Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
August 24, 2016
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 are excerpts.
My first invitation: Weed out the wishy-washy wishes and lukewarm longings that keep you distracted from your burning desires.
My second invitation: Refuse to think that anyone else knows better than you what dreams will keep your life energy humming with maximum efficiency and grace.
Third invitation: Say this out loud to see how it feels: "I know exactly what I want. I know exactly what I don't want. I know exactly what I kind of want but I won't waste my time on it because it sidetracks me from working on what I really want."
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"Difficulties illuminate existence, but they must be fresh and of high quality."
- Tom Robbins
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"When one has not had a good father, one must create one," said philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. What does that mean? How might you go about "creating" a good father?
Well, you could develop a relationship with an admirable older man who is an inspiring role model.
You could read books by men whose work stirs you to actualize your own potentials.
If you have a vigorous inner life, you could build a fantasy dad in your imagination.
Here's another possibility: Cultivate in yourself the qualities you think a good father should have.
Your ideas?
Even if you actually had a pretty decent father, I'm sure he wasn't perfect. So it still might be interesting to try out some of these ideas.
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Dear Beauty and Truth Lab: Help! My old Buick's transmission is dead, my credit cards are maxed, my kid's got to see the dentist real bad, and the one-speed bike I ride everywhere is about to collapse. I'm working two low-paying jobs already, although I just applied for a more lucrative gig as a strip-club dancer, only I'm having so much mysterious pain in my joints I'm not sure how sexy my gyrations will be. Please clue me in to some tricks that will help me keep a pronoiac attitude in the midst of the mess that is my life. —Pickled
Dear Pickled: Here's the first thing I want to tell you: Pronoia does not assume that material comfort is a sign of divine favor. The universe is an equal-opportunity provider, conspiring to shower blessings on every one of us in the same abundance. But while the blessings may come in the form of money and possessions, they're just as likely to consist of other gifts that aren't as concrete.
Here's a hypothetical example. Let's say you have the gift of feeling at home in the world no matter where you are. The universe has determined that it's the exact skill you need in order to fulfill the specific purpose you came to earth to carry out. Having a prestigious job and big salary, on the other hand, might be exactly what you don't need.
The question of what gifts are essential revolves around your precise role in the universal conspiracy to perpetrate blessings.
The second meditation I'll offer you is a passage from the Gospel of Matthew: "Whoever has, shall be given more and more, while whoever has nothing, even what he has will be taken away from him."
Pronoiac translation: Whatever you choose to focus your attention on, you will get more of it. If you often think of everything you lack and how sad you are that you don't have it, you will tend to receive prolific evidence of how true that is. As you obsess on all the ways your life is different from what you wish it would be, you will become an expert in rousing feelings of frustration and you will attract experiences that assist you in rousing frustration.
If, on the other hand, you dwell on the good things you have already had the privilege to experience, you will expand your appreciation for their blessings, which in turn will amplify their beneficent impact on your life. You will also magnetize yourself to receive further good things, making it more likely that they will be attracted into your sphere. At the very least, you will get in the habit of enjoying yourself no matter what the outward circumstances are.
Bear in mind that you are a great wizard. You can use your powers to practice white magic on yourself instead of the other kind. The most basic way to do that is to concentrate on naming, savoring, and feeling gratitude for the blessings you do have—your love for your kid, the pleasures of eating the food you like, the sight of the sky at dusk, the entertaining drama of your unique fate. Don't ignore the bad stuff, but make a point of celebrating the beautiful stuff with all the exuberant devotion you can muster.
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Do play soccer in bunny slippers at dawn in a supermarket parking lot with a gang of Vipassana experts who have promised to teach you the Balinese monkey chant.
Don't decorate your thigh with a slipshod tattoo of the devil pushing a lawn mower.
Do wear a T-shirt that says, "Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most."
Don't glide into a bar, scout around for the person whose face has the most pain etched in it, and ask that person to come home with you.
Do shake your fist at the night sky as you call out, "I defy you, stars!"
Don't pile up framed photos of old flames in a vacant lot and drive a monster truck over them.
Do write a cookbook filled with recipes you've channeled from dead celebrities.
