Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
JUNE 13, 2012
FreeWillAstrology.com
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My book
PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA
is available at Amazon: bit.ly/Pronoia
or Powells: bit.ly/PronoiaPowells
Here are excerpts:
LETTERS TO THE BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB, Part 3
DEAR BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB: I've wrestled all my life with fear.
But lately it's been even worse than usual. My personal demons
seem to be winning, or at least getting the better of the fight.
I think it's related to the fact that when I caught wind of the
idea of pronoia, I started working hard to lose all my illusions.
Now I'm thinking maybe that was a mistake. Perhaps I needed my
illusions to keep the demons at bay? - Crybaby
DEAR CRYBABY: Hang on. This is the toughest part of your struggle.
It may seem that the illusions you dissolved were the main barriers
safeguarding you from your demons. But what's more likely is that
those illusions were food for your demons. Very soon now the demons
will have devoured the last of their fuel and will start to starve.
If they don't die off, they will at least fly away in search of
other nourishment.
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DEAR BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB: Two months ago I met the first person
with whom I am completely psychic. We fell deeply in love, of
course. But it turned out that neither of us was ready or able
to fulfill the potential of our connection because we are nowhere
near as profoundly in love with ourselves as we are with each
other. The good news is that through my love for him, I have intensified
my desire to learn to love myself. The bad news is that we can't
really be together as fate intended until we upgrade our self-love.
Can you offer any consolation? - Lucky Yet Unlucky in Love
Dear Lucky: We appreciate your sage caution, but also offer this
alternative view from actress Tallulah Bankhead: "If I had
to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner."
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DEAR BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB: Lately I've been practicing an evangelical
kind of pronoia. In addition to proceeding as if the universe
is conspiring to help me, I'm extending that assumption to my
fellow planeteers. I'm meeting people and visualizing realistically
wonderful futures for them, filled with interesting opportunities
or at least fertile riddles.
For instance, yesterday I saw a morose woman staring blankly
into space at Starbucks as if she were the loneliest person ever
born. I visualized her falling into a deeply engaging conversation
with a new friend, and feeling emboldened by that encounter to
be proactive about seeking out people who stimulate her. Two days
ago I saw an unruly kid acting crazy at the grocery store. I visualized
for him a future of uncompromising individualism creating unique
approaches to old problems.
This evangelical push is a real stretch sometimes. (It's a challenge
to visualize a positive future for, say, a homeless panhandler.)
But I like how it makes me feel. Maybe it's no coincidence that
my physical health has markedly improved recently. And it seems
to be making me more highly attuned to the sometimes subtle blessings
that life does bring into my vicinity -- blessings I might have
missed in the past. - Architect of Empathy
DEAR ARCHITECT: At the Beauty and Truth Lab, we work on the hypothesis
that all of us are affecting each other all the time, either by
direct contact, via telepathic contagion, or through the culture
we co-create. If even 25 percent of that hypothesis is true, why
not be a beacon of blessings, constantly broadcasting images that
promote health and well-being? People just might live up to our
expectations, just as easily as they can live down to them. Plus,
as you noted, it has a tonic effect on the one who acts as a beacon
of blessings.
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DEAR BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB: You asked us readers this question:
"The spiritual teacher A. H. Almaas believes that a genuinely
creative act is always motivated by generosity. If that's true,
how do you explain all the ego-obsessed 'geniuses' who treat everyone
like dirt even as they churn out their supposedly brilliant art?"
Here's my answer: Those aren't really geniuses, and what they
make isn't really brilliant art! It may be popular art, and it
may earn a lot of money for the fake geniuses, but it's not brilliant.
The truth is, many of the richest and most famous artists are
those patronized for their ability to fetishize, glamorize, and
trivialize our cultural pain. You can apply the same statement
to supposed geniuses who apply their talent to the pharmaceutical
industry or nuclear weapons. Creative and intellectual energy
applied to cruelty, domination, and meanness is always stupid.
The true geniuses recognize that cooperation is a stronger evolutionary
force than competition. They know that the only appropriate application
for intelligence is to find ways to make us all feel stupendously
good as much as possible. - Malian
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DEAR BEAUTY AND TRUTH LAB: My mom calls me fat but feeds me pork
rinds. My strongest supporter is a person I want to wrap up like
a mummy, shove into a canoe, and push into the middle of the lake.
