Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
September 17, 2008
+
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
+
Check out my PODCAST here:
http://www.freewillastrology.com/Gazing.mp3
Last week's podcast is available here:
http://FreeWillAstrology.com/Pronoia.mp3
+
You Don't Have to Act Crazy Anymore
You don't have to act crazy anymore --
We all know you were good at that.
Now retire, my dear,
From all that hard work you do
Of bringing pain to your sweet eyes and heart.
Look in a clear mountain mirror -
See the Beautiful Ancient Warrior
And the Divine elements
You always carry inside
That infused this Universe with sacred Life
So long ago
And join you Eternally
With all Existence - with God!
--Hafiz, translated by Daniel Ladinsky
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
You can listen to me read an excerpt from the book here:
http://www.freewillastrology.com/Gazing.mp3
Last week's podcast is here:
http://FreeWillAstrology.com/Pronoia.mp3
+
The piece below contains some material that appears in the book:
DARK GODDESS WELCOMED BACK IN?
What if the Creator is like the poet Rainer Maria Rilke's God: "like a
webbing made of a hundred roots, that drink in silence"?
What if the Source of All Life inhabits both the dark and the light, heals
with strange splendor as much as with sweet insight, is hermaphroditic
and omnisexual?
What if the Source loves to give you riddles that push you past the
boundaries of your understanding, forcing you to change the ways you
think about everything?
What if, as Rusty Morrison speculates in *Poetry Flash,* "the sublime can
only be glimpsed by pressing through fear's boundary, beyond one's
previous conceptions of the beautiful"?
Close your eyes and imagine you can sense the presence of this tender,
marvelous, difficult, entertaining intelligence.
+
A few years ago, astronomers announced the discovery of a shiny red
planet-like world orbiting the sun far beyond Pluto. They called it Sedna, a
name they said was derived from the Inuit deity that created the Arctic's
sea creatures. But the truth about the myth of Sedna is more
complicated.
She is the Dark Goddess, embodiment of the wild female potencies that
are feared yet sorely needed by cultures in which the masculine
perspective dominates. Dwelling on the edge of life and death in her home
at the bottom of the sea, Sedna is both a source of fertile abundance and
a mysterious prodigy. Shamans from the world above swim down to sing
her songs and comb her long black hair. If they win her favor, she gives
them the magic necessary to heal their suffering patients.
The Beauty and Truth Laboratory enjoys entertaining the possibility that
the discovery of Sedna is an omen signaling our collective readiness to
welcome back the long-repressed influence of the Dark Goddess.
We'd like to direct your attention to some further omens. They all have
pronoia embedded in their dark and fertile musings:
1. *Women Who Run with the Wolves* by Clarissa Pinkola Estes:
http://tinyurl.com/5b2hq4
2. *Spiritual Madness: The Necessity of Meeting God in Darkness,* an
audio CD by Caroline Myss: http://tinyurl.com/5n9zzo
3. *The Creative Fire,* an audio CD by Clarissa Pinkola Estes:
http://tinyurl.com/5l8wwv
4. A book I wrote, *The Televisionary Oracle.* It's available at amazon
here: http://tinyurl.com/3yfezl. Or if you don't want to buy it, you can
read it for free on my website. Chapter 1 starts here:
http://tinyurl.com/6blklz.
A good review of *The Televisionary Oracle* is available here:
http://tinyurl.com/6qfs76.
5. The work of sacred activist Andrew Harvey. He has graciously allowed
me to publish a taste of his writing in the piece below, which is available in
its fullness here: http://tinyurl.com/3avtf6
Andrew's website is here: http://www.andrewharvey.net.
+
BECOMING A SPIRITUAL REVOLUTIONARY
by Andrew Harvey
The entire world is now going through a massive crucifixion on all levels.
It's going through an environmental crucifixion. Hundreds of species are
vanishing every month. It's going through a personal crucifixion. There are
two billion people living on less than a dollar a day. It's going through a
crucifixion of all the patriarchal systems.
Look at Enron and what it has shown us about Corporate America. Look
at the Catholic Church's scandals of pedophilia and what it shows us
about authority. Look at the growing disillusionment with politicians of all
kinds. All of the systems are being exposed as illusory and fantasy-ridden,
as deeply corrupt and exploitative.
