Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology Newsletter
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June 8, 2005
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Dear Readers,
My new book is now available. It's called
PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA:
How the Whole World Is Conspiring
to Shower You with Blessings
I'm going to ask you for a favor: Buy the book in your favorite local
bookstore. Buy it because you think you'll be inspired by its message, or
because you want to support me, or both.
If you prefer to get it online at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, or
Powells.com, great! For a link to my book's page on their sites, go to my
website at http://www.freewillastrology.com.
But the best thing you can do for the long-term success of the book is go
down to your local bookstore and get it there.
Now here's an excerpt from
PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA
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GLORY IN THE HIGHEST
Thousands of things go right for you every day, beginning the moment
you wake up. Through some magic you don't fully understand, you're still
breathing and your heart is beating, even though you've been
unconscious for many hours. The air is a mix of gases that's just right for
your body's needs, as it was before you fell asleep.
You can see! Light of many colors floods into your eyes, registered by
nerves that took God or evolution or some process millions of years to
perfect. The interesting gift of these vivid hues comes to you courtesy of
an unimaginably immense globe of fire, the sun, which continually
detonates nuclear reactions in order to convert its body into light and
heat and energy for your personal use.
Did you know that the sun is located at the precise distance from you to
be of perfect service? If it were any closer, you'd fry, and if it were any
further away, you'd freeze. Here's another one of the sun's benedictions:
It appears to rise over the eastern horizon right on schedule every day, as
it has since long before you were born.
Do you remember when you were born, by the way? It was a difficult
miracle that involved many people who worked hard on your behalf. No
less miraculous is the fact that you have continued to grow since then,
with millions of new cells being born inside you to replace the old ones
that die. All of this happens whether or not you ever think about it.
On this day, like almost every other, you have awoken inside a
temperature-controlled shelter. You have a home! Your bed and pillow are
soft and you're covered by comfortable blankets. The electricity is turned
on, as usual. Somehow, in ways you're barely aware of, a massive power
plant at an unknown distance from your home is transforming fuel into
currents of electricity that reach you through mostly hidden conduits in
the exact amounts you need, and all you have to do to control the flow is
flick small switches with your fingers.
There's more. You can smell odors and hear sounds and taste tastes,
many of which are quite pleasing. You can think! You're in possession of
the extraordinary gift of self-awareness. You can feel feelings! Do you
realize how improbably stupendous it is for you to have been blessed with
that mysterious capacity? And get this: You can visualize an inexhaustible
array of images, some of which represent things that don't actually exist.
How did you acquire this magical talent?
By some improbable series of coincidences or long-term divine plan,
language has come into existence. Millions of people have collaborated for
many centuries to cultivate a system for communication that you
understand well. Speaking and reading give you great pleasure and a
tremendous sense of power . . .
For the rest of "GLORY IN THE HIGHEST," excerpted from
PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia,
go here:
http://www.freewillastrology.com/beauty/
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning June 9
Copyright 2005 by Rob Brezsny
http://www.freewillastrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
ARIES (March 21-April 19): According to Steven Johnson's book
*Everything Bad Is Good for You,* TV is making us smarter. He says that
shows are becoming increasingly complex in their portrayal of moral
dilemmas, demanding that viewers stretch their mental capacities. I don't
necessarily buy his arguments, but I do think you'd be smart to imitate his
reversal of conventional wisdom. In your own life, an influence you've
considered suspect or even negative may soon reveal a benevolent side.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): According to recent polls, people no longer
think that most of the old Seven Deadly Sins are even sins, let alone
deadly. Greed is the only one of the originals that the majority still
regards as worth condemning, while anger, pride, gluttony, sloth, envy,
and lust have been demoted to minor lapses. What's your position on the
matter, Taurus? It's a perfect time to update your moral values and
redefine what it means to be on your best and worst behavior. Why?
Because violating your highest standards would be especially costly in the
coming weeks, while vigorously upholding your ideals would bring
unprecedented rewards.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Important messages will come to you via the
wind this week. I mean that literally. You may not be able to receive the
full impact of the revelations if you spend too much time indoors, so I
suggest that you spend as much time as possible in natural settings. Hike
briskly or sit quietly; either approach will work. Empty your mind as best
as you can, and attune yourself to the language of the breeze. Be alert
for the leaves it blows, the dust it stirs, the sound it makes, the voices in
your head it awakens, and anything else it might use to communicate with
you.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Let's say, hypothetically speaking, that you
went out for a long walk in the woods and got lost. Would you know what
to eat in order to avoid starvation? Here's a tip: If your shoes were
leather, they'd have sufficient nutritional value to keep you going. And
that's a useful metaphor for you to chew on in the coming week,
Cancerian. Your current state of affairs has similarities to a meandering
ramble through a deep, dark forest. You should be resourceful, even
experimental, as you gather the nourishment that will sustain you until
you find your way out.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Prince George's County in Maryland is one of the
most affluent African American communities in the U.S. While preparing
to build 20 new million-dollar homes in the area, a developer recently
discovered the ruins of an old slave cabin dating back to the 19th-
century. At the urging of historians, he agreed to restore it and make it
into a monument for the captive workers who once toiled in the tobacco
fields that used to be there. As you rise to a higher level of
accomplishment, Leo, you should consider creating a similar memento
that will remind you of how far you have come.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In early April, Star Wars devotees began
camping out in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. That
was where several Star Wars films had debuted, and the fans were sure it
would host the May 19th opening of *Revenge of the Sith.* Soon,
however, authoritative sources informed them that there were no plans
for the movie to be shown at Grauman's. Refusing to believe it, they dug
in for an extended vigil. As it turned out, they were deluded: Seven weeks
later, the final installment in the long-running series opened at the
ArcLight theater a mile away. Let their actions be a guide for what *not*
to do this week, Virgo. Don't you dare sit and wait for a supposedly
glorious event that is in fact never going to happen. Instead, turn your
attention to a more modest success, which will occur only if you're not
distracted by grandiose visions.
