Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology Newsletter
"I think the whole world's gone mad."
"Nah. It's always been like this. You probably just don't get out
enough."
-Neil Gaiman in *The Sandman*
June 28, 2006
http://freewillastrology.com
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MID-YEAR PREVIEW OF YOUR DESTINY
In addition to hearing my fresh batch of Expanded Audio Horoscopes for
the coming week, you can listen to my long-term look at your destiny for
the coming five months.
For Web access:
1. Go to http://snipurl.com/krjm
2. Click on your sign
3. If you want to hear this week's Expanded Audio Horoscope, click on the
link that says:
"Hear This Week's Horoscope (06/27/2006 - 07/03/2006)"
4. Or if you want to hear your long-term forecast, click on the link that
says:
"Last Week (06/20/2006 - 06/26/2006)"
For phone access:
1. Call 1-900-950-7700
2. If you want to hear this week's message, press 2
3. If you want to hear your long-term forecast, press 3
If you prefer to pay for the phone version of the Expanded Audio
Horoscopes by credit card, call 1-877-873-4888
Or, if you live in Canada, call 1-888-499-4425 to purchase a Block of
Time with your credit card.
The Expanded Audio horoscopes cost $6 apiece if you access them on
the Web via RealAudio (discounts are available for multiple purchases), or
$1.99 per minute if you want them over the phone.
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ROB'S UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
Oregon Country Fair
http://www.oregoncountryfair.org
near Eugene, Oregon
Friday, July 7, 3:20-3:50 pm: Main Stage
book signing follows
Saturday, July 8, 1:10-1:50 pm: Stage Left
Sunday, July 9, 3:00-3:40 pm: Front Porch
Elliott Bay Bookstore
Seattle
Wednesday, July 12
6 p.m.
101 South Main Street
Seattle, Washington 98104
http://www.elliottbaybook.com
23rd Avenue Books
Portland
Thursday, July 13
7:30
1015 NW 23rd Avenue
Portland, OR 97210
http://www.23rdavebooks.com
Boulder Book Store
Wednesday, August 16
7:30
1107 Pearl Street
Boulder, CO 80302
http://www.boulderbookstore.com
Matter Bookstore
Thursday, August 17
7 p.m.
144 N. College Avenue
Fort Collins, CO 80524
http://www.wolverinefarmpublishing.org
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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
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BIGGER, BETTER, MORE INTERESTING PROBLEMS
Is there anything more dangerous than getting up in the morning and
having nothing to worry about, no problems to solve, no friction to heat
you up? That state can be a threat to your health. If untreated, it incites
an unconscious yearning for any old dumb trouble that might rouse some
excitement.
*
Acquiring problems is a fundamental human need. It's as crucial to your
well-being as getting food, air, water, sleep, and love. You define yourself-
-indeed, you make yourself--through the riddles you attract and solve.
The most creative people on the planet are those who frame the biggest,
hardest questions and then gather the resources necessary to find the
answers.
*
Conventional wisdom implies that the best problems are those that place
you under duress. There's supposedly no gain without pain. Stress is
allegedly an incomparable spur for calling on resources that have been
previously unavailable or dormant. Nietzsche's aphorism, "That which
doesn't kill me makes me stronger," has achieved the status of an
ultimate truth.
We half-agree. But it's clear that stress also accompanies many mediocre
problems that have little power to make us smarter. Pain frequently
generates no gain. We're all prone to become habituated, even addicted,
to nagging vexations that go on and on without rousing any of our
sleeping genius.
There is, furthermore, another class of difficulty--let's call it the delightful
dilemma--that neither feeds on angst nor generates it. On the contrary,
it's fun and invigorating, and usually blooms when you're feeling a
profound sense of being at home in the world. The problem of writing this
book is a good example. I've had a good time handling the perplexing
challenges with which it has confronted me.
Imagine a life in which at least half of your quandaries match this profile.
Act as if you're most likely to attract useful problems when joy is your
predominant state of mind. Consider the possibility that being in
unsettling circumstances may shrink your capacity to dream up the
riddles you need most; that maybe it's hard to ask the best questions
when you're preoccupied fighting rearguard battles against boring or
demeaning annoyances that have plagued you for many moons.
