Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
November 21, 2007
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http://FreeWillAstrology.com
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Dear Readers,
Last Wednesday we accidentally sent out this week's newsletter -- six
days early! Sorry about that.
There was a second gaffe as well: You got the RSS version of the
newsletter, which looks great for some people but is indecipherable for
others. Double sorry.
So here's your newsletter once again, with bonus stuff that wasn't in last
week's mistaken delivery.
If you're one of those people who'd prefer to read the shiny, spiffy
version that you accidentally got last Wednesday, I encourage you to sign
up for the RSS feed. Click on the RSS button here:
http://www.freewillastrology.com/newsletter/.
You can also read it here: http://tinyurl.com/2ll57d
Rowdy blessings,
Rob
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"I always wanted to be an activist because I knew that if I wasn't an
activist I would have to close my eyes -- and I wanted to see the world.
So I became an activist for very selfish reasons."
- Amiko Mayeno (Activist and Buddhist Practitioner)
"Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment."
- Shunryu Suzuki
"Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe
that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic."
- Frank Herbert
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This newsletter is now available via RSS. Go here:
http://FreeWillAstrology.com/newsletter/
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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:
PRONOIA'S VILLAINS
According to Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges, Judas was actually a
more exalted hero than Jesus. He unselfishly volunteered to perform the
all-important villain's role in the resurrection saga, knowing he'd be reviled
forever. It was a dirty job that only a supremely egoless saint could have
done. Jesus suffered, true, but enjoyed glory and adoration as a result.
Let's apply this way of thinking to the task of understanding the role
that seemingly bad people play in pronoia.
Interesting narratives play an essential role in the universal conspiracy to
give us exactly what we need. All of us crave drama. We love to be
beguiled by twists of fate that unfold the stories of our lives in
unpredictable ways. Just as Judas played a key role in advancing the tale
of Christ's quest, villains and con men and clowns may be crucial to the
entertainment value of our personal journeys.
Try this: Imagine the people you fear and dislike as pivotal characters
in a fascinating and ultimately redemptive plot that will take years or even
lifetimes for the Divine Wow to elaborate.
*
There is another reason to love our enemies: They force us to become
smarter. The riddles they thrust in front of us sharpen our wits and sculpt
our souls.
Try this: Act as if your adversaries are great teachers. Thank them for
how crucial they've been in your education.
*
Consider one more possibility: that the people who seem to slow us down
and hold us back are actually preventing things from happening too fast.
Imagine that the evolution of your life or our culture is like a pregnancy: It
needs to reach its full term. Just as a child isn't ready to be born after
five months of gestation, the new world we're creating has to ripen in its
own time. The recalcitrant reactionaries who resist the inevitable birth are
simply making sure that the far-seeing revolutionaries don't conjure the
future too suddenly. They serve the greater good.
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To read 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:
FOR INTELLIGENT OPTIMISTS
Ode magazine
http://www.odemagazine.com/
Rob sez: The most pronoiac magazine on the planet
THE TALKING CURE
*The World Café: Shaping Life-Affirming Futures Through Conversations
That Matter* by Juanita Brown and David Isaacs
http://tinyurl.com/2lt7we
plus:
Conversations to save the world
http://www.theworldcafe.com
RECYCLING GENIUS
Turning abandoned shopping carts into sculptures
http://tinyurl.com/glqvy
(Note: I endorse these because I like them. This isn't 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 November 22
Copyright 2007 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The visionary genius Isaac Newton
revolutionized science and math. His biographer James Gleick says he
discovered "more of the essential core of human knowledge than anyone
before or after." Ostensibly, Newton was humble, writing that "if I have
seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." But he did not
actually believe that, writes Salon.com's Farhad Manjoo in his review of
Gleick's book. And the fact is that Newton's breakthroughs "were not
incremental, not the logical conclusion to centuries of study," but rather
the result of "a supernatural, superhuman intuition." This is the kind of
intelligence I suspect you'll be able to summon in the coming weeks as
you expand your understanding of your place in the world. It will be as if
you're snatching raw truths fresh from eternity; as if you're the
beneficiary of utterly novel insights that nothing in your life has prepared
you for.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): George Washington and Thomas Jefferson
were great leaders who were instrumental in creating the United States,
but they shared a flaw with most of the other founding fathers: They
owned slaves. Only one of the men who midwifed the birth of the nation
freed his human chattel: Virginia plantation owner Robert Carter, whose
heroism has been largely unsung in the history books. Make him your role
model in the coming weeks, Capricorn. It's a good time to meditate on
those people you've held down, oppressed, or manipulated (even if it was
inadvertent or unconscious), and then correct for how you've interfered
with their full blossoming. I'm not saying you're any guiltier of this sin
than the rest of us; just that this is your special time to atone.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In the coming weeks, you will have an
unusually large capacity to see what has been invisible and name what has
been unspeakable. You will be adept at solving dull old problems and
creating brilliant new ones. You will also have extraordinary power to
dissolve restrictions and impose creative limitations, outwit evil and
dream up tricky ways to be good, drum up freedom and escape apathy,
and rebel against or uphold tradition as necessary. Use your amazing mojo
craftily, Aquarius!
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): "You owe it to us all to get on with what
you're good at," said poet W.H. Auden. Make that your motto in the
coming weeks, Pisces. Your motivation for doing the useful work you love
to do should not come from you alone. We, the rest of the world, want to
be there inside you so that we can root you on and encourage you to give
us your very best gifts. Tap into and refine and explore your talents for
your own sake, yes -- but do it for us, too.
