Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
August 10, 2016
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See a pretty version of this newsletter: http://bit.ly/2aHz5FF
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at Paypal. It's open right here: https://www.paypal.me/FreeWillAstrology
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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 is a sample of the good news that's reported on in the book:
Extreme poverty has been cut in half. The proportion of the world's
population living below the extreme poverty line dropped by more than
half between 2002 and 2012.
Fewer children are going hungry. The proportion of children under age 5
who are stunted -- small for their age due to malnutrition -- fell from 33
percent in 2000 to 24 percent in 2014.
More moms and babies are surviving after childbirth. Between 1990 and
2015, the global maternal mortality ratio declined by 44 percent to an
estimated 216 deaths per 100,000 live births — and the mortality rate of
children under age 5 fell by more than half.
More people have clean drinking water. In 2015, 6.6 billion people, or 91
percent of the global population, had a cleaner drinking water source
compared with 82 percent in 2000.
Child marriage has been declining. Globally, the proportion of women aged
20 to 24 who reported that they were married before their 18th
birthdays dropped from 32 percent around 1990 to 26 percent around
2015.
Full report on all the above at http://tinyurl.com/z8qncp3
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Remember, kids! What's actually happening in the world is very different
from the delusions the mainstream media fabricate and disseminate. In
some cases it's worse, yes, but in some cases it's much better.
(We might be tempted to hypothesize that stirring up anger and fear and
pessimism must somehow be more profitable than whipping up
redemption and reverence and celebration.) More examples below:
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River revives after largest dam removal in U.S. history.
http://tinyurl.com/gvl4pdl
Small turbines can outperform conventional wind farms with no bird kill.
http://tinyurl.com/hwkrj4c
Team creates edible 6-pack rings for sea life, reduces plastic waste and
saves lives. http://tinyurl.com/janlkas
The company that wants to be the Netflix of lucid dreaming.
http://tinyurl.com/gu5s2c6
Malaysia establishes a 1-million-hectare marine park.
http://tinyurl.com/z9tklx2
"Mammals have an altruistic impulse. They respond to signs of distress in
others and feel an urge to improve their situation. To recognize the need
of others, and react appropriately, is not the same as a preprogrammed
tendency to sacrifice oneself for the genetic good."
- primatologist Frans de Waal at http://tinyurl.com/n8wd9be
The Great Green Wall is a planned project to plant a wall of trees across
Africa at the southern edge of the Sahara desert as a means to prevent
desertification.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Green_Wall
Italy passes law to send unsold food to charities instead of dumpsters.
http://tinyurl.com/hm9a5mo
Female chief in Malawi breaks up 850 child marriages and sends girls back
to school. http://tinyurl.com/zvxtk3o
India plans to spend $6.2 billion to create new forests.
http://tinyurl.com/j4hbr4h
Teen birthrate hits all-time low, led by 50 percent decline among
Hispanics and blacks. http://tinyurl.com/ht2ujws
Young gorillas seen dismantling poachers' traps for the first time.
http://tinyurl.com/zggkvwg
The Guerrilla Grafting Movement: secretly grafting fruit-bearing branches
onto ornamental city trees. http://tinyurl.com/ox35fdt
Howard G. Buffett has spent most of his life as a farmer, with little
financial support from his father -- until recently. Now he runs a
multibillion-dollar foundation dedicated to ending global hunger.
http://tinyurl.com/hosw9pm
Orangutan saves baby bird from drowning.
http://i.imgur.com/9vAOYuH.gifv
Goldman Environmental Prize recipients focus on protecting endangered
ecosystems and species, combating destructive development projects,
promoting sustainability, influencing environmental policies and striving
for environmental justice. Prize recipients are ordinary citizens who take
great personal risks to safeguard the environment and their communities.
http://tinyurl.com/m5fdkv4
Edward Loure won a Goldman Prize for helping communities in Tanzanian
Rift Valley secure legal title to ancestral land. http://tinyurl.com/zyeukpn
Green sea turtles of Florida and the Pacific coast of Mexico are no longer
an endangered species. Officials hailed decades of conservation work for
saving the long-imperiled creatures.
