Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
September 19, 2007
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http://FreeWillAstrology.com
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"Do not accept anything simply because it has been said by your teacher,
or because it has been written in your sacred book, or because it has
been believed by many, or because it has been handed down by your
ancestors. Accept and live only according to what will enable you to see
truth face to face."
- Buddha, as quoted in *Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in
Everyday Life* by Thich Nhat Hanh
http://tinyurl.com/23qtu4
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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
To read news and features from the book, go here:
http://tinyurl.com/lhwx2
Here's an excerpt:
YOU'RE A PROPHET
With the authority vested in me by the little voice in my head, I'm pleased
to give you permission to add another job title to your résumé: prophet.
Am I being ironic? Only partially. The truth is, you generate numerous
predictions every day. The source is your imagination, which tirelessly
churns out visions of what you'll be doing in the future. The featured
oracle of the moment may be as simple as a psychic impression of
yourself devouring a fudge brownie in an hour or as monumental as a
fantasy of building your dream home in Hawaii.
Your imagination is a treasure when it spins out scenarios that are aligned
with your deepest desires. Indeed, it's an indispensable tool in creating
the life you want; it's what you use to form images of the conditions
you'd like to inhabit and the objects you hope to wield. Nothing manifests
on the material plane unless it first exists as a mental picture.
But for most of us, the imagination is as much a curse as a blessing.
You're just as likely to use it to conjure up premonitions that are at odds
with your conscious values. Fearful fantasies regularly pop up, many
disguising themselves as rational thoughts and genuine intuitions. They
may hijack your psychic energy, directing it to exhaust itself in dead-end
meditations.
Meanwhile, ill-suited longings are also lurking in your unconscious mind,
impelling you to want things that aren't good for you and that you don't
really need. Anytime you surrender to their allure, your imagination is
practicing a form of black magic.
These are the imagination's unsavory aspects, which Zen Buddhists
describe as the chatter of the "monkey mind." If you can stop locating
your sense of self in the endless surge of its slapdash fantasies, only then
might you be able to be here now and want what you actually have.
But whether your imagination is in service to your noble desires or in the
thrall of compulsive fears and inappropriate yearnings, there is one
commonality: Its prophecies can be pretty accurate. Many of your visions
of the future do come to pass. The situations you expect to occur and
the experiences you rehearse and dwell on are often reflected back to you
as events that confirm your expectations.
Does that mean our mental projections create the future? Let's consider
that possibility. What if it's at least partially true that what we expect will
happen does tend to materialize? Here's the logical conclusion: It's
downright stupid and self-destructive to keep infecting our imaginations
with pictures of loss and failure, doom and gloom, fear and loathing. The
far more sensible approach is to expect blessings.
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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
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OTHER PRONOIA RESOURCES:
MAJOR NEWS STORY!
(which you won't find in your daily newspaper, of course)
http://tinyurl.com/2uoulj
By Steve Radelet
"Unicef announced that the world reached a remarkable milestone in
2006: for the first time since records have been kept, the number of
deaths of children under five years old has fallen below 10 million a year,
less than half of the 20 million that died in 1960.
"The percentage of young children dying has fallen even more
dramatically, from about 184 per thousand in 1960 to about 72 per
thousand today. That means that out of every 1,000 children around the
world, an additional 112 who would have died in 1960 are now living
beyond age five.
"This terrific news is the latest indicator of the dramatic fall in world
poverty over the past few decades. While the percentage of people in the
world living with incomes less than $1/day has fallen steadily for several
hundred years, world population has grown faster; so the absolute
number of people in poverty continued to rise – until it reached around
1.4 billion in 1980.
"Then one of the most important changes in world history occurred: for
the first time ever, the number of people living in absolute poverty
started to fall. Actually it started to fall in the 1960s, then it spiked up
again during the commodity price shocks of the 1970s, before falling
permanently in the 1980s. Since then it has fallen very rapidly to less
than 1 billion today.
"That's right: after rising steadily since the beginning of time, the number
of people in the world living in absolute poverty has fallen by nearly one-
third in less than three decades. Amazing."
Read more of this article here: http://tinyurl.com/2uoulj
(Note: I endorse these because I like them. These are 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 September 20
Copyright 2007 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Art critic Simon Schama prefers not to think of
Van Gogh's *Wheatfield With Crows* as the work of an unhappy madman
battling with suicidal urges. Rather, he prefers to see it as the seminal
masterpiece of a modern genius who launched modern painting. Without
denying that the first theory has some validity, he chooses to emphasize
the truth of the second interpretation. I urge you to adopt a similar
approach as you evaluate the meaning of recent events in your life: Don't
repress the pain they unleashed, but on the other hand, play up and
celebrate their gloriously redemptive aspects.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Of all the signs in the zodiac, you routinely
enjoy the most interesting problems. No one else can compete with your
talent for dreaming up original sins, either. I expect that in the coming
weeks, you'll once again assert your mastery in these two areas, leaving
the rest of us muttering in amazed awe as we behold the beautiful,
stinking, useful, hellacious, intriguing messes you stir up. Congratulations
in advance for the resourcefulness and courage I know you will summon
from the abyss of your subconscious mind.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Homer Simpson, star of the TV show
"The Simpsons," has a continually evolving list of the many feats he
hopes to accomplish in his life. Among the fantasies that have come true
for him are being the manager of a country-western singer, keeping a
diary while living in the wilderness, devouring the world's most massive
hoagie, and seeing Stevie Nicks naked. In accordance with your
astrological omens, Homer is your role model in the coming week. May he
inspire you to carry out one of your lifelong dreams, and to add three
more lifelong dreams to your list for the future.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Three hundred years ago, a Miwok Indian
family slept on the land where my home now stands. I salute them. I
celebrate them with a sense of wonder and curiosity. Three hundred years
from tonight, who knows what will be here? A Chinese mosque? An
android research facility? A polyglot, polyamorous, multicultural
commune? Whoever may be here then, I salute them. I celebrate them
with wonder and curiosity. In accordance with your omens, Capricorn, I
urge you to use what I just did as a starting point for an extended
meditation. Gaze both backwards and forwards in time with a spirit of
playful reverence. Spur your imagination to fantasize about the people
who have preceded you and who will follow you. Feel the way your destiny
has been blessed by the past, and think about how your life will bless the
future.
