Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
August 29, 2018
See a pretty version of this newsletter: https://bit.ly/YourLoveSongs
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Bless your appetite. May it be voracious and unapologetic.
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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ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR DEMONS
You have to recognize the demons or else they'll annoy you like
mosquitoes, But if you acknowledge their existence, if you say, "All right,
here's a cookie, go sit in the corner." then you can go about your work
and you don't have to go into depression about it. —James Broughton
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SUPPORT
I was born under the sign of Cancerian the Crab. One of the potential
weaknesses of our tribe is that we can tend to be almost pathologically
self-sufficient. Some of us may find it challenging to ask for help and
support. In my continuing effort to overcome this inclination, I'm asking
for your support!
If you would like to contribute to me and my ongoing work, please visit
my Virtual Tip Jar at Paypal. It's here:
https://paypal.me/FreeWillAstrology
You can also contribute to my well-being by buying the Expanded Audio
Horoscopes I create every week. These forecasts are different in tone and
content from the written horoscopes I provide here. They're my four- to
five-minute-long ruminations about the current chapter of your life story.
They're available at https://freewillastrology.sparkns.com/
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INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIVING A LIFE
Poet Mary Oliver provides us with this excellent guidance:
Instructions for living a life.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
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Here are some suggestions I would add:
Make the invisible dark force beautiful.
Create a song out of your moans.
Brag about your wounds.
Sneak gifts to your bad self now and then.
Dissolve the ties that bind you to hollow intelligence.
Train yourself in the art of unpredictability.
Play forever in time's blessing.
Lift up your heart unto the wild sun.
Distribute your favors to the vulnerable ones who can never pay you
back.
Fall out of love with fear.
Make beautiful messes in the midst of ugly messes.
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THE SUBVERSIVE POWER OF JOY
by Janey Stephenson:
"The unexpected, spontaneous and pleasantly disruptive nature of
collective celebration is one of the great equalizers of social and political
struggle.
"Holding onto and centering joy is a vital tactic for personal and group
resilience, as well as political resistance to an agenda that seeks to
enforce hierarchy and division through mass fear.
"Authoritarianism is directly incompatible with collective joy; it demands
fear, obedience, hierarchy and an obsession with security and preparation
for war.
"The unexpected, spontaneous and pleasantly disruptive nature of
collective joy takes people off guard and is one of the great equalizers of
social and political struggle."
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DANCING TO DISSOLVE HIERARCHY
"Liberation movements have a long history of communal dance. The
writer Barbara Ehrenreich has documented the history of collective joy in
her book "Dancing In The Streets." She argues that collective and ecstatic
dancing is a nearly universal "biotechnology" for binding groups together.
"Physical movement—a powerful escalation of typical protest chanting—
not only releases emotion, it also creates bonding, trust and equality,
dissolving hierarchy and increasing a sense of community."
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MANY KINDS OF MEDITATION, NOT JUST ONE
"Lama Surya Das, the "Buddha from Brooklyn," is one of the handful of
Westerners who have been teaching meditation for decades. And yet, he
says we're doing it wrong.
Lama Surya Das says there are other ways to meditate besides those that
are currently popular: "So many people seem to be moving narcissistically
into self-centered happiness-seeking and quietism, not to mention the use
of mindfulness for mere effectiveness," he says. "True meditation
generates wisdom and compassion, which may be very disquieting, at
least in the short term."
"'Quiet your mind' or 'calm and clear your mind' are instructions I hear
way too much," he says. "Some teachers actually encourage people to try
to stop thinking, when in fact meditative awareness means being mindful
of thoughts and feelings, not simply trying to reduce, alter or white them
out and achieve some kind of oblivion."
"The anti-intellectual meditators, thought-swatters and imagination-
suppressors have long ruled meditation-oriented circles in the West," he
says. "But authentic meditative practices can enhance and even unleash
the creativity and imagination.'
You don't have to quiet the mind to do many of the types of meditation
he proposes. They don't involve trying to find a quiet 'moment of Zen'
apart from the messy, noisy world of work, family and children, but rather
inviting all of the noise into meditation.
