Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
December 9, 2015
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See a pretty version of this newsletter: http://bit.ly/1XWVHAz
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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.
You don't have to be anything you don't want to be. You don't have to
live up to anyone's expectations. There's no need to strive for a kind of
perfection that's not very interesting to you. You don't have to believe in
ideas that make you sad or tormented, and you don't have to feel
emotions that others try to manipulate you into feeling.
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Aldous Huxley was the renowned 20th-century intellectual who wrote the
book *Brave New World,* a dystopian vision of the future. Later in his life
he came to regret one thing: how "preposterously serious" he had been
when he was younger. "There are quicksands all about you, sucking at
your feet," he ruminated, "trying to suck you down into fear and self-pity
and despair. That's why you must walk so lightly. Lightly, my darling . . .
Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you're feeling
deeply."
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"When Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh was invited to the San Francisco
Zen Center, the students asked him what they could do to improve their
practice. He had entered a monastery at age sixteen, was an ordained
monk, and had endured the horrors of the war in Vietnam. I imagine they
expected some rigorous prescription for deepening their spiritual life.
"Thich Nhat Han's response: 'You guys get up too early for one thing; you
should get up a little later. And your practice is too grim. I have just two
instructions for you. One is to breathe, and one is to smile.'"
- from "True Refuge," by Tara Brach.
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A conversation between two of the characters in my book "The
Televisionary Oracle":
"Remember, there is a difference between grateful anger and
dehumanizing hatred," he shouted above the din.
"What do you mean?" I yelled back.
"Grateful anger is good darkness. Dehumanizing hatred is bad darkness."
"More clues, please."
"Grateful anger flows when you have engaged and studied your shadow.
Dehumanizing hatred flows when you have ignored and denied your
shadow. One is fertile, the other hysterical."
A mathematical formula: I liked that. I assumed he meant the shadow that
Carl Jung described. The unripe and unillumined corners of the soul.
He continued: "Grateful anger is when you feel thankful for the irritating
people and sickening situations that have spurred you to clarity and
righteous action. Dehumanizing hatred is when you are so in love with
your terrible emotion that you forget what needs to be changed and turn
yourself into your enemy."
- http://bit.ly/Televisionary
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"I became aware of the world's tenderness, the profound beneficence of
all that surrounded me, the blissful bond between me and all of creation,
and I realized that the joy I sought in you was not only secreted within
you, but breathed around me everywhere, in the speeding street sounds,
in the hem of a comically lifted skirt, in the metallic yet tender drone of
the wind, in the autumn clouds bloated with rain.
"I realized that the world does not represent a struggle at all, or a
predaceous sequence of chance events, but the shimmering bliss,
beneficent trepidation, a gift bestowed upon us and unappreciated."
- Vladimir Nabokov, "Beneficence" in "The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov"
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"Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement . . . get up in the
morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted.
Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible. Never treat life
casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed."
- Abraham Joshua Heschel, Jewish theologian and civil rights activist
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"Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of
colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the
night."
- Rainer Maria Rilke
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"The whole world is a series of miracles, but we're so used to seeing them
that we call them ordinary things."
- Hans Christian Anderson
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"I will wade out till my thighs are steeped in burning flowers. I will take the
sun in my mouth and leap into the ripe air, alive, with closed eyes."
- E.E. Cummings
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"The whole existence is celebrating. These trees are not serious, these
birds are not serious. The rivers and the oceans are wild, and everywhere
there is fun, everywhere there is joy and delight."
- Osho
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"For aren't you and I gods? Let all of life be an unfettered howl. Release
life's rapture. Everything is blooming. Everything is flying. Everything is
screaming. Laughter. Running."
- Vladimir Nabokov
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Of the songs I've written, this is my favorite right now: "You Taste
Delicious."
First version sung by Adrienne Mehri Shamszad: http://bit.ly/1QUqyP7
Second version sung by me: http://bit.ly/YouTasteDelicious2
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Exposure To Nature May Reduce Crime, Strengthen Communities.
http://tinyurl.com/px3uqop
A Detroit florist's vision turns an abandoned house into art -- filled with
36,000 flowers.
http://tinyurl.com/od8a6eq
Rap artist MIA braves boats and barbed wire in video crusade for
refugees.
http://tinyurl.com/zavlgfm
http://tinyurl.com/pd6v2ow
(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 December 10
Copyright 2015 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): My old friend Jeff started working at a
gambling casino in Atlantic City. "You've gone over to the dark side!" I
kidded. He acknowledged that 90 percent of the casino's visitors lose
money gambling. On the bright side, he said, 95 percent of them leave
happy. I don't encourage you to do this kind of gambling in the near
future, Sagittarius. It's true that you will be riding a lucky streak. But
smarter, surer risks will be a better way to channel your good fortune. So
here's the bottom line: In whatever way you choose to bet or speculate,
don't let your lively spirits trick you into relying on pure impulsiveness. Do
the research. Perform your due diligence. It's not enough just to be
entertained. The goal is to both have fun and be successful.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus was a
pioneer thinker whose ideas helped pave the way for the development of
science. Believe nothing, he taught, unless you can evaluate it through
your personal observation and logical analysis. Using this admirable
approach, he determined that the size of our sun is about two feet in
diameter. I'm guessing that you have made comparable misestimations
about at least two facts of life, Capricorn. They seem quite reasonable
but are very wrong. The good news is that you will soon be relieved of
those mistakes. After some initial disruption, you will feel liberated.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian inventor Thomas Edison owned
1,093 patents. Nicknamed "The Wizard of Menlo Park," he devised the
first practical electrical light bulb, the movie camera, the alkaline storage
battery, and many more useful things. The creation he loved best was the
phonograph. It was the first machine in history that could record and
reproduce sound. Edison bragged that no one else had ever made such a
wonderful instrument. It was "absolutely original." I bring this to your
attention, Aquarius, because I think you're due for an outbreak of
absolute originality. What are the most unique gifts you have to offer? In
addition to those you already know about, new ones may be ready to
emerge.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Here's an experiment that makes good
astrological sense for you to try in the coming weeks. Whenever you feel
a tinge of frustration, immediately say, "I am an irrepressible source of
power and freedom and love." Anytime you notice a trace of inadequacy
rising up in you, or a touch of blame, or a taste of anger, declare, "I am an
irresistible magnet for power and freedom and love." If you're bothered
by a mistake you made, or a flash of ignorance expressed by another
person, or a maddening glitch in the flow of the life force, stop what
you're doing, interrupt the irritation, and proclaim, "I am awash in power
and freedom and love."
