Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
September 7, 2016
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See a pretty version of this newsletter: http://bit.ly/2bZLXqg
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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
Book review by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat:
Rob Brezsny has written "Free Will Astrology," the most widely
syndicated feature in North America's alternative weeklies, for years. He
is a truth-seeker, a buoyant optimist, a true believer in love and optimism,
a child at play in the wonderland of life, "a master of rowdy bliss," and a
writer whose imagination is wild and untamed.
*Pronia Is the Antidote for Paranoia* is a revised and expanded edition of
the radical and life-changing manifesto he wrote in 2005. With great zest
and an inimitable creativity, Brezsny sees the present moment as the
perfect moment:
"In the New Earth we're creating, we need lusty compassion and ecstatic
duty, ingenious love and insurrectionary beauty. We need radical curiosity
and reverent pranks, voracious listening and ferocious thanks."
Instead of the gloom and doom message which is so prominent in the
media, Brezsny suggests "the cause of zoom and boom." Throughout this
extraordinary book, he celebrates many of the qualities we have
incorporated in our vision of Spiritual Literacy: imagination, wonder,
gratitude, reverence, play, beauty, compassion, connections, mystery,
and more.
Instead of a negative and toxic view of the world, Brezsny contends that
the universe is basically friendly. This means we don't have to live our
days in paranoia; we can choose instead to align with pronia: "a mode of
training your senses and intellect so you're able to perceive the fact that
life always gives you exactly what you need, exactly when you need it."
He hopscotches even further: "Evil is boring. Cynicism is idiotic. Fear is a
bad habit. Despair is lazy. Joy is fascinating. Love is an act of heroic
genius. Pleasure is your birthright. Receptivity is a superpower."
Proving his point in an awesome segment in the book titled "Glory in the
Highest," Brezsny presents a few of the everyday miracles which we
overlook, the positive qualities we possess in abundance, the special
wonders of this age, and the varied gifts and services provided by
strangers we do not even know.
There's a common perception that tales of carnage, revenge, horror,
mayhem, and tragedy are more real and engaging than stories of triumph,
liberation, and reconciliation.
Brezsny's Beauty and Truth Laboratory proclaims that succumbing to pop
nihilism propagated by the media is toxic for our spiritual health and well-
being. Instead of watering the seeds of violence within yourself, take a
break and savor the joy of a small moment of silence or pleasure. "Bow
down to the greatest mystery you know." Or "pick blackberries naked in
the rain."
In The Pronia News Network, Brezsny delivers up a treasure trove of
quips, quotes, snippets, and epiphanies for all of us who are sick and tired
of all the bad news that surrounds us and threatens to sink us in a sea of
despair. Here are bits and pieces from Brian Swimme, Gandhi, Pierre
Teilhard de Chardin, Krishna Das, Ken Wilber, Emily Dickinson, and many
more positive voices with good news to share.
We were also mightily impressed by the many informal and creative
spiritual practices suggested in the paperback. Here are a few examples:
* "Take an inventory of the extent to which your "No" reflex dominates
your life. . . . Retrain yourself to say "YES" at least 51 percent of the
time."
* " 'There are two ways for a person to look for adventure,' said the Lone
Ranger, an old TV character. 'By tearing everything down, or building
everything up.' Give an example of each from your own life."
* "Salvador Dali once staged a party in which guests were told to come
disguised as characters from their nightmares. Do the reverse. Throw a
bash in which everyone is invited to arrive dressed as a character from
the most glorious dream they remember."
There are many other essays and probes in this endlessly inventive work
that we haven't even mentioned in this brief review. Suffice it to say, this
is a rollercoaster ride that surprises, entertains, and edifies in equal
measures. It is the perfect resource to lift your spirits and send you on
your way rejoicing!
-Book review by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat -
http://tinyurl.com/z6hhlee
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Potential code words for your Dream Incubation Experiments:
vorfreude : (n.) the joyful, intense anticipation that comes from imagining
future pleasures
numinous: (adj.) describing an experience that makes you overwhelmed
yet fascinated, awed yet attracted—the powerful, personal feeling of
being viscerally inspired
ostranernie: (n.) encouraging people to see common things as strange,
wild, or unfamiliar; defamiliariaing what is known in order to know it
differently or more deeply
smultronställe: (n.) lit. "place of wild strawberries"; a special place
discovered, treasured, returned to for solace and relaxation; a personal
idyll free from stress or sadness
rasasvada: (n.) the taste of bliss in the absence of all thoughts
firgun: (n.) the act of sharing in or even contributing to someone else's
pleasure or fortune, with a purely generous heart and without jealousy
(Words gleaned from http://other-wordly.tumblr.com)
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How can we influence people to stop their extermination of nature? How
can we motivate people to stop committing genocide against animal
species? [Choose Method A or Method B or a blend of both.]
