Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
February 11, 2015
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.
"Everyone carries with them at least one piece to someone
else's puzzle." So wrote Lawrence Kushner in his book, Honey
from the Rock.
In other words, you have in your possession certain clues to
your loved ones' destinies -- secrets they haven't discovered
themselves.
Wouldn't you love to hand over those clues -- to make a gift
of the puzzle pieces that are most needed by the people you care
about?
Search your depths for insights you've never communicated. Tell
truths you haven't found a way to express before now. More than
you know, you have the power to mobilize your companions' dreams.
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You understand that you can never own love, right? No matter
how much someone adores you today, no matter how much you adore
someone, you can't force that unique state of grace to keep its
shape forever. It will inevitably evolve or mutate, perhaps into
a different version of tender caring, but maybe not.
From there it will continue to change, into either yet another
version of interesting affection, or who knows what else?
Are you making any progress in getting the hang of this tricky
wisdom?
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I invite you to act like a person who's in love. Even if you're
not currently in the throes of passion for a special someone,
pretend you are. Everywhere you go, exude that charismatic blend
of shell-shocked contentment and blissful turmoil that comes over
you when you're infatuated. Let everyone you meet soak up the
delicious wisdom you exude. Dispense free blessings and extra
slack like a rich saint high on natural endorphins.
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Imagine that the merger of you and your best ally has created
a third thing that hovers near you, protecting and guiding the
two of you. Call this third thing an angel. Or call it the soul
of your connection or the inspirational force of your relationship.
Or call it the special work the two of you can accomplish together.
And let this magical presence be the third point of your love
triangle.
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"For a relationship to stay alive, love alone is not enough.
Without imagination, love stales into sentiment, duty, boredom.
Relationships fail not because we have stopped loving but because
we first stopped imagining."
- James Hillman
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Gertrude Stein defined love as "the skillful audacity required
to share an inner life." It suggests that expressing the
truth about who you are is not something that amateurs do very
well. Practice and ingenuity are required.
It also implies that courage is an essential element of successful
intimacy. You've got to be adventurous if you want to weave your
life together with another's.
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"You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across
the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are
my divinity, my madness, my selfishness, my transfiguration and
purification. You are my rapscallionly fellow vagabond, my tempter
and star. I want you."
- George Bernard Shaw
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Whenever I write about romance and togetherness, I attract a
storm of complaints from readers who are solitary. "How dare
you imply that everyone has or should have a partner!?" is
a typical protest. "I'm quite content being alone!"
is another.
Let it be known that I do not believe your happiness depends
on having a spouse or lover. What I do suspect, though, is that
your soul needs some sacred relationship in order to thrive, whether
it's with a good friend, a beloved animal, a beautiful patch of
earth, the Divine Wow, or anything that's not you.
Whenever I invite you to seek deeper, wilder communion, feel
free to interpret it as a call to explore any kind of intimacy
that draws you closer to the secret heart of the world.
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"The Orgasmic Roots of Pronoia" is one of the few NC-17-rated
pieces in my book. If I published it here, it might get censored,
so here's a link: bit.ly/OrgasmicRoots
NSFW! PROCEED WITH CAUTION! This material has graphic references
to love, lust, tenderness, bliss, and rapture.
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Are you in quest of an Intimate Ally? A Soul Friend? A Wild Confidante?
Check out Match.com via Free Will Astrology's link: bit.ly/SoulMatch
Look for a Co-Pilot, Co-Conspirator, or Collaborator . . . an
Agent to represent you or a Disciple to worship you . . . a Secret
Sharer who'll listen better than anyone or an Amazing Accomplice
with whom you can practice the Art of Liberation.
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Ten Breakthroughs in the Science of a Meaningful Life
Scientists find that gratitude makes us financially smarter, mindfulness
reduces racism, a little sadness makes for healthier people, and
compassion for birds could help tackle climate change.
1. Mindfulness can reduce racial prejudice -- and possibly its
effects on victims.
2. Gratitude makes us smarter in how we spend money.
3. It’s possible to teach gratitude to young children, with
lasting effects.
