Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter October 12, 2016

 Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
 October 12, 2016
 FreeWillAstrology.com

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If you would like to support my work, please visit my Virtual Tip Jar at Paypal. It's here: paypal.me/FreeWillAstrology

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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.

Jorge Luis Borges said that Judas was actually a more exalted hero than Jesus. He unselfishly volunteered to perform the all-important villain's role in the resurrection saga, knowing he'd be reviled forever. It was a dirty job that only an egoless saint could have done. Jesus suffered, true, but enjoyed glory and adoration as a result.

Let's apply this way of thinking to the task of understanding the role that seemingly bad people play in pronoia.

Interesting narratives play an essential role in the universal conspiracy to give us exactly what we need. All of us crave drama. We love to be beguiled by twists of fate that unfold the stories of our lives in unpredictable ways. Just as Judas played a key role in advancing the tale of Christ's quest, villains and con men and clowns may be crucial to the entertainment value of our personal journeys.

Try this: Imagine the people you fear and dislike as pivotal characters in a fascinating and ultimately redemptive plot that will take years or even lifetimes for the Divine Wow to elaborate.

There is another reason to love our enemies: They force us to become smarter. The riddles they thrust in front of us sharpen our wits and sculpt our souls.

Try this: Act as if your adversaries are great teachers. Thank them for how crucial they've been in your education.

Consider one more possibility: that the people who seem to slow us down and hold us back are actually preventing things from happening too fast. Imagine that the evolution of your life or our culture is like a pregnancy: It needs to reach its full term. Just as a child isn't ready to be born after five months of gestation, the New Earth we're creating has to ripen in its own time.

The recalcitrant reactionaries who resist the inevitable birth are simply making sure that the far-seeing revolutionaries don't conjure the future too suddenly. They serve the greater good.

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Abraham Maslow's definition of real listening: to listen "without presupposing, classifying, improving, controverting, evaluating, approving or disapproving, without dueling what is being said, without rehearsing the rebuttal in advance, without free-associating to portions of what is being said so that succeeding portions are not heard at all."

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“The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates: considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting. This is the treason of the artists; a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain.”

- Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”

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I think that the percentage of good things occurring in the world far outnumbers the tragic, miserable, horrific things -- maybe 85 to 15 -- and yet the tragic, miserable, horrific things get a disproportionate amount of credit and attention.

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In my value system, it is immoral to complain without ever praising; it's immoral to criticize without also identifying what's working well.

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"The shamanic faith is that humanity is not without allies. There are forces friendly to our struggle to birth ourselves as an intelligent species. But they are quiet and shy; they are to be sought, not in the arrival of alien star fleets in the skies of earth, but nearby, in wilderness solitude, in the ambience of waterfalls, and yes, in the grasslands and pastures now too rarely beneath our feet."

- Terence McKenna, "Food of the Gods"

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You may not have heard me sing lately. If you miss that other version of me, here’s “Televisionary,” a tune I created with my band: bit.ly/2dzWtau

Hear the rest of my music: soundcloud.com/sacreduproar
 

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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:

This school replaced detention with meditation. The results are stunning.
tinyurl.com/zrt56z4

The world's largest soup kitchen is the Golden Temple, the holiest temple for Sikhs, which is located in Amritsar, Punjab, India. The Golden Temple can serve free food for up to 100,000 - 300,000 people every day, regardless of faith, religion, or background.
tinyurl.com/hedly9g

Big Insurance Companies Call on G20 countries to Stop Bankrolling Fossil Fuels.
tinyurl.com/jadhmzo

(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 October 13

Copyright 2016 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
 

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

Most of us can't tickle ourselves. Since we have conscious control of our fingers, we know we can stop any time. Without the element of uncertainty, our squirm reflex doesn't kick in. But I'm wondering if you might get a temporary exemption from this rule in the coming weeks. I say this because the astrological omens suggest you will have an extraordinary capacity to surprise yourself. Novel impulses will be rising up in you on a regular basis. Unpredictability and spontaneity will be your specialties. Have fun doing what you don't usually do!

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

During the final ten weeks of 2016, your physical and mental health will flourish in direct proportion to how much outworn and unnecessary stuff you flush out of your life between now and October 25. Here are some suggested tasks: 1. Perform a homemade ritual that will enable you to magically shed at least half of your guilt, remorse, and regret. 2. Put on a festive party hat, gather up all the clutter and junk from your home, and drop it off at a thrift store or the dump. 3. Take a vow that you will do everything in your power to kick your attachment to an influence that's no damn good for you. 4. Scream nonsense curses at the night sky for as long as it takes to purge your sadness and anger about pain that no longer matters.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

A Buddhist monk named Matthieu Ricard had his brain scanned while he meditated. The experiment revealed that the positive emotions whirling around in his gray matter were super-abundant. Various publications thereafter dubbed him "the happiest person in the world." Since he's neither egotistical nor fond of the media's simplistic sound bites, he's not happy about that title. I hope you won't have a similar reaction when I predict that you Sagittarians will be the happiest tribe of the zodiac during the next two weeks. For best results, I suggest you cultivate Ricard's definitions of happiness: "altruism and compassion, inner freedom (so that you are not the slave of your own thoughts), senses of serenity and fulfillment, resilience, as well as a clear and stable mind that does not distort reality too much."

