Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
April 21, 2021
FreeWillAstrology.com
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Keep two pieces of paper in your pockets at all times. One says "I am a speck of dust," and the other, "The world was created for me."
—Rabbi Bunim of P’shiskha
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WHAT YOU NEED
You need regular doses of unreasonable beauty, sublime anomalies, beguiling ephemera, and inexplicable joys.
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YOUR SYMPTOMS?
Congratulations if you've been having any of the following symptoms:
• spontaneous eruptions of gratitude
• a declining fascination with conflict
• seemingly irrational urges that lead to interesting discoveries
• yearnings to peer more deeply into the eyes of people you care about
• a mounting inability to tolerate boring influences that resist transformation
• an increasing knack for recognizing and receiving the love that's available to you
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FREE THE WHOLE WORLD
If you'd like to read a succinct summary of my philosophy of life—which can't be published here because it has forbidden words— go here: tinyurl.com/FreeTheWholeWorld
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LONG LIVE YOU AND ME
Long live the beauty that comes down and through and onto all of us.
—singer-songwriter Laurie Anderson
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Long live impudence! It's my guardian angel in this world.
—Albert Einstein
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LONG LIVE THE WEEDS
Long live the weeds that overwhelm
My narrow vegetable realm !—
The bitter rock, the barren soil
That force the son of man to toil;
All things unholy, marked by curse,
The ugly of the universe.
The rough, the wicked, and the wild
That keep the spirit undefiled.
With these I match my little wit
And earn the right to stand or sit.
Hope, look, create, or drink and die:
These shape the creature that is I.
—Theodore Roethke
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Long live freedom and damn the ideologies.
—Robinson Jeffers
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Long live also the forward march of the common people in all the lands towards their just and true inheritance, and towards the broader and fuller age.
—Winston Churchill
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Long live all the magic we made.
—Taylor Swift
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Long live diversity, long live the earth!
—Edward Abbey
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Long live the rose that grew from concrete.
—Tupac Shakur
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Long live the pioneers, rebels and mutineers.
—X Ambassadors
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Long live your soul and may i see you do great in life.
—birthday card
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Long live “fact journalism.”
—David Leonhardt
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Vive la différence!
—French proverb
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Live long and prosper.
—Spock
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Love the life you live. Live the life you love.
—Bob Marley
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Long live wanting to live in this beautiful garden of life and knowing it as a beginner.
—Anah-Karelia Coates
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Long live transfinite mountains, the hollow earth, time machines, fractal writing, aliens, dada, telepathy, flying saucers, warped space, teleportation, artificial reality, robots, pod people, hylozoism, endless shrinking, intelligent goo, antigravity, surrealism, software highs, two-dimensional time, gnarly computation, the art of photo composition, pleasure zappers, nanomachines, mind viruses, hyperspace, monsters from the deep and, of course, always and forever, the attack of the giant ants!
—science fiction author Rudy Rucker
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Instead of complaining about impermanence, we should say, ‘Warm welcome and long live impermanence.’ We should be happy. When we can see the miracle of impermanence, our sadness and suffering will pass.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Here's the whole passage of the Thich Nhat Hanh quote:
We are often sad and suffer a lot when things change, but change and impermanence have a positive side. Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible. Life itself is possible.
If a grain of corn is not impermanent, it can never be transformed into a stalk of corn. If the stalk were not impermanent, it could never provide us with the ear of corn we eat.
If your daughter is not impermanent, she cannot grow up to become a woman. Then your grandchildren would never manifest.
So instead of complaining about impermanence, we should say, "Warm welcome and long live impermanence."
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TRUE AWE
Each morning is all mornings.
The oak tree's shadow is the messiah.
The elephant shrew and the supernova are equals.
The Honda Accord is as natural as the Grand Canyon.
The skin is a temporary boundary, and so is the planet's surface.
The swallowtail butterfly is a savant.
Logic is crazy love.
The bat-eared fox is a razor-backed musk turtle.
Jubilation is an ecologically sound strategy.
No one knows how to sing the end of time because there is no end of time.
The critically endangered white rhinoceros is a forgotten birthday.
The vulnerable arctic wolf is emancipated from sin.
Purity is a sacrilegious vortex of panic.
Listening is the apotheosis of arrogance.
Our serpent thoughts keep us linked to original mirth.
The bumble bee redeems our unfertilized prophecies.
—by me
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DO IT NOW!
It's a favorable time to diminish the power of the past to obstruct you.
It's a favorable time to commit yourself to your high ideals and beautiful goals with such fervor and love that you render your past conditioning irrelevant.
It's a favorable time to diminish the power of any of your conditioned urges that are not in alignment with your soul's code.
It's a favorable time to commit yourself to your high ideals and beautiful goals with such fervor and love that you render your disruptive conditioned urges irrelevant.
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PSYCHOLOGICAL & SPIRITUAL
Psychological work focuses more on what has gone wrong: how we have been wounded in our relations with others and how to go about addressing that.
