Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
November 7, 2012
+
See a pretty version of this newsletter: http://bit.ly/U7VOxz
+
My book
*PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA*
is available at Amazon: http://bit.ly/Pronoia
or Powells: http://bit.ly/PronoiaPowells
Below is an excerpt.
TORRENTIAL PRONOIA THERAPY, Part One
Experiments and exercises in becoming a blasphemously reverent, lustfully
compassionate, eternally changing Master of Transgressive Beauty
1. Take inventory of the extent to which your "No" reflex
dominates your life. Notice for 24 hours (even in your dreams) how often
you say or think:
"No."
"That's not right."
"I don't like them."
"I don't agree with that."
"They don't like me."
"That should be different from what it is."
Then retrain yourself to say "YES" at least 51 percent of the time.
Start the transformation by saying "YES" aloud 22 times right now.
2. Go to the ugliest or most forlorn place you know -- a drugstore parking
lot, the front porch of a crack house, a toxic waste dump, or the place
that symbolizes your secret shame -- and build a shrine devoted to
beauty, truth, and love.
Here are some suggestions about what to put in your shrine: a silk scarf; a
smooth rock on which you've inscribed a haiku or joke with a felt-tip pen;
coconut cookies or ginger candy; pumpkin seeds and an origami crane; a
green kite shaped like a dragon; a music CD you love; a photo of your
hero; a votive candle carved with your word of power; a rubber ducky; a
bouquet of fresh beets; a print of Van Gogh's *Starry Night.*
3. Late at night when there's no traffic, stride down the middle of an
empty road that by day is crawling with cars. Dance, careen, and sing
songs that fill you with pleasurable emotions. Splay your arms
triumphantly as you extemporize prayers in which you make extravagant
demands and promises. Give pet names to the trees you pass, declare
your admiration for the workers who made the road, and celebrate your
sovereignty over a territory that usually belongs to heavy machines and
their operators.
4. What causes happiness? Brainstorm about it. Map out the foundations
of your personal science of joy. Get serious about defining what makes
you feel good. To get you started, I'll name some experiences that might
rouse your gratification: engaging in sensual pleasure; seeking the truth;
being kind and moral; contemplating the meaning of life; escaping your
routine; purging pent-up emotions. Do any of these work for you? Name
at least ten more.
5. In response to our culture's ever-rising levels of noise and frenzy, rites
of purification have become more popular. Many people now recognize
the value of taking periodic retreats. Withdrawing from their usual
compulsions, they go on fasts, avoid mass media, practice celibacy, or
even abstain from speaking. While we applaud cleansing ceremonies like
this, we recommend balancing them with periodic outbreaks of an equal
and opposite custom: the Bliss Blitz.
During this celebration, you tune out the numbing banality of the daily
grind. But instead of shrinking into asceticism, you indulge in uninhibited
explorations of joy, release, and expansion. Turning away from the mildly
stimulating distractions you seek out when you're bored or worried, you
become inexhaustibly resourceful as you search for unsurpassable sources
of cathartic pleasure. Try it for a day or a week: the Bliss Blitz.
6. When many people talk about their childhoods, they emphasize the
alienating, traumatic experiences they had, and fail to report the good
times. This seems dishonest -- a testament to the popularity of cynicism
rather than a reflection of objective truth.
I don't mean to downplay the way your early encounters with pain
demoralized your spirit. But as you reconnoiter the promise of pronoia,
it's crucial for you to extol the gifts you were given in your early years: all
the helpful encounters, kind teachings, and simple acts of grace that
helped you bloom.
In Homer's epic tale *The Odyssey,* he described nepenthe, a mythical
drug that induced the forgetfulness of pain and trouble. I'd like to
imagine, in contrast, a potion that stirs up memories of delight, serenity,
and fulfillment. Fantasize that you have taken such a tonic. Spend an hour
or two remembering the glorious moments from your past.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
EARLY ADAPTERS FIND SUCCESS FASTER
"Continuing a pattern: Countries, states, businesses, and cities that begin
seriously implementing renewable energy meet with greater success,
sooner, at less cost, than even the most optimistic proponents would
have imagined."