4. Having more variety in our emotions -- positive or negative
-- can make us happier and healthier.
5. Natural selection favors happy people, which is why there are
so many of them.
6. Activities from positive psychology don’t just make happy
people happier -- they can also help alleviate suffering.
7. People with a “growth mindset” are more likely
to overcome barriers to empathy.
8. To get people to take action against climate change, talk to
them about birds.
9. Feelings of well-being might spur extraordinary acts of altruism.
10. Extreme altruism is motivated by intuition -- our compassionate
instincts.
Read more: tinyurl.com/my953gu
(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 February 12
Copyright 2015 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
How many desires do you have? Take a rough inventory. Identify
the experiences you continually seek in your quest to feel relief
and pleasure and salvation and love and a sense of meaning. You
can also include fantasies that go unfulfilled and dreams that
may or may not come true in the future. As you survey this lively
array, don't censor yourself or feel any guilt. Simply give yourself
to a sumptuous meditation on all the longings that fuel your journey.
This is your prescription for the coming week. In ways you may
not yet be able to imagine, it is the medicine you need most.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
The German word Nachkussen refers to the kind of kiss
that compensates for all the kissing that has not been happening,
all the kissing that has been omitted or lost. If it has been
too long since you've kissed anyone, you need Nachkussen.
If your lover hasn't kissed you lately with the focused verve
you long for, you need Nachkussen. If you yourself have
been neglecting to employ your full artistry and passion as you
bestow your kisses, you need Nachkussen. From what I
can tell, Pisces, this Valentine season is a full-on Nachkussen
holiday for you. Now please go get what you haven't been getting.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
I hope you have someone in your life to whom you can send the
following love note, and if you don't, I trust you will locate
that someone no later than August 1: "I love you more than
anyone loves you, or has loved you, or will love you, and also,
I love you in a way that no one loves you, or has loved you, or
will love you, and also, I love you in a way that I love no one
else, and never have loved anyone else, and never will love anyone
else." (This passage is borrowed from author Jonathan Safran
Foer's book Everything Is Illuminated.)
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
"We assume that others show their love in the same way that
we do," writes psychologist Amy Przeworski, "and if
they don’t follow that equation, we worry that the love
is not there." I think you're on track to overcome this fundamental
problem, Taurus. Your struggles with intimacy have made you wise
enough to surrender your expectations about how others should
show you their love. You're almost ready to let them give you
their affection and demonstrate their care for you in ways that
come natural to them. In fact, maybe you're ready RIGHT NOW.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
I'd like to bestow a blessing on you and your closest ally.
My hope is that it will help you reduce the restlessness that
on occasion undermines the dynamism of your relationship. Here's
the benediction, inspired by a Robert Bly poem: As you sit or
walk or lie next to each other, you share a mood of glad acceptance.
You aren't itchy or fidgeting, wondering if there's something
better to be or do. You don't wish you were talking about a different
subject or feeling a different emotion or living in a different
world. You are content to be exactly who you are, exactly where
you are.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Want to infuse your romantic interludes with wilder moods now
and then? Want to cultivate a kind of intimacy that taps deeper
into your animal intelligence? If so, try acting out each other's
dreams or drawing magic symbols on each other's bodies. Whisper
funny secrets into each other's ears or wrestle like good-natured
drunks on the living room floor. Howl like coyotes. Caw like crows.
Purr like cheetahs. Sing boisterous songs and recite feral poetry
to each other. Murmur this riff, adapted from Pablo Neruda: "Our
love was born in the wind, in the night, in the earth. That’s
why the clay and the flower, the mud and the roots know our names."
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PLEASURE IS HOLY?
Assume that your drive to experience pleasure isn't a barrier
to your spiritual growth, but is in fact essential to it. Proceed
on the hypothesis that cultivating joy can make you a more ethical
and compassionate person. Imagine that feeling good has something
important to teach you every day.
For inspiration in practicing this approach, tune in to your
Expanded Audio Horoscopes. They're four-to-five-minute meditations
on the current state of your destiny. The cost is $6 per reading,
with a discount for multiple purchases.
