Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
May 5, 2010
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Facebook fan page: http://bit.ly/BrezFB
Expanded Audio Horoscopes: http://RealAstrology.com
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There's a new release from the soundtrack for my book
*PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA.*
It's called "I Want Everybody"
You can access it here:
http://bit.ly/WantEverybody
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The revised and expanded version of my book *PRONOIA IS THE
ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA* is available at Amazon: http://bit.ly/Pronoia
and also at Powells:
http://bit.ly/PronoiaPowells
Excerpts from the book online: http://bit.ly/BeautyTruth
Here's a new excerpt:
LETTERS TO THE BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB, Part 3
DEAR BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB: I've wrestled all my life with fear. But
lately it's been even worse than usual. My personal demons seem to be
winning, or at least getting the better of the fight. I think it's related to
the fact that when I caught wind of the idea of pronoia, I started working
hard to lose all my illusions. Now I'm thinking maybe that was a mistake.
Perhaps I needed my illusions to keep the demons at bay? - Crybaby
DEAR CRYBABY: Hang on. This is the toughest part of your struggle. It
may seem that the illusions you dissolved were the main barriers
safeguarding you from your demons. But what's more likely is that those
illusions were food for your demons. Very soon now the demons will have
devoured the last of their fuel and will start to starve. If they don't die
off, they will at least fly away in search of other nourishment.
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DEAR BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB: I have to say that reading your book
Pronoia prodded me to tune in to my manic and riotous subconscious
screams and help me transform them into something quite lively and
refreshing and worthy of serious amusement. How did you do it? Can you
teach me how to perform the same service for myself? - Longing for Self-
Mastery
Dear Future Self-Master: To get started, give yourself the secret
handshake. (Middle finger to middle finger, right index finger to left pinkie,
right pinkie to left thumb.) Whisper the password ("Swordfish serenade")
to your image in the mirror. Then drink two ounces of homemade Red Bull
out of a yellow plastic Easter egg.
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DEAR BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB: Two months ago I met the first person
with whom I am completely psychic. We fell deeply in love, of course. But
it turned out that neither of us was ready or able to fulfill the potential of
our connection because we are nowhere near as profoundly in love with
ourselves as we are with each other. The good news is that through my
love for him, I have intensified my desire to learn to love myself. The bad
news is that we can't really be together as fate intended until we upgrade
our self-love. Can you offer any consolation? - Lucky Yet Unlucky in Love
Dear Lucky: We appreciate your sage caution, but also offer this
alternative view from actress Tallulah Bankhead: "If I had to live my life
again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner."
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DEAR BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB: Lately I've been practicing an evangelical
kind of pronoia. In addition to proceeding as if the universe is conspiring
to help me, I'm extending that assumption to my fellow planeteers. I'm
meeting people and visualizing realistically wonderful futures for them,
filled with interesting opportunities or at least fertile riddles.
For instance, yesterday I saw a morose woman staring blankly into space
at Starbucks as if she were the loneliest person ever born. I visualized her
falling into a deeply engaging conversation with a new friend, and feeling
emboldened by that encounter to be proactive about seeking out people
who stimulate her. Two days ago I saw an unruly kid acting crazy at the
grocery store. I visualized for him a future of uncompromising
individualism creating unique approaches to old problems.
This evangelical push is a real stretch sometimes. (It's a challenge to
visualize a positive future for, say, a homeless panhandler.) But I like how
it makes me feel. Maybe it's no coincidence that my physical health has
markedly improved recently. And it seems to be making me more highly
attuned to the sometimes subtle blessings that life does bring into my
vicinity -- blessings I might have missed in the past. -Architect of
Empathy
DEAR ARCHITECT: At the Beauty and Truth Lab, we work on the
hypothesis that all of us are affecting each other all the time, either by
direct contact, via telepathic contagion, or through the culture we co-
create. If even 25 percent of that hypothesis is true, why not be a
beacon of blessings, constantly broadcasting images that promote health
and well-being? People just might live up to our expectations, just as
easily as they can live down to them. Plus, as you noted, it has a tonic
effect on the one who acts as a beacon of blessings.
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DEAR BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB: You asked us readers this question: "The
spiritual teacher A. H. Almaas believes that a genuinely creative act is
always motivated by generosity. If that's true, how do you explain all the
ego-obsessed 'geniuses' who treat everyone like dirt even as they churn
out their supposedly brilliant art?"
