Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
APRIL 30, 2008
FreeWillAstrology.com
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"As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear-headed
science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of
my research about the atoms this much: There is no matter as such!
All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which
brings the particles of an atom to vibration and holds this most
minute solar system of the atom together . . . We must assume
behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent
Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter."
- Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Planck, from a speech he delivered
in Florence, Italy in 1944, entitled "Das Wesen der Materie"
(The Character of Matter)
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The Bardo of Waking Life by Richard Grossinger
tinyurl.com/4kpket
My long-time mentor and friend Richard Grossinger has just published
what I consider to be the best book of the year: The Bardo
of Waking Life.
Everyone has a piece of the truth and no one has more than a
piece of the truth. But Grossinger's masterwork is the biggest
chunk of truth I've read in years.
I love it so much, I wrote the foreword for the book. It's Called
"The Honey and Vinegar Tasters."
You can read my foreword here:
tinyurl.com/35eko5
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My book
PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA:
How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings
is available for sale at
tinyurl.com/qaj62
Here's an excerpt:
AMBIDEXTROUS PRONOIA THERAPY, Part Two
Experiments and exercises in becoming a mysteriously truthful,
teasingly healing, fiercely magnanimous Master of Impartial Passion
8. In our culture, vultures are considered ugly and disgusting.
But in ancient Egypt, they were sacred. Scholar Elinor Gadon says
they were called "compassionate purifiers." As devourers
of corpses, they transformed rotting flesh into usable energy,
and expedited the soul's transition to heaven. Queens of Egypt
wore vulture headdresses to signify their divine consecration.
How would you invoke the help of mythical vultures in your own
life? Here's one possibility. Meditate on death not as the end
of physical life, but as a metaphor for shedding what's outworn.
In that light, what is the best death you've ever experienced?
What death would you like to enjoy next?
9. In one old fairy tale, a virtuous hero throws a punch at an
evil witch. But because of her wizardry, the thrust of his fist
boomerangs and he smashes himself in the nose. Blood flows from
his nostrils. He wipes it with his fingertips and flings a few
red drops in the witch's direction. This is the unexpected magic
that sends her fleeing. He's saved. Moral of the story: The hero's
self-wounding produces his ultimate protection. Give an example
of this theme at work in your own life.
10. The 17th-century surgeon Wilhelm Hilden had an interesting
theory about healing. He developed a medicinal salve that he applied
not to the wound itself but rather to the weapon that inflicted
it. Though today we may sneer at such foolishness, the fact is
that Hilden's approach has great potential if used for psychic
wounds. Jesus understood this when he articulated the revolutionary
formula, "Love your enemy." More than any other action,
this strategy has the power to cure you of the distortions your
enemy has unleashed in you. Try it out.
11. How do you respond to the part of the apocalypse that brings
breakdown and ruin? Is it with actions that express rage, disdain,
hatred, fear, tribalism, and all the primitive emotions that infect
the roots of the dying civilization? Or is it with actions that
exude ingenious compassion, creative inclusiveness, expansive
empathy, and other robust emotions that are at the heart of the
New World? What can you do to focus your personal experience of
the apocalypse on liberation and awakening rather than suffering
and loss? How can you personally starve the bad apocalypse and
nurture the good apocalypse?
12. Beauty and Truth Laboratory researcher Rebecca Rusche coined
the word "careenstable." Here's her explanation of how
it originated:
"In high school, my mom used to let me use her VW Beetle
to go to basketball practice. One night after practice, a friend
and I were chatting and drinking Coke when we decided to see how
fast we could get the Beetle going down a nearby dirt road. Soon
we were careening at 65 mph, shouting 'careen!' every time we
hit a bump and flew into the air. When we arrived back at the
gym and got out of the car half an hour later, we saw my Coke
can sitting on the front bumper next to the license plate. I nudged
it softly to see if it was lodged in there, but it fell right
off--wasn't stuck at all. I thought, 'There must be a word for
this magic,' and thus 'careenstable' was born. It came to mean
anything that maintains its poise in the midst of wild, fast movement."
