Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
March 21, 2018
FreeWillAstrology.com
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How's your fight for freedom going? Are you making progress in liberating yourself from your unconscious obsessions, bad habits, and conditioned responses?
Do you find that you're getting more skillful at minimizing your suffering? Are you turning out to be the hero of your own life?
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TELLING STORIES INSTEAD OF SPOUTING OPINIONS
Ken Burns says one of the things that alarms him most at this moment in culture is that so many people are eager to express their opinions and so few are interested in telling stories.
So tell me a story! We'll talk about opinions later.
Here's one of my stories: tinyurl.com/h9rn62h
Send yours to me at Truthrooster@gmail.com
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YOUR ONDINNONK
"Ondinnonk" is a Haudenosaunee word with two related meanings: 1. a secret wish of the soul, especially as revealed in dreams; 2. the spiritual part of our nature that longs to do good deeds.
How's your ondinnonk doing?
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YOU TASTE DELICIOUS
You taste delicious
Animals understand you
Your importance is unusual
The funny faces you make are interesting to look at
You fight for power in all the right ways
Ecstatic gratitude is pouring out of you
I see the best in you
Your divine attitude
You have strong feet and a pioneer heart
No one can overflow as well as you can
You are famous with God
You are famous with me
You are famous with the snakes and birds
and roses and pines
and oceans and earth and sky
A lost tribe salutes you from the other side of the veil
You remind me of a star
Hear the song: bit.ly/1K2GS7D
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The preceding four blips are excerpts from my book
PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA
It's available at Amazon: bit.ly/Pronoia
or Powells: bit.ly/PronoiaPowells
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HERE'S THE NEWS
The city of Melbourne assigned trees email addresses so citizens could report problems. Instead, people wrote thousands of love letters to their favorite trees.
tinyurl.com/y9zfssj2
83% Of America's Top High School Science Students Are The Children Of Immigrants.
tinyurl.com/yabcgyne
It's amazing what happens when boys are actually taught to respect women.
tinyurl.com/ydd4n77k
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
NYC Crime Hits Historic Low, Defying Dire Predictions About End Of Stop And Frisk. The falling crime rate has led some defenders of the controversial policy to admit they were wrong.
tinyurl.com/y88glc5y
A class at Yale University tries to teach students how to lead a happier, more satisfying life.
tinyurl.com/ybj476hn
Costco says extra profit from tax cuts will be shared with employees.
tinyurl.com/yaq4ezjs
2017 Was Among Safest Years Ever For Police.
tinyurl.com/ybowj3a4
Activists Launch Voter Registration Drive At ‘Black Panther’ Screenings.
tinyurl.com/yddordef
Americans support various forms of gun control, often by overwhelming margins.
tinyurl.com/ybo8hbe2
Actor Emma Watson donates £1m to anti-harassment campaign.
tinyurl.com/yapharuw
'National Geographic' Reckons With Its Past: 'For Decades, Our Coverage Was Racist.'
tinyurl.com/yczfylh3
One More Benefit of Nature: It Makes You Like Your Body Better. Researchers say the outdoors can help mute internal criticism.
tinyurl.com/yblo29vl
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
California Bans Use of Some Farming Pesticides Near Schools.
tinyurl.com/yb6kyl57
Judge Halts Razing Of Miami Forest Eyed For Walmart Center.
Environmentalists say the land’s development would harm 20 endangered plants and animals.
tinyurl.com/yajp9jky
Pakistan swears in 'untouchable' Hindu woman as member of Senate.
tinyurl.com/y9kkutsf
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Ten Best Solutions Stories You Might Have Missed. Full details: tinyurl.com/y8ua48pz
1. This Small Town Refused to Settle for Walmart When Its Last Local Grocery Store Closed. After 10 years without an independent grocery store, the residents of Iola, Kansas, found a way to bring one back.
2. How Neighbors Turned Unused Buildings Into a Thriving Community Hub. As rents rise and independent businesses in Minneapolis lose their leases to large national chains, a first-of-its-kind co-op found a solution.
3. Los Angeles Preempts Trump’s Deportation Plans By Finally Decriminalizing Street Vending. After years of work, advocates for immigrant rights rejoiced at the permit process, which will help keep 50,000 street vendors on the right side of the law.