My exuberant imagination has taken me hostage, violating its own
principles. I'm so ambivalent and indecisive about everything
that even my addictive nature can't figure out what to be addicted
to. I'd embrace my contradictions if I could, but they've got
me surrounded like a pink-haired, cross-dressing SWAT team frothed
up on multiple espressos. Can you point me in the direction of
the pronoiac exit from this circus-like hell? - Crazy Crank
DEAR CRAZY CRANK: We detect a lot of wit and style in your meditations.
Maybe that's the purpose of the limbo you're in: It's an opportunity
to build your skill at being lively and feisty and smart no matter
what your outer circumstances are.
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My book THE TELEVISIONARY ORACLE has been reprinted:
bit.ly/Televisionary
Read a review: bit.ly/wGpd0t
Here's an excerpt of that review:
"Visualize an even goofier Tom Robbins or a Douglas Adams
turning his efforts away from outer space into inner space.
"Imagine a slap-happy Kurt Vonnegut reeking of optimism
or a Robert Anton Wilson with a spiritual agenda rather than a
paranoia-pushing political one.
"After adjusting their attitudes accordingly, take all four
of these snarky wordsmiths and fuse them together lovingly, tossing
in healthy amounts of counter-propaganda and post-New Age mysticism.
"The end result of this mixture should produce an author
that, if not a perfect portrait of Rob Brezsny, bears more than
a passing resemblance to everyone's favorite alternative astrologer."
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Steal a song from the soundtrack for THE TELEVISIONARY ORACLE:
bit.ly/xfBe4J
"When all the fossil fuels disappeared
it was hard for the first few years"
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
POETRY SNEAKS INTO THE MAINSTREAM
In all the news media, from mainstream to alternative, there is
only one source I know of that regularly calls on poets to add
their flavors: the PBS News Hour. This is largely due to the influence
of my old friend Jeff Brown, who is one of main journalists there.
Check out the News Hour poetry page:
tinyurl.com/yt8unm
PRONOIA IS NOT JUST ABOUT BEING NICE
The Importance of being playful
tinyurl.com/6pjqvle
LET'S EXPERIMENT WITH SACRED DESECRATION
Moss Graffiti Makes Eco-Friendly Street Art
tinyurl.com/d6a9zl9
(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 June 14
Copyright 2012 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Do you remember what you were doing between July 2000 and June
2001? Think back. Did anything happen then that felt like a wild
jumpstart, or a series of epiphanies, or a benevolent form of
shock therapy? Were you forcibly dislodged from a rut by an adversary
who eventually became an ally? Did you wake up from a sleepy trance
you didn't even know you had been in? I'm guessing that at least
some of those experiences will be returning in the coming months,
but on a higher octave this time.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Author Steven Covey describes your "circle of concern"
as everything you're concerned with or worried about. Your "circle
of influence," on the other hand, is anything that's within
your ability to change right now. For example, you may have general
long-term questions or anxieties about the future of your health.
That's your circle of concern. But your circle of influence contains
specific actions you can take to affect your health today, like
eating good food, getting enough sleep, and doing exercise. What
I'm seeing for you, Cancerian, is that the coming weeks will be
an excellent time to spend less time in your circle of concern
and more in your circle of influence. Stop fantasizing about what
may or may not happen, and simply take charge of the details that
will make a difference.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
There's a wild zoo about two hours northwest of Seattle. After
paying your fee, you can drive your car through acres of land
where large animals are allowed to roam free. When I took the
tour, I stopped my rented Dodge Stratus by the side of the road
to get a better look at a humongous buffalo with a humped back
and a long woolly beard. It lumbered over to where I was parked
and for the next five minutes thoroughly licked my windshield
with its enormous purple tongue. My head was just inches away
from its primal power, and yet I was safe and relaxed and perfectly
amused. I wouldn't be surprised if you had a comparable experience
sometime soon, Leo.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
In the Biblical book of Genesis, Jacob had a dream of angels
ascending and descending a ladder that went up to heaven. I recommend
that you try to incubate a similar dream, or else do some meditations
in which you visualize that scene. It would help prime your psyche
for one of this week's top assignments, which is to be adaptable
as you go back and forth between very high places and very low
places. Heaven and earth need to be better connected. So do the
faraway and the close-at-hand, as well as the ideal and the practical.
And you're the right person for the job.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
Thomas Edison said something to the effect that a person who
is thoroughly satisfied is probably a failure. I guess he meant
that if you're not always pushing to make your life better, you
must not have very high standards or passionate goals. While I
can see the large grains of truth in that theory, I don't think
it applies in all cases -- like for you right now, for instance.
