Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
July 17, 2017
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: Live life as if you're just going to keep getting smart and kinder and wilder.
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Starved for good news? Try this batch of stories that document all the uplifting events going on around the world:
tinyurl.com/lotsofgoodnews
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TO-DO LIST
1. Say these words into a mirror: "It’s bad luck to be superstitious."
2. Fantasize that our so-called "dark sides" are sweet and creamy.
3. Watch TV with our third eyes.
4. Put on inflatable sumo wrestler costumes and play bagpipes as badly as possible.
5. Imagine we have guardian angels who look like Malcolm X and Eugene Debs.
6. Plant orchids on a strip-mined hill.
7. Dream we’re red-tailed hawks soaring over a shopping mall.
8. Forgive ourselves for the blindness that put us in the path of those who betrayed us.
9. Put bumper stickers on our cars that say, "My goddess can kick your god’s ass!"
10. Hire a puppet troupe to reenact our life stories using marionettes in Renaissance costumes.
11. Buy seven used gowns worn to the Academy Awards show by famous actresses, and send them gratis to seven Guatemalan teenagers.
12. Meditate on how one of the symbols of plenitude in Nepal is a mongoose vomiting jewels.
13. Thank our mothers for the pain they endured while birthing us.
14. Review in painstaking detail the history of our lives, honoring every moment as if we were conducting a benevolent Judgment Day.
15. Create royal crowns for ourselves out of shower cap, rubber bands, and light bulbs.
16. Test to see if people are really listening to us by asserting that Karl Marx was one of the Marx Brothers and that Joan of Arc was married to the Biblical Noah.
17. Teach an animal to dance.
18. Make believe we are the ocean king and thunder queen.
19. Actually kiss the earth now and then.
20. Find many good excuses to say, as physicist Niels Bohr once did, “Your theory is crazy, but it’s not crazy enough to be true.”
21. Ask butterflies if they will hang out on our faces for a while.
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Thank you for creating your own fantastic reality, as it inspires me to make my own!
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YOU'RE A MAGICIAN
I'm not a major fan of occultist Aleister Crowley, but I appreciate some of his ideas. His definition of magic is pure and true: 'the Science and Art of causing change to occur in conformity with will.'
He wasn't simply referring to the esoteric transformations attempted by wizards and witches wielding spells and conjurations. He meant anyone who seeks to make practical shifts in his or her life.
Let's say you grew up conditioned to feel shame about behavior there's no good reason to feel shame about, and you resolve to do whatever it takes to dissolve that shame, and you succeed in doing it. That's magic.
Or maybe you no longer want to attract bad listeners and flaky collaborators into your sphere, and you promise yourself you will alter that pattern, and you ultimately achieve your goal. That's magic, too.
One other example: You decide you want to be a skilled songwriter, and spend years learning to play an instrument, analyzing the songs you love in order to understand how they're constructed, and cultivating your creativity. That's magic at work.
I invite you to identify an example of one or two of your own magic skills.
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WHAT OPPORTUNITIES ARE AHEAD FOR YOU in the next ten to twelve months?
EXPLORE THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE
with my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Second Half of 2017 and onward into 2018.
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 2017."
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 18, 2017)."
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Whether or not you want to listen to those Big Picture audio reports for the rest of 2017 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 2017. To see them, go here:
bit.ly/BigPicture2017
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
German Parliament Votes to Legalize Same-sex Marriage.
tinyurl.com/y8bw4srh
Finnish Capital Has Been Serving Free Meals to Kids For 75 Years.
tinyurl.com/y9w58zym
The world's first Museum of Happiness is set to open its doors in September.
tinyurl.com/ydx9fcgu
A California-led alliance of cities and states vows to keep the Paris climate accord intact
tinyurl.com/y7cgkzwm
(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 20
Copyright 2017 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Spain's most revered mystic poet was St. John of the Cross, who lived from 1542 to 1591. He went through a hard time at age 35, when he was kidnapped by a rival religious sect and imprisoned in a cramped cell. Now and then he was provided with scraps of bread and dried fish, but he almost starved to death. After ten months, he managed to escape and make his way to a convent that gave him sanctuary. For his first meal, the nuns served him warm pears with cinnamon. I reckon that you'll soon be celebrating your own version of a jailbreak, Leo. It'll be less drastic and more metaphorical than St. John's, but still a notable accomplishment. To celebrate, I invite you to enjoy a ritual meal of warm pears with cinnamon.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
"I'm very attracted to things that I can't define," says Belgian fashion designer Raf Simons. I'd love for you to adopt that attitude, Virgo. You're entering the Season of Generous Mystery. It will be a time when you can generate good fortune for yourself by being eager to get your expectations overturned and your mind blown. Transformative opportunities will coalesce as you simmer in the influence of enigmas and anomalies. Meditate on the advice of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke: "I want to beg you to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves."
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
I've compiled a list of four mantras for you to draw strength from. They're designed to put you in the proper alignment to take maximum advantage of current cosmic rhythms. For the next three weeks, say them periodically throughout the day. 1. "I want to give the gifts I like to give rather than the gifts I'm supposed to give." 2. "If I can't do things with excellence and integrity, I won't do them at all." 3. "I intend to run on the fuel of my own deepest zeal, not on the fuel of someone else's passions." 4. "My joy comes as much from doing my beautiful best as from pleasing other people."