Spiritual work focuses more on what is intrinsically right: how we have infinite resources at the core of our nature that we can cultivate in order to live more expansively. If psychological work thins the clouds, spiritual work invokes the sun.
—psychotherapist John Welwood
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To Welwood's ideas, I would add that the spirit is about rising above and seeking what's most noble, while the soul is about diving in and wrestling with exactly what is.
Both tasks are valuable. Neither realm is inherently better or more important. If you have a bias one way or the other, it's usually best to be conscientious about maintaining a balance.
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I call the high and light aspects of my being spirit and the dark and heavy aspects soul.
Soul is at home in the deep, shaded valleys. Heavy torpid flowers saturated with black grow there. The rivers flow like warm syrup.
Spirit is a land of high, white peaks and glittering jewel - like lakes and flowers. Life is sparse and sounds travel great distances.
—Dalai Lama
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THE COMPASSION OF NO
'Tsültrim Allione says: "I was at a lunch with the Dalai Lama and five Buddhist teachers at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. We were sitting in a charming room with white carpets and many windows. The food was a delightful, fragrant, vegetarian Indian meal. There were lovely flower arrangements on the table.
“We were discussing sexual misconduct among Western Buddhist teachers. A woman Buddhist from California brought up someone who was using his students for his own sexual needs. One woman said, ‘We are working with him with compassion, trying to get him to understand his motives for exploiting female students and to help him change his actions.’
“The Dalai Lama slammed his fist on the table, saying loudly, ‘Compassion is fine, but it has to stop! And those doing it should be exposed!’ All the serving plates on the table jumped, the water glasses tipped precariously, and I almost choked on the bite of saffron rice in my mouth.
“Suddenly I saw him as a fierce manifestation of compassion and realized that this clarity did not mean that the Dalai Lama had moved away from compassion. Rather, he was bringing compassion and manifesting it as decisive fierceness. His magnetism was glowing like a fire.
“I will always remember that day, because it was such a good teaching on compassion and precision. Compassion is not a wishy-washy ‘anything goes’ approach. Compassion can say a fierce no!“
- Tsültrim Allione, from her book Wisdom Rising
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
We Can Eliminate Child Poverty. The U.S. stimulus bill includes guaranteed monthly payments to families with children. Will it work? It already has.
tinyurl.com/5jpej6pz
Singapore Shows What Serious Urban Farming Looks Like. In a city-state that imports 90% of its food, rooftop gardens are a matter of national food security.
tinyurl.com/6w6xybd8
Africa’s Wikipedia Editors Are Changing How the World Sees Their Continent. A grassroots movement enlists Africans to write their own story on one of the world’s biggest websites.
tinyurl.com/f96e7y4m
Nepal’s Endangered Rhino Population Has Grown By 16%.
tinyurl.com/4vjvparh
During the pandemic, many people have laid the groundwork for a better future.
tinyurl.com/592y4cr2
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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 Bookshop.org: tinyurl.com/548hp8y8
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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Please tell me your own nominations for PRONOIA RESOURCES: Truthrooster@gmail.com.
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning April 22
Copyright 2021 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Some traditional Buddhist monks sit on city streets in Asia with a "begging bowl" in front of them. It's a clay or iron container they use to solicit money and food from passers-by who want to support them. Contemporary American poet Mariannne Boruch regards the begging bowl as a metaphor that helps her generate new poems. She adopts the attitude of the empty vessel, awaiting life's instructions and inspiration to guide her creative inquiry. This enables her to "avoid too much self-obsession and navel-gazing" and be receptive—"with no agenda besides the usual wonder and puzzlement." I recommend the begging bowl approach to you as you launch the next phase of your journey, Taurus.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Gemini-born Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) is today regarded as an innovative and influential painter. But his early years provided few hints that he would ultimately become renowned. As a teenager, he attended naval preparatory school, and later he joined the French navy. At age 23, he became a stockbroker. Although he also began dabbling as a painter at that time, it wasn't until the stock market crashed 11 years later that he made the decision to be a full-time painter. Is there a Gauguin-like turning point in your future, Gemini? If so, its early signs might show themselves soon. This pivot won't be as dramatic or stressful as Gauguin's, but I bet it will be quite galvanizing.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
A research team found that some people pray for things they are reasonably sure God wouldn't approve of. In a sense, they're trying to trick the Creator into giving them goodies they're not supposed to get. Do you ever do that? Try to bamboozle life into offering you blessings you're not sure you deserve? The coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to dare such ploys. I'm not guaranteeing you'll succeed, but the chances are much better than usual that you will. The universe is pretty relaxed and generous toward you right now.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
In 2013, the New Zealand government decided to rectify the fact that its two main islands had never been assigned formal names. At that time, it gave both an English and Māori-language moniker for each: North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island, or Te Waipounamu. In the spirit of correcting for oversights and neglect, and in accordance with current astrological omens, is there any action you'd like to take to make yourself more official or professional or established? The coming weeks will be a favorable time to do so.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Author Grant Morrison observes that our heads are "big enough to contain every god and devil there ever was. Big enough to hold the weight of oceans and the turning stars. Whole universes fit in there!" That's why it's so unfortunate, he says, if we fill up our "magical cabinet" with "little broken things, sad trinkets that we play with over and over." In accordance with astrological potentials, Virgo, I exhort you to dispose of as many of those sad trinkets and little broken things as you can. Make lots of room to hold expansive visions and marvelous dreams and wondrous possibilities. It's time to think bigger and feel wilder.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
Libran author bell hooks (who doesn't capitalize her name) has a nuanced perspective on the nature of our pain. She writes, "Contrary to what we may have been taught, unnecessary and unchosen suffering wounds us, but need not scar us for life." She acknowledges that unnecessary and unchosen suffering does indeed "mark us." But we have the power to reshape and transform how it marks us. I think her wisdom will be useful for you to wield in the coming weeks. You now have extra power to reshape and transform the marks of your old pain. You probably won't make it disappear entirely, but you can find new ways to make it serve you, teach you, and ennoble you.
