Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
February 26, 2020
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See a pretty version of this newsletter: https://bit.ly/YourMasteryShows
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I feel like if I were to get another tattoo, it would probably be "stubborn,
stubborn, stubborn gladness."
—Elizabeth Gilbert
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MY GIFT PAGE
If you enjoy reading my free horoscopes and free newsletter, or if you
like listening to my free music, I invite you to make a contribution to
support my work.
Visit my Gift Page — https://paypal.me/GiftsForRob — and contribute via
the "Friends and Family" option.
No pressure, though! Whether or not you donate, I will continue to give
away free stuff. And I understand that some of you don't have enough money
yourself, and it wouldn't make sense for you to give some to me.
Do you know about all of my free stuff? Here's a list:
My Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/rob.brezsny._.truthrooster/
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My music page:
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More free music:
https://freewillastrology.com/music/listen
My website:
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Excerpts from my book *Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranois*:
https://tinyurl.com/FreePronoia
My entire book *The Televisionary Oracle*:
https://freewillastrology.com/books/oracle
Videos of my performances:
https://tinyurl.com/RobVideos
and
https://tinyurl.com/RobAtSymbiosis
My Tumblr page:
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At the end of each year, I write a series of long-range, big-picture
horoscopes for the coming year—previews of the issues you'll face and the
opportunities coming your way:
https://bit.ly/2020BigPicture
Here's a list of all the free stuff I give away:
https://bit.ly/GiftsOfMyCreations
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FREE YOUR BODY!
Free your body. Don't ruminate and agonize about it. Do it simply and
easily. LOVE YOUR BODY!
Be brave and forceful, gentle and graceful. Free your sublimely
imperfect, riotously intelligent body. Allow it to be itself in all of its
mysterious glory. Love your body exactly as it is.
Praise your body. Thank your body. Tell it you adore its uncanny majesty .
. . you yearn to learn more of its secrets . . . you promise to treat it as
your beloved ally.
Be in love with your body, no shame, no apology. Be in awe of your body's
unfathomable power to endlessly carry out the millions of chemical
reactions that keep you alive and thriving.
How can you not be overwhelmed with reverence for your hungry,
curious, resourceful, unpredictable body?
Study your body's magic. Exult in the blessings it bestows on you.
Celebrate and hone its fierce animal elegance.
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CELEBRATION OF LIFE
My father died recently after a long and successful life. His wife of many
decades (my mom), along with his four children and their four daughters,
gathered to celebrate his life.
Of the many reasons I am grateful for him: The tender and respectful and
generous way he consistently treated my mother—as well as other
women—was crucial in influencing me to become a devoted feminist at an
early age.
My commitment to healing toxic gender roles and building emotionally
intelligent new models of relationship are central to my life, and my dad
played a key role in helping me develop that part of my soul's code.
More words and photos about this are here:
https://tinyurl.com/GoodLifeCelebration
(In the photo, I'm the one on the far left.)
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BEING KIND IS GOOD FOR YOU
Research shows:
1. Exercising compassion stimulates the same pleasure centers associated
with the drive for food, water and sex.
2. Practicing compassion with intention has a positive physiological effect
on the body. It can lower blood pressure, boost your immune response and
increase your calmness.
3. Not only are we hard-wired to be kind, but it is essential for the
survival of our species.
4. Recognizing common fears or vulnerabilities rather than differences -
- be it with a difficult friend, an abrasive colleague or a noisy neighbor -
- calms the nervous system, boosting feelings of contentment and self
worth.
More: https://tinyurl.com/n2m3t2t
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JOYFUL REBELLION. Tending to my sanity and being in service to the
world require me to be in a chronic state of rebellion.
But here's an important caveat: While the rebellion can and should be
partially fueled by anger at the injustices of misogyny, plutocracy,
racism, militarism, jingoism, and transphobia, it must be primarily
motivated by love and joy and the desire to bestow blessings.
A healthy proportion, at least for me, seems to be 15% rage, indignation,
and complaint, and 85% compassion, celebration, and lust for life.
