Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology Newsletter
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August 17, 2005
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http://www.freewillastrology.com.
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Dear Beauty and Truth Fans,
I'm getting ready to do podcasts. Even now, I'm leaning the
ropes and putting the technology in place. In the meantime, here
are links to free mp3s of three of my band's songs, "Apathy and
Ignorance," "Televisionary," and "In a Crisis." More to come.
http://www.freewillastrology.com/apathyandignorance.mp3
http://www.freewillastrology.com/televisionary.mp3
http://www.freewillastrology.com/inacrisis.mp3
You can easily download these songs and five others here:
http://www.freewillastrology.com/cds/mp3s.html
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And now here's an excerpt from my book
"PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA:
How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with
Blessings"
What If Your Desires Are Holy?
Some religious traditions teach the doctrine, "Kill off your
longings." In their view, attachment to desire is at the root of
human suffering. But the religion of materialism takes the
opposite tack, asserting that the meaning of life is to be found
in indulging desires. Its creed is, "Feed your cravings like a
French foie gras farmer cramming eight pounds of maize down a
goose's gullet every day."
At the Beauty and Truth Lab, we walk a middle path. We believe
there are both degrading desires that enslave you and sacred
desires that liberate you.
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Psychologist Carl Jung believed that all desires have a sacred
origin, no matter how odd they may seem. Frustration and
ignorance may contort them into distorted caricatures, but it is
always possible to locate the divine source from which they
arose. In describing one of his addictive patients, Jung said: "His
craving for alcohol was the equivalent on a low level of the
spiritual thirst for wholeness, or as expressed in medieval
language: the union with God."
*
Therapist James Hillman echoes the theme: "Psychology regards
all symptoms to be expressing the right thing in the wrong way."
A preoccupation with porn or romance novels, for instance, may
come to dominate a passionate person whose quest for love has
degenerated into an obsession with images of love. "Follow the
lead of your symptoms," Hillman suggests, "for there's usually a
myth in the mess, and a mess is an expression of soul."
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In Maldoror and Poems, the French poet Lautréamont wrote
about holy yearning disguised as mournful complaint. "Whenever
you hear the dogs' howling in the fields," his mother told him as
a child, "don't deride what they do: They thirst insatiably for the
infinite, like you, me, and the rest of us humans. I even allow you
to stand at the window and gaze upon this exalted spectacle."
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"The primordial fire that sparked millions of galaxies is the same
fire that sparks the human creative impulse." -Cindy Spring,
"The Non-Profit Universe," EarthLight, Summer 2002.
"The human reproductive drive is a watered-down version of the
godsex that spawned our solar system." -"Lieutenant"
Anfortas, the homeless guy in the Safeway parking lot . . . .
. . . To read the rest of
"WHAT IF YOUR DESIRES ARE HOLY," go here:
http://www.freewillastrology.com/beauty/
To read other pieces excerpted from
"PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia,"
go here:
http://www.freewillastrology.com/beauty/beauty.main145.shtml
To buy the book, use the links to Amazon.com and Powells,
which are on my homepage at http://www.freewillastrology.com
Or cut and paste the direct links below:
AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-
/1583941231/qid=1123690660/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-
1737423-7631942?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
POWELLS
http://www.powells.com/biblio/2-1583941231-2
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OTHER PRONOIA RESOURCES:
WEBSITE:
Good News Network at http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org
BOOKS:
*How We Choose to Be Happy: The 9 Choices of Extremely
Happy People,* by Rick Foster and Greg Hicks
*Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life,*
by Byron Katie
FILM:
*You and Me and Everyone We Know*
MUSIC
*I'm Wide Awake It's Morning,* by Bright Eyes
(Note: I endorse these because I like them. I get no kickbacks.)
Now please tell me your own personal nominations for PRONOIA
RESOURCES.
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning August 18
Copyright 2005 by Rob Brezsny
http://www.freewillastrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
ARIES (March 21-April 19): It's time to play a game called Do-It-
Yourself Horoscope! Here's how it works: I provide a skeleton
outline of your fortune, and you fill in the blanks. This exercise is
designed to boost your self-reliance and compel you to seek
answers more aggressively from your inner teacher--skills that
are especially important for you to develop right now. Ready?
Weave the following threads together to create your oracle. 1)
The magic toy is within reach. (2) Sexy heresies are risky and
wise. (3) It's good to take liberties as long as you do so with
gentle sensitivity. (4) Are you smart enough to be pregnant with
well-earned hope? (5) A funky asset is 18 percent larger than
normal. (6) The sinewy, supple, serpentine approach will require
all your concentration and provide all you need.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Born under the sign of the Bull, my
friend Sarah is a stupendously creative person. The flow of
fertile intuition never seems to stop. She attributes this blessing,
which is also a bit of a curse, to her relationship with an
imaginary friend she calls Eliza. "Eliza is mostly my mysterious
and helpful muse, but sometimes she fills me up with too much
good stuff," she says. "She can give me so many insights, ideas,
and inspirations that I feel like I'm going to explode." In the
coming week, Taurus, I suspect your experience will resemble
Sarah's. Would you like to know the best way to ensure the
abundance doesn't turn into excess? Make room in your life for a
flood of invigorating changes.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Wheat is an essential part of your
diet, but you've probably never harvested wheat plants in their
raw state and prepared them by hand for eating. If you did,
you'd begin by using a scythe to cut down the tall stalks in the
field. Then you'd beat them with a flail, separating the heads of
wheat from the straw. Next you'd remove the fibrous outer husk
that surrounds each kernel of wheat. Finally, you'd grind the
kernels in a mill, turning them into flour. I highly recommend that
you actually do this or something similar in the coming week,
Gemini. Focus on some precious form of sustenance that you
take for granted (either metaphorical or literal), and give
yourself firsthand experience of everything it goes through to
get from its source to you.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): The wisdom I'm about to offer is
always useful, but especially right now. Please take it to heart as
you wrestle with the tricky opportunities that are becoming
available. "The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the
manipulation of words," wrote Philip K. Dick in his essay, "How to
Build A Universe That Won't Fall Apart in Two Days." "If you can
control the meaning of words," he continued, "you can control
the people who must use the words."
