Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology Newsletter February 21, 2007 + "I dream about a kind of criticism that would try not to judge but to bring an oeuvre, a book, a sentence, an idea to life; it would light fires, watch the grass grow, listen to the wind, and catch the sea foam in the breeze and scatter it. It would multiply not judgments but signs of existence; it would summon them, drag them from their sleep. Perhaps it would invent them sometimes -- all the better. "Criticism that hands down sentences sends me to sleep; I'd like a criticism of scintillating leaps of imagination. It would not be sovereign or dressed in red. It would bear the lightning of possible storms." -Michel Foucault, "The Masked Philosopher," interview in *Le Monde,* 1980 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ WHAT'S TO COME? BRAINSTORM ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE with the help of my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Coming Year Go to http://RealAstrology.com You can still listen to my long-range, in-depth explorations of your destiny in 2007. Each report in the three-part series is about 6-8 minutes long. What will be the story of your life in 2007? How can you exert your free will to create the adventures that'll bring out the best in you, even as you find graceful ways to cooperate with the tides of destiny? If you'd like a high-octane boost of inspiration to fuel you in your quest for beauty and truth and love and justice and meaning, tune in to my meditations on your long-term outlook. A new short-range forecast for this week is also available, both on the Web and at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700. To find out more about Your BIG PICTURE horoscopes, go to http://RealAstrology.com. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The piece below is excerpted from my book "PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings" available at http://tinyurl.com/qaj62 or find out more at http://www.freewillastrology.com THE OUTLAW CATALOG OF CAGEY OPTIMISM Psychiatry and psychotherapy obsess on what's wrong with people and give short shrift to what's right. The manual of these professions is a 943-page textbook called the DSM-IV. It identifies scores of pathological states but no healthy ones. In 2002, I began to complain about this fact, and asked readers to help me compile material for a proposed antidote, the Anti-DSM--a compendium of healthy, exalted, positive states of being. As their entries came in, we at the Beauty and Truth Laboratory were inspired to dream up some of our own. Below is part one of our initial attempt at creating an Anti-DSM-IV, or as we also like to call it, The Outlaw Catalog of Cagey Optimism. [Part 1 was reproduced in my newsletter last year. Here's Part 2.] * MODULATED RAPTURISM. Welcoming miracles and peak experiences in full awareness that the growth they initiate will require sober commitment and disciplined work to complete. (Suggested by Timothy S. Wallace.) * NONRESENTMENT SYNDROME. Having an ability to be friendly, open, and helpful to people with whom you disagree. * NOT HAVING TO BE RIGHT. Fostering an ability, even a willingness, to be proven wrong about one of your initial perceptions or pet theories; having an eagerness to gather information that may change your mind about something you have fervently believed; cultivating a tendency to enjoy being corrected, especially about ideas that are negative or hostile. (Suggested by Sheila Kollasch.) * ORGIASTIC LUCIDITY. Experiencing an expansive and intricate state of clarity while in the midst of extreme sensual pleasure. * PERMANENT DIVINE INFATUATION. Having not the abstract understanding but rather a direction perception that the Divine Intelligence, who recreates the universe fresh every moment, is deeply in love with you, even as you are in love with the Divine Intelligence. * RADICAL CURIOSITY. Characterized by the following traits: an enthusiasm for the mystery embedded in the mundane; a preference for questions over answers; an aversion to stereotyping, generalizations, and jumping to conclusions; a belief that people are unsolvable puzzles; an inclination to be unafraid of both change and absence of change; a strong drive to avoid boredom; a lack of interest in possessing or dominating what you are curious about. (Suggested by Laurie Burton.) * RELENTLESS UNPRETENTIOUSNESS. Possessing a strong determination to not take yourself too seriously, not take your cherished beliefs too literally, and not take other people's ideas about you too personally. * RIPE INTELLECTION. The understanding that a predilection to notice and analyze pathology is itself pathological. (Suggested by Timothy S. Wallace.) * ROOTED IN ETERNITY. The state of knowing that your true identity is deeper than the constant chatter of thoughts, images, and feelings that swirls through your mind. (Suggested by Crispin R.) * SACRED PERCEPTIVENESS. Seeing others for who they really are, in both their immaturity and genius, and articulating your insights to them with care. * SCARY-THUNDER-IN-THE-DARK HAPPINESS. Feeling deliciously safe in a well-protected sanctuary during a severe storm. (Suggested by Sue Carol Robinson.) * SCHIZOFRIENDIA. Hearing voices in your head that are constantly