Here's my answer: Those aren't really geniuses, and what they make isn't
really brilliant art! It may be popular art, and it may earn a lot of money
for the fake geniuses, but it's not brilliant. The truth is, many of the
richest and most famous artists are those patronized for their ability to
fetishize, glamorize, and trivialize our cultural pain. You can apply the
same statement to supposed geniuses who apply their talent to the
pharmaceutical industry or nuclear weapons. Creative and intellectual
energy applied to cruelty, domination, and meanness is always stupid.
The true geniuses recognize that cooperation is a stronger evolutionary
force than competition. They know that the only appropriate application
for intelligence is to find ways to make us all feel stupendously good as
much as possible. - Malian
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DEAR BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB: My mom calls me fat but feeds me pork
rinds. My strongest supporter is a person I want to wrap up like a mummy,
shove into a canoe, and push into the middle of the lake. My exuberant
imagination has taken me hostage, violating its own principles. I'm so
ambivalent and indecisive about everything that even my addictive nature
can't figure out what to be addicted to. I'd embrace my contradictions if I
could, but they've got me surrounded like a pink-haired, cross-dressing
SWAT team frothed up on multiple espressos. Can you point me in the
direction of the pronoiac exit from this circus-like hell? - Crazy Crank
DEAR CRAZY CRANK: We detect a lot of wit and style in your meditations.
Maybe that's the purpose of the limbo you're in: It's an opportunity to
build your skill at being lively and feisty and smart no matter what your
outer circumstances are.
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
THE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME
"Our Moment in History is an Initiation for Humanity"
http://tinyurl.com/286p2h4
THE WONDERS AND MARVELS KEEP MOUNTING
Nanoscopic material enables cartilage to do what it doesn't do naturally
http://tinyurl.com/yabogsb
MAKE SURE YOU RECOGNIZE BEAUTY WHEN YOU SEE IT
The World's Most Beautiful Bridges
http://tinyurl.com/y7vqcwz
THE EVIDENCE IS ACCUMULATING
Compendium of pronoiac resources gathered in the newsletter:
http://pronoiaresources.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.
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning May 6
Copyright 2010 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Among the ancient Anglo-Saxons, the month
of May was called "Thrimilce." The word referred to the fact that cows
were so productive at this time of year that they could be milked three
times a day. I thought of that as I studied your current astrological data,
Taurus. During this year's Thrimilce, you are almost impossibly fertile and
abundant and creative. My advice is to give generously, but not to the
point of exhaustion: the equivalent of three times a day, but not four.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In accordance with the astrological omens, I
encourage you to seek out a concentrated period of sweet oblivion. Not a
numb, narcotized limbo. Not a mournful unconsciousness that's motivated
by a depressive urge to give up. No, Gemini: The mental blankness that
you cultivate should be generated by a quest to rejuvenate yourself, and
it must have qualities of deliciousness and delight. You not only have a
need to rest and recharge in a lush nowhere -- you also have the right to
do so.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): A while back, I gave my readers this
homework: "Tell a story about the time a divine intervention reached
down and altered your course in one tricky, manic swoop." A woman
named Kelly testified as follows: "At first I was disturbed to find I couldn't
identify the last time Spirit descended into my midst with a forceful
intervention. But finally I realized why: I have been working to make my
whole life be guided by the Spirit of my Higher Power, as a deep
undercurrent. That way I don't need bolts of lightening to fix my course."
This is a useful lesson, Cancerian. It's an excellent time for you to follow
Kelly's lead. Ask yourself how you could cultivate a deep, abiding
undercurrent of the good influence you want to have guide you, thereby
making lightning bolts of divine intervention unnecessary.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The exact height of Mt. Everest has proved
challenging to determine. Even using modern scientific methods, different
teams of surveyors have come up with varying measurements. The
problem is not simply with the calculations themselves. The world's tallest
peak is definitely evolving. Shifts in the earth's tectonic plates work to
raise it up and move it northeastward. But there's also evidence that the
melting of its glaciers due to climate change is causing it to shrink. A
member of one mountain climbing expedition said, "If Everest is bobbing
up and down, we must hope to catch it on a low day." I bring this to your
attention, Leo, in order to offer you a metaphor for the coming weeks.
