Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
September 16, 2015
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See a pretty version of this newsletter: http://bit.ly/1ORdvKf
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On Friday, September 18 at 5:15, I will be performing my pagan revival
show SACRED UPROAR. The place is the Symbiosis Gathering, a fantastic
outdoor festival in Oakdale, CA.
SACRED UPROAR is based on material from my book *Pronoia Is the
Antidote for Paranoia.* During the show, I sing and talk and chant. There's
a mix of healing, entertainment, ritual, and teaching. Now and then, I like
to encourage people in the crowd to sing along with me, kirtan-style.
Main page for info about the festival: http://symbiosisgathering.com/
My page: http://bit.ly/1i5kep7
You can listen to and get free downloads of songs and spoken-word
pieces from SACRED UPROAR:
Glory in the Highest:
http://bit.ly/yBmWBg
This Is a Perfect Moment:
http://bit.ly/PerfectionNow
World Kiss
http://bit.ly/tlUzBZ
Re-Genius Yourself
http://bit.ly/zCJAoH
and many more tunes from SACRED UPROAR at:
http://bit.ly/sacreduproar
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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 are excerpts.
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1. Expect nothing, but ask for everything.
2. Gently but gleefully smash an unnecessary personal taboo.
3. Jump for joy and click your heels together in a building that has always
felt oppressive.
4. Buck tradition with wit and compassion, not wrath and cynicism.
5. Refuse to occupy the old, worn-out niches, especially the ones you
have trapped yourself in for the sake of peace and harmony.
6. Carry two gifts with you at all times in case you run into any fresh
beauties who aren't lost in their own heads.
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"I tell you the more I think, the more I feel that there is nothing more
truly artistic than to love people." - Vincent van Gogh
"Everything I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything
exists, only because I love." - Leo Tolstoy
"Until you have loved, you cannot become yourself." - Emily Dickinson
"Love imperfectly. Be a love idiot. Let yourself forget any love ideal." -
Sark
"For one human being to love another is the most difficult task. It is the
work for which all other work is mere preparation." - Rainer Maria Rilke,
Translated by Stephen Mitchell
"If you do not love too much, you do not love enough." - Blaise Pascal
"Love is everything it's cracked up to be. It really is worth fighting for,
being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk
everything, you risk even more." - Erica Jong
"Fall in love over and over again every day. Love your family, your
neighbors, your enemies, and yourself. And don't stop with humans. Love
animals, plants, stones, even galaxies." - Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
"To love is to tilt with the lightning, two bodies routed by a single honey's
sweet."
- Pablo Neruda
"The most vital right is the right to love and be loved." - Emma Goldman
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The Beauty and Truth Lab researchers' sunny dispositions are made
possible in part by the mantra, "I don't know." It's an unparalleled source
of power, a declaration of independence from the pressure to have an
opinion about every single subject.
It's fun to say. Try it: "I don't know."
Let go of the drive to have it all figured out: "I don't know."
Proclaim the only truth you can be totally sure of: "I don't know."
Empty your mind and lift your heart: "I don't know."
Use it as a battle cry, a joyous affirmation of your oneness with the Great
Mystery: "I don't know."
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Do you have an unconscious belief that the forces of evil are loud,
vigorous, and strong, while good is quiet, gentle, and passive? Gather
evidence that contradicts this irrational prejudice.
Are you secretly suspicious of joy because you think it's inevitably rooted
in wishful thinking and a willful ignorance about the true nature of reality?
Expose these suspicions as superstitions that aren't grounded in any
objective data you can actually prove.
Do you fear that when you're in the presence of love and beauty you tend
to become softheaded, whereas you're likely to feel smart and powerful
when you're sneering at the ugliness around you? As an antidote, for a
given amount of time, say a week or a month or a year, act as if the
following hypothesis were true: that you're more likely to grow smarter
when you're in the presence of love and beauty.
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"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of
it."
- Helen Keller
"Sit quietly and listen with only one purpose: to allow the other person to
express himself and find relief from his suffering."