Don't gaze into a mirror and spout, "God damn you, why can't you be different from who you are?!"
Don't lie on a floor surrounded by wine-stained poetry books, crumpled Matisse prints, abandoned underwear, and half-eaten bowls of corn flakes as you stare up at the ceiling with a blank gaze, muttering gibberish and waving your hands as if swatting away demons.
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Faced With a Fracking Giant, This Small Town Just Legalized Civil Disobedience. A new first-in-the-nation law will shield residents from arrest as they use direct action to stop fracking-wastewater injection wells.
tinyurl.com/zamho8x
Detroit makes community college free
tinyurl.com/zdebuqr
Humpback whales around the globe are mysteriously rescuing animals from orcas. Scientists are baffled at this seemingly altruistic behavior, which seems to be a concerted global effort to foil killer whale hunts.
tinyurl.com/hgyoydb
(Note: I endorse these because I like them. They aren’t advertisements, and I get no kickbacks.)
Please tell me your own nominations for PRONOIA RESOURCES: Truthrooster@gmail.com.
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning August 25
Copyright 2016 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Suggested experiments: 1. Take a vow that from now on you won't hide your beauty. 2. Strike a deal with your inner king or inner queen, guaranteeing that this regal part of gets regular free expression. 3. Converse with your Future Self about how the two of you might collaborate to fully unleash the refined potency of your emotional intelligence. 4. In meditations and dreams, ask your ancestors how you can more completely access and activate your dormant potentials.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
I hope you are not forlorn, shivery, puzzled, or obsessive right now -- unless being in such a state will mobilize you to instigate the overdue transformations you have been evading. If that's the case, I hope you are forlorn, shivery, puzzled, and obsessive. Feelings like those may be the perfect fuel -- the high-octane motivation that will launch your personal renaissance. I don't often offer this counsel, Libra, so I advise you to take full advantage: Now is one of the rare times when your so-called negative emotions can catalyze redemption.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
From what I can tell, your vigor is peaking. In recent weeks, you have been sturdy, hearty, stout, and substantial. I expect this surge of strength to intensify in the near future -- even as it becomes more fluid and supple. In fact, I expect that your waxing power will teach you new secrets about how to wield your power intelligently. You may break your previous records for compassionate courage and sensitive toughness. Here's the best news of all: You're likely to be dynamic about bestowing practical love on the people and animal and things that are important to you.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
The odds are higher than usual that you will be offered a boost or promotion in the coming weeks. This development is especially likely to occur in the job you're doing or the career plans you've been pursuing. It could also be a factor at work in your spiritual life. You may discover a new teacher or teaching that could lift you to the next phase of your inner quest. There's even a chance that you'll get an upgrade on both fronts. So it's probably a good time to check on whether you're harboring any obstacles to success. If you find that you are, DESTROY THOSE RANCID OLD MENTAL BLOCKS WITH A BOLT OF PSYCHIC LIGHTNING.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
The cosmos seems to be warming up to your charms. The stinginess it displayed toward you for a while is giving way to a more generous approach. To take advantage of this welcome development, you should shed any fear-based beliefs you may have adopted during the recent shrinkage. For instance, it's possible you've begun to entertain the theory that the game of life is rigged against you, or that it is inherently hard to play. Get rid of those ideas. They're not true, and clinging to them would limit the game of life's power to bring you new invitations. Open yourself up wherever you have closed down.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Are any of your allies acting like they've forgotten their true purpose? If so, you have the power to gently awaken them from their trances and help them re-focus. Is it possible you have become a bit too susceptible to the influences of people whose opinions shouldn't really matter that much to you? If so, now is a good time to correct that aberration. Are you aware of having fallen under the sway of trendy ideas or faddish emotions that are distorting your relationship with your primal sources? If so, you are hereby authorized to free yourself from their hold on you.
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YOU NEED MAGIC EVERY DAY
Every day, you have to wade through a relentless surge of soul-less facts. The experience tends to shut down your sense of wonder.
Every day, you're over-exposed to cynical narratives that have been sucked free of delight and mystery. That's why you have to make such strenuous efforts to keep your world enchanted.
