Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology Newsletter
February 28, 2007
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"Seeing all things as naked, clear, and free from obscurations, we
understand that there is nothing to attain or realize. Everything is
naturally perfect just as it is. All phenomena appear in their uniqueness as
part of the continually changing patterns of life. These patterns are
vibrant with meaning and significance at every moment . . . .
"The continual stream of new discovery, revelation, and inspiration that
arises at every moment is the manifestation of our clarity. We should
learn to see everyday life as a mandala -- the luminous fringes of
experience that radiate spontaneously from the empty nature of our
being. The aspects of our mandala are the day-to-day objects of our life
experience moving in the dance or play of the universe.
"By this symbolism the inner teacher reveals the profound and ultimate
significance of being. Therefore we should be natural and spontaneous,
accepting and learning from everything. This enables us to see the ironic
and amusing side of events that usually irritate us."
- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, *The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones:
The Practice of View, Meditation, and Action*
http://tinyurl.com/29mpom
and
http://tinyurl.com/yo9gyl
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WHAT'S TO COME?
BRAINSTORM ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE
with the help of my
Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Coming Year
Go to http://RealAstrology.com
You can still listen to my long-range, in-depth explorations of your destiny
in 2007. Each report in the three-part series is about 6-8 minutes long.
What will be the story of your life in 2007? How can you exert your free
will to create the adventures that'll bring out the best in you, even as you
find graceful ways to cooperate with the tides of destiny?
If you'd like a high-octane boost of inspiration to fuel you in your quest
for beauty and truth and love and justice and meaning, tune in to my
meditations on your long-term outlook.
A new short-range forecast for this week is also available, both on the
Web and at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.
To find out more about Your BIG PICTURE horoscopes, go to
http://RealAstrology.com.
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The piece below is excerpted from my book
"PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA:
How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings"
available at http://tinyurl.com/qaj62
or find out more at http://www.freewillastrology.com
MIRABILIA REPORT
(Mirabilia n. events that inspire wonder, marvelous phenomena, small
miracles, beguiling ephemera, inexplicable joys, changes that inspire quiet
awe, eccentric enchantments, unplanned jubilations, sudden deliverance
from boring evils; from the Latin mirabilia, "marvels.")
* The National Center for Atmospheric Research reports that the average
cloud is the same weight as 100 elephants.
* The seeds of some trees are so tightly compacted within their
protective covering that only the intense heat of a forest fire can free
them, allowing them to sprout.
* Thirty-eight percent of North America is wilderness.
* Anthropologists say that in every culture in history, children have played
the game hide and seek.
* With every dawn, when first light penetrates the sea, many seahorse
colonies perform a dance to the sun.
* A seven-year-old Minnesota boy received patent number 6,368,227 for
a new method of swinging on a swing.
* As it thrusts itself into our Milky Way Galaxy, the dwarf galaxy
Sagittarius is unraveling, releasing a thick stream of dark matter that is
flowing right through the Earth.
* A chemist in Australia finally succeeded in mixing oil and water.
* Except among birds and land mammals, the females of most species are
bigger than the males.
* The South African version of TV's Sesame Street has an AIDS-positive
Muppet named Kami.
* The sky not only isn't falling—it's rising. The top of the troposphere, the
atmosphere's lowest layer, is slowly ascending.
* To make a pound of honey, bees have to gather nectar from about two
million flowers. To produce a single pound of the spice saffron, humans
have to handpick and process 80,000 flowers. In delivering the single
survivor necessary to fertilize an ovum, a man releases 500 million sperm.
* Some Christians really do love their enemies, as Jesus recommended.
* Kind people are more likely than mean people to yawn when someone
near them does.
* There are always so many fragments of spider legs floating in the air
that you are constantly inhaling them wherever you go.
* "The average river requires a million years to move a grain of sand 100
miles," says science writer James Trefil.
* Because half of the world's vanilla crop is grown in Madagascar, the
whole island smells like vanilla ice cream.
* Your body contains so much iron that you could make a spike out of it,
and that spike would be strong enough to hold you up.
* In his book *The Physics of Immortality: Modern Cosmology, God and
the Resurrection of the Dead,* physicist Frank J. Tipler offers what he
says is scientific proof that every human being who has ever lived will be
resurrected from the dead at the end of time.
* In the Ukraine you can buy Fat in Chocolate, a food with a layer of dark
chocolate covering a chunk of pork fat.
* Robust singing skill is correlated with a strong immune system in
songbirds. Male birds with the most extensive repertoire of tunes also
have the largest spleens, a key measure of immune system health.
* Bali has 80,000 temples.
* Romanian physicists created gaseous globes of plasma that grew,
reproduced, and communicated with each other, thereby fulfilling the
definition for life.