During the upcoming grace period, it will make sense for you to
be perfectly content with the state of your life just as it is.
To do so won't make you lazy and complacent. Just the opposite,
in fact: It will charge your psychic batteries and create a reservoir
of motivational energy for the second half of 2012.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Twenty-four-year-old actress Annalynne McCord has risen up in
rebellion against what she calls "Hollywood's perfection
requirement." Lately she has been brazenly appearing in public
without any make-up on. She has even encouraged paparazzi to snap
photos of her in her natural state. "I'm not perfect,"
she says, "and that's okay with me." I nominate her
to be your role model in the coming weeks, Scorpio. You will be
able to stir up useful blessings for yourself by being loyal to
the raw truth. You can gain power by not hiding anything. (And
yes, I realize that last statement is in conflict with the core
Scorpionic philosophy.) Here's my guarantee: It'll be fun to be
free of unrealistic images and showy deceptions.
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Free Will Astrology's
EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES
feature suggestions on how to become more yourself
and liberate yourself from your suffering
Register and/or sign in at RealAstrology.com.
The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888.
"Your Expanded Audio Horoscopes seem to have the effect
of activating my inner teacher. Thanks!"
- Eleanor A., Toronto
"When I listen to your audio 'scopes, my free will lights
up."
- Alex D., Los Angeles
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SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Nineteenth-century Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev once called
his fellow novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky a "pimple on the face
of literature." But more than a hundred years after that
crude dismissal, Dostoyevsky is a much more highly regarded and
influential writer than Turgenev. Use this as inspiration, Sagittarius,
if you have to deal with anyone's judgmental appraisals of you
in the coming days. Their opinions will say more about them than
about you. Refresh your understanding of the phenomenon of "projection,"
in which people superimpose their fantasies and delusions on realities
they don't see clearly.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Take a few deep breaths. It's important not to get overly worked
up about your recent diversion from the Truth and the Way. I mean
it's not like you sold heroin to high school students or dumped
toxic waste into a mountain stream, right? It's true that you've
incurred a minor karmic debt that will ultimately have to be repaid.
And yes, you've been reminded that you can't allow yourself to
lower your standards even slightly. But I doubt any of it will
matter in five years -- especially if you atone now. So please
go ahead and give yourself a spanking, make a definitive plan
to correct your error, and start cruising in the direction of
the next chapter of your life story.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Have you ever tried to drink from a fire hose? The sheer amount
and force of the water shooting out the end makes it hard to actually
get any moisture in your mouth, let alone enjoy the process. On
the other hand, it is kind of entertaining, and it does provide
a lot of material to tell funny stories about later on. But are
those good enough reasons to go ahead and do it? I say no. That's
why I advise you, metaphorically speaking, to draw your sustenance
from a more contained flow in the coming week. Cultivate a relationship
with a resource that gives you what you really need.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
The coming week will be an excellent time to declare your independence
from anything that depresses you, obsesses you, or oppresses you.
You will attract help from unexpected sources if you take that
brave action. At the same time, it'll be a perfect moment to declare
your interdependence with anything that fires up your imagination,
stirs up smart hope, or fills you with a desire to create masterpieces.
Be adventurous as you dream about blending your energies with
the very best influences.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
It's time for your right hand to find out what your left hand
has been doing lately, and vice versa. They've been attending
to their separate agendas for a while, and now it would be wise
to have them work together more closely. As they get reacquainted,
a bit of friction would be understandable. You may have to serve
as a mediator. Try to get them to play nicely with each other
for a while before jumping in to the negotiations about how best
they can cooperate in the future. And be very firm with them:
no slapping or fighting allowed.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Some relationships that you call "friendships" may
be little more than useful connections or status boosters or affiliations
that enhance your power and influence. There's no shame in that.
But it's also a smart idea to make sure that at least some of
your alliances are rooted primarily in pure affection. You need
to exchange energy with people who don't serve your ambitions
so much as they feed your soul. The coming weeks will be an excellent
time to cultivate friendships like that. Take good care of those
you have, and be alert for the possibility of starting a new one.
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HOMEWORK:
What do you know or do that no one else in the world has a clue
about? Tell all! Go to FreeWillAstrology.com
and click on "Email Rob."
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2012 Rob Brezsny
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