Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
August 24, 2016
+
See a pretty version of this newsletter: http://bit.ly/2bdayu9
+
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.
My first invitation: Weed out the wishy-washy wishes and lukewarm
longings that keep you distracted from your burning desires.
My second invitation: Refuse to think that anyone else knows better than
you what dreams will keep your life energy humming with maximum
efficiency and grace.
Third invitation: Say this out loud to see how it feels: "I know exactly
what I want. I know exactly what I don't want. I know exactly what I kind
of want but I won't waste my time on it because it sidetracks me from
working on what I really want."
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Difficulties illuminate existence, but they must be fresh and of high
quality."
- Tom Robbins
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"When one has not had a good father, one must create one," said
philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. What does that mean? How might you go
about "creating" a good father?
Well, you could develop a relationship with an admirable older man who is
an inspiring role model.
You could read books by men whose work stirs you to actualize your own
potentials.
If you have a vigorous inner life, you could build a fantasy dad in your
imagination.
Here's another possibility: Cultivate in yourself the qualities you think a
good father should have.
Your ideas?
Even if you actually had a pretty decent father, I'm sure he wasn't
perfect. So it still might be interesting to try out some of these ideas.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Dear Beauty and Truth Lab: Help! My old Buick's transmission is dead, my
credit cards are maxed, my kid's got to see the dentist real bad, and the
one-speed bike I ride everywhere is about to collapse. I'm working two
low-paying jobs already, although I just applied for a more lucrative gig as
a strip-club dancer, only I'm having so much mysterious pain in my joints
I'm not sure how sexy my gyrations will be. Please clue me in to some
tricks that will help me keep a pronoiac attitude in the midst of the mess
that is my life. —Pickled
Dear Pickled: Here's the first thing I want to tell you: Pronoia does not
assume that material comfort is a sign of divine favor. The universe is an
equal-opportunity provider, conspiring to shower blessings on every one
of us in the same abundance. But while the blessings may come in the
form of money and possessions, they're just as likely to consist of other
gifts that aren't as concrete.
Here's a hypothetical example. Let's say you have the gift of feeling at
home in the world no matter where you are. The universe has determined
that it's the exact skill you need in order to fulfill the specific purpose you
came to earth to carry out. Having a prestigious job and big salary, on the
other hand, might be exactly what you don't need.
The question of what gifts are essential revolves around your precise role
in the universal conspiracy to perpetrate blessings.
The second meditation I'll offer you is a passage from the Gospel of
Matthew: "Whoever has, shall be given more and more, while whoever has
nothing, even what he has will be taken away from him."
Pronoiac translation: Whatever you choose to focus your attention on,
you will get more of it. If you often think of everything you lack and how
sad you are that you don't have it, you will tend to receive prolific
evidence of how true that is. As you obsess on all the ways your life is
different from what you wish it would be, you will become an expert in
rousing feelings of frustration and you will attract experiences that assist
you in rousing frustration.
If, on the other hand, you dwell on the good things you have already had
the privilege to experience, you will expand your appreciation for their
blessings, which in turn will amplify their beneficent impact on your life.
You will also magnetize yourself to receive further good things, making it
more likely that they will be attracted into your sphere. At the very least,
you will get in the habit of enjoying yourself no matter what the outward
circumstances are.
Bear in mind that you are a great wizard. You can use your powers to
practice white magic on yourself instead of the other kind. The most basic
way to do that is to concentrate on naming, savoring, and feeling
gratitude for the blessings you do have—your love for your kid, the
pleasures of eating the food you like, the sight of the sky at dusk, the
entertaining drama of your unique fate. Don't ignore the bad stuff, but
make a point of celebrating the beautiful stuff with all the exuberant
devotion you can muster.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Do play soccer in bunny slippers at dawn in a supermarket parking lot with
a gang of Vipassana experts who have promised to teach you the Balinese
monkey chant.
Don't decorate your thigh with a slipshod tattoo of the devil pushing a
lawn mower.
Do wear a T-shirt that says, "Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the
most."
Don't glide into a bar, scout around for the person whose face has the
most pain etched in it, and ask that person to come home with you.
