Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
March 13, 2019
FreeWillAstrology.com
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Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane.
—Anne Lamott
Perfection is a stick with which to beat the possible
—Rebecca Solnit
The perfect is the enemy of the good.
—Voltaire
Excellence does not require perfection.
—Henry James
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WHAT LIFE STORY
WILL YOU CREATE FOR YOURSELF
IN THE COMING MONTHS?
Get inspired by listening to my 3-part EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES about your LONG-RANGE FUTURE.
These forecasts will be available for just one more week.
Who do you want to become between now and January 2020? 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, and Part 3. Each part is a standalone report, not dependent on the other two.
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.
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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 ART AND SCIENCE OF UNIVERSAL COMPASSION'
Has there ever been a time in the history of civilization when masses of people were actively cultivating a capacity for transcendental empathy? Have there ever been so many of us attuned to and concerned for the suffering of those we've never met?
In his book Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming, Paul Hawken argues that organized political action devoted to advancing the rights of others is a relatively new phenomenon. The drive to abolish slavery was where it began. In recent decades it has grown exponentially, becoming a global crusade to improve social justice, economic conditions, human rights, and environmental health.
By Hawken's estimates, there are well over a million organizations engaged in the effort, which thrives without centralized leadership, charismatic front men, or a fixed ideology. Because of its grass-roots ubiquity, it is largely invisible to the mass media and underestimated by politicians.
Some day, maybe 500 years from now, our descendants will have installed the art and science of universal compassion as the first law of civilization. And I bet they will give honor to us, the people alive on the planet today, as the heroes who gave critical mass to their prime directive.
Read more: tinyurl.com/RadicalEmotion
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CHOOSING WHICH OF YOUR THOUGHTS TO EMPHASIZE
My understanding is that you get to choose which of your thoughts to go with.
—Anne Lamott
In other words, you can decide which of the thoughts and images that bubble up from your unconscious will be the ones you act on and identify as belonging to your intentions.
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You need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select your clothes every day. This is a power you can cultivate. If you want to control things in your life so bad, work on the mind. That’s the only thing you should be trying to control.
—Elizabeth Gilbert
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EVIL IS BORING
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
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See the video of my performance piece, "Evil Is Boring": tinyurl.com/EvilisBoring
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HEALING FROM THE LIES
Take a day to heal from the lies you've told yourself and the ones that have been told to you.
—poet and activist Maya Angelou
Take fifty-five days to heal from the lies you've told yourself and the ones that have been told to you. Or two hundred days. Or four hundred thirty-nine days. No more than a thousand, though.
—Mash-up of me and Maya Angelou
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WANT TO GET YOUR ASTROLOGICAL CHART READ?
If you want your personal chart done, I recommend a colleague whose approach to reading astrology charts closely matches my own. She's my wife, RO LOUGHRAN. She's at www.roloughran.com.
Ro utilizes a blend of well-trained intuition, emotional warmth, and technical proficiency in horoscope interpretation. She is skilled at exploring the mysteries of your life's purpose and nurturing your connection with your own inner wisdom.
In addition to over 30 years of astrological experience, Ro has been a licensed psychotherapist for 17 years. She integrates psychological insight with astrology's cosmological perspective.
Ro is based in California, but can do phone consultations and otherwise work with you regardless of geographic boundaries.
Check out Ro's website at www.roloughran.com
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MY DAUGHTER ZOE'S CURATION
On Tuesday, March 19 at 7 pm, my daughter Zoe Brezsny is curating a poetry reading by Kim Rosenfield and Michael Dickman. The event is at Hauser & Wirth Gallery, 548 West 22nd Street in New York City. It's free.
When asked to describe her aesthetic inclinations, Kim Rosenfield has said, "Every day I wake up with a brand-new attitude. I always want to experiment." Critics who have reviewed her five published books agree that she has succeeded at making a high art of that task.
Rosenfield's book RE-EVOLUTION has been described as "part text-book, part poem, part song-of-science, part feminist guide-to-living."
In her GOOD MORNING--MIDNIGHT, she artfully and humorously juxtaposes the language of science, money, and fashion so as to critique how they define and limit women.
Rosenfield's wise and witty experiments are fueled by the mastery she has achieved in her other job as a psychotherapist.
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One critic says that Michael Dickman's poems "bring us back to the wonder and violence of childhood, and the desire to connect with a power greater than ourselves." Another critic writes that his poems are "lithe and seemingly effortless," and have a piercing emotional power.
