In the coming days you have permission from the universe to dwell less on what needs to be resisted, protested, flushed out, and overcome. Instead you have license to concentrate on what deserves to be fostered, encouraged, bolstered, and invited in. Sound like fun? It will be if you can do it, but it may not be as easy to accomplish as it sounds. There are many influences around you that are tempting you to draw your energy from knee-jerk oppositionalism and cynical naysaying. So in order to take full advantage of what life is offering you, you will have to figure out how to rebel in a spirit of joy and celebration.

Take inventory of the extent that "No" dominates your life. Notice how often you say or think: 1. "That's not right." 2. "I don't like that." 3. "I don't agree with that." 4. "They don't like me." 5. "I'm not very good." 6. "That should be different from what it is." For help in retraining yourself to say "Yes!" at least 51% of the time, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE for the coming week. You can also still hear your long-term preview for the rest of 2011. Get exhilarated!

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If you're reading this, you're probably not a Cambodian orphan who grew up as a slave in a brothel or a Sudanese man kidnapped by a militia and forced to do heavy labor 18 hours a day or one of the millions of other victims of human trafficking around the world. But you may be yoked and subjugated in a less literal way, perhaps to a debilitating drug or an abusive relationship or a job that brings out the worst in you or a fearful fantasy about the looming collapse of civilization's infrastructure.

The good news is that you have the power to escape your bondage. Maybe it'll help you muster the strength you need if I remind you that your freedom won't be anywhere near as difficult to achieve as that of the Pakistani boy tied to a carpet loom in a dark room around the clock or the Nigerian woman who's beaten daily as she toils in the sugar cane fields for no pay.

Try this: When you feel overwhelmed by the sadness of your problems or the addiction of your compulsions, put on your best clothes and clean toilets at a homeless shelter, or give foot massages to workers at a sewage disposal plant, or sing songs, sip champagne, and play card games with patients at a psychiatric hospital. Be ready to get hit upside the soul with exotic varieties of ecstasy, which such acts will unleash.
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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.

"Dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions," said the seer Edgar Cayce. That's your thought for the week, Taurus. Not just in dreams, but in your waking life as well, you will be experiencing insights, hearing stories, and getting messages that provide useful information for the crucial questions you have not yet framed, let alone posed. I hope that by telling you this, I will expedite your work on formulating those pertinent questions.

How's your fight for freedom going? Are you making progress in liberating yourself from your unconscious obsessions, bad habits, and conditioned responses? For assistance and inspiration, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE for the coming week. You can also still hear your long-term preview for the rest of 2011. Get excited!

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It's possible there's still enough oil buried in the earth to sustain our civilization's exorbitant appetite for material comforts for another 100 years. Or it may be true, as some researchers suggest, that global reserves of black gold are rapidly dwindling, and 20 years from now we'll all be farmers and hunters sitting around campfires at night telling stories.

Whichever scenario comes to pass, you may be happiest and smartest and healthiest if you cultivate a simple and earthy relationship with luxury—something akin to poet Omar Khayyám's notion, which was "a jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and thou beside me singing in the wilderness." Comments? Questions? Celebrations?

P.S. The amount of oil left in the world has no bearing whatsoever on your ability to cultivate ecstasy.
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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.

"The most important thing in acting is honesty," said Hollywood actor George Burns. "If you can fake that, you've got it made." The same thing is true about life itself in the coming weeks, Gemini. The more you dispense the raw truth -- even if you have to push yourself to do it -- the more successful you'll be. Being a fount of radical authenticity might feel like a performance at first, but it'll eventually get easier, more natural.

Assume that your drive to experience pleasure isn't a barrier to your spiritual growth, but is in fact essential to it. Proceed on the hypothesis that cultivating joy can make you a more ethical and compassionate person. Imagine that feeling good has something important to teach you every day. For inspiration in practicing this approach, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE for the coming week. You can also still hear your long-term preview for the rest of 2011. Get exhilarated!

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Here's Caroline Myss' explanation of faith: "Faith is the power to stand up to the madness and chaos of the physical world while holding the position that nothing external has any authority over what heaven has in mind for you."

If you don't like the word "heaven" in Myss' statement, substitute a term that works for you, like "your higher self" or "your destiny" or "your soul's code." Modify anything else in it that's not right for your needs, as well. When you're finished tinkering, I hope you'll have created a definition of faith that motivates you with as much primal power as you feel when you're in love.
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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.

