Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
January 23, 2019
FreeWillAstrology.com
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I've gathered together all of the long-term, big-picture horoscopes I wrote for you in the past few weeks, and bundled them in one place. Go here to read a compendium of your forecasts for 2019:
bit.ly/YourGloriousStory2019
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In addition to these, I've created three-part, in-depth EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES about Your Long-Range Future. They go even further in exploring your prospects and challenges in 2019.
Who do you want to become in the coming months? Where do you want to go and what do you want to do? How can you exert your free will to create adventures that'll bring out the best in you, even as you find graceful ways to cooperate with the tides of destiny?
To listen to these three-part, in-depth reports, go here:
freewillastrology.sparkns.com
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, Part 3.)
If you'd like a boost of inspiration to fuel you in your quest for beauty and truth and love and meaning, tune in to my meditations on your Big-Picture outlook.
Each of the three-part reports is seven to nine minutes long. The cost is $6 per report. There are discounts for the purchase of multiple reports.
P.S. You can also listen to a short-term Expanded Audio Horoscope for the coming week.
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THE SPIRITUAL PATH OF INTIMACY
In the old-fashioned patriarchal vision of myth, the hero is typically a solitary male who renounces intimate companionship to pursue his glorious, arduous quest. Along the way, sporadic help may arrive from an ineffable muse or deity.
But there are alternative scenarios for the hero's journey. In the tantric tradition, for instance, a seeker's connection with a beloved human companion is essential to his or her spiritual inquiry.
Some early Christians described Jesus and Mary Magdalene as equal collaborators. Sufi mystic poet Rumi may not have actually made love with his teacher Shams (then again, he might have), but it's clear the two men sought divine communion together, not through lonely solo work.
Some modern teachers have also broken from the narrow perspective. The quest for illumination, they say, can thrive on the challenges of loving and living with an actual person. In John Welwood's Love and Awakening, the author reimagines relationship as an "alliance of warriors" devoted to awakening each other's "holy longing."
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MY OFFICE
I really enjoy writing horoscopes for you. It's an interesting way to express my love for you! It's also a fun way to keep reimagining and reinventing the way I understand the ever-changing world.
Here's a photo of me in the sunny office where I create them: bit.ly/2CvfHbF
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DON'T BE DAUNTED
"Do not be daunted by the insurmountability of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work but neither are you free to abandon it."
— The Talmud
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DELICACIES
My diet is almost always organic and vegetarian and uncanned, but I'm breaking my routine to sample these delicacies: tinyurl.com/yamk88l8
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DIMINISHING MISOGYNY
One of my main life goals is to do what I can to dramatically diminish misogyny. To that end, I ask my male readers to consider the testimony offered in this article: "On Being a Woman in America While Trying to Avoid Being Assaulted": tinyurl.com/yb8tusj4
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EBULLIENT PROTEST SONGS
Here's a favorite new song from an activist poet and rapper who lives on the Feminist Planet I emigrated to a while back.
I'd love to hear more ebullient protest songs like this. If you know of any, please tell me. Truthrooster@gmail.com
Listen: tinyurl.com/yc5ofp4c
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INTERNATIONAL CRYING WEEK
This is International Crying Week. You have a poetic license to sob, mourn, lament, blubber, and weep because of deep sadness or unreasonable joy or cathartic epiphanies or compassion for the suffering of others or visions of the interconnectedness of all life.
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In his book "Crying: the Natural and Cultural History of Tears," Tom Lutz asserts that people don't cry as much as they used to. The English of the Victorian era, supposedly renowned for their stuffy behavior, put us to shame with their abundant outpouring of tears.
So what's our excuse? There's as much, if not more, to be mournful about nowadays; and we certainly don't suffer from a lack of events to spur our cathartic joy and empathy.
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Walk into the hills or woods and find a large rock jutting up out of the earth in a place that makes you feel at home. Sit down on or next to that rock and let go of the tightly wound emotions you've been holding onto. Sob or sigh or babble until you achieve a spiritual orgasm that will clear your mind of all its gunk and free you to make the decision you've been postponing.
Ever hereafter you will call this the Crying Rock, and you will go there whenever you need the kind of release that only a beloved natural power spot can facilitate.
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My friend Marika regards her crying spells as surrogate orgasms. They bring a surging release of pent-up emotions, and leave her deeply relaxed and in love with life.
