Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter February 17, 2010

Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
FEBRUARY 17, 2010
FreeWillAstrology.com

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Main website: FreeWillAstrology.com
Expanded Audio Horoscopes: RealAstrology.com
Facebook fan page: bit.ly/8qoqVG
Sign up for the RSS feed: bit.ly/615CND
Read the long-term forecasts for 2010: bit.ly/BigLife
Rob's Podcasts & Videos: bit.ly/HearSee
Sign up for daily astrological text messages: RealAstrology.com

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"You have at least a million relatives as close as tenth cousin, and no one on Earth is any further removed than your fiftieth cousin. Murchie also describes our kinship through an analysis of how deeply we share the air. With each breath, you take into your body 10 sextillion atoms, and -- owing to the wind's ceaseless circulation -- over a year's time you have intimate relations with oxygen molecules exhaled by every person alive, as well as by everyone who ever lived."
-Guy Murchie, The Seven Mysteries of Life

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The revised and expanded version of my book PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA is available at Amazon: bit.ly/Pronoia

Below is an excerpt. To read the whole text, go here: bit.ly/PronoiaNetwork

PRONOIA NEWS NETWORK, VOLUME 1

You read and hear and see the relentless assault of bad news every day. Would you like to expose yourself to the rest of the story? Would you like to steep yourself in the glorious stories of the human race that the mainstream news are allergic to?

Here are some of the top stories we're following:

- Current human life expectancy, already at age 78 for Americans, is steadily increasing.

- Crime in the U.S. is at its lowest level since it was first officially tracked.

- A Canadian moose can now walk in peace and safety all the way to South America.

- The world's largest private bank, Citigroup, agreed to stop financing projects that damage sensitive ecosystems.

- You have at least a million relatives as close as tenth cousin, and no one on Earth is any further removed than your fiftieth cousin.

- The juvenile crime rate has plummeted to its lowest levels since 1979. Violent crime committed by teenagers is 40 percent lower than it was in 1994.

- With every dawn, when first light penetrates the sea, many seahorse colonies perform a dance to the sun.

For full reports on the above stories, as well as more pronoiac news, tune in to the Pronoia News Network: bit.ly/PronoiaNetwork

And here's how the report looks in the book, with all the pretty pictures and layout: bit.ly/PronoiaNews1

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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:

THE EVIDENCE KEEPS GROWING
Check out a compendium of all the pronoiac resources gathered in this newsletter over the past months.
pronoiaresources.com

NO, PEOPLE ARE NOT ACTUALLY MORE INTERESTED IN BAD NEWS THAN GOOD NEWS
What kind of information travels fastest? Do people prefer to spread good news or bad news? Would we rather scandalize or enlighten? SURPRISE: People prefer e-mailing articles with positive rather than negative themes, and they liked to send long articles on intellectually challenging topics that inspire awe.
tinyurl.com/y9azmnm

NATURE'S PRONOIAC REVENGE
Some forests are growing back
tinyurl.com/yavjsze

EVEN THE ANIMALS ARE CONSPIRING TO SHOWER US WITH BLESSINGS
Top 5 Animal Super-Hero Stories
tinyurl.com/yb2g9ng

(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 February 18

Copyright 2010 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

Historians trace the origin of Poland as a nation to the year 966. It mostly thrived for hundreds of years, but was extinguished in 1795, when three imperialistic invaders -- Russia, Prussia, and Austria -- claimed different parts of it as their own. Throughout the 19th century, when there was no Poland, the Poles fought to restore self-rule. Their dream came true on November 11, 1918, when Poland once again became an independent nation. I regard the phase you're now in, Pisces, as having certain similarities to the state of the Polish people in October 1918. Congratulations in advance for the imminent return of your sovereignty.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):

I personally don't believe we're living in the worst of times, although I know many people who do. While there are indeed reasons to despair, our current state of affairs is actually in many ways quite glorious. And our struggles are puny compared to those of the generation that lived through the two World Wars and the Great Depression. Having said that, I think it's fine to believe that civilization is in a terrible mess if it motivates you to shed all your trivial distractions and inessential wishes so as to dedicate yourself to living an exciting, generous life that's rich with love and meaning. Now is a prime time for you, Aries, to dedicate yourself to such a path.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

Throughout 2010, you're most likely to be consistently in the right place at the right time if you cultivate an amused skepticism toward what's in vogue. In fact, I suspect that only one trend will be of any use to you at all. You heard me correctly, Taurus: Of all the fashionable obsessions that may tempt you, just one will be in sweet alignment with your authentic needs. And guess what? Right now happens to be the perfect moment to get hooked up with it.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

When I was lead vocalist in the band Tao Chemical, I sang a tune whose chorus went as follows: "I want the truth / the whole truth / nothing but the truth / I want the truth / Don't beat around the bush." Shortly after we started performing the song, my girlfriend broke up with me. And she felt free -- given what I proclaimed in those lyrics -- to share with me every excruciating detail about her new relationship. It was painful, and I felt tempted to forswear the song and never utter those brave words again. But I was ultimately glad I didn't weaken. To this day, I prefer knowing the full facts. Now I'm recommending to you, Gemini, that you pledge yourself to the same intention in the coming weeks. It should be much easier for you than it initially was for me. Most of the truths rushing in will be interesting and enlivening, with just a little angst mixed in.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