Method A.
1. Nag people with scientific data that shocks them into acknowledging
how much harm human activity is inflicting.
2. Shame them about the sin of bequeathing their descendants a
damaged, impoverished planet.
3. Badger them to dissolve the unethical greed that leads them to
consume so many of the earth's resources and produce too much waste.
4. Criticize them for being too stubborn and ignorant to change their
destructive habits.
5. Goad them with financial incentives to do the right thing even if they
don't want to do the right thing.
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Method B.
7. Express smart love for the interconnected web of life.
8. Celebrate the fact that there are other forms of consciousness and
intelligence besides just the human kind.
9. Embody the hypothesis that spending time in wild places enhances
one's mental hygiene and physical health.
10. Value the feminine as much as the masculine.
11. Cultivate the art of empathy, and demonstrate how to make it work in
everything you do.
12. Show what it means to think with your heart and feel with your head.
13. Stay in close touch with the Mysterium, the other real world that is
the root of the material world.
14. Vow to bring the I-Thou dynamic to bear on all your relationships.
15. Be as curious about intimacy as you are about power.
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"I call the high and light aspects of my being spirit and the dark and heavy
aspects soul.
"Soul is at home in the deep, shaded valleys. Heavy torpid flowers
saturated with black grow there. The rivers flow like warm syrup.
"Spirit is a land of high, white peaks and glittering jewel-like lakes and
flowers. Life is sparse and sounds travel great distances."
—The Dalai Lama, as quoted by James Hillman in "A Blue Fire"
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
This tiny device makes dirty water drinkable in just 20 minutes.
http://tinyurl.com/gm565rq
How to Break the Power of Money. We can refuse to accept the
pervasive, but false, claims that money is wealth and a growing GDP
improves the lives of all.
http://tinyurl.com/z84t7mj
Ten images that remind us we live in a beautiful world with beautiful
people.
http://tinyurl.com/h5bck9y
(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 September 8
Copyright 2016 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Is "Big Bang" the best term we can come up
with to reference the beginning of the universe? It sounds violent and
messy -- like a random, accidental splatter. I would much prefer a term
that suggests sublime elegance and playful power -- language that would
capture the awe and reverence I feel as I contemplate the sacred mystery
we are privileged to inhabit. What if we used a different name for the
birth of creation, like the "Primal Billow" or the "Blooming Ha Ha" or the
"Majestic Bouquet"? By the way, I recommend that you consider those
last three terms as being suitable titles for your own personal life story in
the coming weeks. A great awakening and activation are imminent.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The last few weeks have been fraught with rich
plot twists, naked dates with destiny, and fertile turning points. I expect
there will be further intrigue in the near future. A fierce and tender
decision at a crossroads? The unexpected arrival of a hot link to the
future? A karmic debt that's canceled or forgiven? In light of the
likelihood that the sweet-and-sour, confusing-and-revelatory drama will
continue, I encourage you to keep your levels of relaxed intensity turned
up high. More than I've seen in a long time, you have the magic and the
opportunity to transform what needs to be transformed.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the coming days, you will have more than
your usual access to help and guidance. Divine interventions are possible.
Special dispensations and charmed coincidences, too. If you don't believe
in fairy dust, magic beans, and lucky potions, maybe you should set that
prejudice aside for a while. Subtle miracles are more likely to bestow their
gifts if your reasonable theories don't get in the way. Here's an additional
tip: Don't get greedy. Use the openings you're offered with humility and
gratitude.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): When my daughter Zoe was growing up,
I wanted her to be familiar with the origins of ordinary stuff that she
benefited from. That's why I took her to small farms where she could
observe the growth and harvest of organic food crops. We visited
manufacturing facilities where cars, furniture, toys, and kitchen sinks were
built. She saw bootmakers creating boots and professional musicians
producing songs in recording studios. And much more. I would love it if
you would give yourself comparable experiences in the coming weeks,
Sagittarius. It's an excellent time to commune with the sources of things
that nurture you and make your life better.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Unless you were brought up by a herd of
feral donkeys, the coming weeks will be an excellent time to embark on
your second childhood. Unless you're allergic to new ideas, the
foreseeable future will bring you strokes of curious luck that inspire you
to change and change and change your mind. And unless you are addicted
to your same old stale comforts, life will offer you chances to explore
frontiers that could expose you to thrilling new comforts.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): These days, my dear, your eccentric beauty
is even more unkempt than usual. I like it. It entertains and charms me.
