Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
April 30, 2008
+
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
+
"As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear-headed
science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research
about the atoms this much: There is no matter as such! All matter
originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particles of
an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom
together . . . We must assume behind this force the existence of a
conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter."
- Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Planck, from a speech he delivered in
Florence, Italy in 1944, entitled "Das Wesen der Materie" (The Character
of Matter)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
*The Bardo of Waking Life* by Richard Grossinger
http://tinyurl.com/4kpket
My long-time mentor and friend Richard Grossinger has just published
what I consider to be the best book of the year: *The Bardo of Waking
Life.*
Everyone has a piece of the truth and no one has more than a piece of
the truth. But Grossinger's masterwork is the biggest chunk of truth I've
read in years.
I love it so much, I wrote the foreword for the book. It's Called "The
Honey and Vinegar Tasters."
You can read my foreword here:
http://tinyurl.com/35eko5
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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:
AMBIDEXTROUS PRONOIA THERAPY, Part Two
Experiments and exercises in becoming a mysteriously truthful, teasingly
healing, fiercely magnanimous Master of Impartial Passion
8. In our culture, vultures are considered ugly and disgusting. But in
ancient Egypt, they were sacred. Scholar Elinor Gadon says they were
called "compassionate purifiers." As devourers of corpses, they
transformed rotting flesh into usable energy, and expedited the soul's
transition to heaven. Queens of Egypt wore vulture headdresses to signify
their divine consecration.
How would you invoke the help of mythical vultures in your own life?
Here's one possibility. Meditate on death not as the end of physical life,
but as a metaphor for shedding what's outworn. In that light, what is the
best death you've ever experienced? What death would you like to enjoy
next?
9. In one old fairy tale, a virtuous hero throws a punch at an evil witch.
But because of her wizardry, the thrust of his fist boomerangs and he
smashes himself in the nose. Blood flows from his nostrils. He wipes it
with his fingertips and flings a few red drops in the witch's direction. This
is the unexpected magic that sends her fleeing. He's saved. Moral of the
story: The hero's self-wounding produces his ultimate protection. Give an
example of this theme at work in your own life.
10. The 17th-century surgeon Wilhelm Hilden had an interesting theory
about healing. He developed a medicinal salve that he applied not to the
wound itself but rather to the weapon that inflicted it. Though today we
may sneer at such foolishness, the fact is that Hilden's approach has
great potential if used for psychic wounds. Jesus understood this when he
articulated the revolutionary formula, "Love your enemy." More than any
other action, this strategy has the power to cure you of the distortions
your enemy has unleashed in you. Try it out.
11. How do you respond to the part of the apocalypse that brings
breakdown and ruin? Is it with actions that express rage, disdain, hatred,
fear, tribalism, and all the primitive emotions that infect the roots of the
dying civilization? Or is it with actions that exude ingenious compassion,
creative inclusiveness, expansive empathy, and other robust emotions
that are at the heart of the New World? What can you do to focus your
personal experience of the apocalypse on liberation and awakening rather
than suffering and loss? How can you personally starve the bad
apocalypse and nurture the good apocalypse?
12. Beauty and Truth Laboratory researcher Rebecca Rusche coined the
word "careenstable." Here's her explanation of how it originated:
"In high school, my mom used to let me use her VW Beetle to go to
basketball practice. One night after practice, a friend and I were chatting
and drinking Coke when we decided to see how fast we could get the
Beetle going down a nearby dirt road. Soon we were careening at 65 mph,
shouting 'careen!' every time we hit a bump and flew into the air. When
we arrived back at the gym and got out of the car half an hour later, we
saw my Coke can sitting on the front bumper next to the license plate. I
nudged it softly to see if it was lodged in there, but it fell right off—
wasn't stuck at all. I thought, 'There must be a word for this magic,' and
thus 'careenstable' was born. It came to mean anything that maintains its
poise in the midst of wild, fast movement."
Give an example of careenstable working in your own life.
13. Provide evidence proving or disproving the following four hypotheses:
1. If you're not part of the grueling solution, you're probably part of the
insidiously comfortable problem. 2. If you're not conspiring to commit
smart fun, you're almost certainly colluding with the disingenuous
repression. 3. If you're not trying to rally support for a tough
investigation, you'll end up assisting the bland cover-up. 4. If you're not
mad about how unconstructively you've used your anger in the past, then
you won't be motivated to wield it more creatively any time soon.