supportive, encouraging, and keen to offer advice that helps you make the most of every experience. (Suggested by Lewis.) * SELF-ACCEPTANCE UNDER PRESSURE. The state achieved upon leaving a room filled with people who know you, and not worrying about what anyone will say about you. (Suggested by Shannen Davis.) * SELF-HONORING. Having an unwillingness to disparage, belittle, or hurt yourself; includes a taboo against speaking phrases like, "I'm such an idiot!" and "What's wrong with me?" (Suggested by Julie Levin.) * SLY TRUST. Having a discerning faith that the integrity of your efforts will inevitably lead to a result that's exactly what you need; being skillful in the art of never trying too hard. (Suggested by Rhonda Christmas.) * SONGBIRD-IN-A-TREE. The cultivated awareness that daily life presents countless opportunities to be buoyed by moments of ordinary extraordinary beauty, and that these moments are most available if you perceive with your senses and not with your internal turmoil. (Suggested by Lisa Chabot.) * TENDER RAGE. Maintaining a strong sense of love and protectiveness towards a person or creature or institution you're angry at. * TRANSCONSUMERISM. An absence of tendencies to predicate happiness on acquiring material possessions. (Suggested by Timothy S. Wallace.) * TRIUMPHANT NURTURING. Feeling contented expansiveness while nursing a baby. (Suggested by Susan E. Nace.) * UNSELFCONSCIOUSNESS. Doing what you're doing and being who you're being without thinking about it at all. Being happy by virtue of not worrying about whether or not you're happy; enjoying a unified state in which you are not split between the you who acts and the you who observes. (Suggested by Valerie Keller.) * UNTWEAKABILITY. Having a composed, blame-free readiness to correct false impressions when your actions have been misunderstood and have led to awkward consequences. * VIRTUOSO INTEGRATION. Consistently walking your talk; effectively translating your ideals into the specific actions; creating results that are congruous with your intentions; being free of hypocrisy. * VISIONS OF THRILLING EXPLOITS. Experiencing an eruption of intuition that clearly reveals you will attempt a certain adventure in the future, as when you spy a particular mountain for the first time and know you'll climb it one day. (Suggested by Sue Carol Robinson.) * WEATHER SENSITIVITY. Having a high degree of awareness about your sensitivity to changes in the weather, and having a skill for managing your responses to those shifts so as to consistently bring out the best in yourself. (Suggested by Julie Caves.) * WHOLEHEARTEDNESS. Having the capacity to give, on a moment's notice, your complete attention, empathy, and playful intelligence to any person or circumstance you choose. (Suggested by Susan Coleman.) * WILD DISCIPLINE. Possessing a talent for creating a kind of organization that's liberating; knowing how to introduce limitations into a situation in such a way that everyone involved is empowered to express his or her unique genius; having an ability to discern hidden order within a seemingly chaotic mess. * WHEEEE. A serenely boisterous intensely focused chaos of communion with streaming fountains of liquid light hurtling softly through the giggly upbeat tender assurance that all is well and a mysterious unimaginable intelligence is magnetizing us forward into ever-more wonderful throbs of naked truth that bestow the humble happy sight of life as a river of fantastically lucky artful change flowing through us forever. (Suggested by Sarah Alexander and Jon Kohl Drucker.) ++++++++++++++++++++++++ To read other news and features from my book, go here: http://snipurl.com/l9o3 You can buy the book here: AMAZON http://snipurl.com/krjj BARNES & NOBLE http://snipurl.com/krjn ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ OTHER PRONOIA RESOURCES: MEDICINE Cheap Drug Kills Most Cancers There is "a cheap and simple drug that kills almost all cancers by switching off their "immortality". The drug, dichloroacetate (DCA), has already been used for years to treat rare metabolic disorders and so is known to be relatively safe. It also has no patent, meaning it could be manufactured for a fraction of the cost of newly developed drugs." -*New Scientist* http://tinyurl.com/287gon ENVIRONMENT Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Atlantic Airlines, offered a $25-million prize for scientists who find a way to help save the planet from the effects of climate change. http://tinyurl.com/yuqrvl MILITARY Nearly 60 nations have signed an accord pledging to prevent the use of child soldiers and disarm underage fighters. http://tinyurl.com/382czt (Note: I endorse these because I like them. They're not advertisements, and I get no kickbacks.) Please tell me your own personal nominations for PRONOIA RESOURCES. ********************************************** FREE WILL ASTROLOGY Week beginning February 22 Copyright 2007 by Rob Brezsny http://FreeWillAstrology.com Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics* ARIES (March 21-April 19): Have no fear of the damp and the dark and the cramped. In a place fitting that description, you can track down clues to a mystery that will inflame your curiosity and educate your soul; you can tap into a fresh surge of courage that'll render at least some of your suffering irrelevant. Expect a miracle to appear in the shadows, Aries. It could resemble a cornucopia spilling over with diamonds and potatoes, or maybe a charred fireman's helmet bedecked with sexual roses and fresh $20 bills. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Don't you dare get superstitious on me, Taurus. Just because you've had more than your fair share of luck lately doesn't mean that you're now going to get less than your share. It *is* possible that you'll have to work harder to continue benefiting from what has been coming pretty easily. And it may be the case that you'll be pushed to take on responsibilities that you assumed were covered by other people. But that doesn't mean you should lower your expectations. If anything, you should ask for even more fun, fascination, and freedom. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Calling all you big fish languishing in small ponds, all you flashy amateurs who've been avoiding tougher audiences, all you closet geniuses who have used shyness as an excuse to keep your idiosyncratic brilliance under wraps: This is your wake-up call. Sneak or saunter or leap up to the next level of excellence--or else! Or else what? Or else your pretty fantasies will start to decay. Sorry to be so pushy, but I'm aching to see you seize the starring role in the unlived chapters of your life story. CANCER (June 21-July 22): Question: Which part of you is too tame, overcivilized, and super-domesticated, and what are you going to do about it? Answer, from Jason R., a Cancerian reader: "I was like a mole in a suburban backyard. I had just one little path I trod each day: to the compost pile and back. I chewed on orange rinds and leftover cabbage. I was tamed by the comfort of my familiar environment, content to have a narrow vision. But then I was eaten by a hawk, and became part of a wild, free body. Now I perch on the tops of trees and the peaks of roofs. I survey giddy-wide horizons, from the river to the mesa and far beyond. I have a wealth of choices. Where to fly? What to hunt? Who are my allies? My thoughts breathe deep, like the slow explosion of sun on the morning lake." LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You're strong medicine these days, Leo. You're 100-proof mojo. You might want to consider pinning a warning label to your shirt or jacket. It could say something like "Caution: Contents are hot, slippery, and under pressure. Use at your own risk." It's not that you're evil or neurotic. It's just that as you revisit and revision your deepest psychosexual questions, you have so much cathartic potency that you're likely to transform everything you touch into a more authentic version of itself. People with weak egos will be afraid of that, while those with strong constitutions will love it. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Here are tips on how to get the most out of your time with the other signs of the zodiac during the next three weeks. With Sagittarius: Think bigger and go further than you normally do. With Libra: Enjoy beautiful things together. With Cancer: Make yourself easy to give to. With Taurus: Let him or her help you get less theoretical, more practical. With Aquarius: Collaborate in making the flow of ideas crackle and splash. With Capricorn: To deepen your bond, laugh at hypocrisy together. With Pisces: Join together in feeling rich emotions about a person or situation you both care about. With Gemini: Dare to express three of your different sub-personalities. With Aries: Remember that spontaneity leads to truth. With Leo: Playfully brag to each other. With Scorpio: Dive down together, going deeper than you could have by yourself. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): "Dear Rob Brezsny: Two months ago I met the first person with whom I am completely psychic. We fell deeply in love, of course. But it turned out that neither of us was ready or able to fulfill the potential of our connection because we are nowhere near as profoundly in love with ourselves as we are with each other. The good news is that through my love for him, I have intensified my desire to learn to love myself. The bad news is that we can't really be together as fate intended until we upgrade our self-love. -Lucky Yet Unlucky Libra." Dear Libra: I hope your testimony will inspire other Libras to boost their luck in love by deepening their love for themselves. Astrologically speaking, it's a perfect time to attend to this worthy project. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the coming weeks, you'll attract cosmic assistance whenever you add to your repertoire, branch out artistically or socially, or start gathering seed money for a project that may take years to ripen. Mythically speaking, the coming weeks will also be a good time to have intimate relations with a fertility god or goddess, and to plant magic beans that will grow into a beanstalk that reaches the sky. "Is that it?" you may be asking. "Nothing but good news?!" My only caveat, which is pretty minor, is that you might add a few pounds to your frame. If you're a hetero woman, that could be caused by a pregnancy unless you're careful. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Would you like some inspiration as you muse and wonder about your upcoming adventures in 2007? You can still listen to my long-range, in-depth explorations of your destiny in 2007. Each report in the three-part series is about 6-8 minutes long. Go to http://RealAstrology.com for these EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In a couple of weeks it will make sense to aggressively insert your vivid presence into the thick of the action. There will be dizzying opportunities to chase down and intoxicating connections to forge. But it's premature to get riled up about all that yet. For the foreseeable future, Sagittarius, take your inspiration from Franz Kafka, who gave the following advice in his book *The Great Wall of China*: "You need not do anything. Remain sitting at your table and listen. You need not even listen, just wait. You need not even wait, just learn to be quiet, still, and solitary. And the world will freely offer itself to you unmasked. It has no choice; it will roll in ecstasy at your feet." CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): There are two basic approaches to manipulating people. In one, you manipulate people solely for your own good. In the other, you do it equally for your good and their good. In the second type, moreover, you deeply empathize with and even become more like the people you want to influence. You allow them to work their magic on you at least as much as you work your magic on them. Guess which kind I'm urging you to express right now, Capricorn. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Human beings have employed steel to make tools, weapons, and buildings for many centuries. But it wasn't until 1913 that they discovered stainless steel, a stronger and purer version of the metal that's virtually rust-free. I predict a comparable development for you in the coming weeks, Aquarius. Some essential resource that you've been enjoying for a long time could become even better and more useful. It won't happen all by itself, though. You'll have to want it and seek it and agitate for it. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): "Think dangerously!" read the headline on today's bright yellow piece of junk mail. That sounded inviting. I'm always eager for help in overthrowing my certainties. But the product being promoted inside the envelope was just a piece of propaganda: a magazine touting Libertarian dogma. I threw it in my recycling bin along with all the other doctrinaire crap I constantly get from fundamentalists of every stripe, including rightwing religious nuts and leftwing atheists, New Age pollyannas and intellectual cynics, science-haters and science shills. Now here's the climax of this horoscope, Pisces: *Really* think dangerously. Question *every* belief, your own as much as everyone else's. French author André Gide said it best: "Trust those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it." ************************************************* HOMEWORK: What's the one question you wish a smart, compassionate teacher would ask you -- and then listen closely to your response? Testify by going to http://FreeWillAstrology.com and clicking on "Email Rob." ********************************************* WANT TO GET YOUR CHART DONE? I'm not doing personal charts these days, but I highly recommend my favorite astrological colleague, RO LOUGHRAN. Her approach closely matches my own. In our many discussions about astrology over the years, we've had a major influence on each other's work. Ro utilizes a blend of well-trained intuition, emotional warmth, and a high degree of technical proficiency in horoscope interpretation; she is skilled at exploring the mysteries of your life's purpose and nurturing your connection with your own inner wisdom. Ro is based in California, but can do phone consultations and otherwise work with you regardless of geographic boundaries. Ro's website is at http://www.YourSoulJourney.com She can also be reached at roloughran@comcast.net ********************************************* NEED TO CHANGE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS? To join or leave the email list for this newsletter, or to change the address where you receive it, go to: http://www.freewillastrology.com/newsletter/ Once you do join, check all the below points to make sure you'll actually receive the newsletter: 1. Add my address, televisionary@comcast.net, to your address book so that the newsletter won't be treated as spam and filtered out. 2. Adjust your spam filter so it doesn't treat my address as a source of spam. 3. Tell your company's IT group to allow my address to pass through any filtering software they may have set up. 4. If my newsletters don't reach your inbox, look in your "Bulk Mail" or "Junk Mail" folder. 5. The problems may not have to do with anything you do, but may originate with your email provider. It may be using a "content filter" that prevents my newsletter from ever reaching you at all. If you suspect that's the case, complain. Tell your email provider to stop blocking my newsletter from reaching you. P.S. I totally respect your privacy. I'll never sell or give away your address to anyone. ********************************************* 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 2007 Rob Brezsny ********************************************