Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
July 2, 2008
FreeWillAstrology.com
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"All of this is the Earth educating itself. Think of the
language that has come alive in just this one afternoon: Do you
think we are solely responsible for that? Good heavens, no! Think
of the sacrifices required of billions of creatures to make such
language possible.
"Take a single sentence: 'The fireball exploded twenty billion
years ago at the beginning of time.' That sentence required nothing
less than the full twenty billion years of cosmic development.
"It is not 'my' sentence; nor does it 'belong' to the theoretical
scientists who first predicted the existence of the fireball,
nor the experimental scientists who first detected its heat; it
is a sentence of the whole Earth. Nothing less than that is required
for its speaking forth.
"The sentence could not exist without the oceans, the rivers,
the air, the life forms, and all the thousands of years of human
cultural activities. Every sentence is spoken by the whole Earth."
- Brian Swimme
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WHAT'S AHEAD FOR YOU in the next six months?
EXPLORE THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE
with my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Second Half of 2008
To hear my IN-DEPTH, LONG-TERM AUDIO FORECAST for YOUR LIFE between
now and January 1, 2009, go here:
RealAstrology.com
Log in and click on the link
"Long Term Forecast for Second Half of 2008"
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What areas of your life are likely to receive unexpected assistance
and divine inspiration?
Where are you likely to find most success?
How can you best cooperate with the cosmic rhythms?
Tune in.
The horoscopes cost $6 apiece. Discounts are available for multiple
purchases.
You can also listen to your short-term forecast for the coming
week by clicking on "This week (July 1, 2008)."
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My book
PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA:
How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings
is available for sale at
tinyurl.com/qaj62
Here's an excerpt:
BIGGER, BETTER, MORE INTERESTING PROBLEMS
Is there anything more dangerous than getting up in the morning
and having nothing to worry about, no problems to solve, no friction
to heat you up? That state can be a threat to your health, because
if untreated it incites an unconscious yearning for any old dumb
trouble that might rouse some excitement.
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Acquiring problems is a fundamental human need. It's as crucial
to your well-being as getting food, air, water, sleep, and love.
You define yourself - indeed, you make yourself - through the
riddles you attract and solve. The most creative people on the
planet are those who frame the biggest, hardest questions and
then gather the resources necessary to find the answers.
Conventional wisdom implies that the best problems are those
that place you under duress. There's supposedly no gain without
pain. Stress is allegedly an incomparable spur for calling on
resources that have been previously unavailable or dormant. Nietzsche's
aphorism, 'That which doesn't kill me makes me stronger,' has
achieved the status of an ultimate truth.
I half-agree. But it's clear that stress also accompanies many
mediocre problems that have little power to make us smarter. Pain
frequently generates no gain. We're all prone to become habituated,
even addicted, to nagging vexations that go on and on without
rousing any of our sleeping genius.
There is, furthermore, another class of difficulty - let's call
it the delightful dilemma - that neither feeds on angst nor generates
it. On the contrary, it's fun and invigorating, and usually blooms
when you're feeling a profound sense of being at home in the world.
The problem of writing my book is a good example. I've had a good
time handling the perplexing challenges with which it has confronted
me.
Imagine a life in which at least half of your quandaries match
this profile. Act as if you're most likely to attract useful problems
when joy is your predominant state of mind. Consider the possibility
that being in unsettling circumstances may shrink your capacity
to dream up the riddles you need most; that maybe it's hard to
ask the best questions when you're preoccupied fighting rearguard
battles against boring or demeaning annoyances that have plagued
you for many moons.
Prediction: As an aspiring lover of pronoia, you'll have a growing
knack for gravitating toward wilder, wetter, more interesting
problems. More and more, you will be drawn to the kind of gain
that doesn't require pain. You'll be so alive and awake that you'll
cheerfully push yourself out of your comfort zone in the direction
of your personal frontier well before you're forced to do so by
divine kicks in the ass . . . .
. . . To read the rest of
"BIGGER, BETTER, MORE INTERESTING PROBLEMS,"
go here:
tinyurl.com/2ceskw
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To read news and features from my book, go here: tinyurl.com/lhwx2
You can buy the book here:
AMAZON
tinyurl.com/qaj62
POWELLS
tinyurl.com/3dsx6q
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OTHER PRONOIA RESOURCES:
THE WEIRDEST PRONOIA EVER?
"Thank you, George W. Bush! Without your dark and spectacular
failures, we wouldn't be so ready to leap forward. Kudos!"
by Mark Morford
tinyurl.com/4v6j7h
BALANCING OUT THE POP-NIHILISTS OF THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA
Nothing but good news here
gimundo.com
MIX SOME EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN WITH YOUR IRONY
Empathy Deficit Disorder: Do You Suffer from It?
