Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology Newsletter
Can you imagine
what it would be like
to become aware
of an omnipresent ocean
of wild divine love
that has always been a secret to you
in the same way
that the sea is invisible to a fish?
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September 14, 2005
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http://www.freewillastrology.com.
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PUBLIC APPEARANCES:
I'll be doing three gigs in the upcoming days:
KZSC RADIO
Mike Sammet's "Talkabout" show
Wednesday, September 14, 7 PM PDT
Listen on the Web here: http://ebcba.com/talkabout
GATEWAYS BOOKS
Thursday, September 15 at 7:00 pm
Santa Cruz, California
1126 Soquel Avenue
http://www.gatewaysbooks.com
EARTHDANCE
Friday, September 16 at 3:30
Main Stage
Laytonville, California
For more info: http://www.earthdance.org
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Check out the story about me and the new book in the "Free Times":
http://www.free-times.com/reviews/book_reviews/pronoia.html
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Here's an excerpt from my book
"PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA:
How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings"
FEAR OF BEAUTY?
The Italian City of Florence harbors the richest trove of art treasures in
the world. Its many museums are hot spots for outbreaks of a rare
psychological disorder. Foreign tourists sometimes experience
breakdowns while standing in the presence of the tremendous beauty,
and are rushed to the psychiatric ward of Florence's Santa Maria Nuova
Hospital.
"Many visitors panic before a Raphael painting," reports Reuters. "Others
collapse at the feet of Michelangelo's statue of David."
Psychiatrists have named this pathology the Stendahl Syndrome, after the
French novelist who wrote about his emotional breakdown during a visit
to the city's art collection in 1817.
As you embark on your explorations of pronoia, you should protect
yourself against this risk. Proceed cautiously as you expose yourself to
the splendor that has been invisible or unavailable to you all these years.
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To read other pieces from the book, go here:
http://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:
ARTICLE:
"Does Burning Man Defy Katrina?" by Mark Morford:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-
bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2005/09/07/notes090705.DTL
BOOK:
*Jitterbug Perfume* by Tom Robbins
SONG:
"Flood of Sunshine" by the Posies from *Dear 23*
FILM:
*Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks*
http://www.tttpictures.com/filmography.html
WEBSITE:
Ethical Traveler
http://www.ethicaltraveler.com
(Note: I endorse these because I like them. They're not advertisements,
and I get no kickbacks.)
Please tell me your own personal nominations for PRONOIA RESOURCES.
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The winner of last week's contest was Karyn Huggett of St. Paul, MN. She
was the first to identify the naughty, controversial, and dissident words
that might have triggered thousands of my subscribers' spam filters. I
can't tell you the words because they might trip the spam filters again!
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning September 15
Copyright 2005 by Rob Brezsny
http://www.freewillastrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
ARIES (March 21-April 19): "Something we were withholding made us
weak," wrote poet Robert Frost. I hope you will consider the possibility
that this describes your current predicament. It's my astrological opinion
that your strength is being compromised by a feeling you're not exploring
or an experience you're denying yourself or a gift you're refusing to give.
You may think you're protecting yourself, but I believe it's just the
reverse. To reclaim the vitality that has been shriveling up, unclench
yourself in every way you can imagine.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): I don't recommend that you aim for
perfection--not now or ever. I'm equally skeptical of you seeking
enlightenment, as it's defined by Eastern religions. Perfection and
enlightenment are downright impossible in a world where change is the
only constant. What constitutes perfection or enlightenment today won't
be valid tomorrow, when the truth has evolved and God has showered us
with an influx of previously unimaginable new circumstances. No, Taurus,
what I suggest is that you cultivate love with all your ingenuity--both the
capacity to give it and receive it. There's no other undertaking that does
more to build up your power and intelligence. And this week is an ideal
time to be living proof of that fact.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The Epson laser printer I got for my computer
two years ago has worked great. It serves my needs beautifully. Our
household also has a newer, more expensive Epson printer, which I bought
for another computer, but it doesn't work nearly as well. Unfortunately,
the beloved original now has a malfunction, and I can't find a single printer
repairperson who'll even try to fix it. They say it's an antique, and Epson
doesn't make parts for it anymore. Nonetheless, I'm determined to save
it. I'm scouring eBay for old parts, and will learn printer repair skills myself
if necessary. This is one time when the older version is definitely worth
preserving. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, Gemini,
you're facing a similar problem with a comparable solution.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): "If you want to draw a bird, you must become
a bird," counseled the Japanese artist Hokusai. Indian activist Mahatma
Gandhi practiced a related strategy: "You must be the change you wish to
see in the world." I have yet another perspective to add to the mix:
Become more like the people you admire most. Place these three
suggestions at the core of your daily rhythm in the coming week,
Cancerian.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): "It ain't cheating if you don't get caught," said
baseball star Billy Martin, who was renowned for his belligerent trickster
shtick. Trainer Victor Conte, who has been accused of providing steroids
to professional baseball players, offers a different angle: "It's not cheating
if everyone is doing it." I beg you to disavow their beliefs, Leo. While it's
true that everyone is doing the kind of fudging you're contemplating, and
though you probably wouldn't be caught, to do so would be bad for your
karma, your dharma, your charisma, and your ability to attract what you
need. Be stupendously ethical, sublimely impeccable.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The planetary omens for you are all about
revelation and flashes of insight, so I don't think I'm being too
outrageously optimistic when I predict that the coming days will bring you
more "aha!"-type experiences than you've had in the past four months
combined. In fact, I'll be bold and call this Eureka Explosion Week. To get
yourself in the mood, read these definitions of the word "epiphany": a
stroke of realization about the meaning of something important; a sudden
flow of inspiring knowledge without thought; a perception of a previously
hidden reality by means of a burst of intuition.
