Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
September 2, 2020
FreeWillAstrology.com
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Here's a prescription that may help you make optimal use of your precious life energy:
Set an intention to clarify your intentions about the essential matters in your life. Say "I am clarifying my intentions about . . ."
1. "who I really am"
2. "whom and what I love"
3. "how I want to serve my fellow creatures and the planet Earth"
4. "the unripe qualities in myself that I am ripening"
5. "what I need to do next"
6. "the best way for me to make money"
7. "the moral principles I hold most strongly"
8. "the truth about my relationship to the Source"
9. "the best use of my creative energy"
others?
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BLESS YOUR APPETITE
Bless your appetite. May it be voracious and unapologetic.
I'm sending you much respect for your buried needs and secret yearnings. May they flow into plain view for you to embrace and celebrate.
Congratulations for your willingness to name the unspeakable truths and acknowledge the embarrassing fears. May you be willing to rebel against your self-image for the sake of gaining access to deeper reserves of power and competence.
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SPIRITUAL POWER OF FEELINGS
"Feelings, whether of compassion or irritation, should be welcomed, recognized, and treated on an absolutely equal basis; because both are ourselves.
"The tangerine I am eating is me. The mustard greens I am planting are me. I plant with all my heart and mind. I clean this teapot with the kind of attention I would have were I giving the baby Buddha or Jesus a bath.
"Nothing should be treated more carefully than anything else. In mindfulness, compassion, irritation, mustard green plant, and teapot are all sacred."
~ Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation
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THOUGHT EXPERIMENT
Here's a thought experiment you could try for the next 24 hours: Every time a negative or fearful thought rises up, substitute a thought, imagination, or memory that energizes you and makes you feel genuinely good.
It's only for one day. You can do it!
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COMPASSIONATE POLITICS
I want the following: Medicare for All. Drastic decrease in military budget. Raising the minimum wage. Equal pay for equal work. Making it easier for workers to join unions. Free tuition at public colleges and universities. A Green New Deal. Police department reform and criminal justice reform.
Wealth tax. Much more gun control. Pathway for citizenship for all immigrants. Universal Basic Income. Reparations for African Americans and Native Americans. Elimination of the Electoral College. Legal marijuana.
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Kamala Harris wasn't my first choice for VP, but I support her wholeheartedly. Joe Biden was nowhere near my first choice for President, but I support him wholeheartedly. Onward to victory over the Trumpocalypse!
The future of the human race depends on Biden-Harris winning.
I hope we will also do everything in our power to help Democrats keep their majority in the House and gain the majority in the Senate.
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THE SACRED IS IN THE ORDINARY
"The great lessons from the true mystics, from the Zen monks, is that the sacred is in the ordinary, that it is to be found in one's daily life, in one's neighbors, friends, and family, in one's back yard, and that travel may be a flight from confronting the sacred. To be looking everywhere for miracles is a sure sign of ignorance that everything is miraculous."
—Abraham H. Maslow
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"The lesson that life constantly enforces is 'Look underfoot.' You are always nearer to the true sources of your power than you think. The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are. Don't despise your own place and hour. Every place is the center of the world."
—Naturalist John Burroughs
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"If you love the sacred and despise the ordinary, you are still bobbing in the ocean of delusion."
—Lin-Chi, translated by Thomas Cleary
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"We want to be God in all the ways that are not the ways of God, in what we hope is indestructible or unmoving. But God is fragile, a bare smear of pollen, that scatter of yellow dust from the tree that tumbled over in a storm of grief and planted itself again."
—Deena Metzger, Prayers for a Thousand Years, edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon
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MY DAILY HOROSCOPES
Some people don't know that I write daily horoscopes, available as text messages sent to your cell or smart phone.
They're shorter than the weekly 'scopes, but on the other hand they're more frequent -- every day of the week.
My weekly horoscopes are free, but the dailies cost about 67 cents a day if you sign up for a subscription.
If you think you might enjoy getting regular bursts of inspiration from me to illuminate your adventures, check them out.
Go to RealAstrology.com. Register or log in. On the new page, click on "Subscribe / Renew" under "Daily Text Message Horoscopes" in the right-hand column.
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INTERVIEW WITH ME
INTERVIEWER: You confuse me in the way that you praise rational thought and the scientific method, yet reserve the right to believe in astrology, angels, miracles, and other woo-woo.
ROB BREZSNY: Thousands of amazing, inexplicable, and even supernatural events occur every day. And yet most are unreported by the media. The few that are cited are ridiculed.
Why? Here's one possible reason: The people most likely to believe in wonders and marvels may be superstitious, uneducated, or prone to having a blind, literalist faith in their religions' myths. Those who are least likely to believe in wonders and marvels are skilled at analytical thought, well-educated, and yet prone to having a blind, literalist faith in the ideology of materialism, which dogmatically asserts that the universe consists entirely of things that can be perceived by the five human senses or detected by instruments that scientists have thus far invented.