http://tinyurl.com/hh2raaa
in 1981, a pediatrician saved the life of a 3.2-pound premature baby boy
by working around the clock to beat the odds & stabilize him. In 2011,
the pediatrician was pinned inside a burning vehicle after a car collision,
but was saved by the premature baby, who had grown up to become a
paramedic. http://tinyurl.com/jxufp5v
Romanian woman saves victims of sex trafficking, gives them shelter,
counseling and an education. http://tinyurl.com/j4c7ok7
McDonald's says its wage hikes are improving service. Turnover is down,
and customer service scores are up. http://tinyurl.com/hfar8xw
Costco is selling so much organic produce, farmers can't keepiUp.
http://tinyurl.com/h2bvmes
Officers from an Ontario department attended a temple for a lecture on
mindfulness meditation and Buddhist philosophy.
http://tinyurl.com/gl9p4jv
Mysterious stacks of books in New York City are connecting strangers.
http://tinyurl.com/jcydw3t
A rich guy says 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
Sweden introduced a six-hour work day. http://tinyurl.com/npug4ng
Landmark deal with loggers protects huge swath of Canadian rainforest.
http://tinyurl.com/hewq9zy
First of its kind in America: Plant will turn trash into fuel in West Virginia.
http://tinyurl.com/gvlzxzt
Amount of mercury, DDT and other contaminants in fish is at 40-Year low.
http://tinyurl.com/z2nr8bs
Berlin turns former secret police headquarters into home for 500
refugees. http://tinyurl.com/hj9g3xl
France votes to force supermarkets to give away unsold food.
http://tinyurl.com/jld3x7m
President of Gambia bans female genital mutilation.
http://tinyurl.com/jz33qa6
Congress ends federal medical marijuana prohibition.
http://tinyurl.com/nh9eqsg
People can pay their parking fines with cans of food for the hungry.
http://tinyurl.com/qh6327s
Zimbabwe bans child marriage. http://tinyurl.com/hdbwurj
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning August 11
Copyright 2016 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Let's assume, for the sake of fun argument, that
you do indeed have a guardian angel. Even if you have steadfastly ignored
this divine helper in the past, I'm asking you to strike up a close alliance in
the coming weeks. If you need to engage in an elaborate game of
imaginative pretending to make it happen, so be it. Now let me offer a
few tips about your guardian angel's potential purposes in your life:
providing sly guidance about how to take good care of yourself; quietly
reminding you where your next liberation may lie; keeping you on track to
consistently shed the past and head toward the future; and kicking your
ass so as to steer you away from questionable influences. OK? Now go
claim your sublime assistance!
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Although you may not yet be fully aware of
your good fortune, your "rescue" is already underway. Furthermore, the
so-called hardship you've been lamenting will soon lead you to a trick you
can use to overcome one of your limitations. Maybe best of all, Virgo, a
painful memory you have coddled for a long time has so thoroughly
decayed that there's almost nothing left to cling to. Time to release it! So
what comes next? Here's what I recommend: Throw a going-away party
for everything you no longer need. Give thanks to the secret intelligence
within you that has guided you to this turning point.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Here comes a special occasion -- a radical
exemption that is so rare as to be almost impossible. Are you ready to
explore a blessing you have perhaps never experienced? For a brief grace
period, you can be free from your pressing obsessions. Your habitual
attachments and unquenchable desires will leave you in peace. You will be
relieved of the drive to acquire more possessions or gather further proof
of your attractiveness. You may even arrive at the relaxing realization
that you don't require as many props and accessories as you imagined
you needed to be happy and whole. Is enlightenment nigh? At the very
least, you will learn how to derive more joy out of what you already have.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the coming weeks, I suspect that Life will
attempt to move you away from any influences that interfere with your
ability to discern and express your soul's code. You know what I'm talking
about when I use that term "soul's code," right? It's your sacred calling;
the blueprint of your destiny; the mission you came to earth to fulfill. So
what does it mean if higher powers and mysterious forces are clearing
away obstacles that have been preventing you from a more complete
embodiment of your soul's code? Expect a breakthrough that initially
resembles a breakdown.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Maybe you know people who flee from
the kind of Big Bold Blankness that's visiting you, but I hope you won't be
tempted to do that. Here's my counsel: Welcome your temporary
engagement with emptiness Celebrate this opening into the unknown.