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
The world will never fully know or appreciate the nature of your heroic journey. Even the people who love you the most will only ever understand a portion of your epic quest to become your best self. That's why it's important for you to be generous in giving yourself credit for all you have accomplished up until now and will accomplish in the future. Take time to marvel at the majesty and miracle of the life you have created for yourself. Celebrate the struggles you've weathered and the liberations you've initiated. Shout "Glory hallelujah!" as you acknowledge your persistence and resourcefulness. The coming weeks will be an especially favorable time to do this tricky but fun work.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
I suspect you may have drug-like effects on people in the coming weeks. Which drugs? At various times, your impact could resemble cognac, magic mushrooms, and Ecstasy -- or sometimes all three simultaneously. What will you do with all that power to kill pain and alter moods and expand minds? Here's one possibility: Get people excited about what you're excited about, and call on them to help you bring your dreams to a higher stage of development. Here's another: Round up the support you need to transform any status quo that's boring or unproductive.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." So said psychologist Carl Jung. What the hell did that meddling, self-important know-it-all mean by that? Oops. Sorry to sound annoyed. My cranky reaction may mean I'm defensive about the possibility that I'm sometimes a bit preachy myself. Maybe I don't like an authority figure wagging his finger in my face because I'm suspicious of my own tendency to do that. Hmmm. Should I therefore refrain from giving you the advice I'd planned to? I guess not. Listen carefully, Capricorn: Monitor the people and situations that irritate you. They'll serve as mirrors. They'll show you unripe aspects of yourself that may need adjustment or healing.
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BRAINSTORM ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE
with my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Second Half of 2017 and beyond:
RealAstrology.com
What will be the story of your life during the rest of 2017 and onward into 2018? 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 2017"
You can also listen to your short-term forecast for the coming week by clicking on "This week (July 18, 2017)."
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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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The horoscopes cost $6 apiece. Discounts are available for multiple purchases.
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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
A source of tough and tender inspiration seems to be losing some of its signature potency. It has served you well. It has given you many gifts, some difficult and some full of grace. But now I think you will benefit from transforming your relationship with its influence. As you might imagine, this pivotal moment will be best navigated with a clean, fresh, open attitude. That's why you'll be wise to thoroughly wash your own brain -- not begrudgingly, but with gleeful determination. For even better results, wash your heart, too
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
A "power animal" is a creature selected as a symbolic ally by a person who hopes to imitate or resonate with its strengths. The salmon or hare might be a good choice if you're seeking to stimulate your fertility, for example. If you aspire to cultivate elegant wildness, you might choose an eagle or horse. For your use in the coming months, I propose a variation on this theme: the "power fruit." From now until at least May 2018, your power fruit should be the ripe strawberry. Why? Because this will be a time when you'll be naturally sweet, not artificially so; when you will be juicy, but not dripping all over everything; when you will be compact and concentrated, not bloated and bursting at the seams; and when you should be plucked by hand, never mechanically.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
The Greek word philokalia is translated as the "love of the beautiful, the exalted, the excellent." I propose that we make it your keyword for the next three weeks -- the theme you keep at the forefront of your awareness everywhere you go. But think a while before you say yes to my invitation. To commit yourself to being so relentlessly in quest of the sublime would be a demanding job. Are you truly prepared to adjust to the poignant sweetness that might stream into your life as a result?
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
It's a favorable time to strengthen your fundamentals and stabilize your foundation. I invite you to devote your finest intelligence and grittiest determination to this project. How? Draw deeply from your roots. Tap into the mother lode of inspiration that never fails you. Nurture the web of life that nurtures you. The cosmos will offer you lots of help and inspiration whenever you attend to these practical and sacred matters. Best-case scenario: You will bolster your personal power for many months to come.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Two talking porcupines are enjoying an erotic tryst in a cactus garden. It's a prickly experience, but that's how they like it. "I always get horny when things get thorny," says one. Meanwhile, in the rose garden next door, two unicorns wearing crowns of thorns snuggle and nuzzle as they receive acupuncture from a swarm of helpful hornets. One of the unicorns murmurs, "This is the sharpest pleasure I've ever known." Now here's the moral of these far-out fables, Gemini: Are you ready to gamble on a cagey and exuberant ramble through the brambles? Are you curious about the healing that might become available if you explore the edgy frontiers of gusto?
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
I predict that four weeks from now you will be enjoying a modest but hearty feeling of accomplishment -- on one condition: You must not get diverted by the temptation to achieve trivial successes. In other words, I hope you focus on one or two big projects, not lots of small ones. What do I mean by "big projects"? How about these: taming your fears; delivering a delicate message that frees you from an onerous burden; clarifying your relationship with work; and improving your ability to have the money you need.
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HOMEWORK:
In what circumstances do you tend to be smartest? When do you tend to be dumbest? Testify at FreeWillAstrology.com.
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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 2017 Rob Brezsny
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