Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
April 13, 2016
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See a pretty version of this newsletter: http://bit.ly/1VQLpUG
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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
John Keats wrote that "if something is not beautiful, it is probably not
true." I celebrate that hypothesis in my book.
I further propose that the universe is inherently friendly to human beings;
that all of creation is set up to liberate us from our suffering and teach us
how to love intelligently; and that life always gives us exactly what we
need, exactly when we need it (although not necessarily what we want).
Dogmatic cynics are often so mad about my book's title that they can't
bring themselves to explore the inside. Why bother to actually read about
such a preposterous idea? They accuse me of intellectual dishonesty,
disingenuous Pollyannaism, or New Age delusion.
If they do manage to read even a few pages, they find that the blessings I
reference in the title are not materialistic fetishes like luxurious vacation
homes, high status, and a perfect physique.
I'm more interested in fascinating surprises, dizzying adventures,
challenging gifts we hardly know what to do with, and conundrums that
compel us to get smarter and wilder and kinder and trickier.
I also enjoy exposing secret miracles, like the way the sun continually
detonates nuclear explosions in order to convert its own body into heat,
light, and energy for our personal use.
But I don't take the cynics' fury personally. When I suggest that life is a
sublime mystery designed to grow us all into strong, supple messiahs, I
understand that's the equivalent, for them, of denying the Holocaust.
They're addicted to a formulation that's the opposite of Keats': If
something is not ugly, it is probably not true.
Modern storytellers are at the vanguard of promoting this doctrine, which
I refer to as pop nihilism. Many journalists, filmmakers, novelists, critics,
talk-show hosts, musicians, and pundits act as if breakdown is far more
common and far more interesting than breakthrough; that painful twists
outnumber redemptive transformations by a wide margin, and are
profoundly more entertaining as well.
Earlier in my life, I, too, worshiped the religion of pop nihilism. In the
1980s, for example, I launched a crusade against what I called "the global
genocide of the imagination." I railed against the "entertainment
criminals" who barrage us with floods of fake information and inane
ugliness, decimating and paralyzing our image-making faculties. For years,
much of my creative work was stoked by my rage against the machine for
its soulless crimes of injustice and greed and rapaciousness and cruelty.
But as the crazy wisdom of pronoia overtook me in the late 1990s, I
gradually weaned myself from the gratuitous gratification that wrath
offered. Against the grain, I experimented with strategies for motivating
myself through crafty joy and purified desire and the longing for freedom.
I played with ideas that helped me shed the habit of seeing the worst in
everything and everyone. In its place I built a new habit of looking for the
best.
But I never formally renounced my affiliation with the religion of cynicism.
I didn't become a fundamentalist apostate preaching the doctrine of
fanatical optimism. In the back of my wild heart, I knew I couldn't thrive
without at least a tincture of the ferocity and outrage that had driven so
much of my earlier self-expression.
Even at the height of my infatuation with the beautiful truths that
swarmed into me while writing *Pronoia,* I nurtured a relationship with the
awful truths. And I didn't hide that from my readers.
Yes, I did purposely go overboard in championing the cause of liberation
and pleasure and ingenuity and integrity and renewal and harmony and
love. The book's destiny was, after all, to serve as a counterbalance to
the trendy predominance of bad news and paranoid attitudes. It was
meant to be an antidote for the pandemic of snark.
But I made sure that *Pronoia* also contained numerous "Homeopathic
Medicine Spells," talismans that cram long lists of the world's evils inside
ritually consecrated mandalas. These spells diffuse the hypnotizing lure of
doom and gloom by acknowledging the horror with a sardonic wink.
*Pronoia* also has many variations on a theme captured in William
Vollman's testimony: "The most important and enjoyable thing in life is
doing something that's a complicated, tricky problem that you don't know
how to solve."
Furthermore, the book stops far short of calling for the totalitarian
imposition of good cheer. I say I can tolerate the news media filling up half
their pages and airwaves and bandwidths with poker-faced accounts of
decline and degeneration, misery and destruction. All I seek is equal time
for stories that inspire us to adore life instead of fearing it. And I'd gladly
accept 25 percent. Even 10 percent.
So *Pronoia* hints at a paradoxical philosophy more complex than a naive
quest for beauty and benevolence. It welcomes in a taste of darkness,
acknowledging the shadows in the big picture.
TO READ THE REST OF THIS ESSAY, GO HERE: http://bit.ly/HoneyVinegar
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"I scarcely know where to begin, but love is always a safe place."
