Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
July 29, 2020
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UNCONDITIONAL, by 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 gain the embrace of the universe;
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 its form -- true devotion.
- by psychotherapist Jennifer Welwood
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EVERY PERSON YOU MEET
"Every person you meet should be regarded as one of the walking wounded.
We have never seen a man or woman not slightly deranged by either
anxiety or grief. We have never seen a totally sane human being."
—Robert Anton Wilson
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FEAST DAY
Last week I celebrated the feast day of my beloved heroine, Mary
Magdalene. I wrote about her extensively in my book *The Televisionary
Oracle*. Here's a passage from the book:
Mary Magdalene was the visionary consort of Jesus Christ. Not a penitent
prostitute, as the Christian church later distorted her in an attempt to
undermine the radical implications of their divine marriage. Not an
obeisant groupie who mindlessly surrendered her will to the man-god.
On the contrary. Magdalene was Christ's partner, his equal. More than
that, she was his joker, his wild card: his secret weapon. They worshiped
the divine in each other. So say the ancient texts of our mystery school.
But you need not believe the secret texts to guess the truth. Even the
manual of the Christian church itself, as scoured of the truth as it is,
strongly hints at Magdalene's majesty.
While all the male disciples disappeared during the crucifixion, she was
there with Christ. While the twelve male disciples were cowering in
defeated chaos, she was the first to find the empty tomb. Jesus appeared to
her first after his resurrection; she was the first to be called by him to
the mission of apostle.
The Gnostic texts from Nag Hammadi, discovered in 1947, reveal even
more of their relationship, which violated all the social norms of their
time. She was a confidante, a lover, an Apostle above all the other
Apostles.
Jesus called her the "Woman Who Knew the All," and said she would rule
in the coming Kingdom of Light. Even an early Christian father, Origen,
helped propagate these truths, calling her immortal, and maintaining that
she had lived since the beginning of time.
From the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas:
When you make the two one, and when you make
the inside like the outside and the outside
like the inside, and the above like the below
and the below like the above, and when you make
the male like the female and the female like the
male, then you will enter the Kingdom.
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Personal - by Tony Hoagland:
"Don’t take it personal," they said;
but I did, I took it all quite personal—
the breeze and the river and the color of the fields;
the price of grapefruit and stamps,
the wet hair of women in the rain—
And I cursed what hurt me
and I praised what gave me joy,
the most simple-minded of possible responses.
The government reminded me of my father,
with its deafness and its laws,
and the weather reminded me of my mom,
with her tropical squalls.
"Enjoy it while you can," they said of Happiness
"Think first," they said of Talk
"Get over it," they said
at the School of Broken Hearts
but I couldn’t and I didn’t and I don’t
believe in the clean break;
I believe in the compound fracture
served with a sauce of dirty regret,
I believe in saying it all
and taking it all back
and saying it again for good measure
while the air fills up with "I’m-Sorries"
like wheeling birds
and the trees look seasick in the wind.
Oh life! Can you blame me
for making a scene?
You were that yellow caboose, the moon
disappearing over a ridge of cloud.
I was the dog, chained in some fool’s backyard;
barking and barking:
trying to convince everything else
to take it personal too.
—Tony Hoagland
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REAL MAGIC
I'm not a major fan of occultist Aleister Crowley, but I appreciate some of
his ideas. His definition of magic is pure and true: "the Science and Art of
causing change to occur in conformity with will."
He wasn't simply referring to the esoteric transformations attempted by
wizards and witches wielding spells and conjurations. He meant anyone
who seeks to make practical shifts in his or her life.
Let's say you grew up conditioned to feel shame about behavior there's no
good reason to feel shame about, and you resolve to do whatever it takes to
dissolve that shame, and you succeed in doing it. That's magic.
Or maybe you no longer want to attract bad listeners and flaky
collaborators into your sphere, and you promise yourself you will alter
that pattern, and you ultimately achieve your goal. That's magic, too.
One other example: You decide you want to be a skilled songwriter, and
spend years learning to play an instrument, analyzing the songs you love
in order to understand how they're constructed, and cultivating your
creativity. That's magic at work.
I invite you to offer an example or two of your own magic skills.
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SHOULD I CARE?