http://tinyurl.com/d9e6omt
THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF AN ABOMINATION
U.N is set to ban horrific practice
http://tinyurl.com/9q4eaxe
GET YOUR MINIMUM DAILY SERVING OF BEAUTY
Beauty in the small things
http://tinyurl.com/8ks8zkf
(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.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning November 8
Copyright 2012 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): This is not prime time for you to rake in
rewards, collect hard-earned goodies, and celebrate successes you've
been building towards for a long time. It's fine if you end up doing those
things, but I suspect that what you're best suited for right now is getting
things started. You'll attract help from unexpected sources if you lay the
groundwork for projects you want to work on throughout 2013. You'll be
in alignment with cosmic rhythms, too. Your motto comes from your
fellow Scorpio, writer Robert Louis Stevenson: "Judge each day not by
the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant."
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): On a beach, a man spied a pelican that
was barely moving. Was it sick? He wanted to help. Drawing close, he
discovered that ants were crawling all over it. He brushed them off, then
carried the bird to his car and drove it to a veterinarian. After a thorough
examination, the doctor realized the pelican was suffering from a fungus
that the ants had been eating away -- and probably would have removed
completely if the man hadn't interfered. Moral of the story: Sometimes
healing takes place in unexpected ways, and nature knows better than we
do about how to make it happen. Keep that in mind during the coming
weeks, Sagittarius.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): A farmer in Japan found a 56-leaf clover.
Well, actually, he bred it in his garden at home. It took effort on his part.
Presumably, it provided him with 14 times the luck of a mere four-leaf
clover. I don't think your good karma will be quite that extravagant in the
coming week, Capricorn, but there's a decent chance you'll get into at
least the 16-leaf realm. To raise your odds of approaching the 56-leaf
level of favorable fortune, remember this: Luck tends to flow in the
direction of those who work hard to prepare for it and earn it.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): The largest bell in the world is located in
Moscow, Russia. Called the Tsar Bell, it's made of bronze, weighs 445,170
pounds, and is elaborately decorated with images of people, angels, and
plants. It has never once been rung in its 275 years of existence. Is there
anything comparable in your own life, Aquarius? Some huge presence that
has never actually been used? The time is near when that stillness may
finally come to an end. I suggest you decide how this will occur rather
than allowing fate to choose for you.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Are you interested in experiencing a close
brush with a holy anomaly or a rowdy blessing or a divine wild card? If
not, that's perfectly OK. Just say, "No, I'm not ready for a lyrical flurry of
uncanny grace." And the freaky splendor or convulsive beauty or mystical
mutation will avoid making contact with you, no questions asked. But if
you suspect you might enjoy communing with a subversive blast of
illumination -- if you think you could have fun coming to terms with a
tricky epiphany that blows your mind -- then go out under the night sky
and whisper a message like this: "I'm ready for you, sweetness. Find me."
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The data that's stored and disseminated on
the Internet is unimaginably voluminous. And yet the 540 billion trillion
electrons that carry all this information weigh about the same as a
strawberry. I'd like to use this fun fact as a metaphor for the work you're
doing these days -- and the play, too. Your output is prodigious. Your
intensity is on the verge of becoming legendary. The potency of your
efforts is likely to set in motion effects that will last for a long time. And
yet, to the naked eye or casual observer, it all might look as simple and
light as a strawberry.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Free Will Astrology's
EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES
featuring tips and suggestions
that may help you
read your own mind --
in other words,
get in closer telepathic connection
with your own subconscious depths
Register and/or sign in at http://RealAstrology.com.
The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888.
"With your Expanded Audio Horoscopes, I feel like you're collaborating
with me to unlock the deeper mysteries I've been ignorant about even
though they've been influencing me." - Patti L., Minneapolis
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): What if you have a twin sister or brother that
your mother gave up for adoption right after you were born and never
told you about? Or what if you have a soul twin you've never met -- a
potential ally who understands life in much the same ways that you do? In
either case, now is a time when the two of you might finally discover each
other. At the very least, Taurus, I suspect you'll be going deeper and
deeper with a kindred spirit who will help you transform your stories
about your origins and make you feel more at home on the planet.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I urged my readers to meditate on death not as
the end of physical life, but as a metaphor for shedding what's outworn. I
then asked them to describe the best death they had ever experienced. I
got a response that's applicable to you right now. It's from a reader
named Judd: "My best death was getting chicken pox at age 13 while
living in the Philippines. My mother banished me to the TV room. I was
uncomfortable but hyperactive, lonely and driven to agony by the awful
shows. But after six hours, something popped. My suffering turned inside
out, and a miracle bloomed. I closed my eyes and my imagination opened
up like a vortex. Images, ideas, places, dreams, people familiar and strange
-- all amazing, colorful, and vibrant -- flowed through my head. I knew
then and there that no material thing on this Earth could hook me up to
the source of life like my own thoughts. I was free!"
