Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
July 11, 2007
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http://FreeWillAstrology.com
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"Loving-kindness (maitri) toward ourselves doesn't mean getting
rid of anything. Maitri means that we can still be crazy, we can still
be angry. We can still be timid or jealous or full of feelings of
unworthiness. Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw
ourselves away or become something better. It's about befriending who
we are already."
- Pema Chodron, *Comfortable with Uncertainty*
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WHAT'S AHEAD FOR YOU in the next six months?
EXPLORE THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE
with my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Second Half of 2007
To hear my IN-DEPTH, LONG-TERM AUDIO FORECAST for YOUR LIFE
between now and January 1, 2008, go here:
http://tinyurl.com/ooga5
Log in and click on the link
"Long Term Forecast for Second Half of 2007"
You can also listen to your short-term forecast for the coming week by
clicking on "This week (July 10, 2007)."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
To read news and features from the book, go here:
http://tinyurl.com/2uhvjl
Here's an interview with me concerning the book:
INTERVIEW WITH ROB
by Glen Starkey
of the San Luis Obispo New Times
http://www.newtimesslo.com/
GLEN STARKEY: Your book "PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia" isn't so
much about astrology as it is about philosophy. How does what you do in
your weekly "Free Will Astrology" column connect to what your book is
about?
ROB BREZSNY: The book is a discussion of the philosophy that underlies
and informs the column. I believe everyone's life is a labyrinth with a
reward at the center, not a minefield in which fear should be one's
primary guide. I explain why in the book.
GLEN STARKEY: As I read it, your book is about training oneself to see the
world through optimistic eyes, to not dwell on the occasional bad thing
that happens and instead focus on all the things that go right, every day,
all the time. What led you to this idea?
ROB BREZSNY: Let me comment on the first statement. It's true that I
urge people not to dwell on the occasional bad thing that happens.
However, it's important to note that pronoia doesn't ask you to ignore or
suppress problems. On the contrary, just as pronoiacs retrain themselves
to notice and feel gratitude for all the beauty and largesse in the world,
they also retrain themselves to see every problem as a gift that is
designed to make them smarter, kinder, and more fully alive.
As for what led me to these ideas: I'm a natural-born rebel; I enjoy
identifying the conventional wisdom in every situation, and turning it on
its head. Today the conventional wisdom is that everything is falling
apart, that the world is a terrible place to live, that bad things
predominate. The most taboo possibility of all is the idea that the world is
full of beauty and that life is on our side. I gravitate toward that
perspective because everything in my life has confirmed it and because
my job is to do everything I can to overthrow the status quo.
GLEN STARKEY: Are you able to put into practice all that your book
suggests, or is attempting to exert pronoia an ongoing struggle?
ROB BREZSNY: I am by no means a master of pronoia. But I enjoy the
struggle to immunize myself against the insane culture-wide obsession
with pathology; I enjoy the hard work of retraining myself to bask in the
nonstop flood of daily miracles.
GLEN STARKEY: If you were to tell someone one thing in your book that's
the most important tidbit of knowledge, what would it be?
ROB BREZSNY: You always get exactly what you need, exactly when you
need it. Not exactly what you want, exactly what you want, mind you. Life
unfailingly presents you with what your soul needs, which isn't necessarily
what your ego wants.
GLEN STARKEY: Who should read this book, and who shouldn't?
ROB BREZSNY: Who shouldn't read this book: Cynics whose entire identity
and self-image are wrapped up in being cynical. My book may be unlikely
to crack through their fanatical bias against admitting how much beauty
and blessing the world is filled with, but if it did they would most likely
suffer from a nervous breakdown.
Who should read this book: everyone else.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
To read other news and features from my book, go here:
http://tinyurl.com/lhwx2
You can buy the book here:
AMAZON
http://tinyurl.com/qaj62
POWELLS
http://tinyurl.com/3dsx6q
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
OTHER PRONOIA RESOURCES:
What's more pronoiac than your dreams, which are regular communiqués
from your deep self?
