Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
December 7, 2016
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See a pretty version of this newsletter: http://bit.ly/2hcnUJU
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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 is an excerpt. (Or listen to it here: http://bit.ly/1yalYDE)
YOU ARE A PROPHET
Your imagination is the single most important asset you possess. It's your
power to create mental pictures of things that don't exist yet and that
you want to bring into being. It's the magic wand you use to shape your
future.
And so in your own way, you are a prophet. You generate countless
predictions every day. Your imagination is the source, tirelessly churning
out images of what you will be doing later.
The featured prophecy of the moment may be as simple as a psychic
impression of yourself eating a fudge brownie at lunch or as monumental
as a daydream of some year building your dream home by a lake or sea.
Your imagination is a treasure when it spins out scenarios that are aligned
with your deepest desires. In fact, it's an indispensable tool in creating
the life you want; it's what you use to form images of the conditions
you'd like to inhabit and the objects you hope to wield. Nothing manifests
on this planet unless it first exists as a mental picture.
But for most of us, the imagination is as much a curse as a blessing.
We're often just as likely to use it to conjure up premonitions that are at
odds with our conscious values. That's the result of having absorbed toxic
programming from the media and from our parents at an early age and
from other influential people in our past.
Fearful fantasies regularly pop up into our awareness, many disguising
themselves as rational thoughts and genuine intuitions. Those fearful
fantasies may hijack our psychic energy, directing it to exhaust itself in
dead-end meditations.
Every time we entertain a vision of being rejected or hurt or frustrated,
every time we rouse and dwell on a memory of a painful experience, we're
blasting ourselves with a hex.
Meanwhile, ill-suited longings are also lurking in our unconscious mind,
impelling us to want things that aren't good for us and that we don't
really need. Anytime we surrender to the allure of these false and trivial
and counterproductive desires, our imagination is practicing a form of
black magic.
This is the unsavory aspect of the imagination that the Zen Buddhists
deride as the "monkey mind." It's the part of our mental apparatus that
endlessly spins out pictures that zip around with the energy of an
agitated animal. If we can stop locating our sense of self in the relentless
surge of the monkey mind's slapdash chatter, we can be fully attuned to
the life that's right in front of us. Only then are we able to want what we
actually have.
But whether our imagination is in service to our noble desires or in the
thrall of compulsive fears and inappropriate yearnings, there is one
constant: The prophecies of our imagination tend to be accurate. Many of
our visions of the future do come to pass. The situations we expect to
occur and the experiences we rehearse and dwell on are all-too-often
reflected back to us as events that confirm our expectations.
Does that mean our mental projections create the future? Let's consider
that possibility. What if it's at least partially true that what we expect will
happen does tend to materialize?
Here's the logical conclusion: It's downright stupid and self-destructive to
keep infecting our imaginations with pictures of loss and failure, doom and
gloom, fear and loathing. The far more sensible approach is to expect
blessings.
That's one reason why I'm reverent in composing my messages for you. If
I'm to be one of the influences you invite into the intimate sanctuary
where you hatch your self-fulfilling prophecies, I want to conspire with
you to disperse fear and invoke relaxation and joy.
Listen to me speak the above essay: http://bit.ly/1yalYDE
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Six major countries have recently announced imminent phase-out of all
coal-fired power plants: http://tinyurl.com/z8ftolk
A behavioral therapy program called Becoming a Man (BAM) for
economically disadvantaged youth in Chicago reduced the participants'
violent-crime arrests by 45–50%, and increased graduation rates by
12–19%.
http://tinyurl.com/johyq88
20 Ways to Take a Bigger, Louder Stand in the Post-Election World. Many
of us are rekindling our activist spirit knowing that the next four years will
require everyone to act.
http://tinyurl.com/jtuaya4
(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 December 8
Copyright 2016 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): "The awesome splendor of the universe
is much easier to deal with if you think of it as a series of small chunks,"
wrote novelist Terry Pratchett. That's true enough, but I'll add a caveat:
Now and then the trickle of small chunks of awesome splendor gives way
to a surge of really big chunks. According to my astrological analysis,
that's either already happening for you, or else is about to happen. Can
you handle it? I'm sure you've noticed that some people are unskilled at
welcoming such glory; they prefer to keep their lives tidy and tiny. They
may even get stressed out by their good fortune. I trust you're not one
of these fainthearted souls. I hope you will summon the grace you'll need
to make spirited use of the onslaught of magnificence.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In his book *The Dictionary of Obscure
Sorrows,* John Koenig coins words to describe previously unnamed
feelings. I suspect you may have experienced a few of them recently. One
is "monachopsis," defined as "the subtle but persistent feeling of being
out of place." Then there's "altschmerz," meaning "weariness with the
same old issues you've always had." Another obscure sorrow you might
recognize is "nodus tollens," or "the realization that the plot of your life
doesn't make sense anymore." Now I'll tell you two of Koenig's more
uplifting terms, which I bet you'll feel as you claw your way free of the
morass. First, there's "liberosis": caring less about unimportant things;
relaxing your grip so you can hold your life loosely and playfully. Second,
there's "flashover," that moment when conversations become "real and
alive, which occurs when a spark of trust shorts out the delicate circuits
you keep insulated under layers of irony."
