Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology Newsletter
"If you love the sacred and despise the ordinary, you are still bobbing in
the ocean of delusion." -Lin-Chi, *The Taoist Classics,* translated by
Thomas Cleary
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March 1, 2006
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http://www.freewillastrology.com
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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"
available at http://snipurl.com/krjj
or find out more at http://www.freewillastrology.com
80 PERCENT RULE
Readers of my horoscope column "Free Will Astrology" are sometimes
surprised when I say I only believe in astrology about 80 percent. "You're
a quack?!" they cry. Not at all, I explain. I've been a passionate student of
the ancient art for years. About the time my overeducated young brain
was on the verge of desertification, crazy wisdom showed up in the guise
of astrology, moistening my soul just in time to save it.
"But what about the other 20 percent?" they press on. "Are you saying
your horoscopes are only partially true?"
I assure them that my doubt proves my love. By cultivating a tender,
cheerful skepticism, I inoculate myself against the virus of fanaticism. This
ensures that astrology will be a supple tool in my hands, an adaptable art
form, and not a rigid, explain-it-all dogma that over-literalizes and distorts
the mysteries it seeks to illuminate.
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During the question-and-answer segment of one of my performances, an
audience member got hostile. "Why do you diss science so much?" he
complained. "Science is the source of a lot of pronoia, so I would think
you'd love it."
My accuser obviously hadn't read much of my work. Otherwise he'd have
gathered many clues that belied his theory. In my column, for instance, I
often quote reverently from peer-reviewed scientific journals like *Nature*
and *Scientific American.* And I regularly extol the virtues of the
scientific method. "Some of my best friends are scientists," I teased the
heckler.
The fact is, I critique science no more than I do all of the systems of
thought I respect and use. I believe in science about 80 percent--the
same as I do in astrology, psychology, Deconstructionism, feminism,
Qabalah, Buddhism, left-wing political philosophy, and 22 others.
I do think science has the greatest need of loving skepticism, though. As
the dominant ideology of our age, it has a magisterial reputation
comparable to the infallibility accorded to the medieval Church. Its priestly
promoters sell it as the ultimate arbiter of truth; as an approach to
gathering and evaluating information that trumps all others.
Here's another problem: Though science is an elegant method of
understanding the world, only a minority of its practitioners live up to its
high standards. The field is dominated by men motivated as much by
careerism and egotism as by a rigorous quest for excellence. This is
common behavior in all spheres, of course, but it's a special problem for a
creed that the intellectual elite promotes as the premier method for
knowing the truth.
There's a further complication: Scientists are no less likely to harbor
irrational biases and emotional fixations than the rest of us. They purport
to do just the opposite, of course. But in fact they simply hide their
unconscious motivations better, aided by the way the scientific
establishment relentlessly promotes the myth that its practitioners are in
pure service to objective truth. This discrepancy between the cover story
and the actual state of things is, again, a universal tendency, not confined
to science. But it's particularly toxic in a discipline that presents itself as
the very embodiment of dispassionate investigation.
There are many scientists who, upon reading these words, might
discharge a blast of emotionally charged, non-scientific derision in my
direction. Like true believers everywhere, they can't accept half-hearted
converts. If I won't buy their whole package, then I must be a
superstitious, fuzzy-brained, New Age goofball.
To which I'd respond: I love the scientific approach to understanding the
world. I aspire to appraise everything I experience with the relaxed yet
eager curiosity and the skeptical yet open-minded lucidity characteristic
of a true scientist.
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SACRED ADVERTISEMENT
"The 80 Percent Rule" is brought to you by this excerpt from Deena
Metzger's prayer:
"Let us learn the secret language of light again. Also the letters of the
dark. Learn the flight patterns of birds, the syllables of wolf howl and bird
song, the moving pantomime of branch and leaf, valleys and peaks of
whale calls, the long sentences of ants moving in unison, the
combinations and recombinations of clouds, the codices of stars. Let us,
thus, reconstitute the world, sign by sign and melody by melody.
"Let us sing the world back into the very Heart of the Holy Name of God."
