Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
November 22, 2017
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.
As an experiment, I invite you to say this twice a day for the next ten days:
"Novel intuitions are now erupting from my smart heart, awakening me from any trance I've been ensnared in.
"I am hereby breaking and escaping obstructions that have hindered my ability to express my soul's code.
"My unique capacities are being liberated, my potentials activated."
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WHAT CAUSES HAPPINESS?
What causes happiness? Brainstorm about it. Map out the foundations of your personal science of joy. Get serious about defining what makes you feel good.
To get you started, I'll name some experiences that might rouse your gratification: engaging in sensual pleasure; seeking the truth; being kind and moral; contemplating the meaning of life; escaping your routine; purging pent-up emotions, doing practical work that helps others or that serves your high ideals.
Do any of these work for you? Name at least ten more.
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YOUR YEARNING TO BE LOVED
Notice how you feel as you speak the following:
"The strong, independent part of me resisted the embarrassing truth for a long time, but I finally came to accept that I'm someone who craves vast amounts of love.
"Ever since I surrendered to this need, it doesn't nag me all the time, as it used to. In fact, it feels comforting, like a source of sweetness that doesn't go away. I never thought I'd say this, but I've come to treasure the feeling of having a voracious yearning to be loved."
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ROUGH AND CROOKED OPPORTUNITIES
When you're an aspiring master of pronoia, you see the cracks in the facades as opportunities; inspiration erupts as you careen over bumps in the road; you love the enticing magic that flows from situations that other people regard as rough or crooked.
"That which is not slightly distorted lacks sensible appeal," wrote poet Charles Baudelaire, "from which it follows that irregularity -- that is to say, the unexpected, surprise and astonishment -- is an essential part and characteristic of beauty."
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COMMUNICATE YOUR FEELINGS?
A common obstruction to a vital intimate relationship is what I call the assumption of clairvoyance. You imagine, perhaps unconsciously, that your partner or friend is somehow magically psychic when it comes to you -- so much so that he or she should unfailingly intuit exactly what you need, even if you don't ask for it.
This fantasy may seem romantic, but it can undermine the most promising alliances.
To counteract any tendencies you might have to indulge in the assumption of clairvoyance, practice stating your desires aloud.
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This perfect moment is brought to you by the imaginary lightning bolts you can fling from your fingers any time you want to.
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do.
tinyurl.com/ycsq6g87
Birds Have Feelings.
sillysutras.com/birds-have-feelings/
People dancing in mid-air while in wind tunnels:
tinyurl.com/yd2vo4q3
(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 November 23
Copyright 2017 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Journalist James A. Fussell defined "thrashing" as "the act of tapping helter-skelter over a computer keyboard in an attempt to find 'hidden' keys that trigger previously undiscovered actions in a computer program." I suggest we use this as a metaphor for your life in the next two weeks. Without becoming rude or irresponsible, thrash around to see what interesting surprises you can drum up. Play with various possibilities in a lighthearted effort to stimulate options you have not been able to discover through logic and reason.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Let's observe a moment of silence for the illusion that is in the process of disintegrating. It has been a pretty illusion, hasn't it? Filled with hope and gusto, it has fueled you with motivation. But then again -- on second thought -- its prettiness was more the result of clever packaging than inner beauty. The hope was somewhat misleading, the gusto contained more than a little bluster, and the fuel was an inefficient source of motivation. Still, let's observe a moment of silence anyway. Even dysfunctional mirages deserve to be mourned. Besides, its demise will fertilize a truer and healthier and prettier dream that will contain a far smaller portion of illusion.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Judging from the astrological omens, I conclude that the upcoming weeks will be a favorable time for you to engage in experiments befitting a mad scientist. You can achieve interesting results as you commune with powerful forces that are usually beyond your ability to command. You could have fun and maybe also attract good luck as you dream and scheme to override the rules. What pleasures have you considered to be beyond your capacity to enjoy? It wouldn't be crazy for you to flirt with them. You have license to be saucy, sassy, and extra sly.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
A snail can slowly crawl over the edge of a razor blade without hurting itself. A few highly trained experts, specialists in the art of mind over matter, are able to walk barefoot over beds of hot coals without getting burned. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, Pisces, you now have the metaphorical equivalent of powers like these. To ensure they'll operate at peak efficiency, you must believe in yourself more than you ever have before. Luckily, life is now conspiring to help you do just that.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
In alignment with the current astrological omens, I have prepared your horoscope using five hand-plucked aphorisms by Aries poet Charles Bernstein. 1. "You never know what invention will look like or else it wouldn't be invention." 2. "So much depends on what you are expecting." 3. "What's missing from the bird's eye view is plain to see on the ground." 4. "The questioning of the beautiful is always at least as important as the establishment of the beautiful." 5. "Show me a man with two feet planted firmly on the ground and I'll show you a man who can't get his pants on."