Do shake your fist at the night sky as you call out, "I defy you, stars!"
Don't pile up framed photos of old flames in a vacant lot and drive a
monster truck over them.
Do write a cookbook filled with recipes you've channeled from dead
celebrities.
Don't gaze into a mirror and spout, "God damn you, why can't you be
different from who you are?!"
Don't lie on a floor surrounded by wine-stained poetry books, crumpled
Matisse prints, abandoned underwear, and half-eaten bowls of corn flakes
as you stare up at the ceiling with a blank gaze, muttering gibberish and
waving your hands as if swatting away demons.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Faced With a Fracking Giant, This Small Town Just Legalized Civil
Disobedience. A new first-in-the-nation law will shield residents from
arrest as they use direct action to stop fracking-wastewater injection
wells.
http://tinyurl.com/zamho8x
Detroit makes community college free
http://tinyurl.com/zdebuqr
Humpback whales around the globe are mysteriously rescuing animals
from orcas. Scientists are baffled at this seemingly altruistic behavior,
which seems to be a concerted global effort to foil killer whale hunts.
http://tinyurl.com/hgyoydb
(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.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning August 25
Copyright 2016 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Suggested experiments: 1. Take a vow that
from now on you won't hide your beauty. 2. Strike a deal with your inner
king or inner queen, guaranteeing that this regal part of gets regular free
expression. 3. Converse with your Future Self about how the two of you
might collaborate to fully unleash the refined potency of your emotional
intelligence. 4. In meditations and dreams, ask your ancestors how you
can more completely access and activate your dormant potentials.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I hope you are not forlorn, shivery, puzzled, or
obsessive right now -- unless being in such a state will mobilize you to
instigate the overdue transformations you have been evading. If that's
the case, I hope you are forlorn, shivery, puzzled, and obsessive. Feelings
like those may be the perfect fuel -- the high-octane motivation that will
launch your personal renaissance. I don't often offer this counsel, Libra,
so I advise you to take full advantage: Now is one of the rare times when
your so-called negative emotions can catalyze redemption.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): From what I can tell, your vigor is peaking. In
recent weeks, you have been sturdy, hearty, stout, and substantial. I
expect this surge of strength to intensify in the near future -- even as it
becomes more fluid and supple. In fact, I expect that your waxing power
will teach you new secrets about how to wield your power intelligently.
You may break your previous records for compassionate courage and
sensitive toughness. Here's the best news of all: You're likely to be
dynamic about bestowing practical love on the people and animal and
things that are important to you.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The odds are higher than usual that you
will be offered a boost or promotion in the coming weeks. This
development is especially likely to occur in the job you're doing or the
career plans you've been pursuing. It could also be a factor at work in
your spiritual life. You may discover a new teacher or teaching that could
lift you to the next phase of your inner quest. There's even a chance that
you'll get an upgrade on both fronts. So it's probably a good time to
check on whether you're harboring any obstacles to success. If you find
that you are, DESTROY THOSE RANCID OLD MENTAL BLOCKS WITH A
BOLT OF PSYCHIC LIGHTNING.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The cosmos seems to be warming up to
your charms. The stinginess it displayed toward you for a while is giving
way to a more generous approach. To take advantage of this welcome
development, you should shed any fear-based beliefs you may have
adopted during the recent shrinkage. For instance, it's possible you've
begun to entertain the theory that the game of life is rigged against you,
or that it is inherently hard to play. Get rid of those ideas. They're not
true, and clinging to them would limit the game of life's power to bring
you new invitations. Open yourself up wherever you have closed down.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Are any of your allies acting like they've
forgotten their true purpose? If so, you have the power to gently awaken
them from their trances and help them re-focus. Is it possible you have
become a bit too susceptible to the influences of people whose opinions
shouldn't really matter that much to you? If so, now is a good time to
correct that aberration. Are you aware of having fallen under the sway of
trendy ideas or faddish emotions that are distorting your relationship with
your primal sources? If so, you are hereby authorized to free yourself
from their hold on you.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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.
