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Horoscopes by Rob Brezsny


Week of July 22nd, 2010

♈ ARIES

(March 21-April 19)
Revenge fantasies would pollute your consciousness. I advise you to repress them. Wallowing in resentment would have an equally deleterious effect. Don't you dare give that emotion a foothold. On the other hand, fantasies of experiencing pleasure and joy, even if they're escapist illusions, will tonify and invigorate your awareness. I recommend that you indulge in them at great length, unleashing your imagination to explore a variety of blissful scenarios in tremendous detail and with ingenious flourishes. In fact, as your part-time soul doctor, I can't think of anything else that would be more beneficial to your physical and mental health.


Want more help in exploring the Great Mystery that is your life? I discuss your coming week in greater depth in your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE. Meanwhile, to get a taste of a different side of my audio offerings, listen to my free podcast, World Kiss.

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Contrary to what the Bible says, it won't be the meek who shall inherit the earth. On the other hand, the arrogant power mongers won't collect the legacy either. Neither the indecisive wimps nor the acquisitive bullies will contribute much to creating the New World.

Who, then, will inherit the earth? What kind of human beings are best-equipped to thrive in the evolving game of life? We say it will be the well-disciplined pleasure-seekers who are in vigorous dialogue with their own dark sides, who balance the masculine and feminine aspects of their natures, and who master the fine arts of working at their play and playing at their work.

Assume our definition has some validity for you. What would you have to do to become more like one of the inheritors of the earth?
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The preceding oracle comes from my book, PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.

♉ TAURUS

(April 20-May 20)
If there were such a thing as the Queen of Heaven -- a living Goddess whose presence both calmed and excited you, a numinous female magician who lit up your longing to see life as it really is -- and if this Queen of Heaven came to be with you right now, what would you say? Would you ask her to help you, and if so, how? Would you seek an answer to the most important question in your life? Would you spill every secret and tell every story you've ever wanted to share, and trust that she'd be able to see the totality of who you really are? I advise you to do this imaginative exercise sometime soon. The time has come for you to receive a blessing from the highest expression of feminine power.


Do you want further explorations of the intriguing twists and turns of your personal evolution? Check out your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE. Meanwhile, to get a taste of a different side of my audio offerings, listen to my free podcast, World Kiss.

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In some spiritual traditions, devotees attempt an arduous process of self-transformation as they retrain themselves to perceive the world from God's point of view. If they succeed, they're honored with an initiation ritual and given a new name to consecrate their altered state.

I have the same problem with this custom that I have with the idea of enlightenment: Once isn’t enough. Just as anyone in his or her right spiritual mind has a duty to keep claiming fresh varieties of enlightenment until the end of time, so should the initiations and renamings continue forever.

In my opinion, these considerations apply to you. You may not have sequestered yourself for years in a mountaintop monastery, and you may not have risen every morning at 5 a.m. to say prayers for hours, but you are an authentic devotee who has undergone equivalent ordeals. Your spiritual transformation has unfolded as you've dealt with the challenges of daily life during our epic moment in history, when unprecedented levels of annihilation and resurrection are the norm.

You have earned the right, therefore, to enjoy enlightenment after enlightenment and initiation after initiation and renaming after renaming.

I invite you to get started with a do-it-yourself initiation ceremony. It doesn't have to be long and complicated, and you can create it yourself. As an example of what you might do, here's a ritual that some Beauty and Truth Laboratory's initiates have performed: 1. Eat a pinch of dirt to declare your solidarity with Mother Earth. 2. Burn a five-dollar bill to purify your relationship with symbols of wealth. 3. Kick yourself in the ass to affirm your ongoing intention to discipline your shadow.

As one of your initiatory rewards, consider adopting a fresh alias during this and every initiation you carry out in the future. You can abandon your existing name if you want, or simply add your new tag to the current mix.

To celebrate the occasion, I invoke on your behalf the inspiration of all shedding things. Your tree of power will be the eucalyptus, whose bark peels away to reveal fresh layers beneath. Your lucky symbol will be the molting snake. Your sacred insect will be the silverfish, which bursts through its exoskeleton as it grows a new and bigger one. Your role model will be Japanese artist Hokusai (1760–1849), who had such a passionate commitment to reinventing himself that he celebrated 60 births, each time giving himself a new name.
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The preceding oracle comes from my new book, PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.