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Conservationists are surprised by what has
been transpiring in and around Nepal's Chitwan National Park. The tigers
that live there have changed their schedule. Previously, they prowled
around at all hours, day and night. But as more people have moved into
the area, the creatures have increasingly become nocturnal. Researchers
who have studied the situation believe the tigers are doing so in order to
better coexist with humans. I suspect that a metaphorically similar
development is possible for you, Cancerian. Meditate on how the wildest
part of your life could adapt better to the most civilized part -- and vice
versa. (Read more: tinyurl.com/HumanTiger.)
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): What is a dry waterfall? The term may refer to
the location of an extinct waterfall where a river once fell over a cliff but
has since stopped flowing. Doda Fallet in Sweden is such a place. "Dry
waterfall" may also signify a waterfall that only exists for a while after a
heavy rain and then disappears again. One example is on Brukkaros
Mountain in Namibia. A third variant shows up in *Cliffs Beyond Abiquiu,
Dry Waterfall,* a landscape painting by Georgia O'Keeffe. It's a lush
rendering of a stark landscape near the New Mexico town where O'Keeffe
lived. Soon you will have your own metaphorical version of a dry waterfall,
Leo. It's ready for you if you're ready for it.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): You are getting to where you need to be, but
you're still not there. You have a good share of the raw materials you will
require to accomplish your goal, but as of yet you don't have enough of
the structure that will make everything work. The in-between state you're
inhabiting reminds me of a passage from the author Elias Canetti: "His
head is made of stars, but not yet arranged into constellations." Your
next assignment, Virgo, is to see what you can do about coalescing a few
constellations.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Doctors used to believe that ulcers were
caused by stress and spicy foods. But in the 1980s, two researchers
named Barry Marshall and Robin Warren began to promote an alternative
theory. They believed the culprit was *H. pylori,* a type of bacteria. To
test their hypothesis, Marshall drank a Petri dish full of *H. pylori.* Within
days he got gastric symptoms and underwent an endoscopy. The
evidence proved that he and his partner were correct. They won a Nobel
Prize for their work. (And Marshall recovered just fine.) I urge you to be
inspired by their approach, Libra. Formulate experiments that allow you to
make practical tests of your ideas, and consider using yourself as a guinea
pig.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Homework: Name ten items you would put in a time capsule to be dug up
by your descendants in 500 years. Testify at Freewillastrology.com.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NEED TO CHANGE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS?
To join or leave the email list for this newsletter, or to change the address
where you receive it, go to:
http://www.freewillastrology.com/newsletter/
Once you do join, check all the below points to make sure you'll actually
receive the newsletter:
1. Add my address, televisionary@comcast.net, to your address book so
that the newsletter won't be treated as spam and filtered out.
2. Adjust your spam filter so it doesn't treat my address as a source of
spam.
3. Tell your company's IT group to allow my address to pass through any
filtering software they may have set up.
4. If my newsletters don't reach your inbox, look in your "Bulk Mail" or
"Junk Mail" folder.
5. The problems may not have to do with anything you do, but may
originate with your email provider. It may be using a "content filter" that
prevents my newsletter from ever reaching you at all. If you suspect
that's the case, complain. Tell your email provider to stop blocking my
newsletter from reaching you.
P.S. I totally respect your privacy. I'll never sell or give away your address
to anyone.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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;
otherwise, reader names, screen names, or initials will be used.
Please be sure to note your preference when sending to us. We
are not responsible for unsolicited submission of any creative
material.
Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2012 Rob Brezsny
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++