Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter July 15, 2015

 Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
 July 15, 2015
 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. It's from the piece called "Subterranean Pronoia Therapy."

1. Declare amnesty for the part of you that you don't love very well. Forgive that poor sucker. Hold its hand and take it out to dinner and a movie. Tactfully offer it a chance to make amends for the dumb things it has done.

And then do a dramatic reading of this proclamation by the playwright Theodore Rubin: "I must learn to love the fool in me -- the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt, promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries. It alone protects me against that utterly self-controlled, masterful tyrant whom I also harbor and who would rob me of human aliveness, humility, and dignity but for my fool."

2. The greatest gift you can give might be the gift that you yourself were never given. Give that gift.

The most valuable service you have to offer your fellow humans may be the service you have always wished were performed for you. Offer that service.

An experience that wounded you could move you to help people who've been similarly wounded. Heal yourself by healing others.

3. No matter how holy and good, everyone in the world has a portion of the world's sickness inside them. It's known by many names: neurosis, shadow, demon, devil. Many people try to deny that it inhabits them. Others acknowledge its power so readily that they allow themselves to be overwhelmed and distorted by it.

At the Beauty and Truth Lab, we take a position between those two positions. We accept the fact that the evil is part of us, but treat it with compassionate amusement and flexible vigilance. Our stance is partly that of loving parents and partly that of warriors.

Once you make a commitment to explore the mysteries of pronoia, your shadow will try to play tricks on you that it has never tried before. How will you respond? We recommend an aggressive, tender, improvisational approach. Be ready for anything. Avoid both blithe excesses of tolerance and grave fundamentalism.

4. Philosopher William James proposed that if our culture ever hoped to shed the deeply ingrained habit of going to war, we'd have to create a moral equivalent. It's not enough to preach the value of peace, he said. We have to find other ways to channel our aggressive instincts in order to accomplish what war does, like stimulate political unity and build civic virtue.

Astrology provides a complementary perspective. Each of us has the warrior energy of the planet Mars in our psychological makeup. We can't simply repress it, but must find a positive way to express it. How might you go about this project?

5. In his book The Thought of the Heart and the Soul of the World, psychologist James Hillman writes: "The question of evil refers primarily to the anaesthetized heart, the heart that has no reaction to what it faces, thereby turning the variegated sensuous face of the world into monotony, sameness, oneness."

What would you have to do in order to triumph over this kind of evil in yourself?

6. "The problem, if you love it, is as beautiful as the sunset," wrote J. Krishnamurti. "The obstacle is the path," says the Zen proverb. What frustrating puzzle do you love the best?

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EXPLORE THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE in the Rest of 2015 and Beyond

Get more information about your Mid-Year Audio Horoscope for the Rest of 2015 and Beyond: bit.ly/BigPicture2015-2016

Or simply log in through the main page at RealAstrology.com, and then click on the link "Long Term Forecast for Second Half of 2015."

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Whether or not you want to listen to those Big Picture audio reports for the rest of 2015 and beyond, you may be interested in reviewing the long-term horoscopes I wrote for you earlier this year.

To see them, go here: bit.ly/BigView2015

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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:

Nepalese eye doctor, Dr. Sanduk Ruit, pioneered a surgical technique that restores eyesight without stitches in 5 minutes and has removed 100,000 cataracts from this procedure on poverty-stricken people over his 30-year career.
tinyurl.com/pqprfzp

Lego, the Toy Company, Spends Millions To Ditch Oil-Based Plastic.
tinyurl.com/pg3pda5

Something Good Finally Happened for Working Americans. A higher overtime threshold will help reverse the trend of inequality.
tinyurl.com/pjovgc2

(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 July 16

Copyright 2015 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

"A poet must not cross an interval with a step when he can cross it with a leap." That's an English translation of an aphorism written by French author Joseph Joubert. Another way to say it might be, "A smart person isn't drab and plodding as she bridges a gap, but does it with high style and brisk delight." A further alternative: "An imaginative soul isn't predictable as she travels over and around obstacles, but calls on creative magic to fuel her ingenious liberations." Please use these ideas during your adventures in the coming weeks, Cancerian.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

July is barely half over, but your recent scrapes with cosmic law have already earned you the title of "The Most Lyrically Tormented Struggler of the Month." Another few days of this productive mayhem and you may be eligible for inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records. I could see you being selected as "The Soul Wrangler with the Craziest Wisdom" or "The Mythic Hero with the Most Gorgeous Psychospiritual Wounds." But it's my duty to let you know that you could also just walk away from it all. Even if you're tempted to stick around and see how much more of the entertaining chaos you can overcome, it might be better not to. In my opinion, you have done enough impossible work for now.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

"People who have their feet planted too firmly on the ground have difficulty getting their pants off," said author Richard Kehl. That's good advice for you in the coming weeks. To attract the help and resources you need, you can't afford to be overly prim or proper. You should, in fact, be willing to put yourself in situations where it would be easy and natural to remove your pants, throw off your inhibitions, and dare to be surprising. If you're addicted to business-as-usual, you may miss opportunities to engage in therapeutic play and healing pleasure.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

