Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
May 12, 2021
See a pretty version of this newsletter:
https://bit.ly/EverChangingBeauty
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"Everybody is dealing with how much of their own aliveness they can bear
and how much they need to anesthetize themselves," writes
psychoanalytic author Adam Phillips.
How are you doing with that challenge?
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Dear Readers —
In the past four weeks, my newsletters have been expunged by two big
mail servers. Many subscribers haven't received my deliveries. I'm doing
the best I can to fix the problem.
If you're one of the thousands who were shut out, you can find the last four
weeks' newsletters at my archives: https://bit.ly/YouKnowHowToLove
You can also try resubscribing with a different email address:
https://freewillastrology.com/newsletter
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UPLIFTING OTHERS
May you never be the reason why someone who loved to sing, doesn't
anymore.
Or why someone who dressed so uniquely, now wears plain clothing.
Or why someone who always spoke so excitedly about their dreams, is now
silent about them.
May you never be the reason someone gave up on a part of themselves
because you were demotivating, non-appreciative, hypercritical, or even
worse—sarcastic about it.
—Mostafa Ibrahim
@UnschoolersCollective
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RE-GENIUS YOURSELF
Although we are all born geniuses, the grind of day-to-day living tends to
de-genius us. That's the bad news. The good news is that you have the
power to re-genius yourself.
Here's a ritual you can use to jump-start the process.
https://tinyurl.com/GeniusYourself
Here's how the ritual begins:
The Greek philosopher Plato long ago recognized that in addition to eating,
drinking, sleeping, breathing, and loving, every creature has an
instinctual need to periodically leap up into the air for no other reason
than because it feels so good.
HEAR AND READ THE REST: https://tinyurl.com/GeniusYourself
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BEAUTIFICATION
Cancer cells are constantly developing in our bodies. Luckily, our immune
systems routinely kill them off. Similarly, our minds always harbor
pockets of crazy-making misconceptions and faulty imprints. They
usually don't rise up and render us insane thanks to the psychic versions
of our immune systems.
How can you stay strong in your ability to fight off madness?
You know the drill: Eat healthy food, sleep well, get physical exercise,
minimize stress, give and receive love. But as an aspiring pronoiac, you
have at your disposal other actions that can provide powerful boosts to
your psychic immune system. Here are examples:
Scheme to put yourself in the path of beautiful landscapes, buildings, art,
and creatures.
Exercise your imagination regularly. Get in the habit of feeding your
mind's eye with images that fill you with wonder and vitality.
Eliminate uhs, you knows, I means, and other junk words from your
speech. Avoid saying things you don't really mean and haven't thought out.
Stop yourself when tempted to make scornful assertions about people.
Every night before you fall asleep, review the day's activities in your
mind's eye. As if watching a movie about yourself, try to be calmly
objective as you observe your memories from the previous 16 hours. Be
especially alert for moments when you strayed from your purpose and
didn't live up to your highest standards.
With a companion, sit in front of a turned-off TV as you make up a
pronoiac story that features tricky benevolence, scintillating harmony,
and amusing redemption. Speak this tale aloud or write it down.
Take on an additional job title, beautifier. Put it on your business card and
do something every day to cultivate your skill. If you're a people person,
bring grace and intrigue into your conversations; ask unexpected
questions that provoke original thoughts.
If you're an artist, leave samples of your finest work in public places. If
you're a psychologist or sociologist, point out the institutions and
relationships that are working really well. Whatever you do best, be alert
for how you can refine it and offer it up to those who'll benefit from it.
If you're going through a phase when you feel you have nothing especially
beautiful to offer, or if you think it would be self-indulgent to inject your
own aesthetic into shared environments, turn for help to great artists and
thinkers.
Sneak O'Keeffe or Chagall prints onto unadorned walls in public places,
for instance. Memorize poems by Emily Dickinson and Hafiz, and slip
them into your conversations when appropriate. Use Vivaldi's *Stabat
Mater in C Minor* as your ring tone. Scrawl passages from Annie
Dillard's *Teaching a Stone to Talk* on the walls of public lavatories.
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LOVING OUR LIVES
Poet Gerard Manley Hopkins died of typhoid fever after enduring years of
health problems. He also had chronic melancholy and a mental illness that
today we would call bipolar disorder. Yet his last words before he died
were, "I am so happy, I am so happy. I loved my life."
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"I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely
miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite
certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing."
—Agatha Christie
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THE WHALE OIL LAMP INDUSTRY
Senator Ted Cruz tweeted: "The Green New Deal will destroy the American
energy industry as we know it."
In response, Edward DeRuiter @edwardderuiter tweeted: "The electric
lightbulb will destroy the American whale oil lamp industry as we know
it."
