Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
MAY 25, 2011
FreeWillAstrology.com
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The piece below is excerpted from my book PRONOIA IS THE
ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA
available at Amazon: bit.ly/Pronoia
or Powells: bit.ly/PronoiaPowells
ECSTATIC STUDY GUIDE, Part 3
Strategies for plying a chronic, low-key, blissful union with
everything you're not
1. My old philosophy professor Norman O. Brown would periodically
interrupt his lectures, tilt his head upward as if tuning in to
the whisper of some heavenly voice, and announce in a puckish
tone, "It's time for your irregular reminder: We're already
living after the end of the world. No need to fret anymore."
The implication was that the worst had already happened. We had
lost much of the cultural riches that had given humans meaning
for centuries. All that was going to be taken from us had already
been taken.
On the bright side, that meant we were utterly free to reinvent
ourselves. Living amidst the emptiness, we had nowhere to go but
up. What remained was alienating, but it was also fresh.
Working from the hypothesis that you're living after the end
of the world, what are you free to do that you weren't able to
do before? Who are you free to be?
2. One of my favorite memories is gazing into my daughter Zoe's
face just moments after her complicated birth. She had been through
a heroic ordeal that scared the hell out of me, and yet she looked
calm, beatific, and amused.
"She's part-Buddha and part-elf," I thought to myself
as I held her in my arms. Gazing back at me, her shiny face blended
two states I had never before witnessed together in anyone, let
alone in an infant: elegant compassion and playful serenity. This
revelation imprinted me like a blood oath and has informed my
life and my work ever since.
Do you have a comparable memory? A time when a key to your destiny
was suddenly laid bare? A turning point when you got a gift that
has fueled your quest for years? Revisit that breakthrough. Then
ask life for another one.
3. Many people sincerely think that they will be called before
God to account for themselves on Judgment Day. If you yourself
have held that belief, you can stop worrying about it. The fact
is, according to a survey of over 800 dissident bodhisattvas,
urban witch doctors, sacred agents, and undercover geniuses, that
you are called before "God" on Judgment Day on a regular
basis.
Since you still exist, you have apparently passed every test
so far. "God" obviously keeps finding you worthy. You
shouldn't get overconfident, of course. But maybe from now on
you can assume that although there may be a world of pressure
on you, that pressure is natural, merciful, and exactly what you
need.
Try this experiment: For seven days, see what it feels like to
be secure in your knowledge that you have passed the tests of
Judgment Day many, many times.
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU GIVE BEAUTY?
Radical Joy for Hard Times
tinyurl.com/3qfscux
Heal a wounded place on the earth
GETTING SOCIAL SERVICES RIGHT MATTERS MORE THAN IDEOLOGY
The story of how Medellín, Colombia's drug capital, became
as safe as Washington. Unexpected victory for urban planning --
placing beautiful architecture in poorest, crime-ridden areas
-- and social reintegration programs.
http://tinyurl.com/3z9oe6s
HAVE YOU HAD YOUR MINIMUM DAILY REQUIREMENT OF BEAUTY?
Evidence of nature's pronoia
http://i.imgur.com/DqYhk.jpg
(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 26
Copyright 2011 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Poet Gerard Manley Hopkins coined the verb "to selve,"
which is what a person does in the process of creating his or
her distinctive presence in the world. Writing this column is
an ongoing opportunity for me to selve, for example, because each
time I conjure up a new horoscope I exercise the idiosyncratic
combination of skills, attitudes, training, and knowledge that
is special to me. According to my reading of the omens, Gemini,
you are in a phase when you have a sacred duty to selve with extra
intensity and alacrity. In fact, I suggest you be ruthless in
seeking out experiences that give you a chance to tap into, cultivate,
and express your most unique qualities.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Here comes your ninth loss of innocence, Cancerian. Or is it
your tenth? As you will soon prove once again, you manage to make
every time feel like the first time. When the moment arrives and
the sweet purity ebbs away, the twinge that shudders through you
will have the same primal intensity you've experienced before.
But here's the redemption: Like most of the previous transitions,
this one will lead to a surprising blessing you couldn't have
gotten any other way. When your innocence is reborn -- as it will
be, sooner or later -- it will be wiser and wilder than ever before.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
There's a small chance that the following scenario will soon
come to pass: You'll be invited to become part of a situation
that promises to give you special privileges or inside information,
but after you join you'll find out that your participation would
require you to compromise your principles. But there's a far greater
chance -- over 80 percent -- that the following scenario will
take place: You'll be invited to join your fortunes to a group
or circle or tribe or situation that won't ask you to dilute your
integrity or betray your values at all. In fact, it's likely to
activate a dormant part of your potential. The moral of the story,
Leo: Be very discerning.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Right now you have more power than you realize -- more power
to understand confusing situations, more power to influence people
you've assumed are resistant to change, and more power to overcome
your apparent disadvantages. In fact the only factor that could
prevent you from accomplishing way more than what you thought
possible is a lack of confidence. Please note, Virgo: I'm not
urging you to cultivate a foolishly arrogant faith in your ego.
