Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
October 1, 2014
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
Below are excerpts.
"We are fully human only while playing, and we play only
when we are human in the truest sense of the word." - Rudolf
Steiner
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"'Approfondement' is a French word that means 'playing easily
in the deep.'" - Tom Robbins
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"The ancient Greeks knew that learning comes from playing,"
writes Roger von Oech in his book A Whack on the Side of the
Head: How You Can Be More Creative. Their word for education,
paideia, he says, was close to their word for play, paidia.
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Psychiatrist Stuart Brown has proposed this simple definition:
"Play is spontaneous behavior that has no clear-cut goal
and does not conform to a stereotypical pattern. The purpose of
play is simply play itself; it appears to be pleasurable."
In a study of 26 convicted murderers, Brown discovered that as
children, most of them had suffered either "from the absence
of play or abnormal play like bullying, sadism, extreme teasing,
or cruelty to animals."
Brown's work led him to explore the biological roots of play.
"New and exciting studies of the brain, evolution, and animal
behavior," he wrote, "suggest that play may be as important
to life for us and other animals as sleeping and dreaming."
- Stuart L. Brown, "Animals at Play," National
Geographic
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"How much courage is needed
to play forever,
as the ravines play,
as the river plays."
- Boris Pasternak, "Bacchanalia"
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"You can't know fire unless you play with it," says
Mark Finney, a math whiz who develops computer models for fighting
forest fires.
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Western science and religion have differing views on how the
universe was created, but they agree that it happened a long time
ago. The mystery schools of the West, on the other hand, assert
that the universe is re-created anew in every moment through the
divine erotic play of God and Goddess. They say that if we humans
treat lovemaking as an experimental sacrament, we can attune ourselves
to the union of the two primal deities and, in a sense, participate
in the ongoing creation of the world.
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"As a free deed, meditation is naturally individual, uniquely
our own. It is where we most fully become ourselves. Its practice
is also always individual.
"There are no rules. Just as every potter will elaborate
his or her own way of making pots, so every person who meditates
will shape his or her own meditation. No two people will do a
given meditation in exactly the same way. The same meditation
practiced daily will be different every time.
"Every meditation is experimental. One never knows what
is going to happen. Improvisation is essential . . . Meditation
is something to play with . . . There is no 'wrong' way of doing
the meditation, except not doing it!"
- Christopher Bamford, Start Now!: A Book of Soul and Spiritual
Exercises
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Monitor the calm, gentle, sweet spirits in your life for the
possibility that they may act as agents of deception or passivity.
Be inspired by the creator gods and goddesses of ancient myth,
who playfully forged millions of beautiful things using wind,
mud, tears, and lightning.
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You are a mutant deity in disguise -- not a Buddha or a Christ
exactly, but of the same lineage and conjured from the same fire.
You have been around since the beginning of time and will be here
after the end. Every day and in every way, you're getting better
at playing the preposterously amusing master game we all dreamed
up together before the Big Bang bloomed.
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American author Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) expressed his
mission like this:
I am to invite men drenched in Time to recover themselves and
come out of time, and taste their native immortal air.
I am to fire with what skill I can the artillery of sympathy
and emotion.
I am to indicate constantly, though all unworthy, the Ideal and
Holy Life, the life within life, the Forgotten Good, the Unknown
Cause in which we sprawl and sin.
I am to try the magic of sincerity, that luxury permitted only
to kings and poets.
I am to celebrate the spiritual powers in their infinite contrast
to the mechanical powers and the mechanical philosophy of this
time.
I am to console the brave sufferers under evils whose end they
cannot see, by appeals to the great optimism, self-affirmed in
all bosoms.
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Sometimes we have a strong sense of what our destiny is calling
us to do, but we don't feel quite ready or brave enough to answer
the call. We need a push, an intervention, a serendipitous stroke
-- what you might call "fate bait." It's a person or
event that awakens our dormant willpower and draws us inexorably
toward our necessary destiny; it's a thunderbolt or siren song
or stage whisper that gives us a good excuse to go do what we
know we should do.
Do you have any ideas about how to put yourself in the vicinity
of your fate bait?
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Here's how cartoonist Matt Groening feels about love: "Love
is a perky elf dancing a merry little jig and then suddenly he
turns on you with a miniature machine gun."
