Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
February 11, 2015
+
Here's a pretty version of this newsletter: http://bit.ly/1789SA5
+
My book *PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA*
is available at Amazon: http://bit.ly/Pronoia
or Powells: http://bit.ly/PronoiaPowells
Below are excerpts.
"Everyone carries with them at least one piece to someone else's puzzle."
So wrote Lawrence Kushner in his book, *Honey from the Rock.*
In other words, you have in your possession certain clues to your loved
ones' destinies -- secrets they haven't discovered themselves.
Wouldn't you love to hand over those clues -- to make a gift of the puzzle
pieces that are most needed by the people you care about?
Search your depths for insights you've never communicated. Tell truths
you haven't found a way to express before now. More than you know, you
have the power to mobilize your companions' dreams.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
You understand that you can never own love, right? No matter how much
someone adores you today, no matter how much you adore someone,
you can't force that unique state of grace to keep its shape forever. It will
inevitably evolve or mutate, perhaps into a different version of tender
caring, but maybe not.
From there it will continue to change, into either yet another version of
interesting affection, or who knows what else?
Are you making any progress in getting the hang of this tricky wisdom?
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
I invite you to act like a person who's in love. Even if you're not currently
in the throes of passion for a special someone, pretend you are.
Everywhere you go, exude that charismatic blend of shell-shocked
contentment and blissful turmoil that comes over you when you're
infatuated. Let everyone you meet soak up the delicious wisdom you
exude. Dispense free blessings and extra slack like a rich saint high on
natural endorphins.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Imagine that the merger of you and your best ally has created a third
thing that hovers near you, protecting and guiding the two of you. Call
this third thing an angel. Or call it the soul of your connection or the
inspirational force of your relationship. Or call it the special work the two
of you can accomplish together. And let this magical presence be the
third point of your love triangle.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"For a relationship to stay alive, love alone is not enough. Without
imagination, love stales into sentiment, duty, boredom. Relationships fail
not because we have stopped loving but because we first stopped
imagining."
- James Hillman
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Gertrude Stein defined love as "the skillful audacity required to share an
inner life." It suggests that expressing the truth about who you are is not
something that amateurs do very well. Practice and ingenuity are
required.
It also implies that courage is an essential element of successful intimacy.
You've got to be adventurous if you want to weave your life together
with another's.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my
million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are my divinity, my
madness, my selfishness, my transfiguration and purification. You are my
rapscallionly fellow vagabond, my tempter and star. I want you."
- George Bernard Shaw
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Whenever I write about romance and togetherness, I attract a storm of
complaints from readers who are solitary. "How dare you imply that
everyone has or should have a partner!?" is a typical protest. "I'm quite
content being alone!" is another.
Let it be known that I do not believe your happiness depends on having a
spouse or lover. What I do suspect, though, is that your soul needs some
sacred relationship in order to thrive, whether it's with a good friend, a
beloved animal, a beautiful patch of earth, the Divine Wow, or anything
that's not you.
Whenever I invite you to seek deeper, wilder communion, feel free to
interpret it as a call to explore any kind of intimacy that draws you closer
to the secret heart of the world.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"The Orgasmic Roots of Pronoia" is one of the few NC-17-rated pieces in
my book. If I published it here, it might get censored, so here's a link:
http://bit.ly/OrgasmicRoots
NSFW! PROCEED WITH CAUTION! This material has graphic references to
love, lust, tenderness, bliss, and rapture.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Are you in quest of an Intimate Ally? A Soul Friend? A Wild Confidante?
Check out Matchmaker.com via Free Will Astrology's link:
http://bit.ly/SoulMatch
Look for a Co-Pilot, Co-Conspirator, or Collaborator . . . an Agent to
represent you or a Disciple to worship you . . . a Secret Sharer who'll
listen better than anyone or an Amazing Accomplice with whom you can
practice the Art of Liberation.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Ten Breakthroughs in the Science of a Meaningful Life
Scientists find that gratitude makes us financially smarter, mindfulness
reduces racism, a little sadness makes for healthier people, and
compassion for birds could help tackle climate change.