Ease into the absence. Commune with the vacuum. Ask the nothingness
to be your teacher. What's the payoff? This is an opportunity to access
valuable secrets about the meaning of your life that aren't available when
you're feeling full. Be gratefully receptive to what you don't understand
and can't control.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I placed a wager down at the astrology
pool. I bet that sometime in the next three weeks, you Capricorns will
shed at least some of the heavy emotional baggage that you've been
lugging around; you will transition from ponderous plodding to curious-
hearted sauntering. Why am I so sure this will occur? Because I have
detected a shift in attitude by one of the most talkative little voices in
your head. It seems ready to stop tormenting you with cranky reminders
of all the chores you should be doing but aren't -- and start motivating
you with sunny prompts about all the fun adventures you could be
pursuing.
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LOVE YOUR LIFE!
How's your fight for freedom going? Are you making progress in liberating
yourself from your unconscious obsessions, bad habits, and conditioned
responses? Are you turning out to be the hero of your own life?
For assistance and inspiration, tune in to my EXPANDED AUDIO
HOROSCOPES.
These forecasts are different in tone and format from the written
horoscopes you read here in the newsletter. They're longer and more
leisurely in tone. They tend to bring out more of the patient counselor in
me, and have a bit less of the poet.
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. Each forecast is 4-5 minutes
long.
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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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): What you are most afraid of right now could
become what fuels you this fall. Please note that I used the word "could."
In the style of astrology I employ, there is no such thing as
predestination. So if you prefer, you may refuse to access the rich fuel
that's available. You can keep your scary feelings tucked inside your
secret hiding place, where they will continue to fester. You are not
obligated to deal with them squarely, let alone find a way to use them as
motivation. But if you are intrigued by the possibility that those murky
worries might become a source of inspiration, dive in and investigate.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Are you ready for your mid-term exam?
Luckily I'm here to help get you into the proper frame of mind to do well.
Now study the following incitements with an air of amused rebelliousness.
1. You may have to act a bit wild or unruly in order to do the right thing.
2. Loving your enemies could motivate your allies to give you more of
what you need. 3. Are you sufficiently audacious to explore the quirky
happiness that can come from cultivating intriguing problems? 4. If you
want people to change, try this: Change yourself in the precise way you
want them to change.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Using scissors, snip off a strand of your hair.
As you do, sing a beloved song with uplifting lyrics. Seal the hair in an
envelope on which you have written the following: "I am attracting divine
prods and unpredictable nudges that will enlighten me about a personal
puzzle that I am ready to solve." On each of the next five nights, kiss this
package five times and place it beneath your pillow as you sing a beloved
song with uplifting lyrics. Then observe your dreams closely. Keep a pen
and notebook or audio recorder near your bed to capture any clues that
might arrive. On the morning after the fifth night, go to your kitchen sink
and burn the envelope and hair in the flame of a white candle. Chant the
words of power: "Catalytic revelations and insights are arriving." The
magic you need will appear within 15 days.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): This would be a good time to have a master
craftsperson decorate your headquarters with stained glass windows that
depict the creation stories of your favorite indigenous culture. You might
also benefit from hiring a feng shui consultant to help you design a more
harmonious home environment. Here are some cheaper but equally
effective ways to promote domestic bliss: Put images of your heroes on
your walls. Throw out stuff that makes you feel cramped. Add new potted
plants to calm your eyes and nurture your lungs. If you're feeling
especially experimental, build a shrine devoted to the Goddess of Ecstatic
Nesting.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): You Geminis are as full of longings as any other
sign, but you have a tendency to downplay their intensity. How often do
you use your charm and wit to cloak your burning, churning yearnings?
Please don't misunderstand me: I appreciate your refined expressions of
deep feelings -- as long as that's not a way to hide your deep feelings
from yourself. This will be an especially fun and useful issue for you to
meditate on in the coming weeks. I advise you to be in very close touch
with your primal urges.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Be vulnerable and sensitive as well as
insatiable and irreverent. Cultivate your rigorous skepticism, but expect
the arrival of at least two freaking miracles. Be extra nurturing to allies
who help you and sustain you, but also be alert for those moments when
they may benefit from your rebellious provocations. Don't take anything
too personally or literally or seriously, even as you treat the world as a
bountiful source of gifts and blessings. Be sure to regard love as your
highest law, and laugh at fear at least three times every day.
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Homework: What do you foresee happening in your life during the rest of
2016? Make three brave, positive predictions. Truthrooster@gmail.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,
including but not limited to newsletters, books, the Free Will
Astrology column, and Free Will Astrology website. We reserve
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Requests for anonymity will be honored. We are not responsible for
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2016 Rob Brezsny
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