Prediction: As an aspiring lover of pronoia, you will have a growing knack
for gravitating toward wilder, wetter, more interesting problems. More
and more, you will be drawn to the kind of gain that doesn't require pain.
You'll be so alive and awake that you'll cheerfully push yourself out of
your comfort zone in the direction of your personal frontier well before
you're forced to do so by divine kicks in the ass.
*
In Chinese, the word "crisis" is composed of two characters. One
represents danger, the other opportunity. There has been no English
equivalent until now.
The Beauty and Truth Laboratory has retooled an English term to convey
a similar meaning: "kairos." Originally borrowed from Greek, "kairos" has
traditionally meant "time of destiny, critical turning point, propitious
moment for decision or action." In its most precise usage, it refers to a
special season that is charged with significance and is outside of normal
time; its opposite is the Greek chronos, which refers to the drone of the
daily rhythm.
These meanings provide the root of our new definition of the word. As of
now, when used in the context of a discussion of pronoia, "kairos" will
have the sense of "a good crisis, rich problem, productive difficulty."
*
"We should feel excited about the problems we confront and our ability to
deal with them," says Robert Anton Wilson. "Solving problems is one of
the highest and most sensual of all our brain functions."
*
The definition of "happiness" in the Beauty and Truth Laboratory's
"Outlaw Dictionary of Pronoiac Memes" is "the state of mind that results
from cultivating interesting, useful problems."
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To read other news and features 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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OTHER PRONOIA RESOURCES:
BOOK
*Life Before Life: A Scientific Investigation of Children's Memories of
Previous Lives* by Jim Tucker
FILM
*Polis Is This* -- a film about the poet Charles Olson by Henry Ferrini
http://snipurl.com/s0lv
RADIO
Lady Tongue
http://www.perk1000.com
RECORD LABEL
Six Degrees Records
http://www.sixdegreesrecords.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 June 29
Copyright 2006 by Rob Brezsny
http://www.freewillastrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
ARIES (March 21-April 19): A Malaysian woman survived a showdown with
a tiger. Kaliyama was working as a rubber tapper when the big cat slinked
up behind her and wrapped its jaws around her leg. "Amma! Amma!" she
cried out, invoking the name of the mother goddess. The tiger let go,
backed off a step, and glared at her. Summoning her courage, she gazed
back at it. After a few minutes of this staring match, the tiger departed,
leaving Kaliyama in peace. I advise you to use a similar approach in your
engagement with a beastly influence, Aries. Ask for the goddess's help,
then let your essence beam out through the windows to your soul.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In the game known as Rock Paper Scissors,
each player pumps a fist twice and then displays his or her hand in one of
three different shapes: flat to indicate a piece of paper, a fist to
symbolize rock, or index finger and middle finger extended for scissors.
Each of the three can beat just one of the other two. Scissors cuts paper,
paper covers rock, and rock smashes scissors. For centuries in many
cultures, this game has been used by pairs of people to settle small
decisions, such as who will wash the dishes this time or who will run to
the store to get beer. Though it's not usually invoked to determine
matters of great importance, you might consider bucking tradition this
week. It may be impossible to solve knotty questions through common
sense and negotiation. Why not try the Rock Paper Scissors approach?
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Sixty percent of Nigeria's population lives
below the poverty line. Yet according to the World Values Survey,
published in *New Scientist* magazine, Nigerians are the happiest people
on the planet. How can that be? It may have something to do with the
Survey's conclusion that "the desire for material goods is a happiness
suppressant." Sounds to me like the conclusion the Buddhists came to a
long time ago: Craving for earthly riches is the source of a lot of suffering.
Luckily, you Geminis are in a phase when you have great power to shift
your pursuit of satisfaction away from transitory, ephemeral, ultimately
useless pleasures and toward the truly gratifying, eternal ones.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): In 1982 I moved into a new home in Santa
Cruz. It was just a funky old cottage that had once been a barn, but I was
ecstatic to have it. As I opened the front door to begin my first day
there, a violet-crowned hummingbird bolted inside in front of me, stayed
for a few minutes, then departed. I regarded its visit as a phenomenally
good omen, and it turned out to be just that. During my years in that
house, I wrote my first book, recorded my first music album, fell in love
with the woman I married, and conceived my daughter. Almost exactly 24
years later, I'm meditating on your horoscope as I sit in my current abode.