The media is largely composed of people from the second group. It's virtually impossible for them to admit to the possibility of events that elude the rational mind's explanations, let alone experience them. If anyone from this group manages to escape peer pressure and cultivate a receptivity to the miraculous, it's because they have successfully fought against being demoralized by the unsophisticated way wonders and marvels are framed by the first group.
I try to be immune to the double-barreled ignorance. When I behold astonishing synchronicities and numinous breakthroughs that seem to violate natural law, I'm willing to consider the possibility that my understanding of natural law is too narrow. And yet I also refrain from lapsing into irrational gullibility; I actively seek mundane explanations for apparent miracles.
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I ME WED
I invite you to deepen and intensify your commitment to the most important person in your life -- you. One way to further that sacred cause is to get married to yourself. In my book, I've created a text you can refer to as you perform the wedding. Or you can use my text for inspiration as you create your own version.
Let's begin by telling a simple truth: You will probably never create a resilient, invigorating bond with the lush accomplice of your dreams until you master the art of loving yourself ingeniously. A wedding ritual that joins you to yourself could catalyze an uncanny shift in your personal mojo that would attract a fresh, hot consort into your life, or else awaken the sleeping potential of a simmering alliance you have now.
If you're feeling brave, try speaking the following words aloud:
"I am no longer looking for the perfect partner.
I am my own perfect partner."
Say it even stronger:
"I am no longer looking for the perfect partner
to salve all my wounds
and fix all my mix-ups
and bridge all my chasms.
I am no longer looking for the perfect partner
because I am my own perfect partner."
TO READ THE REST OF "I ME WED," go here:
bit.ly/IMeWed
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My book THE TELEVISIONARY ORACLE is available
at Amazon: bit.ly/Televisionary
at Barnes & Noble: tinyurl.com/TelevisionaryBN
Here's the Kindle edition: amzn.to/1n5uY2u
Praise for the book:
"I've seen the future of American literature, and its name is Rob Brezsny."
—novelist Tom Robbins
"Like a mutant love-child of Jack Kerouac and Anais Nin, Rob Brezsny writes with devilish humor, spiritual audacity, and erotic intensity. The Televisionary Oracle is a kick-ass gnostic tale. Prepare to be astonished."
—Jay Kinney, author, Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions
"The Televisionary Oracle's heroine, Rapunzel, is one of recent literature's sexiest female protagonists."
—Weekly Alibi
"The Televisionary Oracle is a book so weird it might drive you stark raving sane."
—Robert Anton Wilson
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Modern heroes:
www.cnn.com/specials/cnn-heroes
More Americans Are Going Out of Their Way to Support Small Businesses During COVID-19
tinyurl.com/y57tesja
The San Francisco Housing Policy That’s Stopping Displacement. In the city’s Mission District, renters are collectively buying their buildings before they get priced out.
tinyurl.com/y5fqyzgv
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For a lot more pronoiac resources and ideas, read my book Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings
Available at Barnes & Noble: tinyurl.com/PronoiaBN
Available at Amazon: bit.ly/Pronoia
A free preview of the book is available here: tinyurl.com/PronoiaPreview
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning September 3
Copyright 2020 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
"Like any art, the creation of self is both natural and seemingly impossible," says singer-songwriter Holly Near. "It requires training as well as magic." How are you doing on that score, Virgo? Now is a favorable time to intensify your long-term art project of creating the healthiest, smartest version of yourself. I think it will feel quite natural and not-at-all impossible. In the coming weeks, you'll have a finely tuned intuitive sense of how to proceed with flair. Start by imagining the Most Beautiful You.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
I propose we resurrect the old English word "museful." First used in the 17th century but then forgotten, it meant "deeply thoughtful; pensive." In our newly coined use, it refers to a condition wherein a person is abundantly inspired by the presence of the muse. I further suggest that we invoke this term to apply to you Libras in the coming weeks. You potentially have a high likelihood of intense communion with your muses. There's also a good chance you'll engage with a new muse or two. What will you do with all of this illumination and stimulation?
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Each of us has a "soul's code": a metaphorical blueprint of the beautiful person we could become by fulfilling our destiny. If our soul's code remains largely dormant, it will agitate and disorient us. If, on the other hand, we perfectly actualize our soul's code, we will feel at home in the world; all our experiences will feel meaningful. The practical fact is that most of us have made some progress in manifesting our soul's code, but still have a way to go before we fully actualize it. Here's the good news: You Scorpios are in a phase of your cycle when you could make dramatic advances in this glorious work.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
"Life is the only game in which the object of the game is to learn the rules," observes Sagittarian author Ashleigh Brilliant. According to my research, you have made excellent progress in this quest during the last few weeks—and will continue your good work in the next six weeks. Give yourself an award! Buy yourself a trophy! You have discovered at least two rules that were previously unknown to you, and you have also ripened your understanding of another rule that had previously been barely comprehensible. Be alert for more breakthroughs.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
"If you're not lost, you're not much of an explorer," said rambunctious activist and author John Perry Barlow. Adding to his formulation, I'll say that if you want to be a successful explorer, it's crucial to get lost on some occasions. And according to my analysis, now is just such a time for you Capricorns. The new territory you have been brave enough to reconnoiter should be richly unfamiliar. The possibilities you have been daring enough to consider should be provocatively unpredictable. Keep going, my dear! That's the best way to become un-lost.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
"Dreams really tell you about yourself more than anything else in this world could ever tell you," said psychic Sylvia Browne. She was referring to the mysterious stories that unfold in our minds as we sleep. I agree with her assessment of dreams' power to show us who we really are all the way down to the core of our souls. What Browne didn't mention, however, is that it takes knowledge and training to become proficient in deciphering dreams' revelations. Their mode of communication is unique—and unlike every other source of teaching. I bring this up, Aquarius, because the coming months will be a favorable time for you to become more skilled in understanding your dreams.