Another friend, Ariane, weeps now and then out of self-pity, but more often her sobs are triggered by overwhelming beauty, like the sight of the last dragonfly of Indian summer alighting beside her as she gazes on Mt. Tamalpais at dusk and feels the first kick of the growing baby inside her belly.
Myself, I experience my tears as a well-earned triumph, whether they're driven by loss or fullness; they're the sign of the inner work I've done to feel things deeply.
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Rambunctious singer Tom Waits is not known for his scientific research, but a few years ago he made a valuable contribution in the quest to measure sadness.
Holding a spoon to his cheek during an especially blue period of his life, he found that it takes 121 teardrops to fill a teaspoon.
Building on his work, I've discovered that crying for joy causes a spoon to overflow after only 98 tears, suggesting that they're bigger.
I invite you to do further studies on this subject. Tap into watery breakthroughs of several varieties, ranging from the relatively poignant to the outrageously sublime.
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In Janet Fitch's novel White Oleander, a character makes a list of "twenty-seven names for tears," including "Heartdew. Griefhoney. Sadwater. Die tränen. Eau de douleur. Los rios del corazón."
(The last three can be translated as "The Tears," "Water of Pain," and "The Rivers of the Heart.")
I invite you to emulate this playfully extravagant approach to the art of crying. Now is an excellent time to celebrate and honor your sadness, as well as all the other rich emotions that provoke tears. You'll be wise to feel profound gratitude for your capacity to feel so deeply.
For best results, go in search of experiences and insights that will unleash the full cathartic power of weeping. Act as if empathy is a superpower.
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
How Beauty Is Making Scientists Rethink Evolution: The extravagant splendor of the animal kingdom can’t be explained by natural selection alone — so how did it come to be?
tinyurl.com/ya3behph
When Crafts Become Activism: With a unique “gentle protest” approach, new craftivists are channeling homespun energy into social justice.
tinyurl.com/y8roogo6
Women won big in Mexico’s elections — taking nearly half the legislature’s seats.
tinyurl.com/y94jxjsz
Sucking carbon dioxide from air is cheaper than scientists thought. Estimated cost of geoengineering technology to fight climate change has plunged since a 2011 analysis.
tinyurl.com/ydyy6a3h
(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 January 24
Copyright 2019 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
A motivational speaker and author named Nick Vujicic was born without arms or legs, although he has two small, unusually shaped feet. These facts didn't stop him from getting married, raising a family of four children, and writing eight books. One book is entitled Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life. He's a positive guy who has faith in the possibility of miracles. In fact, he says he keeps a pair of shoes in his closet just in case God decides to bless him with a marvelous surprise. In accordance with current astrological omens, Aquarius, I suggest you make a similar gesture. Create or acquire a symbol of an amazing transformation you would love to attract into your life.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
About 11 percent of the Philippines' population is comprised of Muslims who call themselves the Bangsamoro. Many resist being part of the Philippines and want their own sovereign nation. They have a lot of experience struggling for independence, as they've spent 400 years rebelling against occupation by foreign powers, including Spain, the United States, and Japan. I admire their tenacity in seeking total freedom to be themselves and rule themselves. May they inspire your efforts to do the same on a personal level in the coming year.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
We might initially be inclined to ridicule Stuart Kettell, a British man who spent four days pushing a Brussels sprout up 3,560-foot-high Mount Snowden with his nose. But perhaps our opinion would become more expansive once we knew that he engaged in this stunt to raise money for a charity that supports people with cancer. In any case, the coming weeks would be a favorable time for you, too, to engage in extravagant, extreme, or even outlandish behavior in behalf of a good or holy cause.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
The Taurus guitar wizard known as Buckethead is surely among the most imaginative and prolific musicians who has ever lived. Since producing his first album in late 2005, he has released 306 other albums that span a wide variety of musical genres — an average of 23 per year. I propose that we make him your patron saint for the next six weeks. While it's unlikely you can achieve such a gaudy level of creative self-expression, you could very well exceed your previous personal best in your own sphere.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Novelist Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes, a fictional character who personifies the power of logic and rational thinking. And yet Doyle was also a devout spiritualist who pursued interests in telepathy, the occult, and psychic phenomena. It's no surprise that he was a Gemini, an astrological tribe renowned for its ability to embody apparent opposites. Sometimes that quality is a liability for you folks, and sometimes an asset. In the coming weeks, I believe it'll be a highly useful skill. Your knack for holding paradoxical views and expressing seemingly contradictory powers will attract and generate good fortune.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
In 2006, a 176-year-old tortoise named Harriet died in an Australian zoo owned by "Crocodile Hunter" and TV personality Steve Irwin. Harriet was far from her original home in the Galapagos Islands. By some accounts, evolutionary superstar Charles Darwin picked her up and carried her away during his visit there in 1835. I propose that you choose the long-lived tortoise as your power creature for the coming weeks. With her as inspiration, meditate on questions like these: 1. "What would I do differently if I knew I'd live to a very old age?" 2. "What influence that was important to me when I was young do I want to be important to me when I'm old?" 3. "In what specific ways can my future benefit from my past?" 4. "Is there a blessing or gift from an ancestor I have not yet claimed?" 5. "Is there anything I can do that I am not yet doing to remain in good health into my old age?"