+
"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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Now would be a favorable time to reveal that
you are in fact a gay socialist witch who believes good poetry provides a
more reliable way to understand reality than the opinions of media pundits
-- unless, of course, you are not a gay socialist witch, etc., in which case
you shouldn't say you are. But I do advise you to consider disclosing as
much as possible of your true nature to anyone with whom you plan to be
intimately linked in the future and who is missing important information
about you. It's high time to experiment with being more completely
yourself.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the coming weeks, I hope you won't scream
curses at the rain, demanding that it stop falling on you. Similarly, I
suggest you refrain from punching walls that seem to be hemming you in,
and I beg you not to spit into the wind when it's blowing in your face.
Here's an oracle about how to avoid counterproductive behavior like that:
The near future will bring you useful challenges and uncanny blessings if
you're willing to consider the possibility that everything coming your way
will in some sense be an opportunity.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Oh how I wish you might receive the grace of
being pampered and nurtured and entertained and prayed for. I'd love for
you to assemble a throng of no-strings-attached caretakers who would
devote themselves to stoking your healing and delight. Maybe they'd sing
to you as they gave you a manicure and massaged your feet and paid
your bills. Or perhaps they would cook you a gourmet meal and clean your
house as they told you stories about how beautiful you are and all the
great things you're going to do in the future. Is it possible to arrange
something like that even on a modest scale, Taurus? You're in a phase of
your astrological cycle when you most need this kind of doting attention -
- and when you have the greatest power to make it happen.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I invite you to dream about your true home . . .
your sweet, energizing, love-strong home . . . the home where you can be
high and deep, robust and tender, flexible and rigorous . . . the home
where you are the person that you promised yourself you could be. To
stimulate and enhance your brainstorms about your true home,
experiment with the following activities: Feed your roots . . . do
maintenance work on your power spot . . . cherish and foster your
sources . . . and refine the magic that makes you feel free. Can you
handle one more set of tasks designed to enhance your domestic bliss?
Tend to your web of close allies . . . take care of what takes care of you .
. . and adore the intimate connections that serve as your foundation.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): It'll be one of those rapid-fire, adjust-on-the-
fly, think-on-your-feet, go-with-your-gut times for you -- a head-spinning,
endorphin-generating, eye-pleasing, intelligence-boosting phase when you
will have opportunities to relinquish your attachments to status quos that
don't serve you. Got all that, Cancerian? There'll be a lot of stimuli to
absorb and integrate -- and luckily for you, absorbing and integrating a lot
of stimuli will be your specialty. I'm confident of your ability to get the
most of upcoming encounters with cute provocations, pleasant agitation,
and useful unpredictability. One more tip: Be vigilant and amused as you
follow the ever-shifting sweet spot.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): At the risk of asking too much and pushing too
hard, my Guerrilla Prayer Warriors have been begging God to send you
some major financial mojo. These fierce supplicants have even gone so far
as to suggest to the Supreme Being that maybe She could help you win
the lottery or find a roll of big bills lying in the gutter or be granted a
magic wish by an unexpected benefactor. "Whatever works!" is their
mantra. Looking at the astrological omens, I'm not sure that the Prayer
Warriors' extreme attempts will be effective. But the possibility that they
will be is definitely greater than usual. To boost your odds, I suggest you
get more organized and better educated about your money matters. Set
a clear intention about the changes you'd like to put in motion during the
next ten months.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Homework: What would the people who love you best say is the most
important thing for you to learn? Testify at Truthrooster@gmail.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 join, check these points to ensure 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 spam.
3. Tell your company's IT group to let my address pass through any
filtering software they have set up.
4. If my newsletters don't reach your inbox, look in your "Bulk Mail" or
"Junk Mail" folder.
5. Problems could originate with your email provider. It may be using a
"content filter" that prevents my newsletter from reaching you. If you
suspect that's true, complain. Tell your email provider to stop blocking
my newsletter.
P.S. I totally respect your privacy. I'll never sell or give away your address
to anyone.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
the right to edit submissions for length, style, and content.
Requests for anonymity will be honored. We are not responsible for
unsolicited submission of any creative material.
Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2016 Rob Brezsny
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++