Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology Newsletter
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May 19, 2004
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www.freewillastrology.com
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"It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they
seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because
in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart."
-Anne Frank
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week of May 20
Copyright 2004 by Rob Brezsny
www.freewillastrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
ARIES (March 21-April 19): *Wabi-sabi* is your guiding principle
this week, Aries. It's a Japanese term for a kind of beauty that's
imperfect, transitory, and incomplete. In his book *Wabi-Sabi for
Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers,* Leonard Koren says wabi-
sabi differs from the Western notion that beauty resides in things that are
"monumental, spectacular, and enduring." It's about "the minor and the
hidden, the tentative and the ephemeral: things so subtle and evanescent
they are almost invisible at first glance." Be calmly eager for these small
wonders, Aries. Let wabi-sabi be a magic spell that opens up the secret
joys concealed within the passing moments of your everyday routine.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): If you've gone to college in the U.S., you've
taken the SAT, a standardized test administered to high school students. Is
it an accurate measure of intelligence? In a recent analysis, the Princeton
Review determined that if the great Taurus writer, William Shakespeare,
had submitted his "All the world's a stage" speech for the essay section of
the SAT, he would have flunked. Its language is too colorful. I suspect that
you, too, may soon be judged or evaluated by one-dimensional minds,
Taurus. Don't take it personally. They're simply not able to recognize and
accommodate a soul as weighty as yours. Take their off-kilter response as
a sign that you need to work harder to situate yourself in environments
that fully appreciate you.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I love my regular hikes to the top of idyllic
Mohawk Hill. Green hills cascade in every direction. Horses graze in a
nearby pasture. Red-tailed hawks soar overhead. But there is one blight: a
gray metal storage structure surrounded by barbed-wire fence. At the
climax of my ascent today, I rejoiced to find that this monstrosity had
been improved. Artistic vandals had paid a visit, covering it with bright
graffiti. The yellow, blue, and red designs were mostly indecipherable
except for one patch that clearly said "Test Your Strength." That brings
me to the point of this week's horoscope, Gemini. Your assignment is to
carry out a legal version of what the vandals did: Bring dynamic,
interesting disruption to a sterile, ugly scene, thereby testing your
strength.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Your symbol for the next four weeks will be
the Great Wall of China. Centuries ago, it was a 4,000-mile-long defense
system. In that respect, it was an apt metaphor for the formidable
barriers you've built around yourself. But the modern version of the
Great Wall is only one-third the size it once was, having been reduced
over the centuries by people appropriating its stones for new building
projects. This reduced state, I hope, is an apt metaphor for the way you'll
be dismantling your defense mechanisms between now and June 20.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): "I knew that my God was bigger than his,"
bragged U.S. Army Lt. General William G. Boykin as he derided a Somalian
guerrilla leader. "I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol."
I can't vouch for the accuracy of Boykin's assertion, but I do know this,
Leo: According to my analysis of the cosmic omens, your Supreme Being
*really is* stronger, sweeter, and sexier than everyone else's Supreme
Beings, at least temporarily. Frankly, your God could kick all the other
Gods' asses. I don't advise you to sic Him on anyone, though -- not even on
the jerks who seem to deserve it. There'd be hell to pay later if you did. On
the other hand, if you and your God show extra mercy and generosity in
the coming weeks, you will accrue tremendous karmic credit, which
you'll be able to harvest beginning in August.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Can you wait a while to receive your
vindication, recognition, and reward? I hope so. If you insist on your
prize immediately, it will be unfinished, like a garland made of flowers
that were picked before they bloomed. If you're patient, on the other hand,
fate will be able to fashion you a riper and more useful blessing. Do you
need further motivation, Virgo? Here's some. One of the weak spots in
your mastery of the game of life has been a lack of good timing, but lately
you've been getting better at sensing the arrival of the perfect moment.
Let this growing skill grow a little more.
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In addition to the written horoscopes you find here, I create longer, more
in-depth audio horoscopes. They cost $6 a pop if you access them on the
Web via RealAudio or $1.99 per minute if you want them over the phone.
For Web access, go here:
http://www.relationshipnetwork.com/horo/index.asp?client_id=50700
From the United States, call
1-900-950-7700.
If you have a 900# block on your phone or prefer to pay by credit card,
there's another way to access the Expanded Audio Horoscopes by phone.
Call 1-877-873-4888 to buy the amount of time that best suits you.
If you live in Canada, call 1-888-499-4425 to purchase a Block of Time
with your credit card.
