Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
August 7, 2013
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See a pretty version of this newsletter: http://bit.ly/17uYxCr
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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
Here's an excerpt:
THE OUTLAW CATALOG OF CAGEY OPTIMISM
(The complete text is here: http://bit.ly/CageyOptimism)
Psychiatry and psychotherapy obsess on what's wrong with people and
give short shrift to what's right. The manual of these professions is a
991-page textbook called the *DSM-V.* It identifies scores of pathological
states but no healthy ones.
Some time back, I began to complain about this fact, and asked readers
to help me compile material for a proposed antidote, the Anti-DSM -- a
compendium of healthy, exalted, positive states of being. As their entries
came in, we at the Beauty and Truth Laboratory were inspired to dream
up some of our own. Below is part one of our initial attempt at creating
an *Anti-DSM-V,* or as we also like to call it, "The Outlaw Catalog of
Cagey Optimism."
* ACUTE FLUENCY. Happily immersed in artistic creation or scientific
exploration; lost in a trance-like state of inventiveness that's both blissful
and taxing; surrendered to a state of grace in which you're fully engaged
in a productive, compelling, and delightful activity. The joy of this
demanding, rewarding state is intensified by a sense that time has been
suspended, and is rounder and deeper than usual. (Suggested by H. H.
Holiday, who reports that extensive studies in this state have been done
by Mihaly Cziscenmihaliy in his book, *Flow: The Psychology of Optimal
Experience.*)
* AESTHETIC BLISS. Vividly experiencing the colors, textures, tones,
scents, and rhythms of the world around you, creating a symbiotic
intimacy that dissolves the psychological barriers between you and what
you observe. (Suggested by Jeanne Grossetti.)
* AGGRESSIVE SENSITIVITY. Animated by a strong determination to be
receptive and empathetic.
* ALIGNMENT WITH THE INFINITY OF THE MOMENT. Reveling in the
liberating realization that we are all exactly where we need to be at all
times, even if some of us are temporarily in the midst of trial or
tribulation, and that human evolution is proceeding exactly as it should,
even if we can't see the big picture of the puzzle that would clarify how
all the pieces fit together perfectly. (Suggested by Meredith Jones.)
* AUTONOMOUS NURTURING. Not waiting for someone to give you what
you can give yourself. (Suggested by Shannen Davis.)
* BASKING IN ELDER WISDOM. A state of expansive ripeness achieved
through listening to the stories of elders. (Suggested by Annabelle
Aavard.)
* BIBLIOBLISS. Transported into states of transcendent pleasure while
immersed in reading a favorite book. (Suggested by Catherine Kaikowska.)
* BLASPHEMOUS REVERENCE. Acting on the knowledge that the most
efficacious form of devotion to the Divine Wow is tinctured with playful or
mischievous behavior that prevents the buildup of fanaticism.
* BOO-DUH NATURE. Dwelling in the blithe understanding of the fact that
worry is useless because most of what we worry about never happens.
(Suggested by Timothy S. Wallace.)
* COMIC INTROSPECTION. Being fully aware of your own foibles while still
loving yourself tenderly and maintaining confidence in your ability to give
your specific genius to the world. To paraphrase Alan Jones, Dean of
Grace Cathedral: following the Byzantine ploys of your ego with
compassion and humor as it tries to make itself the center of everything,
even of its own suffering and struggle.
* COMPASSIONATE DISCRIMINATION. Having astute judgment without
being scornfully judgmental; seeing difficult truths about a situation or
person without closing your heart or feeling superior. In the words of Alan
Jones: having the ability "to smell a rat without allowing your ability to
discern deception sour your vision of the glory and joy that is everyone's
birthright."
* CRAZED KINDNESS. Having frequent, overpowering urges to bestow
gifts, disseminate inspiration, and perpetrate random acts of benevolence.
* ECSTATIC GRATITUDE. Feeling genuine thankfulness with such
resplendent intensity that you generate a surge of endorphins in your
body and slip into a full-scale outbreak of euphoria.
* EMANCIPATED SURRENDER. Letting go of an attachment without
harboring resentment toward the stimuli that led to the necessity of
letting go. (Suggested by Timothy S. Wallace.)
* FRIENDLY SHOCK. Welcoming a surprise that will ultimately have
benevolent effects.
* HIGHWAY EQUANIMITY. Feeling serene, polite, and benevolent while
driving in heavy traffic. (Suggested by Shannen Davis.)
* HOLY LISTENING. Hearing the words of another human being as if they
were a direct communication from the Divine Wow to you.
* IMAGINATIVE TRUTH-TELLING. Conveying the truth of any specific
situation from multiple angles, thereby mitigating the distortions that
result from assuming the truth can be told from a single viewpoint.
