Rob Brezsny's Astroogy Newsletter
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
October 5, 2016
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See a pretty version of this newsletter: http://bit.ly/2dEdwoa
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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.
Alert, relaxed listening is the radical act at the heart of our pronoiac
practice.
Curiosity is our primal state of awareness.
Wise innocence is a trick we aspire to master.
Open-hearted skepticism is the light in our eyes.
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Some of your illusions seeped into you before you learned to talk. Others
sneaked into you later, while you were busy figuring out how to become
yourself. Eventually, you even made conscious choices to adopt certain
illusions because they provided you with comfort and consolation.
There's no need to be ashamed of this. It's a natural part of being a
human being.
Now here's the good news: You have the power to shed at least some of
your illusions in ways that don't shatter your foundations.
Here's one way you could begin the process, declare this intention at
noon every Sunday for the next three months: "I am calling on all the
power I have at my disposal, both conscious and unconscious, to dissolve
my illusions."
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News Flash: The zodiac isn't wrong. Your sign isn't changing. Ignore the
misinformation that has been rumbling around the Internet.
Every year or so, another astronomer erupts into the mainstream media
with a portentous announcement about how, due to the precession of the
equinoxes, the astrological signs are no longer aligned with the actual
constellations. Often the supposed 13th constellation, Ophiuchus, is also
invoked as a further proof of how delusional astrologers are.
What it means, according to these fake "experts," is that astrology is
invalid. Most of the people who think they're Tauruses are actually Aries.
Most Scorpios are really Libras. And so on.
A typical offering was from Parke Kunkle, a board member of the
Minnesota Planetarium Society. "When [astrologers] say that the sun is in
Pisces," he speculated, "it's really not in Pisces." His erroneous
supposition swept through the Internet, including stories on Gawker and
the Minneapolis Star Tribune, among other places.
I understand that scientists like him would prefer not to lower themselves
to the task of actually doing research about how astrology works. But if
they're going to question its foundations, they should at least learn it well
enough to know what they're talking about.
Here, briefly, is the lowdown on what certain astronomers are too lazy to
find out for themselves.
The astrological signs are not defined by the constellations you see in the
sky. In antiquity, when both astrological and astronomical thinking were
based on insufficient data, the names of the constellations happened to
be paired with the astrological signs. Today, those pairings are no longer
in sync: Astrological signs do not line up with the constellations in the
same way they did way back then, due to the precession of the
equinoxes.
Modern Western astrologers understand this perfectly. It's irrelevant to
their work because the information upon which they base their
hypotheses does not involve a study of distant stars or constellations.
Rather, their data have to do with the movements of the planets in our
own solar system within a zone of influence defined by the relationship
between the Earth and Sun.
The key demarcation points in that relationship are the equinoxes and
solstices. At the Northern Hemisphere's vernal equinox, which occurs on
about March 20th of each year, the Sun enters into the sign of Aries. At
the Northern Hemisphere's summer solstice, the sun enters into the sign
of Cancer. The locations of the constellations are irrelevant; the "influence
of the stars" isn't considered.
To reiterate: Western astrologers don't work with stars or constellations.
Their focus is our solar system. They study the patterns of the planets
and the moon as they pass through 12 zones defined by the relationship
between the Earth and sun. Those zones have the same names as
constellations because of a historical quirk, but they are unrelated to the
constellations.
When Parke Kunkle triumphantly says, "There is no physical connection
between constellations and personality traits," as if he has finally stamped
out the delusions of us astrologers, he doesn't realize that we agree with
him completely. We don't deal with constellations.
There aren't ever many corrective articles in the mainstream press --
most publications are content to let their un-fact-checked stories stand
as if they were gospel -- but the New York Times and the Daily Beast did
have the journalistic integrity to make a correction to Kunkle's nonsense.
My astrological colleague Deborah Houlding has a cogent response, too:
http://www.skyscript.co.uk/zodiac.html
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
The Western Hemisphere has no wars.
http://tinyurl.com/zxy9w2d
Today's parents spend more time with their kids than moms and dads did
50 years ago.
http://tinyurl.com/h2zu9pm
Surplus marijuana tax revenues, about $66 million, will be distributed to
schools to be used for bully prevention in Colorado.
http://tinyurl.com/h46gvs5
(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 October 6
Copyright 2016 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): "It isn't normal to know what we want," said
psychologist Abraham Maslow. "It is a rare and difficult psychological
achievement." He wasn't referring to the question of what you want for
dinner or the new shoes you plan to buy. He was talking about big, long-
term yearnings: what you hope to be when you grow up, the qualities you
look for in your best allies, the feelings you'd love to feel in abundance
every day of your life. Now here's the good news, Libra: The next ten
months should bring you the best chance ever to figure out exactly what
you want the most. And it all starts now.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Practitioners of the Ayurvedic medical
tradition tout the healing power of regular self-massage. Creativity expert
Julia Cameron recommends that you periodically go out on dates with
yourself. Taoist author Mantak Chia advises you to visualize sending
smiles and good wishes to your kidneys, lungs, liver, heart, and other
organs. He says that these acts of kindness bolster your vigor. The
coming weeks will be an especially favorable time to attend to measures
like these, Scorpio. I hope you will also be imaginative as you give yourself
extra gifts and compliments and praise.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The coming weeks will be one of the
best times ever for wrestling with God or tussling with Fate or grappling
with karma. Why do I say that? Because you're likely to emerge
triumphant! That's right, you lucky, plucky contender. More than I've seen
in a long time, you have the potential to draw on the crafty power and
unruly wisdom and resilient compassion you would need to be an
unambiguous winner. A winner of what? You tell me. What dilemma would
you most like to resolve? What test would you most like to ace? At what
game would you most like to be victorious? Now is the time.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Are you grunting and sweating as you
struggle to preserve and maintain the gains of the past? Or are you
smooth and cagey as you maneuver your way towards the rewards of the
future? I'm rooting for you to put the emphasis on the second option.