For another few weeks, you can also still listen to my Long-Range,
Big-Picture explorations of your destiny in the coming months.
Go here to register and/or sign in: RealAstrology.com
They're available on your tablets and smart phones as well as
your computers.
You can also listen over the phone by calling
1-877-873-4888
"Your Expanded Audio Horoscopes seem to have the effect
of activating my inner teacher. Thanks!"
- Eleanor A., Toronto
"Your audio horoscopes calm me down when I'm too manic and
pep me up when I'm down."
- Arthur T., Cleveland, OH
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LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Is there any sense in which your closest alliance is a gift
to the world? Does your relationship inspire anyone? Do the two
of you serve as activators and energizers, igniting fires in the
imaginations of those whose lives you touch? If not, find out
why. And if you are tapping into those potentials, it's time to
raise your impact to the next level. Together the two of you now
have extra power to synergize your collaboration in such a way
that it sends out ripples of benevolence everywhere you go.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
The poet Rainer Maria Rilke said that people misunderstand the
role of love. "They have made it into play and pleasure because
they think that play and pleasure are more blissful than work,"
he wrote. "But there is nothing happier than work. And love,
precisely because it is the supreme happiness, can be nothing
other than work." I'm sharing this perspective with you for
two reasons, Virgo. First, of all the signs in the zodiac, you're
most likely to thrive on his approach. Second, you're in a phase
of your astrological cycle when this capacity of yours is at a
peak. Here's how Rilke finished his thought: "Lovers should
act as if they had a great work to accomplish."
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
About 2,600 years ago, the Greek poet Sappho wrote the following
declaration: "You make me hot." In the next ten days,
I'd love for you to feel motivated to say or think that on a regular
basis. In fact, I predict that you will. The astrological omens
suggest you're in a phase when you are both more likely to be
made hot and more likely to encounter phenomena that make you
hot. Here are some other fragments from Sappho that might come
in handy when you need to express your torrid feelings: 1. "This
randy madness I joyfully proclaim." 2. "Eros makes me
shiver again . . . Snake-sly, invincible." 3. "Desire
has shaken my mind as wind in the mountain forests roars through
trees." (Translations by Guy Davenport.)
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
In the TV science-fiction show Doctor Who, the title
character lives in a time machine that is also a spaceship. It's
called a Tardis. From the outside, it appears to be barely bigger
than a phone booth. But once you venture inside, you find it's
a spacious chateau with numerous rooms, including a greenhouse,
library, observatory, swimming pool, and karaoke bar. This is
an excellent metaphor for you, Scorpio. Anyone who wants your
love or friendship must realize how much you resemble a Tardis.
If they don't understand that you're far bigger on the inside
than you seem on the outside, it's unlikely the two of you can
have a productive relationship. This Valentine season, as a public
service, make sure that everyone you're seriously involved with
knows this fact.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Love and intimacy come in many forms. There are at least a billion
different ways for you to be attracted to another person, and
a trillion different ways to structure your relationship. Maybe
your unique bond involves having sex, or maybe it doesn't. Maybe
it's romantic or friendly or holy, or all three of those things.
Do the two of you have something important to create together,
or is your connection more about fueling each other's talents?
Your task is to respect and revere the idiosyncratic ways you
fit together, not force yourselves to conform to a prototype.
To celebrate the Valentine season, I invite you and your closest
ally to play around with these fun ideas.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Anais Nin wrote the following passage in her novel A Spy
in the House of Love: "As other girls prayed for handsomeness
in a lover, or for wealth, or for power, or for poetry, she had
prayed fervently: let him be kind." I recommend that approach
for you right now, Capricorn. A quest for tender, compassionate
attention doesn't always have to be at the top of your list of
needs, but I think it should be for now. You will derive a surprisingly
potent alchemical boost from basking in kindness. It will catalyze
a breakthrough that can't be unleashed in any other way. Ask for
it!
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HOMEWORK:
Proposed experiment: Carry out an act of love that's unique
in your history. Testify at FreeWillAstrology.com.
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2015 Rob Brezsny
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