Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter July 20,2011

Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
July 20, 2011

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Here's a Youtube of my performance of "If I Am Elected" at the Quiet Lightning extravaganza in San Francisco a few weeks ago: bit.ly/jLtugI

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Time is running out to hear the Mid-Year Audio Preview of the Rest of 2011: RealAstrology.com

Log in through the main page, and then click on the link "Long Term Forecast for Second Half of 2011."

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The piece below is excerpted from my book
PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA
available at Amazon: bit.ly/Pronoia
or Powells: bit.ly/PronoiaPowells

1. Alice finds her way to Wonderland by falling down a rabbit hole. Dorothy rides to Oz on a tornado. In C. S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Lucy stumbles into the magical land of Narnia via a portal in the back of a large clothes cabinet.

In the sequels to all these adventures, however, the heroines must find different ways to access their exotic dreamlands. Alice slips through a mirror next time. Dorothy uses a Magic Belt. Lucy leaps into a painting of a schooner that becomes real.

Take heed of these precedents. The next time a threshold opens into an alternative reality or expansive vista you've enjoyed in the past, it may not resemble the doorways you've used before.

2. "Keep exploring what it takes to be the opposite of who you are," suggests psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of the book Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. This advice is one of his ideas about how to get into attunement with the Tao, also known as being in the zone.

How would you go about being the opposite of who you are? Try it and see if it drives you into a state of euphoria.

3. Check out this excerpt from "Those Who Do Not Dance," by Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral: "God asked from on high, / 'How do I come down from this blueness?' / We told Him: / come dance with us in the light."

I love this passage because it reminds me that nothing is ever set in stone; everything is always up for grabs. Even God needs to be open to change and eager for fresh truths. Furthermore, even we puny humans may on occasion need to be God's teacher and helper. Likewise, we can never be sure about what lowly or unexpected sources might bring us the influences we require.

What do Mistral's words mean to you? Imagine you're the "God" referenced in the poem. What blueness are you ready to come down from, and who might invite you to dance in their light?

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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:

NOT ALL JOURNALISTS ARE TOO LAZY OR CYNICAL TO ACTUALLY DO THE WORK TO FIND INTERESTING GOOD NEWS
7 Pieces of Good News No One Is Reporting
"The news media has a filtering process that only lets the bad stuff through. When they do break up the monotony with something lighthearted, it's always something pointless and inconsequential, like that thing recently with the monkey that learned to fly a helicopter. But there actually is good news out there -- on some of the big issues of the day, no less."
tinyurl.com/3dfeb5k

IDEALISM RUN RAMPANT
Matt Damon Wants to Bring Clean Water to Africa
tinyurl.com/5uueqg5

YOU KNOW YOU NEED IT
Get Your Minimum Required Dose of Beauty
Fairy tale land on the border of Germany and the Czech Republic
i.imgur.com/BX3jA.jpg

THE EVIDENCE KEEPS ACCUMULATING
pronoiaresources.com/

(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 July 21

Copyright 2011 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

As I ponder your immediate future, I'm reminded of a scene from the animated TV show The Simpsons. Here's the situation: While visiting the home of a colleague, the superintendent of schools is surprised to witness an anomalous outbreak of spectacular light. "Aurora Borealis?" he exclaims. "At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?" "Yes," replies the colleague. I suspect that you will soon enjoy a metaphorically comparable visitation, Leo.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

My astrological colleague Antero Alli praises the value of anxiety. He says that when you feel that unsettling emotion, it's because you're experiencing more uncertainty than you like to -- and that can be a good thing. It could mean you're about to experience the fertility that comes from wading into the unknown. An outbreak of novelty may be imminent, giving you the chance to welcome interesting surprises into your life. In fact, says Alli, the anxiety that comes from unpredictable mysteries may herald the arrival of an influx of creativity.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

"The I Ching counsels that if we are associating with others who are not our true peers," says astrologer Caroline Casey, "our real allies cannot find us." Please apply this test to yourself, Libra. If, after taking inventory, you find that your circle is largely composed of cohorts and comrades who match your levels of vitality and intelligence, that will be excellent news; it will signal an opportunity to begin working on an upgraded version of your social life that will increase your access to synergy and symbiosis even further. But if your survey reveals that you're hanging out too much with people whose energy doesn't match yours, it will be time for a metamorphosis.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

There's a lot of graffiti scrawled in a variety of languages on St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. A fairly recent arrival is a plea, in English, to resuscitate a defunct American TV sitcom. "God, Bring back Arrested Development," the guerrilla prayer reads. According to my reading of the astrological omens, Scorpio, now would be a good time for you to be equally cheeky in promoting one of your pet causes. Consider the possibility of taking your case to a higher authority. To fight for what's right, you may have to make your mark in a place whose sphere of influence is bigger than yours.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