--Deena Metzger, *Prayers for a Thousand Years,* edited by Elizabeth
Roberts and Elias Amidon
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To read other pieces from my book, go here:
http://snipurl.com/l9o3
or
http://freewillastrology.com/beauty/beauty.main145.shtml
To buy the book, use the links to Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble,
which are on my homepage at http://www.freewillastrology.com
Or cut and paste the direct links below:
AMAZON
http://snipurl.com/krjj
BARNES & NOBLE
http://snipurl.com/krjn
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GOOD NEWS IS NO NEWS
http://snipurl.com/n1ve
By Steve Salerno
STEVE SALERNO's latest book is *SHAM: How the Self-Help Movement
Made America Helpless.*
THERE ARE stories you won't see, hear or read today. The employment
rate is 95.1%. About 29,564 domestic flights took off and landed
without incident. Four million Iraqi children got safely to school.
Meanwhile, their parents shopped, drove to work or otherwise went about
their daily routines, mostly -- overwhelmingly -- without getting
assassinated.
A pointless exercise in Pollyannaish thinking? Hardly. The foregoing has
major implications for how we get our news, what we conclude from it
and our perceptions of life itself. In its most elementary sense, after all,
newsworthiness is built on a foundation of anomaly -- the classic "man
bites dog" paradigm. (A second newsroom aphorism: "Nobody writes
about the planes that land.")
Though that sounds common-sensical enough, few of us pause to think
about the upshot of such truisms. That is, what you see each day on
television, read about in the newspaper or hear during those 22-minute
segments in which all-news radio stations promise to deliver "your world"
is not, in fact, your world. Rather, it is the negative image of your world.
Put another way, the news provides you with a high-resolution snapshot
of what life isn't.
The average person seldom regards his daily dose of news in this manner.
Despite any conscious awareness of "man bites dog," we internalize what
we see, hear and read. TV imagery, in particular, is bound to have a
strong visceral effect. If what we are shown is a tireless parade of the
dour, dismal and deadly, we can't help but be affected by it. We conclude
that the world is a pretty ugly place.
Worse, however, is that contemporary journalists don't just leave such
unfounded inferences to chance. They encourage them by going to great
lengths to distance themselves from their craft's "man bites dog"
heritage. To admit that what they're presenting is for the most part
marginalia would deflate the media's relevance in an environment in which
reporters and commentators view themselves as latter-day shamans and
oracles (the worst offenders being the high-profile TV journalists).
It follows that today's news often miscasts "man bites dog" as "dog bites
man." In an effort to heighten the import of what they report, journalists
reverse the bargain with their audiences, as if to imply that all planes
crash (or are about to), that all soldiers are killed in Iraq (or soon will be),
that all corporate executives are unprincipled (but simply haven't been
caught yet).
The overselling of discrete facts-- today's breathless endeavor to build
major "trend stories" out of random events, statistics and quotes —
serves up a circumstantial stew made of a spicy anecdote or two, and
maybe a minor research study, liberally seasoned with the assertions of a
compliant expert (who probably has a vested interest in the form of a
book he's hawking). It's intellectually dishonest.
Though the fallout from this "trendification" is everywhere, the following
are just a few examples from health and medicine, where the effect may
be most visible.
In the early 1990s, a smattering of HIV cases appeared among individuals
not then assigned to any known risk group; suddenly AIDS was moving
into the general population. (It didn't, and hasn't, and likely never will, at
least in the United States.) Despite a decade of media-inflamed mad cow
hysteria, the government reports just two infected animals in the nation
and not a single documented death among U.S.-born citizens. And now
there's bird flu.
Trendification also has weakened whole industries; certainly it has
savaged individual companies. Dow Corning Corp. is a good example.
Jumping off from a smattering of human interest stories, media outlets
damned silicone breast implants and ultimately helped plaintiffs win a
$4.25-billion class-action settlement. Subsequent research (which
received little publicity) suggested that journalists were hasty, even
reckless, in associating the implants with everything from nerve disease
to cancer. The revisionism came a bit late for Dow Corning, which was
forced into bankruptcy.
And the beat goes on. The TV newsmagazine "Dateline NBC" recently
elected to cover gastric bypass, a procedure with a survival rate of 99%,
in terms of the other 1%: a single young man who died.
In the end, today's media communicate two contradictory messages:
What they put before you (a) is exceptional, under the "man bites dog"
rule, and (b) captures the zeitgeist. They cannot simultaneously argue
both.
