Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
August 19, 2015
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See a pretty version of this newsletter: http://bit.ly/1HRj4mb
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If you'd ever like to make a contribution to me via Paypal, here's where to
do it: http://bit.ly/TipsforRob
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My book *PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA*
is available at Amazon: http://bit.ly/Pronoia
or Powells: http://bit.ly/PronoiaPowells
Below are excerpts.
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YOUR ADDICTION
Your addiction is obstructing you from your destiny, and yet it's also your
ally.
What?! How can both be true?
On the downside, your addiction diverts your energy from a deeper desire
that it superficially resembles. For instance, if you're an alcoholic, your
urge to get loaded may be an inferior substitute for and a poor imitation
of your buried longing to commune with spirit.
On the upside, your addiction is your ally, because it dares you to get
strong and smart enough to wrestle free of its grip; it pushes you to
summon the uncanny willpower necessary to defeat the darkness within
you that saps your ability to follow the path with heart.
(P.S. Don't tell me you have no addictions. Each of us is addicted to some
sensation, feeling, thought, or action, if not to an actual substance.)
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SHADOW BLESSINGS
Life is a vast and intricate conspiracy guaranteed to keep you well-
supplied with blessings. What kind of blessings? A gorgeous physique,
perfect marriage, luxurious home, high status, and $10 million? Maybe.
But it's just as likely that the blessings will be interesting surprises,
dizzying adventures, gifts you hardly know what to do with, &
conundrums that dare you to get smarter.
Novelist William Vollman referred to these types of blessings when he said
that "the most important and enjoyable thing in life is grappling with a
complicated, tricky problem that you don't know how to solve."
Sculptor Henry Moore had a similar idea. He said, "The secret of life is to
have a task, something you devote your entire life to, something you
bring everything to, every minute of the day for your whole life. And the
most important thing is -- it must be something you cannot possibly do."
So in other words, pronoia does not guarantee that you will forevermore
be free of all difficult experiences . . . .
Read or hear the rest of this: http://bit.ly/xE2QXg
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If you'd like to see a recent photo of me and my extra special good
buddy, go here: http://on.fb.me/1Nwvll4
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"Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected
as questions asked in the wrong way." - Alan Watts
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LOVE TIPS
Hypothesis: The exciting qualities that attract you to someone in the first
place may make you half-crazy if you go on to develop a long-term
relationship.
That doesn't mean you should avoid seeking connections with intriguing
people who captivate your imagination. It does suggest you should have
no illusions about what you are getting yourself into.
It also implies you should cultivate a sense of humor about how the things
that rouse our most intense love and passion often bring us the greatest
tests and trials.
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Netflix announced that it's allowing employees to take unlimited maternity
or paternity leave during the first year after their child's birth or adoption.
http://tinyurl.com/p87wd84
Episcopal church votes to divest from fossil fuels: "This is a moral issue."
Warning of threat to human life, a Christian denomination commits to re-
investing in clean energy following the pope's pastoral letter on the
environment.
http://tinyurl.com/paja5l7
A professor figured out a way to use art to clean up polluted streams.
http://tinyurl.com/nla663s
(Note: I endorse these because I like them. They are 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 August 20
Copyright 2015 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): ''On or about December 1910, human
character changed,'' wrote English author Virginia Woolf in 1924. What
prompted her to draw that conclusion? The rapidly increasing availability
of electricity, cars, and indoor plumbing? The rise of the women's
suffrage movement? Labor unrest and the death of the King? The
growing prominence of experimental art by Cezanne, Gauguin, Matisse,
and Picasso? The answer might be all of the above, plus the beginning of
a breakdown in the British class system. Inspired by the current
astrological omens, I'll borrow her brash spirit and make a new prediction:
During the last 19 weeks of 2015, the destiny of the Virgo tribe will
undergo a fundamental shift. Ten years from now, I bet you will look back
at this time and say, "That was when everything got realigned, redeemed,
and renewed."
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): "The greatest and most important problems of
life are all in a certain sense insoluble," said psychologist Carl Jung. "They
can never be solved, but only outgrown." I subscribe to that model of
dealing with dilemmas, and I hope you will consider it, too -- especially in
light of the fact that from now until July 2016 you will have more power
than ever before to outgrow two of your biggest problems. I don't
guarantee that you will transcend them completely, but I'm confident you
can render them at least 60 percent less pressing, less imposing, and less
restricting. And 80 percent is quite possible.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Hundreds of years ago, Hawaiians celebrated
an annual holiday called Makahiki. It began in early November and lasted
four months. No one worked very much for the duration. There were
nonstop feasts and games and religious ceremonies. Community-building
was a featured theme, and one taboo was strictly enforced: no war or
bloodshed. I encourage you Scorpios to enjoy a similar break from your
daily fuss. Now is an especially propitious time to ban conflict, contempt,
revenge, and sabotage as you cultivate solidarity in the groups that are
important for your future. You may not be able to make your own
personal Makahiki last for four months, but could you at least manage
three weeks?
