Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
July 24, 2019
FreeWillAstrology.com
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You owe it to us all to get on with what you're good at.
—W. H. Auden
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YOU HAVE THE KEYS
You have the keys to promising doors that don't exist yet; save those keys.
You know the titles of rousing stories that haven't happened yet; write those titles down.
You've caught glimpses of your best future, but they're confusing because you can't imagine how you'll get to that future; imprint those glimpses on your memory.
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WHERE YOUR DEEP GLADNESS AND THE WORLD'S DEEP HUNGER MEET
You've heard the term "Higher Self"? We might define it as the aspect of your intelligence that is usually beyond the reach of your conscious awareness but is always looking out for you and always offering you guidance—if you take the trouble to tune in to it.
Fun fact: Your Higher Self is itself evolving. One of its goals is to activate the genius that comes fully awake through a synergetic meld of Higher Selfishness and Higher Selflessness: "where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet," in the words of Frederich Buechner.
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ARE WE SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW HOW SMART ANIMALS ARE?
Frans de Waal writes: "What separates your mind from an animal’s? Maybe you think it’s your ability to design tools, your sense of self, or your grasp of past and future―all traits that have helped us define ourselves as the planet’s preeminent species. But in recent decades, these claims have eroded, or even been disproven outright, by a revolution in the study of animal cognition.
“People often assume a cognitive ladder, from lower to higher forms, with our own intelligence at the top. But what if it is more like a bush, with cognition taking different forms that are often incomparable to ours? Would you presume yourself dumber than a squirrel because you’re less adept at recalling the locations of hundreds of buried acorns? Or would you judge your perception of your surroundings as more sophisticated than that of a echolocating bat?”
Frans de Waal’s book is available
at Powells: tinyurl.com/y5fuvrjq
or at Amazon: tinyurl.com/y2f3qtth
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TRY TO BE A LITTLE KINDER
One of the leading intellectuals of the 20th century, Aldous Huxley, wrote more than 20 books, including Brave New World.
In his later years he made a surprising confession. "It is a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one's life," he wrote, "and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than 'Try to be a little kinder.'"
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'I have thousands of opinions still—but that is down from millions—and, as always, I know nothing.
—Harold Brodkey
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HAPPY IN THIS WONDERLAND
We need to be happy in this wonderland without once being merely comfortable.
—G. K. Chesterton
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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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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
India lifted 271 million people out of poverty in 10 years.
tinyurl.com/y46b9zgp
Anuradha Koirala: The Woman Who Rescued More Than 12,000 Girls From Sex Trafficking.
tinyurl.com/y49epx5w
Latin America’s biggest shale reserve will never be fracked. It's taken 6 years of movement-building and working in coalitions to support fracking bans - often one municipality at a time - but today it's official: the entire state of Paraná in Brazil has agreed to keep its massive shale reserves in the ground, forever.
tinyurl.com/y48nd85s
(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 July 25
Copyright 2019 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
The Queen of North America and Europe called me on the phone. At least that's how she identified herself. "I have a message for your Leo readers," she told me. "Why Leo?" I asked. "Because I'm a Leo myself," she replied, "and I know what my tribe needs to know right now." I said, "OK. Give it to me." "Tell Leos to always keep in mind the difference between healthy pride and debilitating hubris," she said. "Tell them to be dazzlingly and daringly competent without becoming bossy and egomaniacal. They should disappear their arrogance but nourish their mandate to express leadership and serve as a role model. Be shiny and bright but not glaring and blinding. Be irresistible but not envy-inducing."
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Congrats, Virgo! You are beginning the denouement of your yearly cycle. Anything you do to resolve lingering conflicts and finish up old business will yield fertile rewards. Fate will conspire benevolently in your behalf as you bid final goodbyes to the influences you'll be smart not to drag along with you into the new cycle that will begin in a few weeks. To inspire your holy work, I give you this poem by Virgo poet Charles Wright: "Knot by knot I untie myself from the past / And let it rise away from me like a balloon. / What a small thing it becomes. / What a bright tweak at the vanishing point, blue on blue."
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
I predict that between now and the end of the year, a Libran genetic engineer will create a new species of animal called a dat. A cross between a cat and a dog, it will have the grace, independence, and vigilance of a Persian cat and the geniality, loyalty, and ebullient strength of a golden retriever. Its stalking skills will synthesize the cat's and dog's different styles of hunting. I also predict that in the coming months, you will achieve greater harmony between the cat and dog aspects of your own nature, thereby acquiring some of the hybrid talents of the dat.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Scorpio poet Marianne Moore (1887–1972) won the Pulitzer Prize and several other prestigious awards. She was a rare poet who became a celebrity. That's one of the reasons why the Ford car company asked her to dream up interesting names for a new model they were manufacturing. Alas, Ford decided the 43 possibilities she presented were too poetic, and rejected all of them. But some of Moore's names are apt descriptors for the roles you could and should play in the phase you're beginning, so I'm offering them for your use. Here they are: 1. Anticipator. 2. The Impeccable. 3. Tonnere Alifère (French term for "winged thunder"). 4. Tir á l'arc (French term for "bull's eye"). 5. Regina-Rex (Latin terms for "queen" and "king").
