Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
September 21, 2016
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See a pretty version of this newslette:r: http://bit.ly/2cP2n3B
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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.
Even if you don't call yourself an artist, you have the potential to be a
dynamic creator who is always hatching new plans, coming up with fresh
ideas, and shifting your approach to everything you do as you adjust to
life's ceaseless invitation to change.
It's to this part of you—the restless, inventive spirit—that I address the
following: Unleash yourself! Don't be satisfied with the world the way it is;
don't sit back passively and blankly complain about the dead weight of
the mediocre status quo.
Instead, call on your curiosity and charisma and expressiveness and lust
for life as you tinker with and rebuild everything you see so that it's in
greater harmony with the laws of love and more hospitable to your soul's
code.
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"I think the whole world's gone mad."
"Nah. It's always been like this. You just don't get out enough."
—Neil Gaiman
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One of life's great bounties is its changeableness, which ensures that
boredom will never last very long. You may underestimate the intensity of
your longing for continual transformation, but the universe doesn't.
That's why it provides you with the boundless entertainment of your
ever-shifting story. That's why it is always revising the challenges it sends
your way, providing your curious soul with a rich variety of unpredictable
teachings.
Neuroscientists have turned up evidence that suggests you love this
aspect of the universe's behavior. They say that you are literally addicted
to learning. At the moment when you grasp a lesson you've been
grappling with, your brain experiences a rush of a natural opium-like
chemical, boosting your pleasure levels. You crave this experience. You
thrive on it.
So the universe is built in such a way as to discourage boredom. It does
this not just by generating an endless stream of interesting novelty, and
not only by giving you an instinctive lust to keep learning, but also by
making available an abundance of ways to break free of your habitual
thoughts.
You can go to school, travel, read, listen to experts, converse with people
who think differently from you, and absorb the works of creative artists.
You can replenish and stretch your mind through exercise, sex,
psychotherapy, spiritual practices, and self-expression. You can take
drugs and medicines that alter your perspectives.
And here's the best part of this excellent news: Every method that exists
for expanding your consciousness is more lavishly available right now than
it has been at any previous time in history.
Never before have there been so many schools, educational programs,
workshops, and enrichment courses. Virtually any subject or skill you want
to study, you can. You don't even have to leave your home to do it. The
number of online classes is steadily mounting . . . .
Read the rest of this essay here:
http://bit.ly/ObviousMiracle7
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A common obstruction to a vital intimate relationship is what I call the
assumption of clairvoyance. You imagine, perhaps unconsciously, that
your partner or friend is somehow magically psychic when it comes to you
-- so much so that he or she should unfailingly intuit exactly what you
need, even if you don't ask for it.
This fantasy may seem romantic, but it can undermine the most
promising alliances.
To counteract any tendencies you might have to indulge in the
assumption of clairvoyance, practice stating your desires aloud.
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“Beauty is not a luxury but a strategy for survival.”
- Terry Tempest Williams, * Finding Beauty in a Broken World *
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Here’s what happens when you give $1,000 to someone who's living in
extreme poverty: http://tinyurl.com/gq2338h
Human life has improved in many ways, both recently, according to a
Swedish economic historian, and in the 19th century
http://tinyurl.com/h5u9ysh
Deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon have plummeted 80% in the
last decade.
http://tinyurl.com/zawn7uj
(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 22
Copyright 2016 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Here's my translation of a passage from the
ancient Gospel of Thomas, a gnostic text about the teachings of Jesus: "If
you do not awaken and develop the potential talents that lie within you,
they will damage you. If you do awaken and develop the potential talents
that lie within you, they will heal you." Whether you actually awaken and
develop those talents or not depends on two things: your ability to
identify them clearly and your determination to bring them to life with the
graceful force of your willpower. I call this to your attention, Libra,
because the coming months will be a highly favorable time to expedite
the ripening of your talents. And it all starts NOW.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You can't completely eliminate unhelpful
influences and trivial saboteurs and debilitating distractions from your life.
But you're entering a phase of your astrological cycle when you have
more power than usual to diminish their effects. To get started in this
gritty yet lofty endeavor, try this: Decrease your connection with
anything that tends to demean your spirit, shrink your lust for life, limit
your freedom, ignore your soul, compromise your integrity, dishonor your
reverence, inhibit your self-expressiveness, or alienate you from what you
love.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Work too much and push yourself too
hard, Sagittarius. Eat corn chips for breakfast, ice cream for lunch, and
French fries for dinner -- every day, if possible. And please please please
get no more than four hours' sleep per night. If you have any extra time,
do arduous favors for friends and intensify your workout routine. JUST
KIDDING! Don't you dare heed any of that ridiculous advice. In fact, I
suggest you do just the opposite. Dream up brilliant excuses not to work
too much or push too hard. Treat yourself to the finest meals and best
sleep ever. Take your mastery of the art of relaxation to new heights.
Right now, the most effective way to serve your long-term dreams is by
having as much fun, joy, and release as possible.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I propose that you and I make a deal.
Here's how it would work: For the next three weeks, I will say three
prayers for you every day. I will ask God, Fate, and Life to send you more
of the recognition and appreciation you deserve. I will coax and convince
them to give you rich experiences of being seen for who you really are.
