Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
August 28, 2019
FreeWillAstrology.com
+
The people I trust the most are those who are always tenderly wrestling and negotiating with their own shadows, making preemptive strikes on their personal share of the world's evil, fighting the good fight to keep from spewing their darkness on those around them. I aspire to be like that.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
MY UPCOMING PERFORMANCE IN NEW YORK CITY
Join me as I read poetry
at The Strand bookstore
828 Broadway, New York City
7:30 pm on Friday, September 13
I'll be opening for two crazy-good poets:
Ariana Reines
and
CAConrad
My daughter Zoe Brezsny
will join me in opening the show.
Here's the info: tinyurl.com/PoetryNYC
In the meantime, check out Ariana Reines' sensational new book
A Sand Book, and read my review of it:
tinyurl.com/PoetryMedicine
Here's my favorite book by CAConrad:
ECODEVIANCE: (Soma)tics for the Future Wilderness: tinyurl.com/y2hdjj2h
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
SHADOW SCHOOL
You're a gorgeous mystery with a wild heart and a lofty purpose. But like all of us, you also have a dark side -- a part of your psyche that snarls and bites, that's unconscious and irrational, that is motivated by ill will or twisted passions or instinctual fears.
It's your own personal portion of the world's sickness: a mess of repressed longings, enervating wounds, ignorant delusions, and unripe powers. You'd prefer to ignore it because it's unflattering or uncomfortable or very different from what you imagine yourself to be.
If you acknowledge its existence at all (many of us don't), you might call it the devil, your evil twin, your inner monster, or your personal demon. Psychologist Carl Jung referred to it as the shadow. He regarded it as the lead that the authentic alchemists of the Middle Ages sought to transmute into gold.
+
Astrologer Steven Forrest has a different name for the shadow: stuff. "Work on your stuff," he says, "or your stuff will work on you." He means that it will sabotage you if you're not aggressive about identifying, negotiating with, and transforming it.
+
The shadow is not inherently evil. If it is ignored or denied, it may become monstrous to compensate. Only then is it likely to "demonically possess" its owner, leading to compulsive, exaggerated, "evil" behavior.
+
"The shadow, which is in conflict with the acknowledged values, cannot be accepted as a negative part of one's own psyche and is therefore projected -- that is, it is transferred to the outside world and experienced as an outside object. It is combated, punished, and exterminated as 'the alien out there' instead of being dealt with as one's own inner problem." -- Erich Neumann, Depth Psychology and a New Ethic
+
The qualities in ourselves that we deny or dislike are often the very qualities that we most bitterly complain about in other people. So for instance, an old friend of mine named Mark had a special disgust for friends who were unavailable to him when he really needed them. But I was witness to him engaging in the same behavior three different times, disappearing from the lives of his friends just when they needed him most.
+
"Whatever is rejected from the self, appears in the world as an event," said Jung. If you disown a part of your personality, it'll materialize as an unexpected detour.
Everyone who believes in the devil is the devil . . . .
TO READ THE REST OF "SHADOW SCHOOL," go here: bit.ly/wGN3iM
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
HOW TO KICK YOUR OWN ASS
How-to-kick-your-own-ass lessons are available at 2:20 of this video: bit.ly/1QWemwr
How-to-kick-your-own-ass lessons are also available at 7:30 of this video: bit.ly/1T6Z7jp
Here's the "Kick Your Own Ass" anthem: bit.ly/1jdAyEz
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
WEEDS CAN BE GOOD
It turns out that some weeds are good for flowers and vegetables, protecting them from predatory insects. So say horticulturalists Stan Finch and Rosemary Collier, writing in Biologist magazine. When the bugs come looking for their special treats -- the plants we love -- they often get waylaid by the weeds, landing on them first and getting fooled into thinking there's nothing more valuable nearby.
So for example, when cabbages are planted in the midst of clover, flies lay eggs on only seven percent of them, compared to a 36 percent infestation rate on cabbages that are grown in bare soil with no clover nearby.
This could be a useful metaphor in working with your own versions of impurities and interlopers. Make sure there are always a few chickweed or henbit weeds surrounding your ripening tomatoes.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
LOVE YOUR ENEMIES?
The Bible quotes the radical first-century religious activist Jesus Christ as follows: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." Sounds like he had a good strategy for working with his shadow.
Here's a corollary to Christ's injunction to love thy neighbor as thyself: "I will love the dark, difficult side of my neighbor -- not just the attractive, friendly side -- and I will encourage it to express itself in constructive ways."
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
WANT TO GET YOUR ASTROLOGICAL CHART READ?
If you want your personal chart done, I recommend a colleague whose approach to reading astrology charts closely matches my own. She's my wife, RO LOUGHRAN. She's at www.roloughran.com.
Ro utilizes a blend of well-trained intuition, emotional warmth, and technical proficiency in horoscope interpretation. She is skilled at exploring the mysteries of your life's purpose and nurturing your connection with your own inner wisdom.