Here, on the other hand, is what composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
believed: "Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination
nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love,
that is the soul of genius."
Which do you vote for?
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Beyond Divestment: Climate-Concerned Philanthropists Pledge to
Move Billions to Wind and Solar.
Groups have been divesting money from oil, coal, and gas for years.
Now they're hoping to get more climate-healing bang for their
buck.
tinyurl.com/mdgvcuu
7 Practical Ideas for Compassionate Communities, From Free College
to Debt Relief.
It's not hard to bring a little more equality into each others'
lives.
tinyurl.com/kekes9h
Germany will introduce caps on rent rises in densely populated
areas in the first half of 2015, the government announced on Tuesday,
in what it said was an attempt to keep homes affordable for people
on average incomes.
tinyurl.com/q2l29vv
A compendium of pronoiac news.
PronoiaResources.com
(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 October 2
Copyright 2014 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
When Jimmy Fallon was a senior in high school, he received a
weird graduation gift: a troll doll, one of those plastic figurines
with frizzy, brightly colored hair. Around the same time, his
mother urged him to enter an upcoming comedy contest at a nearby
club. Jimmy decided that would be fun. He worked up a routine
in which he imitated various celebrities auditioning to become
a spokesperson for troll dolls. With the doll by his side, he
won the contest, launching his career as a comedian. I foresee
the possibility of a comparable development in your life: an odd
blessing or unexpected gift that inspires you to express one of
your talents on a higher level.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
"Dear So-Called Astrologer: Your horoscopes are worse than
useless. Mostly they are crammed with philosophical and poetic
crap that doesn't apply to my daily life. Please cut way back
on the fancy metaphors. Just let me know if there is money or
love or trouble coming my way -- like what regular horoscopes
say! -Skeptical Scorpio." Dear Skeptical: In my astrological
opinion, you and your fellow Scorpios will soon feel the kind
of pressure you just directed at me. People will ask you to be
different from what you actually are. My advice? Do not acquiesce
to them.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Tomatoes are a staple of Italian cuisine now, but there weren't
any tomatoes in Europe until the 16th century, when Spanish explorers
brought them from Central and South America. Likewise, Malaysia
has become a major producer of rubber, but it had no rubber trees
until seeds were smuggled out of Brazil in the 19th century. And
bananas are currently a major crop in Ecuador thanks to 16th-century
Portuguese sailors, who transported them from West Africa. I foresee
the possibility of comparable cross-fertilizations happening for
you in the coming months, Sagittarius. Do you have your eye on
any remote resources you'd like to bring back home?
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Years ago, you experienced an event that was so overwhelming
you could not fully deal with it, let alone understand it. All
this time it has been simmering and smoldering in the depths of
your unconscious mind, emitting ghostly steam and smoke even as
it has remained difficult for you to integrate. But I predict
that will change in the coming months. You will finally find a
way to bring it into your conscious awareness and explore it with
courage and grace. Of course it will be scary for you to do so.
But I assure you that the fear is a residue from your old confusion,
not a sign of real danger. To achieve maximum liberation, begin
your quest soon.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
This is prime time to do things that aren't exactly easy and
relaxing, but that on the other hand aren't actually painful.
Examples: Extend peace offerings to adversaries. Seek reconciliation
with valuable resources from which you have been separated and
potential allies from whom you have become alienated. Try out
new games you would eventually like to be good at, but aren't
yet. Get a better read on interesting people you don't understand
very well. Catch my drift, Aquarius? For now, at least, leaving
your comfort zone is likely to be invigorating, not arduous.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Your oracle is built around the epigrams of conceptual artist
Jenny Holzer. From her hundreds of pithy quotes, I have selected
six that offer the exact wisdom you need most right now. Your
job is to weave them all together into a symphonic whole. 1. "It's
crucial to have an active fantasy life." 2. "Ensure
that your life stays in flux." 3. "I have every kind
of thought, and that is no embarrassment." 4. "Animalism
is perfectly healthy." 5. "Finding extreme pleasure
will make you a better person if you're careful about what thrills
you." 6. "Listen when your body talks."