"Send me a sign," I just said to the gods. "What's in the works for
Cancerians?" Now a violet-crowned hummingbird is dancing exuberantly in
front of my window, peering in, lingering a long time. I take it to mean
you're at the beginning of a great opening.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): According to the organization Human Rights
Watch, there are currently 2,225 American convicts condemned to life
sentences for crimes they perpetrated as teenagers. In contrast, the
entire rest of the world has only 12 prisoners in a similar situation. I favor
the more lenient approach that prevails on the planet outside of the U.S.--
not just for criminals but for everyone. Though most of us didn't commit
felonies when we were young, we all made big mistakes that caused
problems for us as well as others. Should we suffer for our sins forever? I
hope not. It so happens that the coming days will provide fresh
opportunities for you Leos to atone for and correct the wrong turns you
made way back when.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): HELP WANTED: looking for a smart operator
who has expertise in both rebellion and compromise. Must be willing to
break taboos if necessary in order to help people, but must also be a
sensitive and empathetic collaborator who's skilled at creating harmonious
solutions. Are you a rugged individualist with a strong sense of self or are
you a community builder who can get along with a wide variety of human
types? Both, hopefully. Be a good listener who expresses yourself clearly.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): If you set your mind to it, you could break the
world's record for most ketchup sipped through a straw in three minutes,
or the greatest distance pushing a tangerine down a highway with one's
nose, or the most jumps on a pogo-stick in the rain at dawn while wearing
a leather jumpsuit. For that matter, Libra, you now have the boldness,
physical vigor, and slightly crazed chutzpah to accomplish a whole range
of precedent-breaking feats, from halting an abuse of power you've been
putting up with to overthrowing the soggy status quo that has watered
down the passions of everyone in a group you care about.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The U.S. Congress creates a constant stream
of new legislation, but that doesn't mean President Bush has to enforce
it. Since he took office in 2001, in fact, Bush has chosen to disobey more
than 750 freshly minted laws. At the risk of getting you in trouble with
the powers-that-be, I'm advising you to make Bush your role model in the
coming week. Try to get away with ignoring any rules of the game you
don't like or agree with. To maximize your chance of sailing through
unscathed, proceed as Bush does--in a stealth mode, not calling attention
to the fact that you're in a rebel outlaw mode.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Please stick to drinking low-fat water in
the coming days; avoid the high-fat H20 whenever possible. Likewise,
inhale only the kind of oxygen that's low in cholesterol, and don't allow
your eyes to take in fatty landscapes or other calorie-rich sights. In other
words, Sagittarius, celebrate simple pleasures. To make best use of the
astrological opportunities, you've got to consistently choose the most
raw, basic options.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Last week's symbol was a closed fist. The
mood was determined, fierce, and intolerant of any funny stuff. But
you're leaving the zone in which that stance made sense. Your new
metaphor is the open hand. Your chances at succeeding will increase in
proportion to your willingness to negotiate for peace, seek connection,
and accept input. Receptivity is the Truth and the Way. "Why not?" is
your power mantra. To prime yourself for the transition, I suggest that
wherever you are right now, you spread your arms wide and unfurl your
welcoming palms.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): When you obsess on your adversaries, you
risk becoming like them. The more you shape your life through your
responses to things you don't like, you invite them to define your destiny.
You'll have to be on guard against falling prey to this mistake in the
coming weeks, Aquarius. While I don't suggest that you totally ignore the
forces that oppose you, neither do I recommend that you regularly wake
up in the middle of the night and spend hours plotting your next ten
moves against them. Confine your scheming to a circumscribed period--
say every Saturday between 11:30 a.m. and noon--and devote the rest of
your time to creating what you love.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Actress Isla Fisher won the Breakthrough
Performance award at the MTV Movie Awards for her role in the film
*Wedding Crashers.* "For most people, playing a bi-polar nymphomaniac
would have been a challenge," she said. "But I just played myself." She's
your role model for the coming week, Pisces. I hope she inspires you to be
yourself, only bigger and badder and brighter. It's like you have a poetic
license to proceed as if you're starring in the blockbuster movie of your
own life.
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HOMEWORK:
I like stories. Tell me a story about the person you miss most. Go to at
http://www.freewillastrology.com and click on "Email Rob."
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2006 Rob Brezsny
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