The great-grandson of a slave, Cancerian Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993) was America's first African-American Supreme Court Justice. According to Thurgood, a play about his life that appeared on HBO, his unruly behavior as a school kid played a role in launching him toward his vocation. As punishment for his bad behavior, his teacher exiled him to a storage room where he was instructed to study the U.S. Constitution -- a document he would later be called on to interpret during his service on the high court. I foresee a version of this scenario playing out in your immediate future, Cancerian. Mischief could lead to opportunity. Blessings might evolve out of shenanigans. Bending the rules may bring rewards.

"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 write a story of your own that begins like that. For help, tune into your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE for the coming week. You can also still hear your long-term preview for the rest of 2011. Get excited!

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The New York Times ran a story about philosopher Nick Bostrom, who believes there's a significant chance our world is actually a computer simulation. In his scenario, you and I are living in a version of The Matrix. Our "brains" are merely webs of computer circuits created by our post-human descendants, who are studying "ancestor simulations" of their past. I bring this to your attention because I'd like to invite you to find out, one way or another, whether Bostrom is correct.

Make it your intention to cultivate a talent for knowing what's real and what's not. Develop a knack for escaping what's illusory and gravitating toward what's authentic. If you do these simple things, I bet you will earn a big reward: a chronic, low-key, blissful sense of union with pretty much everything that's appealing to you.

Bonus: Even if you do find out that we're living in The Matrix, you could become a messiah with resemblances to the character that Keanu Reeves played in the film trilogy. He could fly.
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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.

Do you mind if I call you "The Original Liontamer"? I know it sounds a bit extravagant, maybe even pretentious, but it really fits you right now. More than any other sign of the zodiac, you have the power to control the wild, ferocious forces of the unconscious. You're the fluid flowmaster in charge of making the beastly energy behave itself; you're the crafty coordinator of the splashy, flashy kundalini; you're the dazzling wizard of the dizzy whirling whooshes. Here's a tip to help you soothe the savage rhythms with maximum aplomb: Mix a dash of harmonious trickery in with your charismatic bravado.

I invite you to keep a running list of all the ways life delights you and helps you and energizes you. Describe everyday miracles you take for granted . . . the uncanny powers you possess . . . the small joys that occur so routinely you forget how much they mean to you . . . the steady flow of benefits bestowed on you by people you know and don't know. What works for you? What makes you feel at home in the world? For inspiration in this noble effort, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE for the coming week. You can also still hear your long-term preview for the rest of 2011. Get educated!

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While loitering on a sidewalk outside a nightclub in San Francisco on a September night in 1994, I found the cover of a booklet lying in the gutter. Written by Marilena Silbey and Paul Ramana Das, it was called "How to Survive Passionate Intimacy with a Dreamy Partner While Making a Fortune on the Path to Enlightenment." Sadly, the rest of the text was missing. Ever since, hungry for its wisdom, I've tried to hunt down a copy of the whole thing, but to no avail.

I'm hoping that maybe you will consider writing your own version of the subject. If you do, please send it to me.
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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.

You have maybe ten more days left to locate the healthiest possible gamble for the second half of 2011. I'm referring to a smart risk that will bring out the best in you, expand the hell out of your mind, and inspire you to shed at least 10 percent of your narcissism and 15 percent of your pessimism. Trust your gut as much as your brain, Virgo. It will be important to have them both fully engaged as you make your foray all the way out there to the edge of your understanding.

All of creation loves you very much. Even now, people you know and people you don't know are collaborating to make sure you have all you need to make your next smart move. But are you willing to start loving life back with an equal intensity? The adoration it offers you has not exactly been unrequited, but there is room for you to be more demonstrative. For help in cultivating this approach, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE for the coming week. You can also still hear your long-term preview for the rest of 2011. Get excited!

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"Picture the Grand Canyon," says Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield. "Every hundred years, a child comes by and throws a mustard seed into it. In the time it takes to fill the hole in the earth with mustard seeds, one maha­kal­pa will have passed. To perfect the virtuous heart—the joy of integrity -- takes a thousand mahakalpas."

