Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
March 7, 2012
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Last chance to listen to your
BIG PICTURE, LONG-RANGE audio horoscopes for 2012.
They'll be gone soon.
Go here to register and/or sign in: http://www.RealAstrology.com
What will be the story of your life in the coming months? How can you
exert your free will to create adventures that'll bring out the best in you,
even as you find graceful ways to cooperate with the tides of destiny?
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See a pretty version of this newsletter: http://bit.ly/ytxw8g
Sign up for the RSS feed: http://bit.ly/w2G8wE
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Steal This Image from my book *PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR
PARANOIA*: http://bit.ly/wkiPNC
Thou Shalt Not Bore God!
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*PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA*
is available at Amazon: http://bit.ly/Pronoia
or Powells: http://bit.ly/PronoiaPowells
Lots of people I like and admire are not big fans of "God" -- or at least the
fake "God" that the fundamentalists hallucinate about. In an effort to
whip up a new, improved Divine Wow untainted by bigotry and delusion, I
wrote a piece for my book entitled "Re-branding God." An excerpt is
below. You can read it in its entirety here: http://bit.ly/8Nd0M5
RE-BRANDING GOD
1. Philosopher Robert Anton Wilson proposed that the single greatest
contribution to world peace would come from there being over seven
billion different religions -- a unique spiritual path for each person on the
planet. The Beauty and Truth Lab urges you to get started on doing your
part to make this happen. What will your religion be called? What rituals
will you perform? Write down your three core tenets.
2. You'll also need a new name for the Creator. "God" and "Goddess"
have been so overused and abused that most of us are numb to them.
And given the spiritual opportunities that will open up for you as you
explore pronoia, you can't afford to have an impaired sensitivity toward
the Great Mystery.
Here's an idea to stimulate your search: The Russian word for God is
"Bog." The Basques call the Supreme Being "Jingo." To purge your
psychic dockets of built-up fixations about deity, you might try singing
improvisational prayers to "Jingo Bog."
Here are a few other fresh names to inspire you:
Blooming HaHa
Divine Wow
Whirl-Zap-Gush
Sublime Cackler
Chthonic Riddler
3. Since ancient times, China has hosted three religions: Confucianism,
Buddhism, and Taoism. Many Chinese people have cobbled together a
melange of beliefs gathered from all three. This is different from the
Western way, which is to be faithful to one religion or another, never
mixing and matching.
But that's changing in certain enclaves in North America, where growing
numbers of seekers are adopting the Chinese approach. They borrow
elements from a variety of spiritual traditions to create a personalized
path. Religious historians call this syncretism.
As you meditate on conjuring up your own unique mode of worship, think
of the good parts you'd like to steal from other religions.
4. Most religions designate a special class of people -- priests, rabbis,
ayatollahs -- to oversee official communications with the Source. This has
led to a prevailing assumption, even among those who don't follow an
established faith, that we can't initiate a divine conversation without the
aid of a professional class of trained mediators. Among some sects of the
ancient gnostics, in contrast, everyone was regarded as a potential
prophet who could experience epiphanies worthy of becoming part of the
ever-evolving doctrine.
The equivalent today would be if the Bible were regarded as an unfinished
text to which every Christian or Jew might be eligible to add new content.
As you create your own spiritual path, experiment with this do-it-yourself
approach. What might you do to eliminate the middleman and commune
directly with the Source?
There's a lot more to this piece.
READ THE REST HERE: http://bit.ly/8Nd0M5
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
ACTIVISM WORKS AT LEAST SOME OF THE TIME
How the Pipeline Died -- And How to Bury It For Good. Grassroots
strategies paid off for the climate movement in a big way.
http://tinyurl.com/728ttmb
SLOWLY BUT SURELY, WE'RE CREATING AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT FUTURE
A new solar cell that achieves 41 percent efficiency
http://tinyurl.com/7hv78jj
YOUR MINIMUM DAILY REQUIREMENT OF BEAUTY
Red Aurora Over Australia
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120201.html
(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 March 8
Copyright 2012 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Shunryu Suzuki was a Zen master whose
books helped popularize Zen Buddhism in America. A student once asked
him, "How much ego do you need?" His austere reply was "Just enough
so that you don't step in front of a bus." While I sympathize with the
value of humility, I wouldn't go quite that far. I think that a slightly heftier
ego, if offered up as a work of art, can be a gift to the world. What do
you think, Pisces? How much ego is good? To what degree can you create
your ego so that it's a beautiful and dynamic source of power for you and
an inspiration for other people rather than a greedy, needy parasite that
distorts the truth? This is an excellent time to ruminate on such matters.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): "Controlled hysteria is what is required," said
playwright Arthur Miller in speaking about his creative process. "To exist
constantly in a state of controlled hysteria. It's agony. But everyone has
agony. The difference is that I try to take my agony home and teach it to
sing." I hope this little outburst inspires you, Aries. It's an excellent time
for you to harness your hysteria and instruct your agony in the fine art of
singing. To boost your chances of success in pulling off this dicey feat,
use every means at your disposal to have fun and stay amused.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The Cherokee Heritage website wants people
to know that not all Native American tribes have the same traditions. In
the Cherokee belief system, it's Grandmother Sun and Grandfather Moon,
which is the opposite of most tribes. There are no Cherokee shamans,
only medicine men and women and *adawehis,* or religious leaders. They
don't have "pipe carriers," don't do the Sun Dance, and don't walk the
"Good Red Road." In fact, they walk the White Path, have a purification
ceremony called "Going to Water," and perform the Green Corn ceremony
as a ritual renewal of life. I suggest you do a similar clarification for the
group you're part of and the traditions you hold dear, Taurus. Ponder
your tribe's unique truths and ways. Identify them and declare them.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In the coming weeks, the activity going on
inside your mind and heart will be especially intense and influential -- even
if you don't explicitly express it. When you speak your thoughts and
feelings out loud, they will have unusual power to change people's minds
and rearrange their moods. When you keep your thoughts and feelings to
yourself, they will still leak all over everything, bending and shaping the
energy field around you. That's why I urge you to take extra care as you
manage what's going on within you. Make sure the effect you're having is
the effect you want to have.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Artist Richard Kehl tells the story of a
teenage girl who got the chance to ask a question of the eminent
psychologist Carl Jung. "Professor, you are so clever. Could you please
tell me the shortest path to my life's goal?" Without a moment's
hesitation Jung replied, "The detour!" I invite you to consider the
possibility that Jung's answer might be meaningful to you right now,
Cancerian. Have you been churning out overcomplicated thoughts about
your mission? Are you at risk of getting a bit too grandiose in your plans?