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YOU FLOWER AND FLEX
Above willow trees healing from false warmth.
under star jelly and floating spiders,
under golden frogs raining from the sky—
who knows how?—
you flash and fly
Amid swollen joys,
exploded hopes,
and night chimes.
amid prayer stones,
amid cloud-scriptures,
with the pregnant mist from the west
and the spree-fucking wind,
you flare and flow
Deeper, older,
between the borrowed morning light
and its protectors,
between the hidden salamanders
that give names to the earth
and the songbirds
that only sing when necessary,
you flicker and flourish
Newer than the bone and sinew
yet to be predicted,
more valuable than the gold
buried too deep to retrieve,
stronger than the blood
that renews itself every winter,
you flower and flex
—by me
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THE MORE SPECIFIC YOUR GOALS, THE BETTER
"Having very broad and abstract goals may maintain and exacerbate
depression. Goals that are not specific are more ambiguous and, therefore,
harder to visualize. If goals are hard to visualize it may result in reduced
expectation of realizing them which in turn results in lower motivation to
try and achieve them."
- Researchers at the institute of Health, Psychology, and Society
More: https://tinyurl.com/nv6jdqq
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
Born Kind? Researchers Prove Altruism Begins In Infancy
https://tinyurl.com/qkevmk9
Empathy-based political canvassing is a proven way to change voters'
minds.
https://tinyurl.com/vabgc8m
Doing Good is Good Business. Stories about generating clean energy while
making money.
https://tinyurl.com/sv6p7jq
(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.
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning February 27
Copyright 2020 by Rob Brezsny
https://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): If you're like most of us, you harbor
desires for experiences that might be gratifying in some ways but
draining in others. If you're like most of us, you may on occasion get
attached to situations that are mildly interesting, but divert you from
situations that could be amazingly interesting and enriching. The good
news, Pisces, is that you are now in a phase when you have maximum
power to wean yourself from these wasteful tendencies. The coming weeks
will be a favorable time to identify your two or three most important and
exciting longings—and take a sacred oath to devote yourself to them above
all other wishes and hopes.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): You may sometimes reach a point where you
worry that conditions are not exactly right to pursue your dreams or
fulfill your holy quest. Does that describe your current situation? If so, I
invite you to draw inspiration from Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes
(1547–1616), who's regarded as one of history's foremost novelists.
Here's how one observer described Cervantes during the time he was
working on his masterpiece, the novel titled *Don Quixote*: "shabby,
obscure, disreputable, pursued by debts, with only a noisy tenement room
to work in." Cervantes dealt with imperfect conditions just fine.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): "True success is figuring out your life and
career so you never have to be around jerks," says Taurus filmmaker,
actor, and author John Waters. I trust that you have been intensely
cultivating that kind of success in the last few weeks, Taurus—and that
you will climax this wondrous accomplishment with a flourish during the
next few weeks. You're on the verge of achieving a new level of mastery in
the art of immersing yourself in environments that bring out the best in
you.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I would love for you to become more
powerful, Gemini—not necessarily in the sense of influencing the lives of
others, but rather in the sense of managing your own affairs with relaxed
confidence and crisp competence. What comes to mind when I urge you to
expand your self-command and embolden your ambition? Is there an
adventure you could initiate that would bring out more of the
swashbuckler in you?
CANCER (June 21-July 22): For my Cancerian readers in the Southern
Hemisphere, this oracle will be in righteous alignment with the natural
flow of the seasons. That's because February is the hottest, laziest, most
spacious time of year in that part of the world—a logical moment to take a
lavish break from the daily rhythm and escape on a vacation or pilgrimage
designed to provide relaxation and renewal. Which is exactly what I'm
advising for all of the earth's Cancerians, including those in the Northern
Hemisphere. So for those of you above the equator, I urge you to consider
thinking like those below the equator. If you can't get away, make a
blanket fort in your home and pretend. Or read a book that takes you on an
imaginary journey. Or hang out at an exotic sanctuary in your hometown.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Leo author Walter Scott (1771–1832) was a
pioneer in the genre of the historical novel. His stories were set in
various eras of the Scottish past. In those pre-telephone and pre-Internet
days, research was a demanding task. Scott traveled widely to gather tales
from keepers of the oral tradition. In accordance with current astrological
omens, Leo, I recommend that you draw inspiration from Scott's old-
fashioned approach. Seek out direct contact with the past. Put yourself in
the physical presence of storytellers and elders. Get first-hand knowledge
about historical events that will inspire your thoughts about the future of
your life story.