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ARE YOU THE HERO OF YOUR OWN LIFE?
"Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show." So begins Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield.
I'd like to inspire you to create a story of your own that begins with similar words. That's why I provide these free horoscopes for you.
If you'd ever enjoy getting even more assistance from me, tune into your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE, which I create for you each week. They're four-to-five-minute meditations on the current state of your destiny.
To buy and 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 on the On the Web. (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 expanded horoscopes get more personal and intimate with me than some of my closest friends. Thanks for the loving reflections."
—Ari Schlectman., Ann Arbor, MI
"When I listen to your audio 'scopes, my free will lights up."
—Alex Denares., Los Angeles
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SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
I love people who inspire me to surprise myself. I'm appreciative when an ally provides me with a friendly shock that moves me to question my habitual ways of thinking or doing things. I feel lucky when a person I like offers a compassionate critique that nudges me out of a rut I've been in. Here's a secret: I don't always wait around passively hoping events like these will happen. Now and then I actively seek them out. I encourage them. I ask for them. In the coming weeks, Scorpio, I invite you to be like me in this regard.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
"Where did last year's lessons go?" asks Gillian Welch in her song "I Dream a Highway.” Now I'm posing the same question to you—just in time for the Remember Last Year's Lessons Phase of your cycle. In my astrological opinion, it's crucial for you to recollect and ruminate deeply on the breakdowns and breakthroughs you experienced in 2020; on every spiritual emergency and spiritual emergence you weathered; on all the scary trials you endured and all the sacred trails you trod.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Capricorn painter Henri Matisse had a revolutionary influence on 20th-century art, in part because of his raucous use of color. Early in his career he belonged to the movement known as Fauvism, derived from the French term for "wild beasts." During his final years, he invented a new genre very different from his previous work: large collages of brightly colored cut-out paper. The subject matter, according to critic Jed Perl, included "jungles, goddesses, oceans, and the heavens," and "ravishing signs and symbols" extracted from the depths of "Matisse’s luminosity." I offer him as a role model for you, Capricorn, because I think it's a perfect time to be, as Perl describes Matisse, both "a hard-nosed problem-solver and a feverish dreamer."
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
"The guiding motto in the life of every natural philosopher should be, ‘Seek simplicity, but distrust it.’" Aquarian philosopher Alfred North Whitehead wrote that, and now I'm proposing that you use it as your motto in the coming weeks, even if you're not a natural philosopher. Why? Because I suspect you'll thrive by uncomplicating your life. You'll enhance your well-being if you put greater trust in your instinctual nature and avoid getting lost in convoluted thoughts. On the other hand, it's important not to plunge so deeply into minimalism that you become shallow, careless, or unimaginative.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
In ancient Greek comic theater, there was a stock character known as the eiron. He was a crafty underdog who outwitted and triumphed over boastful egotists by pretending to be naive. Might I interest you in borrowing from that technique in the coming weeks? I think you're most likely to be successful if you approach victory indirectly or sideways—and don't get bogged down trying to forcefully coax skeptics and resisters. Be cagey, understated, and strategic, Pisces. Let everyone think they're smart and strong if it helps ensure that your vision of how things should be will win out in the end.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Blogger Emma Elsworthy wrote her "Self-Care List." I'll tell you a few of her 57 action items, in hopes of inspiring you to create your own list. The coming weeks will be a perfect phase to upgrade your focus on doing what makes you feel healthy and holy. Here are Elsworthy's ideas: Get in the habit of cooking yourself a beautiful breakfast. Organize your room. Clean your mirror and laptop. Lie in the sunshine. Become the person you would ideally fall in love with. Walk with a straight posture. Stretch your body. Challenge yourself to not judge or ridicule anyone for a whole day. Have a luxurious shower with your favorite music playing. Remember your dreams. Fantasize about the life you would lead if failure didn't exist.
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HOMEWORK:
I'm in the mood for you to give me predictions and past life readings. Send your psychic insights about my destiny. Truthrooster@gmail.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 2021 Rob Brezsny
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