Jim Vernier added: "The automobile will destroy the horse and buggy
industry as we know it. Airplanes will destroy the steamship and steam
train industries as we know them. Comets will destroy the dinosaur
industry as we know it. Change will destroy the old thing as we know it —
fact."
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If you'd like to donate to my cause:
1. Visit my Gift Page — https://paypal.me/GiftsForRob — and contribute
to me via the "Friends and Family" option.
2. Commit to offering me a regular donation through my Patreon page at
https://Patreon.com/FreeWillAstrology
3. Send checks or cash to me at P.O. Box 4400, San Rafael, CA 94913.
4. Buy my Expanded Audio Horoscopes and/or Daily Text Message
Horoscopes. Go here: https://RealAstrology.com
P.S.: No pressure, though! I understand that some of you don't have enough
money yourself, and it wouldn't make sense for you to give some to me.
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Muddy Bride Sacrifices Dress to Deliver Calf During Wedding Reception.
https://tinyurl.com/ryruwky8
They Melted Down 22,000 Firearms in Belgium, Recycling Them Into
Steel.
https://tinyurl.com/r8w3dx2v
79-Year-old Diver and This Fish Have Been BFFs for Nearly 30
Years—He Nursed Her Back to Health.
https://tinyurl.com/4fm4ezww
Farms in UK Saved This Beautiful Duke of Burgundy Butterfly From
Extinction.
https://tinyurl.com/2dbk9k68
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For a lot more pronoiac resources and ideas, read my book *Pronoia Is the
Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World is Conspiring to Shower You
with Blessings*
Available at Bookshop.org: https://tinyurl.com/548hp8y8
Available at Barnes & Noble: https://tinyurl.com/PronoiaBN
Available at Amazon: https://bit.ly/Pronoia
A free preview of the book is available here:
https://tinyurl.com/PronoiaPreview
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Please tell me your own nominations for PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Truthrooster@gmail.com.
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning May 13
Copyright 2021 by Rob Brezsny
https://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): A fan once asked composer Johann Sebastian
Bach about his creative process. He was so prolific! How did he dream up
such a constant flow of new music? Bach told his admirer that the tunes
came to him unbidden. When he woke up each morning, they were already
announcing themselves in his head. According to my analysis of the
astrological omens, Taurus, a comparable phenomenon may very well
visit you in the coming weeks—not in the form of music, but as intuitions
and insights about your life and your future. Your main job is to be
receptive to them, and make sure you remember them.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): "I love unmade beds," writes Gemini poet
Shane Koyczan. "I love when people are drunk and crying and cannot be
anything but honest. I love the look in people’s eyes when they realize
they’re in love. I love the way people look when they first wake up and
they’ve forgotten their surroundings. I love when people close their eyes
and drift to somewhere in the clouds." In the coming days, Gemini, I
encourage you to specialize in moments like those: when you and the
people you're interested in are candid, unguarded, raw, vulnerable, and
primed to go deeper. In my opinion, your soul needs the surprising
healing that will come from these experiences.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Trailblazing psychologist C. G. Jung said his
loneliness wasn't about a lack of people around him. Rather, it came from
the fact that he knew things that most people didn't know and didn't want to
know. He had no possibility of communicating many of the interesting
truths that were important to him! But I'm guessing that won't be much of
a problem for you in the coming months. According to my astrological
analysis, you're more likely to be well-listened to and understood than
you have been in quite some time. For best results, ASK to be listened to
and understood. And think about how you might express yourself in ways
that are likely to be interesting and useful to others.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The French government regularly gives the
Legion of Honor award to people deemed to have provided exceptional
service to the world. Most recipients are deserving, but a few have been
decidedly unworthy. In the latter category are Panamanian dictator
Manuel Noriega and Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, as well as drug-
cheating athlete Lance Armstrong, sexual predator Harvey Weinstein, and
Nazi collaborator Marshal Pétain. I bring this to your attention, Leo,
because the coming weeks will be a favorable time to reward people who
have helped and supported you. But I also suggest that you pointedly
exclude those who have too many negatives mixed in with their positives.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In 2010, an American engineer named Edward
Pimentel went to Moscow to compete in the World Karaoke Championship.
He won by singing Usher's "DJ Got Us Falling in Love." His award: one
million dumplings, enough to last him 27 years. I have a good feeling
about the possibility of you, too, collecting a new prize or perk or
privilege sometime soon. I just hope it's a healthier boon than dumplings.
For best results, take some time now to clearly define the nature of the
prize or perk or privilege that you really want—and that will be truly
useful.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I will love it if sometime soon you find or
create an opportunity to speak words similar to what novelist D. H.
Lawrence once wrote to a lover: "You seem to have knit all things in a
piece for me. Things are not separate; they are all in a symphony." In
other words, Libra, I'll be ecstatic if you experience being in such
synergistic communion with an empathic ally that the two of you weave a
vision of life that's vaster and richer than either one of you could summon
by yourself. The astrological omens suggest this possibility is now more
likely than usual.
