Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology Newsletter
May 9, 2007
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
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"The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
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My book
"PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA:
How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings"
is available for sale at http://tinyurl.com/qaj62
Here's an excerpt from the book:
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, because 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.
I 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 my
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'll 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 . . . .
. . . To read the rest of
"BIGGER, BETTER, MORE INTERESTING PROBLEMS,"
go here:
http://tinyurl.com/2ceskw
++++++++++++++++++++++++
To read news and features from the book, go here:
http://tinyurl.com/2f3d92
You can buy the book here:
AMAZON
http://tinyurl.com/qaj62
POWELLS
http://tinyurl.com/3dsx6q
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
OTHER PRONOIA RESOURCES:
FILM
*Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony*
"The movie tells the story of black South African freedom music, and
reveals the central role it played in the long battle against apartheid."
http://tinyurl.com/2hratn
BOOK
*Reality Checks* by Roland Kriewaldt
http://tinyurl.com/27twjj
Sample Reality Checks: 1. Is there a means to your happiness that doesn't
require others to change? 2. If you don't become a source of love for
yourself, won't your cup always be empty when others depart? 3. Do you
seek advice on joy from the joyless; on faith from the faithless; and, on
wealth from the penniless? 4. Wouldn't occasionally taking the blame for
your mistakes help to convince others of your possible human origins?
MUTATION OF TIME
The world's first tidal-powered moon clock
"Imagine a breathtaking sculpture that combines cutting edge design and
technology with an ancient knowledge of the Earth's natural rhythms."
http://tinyurl.com/ytuwsk
(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 May 10
Copyright 2007 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I'm a big fan of facing your problems head-on
and dealing forthrightly with your pain. But what if that approach isn't
always best? Renowned psychologist Richard Lazarus said he wanted to
"challenge the view that psychological health demands full realism." He
believed that some sick people get healthy faster by refusing to admit
how serious their problems are. To those in stressful situations, he
recommended that they could reduce their anxiety by describing their
predicament in a matter-of-fact way. "Avoiding what is painful, to a great
extent, seems to serve a positive function," he concluded. Although I'm
not sure this strategy is universally applicable, I do recommend it for you
right now, Aries.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): To get misguided tips about how to invest,
check out Henry Blodget's "The Complete Bad Advice Column"
(tinyurl.com/ys4al8). For crabby, mean-spirited counsel about how to
conduct your personal life, listen to Dr. Laura's syndicated radio show
(drlaura.com). For silly chatter about trivial subjects, read the "most
intelligent woman in the world," Marilyn vos Savant
(marilynvossavant.com). But if, on the other hand, you'd like brilliant
guidance about where to direct your substantial life energy next, tap into
your own intuition. The astrological omens suggest that it's working
better now than it ever has. It's far more useful to you than any so-called
expert's blatherings.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The Yanyuwa aborigines of northwestern
Australia believe that music literally has curative properties. In one
traditional method, the healer sings a medicine song directly into the top
of the head of the patient. The sound circulates through the body, driving
out the illness or unease. According to my analysis of the astrological
omens, something resembling this approach could help chase away your
current malaise. Do you think you could find a shaman or shaman
wannabe to perform the musical "surgery"? If not, do the job yourself.
Spend 20 minutes a day singing the most potent healing songs you know
into your own head.
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AUDIO LOVE LETTERS
In addition to the horoscopes that you're reading here, I create more in-
depth audio horoscopes for your inspiration. Find out more at
http://RealAstrology.com.
The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or
1-900-950-7700.
"Your expanded astrology thingees help me remember who I really am." -
Gareth N., Toronto
"I never knew it was possible to get my butt kicked and my head patted
at the same time -- until I listened to your expanded horoscopes, Rob." -
Kristi P., Portland, OR
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CANCER (June 21-July 22): The counsel I'm about to offer is not given
lightly. If you choose to heed it, it could wreak discomfort and disorder, at
least initially. And you'll have to pump yourself up with more courage than
you're used to feeling. Still, I'm convinced it's the right thing for you to
hear; I believe that any breakdown it might engender will ultimately lead
to a breakthrough. So here's the advice, courtesy of Franz Kafka: "Don't
bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your
own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense
obsessions mercilessly."
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In 2005, former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani
was paid $100,000 for speaking at a fundraiser for tsunami relief. That's
a prime example of giving a gift with steel cable-like strings attached. Be
wary of this phenomenon popping up in your own life, Leo. Don't accept
such mixed blessings, and don't offer them, either. That's the cautionary
news. The encouraging news is that if you're vigilant in guarding against
generosity-that-isn't-really-generosity, the coming weeks will be favorable
for the giving and receiving of modest gifts that have a big impact.