There's another kind of crucifixion going on: crucifixion of purpose and
hope. Everybody is totally bewildered. They know that the world is
potentially on the brink of total apocalypse. There's a tremendous danger
that as people wake up to the horror of what is going on, they will run
into political extremism or into fundamentalism of one kind or another.
So it's extremely important that the wisdom of the 'dark night of the
soul' gets across, because if people understand the necessity for this
crucifixion, and understand that it's preparing a resurrection and
empowerment, then they will be prepared to go through it without too
much fear, trusting in the logic of the divine transformation.
The Benedictine monk Bede Griffiths shared with me his experience of the
dark night of the soul. He said he was sitting outside his hut one day
when he felt as if a hand hit him on the right side of his being. He had
suffered a massive heart attack that destroyed what he described as his
patriarchal mind and gave him access to a much deeper elaboration of
Oneness with all things.
He said, "It's a very strange thing, but when I thought of surrendering to
the Mother I of course thought of Mary -- I often say the 'Hail Mary' -- but
it was Mary as the Black Madonna that came into my mind. She is the
mother of the earth as well as heaven, of the body as well as the soul, the
mother of the subconscious, the hidden, of all those powers that the
'masculine' mind represses; the Mother of the sacred darkness. In Her the
Western Christian vision of the Divine Mother and the Eastern one merge
and meet; you can think of her as both Mary and Kali, both preserver and
destroyer. From that time on, I have turned to Her again and again.
Invoking Her strength and grace, I find, makes the 'birth' go so much
faster and more cleanly."
The power that is doing this to us is coming towards us simultaneously
with terrifying destruction and extreme grace and prosperity. The
destruction is, in fact, a form of that extreme grace. It's quite clear that
humanity is now terminally ill, and can only be transfigured by a totally
shocking revelation of its shadow side. And this is what we're living
through, these shadow sides exploding in every direction because we have
done nothing but betray the sacred in us.
We have lacerated the sacred in others. We have betrayed the sacred in
an orgy of fundamentalism. We have brutalized the sacred in nature. We
are now terminally destructive.
So only an almost terminal destruction that reveals to us the full extent
of our responsibility in this destruction can wake us up. And that is what
is happening, and it will get worse. It's bound to get worse. But it is only
being done to us for our own redemption.
Those who turn to the Mother in total faith, those who turn to the Black
Madonna in total admiration, those who realize the mercy behind the
violence will be given extraordinary protection, strength, and revelation.
They will be empowered in the core of themselves to become what
everybody who has a heart and a mind must now become--a spiritual
revolutionary devoting their entire life and all their resources to the
preservation of the planet.
Finding the Black Madonna, in whatever form you want to find her,
realizing the massive task that she's doing and turning to her for
protection is now crucial to the preservation of the planet. It's extremely
important that people really come to understand the feminine and turn
towards it, because it's our betrayal of the feminine in ourselves and in
the divine that has led to this crisis.
- Andrew Harvey, in an interview with Colleen O'Connor on the Grace
Cathedral website at http://tinyurl.com/3avtf6
Copyright Andrew Harvey -- All Rights Reserved
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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:
LET'S BEGIN THE SPIRITUAL REVOLUTION, PLEASE!
OVERTHROWING THE DOOM AND GLOOM
*Imagine: What America Could be in the 21st century* edited by Marianne
Williamson
http://tinyurl.com/4hsgam
"The writers in this optimistic anthology didn't want to buy into the
typical doomsayer theories and gloomy forecasts when imagining the
future of America. Instead, editor Marianne Williamson assembled a soul-
stirring gospel choir to sing out vivid, uplifting songs of hope and
imagination."
One reader at amazon says: "I almost did not buy this book, and I say that
because an awful lot of really smart folks might be inclined to turn away
on the basis of the title and the possibility that this is a fairy tale wishful-
thinking la la land kind of book. It is not. It is practical and political."