Rather, I'm clueing you in to the fact that there are hidden forces
at work you can call on to help you -- wisdom that has been dormant,
love that has been neglected, and allies who have been mum.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the
longest love letter in history was written by an Indian man named
Harish Kondakkuli. The gushing 143-page message took him over
three months to complete. Oddly, it was addressed to an imaginary
woman, since there was no one in his life he was actually in love
with. I encourage you to consider the possibility of exceeding
his achievement in the coming weeks, Libra. You're at the peak
of your ability to express wickedly delicious passions and profoundly
tender intentions. There may even be a real person, not an imaginary
one, who warrants your extravagant outflow.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Postsecret.com is a website
where people can anonymously reveal their deep, dark feelings.
I came across one entry that I think would be perfect for you
to use as your own in the coming weeks. "I don't want to
cover up my scar," it read. "It's a good conversation
starter and it makes me look bad-ass. But thank you anyway!"
To further inspire what I hope will be your fearless effort to
claim the power inherent in your wounds, I also offer this spur
from musician and author Henry Rollins: "Scar tissue is stronger
than regular tissue. Realize the strength, move on."
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MY OTHER HOROSCOPES
Factual information and reasonable thinking alone are not sufficient
to guide you through life's labyrinthine tests. You need and deserve
regular deliveries of uncanny revelation.
One of your inalienable rights as a human being should therefore
be to receive mysteriously useful omens on a regular basis. In
this spirit, I offer you the free weekly horoscopes you read in
this newsletter.
If you ever want more, and think it's worth paying for, try my
daily text message 'scopes or my expanded audio 'scopes.
Go here to access them: RealAstrology.com
The weekly forecasts are also available by phone: 1-877-873-4888
or 1-900-950-7700.
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SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
In her irreverent platinum-selling song "Monster,"
Sagittarian rapper Nicki Minaj offers up a poetic sequence never
before heard in the history of the planet: "Pull up in the
monster . . . with a bad b-tch that came from Sri Lanka / yeah
I'm in that Tonka, color of Willy Wonka." I hope that you
will soon come up with an equally revolutionary innovation in
your own chosen field, Sagittarius. All the cosmic forces will
be conspiring in the coming weeks to help you to do the equivalent
of rhyming "Tonka" and "Sri Lanka" with "Willy
Wonka." Please cooperate! (The NSFW video is here: bit.ly/MinajMonster.)
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Time is the enemy of romantic love, said Andrew Marvell in his
17th-century poem "To His Coy Mistress." Medieval author
Andreas Capellanus had a different idea, identifying marriage
as the enemy of romantic love. In Richard Wagner's opera Tristan
and Isolde, Tristan rails against the daylight, calling it
the enemy of romantic love. And in their book Immediacy and
Reflection in Kierkegaard's Thought, the editors theorize
that "capitalism, which makes a fetish out of sex . . . is
the enemy of romantic love." While all of those statements
may be true, they're only mildly relevant for you right now. The
most dangerous enemy of romantic love -- or any other kind of
love, for that matter -- is this: not listening well. Overcome
that enemy, Capricorn.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
In an age when bee populations have dropped dramatically, some
gardeners have found they need to pollinate their tomato plants
manually. One woman I know tickles each swollen bulb of seeds
with a toothbrush. Another uses a camel-hair brush. Metaphorically
speaking, Aquarius, I suspect you will have to try something similar
in the coming weeks: making an intervention to facilitate a fertilizing
process that doesn't quite seem to be happening naturally.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
In the coming week, your psyche may sometimes have an odd tingling
sensation that resembles what happens when you hit your funny
bone. Is it painful? Is it pleasurable? Maybe some of both, with
the net effect being a command to wake up and play harder, love
stronger, and notice more beauty. If you respond to that mandate
with even a moderate amount of passion, I suspect you'll get a
surprising reward: At least one of the secret laws of your own
nature will reveal itself to you, rising up clear and raw in a
sweet waking vision.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
"Weaseling out of things is important to learn," said
cartoon anti-hero Homer Simpson. "It's what separates us
from the animals -- except the weasel." I normally don't
share that sentiment. My standard advice is to face up to challenging
situations and take responsibility for the part you played in
creating them. But I'm going to rebel against my custom this week
and endorse Homer's approach, Aries. You may be on the verge of
getting sucked into a mess that you had virtually no role in creating.
Either that, or you'll be asked to carry out a mission that is
irrelevant to your long-term goals. In either case, you have cosmic
permission to weasel out.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
I'm going to bring up a sore subject only because I think you're
finally ready to make it much less of a sore subject. The truth
as I see it, Taurus, is that a part of you got petrified way back
when. A formerly fluid and flexible part of your psyche got turned
into stone, metaphorically speaking, losing much of its usefulness
and creating distortions throughout the rest of you. Now, after
all this time, you have circled back to a phase when you have
the power to at least partially un-petrify this lost function.
To get the process started, I suggest you turn your attention
to it in such a way that you feel like laughing and crying at
the same time.
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HOMEWORK:
What name would you choose for yourself if you couldn't have
the one you do now? Write: Freewillastrology.com
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2011 Rob Brezsny
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