These thoughts are from an article by Jay Michaelson in
huffingtonpost.com. More here: http://tinyurl.com/o8yl9jc
Lama Surya Das's book: http://tinyurl.com/ooltqx2
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
The Intelligence in All Kinds of Life. There hasn't been a single scientific
study in the last few decades that has demonstrated that plants or
animals are dumber than we think. It's always the opposite. We're at the
edge of a wonderful revolution in understanding the sentience of other
beings.
https://tinyurl.com/y8wzp2zc
A forester explains, scientifically, how individual trees in forests actually
communicate intelligently, and interact with each other, and with
subterranean fungi, for the mutual benefit of the forest community:
https://tinyurl.com/y8edv3fn
How can we make people more aware on a feeling level the global ecocide
that's underway? How can we heal the human race's alienation from, and
destruction of, the natural environment?
https://tinyurl.com/ycjmdjg6
(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.
Read old but still useful archives of Pronoia Resources:
https://pronoiaresources.com
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning August 30
Copyright 2018 by Rob Brezsny
http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Romanian philosopher Emil Cioran loved the
music of Johann Sebastian Bach. "Without Bach, God would be a complete
second-rate figure," he testified, adding, "Bach's music is the only
argument proving the creation of the Universe cannot be regarded as a
complete failure." I invite you to emulate Cioran's passionate clarity,
Virgo. From an astrological perspective, now is an excellent time to
identify people and things that consistently invigorate your excitement
about your destiny. Maybe you have just one shining exemplar, like Cioran,
or maybe you have more. Home in on the phenomena that in your mind
embody the glory of creation.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I foresee the withering of a hope or the
disappearance of a prop or the loss of leverage. This ending may initially
make you feel melancholy, but I bet it will ultimately prove beneficent—
and maybe lead you to resources that were previously unavailable. Here
are rituals you could perform that may help you catalyze the specific kind
of relief and release you need: 1. Wander around a graveyard and sing
songs you love. 2. Tie one end of a string around your ankle and the other
end around an object that symbolizes an influence you want to banish
from your life. Then cut the string and bury the object. 3. Say this ten
times: "The end makes the beginning possible."
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): "If a man treats a life artistically, his brain is
his heart," wrote Oscar Wilde. I'll translate that into a more complete
version: "If a person of any gender treats life artistically, their brain is
their heart." This truth will be especially applicable for you in the coming
weeks. You'll be wise to treat your life artistically. You'll thrive by using
your heart as your brain. So I advise you to wield your intelligence with
love. Understand that your most incisive insights will come when you're
feeling empathy and seeking intimacy. As you crystallize clear visions
about the future, make sure they are generously suffused with ideas
about how you and your people can enhance your joie de vivre.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): "My tastes are simple," testified
Sagittarian politician Winston Churchill. "I am easily satisfied with the
best." I propose that we make that your motto for now. While it may not
be a sound idea to demand only the finest of everything all the time, I
think it will be wise for you to do so during the next three weeks. You will
have a mandate to resist trifles and insist on excellence. Luckily, this
should motivate you to raise your own standards and expect the very
best from yourself.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Russian playwright Anton Chekhov
articulated a principle he felt was essential to telling a good story: If you
say early in your tale that there's a rifle hanging on the wall, that rifle
must eventually be used. "If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be
hanging there," declared Chekhov. We might wish that real life unfolded
with such clear dramatic purpose. To have our future so well-
foreshadowed would make it easier to plan our actions. But that's not
often the case. Many elements pop up in our personal stories that
ultimately serve no purpose. Except now, that is, for you Capricorns. I
suspect that in the next six weeks, plot twists will be telegraphed in
advance.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Would it be fun to roast marshmallows on
long sticks over scorching volcanic vents? I suppose. Would it be safe?
No! Aside from the possibility that you could get burned, the sulfuric acid
in the vapors would make the cooked marshmallows taste terrible, and
might cause them to explode. So I advise you to refrain from adventures
like that. On the other hand, I will love it if you cultivate a playful spirit as
you contemplate serious decisions. I'm in favor of you keeping a blithe
attitude as you navigate your way through tricky maneuvers. I hope you'll
be jaunty in the midst of rumbling commotions.
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LOVE YOUR LIFE!