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): A company's CEO is its chief executive
officer, and the CFO is its chief financial officer. Even if you
already serve in one of those roles, I'll ask you to give yourself a
different title for at least the next two weeks: CVO, or chief
visionary officer. In fact, please become an excitable purveyor of
thrillingly out-of-the-box ideas no matter what line of work
you're in, or even if you're unemployed. It's time for you to
dream up possibilities that have been inconceivable until now.
But also keep in the back of your mind this caveat, courtesy of
business visionary Tom Grueskin. When asked by *Fast
Company,* "Can the imagination ever run too wild?", he replied,
"The imagination itself, no. What's done with it, yes."
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): It's actually *not* the darkest just
before the dawn. The time when there is least light is about 2
a.m. Metaphorically speaking, you passed through that dense
dimness about ten days ago, and are now muddling through a
phase that's equivalent to the hour right before the dawn. It
may not be a cheerful romp through fantasyland, but neither will
it be a scary tribulation in a dank nightmare. You're almost home
free, Virgo. Don't you dare get superstitious on me now.
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EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES
In addition to the written horoscopes you get in this newsletter,
I offer Expanded Audio Horoscopes. They're $6 if you access
them on the Web, or $1.99 per minute 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
or if you prefer to pay by credit card
1-877-873-4888
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): Have you heard of the term
"doughnut lies"? They're what happens when people create
misleading impressions by leaving out important facts from the
center of what they say. Be especially careful to avoid them in
the coming week, Libra. Neither be victimized by them nor
victimize anyone yourself. It has rarely been more important
than it is right now to be devoted to the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth. (P.S. But it's fine to eat more than
your usual quota of doughnuts.)
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): I couldn't believe the show I saw on
the cable channel Spike TV: "Blind Date with a Crackwhore."
Fred, a twenty-something stockbroker, got set up on a date with
Propecia, a fortyish crackwhore. I watched with horrified
fascination as she rejected all his genteel attempts to create
rapport, constantly turning the conversation back to where they
could score some crack. I bring this to your attention, Scorpio, in
hopes it will serve as a shining example of how *not* to proceed
in the near future. You have in place everything you need to
experience a week full of intensely meaningful adventures with
allies who bring out the best in you. Therefore, don't flirt with
senseless, random distractions--like blind dates with
crackwhores, for instance. And don't do what I did, which is
waste precious time entranced by stupid crap. Give every spare
moment to capitalizing on the integrity-filled success that's
available.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Just as today's
fundamentalists quote the Bible to rationalize their persecution
of homosexuals, some 16th-century Christians used the good
book to justify slavery. I predict that our descendants will look
back with equally horrified amazement at both of these errors.
And that thought is a good introduction to your assignment in
the coming week, Sagittarius. What intolerant, ignorant, or
hidebound beliefs do you hold that will be embarrassing to the
Future You? It's a perfect time, astrologically speaking, to divest
yourself of them. (P.S. I don't mean to imply you're more
narrow-minded than the rest of us; we *all* have short-sighted
opinions we won't be proud of when we're older and wiser. It's
just that this is your special time to free yourself of yours.)
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): "There will come a time when you
believe everything is finished," wrote novelist Louis L'Amour.
"Yet that will be the beginning." He could have been describing
your life in the coming week, Capricorn. Just when you're sure
you've gone as far as you can go, worked as hard as you can
work, and exhausted all the possibilities, you will find the secret
to a sweet, fresh gamble that will awaken your most brilliant
innocence.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): While filming an underwater scene
for her upcoming movie "Into the Blue," actress Jessica Alba
accidentally found herself in uncomfortable proximity to a shark.
Rather than panic and flee, though, she thumped it on the nose,
causing it to swim away. I nominate her to be your role model in
the coming week, Aquarius. While I don't expect you to have a
literal encounter with a shark, I do expect you to have a brush
with a metaphorical version of that creature. The best response
will be a metaphorical version of a swift, simple jab delivered
with matter-of-fact courage.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In public restrooms everywhere, a
new kind of sign has appeared in recent years. It says, "Janitors
will no longer remove graffiti from the walls." I urge you to find
such a place in the coming week, Pisces, because it's there,
surrounded by a wealth of vulgar, cracked, and populist wisdom,
that you will get the precise revelation you need to make the
right decision; it's there you will see the exact writing on the wall
that cuts to the heart of your confusion and breaks open an
epiphany. You might also stumble upon other useful information
in equally shabby environments. For a limited time only, divine
reminders will come in unexpected forms.
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HOMEWORK:
Talk about how your best and worst overlap. Testify by going
to http://www.freewillastrology.com and clicking on "Email Rob."
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2005 Rob Brezsny
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