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
It's conceivable that in one of your past lives you were a pioneer who made the rough 2,170-mile migration via wagon train from Missouri to Oregon in the 1830s. Or maybe you were a sailor who accompanied the Viking Leif Eriksson in his travels to the New World five hundred years before Columbus. Is it possible you were part of the team assembled by Italian diplomat Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, who journeyed from Rome to Mongolia in the thirteenth century? Here's why I'm entertaining these thoughts, Sagittarius: I suspect that a similar itch to ramble and explore and seek adventure may rise up in you during the coming weeks. I won't be surprised if you consider making a foray to the edge of your known world.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
When the dinosaurs died off 65 million years ago, the crocodiles didn't. They were around for 135 million years before that era, and are still here now. Why? "They are extremely tough and robust," says croc expert James Perran Ross. Their immune systems "are just incredible." Maybe best of all, they "learn quickly and adapt to changes in their situation." In accordance with the astrological omens, I'm naming the crocodile as your creature teacher for the coming weeks. I suspect you will be able to call on a comparable version of their will to thrive. (Read more about crocs: tinyurl.com/ToughAndRobust.)
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WHY IS IT CALLED "FREE WILL" ASTROLOGY?
It's called Free Will Astrology because my goal is to create horoscopes that nurture your free will.
Contrary to what some horoscope fans believe, there's no such thing as predestination. Fate is a tricky sucker that keeps changing its mind about where it wants to go. The stars may impel, as the astrological saying goes, but they don't compel.
That's why I've never considered myself a fortuneteller. I prefer to think that my greatest service is as a psychic intelligence agent, helping you explore the hidden patterns and unconscious forces that may be affecting your life without your full knowledge.
If I "predict" anything, it's not so much the future as the unknown part of the present.
And if you ever want more than the 'scopes you're reading here, keep in mind that I also create EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES for you. They're four-to-five-minute meditations on the current state of your destiny.
To buy and listen to your Expanded Audio Horoscope online, go to freewillastrology.sparkns.com
Register and/or log in through the main page.
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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. Each forecast is 4-5 minutes long.
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"I always feel like I know myself better after listening to your audio 'scopes."
-June R., Austin, TX
"Your audio horoscopes calm me down when I'm too manic and pep me up when I'm down."
-Arthur T., Cleveland, OH
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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
"My only hope is that one day I can love myself as much as I love you." Poet Mariah Gordon-Dyke wrote that to a lover, and now I'm offering it to you as you begin your Season of Self-Love. You've passed through other Seasons of Self-Love in the past, but none of them has ever had such rich potential to deepen and ripen your self-love. I bet you'll discover new secrets about how to love yourself with the same intensity you have loved your most treasured allies.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
"Poems can bring comfort," writes Piscean poet Jane Hirshfield. "They let us know . . . that we are not alone—but they also unseat us and make us more susceptible, larger, elastic. They foment revolutions of awareness and allow the complex, uncertain, actual world to enter." According to my understanding of upcoming astrological omens, Pisces, life itself will soon be like the poems Hirshfield describes: unruly yet comforting; a source of solace but also a catalyst for transformation; bringing you healing and support but also asking you to rise up and reinvent yourself. Sounds like fun!
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
After analyzing unusual animal behavior, magnetic fluctuations, outbreaks of mayhem on Twitter, and the position of the moon, a psychic has foretold that a moderate earthquake will rumble through the St. Louis, Missouri area in the coming weeks. I don't agree with her prophecy. But I have a prediction of my own. Using data about how cosmic forces are conspiring to amuse and titillate your rapture chakra, I predict a major lovequake for many Aries between now and August 20. I suggest you start preparing immediately. How? Brainstorm about adventures and breakthroughs that will boost exciting togetherness. Get yourself in the frame of mind to seek out collaborative catharses that evoke both sensory delights and spiritual insights.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
"Tell me what you pay attention to and I will tell you who you are," wrote Taurus philosopher José Ortega y Gasset. You could use that idea to achieve a finer grade of peace and grace in the coming weeks. The navel-gazing phase of your yearly cycle has begun, which means you'll be in closest alignment with cosmic rhythms if you get to know yourself much better. One of the best ways to do that is to analyze what you pay most attention to. Another excellent way is to expand and refine and tenderize your feelings for what you pay most attention to.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano wrote that in Havana, people refer to their friends as mi sangre, my blood, or mi tierra, my country. In Caracas, he reported, a friend might be called mi llave, my key, or mi pana, my bread. Since you are in the alliance-boosting phase of your cycle, Gemini, I trust that you will find good reasons to think of your comrades as your blood, your country, your key, or your bread. It's a favorable time for you to get closer, more personal, and more intimate. The affectionate depths are calling to you.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Your emotional intelligence is so strong right now that I bet you could alleviate the pain of a loved one even as you soothe a long-running ache of your own. You're so spiritually alluring, I suspect you could arouse the sacred yearning of a guru, saint, or bodhisattva. You're so interesting, someone might write a poem or story about you. You're so overflowing with a lust for life that you might lift people out of their ruts just by being in their presence. You're so smart you could come up with at least a partial solution to a riddle whose solution has evaded you for a long time.
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HOMEWORK:
What's the most amazing feat you ever pulled off? What will you do for your next amazing feat? Truthrooster@gmail.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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