Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
December 3, 2008
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http://FreeWillAstrology.com
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"The more I examine the universe and the details of its architecture, the
more evidence I find that the universe in some sense must have known we
were coming."
- Freeman Dyson, pioneering physicist
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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
Here's an excerpt:
THE RICH GET RICHER
"Dear Beauty and Truth Laboratory: Help! My old Buick's transmission is
dead, my credit cards are maxed, my kid's got to see the dentist real bad,
and the one-speed bike I ride everywhere is about to collapse. I'm working
two low-paying jobs already, although I just applied for a more lucrative
gig as a strip-club dancer, only I'm having so much mysterious pain in my
joints I'm not sure how sexy my gyrations will be. Please clue me in to
some tricks that will help me keep a pronoiac attitude in the midst of the
mess that is my life. —Pickled"
Dear Pickled: Here's the first thing I want to tell you: Pronoia does not
assume that material comfort is a sign of divine favor. The universe is an
equal-opportunity provider, conspiring to shower blessings on every one
of us in the same abundance. But while the blessings may come in the
form of money and possessions, they're just as likely to consist of other
gifts that aren't as concrete.
Here's a hypothetical example. Let's say you have the gift of feeling at
home in the world no matter where you are. The universe has determined
that it's the exact skill you need in order to fulfill the specific purpose you
came to earth to carry out. Having a prestigious job and big salary, on the
other hand, might be exactly what you don't need.
The question of what gifts are essential revolves around your precise role
in the universal conspiracy to perpetrate blessings.
The second meditation I'll offer you is a passage from the Gospel of
Matthew: "Whoever has, shall be given more and more, while whoever has
nothing, even what he has will be taken away from him."
Pronoiac translation: Whatever you choose to focus your attention on,
you will get more of it. If you often think of everything you lack and how
sad you are that you don't have it, you will tend to receive prolific
evidence of how true that is. As you obsess on all the ways your life is
different from what you wish it would be, you will become an expert in
rousing feelings of frustration and you will attract experiences that assist
you in rousing frustration.
If, on the other hand, you dwell on the good things you have already had
the privilege to experience, you will expand your appreciation for their
blessings, which in turn will amplify their beneficent impact on your life.
You will also magnetize yourself to receive further good things, making it
more likely that they will be attracted into your sphere. At the very least,
you will get in the habit of enjoying yourself no matter what the outward
circumstances are.
Bear in mind that you are a great wizard. You can use your powers to
practice white magic on yourself instead of the other kind. The most basic
way to do that is to concentrate on naming, savoring, and feeling
gratitude for the blessings you do have—your love for your kid, the
pleasures of eating the food you like, the sight of the sky at dusk, the
entertaining drama of your unique fate. Don't ignore the bad stuff, but
make a point of celebrating the beautiful stuff with all the exuberant
devotion you can muster.
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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:
EIGHT HOURS OF PURE PRONOIA IS YOURS FOR FREE EVERY NIGHT
*The Secret History of Dreaming* by Robert Moss
"Robert Moss's detective work has unearthed a 'secret history of
dreaming' that demonstrates how nighttime dreams, in concert with
coincidence and imagination, have resulted in artistic productions,
scientific discoveries, political turnarounds, spiritual breakthroughs, and
the course of human evolution itself. "
http://tinyurl.com/6b9o9c
http://www.mossdreams.com/
ALMOST LIKE ROBIN HOOD
Rogue Philanthropist Gives Away Money with No Strings Attached
http://tinyurl.com/6aj35s
BENEVOLENT CHANGE DOESN'T ALWAYS HAVE TO COME THROUGH
PUNISHMENT
"We've Cut Cigarette Smoking By Half and We Didn't Have To Arrest 20
Million Americans To Do It"
Now about applying these lessons to develop an alternative to the War on
Drugs
http://tinyurl.com/65tfh3
(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.
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If you'd like to give your friends and loved ones holiday gifts of my work
without spending any money, here's what you can do:
1. Give them the URLs where I've posted about half of my most recent
book, *PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia.*
The links are here:
http://tinyurl.com/lhwx2
http://tinyurl.com/6bj8cf
2. Or go to the above links yourself, print out the pages, and make them
into a homemade version of my book.
