Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter July 13, 2016

 Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
 July 13, 2016
 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.

EXPERIMENT: 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, simulate that state.

Everywhere you go, exude the 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. Wield compassion like a performance artist who exults in carving up pessimism and cynicism.

Dispense free blessings and extra slack like a rich saint high on natural endorphins.

Without straining, direct your perceptions to discern the most noble and attractive qualities in each creature you encounter.
 

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GOOD PROBLEMS

Is there anything more dangerous than getting up in the morning and having nothing to worry about, no problems to solve, no friction to heat you up? That state can be a threat to your health, because if untreated it incites an unconscious yearning for any old dumb trouble that might rouse some excitement.

Acquiring problems is a fundamental human need. It's as crucial to your well-being as getting food, air, water, sleep, and love. You define yourself--indeed, you make yourself--through the riddles you attract and solve. The most creative people on the planet are those who frame the biggest, hardest questions and then gather the resources necessary to find the answers.

Conventional wisdom implies that the best problems are those that place you under duress. There's supposedly no gain without pain. Stress is allegedly an incomparable spur for calling on resources that have been previously unavailable or dormant. Nietzsche's aphorism, “That which doesn't kill me makes me stronger,” has achieved the status of an ultimate truth.

I half-agree. But it's clear that stress also accompanies many mediocre problems that have little power to make us smarter. Pain frequently generates no gain. We're all prone to become habituated, even addicted, to nagging vexations that go on and on without rousing any of our sleeping genius.

There is, furthermore, another class of difficulty--let's call it the delightful dilemma--that neither feeds on angst nor generates it. On the contrary, it's fun and invigorating, and usually blooms when you're feeling a profound sense of being at home in the world. The problem of writing my book is a good example. I've had a good time handling the perplexing challenges with which it has confronted me.

Imagine a life in which at least half of your quandaries match this profile. Act as if you're most likely to attract useful problems when joy is your predominant state of mind. Consider the possibility that being in unsettling circumstances may shrink your capacity to dream up the riddles you need most; that maybe it's hard to ask the best questions when you're preoccupied fighting rearguard battles against boring or demeaning annoyances that have plagued you for many moons.

Prediction: As an aspiring lover of pronoia, you will have a growing knack for gravitating toward wilder, wetter, more interesting problems. More and more, you will be drawn to the kind of gain that doesn't require pain. You'll be so alive and awake that you'll cheerfully push yourself out of your comfort zone in the direction of your personal frontier well before you're forced to do so by divine kicks in the ass.
 

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WHAT OPPORTUNITIES ARE AHEAD FOR YOU in the next ten to fifteen months?

EXPLORE THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE with my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Second Half of 2016 and onward into 2017.

How can you exert your free will to create the adventures that will bring out the best in you, even as you find graceful ways to cooperate with the tides of destiny?

To listen to my IN-DEPTH, LONG-TERM AUDIO FORECAST for YOUR LIFE during the coming months, register and/or sign in here:

RealAstrology.com

After you log in through the main page, click on the link "Long Term Forecast for Second Half of 2016."

The horoscopes cost $6 apiece. Discounts are available for multiple purchases.

You can also listen to your short-term forecast for the coming week by clicking on "This week (July 12, 2016)."

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Whether or not you want to listen to those Big Picture audio reports for the rest of 2016 and beyond, you may be interested in reviewing the long-term horoscopes I wrote for you early this year. They discuss your best potential destiny for all of 2016. To see them, go here:

bit.ly/BigPicture2016
 

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"In the animal kingdom, the rule is, eat or be eaten; in the human kingdom, define or be defined." - Thomas Szasz, The Second Sin

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"I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man's." - William Blake, "Jerusalem"

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"If there's a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet," said author Toni Morrison, "then you must write it."
 

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Today I speak and feel and act on Cesar Chavez's famous prayer:

Show me the suffering of the most miserable;
So I will know my people's plight.

Free me to pray for others;
For you are present in every person.

Help me take responsibility for my own life;
So that I can feel free at last.

Grant me courage to serve others;
For in service there is true life.

Give me honesty and patience;
So that I can work with other workers.

Bring forth song and celebration;
So that the Spirit will be alive among us.

Let the Spirit flourish and grow;
So that we will never tire of the struggle.

