Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter March 21, 2012

Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
MARCH 21, 2012
FreeWillAstrology.com

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BY A MUTANT, FOR THE MUTANTS

One of my favorite thinkers and writers on the planet is my friend Jonathan Zap. His insights are simultaneously cosmic and intimate, shocking and healing. Of all the visionary philosophers, he offers the smartest perspective about the world-shaking evolutionary changes we're in the midst of. He has published his first book, which I consider a major event: Crossing the Event Horizon: Human Metamorphosis and the Singularity Archetype.

Find out how to read the first 40 pages free, or else buy it: bit.ly/A4Xn9S

Find out more about the book: bit.ly/x8TgMe

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My book
PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA
is available at Amazon: bit.ly/Pronoia
or Powells: bit.ly/PronoiaPowells

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

WHAT IS THE BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB?

As I cruised at 65 mph between Larkspur and Corte Madera, a blonde in a Jaguar convertible with the top down passed me on the right. Perhaps distracted by the chat she was enjoying on her cell phone, she suddenly zipped in front of me. After hitting my brakes to avoid rear-ending her, I honked my horn to express my annoyance. In response, she careened over to the left lane, then slowed down and waited for me to catch up.

I avoided eye contact at first, but finally looked over. Quaking with agitation, she was flashing me a middle-finger salute and a mad face as fierce as a Tibetan demon. Her car was veering closer to mine. Might she actually crash into me on purpose?

TO READ THE REST, go here: bit.ly/BeautyandTruthLab

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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:

PRONOIA AT THE HEART OF THE LOST CITY
Work, Reimagined: Detroit Gets Creative. How residents of America's most famously down and out city are building livelihoods that also rebuild their communities.
tinyurl.com/7u2mjkk

UNITING BEHIND PRONOIAC GOALS
Nicaragua's push to generate 94 percent of its own electricity from renewable resources by 2016 without damaging the environment has united the country.
tinyurl.com/6tp8ylz

YOUR DAILY MINIMUM REQUIREMENT OF AMAZING EVERYDAY BEAUTY
People who gather seafood from underneath the ice when the tide goes out.
tinyurl.com/4xujqpr

(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 22

Copyright 2012 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com

ARIES (March 21-April 19):

Not bad for a few weeks' work, or play, or whatever it is you want to call this tormented, inspired outburst. Would it be too forward of me to suggest that you've gone a long way toward outgrowing the dark fairy tale that had been haunting your dreams for so long? And yet all this may just be a warm-up for your next metamorphosis, in which you make an audacious new commitment to becoming what you really want to be when you grow up.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

This week I'm taking a break from my usual pep talks. I think it's for the best. If I deliver a kind-hearted kick in the butt, maybe it will encourage you to make a few course corrections, thereby making it unnecessary for fate to get all tricky and funky on you. So here you go, Taurus: 1. The last thing you need is someone to support your flaws and encourage you in your delusions. True friends will offer snappy critiques and crisp advice. 2. Figure out once and for all why you keep doing a certain deed that's beneath you, then gather the strength and get the help you need to quit it. 3. It's your duty to stop doing your duty with such a somber demeanor and heavy tread. To keep from sabotaging the good it can accomplish, you've got to put more pleasure into it.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

The German word Weltratsel can be translated as "World Riddle." Coined by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, it refers to questions like "What is the meaning of existence?" and "What is the nature of reality?" According to my reading of the astrological omens, Gemini, you're now primed to deepen your understanding of the World Riddle. For the next few weeks, you will have an enhanced ability to pry loose useful secrets about some big mysteries. Certain passages in the Book of Life that have always seemed like gobbledygook to you will suddenly make sense. Here's a bonus: Every time you decipher more of the World Riddle, you will solve another small piece of your Personal Riddle.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." So wrote George Bernard Shaw in his book Man and Superman. From the hints I have gleaned, Cancerian, you are now in an ideal phase to be the sort of unreasonable man or woman who gets life to adapt so as to better serve you and your dreams. Even if it's true that the emphasis in the past has often been on you bending and shaping yourself to adjust to the circumstances others have wrought, the coming weeks could be different.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

In his book Word Hero, Jay Heinrichs offers us advice about how to deliver pithy messages that really make an impact. Here's one tip that would be especially useful for you in the coming days: Exaggerate precisely. Heinrichs gives an example from the work of the illustrious raconteur, American author Mark Twain. Twain did not write, "In a single day, New England's weather changes a billion times." Rather, he said, "In the spring I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of four-and twenty hours." Be inspired by Twain's approach in every way you can imagine, Leo. Make things bigger and wilder and more expansive everywhere you go, but do it with exactitude and rigor.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

