Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
April 17, 2019
FreeWillAstrology.com
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Your soul's code is your sacred calling; the blueprint of your destiny; the mission you came to earth to fulfill.
Now and then life pushes you away from influences that might be interfering with your ability to discern and express your soul’s code.
Higher powers and mysterious forces purge obstacles that have been preventing you from achieving a more complete embodiment of who you were born to be.
When that happens, it's time to celebrate.
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GIFTS!
Since 1995, I've been offering my written horoscopes on the Internet for free. I love doing that. It's relaxing to be able to offer you my oracles without asking for anything in return. It's healthy for my soul and yours.
But I also don't mind earning money from doing what I love to do. That's why I make it possible for you to bless me with donations. 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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In addition to the free written horoscopes I provide in this newsletter, I also offer two other sources of astrological information that cost money: my Expanded Audio Horoscopes and Daily Text Message Horoscopes.
I love you just as much if you don't buy my extra stuff as if you do! No pressure! But if you would like the extra stuff, here's how to get it:
Go to freewillastrology.sparkns.com. Register or log in. On the new page, you have two choices: Expanded Audio Horoscopes or Daily Text Message Horoscopes.
If you have any questions about how to access them, write to my tech support team at freewillcs@gmail.com.
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If you know someone who might like to receive this free weekly newsletter, direct them to this page: www.freewillastrology.com/newsletter
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THE QUESTION OF MIRACLES
INTERVIEWER: You confuse me in the way that you praise rational thought and the scientific method, yet reserve the right to believe in astrology, angels, miracles, and other woo-woo.
Rob Brezsny: Thousands of amazing, inexplicable, and even supernatural events occur every day. And yet most are unreported by the media. The few that are cited are ridiculed.
Why? Here's one possible reason: The people most likely to believe in wonders and marvels may be superstitious, uneducated, or prone to having a blind, literalist faith in their religions' myths.
Those who are least likely to believe in wonders and marvels are skilled at analytical thought, well-educated, and yet prone to having a blind, literalist faith in the ideology of materialism, which dogmatically asserts that the universe consists entirely of things that can be perceived by the five human senses or detected by instruments that scientists have thus far invented.
The media is largely composed of people from the second group. It's virtually impossible for them to admit to the possibility of events that elude the rational mind's explanations, let alone experience them.
If anyone from this group manages to escape peer pressure and cultivate a receptivity to the miraculous, it's because they have successfully fought against being demoralized by the unsophisticated way wonders and marvels are framed by the first group.
I try to be immune to the double-barreled ignorance. When I behold astonishing synchronicities and numinous breakthroughs that seem to violate natural law, I'm willing to consider the possibility that my understanding of natural law is too narrow.
And yet I also refrain from lapsing into irrational gullibility; I actively seek mundane explanations for apparent miracles.
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MY SANCTUARIES
My social media accounts are not free-for-alls where anyone can disgorge whatever abuse and sneers and insults and rancor they have an urge to.
My Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts are my sanctuaries where I welcome people I trust. They're salons where people I'm interested in gather to discuss subjects of mutual interest.
It’s fine if some of those people I trust disagree with me, but when they do, they must do so with kindness and respect.
If you don’t meet those standards, I at least delete your comments and may block you from making further comments.
You can call that “censorship,” as some do. But that's a misuse of the word. If you write a nasty letter to the editor of a newspaper and magazine or website, and they don’t publish it, does that constitute censorship? No, it does not.
If I invite you into my home, and you hurl bad vibes in my direction, my asking you to leave doesn't constitute censorship.
If I'm hosting a public ritual or doing a public performance and you heckle me, I'll have my bouncer usher you out. I am not "censoring" you.
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P.S. People disagree with me ALL the time.
I have a total of 147,000+ readers on my American FB pages and 329,000+ readers on my Italian FB page. If even just 1% of those people find problems with any of the two posts I average every day (and I've been on FB nine years), that's a lot of disagreements I am asked to deal with.
The majority of those disagreements are fine, offered in a spirit of respectfully seeking to correct my errors and looking for common ground in collegial collaboration.
But for that small percentage of disagreements that are jarring, distasteful, contemptuous, and accusing, I don't abide them. To be a social justice warrior for the long haul, I must take good care of myself.
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TO ACCESS MY VARIOUS SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS, GO HERE:
freewillastrology.com/social
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GOING OUT OF OUR MINDS
In her book Women Who Run with the Wolves, Clarissa Pinkola Estés suggests that we all need to periodically go cheerfully and enthusiastically out of our minds. Make sure, she says, that at least one part of you always remains untamed, uncategorizable, and unsubjugated by routine. Be adamant in your determination to stay intimately connected to all that's inexplicable and mysterious about your life.