BE AWARE OF THE MESS AND CLEAN THE MESS, BUT DON'T FORGET TO
CONCENTRATE ON THE BEAUTIFUL FUTURE
*The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World*
by Paul H. Ray
http://tinyurl.com/4dgpcr
TURNING THE WORLD UPSIDE-DOWN WILL MAKE IT RIGHTSIDE UP
*Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being
and Why No One Saw It Coming* by Paul Hawken
"Hawken describes a convergence of the environmental and social justice
movements as the largest social movement in history, and the fastest
growing movement, comprising over 1 million organizations in every
country in the world."
ARCHIVES OF THESE PRONOIAC RESOURCES
This is a website that is archiving all the pronoaic resources I call your
attention to in this newsletter. The posts are categorized and tagged, and
there's built-in search.
http://pronoiaresources.wordpress.com
(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 September 18
Copyright 2008 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I hate to lay a sports metaphor on you, Virgo,
let alone one articulated by a hockey player. But it's such an apt
description of the approach that will work best for you in the coming
week, I had to bring it to your attention. "I skate to where the puck is
going to be, not to where it has been," quoth Wayne Gretzky. Apple CEO
Steve Jobs liked those words so much, he made them his own when he
introduced the iPhone to the public back in January 2007. Now I hope you
will find a way to apply the idea in your own sphere.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Delfin Vigil interviewed the band Social Studies
for the *San Francisco Chronicle.* He asked guitarist Aaron Weiss, "What
is the meaning of life?" Here's what Weiss said: "Wearing a big name tag,
having something stuck in your teeth, walking around with toilet paper
stuck to your shoe while awkwardly trying to hit on girls. Living on this
planet is worthless without the proper amount of humility." While I think
that's close to what the meaning of life has been for you recently, Libra,
the definition will soon change to something like this: You come on stage
to greet an adoring audience, do a riveting song and dance, then
announce that you won't be doing any more shows for a while because
you're about to go off and get busy on creating your next big splash.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Three enlightened teenagers I know have
formed a gang called The Disciples. It's dedicated to plying the dangerous
arts of humility, curiosity, and optimism -- three qualities that are so
undervalued in our culture as to be almost taboo. Here's their motto,
which reveals how far they're willing to go in order to listen well, keep
their egos in check, and constantly scour their surroundings for reasons
to be grateful: "We have no issues and no problems, but only questions." I
urge you to start your own branch of The Disciples, Scorpio -- or at least
work on cultivating their approach.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): A poet friend of mine hatched a scheme
for writing a book in record time. He bought a round-trip ticket for a
Greyhound bus that would take him from Oakland, California to New York
City and back. He vowed that over the course of those nine grueling days
and 6,000 miles, as he ate stale sandwiches from vending machines in bus
stations and slept sitting up surrounded by strangers, he would churn out
an epic-length poem about the experience of traveling cross-country on
the most populist form of transportation. The experiment worked. His
book was witty, shocking, and entertaining. I urge you to give yourself a
comparable assignment, Sagittarius. Invoke the magic of a strict deadline
to create something beautiful that will last a long time.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
LISTEN TO AN EXPANDED HOROSCOPE
In addition to the horoscopes that you read here, I create additional in-
depth audio horoscopes for your inspiration.
They're not repeats or elaborations of the stuff you find here, but entirely
fresh explorations of your astrological omens, designed to help you tune
in to your soul's code.
Try them at http://RealAstrology.com.
They're available by phone at 1-877-873-4888
or 1-900-950-7700.
They're $6 if you access them on the Web, or $1.99 per minute over the
phone.
"Your audio horoscopes help me love myself better, and I mean that in a
non-narcissistic way."
-Deva P., Indianapolis
"I'm really grateful for the way you pick up my telepathic requests and
answer them in your expanded audio 'scopes."
-Marion H., Birmingham, AL
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I would love to place an elegant gold
crown on your head. I have the urge to declare you monarch of the
expanding realm, maker of new laws, and reshaper of the collective vision.
Are you up for wielding that much power? Can you handle an increased
level of responsibilities? Or would you prefer to preside over a smaller
domain, content merely to keep the daily grind from erupting into chaos
now and then? It's mostly up to you. What do you want?