♊ GEMINI

(May 21-June 20)
What's up with your best friends? I mean, what's really going on for them in the big scheme of things? According to my astrological intuition, at least one of your good buddies is at a turning point in his or her long-range cycle, and could really use the deep reflection and catalytic help that you might provide. Try this exercise: Put aside all your ideas about who your close allies are, and simply try to see the world as if looking out of their eyes. After you've done that, imagine how you could offer yourself to them as a brain-booster and heart-strengthener; brainstorm about how you might blend your life force with theirs so as to empower them to see further than they can by themselves.


Need more help in figuring out the riddles life is bringing you? Crave more support in your efforts to build your courage? Check out your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE. Meanwhile, to get a taste of a different side of my audio offerings, listen to my free podcast, World Kiss.

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DEFINITION: Pronoia is the antidote for paranoia. It's the understanding that the universe is fundamentally friendly. It's a mode of retraining your senses and intellect so you're able to perceive that life always gives you exactly what you need, exactly when you need it.

HYPOTHESES: Evil is boring. Cynicism is idiotic. Fear is a bad habit. Despair is lazy. Joy is fascinating. Love is an act of heroic genius. Pleasure is our birthright. Receptivity is a superpower.

PROCEDURE: Act as if the universe is a prodigious miracle created for your amusement and illumination. Assume that secret helpers are working behind the scenes to assist you in turning into the gorgeous masterpiece you were born to be. Join the conspiracy to shower all of creation with blessings.
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The preceding oracle comes from my book, PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.

♋ CANCERIAN

(June 21-July 22)
In my astrological opinion, you should pay special attention to whatever's embryonic in your life. You should rouse the smartest part of your capacity for love and direct it with high-beam intensity toward burgeoning possibilities that have recently germinated. There may come a time later in the process when you'll need to impose discipline and order on your growing things, but that's not what's called for now. Be extravagant in your nurturing. Don't scrimp on generosity and beneficence. Have fun overflowing with profusions of life-giving care.


What fresh blessings will life bring you? What questions should you be asking? To explore the ripening trends further, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE. Meanwhile, to get a taste of a different side of my audio offerings, listen to my free podcast, World Kiss.

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"The secret of life," said sculptor Henry Moore to poet Donald Hall, "is to have a task, something you devote your entire life to, something you bring everything to, every minute of the day for your whole life. And the most important thing is--it must be something you cannot possibly do." What is that task for you?
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The preceding oracle comes from my book, PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.

♌ LEO

(July 23-August 22)
According to Hawaiian mythology, the soul leaves the body during the night to seek the adventures known as dreams. The place of departure and re-entry is the "soul pit" (lua’uhane), which is located in the tear duct of the eye. During the next few nights, I'd love for you to send your soul flying out though your soul pit for some daring exploits that will revitalize your lust for life. Take your backlog of stored-up tears along with you, and pour them down like rain on the secret garden you've been neglecting. The garden will respond to the downpour with a big growth spurt.


Want to explore this chapter of your life story even further? Dig deeper? Push harder? Consider tuning in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES. Meanwhile, to get a taste of a different side of my audio offerings, listen to my free podcast, World Kiss.

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With luck and persistence, you will be able to claim the rewards promised you at the beginning of time -- not just any old beauty, wisdom, goodness, love, freedom, and justice, but rather exhilarating beauty that incites you to be true to yourself; crazy wisdom that immunizes you against the temptation to believe your ideals are ultimate truths; outrageous goodness that inspires you to experiment with boisterous empathy; generous freedom that keeps you alert for opportunities to share your wealth; insurrectionary love that endlessly transforms you; and a lust for justice that's leavened with a knack for comedy, keeping you honest as you work humbly to liberate everyone in the world from ignorance and suffering.
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The preceding oracle comes from my book, PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.

♍ VIRGO

(August 23-September 22)
A woman I know was invited to a party where she would get the chance to meet her favorite musician, psychedelic folk artist Devendra Banhart. On her last look in the mirror before heading out the door, she decided that the small pimple on her chin was unacceptable, and gave it a squeeze. Wrong move. After it popped, it looked worse. She panicked. More squeezing ensued, accompanied by moaning and howling. Soon the tiny blemish had evolved into a major conflagration. Fifteen minutes later, defeated and in tears, she was nibbling chocolate in bed, unable to bring herself to face her hero with her flagrant new wound showing. The moral of the story, as far as you're concerned: Leave your tiny blemish alone.


You're got more strength and intelligence than you realize. For help in accessing those untapped inner resources, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE. Meanwhile, to get a taste of a different side of my audio offerings, listen to my free podcast, World Kiss.