I consulted my spirit guides to ask if i should give a f*#%. They said,
"Hell, yes."
More: https://tinyurl.com/y29f54fu
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OBJECTIVE REPORT ON POLICE BRUTALITY
On his recent TV show, John Oliver turned his attention to police brutality
against protesters who oppose police brutality. He explained how white
supremacy is baked into local law enforcement, whose roots involve
returning runaways to slavery.
Today, police officers armed with billion-dollar budgets and military-
grade weaponry are not only trained to believe that they are at war with
the people they’re meant to protect, but they’re also tasked with what
Oliver described as a "massive array of complicated duties that they
aren’t equipped to handle, making them very much the Jared Kushners of
local officials."
He further described the obstacles to law enforcement reform, like
qualified immunity and police unions.
Watch: https://tinyurl.com/BrutalityCops
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CHAOS IS ORDER
"Chaos is a name for any order that produces confusion in our minds."
—George Santayana
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THE MAD KING
Fairy tale: A mass psychosis grips the land, as millions of broken souls
channel their inner Mad King. They are inflamed by the actual Mad King,
who regularly splatters toxic drivel and delivers delusional decrees that
poison the dreams of his subjects.
Does the Mad King intend to spread literal death and destruction? Is it his
conscious purpose to maim his victims' love of life? Only the trickster
gods know.
The disintegration can't go on forever. Once upon a future time, it will
collapse in a crash of chaos.
Those who aren't under his berserk spell—and there are many—are
already rebuilding amidst the ever-growing ruins.
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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:
High-School All-Girl, All-Genius Robotics Team Creates Mobile
Ventilator to Help Afghanistan’s Covid-19 Efforts
https://tinyurl.com/yyhytdb8
Charitable Donors in U.S. Give Record Amount, As Support Surges in First
6 Months of 2020
https://tinyurl.com/y5nj4zdu
Jewish People Who Have Recovered From COVID Have Donated Half of All
the Plasma Used in US Treatments
https://tinyurl.com/yyf2mgvp
(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 July 30
Copyright 2020 by Rob Brezsny
https://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): "Notice what no one else notices and you'll know
what no one else knows," says actor Tim Robbins. That's perfect counsel
for you right now, Leo. According to my analysis of the astrological omens,
your perceptiveness will be at a peak in the coming weeks. You'll have an
ability to discern half-hidden truths that are invisible to everyone else.
You'll be aggressive in scoping out what most people don't even want to
become aware of. Take advantage of your temporary superpower! Use it to
get a lucid grasp of the big picture—and cultivate a more intelligent
approach than those who are focused on the small picture and the
comfortable delusions.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): "Look on every exit as being an entrance
somewhere else," wrote playwright Tom Stoppard. That's ripe advice for
you to meditate on during the coming weeks. You're in a phase of your
astrological cycle when every exit can indeed be an entrance somewhere
else—but only if you believe in that possibility and are alert for it. So
please dissolve your current assumptions about the current chapter of
your life story so that you can be fully open to new possibilities that could
become available.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): "One must think with the body and the soul or
not think at all," wrote Libran author and historian Hannah Arendt. She
implied that thinking only with the head may spawn monsters and demons.
Mere conceptualization is arid and sterile if not interwoven with the
wisdom of the soul and the body's earthy intuitions. Ideas that are
untempered by feelings and physical awareness can produce poor maps of
reality. In accordance with astrological omens, I ask you to meditate on
these empowering suggestions. Make sure that as you seek to understand
what's going on, you draw on all your different kinds of intelligence.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): "I always wanted to be commander-in-chief
of my one-woman army," says singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco. I think
that goal is within sight for you, Scorpio. Your power over yourself has
been increasing lately. Your ability to manage your own moods and create
your own sweet spots and define your own fate is as robust as I have seen
it in a while. What do you plan to do with your enhanced dominion? What
special feats might you attempt? Are there any previously impossible
accomplishments that may now be possible?
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Your meditation for the coming weeks
comes to you courtesy of author and naturalist Henry David Thoreau. "We
can never have enough of nature," he wrote. "We must be refreshed by the
sight of inexhaustible vigor, vast and titanic features, the sea-coast with
its wrecks, the wilderness with its living and its decaying trees, the
thunder cloud, and the rain which lasts three weeks and produces freshets.
