Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter August 26, 2015

 Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
 August 26, 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.

YOUR FIVE MOST ECSTATIC MOMENTS

I invite you to write down brief descriptions of the five most pleasurable moments you've ever experienced in your life. Let your imagination dwell lovingly on these memories for, say, 20 minutes. And keep them close to the surface of your awareness in the next three days.

If you ever catch yourself slipping into a negative train of thought, interrupt it immediately and compel yourself to fantasize about those Big Five Ecstatic Moments.

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YOU MAY BE A MAGICIAN

When many people think of a magician, they picture a stage performer who pulls rabbits out of top hats, does card tricks, and makes things disappear.

Other folks, more mystically inclined, visualize a wizard who uses incantatory spells to command spirits and attain occult power.

There is a third kind of magician. It's anyone who aspires to control her own thoughts, ceaselessly shepherding her psychic energy in a direction that will serve her highest values. For this kind of wonderworker, magic is the art of creating desirable practical changes.

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YOUR MOST IMPORTANT DESIRE

I invite you to write the following on a piece of red paper and keep it under your pillow. "I, [put your name here], do solemnly swear on this day [put date here] that I will devote myself for a period of seven days to learning my most important desire. No other thought will be more uppermost in my mind. No other concern will divert me from tracking down every clue that might assist me in my drive to ascertain the one experience in this world that deserves my brilliant passion above all others."

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If you're not feeling amazed, maybe you're not seeing wildly enough

"If you are a poet, you will see that there is a cloud in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper." --Thich Nhat Hanh, "Peace Is Every Step"

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"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." That's the opening sentence of Charles Dickens' bestselling novel "A Tale of Two Cities." The author was describing the period of the French Revolution in the late 18th century, but he could just as well have been talking about our time -- or any other time, for that matter.

Of course many modern cynics reject the idea that our era could in any way be construed to be the best of times. They obsess on the idea that ours is the worst of all the worst times that have ever been.
Here's my request: Even if you are one of those cynics, be rebellious and come up with three reasons why this is the best of times. Send to Truthrooster@gmail.com.

If you like, you may balance your testimony with a litany of why this is the worst of times.

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"You are the hidden God. Wake up in the dream. Read between the lies. To question is the answer. The frontline is everywhere. There are no innocent bystanders. Truth is a three-edged sword. Practice infinite tolerance except for intolerance. Achieve strength through joy. Embrace your shadow. Change is stability. Creation never ends. Everything is verb. The way in is the way out. All things fornicate all the time. The going is the goal. Today is the day!"

- Reverend Adrian Cain

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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:

Study Shows Mindful Meditation Helps Reduce Racial Bias.
tinyurl.com/pz7cbnh

The Most Generous Bride on Earth: Couple Feeds 4,000 Syrian Refugees on Their Wedding Day. This luminous Turkish newlywed spent her wedding day running a bread line for thousands of starving Syrian refugees.
tinyurl.com/nzlemkr

American Geochemist Clair Patterson helped reduce lead levels within the blood of Americans by approximately 80% by the late 90s, after spending decades of fighting the industrial use of lead.
tinyurl.com/opq9hgs

(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 August 27

Copyright 2015 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

At least for now, I suggest you suspend the quest for order and refinement and perfection. The wise course of action is to disengage from your fascination with control, and instead give yourself to the throbbing, erratic pulse of the Cosmic Wow. Why? If you do, you will be able to evolve faster than you thought possible. Your strength will come from agile curiosity and an eagerness to experiment. Do you remember when you last explored the catalytic wonders of spontaneity and unpredictability? Do it again!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

This is the deepest, darkest phase of your cycle. The star that you will ultimately make a wish upon has not yet risen. Your pet monsters seem to have forgotten for the moment that they are supposed to be your allies, not your nemeses. Smoke from the smoldering embers in your repressed memories is blending with the chill night fog in your dreams, making your life seem like a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a taco. Just kidding about that last part. I wanted to see if your sense of humor is intact, because if it is, you will respond resiliently to all the cosmic jokes in your upcoming tests.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

According to the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, here's what God says to each of us: "Go the limits of your longing . . . Flare up like flame and make big shadows that I can move in. Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final." Whether or not you're on speaking terms with the Creator, this is excellent advice. It's time to give everything you have and take everything you need. Hold nothing back and open yourself as wide and wild as you dare. Explore the feeling of having nothing to lose and expect the arrivals of useful surprises. (The translation of Rilke's poem is by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy.)

