Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
April 2, 2008
+
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
+
"When an old culture is dying, the new is created by a few people who are
not afraid to be insecure."
- Rudolf Bahro
"You can think of the groundlessness and openness of insecurity as a
chance that we're given over and over to choose a fresh alternative.
Things happen to us all the time that open up the space. This
spaciousness, this wide–open, unbiased, unprejudiced space is
inexpressible and fundamentally good and sound. It's like the sky."
- Pema Chodron, *Practicing Peace in Times of War*
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ATTENTION ARTISTS . . .
Thanks for your big response to my request to see your artwork. It'll take
me a few weeks to sort through your multitudinous offerings. I'm hoping
that among them there will be some that are exactly right for the covers
of my future books and CDs.
If you missed last week's announcement, you've still got time. Tell me
where to view your work online by sending me an email at
sacreduproar@sbcglobal.net. You could also email me .jpgs.
I won't be able to respond to all inquiries, but will reply only to those
whose art I think might work for me. Please don't take it personally if I
don't choose yours. Of all the great art out there, only a small proportion
will be right for my needs.
Thanks for giving me a chance to see your stuff!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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:
PRONOIA NEWS NETWORK
These are our top stories.
+
THIS EARTH IS HONEY
"This earth is honey for all beings, and all beings are honey for this earth.
The intelligent, immortal being, the soul of the earth, and the intelligent,
immortal being, the soul in the individual being -- each is honey to the
other." - Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
+
20,000 YEARS OF PROGRESS IN THE 21ST CENTURY
"Centuries ago people didn't think that the world was changing at all.
Their grandparents had the same lives that they did, and they expected
their grandchildren would do the same, and that expectation was largely
fulfilled.
"Today it's an axiom that life is changing and that technology is affecting
the nature of society. What's not fully understood is that the pace of
change is itself accelerating, and the last 20 years are not a good guide
to the next 20 years. We're doubling the paradigm shift rate, the rate of
progress, every decade.
"The whole 20th century was like 25 years of change at today's rate of
change. In the next 25 years we'll make four times the progress you saw
in the 20th century. And we'll make 20,000 years of progress in the 21st
century, which is almost a thousand times more technical change than we
saw in the 20th century." - Ray Kurzweil, excerpt from "The Singularity,"
on the Edge website, March 25, 2001, http://tinyurl.com/2p5ywm
+
OPEN SECRET REVEALED
"There is a great insight which our culture is deliberately designed to
suppress, distort, and ignore: that Nature is a minded entity; that Nature
is not simply the random flight of atoms through electromagnetic fields;
that Nature is not the empty, despiritualized lumpen matter that we
inherit from modern physics. But it is instead a kind of intelligence, a kind
of mind." - Terence McKenna,
www.deoxy.org/mckenna.htm
+
SIXTH-GRADE ZEITGEIRST UPDATE
The following bon mots were scrawled on the backpacks and binders of
sixth grade girls at Greenwood School in Mill Valley, California:
Learn as if you'll live forever
Explain yourself wildly, not carefully
Wake up -- but not too fast, or you might hurt yourself
Question authority, including the authority that told you to question
authority
Give me chocolate or I'll scream
It's all so funny -- how can you not be laughing?
When you shout "halaluya," never spell it right
Live the freakiest truth
+
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
Multimillionaire pop star George Michael has decided to give away his
music for free, posting it on the Internet for anyone to download. "I've
been very well remunerated for my talents over the years," he told BBC,
"so I really don't need the public's money."
Hollywood movie and music mogul David Geffen also believes he has
enough money. The billionaire cofounder of DreamWorks told Forbes, "I
have no interest in making money anymore. Everything I make in the
entertainment business will go to charity."
CNN founder and billionaire Ted Turner is in the middle of a 10-year,
billion-dollar giveaway to the United Nations. Since 1997, he has been
donating annual installments of 100 million dollars, specifying that they
not be used for administration costs but for programs like eliminating land
mines, feeding children, and preventing disease.
+
THIS WEEK IN PRONOIA HISTORY
Until she broke her foot as a teen, Paula Cole wanted to be a cheerleader
like all the most popular girls. But the injury required her to wear a
wooden shoe for an entire year, dashing her dreams and sending her in
search of other identities. "That's when I found the piano, when music
saved me," she said. "That's when I first attempted to write my own
songs." Years later Cole became a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter.