A third critic lauds Dickman for offering "an uncompromising vision of joy and devastating loss through a strict economy of language and an exuberant surrealism."
More info: tinyurl.com/FuturePoetry
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
For more about the good news stories below, plus links to the articles that provide full evidence, go here: tinyurl.com/ya8kb4rh
1. The world passed 1,000 GW of cumulative installed wind and solar power this year. 10 years ago, there was less than 8 GW of solar.
2. Solar and wind continued their precipitous cost declines. In the second half of 2018 alone, the levelized cost for solar fell by 14% and the wind benchmark by 6%. In many parts of the world it’s now cheaper to build new clean energy than it is to keep dirty energy running.
3. Allianz, the world’s biggest insurance company by assets, said it would cease insuring coal-fired power plants and coal mines, and Maersk, the world’s largest maritime shipping company, said it would begin ditching fossil fuels, and will eliminate all carbon emissions by the year 2050.
4. Repsol became the first major fossil fuels producer to say it would no longer be seeking new growth for oil and gas.
5. California unveiled the most ambitious climate target of all time, with a commitment to making the world’s fifth biggest economy carbon neutral by 2045.
6. China, the world’s biggest energy consumer, revised its renewable energy target upwards, committing to 35% clean energy by 2030.
7. Chile said it had managed to quadruple its clean energy sources since 2013, resulting in a 75% drop in the average cost of electricity.
8. The United States set a new record for coal plant closures in 2018, with 22 plants in 14 states totaling 15.4GW of dirty energy going dark.
9. 11 European nations either closed their coal fleets or announced they will close them by a specific date, including France by 2023, Italy and the UK by 2025, and Denmark and the Netherlands by 2030.
10. Some of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds, representing more than $3 trillion in assets, and Black Rock, the world’s biggest fund manager, with assets worth $5.1 trillion, said they would only invest in companies that factor climate risks into their strategies.
11. The Indian government reduces the price of 390 cancer drugs by up to 87%: tinyurl.com/y2hkk3ro
(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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GIFTS FOR ME
If you would like to contribute to me and my well-being, please visit my Gift Page: paypal.me/GiftsForRob
Give your gift via the "Friends and Family" option.
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning March 14
Copyright 2019 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
In 2014, NASA managed to place its MAVEN spacecraft into orbit around Mars. The cost of the mission was $671 million. Soon thereafter, the Indian government put its own vehicle, the Mangalyaan, into orbit around the Red Planet. It spent $74 million. As you plan your own big project, Pisces, I recommend you emulate the Mangalyaan rather than the MAVEN. I suspect you can do great things—maybe even your personal equivalent of sending a spacecraft to Mars—on a relatively modest budget.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
The coming weeks might be a good time to acquire a flamethrower. It would come in handy if you felt the urge to go to a beach and incinerate mementoes from an ex-ally. It would also be useful if you wanted to burn stuff that reminds you of who you used to be and don't want to be any more; or if you got in the mood to set ablaze symbols of questionable ideas you used to believe in but can't afford to believe in any more. If you don't want to spend $1,600+ on a flamethrower, just close your eyes for ten minutes and visualize yourself performing acts of creative destruction like those I mentioned.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Taurus aphorist Olivia Dresher writes that she would like to be "a force of nature," but "not causing any suffering." The way I interpret her longing is that she wants to be wild, elemental, uninhibited, primal, raw, pure—all the while without inflicting any hurt or damage on herself or anyone else. In accordance with your astrological omens, Taurus, that's a state I encourage you to embody in the coming weeks. If you're feeling extra smart—which I suspect you will—you could go even further. You may be able to heal yourself and others with your wild, elemental, uninhibited, primal, raw, pure energy.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
In some major cities, the buttons you push at a crosswalk don't actually work to make the traffic light turn green faster. The same is true about the "Close Door" buttons in many elevators. Pushing them doesn't have any effect on the door. Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer says these buttons are like placebos that give you "the illusion of control." I bring this phenomenon to your attention, Gemini, in hope of inspiring you to scout around for comparable things in your life. Is there any situation where you imagine you have power or influence, but probably don't? If so, now is an excellent time to find out—and remedy that problem.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Philip Boit was born and raised in Kenya, where it never snows except on the very top of Mount Kenya. Yet he represented his country in the cross-country skiing events at the Winter Olympics in 2002 and 2006. How did he do it? He trained up north in snowy Finland. Meanwhile, Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong competed for Ghana in the slalom in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Since there was no snow in his homeland, he practiced his skills in the French Alps. These two are your role models for the coming months, Cancerian. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you'll have the potential to achieve success in tasks and activities that may not seem like a natural fit.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
In the process of casting for his movie The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, director David Fincher considered selecting A-list actress Scarlett Johansson to play the heroine. But ultimately he decided she was too sexy and radiant. He wanted a pale, thin, tougher-looking actress, whom he found in Rooney Mara. I suspect that in a somewhat similar way, you may be perceived as being too much something for a role you would actually perform quite well. But in my astrological opinion, you're not at all too much. In fact, you're just right. Is there anything you can do—with full integrity—to adjust how people see you and understand you without diluting your brightness and strength?