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

The sun and the expansive planet Jupiter are currently making a joyful noise in the sign of Virgo, which is your astrological House of Career and Ambition. This does not necessarily mean that a boon to your career and ambition will fall into your lap, although such an event is more likely than usual. More importantly, this omen suggests that you will influence luck, fate, and your subconscious mind to work in your favor if you take dramatic practical action to advance your career and ambitions.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

On August 28, 1963, Capricorn hero Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech to a crowd of thousands in Washington, D.C. In that address, he imagined what it might look like if African Americans were free of the bigotry and oppression they had endured for centuries at the hands of white Americans. In accordance with your astrological potentials, I encourage you to articulate your own "I Have a Dream" vision sometime soon. Picture in detail the successful stories you want to actualize in the future. Visualize the liberations you will achieve and the powers you will obtain.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

If you have been patiently waiting for a propitious moment to buy a new yacht, pledge your undying love, or get a tattoo that depicts Buddha wrestling Satan, now is as close as you'll get to that propitious moment, at least for a while. Even if you have merely been considering the possibility of signing a year-long lease, asking a cute mischief-maker on a date, or posting an extra-edgy meme on Facebook or Twitter, the next three weeks would be prime time to strike. Diving into a deep, heart-crazed commitment is sometimes a jangly process for you Aquarians, but these days it might be almost smooth and synchronistic.

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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

To listen to your Expanded Audio Horoscope online, go to RealAstrology.com.

Register and/or log in through the main page.

You can also listen over the phone by calling 1-877-873-4888.

The cost is $6 per sign on the Web (discounts available for bulk purchases), or $1.99 per minute by phone. Each forecast is 4-5 minutes long.

The Expanded Audio Horoscopes work on most smart phones and tablets.

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"I always feel like I know myself better after listening to your audio 'scopes."
-June R., Austin, TX

"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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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

Ready for a ritual? Get a piece of paper and a pen. Light a candle, take three deep breaths, and chant "YUMMMM" five times. Then spend ten minutes writing down the qualities you would like your perfect lover to possess. Identify both the traits that would make this person unique and the behavior he or she would display toward you. Got that? When you are finished, burn the list you made. Disavow everything you wrote. Pledge to live for at least seven months without harboring fixed beliefs about what your ideal partner should be like. Instead, make yourself extra receptive to the possibility that you will learn new truths about what you need. Why? I suspect that love has elaborate plans for you in the next two years. You will be better prepared to cooperate with them if you are initially free of strong agendas.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):

You like to run ahead of the pack. You prefer to show people the way, to set the pace. It's cleaner that way, right? There's less risk you will be caught up in the messy details of everyday compromise. But I suspect that the time is right for you to try an experiment: Temporarily ease yourself into the middle of the pack. Be willing to deal with the messy details of everyday compromise. Why? Because it will teach you lessons that will serve you well the next time you're showing the way and setting the pace.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

Are you ready to revise your ideas about how love works? Would you consider re-evaluating your relationship to romance, your approach to intimacy, and your understanding of sex? I hope you will not only be willing but also excited to do these things. Now is a favorable time to make changes that will energize your love life with a steady flow of magic for months to come. To get the party started, brainstorm about experiments you could try to invigorate the dynamics of togetherness. Make a list of your customary romantic strategies, and rebel against them all. Speak sexy truths that are both shocking and endearing.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

Querencia is a Spanish word with many nuances. At its simplest, it refers to your favorite spot, a place where you long to be. But its meaning can go even deeper. Querencia may be a sanctuary where you feel safe and authentic, or a situation that enables you to draw on extra reserves of strength and courage. It's a special kind of home: an empowering shelter that makes you feel that you belong in this world and love your life. Can you guess where I'm going with this message, Gemini? These days you need to be in your querencia even more than usual. If you don't have one, or if you don't know where yours is, formulate a fierce intention to locate it.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

The art of effective communication consists of knowing both what to say and what not to say. It's not enough to simply find the words that accurately convey your meaning. You have to tailor your message to the quirks of your listeners. For example, let's say you want to articulate the process that led you to change your mind about an important issue. You would use different language with a child, an authority figure, and a friend. Right? I think you are currently at the peak of your abilities to do this well, Cancerian. Take full advantage of your fluency. Create clear, vivid impressions that influence people to like you and help you.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

Arthur Conan Doyle first used the term "smoking gun" in a story he wrote over a century ago. It referred to a time the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes burst into a room to find a man holding a pistol that had just been fired, along with the fallen body of a man who had been shot. Since then, the meaning of "smoking gun" has expanded. Now it's any piece of evidence that serves as compelling proof of a certain hypothesis. If you can't find the cookie you left in the kitchen, and your roommate walks by with cookie crumbs on his chin, it's the smoking gun that confirms he pilfered your treat. I believe this is an important theme for you right now. What question do you need answered? What theory would you like to have corroborated? The smoking gun will appear.

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HOMEWORK:

What new title, degree, award, or perk will you have two years from today that you don't have now? 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 2015 Rob Brezsny

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