Visualize Giuliani getting, say, an honorarium of $5,000 for his help in
raising money for a good cause, and you'll plant the right seed in your
subconscious mind.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I was enjoying a leisurely bike ride in a rural
neighborhood where I'd never been. The houses were sparsely placed
amidst overgrown meadows. The temperature was balmy. My endorphins
had kicked in and the fragrance of wildflowers had rendered me giddy.
Then my mood shifted suddenly. While rolling downhill on a one-lane road,
I hit a speed bump--freakishly, unexpectedly, right in the middle of
paradise. Why was it there? My bike stopped cold and I flew through the
air, landing awkwardly. The damage was minimal, and the shock was a bit
invigorating. Still, I advise you, Virgo, to watch out for and avoid a
comparable speed bump out there in the frontier you're exploring. There's
no inherent karmic necessity for you to experience an inconvenient
interruption like mine. Add 10 percent more caution to your roving and
rambling.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): "Ordinary life does not interest me," wrote
Anaïs Nin in one of her diaries. "I seek only the high moments. I am
searching for the marvelous." Normally I might discourage you from
pursuing that approach, Libra. You've got money to make and
appointments to keep and groceries to buy, after all. And doing those
tasks can make it hard to specialize in the marvelous. But for a limited
time only, the planetary powers-that-be are granting you an exemption
from the ordinary. More than that, actually: They're *insisting* on it. You
need intimate contact with unreasonable beauty, sweet anomalies,
beguiling ephemera, inexplicable joys, and small changes that inspire
reverence.
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This weekly newsletter, which includes my written horoscopes and
excerpts from my books, is always free.
Here are the paid services I provide:
My EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES are weekly spoken-word reports on
your destiny. They're three to four minutes long, and are available at
http://RealAstrology.com.
The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or
1-900-950-7700.
My DAILY TEXT MESSAGE HOROSCOPES are short, sweet bursts of
illumination delivered seven days a week to your cell phone or other
mobile device. You can sign up for them at http://RealAstrology.com.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): It'll be fine to eat ice cream with a fork this
week. It'll be kind of cool to enter through exits, too, and you may
generate good luck if you smash a mirror with a hammer or talk about
subjects you're normally too superstitious to broach. You should also
consider fixing things before they're broken, and listen ravenously to
what's *not* being said. But please avoid trying to drink coffee with a
sieve, Scorpio. Refrain from saying what you don't mean. And don't you
dare try to fall *up.*
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): "We were expelled from Paradise," wrote
Franz Kafka in *The Blue Octavo Notebooks,* "but Paradise was not
destroyed. In a sense our expulsion from Paradise was a stroke of luck, for
had we not been expelled, Paradise would have had to be destroyed." Do
those ruminations strike a chord in you, Sagittarius? I hope they move
you to turn your thoughts towards your own personal version of paradise-
on-earth. Consider the possibility that it was important for you to have
been exiled from that land of bounty once upon a time. Meditate on what
you'll need to do to prepare yourself to return to it when it becomes
accessible again in the future.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): "Most painting in the European tradition
involved painting the person's mask," wrote abstract expressionist painter
Robert Motherwell. "Modern art rejected all that. Our subject matter has
been the person behind the mask." Your next assignment is similar to that
of modern art's, Capricorn: to recognize everyone's persona, but delve
deeper to explore the maddeningly complex, crazily inscrutable,
gorgeously wounded soul that's hidden beneath everyone's persona. Strip
away the surface, in other words, and investigate the essence lurking
below.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): The zoo in Anchorage, Alaska built a
treadmill for its four-ton elephant. The cost was high--$150,000--but
hey, if you own an elephant, you'd better take good care of it, right? Use
this vignette as your operative metaphor, Aquarius. What's the symbolic
equivalent of an elephant in your life--some exotic resource or giant
responsibility or out-of-place treasure? Whatever it is, it needs extra care
and attention. I'm not saying you have to spend a load of money. But you
should at least spend some of your high-quality time.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Dear Pisces: We need a break from all these
words we use, all this rational discourse. So how about if we sing to each
other in a made-up language? Or we could use felt-tip markers to draw
pictures and symbols on each other's bodies. Let's jump in over our heads
and dance for each other underwater. Let's pretend we're two Helen
Kellers tapping out codes on each other's wrists and ankles. Let's scrawl
the stream-of-consciousness truths we want to express to each other on
golden cards, and read them aloud to each other like we're announcing
Oscar winners.
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HOMEWORK: Comment on the following hypothesis: "You know what to
do and you know when to do it." Testify by going to
http://RealAstrology.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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