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WHY IS IT CALLED "FREE WILL" ASTROLOGY?
It's called Free Will Astrology because my goal is to create horoscopes that
nurture your free will.
Contrary to what some horoscope fans believe, there's no such thing as
predestination. Fate is a tricky sucker that keeps changing its mind about
where it wants to go. The stars may impel, as the astrological saying goes,
but they don't compel.
That's why I've never considered myself a fortuneteller. I prefer to think
that my greatest service is as a psychic intelligence agent, helping you
explore the hidden patterns and unconscious forces that may be affecting
your life without your full knowledge.
If I "predict" anything, it's not so much the future as the unknown part of
the present.
And if you ever want more than the 'scopes you're reading here, keep in
mind that I also create EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES for you. 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
https://freewillastrology.sparkns.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 access them for $1.99 per minute by
phone. Each forecast is 4-5 minutes long.
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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Over a period of 40 years, the artist
Rembrandt (1606–1663) gazed into a mirror as he created more than
ninety self-portraits—about ten percent of his total work. Why? Art
scholars don't have a definitive answer. Some think he did self-portraits
because they sold well. Others say that because he worked so slowly, he
himself was the only person he could get to model for long periods. Still
others believe this was his way of cultivating self-knowledge, equivalent
to an author writing an autobiography. In the coming weeks, I highly
recommend that you engage in your personal equivalent of extended
mirror-gazing. It's a favorable time to understand yourself better.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): From author Don DeLillo's many literary
works, I've gathered five quotes to serve as your guideposts in the coming
weeks. These observations are all in synchronistic alignment with your
current needs. 1. Sometimes a thing that's hard is hard because you're
doing it wrong. 2. You have to break through the structure of your own
stonework habit just to make yourself listen. 3. Something is always
happening, even on the quietest days and deep into the night, if you stand a
while and look. 4. The world is full of abandoned meanings. In the
commonplace, I find unexpected themes and intensities. 5. What we are
reluctant to touch often seems the very fabric of our salvation.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): "I remember a time when a cabbage could
sell itself just by being a cabbage," wrote Scorpio author Jean Giraudoux
(1882–1944). "Nowadays it’s no good being a cabbage—unless you have
an agent and pay him a commission." He was making the point that for us
humans, it's not enough to simply become good at a skill and express that
skill; we need to hire a publicist or marketing wizard or distributor to
make sure the world knows about our offerings. Generally, I agree with
Giradoux's assessment. But I think that right now it applies to you only
minimally. The coming weeks will be one of those rare times when your
interestingness will shine so brightly, it will naturally attract its
deserved attention. Your motto, from industrialist Henry J. Kaiser: "When
your work speaks for itself, don't interrupt."
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): When he was 29 years old, Sagittarian
composer Ludwig Beethoven published his *String Quartet, Op. 18, No.
4*. Most scholars believe that the piece was an assemblage of older
material he had created as a young man. A similar approach might work
well for you in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. I invite you to consider the
possibility of repurposing tricks and ideas that weren't quite ripe when
you first used them. Recycling yourself makes good sense.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Are there parts of your life that seem to
undermine other parts of your life? Do you wish there was greater
harmony between your heart and your head, between your giving and your
taking, between your past and your future? Wouldn't it be wonderful if
you could infuse your cautiousness with the wildness of your secret self?
I bring these questions to your attention, Capricorn, because I suspect
you're primed to address them with a surge of innovative energy. Here's
my prediction: Healing will come as you juxtapose apparent opposites and
unite elements that have previously been unconnected.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): When he was 19, the young poet Robert
Graves joined the British army to fight in World War I. Two years later,
the *Times of London* newspaper reported that he had been killed at the
Battle of the Somme in France. But it wasn't true. Graves was very much
alive, and continued to be for another 69 years. During that time, he
wrote 55 books of poetry, 18 novels, and 55 other books. I'm going to be
bold and predict that this story can serve as an apt metaphor for your
destiny in the coming weeks and months. Some dream or situation or
influence that you believed to be gone will in fact have a very long second
life filled with interesting developments.
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Homework: Try to identify which aspect of your life needs healing more
than any other aspect. FreeWillAstrology.com
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Submissions sent to Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2020 Rob Brezsny
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