* IMPULSIVE LOVE SPREADING. Characterized by a fierce determination to
never withhold well-deserved praise, inspirational encouragement, positive
feedback, or loving thoughts; often includes a tendency to write love
letters on the spur of the moment and on any medium, including napkins,
grocery bags, and skin. (Suggested by Laurie Burton.)
* INADVERTENT NATURE WORSHIP. Experiencing the rapture that comes
from being outside for extended periods of time. (Suggested by Sue Carol
Robinson.)
* INGENIOUS INTIMACY. Having an ability to consistently create deep
connections with other human beings, and to use the lush, reverential
excitement stimulated by such exchanges to further deepen the
connections. A well-crafted talent for dissolving your sense of
separateness and enjoying the innocent exultation that erupts in the wake
of the dissolution. (Suggested by Sue Carol Robinson.)
* JOYFUL POIGNANCE. Feeling buoyantly joyful about the beauty and
mystery of life while remaining aware of the sadness, injustices, wounds,
and future fears that form the challenges in an examined life. (Suggested
by Alka Bhargava.)
* LATE LATE-BLOOMING. Having a capacity for growth spurts well into old
age, long past the time that conventional wisdom says they're possible.
* LEARNING DELIGHT. Experiencing the brain-reeling pleasure that comes
from learning something new. (Suggested by Sue Carol Robinson.)
* LUCID DREAM PATRIOTISM. A love of country rooted in the fact that it
provides the ideal conditions for learning lucid dreaming. (Suggested by
Kenneth Kelzer, author of *The Sun and the Shadow: My Experiment With
Lucid Dreaming.*)
* LYRICAL CONSONANCE. Experiencing the visceral yet also cerebral
excitement that comes from listening to live music played impeccably by
skilled musicians. (Suggested by Susan E. Nace.)
TO SEE THE REST OF THE EXALTED, POSITIVE STATES, GO HERE:
http://bit.ly/CageyOptimism
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Abandoned Walmart is Now America's Largest Library
http://tinyurl.com/9z3f92y
Dolphins call each other by name
http://tinyurl.com/lnltd23
A University of Colorado Boulder team has developed a radically new
technique that uses the power of sunlight to efficiently split water into its
components of hydrogen and oxygen, paving the way for the broad use
of hydrogen as a clean, green fuel
http://tinyurl.com/pvrsr8m
(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 August 8
Copyright 2013 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Last year a young Nebraskan entrepreneur
changed his name from Tyler Gold to Tyrannosaurus Rex Gold. He said it
was a way of giving him greater name recognition as he worked to build
his career. Do you have any interest in making a bold move like that, Leo?
The coming weeks would be a good time for you to think about adding a
new twist to your nickname or title or self-image. But I recommend
something less sensationalistic and more in line with the qualities you'd
actually like to cultivate in the future. I'm thinking of something like
Laughing Tiger or Lucky Lion or Wily Wildcat.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): African-American jazz singer Billie Holiday was
the great-granddaughter of a slave. By the time she was born in 1915,
black people in the American South were no longer "owned" by white
"masters," but their predicament was still extreme. Racism was acute and
debilitating. Here's what Billie wrote in her autobiography: "You can be up
to your boobies in white satin, with gardenias in your hair and no sugar
cane for miles, but you can still be working on a plantation." Nothing you
experience is remotely as oppressive as what Billie experienced, Virgo. But
I'm wondering if you might suffer from a milder version of it. Is any part
of you oppressed and inhibited even though your outward circumstances
are technically unconstrained? If so, now's the time to push for more
freedom.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): What resounding triumphs and subtle
transformations have you accomplished since your last birthday? How
have you grown and changed? Are there any ways you have dwindled or
drooped? The next few weeks will be an excellent time to take inventory
of these things. Your own evaluations will be most important, of course.
You've got to be the ultimate judge of your own character. But you
should also solicit the feedback of people you trust. They may be able to
help you see clues you've missed. If, after weighing all the evidence, you
decide you're pleased with how your life has unfolded these past ten to
eleven months, I suggest you celebrate your success. Throw yourself a
party or buy yourself a reward or climb to the top of a mountain and
unleash a victory cry.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Monmouth Park in New Jersey hosts regular
horse races from May through November. During one such event in 2010,
a horse named Thewifenoseeverything finished first, just ahead of another
nag named Thewifedoesntknow. I suspect that there'll be a comparable
outcome in your life sometime soon. Revelation will trump secrecy.
Whoever is hiding information will lose out to anyone who sees and
expresses the truth. I advise you to bet on the option that's forthcoming
and communicative, not the one that's furtive and withholding.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You have both a poetic and a cosmic
license to stretch yourself further. It's best not to go too far, of course.
