Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
February 7, 2018
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.
ELATIONSHIP LOVE SPELLS FOR BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB ALLIES
The Beauty and Truth Lab's rapturists have formulated a batch of personal ads for you to borrow. If you're a Crafty Optimist or Mystical Activist or Ceremonial Teaser who aspires to put the elation back in relationship, check them out here:
bit.ly/LoveAd
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THE ORGASMIC ROOTS OF PRONOIA
"The Orgasmic Roots of Pronoia" is one of the few NC-17-rated pieces in my book. If I published it here, it might get censored, so here's a link: bit.ly/OrgasmicRoots
NSFW! PROCEED WITH CAUTION! This material has graphic references to love, lust, tenderness, bliss, and rapture.
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CLUES TO YOUR LOVED ONES' MYSTERIES
"Everyone carries with them at least one piece to someone else's puzzle." So wrote Lawrence Kushner in his book, Honey from the Rock.
In other words, you have in your possession certain clues to your loved ones' destinies -- secrets they haven't discovered themselves.
Wouldn't you love to hand over those clues -- to make a gift of the puzzle pieces that are most needed by the people you care about?
Search your depths for insights you've never communicated. Tell truths you haven't found a way to express before now. More than you know, you have the power to mobilize your companions' dreams.
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YOU CAN'T OWN LOVE
You understand that you can never own love, right? No matter how much someone adores you today, no matter how much you adore someone, you can't force that unique state of grace to keep its shape forever. It will inevitably evolve or mutate, perhaps into a different version of tender caring, but maybe not.
From there it will continue to change, into either yet another version of interesting affection, or who knows what else?
Are you making any progress in getting the hang of this tricky wisdom?
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ACT LIKE YOU'RE IN LOVE
I invite you to act like a person who's in love. Even if you're not currently in the throes of passion for a special someone, pretend you are. Everywhere you go, exude that charismatic blend of shell-shocked contentment and blissful turmoil that comes over you when you're infatuated. Let everyone you meet soak up the delicious wisdom you exude. Dispense free blessings and extra slack like a rich saint high on natural endorphins.
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THE ANGEL OF YOUR RELATIONSHIP
Imagine that the merger of you and your best ally has created a third thing that hovers near you, protecting and guiding the two of you. Call this third thing an angel. Or call it the soul of your connection or the inspirational force of your relationship. Or call it the special work the two of you can accomplish together. And let this magical presence be the third point of your love triangle.
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LOVE NEEDS IMAGINATION
"For a relationship to stay alive, love alone is not enough. Without imagination, love stales into sentiment, duty, boredom. Relationships fail not because we have stopped loving but because we first stopped imagining."
- James Hillman
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SKILLFUL AUDACITY
Gertrude Stein defined love as "the skillful audacity required to share an inner life." It suggests that expressing the truth about who you are is not something that amateurs do very well. Practice and ingenuity are required.
It also implies that courage is an essential element of successful intimacy. You've got to be adventurous if you want to weave your life together with another's.
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YOU ARE MY INSPIRATION AND FOLLY
"You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are my divinity, my madness, my selfishness, my transfiguration and purification. You are my rapscallionly fellow vagabond, my tempter and star. I want you."
- George Bernard Shaw
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SOLO INTIMACY
Whenever I write about romance and togetherness, I attract a storm of complaints from readers who are solitary. "How dare you imply that everyone has or should have a partner!?" is a typical protest. "I'm quite content being alone!" is another.
Let it be known that I do not believe your happiness depends on having a spouse or lover. What I do suspect, though, is that your soul needs some sacred relationship in order to thrive, whether it's with a good friend, a beloved animal, a beautiful patch of earth, the Divine Wow, or anything that's not you.
Whenever I invite you to seek deeper, wilder communion, feel free to interpret it as a call to explore any kind of intimacy that draws you closer to the secret heart of the world.
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
The bonobo apes, close primate cousins with whom we share 99 percent of our DNA, will help strangers even when there is no immediate payback, and without having to be asked first.
tinyurl.com/y7ksfzuh
How the Wonder of Nature Can Inspire Social Justice Activism.
tinyurl.com/yd32swlk
The Varroa mite may be the biggest threat to honeybees. Now, scientists have found a new way to fight them. Tiny amounts of lithium chloride kill 90% to 100% of mites without killing bees. tinyurl.com/y7vng5jz
(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 February 8
Copyright 2018 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Charles Nelson Reilly was a famous American actor, director, and drama teacher. He appeared in or directed numerous films, plays, and TV shows. But in the 1970s, when he was in his forties, he also spent quality time impersonating a banana in a series of commercials for Bic Banana Ink Crayons. So apparently he wasn't overly attached to his dignity. Pride didn't interfere with his ability to experiment. In his pursuit of creative expression, he valued the arts of playing and having fun. I encourage you to be inspired by his example during the coming weeks, Aquarius.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
According to ancient Greek writer Herodotus, Persians didn't hesitate to deliberate about important matters while drunk. However, they wouldn't finalize any intoxicated decision until they had a chance to re-evaluate it while sober. The reverse was also true. Choices they made while sober had to be reassessed while they were under the influence of alcohol. I bring this to your attention not because I think you should adhere to similar guidelines in the coming weeks. I would never give you an oracle that required you to be buzzed. But I do think you'll be wise to consider key decisions from not just a coolly rational mindset, but also from a frisky intuitive perspective. To arrive at a wise verdict, you need both.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
British athlete Liam Collins is an accomplished hurdler. In 2017, he won two medals at the World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships in South Korea. Collins is also a stuntman and street performer who does shows in which he hurtles over barriers made of chainsaws and leaps blindfolded through flaming hoops. For the foreseeable future, you may have a dual capacity with some resemblances to his. You could reach a high point in expressing your skills in your chosen field, and also branch out into extraordinary or flamboyant variations on your specialty.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
When he was 32, the man who would later be known as Dr. Seuss wrote his first kid's book, And To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. His efforts to find a readership went badly at first. Twenty-seven publishers rejected his manuscript. On the verge of abandoning his quest, he ran into an old college classmate on the street. The friend, who had recently begun working at Vanguard Press, expressed interest in the book. Voila! Mulberry Street got published. Dr. Seuss later said that if, on that lucky day, he had been strolling on the other side of the street, his career as an author of children's books might never have happened. I'm telling you this tale, Taurus, because I suspect your chances at experiencing a comparable stroke of luck in the coming weeks will be extra high. Be alert!