Do you stare for hours every day into little screens like those on smart phones, computer monitors, and TVs? If so, I recommend that you tear your gaze away from them more than usual in the coming week. A change in your brain chemistry needs to happen, and one good way to accomplish it will be to feast your eyes on vast panoramas and expansive natural scenes. Doing so will invigorate your thinking about the design and contours of your own destiny, and that would be in sweet alignment with the astrological omens. So catch regular views of the big picture, Sagittarius. Treat clouds and birds and stars as if they were restorative messages from the wide-open future. Gaze lovingly at the big sky.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

A Facebook friend posted a quote by seminal psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud: "Being entirely honest with oneself is a worthwhile exercise." In response, another Facebooker named Dean Robinson disagreed: "Oh, I say let yourself have a little denial, and touch base with reality on a need-to-know basis." Another respondent named Paulie Cerra took that sentiment one step further: "Reality and I have an understanding. I don't mess with it and it doesn't mess with me." Which of those three approaches are you inclined to pursue, Capricorn? In light of the current astrological omens, I suggest you try the first one for at least the next two weeks.

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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 in this newsletter.

If you ever want more, and think it's worth paying for, try my daily text message 'scopes or my expanded audio 'scopes.

Go here to access them:
RealAstrology.com

The weekly forecasts are also available by phone:
1-877-873-4888

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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

You really need to tell your stories. It's not just a good idea; it's downright urgent. There's a backlog of unexpressed narratives clogging up your depths. It's like you have become too big of a secret to the world. The unvented pressure is building up, threatening to implode. So please find a graceful way to share the narratives that are smoldering inside you -- with the emphasis on the word "graceful." I don't want your tales to suddenly erupt like a volcano all over everything at the wrong time and place. You need a receptive audience and the proper setting.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

Piscean actor Javier Bardem said this to Parade magazine: "I don't know if I'll get to heaven. I'm a bad boy. Heaven must be nice, but is it too boring? Maybe you can get an apartment there and then go to hell for the weekends." I caution all you other Pisceans against pursuing this line of thought in the coming weeks. You may imagine that you can get away with sneaking away to hell for just a couple of days a week, but I don't share that optimism. My advice is to rack your brains to drum up as much adventure as possible in safety zones and sanctuaries where you know for sure you'll stay healthy and sane.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):

I dreamed you were in a cake store. Every delicious kind of cake you could imagine was there: carrot cake, strawberry cheesecake, gooey butter cake, rich chocolate cake with four layers of cherries and whipped cream, birthday cakes that must have been baked in paradise. Sadly, there was a problem: You weren't allowed to buy anything, even though you had enough money. A big sign on the wall said, simply, "Absolutely no cakes available for Aries." What do you think my dream means? More importantly, what are you going to do about the situation? I suggest that in my next dream, you get a friend to buy a cake for you. Either that, or go to a different cake store. One way or another, the astrological omens say it's high time for you get the cake you want.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

Fill in the blanks, Taurus. Don't let the blanks remain vacant and barren any longer. Don't allow them to keep screaming at you with their accusatory silence. Just fill in the freaking blanks with whatever you've got to fill them with -- with your best guesses, with borrowed mojo, with any miscellaneous material you have at hand. I realize you may be tempted to wait around for a supposedly more ideal moment. But I'm here to tell you that this is as ideal as it gets. So please express the hell out of yourself in the empty spaces, my dear; create yourself anew in the void -- however improvisational or inexact it might feel.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

"Do you know how to resolve an unresolvable paradox?" asked a Facebook friend named Pi. He answered his own question: "You figure out the 'error' in the initial premise or assumption." And that's my prescription for you this week, Gemini. Do not be tempted to bang your head against the wall so as to shake loose a non-existent answer to the wrong question. Instead, stop yourself in the middle of your angst and think: "What would be a more productive way to formulate the riddle I need to untangle?"

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

An innovative job-seeker named Travis Broyles put an ad on Craigslist in Atlanta. Among the tasks he said he would perform for money were the following: draw your face on a balloon; email you a list of 250 things he likes about you; build you a cardboard car and make vroom-vroom sounds while you drive it; change his political leanings; rename your Pokemon; or provide you with star treatment for a month, hiding in the bushes like a paparazzi and taking candid photos of you. I recommend that you come up with your own version of a list like this, Cancerian. It will help stimulate your imagination about what gifts you have to offer the world, which is exactly what the astrological omens are suggesting.

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HOMEWORK:

Don't get back to where you once belonged. Go forward to where you've got to belong in the future. Testify at Freewillastrology.com.

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Submissions sent to the Free Will Astrology Weekly Newsletter or in response to "homework assignments" may be published in a variety of formats at Rob Brezsny's discretion, including but not limited to newsletters, books, the Free Will Astrology column, and Free Will Astrology website. We reserve the right to edit such submissions for length, style, and content. Requests for anonymity will be honored with submissions; otherwise, reader names, screen names, or initials will be used. Please be sure to note your preference when sending to us. We are not responsible for unsolicited submission of any creative material.

Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright 2011 Rob Brezsny

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