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Six miles from Maui is a Hawaiian island that tourists never visit --Kaho'olawe. The U.S. Navy seized it in 1941 and used it as a target range for decades. After years of protests by Native Hawaiians, the Navy finally stopped bombing and began a clean-up campaign. In November, 2003, it formally turned control of the island over to the rightful owners.

"You can get a feel on Kaho'olawe of what it was like to live on Hawaii at the time of our ancestors," says Native Hawaiian Davianna McGregor. "We can practice our traditions there without it being a tourist attraction. It's one place we can go to be in communion with our natural life forces."
Each of us has a personal version of Kaho'olawe: a part of our psyche that has been stolen or colonized by hostile forces. To grow bolder in exploring pronoia, you'll need to take back yours.
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The preceding oracle comes from my book, PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.

♎ LIBRA

(September 23-October 22)
In the upcoming science fiction movie The Adjustment Bureau, Matt Damon plays a politician with big ambitions. Everything's going his way until he falls in love with a dancer. Then the representatives of a mysterious group intervene in his life, warning him that he'll never achieve his dreams if he stays with her. "We are the people who make sure things happen according to plan," they say. "We monitor the entire world." I'm happy to inform you, Libra, that this scenario is utterly make-believe. There is no "Adjustment Bureau," on earth or in heaven. It is true, however, that if you don't have a master plan, then your destiny is more likely to be shaped by your conditioning and by other people's master plans. So get working! This is an excellent time to either formulate a master plan or refine the one you have.


How are you going to change what needs to be changed and accept what needs to be accepted? To get some support from me, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE. Meanwhile, to get a taste of a different side of my audio offerings, listen to my free podcast, World Kiss.

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I'm allergic to dogma. I thrive on riddles. Any idea I believe, I reserve the right to disbelieve as well. But more than any other vision I've ever tested, pronoia describes the way the world actually is. It's wetter than water, stronger than death, and truer than the news. It smells like cedar smoke in the autumn rain, and if you close your eyes right now, you can feel it shimmering like the aurora borealis in your organs and muscles. Its song is your blood's song.

Some people argue that life is strife and suffering is normal. Others swear we're born sinful and only heaven can provide us with the peace that passes understanding. But pronoia says that being alive on this rough green and brown planet is the highest honor and privilege. It's an invitation to work wonders and perform miracles that aren't possible in any nirvana, promised land, or afterlife.

I'm not exaggerating or indulging in poetic metaphor when I tell you that we are already living in paradise. Visualize it if you dare. The sweet stuff that quenches all of our longing is not far away in some other time and place. It's right here and right now.

Poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning knew the truth: "Earth's crammed with heaven."
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The preceding oracle comes from my book, PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.

♏ SCORPIO

(October 23-November 21)
The United States is the planet's major player in terms of political, economic, and military clout. China is rising fast as a competitor in those three arenas, but lags far behind in a fourth: "soft power," or cultural influence. The rest of the world finds America's style, entertainment, art, and ideas far more attractive than China's. As you enter a phase that will be favorable for enhancing your own leverage and authority, Scorpio, I suggest you put the emphasis on wielding "soft power." You'll accomplish more by charming people with your intelligence than by trying to push them or manipulate them.


Sometimes it's a challenge to figure out what's important and what's not important. If you'd like more of my input, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE. Meanwhile, to get a taste of a different side of my audio offerings, listen to my free podcast, World Kiss.

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Quoting geneticists, Guy Murchie says we're all family. You have at least a million relatives as close as tenth cousin, and no one on Earth is any farther removed than your 50th cousin.

Murchie also describes our kinship through an analysis of how deeply we share the air. With each breath, you take into your body 10 sextillion atoms, and--owing to the wind's ceaseless circulation--over a year's time you have intimate relations with oxygen molecules exhaled by every person alive, as well as by everyone who ever lived. Right now you may be carrying atoms that were once inside the lungs of Malcolm X, Christopher Columbus, Joan of Arc, and Cleopatra.
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The preceding oracle comes from my book, PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.

♐ SAGITTARIUS

(November 22-December 21)
I think it would be healthy for you to wander out to a frontier and explore a boundary. You might even want to re-examine a taboo you haven't questioned in a while and tinker with a formula you thought you'd never change. I suspect that you would also learn a lot from gently pushing against a limit you've come to believe is permanent. Having said all that, I'm cautious about advising you to go further. If you get urges to actually transgress the boundary and break the taboo and smash through the limit, please do lots of due diligence. Know exactly what you're getting into and what the consequences might be.


How well is your imagination working these days? Could it use a boost? A prod? A jolt of inspiration? Try tuning in your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE. Meanwhile, to get a taste of a different side of my audio offerings, listen to my free podcast, World Kiss.