Give an example of careenstable working in your own life.
13. Provide evidence proving or disproving the following four
hypotheses: 1. If you're not part of the grueling solution, you're
probably part of the insidiously comfortable problem. 2. If you're
not conspiring to commit smart fun, you're almost certainly colluding
with the disingenuous repression. 3. If you're not trying to rally
support for a tough investigation, you'll end up assisting the
bland cover-up. 4. If you're not mad about how unconstructively
you've used your anger in the past, then you won't be motivated
to wield it more creatively any time soon.
14. POP QUIZ! By now, you should be sufficiently knowledgeable
about pronoia to speak about it with some authority. Your assignment
is to write a pronoiac rebuttal to the following news story, which
appeared in a weekly tabloid:
"If you want to be happier, feel better, and do more in life,
just turn your back on reality and inflate your ego! A new study
reveals that an unrealistically positive attitude and unfounded
optimism, along with some denial of reality, help you accomplish
great things in all areas of your life. In other words, you don't
need a firm grip on reality to be successful and happy."
15. A thousand years from today, everyone you know will be long
dead and forgotten. There'll be nothing left of the life you love,
no evidence that you ever walked this planet. That, at least,
is what the fundamentalist materialists would have you believe.
But suppose the truth is very different? What if in fact every
little thing you do subtly alters the course of world history?
What if your day-to-day decisions will actually help determine
how the human species navigates its way through the epic turning
point we're living through?
And finally, what if you will be alive in a thousand years, reincarnated
into a fresh body and in possession of the memories of the person
you were back in this era? These are my hypotheses. These are
my prophecies. Which is why I say: Live as if your soul is eternal.
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To listen to and get a free download of "Televisionary,"
a song from my band's CD Give Too Much, go here:
tinyurl.com/5yro8f
To buy the CD, go here:
tinyurl.com/yqy42p
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To read news and features from my book, go here:
tinyurl.com/lhwx2
You can buy the book here:
AMAZON
tinyurl.com/qaj62
POWELLS
tinyurl.com/3dsx6q
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OTHER PRONOIA RESOURCES:
NEW SPECIES REVEALED
People keep finding animals we never knew existed. Among the new
discoveries: the Wobbegong shark, the Tongian White-eye bird,
and the Green Tree Skink, which has green blood.
tinyurl.com/6z8y78
RATIONALISTS FIND SOUL
Scientists offer evidence that humans have a life after death.
tinyurl.com/6qx8go
The article was published in Lancet, an influential British
medical journal.
IMAGINATION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN KNOWLEDGE AND PLAY IS MORE
IMPORTANT THAN BELIEF
by Erik Davis
"The imagination is a pivotal interface between human beings
and the natural world."
A talk by one of my fellow lobbyists-for-the-imagination, Erik
Davis
tinyurl.com/4ydsfj
(Note: I endorse these because I like them. They are not advertisements,
and I get no kickbacks.)
Please tell me your own personal
nominations for PRONOIA RESOURCES.
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning May 1
Copyright 2008 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Have you ever been filled with a terrible yearning to become
something new? Do you know what it's like to be racked with a
ferocious hunger to change your life? Speaking from experience,
I know that such a state can sometimes feel heavy and dark. But
I'm here to tell you that it can also be a tremendous asset. The
key to transforming it into a gift, ironically, is to see it as
a gift. So your assignment, Taurus, is to interpret your ache
for transformation as a potent blessing. To do so will give you
the power to perform magic you can't even imagine yet.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Ariel was going through a hard time. She'd been weaning herself
from a painkiller she'd taken while recovering from surgery. Her
cat ran away, and there was a misunderstanding at work. One night
while at a nightclub with her friend Leila, she spied her ex-boyfriend
kissing some woman. Meltdown ensued. Ariel fled the club and ran
sobbing into the street, where she hurled her shoes on top of
a passing bus. Leila retrieved her and sat her down on a bench.