My advice would be to defer worrying about whatever the TV shows are
hyping until you begin seeing unending waves of good news. That's when
you'll know that the world is indeed a mess. In the meantime, the worse
the news, the better you should feel about life.
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OTHER PRONOIA RESOURCES:
THEATER
Marga Gomez
*Los Big Names*
One-woman show that just finished playing in San Francisco; opening in
New York in April
http://www.losbignames.com
SONG
"How Can I Keep From Singing" - Shaker Hymn
BOOK
*Men and the Water of Life : Initiation and the Tempering of Men* by
Michael Meade
http://www.mosaicvoices.org
http://www.mosaicvoices.org/page.cfm?ID=20
PHOTOGRAPHY
Astronomy Picture of the Day
http://snipurl.com/lbp
CRAZY SHAMAN
Martin Prechtel
http://floweringmountain.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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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning March 2
Copyright 2006 by Rob Brezsny
http://www.freewillastrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
ARIES (March 21-April 19): After viewing Shakespeare's *A Midsummer
Night's Dream* in 1662, diarist Samuel Pepys called it "the most stupid,
ridiculous play I ever saw in my life." French philosopher Voltaire had an
equally dim view of Shakespeare's *Hamlet.* "One would imagine this
piece to be the work of a drunken savage," he wrote in 1768. Pepys' and
Voltaire's opinions of the Bard ultimately became a minority view, of
course. Many modern analysts regard his work as among the best in
English literature. In the coming months, I predict there will be a similar
evolution in the consensus about certain events of your own past. Both
you and others will come to think highly of things once considered
worthless or aberrant. Redemption begins now.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): To celebrate this royal phase of your
astrological cycle, I would love to create a "Master of the Universe" crown
for you to wear, at least in your imagination. Since I'd like it to conform to
your exact needs and specifications, I'm soliciting your input. Please
visualize in great detail the kind of regal headpiece you want, then
communicate a vision of it to me telepathically. When it's done, I will set
it on your head in a dream, and ask you to not take it off for five days
and five nights.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I advise you not to take any of the following
actions in the coming week: getting a vanity license plate that says
2GD4U or SUX2BU; pretending you know stuff you don't; doing anything
that will later require you to tell someone, "I can explain everything";
getting cosmetic surgery that makes you resemble your favorite
celebrity; cleverly mocking people who haven't had the same luck and
privileges you've had. On the other hand, I do recommend that you
engage in actions like the following: giving theater tickets to a homeless
vagabond; doing a day-long impersonation of the person you want to
become; tapping into your talent for healing mischief as you comfort the
afflicted and afflict the comfortable; buying yourself a gift that will
compel you to stretch your capacities; doing a storytelling performance
for the people at an old folks' home; climbing a tree and singing songs
that inspire you to move more rapidly toward the future.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): It's official. The National Climatic Data Center
has confirmed that the weather went crazy in the U.S. last year. From
Fresno's 21 consecutive days of 100-degree temperatures to record
rainfall in Las Vegas, Wichita, and Pensacola, extreme conditions became
commonplace. For you, Cancerian, the coming weeks will have a certain
metaphorical resemblance to last year's profusion of weather anomalies.
For instance, you can expect events that are akin to hailstorms from
sunny skies and triple rainbows at dawn. But that won't be a problem as
long as you vow to be intrigued and entertained, not thrown off course,
by the interesting outbreaks of wild phenomena.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): "Human beings are often unable to receive
because we do not know what to ask for," writes Malidoma Some in his
book *Of Water and the Spirit.* "We sometimes can't get what we need
because we do not know what we want." Your task in the coming week,
Leo, is to make sure you don't fit his description. How? Devote yourself
to the glorious quest of decoding your most fundamental riddle: What is it
you want more than anything else? Once you know, take a pledge to put
that desire at the center of your life.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): It will be a rather animalistic week, Virgo--or at
least it *should* be. I suggest that you learn to feel more trust in your
primal instincts; find out more about the part of you that doesn't use
words. If you've got the luxury to experiment, see what it's like when you
give your inner beast permission to express all of its creativity. The
coming days will also be prime time to befriend lone wolves, horse around
with wise old owls, welcome back lost sheep, play possum with jackasses,
and flirt with sacred cows.