4. An Outside-the-Doctor’s-Office Approach to Health Care. Research is showing that health care can be an engine for community change.
5. In a Rust Belt Town Where Tuition Is Covered, Economy Begins to Revive. After Kalamazoo, Michigan, offered college tuition for nearly all high school graduates, dropout rates declined and the city’s population began to rebound.
6. How the Neighborhood That Inspired "The Wire" Is Pulling Its Residents Out of Poverty. When large institutions like universities and hospitals agree to hire and spend locally, they can transform neighborhoods hardest hit by poverty and unemployment.
7. How Chicago Became the First City to Make Reparations to Victims of Police Violence. The ordinance provides a meaningful model for creating reparations at the local level.
8. How an Ancient Singing Tradition Helps People Cope With Trauma in the Modern World. In Finland, lament singing is experiencing a revival, one sad song at a time.
9. Blackfeet Researcher Leads Her Tribe Back to Traditional Foods. Forced assimilation destroyed most nations’ diets, but now Native youth are learning to integrate local foods back into their daily lives.
10. This Town Adopted Trauma-Informed Care—And Saw a Decrease in Crime and Suspension Rates.
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THE 99 BEST THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST 15 MONTHS
Read all about it: tinyurl.com/y8yl5bk5
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NINE WAYS THE WORLD GOT A LOT BETTER IN THE LAST 15 MONTHS
1) There was less famine
2) There were fewer war deaths
3) Fewer deaths from natural disasters
4) Progress against pestilence
5) Greater life expectancy
6) More democracy
7) Expanding rights for women and sexual minorities
8) Fewer people living on $2 a day
9) Greener energy
Read about the details: tinyurl.com/y8j2a9j4
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning March 22
Copyright 2018 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
The "School of Hard Knocks" is an old-fashioned idiom referring to the unofficial and accidental course of study available via life's tough experiences. The wisdom one gains through this alternate approach to education may be equal or even superior to the knowledge that comes from a formal university or training program. I mention this, Aries, because in accordance with astrological omens, I want to confer upon you a diploma for your new advanced degree from the School of Hard Knocks. (P.S.: When PhD students get their degrees from Finland's University of Helsinki, they are given top hats and swords as well as diplomas. I suggest you reward yourself with exotic props, too.)
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Europeans used to think that all swans were white. It was a reasonable certainty given the fact that all swans in Europe were that color. But in 1697, Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh and his sailors made a pioneering foray to the southwestern coast of the land we now call Australia. As they sailed up a river the indigenous tribe called Derbarl Yerrigan, they spied black swans. They were shocked. The anomalous creatures invalidated an assumption based on centuries of observations. Today, a "black swan" is a metaphor referring to an unexpected event that contravenes prevailing theories about the way the world works. I suspect you'll soon experience such an incongruity yourself. It might be a good thing! Especially if you welcome it instead of resisting it.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Crayola is one of the world's foremost crayon manufacturers. The geniuses in charge of naming its crayon colors are playful and imaginative. Among the company's standard offerings, for example, are Pink Sherbet, Carnation Pink, Tickle Me Pink, Piggy Pink, Pink Flamingo, and Shocking Pink. Oddly, however, there is no color that's simply called "Pink." I find that a bit disturbing. As much as I love extravagant creativity and poetic whimsy, I think it's also important to cherish and nurture the basics. In accordance with the astrological omens, that's my advice for you in the coming weeks. Experiment with fanciful fun, but not at the expense of the fundamentals.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
According to Vice magazine, Russian scientist Anatoli Brouchkov is pleased with the experiment he tried. He injected himself with 3.5-million-year-old bacteria that his colleagues had dug out of the permafrost in Siberia. The infusion of this ancient life form, he says, enhanced his energy and strengthened his immune system. I can't vouch for the veracity of his claim, but I do know this: It's an apt metaphor for possibilities you could take advantage of in the near future: drawing on an old resource to boost your power, for example, or calling on a well-preserved part of the past to supercharge the present.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Booze has played a crucial role in the development of civilization, says biomolecular archaeologist Patrick McGovern. The process of creating this mind-altering staple was independently discovered by many different cultures, usually before they invented writing. The buzz it provides has "fired our creativity and fostered the development of language, the arts, and religion." On the downside, excessive consumption of alcohol has led to millions of bad decisions and has wrecked countless lives. Everything I just said is a preface to my main message, Leo: The coming weeks will be a favorable time to transform your habitual perspective, but only if you do so safely and constructively. Whether you choose to try intoxicants, wild adventures, exhilarating travel, or edgy experiments, know your limits.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
The astrological omens suggest that the coming weeks will be favorable for making agreements, pondering mergers, and strengthening bonds. You'll be wise to deepen at least one of your commitments. You'll stir up interesting challenges if you consider the possibility of entering into more disciplined and dynamic unions with worthy partners. Do you trust your own perceptions and insights to guide you toward ever-healthier alliances? Do what you must to muster that trust.
