Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
October 26, 2016
+
See a pretty version of this newsletter: http://bit.ly/2eL9NqF
+
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.
SHADOW SCHOOL
You're a gorgeous mystery with a wild heart and a lofty purpose. But like
all of us, you also have a dark side -- a part of your psyche that snarls and
bites, that's unconscious and irrational, that is motivated by ill will or
twisted passions or instinctual fears.
It's your own personal portion of the world's sickness: a mess of
repressed longings, enervating wounds, ignorant delusions, and unripe
powers. You'd prefer to ignore it because it's unflattering or
uncomfortable or very different from what you imagine yourself to be.
If you acknowledge its existence at all (many of us don't), you might call
it the devil, your evil twin, your inner monster, or your personal demon.
Psychologist Carl Jung referred to it as the shadow. He regarded it as the
lead that the authentic alchemists of the Middle Ages sought to
transmute into gold.
+
Astrologer Steven Forrest has a different name for the shadow: stuff.
"Work on your stuff," he says, "or your stuff will work on you." He means
that it will sabotage you if you're not aggressive about identifying,
negotiating with, and transforming it.
+
The shadow is not inherently evil. If it is ignored or denied, it may become
monstrous to compensate. Only then is it likely to "demonically possess"
its owner, leading to compulsive, exaggerated, "evil" behavior.
+
"The shadow, which is in conflict with the acknowledged values, cannot
be accepted as a negative part of one's own psyche and is therefore
projected -- that is, it is transferred to the outside world and experienced
as an outside object. It is combated, punished, and exterminated as 'the
alien out there' instead of being dealt with as one's own inner problem."
- Erich Neumann, *Depth Psychology and a New Ethic*
+
The qualities in ourselves that we deny or dislike are often the very
qualities that we most bitterly complain about in other people. So for
instance, an old friend of mine named Mark had a special disgust for
friends who were unavailable to him when he really needed them. But I
was witness to him engaging in the same behavior three different times,
disappearing from the lives of his friends just when they needed him
most.
+
"Whatever is rejected from the self, appears in the world as an event,"
said Jung. If you disown a part of your personality, it'll materialize as an
unexpected detour.
Everyone who believes in the devil is the devil . . . .
TO READ THE REST OF "SHADOW SCHOOL," go here:
http://bit.ly/wGN3iM
+
Read "Dissident Horoscopes for Samhain (and Halloween) Insurgents,"
by Job Disney, Rob Brezsny's only partially evil twin:
http://bit.ly/craweu
+
Steal a song from the soundtrack for *THE TELEVISIONARY ORACLE*:
http://bit.ly/smkFxM
Triple Witching Hour
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Nation’s high school graduation rate reaches new record high
http://tinyurl.com/jgkvers
More trees than there were 100 years ago? It's true!
Protection and responsible harvesting are the reasons behind the success
story.
http://tinyurl.com/42ajl33
New Study of Foragers Undermines Claim That War Has Deep Evolutionary
Roots
http://tinyurl.com/jk2yenc
(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 October 27
Copyright 2016 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): During this Halloween season, you have
cosmic permission to be a bigger, bolder, and extra beguiling version of
yourself. I trust you will express your deep beauty with precise brilliance
and imagine your future with superb panache and wander wherever the
hell you feel like wandering. It's time to be stronger than your fears and
wilder than your trivial sins. Halloween costume suggestion: the superhero
version of yourself.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I won't offer you the cliché "When life
gives you lemons, make lemonade." Instead, I'll provide alternatives. How
about this, from the video game *Portal 2*: "When life gives you lemons,
don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! Say, 'I
don't want your damn lemons!'" Or you could try this version, from my
friend Barney: "When life gives you lemons, draw faces on them like Tom
Hanks did on his volleyball in the movie *Cast Away,* and engage them in
sexy philosophical conversation." Or consider this Brazilian proverb:
"When life gives you lemons, make caipirinhas." (Caipirinha is Brazil's
national cocktail.) Suggestion: Play around with these themes to create
your Halloween costume.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): All of us are creators and destroyers. It's
fun and healthy to add fresh elements to our lives, but it's also crucial to
dispose of things that hurt and distort us. Even your body is a hotbed of
both activities, constantly killing off old cells and generating new ones.
But in my understanding, you are now in a phase when there's far more
creation than destruction. Enjoy the exalted buzz! Halloween costume
suggestions: a creator god or goddess, like the Greeks' Gaia or
Prometheus; Rainbow-Snake from the Australian Aborigines; Unkulunkulu
from the Zulus; or Coyote, Raven, or Spider Grandmother from indigenous
North American tribes.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In 1938, a chef named Ruth Wakefield
dreamed up a brilliant invention: chocolate chip cookies. She sold her
recipe to the Nestlé company in return for one dollar and a lifetime
supply of chocolate. Maybe she was happy with that arrangement, but I
think she cheated herself. And so I offer her action as an example of what
you should NOT do. During the next ten months, I expect you will come
up with many useful innovations and intriguing departures from the way
things have always been done. Make sure you get full value in return for
your gifts! Halloween costume ideas: Thomas Edison, Marie Curie, Hedy
Lamarr, Leonardo da Vinci, Temple Grandin, George Washington Carver,
Mark Zuckerberg.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Speaking on behalf of the cosmic powers, I
authorize you to escape dull realities and go rambling through the
frontier. Feel free to fantasize twice as hard and wild as you normally do.