"Liminality" is a term that refers to the betwixt and between state. It's dawn or dusk, when neither night nor day fully rules. It's the mood that prevails when a transition is imminent or a threshold beckons. During a rite of passage, liminality is the phase when the initiate has left his or her old way of doing things but has not yet been fully accepted or integrated into the new way. Mystical traditions from all over the world recognize this as a shaky but potent situation -- a time and place when uncertainty and ambiguity reign even as exciting possibilities loom. In my estimate, Virgo, you're now ensconced in liminality.

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SOME OF THE STUFF IS FREE, SOME OF THE STUFF COSTS MONEY

Here's a page with a lot of the free stuff I offer: bit.ly/FreeWork

Besides all that, I also offer in-depth audio horoscopes that cost a little money. Find out more at RealAstrology.com.

The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888.

"Your expanded audio horoscopes are the next best thing to actually having you here next to me to remind me who I really am."
- Alyssa R., Des Moines, Iowa

"When I listen to your audio 'scopes, my free will lights up."
- Alex D., Los Angeles

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

The Argentinian writer Antonio Porchia said there were two kinds of shadows: "some hide, others reveal." In recent weeks, you've been in constant contact with the shadows that hide. But beginning any moment now, you'll be wandering away from those rather frustrating enigmas and entering into a dynamic relationship with more evocative mysteries: the shadows that reveal. Be alert for the shift so you won't get caught assuming that the new shadows are just like the old ones.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

Every winter, hordes of ants have overrun my house. At least that was true up until recently. This winter, the pests stayed away, and that has been very good news. I didn't have to fight them off with poison and hand-to-hand combat. The bad news? The reason they didn't invade was because very little rain fell, as it's supposed to during Northern California winters. The ants weren't driven above ground by the torrents that usually soak the soil. And so now drought threatens our part of the world. Water shortages may loom. I propose that this scenario is a metaphor for a dilemma you may soon face, Scorpio -- except that you will have a choice in the matter: Would you rather deal with a lack of a fundamental resource or else an influence that's bothersome but ultimately pretty harmless?

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

You're entering one of the most buoyant phases of your astrological cycle. Your mandate is to be brash and bouncy, frothy and irrepressible. To prepare you, I've rounded up some exclamatory declarations by poet Michael McClure. Take them with you as you embark on your catalytic adventures. They'll help you cultivate the right mood. McClure: "Everything is natural. The light on your fingertips is starlight. Life begins with coiling -- molecules and nebulae. Cruelty, selfishness, and vanity are boring. Each self is many selves. Reason is beauty. Light and darkness are arbitrary divisions. Cleanliness is as undefinable and as natural as filth. The physiological body is pure spirit. Monotony is madness. The frontier is both outside and inside. The universe is the messiah. The senses are gods and goddesses. Where the body is -- there are all things."

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

You know those tall, starched white hats that many chefs wear? Traditionally they had 100 pleats, which denoted the number of ways a real professional could cook an egg. I urge you to wear one of those hats in the coming weeks, Capricorn -- or whatever the equivalent symbol might be for your specialty. It's high time for you to express your ingenuity in dealing with what's simple and familiar . . . to be inventive and versatile as you show how much you can accomplish using just the basics.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

As I was driving my car in San Francisco late one night, I arrived at a traffic signal that confused me. The green light was radiant and steady, but then so was the red light. I came to a complete stop and waited until finally, after about two minutes, the red faded. I suspect you may soon be facing a similar jumble of mixed signals, Aquarius. If that happens, I suggest you do what I did. Don't keep moving forward; pause and sit still until the message gets crisp and clear.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

A woman named Joan Ginther has won the Texas Lottery four times, collecting over $20 million. Is she freakishly lucky? Maybe not, according to Nathaniel Rich's article in the August 2011 issue of Harper's. He notes that Ginther has a PhD in math from Stanford, and wonders if she has used her substantial understanding of statistics to game the system. (More here: tinyurl.com/LuckAmuck.) Be inspired by her example, Pisces. You now have exceptional power to increase your good fortune through hard work and practical ingenuity.

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HOMEWORK:

What's the necessary luxury you deny yourself for no good reason? Testify at FreeWillAstrology.com

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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 2012 Rob Brezsny

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