Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
July 15, 2015
+
See a pretty version of this newsletter: http://bit.ly/1O2LQ8y
+
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?
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
EXPLORE THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE in the Rest of 2015 and Beyond
Get more information about your Mid-Year Audio Horoscope for the Rest
of 2015 and Beyond:
http://bit.ly/BigPicture2015-2016
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 2015."
+
Whether or not you want to listen to those Big Picture audio reports for
the rest of 2015 and beyond, you may be interested in reviewing the
long-term horoscopes I wrote for you earlier this year.
To see them, go here: http://bit.ly/BigView2015
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Nepalese eye doctor, Dr. Sanduk Ruit, pioneered a surgical technique that
restores eyesight without stitches in 5 minutes and has removed
100,000 cataracts from this procedure on poverty-stricken people over
his 30-year career.
http://tinyurl.com/pqprfzp
Lego, the Toy Company, Spends Millions To Ditch Oil-Based Plastic.
http://tinyurl.com/pg3pda5
Something Good Finally Happened for Working Americans. A higher
overtime threshold will help reverse the trend of inequality.
http://tinyurl.com/pjovgc2
(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 July 16
Copyright 2015 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
CANCER (June 21-July 22): "A poet must not cross an interval with a
step when he can cross it with a leap." That's an English translation of an
aphorism written by French author Joseph Joubert. Another way to say it
might be, "A smart person isn't drab and plodding as she bridges a gap,
but does it with high style and brisk delight." A further alternative: "An
imaginative soul isn't predictable as she travels over and around
obstacles, but calls on creative magic to fuel her ingenious liberations."
Please use these ideas during your adventures in the coming weeks,
Cancerian.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): July is barely half over, but your recent scrapes
with cosmic law have already earned you the title of "The Most Lyrically
Tormented Struggler of the Month." Another few days of this productive
mayhem and you may be eligible for inclusion in the Guinness Book of
World Records. I could see you being selected as "The Soul Wrangler with
the Craziest Wisdom" or "The Mythic Hero with the Most Gorgeous
Psychospiritual Wounds." But it's my duty to let you know that you could
also just walk away from it all. Even if you're tempted to stick around and
see how much more of the entertaining chaos you can overcome, it might
be better not to. In my opinion, you have done enough impossible work
for now.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): "People who have their feet planted too firmly
on the ground have difficulty getting their pants off," said author Richard
Kehl. That's good advice for you in the coming weeks. To attract the help
and resources you need, you can't afford to be overly prim or proper. You
should, in fact, be willing to put yourself in situations where it would be
easy and natural to remove your pants, throw off your inhibitions, and
dare to be surprising. If you're addicted to business-as-usual, you may
miss opportunities to engage in therapeutic play and healing pleasure.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): "A failure is a person who has blundered but is
not able to cash in on the experience," wrote American author Elbert
Hubbard. In light of this formulation, I'm pleased to announce that you are
likely to achieve at least one resounding success in the coming weeks. At
this juncture in your destiny, you know exactly how to convert a past
mistake into a future triumph. A gaffe that once upon a time brought you
anguish or woe will soon deliver its fully ripened teaching, enabling you to
claim a powerful joy or joyful power.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The poet Mary Ruefle describes reading
books as "a great extension of time, a way for one person to live a
thousand and one lives in a single lifespan." Are there other ways to do
that? Watching films and plays and TV shows, of course. You can also
listen to and empathize with people as they tell you their adventures. Or
you can simply use your imagination to visualize what life is like for
others. However you pursue this expansive pleasure, Scorpio, I highly
recommend it. You are set up to absorb the equivalent of many years'
experience in a few short weeks.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sagittarian rapper Nicki Minaj is not
timid about going after what she wants. She told *Cosmopolitan*
magazine that she's "high-maintenance in bed." Every time she's involved
in a sexual encounter, she demands to have an orgasm. In accordance
with the current astrological omens, Sagittarius, I invite you to follow her
lead -- not just during your erotic adventures, but everywhere else, too.