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AUDIO LOVE LETTERS
In addition to the horoscopes that come to you in this newsletter, I create
more in-depth audio horoscopes for your inspiration. I think of them as
my love letters to you. They're $6 if you access them on the Web, or
$1.99 per minute over the phone.
Try them at http://RealAstrology.com.
They're 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 you, Rob." -Kristi P., Portland, OR
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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): "Dear Rob: Every night recently, I've dreamt
I'm committing crimes like fraud, robbery, and embezzlement. (No
murders, thank God!) It's getting so I'm not that happy about going to
sleep. I feel bad about the mayhem I'm perpetrating. (Although I did have
a fun car chase once.) I don't dream about the fruits of the crimes, just
the criminal activities themselves. Is this something Aquarians in general
are going through? I can't tell if I feel guilty about something, am
psyching myself up to be an outlaw, or have just been watching too many
episodes of 'Law & Order.' -On the Lam." Dear On the Lam: My guess is
that your dreams (like those of many Aquarians) are prodding you to find
more meaningful, productive ways to express creative rebellion in your
waking life.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Mythologist Joseph Campbell wrote books
that describe the archetypal elements of the hero's journey. Borrowing his
perspective, I want you to know that it's a perfect moment to take on the
role of the hero and carry out an extended exploration of the underworld.
Although it's dark and odd down there, it happens to be the realm where
your soul feels most at home. And your ego? It will probably feel like an
exile, at least initially, but I bet it will ultimately find the underworld to be
unexpectedly interesting and rewarding. For best results, Pisces, make a
forceful decision to wander through the place with an adventurous spirit;
don't wait around for fate to command you to make an appearance. Dive
down! Dig deep!
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the Yaghan language of Tierra del Fuego,
*mamihlapinatapai* is a word meaning "gazing into each other's eyes,
each hoping that the other will initiate something that both desire but
which neither one wants to start." If I'm reading the astrological omens
correctly, you've been experiencing some version of this poignant
deadlock lately. It may have made sense for you to refrain from making
the first move up until now, but it no longer does. Get yourself in a
generous mood and provide the jumpstart you've both been hesitant to
try.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): *Symphonie Fantastique* is widely regarded
as one of the most important pieces of music of the 19th century. French
composer Hector Berlioz wrote it in 1830 as a response to being rejected
by the woman he loved, hoping to seduce her with the power of his
artistry. Your assignment in the coming week, Taurus, is to emulate
Berlioz: Capitalize on a refusal you've had to endure; create a masterpiece
in rebellion against a repudiation you've experienced; make a thing of
beauty to compensate for being shunned or ignored. (P.S. The woman in
question, Harriet Smithson, eventually married Berlioz.)
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AUDIO HOROSCOPES
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.
"You told me the truth when no one else in my life would." -Darren H.,
Minneapolis
"Your wake-up calls keep me from getting stale." -Arris T., Aspen, CO
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GEMINI (May 21-June 20): "I feel worst when I'm not learning," writes
Harker, one of my readers, "whether it be the stickier details of things I've
almost mastered or the fresh spring wind of something entirely new to
me." If you share that perspective, as many Geminis do, I've got some
good news for you: In the next 30 days you could learn more about love
and intimacy than you have in the past two years. For those of you who
are brave enough to shed your know-it-all romantic theories, the coming
weeks could be like an intensive workshop in the fine art of creating
exciting togetherness.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Neuroscientists at Britain's Bristol University
have concluded that playing in the dirt can make you feel really good.
That's because most soil is crawling with species of bacteria that interact
favorably with the human body, strengthening the immune system and
stimulating the brain in the same way antidepressants do. The astrological
omens suggest that you capitalize on this discovery, Cancerian. You can
obtain great health benefits from playing in a sandbox, wrestling with a
friend in the dirt, creating mud pies, or smearing clay on your face. In
fact, having any kind of messy, down-to-earth fun is highly recommended.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The nature of your imminent future has certain
resemblances to what happened at a Chinese zoo, where a baby tiger
named Sai Mai was breast-fed by a mother pig and fully accepted by her
piglet "siblings." As your ruling metaphor, we could also use the scenario
that unfolded at an animal facility in Kenya, where a young hippopotamus
named Owen was adopted by a giant, 120-year-old tortoise. In other
words, Leo, you should expect exotic pairings that lead to unprecedented
expressions of symbiosis and synergy.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): If you use email, you have a spam filter. You
block out the sales pitches, fake information, and random noise that
constantly flow toward your inbox. In the coming week, I urge you to
expand your concept of what constitutes spam by shielding yourself
against all the other junk food for thought that besieges you. Be
ruthlessly discerning about the toxins that spew from the radio, TV, Web,
newspapers, and magazines. Minimize your contact with narcissists who
think "conversation" consists of you soaking up their compulsive self-
revelations. You might even erect a psychic spam filter to repel the
fearful images that sometimes bubble up from your subconscious mind.
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HOMEWORK: What are the five conditions you'd need in your world in
order to feel you were living in utopia? Tell me by going to
http://www.RealAstrology.com; click 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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