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

Now is a perfect moment to launch or refine a project that will generate truth, beauty, and justice. Amazingly enough, now is also an excellent time to lunch or refine a long-term master plan that will make you healthy, wealthy, and wise. Is this a coincidence? Not at all. The astrological omens suggest that your drive to be of noble service dovetails well with your drive for personal success. For the foreseeable future, unselfish goals are well-aligned with selfish goals.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

Has your world become at least 20 percent larger since September 1? Has your generosity grown to near-heroic proportions? Have your eyes beheld healing sights that were previously invisible to you? Have you lost at least two of your excuses for tolerating scrawny expectations? Are you awash in the desire to grant forgiveness and amnesty? If you can't answer yes to at least two of those questions, Aquarius, it means you're not fully in harmony with your best possible destiny. So get to work! Attune yourself to the cosmic tendencies! And if you are indeed reaping the benefits I mentioned, congratulations -- and prepare for even further expansions and liberations.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

Some astrologers dwell on your tribe's phobias. They assume that you Pisceans are perversely drawn to fear; that you are addicted to the strong feelings it generates. In an effort to correct this distorted view, and in accordance with current astrological omens, I hereby declare the coming weeks to be a Golden Age for Your Trust in Life. It will be prime time to exult in everything that evokes your joy and excitement. I suggest you make a list of these glories, and keep adding new items to the list every day. Here's another way to celebrate the Golden Age: Discover and explore previously unknown sources of joy and excitement.
 

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MY OTHER HOROSCOPES

Factual information and reasonable thinking alone are not sufficient to guide you through life’s labyrinthine tests. You need and deserve regular deliveries of uncanny revelation.

One of your inalienable rights as a human being should therefore be to receive mysteriously useful omens on a regular basis. In this spirit, I offer you the free weekly horoscopes you read here.

If you ever want more, and think it's worth paying for, try my EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES. They're four-to-five-minute meditations on the current state of your destiny and where you're headed.

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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"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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ARIES (March 21-April 19):

A study published in the peer-reviewed Communications Research suggests that only 28 percent of us realize when someone is flirting with us. I hope that figure won’t apply to you Aries in the coming weeks. According to my analysis of the astrological situation, you will be on the receiving end of more invitations, inquiries, and allurements than usual. The percentage of these that might be worth responding to will also be higher than normal. Not all of them will be obvious, however. So be extra vigilant.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

The ancient Greek sage Socrates was a founder of Western philosophy and a seminal champion of critical thinking. And yet he relied on his dreams for crucial information. He was initiated into the esoteric mysteries of love by the prophetess Diotima, and had an intimate relationship with a daimonion, a divine spirit. I propose that we make Socrates your patron saint for the next three weeks. Without abandoning your reliance on logic, make a playful effort to draw helpful clues from non-rational sources, too. (P.S.: Socrates drew oracular revelations from sneezes. Please consider that outlandish possibility yourself. Be alert, too, for the secret meanings of coughs, burps, grunts, mumbles, and yawns.)

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

The Helper Experiment, Part One: Close your eyes and imagine that you are in the company of a kind, attentive helper -- a person, animal, ancestral spirit, or angel that you either know well or haven't met yet. Spend at least five minutes visualizing a scene in which this ally aids you in fulfilling a particular goal. The Helper Experiment, Part Two: Repeat this exercise every day for the next seven days. Each time, visualize your helper making your life better in some specific way. Now here's my prediction: Carrying out The Helper Experiment will attract actual support into your real life.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

New rules: 1. It's unimaginable and impossible for you to be obsessed with anything or anyone that's no good for you. 2. It's unimaginable and impossible for you to sabotage your stability by indulging in unwarranted fear. 3. It's imaginable and possible for you to remember the most crucial thing you have forgotten. 4. It's imaginable and possible for you to replace debilitating self-pity with invigorating self-love and healthy self-care. 5. It's imaginable and possible for you to discover a new mother lode of emotional strength.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

It's swing-swirl-spiral time, Leo. It's ripple-sway-flutter time and flow-gush-gyrate time and jive-jiggle-juggle time. So I trust you will not indulge in fruitless yearnings for unswerving progress and rock-solid evidence. If your path is not twisty and tricky, it's probably the wrong path. If your heart isn't teased and tickled into shedding its dependable formulas, it might be an overly hard heart. Be an improvisational curiosity-seeker. Be a principled player of unpredictable games.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

Some English-speaking astronomers use the humorous slang term "meteor-wrong." It refers to a rock that is at first thought to have fallen from the heavens as a meteorite ("meteor-right"), but that is ultimately proved to be of terrestrial origin. I suspect there may currently be the metaphorical equivalent of a meteor-wrong in your life. The source of some new arrival or fresh influence is not what it had initially seemed. But that doesn't have to be a problem. On the contrary. Once you have identified the true nature of the new arrival or fresh influence, it's likely to be useful and interesting.
 

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HOMEWORK:

Happiness, that elusive beast, may need to be tracked through the bushes before capture. What's your game plan for hunting down happiness? 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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