"Because up until now you've displayed such exemplary grace
in the face of chaos," Leila said, "I'm giving you a
free Crazy Pass. It gives you a karma-free license to temporarily
lose your mind." This compassionate humor helped Ariel feel
more composed. The rest of the night she partied beautifully,
achieving major relief and release without hurting herself. Now,
Gemini, in accordance with the omens, I'm awarding you, too, with
a free Crazy Pass.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
It's finally the right time for you to hear a piece of advice
you weren't ready for before. If I had told you this any earlier,
you would have at best misinterpreted it and at worst had no idea
what I was talking about. But in recent weeks you've recovered
a portion of your lost wildness, which means I can confidently
reveal the following truth, courtesy of poet Charles Simic: "He
who cannot howl will not find his pack."
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
There's oil on Saturn's moon Titan! NASA reports that its spacecraft
Cassini found vast lakes of liquid hydrocarbons. There's enough,
from what I can tell, to supply 40 generations of humans with
enough fuel to go joyriding in five-mile-a-gallon SUVs for a thousand
years. In response to the revelation, militant patriots are already
calling for the U.S. to invade and occupy Titan. In related news,
I predict that a novel energy source will soon become available
for your personal use, Leo. Luckily, it won't be nearly as hard
to tap into as Titan's riches will be for the oil companies. It'll
also be much better for the environment.
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EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES
In addition to the horoscopes that come to you in this newsletter,
I create audio horoscopes for your inspiration. They discuss themes
and cover material that I don't have room to deal with in the
written horoscopes.
They're $6 if you access them on the Web, or $1.99 per minute
over the phone.
Try them at RealAstrology.com.
By phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.
"I always feel like I know myself better after listening
to your audio 'scopes."
- June R., Austin, TX
"Your audio horoscopes calm me down when I'm too manic and
pep me up when I'm down."
- Arthur T., Cleveland, OH
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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
"Whatcha gonna do with your freedom?" asks Lakshmi
Devi on "Freedom," a song from her CD Raise a Holy
Fire. Here's what she says she'll do with hers: "I choose
to lose control in the presence of staggering beauty/ I choose
to be stripped of what is unreal." In my view, that's an
epically brazen way to use one's freedom -- right up there, in
terms of radical moral zeal, with choosing to ease the suffering
of everyone you encounter. With these examples to inspire you,
Virgo, take some time to make an aggressive new formulation about
how you'll use your growing freedom.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
"Partner needed for mission from God," read the classified
ad I spied online. "I'm driving across the country in a banana-yellow
1979 Cadillac Seville with a Lionel Richie photo dangling from
the rearview mirror and the thousand-page manuscript of my autobiography
piled in the trunk. The mission is driving to Mexico to find my
biological father, a rancher. Swimming pools will be peed in,
convenience stores trashed, and large sunglasses worn. If you
accompany me, I'll pay you $1,000." In calling this to your
attention, Libra, I'm not necessarily suggesting you take the
guy up on his offer. However, I do hope you'll be alert for comparable
proposals that would reward you for helping interesting characters
carry out edgy, inspirational quests.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
If you hurt another person, you hurt yourself. The act of inflicting
injury distorts you, making it more difficult for you to be in
alignment with your highest potential. The converse is also true.
When you hurt yourself, you inevitably hurt others. The damage
you cause to yourself diminishes your ability to give your best
gifts. Keep this mind, Scorpio, as you celebrate Do No Harm Week.
Be scrupulous in your intention to practice non-violence in every
way you can imagine.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Farmers in Morocco can earn 40 times more money by growing marijuana
instead of avocados or tomatoes. Meanwhile, my friend René
brings in ten times the salary she used to make as a secretary
by working as a stripper at a nightclub. That means she can devote
less time to earning a living and has more time to do what she
loves, which is playing music. I expect that you've received or
will soon receive a comparable opportunity or temptation, Sagittarius.