In addition to over 30 years of astrological experience, Ro has been a licensed psychotherapist for 17 years. She integrates psychological insight with astrology's cosmological perspective.
Ro is based in California, but can do phone consultations and otherwise work with you regardless of geographic boundaries.
Check out Ro's website at www.roloughran.com
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
PERSEPHONE'S OTHER STORY
In the best-known version of the Greek myth, Persephone is dragged down into the underworld by Hades, whose title is "Pluto." But in earlier, pre-patriarchal tales, she descends there under her own power, actively seeking to graduate from her virginal naivete by exploring the intriguing land of shadows.
"Pluto" is derived from the Greek word plutus, meaning "wealth." Psychologist James Hillman says this refers to the psyche-building riches available in Pluto's domain. Hades, he says, is "the giver of nourishment to the soul."
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
SEEDS ARE NOURISHED IN THE DARK
"Suffering can't be avoided," James Broughton told Jack Foley. "The way to happiness is to go into the darkness of yourself. That's the place the seed is nourished, takes its roots and grows up, and becomes ultimately the plant and the flower. You can only go upward by first going downward."
—James Broughton
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
WHERE YOU STUMBLE
"It is by going down into the abyss that you recover the treasures of life," wrote Joseph Campbell. "Where you stumble, there lies your treasure."
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
POETIC JUSTICE
"As is demonstrated by a wealth of historical examples, every form of fanaticism, every dogma and every type of compulsive one-sidedness is finally overthrown by precisely those elements which it has itself repressed, suppressed, or ignored."
—Erich Neumann
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
MAKE THE UNCONSCIOUS CONSCIOUS
"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate."
—Carl Jung
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Illinois Becomes Third State to Ban Sale of Animal-Tested Cosmetics.
tinyurl.com/y5vfsp2f
From America's New Poet Laureate, Poems Reclaiming Tribal Culture.
tinyurl.com/y4ruufey
Thomas Sankara, the first president of Burkina Faso, had over 10 million trees planted. He outlawed genital mutilation, polygamy, and forced marriages, and led the first African government to recognize AIDS as a major threat to Africa.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sankara
(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.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning August 29
Copyright 2019 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Shogun is a bestselling novel about an Englishman who transforms himself into a samurai warrior in seventeenth-century Japan. Written by James Clavell, it's over 1,100 pages long. Clavell testified that the idea for the story sprang up in him when he read one line in his daughter's school book: "In 1600 an Englishman went to Japan and became a samurai." I suspect it's highly likely you will soon encounter a seed like that, Virgo: a bare inspiration that will eventually bloom into a Big Thing.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
Libran athlete Mickey Mantle is in Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame. He had a spectacular 18-year career, winning the Most Valuable Player Award three times, playing in 12 World Series, and being selected to the All-Star team 16 times. So it's astounding that he played with a torn ligament in his knee for 17 years, according to his biographer Jane Leavy. She quoted an orthopedic surgeon who said that Mantle compensated for his injury with "neuromuscular genius." I'm thinking that in the next few weeks you're in a position to accomplish an equivalent of Mantle's heroic adjustment.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Most people who belong to the Church of Satan neither believe in nor worship Satan. (They're atheists, and don't believe in the supernatural.) I think a comparable principle is true for many rightwing fundamentalist Christians. Their actions and words are replete with bigotry, hard-heartedness, materialism, and selfishness: so contrary to what the real Jesus Christ taught that they in effect don't believe in or worship Jesus Christ. I mention this, Scorpio, in hope of inspiring you to take inventory of whether your stated ideals are reflected in the practical details of how you live your life. That's always an interesting and important task, of course, but it's especially so for you right now. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to purge any hypocrisy from your system and get your actual behavior in close alignment with your deepest values.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
It's the right time for you to create a fresh mission statement and promotional campaign. For inspiration, read mine: "My column 'Free Will Astrology' offers you a wide selection of realities to choose from. With 4,212 years of dedication to customer service (over the course of my last 13 incarnations), I'm a reliable ally supporting your efforts to escape your oppressive conditioning and other people's hells. My horoscopes come with an ironclad guarantee: If the advice you read is wrong, you're under no obligation to believe it. And remember: a panel of 531 experts has determined that 'Free Will Astrology' is an effective therapy for your chronic wounds and primordial pain. It is also dramatic proof that there is no good reason to be afraid of life."
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Here are good questions for you to meditate on during the next four weeks. 1. How can you attract resources that will expand your mind and your world? 2. Are you bold enough to reach out to wise sources and provocative influences that could connect you with useful tricks and practical treasures? 3. What interesting lessons can you stir up as you explore the mercurial edges, skirt the changeable boundaries, journey to catalytic frontiers, and make pilgrimages to holy hubbubs? 4. How best can you encourage lyrical emotion over polished sentimentality? Joyous idealism over astringent zealotry? Exuberant integrity over formulaic kindness?
