Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
March 17, 2021
FreeWillAstrology.com
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We have to create. It is the only thing louder than destruction.
—Andrea Gibson
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FREE YOUR BODY
Free your body. Don't ruminate and agonize about it. Do it simply and easily. LOVE YOUR BODY!
Be brave and forceful, gentle and graceful. Free your sublimely imperfect, riotously intelligent body. Allow it to be itself in all of its mysterious glory. Love your body exactly as it is.
Praise your body. Thank your body. Tell it you adore its uncanny majesty . . . you yearn to learn more of its secrets ... you promise to treat it as your beloved ally.
Be in love with your body—no shame, no apology. Be in awe of your body's unfathomable power to endlessly carry out the millions of chemical reactions that keep you alive and thriving.
How can you not be overwhelmed with reverence for your hungry, curious, resourceful, unpredictable body?
Study your body's magic. Exult in the blessings it bestows on you. Celebrate and beautify its fierce animal elegance.
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SIMPLE GOALS
What are the qualities of a person who embodies sublime feminine intelligence, as I personally aspire to do?
* They are progressive: committed to social and economic justice; lovers of equality; in service to all those people who are under-served; in service to the health of the natural world; in service to diminishing the power of militarism, plutocracy, bigotry, misogyny, and racism
* They have a Bodhisattva's orientation: that none of us is really free unless we all are free; that the supreme goal, above all others, is to reduce the suffering in the world
* They have a holistic understanding of the interconnectedness of all things
* They listen well to others who act respectfully
* They are willing to expand and adjust their understandings of the world if they encounter new information that renders their previous beliefs as being too narrow or obsolete
* They are inclusive: willing to consider the needs of as many people as possible, not just those of their own tribe
* They are emotionally intelligent; they understand that it is as crucial to develop a mature relationship with our feeling nature as it is to be intellectually smart
* They are not fundamentalists and authoritarians who believe that only their truths are true; are rather willing to consider additional points of view as having value; are willing to consider the perspective that "everyone has a piece of the truth, but no one has the entire truth"
* They are storytellers who understand, as the poet Muriel Rukeyser said, that "the world is made of stories, not atoms"
* They understand that to accomplish practical changes that serve the greatest good requires hard work in the trenches of political struggle, often having to deal with people who have different beliefs
* They are nuanced, not simplistic; respect dialog, not pronouncements from on high; seek consensus, not doctrinaire obeisance; understand that perfectionism is the enemy of the good; radiate kindness and avoid polarization
* Love is their primary motivation
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WHAT LIFE STORY
WILL YOU CREATE FOR YOURSELF
IN THE COMING MONTHS?
Get inspired by listening to my 3-part EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES about your LONG-RANGE FUTURE.
These forecasts will be available for just one more week.
Who do you want to become between now and January 2022? Where do you want to go and what do you want to do? How can you exert your free will to create adventures that'll bring out the best in you, even as you find graceful ways to cooperate with the tides of destiny?
To listen to these three-part, in-depth reports, go here:
RealAstrology.com
Register and/or log in through the main page, and then access the horoscopes by clicking on "Long Range Prediction." Choose from Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Each part is a standalone report, not dependent on the other two.
If you'd like a boost of inspiration to fuel you in your quest for beauty and truth and love and meaning, tune in to my meditations on your Big-Picture Outlook.
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Each of the three-part reports is seven to nine minutes long. The cost is $6 per report. There are discounts for the purchase of multiple reports.
P.S. You can also listen to a short-term Expanded Audio Horoscope for the coming week.
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FULFILL YOUR SOUL'S CODE
The real alchemists (not the materialists trying to turn lead into gold) said the magic formula for enlightenment was "Seek out the lower reaches of the earth, perfect them, and you will find the hidden stone"—the treasured philosopher's stone.
My translation: Engage in a relationship with the ignorant and unripe parts of yourself, refine them and love them, and you will awaken your hidden divinity; you will fulfill your soul's code.
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35 PRACTICAL STEPS MEN CAN TAKE
TO SUPPORT FEMINISM
by Pamela Clark
1. Do 50% (or more) of housework.
2. Do 50% (or more) of emotional support work in your intimate relationships and friendships.
3. Consume cultural products produced by women.
4. Give women space.
5. … but insert yourself into spaces where you can use your maleness to interrupt sexism.
6. When a woman tells you something is sexist, believe her.
7. Educate yourself about sexual consent and make sure there is clear, unambiguous communication of consent in all your sexual relationships.
8. Be responsible for contraception.
10. Have progressive name politics.
11. If you have children, be an equal parent.
12. Pay attention to and challenge informal instances of gender role enforcement.
13. Be mindful of implicit and explicit gendered power differentials in your intimate/domestic relationships with women…whether a partner or family members or roommates.