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More and more creative people find they do their best work when they're feeling healthy and secure. We know writers who no longer need to be drunk or in agony in order to shed the numbness of their daily routine and tap into the full powers of their imagination. We have filmmaker friends whose best work flows not from the depths of alienated self-doubt but rather from the heights of well-earned bliss. Singer-songwriter P.J. Harvey is the patron saint of this new breed. "When I'm contented, I'm more open to receiving a lot of inspiration," she has testified. "I'm most creative when I feel safe and happy."
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The preceding oracle comes from my book, PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.

♑ CAPRICORN

(December 22-January 19)
When mobs stage political demonstrations in Pakistan's biggest cities, they make sure that some of their signs are written in English. That way their protests are more likely to be filmed by news media like CNN and shown to American audiences. Take a cue from that trick as you plan your actions, Capricorn. It won't be enough merely to say what you want to say and be who you want to be; you should tailor your messages to people who have the power to actually change what needs to be changed.


Want more clues? Need further insight? For more evocative questions and pithy suggestions about your unfolding destiny, check out your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE. Meanwhile, to get a taste of a different side of my audio offerings, listen to my free podcast, World Kiss.

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The sage and her student were standing by a pool discussing longing and ambition.

"What do you want more than anything else?" the sage asked.

"To perfect my ability to love all of creation the way I love myself," the young man replied.

At that moment, the sage tackled the student and shoved his head beneath the water. Accustomed to letting his teacher shape the unpredictable contours of his education, he did not resist.

One minute went by. Then another. The student began to struggle and kick. His teacher was strong.

Finally she released her grip and the student surfaced, fighting for breath.

"What did you want more than anything else during these last few minutes?" the sage inquired.

"Nothing else was in my mind except the desire for air," gasped the student.

"Excellent," beamed the sage. "As soon as you are equally single-minded in your desire to perfect your ability to love all of creation the way you love yourself, you will achieve your goal."
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The preceding oracle comes from my book, PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.

♒ AQUARIUS

(January 20- February 18)
I'm putting out a call to the rebel in your heart -- not the cranky, vindictive rebel in your mind, but the joyful, yearning rebel in your heart. I am asking this tender renegade to rise up against narcissistic behavior wherever you find it. Don't shout it down or try to shame it, though; rather, work around it through outrageous displays of empathy and radical acts of compassion and feisty outbreaks of wild kindness. Your job, according to my analysis of the astrological omens, is to be a one-person wrecking crew devoted to smashing the boring inertia of egotism with your zealous concern for the good of all.


How much do you want to know about your life? How far do you dare to go in your quest for self-mastery? For more insight into your intriguing fate, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE. Meanwhile, to get a taste of a different side of my audio offerings, listen to my free podcast, World Kiss.

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Go to the ugliest or most forlorn place you know--a drugstore parking lot, the front porch of a crack house, a toxic waste dump, or the place that symbolizes your secret shame--and build a shrine devoted to beauty, truth, and love.

Here are some suggestions about what to put in your shrine: a silk scarf; a smooth rock on which you've inscribed a haiku or joke with a felt-tip pen; coconut cookies or ginger candy; pumpkin seeds and an origami crane; a green kite shaped like a dragon; a music CD you love; a photo of your hero; a votive candle carved with your word of power; a rubber ducky; a bouquet of fresh beets; a print of Van Gogh's "Starry Night."
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The preceding oracle comes from my book, PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.

♓ PISCES

(February 19-March 20)
As the economic recovery lags, many frustrated job-seekers have decided to stop waiting around to be saved; they're taking matters into their own hands. As a result, entrepreneurship is thriving. I suggest you catch that spirit. In fact, I advocate a mass entrepreneurial uprising among Pisceans in the coming months. Even if you're already employed, it'll be prime time for you to create your own perfect gig, carve out your own special niche, or dream up a role that is designed for your unique talents.


Want to hear more about the hidden factors influencing your life? Listen to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE. Meanwhile, to get a taste of a different side of my audio offerings, listen to my free podcast, World Kiss.

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Late at night when there's no traffic, stride down the middle of an empty road that by day is crawling with cars. Dance, careen, and sing songs that fill you with pleasurable emotions. Splay your arms triumphantly as you extemporize prayers in which you make extravagant demands and promises. Give pet names to the trees you pass, declare your admiration for the workers who made the road, and celebrate your sovereignty over a territory that usually belongs to heavy machines and their operators.
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The preceding oracle comes from my book, PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.


Listen to Rob's Expanded Audio Horoscopes, updated weekly.



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