At the same time, though, Estés believes you need to keep your unusual urges clear and ordered. Discipline your wildness, in other words, and don't let it degenerate into careless disorder.
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CHOCTAW GENEROSITY
Choctaw historian Judy Allen writes: The Choctaw people have a history of helping others. Only 16 years after they began their long, sad march along the Trail of Tears, the Choctaws learned of people starving to death in Ireland.
With great empathy, in 1847 Choctaw individuals made donations totaling $170, the equivalent of several thousand dollars today, to assist the Irish people during the famine.
It was an amazing gesture. Though they had meager resources, they gave on behalf of others in greater need.
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More about the story: tinyurl.com/y2mlhg2y
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Current elected female heads of state or government
Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca: Malta — President
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović: Croatia — President
Saara Kuugongelwa: Namibia — Prime Minister
Tsai Ing-wen: Taiwan — President
Doris Bures: Austria — Co-Acting President
Kersti Kaljulaid: President of the Republic of Estonia
Ana Brnabić: Serbia — Prime Minister
Halimah Yacob: Singapore — President
Erna Solberg:Norway—Prime Minister
Angela Merkel: Germany—Chancellor
Jacinda Ardern: New Zealand — Prime Minister
Evelyn Wever-Croes: Aruba — Prime Minister
Katrín Jakobsdóttir: Iceland — Prime Minister
Leona Marlin-Rome: Sint Maarten — Prime Minister
Viorica Dăncilă: Romania — Prime Minister
Paula-Mae Weekes: Trinidad and Tobago — President
Mia Mottley: Barbados — Prime Minister
Sahle-Work Zewde: Ethiopia — President
Salome Zurabishvili: Georgia — President
Karin Keller-Sutter: Switzerland — Member of the Swiss Federal Council (the collective head of state and government)
Viola Amherd: Switzerland — Member of the Swiss Federal Council (the collective head of state and government)
Zuzana Čaputová: Slovakia — President
Please tell me your own nominations for PRONOIA RESOURCES: Truthrooster@gmail.com.
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning April 18
Copyright 2019 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
French writer Simone de Beauvoir sent a letter to her lover, Aries author Nelson Algren. She wrote, "I like so much the way you are so greedy about life and yet so quiet, your eager greediness and your patience, and your way of not asking much of life and yet taking much because you are so human and alive that you find much in everything." I'd love to see you embody that state in the coming weeks, Aries. In my astrological opinion, you have a mandate to be both utterly relaxed and totally thrilled; both satisfied with what life brings you and skillfully avid to extract the most out of it; both at peace with what you already have and primed to grab for much more.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
The Beat Generation of American poets arose in the late 1940s as a rebellion against materialistic mainstream culture and academic poetry. It embraced sexual liberation, Eastern spirituality, ecological awareness, political activism, and psychedelic drugs. One of its members, Jack Kerouac, tweaked and ennobled the word "beat" to serve as the code name for their movement. In its old colloquial usage, "beat" meant tired or exhausted. But Kerouac re-consecrated it to mean "upbeat" and "beatific," borrowing from the Italian word beato, translated as "beatific." I bring this to your attention, Taurus, because you're on the verge of a similar transition: from the old meaning of "beat" to the new.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
"Scattered through the ordinary world, there are books and artifacts and perhaps people who are like doorways into impossible realms, of impossible and contradictory truth." Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges said that, and now I'm passing it on to you—just in time for your entrance into a phase when such doorways will be far more available than usual. I hope you will use Borges' counsel as a reminder to be alert for everyday situations and normal people that could lead you to intriguing experiences and extraordinary revelations and life-changing blessings.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Free Will Astrology Committee To Boldly Promote Cancerian's Success is glad to see that you're not politely waiting for opportunities to come to you. Rather, you're tracking them down and proactively wrangling them into a form that's workable for your needs. You seem to have realized that what you had assumed was your fair share isn't actually fair; that you want and deserve more. Although you're not being mean and manipulative, neither are you being overly nice and amenable; you're pushing harder to do things your way. I approve! And I endorse your efforts to take it even further.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Many experts who have studied the art and science of running fast believe that it's best if a runner's legs are symmetrical and identical in their mechanics. But that theory is not supported by the success of champion sprinter Usain Bolt. Because he has suffered from scoliosis, his left leg is a half-inch longer than his right. With each stride, his left leg stays on the track longer than his right, and his right hits the track with more force. Some scientists speculate that this unevenness not only doesn't slow him down, but may in fact enhance his speed. In accordance with current astrological variables, I suspect you will be able to thrive on your asymmetry in the coming weeks, just as your fellow Leo Usain Bolt does.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Virgo adventurer Jason Lewis traveled around the world using transportation powered solely by his own body. He walked, bicycled, skated, rowed, pedaled, and swam more than 46,000 miles. I propose that we make him your role model for the next four weeks. You're primed to accomplish gradual breakthroughs through the use of simple, persistent, incremental actions. Harnessing the power of your physical vitality will be an important factor in your success.