* In an apparent attempt to raise their volume above the prevailing human
din, some nightingales in big cities have learned to unleash 95-decibel
songs, matching the loudness of a chainsaw.
* There is a statistically significant probability of world-class athletes and
military leaders being born when Mars is rising in the sky.
* Some piranhas are vegetarians.
* In the pueblos of New Mexico, bricks still measure 33 by 15 by 10
centimeters, proportions that almost exactly match those of the bricks
used to build Egypt's Temple of Hatshepsut 3,500 years ago.
* Childbirth is often joyful even though it's painful.
* In hopes of calming flustered lawbreakers, Japanese cops have
substituted the sound of church bells for sirens on police cars.
* Scientists believe they'll be able to figure out why cancer cells are
virtually immortal, and then apply the secret to keeping normal cells alive
much longer, thereby dramatically expanding the human life span.
* Clown fish can alter their gender as their social status rises.
* When she is born, a baby girl has all the ova she will ever have.
* Bluebirds cannot see the color blue.
* Gregorian chants can cure dyslexia.
* Bob Hope donated half a million jokes to the Library of Congress.
* Bees perform a valuable service for the flowers from which they steal.
* "Leafing through Forbes or Fortune [magazine]s is like reading the
operating manual of a strangely sanctimonious pirate ship," wrote Adam
Gopnik in *The New Yorker.*
* Revlon makes 177 different shades of lipstick.
* Your tongue is the strongest muscle in your body.
* The most frequently shoplifted book in America is the Bible.
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To read other news and features from my book, go here:
http://snipurl.com/l9o3
You can buy the book here:
AMAZON
http://snipurl.com/krjj
BARNES & NOBLE
http://snipurl.com/krjn
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OTHER PRONOIA RESOURCES:
PARADISE ENGINEERING
The Society for the Abolition of Suffering
http://www.bltc.com/
and
http://tinyurl.com/yw5bnx
ENVIRONMENT
"Five Western U.S. states have formed a regional pact, bypassing the
Bush administration, to cut emissions linked to global warming."
http://tinyurl.com/3dszvb
CRAZY WISDOM
"Honoring Our Collective Narcissistic Shadow: Why I Love George Bush
and Tony Blair" by Andrew Patterson
http://tinyurl.com/2egdl6
(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 1
Copyright 2007 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
ARIES (March 21-April 19): You're facing a classic Aries dilemma: You can
either run away from demanding responsibilities towards an illusory
freedom that might allow you to cling to a false sense of pride . . . or else
you can gleefully embrace interesting responsibilities that will build your
self-confidence as you fight for a whole new kind of freedom. The
outcome of this choice is uncertain, and won't be determined by invisible
vibrations beaming down on you from the planets. Everything depends on
whether you'll make use of your dormant reserves of willpower.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): "Cosmic giggle" was Terence McKenna's term
for an event in which the inherent benevolence of the universe suddenly
bowls you over with a delightful shockwave of synchronicity. He believed
you could and should actively court such eruptions. How? Take a vacation
from your obsessions. Relax the part of your mind that's so certain of
what it knows. Wander around like an innocent explorer in search of
anything that captivates your imagination. Or put on all red clothes, climb
to the top of a mobile home, and hurl a doughnut as far as you can as you
shout out the name of your beloved. Now is a perfect time to try this
strategy, Taurus. If "cosmic giggle" is too cute a term for your tastes,
dream up an alternative, like "karmic hiccup" or "universal orgasm" or
"infinite belly-laugh."
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Studies show that people in Utah take
antidepressant drugs at a rate twice the national average. Why? It may
have to do with Mormon culture, which is a dominant influence in the
state. The argument goes that church members feel they have to be
perfect and act happy no matter what's bothering them. If this is an
accurate assessment, the antidepressant glut in Utah may soon abate.
That's because Geminis living there (and all over the world, for that
matter) will just naturally be finding new ways to feel good by
acknowledging and dealing with the imperfections in their lives. Remember
how Salvador Dali said he didn't need to take drugs because he *was* a
drug? Well, I believe you will, in effect, be a natural antidepressant. You'll
have a talent for seeing interesting beauty in every situation, even
difficult ones.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): In his article "The Evolution of Culture," Cliff
Bostock says that many Europeans who emigrated to the New World after
1492 believed it was a magical land promising fabulous wealth and the
secret to eternal youth. Meanwhile, however, European scientists
developed the view that "everything in America -- from the land to the
people, animals, and plants -- was biologically inferior to its European
'originals.'" Some Cancerians have a comparable split about their
destinies. On the one hand, they idealize the past, imagining it to be
better or happier than the present time. On the other hand, they ache for
an idealized future that will be better or happier than today. Does that
describe you? If so, this your wake-up call. Right here and right now is
where all the interesting stuff is happening.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Would you like some inspiration as you muse and wonder about your
upcoming adventures in 2007?
