Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology Newsletter
"Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with
blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing the things
historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build
homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry and even
whittle statues. The story of civilization is the story of what happened on
the banks. Historians are pessimists because they ignore the banks for
the river." -Will Durant
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November 1, 2006
http://freewillastrology.com
http://realastrology.com
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Here are excerpts from my book
"PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA:
How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings"
available at http://tinyurl.com/qaj62
or find out more at http://www.freewillastrology.com
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A DANGEROUS TABOO
My book is a conversation, not a dictation. It's an inquiry, not dogma.
We're explorers in search of the ever-evolving truth, not
authorities proclaiming doctrine from on high. We refuse to be
salespeople intent on getting you to be like us or buy our ideas. In fact,
let's look at the downsides of the perspectives we celebrate.
The first thing you should consider before leaping into a relationship with
pronoia is that it is utterly at odds with conventional wisdom. The
19th-century poet John Keats said that if something is not beautiful, it is
probably not true. But the vast majority of modern storytellers--
journalists, filmmakers, novelists, talk-show hosts, and poets--assert the
opposite: If something is not ugly, it is probably not true.
In a world that equates pessimism with acumen and regards stories about
things falling apart as having the highest entertainment value, pronoia is
deviant. It is a taboo so taboo that it's not even recognized as a taboo.
The average American child sees 20,000 murders on TV before reaching
age 18. This is considered normal. Every community has video rental
stores filled with hundreds of multimillion-dollar films that depict people
doing terrible things to each other. If you read newspapers, you have
every right to believe that Bad Nasty Things compose 90 percent of the
human experience. The authors of thousands of books published this year
will hope to lure you in through the glamour of murder, addiction, self-
hatred, sexual pathology, shame, betrayal, extortion, robbery, cancer,
arson, and torture.
But you will be hard-pressed to find more than a few novels, films, news
stories, and TV shows that dare to depict life as a gift whose purpose is
to enrich the human soul.
If you cultivate an affinity for pronoia, people you respect may
wonder if you have lost your way. You might appear to them as naive,
eccentric, unrealistic, misguided, or even stupid. Your reputation could
suffer and your social status could decline.
But that may be relatively easy to deal with compared to your struggle to
create a new relationship with yourself. For starters, you will have to
acknowledge that what you previously considered a strong-willed
faculty--the ability to discern the weakness in everything--might actually
be a mark of cowardice and laziness. Far from being evidence of your
power and uniqueness, your drive to produce hard-edged opinions stoked
by hostility is likely a sign that you've been brainwashed by the pedestrian
influences of pop nihilism.
Before the onset of pronoia, you may feel fine about the fact that you
generate much of your dynamic energy through anger, agitation,
discomfort, and judgmental scorn. But once the pronoia kicks in, you'll
naturally want more positive feelings to be your high-octane fuel. That will
require extensive retraining. The work could be arduous, delicate, and
time-consuming.
Are you truly ready to shed the values and self-images that keep you
locked into alignment with the dying civilization? Will you have the
stamina and inspiration necessary to dream up bigger, better, more
original sins and wilder, wetter, more interesting problems? Do you realize
how demanding it will be to turn yourself into a wildly disciplined, radically
curious, fiercely tender, ironically sincere, ingeniously loving, aggressively
sensitive, blasphemously reverent, lustfully compassionate master of
rowdy bliss?
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Try saying this aloud: "I die daily." It's one of our favorite formulas for
success. Is it right for you? Say it again, using a different tone of voice
this time. "I die daily." Chant it in a fake foreign accent. Sing it to the
tune of the nursery rhyme, "Frère Jacques." Play with it in the voice of
the cartoon character you loved best as a child. Repeat it 10 times in a
row, or try other vocal experiments. Then muse on these questions.
What do you need to kill off in yourself in order to tune in to the beauty
that's hidden from you? What worn-out shticks are blinding you to the
blessings that life is conspiring to give you? Which of your theories may
have been useful and even brilliant in the past but are now keeping you
from becoming aware of the ever-fresh creation that unfolds before you?