- Thich Nhat H_nh
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
The decline in coal has brought a net growth in jobs. The solar, wind and
natural gas industries have created four times the number of jobs that
were lost in the coal industry between 2008 and 2012.
http://tinyurl.com/ne8z594
Cyndi Lauper Opens Shelter for Homeless LGBT Youth. True Colors
Residence will be first facility of its kind in New York City.
http://tinyurl.com/3ljxady
Jordan has a population of 6 million, but have taken in 1.5 million
refugees. All with little protest or mass global coverage.
http://tinyurl.com/pnatg28
(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 September 17
Copyright 2015 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Some people express pride in gross ways.
When you hear their overbearing brags, you know it's a sign that they are
not really confident in themselves. They overdo the vanity because
they're trying to compensate for their feelings of inadequacy. In the
coming weeks, I expect you to express a more lovable kind of self-
glorification. It won't be inflated or arrogant, but will instead be measured
and reasonable. If you swagger a bit, you will do it with humor and style,
not narcissism and superiority. Thank you in advance for your service to
humanity. The world needs more of this benign kind of egotism.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The rooster is your power animal. Be like him.
Scrutinize the horizon for the metaphorical dawn that is coming, and be
ready to herald its appearance with a triumphant wake-up call. On the
other hand, the rooster is also your affliction animal. Don't be like him. I
would hate for you to imitate the way he handles himself in a fight, which
is to keep fussing and squabbling far beyond the point when he should let
it all go. In conclusion, Libra, act like a rooster but also don't act like a
rooster. Give up the protracted struggle so you can devote yourself to
the more pertinent task, which is to celebrate the return of the primal
heat and light.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Since you seem to enjoy making life so
complicated and intense for yourself, you may be glad to learn that the
current astrological omens favor that development. My reading of the
astrological omens suggests that you're about to dive deep into rich
mysteries that could drive you half-crazy. I suspect that you will be
agitated and animated by your encounters with ecstatic torment and
difficult bliss. Bon voyage! Have fun! Soon I expect to see miniature violet
bonfires gleaming in your bedroom eyes, and unnamable emotions rippling
through your unfathomable face, and unprecedented words of wild
wisdom spilling from your smart mouth.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The Adamites were devotees of an
ancient Christian sect that practiced sacred nudism. One of their central
premises: How could anyone possibly know God while wearing clothes? I
am not necessarily recommending that you make their practice a
permanent part of your spiritual repertoire, but I think you might find
value in it during the coming weeks. Your erotic and transcendent
yearnings will be rising to a crescendo at the same time. You will have the
chance to explore states where horniness and holiness overlap. Lusty
prayers? Reverent sex? Ecstatic illumination?
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): One of your key themes in the coming
weeks is "grace." I suggest that you cultivate it, seek it out, expect it,
and treasure it. To prepare for this fun work, study all of the meanings of
"grace" below. At least two of them, and possibly all, should and can be
an active part of your life. 1. Elegance or beauty of form, movement, or
proportion; seemingly effortless charm or fluidity. 2. Favor or goodwill; a
disposition to be generous or helpful. 3. Mercy, forgiveness, charity. 4. A
temporary exemption or immunity; a reprieve. 5. A sense of fitness or
propriety. 6. A prayer of blessing or thanks said before a meal. 7. An
unmerited divine gift offered out of love.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Be good, but not necessarily well-behaved.
Be extra exuberant and free, but not irresponsible. Be lavish and ardent
and even rowdy, but not decadent. Why? What's the occasion? Well, you
have more-or-less finished paying off one of your karmic debts. You have
conquered or at least outwitted a twist from your past that had been
sapping your mojo. As a reward for doing your duty with such diligence,
you have earned a respite from some of the more boring aspects of
reality. And so now you have a mandate to gather up the intelligent
pleasure you missed when you were acting like a beast of burden.
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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 shut down your sense of wonder.
Every day, you're over-exposed to cynical narratives 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 in this newsletter.