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I LOVE YOU!
It has been a while since I told you that I love you. So I'm doing it now. I LOVE YOU.
And that's why I continue to offer these weekly horoscopes to you free of charge, with no strings attached. That's why I work so hard to be a playful therapist and an edgy mentor for you. That's why I am so tenacious in my efforts to serve you as a feminist father figure and a kindly devil's advocate and a sacred cheerleader.
Again, I don't expect anything in return from you. But if you would like to express your appreciation, you could do so by offering a similar type of well-crafted care to people in your own sphere.
There is also something you could do to support me -- and help yourself at the same time! -- and that is to buy my EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES for you. They're four-to-five-minute meditations on the current state of your destiny.
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 freewillastrology.sparkns.com
Register and/or log in through the main page.
You can also listen over the phone by calling 1-877-873-4888.
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The cost is $6 per sign on the On the Web. (Discounts are available for bulk purchases.) You can also access them for $1.99 per minute by phone
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"Your expanded horoscopes get more personal and intimate with me than some of my closest friends. Thanks for the loving reflections."
- Ari S., Ann Arbor, MI
"When I listen to your audio 'scopes, my free will lights up." - Alex D., Los Angeles
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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
Curcumin is a chemical found in the plant turmeric. When ingested by humans, it may diminish inflammation, lower the risk of diabetes, support cardiovascular health, and treat digestive disorders. But there's a problem: the body is inefficient in absorbing and using curcumin—unless it's ingested along with piperine, a chemical in black pepper. Then it's far more available. What would be the metaphorical equivalent to curcumin in your life? An influence that could be good for you, but that would be even better if you synergized it with a certain additional influence? And what would be the metaphorical equivalent of that additional influence? Now is a good time to investigate these questions.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
"I have the usual capacity for wanting what may not even exist," wrote poet Galway Kinnell. How abut you, Scorpio? Do you, too, have an uncanny ability to long for hypothetical, invisible, mythical, and illusory things? If so, I will ask you to downplay that amazing power of yours for a while. It's crucial for your future development that you focus on yearning for actual experiences, real people, and substantive possibilities. Please understand: I'm not suggesting you're bad or wrong for having those seemingly impossible desires. I'm simply saying that for now you will thrive on being attracted to things that are genuinely available.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
"Sometimes I have kept my feelings to myself, because I could find no language to describe them in," wrote Sagittarian novelist Jane Austen. I'm guessing you've had that experience—maybe more than usual, of late. But I suspect you'll soon be finding ways to express those embryonic feelings. Congrats in advance! You'll discover secrets you've been concealing from yourself. You'll receive missing information whose absence has made it hard to understand the whole story. Your unconscious mind will reveal the rest of what it has thus far merely been hinting at.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
All over the world, rivers and lakes are drying up. Sources of water are shrinking. Droughts are becoming more common and prolonged. Why? Mostly because of climate change. The good news is that lots of people are responding to the crisis with alacrity. Among them is an engineer in India named Ramveer Tanwar. Since 2014, he has organized efforts leading to the rejuvenation of twelve dead lakes and ponds. I propose we make him your role model for the coming weeks. I hope he will inspire you to engage in idealistic pursuits that benefit other people. And I hope you'll be motivated to foster fluidity and flow and wetness everywhere you go. The astrological time is ripe for such activities.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
A blogger named Caramelizee offered her definition of elegance: "being proud of both your feminine and masculine qualities; seeing life as a non-ending university and learning everything you can; caring for yourself with tender precision; respecting and taking advantage of silences; tuning in to your emotions without being oversensitive; owning your personal space and being generous enough to allow other people to own their personal space." This definition of elegance will be especially apropos and useful for you Aquarians in the coming weeks.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
You Pisceans have been summoning heroic levels of creative intensity. You've been working extra hard and extra smart. But it seems that you haven't been fully recognized or appreciated for your efforts. I'm sorry about that. Please don't let it discourage you from continuing to express great integrity and authenticity. Keep pushing for your noble cause and offering your best gifts. I'm proud of you! And although you may not yet have reaped all the benefits you will ultimately sow, three months from now I bet you'll be pleased you pushed so hard to be such a righteous servant of the greater good.
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HOMEWORK:
Imagine your future self sends a message to you back through time. What is it? 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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