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EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES
In addition to the horoscopes that come to you in this newsletter, I create
audio horoscopes for your inspiration. They discuss themes and cover
material that I don't have room to deal with in the written horoscopes.
They're $6 if you access them on the Web, or $1.99 per minute over the
phone.
Try them at http://RealAstrology.com.
By phone: 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.
"I always feel like I know myself better after listening to your audio
'scopes."
-June R., Austin, TX
"Your audio horoscopes calm me down when I'm too manic and pep me up
when I'm down."
-Arthur T., Cleveland, OH
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ARIES (March 21-April 19): When life gets weird, should you take refuge
in decorum and tradition? Should you intensify your commitment to the
humdrum? Is it wise to dress more conservatively, act more dignified, and
smile more automatically? I say no. When the daily rhythm veers off track
into unexpected detours, I say it's prime time to gleefully depart from The
Way Things Have Always Been Done. In fact, I advise you to cultivate your
rebellious questions and celebrate the unusual impulses that bubble up.
They will help you harvest the epiphanies that life's weirdness is tempting
you to pursue.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): "When you die," says the Koran, "God will call
upon you to account for all the permitted pleasures you did not enjoy
while on earth." There's a similar idea in the Talmud: "A person will be
called upon to account, on Judgment Day, for all the permitted pleasures
he might have enjoyed but did not." This thought should serve as a
central theme for you in the coming weeks, Taurus. Don't worry, you
won't die for many years. But to activate your highest spiritual potentials
in the near future, you must plumb the depths of bliss, joy, amusement,
and fun.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Your intentions have been fine, but you've
been a bit off in executing your intentions. It's like you were building a
love nest in a parking garage; as if you've been hosting a dinner party
with fascinating guests at McDonald's; as if you were confessing profound
secrets to a narcissist who wasn't really interested. In other words,
Gemini, you have been doing the right things in the wrong places. But I
expect that a lucky break will soon shove you out of this awkward
disjunction, bringing your style and content into harmony. (P.S. Why not
go out and induce that lucky break immediately?)
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Lishui is a rapidly growing industrial city in
China. With the government's help and blessing, developers have been
transforming rugged farmland into level parcels suitable for manufacturing
facilities. In recent years, engineers have used dynamite and dump trucks
to flatten 108 hills and mountains. The official motto that guides workers
is "Each person does the work of two; two days' work is done in one."
While I don't normally recommend that you engage in such extreme
labors, the coming weeks will be a favorable time to make an exception.
You'll have cosmic forces on your side if you do the work of two as you
carry out the equivalent of demolishing mountains.
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AUDIO HOROSCOPES
In addition to the horoscopes that you're reading here, I create audio
horoscopes for your amusement and 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 audio horoscopes work better than my therapist and cost me five
percent of what he charges." - Chris M., San Francisco, CO
"You've helped me remember important things about myself that I'd
forgotten." -Ruth V., Toronto
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LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The bad news is that Indonesia has the fastest
rate of deforestation on the planet, and is one of the top three producers
of greenhouse gas pollution. The good news is that on November 28, the
people of Indonesia will unleash the most intense orgy of tree-growing in
the history of the world. They're scheduled to plant 79 million saplings in
24 hours. You Leos might also consider undertaking a massive display of
fertility in the next three weeks. Your creative powers will be at a peak;
your ability to coax abundant life out of seeds and sprouts will be
extraordinary.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Because of changes in agricultural techniques,
food is nowhere near as nutritious as it used to be. Vegetables grown on
modern factory farms have 27 percent less calcium and 37 percent less
iron than they did in 1975, for example, as well as 21 percent less
Vitamin A and 30 percent less Vitamin C. So if you want to avoid being
starved of essential nutrients, you either have to eat a huge amount, take
supplements, or consume organic food. Are there any other areas of your
life where the sustenance levels have dropped, perhaps without your full
awareness? Is there an activity that no longer provides you with the
boost it used to? Your assignment is to explore this possibility. If you find
something's lacking, take immediate measures to make up for what
you've been missing. (For more info about food's shrinking nutritional
value, go here: tinyurl.com/yrw4ht.)
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Talk normally as little as possible in the coming
week. Instead, try to communicate primarily by whispering, singing,
laughing, speaking in rhyme, using foreign accents, making animal noises,
and imitating cartoon characters. In my astrological opinion, this could
free you to express feelings and thoughts that you've been unwisely
suppressing. It would give you the power to access potent information
that neither your monkey mind nor your rational mind has much interest
in.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): A while back I asked my readers, "What
conditions would you need in your world in order to feel you were living in
paradise?" I'll report to you how one Scorpio responded, since it's very
apropos to your immediate future. "My utopia," wrote Sandra Boyd of
Vancouver, "would require me to be desired, loved, and satiated amidst
messy order and cockeyed perfection." I urge you to create that exact
set of conditions, Scorpio. Get out there and cultivate the funny logic,
wild discipline, and chaotic organization that will help ensure you'll be
fiercely adored.
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HOMEWORK: What gifts do you want to give the people you love for
Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Yule, and the winter solstice? Write to
Buddha Claus 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, but I highly recommend my 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://YourSoulJourney.com
She can also be reached at roloughran@comcast.net
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P.S. I totally respect your privacy. I'll never sell or give away your address
to anyone.
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Submissions sent to the Free Will Astrology Weekly Newsletter
or in response to "homework assignments" may be
published in a variety of formats at Rob Brezsny's discretion,
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Please be sure to note your preference when sending to us. We
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2007 Rob Brezsny
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