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YOU ALWAYS HAVE MORE HELP THAN YOU IMAGINE
Both people you know and people you don't know could very well come to
your assistance and offer their support if you meet two conditions:
1. you believe you deserve their assistance and support;
2. you seek out and ask for their assistance and support.
There's a higher part of your brain that will also provide you with insight
and guidance if you turn to it in humility and seek its input.
Whether or not you actually believe in spiritual beings, they, too, are
ready to offer unexpected help, support, blessings and resources.
If you don't believe in their existence, I invite you to pretend you do for a
while and see what happens. If you do believe in them, formulate clear
requests for what you'd like them to offer you.
I may also be able to provide you with compassionate guidance, both
through the written horoscopes I provide in this newsletter and the
Expanded Audio Horoscopes I offer online and via telephone.
To listen to your Expanded Audio Horoscope online, go to
https://RealAstrology.com
Register and/or log in through the main page.
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The cost is $6 per sign online. (Discounts are available for bulk
purchases.)
You can also listen over the phone by calling 1-877-873-4888. The cost
is $1.99 per minute. Each forecast is 4-5 minutes long.
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"Your Expanded Audio Horoscopes seem to have the effect of activating my
inner teacher. Thanks!"
—Eleanor Axelrod, Toronto
"When I listen to your audio horoscopes, I feel like I'm tuning in to what a
friend has to say about the current state of my life."
—Arnella Simpson, Seattle
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SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Sometimes people don't like the provocative
posts I publish on Facebook. They leave comments like, "You stupid idiot!"
or "I hope you commit suicide!" and far worse. When I delete their
messages, they become even more enraged, accusing me of censorship. "So
you don't believe in free speech, you jerk?" they complain. I don't try to
reason with them. They don't deserve any of my time or energy. But if I
did communicate with them, I might say, "My Facebook page is my
sanctuary, where I welcome cordial conversation. If you came into my
house and called me an idiot, would it be 'censorship' if I told you to
leave?" I hope these thoughts inspire you to clarify and refine your own
personal boundaries, Scorpio. It's a good time to get precise and definite
about what's acceptable and unacceptable from the people with whom you
engage.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Have you ever kissed a monster in your
nightly dreams? Have you won a chess match with a demon or signed a
beneficial contract with a ghost or received a useful blessing from a pest?
I highly recommend activities like those in the coming weeks—both while
you're asleep and awake. Now is a good time to at least make peace with
challenging influences, and at best come into a new relationship with them
that serves you better. I dare you to ask for a gift from an apparent
adversary.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): What does it mean to "follow the path
with heart"? I invite you to meditate on that question. Here are my ideas.
To follow the path with heart means choosing a destiny that appeals to
your feelings as well as to your ambitions and ideas and habits. To follow a
path with heart means living a life that fosters your capacity to give and
receive love. To follow the path with heart means honoring your deepest
intuitions rather than the expectations other people have about you. To
follow the path with heart means never comparing your progress with
that of anyone else's, but rather simply focusing on being faithful to your
soul's code.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): "It's a good thing when people are different
from your images of them," wrote Aquarian author Boris Pasternak. "It
shows they are not merely a type. If you can't place them in a category, it
means that at least a part of them is what a human being ought to be. They
have risen above themselves, they have a grain of immortality." I love
that perspective! I'm offering it to you because right now is a favorable
time to show that you are indeed different from the images people have of
you; that you transcend all stereotyping; that you are uncategorizable.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You have personal possession of the
universe's most monumental creation: consciousness. This mercurial
flash and dazzle whirling around inside you is outlandishly spectacular.
You can think thoughts any time you want to—soaring, luminescent,
flamboyant thoughts or shriveled, rusty, burrowing thoughts; thoughts
that can invent or destroy, corrupt or redeem, bless or curse. There's
more. You can revel and wallow in great oceans of emotion. Whether they
are poignant or intoxicating or somewhere in between, you relish the fact
that you can harbor so much intensity. You cherish the privilege of
commanding such extravagant life force. I bring these thoughts to your
attention because the time is right for a holiday I call Celebrate Your
Greatest Gifts.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In one of her poems, Emily Dickinson tells
us, "The pedigree of honey / Does not concern the bee; / A clover, any
time, to him / Is aristocracy." I suggest you be like Dickinson's bee in the
coming weeks, my dear Aries. Take pleasure and power where they are
offered. Be receptive to just about any resource that satisfies your raw
need. Consider the possibility that substitutes and stand-ins may be just
as good as the supposed original. OK? Don't be too fussy about how pure or
prestigious anything is.
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Homework. Send testimony or proof of how you've seized control of your
own life. Truthrooster@gmail.com
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2021 Rob Brezsny
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