I like to think I can contribute to the sacred cause of feeding your sense of wonder and enchantment. In fact, that's one of my prime motivations for offering you the free weekly horoscopes you read in this newsletter.
If you ever want more of that good stuff, and think it's worth paying for, please consider trying out my EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES. They're four-to-five-minute meditations on the current state of your destiny.
To listen to your Expanded Audio Horoscope online, go to RealAstrology.com.
Register and/or log in through the main page.
You can also listen over the phone by calling 1-877-873-4888.
The cost is $6 per sign on the Web (discounts available for bulk purchases), or $1.99 per minute by phone.
The Expanded Audio Horoscopes work on most smart phones and tablets.
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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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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Now would be a favorable time to reveal that you are in fact a gay socialist witch who believes good poetry provides a more reliable way to understand reality than the opinions of media pundits -- unless, of course, you are not a gay socialist witch, etc., in which case you shouldn't say you are. But I do advise you to consider disclosing as much as possible of your true nature to anyone with whom you plan to be intimately linked in the future and who is missing important information about you. It's high time to experiment with being more completely yourself.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
In the coming weeks, I hope you won't scream curses at the rain, demanding that it stop falling on you. Similarly, I suggest you refrain from punching walls that seem to be hemming you in, and I beg you not to spit into the wind when it's blowing in your face. Here's an oracle about how to avoid counterproductive behavior like that: The near future will bring you useful challenges and uncanny blessings if you're willing to consider the possibility that everything coming your way will in some sense be an opportunity.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Oh how I wish you might receive the grace of being pampered and nurtured and entertained and prayed for. I'd love for you to assemble a throng of no-strings-attached caretakers who would devote themselves to stoking your healing and delight. Maybe they'd sing to you as they gave you a manicure and massaged your feet and paid your bills. Or perhaps they would cook you a gourmet meal and clean your house as they told you stories about how beautiful you are and all the great things you're going to do in the future. Is it possible to arrange something like that even on a modest scale, Taurus? You're in a phase of your astrological cycle when you most need this kind of doting attention -- and when you have the greatest power to make it happen.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
I invite you to dream about your true home . . . your sweet, energizing, love-strong home . . . the home where you can be high and deep, robust and tender, flexible and rigorous . . . the home where you are the person that you promised yourself you could be. To stimulate and enhance your brainstorms about your true home, experiment with the following activities: Feed your roots . . . do maintenance work on your power spot . . . cherish and foster your sources . . . and refine the magic that makes you feel free. Can you handle one more set of tasks designed to enhance your domestic bliss? Tend to your web of close allies . . . take care of what takes care of you . . . and adore the intimate connections that serve as your foundation.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
It'll be one of those rapid-fire, adjust-on-the-fly, think-on-your-feet, go-with-your-gut times for you -- a head-spinning, endorphin-generating, eye-pleasing, intelligence-boosting phase when you will have opportunities to relinquish your attachments to status quos that don't serve you. Got all that, Cancerian? There'll be a lot of stimuli to absorb and integrate -- and luckily for you, absorbing and integrating a lot of stimuli will be your specialty. I'm confident of your ability to get the most of upcoming encounters with cute provocations, pleasant agitation, and useful unpredictability. One more tip: Be vigilant and amused as you follow the ever-shifting sweet spot.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
At the risk of asking too much and pushing too hard, my Guerrilla Prayer Warriors have been begging God to send you some major financial mojo. These fierce supplicants have even gone so far as to suggest to the Supreme Being that maybe She could help you win the lottery or find a roll of big bills lying in the gutter or be granted a magic wish by an unexpected benefactor. "Whatever works!" is their mantra. Looking at the astrological omens, I'm not sure that the Prayer Warriors' extreme attempts will be effective. But the possibility that they will be is definitely greater than usual. To boost your odds, I suggest you get more organized and better educated about your money matters. Set a clear intention about the changes you'd like to put in motion during the next ten months.
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HOMEWORK:
What would the people who love you best say is the most important thing for you to learn? Testify at Truthrooster@gmail.com.
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Submissions sent to Rob Brezsny's Astrology 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 submissions for length, style, and content. Requests for anonymity will be honored. We are not responsible for unsolicited submission of any creative material.
Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright 2016 Rob Brezsny
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