Now here's what I ask of you in return: You will rigorously resolve to act
on your core beliefs, express your noblest desires, and say only what you
truly mean. You will be alert for those times when you start to stray from
the path with heart, and you will immediately get yourself back on that
path. You will be yourself three times stronger and clearer than you have
ever been before.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): If you loosen yourself up by drinking an
alcoholic beverage, don't drive a forklift or ride a unicycle. If you have a
hunch that your luck at gambling is peaking, don't buy lottery tickets or
play the slot machines. If you're drawn to explore the frontiers of
intimacy, be armed with the ancient Latin maxim, *Primum non nocere,*
or "First, do no harm." And if you really do believe it would be fun to play
with fire, bring a fire extinguisher with you. In presenting this cautionary
advice, I'm not saying that you should never push the limits or bend the
rules. But I want to be sure that as you dare to experiment, you remain
savvy and ethical and responsible.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I invite you to explore the healing power of
sex. The coming weeks will be a favorable time to do so. You are also
likely to generate good fortune for yourself if you try to fix any aspect of
your erotic life that feels wounded or awkward. For best results, suspend
all your theories about the way physical intimacy should work in your life.
Adopting a beginner's mind could lead you to subtly spectacular
breakthroughs. (P.S. You don't necessarily need a partner to take full
advantage of this big opening.)
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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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"I don't much believe in astrology. But that doesn't seem to get in the
way of me deriving a whole lot of benefits from your expanded audio
horoscopes."
- A. Arrosto, Indianapolis
"You have an amazing aptitude for cutting through the lies I tell myself.
Thanks for the gentle shocks."
- T. Preneris, Toronto
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ARIES (March 21-April 19): Even if you are a wild-eyed adventure-seeker
with extremist views and melodramatic yearnings, you'll benefit from
taking a moderate approach to life in the coming weeks. In fact, you're
most likely to attract the help and inspiration you need if you adopt the
strategy used by Goldilocks in the fairy tale "Goldilocks and the Three
Bears": neither excessive nor underdone, neither extravagant nor
restrained, neither bawdy, loud, and in-your-face nor demure, quiet, and
passive -- but rather just right.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Some of my readers love me but also hate
me. They are drawn to my horoscopes in the hope that I will help relieve
them of their habitual pain, but then get mad at me when I do just that. In
retrospect, they feel lost without the familiar companionship of their
habitual pain. It had been a centerpiece of their identity, a source of
stability, and when it's gone, they don't know who they are any more. Are
you like these people, Taurus? If so, you might want to avoid my
horoscopes for a while. I will be engaged in a subtle crusade to dissolve
your angst and agitation. And it all starts now with this magic spell: *Your
wound is a blessing. Discover why.*
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In my dream last night, bad guys wearing white
hats constrained you in a canvas straitjacket, then further wrapped you
up with heavy steel chain secured by three padlocks. They drove you to a
weedy field behind an abandoned warehouse and left you there in the
pitch dark. But you were indomitable. By dawn, you had miraculously
wriggled your way out of your confinement. Then you walked back home,
free and undaunted. Here's my interpretation of the dream: You now have
special skills as an escape artist. No cage can hold you. No riddle can
stump you. No tangle can confuse you. (P.S.: For best results, trust
yourself even more than you usually do.)
CANCER (June 21-July 22): The next four weeks will be a favorable time
to come all the way home. Here are nine prompts for how to accomplish
that: 1. Nourish your roots. 2. Strengthen your foundations. 3. Meditate
about where you truly belong. 4. Upgrade the way you attend to your
self-care. 5. Honor your living traditions. 6. Make a pilgrimage to the land
where your ancestors lived. 7. Deepen your intimacy with the earth. 8. Be
ingenious about expressing your tenderness. 9. Reinvigorate your
commitment to the influences that nurture and support you.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): What tools will work best for the tasks you'll be
invited to perform in the coming weeks? A sledgehammer or tweezers?
Pruning shears or a sewing machine? A monkey wrench or a screwdriver?
Here's my guess: Always have your entire toolbox on hand. You may need
to change tools in mid-task -- or even use several tools for the same task.
I can envision at least one situation that would benefit from you
alternating between a sledgehammer and tweezers.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I'm confident that I will never again need to
moonlight as a janitor or dishwasher in order to pay my bills. My gig as a
horoscope columnist provides me with enough money to eat well, so it's
no longer necessary to shoplift bread or scavenge for dented cans of
beets in grocery store dumpsters. What accounts for my growing financial
luck? I mean besides the fact that I have been steadily improving my skills
as an oracle and writer? I suspect it may in part have to do with my
determination to cultivate generosity. As I've become better at
expressing compassion and bestowing blessings, money has flowed to me
in greater abundance. Would this strategy work for you? The coming
weeks and months will be a good time to experiment.
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Homework: Name the one thing you could change about yourself that
would improve your love life. Testify at Freewillastrology.com.
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P.S. I totally respect your privacy. I'll never sell or give away your address
to anyone.
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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
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
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