Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
MARCH 7, 2012
FreeWillAstrology.com
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Steal This Image from my book PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR
PARANOIA: bit.ly/wkiPNC
Thou Shalt Not Bore God!
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PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA
is available at Amazon: bit.ly/Pronoia
or Powells: bit.ly/PronoiaPowells
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Lots of people I like and admire are not big fans of "God"
-- or at least the fake "God" that the fundamentalists
hallucinate about. In an effort to whip up a new, improved Divine
Wow untainted by bigotry and delusion, I wrote a piece for my
book entitled "Re-branding God." An excerpt is below.
You can read it in its entirety here: bit.ly/8Nd0M5
RE-BRANDING GOD
1. Philosopher Robert Anton Wilson proposed that the single greatest
contribution to world peace would come from there being over seven
billion different religions -- a unique spiritual path for each
person on the planet. The Beauty and Truth Lab urges you to get
started on doing your part to make this happen. What will your
religion be called? What rituals will you perform? Write down
your three core tenets.
2. You'll also need a new name for the Creator. "God"
and "Goddess" have been so overused and abused that
most of us are numb to them. And given the spiritual opportunities
that will open up for you as you explore pronoia, you can't afford
to have an impaired sensitivity toward the Great Mystery.
Here's an idea to stimulate your search: The Russian word for
God is "Bog." The Basques call the Supreme Being "Jingo."
To purge your psychic dockets of built-up fixations about deity,
you might try singing improvisational prayers to "Jingo Bog."
Here are a few other fresh names to inspire you:
Blooming HaHa
Divine Wow
Whirl-Zap-Gush
Sublime Cackler
Chthonic Riddler
3. Since ancient times, China has hosted three religions: Confucianism,
Buddhism, and Taoism. Many Chinese people have cobbled together
a melange of beliefs gathered from all three. This is different
from the Western way, which is to be faithful to one religion
or another, never mixing and matching.
But that's changing in certain enclaves in North America, where
growing numbers of seekers are adopting the Chinese approach.
They borrow elements from a variety of spiritual traditions to
create a personalized path. Religious historians call this syncretism.
As you meditate on conjuring up your own unique mode of worship,
think of the good parts you'd like to steal from other religions.
4. Most religions designate a special class of people -- priests,
rabbis, ayatollahs -- to oversee official communications with
the Source. This has led to a prevailing assumption, even among
those who don't follow an established faith, that we can't initiate
a divine conversation without the aid of a professional class
of trained mediators. Among some sects of the ancient gnostics,
in contrast, everyone was regarded as a potential prophet who
could experience epiphanies worthy of becoming part of the ever-evolving
doctrine.
The equivalent today would be if the Bible were regarded as an
unfinished text to which every Christian or Jew might be eligible
to add new content.
As you create your own spiritual path, experiment with this do-it-yourself
approach. What might you do to eliminate the middleman and commune
directly with the Source?
READ THE REST HERE: bit.ly/8Nd0M5
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
ACTIVISM WORKS AT LEAST SOME OF THE TIME
How the Pipeline Died -- And How to Bury It For Good. Grassroots
strategies paid off for the climate movement in a big way.
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SLOWLY BUT SURELY, WE'RE CREATING AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT FUTURE
A new solar cell that achieves 41 percent efficiency
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YOUR MINIMUM DAILY REQUIREMENT OF BEAUTY
Red Aurora Over Australia
apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120201.html
(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 March 8
Copyright 2012 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Shunryu Suzuki was a Zen master whose books helped popularize
Zen Buddhism in America. A student once asked him, "How much
ego do you need?" His austere reply was "Just enough
so that you don't step in front of a bus." While I sympathize
with the value of humility, I wouldn't go quite that far. I think
that a slightly heftier ego, if offered up as a work of art, can
be a gift to the world. What do you think, Pisces? How much ego
is good? To what degree can you create your ego so that it's a
beautiful and dynamic source of power for you and an inspiration
for other people rather than a greedy, needy parasite that distorts
the truth? This is an excellent time to ruminate on such matters.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
"Controlled hysteria is what is required," said playwright
Arthur Miller in speaking about his creative process. "To
exist constantly in a state of controlled hysteria. It's agony.
But everyone has agony. The difference is that I try to take my
agony home and teach it to sing." I hope this little outburst
inspires you, Aries. It's an excellent time for you to harness
your hysteria and instruct your agony in the fine art of singing.
