Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
April 3, 2019
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See a pretty version of this newsletter: https://bit.ly/YourGoodDecisions
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Dear Readers:
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Write to me at beautyandtruth@freewillastrology.com
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YOUR PATH
"If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know
it's not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take.
That's why it's your path."
—Joseph Campbell
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WILDER, WETTER, MORE INTERESTING PROBLEMS
Conventional wisdom implies that the best problems are those that place
you under duress. There's supposedly no gain without pain. Stress is
allegedly an incomparable spur for calling on resources that have been
previously unavailable or dormant. Nietzsche's aphorism, "That which
doesn't kill me makes me stronger," has achieved the status of a maxim.
There's some truth in that perspective. But it's clear that stress also
accompanies many mediocre problems that have little power to make us
smarter. Pain frequently generates no gain. We're all prone to become
habituated, even addicted, to nagging vexations that go on and on
without rousing any of our sleeping genius.
There is, furthermore, another class of difficulty—let's call it the delightful
dilemma—that neither feeds on angst nor generates it. On the contrary,
it's fun and invigorating, and usually blooms when you're feeling a
profound sense of being at home in the world. The problem of writing my
books is a good example. I have abundant fun handling the perplexing
challenges with which they confront me.
Imagine a life in which at least half of your quandaries match this profile.
Act as if you're most likely to attract useful problems when joy is your
predominant mood. Consider the possibility that being in unsettling
circumstances may shrink your capacity to dream up the riddles you need
most; that maybe it's hard to ask the best questions when you're
preoccupied fighting rearguard battles against boring or demeaning
annoyances that have plagued you for many moons.
Prediction: As an aspiring lover of pronoia, you will have a growing knack
for gravitating toward wilder, wetter, more interesting problems. More
and more, you will be drawn to the kind of gain that doesn't necessarily
require pain. You'll be so alive and awake that you'll cheerfully push
yourself out of your comfort zone in the direction of your personal
frontier well before you're forced to do so by fate's kicks in the ass.
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NO SUCH THING AS PREDESTINATION
Contrary to what some horoscope fans believe, there's no such thing as
predestination. Fate is a tricky, wiggly sucker that keeps changing its
inclination about where it wants to go. Your willpower has a role to play in
that drama. As the astrological saying goes, "The stars may impel, but
they don't compel."
That's why I've never really considered myself a fortuneteller. I prefer to
think that my service is as a psychic intelligence agent, helping you
expose the hidden patterns and unconscious forces that may be affecting
your life without your knowledge. If I "predict" anything, it's not so much
the future as the missing part of the present.
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35 STEPS MEN CAN TAKE TO SUPPORT FEMINISM
by Pamela Clark:
https://tinyurl.com/SupportFeminism
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BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD
The startling truth is that our best efforts for civil rights, international
peace, population control, conservation of natural resources, and
assistance to the starving of the earth—urgent as they are—will destroy
rather than help if made in the present spirit.
"For, as things stand, we have nothing to give. If our own riches and our
own way of life are not enjoyed here, they will not be enjoyed anywhere
else. Certainly they will supply the immediate jolt of energy and hope that
methedrine, and similar drugs, give in extreme fatigue.
"But peace can be made only by those who are peaceful, and love can be
shown only by those who love. No work of love will flourish out of guilt,
fear, or hollowness of heart, just as no valid plans for the future can be
made by those who have no capacity for living now."
- Alan W. Watts, *The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are*
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LOVING ANIMALS
Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.
~Anatole France
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See wonderful photos of beloved animals by Rob MacInnis:
http://www.robmacinnis.com/
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
For more about the good news stories below, plus links to the articles
that provide full evidence, go here: https://tinyurl.com/ya8kb4rh
1. Thanks to tightening restrictions, the United Kingdom reported a 12%
drop in vehicle emissions since 2012, as well as significant overall drop in
air pollutants.
2. 250 of the world's major brands, including Coca-Cola, Kellogs, and
Nestle, agreed to make sure that 100% of their plastic packaging will be
reused, recycled, or composted by 2025.
3. The European Parliament passed a full ban on single-use plastics,
estimated to make up over 70% of marine litter. It will come into effect in
2021.