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LOVE YOUR LIFE
"Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life,
or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages
must show." So begins Charles Dickens' novel "David
Copperfield." So let me ask you: Are you becoming the hero
of your own life? Are you figuring out the secrets of how to create
your destiny -- and not just waiting around for destiny to happen
to you?
If you'd like help in this noble work, consider trying my EXPANDED
AUDIO HOROSCOPES. They're four-to-five-minute meditations on the
current state of your destiny and where you're headed.
They are not repeats or extensions of the written 'scopes you
read here for free. They are entirely fresh explorations of your
astrological omens, and are designed to help you tune in to your
soul's code. (P.S. They're not free.)
Register and/or sign in at RealAstrology.com
They're available on your tablets and smart phones as well as
your computers.
"I don't much believe in astrology. But that doesn't seem
to get in the way of me deriving a whole lot of benefits from
your expanded audio horoscopes."
- A. Arrosto, Indianapolis
"You have an amazing aptitude for cutting through the lies
I tell myself. Thanks for the gentle shocks."
- T. Preneris, Toronto
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ARIES (March 21-April 19):
As I hike through the wilderness at dusk, the crickets always
seem to be humming in the distance. No matter where I go, their
sound is farther off, never right up close to me. How can that
be? Do they move away from me as I approach? I doubt it. I sense
no leaping insects in the underbrush. Here's how this pertains
to you: My relationship with the crickets' song is similar to
a certain mystery in your life. There's an experience that calls
to you but forever seems just out of reach. You think you're drawing
nearer, about to touch it and be in its midst, but it inevitably
eludes you. Now here's the good news: A change is coming for you.
It will be like what would happen if I suddenly found myself intimately
surrounded by hundreds of chirping crickets.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
In three years, you will comprehend truths about yourself and
your life that you don't have the capacity to grasp now. By then,
past events that have been confusing to you will make sense. You'll
know what their purpose was and why they occurred. Can you wait
that long? If you'd rather not, I have an idea: Do a meditation
in which you visualize yourself as you will be three years from
today. Imagine asking your future self to tell you what he or
she has discovered. The revelations may take a while to start
rolling in, but I predict that a whole series of insights will
have arrived by this time next week.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
The journey that awaits you is succinct but epic. It will last
a relatively short time but take months to fully understand. You
may feel natural and ordinary as you go through it, even as you
are being rather heroic. Prepare as best as you can, but keep
in mind that no amount of preparation will get you completely
ready for the spontaneous moves you'll be called on to perform.
Don't be nervous! I bet you will receive help from an unexpected
source. Feelings of deja-vu may crop up and provide a sense of
familiarity -- even though none of what occurs will have any precedents.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
In the wild, very few oysters produce pearls -- about one in
every 10,000. Most commercial pearls come from farmed oysters
whose pearls have been induced by human intervention. As you might
expect, the natural jewel is regarded as far more precious. Let's
use these facts as metaphors while we speculate about your fate
in the next eight months. I believe you will acquire or generate
a beautiful new source of value for yourself. There's a small
chance you will stumble upon a treasure equivalent to the wild
pearl. But I suggest you take the more secure route: working hard
to create a treasure that's like a cultivated pearl.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
In June 2012, a U.S. Senator introduced a bill that would require
all members of Congress to actually read or listen to a reading
of any bill before they voted on it. The proposal has been in
limbo ever since, and it's unlikely it will ever be treated seriously.
This is confusing to me. Shouldn't it be a fundamental requirement
that all lawmakers know what's in the laws they pass? Don't make
a similar error, Leo. Understand exactly what you are getting
into, whether it's a new agreement, an interesting invitation,
or a tempting opportunity. Be thoroughly informed.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Oliver Evans (1755-1819) was a prolific Virgo inventor who came
up with brilliant ideas for steam engines, urban gas lighting,
refrigeration, and automated machines. He made a radical prediction:
"The time will come when people will travel in stages moved
by steam engines, almost as fast as birds fly, 15 or 20 miles
an hour." We may be surprised that a visionary innovator
like Evans dramatically minimized the future's possibilities.
In the same way, I suspect that later in your life, you might
laugh at how much you are underestimating your potentials right
now. In telling you this, I'm hoping you will stop underestimating.
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HOMEWORK:
Make nonsense noises for a minute straight every day this week.
Report results to Truthrooster@gmail.com.
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2014 Rob Brezsny
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