I'm not sure what the morally correct action will be. But I do
urge you to try to put your long-term interests above your short-term
interests.
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AUDIO HOROSCOPES
In addition to the horoscopes that you're reading here, I create
audio horoscopes for your amusement and inspiration. Find out
more at RealAstrology.com.
The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888
or 1-900-950-7700.
"Your audio horoscopes work better than my therapist and
cost me five percent of what he charges."
- Chris M., San Francisco, CO
"You've helped me remember important things about myself
that I'd forgotten."
- Ruth V., Toronto
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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
When the first George Bush ran for U.S. President in 1988, he
worried that he and his wife Barbara appeared less affectionate
in public than their opponents, Michael and Kitty Dukakis. "Sweetsie,"
he wrote to her, "Look at how Mike and Kitty do it. Try to
be closer in, more romantic on camera. I am practicing the loving
look, and the creeping hand. Yours for better TV and more demonstrable
affection. Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo." Though my moral principles
make it tough to ask you to imitate any president named Bush,
it's my astrological duty to do that, at least in this one matter.
Your Love Quotient has got to go way, way up. So please: Practice
the loving look and the creeping hand. And find an excuse to call
someone "sweetie-pie-coo-coo." [Source: My Dear
President: Letters Between Presidents and Their Wives.]
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
How do I come up with your forecasts? First I meditate on the
chart of the current astrological configurations. Then I say this
prayer to the higher powers: "Please help me tune in to the
message that is most important for Aquarians to hear." After
that I close my eyes and release my creative mind into the tidal
swells of the collective unconscious, suggesting that it find
an image or phrase or story that captures the essence of the next
step you need to take. Right now, for instance, I'm getting a
vision of you not relying on me, but rather exercising the initiative
to hunt down the question that's most important for you to ask
right now.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Rumor has it that you are overflowing with so many fresh, hot
ideas that you can't use them fast enough. So why not give some
away? Like for instance donate a few to me. I'll be glad to take
them off your hands and find a decent home for them. If I use
your brilliant notions to make lots of money, I may even give
you a kickback. So don't let your surplus of brainstorms bog you
down, Pisces. Send your excess to me at uaregod@comcast.net.
(P.S. In case you can't tell, I'm joking. In fact, I'd love it
if you kept all your smart ideas for yourself, and worked expeditiously
to turn every one of them into some practical improvement in your
life.)
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Your power symbol for the week is an ant carrying a potato chip.
It means you'll possess so much strength that you'll be able to
hold aloft burdens that are much bigger than you. More than that,
Aries. You'll look graceful doing it. And here's the kicker. That
giant load you carry may ultimately provide nourishment not only
for you but also for everyone back at the nest.
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HOMEWORK:
What part of the past are you still enslaved to? What can you
do to free yourself? Testify by going to FreeWillAstrology.com
and clicking on "Email Rob."
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WANT TO GET YOUR CHART DONE?
I'm not doing personal charts, but I highly recommend my astrological
colleague, RO LOUGHRAN. Her approach closely matches my own. In
our many discussions about astrology over the years, we've had
a major influence on each other's work.
Ro utilizes a blend of well-trained
intuition, emotional warmth, and
a high
degree of technical proficiency
in horoscope interpretation; she
is skilled
at exploring the mysteries of your
life's purpose and nurturing your
connection with your own inner
wisdom.
Ro is based in California, but
can do phone consultations and
otherwise
work with you regardless of geographic
boundaries.
Ro's website is at YourSoulJourney.com
She can also be reached at roloughran@comcast.net
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Submissions sent to the Free
Will Astrology Weekly Newsletter
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Requests for anonymity will be
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Please be sure to note your preference
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are not responsible for unsolicited
submission of any creative
material.
Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2008 Rob Brezsny
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