+
PNN is made possible by Tom Robbins belief, as stated in his book
*Jitterbug Perfume,* that "The unhappy person resents it when you try to
cheer him up, because that means he has to stop dwelling on himself and
start paying attention to the universe. Unhappiness is the ultimate form
of self-indulgence. When you're unhappy, you get to pay a lot of
attention to yourself. And you get to take yourself oh so very seriously."
+
INDIA AND CHINA GET RICH QUICK
China and India, which comprise one-third of the earth's population, have
more than twice the wealth they had in 1989. (Source: The Economist)
In the past twenty years, hundreds of millions of Chinese have escaped
poverty and begun earning middle-class incomes. Economist Jeffrey
Sachs, renowned for his work in assisting Third World nations to raise
their standards of living, says, 'China is the most successful development
story in world history." (Source: Fareed Zakaria, 'The Big Story Everyone
Missed," *Newsweek,* December 30, 2002)
+
PARTIAL TRUCE IN THE DRUG WAR
'The silver lining in the budget crisis affecting the states throughout this
nation is that from Louisiana to Texas to Michigan, state governments are
cutting prison budgets by releasing non-violent drug offenders. There has
been a steady move toward treatment instead of incarceration, and a
greater understanding that drug abuse should be handled in the doctors'
office, not the prison cell." -- Medea Benjamin, AlterNet,
http://www.alternet.org
+
SCHOOL DAYS INCREASE
Literacy and education levels are rising steadily on a global scale. Since
1970, the percentage of students going to secondary school has more
than doubled. (Source: http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org)
+
BLIND COMPASSION WATCH
"In January 2003, a Muslim gas station attendant saved a New York
synagogue from arson with his phone call to 911. Pakistani immigrant
Syed Ali watched as a man bought gasoline, marched across the street,
and began dousing the front of the temple. Police responded to Ali's call
in time to stop the crime. Ali declined the mantle of hero saying 'It was a
sacred place he was going to destroy.'"
-- Geraldine Weis-Corbley, http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org
+
BENEVOLENT PRANKS
One night in February 2004, anonymous mischief-makers in the English
town of Pembury sneaked into 100 gardens and secretly planted an ash
sapling in each one. It was hard work. The weather was terrible, and each
tree had to be carefully rooted in a six-inch hole. Some residents were
pleased by the unsolicited gift, while others were confused.
+
KARMA IN ACTION
In 2001, Mitzi Nichols of Virginia Beach anonymously donated one of her
kidneys to a stranger. She got paid nothing for this rare act of generosity,
and after recovering from surgery went back to her job as a cashier at a
gift shop. It took the universe three years to figure out a way to
compensate her properly. In June 2004, she won $500,000 in the Virginia
state lottery.
+
WILDNESS REVISED
In his book *The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart,* Robert Bly says that to
be wild is not to be crazy like a criminal or psychotic, but 'mad as the
mist and snow." It has nothing to do with being childish or primitive, nor
does it manifest as manic rebellion or self-damaging alienation. The real
marks of wildness, he asserts, are a love of nature, a delight in silence, a
voice free to say spontaneous things, and an exuberant curiosity in the
face of the unknown.
+
THE REST OF THE MIDDLE EAST NEWS
"In Israel, several thousand Israeli and Palestinian families living in
relatively close proximity to one another, and each deeply proud of their
respective nation's history and foundations and traditions, did not
actively seethe in a roiling cauldron of hatred or religious bile, nor did they
let the horrible atrocities some of their people are perpetrating on each
other cause them to froth with self-righteousness and mad desire for war.