14. Make sure that honesty and respect guide your romantic and sexual relationships with women.
15. Don’t be an online bystander in the face of sexism.
16. Be responsible with money in domestic/romantic relationships.
17. Be responsible for your own health.
18. Don’t ogle or make comments about women. (i.e., Keep your tongue in your mouth and comments to yourself.)
19. Pay attention to the sex of experts and key figures presenting information to you in the media.
20. Ensure that some of your heroes and role models are women.
21. Praise the virtues and accomplishments of women in your life to others.
22. Have integrity with your male friends. (i.e., Don’t be a “bro.”)
23. Don’t treat your spouse like a “nag.” If she is “nagging,” you are probably lagging.
24. Know that acknowledging your own sexist opinions and stereotypes you hold is not enough. Do something about them.
25. Befriend women.
26. Find female mentors/leaders. (i.e., Be subordinate to women.)
27. When in a romantic relationship, be responsible for events and special dates associated with your side of the family.
28. Don’t police women’s appearance.
29. Offer to accompany female friends if they have to walk home alone at night…or in a public space where they may be likely to feel unsafe.
30. Inject feminism into your daily conversations with other men.
31. If you have a tendency to behave inappropriately toward women when you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, do not consume drugs or alcohol.
32. Be aware of the physical and emotional space you occupy, and don’t take up more space than you need.
33. Walk the walk about income inequality.
34. Get in the habit of treating your maleness as an unearned privilege that you have to actively work to cede rather than femaleness being an unearned disadvantage that women have to work to overcome.
35. Self-identify as a feminist.
Here's Pamela Clark's original article on the 35 Steps:
tinyurl.com/43zf86bx
Pamela Clark's follow up to her original article:
tinyurl.com/3vua68d7
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GOOD NEWS !
There was much good news last week! Like these stories:
* $1.9 Trillion Virus Relief Plan Will Vastly Expand the U.S. Safety Net
* The new bill cements one of the largest injections of federal aid since the Great Depression. The plan provides more direct payments, extends federal jobless benefits and gives billions of dollars to distribute vaccines, among other relief.
* Obamacare is about to get a lot more affordable.
* Polls show the new law has widespread support among Americans.
* The bill makes student debt forgiveness tax-free.
Plus:
* Marcia Fudge Becomes First Black Female Housing Secretary
* Michael Regan becomes the first Black man to run the EPA. He intends to act aggressively in carrying out President Biden’s climate change agenda.
* Biden orders 100 million more vaccine shots from Johnson & Johnson
* Biden said the United States will have enough vaccine to administer to all American adults by the end of May.
* Merrick Garland Confirmed as Attorney General
* Passage of the Biden plan reflects the triumph of precisely the view that only active and competent government can get us out of the mess we’re in now. The willingness of Democrats to speed through a program of this size reflects the final shrugging off of Reagan-era constraints that made even liberal politicians gun-shy about government activism.
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
112 bits of good news to keep us sane.
tinyurl.com/6ea6mm83
Indigenous Tribes Are Unearthing Traditional Crops. A seed banking cooperative is making sure age-old agricultural practices don’t get lost.
tinyurl.com/rpw82d68
Four-Day Work Weeks Are Here to Stay. Some companies that reduced employee hours during the pandemic are keeping the shorter work week in place — even as they reinstate full pay.
tinyurl.com/zzxfetya
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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 Barnes & Noble: tinyurl.com/PronoiaBN
Available at Amazon: bit.ly/Pronoia
A free preview of the book is available here: 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 March 18
Copyright 2021 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Poet Ocean Vuong speaks of the Hawaiian word kipuka. It refers to a patch of earth that doesn't get covered with lava when an active volcano exudes its molten material. "Before the lava descended," Vuong writes, "that piece of land was insignificant, just another scrap in an endless mass of green." But now that piece of land is special, having endured. I encourage you to identify your metaphorical equivalent of kipuka, Aries. It's an excellent time to celebrate the power and luck and resilience that have enabled you to persevere.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
"Extraordinary things are always hiding in places people never think to look," writes Taurus author Jodi Picoult. Luckily for you, Taurus, in the near future you'll be prone to look in exactly those places—where no one else has thought to look. That means you'll be extra likely to find useful, interesting, even extraordinary things that have mostly been hidden and unused. You may also discover some boring and worthless things, but the trade-off will be worth your effort. Congratulations in advance on summoning such brave curiosity.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
"When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice," said Gemini author Saul Bellow. So if you have come here today to read my horoscopes, it's possible that you're seeking an accomplice to approve of you making a decision or a move that you have already decided to do. OK. I'll be your accomplice. But as your accomplice, the first thing I'll do is try to influence you to make sure your upcoming actions serve not only your own selfish interests (although there's nothing wrong with that), but also serve the interests of people you care for. The weeks ahead will be a favorable time to blend self-interest and noble idealism.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
A character in Barbara Kingsolver's novel The Lacuna is told to "go rub his soul against life." Now I'll advise you to do the same. Why? While it's true that you have a beautiful soul, you sometimes get in the habit of hiding it away or keeping it secret. You feed it a wealth of dreams and emotions and longings, but may not go far enough in providing it with raw experience out in the messy, chaotic world. In my judgment, now is one of those times when you would benefit from rubbing your soul against life. Please note: I DON'T mean you should go in search of rough, tough downers. Not at all. In fact, there are plenty of pleasurable, safe, educational ways to rub your soul against life.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
If you love the work of self-help author Paulo Coelho, you might be inclined to adopt his motto as your own: "Being vulnerable is the best way to allow my heart to feel true pleasure." But maybe you wouldn't want to adopt his motto. After all, what he's suggesting requires a great deal of courage and daring. Who among us finds it easy and natural to be soft and receptive and inviting? And yet according to my analysis of the astrological omens, this is exactly what your assignment should be for the next two weeks. To help motivate yourself, remember the payoff described by Coelho: the possibility that your heart will feel true pleasure.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Virgo author Michael Ondaatje celebrates "the hidden presence of others in us—even those we have known briefly. We contain them for the rest of our lives, at every border we cross." As you approach your own upcoming border-crossing, dear Virgo, I encourage you to tune into memories about seven specific people who over the course of your life have provided you with the most joy and the most interesting lessons. Close your eyes for 20 minutes and imagine they are all gathered together with you in your favorite sanctuary. Remember in detail the blessings they bestowed on you. Give thanks for their influences, for the gifts they gave that have helped you become your beautiful self.