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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): Some years ago, I fell in love with the wrong
woman. The misadventures that ensued provided me with enough reasons
to stay humble forever. The experience was proof that I'm as subject to
bouts of self-deception as everyone else in the world. It was also a
reminder that while some people might consider me wise, I'm at best an
apprentice mage stumbling my way through a crash course in the
mysteries of being a human being. My gratitude for all these educational
blessings has been enormous. I bring this to your attention, Libra,
because now is a good time to marshal your appreciation for comparable
pride-leveling events in your own life. Since you're poised on the verge of
a new phase of success, it's the perfect moment to recall how much you
still have to learn.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Sometime in the coming weeks you could
begin a project that will take at least 12 years to complete. Will it be
worth spending that much time? I believe it will, though you might not
think so now. In fact, you may not even be inclined to launch the project
if you imagine it can't be completed by 2008. From what I can tell,
though, the purpose of the long adventure is bigger than you're able to
foresee, and the ways it will change you are important in ways you cannot
yet understand.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Let's work on dissolving one of your
fears. The time is right: Cosmic forces are aligned to help you pump up
your courage. In fact, life is conspiring to bring you experiences that could
free you of harmful anxieties and wipe away phobic imprints. So choose a
feeling of dread--any feeling of dread--and visualize it embodied in front
of you in the form of a specific scene. Now picture the scene unfolding on
a large raft at a beach. Start laughing at what's transpiring; compel
yourself to chuckle if necessary, or focus on anything you find ridiculous.
Notice that the force of your laughter is propelling the raft out to sea.
Keep giggling and guffawing, pushing it further and further out until it
disappears over the horizon. Do this exercise once a day until October 1.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): It's a ripe moment for you to explore the
mysteries of the void. I'm not being glib. You'd really benefit from
becoming better friends with emptiness. Your well-being would rise a few
levels if you expanded your appreciation for the value of doing nothing
and thinking nothing. Do you dare live without your precious opinions and
ambitions for a few days? Are you brave enough to gaze into the heart of
the great unknown and be free of the need to explain it, change it, or
judge it?
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): A few years ago, the CEO of Ford Motors
apologized for making SUVs. William Ford even referred to the Excursion,
one of his company's huge pollution generators, as the "Ford Valdez,"
associating it with the ship that despoiled the Alaskan environment with
an oil spill back in 1989. And yet that didn't stop Ford from continuing to
manufacture gas-guzzlers. He saw the error of his ways but didn't correct
it. Make him your anti-role model in the coming days, Aquarius. After you
realize your mistake or excess, be gleefully uninhibited about fixing it and
making amends.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): A blogger named Allison wrote this about me
and my horoscopes at Beautifulsurprise.blogspot.com: "Brezsny's a little
loopy. A little out there. A little 'I would have stopped for that red light,
officer, but little green men from my personal goddess realm on the fifth
parallel told my cat that I should be taking echinacea and bee pollen for
my sniffles, and I didn't think it prudent to ignore such a suggestion.'"
Here's my reaction: Like all of us, I periodically come across people who
have a very different concept of me than I have of myself, but this
discrepancy is extreme. In my own eyes, I'm grounded and full of common
sense. And while I appreciate the New Age, I don't use its vernacular or
share all of its values. I mention this, Pisces, as an example of your
assignment in the coming week. Identify people with cracked notions
about you, and either correct them or separate yourself from them.
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HOMEWORK:
Is there an area of your life where you're having effects that are different
from your intentions? 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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