Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology Newsletter
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October 6, 2004
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http://www.freewillastrology.com
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Just as intellects are bewildered
by my madness,
I am bewildered by the frozen state
of these intellects.
Because in this path,
anything other than confusion
and madness
is distance and alienation from God.
--Rumi,
translated by Coleman Barks
*
"I am on the track of a more essential thing: the compassionate uses of a
mortal mind and body. If I learn that, what can salvation matter?"
--Czeslaw Milosz and Catherine Madsen
*
"The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it,
can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to
do."
--Galileo Galilei
*
My soul is a Mosque for Muslims,
a Temple for Hindus,
a Shrine for Buddhists,
an Altar for Zoroastrians,
a Church for Christians,
a Synagogue for Jews,
and a Pasture for gazelles.
--Ibn Arabi
*
The new humanity will be universal,
And it will have the artist's attitude, that of the musician;
That is, it will recognize that the immense
value and beauty of the human being
lies precisely in the fact that each individual belongs
To two realms, simultaneously,
that of nature and that of the spirit.
--Thomas Mann
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning October 7
Copyright 2004 by Rob Brezsny
www.freewillastrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
ARIES (March 21-April 19): When actress Mia Farrow was still a teenager,
59-year-old painter Salvador Dali asked her to dinner. As an appetizer, he
served her butterfly wings on crackers. "They had almost no taste at all,"
Farrow told Gregg LaGambina in *Filter.* But she was nevertheless thrilled
by the artfulness of the gesture. I expect you'll encounter a similar
phenomenon in the coming week, Aries: an exotic treat that'll be rich in
symbolism, though not particularly substantial. And that might be just
what you need most.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): J. Edgar Hoover headed the FBI for almost 50
years. While many admired the way he transformed it from an amateurish
collection of hacks into a formidable law enforcement agency, others
regarded him as a paranoid control freak who gave police work a bad
name. Even U.S. President Lyndon Johnson had a strong ambivalence
towards the man. Asked by *The New York Times* why he didn't fire
Hoover, Johnson replied, "It's probably better to have him inside the tent
pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in." Consider making that your
motto in the coming week, Taurus. There may be persons in your life who
will serve you better as problematic friends than unpredictable
adversaries.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Your passions renew you. They link you to the
primal life force that some people call God and others refer to as
kundalini. But when you get consumed in the numbing rhythms of the
daily grind, you sometimes lose touch with your passions. I think that's
dangerous. So how can you stay connected? That's exactly what you
should be thinking about most in the coming weeks, Gemini. Here are a
few suggestions to get you started: Pay close attention to every little
thing that captivates your imagination. Be a connoisseur of the magic
moments that light you up. Become an expert in knowing what excites
you.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): A character you could justifiably call "Swamp
Angel" will help you get down and dirty this week-and I mean "down and
dirty" in the best sense. You're deep by nature, Cancerian, but you may
have never been as deep as you're going to get in the next few weeks.
Swamp Angel will be just one of several influences urging you to dive
beyond your previous levels. By the way, I suspect that while you're
exploring the depths, you'll encounter some paradoxical pleasures that
aren't what they initially appear to be. To assist you in preparing for
them, I'll tell you what I heard a little boy tell his father in a grocery store
today: "I'm a monster, but I'm a good monster."
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): We live in the Milky Way Galaxy, which is shaped
like a pinwheel. Recently, astronomers were shocked and embarrassed
when they realized that the pinwheel has a fifth arm, one more than
they've always believed. It's not as if this extra appendage has been hard
to spot: It's 77,000 light years long! "I was absolutely flabbergasted,"
astronomer Tom Dames told NewScientist.com. "The fifth arm was quite
clearly seen in previous surveys but was never pointed out or given a
name." I expect that a comparable discovery is about to unfold in your
personal life, Leo. An important clue to your destiny--an open secret that
has been "hiding" in plain view--will finally register on your awareness.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The British are not renowned for their fine
cuisine. In any ranking of the world's culinary traditions, theirs would be
near the bottom. And yet the Brits are responsible for having created and
propagated the Western world's single most popular food, the sandwich.
In a comparable way, Virgo, I predict that you will soon succeed in an area
where you have little credibility or status. Either that, or you will produce
some anomalously great thing that you supposedly have no talent for.