Avoid literalists and realists who think you should be more like them. This
is not a time to fuss over exacting details, but rather to soar above the
sober nonsense and see as far as you can. You have permission to exult in
the joys of wise innocence. Halloween costume suggestions: bohemian
poet, mad scientist, carefree genius, brazen explorer.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I invite you to fantasize about what your four
great-grandmothers and four great-grandfathers may have been doing on
November 1, 1930. What? You have no idea how to begin? You don't
even know their names? If that's the case, I hope you'll remedy your
ignorance. Your ability to create the future you want requires you to learn
more about where and whom you came from. Halloween costume
suggestion: your most interesting ancestor.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
WHY IS IT CALLED "FREE WILL" ASTROLOGY?
It's called Free Will Astrology because my goal is to create horoscopes
that nurture your free will!
And if you ever want more than the 'scopes you're reading here, keep in
mind that I also create EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES for you. They're
four-to-five-minute meditations on the current state of your destiny.
Need more help in figuring out the questions life is asking you? Crave
more support in your efforts to build your courage? Check out the
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.
The Expanded Audio Horoscopes work on most smart phones and tablets.
+
"Your Expanded Audio Horoscopes seem to have the effect of activating
my inner teacher. Thanks!" - Eleanor A., Toronto
"Your expanded audio horoscopes are the next best thing to actually
having you here next to me to remind me who I really am." - Alyssa R.,
Des Moines, Iowa
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): At any one time, over two million frozen
human embryos are stored in tissue banks throughout Europe and North
America. When the time is right, their owners retrieve them and bring
them to term. That's the first scenario I invite you to use as a metaphor
for your life in the coming weeks. Here's a second scenario: Scotch whisky
is a potent mind-altering substance. Any particular batch must mature for
at least three years, and may be distilled numerous times. There are
currently 20 million barrels of the stuff mellowing in Scottish warehouses.
And what do these two scenarios have to do with you? It's time to tap
into resources that you've been saving in reserve -- that haven't been
ripe or ready until now. Halloween costume suggestions: a woman who's
nine months pregnant; a blooming rose or sunflower; ripe fruit.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): To create a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, a
winemaker needs about 700 grapes. Compare this process with rain-
making. When water vapor that's high in the sky becomes dense enough,
it condenses into tiny pearls of liquid called cloud droplets. If the humidity
rises even further, a million of these babies might band together to form a
single raindrop that falls to earth. And what does this have to do with
your life? I suspect that in the coming weeks, you will have both an
affinity and a skill for processes that resemble wine-making and rain-
making. You'll need a lot of raw material and energetic effort to produce a
relatively small marvel -- but that's exactly as it should be. Halloween
costume suggestion: a raindrop or bottle of wine.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Some Brazilians eat the heads of piranhas in
the belief they're aphrodisiacs. In Zimbabwe, women may make strategic
use of baboon urine to enhance their allure. The scientific name for
Colombia's leaf-cutter ant is *hormiga culona,* translated as "fat-assed
ant." Ingesting the roasted bodies of these critters is thought to boost
sexual desire. Since you're in a phase when tapping in to your deepest
erotic longings will be healthy and educational, you may want to adopt
elements of the aforementioned love drugs to create your Halloween
costume. Here are other exotic aphrodisiacs from around the world that
you might be inspired by: asparagus, green M&Ms, raw oysters, wild
orchids, horny goat weed.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Do you know how to repair a broken zipper or
patch a hole in your bicycle tire? Are you familiar with the art of caulking
a bathtub or creating a successful budget? Can you compose a graceful
thank-you note, cook a hearty soup from scratch, or overcome your pride
so as to reconcile with an ally after an argument? These are the kinds of
tasks I trust you will focus on in the coming weeks. It's time to be very
practical and concrete. Halloween costume suggestion: Mr. or Ms. Fix-It.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In the film *Terminator 2,* Arnold
Schwarzenegger played a benevolent android who traveled here from the
future. As a strong, silent action hero, he didn't need to say much. In
fact, he earned $30,000 for every word he uttered. I'm hoping your
speech will pack a comparable punch in the coming days. My reading of
the astrological omens suggests that your persuasiveness should be at a
peak. You'll have an exceptional ability to say what you mean and mean
what you say. Use this superpower with flair and precision! Halloween
costume suggestion: ancient Greek orator Demosthenes; Martin Luther
King Jr.; Virginia Woolf; Sojourner Truth; rapper MC Lyte, Winston
Churchill.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): It's the prosperity-building phase of your cycle.
Let's celebrate! Let's brainstorm! Are there rituals you can create to
stimulate the financial lobes of your imagination, thereby expediting your
cash flow? Here are a few ideas: 1. Glue a photo of yourself on a $20 bill.
2. Make a wealth shrine in your home. Stock it with symbols of specific
thrills you can buy for yourself when you have more money. 3. Halloween
costume suggestions: a giant bar of gold, a banker carrying a briefcase
full of big bills, Tony Stark, Lady Mary Crawley, Jay Gatsby, Lara Croft, the
Yoruban wealth goddess Ajé.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Homework: Scare yourself with your exquisite beauty. Freak yourself out
by realizing how amazing you are. Testify at Freewillastrology.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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++