On the other hand,
I don't care that it doesn't make any sense. Somehow I'm able
to draw sustenance from something whose power I don't understand
or even believe in. In any case, thank you! - Humble Genius
DEAR HUMBLE GENIUS: You've described a quality that we aspire
to in our efforts to cultivate pronoia: the ability to be helped
by powers that are beyond our understanding.
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DEAR BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB: Does pronoia make you feel like you're
falling in love? Not just with a person but with life itself?
And can that be scary? Is it possible that you might feel a chord
of gorgeous terror resound in your gut when you entertain the
thought that every person and even every animal and plant and
rock in the world is ganging up to make your life interesting
-- almost more brilliantly interesting than you can bear? Does
pronoia threaten to cause all perceptions, all sensations, all
interactions to verge on being orgasmic?
I've been heading in this direction lately and it's freaking
me out. Can extreme happiness be dangerous to my well-being? -
Butchtastic
DEAR BUTCHTASTIC: First thing we'll say is that while pronoia
inevitably feeds the soul, it doesn't necessarily further the
agendas of the ego. The anxiety that's welling up may be the result
of your old self-image clinging to the shrunken expectations it
had gotten used to thinking of as essential to its identity.
The second thing is that when people invite pronoia to take over
their perceptual filters, they often feel as if they're falling
in love with a Scary Yet Friendly Vastness that kicks their butts
until they wake up to the secret beauty they've been ignoring.
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DEAR BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB: I'm battling mixed emotions. On the
one hand, I have frequent surges of intense compassion that make
me want to build houses for poor folks. On the other hand, I'm
beset by flashes of vanity that make me want to spend my money
on Prada shoes and expensive jewelry rather than on trips to Third
World countries to help Habitat for Humanity. Is it crazy and
self-defeating to want both things? - Torn and Guilty
DEAR TORN AND GUILTY: Try honoring both your urge to express beauty
and your desire to aid your fellow humans. We have a vision of
you wearing a gold tiara and Prada's Sculpted d'Orsay pumps as
you wield your hammer, framing a wall for a new house in Haiti.
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DEAR BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB: In your book Pronoia, you
say, 'The universe always gives us exactly what we need, exactly
when we need it.' I have a different view. I often find that I
disagree with what the Universe decides is best for me. But that
usually turns out to be a good thing. It's fun for me to always
be arguing with God! I learn a lot and generate a lot of high
energy from trying to outmaneuver the divine will. What do you
think about that? - Cagey Dissident
DEAR CAGEY: Congratulations! You are the thousandth dissident
to testify that pronoia is not, in fact, the One Truth and the
Only Way -- thereby proving to our satisfaction that we have successfully
prevented our beloved Beauty and Truth Lab from being a shill
for a fundamentalist ideology. Please accept our most fantastic
thanks. Your prize will be on its way to you soon!
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DEAR BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB: The chemo treatments burned out all
the math skills in my brain, which were already pretty meager.
On the other hand, they awakened my ability to feel perfectly
at ease while in the midst of paradoxical situations that everyone
else finds maddening and uncomfortable.
The chemo also made me ridiculously tolerant of people's contradictions,
sometimes even their hypocrisies, and freed me to enjoy life as
an entertaining movie with lots of interesting plot twists rather
than as a pitched battle between everything I like and everything
I don't like. I guess I could say that my cancer helped turn me
into a pronoiac! - The Chaos Artist Formerly Known as Risa Kline
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
PEOPLE YOU NEVER HEARD OF ARE WORKING BEHIND THE SCENES TO HEAL
THE EARTH
19-Year-Old Develops Ocean Cleanup Array That Could Remove More
than Seven Million Tons Of Plastic From the World's Oceans
tinyurl.com/d85pnb2
SOMETIMES CONSTRUCTIVE OPTIMISM IS THE MOST REBELLIOUS THING
YOU CAN DO
Ron Finley plants vegetable gardens in South Central LA -- in
abandoned lots, traffic medians, along the curbs. Why? For fun,
for defiance, for beauty and to offer some alternative to fast
food in a community where "the drive-thrus are killing more
people than the drive-bys."
tinyurl.com/cfoysbc
FREE MARVELOUS BEAUTY
NASA is giving away a free e-book containing satellite photos
of the gorgeous Earth. It's called "Earth as Art."
tinyurl.com/c92brfh
(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 April 4
Copyright 2013 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
"Art cannot be modern," said Austrian painter Egon
Schiele. "Art is primordially eternal." I love that
idea. Not all of the artifacts called "art" fit that
scrupulous definition, of course. Katy Perry's music and the film
Wreck It Ralph may have some entertainment value, but
they're not primordially eternal. I bring this up, Aries, because
I think you have entered a particularly wild and timeless phase
of your own development. Whether or not you are literally an artist,
you have a mandate to create your life story as a primordially
eternal work of art.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
"All my best ideas come from having no answer," said
pioneer filmmaker John Cassavetes, "from not knowing."
I hope that testimony cheers you up, Taurus. As hard as it may
be for you to imagine, you are on the verge of a breakthrough.
As you surf the chaotic flow and monitor the confusing hubbub,
you are brewing the perfect conditions for an outburst of creativity.
Rejoice in the blessing of not knowing!