"They did not go about their day cowering in a pit of lost hope, fearing
for their lives and wishing their neighbors extreme painful death and
eternal damnation, despite all the painful evidence and political urgency
currently screeching at them that they must do so immediately." -- Mark
Morford, SFGate, http://tinyurl.com/38kgkk
+
SACRED ADVERTISEMENT
PNN is brought to you by Albert Camus' belief that "Each of us is free to
stoke the crematory fires of Buchenwald or nurse lepers in an African
hospital." (*Notebooks 1935–1951*)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
OTHER PRONOIA RESOURCES:
BLESSERCISE
*To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings* by John
O'Donohue
http://tinyurl.com/2k5xws
PRONOIAC GUIDELINES FROM A MASTER PLAYER
Thich Nhat Hanh tells the loving truth
http://tinyurl.com/96snk
REVERSE GREED
"Money Buys Happiness -- If You Spend It on Somebody Else"
http://tinyurl.com/3xks4o
(Note: I endorse these because I like them. They are not advertisements,
and I get no kickbacks.)
Please tell me your own personal nominations for PRONOIA RESOURCES.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning April 3
Copyright 2008 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the film *Fight Club,* the character played
by Brad Pitt storms into a convenience store with a gun, then herds the
clerk out back and threatens to execute him. While the poor man quivers
in terror, Pitt asks him questions about himself, extracting the confession
that he had once wanted to be a veterinarian but had dropped out of
school. After a few minutes, Pitt frees the clerk without harming him, but
says that unless he takes steps to return to veterinary school in the next
six weeks, he will hunt him down and kill him. In my opinion, that's an
overly extreme way to motivate someone to do what's good for him. I
wish I could come up with a less shocking approach to coax you into
resuming the quest for your deferred dreams, Aries. Can you think of
anything?
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Financial columnist Bill Fleckstein says that by
its very nature, capitalism continually cycles through periods of boom and
bust. You can't have one without the other. The American economy is in
trouble because for many years the federal government suppressed the
down times in an effort to create a state of perpetual boom. The
backlogged busts are now kicking in all at once. I bring this to your
attention, Taurus, in the hope that you won't make a comparable mistake
in your own sphere. Some tightly wound part of your life needs to unravel
for a while. I advise you to consider going on a brief hiatus or sabbatical.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Even if you have no plans to get married, I
suggest you enter the Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest, in which rival
designers compete to create beautiful bridal gowns using bathroom
tissue. You just might win, thereby earning the cash prize. Why do I say
that? Because according to my reading of the omens, you now have a
special skill at conjuring up cheap elegance in service to your urge to
merge. You have an unusual knack for turning things of little apparent
worth into valuable aids to intimacy.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): In recent years there has been a rash of
climbers shedding all their clothes on Mount Everest. A sherpa by the
name of Lakpa Tharke claims the world's record for high-altitude nudity,
having stood skyclad for three minutes at the 29,035-foot summit. Some
Nepali authorities are seeking a ban on such displays, believing that it
defiles the revered mountain. "How would Westerners feel about people
stripping in church?" they ask. Not meaning any disrespect to them, I
urge you, Cancerian, to make "in the buff on the holy mountaintop" your
power metaphor of the week. Blend sacredness and nakedness in any way
that appeals to your imagination, especially if it's in high places or makes
you high.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The feats you're pulling off may not appear
spectacular to a casual observer. But in my view, they are some of the
most interesting accomplishments you've enjoyed in a while. Here's a
brief description of some of your subtly glorious breakthroughs: 1. You've
made yourself less susceptible to being manipulated by guilt or pushed
around by bullies or fooled by phonies. 2. You're getting smarter about
how you treat the people and things you love. 3. You're at the peak of
your ability to discern the difference between rash risks motivated by fear
and smart gambles driven by authentic intuition.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Using a stopwatch, a sports statistician once
figured out that the average baseball game has about nine minutes of
action. The proceedings may last three hours from beginning to end, but
the ball is actually in play just five percent of the time. What happens
during the remaining 95 percent? Mostly a lot of standing around. I
believe it'll be that kind of week for you, Virgo. The good news is that
when the flurries of activity do erupt, they will be packed with drama and
intrigue that you can really use.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): "I slept with faith and found a corpse in my
arms on awakening," wrote occult philosopher Aleister Crowley in his
flowery neo-Victorian style. "I drank and danced all night with doubt and
found her a virgin in the morning." I think that formulation will serve you
well in the coming days, Libra. There's little to be gained from clinging
compulsively to your hopes and fantasies about what's true. Just the