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
"It is the beginning of wisdom when you recognize that the best you can do is choose which rules you want to live by," wrote author Wallace Stegner, "and it's persistent and aggravated imbecility to pretend you can live without any." That will be an excellent meditation for you during the coming weeks. I trust you are long past the time of fantasizing you can live without any rules. Your challenge now is to adjust some of the rules you have been living by, or even dare to align yourself with some new rules—and then completely commit yourself to being loyal to them and enjoying them.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I LOVE YOU!
It has been a while since I told you that I love you. So I'm doing it now. I LOVE YOU.
And that's why I continue to offer these weekly horoscopes to you free of charge, with no strings attached. That's why I work so hard to be a playful therapist and an edgy mentor for you. That's why I am so tenacious in my efforts to serve you as a feminist father figure and a kindly devil's advocate and a sacred cheerleader.
Again, I don't expect anything in return from you. But if you would like to express your appreciation, you could do so by offering a similar type of well-crafted care to people in your own sphere.
There is also something you could do to support me -- and help yourself at the same time! -- and that is to buy my EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES for you. They're four-to-five-minute meditations on the current state of your destiny.
These forecasts are different in tone and format from the written horoscopes you read here in the newsletter. They're longer and more leisurely in tone.
To listen to your Expanded Audio Horoscope online, go to freewillastrology.sparkns.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 On the Web. (Discounts are available for bulk purchases.) You can also access them for $1.99 per minute by phone
+
"Your Expanded Audio Horoscopes seem to have the effect of activating my inner teacher. Thanks!" - Eleanor A., Toronto
"Your expanded audio horoscopes are the next best thing to actually having you here next to me to remind me who I really am." - Alyssa R., Des Moines, Iowa
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Given the astrological omens that will symbolize your personal story in the coming weeks and months, I think Piscean author Nikos Kazantzakis articulated the perfect prescription for you. I invite you to interpret his thoughts to fit your circumstances. "We're going to start with small, easy things," he wrote. "Then, little by little we shall try our hand at the big things. And after that, after we finish the big things, we shall undertake the impossible." Here's an additional prod from Kazantzakis: "Reach what you cannot."
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Here are examples of activities I recommend you try in the coming days. 1. Build a campfire on the beach with friends and regale each other with stories of your most interesting successes. 2. Buy eccentric treasures at a flea market and ever thereafter refer to them as your holy icons. 3. Climb a hill and sit on the grass as you sing your favorite songs and watch the moon slowly rise over the eastern horizon. 4. Take naps when you're "not supposed to." 5. Sneak into an orchard at night and eat fruit plucked just moments before. 6. Tell a beloved person a fairy tale in which he or she is the hero.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
The hardiest creature on the planet may be the bacterium known as Deinococcus radiodurans. It can endure exposure to radiation, intense cold, dehydration, acid, and vacuum. I propose we make it your power creature for the coming weeks. Why? Not because I expect you'll have to deal with a lot of extreme conditions, but rather because I think you'll be exceptionally robust, both physically and psychologically. If you've been waiting for the right time to succeed at demanding challenges that require you to be in top form, now is a good time to do it. P.S. Deinococcus radiodurans is colloquially referred to as Conan the Bacterium, borrowing from the spirit of the fictional character Conan the Barbarian, who is renowned for his strength and agility.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
In the yearly cycle of many Geminis, retreating into a state akin to hibernation makes sense during the end of August and the first three weeks of September. But since many of you are high-energy sophisticates, you often override your body's signals. And then nature pushes back by compelling you to slow down. The result may be a rhythm that feels like constantly taking three steps forward and two steps backward. May I suggest a different approach this year? Would you consider surrendering, even slightly, to the invitation to relax and recharge?
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
If you decide to travel to a particular place via hot air balloon, you must be prepared for the possibility that your route will be indirect. At different altitudes, the wind may be blowing in different directions: toward the east at a hundred feet high, but toward the southwest at two hundred feet. The trick for the pilot is to jockey up and down until finding a layer that's headed toward the desired destination. I see your life right now as having a metaphorical resemblance to this riddle. You have not yet discovered the layer that will take you where you want to go. But I bet you will soon.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Considering how bright you have been burning since the Flame Angels designated you as the Hottest Cool Person of the Month, I hesitate to urge you to simmer down. But I must. Before there's a meltdown in your vicinity, please lower your thermostat. Not a lot. Just a little. If you do that, everyone will continue to see your gleaming charisma in the best possible light. But don't you dare extinguish your blaze. Don't apologize for your brilliant shimmer. The rest of us need your magical radiance.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
HOMEWORK:
What do you want most for the person or animal you love best? FreeWillAstrology.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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 2019 Rob Brezsny
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
|