Ask for what you want, preferably with enough adroitness to actually
obtain what you want. Here's another critical element to keep in mind: To
get exactly what you want, you must know exactly what you want.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BRAINSTORM ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE
with my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Second Half of 2015 and
beyond:
http://RealAstrology.com
What will be the story of your life during the rest of 2015 and onward
into 2016? 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 2015"
You can also listen to your short-term forecast for the coming week by
clicking on "This week (July 14, 2014)."
+
"Your Expanded Audio Horoscopes provide me with the Rest of the Story.
I'm not necessarily a believer in the scientific accuracy of astrology, but I
do think you've got a lot of practical wisdom to impart."
- M. Tennenbaum, New York
"No one knows more about me than me. But you're right up there near
the top of the list of people who do understand something about how I
tick. How is that possible?"
- R. Goren, Albuquerque
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): A college basketball player named Mark
Snow told reporters that "Strength is my biggest weakness." Was he
trying to be funny? No. Was he a bit dim-witted? Perhaps. But I'm not
really interested in what he meant by his statement. Rather, I want to
hijack it for my own purpose, which is to recommend it as a meditation
for you in the coming weeks. Can you think of any ways that your
strength might at least temporarily be a weakness? I can. I suspect that if
you rely too much on the power you already possess and the skills you
have previously mastered, you may miss important clues about what you
need to learn next. The most valuable lessons of the coming weeks could
come to you as you're practicing the virtues of humility and innocence
and receptivity.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In Margaret Mitchell's novel *Gone with the
Wind,* Rhett Butler delivers the following speech to Scarlett O'Hara: "I
was never one to patiently pick up broken fragments and glue them
together again and tell myself that the mended whole was as good as
new. What is broken is broken -- and I'd rather remember it as it was at
its best than mend it and see the broken places as long as I lived." Your
oracle for the near future, Aquarius, is to adopt an approach that is the
exact opposite of Rhett Butler's. Patiently gather the broken fragments
and glue them together again. I predict that the result will not only be as
good as new; it will be better. That's right: The mended version will be
superior to the original.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Australian actress Rebel Wilson has appeared
in several successful movies, including *Bridesmaids,* *Bachelorette,* and
*Pitch Perfect.* But she didn't start out to be a film star. Mathematics
was her main interest. Then, while serving as a youth ambassador in
South Africa at age 18, she contracted malaria. At the height of her
sickness, she had hallucinatory visions that she would one day be "a really
good actress who also won an Oscar." The visions were so vivid that she
decided to shift her career path. I foresee the possibility that you will
soon experience a version of her epiphany. During a phase when you're
feeling less than spectacular, you may get a glimpse of an intriguing
future possibility.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): "Stop Making Sense" was originally the name
of the film and music soundtrack produced by the Talking Heads in the
1980s, and now it is the central theme of your horoscope. I think your
brain would benefit from a thorough washing. That's why I invite you to
scour it clean of all the dust and cobwebs and muck that have
accumulated there since its last scrub a few months back. One of the
best ways to launch this healing purge is, of course, to flood all the neural
pathways with a firehose-surge of absurdity, jokes, and silliness. As the
wise physician of the soul, Dr. Seuss, said, "I like nonsense. It wakes up
the brain cells."
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): When you read a book that has footnotes,
you tend to regard the footnotes as being of secondary importance.
Although they may add color to the text's main messages, you can
probably skip them without losing much of the meaning. But I don't
recommend this approach in the coming days. According to my analysis
of the astrological omens, footnotes will carry crucial information that's
important for you to know. I mean this in a metaphorical sense as you live
your life as well as in the literal act of reading books. Pay close attention
to the afterthoughts, the digressions, and the asides.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The English word "quiddity" has two contrary
definitions. It can refer to a trivial quibble. Or it can mean the essential
nature of a thing -- the quality that makes it unique. I suspect that in the
coming weeks you will get numerous invitations to engage with quiddities
of both types. Your first task will be to cultivate an acute ability to know
which is which. Your second task: Be relentless in avoiding the trivial
quibbles as you home in on the essential nature of things.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Homework: What's the name of the book you may write some day --
perhaps your memoir? 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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++