Your version of Mt. Everest is shriveling. Get ready to ascend.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Have you been lusting after spiritual traditions
other than your own? Have you been fantasizing about cheating on the
deity you've always been faithful to, and seeking a taboo liaison with a
strange and exciting god from another part of reality? If so, Virgo, that's
a good sign. I suspect you could use a few adjustments to your familiar
relationship with the Divine Wow. After all, you have gone through a lot of
changes since the last time you hammered out your definitive theories
about the meaning of life. What made good sense for you back then can't
be completely true for you any more. So feel free to let your mind wander
in the direction of holy experiments.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): When a girl is born, her ovaries already contain
all the eggs she will ever have. What this means, of course, is that a part
of you was in your grandmother's womb as well as in your mother's. Now
would be an excellent time to celebrate that primal fact. Your connection
with your mother's mother is especially important these days. I suggest
you meditate on what gifts and liabilities you received from her (genetic
and otherwise), and how you might be able to make better use of the
gifts even as you take steps to outwit the liabilities.
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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.
The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or
1-900-950-7700.
"Your Expanded Audio Horoscopes provide me with the Rest of the Story.
I'm not necessarily a believer in the scientific accuracy of astrology, but I
do think you've got a lot of practical wisdom to impart."
- M. Tennenbaum, New York
"No one knows more about me than me. But you're right up there near
the top of the list of people who do understand something about how I
tick. How is that possible?"
- R. Goren, Albuquerque
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SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Who is the person most unlike you in the
world? I suggest you study that person for tips on how to improve your
life. What are the healthy experiences you are least attracted to? You
might want to meditate on exactly why they're so unappealing, and use
that information to update your ideas about yourself. What are the places
on the earth that you long ago decided you would never visit? I invite you
to fantasize being in those places and enjoying yourself. Can you guess
why I'm calling this Opposite Week, Scorpio?
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Are you in a trance or a rut or a jam? If
so, excuse yourself. It's break time! You need spaciousness. You need
slack. You need to wander off and do something different from what you
have been doing. If there's any behavior you indulge in with manic
intensity, drop it for a while. If you've been caught up in a vortex of
excruciating sincerity or torturous politeness, shake it off and be more
authentic. Of all the good reasons you have for relaxing your death-grip,
here's one of the best: Life can't bring you the sublime gift it has for you
until you interrupt your pursuit of a mediocre gift.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The state of Texas is a Capricorn, having
become part of the United States on December 29, 1845. At that time, it
was granted the right to divide itself into five separate states at some
future date. So far it hasn't chosen to do so, and I would advise it to
continue that policy. I extend the same counsel to all of my Capricorn
readers. From an astrological perspective, this is not a favorable time for
you to break yourself up into sub-sections. On the contrary: I suggest you
sow unity and solidarity among your various parts.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I'm all for recycling, composting, and
carpooling. Anything you and I can do to reduce our carbon footprint is
brilliant. But I also agree with author Chris Hedges, who says, "The reason
the ecosystem is dying is not because we still have a dryer in
our basement. It is because corporations look at everything, from human
beings to the natural environment, as exploitable commodities. It is
because consumption is the engine of corporate profits." So beyond our
efforts to save the earth by adjusting our own individual habits, we've got
to revise the way corporations work. Now let's apply this way of thinking
to the specific personal dilemma you're facing right now: It's important
for you to change yourself, yes -- and I'm glad you're taking responsibility
for your role in the complications -- but you will also have to transform
the system you're part of.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Every year Americans fork over six times as
much money on buying lottery tickets as they do on going to the movies,
according to the documentary film *Lucky.* Yet many people who actually
buck the improbable odds regard their "luck" as a curse. "Winning the
lottery is like throwing Miracle-Gro on all your character defects," said one
person. Let this serve as a cautionary tale for you in the coming months,
Pisces. To get ready for the good things that are headed your way, you
should work to purify any darkness that's lurking in your unconscious.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Hip hop music definitely needs to include more
tuba playing. I think that's what's missing from it. Likewise, the sport of
skateboarding would benefit from having more dogs and monkeys that
can master its complexities; the state of journalism could be improved by
including more babies as reporters; and you Aries folks would significantly
upgrade your life by learning how to play the game of cricket. (If you
believe everything I just said, you'll be equally gullible when a little voice
in your head tries to convince you to seek out things you don't really
need or adopt behavior that doesn't suit you.)
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HOMEWORK: Why is this a perfect moment? Write to
Truthrooster@gmail.com. (Here's my take on the question:
http://bit.ly/ThisIsaPerfectMoment.)
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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
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Submissions sent to the Free Will Astrology Weekly Newsletter
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2010 Rob Brezsny
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