"I die daily" means that it's not enough to terminate your stale mental
habits just once. The price of admission into pronoia is a commitment to
continual dying. You'll have to ask yourself rude questions and kick your
own ass again and again. Today's versions of beauty, truth, love,
goodness, justice, and liberation will pass away. To keep abreast of the
latest developments--to cultivate tomorrow's versions of pronoia--you will
have to immerse yourself regularly in the waters of chaos. Your
relationship with pronoia will have to be a never-ending improvisation.
The dream of a steady-state utopia is anathema to Beauty and Truth
Laboratory researchers. We're allergic to any paradise that resembles a
spotless shopping mall within the walls of a gated community in heaven.
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Pronoia is fueled by a drive to cultivate happiness and a determination to
practice an aggressive form of gratitude that systematically identifies the
things that are working well. But it is not a soothing diversion meant for
timid Pollyannas strung out on optimistic delusions. It's not a feel-good
New Age fantasy used to deny the harsh facts about existence. Those of
us who perceive the world pronoiacally refuse to be polite shills for
sentimental hopefulness.
On the contrary, we build our optimism not through a repression of
difficulty, but rather a vigorous engagement with it. We understand that
the best way to attract blessings is to grapple with the knottiest enigmas.
Each fresh puzzle is a potential source of future bliss—an exciting
teaching that may usher us to our next breakthrough.
Do you want to be a pronoiac player? Blend anarchistic rebelliousness
with open-hearted exuberance. Root your insurrectionary fervor in
expansive joy instead of withering hatred. Enjoy saying "no!" but don't
make it the wellspring of your vitality. Be fueled by blood-red yeses that
rip against the grain of comfortable ugliness.
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A Spell to Commit Pronoia, by psychotherapist Jennifer Welwood:
Willing to experience aloneness,
I discover connection everywhere;
Turning to face my fear,
I meet the warrior who lives within;
Opening to my loss,
I am given unimaginable gifts;
Surrendering into emptiness,
I find fullness without end.
Each condition I flee from pursues me.
Each condition I welcome transforms me
And becomes itself transformed
Into its radiant jewel-like essence.
I bow to the one who has made it so,
Who has crafted this Master Game;
To play it is pure delight,
To honor it is true devotion.
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To read other news and features from my book, go here:
http://snipurl.com/l9o3
To buy the book, use the links to Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble,
which are on my homepage at http://www.freewillastrology.com
Or cut and paste the direct links below:
AMAZON
http://snipurl.com/krjj
BARNES & NOBLE
http://snipurl.com/krjn
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OTHER PRONOIA RESOURCES:
CAROLINE CASEY
Caroline and I share many values, though she is smarter than I about
politics. I urge you to check out every facet of her work:
1. Center for Visionary Activism
http://www.visionaryactivism.com/
"Dedicated to the wild blooming of the Compassionate
Trickster Heart stirring within all of us everywhere and always
and the cultivation of unique, empathic imaginative ingenuity
which encourages this blooming!"
2. Listen to her fantastic speech at the recent Bioneers Conference by
going to http://www.visionaryactivism.com/radioshow.htm and clicking
on the October 26 radio show.
3. Tune in to her radio show every Thursday at 2 p.m. PST from the KPFA
website at http://www.kpfa.org/listen/
"Caroline's Visionary Activist Radio Show is a constantly evolving
experiment in Radio Magic. Her show provides the Mythological News, the
Themes of Now, and has as guests anyone with a piece of the puzzle for
Dreaming, Conjuring and Implementing a more lovingly ingenious world."
(Note: I endorse these because I like them. They're not advertisements,
and I get no kickbacks.)
Please tell me your own personal nominations for PRONOIA RESOURCES.