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"Rob Brezsny, the renegade wizard behind
the syndicated 'Free Will Astrology' column,
has dedicated himself to putting the 'pro'
back into 'protest.' In his new book,
PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA,
he presents his own irreverent manifesto,
mixing activism and optimism. It reads like
the I Ching on Ecstasy and is as insightful
and puzzling as a Zen koan."
-Frances Lefkowitz, *Body + Soul* magazine
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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): NASA's Deep Impact probe is scheduled to
bomb the comet Tempel 1 on July 4. It will then study the dislodged
material, which scientists hope will provide clues about the mysteries of
the solar system. Meanwhile, Russian astrologer Marina Bai has sued
NASA, claiming that a strike on the comet would "disrupt the natural
balance of forces in the universe." Personally, I side with NASA, since the
data that the probe gathers could help humanity deal with comets on a
collision course with the Earth in the future. Besides, disrupting the
natural balance of forces in the universe is sometimes the right thing to
do. In fact, I recommend that you yourself do just that in the coming
week.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scientists are on the verge of recovering the
lost treatises of Archimedes, ancient Greece's most brilliant
mathematician. The words were originally inscribed on an old parchment,
but were mostly erased in the 12th century by a Christian monk who
wasn't interested in math and needed a fresh surface on which to write
his prayers. Fragments of the ink that conveyed Archimedes' original
thoughts remained, however, and now physicists at Stanford are using a
particle accelerator to discern them beneath the newer text. Let this be
your guiding metaphor in the coming week, Scorpio. Look for ways to
retrieve precious information that has almost disappeared or that is
hidden by a source with little meaning to you.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Singer-songwriter Les Lokey has created
a host of "brain bombs," provocative slogans she likes to fling in the
direction of anyone who needs a hit of inspiration. Since you're in special
need of compassionate wake-up calls right now, I've borrowed a few brain
bombs for your use. Please carry out as many of the following
instructions as you can manage. (1) Combat aggression. (2) Act as if
creation is a reconciliation of extremes. (3) Try really, really hard to relax.
(4) Be a slave to your free will. (5) Love fiercely. (6) Surrender to
excellence. (7) Avoid hardening of the ironies.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Artist Max Ernst (1891-1976) specialized
in using creative techniques that relied on the element of chance. He was
a master of collage, assembling materials he got from newspapers,
botanical drawings, catalogs, and scientific journals. He also liked to run a
paintbrush over a piece of a canvas that was lying on a rough wooden
floor, thereby making an impression of the underlying texture. This
random approach drove some critics crazy, since it undermined the idea
that worthwhile art can only be made by trained experts. Ernst seemed to
imply that anyone could fabricate interesting stuff. He's your role model
right now, Capricorn. Let him inspire you to shed any beliefs you might
have that you're not creative. Capitalize on the element of chance to
bring novelty into everything you do. Be alert for lucky accidents that you
could take advantage of in order to freshen up everyone's perspective.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): If you want to buy a personalized jersey at
the National Football League's store, there's a list of 1,200 naughty
words that you may not have inscribed on the back. The taboo terms
include *creamy, pearl necklace, magic wand, fondle, glazed donut, lotion,
ass clown, tang, got2haveit, love rocket, show time,* and *get it on.* It
so happens that you would be wise to make liberal use of all these
concepts and others like them in the coming week, at least according to
my astrological analysis. I hope you weren't planning to order a
personalized NFL jersey.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Indescribable happiness is now available if
you'll melt down your ego in service to love. The object of your adoration
may be a special person, a beloved animal or place, or anything that stirs
you to lose yourself in life's sweetest mysteries. For best results, heed
these words from David Deida: "Give yourself to love itself, without a
shred of you remaining. Die completely into loving. When you return,
when your sense of self is recollected, you will be refreshed through and
through, washed awake by the innocence lying wide on the other side of
surrender."
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HOMEWORK:
I dare you to do something this week that you will remember with pride
and passion until the end of your days. Testify by going to
http://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 CD and promoting
my new book.
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
2005 Rob Brezsny
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