Maybe you should at least dream about taking a shortcut that looks like a
detour or a detour that looks like a shortcut.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): An old Chinese proverb says: "My barn having
burned to the ground, I can see the moon." The speaker of those words
was making an effort to redefine a total loss as a partial gain. The building
may have been gone, but as a result he or she had a better view of a
natural wonder that was previously difficult to observe. I don't foresee
any of your barns going down in flames, Leo, so I don't expect you'll have
to make a similar redefinition under duress. However, you have certainly
experienced events like that in the past. And now would be an excellent
time to revise your thinking about their meaning. Are you brave enough
and ingenious enough to reinterpret your history? It's find-the-redemption
week.
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YOU'VE ALWAYS GOT MORE HELP AVAILABLE THAN YOU IMAGINE
What do you want to be when you grow up? Is it possible that you will
eventually develop beautiful capacities and sublime understandings that
you can't even imagine right now?
I might be able to help you move in the direction of becoming more of the
person you were born to be.
Tune in to my EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES
Find out more at http://RealAstrology.com.
The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888.
"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
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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): "You can discover more about a person in an
hour of play than in a year of conversation." Numerous websites on the
Internet allege that Greek philosopher Plato made this statement, which I
regard as highly unlikely. But in any case, the thought itself has some
merit. And in accordance with your current astrological omens, I will make
it your motto for the week. This is an excellent time to learn more about
and become closer to the people you care for, and nothing would help
you accomplish that better than getting together for intensive interludes
of fooling around and messing around and horsing around.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): "When we are no longer able to change a
situation, we are challenged to change ourselves," said Holocaust survivor
Viktor Frankl. His advice might be just what you need to hear right now,
Libra. Have you struggled, mostly fruitlessly, to change a stagnant
situation that has resisted your best efforts? Is there a locked door
you've been banging on, to no avail? If so, I invite you to redirect your
attention. Reclaim the energy you have been expending on closed-down
people and moldering systems. Instead, work on the unfinished beauty of
what lies closest at hand: yourself.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In this passage from *Still Life with
Woodpecker,* Tom Robbins provides a hot tip you should keep in mind.
"There are essential and inessential insanities. Inessential insanities are a
brittle amalgamation of ambition, aggression, and pre-adolescent anxiety -
- garbage that should have been dumped long ago. Essential insanities
are those impulses one instinctively senses are virtuous and correct, even
though peers may regard them as coo-coo." I'll add this, Scorpio: Be
crazily wise and wisely crazy in the coming weeks. It will be healthy for
you. Honor the wild ideas that bring you joy and the odd desires that
remind you of your core truths.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I don't think you will need literal
medicine this week. Your physical vigor should be good. But I'm hoping
you will seek out some spirit medicine -- healing agents that fortify the
secret and subtle parts of your psyche. Where do you find spirit
medicine? Well, the search itself will provide the initial dose. Here are
some further ideas: Expose yourself to stirring art and music and films;
have conversations with empathic friends and the spirits of dead loved
ones; spend time in the presence of a natural wonder; fantasize about a
thrilling adventure you will have one day; and imagine who you want to be
three years from now.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Each of us is the star of our own movie.
There are a few other lead and supporting actors who round out the cast,
but everyone else in the world is an extra. Now and then, though, people
whom we regard as minor characters suddenly rise to prominence and
play a pivotal role in our unfolding drama. I expect this phenomenon is
now occurring or will soon occur for you, Capricorn. So please be willing to
depart from the script. Open yourself to the possibility of improvisation.
People who have been playing bit parts may have more to contribute than
you imagine.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): The "cocktail party effect" refers to your
ability to hear your name being spoken while in the midst of a social
gathering's cacophony. This is an example of an important practice, which
is how to discern truly meaningful signals embedded in the noise of all the
irrelevant information that surrounds you. You should be especially skilled
at doing this in the coming weeks, Aquarius -- and it will be crucial that
you make abundant use of your skill. As you navigate your way through
the clutter of symbols and the overload of data, be alert for the few key
messages that are highly useful.
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Homework: Name your greatest unnecessary taboo and how you would
violate it if it didn't hurt anyone. FreeWillAstrology.com.
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2012 Rob Brezsny
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