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning November 2
Copyright 2006 by Rob Brezsny
http://www.freewillastrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
ARIES (March 21-April 19): When I was in my twenties, I refused to work
for a living because I wanted to *live* for a living. As a result, I got an
extended opportunity to perfect the art of cheerful poverty. One winter,
while staying in a ramshackle cottage in North Carolina, my cash reserves
got so low that I had to leap to a new level. For meals, I exuberantly
retrieved discarded food from dumpsters behind grocery stores. For heat,
I gleefully smashed up my wooden furniture with a hammer and threw it in
my wood stove. I was the happiest person alive, with lots of leisure time
to meditate, read books, write poetry, take long walks, and make love
with my girlfriends. Be inspired by my example, Aries. Identify some
aspect of your life you tend to regard as inadequate or insufficient, and
redefine it to be an asset.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): "Courage is not the abnormal," wrote poet
Jack Gilbert. "Not the marvelous act. Not Macbeth with fine speeches. It
is the thing steady and clear. The marriage, not the month's rapture. The
beauty that is of many days. The normal excellence, of long
accomplishment. Not the Prodigal Son, but Penelope." Gilbert's words are
my gift to you, brave Taurus. Of all the signs, you best express the virtue
of steady devotion to the demanding challenges of beauty and truth. In
the coming week, I predict that you will dramatically prove how
miraculous that quality can be.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): You're a little off-kilter and out-of-whack these
days, Gemini. Don't worry about it. It's a natural response to recent plot
twists. Fortunately, there is a medicine you can get that will fix you up
pretty quickly. All you have to do is spend quality time in nature. One long
hike should be enough, though to be absolutely sure you flush the psychic
parasites that have been messing with you, two long hikes would be
better. To aid in the exorcism and healing, I suggest that you also sing
songs and shout out crazy ideas while wandering in the great outdoors.
And if you can't escape to the wild places, at least have a picnic in a park.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Columnist Jon Carroll once listed the 100
best human artifacts. They included things like clocks, screwdrivers,
shoelaces, and Band-aids. But in your horoscope this week, I especially
want to call your attention to the following items from his master list:
pillows, mirrors, balls, masks, swings, lipstick, stirrups, playing cards, and
pear nectar. There's a good chance that these best-ever creations will be
featured in the effervescent adventurers you'll soon have. Or at least
they *should* be featured.
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My EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES are weekly spoken-word reports on
your destiny. They're three to four minutes long, and are available at
http://realastrology.com. The cost is $6 per reading, or $20 if you buy
four readings, and $60 if you buy 16 readings.
The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or
1-900-950-7700 for $1.99 per minute.
My DAILY TEXT MESSAGE HOROSCOPES are short, sweet bursts of
illumination delivered seven days a week to your cell phone or other
mobile device. You can sign up for them at http://realastrology.com. The
cost is $6.99 per week (billed monthly), or $4.99 per week (billed
monthly) if you choose to automatically renew your account.
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LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): I suggest you make yourself alert for the return of
at least one blast from the past. You may receive a communiqué from a
forgotten sanctuary. A treasure that slipped from your grasp ages ago
may become available again, especially if you pay close attention to
borders and anomalies. Missing links may wander back in your direction,
and old clues you haven't thought of in many moons might put you hot
on the trail of a smoldering mystery you've been neglecting to
investigate.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In a number of indigenous cultures, there's the
tradition of the "joking relationship." Two members of an extended family,
often a brother and sister-in-law, are expected to form a bond that
revolves around them playfully teasing each other. If you don't have an
ally like that in your life, Virgo, I urge you to get one. And if you already
do have such a companion, raise your connection to an even higher level
of loving mischief and jocular amusement. It'll keep you loose in just the
right ways during the coming weeks and months.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): "The early bird may get the worm," says
comedian Steven Wright, "but the second mouse gets the cheese." It's
one of those times, Libra, when I advise you to be like that second mouse.