If So, What are You Gonna Do About It?
tinyurl.com/3tnadu
(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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Dear Readers,
There is not exactly a huge staff working here at the Free Will
Astrology Headquarters. In fact, it's really only me. Maybe someday
that will change, and I'll find the time to hire people to help
me create more stuff.
I do have two helpers who live far away and work very part-time:
Beth Danica, who formats the RSS feed for this newsletter, and
is doing research to help me figure out the best way to approach
podcasting; and Karry Walker, who helps me keep track of my finances.
Karry happens to also be a talented singer-songwriter who has
recorded four CDs. That's definitely her REAL gig, as opposed
to her now-and-then numbers work for me.
Karry has just released her latest gem under her band's name
Ultralash. It's called "FOAMY LATHER," and was co-produced
by Myles Boisen, who has also worked with Tom Waits, Fred Frith,
and David Lynch. I don't know if "Foamy Lather" is pronoiac,
but it's really good folked-out trip-hop music that I like.
Here's what critics have said about her work in the past.
"Too powerful to let you stop and figure it all out . .
. an engaging and literate work from an enigmatic artist."
- CMJ New Music Monthly
"A soundtrack to a dream . . . edgy and beautiful, haunting
and captivating, filled with intriguing vignettes and riddles
. . . "
- Women Who Rock Magazine
My favorite tracks are "Bury Me" and "Alice in
Colorvision."
You can find out more about the CD, which I highly recommend,
and listen to 8 of the 14 tracks, here:
ultralash.com/foamylather.html
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning July 3
Copyright 2008 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
It's Beautify Yourself Week, dear Cancerian. A conspiracy of
cosmic proportions is preparing the conditions necessary for you
to capitalize handsomely on this opportunity. At this very moment,
there is beauty behind you and beauty in front of you. There is
beauty to your left and beauty to your right, beauty above you
and beauty below you. All you have to do is inhale, drink in,
and otherwise suck up this lushness. It will interact synergistically
with the splendor that is also welling up in you, and you will
transform into an almost unbearably gorgeous work of art.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Are you up for some cutting-edge slashing and smashing and crashing?
I'm talking about slashing the price you've been paying for following
your dreams; smashing beliefs that made sense years ago but are
irrelevant now; and crashing parties where your future teachers
and allies are gathered. Once you get the hang of all that, Leo,
you can move on to other brilliant demolitions, like cracking
codes, breaking trances, and shattering spells cast on you by
the past.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
When Tom first arrived in Santa Cruz from South Carolina at age
22, he was homeless and had $110. He quickly scored a temp job
as a laborer, doing menial tasks at construction sites. His first
assignment was at a place where a delivery truck had accidentally
dropped a load of lumber at the bottom of a hill instead of at
the top where a new house was to be built. Tom's job was to carry
the heavy boards and beams up the hill one by one. He felt a bit
like Sisyphus in the Greek myth -- that forlorn character whose
punishment by the gods required him to push a boulder up a hill
again and again, only to have it plummet down each time as he
reached the peak. Unlike Sisyphus, things got better for Tom.
During the next 15 years, he became a successful real estate agent.
One day he sold the million-dollar house that had been built from
the wood he'd once toted up the hill. This is a perfect time,
Virgo, for you to predict and plot out a long-term personal triumph
that will match Tom's.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
It's the Power-Gathering Season for you, Libra. A good way to
energize your efforts would be to define clearly and imaginatively
what power means to you. I've got two riffs to get you started.
First, here's one from a famous French ruler whose name I'll withhold
so as not to distract you from the riff itself: "I love power.
But it is as an artist that I love it. I love it as a musician
loves his violin, to draw out its sounds and chords and harmonies."
Here's the second definition, from poet Dennis Holt in his newsletter
"Quincunx": "Power is what sends the woodpecker
down from his tree to poke for worms in the muddy road one morning
after all-night rain on a ridge above the Pacific within earshot
of the surf."
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EXPLORE THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE
with my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Second Half of 2008:
RealAstrology.com
What hidden factors will be massaging your destiny during the
next six months? Could you use some hints about how to prepare
for the adventures awaiting you during the rest of 2008?