– Emily Dickinson
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from a letter to Louise and Frances Norcross, March 1886
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Are you willing to push hard to get better, become smarter, grow your
devotion to the truth, fuel your commitment to beauty, refine your
emotional intelligence, hone your dreams, negotiate with your shadow,
cure your ignorance, shed your pettiness, heighten your drive to look for
the best in people, and soften your heart -- even as you always accept
yourself for exactly who you are with all of your so-called imperfections,
never demeaning the present by comparing it to an idealized past or
future?
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"People with a psychological need to believe in marvels are no more
prejudiced and gullible than people with a psychological need not to
believe in marvels."
- Charles Fort
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Maxim's "Hot 100" is the magazine's list of the planet's sexiest women.
Sports Illustrated has its yearly Swimsuit Issue, which presents a bevy of
twenty-something women dressed in skimpy bikinis. Esquire's regular
feature "Women We Love" is a gathering of skinny young celebrities. Now
here are some of my current favorite beauties:
http://tinyurl.com/o7c3hp6
The images are from photographer Katarzyna Majak's assemblage of
witches and healers of Poland.
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Mysterious stacks of books in New York City are connecting strangers.
http://tinyurl.com/jcydw3t
Rich guy says he has $4 billion more than he needs. He plans to spend his
fortune to distribute 10,000 free electric battery-equipped stationary
bikes in India, which will run lights and basic appliances for one day per
one hour of pedaling.
http://tinyurl.com/ofkmpjc
Organization started to fight world hunger has packed and shipped more
than 50 million meals to the hungry.
http://tinyurl.com/gso2zbq
(Note: I endorse these because I like them. They aren't advertisements,
and I get no kickbacks.)
Please tell me your own nominations for PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Truthrooster@gmail.com.
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning April 14
Copyright 2016 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
ARIES (March 21-April 19): "When I discover who I am, I'll be free," said
novelist Ralph Ellison. Would you consider making that a paramount theme
in the coming weeks? Will you keep it in the forefront of your mind, and
be vigilant for juicy clues that might show up in the experiences headed
your way? In suggesting that you do, I'm not guaranteeing that you will
gather numerous extravagant insights about your true identity and
thereby achieve a blissful eruption of total liberation. But I suspect that at
the very least you will understand previously hidden mysteries about your
primal nature. And as they come into focus, you will indeed be led in the
direction of cathartic emancipation.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): "We never know the wine we are becoming
while we are being crushed like grapes," said author Henri Nouwen. I don't
think that's true in your case, Taurus. Any minute now, you could get a
clear intuition about what wine you will ultimately turn into once the
grape-crushing stage ends. So my advice is to expect that clear intuition.
Once you're in possession of it, I bet the crushing will begin to feel more
like a massage -- maybe even a series of strong but tender caresses.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Your sustaining mantra for the coming weeks
comes from Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer: "I am not empty; I am
open." Say that aloud whenever you're inclined to feel lonely or lost. "I am
not empty; I am open." Whisper it to yourself as you wonder about the
things that used to be important but no longer are. "I am not empty; I am
open." Allow it to loop through your imagination like a catchy song lyric
whenever you're tempted to feel melancholy about vanished certainties
or unavailable stabilizers or missing fillers. "I am not empty; I am open."
CANCER (June 21-July 22): According to my analysis of the astrological
omens, you are close to tapping into hidden powers, dormant talents, and
future knowledge. Truths that have been off-limits are on the verge of
catching your attention and revealing themselves. Secrets you have been
concealing from yourself are ready to be plucked and transformed. And
now I will tell you a trick you can use that will enable you to fully cash in
on these pregnant possibilities: Don't adopt a passive wait-and-see
attitude. Don't expect everything to happen on its own. Instead, be a
willful magician who aggressively collects and activates the potential gifts.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): This would be a perfect moment to give yourself
a new nickname like "Sugar Pepper" or "Honey Chili" or "Itchy Sweet." It's
also a favorable time to explore the joys of running in slow motion or
getting a tattoo of a fierce howling bunny or having gentle sex standing
up. This phase of your cycle is most likely to unfold with maximum
effectiveness if you play along with its complicated, sometimes
paradoxical twists and turns. The more willing you are to celebrate life's
riddles as blessings in disguise, the more likely you'll be to use the riddles
to your advantage.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Right about now you might be feeling a bit
extreme, maybe even zealous or melodramatic. I wouldn't be surprised if
you were tempted to make outlandish expostulations similar to those that
the poet Arthur Rimbaud articulated in one of his histrionic poems: "What
beast must I worship? What sacred images should I destroy? What hearts
shall I break? What lies am I supposed to believe?" I encourage you to
articulate salty sentiments like these in the coming days -- with the
understanding that by venting your intensity you won't need to actually
act it all out in real life. In other words, allow your fantasy life and creative
artistry to be boisterous outlets for emotions that shouldn't necessarily
get translated into literal behavior.