Here are three of the best books I know about on dreaming:
*Radical Dreaming: Use Your Dreams to Change Your Life*
by John D. Goldhammer
http://tinyurl.com/ysfdzf
*Breakthrough Dreaming* by Gayle Delaney
http://tinyurl.com/2a5geb
*Conscious Dreaming: A Spiritual Path for Everyday Life*
by Robert Moss
http://tinyurl.com/yubdmd
*Dreamworking: A Comprehensive Guide to Working With Dreams*
by Strephon Kaplan-Williams
http://tinyurl.com/2586do
*Inner Work: Using Dreams and Active Imagination for Personal Growth*
by Robert A. Johnson
http://tinyurl.com/yugt77
(Note: I endorse these because I like them. This is not an advertisement,
and I get no kickbacks.)
Please tell me your own personal nominations for PRONOIA RESOURCES.
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning July 12
Copyright 2007 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
CANCER (June 21-July 22): To celebrate your ramble through the most
wildly independent phase of your astrological cycle, I'm offering you three
inspirational quotes. The first is from poet e.e. cummings: "To be nobody
but yourself in a world that is doing its best day and night to make you
like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle that any human
being can fight." Your second shot of motivation is from Clarissa Pinkola
Estes: "If you have ever been called defiant, incorrigible, forward, cunning,
insurgent, unruly, or rebellious, you're on the right track. If you have
never been called these things, there is yet time." Lastly, here's a Hindu
proverb: "There is nothing noble in being superior to some other person.
The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self."
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): What is the meaning of life? Is there such a thing
as free will? Why is there something rather than nothing? If God exists,
why does he or she seem to be invisible? Dear Leo, questions like those I
just asked are completely irrelevant to you right now. To ponder them for
even a few minutes would be a waste of time. Here, on the other hand,
are the kinds of questions that will lead you in the direction you need to
go. What is your greatest fear and what can you do to diminish it? How
could you become smarter about the way you love? What pose would it
be a big relief for you to drop? Which of your wounds is primed for a
dramatic healing, and what's the best way to begin the cure?
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): "The things that can destroy us," said Gandhi,
"are politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth
without work; knowledge without character; business without morality;
science without humanity; and worship without sacrifice." You Virgos are
better than most signs at avoiding six of those dangers. The one you're
most prone to get tripped up by is knowledge without character. The
coming weeks will be an excellent time to check in with yourself to see if
you're guilty of that flaw, and then, if you find a shortfall, take steps to
correct it. Make sure that you're not only being smart, but also wise.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): It's Welcome Your Challenges with Open Arms
Week. To take maximum advantage of this festive occasion, practice
being grateful for your interesting difficulties; remind yourself of how
much smarter and stronger they can make you. Celebrate the riddles and
dilemmas that have helped and will continue to help transform you into
such a uniquely gorgeous creature. Now study these words of wisdom
from playwright Theodore Rubin: "The problem is not that there are
problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having
problems is a problem."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
WHAT'S AHEAD FOR YOU in the next six months?
To hear my IN-DEPTH, LONG-TERM AUDIO FORECAST for YOUR LIFE
between now and January 1, 2008, go here:
http://tinyurl.com/ooga5
Log in and click on the link
"Long Term Forecast for Second Half of 2007"
You can also listen to your short-term forecast for the coming week by
clicking on "This week (July 10, 2007)."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): I asked my readers to make a prediction
about what age they'll be when they finally know exactly who they are. "I
hope I NEVER completely know who I am!" wrote Bridjet. "I love
discovering new things about myself, and to change as everything else
around me changes. It is one of the most beautifully thrilling things about
life." If you share that perspective, Scorpio, the coming days should be
pretty fun. You're likely to become dramatically more mysterious to
yourself. You'll be evolving, even mutating, in ways that may amaze you,
and you'll be coming face to face with hidden aspects of yourself. Let the
confounding, enriching expansion begin!