4. As of the end of 2018, at least 32 countries around the world had
plastic bag bans in place—and nearly half are in Africa. Kenya enacted the
world's toughest plastic bag ban, and has reported that its waterways are
clearer, the food chain is less contaminated—and there are fewer 'flying
toilets.'
5. China said it had seen a 66% reduction in plastic bag usage since the
rollout of its 2008 ban, and that it has avoided the use of an estimated
40 billion bags.
6. India's second most populous state, Maharashtra, home to 116 million
people, banned all single use plastic (including packaging) on June 23 of
2018.
7. India's environment minister also announced the country would
eliminate all single-use plastic by 2022. Oh, and three years after India
made it compulsory to use plastic waste in road construction, there are
now 100,000 kilometers of plastic roads in the country.
8. Four years after imposing a levy, the United Kingdom said it had used
nine billion fewer plastic bags, and the number being found on the seabed
has plummeted.
9. Following a ban by two of its biggest retailers, Australia cut its plastic
bag usage by 80% in three months, saving 1.5 billions bags from entering
the waste stream.
10. There is now a giant 600-meter-long boom in the Pacific that uses
oceanic forces to clean up plastic, and you can track its progress here.
Despite a few early setbacks, the team behind it thinks they can clean up
half the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the next seven years.
(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 April 4
Copyright 2019 by Rob Brezsny
https://FreeWillAstrology.com/horoscopes/
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
ARIES (March 21-April 19): A mushroom shaped like a horse's hoof grows
on birch trees in parts of Europe and the U.S. If you strip off its outer
layer, you get amadou, spongy stuff that's great for igniting fires. It's not
used much anymore, but it was a crucial resource for some of our
ancestors. As for the word "amadou," it's derived from an old French
term that means "tinder, kindling, spunk." The same word was formerly
used to refer to a person who is quick to light up or to something that
stimulates liveliness. In accordance with astrological omens, I'm making
"Amadou" your nickname for the next four weeks.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): "Human beings are not born once and for all
on the day their mothers give birth to them," wrote novelist Gabriel
Garcia Marquez. "Life obliges them over and over to give birth to
themselves." Here's what I'll add to that: As you mature, you do your
best to give birth to ever-new selves that are in alignment with the
idealistic visions you have of the person you want to become.
Unfortunately, most of us aren't skilled at that task in adolescence and
early adulthood, and so the selves we create may be inadequate or
delusory or distorted. Fortunately, as we learn from our mistakes, we
eventually learn to give birth to selves that are strong and righteous. The
only problem is that the old false selves we generated along the way may
persist as ghostly echoes in our psyche. And we have a sacred duty to
banish those ghostly echoes. I tell you this, Taurus, because the coming
months will be en excellent time to do that banishing. Ramp up your
efforts NOW!
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): "When spring came, there were no problems
except where to be happiest," wrote Ernest Hemingway in his memoir. He
quickly amended that statement, though, mourning, "The only thing that
could spoil a day was people." Then he ventured even further, testifying,
"People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few
that were as good as spring itself." I bring these thoughts to your
attention so as to prepare you for some good news. In the next three
weeks, I suspect you will far exceed your quota for encounters with
people who are *not* "limiters of happiness"—who are as good as spring
itself.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): It's time to prove that Cancerians have more
to offer than nurturing, empathizing, softening the edges, feeling deeply,
getting comfortable, and being creative. Not that there's anything wrong
with those talents. On the contrary! They're beautiful and necessary. It's
just that for now you need to avoid being pigeonholed as a gentle,
sensitive soul. To gather the goodies that are potentially available to you,
you'll have to be more forthright and aggressive than usual. Is it possible
for you to wield a commanding presence? Can you add a big dose of
willfulness and a pinch of ferocity to your self-presentation? Yes and yes!
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): General Motors manufactured a car called the
Pontiac Aztek from 2001 to 2005. It wasn't commercially successful. One
critic said it looked like "an angry kitchen appliance," and many others
agreed it was exceptionally unstylish. But later the Aztek had an odd
revival because of the popularity of the TV show *Breaking Bad*. The
show's protagonist, Walter White, owned one, and that motivated some
of his fans to emulate his taste in cars. In accordance with astrological
omens, Leo, I suspect that something of yours may also enjoy a second
life sometime soon. An offering that didn't get much appreciation the
first time around may undergo a resurgence. Help it do so.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): "Of all the female sins, hunger is the least
forgivable," laments feminist author Laurie Penny. She's referring to the
hunger "for anything, for food, sex, power, education, even love." She
continues: "If we have desires, we are expected to conceal them, to
control them, to keep ourselves in check. We are supposed to be objects
of desire, not desiring beings." I've quoted her because I suspect it's
crucial for you to not suppress or hide your longings in the coming weeks.