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
It may seem absurd for a dreamy oracle like me to give economic advice to Tauruses, who are renowned as being among the zodiac's top cash attractors. Is there anything I can reveal to you that you don't already know? Well, maybe you're not aware that the next four weeks will be prime time to revise and refine your long-term financial plans. It's possible you haven't guessed the time is right to plant seeds that will produce lucrative yields by 2019. And maybe you don't realize that you can now lay the foundation for bringing more wealth into your life by raising your generosity levels.
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MAYBE JOY AND PLEASURE ARE ESSENTIAL SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES
Assume that your drive to experience pleasure and happiness isn't a barrier to your spiritual growth, but is in fact essential to it. Proceed on the hypothesis that cultivating joy can make you a more ethical and compassionate person. Imagine that feeling good has something important to teach you every day.
For inspiration in practicing this approach, tune in to your 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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"I always feel like I know myself better after listening to your audio 'scopes."
-June R., Austin, TX
"Your audio horoscopes calm me down when I'm too manic and pep me up when I'm down."
-Arthur T., Cleveland, OH
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GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
I used to have a girlfriend whose mother hated Christmas. The poor woman had been raised in a fanatical fundamentalist Christian sect, and she drew profound solace and pleasure from rebelling against that religion's main holiday. One of her annual traditions was to buy a small Christmas tree and hang it upside-down from the ceiling. She decorated it with ornamental dildos she had made out of clay. While I understood her drive for revenge and appreciated the entertaining way she did it, I felt pity for the enduring ferocity of her rage. Rather than mocking the old ways, wouldn't her energy have been much better spent inventing new ways? If there is any comparable situation in your own life, Gemini, now would be a perfect time to heed my tip. Give up your attachment to the negative emotions that arose in response to past frustrations and failures. Focus on the future.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
So begins the "I Love To Worry" season for you Cancerians. Even now, bewildering self-doubts are working their way up toward your conscious awareness from your unconscious depths. You may already be overreacting in anticipation of the anxiety-provoking fantasies that are coalescing. But wait! It doesn't have to be that way. I'm here to tell you that the bewildering self-doubts and anxiety-provoking fantasies are at most ten percent accurate. They're not even close to being half-true! Here's my advice: Do NOT go with the flow, because the flow will drag you down into ignominious habit. Resist all tendencies towards superstition, moodiness, and melodramatic descents into hell. One thing you can do to help accomplish this brave uprising is to sing beloved songs with maximum feeling.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Your lucky numbers are 55 and 88. By tapping into the uncanny powers of 55 and 88, you can escape the temptation of a hexed fiction and break the spell of a mediocre addiction. These catalytic codes could wake you up to a useful secret you've been blind to. They might help you catch the attention of familiar strangers or shrink one of your dangerous angers. When you call on 55 or 88 for inspiration, you may be motivated to seek a more dynamic accomplishment beyond your comfortable success. You could reactivate an important desire that has been dormant.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
What exactly is the epic, overarching goal that you live for? What is the higher purpose that lies beneath every one of your daily activities? What is the heroic identity you were born to create but have not yet fully embodied? You may not be close to knowing the answers to those questions right now, Virgo. In fact, I'm guessing your fear of meaninglessness might be at a peak. Luckily, a big bolt of meaningfulness is right around the corner. Be alert for it. In a metaphorical sense, it will arrive from the depths. It will strengthen your center of gravity as it reveals lucid answers to the questions I posed in the beginning of this horoscope.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
We all need teachers. We all need guides and instructors and sources of inspiration from the day we're born until the day we die. In a perfect world, each of us would always have a personal mentor who'd help us fill the gaps in our learning and keep us focused on the potentials that are crying out to be nurtured in us. But since most of us don't have that personal mentor, we have to fend for ourselves. We've got to be proactive as we push on to the next educational frontier. The next four weeks will be an excellent time for you to do just that, Libra.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
This is your last warning! If you don't stop fending off the happiness and freedom that are trying to worm their way into your life, I'm going to lose my cool. Damn it! Why can't you just accept good luck and sweet strokes of fate at face value?! Why do you have to be so suspicious and mistrustful?! Listen to me: The abundance that's lurking in your vicinity is not the set-up for a cruel cosmic joke. It's not some wicked game designed to raise your expectations and then dash them to pieces. Please, Scorpio, give in and let the good times wash over you.
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HOMEWORK:
What's the most important question you'd like to find an answer for in the next five years? Tell all: FreeWillAstrology.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 2017 Rob Brezsny
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