Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter January 8, 2014

Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
JANUARY 8, 2014
FreeWillAstrology.com

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EXPLORE YOUR LONG-RANGE FUTURE

with my 3-Part EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES for the Coming Year.

RealAstrology.com

Who do you want to become in 2014? Where do you want to go and what do you want to do? I'm ready to help you muse about the interesting possibilities.

This week, my EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES feature Part 2 of my long-range, in-depth explorations of your destiny in 2014.

Part 1 of your Beginning-of-the-Year Predictions, which I offered last week, is also still available for your listening pleasure. Part 3 will be ready for you next week.

What will be the story of your life in 2014? How can you exert your free will to create adventures that'll bring out the best in you, even as you find graceful ways to cooperate with the tides of destiny?

To listen to your BIG PICTURE horoscopes online, go here: RealAstrology.com

Register and/or log in through the main page, and then click on the link "Long Term Forecast for 2014."

You can also listen over the phone by calling 1-877-873-4888.

The cost is $6 per sign on the Web (discounts for the purchase of multiple tokens), or $1.99 per minute by phone. Each forecast is 7-9 minutes long.

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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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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:

Good News to Start 2014

* Fewer people are dying young, and more are living longer.

* Fewer people suffer from extreme poverty, and the world is getting happier.

* War is becoming rarer and less deadly.

* Rates of murder and other violent crimes are in free-fall.

* There's less racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination in the world.

All the above from tinyurl.com/mqheaed

* Same-sex marriage is now legal in 15 countries and 18 states in the U.S. Wikipedia says: "Polls in various countries show that there is rising support for legally recognizing same-sex marriage across race, ethnicity, age, religion, political affiliation, and socioeconomic status."

* In 2013, Americans took steps to expand preschool for the poor.

* In 2013, the U.S. saw homelessness drop again.

* Donors pledged the largest amount ever to fight AIDS.

* Transgender women gained a voice on television.

* Developing countries are enabling women to make informed contraception decisions.

* Malala helped send 40 girls and counting to school.

* Students used proms to push for racial integration.

* We're winning the fight against malaria and polio.

Most of the above is from tinyurl.com/ltrkcqd

* The scaremongering about Fukushima is grossly overblown: tinyurl.com/ll7qtpj

Also:

* Marijuana was legalized in Uruguay and Colorado, and there's growing support for it to be legalized elsewhere.

* The Pope joined the Dalai Lama in calling for an end to growing economic inequality.

(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 January 9

Copyright 2014 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

Can you guess what combination of colors makes the most vivid visual impact? Psychologists say it's black on yellow. Together they arrest the eye. They command attention. They activate a readiness to respond. According to my reading of the astrological omens, this is the effect you can and should have in the coming weeks. It's time for you to draw the best kind of attention to yourself. You have a right and a duty to galvanize people with the power of your presence. Whether you actually wear yellow clothes with black highlights is optional as long as you cultivate a similar potency.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

I'm guessing that in a metaphorical sense, you've been swallowed by a whale. Now you're biding your time in the beast's belly. Here's my prediction: You will be like the Biblical Jonah, who underwent a more literal version of your experience. The whale eventually expelled him, allowing him to return to his life safe and sound -- and your story will have the same outcome. What should you do in the meantime? Here's the advice that Dan Albergotti gives in his poem "Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale." "Count the ribs," he says. "Look up for blue sky through the spout. Make small fires with the broken hulls of fishing boats. Practice smoke signals. Call old friends. Organize your calendar. Dream of the beach. Review each of your life's ten million choices. Find the evidence of those before you. Listen for the sound of your heart. Be thankful that you are here, swallowed with all hope, where you can rest and wait."

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

How do you like your tests? Short, intense, and dramatic? Or leisurely, drawn-out, and low-pressure? Here's another question: Do you prefer to pick out the tests you take, making sure they're good fits for the precise lessons you want to master? Or do you find it more exciting and adventurous to let fate determine what unpredictable tests get sent your way? Ruminate about these matters, Pisces. You're due for a nice big test sometime soon, and it's in your interest to help shape and define how everything unfolds.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):

You can blame it on the coming full moon. You can blame it on the gorgeous storm or the epic dream or the haunting song or the suffering you're struggling to vanquish. All I ask is that you don't blame it on the alcohol. OK? If you're going to do wild and brave and unexpected things, make sure they are rooted in your vigorous response to primal rhythms, not in a drunken surrender to weakness or ignorance. I'm all for you losing your oppressive self-control, but not the healthy kind of self-control.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