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EXPLORING THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LONG-RANGE FUTURE
Would you like some inspiration as you muse and wonder about your upcoming adventures in 2019?
You can still listen to my long-range, in-depth explorations of your destiny in the coming months. Each report in the three-part series is 7 to 9 minutes long.
Go to freewillastrology.sparkns.com
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, Part 3.)
A new short-range forecast for this week is also available.
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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):
John Lennon claimed that he generated the Beatles song' "Because" by rendering Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" backwards. Even if that's true, I don't think it detracts from the beauty of "Because." May I suggest you adopt a comparable strategy for your own use in the coming weeks, Leo? What could you do in reverse so as to create an interesting novelty? What approach might you invert in order to instigate fresh ways of doing things? Is there an idea you could turn upside-down or inside-out, thereby awakening yourself to a new perspective?
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
The Tsonga language is spoken by more than 15 million people in southern Africa. The literal meaning of the Tsonga phrase I malebvu ya nghala is "It's a lion's beard," and its meaning is "something that's not as scary as it looks." According to my astrological analysis, this will be a useful concept for you to be alert for in the coming weeks. Don't necessarily trust first impressions or initial apprehensions. Be open to probing deeper than your instincts might influence you to do.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
The old Latin verb crescere meant "to come forth, spring up, grow, thrive, swell, increase in numbers or strength." We see its presence in the modern English, French, and Italian word "crescendo." In accordance with astrological omens, I have selected crescere and its present participle crescentum to be your words of power for the next four weeks. May they help mobilize you to seize all emerging opportunities to come forth, spring up, grow, thrive, swell, and increase in numbers or strength.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
When animals hibernate, their metabolism slows down. They may grow more underfur or feathers, and some add extra fat. To conserve heat, they may huddle together with each other. In the coming weeks, I don't think you'll have to do what they do. But I do suspect it will be a good time to engage in behaviors that have a resemblance to hibernation: slowing down your mind and body; thinking deep thoughts and feeling deep feelings; seeking extra hugs and cuddles; getting lots of rich, warm, satisfying food and sleep. What else might appeal to your need to drop out of your fast-paced rhythm and supercharge your psychic batteries?
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
When people tell me they don't have time to read the books I've written, I advise them to place the books under their pillows and soak up my words in their dreams. I don't suggest that they actually eat the pages, although there is historical precedent for that. The Bible describes the prophet Ezekiel as literally chewing and swallowing a book. And there are accounts of sixteenth-century Austrian soldiers devouring books they acquired during their conquests, hoping to absorb the contents of the texts. But in accordance with current astrological omens, I suggest that in the next four weeks you acquire the wisdom stored in books by actually reading them or listening to them on audio recordings. In my astrological opinion, you really do need, for the sake of your psychospiritual health, to absorb writing that requires extended concentration.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Among the top "how to" search inquiries on Google are "how to buy Bitcoin," "how to lose belly fat fast," "how to cook spaghetti in a microwave," and "how to make slime." While I do think that the coming weeks will be prime time for you to formulate and launch many "how to" investigations, I will encourage you to put more important questions at the top of your priority list. "How to get richer quicker" would be a good one, as would "how to follow through on good beginnings" and "how to enhance your value" and "how to identify what resources and allies will be most important in 2019."
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HOMEWORK:
Write yourself a nice long love letter full of praise and appreciation. Send a copy to me if you like: 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 2019 Rob Brezsny
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