You can still listen to my long-range, in-depth explorations of your destiny
in 2007. Each report in the three-part series is about 6-8 minutes long.
Go to http://RealAstrology.com
for these EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Welcome to the Season of the Oxymoron. During
this unsettling yet intriguing time, you'll have a poetic license to celebrate
all the paradoxes that drive you half-crazy and teach you how to be
vividly alive. Keep in mind that there are relatively negative oxymorons,
like "holy war," "military intelligence," "boring orgasm," and "selfish gifts,"
while there are also positive varieties, like "lyrical logic," "reverent rage,"
"wild discipline," and "aggressive sensitivity." I urge you to avoid the
former and embrace the latter.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In May 2005, while floating in a heated, heart-
shaped swimming pool in Milan, Italy, Andrea Pedrani and Federica Di
Venosa kissed underwater for 87 seconds. That's got to be a world
record, right? If their mark is ever broken, I bet it will involve at least one
Virgo and will happen in the next few weeks. By my reckoning, your tribe
is in a phase when you're capable of peak performances in both the erotic
arts and oceanic emotions; you're primed for transcendent acts of sensual
pleasure and rich amusements in warm, watery depths.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Russian economist Yevgeny Yasin told the
*London Guardian* that Russia's ongoing crises were severe, but that
there were two possible ways the situation could be salvaged. In the
wildly optimistic scenario, he said, the Russian people would correct the
problems themselves. In a more realistic scenario, extraterrestrials from
outer space would intercede and fix the problems for them. In your
personal life, Libra, the situation is exactly reversed. You may be
fantasizing about some improbable intervention that will arrive to rescue
you from your current dilemma, but the only truly practical approach is to
solve it yourself.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): As I contemplate the growing wonder of your
animal magnetism, my urge to spout poetry is uncontrollable. You're like a
dancing heron or a singing tiger or a snake spelling out words by assuming
different letter-shaped poses. You're a crazy-mirrored funhouse full of
tool-using ravens. You're a convention of laughing hyenas partying at a
watering hole on the other side of the tracks from paradise. In short,
you're as impossible to predict as a drunk hummingbird, as dangerously
smart as a shape-shifting fox from Japanese mythology.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): "Dear Rob: I was lying in my bed basking
in a sunbeam this morning, too comfortable to get up and take my
Prozac, when I thought, Hey, what if I'm not, you know, emotionally
challenged? What if I'm just lazy? Maybe if I worked harder at cultivating
happiness, I'd just sort of outgrow my depression--you know, render it
irrelevant. Do you have an opinion about this theory? -Slothful
Sagittarius." Dear Slothful: I'd have to know more about your personal
history to evaluate whether laziness is the cause of your depression. I do
know this, though: There are currently many Sagittarians who've become
lax about their pursuit of happiness. But the good news is that it's a
perfect time for your tribe to get very aggressive about mastering the art
of feeling really good.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Accountants at an Australian car insurance
company have found that Capricorns are the safest drivers. Correlating
birth data with crash rates, they found that your sign is the least accident
prone. This probably has to do with your renowned patience and
carefulness. While I applaud you for that accomplishment and urge you to
continue expressing your attention to detail while operating heavy
machinery, I also recommend that in the coming week you make room for
happier kinds of accidents. You need certain educational blessings that
only serendipity can provide.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Oops. I apologize, Aquarius, but this week's
horoscopes for the other signs are so long that I'm left with less than the
usual amount of space for you. I think you'll be fine, though, because
you're extraordinarily resourceful right now. You not only can make do
with smaller doses of everything, you can actually thrive and prosper that
way. Indeed, you actually *need* less of everything in order to be your
best.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Native to Africa and Australia, baobab trees
are oddly beautiful, with thick, bulbous trunks that can grow partially
hollow and thus serve as shelters for people and animals. They have an
enormous capacity for storing water, allowing them to survive during
draughts. Humans carve and paint their fruits, making them into
ornaments, and also use their leaves, fruits, and bark for food and drink.
The tree's large white flowers open only at night, and are pollinated by
bats. In all these ways, you remind me of a baobab right now, Pisces.
You're freakishly gorgeous, have enormous staying power and hundreds
of uses, are a rich source of nourishment and comfort, and bloom under
the moonlight, when you do your best collaborative work.
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HOMEWORK: What is the best gift you could give your best friend right
now? Testify by going to http://FreeWillAstrology.com and clicking on
"Email Rob."
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WANT TO GET YOUR CHART DONE?
I'm not doing personal charts these days, but I highly recommend my
favorite astrological colleague, RO LOUGHRAN. Her approach closely
matches my own. In our many discussions about astrology over the years,
we've had a major influence on each other's work.
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.YourSoulJourney.com
She can also be reached at roloughran@comcast.net
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2007 Rob Brezsny
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