opposite: Momentous strength will rise up in you if you question
everything you hold dear or assume to be fact.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In her book *Waiting for God,* French mystic
and political activist Simone Weil (1909-1943) wrote a passage I'd love
for you to keep in mind during the coming weeks: "When an apprentice
gets hurt, or complains of being tired, the workmen have this fine
expression: 'It is the trade entering his body.' Each time that we have
some pain to go through, we can say to ourselves quite truly that it is the
order and beauty of the world that are entering our body." I encourage
you, Scorpio, to adopt this redemptive attitude about the suffering you
have been experiencing.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In his memoir, radio talk-show host
Michael Krasny notes that he is "the inverse of writer Saul Bellow, who
said that he was a bird and not an ornithologist." Even if you are usually
more like Krasny, Sagittarius, I suggest that you be like Bellow in the
coming weeks. In my astrological opinion, you need to be an embodiment
of wild nature, not an observer and appreciator of wild nature. It's time
for you to be a geyser, not an architect who critiques fountains; a bonfire,
not a candle-gazer; a horse, not a gambler who bets on the ponies.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): A new Hawaiian island is in the process of
creating itself. Called Loihi, it's an active volcano that still lies beneath the
sea. As it vents lava in the millennia to come, it will eventually accumulate
enough mass to rise above water level and make itself available for trees
to grow on and animals to nest in and humans to dance on. In the coming
days, Capricorn, I invite you to regard this as an important symbol. Think
about what part of your life has a metaphorical resemblance to the
threshold that Loihi will be approaching about 10,000 years from now:
emerging out of the depths and breaking above the surface.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Between 8 and 9 o'clock one morning, I
made a 30-mile roundtrip from San Francisco to Marin County, crossing
the Golden Gate Bridge twice in the process. In that brief time, I drove
through five different micro-climates, some of them twice: 1. dense,
blinding fog; 2. heavily overcast skies but no fog; 3. totally bright and
sunny; 4. wispy fog with sun pouring down through it, creating a blend of
grey and gold; 5. partially sunny with rolling bubbles of fog visible in the
distance. Judging from your current astrological omens, Aquarius, I'm
guessing that what I experienced is an apt metaphor for what your life will
be like in the coming days: a quick-shifting kaleidoscope of vivid moods
and rich textures. Celebrate each scene, knowing it will soon give way to a
new one.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson told *The
Washington Post* the following fun facts: "There are more molecules of
water in a cup of water than cups of water in all the world's oceans. This
means that some molecules in every cup of water you drink passed
through the kidneys of Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Abe Lincoln, or any other
historical person of your choosing." Your assignment this week, Pisces, is
to choose three heroes you'd most like to be influenced and inspired by.
Every time you drink water, be conscious of the fact that some of it was
once inside the bodies of those exceptional people. Say a prayer that
their mojo will become available to you.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
HOMEWORK: Is there a place in your life where you're skilled at bending
but not breaking? Brag about it by going to http://RealAstrology.com and
clicking on "Email Rob."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NEED TO CHANGE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS?
To join or leave the email list for this newsletter, or to change the address
where you receive it, go to:
http://www.freewillastrology.com/newsletter/
Once you do join, check all the below points to make sure you'll actually
receive the newsletter:
1. Add my address, televisionary@comcast.net, to your address book so
that the newsletter won't be treated as spam and filtered out.
2. Adjust your spam filter so it doesn't treat my address as a source of
spam.
3. Tell your company's IT group to allow my address to pass through any
filtering software they may have set up.
4. If my newsletters don't reach your inbox, look in your "Bulk Mail" or
"Junk Mail" folder.
5. The problems may not have to do with anything you do, but may
originate with your email provider. It may be using a "content filter" that
prevents my newsletter from ever reaching you at all. If you suspect
that's the case, complain. Tell your email provider to stop blocking my
newsletter from reaching you.
P.S. I totally respect your privacy. I'll never sell or give away your address
to anyone.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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,
including but not limited to newsletters, books, the Free Will
Astrology column, and Free Will Astrology website. We reserve
the right to edit such submissions for length, style, and content.
Requests for anonymity will be honored with submissions;
otherwise, reader names, screen names, or initials will be used.
Please be sure to note your preference when sending to us. We
are not responsible for unsolicited submission of any creative
material.
Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2008 Rob Brezsny
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++