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LOVE YOUR LIFE!
How's your fight for freedom going? Are you making progress in liberating yourself from your unconscious obsessions, bad habits, and conditioned responses? Are you turning out to be the hero of your own life?
For assistance and inspiration, tune in to my EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES.
These forecasts are different in tone and format from the written horoscopes you read here in the newsletter. They're longer and more leisurely in tone. They tend to bring out more of the patient counselor in me, and have a bit less of the poet.
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. Each forecast is 4-5 minutes long.
The Expanded Audio Horoscopes work on most smart phones and tablets.
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"I don't much believe in astrology. But that doesn't seem to get in the way of me deriving a whole lot of benefits from your expanded audio horoscopes."
- A. Arrosto, Indianapolis
"You have an amazing aptitude for cutting through the lies I tell myself. Thanks for the gentle shocks."
- T. Preneris, Toronto
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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
If you want people to know who you really are and savor you for your unique beauty, you must be honest with those people. You must also develop enough skill to express your core truths with accuracy. There's a similar principle at work if you want to know who you really are and savor yourself for your unique beauty: You must be honest with yourself. You must also develop enough skill to express your core truths with accuracy. The coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to practice these high arts.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Your journey in the coming weeks may be as weird as an R-rated telenovela, but with more class. Outlandish, unpredictable, and even surreal events could occur, but in such a way as to uplift and educate your soul. Labyrinthine plot twists will be medicinal as well as entertaining. As the drama gets curioser and curioser, my dear Scorpio, I expect you will learn how to capitalize on the odd opportunities it brings. In the end, you will be grateful for this ennobling respite from mundane reality!
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
"Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence," wrote philosopher Erich Fromm. I would add a corollary for your rigorous use during the last nine months of 2018: "Love is the only effective and practical way to graduate from your ragged, long-running dilemmas and start gathering a new crop of fresh, rousing challenges." By the way, Fromm said love is more than a warm and fuzzy feeling in our hearts. It's a creative force that fuels our willpower and unlocks hidden resources.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
My goal here is to convince you to embark on an orgy of self-care -- to be as sweet and tender and nurturing to yourself as you dare to be. If that influences you to go too far in providing yourself with luxurious necessities, I'm OK with it. And if your solicitous efforts to focus on your own health and well-being make you appear a bit self-indulgent or narcissistic, I think it's an acceptable price to pay. Here are more key themes for you in the coming weeks: basking in the glow of self-love; exulting in the perks of your sanctuary; honoring the vulnerabilities that make you interesting.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
One day, Beatles' guitarist George Harrison decided to compose his next song's lyrics "based on the first thing I saw upon opening any book." He viewed this as a divinatory experiment, as a quest to incorporate the flow of coincidence into his creative process. The words he found in the first book were "gently weeps." They became the seed for his tune "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Rolling Stone magazine ultimately named it one of "The Greatest Songs of All Time" and the tenth best Beatle song. In accordance with the astrological omens, I recommend you try some divinatory experiments of your own in the coming weeks. Use life's fun little synchronicities to generate playful clues and unexpected guidance.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Millions of you Pisceans live in a fairy tale world. But I suspect that very few of you will be able to read this horoscope and remain completely ensconced in your fairy tale world. That's because I have embedded subliminal codes in these words that will at least temporarily transform even the dreamiest among you into passionate pragmatists in service to your feistiest ideals. If you've read this far, you are already feeling more disciplined and organized. Soon you'll be coming up with new schemes about how to actually materialize a favorite fairy tale in the form of real-life experiences.
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HOMEWORK:
Imagine a bedtime story you'd like to hear and the person you'd like to hear it from. 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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