Let us remember those who have died for justice;
For they have given us life.

Help us love even those who hate us; So we can change the world.
 

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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:

The Antarctic Ozone Hole Is on the Mend. Global regulation of chlorine compounds is giving the atmosphere time to heal.
tinyurl.com/h4789zk

Here's what's working:
tinyurl.com/zeh74up

including:

* Low-income shoppers now get discount at California farmer markets

* San Francisco just issued the country’s broadest ban on styrofoam

* Gizmo attaches to garbage disposals, turns food waste into compost

* One teen’s crusade to make sure his classmates get enough rest

* inside the Chicago program that is slashing youth crime rates
 

(Note: I endorse these because I like them. They aren’t advertisements, and I get no kickbacks.)

Please tell me your own nominations for PRONOIA RESOURCES: Truthrooster@gmail.com.
 

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
 Week beginning July 14

Copyright 2016 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
 

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

If you are smoothly attuned with the cosmic rhythms and finely aligned with your unconscious wisdom, you could wake up one morning and find that a mental block has miraculously crumbled, instantly raising your intelligence. If you can find it in your proud heart to surrender to "God," your weirdest dilemma will get at least partially solved during a magical three-hour interlude. And if you are able to forgive 50 percent of the wrongs that have been done to you in the last six years, you will no longer feel like you're running into a strong wind, but rather you'll feel like the beneficiary of a strong wind blowing in the same direction you're headed.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

How often have you visited hell or the suburbs of hell during the last few weeks? According to my guesstimates, the time you spent there was exactly the right amount. You got the teachings you needed most, including a few tricks about how to steer clear of hell in the future. With this valuable information, you will forevermore be smarter about how to avoid unnecessary pain and irrelevant hindrances. So congratulations! I suggest you celebrate. And please use your new-found wisdom as you decline one last invitation to visit the heart of a big, hot mess.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

My friend Athena works as a masseuse. She says that the highest praise she can receive is drool. When her clients feel so sublimely serene that threads of spit droop out of their mouths, she knows she's in top form. You might trigger responses akin to drool in the coming weeks, Virgo. Even if you don't work as a massage therapist, I think it's possible you'll provoke rather extreme expressions of approval, longing, and curiosity. You will be at the height of your power to inspire potent feelings in those you encounter. In light of this situation, you might want to wear a small sign or button that reads, "You have my permission to drool freely."

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

The latest Free Will Astrology poll shows that thirty-three percent of your friends, loved ones, and acquaintances approve of your grab for glory. Thirty-eight percent disapprove, eighteen percent remain undecided, and eleven percent wish you would grab for even greater glory. As for me, I'm aligned with the eleven-percent minority. Here's what I say: Don't allow your quest for shiny breakthroughs and brilliant accomplishments to be overly influenced by what people think of you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

You are at the pinnacle of your powers to both hurt and heal. Your turbulent yearnings could disrupt the integrity of those whose self-knowledge is shaky, even as your smoldering radiance can illuminate the darkness for those who are lost or weak. As strong and confident as I am, even I would be cautious about engaging your tricky intelligence. Your piercing perceptions and wild understandings might either undo me or vitalize me. Given these volatile conditions, I advise everyone to approach you as if you were a love bomb or a truth fire or a beauty tornado.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

Here's the deal: I will confess a dark secret from my past if you confess an equivalent secret from yours. Shall I go first? When I first got started in the business of writing horoscope columns, I contributed a sexed-up monthly edition to a porn magazine published by smut magnate Larry Flynt. What's even more scandalous is that I enjoyed doing it. OK. It's your turn. Locate a compassionate listener who won't judge you harshly, and unveil one of your subterranean mysteries. You may be surprised at how much psychic energy this will liberate. (For extra credit and emancipation, spill two or even three secrets.)
 

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BRAINSTORM ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE

with my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Second Half of 2016 and beyond:

RealAstrology.com

What will be the story of your life during the rest of 2016 and onward into 2017? How can you exert your free will to create the adventures that will bring out the best in you, even as you find graceful ways to cooperate with the tides of destiny?

What will be the story of your life during the rest of 2016 and onward into 2017? How can you exert your free will to create the adventures that will bring out the best in you, even as you find graceful ways to cooperate with the tides of destiny?