1. Mindfulness can reduce racial prejudice -- and possibly its effects on
victims.
2. Gratitude makes us smarter in how we spend money.
3. It's possible to teach gratitude to young children, with lasting effects.
4. Having more variety in our emotions -- positive or negative -- can make
us happier and healthier.
5. Natural selection favors happy people, which is why there are so many
of them.
6. Activities from positive psychology don't just make happy people
happier -- they can also help alleviate suffering.
7. People with a "growth mindset" are more likely to overcome barriers to
empathy.
8. To get people to take action against climate change, talk to them
about birds.
9. Feelings of well-being might spur extraordinary acts of altruism.
10. Extreme altruism is motivated by intuition -- our compassionate
instincts.
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/my953gu
(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 February 12
Copyright 2015 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): How many desires do you have? Take a
rough inventory. Identify the experiences you continually seek in your
quest to feel relief and pleasure and salvation and love and a sense of
meaning. You can also include fantasies that go unfulfilled and dreams
that may or may not come true in the future. As you survey this lively
array, don't censor yourself or feel any guilt. Simply give yourself to a
sumptuous meditation on all the longings that fuel your journey. This is
your prescription for the coming week. In ways you may not yet be able
to imagine, it is the medicine you need most.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The German word *Nachkussen* refers to the
kind of kiss that compensates for all the kissing that has not been
happening, all the kissing that has been omitted or lost. If it has been too
long since you've kissed anyone, you need *Nachkussen.* If your lover
hasn't kissed you lately with the focused verve you long for, you need
*Nachkussen.* If you yourself have been neglecting to employ your full
artistry and passion as you bestow your kisses, you need *Nachkussen.*
From what I can tell, Pisces, this Valentine season is a full-on
*Nachkussen* holiday for you. Now please go get what you haven't been
getting.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I hope you have someone in your life to whom
you can send the following love note, and if you don't, I trust you will
locate that someone no later than August 1: "I love you more than
anyone loves you, or has loved you, or will love you, and also, I love you in
a way that no one loves you, or has loved you, or will love you, and also, I
love you in a way that I love no one else, and never have loved anyone
else, and never will love anyone else." (This passage is borrowed from
author Jonathan Safran Foer's book *Everything Is Illuminated.*)
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): "We assume that others show their love in
the same way that we do," writes psychologist Amy Przeworski, "and if
they don't follow that equation, we worry that the love is not there." I
think you're on track to overcome this fundamental problem, Taurus. Your
struggles with intimacy have made you wise enough to surrender your
expectations about how others should show you their love. You're almost
ready to let them give you their affection and demonstrate their care for
you in ways that come natural to them. In fact, maybe you're ready RIGHT
NOW.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I'd like to bestow a blessing on you and your
closest ally. My hope is that it will help you reduce the restlessness that
on occasion undermines the dynamism of your relationship. Here's the
benediction, inspired by a Robert Bly poem: As you sit or walk or lie next
to each other, you share a mood of glad acceptance. You aren't itchy or
fidgeting, wondering if there's something better to be or do. You don't
wish you were talking about a different subject or feeling a different
emotion or living in a different world. You are content to be exactly who
you are, exactly where you are.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Want to infuse your romantic interludes with
wilder moods now and then? Want to cultivate a kind of intimacy that
taps deeper into your animal intelligence? If so, try acting out each
other's dreams or drawing magic symbols on each other's bodies. Whisper
funny secrets into each other's ears or wrestle like good-natured drunks
on the living room floor. Howl like coyotes. Caw like crows. Purr like
cheetahs. Sing boisterous songs and recite feral poetry to each other.
Murmur this riff, adapted from Pablo Neruda: "Our love was born in the
wind, in the night, in the earth. That's why the clay and the flower, the
mud and the roots know our names."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PLEASURE IS HOLY?
Assume that your drive to experience pleasure isn't a barrier to your
spiritual growth, but is in fact essential to it. Proceed on the hypothesis
that cultivating joy can make you a more ethical and compassionate
person. Imagine that feeling good has something important to teach you
every day.
