Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
April 20, 2011
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See a pretty version of this newsletter: http://bit.ly/eSsBaQ
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I'm giving away free 50 copies of my Karmic Credit Card. If you'd like one,
send me a self-addressed stamped envelope that's big enough to hold the
card -- it's 6 inches by 4.25 inches. Use this address: P.O. Box 150628,
San Rafael, CA 94915. The first 50 people to mail in their request will get
a card.
If you want to see what the Karmic Credit Card looks like, or download a
digital image of it, here are the links:
Front of the card: http://bit.ly/gaTEui
Back of the card: http://bit.ly/fySheX
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The piece below is excerpted from my book
*PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA*
available at Amazon: http://bit.ly/Pronoia
or Powells: http://bit.ly/PronoiaPowells
ECSTATIC STUDY GUIDE
Strategies for plying a chronic, low-key, blissful union with everything
you're not
1. Many life processes unfold outside of your conscious awareness: your
body digesting your food and circulating your blood; trees using carbon
dioxide, water, and sunlight to synthesize their nourishment;
microorganisms in the soil beneath your feet endlessly toiling to create
humus. You don't perceive any of these things directly; they're invisible
to you.
Tune in to this vitalizing alchemy. Use your X-ray vision and sub-sonic
hearing and psychic smelling. See if you can absorb by osmosis some of
the euphoria of the trees as they soak in the sunlight from above and
water from below.
2. "The really important kind of freedom," said David Foster Wallace,
"involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to
care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad
petty, unsexy ways every day."
Is that an interesting kind of freedom to you? Can you imagine any
scenario in which practicing it would crack you open and pour you into an
ecstatic state?
3. Study the following rant, which Beauty and Truth Lab operatives put on
flyers and tacked up on laundromat bulletin boards all over San Francisco:
"The Doctrine of Original Sin? We spit on it. We reject it. We renounce it
and forget it and annihilate it from reality. In its place we embrace the
Doctrine of Original Fun. This reformulation asserts that it is our birthright
to commune with regular doses of curious beauty and tricky truth and
insurrectionary love. A robust, heroic joy is even now roaring through us,
bringing us good ideas about how to apply the metaphor of ingenious
foreplay to everything we do. We will not waste this euphoric deluge on
any of the million and one numbing little diversions that pass for pleasure
among the ecstasy-starved pursuers of mediocre joy. Rather, we will
remain ever alert for the call of primordial delight."
4. In certain Native American traditions, the hole was a symbol for the
female organ through which souls enter this realm. In American scientific
lore, a wormhole is a backdoor shortcut between two places in space
separated by an astronomical distance. In my personal mythos, those are
my two favorite nuances in the archetype of the hole.
When I was a kid I loved to fantasize that I'd obtained a magic hole like
the one Bugs Bunny had in the comic books. It was a portable hole that
Bugs could take with him everywhere and apply to any barrier he needed
to slip through. Once he even managed to slap it up against the sky,
giving him access to another dimension where the whole world was inside
him, not outside. (Or was that a dream I had?)
What would you do with your portable magic hole?
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
FIGHT BACK AGAINST THE SOBER-MINDED OPPRESSORS
Funniest women on the planet?
http://tinyurl.com/4tm48kl
CAST YOUR LOT WITH THOSE WHO IMAGINE REDEMPTION
*2012: Time for a Change* is Daniel Pinchbeck's film. It presents an
alternate view of the numinous transformations ahead.
"Rather than breakdown and barbarism, 2012 will herald the birth of a
regenerative planetary culture, where collaboration replaces competition,
where exploration of psyche and spirit becomes the new cutting edge,
replacing the sterile materialism that has pushed our world to the brink."
http://bit.ly/foC5On
I DARE YOU TO IMAGINE HOW LIFE MIGHT IMPROVE
Fixing the free market. How co-ops -- businesses in which the employees
are also the owners of the company -- merge economic growth with social
goals.
http://tinyurl.com/29womu8
EXPAND YOUR MIND EVERY DAY, PLEASE
Pretty pictures from the edge of reality
http://tinyurl.com/6a6mega
(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 April 21
Copyright 2011 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In his book on intuition, psychologist David G.
Myers defines it as "the capacity for direct knowledge and immediate
insight, without any observation or reason." Another expert on the
subject, Malcolm Gladwell, describes intuition as the "power of thinking
without thinking." Both authors encourage us to cultivate this undersung
way of grasping our raw experience. But Myers also warns us of the perils
of intuition if it's untempered by logic and analysis. It can lead us down
rabbit holes where we lose track of the difference between our fantasies
and the real world. It can cause us to mistake our fears for accurate ESP
or get lost in a maze of self-fulfilling prophecies. I bring all of this to your
attention, Taurus, because the coming weeks will be an excellent time for
you to hone and purify your intuition.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): One of the most impressive elements of the
Egyptian uprising in January and February came after it was all over.