If you'd like a high-octane boost of inspiration to fuel your quest to create your most interesting and meaningful destiny, tune in to my meditations on your long-term outlook.

Go here: RealAstrology.com. Then register and/or log in and click on this link:
"Long Term Forecast for Second Half of 2016"

You can also listen to your short-term forecast for the coming week by clicking on "This week (July 12, 2016)."

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"Your big-picture audio horoscope was somehow both a balm for my soul and a kick in the ass. How did you do that?" - David G., Coral Gables, FL

"Your big-picture horoscopes filled the gaps in my imagination. They woke up the fun plot twists that had been just on the tip of my ability to visualize." - Ani Kraft, Brattleboro, VT

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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

What do you want to be when you grow up, Capricorn? What? You say you are already all grown up, and my question is irrelevant? If that's your firm belief, I will ask you to set it aside for now. I'll invite you to entertain the possibility that maybe some parts of you are not in fact fully mature; that no matter how ripe you imagine yourself to be, you could become even riper -- an even more gorgeous version of your best self. I will also encourage you to immerse yourself in a mood of playful fun as you respond to the following question: "How can I activate and embody an even more complete version of my soul's code?"

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

On a summer day 20 years ago, I took my five-year-old daughter Zoe and her friend Max to the merry-go-round in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Zoe jumped on the elegant golden-maned lion and Max mounted the wild blue horse. Me? I climbed aboard the humble pig. Its squat pink body didn't seem designed for rapid movement. Its timid gaze was fixed on the floor in front of it. As the man who operated the ride came around to see if everyone was in place, he congratulated me on my bold choice. Very few riders preferred the porker, he said. Not glamorous enough. "But I'm sure I will arrive at our destination as quickly and efficiently as everyone else," I replied. Your immediate future, Aquarius, has symbolic resemblances to this scene.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

Early on in our work together, my psychotherapist confessed that she only works with clients whose problems are interesting to her. In part, her motivations are selfish: Her goal is to enjoy her work. But her motivations are also altruistic. She feels she's not likely to be of service to anyone with whom she can't be deeply engaged. I understand this perspective, and am inclined to make it more universal. Isn't it smart to pick all our allies according to this principle? Every one of us is a mess in one way or another, so why not choose to blend our fates with those whose messiness entertains us and teaches us the most? I suggest you experiment with this view in the coming weeks and months, Pisces.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):

Upcoming adventures might make you more manly if you are a woman. If you are a man, the coming escapades could make you more womanly. How about if you're trans? Odds are that you'll become even more gender fluid. I am exaggerating a bit, of course. The transformations I'm referring to may not be visible to casual observers. They will mostly unfold in the depths of your psyche. But they won't be merely symbolic, either. There'll be mutations in your biochemistry that will expand your sense of your own gender. If you respond enthusiastically to these shifts, you will begin a process that could turn you into an even more complete and attractive human being than you already are.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

I'll name five heroic tasks you will have more than enough power to accomplish in the next eight months. 1. Turning an adversary into an ally. 2. Converting a debilitating obsession into a empowering passion. 3. Transforming an obstacle into a motivator. 4. Discovering small treasures in the midst of junk and decay. 5. Using the unsolved riddles of childhood to create a living shrine to eternal youth. 6. Gathering a slew of new freedom songs, learning them by heart, and singing them regularly -- especially when habitual fears rise up in you.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

Your life has resemblances to a jigsaw puzzle that lies unassembled on a kitchen table. Unbeknownst to you, but revealed to you by me, a few of the pieces are missing. Maybe your cat knocked them under the refrigerator, or they fell out of their storage box somewhere along the way. But this doesn't have to be a problem. I believe you can mostly put together the puzzle without the missing fragments. At the end, when you're finished, you may be tempted to feel frustration that the picture's not complete. But that would be illogical perfectionism. Ninety-seven-percent success will be just fine.
 

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HOMEWORK:

What's the best, most healing trouble you could whip up right now? Go to Freewillastrology.com and click "Email Rob."

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Submissions sent to Rob Brezsny's Astrology 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 submissions for length, style, and content. Requests for anonymity will be honored. We are not responsible for unsolicited submission of any creative material.

Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright 2016 Rob Brezsny

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