That's triply true if you're a woman, but also important if you're a man or
some other gender. You have a potential to heal deeply if you get very
clear about what you hunger for and then express it frankly.
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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
https://freewillastrology.sparkns.com
Register and/or log in through the main page.
You can also listen over the phone by calling 1-877-873-4888.
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The cost is $6 per sign on the On the Web. (Discounts are available for
bulk purchases.) You can also access them for $1.99 per minute by
phone
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"Your long-range audio horoscopes encouraged me to think bigger about
my life. As I listened, I could feel shrunken expectations melting away."
—Therese Pembroke, San Diego
"I love the soothing kindness of your long-range audio horoscopes. I also
love their invigorating encouragement and surprising inspiration!" —
Franny Kaiser, Minneapolis
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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Only one of Nana Mouskouris's vocal cords
works, but over the course of an almost 60-year career, the Libran singer
has sold over 30 million records in twelve different languages. Many
critics speculate that her apparent disadvantage is key to her unique
style. She's a coloratura mezzo, a rare category of chanteuse who sings
ornate passages with exceptional agility and purity. In the coming weeks, I
suspect that you will be like Mouskouris in your ability to capitalize on a
seeming lack or deprivation.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Your tribe is symbolized by three animals: the
scorpion, the eagle, and the mythological phoenix. Some astrologers say
that the scorpion is the ruling creature of "unevolved" or immature
Scorpios, whereas the eagle and phoenix are associated with those of
your tribe who express the riper, more enlightened qualities of your sign.
But I want to put in a plug for the scorpion as being worthy of all
Scorpios. It is a hardy critter that rivals the cockroach in its ability to
survive—and even thrive in—less than ideal conditions. For the next two
weeks, I propose we make it your spirit creature.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sagittarian novelist Gustave Flaubert
declared that "our duty is to feel what is sublime and cherish what is
beautiful." But that's a demanding task to pull off on an ongoing basis.
Maybe the best we can hope for is to feel what's sublime and cherish
what's beautiful for 30-35 days every year. Having said that, though, I'm
happy to tell you that in 2019 you could get all the way up to 95-100
days of feeling what's sublime and cherishing what's beautiful. And as
many as 15 to 17 of those days could come during the next 21.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Sommeliers are people trained to perceive
the nuances of wine. By sampling a few sips, the best sommeliers can
discern facts about the type of grapes that were used to make the wine
and where on earth they were grown. I think that in the coming weeks
you Capricorns should launch an effort to reach a comparable level of
sensitivity and perceptivity about any subject you care about. It's a
favorable time to become even more masterful about your specialties; to
dive deeper into the areas of knowledge that captivate your imagination.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Every language is a work-in-progress. New
words constantly insinuate themselves into common usage, while others
fade away. If you traveled back in time to 1719 while remaining in your
current location, you'd have trouble communicating with people of that
era. And today linguistic evolution is even more rapid than in previous
ages. The Oxford English Dictionary adds more than a thousand new
words annually. In recognition of the extra verbal skill and inventiveness
you now possess, Aquarius, I invite you to coin a slew of your own fresh
terms. To get you warmed up, try this utterance I coined: *vorizzimo!*
It's an exclamation that means "thrillingly beautiful and true."
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): One of history's most audacious con men was
George C. Parker, a Pisces. He made his living selling property that did not
legally belong to him, like the Brooklyn Bridge, the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, and the Statue of Liberty. I suspect you could summon his level of
salesmanship and persuasive skills in the coming weeks. But I hope you
will use your nearly magical powers to make deals and perform feats that
have maximum integrity. It's OK to be a teensy bit greedy, though.
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Homework: Name a beautiful thing you were never capable of doing until
now. https://FreeWill Astrology.com
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2019 Rob Brezsny
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