Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
July 16, 2014
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See a pretty version of this newsletter: http://bit.ly/UaafCR
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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 an excerpt. It's from the piece called "Subterranean Pronoia
Therapy."
1. Declare amnesty for the part of you that you don't love very well.
Forgive that poor sucker. Hold its hand and take it out to dinner and a
movie. Tactfully offer it a chance to make amends for the dumb things it
has done.
And then do a dramatic reading of this proclamation by the playwright
Theodore Rubin: "I must learn to love the fool in me -- the one who feels
too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and
loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt,
promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries. It alone protects me
against that utterly self-controlled, masterful tyrant whom I also harbor
and who would rob me of human aliveness, humility, and dignity but for
my fool."
2. The greatest gift you can give might be the gift that you yourself were
never given. Give that gift.
The most valuable service you have to offer your fellow humans may be
the service you have always wished were performed for you. Offer that
service.
An experience that wounded you could move you to help people who've
been similarly wounded. Heal yourself by healing others.
3. No matter how holy and good, everyone in the world has a portion of
the world's sickness inside them. It's known by many names: neurosis,
shadow, demon, devil. Many people try to deny that it inhabits them.
Others acknowledge its power so readily that they allow themselves to be
overwhelmed and distorted by it.
At the Beauty and Truth Lab, we take a position between those two
positions. We accept the fact that the evil is part of us, but treat it with
compassionate amusement and flexible vigilance. Our stance is partly that
of loving parents and partly that of warriors.
Once you make a commitment to explore the mysteries of pronoia, your
shadow will try to play tricks on you that it has never tried before. How
will you respond? We recommend an aggressive, tender, improvisational
approach. Be ready for anything. Avoid both blithe excesses of tolerance
and grave fundamentalism.
4. Philosopher William James proposed that if our culture ever hoped to
shed the deeply ingrained habit of going to war, we'd have to create a
moral equivalent. It's not enough to preach the value of peace, he said.
We have to find other ways to channel our aggressive instincts in order to
accomplish what war does, like stimulate political unity and build civic
virtue.
Astrology provides a complementary perspective. Each of us has the
warrior energy of the planet Mars in our psychological makeup. We can't
simply repress it, but must find a positive way to express it. How might
you go about this project?
5. In his book *The Thought of the Heart and the Soul of the World,*
psychologist James Hillman writes: "The question of evil refers primarily
to the anaesthetized heart, the heart that has no reaction to what it
faces, thereby turning the variegated sensuous face of the world into
monotony, sameness, oneness."
What would you have to do in order to triumph over this kind of evil in
yourself?
6. "The problem, if you love it, is as beautiful as the sunset," wrote J.
Krishnamurti. "The obstacle is the path," says the Zen proverb. What
frustrating puzzle do you love the best?
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Get more information about your Mid-Year Audio Preview for the Rest of
2014 and beyond:
http://bit.ly/ExpandedForecast
Or simply log in through the main page at http://RealAstrology.com, and
then click on the link "Long Term Forecast for Second Half of 2014."
Whether or not you want to listen to those Big Picture audio reports for
the rest of 2014 and beyond, you may be interested in reviewing the
long-term horoscopes I've written for you.
To see them, go here: http://bit.ly/BigLife2014
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
How Mischief-Makers Built Australia Through Pranks and Protests.
In his new book *How to Make Trouble and Influence People,* Iain McIntyre
offers readers an alternative version of Australian history.
http://tinyurl.com/pnoza95
A parasite that has plagued the human race since antiquity is poised to
become the second human disease after smallpox to be eradicated. "We
are approaching the demise of the last guinea worm who will ever live on
earth," says former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, whose Carter Center has
spearheaded the eradication effort.
Unlike polio's high-profile eradication program, the mission to
eliminate guinea worm disease has largely been off the public's radar.
http://tinyurl.com/k2cn5rp
In Australia, solar has won. Even if coal were free to burn, power stations
couldn't compete.
As early as 2018, solar could be economically viable to power big
cities. By 2040 over half of all electricity may be generated in the same
place it's used. Centralized, coal-fired power is over.
http://tinyurl.com/klf6o5n
A compendium of pronoiac news.
http://PronoiaResources.com
(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 July 17
Copyright 2014 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Mozart debuted his now-famous opera *Don
Giovanni* in Prague on October 29, 1787. It was a major production,
featuring an orchestra, a chorus, and eight main singers. Yet the
composer didn't finish writing the opera's overture until less than 24
hours before the show. Are you cooking up a similar scenario, Cancerian? I
suspect that sometime in the next two weeks you will complete a
breakthrough with an inspired, last-minute effort. And the final part of
your work may well be its "overture;" the first part will arrive last. (P.S.:
Mozart's *Don Giovanni* was well-received, and I expect your offering will
be, too.)
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): "We must learn to bear the pleasures as we have
borne the pains," says writer Nikki Giovanni. That will be apt advice for
you to keep in mind during the coming months, Leo. You may think I'm
perverse for suggesting such a thing. Compared to how demanding it was
to manage the suffering you experienced in late 2013 and earlier this
year, you might assume it will be simple to deal with the ease and
awakening that are heading your way. But I'd like you to consider the
possibility that these blessings will bring their own challenges. For
example, you may need to surrender inconveniences and hardships you
have gotten used to, almost comfortable with. It's conceivable you will
have to divest yourself of habits that made sense when you were
struggling, but are now becoming counterproductive.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I would hate for your fine mind to become a
liability. As much as I admire your native skepticism and analytical
intelligence, it would be a shame if they prevented you from getting the
full benefit of the wonders and marvels that are brewing in your vicinity.