We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing
freely where we never wander." Oh, how I hope you will heed Thoreau's
counsel, Sagittarius. You would really benefit from an extended healing
session amidst natural wonders. Give yourself the deep pleasure of
exploring what wildness means to you.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Author and activist bell hooks (who
doesn't capitalize her name) has taught classes at numerous American
universities. She sometimes writes about her experiences there, as in the
following passage. "My students tell me, 'we don't want to love! We're
tired of being loving!' And I say to them, if you're tired of being loving,
then you haven't really been loving, because when you are loving you have
more strength." I wanted you to know her thoughts, Capricorn, because I
think you're in a favorable position to demonstrate how correct she is: to
dramatically boost your own strength through the invigorating power of
your love.
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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
https://freewillastrology.sparkns.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 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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"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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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian author Langston Hughes
(1902–1967) was a pioneering and prolific African American author and
activist who wrote in four different genres and was influential in boosting
other Black writers. One of his big breaks as a young man came when he
was working as a waiter at a banquet featuring the famous poet Vachel
Lindsay. Hughes managed to leave three of his poems on Lindsay's table.
The great poet loved them and later lent his clout to boosting Hughes'
career. I suspect you might have an opening like that sometime soon,
Aquarius—even if it won't be quite as literal and hands-on. Be ready to
take advantage. Cultivate every connection that may become available.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Author Faith Baldwin has renounced the
"forgive and forget" policy. She writes, "I think one should forgive and
remember. If you forgive and forget, you're just driving what you
remember into the subconscious; it stays there and festers. But to look
upon what you remember and know you've forgiven is achievement."
That's the approach I recommend for you right now, Pisces. Get the relief
you need, yes: Forgive those who have trespassed against you. But also:
Hold fast to the lessons you learned through those people so you won't
repeat them again later.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti is
renowned for his buoyancy. In one of his famous lines, he wrote, "I am
awaiting, perpetually and forever, a renaissance of wonder." Here's what I
have to say in response to that thought: Your assignment, as an Aries, is
NOT to sit there and wait, perpetually and forever, for a renaissance of
wonder. Rather, it’s your job to embody and actualize and express,
perpetually and forever, a renaissance of wonder. The coming weeks will
be an especially favorable time for you to rise to new heights in fulfilling
this aspect of your life-long assignment.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): I live in Northern California on land that
once belonged to the indigenous Coast Miwok people. They were animists
who believed that soul and sentience animate all animals and plants as well
as rocks, rivers, mountains—everything, really. Their food came from
hunting and gathering, and they lived in small bands without centralized
political authority. According to one of their creation stories, Coyote and
Silver Fox made the world by singing and dancing it into existence. Now I
invite you to do what I just illustrated: Find out about and celebrate the
history of the people and the place where you live. From an astrological
perspective, it's a favorable time to get in touch with roots and
foundations.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): "When I look down, I miss all the good stuff,
and when I look up, I just trip over things," says singer-songwriter Ani
DiFranco. I wonder if she has tried an alternate approach: looking straight
ahead. That's what I advise for you in the coming weeks, Gemini. In other
words, adopt a perspective that will enable you to detect regular glimpses
of what's above you and what's below you—as well as what's in front of
you. In fact, I suggest you avoid all extremes that might distract you from
the big picture. The truth will be most available to you if you occupy the
middle ground.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): The Italian word *nottivago* refers to
"night roamers": people who wander around after dark. Why do they do it?
What do they want to accomplish? Maybe their ramblings have the effect
of dissolving stuck thoughts that have been plaguing them. Maybe it's a
healing relief to indulge in the luxury of having nowhere in particular to
go and nothing in particular to do: to declare their independence from the
obsessive drive to get things done. Meandering after sundown may stir up
a sense of wild freedom that inspires them to outflank or outgrow their
problems. I bring these possibilities to your attention, Cancerian, because
the coming days will be an excellent time to try them out.
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Homework: What do you like best about yourself when you're
comfortable? What do you like best about yourself when you feel
challenged? FreeWillAstrology.com
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2020 Rob Brezsny
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