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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I don't want to encourage you to be a lazy,
crazy, hazy drifter who careens from chance encounter to chance
encounter without any specific intention in mind . . . but I do want to
invite you to be an adventure-chasing, dream-intoxicated, passion-
awakening wanderer who glides from experiment to experiment armed
with the goal of opening your mind as far as it can safely go. Head in the
direction of the best smells and most intriguing mysteries, Libra.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Your fresh dilemma is actually a twisted old
predicament in disguise. It's a bit prettier than it was the last time you
saw it, but just as knotty. Please don't underestimate it. If you imagine
you can force it to disappear overnight, you'll make bumbling decisions
and awkward moves. If, on the other hand, you assume you'll need steady,
prolonged effort, you will attract excellent luck and unexpected help. Be a
humble warrior motivated not by hatred for the problem but by love for
yourself.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Let's talk about repression and
suppression. When you repress a difficult feeling or thought, you drive it
so deeply into your unconscious mind that you forget about it. In effect,
you hide it from yourself out of fear. And yet because this exiled material
is of crucial importance, it refuses to remain buried. It ultimately re-
emerges in disguise, often as an addiction or obsession, sometimes as an
illness. Suppression, on the other hand, is a healthier mechanism. It
involves you moving the problematic feeling or thought away from the
center of your attention, but remaining aware of it. You're not motivated
by fear, but by the intention to deal with the challenge at a time of your
choosing. In the coming week, Sagittarius, you'll have to decide between
repression and suppression. I hope you'll pick the latter.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Professional handicappers say the odds
are a billion-to-1 that any particular person will ultimately achieve
sainthood, but a mere 70,000-to-1 that someone will be possessed by
Satan. According to my reading of the cosmic signs, however, those figures
won't apply to you Capricorns in the coming weeks. I estimate that the
odds of you flirting with diabolical forces will be 900 million-to-1,
while the odds are 5-to-1 that you will perform services and bestow
blessings that qualify you for sainthood. Are you ready to explore the
frontiers of ingenious, over-the-top benevolence? Goodness is your
superpower.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In his book *Weird Ideas That Work,*
business consultant Robert Sutton advises companies to have as much
commitment to creativity as to stability. That's why, in his opinion, they
should hire a few free thinkers who enjoy bucking the status quo and are
willing to fight for their unique ideas. I think everyone would benefit
from heeding that advice; we all need people in our lives who regularly
push us to question our assumptions. You Aquarians especially need this
influence right now. Do you know any good troublemakers you can call on
to get your dogmas disrupted? If not, find one.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): It has taken eight centuries, but the Dutch
people have added 3,000 square miles to their country. They
accomplished this feat not through the conquest of neighboring nations but
by building dikes and moving great amounts of water, gradually
transforming parts of the sea into livable land. Their dogged effort is a
good metaphor for the work I propose for you, Pisces. Think of your
unconscious mind as the sea and your conscious mind as the land. Can you
imagine what it would entail for you to turn some of those watery depths
into solid ground where you can take a stand? Can you imagine the
satisfaction of becoming fully aware of feelings and dreams and desires
that are now hidden from your view?
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HOMEWORK:
Homework: What good thing would you have to give up in order to get a
great thing? Testify by going to www.freewillastrology.com and clicking
on "Email Rob."
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"ASTROLOGY AS AN ARCHETYPAL LANGUAGE"
My esteemed wildman colleague ANTERO ALLI will be giving a free
astrology lecture in Berkeley, CA.
It's Sunday evening at 7pm, May 23rd
at Ayala Bookstore, 1713 University Ave (near McGee).
"ASTROLOGY AS AN ARCHETYPAL LANGUAGE"
is an overview of ANTERO'S approach to interpreting horoscopes
based on his 23 years of practice and his book, "ASTROLOGIK"
(which will also be sold there). It lasts about 90 minutes.
This talk stands as its own event while serving as a primer
for a 6-week course starting the following night, Monday the 24th,
that focuses on "finding the story in the chart." There are still three
spaces available in this course. (He only teaches one such class each
year.) For more information about this class and for links to ANTERO'S
written work, go to:
http://www.verticalpool.com/astrologik.html
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WANT TO GET YOUR CHART DONE?
I'm not doing charts these days. In addition to writing my weekly column
and expanded audio horoscopes, I'm also working on a book and CD.
But I can recommend a colleague whose astro-aesthetics closely match my
own. She's RO LOUGHRAN.
Ro utilizes a blend of well-trained intuition, emotional warmth, and a
high degree of 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 20 years
of astrological experience, Ro is also a licensed psychotherapist, allowing
her to integrate psychological insight with the cosmological perspective
that astrology offers.
Ro is based in California, but can do phone consultations and otherwise
work with you regardless of geographic boundaries.
Ro's website is at
http://www.astrology-psychotherapy.com/
She can also be reached at roloughran@comcast.net
Namaste,
Rob
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You can also do your own chart with AstroGraph's TimePassages, the
software I use to cast charts. TimePassages is suitable for both novices --
it provides written interpretations of your aspects -- as well as
professionals who need calculations of natal charts, transits, and more.
TimePassages is at http://www.astrograph.com. Click on "Order."
Or go directly to the order page at
http://www.astrograph.com/cgi-
bin/soft_form.cgi?from=FreeWillAstrology?where=soft_form
And please put "Rob Brezsny" or "Free Will Astrology" in the "Referral"
box.
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2004 Rob Brezsny
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