And as for your idiosyncratic intelligence: That, too, is messier and cuter
and even more interesting than ever before. I'm inclined to encourage you
to milk this unruly streak for all its potential. Maybe it will provoke you to
experiment in situations where you've been too accepting of the stagnant
status quo. And perhaps it will embolden you to look for love and money
in more of the right places.
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YOU'VE ALWAYS GOT MORE HELP AVAILABLE THAN YOU IMAGINE
What do you want to be when you grow up? Is it possible that you will
eventually develop beautiful capacities and sublime understandings that
you can't even imagine right now?
I might be able to help you move in the direction of becoming more of the
person you were born to be.
Tune in to my 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. Each forecast is 4-5 minutes
long.
The Expanded Audio Horoscopes work on most smart phones and tablets.
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"Your audio horoscopes help me love myself better, and I mean that in a
non-narcissistic way."
-Deva P., Indianapolis
"I'm really grateful for the way you pick up my telepathic requests and
answer them in your expanded audio 'scopes."
-Marion H., Birmingham, AL
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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I'm giving you an ultimatum, Pisces: Within
the next 144 hours, I demand that you become at least 33 percent
happier. Fifty percent would be even better. Somehow you've got to
figure out what you can do to enhance your sense of well-being and
increase your enjoyment of life. I'm sort of joking, but on the other hand
I'm completely serious. From my perspective, it's essential that you feel
really good in the coming days. Abundant pleasure is not merely a luxury,
but rather a necessity. Do you have any ideas about how to make this
happen? Start here: 1. Identify your four most delightful memories, and
re-enact them in your imagination. 2. Go see the people whose influences
most thoroughly animate your self-love.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Two seven-year-old girls showed me three
tricks I could use to avoid taking myself too seriously and getting too
attached to my dignity. I'm offering these tricks to you just in time for
the letting-go phase of your astrological cycle. Trick #1: Speak in a made-
up language for at least ten minutes. Example: "Groftyp hulbnu wivgeeri
proot xud amasterulius. Quoshibojor frovid zemplissit." Trick #2: Put a
different kind of shoe and sock on each foot and pretend you're two
people stuck in a single body. Give each side of you a unique nickname.
Trick #3: Place an unopened bag of barbecue-flavored potato chips on a
table, then bash your fist down on it, detonating a loud popping sound
and unleashing a spray of crumbs out the ends of the bag. Don't clean up
the mess for at least an hour.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In accordance with the astrological omens, I
suggest you spend less energy dwelling in profane time so you expand
your relationship with sacred time. If that's of interest to you, consider
the following definitions. PROFANE TIME happens when you're engulfed in
the daily grind. Swarmed by a relentless flurry of immediate concerns, you
are held hostage by the chatter of your monkey mind. Being in SACRED
TIME attunes you to the relaxing hum of eternity. It enables you to be in
intimate contact with your soul's deeper agenda, and affords you extra
power to transform yourself in harmony with your noble desires and
beautiful intentions.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): About 1.7 million years ago, our human
ancestors began using primitive hand axes made from rocks. This
technology remained in use for over 60,000 generations before anyone
invented more sophisticated tools and implements. Science writer Marcus
Chown refers to this period as "the million years of boredom." Its slow
pace contrasts sharply with technology's brisk evolution in the last 140
years. In 1880, there were no cars, planes, electric lights, telephones,
TVs, or Internet. I surmise that you're leaving your own phase of relatively
slow progress, Gemini. In the coming months, I expect your
transformations will progress with increasing speed -- starting soon.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Prediction #1: You will attract truckloads of
good luck by working to upgrade and refine the way you communicate.
Prediction #2: You will tickle the attention of interesting people who could
ultimately provide you with clues you will need to thrive in 2017. #3: You
will discover secrets of how to articulate complicated feelings and subtle
ideas that have been locked inside you. Prediction #4: You'll begin a
vibrant conversation that will continue to evolve for a long time.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You know you have a second brain in your gut,
right? (If not, read this: http://bit.ly/secondbrain.) During the past three
weeks, I have been beaming telepathic instructions toward this smart part
of you. Here's an edited version of the message I've been sending:
"Cultivate your tenacity, darling. Build up your stamina, sweetheart. Feed
your ability to follow through on what you've started, beautiful. Be
persistent and spunky and gritty, my dear." Alas, I'm not sure my psychic
broadcasts have been as effective as I'd hoped. I think you need further
encouragement. So please summon more fortitude and staying power,
you gutsy stalwart. Be staunch and dogged and resolute, you
stouthearted powerhouse.
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Homework: Look in the mirror and tell yourself an edgy but fun truth
you've never spoken. If you care to share, write 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,
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2016 Rob Brezsny
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