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EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES
Since I put all my heart and soul into the written horoscopes I send out in
this newsletter, they're pretty nutritious. You may never need any of the
other stuff I create.
But if you ever do crave an added boost, you may want to sample my
Expanded Audio Horoscopes. They're different in tone and intent than the
written scopes, imbued with a little more of the psychologist in me, and a
little less of the poet.
The Expanded Audio horoscopes cost $6 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:
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or if you prefer to pay by credit card
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If you live in Canada, call 1-888-499-4425 to purchase a Block of Time
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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): "Those who say spirituality has nothing to do
with politics," declared Gandhi, "do not know what spirituality really
means." What do you think he was driving at, Libra? I'll tell you what I
think. Since he used the term "spirituality," not "religion," I surmise that
he wasn't referring to belief systems like Hinduism, Buddhism,
Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. Rather, he was talking about being guided
by love, seeking the highest good for as many people as possible, and
opening one's heart to the interconnectedness of everything. *That* was
the influence he wished to bring to politics. Your challenge in the coming
weeks, should you choose to accept it, is this: Give your political opinions
a makeover by infusing them with spirituality.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): This is a perfect time to brag about what you
can't do and don't have. Why? Think of it as a way to neutralize any
unsavory karma you may have accrued during outbreaks of excessive
pride or hurtful arrogance in the past. As an example of how to proceed, I
offer you the case of pop singer Enrique Iglesias. When asked by *The
Sun,* a British newspaper, if he would consider being photographed nude
for the cover of his future album, he said no. "I could actually have the
smallest penis in the world," he explained. With that as your inspiration,
Scorpio, get out there and start boasting in reverse.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Wrap your imagination around this
innovation, if you can: a gas-electric hybrid SUV that's a luxury car but
gets more than 40 miles per gallon and produces almost no smog-forming
emissions. Lexus has created this marvel, and it'll go on sale in early
2005. I'm certainly not suggesting you should buy it, but I do think it's an
apt symbol for the frame of mind you should cultivate in the coming
weeks: lavish yet efficient; high-quality and responsible; richly expansive
but smartly disciplined.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): According to "Harper's Index," many
Americans believe that "politics and government are too complicated to
understand." In fact, the average citizen thinks about politics just nine
minutes a day. In my astrological opinion, Capricorn, your life should belie
those statistics in the coming weeks. The future of your personal
happiness will grow brighter if you deepen your understanding of the way
government works. You will reap unexpected blessings from trying to
affect the political process, whether it's on the local or national level. And
what if you're not an American? My advice is the same. You may not have
as much compensatory work to do as we Americans, but you will still
benefit from intensifying your awareness of how your government
impacts your destiny.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): The seventeenth-century Pilgrims were
religious dissidents at odds with the Church of England. Persecuted for
their beliefs, some set sail for the New World in the Mayflower, seeking a
sanctuary to practice their spiritual principles in peace. They sighted land
after 66 days. A few of them wanted to cruise south along the coast to
Virginia, where the English Crown had promised them a grant of land. But
the majority overruled them in order to address the most pressing
problem: They had run out of beer. And that's why the Pilgrims ended up
settling on the first place they saw, the cold, rocky shore of what's now
Massachusetts. Upon landing, they immediately built a brewery. This
vignette is an apt metaphor for your near future, Aquarius. You, too, will
be driven by idealism to seek a haven where you can more purely be
yourself, but you will ultimately respond to pragmatic concerns as well.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): One of the poets who performed at the
poetry slam I just saw described how she used a needle and thread to sew
up the wound from her suicide attempt. It seems that a few minutes after
she slashed her wrist, she changed her mind and decided she wanted to
live. I don't foresee anything nearly as melodramatic happening in your
life, Pisces, but I do worry about you sabotaging yourself and then
regretting it. Now that you know you're susceptible to making that error,
however, I hope you'll forestall it altogether. Love yourself wildly and take
care of yourself fiercely in the coming days.
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HOMEWORK:
What's the one thing you would change about yourself if you could? And
why can't you? Testify by going to www.freewillastrology.com and
clicking on "Email Rob."
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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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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2004 Rob Brezsny
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