How's your fight for freedom going? Are you making progress in liberating
yourself from your unconscious obsessions, bad habits, and conditioned
responses? Are you turning out to be the hero of your own life?
For assistance and inspiration, tune in to my EXPANDED AUDIO
HOROSCOPES.
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
http://RealAstrology.com.
Register and/or log in through the main page.
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The cost is $6 per sign on the Web, AND discounts ARE available for bulk
purchases.
You can also listen over the phone by calling 1-877-873-4888. The cost
is or $1.99 per minute, and each forecast is 4-5 minutes long.
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"I don't much believe in astrology. But that doesn't seem to get in the
way of me deriving a whole lot of benefits from your expanded audio
horoscopes."
- A. Arrosto, Indianapolis
"You have an amazing aptitude for cutting through the lies I tell myself.
Thanks for the gentle shocks."
- T. Preneris, Toronto
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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): People will be thinking about you more than
usual, and with greater intensity. Allies and acquaintances will be revising
their opinions and understandings about you, mostly in favorable ways,
although not always. Loved ones and not-so-loved ones will also be
reworking their images of you, coming to altered conclusions about what
you mean to them and what your purpose is. Given these developments, I
suggest that you be proactive about expressing your best intentions and
displaying your finest attributes.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In *Alice's Adventures in Wonderland*, our
heroine encounters a talking caterpillar as he smokes a hookah on top of a
tall mushroom. "Who are you?" he asks her. Alice is honest: "I know who I
was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed
several times since then." She says this with uneasiness. In the last few
hours, she has twice been shrunken down to a tiny size and twice grown
as big as a giant. All these transformations have unnerved her. In contrast
to Alice, I'm hoping you'll have a positive attitude about your upcoming
shifts and mutations, Aries. From what I can tell, your journey through the
Season of Metamorphosis should be mostly fun and educational.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Juan Villarino has hitchhiked over 2,350 times
in 90 countries. His free rides have carried him over 100,000 miles. He
has kept detailed records, so he's able to say with confidence that Iraq is
the best place to catch a lift. Average wait time there is seven minutes.
Jordan and Romania are good, too, with nine- and twelve-minute waits,
respectively. In telling you about his success, I don't mean to suggest
that now is a favorable time to hitchhike. But I do want you to know that
the coming weeks will be prime time to solicit favors, garner gifts, and
make yourself available for metaphorical equivalents of free rides. You're
extra magnetic and attractive. How could anyone resist providing you
with the blessings you need and deserve?
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): One of the big stories of 2018 concerns your
effort to escape from a star-crossed trick of fate—to fix a long-running
tweak that has subtly undermined your lust for life. How successful will
you be in this heroic quest? That will hinge in part on your faith in the
new power you've been developing. Another factor that will determine
the outcome is your ability to identify and gain access to a resource that
is virtually magical even though it appears nondescript. I bring this to your
attention, Gemini, because I suspect that a key plot twist in this story will
soon unfold.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Potential new allies are seeking entrance to
your domain. Existing allies aspire to be closer to you. I'm worried you
may be a bit overwhelmed; that you might not exercise sufficient
discrimination. I therefore urge you to ask yourself these questions about
each candidate. 1. Does this person understand what it means to respect
your boundaries? 2. What are his or her motivations for wanting contact
with you? 3. Do you truly value and need the gifts each person has to
give you? 4. Everyone in the world has a dark side. Can you intuit the
nature of each person's dark side? Is it tolerable? Is it interesting?
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): While a young man, the future Roman leader Julius
Caesar was kidnapped by Sicilian pirates. They proposed a ransom of 620
kilograms of silver. Caesar was incensed at the small size of the ransom—
he believed he was worth more—and demanded that his captors raise the
sum to 1,550 kilograms. I'd love to see you unleash that kind of bravado
in the coming weeks, Leo—preferably without getting yourself kidnapped.
In my opinion, it's crucial that you know how valuable you are, and make
sure everyone else knows, as well.
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Homework: What pose would it be a relief for you to drop? How are you
faking, and what could you do to stop? 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,
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Requests for anonymity will be honored. We are not responsible for
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2018 Rob Brezsny
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