Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter May 7, 2014

Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
MAY 7, 2014
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's an excerpt:

THE MYSTERY OF YOUR THIRST

Imagine this scene. You're really thirsty -- so dehydrated that you're feeling faint. Yet here's the weird thing: You're walking along the bank of a wide river that's so clear you could see the bottom if you looked.

But you're not looking. In fact, you seem oblivious to the surging force of nature just a few yards away.

Is it invisible to you? Are you so preoccupied with your suffering that you're blind to the very source that would end your suffering?

Up ahead you see a man. As you approach, you realize he's holding a bottle of water. You run to him and beg him to let you drink. He readily agrees. Gratefully, you guzzle the precious liquid, then thank him profusely.

As you walk away, he calls after you, "By the way, there's a lot more water over there," and he points to the river.

Do you hear him? If you hear him, do you believe him? Or do you keep walking, hoping to find another person with another bottle somewhere up ahead?

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Acquiring problems is a fundamental human need. It's as crucial to your well-being as getting food, air, water, sleep, and love. You define yourself--indeed, you make yourself--through the puzzling dilemmas you attract and solve. The most creative people on the planet are those who frame the biggest, hardest questions and then gather the resources necessary to find the answers.

- bit.ly/Pronoia

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From an article about me in "The Independent," published in Durham, NC:

"I have witnessed this growing narrative of the world as lost, as terrible, as a miserable pit of ugliness," Brezsny said. "Most of what's reported in the news, probably 95 percent, portrays human beings as corrupt, ugly, depressed, sad, sick. And that has never been my perception. My perception has always been that yes, there's a lot of suffering, but primarily people are really happy to be alive.

"So one of the passions that I felt was to ask people to at least consider the possibility that life is a lot better than they imagine."

That's what Pronoia is about -- furnishing 888 tricks for becoming a "master of rowdy bliss," according to the book's back cover. It's not a matter of becoming a Pollyanna-ish ninny, as Brezsny explained it to me. It's more like welcoming experience on all its frequencies, even the difficult ones, and considering that the universe continually gives you what you need, if not exactly what you want.

- Read the rest of the article: tinyurl.com/d3jaj3s

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Think globally,
but act locally.

Plan for the future,
but act in the present.

Dream of all the masterpieces you'd be thrilled to create,
but work on just one at a time.

Lust for every enticing soul you see,
but only make love to the imperfect beauty you're actually with.

Allow yourself to be flooded
with every last feeling that bubbles up from your subconscious,
but understand that only a very few of these feelings
need to be forcefully expressed.

Be passionately attuned
to all the injustices and hypocrisies you see around you,
but be selective when choosing which of those you will actually fight.

- bit.ly/Televisionary

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My book THE TELEVISIONARY ORACLE has been reprinted and is also available as an e-book:

Hard-copy book: bit.ly/Televisionary

Kindle edition: bit.ly/12791ba

Read the first four chapters here: bit.ly/y6br6D

See the cover: bit.ly/yHbHHF

Read the review in Rain Taxi: http://bit.ly/x7yMoT

Excerpts from that review:

"The Televisionary Oracle is a powerful example of how ancient mysticism may just be the best tool for revolutionary action, both for the individual and the society."

"What's amazing is how Brezsny's prose remains invigorating in the transition from weekly astrology to larger scope writing. The prose is still poetic, circular, almost dancing, combining the narrative voices of Anais Nin, Tom Robbins, David Ignatow, and a host of ancient mystics."

"Other New Age, spiritualist novels lead the reader to take a fresh look at the world by ignoring the economic and corrupt nightmares of capitalism and its pollution of culture. But instead of looking away and pointing to a daisy field or deities seated upon fluffy clouds, Brezsny alternates his world-as-an-illusion, 'utopia ahead' narrative with insightful cultural critique."

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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:

"Why Are We More Optimistic About Ourselves Than About Our Society? It's easier to be hopeful about our individual futures than our collective ones because we have more control over them. But the two are inextricably linked."
tinyurl.com/kt37jqq

"To My Friend the Climate Defeatist: Here's Why I'm Still In the Fight
It is good to mourn for what's being lost. But giving up just gives the fossil fuel industry what it wants."
tinyurl.com/pfjaba8

10 Formerly Homeless People Who Used Rock Bottom As A Springboard To Greatness
tinyurl.com/ntrnwsw

(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 May 8

Copyright 2014 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

Free jazz is a type of music that emerged in the 1950s as a rebellion against jazz conventions. Its meter is fluid and its harmonies unfamiliar, sometimes atonal. Song structures may be experimental and unpredictable. A key element in free jazz is collective improvisation -- riffing done not just by a featured soloist, but by the entire group of musicians playing together. To prepare for your adventures in the coming days, Taurus -- which I suspect will have resemblances to free jazz -- you might want to listen to music by its pioneers, like Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, and Sun Ra. Whatever you do, don't fall prey to scapabobididdilywiddilydoobapaphobia, which is the fear of freestyle jazz.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

Apple and Exxon are the most valuable companies in America. In third place, worth more than $350 billion, is Google. Back in 1999, when the future Internet giant was less than a year old, Google's founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page tried to sell their baby for a mere million dollars. The potential buyer was Excite, an online service that was thriving at the time. But Excite's CEO turned down the offer, leaving Brin and Page to soldier onward by themselves. Lucky for them, right? Today they're rich and powerful. I foresee the possibility of a comparable development in your life, Gemini. An apparent "failure" may, in hindsight, turn out to be the seed of a future success.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