ARIES (March 21-April 19): "Happiness sneaks through a door you didn't
know that you left open," said actor John Barrymore. I hope you've left
open a lot of those doors, Aries. The more there are, the happier you will
be. This is the week of all weeks when joy, pleasure, and even zany bliss
are likely to find their ways into your life from unexpected sources and
unanticipated directions. If you're lucky, you also have a few forgotten
cracks and neglected gaps where fierce delights and crisp wonders can
come wandering in.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): What state of mind do you desire the most?
What is the quality of being that you aspire to inhabit more and more as
you grow older? Maybe it's the feeling of being deeply appreciated, or the
ability to see things as they really are, or an intuitive wisdom about how
to cultivate vibrant relationships. I invite you to set an intention to
cultivate this singular experience with all your passion and ingenuity. The
time is right. Make a pact with yourself.
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MY OTHER HOROSCOPES
Factual information and reasonable thinking alone are not sufficient to
guide you through life's labyrinthine tests. You need and deserve regular
deliveries of uncanny revelation.
One of your inalienable rights as a human being should therefore be to
receive mysteriously useful omens on a regular basis. In this spirit, I offer
you the free weekly horoscopes you read here.
If you ever want more, and think it's worth paying for, try my EXPANDED
AUDIO HOROSCOPES. They're four-to-five-minute meditations on the
current state of your destiny and where you're headed.
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 horoscopes get more personal and intimate with me than
some of my closest friends. Thanks for the loving reflections."
- Ari S., Ann Arbor, MI
"When I listen to your audio 'scopes, my free will lights up." - Alex D., Los
Angeles
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GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Like Metallica jamming with Nicki Minaj and
Death Cab for Cutie on a passage from Mozart's opera *The Magic Flute,*
you are redefining the meanings of the words "hybrid," "amalgam," and
"hodgepodge." You're mixing metaphors with panache. You're building
bridges with cheeky verve. Some of your blends are messy mishmashes,
but more often they are synergistic successes. With the power granted to
me by the gods of mixing and matching, I hereby authorize you to keep
splurging on the urge to merge. This is your special time to experiment
with the magic of combining things that have rarely or never been
combined.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): I hope you can figure out the difference
between the fake cure and the real cure. And once you know which is
which, I hope you will do the right thing rather than the sentimental thing.
For best results, keep these considerations in mind: The fake cure may
taste sweeter than the real one. It may also be better packaged and more
alluringly promoted. In fact, the only advantage the real cure may have
over the fake one is that it will actually work to heal you.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): There's a sinuous, serpentine quality about you
these days. It's as if you are the elegant and crafty hero of an epic myth
set in the ancient future. You are sweeter and saucier than usual, edgier
and more extravagantly emotive. You are somehow both a repository of
tantalizing secrets and a fount of arousing revelations. As I meditate on
the magic you embody, I am reminded of a passage from Laini Taylor's
fantasy novel *Daughter of Smoke & Bone*: "She tastes like nectar and
salt. Nectar and salt and apples. Pollen and stars and hinges. She tastes
like fairy tales. Swan maiden at midnight. Cream on the tip of a fox's
tongue. She tastes like hope."
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I bought an old horoscope book at a garage
sale for 25 cents. The cover was missing and some pages were water-
damaged, so parts of it were hard to decipher. But the following passage
jumped out at me: "In romantic matters, Virgos initially tend to be cool,
even standoffish. Their perfectionism may interfere with their ability to
follow through on promising beginnings. But if they ever allow themselves
to relax and go further, they will eventually ignite. And then, watch out!
Their passion will generate intense heat and light." I suspect that this
description may apply to you in the coming weeks. Let's hope you will
trust your intuition about which possibilities warrant your caution and
which deserve your opening.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): "The secret of being a bore is to tell
everything," said French writer Voltaire. I agree, and add these thoughts:
To tell everything also tempts you to wrongly imagine that you have
everything completely figured out. Furthermore, it may compromise your
leverage in dicey situations where other people are using information as a
weapon. So the moral of the current story is this: Don't tell everything! I
realize this could be hard, since you are a good talker these days; your
ability to express yourself is at a peak. So what should you do? Whenever
you speak, aim for quality over quantity. And always weave in a bit of
mystery.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Ducks are the most unflappable creatures I
know. Cats are often regarded as the top practitioners of the "I don't give
a f---" attitude, but I think ducks outshine them. When domestic felines
exhibit their classic aloofness, there's sometimes a subtext of annoyance
or contempt. But ducks are consistently as imperturbable as Zen masters.
Right now, as I gaze out my office window, I'm watching five of them
swim calmly, with easygoing nonchalance, against the swift current of the
creek in the torrential rain. I invite you to be like ducks in the coming
days. Now is an excellent time to practice the high art of truly not giving
a f---.
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Homework: Review in loving detail the history of your life. Remember how
and why you came to be where you are now. Testify at
FreeWillAstrology.com.
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2015 Rob Brezsny
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