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Unable to control his appetite for
prostitutes, New York's Governor Elliot Spitzer destroyed his career. Many
observers were aghast at the incomprehensibility of his sacrifice. But
Phillip Weiss, writing in *New York,* said he understood. Spitzer
desperately "wanted some 'strange'" -- novelty that's hard to get when
you make love with just one person for many years. That's *not* the kind
of variety I advise you to consider in the coming weeks, Aquarius.
According to my reading of the omens, it *will* be prime time for you to
seek out some "strange," but not through multiple lovers. Rather, embark
on travels outside your usual haunts, entertain surprising ideas unlike any
you've been willing to think about before, and pursue unpredictable
encounters with people who have a lot to teach you.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In a story about author Gore Vidal in *The
Independent,* Archie Bland reports on an event that happened just after
Vidal's parents were married. While traveling to their honeymoon, dad told
mom, "'There's something very important I want you to know." Mom grew
radiantly expectant, imagining he was about to profess his love with a
thrilling intensity. But dad had something else in mind. "I have three
balls," he confessed. In the coming week, Pisces, I suspect that one of
your expectations will meet a fate similar to mom's hope. But don't fret.
In the long run, the revelations that come are likely to be more interesting
and valuable to you than the "I have three balls" shocker.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Believe it or not, whatever has been limiting
your movement has also been expanding your capacities. It's true. The
pinching sensation you've had to endure has been covertly generating
psychic fuel that you will soon be able to access. Therefore, Aries, I say
unto you: Praise your squelchers and constrictors! Be grateful for your
stiflers and tweakers! They have primed you for the arrival of a luminous
boon.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
LISTEN TO AN EXPANDED HOROSCOPE
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.
"The best part about your audio horoscopes is that they pat me on the
head and kick me in the ass at the same time." - Rita L., San Diego
"Your audio oracles go beyond helping me find the truth -- they inspire
me to find the WILD truth." - Patrick K., Montreal
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): "An uninterpreted dream is like an unopened
letter," says the Talmud. But professional dream researcher Stephen
LaBerge thinks that's too broad a statement. In his book *Lucid
Dreaming,* he says dreams are more like poems than letters. If you try to
extract literal meanings from them in the service of your ego, they may
reveal nothing. But if you're willing to find lyrical, unexpected information
that could aerate your imagination and dislodge you from your habits,
dreams are more likely to be useful. Keeping in mind everything I've said,
Taurus, treat the events of your waking life in the coming week as if they
were poems coming from a dreamy part of your psyche that's enticing
you to change your life.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): As you navigate your way through the
challenges ahead of you, should you rely on what you know or on what
you don't know? That's a good question. I'm inclined to advise you to go
with what you know when it concerns your security, and to go with what
you don't know when you're pursuing pleasure. So if you're trying to
come to a decision about what will make you feel at home, trust what the
past has taught you. But as you seek creative inspiration and
effervescent adventure, shed all precedents. P.S. This is one of those rare
times when you can interweave comfort and thrills, safety and risk,
tradition and novelty.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Her brush with sublime wisdom has done
wonders for Paris Hilton. "Kabbalah helps you confront your fears," she
told *Us* magazine. "Like if a girl borrowed my clothes and never gave
them back, and I saw her wearing them months later, I would confront
her." You can snicker if you like, but Paris's testimony exemplifies my
main point for you: It's crucial that you get practical use out of your
religion or spirituality. So please take measures to vigorously translate
your highest ideals into your everyday actions. What would it mean, for
example, to invite God to inhabit your lips as you kiss someone? Or to
prepare your food as if you were going to offer it to a beloved saint? Or
to speak every word as if it were a well-crafted prayer? Ask yourself 20
times a day, what would Buddha (or your greatest hero) do?
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): What you're about to leave behind is helpful but a
bit dull; it's fortifying but old-fashioned; comforting but homely. What
you're headed toward, on the other hand, is invigorating, through slightly
disruptive; it's futuristic and amusingly confusing; interesting but also a
real test of your flexibility. The transition may happen faster than you
thought it would. Congratulations in advance on being a good-natured
transformer.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
HOMEWORK: Imagine that everything important you know is condensed
into a single symbol or image. What is it? Report your results 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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++