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EXPLORING THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LONG-RANGE FUTURE
My long-range, big-picture EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES for the coming months are still available, but only for one more week.
Who do you want to become between now and January 2022? Where do you want to go and what do you want to do? How can you exert your free will to create adventures that'll bring out the best in you, even as you find graceful ways to cooperate with the tides of destiny?
Go to RealAstrology.com to register and/or sign in through the main page.
Then access the horoscopes by clicking on "Long Range Prediction." Choose from Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Each part is a standalone report, not dependent on the other two.
Each of the three-part reports is seven to nine minutes long. The cost is $6 per report. There are discounts for the purchase of multiple reports.
A new short-range forecast for this week is also available.
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"I almost always come away from listening to your audio horoscopes with greater clarity about what's best for me to give my attention to next."
—Jada Washington, New York
"I love how your audio horoscopes stimulate my idealism and also help me think about the practical actions I can take to support my idealism."
—Rita Mashner, Tampa
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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
"A balance that does not tremble cannot weigh. A person who does not oscillate cannot live." So wrote biochemist Erwin Chargaff, who did crucial research leading to the discovery of DNA's double helix structure. Since you're the zodiac's expert on balance and oscillation, and because these themes will be especially meaningful for you in the coming days, I'll ask you to meditate on them with extra focus. Here's my advice: To be healthy and resilient, you need to be aware of other possibilities besides those that seem obvious and simple and absolutely true. You need to consider the likelihood that the most correct answers are almost certainly those that are paradoxical and complicated and full of nuance.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
In her poem "Sandra," Scorpio poet Ariana Reines testifies that she has too many feelings—and that's not a problem. On the contrary. They are her wealth, she says, her "invisible splendor." I invite you to regard your own "too many feelings" in the same way, especially in the coming weeks. You will have opportunities to harness your flood of feelings in behalf of transformative insights and holistic decision-making. Your motto: Feelings are healing.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Historian and author Thomas Berry described "wildness" as the source of our "authentic spontaneities." He said it's "the wellspring of creativity" at the root of our lust for life. That's a different definition from the idea that wildness is about being unruly, rough, and primitive. And Berry's definition happens to be the one that should be central to your work and play in the coming weeks. Your assignment is to be wild: that is, to cultivate your authentic spontaneities; to home in on and nourish the creative wellspring of your lust for life.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Some of the great discoveries in the history of physics have been made while the trailblazing physicists are lolling in bed or in the bathtub. They have done the research and carried out the rigorous thinking, and are rewarded with breakthroughs while relaxing. I think that will be your best formula for success in the coming weeks. Important discoveries are looming. Interesting innovations are about to hatch. You're most likely to gather them in if you work intensely on preparing the way for them, then go off and do something fun and rejuvenating.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
My typical horoscope is an average of 108 words long. In that limited space, I can't possibly tell you all the themes and threads that will be active for you during the upcoming phase of your cycle. I have to make choices about what to include and what not to include. This time I'll focus on the fact that you now have an opportunity to deepen your relationship with your sense of smell—and to purposefully nourish your sense of smell. Your homework: Decide on at least five scents with which you will cultivate an intimate, playful, delightful connection in the coming days. (PS: You may be surprised at how this practice will deepen your emotional connection with the world.)
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
No one had ever proven that there was such a thing as electromagnetic waves until Piscean physicist Heinrich Hertz (1857–1894) did so in 1886. He was the innovator who first transmitted and received controlled radio waves. Alas, he didn't think his breakthrough was useful. In 1890, he confessed, "I do not think that the wireless waves I have discovered will have any practical application.” But other scientists were soon capitalizing on his work to communicate long distances. Radio broadcasts were born. I will encourage you not to make a Hertzian-type mistake in the coming months. Always follow through on your initial labors. Have faith that the novelties you dream up will eventually have practical value.
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HOMEWORK:
If you believed everything you see in the "news," you'd be so full of despair you couldn't move. Describe how you protect yourself. Truthrooster@gmail.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 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 2021 Rob Brezsny
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