"You can't have your cake and eat it, too" is an English-language proverb. It means that you will no longer have your cake if you eat it all up. The Albanian version of the adage is "You can't go for a swim without getting wet. " Hungarians say, "It's impossible to ride two horses with one butt." According to my analysis, Cancerian, you will soon disprove this folk wisdom. You will, in effect, be able to eat you cake and still have it. You will somehow stay dry as you take a dip. You will figure out a way to ride two horses with your one butt.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

I know this might come as a shock, Leo, but . . . are you ready? . . . you are God! Or at least godlike. An influx of crazy yet useful magic from the Divine Wow is boosting your personal power way beyond normal levels. There's so much primal mojo flowing through you that it will be hard if not impossible for you to make mistakes. Don't fret, though. Your stint as the Wild Sublime Golden Master of Reality probably won't last for more than two weeks, three tops. I'm sure that won't be long enough for you to turn into a raving megalomaniac with 10,000 cult followers.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

In your imagination, take a trip many years into the future. See yourself as you are now, sitting next to the wise elder you will be then. The two of you are lounging on a beach and gazing at a lake. It's twilight. A warm breeze feels good. You turn to your older self and say, "Do you have any regrets? Is there anything you wish you had done but did not do?" Your older self tells you what that thing is. (Hear it now.) And you reply, "Tomorrow I will begin working to change all that."

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

Over a hundred years ago, the cattle industry pressured the U.S. government to kill off wolves in Yellowstone National Park. By 1926 the wolves had all but vanished. In the following decades, elk herds grew unnaturally big, no longer hunted by their natural predator. The elk decimated the berry bushes of Yellowstone, eating the wild fruit with such voracity that grizzly bears and many other species went hungry. In 1995, environmentalists and conservationists got clearance to re-introduce wolves to the area. Now the berry bushes are flourishing again. Grizzlies are thriving, as are other mammals that had been deprived. I regard this vignette as an allegory for your life in the coming months, Libra. It's time to do the equivalent of replenishing the wolf population. Correct the imbalance.

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WHERE ARE YOU RIGHT NOW?

Grace emerges in the ebb and flow, not just the flow. The waning reveals a different kind of blessing than the waxing.

But whether it's our time to ferment in the valley of shadows or rise up singing in the sun-splashed meadow, fresh power to transform ourselves is always on the way. Our suffering won't last, nor will our triumph. Without fail, life will deliver the creative energy we need to change into the new thing we must become.

Where are you in the great cycle of your life? For inspiration in figuring it all out, tune in to my EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES.

They're four-to-five-minute meditations on the current state of your destiny and where you're headed.

They are not repeats or extensions of the written 'scopes you read here for free. They are entirely fresh explorations of your astrological omens, and are designed to help you tune in to your soul's code. (P.S. They're not free.)

Register and/or sign in at RealAstrology.com

They're available on your tablets and smart phones as well as your computers.

The forecasts are also available by phone: 1-877-873-4888

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SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

I have no problem with you listening closely to the voices in your head. Although there might be some weird counsel flowing from some of them, it's also possible that one of those voices might have sparkling insights to offer. As for the voices that are delivering messages from your lower regions, in the vicinity of your reproductive organs: I'm not opposed to you hearing them out, either. But I hope you will be most attentive and receptive to the voices in your heart. While they are not infallible, they are likely to contain a higher percentage of useful truth than those other two sources.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

Kangaroo rats live in the desert. They're at home there, having evolved over millennia to thrive in the arid conditions. So well-adapted are they that they can go a very long time without drinking water. While it's admirable to have achieved such a high level of accommodation to their environment, I don't recommend that you do something comparable. In fact, its probably better if you don't adjust to some of the harsher aspects of your environment. Now might be a good time to acknowledge this fact and start planning an alternate solution.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

"Those who control their passions do so because their passions are weak enough to be controlled," said writer William Blake. I think you will challenge this theory in the coming weeks, Capricorn. Your passions will definitely not be weak. They may even verge on being volcanic. And yet I bet you will manage them fairy well. By that I mean you will express them with grace and power rather than allowing them to overwhelm you and cause a messy ruckus. You won't need to tamp them down and bottle them up because you will find a way to be both uninhibited and disciplined as you give them their chance to play.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

Would you please go spend some quality time having non-goal-oriented fun? Can I convince you to lounge around in fantasyland as you empty your beautiful head of all compulsions to prove yourself and meet people's expectations? Will you listen to me if I suggest that you take off the mask that's stuck to your face and make funny faces in the mirror? You need a nice long nap, gorgeous. Two or three nice long naps. Bake some damn cookies, even if you've never done so. Soak your feet in epsom salts as you binge-watch a TV show that stimulates a thousand emotions. Lie in the grass and stare lovingly at the sky for as long as it takes to recharge your spiritual batteries.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

Dear Pisceans: Your evil twins have asked me to speak to you on their behalf. They say they want to apologize for the misunderstandings that may have arisen from their innocent desire to show you what you had been missing. Their intent was not at all hostile or subversive. They simply wanted to fill in some gaps in your education. OK? Next your evil twins want to humbly request that you no longer refer to them as "Evil Twin," but instead pick a more affectionate name, like, say "Sweet Mess" or "Tough Lover." If you promise to treat them with more geniality, they will guarantee not to be so tricky and enigmatic.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):

Fireworks displays excite the eyes and lift the spirit. But the smoke and dust they produce can harm the lungs with residues of heavy metals. The toxic chemicals they release may pollute streams and lakes and even groundwater. So is there any alternative? Not yet. No one has come up with a more benign variety of fireworks. But if it happens soon, I bet it will be due to the efforts of an enterprising Aries researcher. Your tribe is entering a phase when you will have good ideas about how to make risky fun safer, how to ensure vigorous adventures are healthy, and how to maintain constructive relationships with exciting influences.

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HOMEWORK:

Upon waking up for the next seven mornings, sing the song that fills you with feisty hope.

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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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