Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
July 21, 2010
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There's a new release from the soundtrack for my book
*PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA.*
It's called "What If Your Desires Are Holy?"
You can access it here:
http://bit.ly/HolyDesires
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For a prettier version of this newsletter, go here:
http://bit.ly/FWA7-22
To sign up for the RSS feed:
http://www.freewillastrology.com/newsletter/
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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
Here's an excerpt:
PRONOIA'S VILLAINS
According to Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges, Judas was actually a
more exalted hero than Jesus. He unselfishly volunteered to perform the
all_important villain's role in the resurrection saga, knowing he'd be reviled
forever. It was a dirty job that only a supremely egoless saint could have
done. Jesus suffered, true, but enjoyed glory and adoration as a result.
Let's apply this way of thinking to the task of understanding the role
that seemingly bad people play in pronoia.
Interesting narratives play an essential role in the universal conspiracy to
give us exactly what we need. All of us crave drama. We love to be
beguiled by twists of fate that unfold the stories of our lives in
unpredictable ways. Just as Judas played a key role in advancing the tale
of Christ's quest, villains and con men and clowns may be crucial to the
entertainment value of our personal journeys.
Try this:_Imagine the people you fear and dislike as pivotal characters
in a fascinating and ultimately redemptive plot that will take years or even
lifetimes for the Divine Wow to elaborate.
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There is another reason to love our enemies: They force us to become
smarter. The riddles they thrust in front of us sharpen our wits and sculpt
our souls.
Try this: Act as if your adversaries are great teachers. Thank them for
how crucial they've been in your education.
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Consider one more possibility: that the people who seem to slow us down
and hold us back are actually preventing things from happening too fast.
Imagine that the evolution of your life or our culture is like a pregnancy: It
needs to reach its full term. Just as a child isn't ready to be born after
five months of gestation, the New Earth we're creating has to ripen in its
own time. The recalcitrant reactionaries who resist the inevitable birth are
simply making sure that the far-seeing revolutionaries don't conjure the
future too suddenly. They serve the greater good.
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
PRONOIA SAVES MONEY
"World peace would save the global economy $7 trillion a year. Becoming
more peaceful translates into economic gains because less money needs
to be spent on security and can be invested instead to make the country
more prosperous."
http://tinyurl.com/2dkr9xt
TRAIN YOURSELF TO LOOK FOR UNEXPECTED BEAUTY
You've got to be alert
http://i.imgur.com/Kposn.jpg
GREAT CHANGES ARE NOT IMPOSSIBLE
What's required to power human civilization with zero carbon emissions
http://tinyurl.com/2wyvgtl
HOW MUCH GOOD NEWS CAN YOU HANDLE?
A Gathering Point for the Good News
http://bit.ly/GoodGood
(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 July 22
Copyright 2010 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): According to Hawaiian mythology, the soul leaves
the body during the night to seek the adventures known as dreams. The
place of departure and re-entry is the "soul pit" (*lua'uhane*), which is
located in the tear duct of the eye. During the next few nights, I'd love
for you to send your soul flying out though your soul pit for some daring
exploits that will revitalize your lust for life. Take your backlog of stored-
up tears along with you, and pour them down like rain on the secret
garden you've been neglecting. The garden will respond to the downpour
with a big growth spurt.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): A woman I know was invited to a party where
she would get the chance to meet her favorite musician, psychedelic folk
artist Devendra Banhart. On her last look in the mirror before heading out
the door, she decided that the small pimple on her chin was unacceptable,
and gave it a squeeze. Wrong move. After it popped, it looked worse. She
panicked. More squeezing ensued, accompanied by moaning and howling.
Soon the tiny blemish had evolved into a major conflagration. Fifteen
minutes later, defeated and in tears, she was nibbling chocolate in bed,
unable to bring herself to face her hero with her flagrant new wound
showing. The moral of the story, as far as you're concerned: Leave your
tiny blemish alone.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In the upcoming science fiction movie *The
Adjustment Bureau,* Matt Damon plays a politician with big ambitions.
Everything's going his way until he falls in love with a dancer. Then the
representatives of a mysterious group intervene in his life, warning him
that he'll never achieve his dreams if he stays with her. "We are the
people who make sure things happen according to plan," they say. "We
monitor the entire world." I'm happy to inform you, Libra, that this
scenario is utterly make-believe. There is no "Adjustment Bureau," on
earth or in heaven. It is true, however, that if you don't have a master
plan, then your destiny is more likely to be shaped by your conditioning
and by other people's master plans. So get working! This is an excellent
time to either formulate a master plan or refine the one you have.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The United States is the planet's major
player in terms of political, economic, and military clout. China is rising
fast as a competitor in those three arenas, but lags far behind in a fourth:
"soft power," or cultural influence. The rest of the world finds America's
style, entertainment, art, and ideas far more attractive than China's. As
you enter a phase that will be favorable for enhancing your own leverage
and authority, Scorpio, I suggest you put the emphasis on wielding "soft
power." You'll accomplish more by charming people with your intelligence
than by trying to push them or manipulate them.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I think it would be healthy for you to
wander out to a frontier and explore a boundary. You might even want to
re-examine a taboo you haven't questioned in a while and tinker with a
formula you thought you'd never change. I suspect that you would also
learn a lot from gently pushing against a limit you've come to believe is
permanent. Having said all that, I'm cautious about advising you to go
further. If you get urges to actually transgress the boundary and break
the taboo and smash through the limit, please do lots of due diligence.