14. POP QUIZ! By now, you should be sufficiently knowledgeable about
pronoia to speak about it with some authority. Your assignment is to
write a pronoiac rebuttal to the following news story, which appeared in a
weekly tabloid:
"If you want to be happier, feel better, and do more in life, just turn your
back on reality—and inflate your ego! A new study reveals that an
unrealistically positive attitude and unfounded optimism, along with some
denial of reality, help you accomplish great things in all areas of your life.
In other words, you don't need a firm grip on reality to be successful and
happy."
15. A thousand years from today, everyone you know will be long dead
and forgotten. There'll be nothing left of the life you love, no evidence
that you ever walked this planet. That, at least, is what the
fundamentalist materialists would have you believe. But suppose the truth
is very different? What if in fact every little thing you do subtly alters the
course of world history? What if your day-to-day decisions will actually
help determine how the human species navigates its way through the epic
turning point we're living through?
And finally, what if you will be alive in a thousand years, reincarnated into
a fresh body and in possession of the memories of the person you were
back in this era? These are my hypotheses. These are my prophecies.
Which is why I say: Live as if your soul is eternal.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
To listen to and get a free download of "Televisionary," a song from my
band's CD *Give Too Much,* go here:
http://tinyurl.com/5yro8f
To buy the CD, go here:
http://tinyurl.com/yqy42p
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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:
NEW SPECIES REVEALED
People keep finding animals we never knew existed. Among the new
discoveries: the Wobbegong shark, the Tongian White-eye bird, and the
Green Tree Skink, which has green blood.
http://tinyurl.com/6z8y78
RATIONALISTS FIND SOUL
Scientists offer evidence that humans have a life after death.
http://tinyurl.com/6qx8go
The article was published in *Lancet,* an influential British medical journal.
IMAGINATION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN KNOWLEDGE AND PLAY IS MORE
IMPORTANT THAN BELIEF
by Erik Davis
"The imagination is a pivotal interface between human beings and the
natural world."
A talk by one of my fellow lobbyists-for-the-imagination, Erik Davis
http://tinyurl.com/4ydsfj
(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 May 1
Copyright 2008 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Have you ever been filled with a terrible
yearning to become something new? Do you know what it's like to be
racked with a ferocious hunger to change your life? Speaking from
experience, I know that such a state can sometimes feel heavy and dark.
But I'm here to tell you that it can also be a tremendous asset. The key to
transforming it into a gift, ironically, is to see it as a gift. So your
assignment, Taurus, is to interpret your ache for transformation as a
potent blessing. To do so will give you the power to perform magic you
can't even imagine yet.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Ariel was going through a hard time. She'd
been weaning herself from a painkiller she'd taken while recovering from
surgery. Her cat ran away, and there was a misunderstanding at work.
One night while at a nightclub with her friend Leila, she spied her ex-
boyfriend kissing some woman. Meltdown ensued. Ariel fled the club and
ran sobbing into the street, where she hurled her shoes on top of a
passing bus. Leila retrieved her and sat her down on a bench. "Because up
until now you've displayed such exemplary grace in the face of chaos,"
Leila said, "I'm giving you a free Crazy Pass. It gives you a karma-free
license to temporarily lose your mind." This compassionate humor helped
Ariel feel more composed. The rest of the night she partied beautifully,
achieving major relief and release without hurting herself. Now, Gemini, in
accordance with the omens, I'm awarding you, too, with a free Crazy
Pass.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): It's finally the right time for you to hear a
piece of advice you weren't ready for before. If I had told you this any
earlier, you would have at best misinterpreted it and at worst had no idea
what I was talking about. But in recent weeks you've recovered a portion
of your lost wildness, which means I can confidently reveal the following
truth, courtesy of poet Charles Simic: "He who cannot howl will not find
his pack."
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): There's oil on Saturn's moon Titan! NASA reports
that its spacecraft Cassini found vast lakes of liquid hydrocarbons.
There's enough, from what I can tell, to supply 40 generations of humans
with enough fuel to go joyriding in five-mile-a-gallon SUVs for a thousand
years. In response to the revelation, militant patriots are already calling
for the U.S. to invade and occupy Titan. In related news, I predict that a
novel energy source will soon become available for your personal use,
Leo. Luckily, it won't be nearly as hard to tap into as Titan's riches will be
for the oil companies. It'll also be much better for the environment.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): "Whatcha gonna do with your freedom?" asks
Lakshmi Devi on "Freedom," a song from her CD *Raise a Holy Fire.*
Here's what she says she'll do with hers: "I choose to lose control in the
presence of staggering beauty/ I choose to be stripped of what is unreal."