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
A survey of British Christians found that most are loyal to just six of the Ten Commandments. While they still think it's bad to, say, steal and kill and lie, they don't regard it as a sin to revere idols, work on the Sabbath, worship other gods, or use the Lord's name in a curse. In accordance with the astrological omens, I encourage you to be inspired by their rebellion. The coming weeks will be a favorable time to re-evaluate your old traditions and belief systems, and then discard anything that no longer suits the new person you've become.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
While serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Don Karkos lost the sight in his right eye after being hit by shrapnel. Sixty-four years later, he regained his vision when he got butted in the head by a horse he was grooming. Based on the upcoming astrological omens, I'm wondering if you'll soon experience a metaphorically comparable restoration. My analysis suggests that you'll undergo a healing in which something you lost will return or be returned.
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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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P.S. My long-range, big-picture audio horoscopes for the coming months are still available. Register and/or log in through the main page, and then access the horoscopes by clicking on "Long Range Prediction." (Choose from Part 1, Part 2, or Part 3.). Each part is a standalone report, not dependent on the other two.
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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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LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
The candy cap mushroom, whose scientific name is Lactarius rubidus, is a burnt orange color. It's small to medium-sized and has a convex cap. But there its resemblance to other mushrooms ends. When dried out, it tastes and smells like maple syrup. You can grind it into a powder and use it to sweeten cakes and cookies and custards. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, this unusual member of the fungus family can serve as an apt metaphor for you right now. You, too, have access to a resource or influence that is deceptive, but in a good way: offering a charm and good flavor different from what its outer appearance might indicate.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
A grandfather from New Jersey decided to check the pockets of an old shirt he didn't wear very often. There Jimmie Smith found a lottery ticket he had stashed away months previously. When he realized it had a winning number, he cashed it in for $24.1 million -- just two days before it was set to expire. I suspect there may be a comparable development in your near future, although the reward would be more modest. Is there any potential valuable that you have forgotten about or neglected? It's not too late to claim it.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
The U.S. Geological Survey recently announced that it had come up with improved maps of the planet's agricultural regions. Better satellite imagery helped, as did more thorough analysis of the imagery. The new data show that the Earth is covered with 618 million more acres of croplands than had previously been thought. That's 15 percent higher than earlier assessments! In the coming months, Libra, I'm predicting a comparable expansion in your awareness of how many resources you have available. I bet you will also discover that you're more fertile than you have imagined.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
In 1939, Scorpio comic book writer Bob Kane co-created the fictional science-fiction superhero Batman. The "Caped Crusader" eventually went on to become an icon, appearing in blockbuster movies as well as TV shows and comic books. Kane said one of his inspirations for Batman was a flying machine envisioned by Leonard da Vinci in the early 16th century. The Italian artist and inventor drew an image of a winged glider that he proposed to build for a human being to wear. I bring this up, Scorpio, because I think you're in a phase when you, like Kane, can draw inspiration from the past. Go scavenging through history for good ideas!
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
I was watching a four-player poker game on TV. The folksy commentator said that the assortment of cards belonging to the player named Mike was "like Anna Kournikova," because "it looks great but it never wins." He was referring to the fact that during her career as a professional tennis player, Anna Kournikova was feted for her physical beauty but never actually won a singles title. This remark happens to be a useful admonishment for you Sagittarians in the coming weeks. You should avoid relying on anything that looks good but never wins. Put your trust in influences that are a bit homely or unassuming but far more apt to contribute to your success.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
A Chinese man named Wang Kaiyu bought two black-furred puppies from a stranger and took them home to his farm. As the months passed by, Wang noticed that his pets seemed unusually hungry and aggressive. They would sometimes eat his chickens. When they were two years old, he finally figured out that they weren't dogs, but rather Asian black bears. He turned them over to a local animal rescue center. I bring this to your attention, Capricorn, because I suspect it may have a resemblance to your experience. A case of mistaken identity? A surprise revealed in the course of a ripening process? A misunderstanding about what you're taking care of? Now is a good time to make adjustments and corrections.
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HOMEWORK:
Describe how you plan to shake off some of your tame and overly civilized behavior. Testify at 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 2018 Rob Brezsny
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