3. Download mp3s of my eight podcasts and burn them onto a CD. The
URLs for those podcasts can be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/5v9rxb
4. Give them the URL where I've posted the entirety of my second book
*The Televisionary Oracle.* Start here: http://tinyurl.com/6blklz
5. Download mp3s of my band's music and burn them onto a CD.
Most of the songs are here: http://tinyurl.com/5px7ke
All of the songs are here: http://tinyurl.com/yh5v7j
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning December 4
Copyright 2008 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I got an invitation through MySpace to
audition for an upcoming production of the "Vagina Monologues." While I
was honored to be asked, I wasn't sure that the kind of audience
members who would come to see the "Vagina Monologues" would want to
hear me, a man, expound on the central topic. Upon reading the fine print,
however, I found out that the producers were indeed seeking some male
actors. The metaphorical moral of the story, Sagittarius, is to be open to
invitations, opportunities, and requests that may at first seem odd,
misdirected, or irrelevant.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): From 1987 to 2006, Alan Greenspan was
Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve and a major force in shaping the
world's most powerful economy. When the recent troubles hit, Congress
called on him to testify. With shocking humility, he confessed that there
had been a flaw in his model of reality. All those years he'd believed that
"free, competitive markets are by far the unrivaled way to organize
economies." Now he saw he was wrong. While I'm sorry for the collective
pain his mistaken ideas have unleashed, I'm elated for him personally: How
many 82-year-old men are open to the possibility that their philosophy of
life needs adjustment? For that matter, how many people of any age are
receptive to changing their ideas about how the world works? I invite you
to take your inspiration from Greenspan, Capricorn. Be curious about how
your own major theories might need revision. Doing this heroic deed will
energize you with good karma and fresh mojo.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): What's the healthiest, holiest rebellion you
could launch, Aquarius? What would be the most constructive way to
channel your longing to live in a more perfect world? How might you
overthrow the status quo in ways that would so thoroughly enhance the
greater good that even the people bent on preserving the status quo
would benefit? Given the fact that you are in a phase when your trouble-
making skills are dovetailing very nicely with your ability to bestow
blessings, these are excellent questions for you to consider.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): A column in the *Washington Post* called
"The Style Invitational" has identified the "Top 10 New Religions." I'm
calling your attention to two that might be attractive to you in the
coming months, a time when you'll probably have urges to transform and
expand upon your spiritual practices. First, there are the Oxymormons,
who engage in polygamous monogamy. The second group is the
Salivationists. They speak in tongues like some other sects, but they also
speak in drool. A third option, of course, is for you to whip up your own
brand new, totally unique religion using just the parts you really like from
all of the other traditions. However you do it, Pisces, I encourage you to
be playfully creative as you get more disciplined about your relationship
with the Divine Wow.
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LISTEN TO AN EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE
In addition to the horoscopes you're reading here, I create more in-depth
audio horoscopes for your inspiration. Find out more at
http://RealAstrology.com.
To get an idea of what the audio 'scopes are like, tune in to two of my
free podcasts:
"Fear Versus Intuition": http://tinyurl.com/582k22
"You Are a Prophet": http://tinyurl.com/5dcedz
My approach there has a close resemblance to the style of my weekly
pay-for-view offerings.
The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or
1-900-950-7700.