Know exactly what you're getting into and what the consequences might
be.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): When mobs stage political demonstrations
in Pakistan's biggest cities, they make sure that some of their signs are
written in English. That way their protests are more likely to be filmed by
news media like CNN and shown to American audiences. Take a cue from
that trick as you plan your actions, Capricorn. It won't be enough merely
to say what you want to say and be who you want to be; you should
tailor your messages to people who have the power to actually change
what needs to be changed.
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LISTEN TO AN EXPANDED HOROSCOPE
In addition to the horoscopes that come to you in this newsletter, I create
more in-depth audio horoscopes for your inspiration. I think of them as
my love letters to you. They're $6 if you access them on the Web, or
$1.99 per minute over the phone.
Try them at http://RealAstrology.com.
They're available by phone at 1-877-873-4888
or 1-900-950-7700.
"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
To get a different taste of my audio offerings, go here:
http://bit.ly/WorldKiss
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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I'm putting out a call to the rebel in your
heart -- not the cranky, vindictive rebel in your mind, but the joyful,
yearning rebel in your heart. I am asking this tender renegade to rise up
against narcissistic behavior wherever you find it. Don't shout it down or
try to shame it, though; rather, work around it through outrageous
displays of empathy and radical acts of compassion and feisty outbreaks
of wild kindness. Your job, according to my analysis of the astrological
omens, is to be a one-person wrecking crew devoted to smashing the
boring inertia of egotism with your zealous concern for the good of all.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): As the economic recovery lags, many
frustrated job-seekers have decided to stop waiting around to be saved;
they're taking matters into their own hands. As a result, entrepreneurship
is thriving. I suggest you catch that spirit. In fact, I advocate a mass
entrepreneurial uprising among Pisceans in the coming months. Even if
you're already employed, it'll be prime time for you to create your own
perfect gig, carve out your own special niche, or dream up a role that is
designed for your unique talents.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Revenge fantasies would pollute your
consciousness. I advise you to repress them. Wallowing in resentment
would have an equally deleterious effect. Don't you dare give that
emotion a foothold. On the other hand, fantasies of experiencing pleasure
and joy, even if they're escapist illusions, will tonify and invigorate your
awareness. I recommend that you indulge in them at great length,
unleashing your imagination to explore a variety of blissful scenarios in
tremendous detail and with ingenious flourishes. In fact, as your part-time
soul doctor, I can't think of anything else that would be more beneficial to
your physical and mental health.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): If there were such a thing as the Queen of
Heaven -- a living Goddess whose presence both calmed and excited you,
a numinous female magician who lit up your longing to see life as it really
is -- and if this Queen of Heaven came to be with you right now, what
would you say? Would you ask her to help you, and if so, how? Would you
seek an answer to the most important question in your life? Would you
spill every secret and tell every story you've ever wanted to share, and
trust that she'd be able to see the totality of who you really are? I advise
you to do this imaginative exercise sometime soon. The time has come
for you to receive a blessing from the highest expression of feminine
power.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): What's up with your best friends? I mean,
what's really going on for them in the big scheme of things? According
to my astrological intuition, at least one of your good buddies is at a
turning point in his or her long-range cycle, and could really use the deep
reflection and catalytic help that you might provide. Try this exercise: Put
aside all your ideas about who your close allies are, and simply try to see
the world as if looking out of their eyes. After you've done that, imagine
how you could offer yourself to them as a brain-booster and heart-
strengthener; brainstorm about how you might blend your life force with
theirs so as to empower them to see further than they can by
themselves.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): In my astrological opinion, you should pay
special attention to whatever's embryonic in your life. You should rouse
the smartest part of your capacity for love and direct it with high-beam
intensity toward burgeoning possibilities that have recently germinated.
There may come a time later in the process when you'll need to impose
discipline and order on your growing things, but that's not what's called
for now. Be extravagant in your nurturing. Don't scrimp on generosity and
beneficence. Have fun overflowing with profusions of life-giving care.
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HOMEWORK: Comment on Bertrand Russell's statement, "The universe is
full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." Go
to Freewillastrology.com and click "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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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2010 Rob Brezsny
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