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the
Museum of Failed Products is a warehouse full of consumer goods that
companies created but no one wanted to buy. It includes caffeinated
beer, yogurt shampoo, fortune cookies for dogs, and breath mints that
resemble vials of crack cocaine. The most frequent visitors to the
museum are executives seeking to educate themselves about what errors
to avoid in their own companies' future product development. I encourage
you to be inspired by this place, Sagittarius. Take an inventory of the
wrong turns you've made in the past. Use what you learn to create a
revised master plan.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): "Insanity is doing the same thing over and
over and expecting a different result." Virtually all of us have been guilty
of embodying that well-worn adage. And according to my analysis of the
astrological omens, quite a few of you Capricorns are currently embroiled
in this behavior pattern. But I am happy to report that the coming weeks
will be a favorable time to quit your insanity cold turkey. In fact, the
actions you take to escape this bad habit could empower you to be done
with it forever. Are you ready to make a heroic effort? Here's a good way
to begin: Undo your perverse attraction to the stressful provocation that
has such a seductive hold on your imagination.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): "Everything I've ever let go of has claw
marks on it," confessed the late, great author David Foster Wallace. Does
that describe your experience, too? If so, events in the coming months
will help you break the pattern. More than at any other time in the last
ten years, you will have the power to liberate yourself through surrender.
You will understand how to release yourself from overwrought attachment
through love and grace rather than through stress and force.
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MY OTHER HOROSCOPES
Factual information and reasonable thinking alone are not sufficient to
guide you through life's labyrinthine tests. You need and deserve regular
deliveries of uncanny revelation.
One of your inalienable rights as a human being should therefore be to
receive mysteriously useful omens on a regular basis. In this spirit, I offer
you the free weekly horoscopes you read here.
If you ever want more, and think it's worth paying for, try my EXPANDED
AUDIO HOROSCOPES. They're four-to-five-minute meditations on the
current state of your destiny and where you're headed.
To listen to your Expanded Audio Horoscope online, go to
http://RealAstrology.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 Web (discounts available for bulk
purchases), or $1.99 per minute by phone.
The Expanded Audio Horoscopes work on most smart phones and tablets.
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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 S., Ann Arbor, MI
"When I listen to your audio 'scopes, my free will lights up." - Alex D., Los
Angeles
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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): "Most people love in order to lose
themselves," wrote Hermann Hesse in his novel *Demian.* But there are a
few, he implied, who actually *find* themselves through love. In the
coming months, Pisces, you are more likely to be one of those rare ones.
In fact, I don't think it will even be possible for you to use love as a
crutch. You won't allow it to sap your power or make you forget who you
are. That's good news, right? Here's the caveat: You must be ready and
willing to discover much more about the true nature of your deepest
desires -- some of which may be hidden from you right now.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): You'd probably prefer to stay in the romantic,
carefree state of mind. But from what I can tell, you're ripe for a new
phase of your long-term cycle. Your freestyle rambles and jaunty
adventures should now make way for careful introspection and thoughtful
adjustments. Instead of restless star-gazing, I suggest patient earth-
gazing. Despite how it may initially appear, it's not a comedown. In fact, I
see it as an unusual reward that will satisfy you in unexpected ways.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In accordance with the current astrological
omens, I recommend the following activities: Sing a love song at least
once a day. Seek a message from an ancestor in a reverie or dream.
Revisit your three favorite childhood memories. Give a gift or blessing to
the wildest part of you. Swim naked in a river, stream, or lake. Change
something about your home to make it more sacred and mysterious.
Obtain a symbolic object or work of art that stimulates your courage to
be true to yourself. Find relaxation and renewal in the deep darkness.
Ruminate in unbridled detail about how you will someday fulfill a daring
fantasy.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The ancient Greek epic poem the *Iliad* is one
of the foundation works of Western literature. Written in the eighth
century BCE, it tells the story of the ten-year-long Trojan War. The cause
of the conflict was the kidnap of Helen of Troy, reputed to be the world's
most beautiful woman. And yet nowhere in the *Iliad* is there a
description of Helen's beauty. We hear no details about why she deserves
to be at the center of the legendary saga. Don't be like the *Iliad* in the
coming weeks, Gemini. Know everything you can about the goal at the
center of your life. Be very clear and specific and precise about what
you're fighting for and working towards.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): The comedian puppets known as the Muppets
have made eight movies. In *The Great Muppet Caper,* the muppets
Kermit and Fozzie play brothers, even though one is a green frog and the
other a brown bear. At one point in the story, we see a photo of their
father, who has the coloring and eyes of Kermit, but a bear-like face. I
bring up their unexpected relationship, Cancerian, because I suspect that
a similar anomaly might be coming your way: a bond with a seemingly
improbable ally. To prepare, stretch your ideas about what influences you
might want to connect with.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): English author Barbara Cartland published her first
novel at age 21. By the time she died 77 years later, she had written
more than 700 other books. Some sources say she sold 750 million
copies, while others put the estimate at two billion. In 1983 alone, she
churned out 23 novels. I foresee a Barbara Cartland-type period for you in
the coming months, Leo. Between now and your birthday in 2016, I
expect you to be as fruitful in your own field as you have ever been. And
here's the weird thing: One of the secrets of your productivity will be an
enhanced ability to chill out. "Relaxed intensity" will be your calming
battle cry.
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Homework: Were you told there's a certain accomplishment you'll never
be capable of? Ready to prove that curse wrong? Testify at
FreeWillAstrology.com.
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2015 Rob Brezsny
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