Eighteen days of street protests created a huge mess in Cairo's Tahrir
Square and the surrounding area. When Hosni Mubarak finally resigned and
reforms began percolating, thousands of demonstrators returned with
brooms and rubber gloves and garbage bags to set the place back in
order. I urge you to follow a similar sequence in the coming weeks,
Gemini. Agitate for change; rebel against the stale status quo; fight
corruption and ignorance; and once your work has led to at least a partial
success, clean up after yourself.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): "Sometimes nature seems more beautiful
than strictly necessary," said physicist Steven Weinberg as he admired a
hackberry tree stoked with blue jays, yellowthroated vireos, and a red
cardinal. You may find yourself thinking similar thoughts in the coming
week, Cancerian. From what I can tell, life is primed to flood you with
simple glories and exotic revelations, with signs of eternal splendor and
hints of sublime meaning, with natural wonders and civilization's more
interesting gifts.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): I became an ordained minister in the Universal Life
Church when I was 19 years old. Since then I have officiated at numerous
baptisms, initiations, weddings (including marrying people to themselves),
divorces, renamings, housewarmings, ghost-banishings, and the taking of
primal vows. In all my years of facilitating these ceremonies, I've rarely
seen a better time than right now for you Leos to seek a cathartic rite of
passage. You may even be tempted to try several. I recommend you do
no more than two, however. Are you ready to break a taboo or smash an
addiction? Renounce a delusion or pledge your devotion or leap to the
next level?
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): It would be an excellent time for you to
acquire the Zombie Apocalypse Preparedness Kit, a package of goodies
prepared by domestic expert Martha Stewart. I say this not because a
Zombie Apocalypse is looming, or any other kind of apocalypse for that
matter. Rather, the kit's presence in your life might encourage you to
make fun of your fears. And that would be a perfect way to cooperate
with the current cosmic tendencies, which are conspiring to diminish the
inhibitions that your anxieties hold in place. Remember one of the key
rules in the game of life: Humor dissipates worry.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Eighty years ago, an explorer who visited the
Maori of New Zealand found they had such good eyesight that many were
able to detect Jupiter's four largest moons with their naked eyes. That's
the kind of vision you could have in the coming days, Libra --
metaphorically speaking, at least. The astrological omens say you have
the potential to see further and deeper into any part of reality you
choose to focus on. Inner truths that have been hidden from you are
ready to be plucked by your penetrating probes. For best results, cleanse
your thoughts of expectations. Perceive what's actually there, not what
you want or don't want to be there.
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EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES GO FURTHER
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
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SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You really should ventilate your house
periodically, even when the weather's cool. The air indoors gets stale; you
need to flush it out and welcome in some fresh stuff. In my astrological
opinion, it's especially important for you to do this right now. So please
consider opening all the windows for a while and inviting the breezes to
blow through. In addition to its practical value for your respiratory
system, it could serve as a ritual that gently blows the dusty crud out of
your mind, thereby improving the circulation in your thoughts and
emotions and fantasies.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): What do you like most about work?
What are the pleasurable experiences that happen for you when you're
engaged in demanding tasks that require you to be focused, competent,
and principled? I think it's important for you to identify those hard-earned
joys and then brainstorm about what you can do to expand and intensify
them. You're in a phase of your long-term cycle when you can make a lot
of headway toward transforming your job situation so it serves you
better.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The next phase of your life will be an
excellent time to unbreak your heart. Here's what I mean by that: You will
have extra power to dissolve any pain that still lingers from the romantic
disappointments of the past. You'll be able to summon acute insights into
how to dismantle the sodden and unnecessary defenses you built to
protect yourself from loss and humiliation. You will find it easier than ever
before to forgive and forget any close companion who hurt you. So get
out there, Capricorn, and launch the joyful process of restoring your love
muscles to their original potency.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): "Search For Self Called Off After 38 Years,"
read the headline in *The Onion.* "I always thought that if I kept
searching and exploring, I'd discover who I truly was," the report began,
quoting 38-year-old Andrew Speth. "Well, I looked deep into the
innermost recesses of my soul, and you know what I found? An empty,
windowless room the size of an aircraft hangar. From now on, if anybody
needs me, I'll be sprawled out on my couch drinking black-cherry soda and
watching Law & Order like everybody else." I wonder if Speth is an
Aquarius? Many of my Aquarian acquaintances seem to have hit a dead
end recently in their quest to fulfill the ancient maxim "Know thyself." If
you're like that, please hang on. The floodgates of self-discovery will open
soon.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Odds are high that you know very little about
Africa. Can you name even 20 of its more than 50 countries? Are you
aware that its land mass is bigger than Europe, China, and the U.S.
combined? Did you realize that about 2,000 languages are spoken by the
people living there? I bring this up, Pisces, because from an astrological
perspective it's an excellent time for you to fill the gaps in your education
about Africa -- or any other subject about which you are deeply
uninformed. Don't get overwhelmed by this assignment, though. Choose
maybe three areas of ignorance that you will concentrate on in the
coming weeks.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Now comes one of the supreme tests that
most every Aries must periodically face: Will you live up to your
promises? Will you follow through on your rousing start? Will you continue
to stay passionately committed once the fiery infatuation stage evolves
into the earthy foundation-building stage? Here's a secret to succeeding
at this test: You can't just try to force yourself to "be good" and do the
right thing. Nor does it work to use shame or guilt to motivate yourself.
Somehow you've got to marshal pure, raw excitement for the gritty detail
work to come. You've got to fall in love with the task of actually fleshing
out your dreams.
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HOMEWORK: Though sometimes it's impossible to do the right thing,
doing the half-right thing may be a viable option. Give an example from
your own life: http://www.freewillastrology.com
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2011 Rob Brezsny
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