Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
April 24, 2013
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See a pretty version of this newsletter: http://bit.ly/15Dx3i8
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My book
*PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA*
is available at Amazon: http://bit.ly/Pronoia
or Powells: http://bit.ly/PronoiaPowells
Below is the text of a spoken-word piece based on a text in the book. To
listen to it, go here: http://bit.ly/yBmWBg
GLORY IN THE HIGHEST
Thousands of things go right for you every day, beginning the moment
you wake up. Through some magic you don't fully understand, you're still
breathing and your heart is beating, even though you've been
unconscious for many hours. The air is a mix of gases that's just right for
your body's needs, as it was before you fell asleep.
You can see! Light of many colors floods into your eyes, registered by
nerves that took God or evolution or some process millions of years to
perfect.
The interesting gift of these vivid hues is furthermore made possible by
an unimaginably immense globe of fire, the sun, which continually
detonates nuclear explosions in order to convert its own body into light
and heat and energy for your personal use.
Your hands work wonderfully well. Your heart circulates your blood all the
way out to replenish the energy of the muscles and nerves in your fingers
and palms and wrists. And after your blood has delivered its blessings, it
finds its way back to your heart to be refreshed. This wondrous mystery
recurs over and over again without stopping every minute of your life.
You can smell intoxicating aromas. You can hear provocative and soothing
sounds. You can taste a thousand different tastes. How is any of this
possible? You can think thoughts any time you want -- big, wide, colorful
thoughts or tiny dark burrowing thoughts. You can revel and wallow in
great oceans of emotion. What colossal secret intelligence or improbable
series of fabulous accidents conspired to bestow these superpowers upon
you?
TO READ AND HEAR THE REST OF THIS PIECE, go here:
http://bit.ly/yBmWBg
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Steal This Image from *PRONOIA*: http://bit.ly/zuol3v
When they say, "Be Yourself!", which self do they mean?
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
PRACTICAL PRONOIA
*The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet* by Ramez
Naam
"We Are Not Headed For A Disaster Of Biblical Proportions," says the
author of a provocative new book.
"Most books about the future are written by blinkered Pollyannas or hand-
wringing Cassandras. Not this one. Having thought about science,
technology and the environment for decades, Ramez Naam has become
that rarest of creatures: a clear-eyed optimist. Concise, informed and
passionately argued, 'The Infinite Resource' both acknowledges the very
real dangers that lie ahead for the human enterprise and the equally real
possibility that we might not only survive but thrive."
- Charles Mann
"This book contains a plan - probably the only plan - to save the world." -
Steven Pinker
http://tinyurl.com/csf58ya
Go here to read a summary of Ramez Naam's ideas:
http://tinyurl.com/c7koeao
MERGER OF NATURE AND MACHINE
This is what happens when you leave a bike chained to a tree for 60
years.
http://imgur.com/r/earthporn/w18TO2f
TURNING TRASH INTO TREASURE
The Washed Ashore Project builds large art sculptures of sea life made
from plastic marine debris. These unique art pieces are part of a traveling
exhibition which includes educational signage and programs that
encourage reducing, refusing, reusing and recycling.
http://www.washedashore.org/
(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 25
Copyright 2013 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In 1921, Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev --
born under the sign of the Bull -- premiered his opera *The Love for Three
Oranges* in the United States. Here's how *The New York Times* felt
about it: "There are a few, but only a very few, passages that bear
recognizable kinship with what has hitherto been considered music." It's
possible, Taurus, that you will get a similar reaction when you debut your
new approach or endeavor. And that may disturb you. But I think it would
be a good omen -- a sign that you're taking a brave risk as you try
something innovative and unfamiliar.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I'm passionate about doing whatever I can to
make the world a better place. How boring and sad it would be if I only
thought of satisfying my personal needs. But I also remember what
Aldous Huxley said: "There is only one corner of the universe you can be
certain of improving, and that's your own self." Even if you have mad
skills at healing and fixing everyone whose life you touch, Gemini, Huxley's
reminder is good for you to honor right now. The place that's in most
pressing need of transmutation -- and where you're most likely to be
successful -- is within you. Now here's the trick ending: To the degree
that you regenerate yourself, you will improve everyone around you. Your
inner work will be contagious.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Thomas Jefferson almost pulled off a miracle
in 1784. America was a young country. There were only 13 states and a
few unorganized territories. As a representative to the Continental
Congress, Jefferson proposed an ordinance that would have prohibited
slavery in those territories, including what would later become Tennessee,
Mississippi, and Alabama. By just one vote, alas, the provision failed to
pass. Can you imagine what the United States would have been like if
slavery had been partly extinguished decades before the Civil War? The
moral of the story, Cancerian, is that at certain pregnant moments, small
shifts can have big consequences. The astrological omens suggest your
life will be proof of that in the coming weeks.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): I believe you will crawl or scramble or glide to the
top of *some* mountain in the next four weeks. What mountain do you
want it to be? A crumbly molehill? A pile of cheap but useful gravel? A
lofty peak where you can see for miles and miles? I urge you to decide
soon on which of the possibilities you will choose. Then affirm your
intention to call on all your resources, allies, and powers to help you make
the ascent. This is a chance for serious expansion, Leo. Unleash your
soulful ambitions.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Have you ever seen a moonbow? It's like a
rainbow but is created by the reflected light of the moon instead of the
sun. For this phenomenon to occur, the sky must be dark. The moon has
to be full and setting in the west, near the horizon, and rain must be
falling. So it's a rare event. All the conditions have to be just right.