Your operative motto in the coming days comes from Virgo storyteller
Roald Dahl: "Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." Suspend
your disbelief, my beautiful friend. Make yourself receptive to the
possibility of being amazed.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Kris Kristofferson is in the Country Music Hall
of Fame now, but it took a while for him to launch his career. One of his
big breaks came at age 29 when he was sweeping floors at a recording
studio in Nashville. He managed to meet superstar Johnny Cash, who was
working there on an album. A few years later, Kristofferson boldly landed
a helicopter in Cash's yard to deliver his demo tape. That prompted Cash
to get him a breakthrough gig performing at the Newport Folk Festival. I
wouldn't be surprised if you were able to further your goals with a similar
sequence, Libra: luck that puts you in the right place at the right time,
followed by some brazen yet charming acts of self-promotion.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In her poem "Looking Back," Sarah Brown
Weitzman writes that she keeps "trying to understand / how I fell / so
short of what I intended / to do with my life." Is there a chance that 30
years from now you might say something similar, Scorpio? If so, take
action to ensure that outcome doesn't come to pass. Judging from the
astrological omens, I conclude that the next ten months will be a
favorable time to get yourself on track to fulfill your life's most important
goals. Take full advantage!
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): "There is no such thing as a failed
experiment," said author and inventor Buckminster Fuller, "only
experiments with unexpected outcomes." That's the spirit I advise you to
bring to your own explorations in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. Your task
is to try out different possibilities to see where they might lead. Don't be
attached to one conclusion or another. Be free of the drive to be proven
right. Instead, seek the truth in whatever strange shape it reveals itself.
Be eager to learn what you didn't even realize you needed to know.
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BRAINSTORM ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE
with my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Second Half of 2014:
http://RealAstrology.com
What will be the story of your life during the rest of 2014 and beyond?
How can you exert your free will to create the adventures that will bring
out the best in you, even as you find graceful ways to cooperate with the
tides of destiny?
If you'd like a high-octane boost of inspiration to fuel your quest to create
your most interesting and meaningful destiny, tune in to my meditations
on your long-term outlook.
Go here: http://RealAstrology.com. Then log in and click on the link
"Long Term Forecast for Second Half of 2014"
You can also listen to your short-term forecast for the coming week by
clicking on "This week (July 15, 2014)."
"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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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Architects in ancient Rome used concrete
to create many durable structures, some of which are still standing. But
the recipe for how to make concrete was forgotten for more than a
thousand years after the Roman Empire collapsed in the fifth century. A
British engineer finally rediscovered the formula in 1756, and today
concrete is a prime component in many highways, dams, bridges, and
buildings. I foresee a similar story unfolding in your life, Capricorn. A
valuable secret that you once knew but then lost is on the verge of
resurfacing. Be alert for it.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Beginning in 1798, European cartographers
who drew maps of West Africa included the Mountains of Kong, a range of
peaks that extended more than a thousand miles east and west. It was 90
years before the French explorer Louis Gustave Binger realized that there
were no such mountains. All the maps had been wrong, based on faulty
information. Binger is known to history as the man who *undiscovered*
the Mountains of Kong. I'm appointing him to be your role model in the
coming weeks, Aquarius. May he inspire you to expose long-running
delusions, strip away entrenched falsehoods, and restore the simple,
shining truths.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In the simplest, calmest of times, there are
two sides to every story. On some occasions, however, the bare minimum
is three or more sides. Like now. And that can generate quite a ruckus.
Even people who are normally pretty harmonious may slip into conflict.
Fortunately for all concerned, you are currently at the peak of your power
to be a unifying force at the hub of the bubbling hubbub. You can be a
weaver who takes threads from each of the tales and spins them into a
narrative with which everyone can abide. I love it when that happens! For
now, your emotional intelligence is the key to collaborative creativity and
group solidarity.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): "I have complete faith in the continued
absurdity of whatever's going on," says satirical news commentator Jon
Stewart. That's a healthy attitude. To do his work, he needs a never-
ending supply of stories about people doing crazy, corrupt, and
hypocritical things. I'm sure this subject matter makes him sad and angry.
But it also stimulates him to come up with funny ideas that entertain and
educate his audience -- and earns him a very good income. I invite you to
try his approach, Aries. Have faith that the absurdity you experience can
be used to your advantage.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Bananas grow in Iceland, a country that
borders the Arctic Ocean. About 700 of the plants thrive in a large
greenhouse heated by geothermal energy. They don't mature as fast as
the bananas in Ecuador or Costa Rica. The low amounts of sunlight mean
they require two years to ripen instead of a few months. To me, this
entire scenario is a symbol for the work you have ahead of you. You've
got to encourage and oversee growth in a place that doesn't seem
hospitable in the usual ways, although it is actually just fine. And you
must be patient, knowing that the process might take a while longer than
it would in other circumstances.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): While at a cafe, I overheard two people at the
next table talking about astrology. "I think the problem-solvers of the
zodiac are Cancers and Capricorns," said a young, moon-faced woman.
"Agreed," said her companion, an older woman with chiseled features.
"And the problem-creators are Scorpios and Geminis." I couldn't help
myself: I had to insert myself into their conversation so as to defend you.
Leaning over toward their table, I said, "Speaking as a professional
astrologer, I've got to say that right now Geminis are at least temporarily
the zodiac's best problem-solvers. Give them a chance to change your
minds." The women laughed, and moon-face said, "You must be a
Gemini." "No," I replied. "But I'm on a crusade to help Geminis shift their
reputations."
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Homework: Homework: Nietzsche said, "One must have chaos within
oneself if one is to be a dancing star." Comment at
Truthrooster@gmail.com.
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2014 Rob Brezsny
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