To listen to my IN-DEPTH, LONG-TERM AUDIO FORECAST for YOUR LIFE
during the next six months, go here:
RealAstrology.com
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SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
I'm not a big fan of Disneyland, but that doesn't mean I can't
borrow its ideas for your use. The fact is, Scorpio, the coming
weeks will be an excellent time for you to identify your own personal
versions of frontierland, adventureland, or tomorrowland. I'm
not talking about experiences and places that resemble glitzy
theme-parks, but rather the wild and thrilling things that gently
shock your mind into expanding. You're in a phase of your cycle
when you'll tend to generate good luck and helpful synchronicity
by pushing your imagination beyond its usual fantasies.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Beginning in 1951, the U.S. government regularly set off nuclear
bombs in the desert 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Most of the
1,021 explosions occurred underground, though for 11 years some
were also done in the open air. Tourists used to flock to Las
Vegas to watch the mushroom clouds, which were visible from that
distance. As far as we know, the detonations ceased in 1992. Also
as far as we know, the unusual lifestyles of Las Vegas's inhabitants
are not the result of mutations in their DNA caused by radioactive
contamination. Let's use this scenario as a departure point for
your own personal inventory, Sagittarius. What dangerous or tempestuous
events from your life are now safely confined to the past? Are
there any lingering consequences from them? If so, what might
you do to heal?
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
By the year 2100, some human beings will be married to sophisticated
robots. So concludes David Levy, who got a doctorate from a Dutch
university for his thesis, "Intimate Relationships with Artificial
Partners." Let's use his prophecy as a jumping-off point
for your meditation, Capricorn. In your fantasies about togetherness,
are you unconsciously harboring any unrealistic desires for robotic
perfection? If so, are they interfering with your ability to have
deep and satisfying relationships with interesting but flawed
people? Take inventory of any tendencies you might have to want
artificial partners. Then dissolve those delusions.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
"Dear Rob: After a long stretch of patiently putting up
with God's mean-spirited tricks, I decided I'd had enough. So
I fired Him. Now I'm going to create a brand new deity from scratch.
Do you have any recommendations on what qualities a truly cool
divine being might possess? - Awakening Aquarius." Dear Awakening:
One quality your fresh god should have is an appreciation for
your originality. You also deserve a deity who likes it when you
take your fate into your own hands. That's all I'll say. It's
a good time for you Aquarians to shun other people's ideas about
the divine influences and brainstorm extravagantly about what's
true for you.
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WHAT'S TO COME?
BRAINSTORM ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE
with my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Second Half of 2008:
RealAstrology.com
What will be the story of your life during the rest of 2008?
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.
Go here:
RealAstrology.com
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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
What are the differences between tacky, meaningless fun and beautiful,
constructive fun? What are the distinctions between dumb, trivial
pleasure and smart, life-exalting pleasure? I'm hoping that meditations
on these subjects will inspire you to overcome any laziness you
might have about cultivating happiness. It's a perfect time for
you to attempt this monumental accomplishment, you see. You're
at a potential turning point in your astrological cycle, a time
when you could get in the habit of treating your hero's journey
as if it were an ever-evolving celebration.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Here's the first rule of panning for gold: Go to a slow-moving
stream where flecks of the precious metal have been found by others
in the past. The second rule is this: Although gold is carried
along by the current, it's heavier than water and thus rarely
appears right on the surface. Look deeper. A third pointer is
that if you do ultimately find substantial treasure, it'll be
because you will have gradually accumulated a number flakes and
nuggets over an extended period of time. You've got to be patient.
Now, Aries, apply everything I just said to your search for metaphorical
gold.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
In his song "Get Behind the Mule," Tom Waits tells
us to "Never let the weeds get taller than the garden."
That's advice you should heed in the coming weeks. But don't go
overboard and become a fanatic who acts as if weeds are evil demons
from the ninth level of hell. Keeping a few well-trimmed wild
plants and a mushroom or two would be quite healthy. You need
a bit of messy serendipity mixed in with your law and order.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
In her book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard notes
that there is only a tiny difference between the lifebloods of
plants and animals. A molecule of chlorophyll contains 36 atoms
of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon arrayed around an atom
of magnesium, while a molecule of hemoglobin is exactly the same
except for an atom of iron instead of magnesium. I offer this
as an apt metaphor to illustrate the choice you have ahead of
you: As similar as the various possibilities may seem, the simple
thing you put at the center of each option will make a tremendous
difference.
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HOMEWORK:
True or false: You can't get what you want from another person
until you're able to give it to yourself. Explain why or why not.
Go to FreeWillAstrology.com
and click on "Email Rob."
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WANT TO GET YOUR CHART DONE?
I'm not doing personal charts, but I highly recommend my 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 YourSoulJourney.com
She can also be reached at roloughran@comcast.net
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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
2008 Rob Brezsny
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