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Sant is a Hindi word that comes from a Sanskrit verb
meaning "to be good" and "to be real." Personally,
I know a lot of people who are either real or good. But few are
both. The good ones tend to be overly polite, and the real ones
don't put a high priority on being nice. So here's your assignment,
Gemini: to be good and real; to have compassionate intentions
even as you conduct yourself with a high degree of authenticity;
to bestow blessings everywhere you go while at the same time being
honest and clear and deep. According to my reading of the astrological
omens, you have the power to pull off this strenuous feat.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Let's take a look back at the first three months of 2013. How
have you been doing? If I'm reading the astrological markers accurately,
you have jettisoned a portion of the psychic gunk that had accumulated
in you during the past six years. You have partially redeemed
the shadowy side of your nature and you have to some degree ripened
the most immature part. There's also the matter of your heart.
You have managed some healing of a wound that had festered there
for a long time. So here's my question for you: Is it possible
for you to do more of this good work? The target date for completion
is your birthday.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Naturalist Charles Darwin formulated the theory of evolution,
which has been one of history's most influential hypotheses. A
crucial event in his early development as a scientist was a five-year
boat trip he took around the world when he was in his twenties.
The research he conducted along the way seeded many of his unique
ideas. The writing he did established his reputation as a noteworthy
author. And yet before his journey, his father tried to talk him
out of embarking, calling it a "wild scheme" and "a
useless undertaking." Did your parents or other authorities
ever have a similar response to one of your brilliant projects?
If so, now would be a good time to heal the wound caused by their
opposition.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
I've got three sets of affirmations for you, Virgo. Say them
out loud and see if they might work for you. 1. "I will be
engrossed in fascinating experiences that feed my curiosity, but
I will not be obsessed with grueling frustrations that drain my
energy." 2. "I will be committed to love if it opens
my eyes and heart, but I will not be infatuated with maddening
conundrums that jiggle my fear." 3. "I will give myself
freely to learning opportunities that offer me valuable lessons
I can use to improve my life, but I will be skeptical toward rough-edged
tests that ask far more from me than they offer in return."
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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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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
"Pole of inaccessibility" is a term that explorers
use to identify places on the Earth that are hard -- and interesting!
-- to get to. On each continent, it's usually considered to be
the spot that's farthest from the coastline. For instance, there's
a pole of inaccessibility near the frozen center of Antarctica.
Its elevation is over 12,000 feet and it has the planet's coldest
average temperatures. As for the oceanic pole of inaccessibility,
it's an area in the South Pacific that's most remote from land.
By my reckoning, Libra, you would benefit from identifying what
your own personal version of this point is, whether it's literal
or metaphorical. I think it's also a great time to transform your
relationship with it.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Every April, the ancient Romans celebrated a festival known
as Robigalia. Among the rites they performed were ceremonies to
exorcize the god of rust and mildew. I suggest you consider reviving
that old practice, Scorpio. You would benefit from spending a
few days waging war against insidious rot. You could start by
scrubbing away all the sludge, scum, and gunk from your home,
car, and workplace. Next, make a similar effort on a metaphorical
level. Scour the muck, glop, and grime out of your psyche.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
"You know that place between sleep and awake, the place
where you can still remember dreaming? That's where I'll always
love you. That's where I'll be waiting." Tinkerbell says
that to Peter Pan in J.M. Barrie's famous story. Sometime soon,
I think you should whisper words like those to a person or animal
you love. It's time for you to be as romantic and lyrical as possible.
You need to bestow and attract the nourishment that comes from
expressing extravagant tenderness. For even better results, add
this sweetness from French poet Paul Valéry: "I am
what is changing secretly in you." And try this beauty from
Walt Whitman: "We were together. I forget the rest."
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Naturalist John Muir (1838-1914) had an ecstatic relationship
with the California wilderness. He studied it as a scientist and
he worshiped it as a mystical devotee. During the course of his
communion with the glaciers and peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains,
he came close to seeing them as living entities that evolved over
long periods of time. "Glaciers move in tides," he wrote.
"So do mountains. So do all things." With Muir as your
inspiration, I invite you to identify the very gradual currents
and tides that have flowed for years through your own life, Capricorn.
It's prime time to deepen your understanding and appreciation
of the big, slow-moving cycles that have brought you to where
you are today.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
American author William Faulkner won a Nobel Prize for literature,
an indication that he had abundant talent. The prose he wrote
was often experimental, cerebral, and complex. He was once asked
what he would say to readers who found it difficult to grasp his
meaning "even after reading it two or three times."
His reply: "Read it four times." My counsel to you,
Aquarius, is similar. When faced with a challenging event or situation
that taxes your understanding, keep working to understand it even
past the point where you would normally quit. There will be rewards,
I promise.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
"Dear Rob: I just consulted an astrologer, and he told
me that my planets are very weak because they're in the wrong
houses and have bad aspects. Please tell me what this means. Am
I cursed? Is there any way to remedy my afflictions? - Paranoid
Pisces." Dear Pisces: Whoever told you that nonsense is an
incompetent astrologer. You shouldn't heed him. There's no such
thing as one's planets being weak or being in the wrong houses
or having bad aspects. There may be challenges, but those are
also opportunities. Luckily, the coming weeks will be prime time
for you Pisceans to overthrow the influence of inept "experts"
and irresponsible authorities like him. Reclaim your power to
define your own fate from anyone who has stolen it from you.
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HOMEWORK:
Imagine a bedtime story you'd like to hear and the person you'd
like to hear it from. Testify at Freewillastrology.com.
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2013 Rob Brezsny
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