According to my analysis of the astrological omens, it's more likely than
usual that you'll spot one of these exceptional beauties in the coming
days. Your affinity for curious wonders and mysterious marvels of all kinds
will be at a peak. I suspect you will have a knack for being exactly where
you need to be in order to experience them.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Lonesome George was about a hundred years
old when he died last year. He was the last remaining member of a giant
tortoise species that had lived on Ecuador's Pinta Island for thousands of
years. But scientists say his kind is not necessarily extinct forever. They
believe that by cross-breeding tortoises of other related species, they
could recreate a 100-percent-pure version of Lonesome George's species.
I suspect, Libra, that you may be able to pull off a metaphorically
comparable resurrection -- especially if you initiate the effort in the
coming weeks.
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YOU NEED MAGIC EVERY DAY
Every day, you have to wade through a relentless surge of soul-less facts.
The experience tends to dampen your sense of wonder.
Every day, you're overexposed to stories that have been sucked free of
delight and mystery. That's why you have to make such strenuous efforts
to keep your world enchanted.
I like to think I can contribute to the sacred cause of feeding your sense
of wonder and enchantment. In fact, that's one of my prime motivations
for offering you the free weekly horoscopes you read here in my
newsletter.
If you ever want more of that good stuff, and think it's worth paying for,
consider trying my EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES. They're four-to-five-
minute meditations on the current state of your destiny and where you're
headed.
Go here to register and log in: http://RealAstrology.com
You can also listen over the phone by calling
1-877-873-4888
"Your expanded horoscopes get more personal and intimate with me than
some of my closest friends. Thanks for the loving reflections."
- Ari S., Ann Arbor, MI
"Your audio 'scopes have a knack for waking me up from whatever
random dream has sneaked into my brain and rendered me half-blind."
- Teresa F., Boston, MA
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SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Let's imagine ourselves near the snowy
summit of Washington's Mount Rainier. We're in an unusual kind of cave.
Volcanic steam rises from cracks in the rocky floor. Above us is a roof
made of ice. As we stand between the heat and the chill, we find the
temperature quite cozy. The extremes collaborate to produce a happy
medium. Can you accomplish something in your life that's similar to
what's going on in this cave? Metaphorically, I mean? I think you can.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): "We cannot accept the world as it is,"
remarked Belgian author Hugo Claus. "Each day we should wake up
foaming at the mouth from the injustice of things." I don't subscribe to
the idea that each day should begin like this. On some mornings we
should rise and greet the world singing songs of praise for the great
fortune of being alive. But I do think Claus's approach is precisely right on
certain occasions -- like now, for you Sagittarians. The time is ripe to tap
into your reservoir of righteous anger. Fight to right the wrongs that
disturb you the most.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): "Your story begins the moment Eros
enters you," says Anne Carson in her book *Eros the Bittersweet.* "That
incursion is the biggest risk of your life. How you handle it is an index of
the quality, wisdom and decorum of the things inside of you. As you
handle it you come into contact with what is inside of you, in a sudden
and startling way. You perceive what you are, what you lack, what you
could be." I want to extend Carson's dramatic hypothesis. I'd like to
propose that eros enters you again and again in the course of your life,
and your story resets each time. How will you handle it when it makes its
next incursion? Get ready, because here it comes.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): "I prefer by far warmth and softness to
mere brilliancy and coldness," wrote Anais Nin in one of her early diaries.
"Some people remind me of sharp dazzling diamonds. Valuable but lifeless
and loveless. Others, of the simplest field flowers, with hearts full of dew
and with all the tints of celestial beauty reflected in their modest petals."
I suspect that even if you normally love cold brilliancy, Aquarius, you will
need an abundance of warmth and softness in the coming days. To
attract the best possible embodiments of this influence, get clear about
your favorite forms of it. Be picky! Don't accept sloppy sentimentality.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Ludwig Wittgenstein was a genius. His last
book, which influenced many different fields of thought, is regarded as
one of the most important philosophy tomes of the 20th century. And
yet he was a big fan of foolishness. "If people did not sometimes do silly
things," he observed, "nothing intelligent would ever get done." Another
time he said, "Never stay up on the barren heights of cleverness, but
come down into the green valleys of silliness." Here's one more of his
opinions: "Don't be afraid of talking nonsense! But you must pay attention
to your nonsense." I hope that's enough evidence to support my advice,
Pisces, which is: Now is a good time for you to get both smarter and
wiser. And a good way to do that is to play and play and play some more.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): How we react to the sound of the wind gives
clues to our temperament, said philosopher Theodor W. Adorno. The
unhappy person thinks of "the fragility of his house and suffers from
shallow sleep and violent dreams." But for the happy person, the wind
sings "the song of protectedness: its furious howling concedes that it has
power over him no longer." I bring this up to illustrate a point about your
life. There will be a strong and vivid influence coming your way that is like
the wind as described by Adorno. It's neither bad nor good in itself, but
may seem like one or the other depending on the state of mind you
choose to cultivate.
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Homework: Buy or make yourself a present that encourages you to be
more generous. Report results at Freewillastrology.com.
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2013 Rob Brezsny
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