You should stop yourself before you obliterate *all* boundaries and break
*all* taboos and smash *all* precedents. But you've certainly got the
blessings of fate if you seek to disregard *some* boundaries and shatter
*some* taboos and outgrow *some* precedents. While you're at it, you
might also want to shed a few pinched expectations and escape an
irrelevant limitation or two. It's time to get as big and brave and brazen
as you dare.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): When I was 19, a thug shot me in the butt
with a shotgun at close range. To this day, my body contains the 43
pellets he pumped into me. They have caused some minor health
problems, and I'm always queasy when I see a gun. But I don't experience
any routine suffering from the wound. Its original impact no longer
plagues me. What's your own personal equivalent of my trauma,
Capricorn? A sickness that racked you when you were young? A difficult
break-up with your first love? The death of someone you cared about?
Whatever it was, I suspect you now have the power to reach a new level
of freedom from that old pain.
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TAP INTO THE FUTURE
What new influences are heading your way?
How do you want to create your life story in the coming weeks?
How can you exert your free will to seek out the adventures that'll bring
out the best in you, even as you find graceful ways to cooperate with the
tides of destiny?
If you'd like help in figuring it all out, 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
You can also listen over the phone by calling
1-877-873-4888
The cost is $6 if you access them on the Web -- with discounts for
multiple purchases -- or $1.99 per minute over the phone.
"I always feel like I know myself better after listening to your audio
'scopes."
-June R., Austin, TX
"Your audio horoscopes calm me down when I'm too manic and pep me up
when I'm down."
-Arthur T., Cleveland, OH
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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Want to take full advantage of the sexy
vibes that are swirling around in your vicinity? One thing you could do is
whisper the following provocations in the ear of anyone who would
respond well to a dose of boisterous magic: 1) "Corrupt me with your raw
purity, baby; beguile me with your raucous honesty." 2) "I finally figured
out that one of the keys to eternal happiness is to be easily amused.
Want me to show you how that works?" 3) "I dare you to quench my
thirst for spiritual sensuality." 4) "Let's trade clothes and pretend we're
each other's higher selves."
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Some people put their faith in religion or
science or political ideologies. English novelist J.G. Ballard placed his faith
elsewhere: in the imagination. "I believe in the power of the imagination to
remake the world," he wrote, "to release the truth within us, to hold back
the night, to transcend death, to charm motorways, to ingratiate
ourselves with birds, to enlist the confidences of madmen." As you make
your adjustments and reconfigure your plans, Pisces, I suggest you put
your faith where Ballard did. Your imagination is far more potent and
dynamic than you realize -- especially right now.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): "You have to participate relentlessly in the
manifestation of your own blessings," says author Elizabeth Gilbert. I
recommend that you experiment with this subversive idea, Aries. Just for
a week, see what happens if you devote yourself to making yourself feel
really good. I mean risk going to extremes as you pursue happiness with
focused zeal. Try this: Draw up a list of experiences that you know will
give you intense pleasure, and indulge in them all without apology. And
please don't fret about the possible consequences of getting crazed with
joy. Be assured that the cosmos is providing you with more slack than
usual.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): "I am not washed and beautiful, in control of a
shining world in which everything fits," writes Taurus author Annie Dillard,
"but instead am wandering awed about on a splintered wreck I've come to
care for, whose gnawed trees breathe a delicate air." I recommend you
try on her perspective for size. For now, just forget about scrambling
after perfection. At least temporarily, surrender any longing you might
have for smooth propriety. Be willing to live without neat containment
and polite decorum. Instead, be easy and breezy. Feel a generous
acceptance for the messy beauty you're embedded in. Love your life
exactly as it is, with all of its paradoxes and mysteries.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Studies show that when you're driving a car,
your safest speed is five miles per hour higher than the average rate of
traffic. Faster than that, though, and the danger level rises. Traveling
more slowly than everyone else on the road also increases your risk of
having an accident. Applying these ideas metaphorically, I'd like to
suggest you take a similar approach as you weave your way through life's
challenges in the coming week. Don't dawdle and plod. Move a little
swifter than everyone else, but don't race along at a breakneck pace.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): The key theme this week is *relaxed
intensification.* Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to
heighten and strengthen your devotion to things that are important to
you -- but in ways that make you feel more serene and self-possessed. To
accomplish this, you will have to ignore the conventional wisdom, which
falsely asserts that going deeper and giving more of yourself require you
to increase your stress levels. You do indeed have a great potential for
going deeper and giving more of yourself, but only if you also become
more at peace with yourself and more at home in the world.
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Homework: Make a guess about where you'll be and what you'll be doing
ten years from today. Testify at Freewillastrology.com.
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2013 Rob Brezsny
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