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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 buy access 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 to register and/or sign in through the main page.
Then access the horoscopes by clicking on "Long Range Prediction." Choose from Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Each part is a standalone report, not dependent on the other two.
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.
A new short-range forecast for this week is also available.
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"Your Expanded Audio Horoscopes provide me with the Rest of the Story. I'm not necessarily a believer in the scientific accuracy of astrology, but I do think you've got a lot of practical wisdom to impart."
- M. Tennenbaum, New York
"No one knows more about me than me. But you're right up there near the top of the list of people who do understand something about how I tick. How is that possible?"
- R. Goren, Albuquerque
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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
In 1993, an English gardener named Eric Lawes used his metal detector to look for a hammer that his farmer friend had lost in a field. Instead of the hammer, he found the unexpected: a buried box containing 15,234 old Roman silver and gold worth more than four million dollars today. I bring this to your attention, Virgo, because I suspect that you, too, will soon discover something different from what you're searching for. Like the treasure Lawes located, it might even be more valuable than what you thought you wanted.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
"The role of the artist is exactly the same as the role of the lover," wrote author James Baldwin. "If I love you, I have to make you conscious of the things you don't see." To fully endorse that statement, I'd need to add two adverbs. My version would be, "The role of the artist is exactly the same as the role of the lover. If I love you, I have to kindly and compassionately make you conscious of the things you don't see." In accordance with current astrological omens, I recommend that you Libras enthusiastically adopt that mission during the coming weeks. With tenderness and care, help those you care about to become aware of what they've been missing—and ask for the same from them toward you.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
For thousands of generations, our early ancestors were able to get some of the food they needed through a practice known as persistence hunting. They usually couldn't run as fast as the animals they chased. But they had a distinct advantage: they could keep moving relentlessly until their prey grew exhausted. In part that's because they had far less hair than the animals, and thus could cool off better. I propose that we adopt this theme as a metaphor for your life in the coming weeks and months. You won't need to be extra fast or super ferocious or impossibly clever to get what you want. All you have to do is be persistent and dogged and disciplined.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Wompsi'kuk Skeesucks Brooke is a Native American woman of the Mohegan tribe. According to her description of Mohegan naming traditions, and reported by author Elisabeth Pearson Waugaman, "Children receive names that are descriptive. They may be given new names at adolescence, and again as they go through life according to what their life experiences and accomplishments are." She concludes that names "change as the individual changes." If you have been thinking about transforming the way you express and present yourself, you might want to consider such a shift. 2019 will be a favorable time to at least add a new nickname or title. And I suspect you'll have maximum inspiration to do so in the coming weeks.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
For many of us, smell is our most neglected sense. We see, hear, taste, and feel with vividness and eagerness, but allow our olfactory powers to go underused. In accordance with astrological omens, I hope you will compensate for that dearth in the coming weeks. There is subtle information you can obtain—and in my opinion, need quite strongly—that will come your way only with the help of your nose. Trust the guidance provided by scent.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Essayist Nassim Nicholas Taleb says humans come in three types: fragile, robust, or antifragile. Those who are fragile work hard to shield themselves from life's messiness. The downside? They are deprived of experiences that might spur them to grow smarter. As for robust people, Taleb believes they are firm in the face of messiness. They remain who they are even when they're disrupted. The potential problem? They may be too strong to surrender to necessary transformations. If you're the third type, antifragile, you engage with the messiness and use it as motivation to become more creative and resilient. The downside? None. In accordance with the astrological omens, Aquarius, I urge you to adopt the antifragile approach in the coming weeks.
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HOMEWORK:
Upon waking up for the next seven mornings, sing a song that fills you with feisty, glorious hope.
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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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