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EXPLORE THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE
with my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Coming Year
How can you best cooperate with the opportunities and challenges that
2006 will bring you? What are the blessings that life is likely to offer you
as a spur to your growth? Would you like some inspiration as you survey
your destiny from the mountaintop perspective?
To access my IN-DEPTH, LONG-TERM AUDIO FORECASTS FOR YOUR LIFE IN
2006, go here:
http://snipurl.com/krjm
Click on your astrological sign, then choose either part 1, part 2, or part 3
of my BIG PICTURE look at your future--or even all three parts, if you're
feeling adventurous.
You can also choose to listen to my short-range outlook for the coming
week.
The Expanded Audio Horoscopes cost $6 apiece if you access them on
the Web via RealAudio.
You can also hear them over the phone for $1.99 per minute.
From the United States, call
1-900-950-7700
or
1-877-873-4888.
If you live in Canada, call
1-888-499-4425.
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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Indian director T. Rajeevnath is in the early
stages of planning his 11th film. It will be a story about Nobel Peace
Prize-winner Mother Teresa. Among the small group of actresses he's
considering to play the title role is none other than the American celebrity
Paris Hilton. Apparently Rajeevnath can sense something in Hilton that is
invisible to many of the rest of us. I urge you to be like him in the coming
days. Be on the lookout to find value in things that no one else esteems.
Find the hidden beauty that everybody has missed. Hunt for riches in the
least likely places.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): I swear the strange woman standing near me
at L.A.'s Getty Museum was having an erotic experience as she gazed
upon van Gogh's *Irises.* She wasn't touching herself, nor was anyone
else. But she was apparently experiencing waves of convulsive delight, as
suggested by her rapid breathing, shivering muscles, fluttering eyelids,
and sweaty forehead. Fifteen minutes later, I saw her again in front of
Jean-Honoré Fragonard's *The Fountain of Love.* She was only slightly
more composed. In a friendly voice, I said, "This stuff really moves you,
doesn't it?" "Oh, yeah," she replied, "I've not only learned how to make
love with actual flowers and clouds and fountains, I can even make love
with paintings of them." Your assignment in the coming weeks, Scorpio, is
to take a page from this woman's Kama Sutra: Figure out how to achieve
rapturous communion with absolutely *everything.*
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): "They say a thing is holy if it makes you
hold your tongue," muses a character in John Crowley's fantasy novel
*Engine Summer,* speaking of the difference between his culture and
another. "But we say a thing is holy if it makes you laugh." Let this be a
seed thought as you re-evaluate and take inventory of what constitutes
holiness for you, Sagittarius. According to my reading of the astrological
omens, you will thrive if you spend quality time in sacred space seeking
out uncanny experiences that kindle feelings of adoration and awe and
amusement.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You will soon experience an upsurge in
brainpower--perhaps as much as a 10-point increase in your IQ. I believe
the events that heighten your intelligence will involve you doing
something brave and resourceful. It's possible, for instance, that you'll
dive into a frigid river to save a drowning child or race into a burning
building to rescue a beloved animal. Or perhaps your courage will be more
subtly expressed: You will offer forgiveness to someone who has wronged
or you will speak the difficult but necessary words that everyone has
been afraid to articulate.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I'm not necessarily advising you to vent
your frustrations by going out after midnight and filling up random
strangers' mailboxes with ice cream. Nor do I suggest that you express
any of your itchy, inarticulate emotions by using felt-tip markers to scrawl
"The people in this place eat kittens" on the wall of an institution that
messed with you. Both of those actions might get you arrested, and the
proper way to channel your angst is not to do something that sabotages
you but rather that elevates and enlightens you. So please figure out an
ingenious, constructive way to get your dark yayas out.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Of all the arguments made in favor of getting
regular exercise, I rarely hear the one that's most important to me: Do it
because it strengthens and tones the power of your will. When you get
used to rousing yourself out of your physical inertia, the habit carries over
into the mental and spiritual sphere. You find it easier to force yourself
out of your comfort zones and push toward the next frontier. You're less
likely to procrastinate and accept mediocrity, and you actually enjoy
challenging yourself with worthy goals that require strenuous effort. It's
now the will-building season for you, Pisces. You know what to do.
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HOMEWORK:
What do you want to be when you grow up? 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.
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
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I totally respect your privacy. I'll never sell or give away your address to
anyone.
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2006 Rob Brezsny
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