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WHY IS IT CALLED "FREE WILL" ASTROLOGY?
It's called Free Will Astrology because my goal is to create horoscopes
that nurture your free will!
And if you ever want more than the 'scopes you're reading here, keep in
mind that I also create EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES for you. They're
four-to-five-minute meditations on the current state of your destiny.
Need more help in figuring out the questions life is asking you? Crave
more support in your efforts to build your courage? Check out the
EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES.
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 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
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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Adyashanti is my favorite mind-scrambling
philosopher. One of his doses of crazy wisdom is just what you need to
hear right now. "Whatever you resist you become," he says. "If you resist
anger, you are always angry. If you resist sadness, you are always sad. If
you resist suffering, you are always suffering. If you resist confusion, you
are always confused. We think that we resist certain states because they
are there, but actually they are there because we resist them." Can you
wrap your imagination around Adyashanti's counsel, Libra? I hope so,
because the key to dissipating at least some of the dicey stuff that has
been tweaking you lately is to STOP RESISTING IT!
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): During every election season, media pundits
exult in criticizing candidates who have altered their opinions about
important issues. This puzzles me. In my understanding, an intelligent
human is always learning new information about how the world works, and
is therefore constantly evolving his or her beliefs and ideas. I don't trust
people who stubbornly cling to all of their musty dogmas. I bring this to
your attention, Scorpio, because the coming weeks will be an especially
ripe time for you to change your mind about a few things, some of them
rather important. Be alert for the cues and clues that will activate
dormant aspects of your wisdom. Be eager to see further and deeper.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Friedrich Nietzsche published his first
book, *The Birth of Tragedy,* in 1872, when he was 28 years old. In
1886, he put out a revised edition that included a preface entitled "An
Attempt at Self-Criticism." In this unprecedented essay, he said that he
now found his text "clumsy and embarrassing, its images frenzied and
confused, sentimental, uneven in pace, so sure of its convictions that it is
above any need for proof." And yet he also glorified *The Birth of
Tragedy,* praising it for its powerful impact on the world, for its "strange
knack of seeking out its fellow-revelers and enticing them on to new
secret paths and dancing-places." In accordance with the astrological
omens, Sagittarius, I invite you to engage in an equally brave and
celebratory re-evaluation of some of your earlier life and work.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): "Go back to where you started and learn
to love it more." So advised Thaddeus Golas in his book *The Lazy Man's
Guide to Enlightenment.* I think that's exactly what you should do right
now, Capricorn. To undertake such a quest would reap long-lasting
benefits. Here's what I propose: First, identify three dreams that are
important for your future. Next, brainstorm about how you could return
to the roots of your relationships with them. Finally, reinvigorate your
love for those dreams. Supercharge your excitement about them.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): "What am I doing here in mid-air?" asks Ted
Hughes in his poem "Wodwo." Right about now you might have an urge to
wonder that yourself. The challenging part of your situation is that you're
unanchored, unable to find a firm footing. The fun part is that you have
an unusual amount of leeway to improvise and experiment. Here's a
suggestion: Why not focus on the fun part for now? You just may find
that doing so will minimize the unsettled feelings. I suspect that as a
result you will also be able to accomplish some interesting and
unexpected work.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): How many fireflies would you have to gather
together in order to create a light as bright as the sun? Entomologist Cole
Gilbert estimates the number to be 14,286,000,000. That's probably
beyond your ability to accomplish, Pisces, so I don't recommend you
attempt it. But I bet you could pull off a more modest feat with a similar
theme: accumulating a lot of small influences that add up to a big effect.
Now is an excellent time to capitalize on the power of gradual,
incremental progress.
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Homework: Let's meet in dreams sometime soon. Describe to me the
adventures you'd like us to have together. FreeWillAstrology.com
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Submissions sent to Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
or in response to "homework assignments" may be
published in a variety of formats at Rob Brezsny's discretion,
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2016 Rob Brezsny
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