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ARIES (March 21-April 19): The European Union has had rules banning the
sale of ugly carrots with knobby protrusions, cucumbers that are grossly
curved, and equally unaesthetic specimens of 24 other fruits and
vegetables. Recently that changed, however. The stiff standards were
relaxed. "It makes no sense to throw perfectly good products away, just
because they are the 'wrong' shape," said the EU's commissioner for
agriculture. I suggest you make a metaphorically similar shift, Aries. It's
time for you to expand your capacity to welcome some fine, useful things
that happen to look a bit imperfect.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In the Broadway play "Passing Strange," the
narrator praises the healing power of mysterious songs, saying: "You
know when the music goes right over your head, bypasses your mind, and
strengthens the part of you that's most beautiful?" That's the kind of
nourishment I encourage you to seek out in the coming week, Taurus. You
need soul-toning experiences that elude your rational understanding --
encounters with wise animals, waking dreams, unpredictable love, exotic
music, and twilight whispers that blissfully boggle your imagination.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): According to the imaginative reporters at the
*Weekly World News,* the devil doesn't sit by passively as people
beseech God for help and consolation. Using his own version of stealth
technology, the evil one "intercepts or jams" up to one-third of all prayers
on their way heavenward. Timid and fuzzy prayers are the easiest for him
to block. Just in case there's a grain of truth in this claim, Gemini, take
special measures when you send out appeals for assistance in the coming
days. You need and deserve attention from higher powers, both the
earthbound and divine kind. To ensure that the devil (or one of his
surrogates) can't interfere, formulate your messages concisely and
communicate them with crisp confidence.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Lame-duck U.S. President George Bush is
mostly dreaming of his retirement these days, although he takes time out
now and then to create executive orders that undo environmental
protections. Barack Obama is planning hard for the monumental recovery
he hopes to lead when he assumes the presidency, but his time won't
come until January 20. Meanwhile, all the things that have been falling
apart under Bush's watch are continuing to fall apart, only bigger and
badder. Writes Josh Marshall in Talkingpointsmemo.com, "We're paying
mightily for having no captain at the helm at one of the most perilous
points in our recent national history." In regard to your own personal life,
Cancerian, please avoid acting like America. Don't wait for some formal
deadline before you make your moves. Expedite the transition from the
old order to the new with the force of a thousand ecstatic activists.
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EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE
In addition to the horoscopes you're reading here, I create more in-depth
audio horoscopes for your inspiration. Find out more at
http://RealAstrology.com.
To get an idea of what the audio 'scopes are like, tune in to two of my
free podcasts:
"Fear Versus Intuition": http://tinyurl.com/582k22
"You Are a Prophet": http://tinyurl.com/5dcedz
My approach there has a close resemblance to the style of my weekly
pay-for-view offerings.
The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or
1-900-950-7700.
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LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): "It's better to be clumsy than clever," says an
ancient Chinese book called *Poets' Jade Splinters,* "better plain than
affected, better crude than weak, better eccentric than vulgar." That's a
good prescription for you to use in the way you live your life in the
coming days, Leo. Here's another observation from the same text that
should also be helpful: "Inspiration enters at the border between hard
work and laziness." That suggests you've got to work hard and discipline
yourself in order to earn the right to inspiration, but often the inspiration
flows in when you're goofing off or giving yourself some slack. (Source:
tinyurl.com/5qu7fv.)
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In 1952, renowned modern composer John
Cage created the infamous "4'33"." It's a "song" that consists of four
minutes and 33 seconds of pure silence. Recently a San Francisco
performance artist, Jonathon Keats, did a remix of that tune and made it
available as a ring-tone. I'd love for you to be inspired by those two
geniuses in the coming week, Virgo. It'll be an excellent time for you to
come to a perfect stop, fill yourself with stillness, and bask in the healing
power of undiluted nothingness.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I urge you not to Google the word "duh," Libra.
If you do, you'll mark yourself as a conformist trend-slave, joining over 33
million people who have already done it before you. Furthermore, you will
be in danger of wasting the potential the cosmos is offering you, which is
to reap rich rewards by exploring brave new frontiers on the edges of
your awareness. So please be insanely curious about stuff you've never
heard of and people you've never met. Research subjects that tantalize
your imagination and stick your nose in where it supposedly doesn't
belong. But don't Google "duh."
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Researchers have determined that you've got
longer than you imagine to salvage food that has dropped on the floor.
Bacteria don't get a foothold and start growing on your pizza or muffin
for at least 30 seconds. Keep that in mind as an all-purpose metaphor in
the coming days, Scorpio. Anything that you fear has already been spoiled
or tainted may actually be possible to restore and redeem. You probably
have more time than you thought.
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HOMEWORK: You know what to do and you know when to do it, but
you've been trying to hide that fact from yourself. Why? Testify 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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NEED TO CHANGE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS?
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that's the case, complain. Tell your email provider to stop blocking my
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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,
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;
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Please be sure to note your preference when sending to us. We
are not responsible for unsolicited submission of any creative
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2008 Rob Brezsny
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