To boost your chances of success in pulling off this dicey feat,
use every means at your disposal to have fun and stay amused.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
The Cherokee Heritage website wants people to know that not all
Native American tribes have the same traditions. In the Cherokee
belief system, it's Grandmother Sun and Grandfather Moon, which
is the opposite of most tribes. There are no Cherokee shamans,
only medicine men and women and adawehis, or religious
leaders. They don't have "pipe carriers," don't do the
Sun Dance, and don't walk the "Good Red Road." In fact,
they walk the White Path, have a purification ceremony called
"Going to Water," and perform the Green Corn ceremony
as a ritual renewal of life. I suggest you do a similar clarification
for the group you're part of and the traditions you hold dear,
Taurus. Ponder your tribe's unique truths and ways. Identify them
and declare them.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
In the coming weeks, the activity going on inside your mind
and heart will be especially intense and influential -- even if
you don't explicitly express it. When you speak your thoughts
and feelings out loud, they will have unusual power to change
people's minds and rearrange their moods. When you keep your thoughts
and feelings to yourself, they will still leak all over everything,
bending and shaping the energy field around you. That's why I
urge you to take extra care as you manage what's going on within
you. Make sure the effect you're having is the effect you want
to have.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Artist Richard Kehl tells the story of a teenage girl who got
the chance to ask a question of the eminent psychologist Carl
Jung. "Professor, you are so clever. Could you please tell
me the shortest path to my life's goal?" Without a moment's
hesitation Jung replied, "The detour!" I invite you
to consider the possibility that Jung's answer might be meaningful
to you right now, Cancerian. Have you been churning out overcomplicated
thoughts about your mission? Are you at risk of getting a bit
too grandiose in your plans? Maybe you should at least dream about
taking a shortcut that looks like a detour or a detour that looks
like a shortcut.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
An old Chinese proverb says: "My barn having burned to
the ground, I can see the moon." The speaker of those words
was making an effort to redefine a total loss as a partial gain.
The building may have been gone, but as a result he or she had
a better view of a natural wonder that was previously difficult
to observe. I don't foresee any of your barns going down in flames,
Leo, so I don't expect you'll have to make a similar redefinition
under duress. However, you have certainly experienced events like
that in the past. And now would be an excellent time to revise
your thinking about their meaning. Are you brave enough and ingenious
enough to reinterpret your history? It's find-the-redemption week.
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YOU'VE ALWAYS GOT MORE HELP AVAILABLE THAN YOU IMAGINE
What do you want to be when you grow up? Is it possible that
you will eventually develop beautiful capacities and sublime understandings
that you can't even imagine right now?
I might be able to help you move in the direction of becoming
more of the person you were born to be.
Tune in to my EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES
Find out more at RealAstrology.com.
The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888.
"The best part about your audio horoscopes is that they
pat me on the head and kick me in the ass at the same time."
- Rita L., San Diego
"Your audio oracles go beyond helping me find the truth
-- they inspire me to find the WILD truth."
- Patrick K., Montreal
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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play
than in a year of conversation." Numerous websites on the
Internet allege that Greek philosopher Plato made this statement,
which I regard as highly unlikely. But in any case, the thought
itself has some merit. And in accordance with your current astrological
omens, I will make it your motto for the week. This is an excellent
time to learn more about and become closer to the people you care
for, and nothing would help you accomplish that better than getting
together for intensive interludes of fooling around and messing
around and horsing around.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are
challenged to change ourselves," said Holocaust survivor
Viktor Frankl. His advice might be just what you need to hear
right now, Libra. Have you struggled, mostly fruitlessly, to change
a stagnant situation that has resisted your best efforts? Is there
a locked door you've been banging on, to no avail? If so, I invite
you to redirect your attention. Reclaim the energy you have been
expending on closed-down people and moldering systems. Instead,
work on the unfinished beauty of what lies closest at hand: yourself.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
In this passage from Still Life with Woodpecker, Tom
Robbins provides a hot tip you should keep in mind. "There
are essential and inessential insanities. Inessential insanities
are a brittle amalgamation of ambition, aggression, and pre-adolescent
anxiety -- garbage that should have been dumped long ago. Essential
insanities are those impulses one instinctively senses are virtuous
and correct, even though peers may regard them as coo-coo."
I'll add this, Scorpio: Be crazily wise and wisely crazy in the
coming weeks. It will be healthy for you. Honor the wild ideas
that bring you joy and the odd desires that remind you of your
core truths.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
I don't think you will need literal medicine this week. Your
physical vigor should be good. But I'm hoping you will seek out
some spirit medicine -- healing agents that fortify the secret
and subtle parts of your psyche. Where do you find spirit medicine?
Well, the search itself will provide the initial dose. Here are
some further ideas: Expose yourself to stirring art and music
and films; have conversations with empathic friends and the spirits
of dead loved ones; spend time in the presence of a natural wonder;
fantasize about a thrilling adventure you will have one day; and
imagine who you want to be three years from now.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Each of us is the star of our own movie. There are a few other
lead and supporting actors who round out the cast, but everyone
else in the world is an extra. Now and then, though, people whom
we regard as minor characters suddenly rise to prominence and
play a pivotal role in our unfolding drama. I expect this phenomenon
is now occurring or will soon occur for you, Capricorn. So please
be willing to depart from the script. Open yourself to the possibility
of improvisation. People who have been playing bit parts may have
more to contribute than you imagine.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
The "cocktail party effect" refers to your ability
to hear your name being spoken while in the midst of a social
gathering's cacophony. This is an example of an important practice,
which is how to discern truly meaningful signals embedded in the
noise of all the irrelevant information that surrounds you. You
should be especially skilled at doing this in the coming weeks,
Aquarius -- and it will be crucial that you make abundant use
of your skill. As you navigate your way through the clutter of
symbols and the overload of data, be alert for the few key messages
that are highly useful.
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HOMEWORK:
Name your greatest unnecessary taboo and how you would violate
it if it didn't hurt anyone. FreeWillAstrology.com.
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2012 Rob Brezsny
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