When is the last time you did an experiment? I'm not talking about scientific tests and trials that take place in a laboratory. I'm referring to real-life experiments, like when you try out an unfamiliar experience to see if it appeals to you . . . or when you instigate a change in your routine to attract unpredictable blessings into your sphere. Now would be an excellent time to expose yourself to a few what-ifs like that. You're overdue to have your eyes opened, your limits stretched, and your mind blown.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

To help take the edge off the darkness you have been wrestling with, I offer you these lines from a poem by Kay Ryan: "The day misspent, / the love misplaced, / has inside it / the seed of redemption. / Nothing is exempt / from resurrection." In other words, Gemini, whatever has disappeared from your life will probably return later in a new form. The wrong turns you made may lead you to a fresh possibility. Is that what you want? Or would you prefer that the lost things stay lost, the dead things stay dead? Make a decision soon.

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EXPLORING YOUR LONG-RANGE FUTURE

Would you like some inspiration as you muse and wonder about your upcoming adventures in 2014?

In this week's EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES, I offer you Part Two of a long-term, in-depth exploration of your destiny in the coming year.

Part Three will be available next week. Part One is still available.

Find out how to access them online at bit.ly/BigPicture2014.

They are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888.

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CANCER (June 21-July 22):

"Human beings are often unable to receive because we do not know what to ask for," says the writer Malidoma Some in his book Water and Spirit. "We are sometimes unable to get what we need because we do not know what we want." With that in mind, Cancerian, hear my two pleas: first, that in the next six weeks, you will work diligently to identify the goodies you want most; and second, that you will cultivate your capacity to receive the goodies you want most by refining your skill at asking for them.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

Julia Morgan (1872-1957) was the first woman licensed as an architect in California. She designed over 700 buildings in the course of her brilliant career, and thrived both financially and artistically. One key to her success was her humility. "Don't ever turn down a job because it's beneath you," she advised. That's a helpful message for you to hear, Leo. It applies to the work-related opportunities you may be invited to take on, as well as the tasks that your friends, associates, and loved ones ask you to consider. You can't possibly know ahead of time how important it might ultimately be to apply yourself conscientiously to a seemingly small assignment.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

One of Beethoven's music teachers said, "As a composer, he is hopeless." When Thomas Edison was a kid, a teacher told him he was "too stupid to learn anything." Walt Disney worked at a newspaper when he was young, but his editor fired him because "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas." I'm sure there was a person like that in your past -- someone who disparaged and discouraged you. But I'm happy to report that 2014 will be the best year ever for neutralizing and overcoming that naysayer's curse. If you have not yet launched your holy crusade, begin now.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

As a child, French philosopher and writer Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) loved math. But his father, who homeschooled him, forced him to forego math and concentrate on studying the humanities. Blaise rebelled. When he was 12 years old, he locked himself in his room for days and immersed himself in mathematical investigations. When he emerged, he had figured out on his own some of Euclid's fundamental theorems about geometry. Eventually, he became a noted mathematician. I see the coming weeks as prime time to do something like the young Pascal did: Seal yourself away from other people's opinions about who you're supposed to be, and explore the themes that will be crucial for the person you are becoming.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

In 1609, Dutch sea explorer Henry Hudson sailed to America and came upon what we now call Coney Island. Back then it was a barren spit of sand whose main inhabitants were rabbits. But it was eventually turned into a dazzling resort -- an "extravagant playground," according to the documentary film Coney Island. By the early 20th century, there were three sprawling amusement parks packed into its two square miles of land, plus "a forest of glittering electric towers, historical displays, freak shows, a simulated trip to the moon, the largest herd of elephants in the world, and panoramas showing the Creation, the End of the World, and Hell." I mention this, Scorpio, because 2014 could feature your very own Henry Hudson moment: a time when you will discover virgin territory that will ultimately become an extravagant playground.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

"If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be clever enough to be crows," said 19th-century social reformer Henry Ward Beecher. That might be an accurate assessment for most people, but I don't think it will be true for you Sagittarians in the foreseeable future. Your animal intelligence will be working even better than usual. Your instinctual inclinations are likely to serve as reliable guides to wise action. Trust what your body tells you! You will definitely be clever enough to be a crow.

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HOMEWORK:

Imagine that one of your heroes comes to you and says, "Teach me the most important things you know." What do you say? 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 2014 Rob Brezsny

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