"A failure is a person who has blundered but is not able to cash in on the experience," wrote American author Elbert Hubbard. In light of this formulation, I'm pleased to announce that you are likely to achieve at least one resounding success in the coming weeks. At this juncture in your destiny, you know exactly how to convert a past mistake into a future triumph. A gaffe that once upon a time brought you anguish or woe will soon deliver its fully ripened teaching, enabling you to claim a powerful joy or joyful power.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

The poet Mary Ruefle describes reading books as "a great extension of time, a way for one person to live a thousand and one lives in a single lifespan." Are there other ways to do that? Watching films and plays and TV shows, of course. You can also listen to and empathize with people as they tell you their adventures. Or you can simply use your imagination to visualize what life is like for others. However you pursue this expansive pleasure, Scorpio, I highly recommend it. You are set up to absorb the equivalent of many years' experience in a few short weeks.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

Sagittarian rapper Nicki Minaj is not timid about going after what she wants. She told Cosmopolitan magazine that she's "high-maintenance in bed." Every time she's involved in a sexual encounter, she demands to have an orgasm. In accordance with the current astrological omens, Sagittarius, I invite you to follow her lead -- not just during your erotic adventures, but everywhere else, too. Ask for what you want, preferably with enough adroitness to actually obtain what you want. Here's another critical element to keep in mind: To get exactly what you want, you must know exactly what you want.

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BRAINSTORM ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE

with my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Second Half of 2015 and beyond:

RealAstrology.com

What will be the story of your life during the rest of 2015 and onward into 2016? How can you exert your free will to create the adventures that will bring out the best in you, even as you find graceful ways to cooperate with the tides of destiny?

If you'd like a high-octane boost of inspiration to fuel your quest to create your most interesting and meaningful destiny, tune in to my meditations on your long-term outlook.

Go here: RealAstrology.com. Then log in and click on the link
"Long Term Forecast for Second Half of 2015"

You can also listen to your short-term forecast for the coming week by clicking on "This week (July 14, 2014)."

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"Your Expanded Audio Horoscopes provide me with the Rest of the Story. I'm not necessarily a believer in the scientific accuracy of astrology, but I do think you've got a lot of practical wisdom to impart."
- M. Tennenbaum, New York

"No one knows more about me than me. But you're right up there near the top of the list of people who do understand something about how I tick. How is that possible?"
- R. Goren, Albuquerque

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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

A college basketball player named Mark Snow told reporters that "Strength is my biggest weakness." Was he trying to be funny? No. Was he a bit dim-witted? Perhaps. But I'm not really interested in what he meant by his statement. Rather, I want to hijack it for my own purpose, which is to recommend it as a meditation for you in the coming weeks. Can you think of any ways that your strength might at least temporarily be a weakness? I can. I suspect that if you rely too much on the power you already possess and the skills you have previously mastered, you may miss important clues about what you need to learn next. The most valuable lessons of the coming weeks could come to you as you're practicing the virtues of humility and innocence and receptivity.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

In Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone with the Wind, Rhett Butler delivers the following speech to Scarlett O'Hara: "I was never one to patiently pick up broken fragments and glue them together again and tell myself that the mended whole was as good as new. What is broken is broken -- and I'd rather remember it as it was at its best than mend it and see the broken places as long as I lived." Your oracle for the near future, Aquarius, is to adopt an approach that is the exact opposite of Rhett Butler's. Patiently gather the broken fragments and glue them together again. I predict that the result will not only be as good as new; it will be better. That's right: The mended version will be superior to the original.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

Australian actress Rebel Wilson has appeared in several successful movies, including Bridesmaids, Bachelorette, and Pitch Perfect. But she didn't start out to be a film star. Mathematics was her main interest. Then, while serving as a youth ambassador in South Africa at age 18, she contracted malaria. At the height of her sickness, she had hallucinatory visions that she would one day be "a really good actress who also won an Oscar." The visions were so vivid that she decided to shift her career path. I foresee the possibility that you will soon experience a version of her epiphany. During a phase when you're feeling less than spectacular, you may get a glimpse of an intriguing future possibility.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):

Stop Making Sense" was originally the name of the film and music soundtrack produced by the Talking Heads in the 1980s, and now it is the central theme of your horoscope. I think your brain would benefit from a thorough washing. That's why I invite you to scour it clean of all the dust and cobwebs and muck that have accumulated there since its last scrub a few months back. One of the best ways to launch this healing purge is, of course, to flood all the neural pathways with a firehose-surge of absurdity, jokes, and silliness. As the wise physician of the soul, Dr. Seuss, said, "I like nonsense. It wakes up the brain cells."

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

When you read a book that has footnotes, you tend to regard the footnotes as being of secondary importance. Although they may add color to the text's main messages, you can probably skip them without losing much of the meaning. But I don't recommend this approach in the coming days. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, footnotes will carry crucial information that's important for you to know. I mean this in a metaphorical sense as you live your life as well as in the literal act of reading books. Pay close attention to the afterthoughts, the digressions, and the asides.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

The English word "quiddity" has two contrary definitions. It can refer to a trivial quibble. Or it can mean the essential nature of a thing -- the quality that makes it unique. I suspect that in the coming weeks you will get numerous invitations to engage with quiddities of both types. Your first task will be to cultivate an acute ability to know which is which. Your second task: Be relentless in avoiding the trivial quibbles as you home in on the essential nature of things.

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HOMEWORK:

What's the name of the book you may write some day -- perhaps your memoir? 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 2015 Rob Brezsny

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