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): After studying the astrological omens
and consulting with an elite panel of 20 village idiots, my team of
horoscope experts has determined that at least once in the coming week
you would be wise to wander around town with no particular goal,
responding with innocent enthusiasm and hungry curiosity to whatever
scenarios you happen to stumble upon, pleased to be educated by the
random flow of stimuli that come your way. If you don't have the courage
or leisure to pull that off, here's the second-best strategy: Go someplace
you've never been and do things you've never done. Third-best: Spend an
entire day being naked.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): A misguided swan became infatuated with
a pedal boat at a pond in Hamburg, Germany. Apparently mistaking it for
his soul mate, the devoted bird guarded the boat jealously and rarely left
its side. The human owner of the boat found it amusing at first, but later
regarded it as a nuisance, since the enamored swan chased away all
potential renters of the vehicle. I propose to make this poignant creature
your anti-role model in the coming weeks, Capricorn. May he inspire you
to free yourself of all delusions you have entertained over the years about
the kind of intimate ally you need in order to be happy.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): "I think we ought to read only books that
bite and sting us," wrote Franz Kafka in *The Blue Octavo Notebooks.* "If
the book does not shake us awake like a blow to the skull, why bother
reading it in the first place?" I suggest you find at least one such book to
help you get the most of the current cosmic configurations, Aquarius.
More than that, I encourage you to find people and experiences and
dreams that have a similar effect. It's that phase of your cycle when you
can thrive on fertile uproar.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
EXPLORE THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE
with my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Second Half of 2007:
http://tinyurl.com/ooga5
What hidden factors will be massaging your destiny during the next six
months? Could you use some hints about how to prepare for the
adventures awaiting you during the rest of 2007?
To listen to my IN-DEPTH, LONG-TERM AUDIO FORECAST for YOUR LIFE
during the next six months, go here:
http://tinyurl.com/ooga5
Log in and click on the link "Long Term Forecast for Second Half of
2007."
You can also listen to your short-term forecast for the coming week by
clicking on "This week (July 10, 2007)."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): "The master in the art of living makes little
distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his love
and his religion," wrote novelist James Michener. Your assignment in the
coming week, Pisces, is to get at least three steps closer to being such a
master. Use all your ingenuity and imagination to figure out how to bring
the full force of your primal lust for life into every single thing you do,
even activities that other people might regard as trivial or difficult or low-
status.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Among the Yanyuwa Aboriginal people who
live along the coast of Australia's Northern Territory, the word for "fat" is
*nalu-ngiliny.* It doesn't merely refer to the greasy stuff that grows
naturally under the skin of animal bodies. It's also a metaphysical term for
vitality. Anything that's rich in *nalu-ngiliny* is healthy. A certain
landscape may be considered fat, for instance, which means that it's
fertile and sacred. When acacia flowers bloom each year, it's a sign that
sea turtles and the marine mammals known as dugongs, favorite foods of
the Yanyuwa, are "fat" and ready to be hunted. Your assignment in the
coming week is to identify the things in your life that are *nalu-ngiliny,*
and to give them the honor, gratitude, and nurturing they deserve.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): "Don't cross a bridge until you come to it,"
advises the old adage. But is that really a good idea? The fact is that the
world belongs to people who have crossed bridges in their imaginations
long before those bridges existed. Let that be your guiding thought in the
coming weeks, Taurus. Start visualizing, contemplating, and building in
your mind's eye a certain bridge you want to make abundant use of in
2008.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The German word *selig* can mean both
"ecstatic" or "blessed." It implies that profound bliss can be a divine gift;
that deep pleasure may generate or come from spiritual inspiration. The
English language doesn't have a term comparable to *selig,* maybe
because our culture regards ecstasy with suspicion. Religious people tend
to believe that the blessed are those who are good and kind, certainly not
those who are skilled at cultivating ecstatic states. People who worship
rationality, on the other hand, like intellectuals and scientists, often think
of ecstasy as at best an irrelevant state, and at worst a non-productive or
deluded indulgence. Personally, I'm in alignment with the values embodied
by the word *selig.* It happens to be your specialty this week.
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HOMEWORK: Think of the last person you cursed, if only with a hateful
thought if not an actual spell. Now send them a free-hearted blessing.
Tell me about 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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to anyone.
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Submissions sent to the Free Will Astrology Weekly Newsletter
or in response to "homework assignments" may be
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2007 Rob Brezsny
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