"Jane Austen was the spinster daughter of a clergyman who led an uneventful life," wrote Geoffrey Wheatcroft in The Guardian." She just happened to write half a dozen flawless masterpieces, which came perfectly formed, not from experience but from imagination." Most of us don't have anything close to the inconceivably potent imagination that Austen possessed. But I believe 2010 will be a year when you can access at least a portion of that wondrous capacity. You'll be able to fantasize about vast possibilities in exquisite detail. You will have great skill at smashing your way free of limiting expectations through the power of your expansive vision. And the coming weeks will be a time when it should all kick into high gear.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

Of all the symbols in the world, the swastika is the most horrendous. As the logo for Hitler's Nazi movement, it will forever smack of evil. But it didn't used to be that way. In many cultures throughout history, from the Greeks to the Hindus to the Native Americans, the swastika was a representation of the sun's path across the sky, and was regarded as highly auspicious, even a good luck charm. Can you think of a more modest equivalent of this phenomenon in your own life, Leo? A formerly wonderful thing that got spoiled somewhere along the way? The coming weeks will be a good time to determine whether you could redeem and rehabilitate it.

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IF YOU WANT MORE FREE WILL ASTROLOGY,
TRY THE EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES

The horoscopes you read in this newsletter may be plenty for your needs. But if you'd like to experience more of my thoughts about your current situation, you might want to try my EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES. They're 4 to 5 minute meditations on the state of your life and where you're going.

Sign in and access them here: RealAstrology.com

If you like you can get both a reading about the days ahead and a long-term rumination on your destiny in 2010.

The weekly forecasts are also available by phone: 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

I need a break from watching you work your psyche to the bone. At least for now, I'm not willing to indulge you in your inclination to do your duty so exhaustively that you suffer. And as much as I admire your drive to get things perfect, I cannot in good conscience encourage you to do that, either. It is therefore with a sense of relief that I counsel you to take at least a week off from the behavior I described. Instead, try playful, messy experiments that are in service to your own needs. Be a freewheeling explorer, a wandering improviser.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

"Whatever gets in the way of the work," wrote poet Jason Shinder, "is the work." His counsel will serve as a good reminder for you if you meet with obstacles in the coming days. If you ever catch yourself thinking, "Damn! I'd be making such good progress if it weren't for these inconvenient complications," consider the possibility that the inconvenient complications aren't distractions, but rather crucial clues; they're not pains in the assets, but medicinal prods that point the way to the real opportunities.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

Have you ever watched the TV show "The Office"? If so, you may remember when Darryl from the warehouse was going out with customer service rep Kelly. "You need to access your uncrazy side," he told her at a turning point in their relationship. "Otherwise, maybe this thing has run its course." I'd like to invite you to do the same, Scorpio: Tap into, draw up to the surface, and abundantly express your uncrazy side. I predict that you will have a whole lot of fun if you do, thereby proving that you don't need to be marinating in chaos and torment in order to experience high adventure.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

The game you've been enmeshed in has reached a sticking point, or soon will. I recommend that you call for a suspension of action. If that's not possible, hide from the other players for a while, or jokingly tell them you have to excuse yourself because it's time for your regular bout of cleansing escapism. Then, during the break, scour your brain free of clutter so you can gain a more dispassionate view of your own strategy. I also suggest that you seek the advice of a smart and impartial observer. If all goes well, you'll be able to return to the fray refreshed within ten days.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

Being scrupulously ethical can be taxing and time-consuming. It involves high levels of ongoing self-examination, which many people are too selfish and lazy to bother with. On the upside, pursuing a path with integrity ultimately reduces one's suffering. It also attracts the kind of assistance that is most likely to aid and abet one's quest for liberation. As a bonus, it makes it unlikely that one will be a cockroach in one's next incarnation. I'm bringing this up, Capricorn, because I'm sensing that you're about to be tempted to be less than your best self. Please don't succumb.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

"The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable," said renowned economist John Kenneth Galbraith. If that's true, I'm doubling the damage to my dignity by using astrological analysis to make an economic forecast in this horoscope. But that's OK. My job is to report the raw truth as I see it, not worry about my reputation or social status. And the raw truth as I see it is that you are more likely than all the other signs of the zodiac to prosper in 2010, even if the economy as a whole continues to limp along. The next four weeks will be an ideal time to launch a master plan to take advantage of this potential.

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HOMEWORK:

Comment on this quote from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: "Plunge into matter. Plunge into God. By means of all created things, without exception, the divine assails us, penetrates us and molds us. We imagine it as distant and inaccessible, whereas in fact, we live steeped in its burning layers." Write me at Truthrooster@fmail.com.

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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 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 such submissions for length, style, and content. Requests for anonymity will be honored with submissions; otherwise, reader names, screen names, or initials will be used. Please be sure to note your preference when sending to us. We are not responsible for unsolicited submission of any creative material.

Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright 2010 Rob Brezsny

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