If you ever want more of that good stuff, and think it's worth paying for,
please consider trying out my EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES. They're
four-to-five-minute meditations on the current state of your destiny.
To listen to your Expanded Audio Horoscope online, go to
http://RealAstrology.com.
Register and/or log in through the main page.
You can also listen over the phone by calling 1-877-873-4888.
The cost is $6 per sign on the Web (discounts available for bulk
purchases), or $1.99 per minute by phone.
The Expanded Audio Horoscopes work on most smart phones and tablets.
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"Your Expanded Audio Horoscopes seem to have the effect of activating
my inner teacher. Thanks!" - Eleanor A., Toronto
"Your expanded audio horoscopes are the next best thing to actually
having you here next to me to remind me who I really am." - Alyssa R.,
Des Moines, Iowa
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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): "I am the least difficult of men. All I want is
boundless love." That's the mantra that Frank O'Hara intoned in his poem
"Meditations in an Emergency," and now I'm inviting you to adopt a
modified version of it. Here's how I would change it for your use in the
coming months: "I am the least difficult of passion artists. All I want is to
give and receive boundless, healthy, interesting love." To be frank, I don't
think O'Hara's simple and innocent declaration will work for you. You really
do need to add my recommended nuances in order to ripen your soul's
code and be aligned with cosmic rhythms.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I won't go so far as to say that you are
surrounded by unhinged maniacs whose incoherence is matched only by
their self-delusion. That would probably be too extreme. But I do suspect
that at least some of the characters in the game you're playing are not
operating at their full potential. For now, it's best not to confront them
and demand that they act with more grace. The wiser strategy might be
to avoid being swept up in their agitation as you take good care of
yourself. If you are patient and stay centered, I bet you will eventually get
a chance to work your magic.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Many of the heroes in fairy tales survive and
thrive because of the magical gifts they are given. Benefactors show up,
often unexpectedly, to provide them with marvels -- a loom that can
weave a cloak of invisibility, perhaps, or winged shoes that give them the
power of flight, or a charmed cauldron that brews a healing potion. But
there is an important caveat. The heroes rarely receive their boons out of
sheer luck. They have previously performed kind deeds or unselfish acts in
order to earn the right to be blessed. According to my analysis, Taurus,
the coming weeks will be prime time for you to make yourself worthy of
gifts you will need later on.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): We humans need nourishing stories almost as
much as we require healthy food, clean air, pure water, and authentic
love. And yet many of us get far less than our minimum daily requirement
of nourishing stories. Instead, we are barraged with nihilistic narratives
that wallow in misery and woe. If we want a break from that onslaught,
our main other choices are sentimental fantasies and empty-hearted
trivia. That's the bad news. But here's the good news: Now is a favorable
time for you to seek remedies for this problem. That's why I'm urging you
to hunt down redemptive chronicles that furnish your soul with gritty
delight. Find parables and sagas and tales that fire up your creative
imagination and embolden your lust for life.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Now is an excellent time to close the gap
between the Real You and the image of yourself that you display to the
world. I know of two ways to accomplish this. You can tinker with the Real
You so that it's more like the image you display. Or else you can change
the image you display so that it is a more accurate rendition of the Real
You. Both strategies may be effective. However you go about it,
Cancerian, I suggest you make it your goal to shrink the amount of
pretending you do.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Born under the sign of Leo, Marcel Duchamp was
an influential artist whose early work prefigured surrealism. In 1917, he
submitted an unusual piece to a group exhibition in New York. It was a
plain old porcelain urinal, but he titled it *Fountain,* and insisted it was a
genuine work of art. In that spirit, I am putting my seal of approval on the
messy melodrama you are in the process of managing. Henceforth, this
melodrama shall also be known as a work of art, and its title will be
"Purification." (Or would you prefer "Expurgation" or "Redemption"?) If
you finish the job with the panache you have at your disposal, it will
forevermore qualify as a soul-jiggling masterpiece.
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Homework: What's your favorite method for overcoming the inertia of the
past? FreeWillAstrology.com.
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2015 Rob Brezsny
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