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OUR COLLABORATION
I really do feel that you're here with me as I create these horoscopes. In a sense, you're my assistant. Our telepathic connection is utterly palpable and practical. The hopes and questions you project my way stream into my higher mind, coloring my psychic environment and enriching my desire to give you exactly what you need.
If you ever want more inspiration generated in that same collaborative spirit -- beyond the horoscopes you're reading here -- keep in mind that every week I also offer 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 RealAstrology.com
Register and/or log in through the main page.
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The cost is $6 per sign online. (Discounts are available for bulk purchases.)
You can also listen over the phone by calling 1-877-873-4888. The cost is $1.99 per minute. Each forecast is 4-5 minutes long.
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"Your audio horoscopes are somehow both a balm for my soul and a call to action. How do you do that?"
—David G., Coral Gables, FL
"Your audio horoscopes fill in the gaps in my imagination. They wake up the fun plot twists that have been just on the tip of my ability to visualize."
—Ani Kraft, Brattleboro, VT
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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
In June 1876, warriors from three Indian tribes defeated U.S. troops led by General George Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana. It was an iconic victory in what was ultimately a losing battle to prevent conquest by the ever-expanding American empire. One of the tribes that fought that day was the Northern Cheyenne. Out of fear of punishment by the U.S. government, its leaders waited 130 years to tell its side of the story about what happened. New evidence emerged then, such as the fact that the only woman warrior in the fight, Buffalo Calf Road Woman, killed Custer himself. I offer this tale as an inspiration for you Pisceans to tell your story about events that you've kept silent about for too long.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
"A new idea is rarely born like Venus attended by graces. More commonly it’s modeled of baling wire and acne. More commonly it wheezes and tips over." Those words were written by Aries author Marge Piercy, who has been a fount of good new ideas in the course of her career. I regard her as an expert in generating wheezy, fragile breakthroughs and ultimately turning them into shiny, solid beacons of revelation. Your assignment in the coming weeks, Aries, is to do as Piercy has done so well.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
"Every day I discover even more beautiful things," said painter Claude Monet. "It is intoxicating me, and I want to paint it all. My head is bursting." That might seem like an extreme state to many of us. But Monet was a specialist in the art of seeing. He trained himself to be alert for exquisite sights. So his receptivity to the constant flow of loveliness came naturally to him. I bring this to your attention, Taurus, because I think that in the coming weeks, you could rise closer to a Monet-like level of sensitivity to beauty. Would that be interesting to you? If so, unleash yourself! Make it a priority to look for charm, elegance, grace, delight, and dazzlement.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Author Renata Adler describes a time in her life when she began to notice blue triangles on her feet. She was wracked with fear that they were a symptom of leukemia. But after a period of intense anxiety, she realized one fine day that they had a different cause. She writes: "Whenever I, walking barefoot, put out the garbage on the landing, I held the apartment door open, bending over from the rear. The door would cross a bit over the tops of my feet"—leaving triangular bruises. Upon realizing this very good news, she says, "I took a celebrational nap." From what I can tell, Gemini, you're due for a series of celebrational naps—both because of worries that turn out to be unfounded and because you need a concentrated period of recharging your energy reserves.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
"I like people who refuse to speak until they are ready to speak," proclaimed Cancerian author Lillian Hellman. I feel the same way. So often people have nothing interesting or important to say, but say it anyway. I've done that myself! The uninteresting and unimportant words I have uttered are too numerous to count. The good news for me and all of my fellow Cancerians is that in the coming weeks we are far more likely than usual to not speak until we are ready to speak. According to my analysis of the astrological potentials, we are poised to express ourselves with clarity, authenticity, and maximum impact.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Of all the mournful impacts the pandemic has had, one of the most devastating is that it has diminished our opportunities to touch and be touched by other humans. Many of us are starved of the routine, regular contact we had previously taken for granted. I look forward to the time when we can again feel uninhibited about shaking hands, hugging, and patting friends on the arm or shoulder. In the meantime, how can you cope? This issue is extra crucial for you Leos to meditate on right now. Can you massage yourself? Seek extra tactile contact with animals? Hug trees? Figure out how to physically connect with people while wearing hazmat suits, gloves, masks, and face shields? What else?
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HOMEWORK:
Maybe sometimes it's OK to hide and be secretive and use silence as a superpower. Example from your life? 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 2020 Rob Brezsny
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