For inspiration in practicing this approach, tune in to your Expanded Audio
Horoscopes. They're four-to-five-minute meditations on the current state
of your destiny. The cost is $6 per reading, with a discount for multiple
purchases.
For another few weeks, you can also still listen to my Long-Range, Big-
Picture explorations of your destiny in the coming months.
Go here to register and/or sign in: http://RealAstrology.com/
They're available on your tablets and smart phones as well as your
computers.
You can also listen over the phone by calling
1-877-873-4888
"Your Expanded Audio Horoscopes seem to have the effect of activating
my inner teacher. Thanks!" - Eleanor A., Toronto
"Your audio horoscopes calm me down when I'm too manic and pep me up
when I'm down."
-Arthur T., Cleveland, OH
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Is there any sense in which your closest alliance is
a gift to the world? Does your relationship inspire anyone?
Do the two of you serve as activators and energizers, igniting fires in the
imaginations of those whose lives you touch? If not, find out why. And if
you are tapping into those potentials, it's time to raise your impact to the
next level. Together the two of you now have extra power to synergize
your collaboration in such a way that it sends out ripples of benevolence
everywhere you go.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The poet Rainer Maria Rilke said that people
misunderstand the role of love. "They have made it into play and pleasure
because they think that play and pleasure are more blissful than work," he
wrote. "But there is nothing happier than work. And love, precisely
because it is the supreme happiness, can be nothing other than work." I'm
sharing this perspective with you for two reasons, Virgo. First, of all the
signs in the zodiac, you're most likely to thrive on his approach. Second,
you're in a phase of your astrological cycle when this capacity of yours is
at a peak. Here's how Rilke finished his thought: "Lovers should act as if
they had a great work to accomplish."
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): About 2,600 years ago, the Greek poet Sappho
wrote the following declaration: "You make me hot." In the next ten days,
I'd love for you to feel motivated to say or think that on a regular basis.
In fact, I predict that you will. The astrological omens suggest you're in a
phase when you are both more likely to be made hot and more likely to
encounter phenomena that make you hot. Here are some other fragments
from Sappho that might come in handy when you need to express your
torrid feelings: 1. "This randy madness I joyfully proclaim." 2. "Eros makes
me shiver again . . . Snake-sly, invincible." 3. "Desire has shaken my mind
as wind in the mountain forests roars through trees." (Translations by
Guy Davenport.)
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the TV science-fiction show *Doctor Who,*
the title character lives in a time machine that is also a spaceship. It's
called a Tardis. From the outside, it appears to be barely bigger than a
phone booth. But once you venture inside, you find it's a spacious
chateau with numerous rooms, including a greenhouse, library,
observatory, swimming pool, and karaoke bar. This is an excellent
metaphor for you, Scorpio. Anyone who wants your love or friendship
must realize how much you resemble a Tardis. If they don't understand
that you're far bigger on the inside than you seem on the outside, it's
unlikely the two of you can have a productive relationship. This Valentine
season, as a public service, make sure that everyone you're seriously
involved with knows this fact.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Love and intimacy come in many forms.
There are at least a billion different ways for you to be attracted to
another person, and a trillion different ways to structure your relationship.
Maybe your unique bond involves having sex, or maybe it doesn't. Maybe
it's romantic or friendly or holy, or all three of those things. Do the two of
you have something important to create together, or is your connection
more about fueling each other's talents? Your task is to respect and
revere the idiosyncratic ways you fit together, not force yourselves to
conform to a prototype. To celebrate the Valentine season, I invite you
and your closest ally to play around with these fun ideas.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Anais Nin wrote the following passage in
her novel *A Spy in the House of Love*: "As other girls prayed for
handsomeness in a lover, or for wealth, or for power, or for poetry, she
had prayed fervently: let him be kind." I recommend that approach for
you right now, Capricorn. A quest for tender, compassionate attention
doesn't always have to be at the top of your list of needs, but I think it
should be for now. You will derive a surprisingly potent alchemical boost
from basking in kindness. It will catalyze a breakthrough that can't be
unleashed in any other way. Ask for it!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Homework: Proposed experiment: Carry out an act of love that's unique in
your history. 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
2015 Rob Brezsny
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++