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In 1983, two Australian blokes launched a
quest to tip a drink at every pub in Melbourne. Thirty-two years later,
Mick Stevens and Stuart MacArthur finally accomplished their goal when
they sipped beers at The Clyde. It was the 476th establishment on their
list. The coming weeks will be a highly favorable time to plan an epic
adventure of your own, Aquarius. I hope and pray, though, that you will
make it more sacred and meaningful than Stevens' and MacArthur's trivial
mission.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): For three seasons of the year -- spring,
summer, and fall -- a certain weasel species has brown fur. During that
time, it's known as a stoat. When winter arrives, the creature's coat turns
to white. Its name changes, too. We call it an ermine. The next spring, it
once again becomes a stoat. Given the nature of the astrological omens,
Pisces, I think it would make poetic sense for you to borrow this strategy.
What would you like your nickname to be during the next three months?
Here are a few suggestions: Sweet Sorcerer; Secret Freedom-Seeker;
Lost-and-Found Specialist; Mystery Maker; Resurrector.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Normally I cheer you on when you devote
single-minded attention to pressing concerns, even if you become a bit
obsessive. But right now, in accordance with astrological omens, I invite
you to run wild and free as you sample lavish variety. It's prime time to
survey a spectrum of spicy, shiny, and feisty possibilities . . . to entertain
a host of ticklish riddles rather than to insist on prosaic answers. You
have been authorized by the cosmos to fabricate your own temporary
religion of playing around and messing around and fooling around.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus poet Adrienne Rich described "an
honorable human relationship" as "one in which two people have the right
to use the word 'love.'" How is that right earned? How is such a bond
nurtured? Rich said it was "often terrifying to both persons involved,"
because it's "a process of refining the truths they can tell each other." I
bring this to your attention, Taurus, because you're in a favorable phase
to become an even more honorable lover, friend, and ally than you already
are. To take advantage of the opportunity, explore this question: How can
you supercharge and purify your ability to speak and hear the truth?
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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.
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"The best part about your audio horoscopes is that they pat me on the
head and kick me in the ass at the same time." - Rita L., San Diego
"Your audio oracles go beyond helping me find the truth -- they inspire
me to find the WILD truth." - Patrick K., Montreal
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GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In Goethe's play *Faust,* the hero bemoans his
lack of inner unity. Two different souls live within him, he says, and they
don't cooperate. Even worse, they each try to rule him without consulting
the other. I'm guessing you've experienced a more manageable version of
that split during the course of your life. Lately, though, it may have grown
more intense and divisive. If that's true, I think it's a good sign. It
portends the possibility that healing is in the works . . . that energy is
building for a novel synthesis. To help make it happen, identify and
celebrate what your two sides have in common.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): The poet Dick Allen described Zen Buddhism
as being "so filled with paradoxes that it jumps through hoops that aren't
even there." I'm tempted to apply this description to the way you've
been living your life recently. While I can see how it may have entertained
you to engage in such glamorous intrigue, I'm hoping you will stop. There
is no longer anything to be gained by the complicated hocus-pocus. But
it's fine for you to jump through actual hoops if doing so yields concrete
benefits.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): For decades, numerous self-help authors have
claimed that humans use ten percent or less of their brain's potential. But
the truth is that our gray matter is far more active than that. The
scientific evidence is now abundant. (See a summary here:
tinyurl.com/mindmyths.) I hope this helps spur you to destroy any limited
assumptions you might have about your own brainpower, Leo. According
to my astrological analysis, you could and should become significantly
smarter in the next nine months -- and wiser, too!
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Born under the sign of Virgo, Mary Oliver is
America's best-selling poet. She wasn't an overnight sensation, but she
did win a Pulitzer Prize when she was 49. "What I loved in the beginning, I
think, was mostly myself," she confesses in one poem. "Never mind that I
had to, since somebody had to. That was many years ago." I bet that
even at her current age of 81, Oliver is still refining and deepening her
self-love. Neither she nor you will ever be finished with this grand and
grueling project. Luckily for you both, now is a time when Virgos can and
should make plucky progress in the ongoing work. (P.S.: And this is an
essential practice if you want to keep refining and deepening your love for
others.)
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Most high-quality suits worn by men are made
from the wool of merino sheep raised in Australia. So says Nicholas
Antongiavanni in his book *The Suit: A Machiavellian Approach to Men's
Style.* There are now more than 100 million members of this breed, but
they are all descendants of just two rams and four ewes from 18th-
century Spain. How did that happen? It's a long story. (Read about it
here: tinyurl.com/merinosheep.) For the oracular purposes of this
horoscope, I'll simply say that in the next nine months you'll also have the
potential to germinate a few choice seeds that could ultimately yield
enormous, enduring results. Choose well!
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Five of my Scorpio acquaintances and 17 of
my Scorpio readers have let me know that they're actively seeking to
make new alliances and strengthen their existing alliances. Does this mean
that Scorpios everywhere are engaged in similar quests? I hope so. I
would love to see you expand your network of like-minded souls. I would
love for you to be ardent about recruiting more help and support. Happily,
the current astrological omens favor such efforts. Hot tip: For best
results, be receptive, inviting, and forthright.
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Homework: Imagine it's many years from now. As you look back on your
life, what adventure do you regret not trying? Truthrooster@gmail.com
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2016 Rob Brezsny
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