A bit of procrastination will work in your favor. I want to offer some
additional wisdom from Wright because his upside-down perspective is
exactly what you need right now. (1) Eagles may soar, but weasels don't
get sucked into jet engines. (2) The sooner you fall behind, the more time
you'll have to catch up. (3) Hard work pays off in the future, but laziness
pays off now.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): "Dear Mr. Sensitive Astrologer: Let's get one
thing straight. I don't want peace of mind! So stop trying to talk me into
going after it! It's impossible to have it on this earth. Got that? And
another thing. I don't care about your time-consuming emotional
resolution stuff! I'm not interested in chasing after the unrealistic goal of
being a nice person. I just want pure, raw, naked success--the kind of
glory that makes me feel really proud of my powerful effect on people.
That's it! So shape up and start giving me what I want in your little
horrorscopes. -Truth-Telling Scorpio." Dear Truthy: I love to help my
readers achieve glory that makes them feel proud of their powerful effect
on the world. But in my opinion the best way to accomplish that is by
cultivating peace of mind, emotional resolution, and kindness. By the way,
it's now an excellent time to make great progress in this work.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In the 18th century, the Bastille was a
notorious French prison. Its squalor was perhaps less oppressive than
other jails, however, because every inmate was supplied with three
bottles of wine per day. Being so continuously intoxicated, few were
inclined to attempt escape. I bring this to your attention, Sagittarius, in
the hope that it will serve as a warning. You are, in my opinion, overdue to
flee from your own personal version of imprisonment. But you'll be
unlikely to do that if you're drunk or stoned or otherwise in the throes of
an influence that keeps you foggy, distracted, or artificially satisfied. In
the interests of liberation, please keep your senses honed and your
awareness focused.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Your theme in the coming days is
*enchantment on demand.* You're in an aggressively elegant grace
period--a time when you have the right to insist on being delighted. It's as
if you've been granted a poetic license to ask for and receive not just any
old mediocre pleasure, but rather intriguing, ennobling pleasure. So don't
sit back and hope that sublime fun will accidentally come your way. Know
that you have the authority to command its arrival front and center.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In American psychotherapy, the first
question many practitioners ask their new clients is essentially, "What did
your parents do to you to mess you up so badly?" One of my Japanese
friends tells me that in his country, a therapist is more likely to ask,
"What did your parents do for you? How did they nurture and support
you?" Without dismissing the possibility that your mom and dad did inflict
damage on you, Aquarius, I'd like you to concentrate on the Japanese-
style inquiry for now. While you're at it, meditate on these themes as well:
What are the best things that happened to you when you were growing
up? What did your extended family and community give you that you've
never fully appreciated?
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): *Normal People Scare Me* is the title of a
documentary movie about high-functioning autistic people. It might also
serve well as the title of your life story's current chapter. Ordinary
everyday reality is your greatest enemy right now. It threatens to ensnare
you in a numbing trance at the exact moment when you need to saunter
off into the unknown. Habit and routine are exerting a seductive pressure
that could distract you from the fascinating tests you really need to
embrace. The ironic fact of the matter is that at least for the moment,
you should be wary of your longing for security.
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HOMEWORK:
Meditate on death not as the end of physical life, but as a metaphor for
shedding what's outworn. In that light, what's the best death you've ever
experienced? Testify by going to http://www.realastrology.com and
clicking on "Email Rob."
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WANT TO GET YOUR CHART DONE?
I'm not doing charts these days. In addition to writing my weekly column
and expanded audio horoscopes, I'm also working on a CD and promoting
my new book.
But I can recommend a colleague whose astro-aesthetics closely match
my own. She's RO LOUGHRAN.
Ro utilizes a blend of well-trained intuition, emotional warmth, and a high
degree of 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.
Ro is based in California, but can do phone consultations and otherwise
work with you regardless of geographic boundaries.
Ro's website is at
http://www.yoursouljourney.com
She can also be reached at roloughran@comcast.net
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I totally respect your privacy. I'll never sell or give away your address to
anyone.
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2006 Rob Brezsny
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