Paradoxically, that will be the best way to accomplish the first option. It
will also ensure that your motivations are primarily rooted in love and
enthusiasm rather than worry and stress. And that will enable you to
succeed at the second option.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Do you believe that you are mostly just a
product of social conditioning and your genetic make-up? Or are you
willing to entertain a different hypothesis: that you are a primal force of
nature on an unpredictable journey? That you are capable of rising above
your apparent limitations and expressing aspects of yourself that might
have been unimaginable when you were younger? I believe the coming
weeks will be a favorable time to play around with this vision. Your knack
for transcendence is peaking. So are your powers to escape the past and
exceed limited expectations.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In one of your nightly dreams, Robin Hood
may team up with Peter Pan to steal unused treasure from a greedy
monster -- and then turn the booty over to you. Or maybe you'll meet a
talking hedgehog and singing fox who will cast a spell to heal and revive
one of your wounded fantasies. It's also conceivable that you will recover
a magic seed that had been lost or forgotten, and attract the help of a
fairy godmother or godfather to help you ripen it.
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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.
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"I always feel like I know myself better after listening to your audio
'scopes."
-June R., Austin, TX
"Your audio horoscopes calm me down when I'm too manic and pep me up
when I'm down."
-Arthur T., Cleveland, OH
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ARIES (March 21-April 19): At a recent party, a guy I hardly know
questioned my authenticity. "You seem to have had an easy life," he
jabbed. "I bet you haven't suffered enough to be a truly passionate
person." I didn't choose to engage him, but mused to myself, "Not
enough suffering? What about the time I got shot? My divorce? My five-
year-long illness? The manager of my rock band getting killed in a
helicopter crash?" But after that initial reaction, my thoughts turned to
the adventures that have stoked my passion without causing pain, like the
birth of my daughter, getting remarried to the woman I divorced, and
performing my music for excited audiences. I bring this up, Aries, because
I suspect that you, too, will soon have experiences that refine and deepen
your passion through pleasure rather than hardship.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): It's the Frank and Focused Feedback Phase,
Taurus -- prime time to solicit insight about how you're doing. Here are
four suggestions to get you started. 1. Ask a person who loves and
respects you to speak the compassionate truth about what's most
important for you to learn. 2. Consult a trustworthy advisor who can help
motivate you to do the crucial thing you've been postponing. 3. Have an
imaginary conversation with the person you were a year ago. Encourage
the Old You to be honest about how the New You could summon more
excellence in pursuing your essential goals. 4. Say this prayer to your
favorite tree or animal or meadow: "Show me what I need to do in order
to feel more joy."
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Many of my readers regard me as being
exceptionally creative. Over the years, they have sent countless emails
praising me for my original approach to problem-solving and art-making.
But I suspect that I wasn't born with a greater talent for creativity than
anyone else. I've simply placed a high value on developing it, and have
worked harder to access it than most people. With that in mind, I invite
you to tap more deeply into your own mother lode of innovative,
imaginative energy. The cosmic trends favor it. Your hormones are
nudging you in that direction. What projects could use a jolt of primal
brilliance? What areas of your life need a boost of ingenuity?
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Love wants more of you. Love longs for you
to give everything you have and receive everything you need. Love is
conspiring to bring you beautiful truths and poignant teases, sweet
dispensations and confounding mysteries, exacting blessings and riddles
that will take your entire life to solve. But here are some crucial
questions: Are you truly ready for such intense engagement? Are you
willing to do what's necessary to live at a higher and deeper level? Would
you know how to work with such extravagant treasure and wild
responsibility? The coming weeks will be prime time to explore the
answers to these questions. I'm not sure what your answers will be.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Each of us contains a multiplicity of selves. You
may often feel like there's just one of you rumbling around inside your
psyche, but it's closer to the truth to say that you're a community of
various characters whose agendas sometimes overlap and sometimes
conflict. For example, the needy part of you that craves love isn't always
on the same wavelength as the ambitious part of you that seeks power.
That's why it's a good idea to periodically organize summit meetings
where all of your selves can gather and negotiate. Now is one of those
times: a favorable moment to foster harmony among your inner voices
and to mobilize them to work together in service of common goals.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Pike's Peak is a 14,115-foot mountain in
Colorado. It's not a simple task to trek to the top. Unless you're well-
trained, you might experience altitude sickness. Wicked thunderstorms
are a regular occurrence during the summer. Snow falls year-round. But
back in 1929, an adventurer named Bill Williams decided the task of hiking
to the summit wasn't tough enough. He sought a more demanding
challenge. Wearing kneepads, he spent 21 days crawling along as he used
his nose to push a peanut all the way up. I advise you to avoid making him
your role model in the coming weeks, Virgo. Just climb the mountain.
Don't try to push a peanut up there with your nose, too.
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Homework: What is the best gift you could give your best ally right now?
Testify at http://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,
including but not limited to newsletters, books, the Free Will
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2016 Rob Brezsny
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