In my view, that's an epically brazen way to use one's freedom -- right up
there, in terms of radical moral zeal, with choosing to ease the suffering
of everyone you encounter. With these examples to inspire you, Virgo,
take some time to make an aggressive new formulation about how you'll
use your growing freedom.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): "Partner needed for mission from God," read
the classified ad I spied online. "I'm driving across the country in a
banana-yellow 1979 Cadillac Seville with a Lionel Richie photo dangling
from the rearview mirror and the thousand-page manuscript of my
autobiography piled in the trunk. The mission is driving to Mexico to find my biological father, a rancher. Swimming pools will be peed in,
convenience stores trashed, and large sunglasses worn. If you accompany
me, I'll pay you $1,000." In calling this to your attention, Libra, I'm not
necessarily suggesting you take the guy up on his offer. However, I do
hope you'll be alert for comparable proposals that would reward you for
helping interesting characters carry out edgy, inspirational quests.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): If you hurt another person, you hurt yourself.
The act of inflicting injury distorts you, making it more difficult for you to
be in alignment with your highest potential. The converse is also true.
When you hurt yourself, you inevitably hurt others. The damage you
cause to yourself diminishes your ability to give your best gifts. Keep this
mind, Scorpio, as you celebrate Do No Harm Week. Be scrupulous in your
intention to practice non-violence in every way you can imagine.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Farmers in Morocco can earn 40 times
more money by growing marijuana instead of avocados or tomatoes.
Meanwhile, my friend René brings in ten times the salary she used to make
as a secretary by working as a stripper at a nightclub. That means she can
devote less time to earning a living and has more time to do what she
loves, which is playing music. I expect that you've received or will soon
receive a comparable opportunity or temptation, Sagittarius. I'm not sure
what the morally correct action will be. But I do urge you to try to put
your long-term interests above your short-term interests.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): When the first George Bush ran for U.S.
President in 1988, he worried that he and his wife Barbara appeared less
affectionate in public than their opponents, Michael and Kitty Dukakis.
"Sweetsie," he wrote to her, "Look at how Mike and Kitty do it. Try to be
closer in, more romantic on camera. I am practicing the loving look, and
the creeping hand. Yours for better TV and more demonstrable affection.
Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo." Though my moral principles make it tough to
ask you to imitate any president named Bush, it's my astrological duty to
do that, at least in this one matter. Your Love Quotient has got to go
way, way up. So please: Practice the loving look and the creeping hand.
And find an excuse to call someone "sweetie-pie-coo-coo." [Source: *My
Dear President: Letters Between Presidents and Their Wives.*]
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): How do I come up with your forecasts? First
I meditate on the chart of the current astrological configurations. Then I
say this prayer to the higher powers: "Please help me tune in to the
message that is most important for Aquarians to hear." After that I close
my eyes and release my creative mind into the tidal swells of the
collective unconscious, suggesting that it find an image or phrase or story
that captures the essence of the next step you need to take. Right now,
for instance, I'm getting a vision of you not relying on me, but rather
exercising the initiative to hunt down the question that's most important
for you to ask right now.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Rumor has it that you are overflowing with so
many fresh, hot ideas that you can't use them fast enough. So why not
give some away? Like for instance donate a few to me. I'll be glad to take
them off your hands and find a decent home for them. If I use your
brilliant notions to make lots of money, I may even give you a kickback.
So don't let your surplus of brainstorms bog you down, Pisces. Send your
excess to me at uaregod@comcast.net. (P.S. In case you can't tell, I'm
joking. In fact, I'd love it if you kept all your smart ideas for yourself, and
worked expeditiously to turn every one of them into some practical
improvement in your life.)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Your power symbol for the week is an ant
carrying a potato chip. It means you'll possess so much strength that
you'll be able to hold aloft burdens that are much bigger than you. More
than that, Aries. You'll look graceful doing it. And here's the kicker. That
giant load you carry may ultimately provide nourishment not only for you
but also for everyone back at the nest.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
HOMEWORK: What part of the past are you still enslaved to? What can
you do to free yourself? Testify by going to http://FreeWillAstrology.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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++