If that's true, then you've still got a lot of work to do. The good news is that civilization is in the midst of a critical turning point that could tremendously expedite your ripening. So you could make unusually great progress toward the goal of perfecting the virtuous heart in the next 40 years.

For best results, meditate often on the phrase "the joy of integrity." Get familiar with the pleasurable emotion that comes from acting with impeccability. And try out this idea from Gandhi: Integrity is the royal road to your inner freedom.

P.S. Oddly enough, the work of perfecting the virtuous heart is very effective in helping you master the art of cultivating everyday ecstasy. Meditate on the connection.
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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.

"He got a big ego, such a huge ego," sings Beyonce in her song "Ego." "It's too big, it's too wide / It's too strong, it won't fit / It's too much, it's too tough / He talk like this 'cause he can back it up." I would love to be able to address that same message to you in the coming days, Libra. I'm serious. I'd love to admire and marvel at your big, strong ego. This is one of those rare times when the cosmic powers-that-be are giving you clearance to display your beautiful, glorious self in its full radiance. Extra bragging is most definitely allowed, especially if it's done with humor and wit. A bit of preening, mugging, and swaggering is permissible as well.

What is the obvious secret you can't quite see? How could you turn your challenges into daily gifts for yourself? For clues to mysteries like these, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE for the coming week. You can also still hear your long-term preview for the rest of 2011. Get educated!

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Alice finds her way to Wonderland by falling down a rabbit hole. Dorothy rides to Oz on a tornado. In C. S. Lewis's >i>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 you've enjoyed in the past, it may not resemble the doorways you've used before.
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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.

"Dear Rob Brezsny: Please, sir, if you could do me a cost-free favor and tell me something special about my upcoming future, I would be amazingly glad and would spread good will about you everywhere. My age is 34 and I am sharply eager to know in detail about my next five years at least -- any big good or bad predictions. Kindly be very specific, no cloudy generalizations. - Fayyaz Umair Aziz, First-Degree Scorpio." Dear Fayyaz: I'm happy to inform you that your future is not set in stone; you have the power to carve out the destiny you prefer. And it so happens that the next four weeks will be prime time for you Scorpios to formulate a clear master plan (or reformulate your existing one) and take a vow to carry it out with impeccability.

Grace emerges in the ebb and flow, not just the flow. The waning reveals a different blessing than the waxing. Where are you in the great cycle of your life? For inspiration in figuring it all out, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE for the coming week. You can also still hear your long-term preview for the rest of 2011. Get educated!

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"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.
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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.

One of my readers sent me an interesting tale. He said the teacher Rudolf Steiner "once had a devotee who complained that after years of meditating and studying sacred texts he had not yet had a spiritual experience. Steiner asked him if he'd noticed the face of the conductor on the train on which they were riding. The man said no. Steiner replied, 'Then you just missed a spiritual experience.'" This is a good tip for you to keep in mind in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. It'll be a time when you could dramatically expedite and intensify your education about spiritual matters by noticing the beauty and holiness in the most mundane things.

Whether it's your time to ferment in the shadows or sing in the sun, fresh power to transform yourself is on the way. Life always delivers the creative energy you need to change into the new thing you must become. For more help in understanding it all, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE for the coming week. You can also still hear your long-term preview for the rest of 2011. Get excited!

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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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The preceding oracle comes from my book, PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.

I've got two bits of information for you late bloomers out there; two inspirational messages to quell your worry about how long everything seems to be taking to unfold for you. First comes this fact: While some oak trees begin growing acorns after two decades, many don't produce a single acorn until they're 40 or even 50 years old. Your second message is from poet Robert Bly: "I know a lot of men who are healthier at age 50 than they've ever been before, because a lot of their fear is gone." Keep the faith, Capricorn -- and continue your persistent efforts.

You can learn to be lucky. It's not a mystical force you're born with, but a habit you can develop. How? For starters, be open to new experiences, trust your gut wisdom, expect good fortune, see the bright side of challenging events, and master the art of maximizing serendipitous opportunities. For more help, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE for the coming week. You can also still hear your long-term preview for the rest of 2011. Get exhilarated!

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Confounding lessons and delightful shocks have been increasing in frequency during the recent past and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. In light of that fact, you may want to find some new ways to express your amazement. Clichés like "Jesus H. Christ!" or "Holy crap!" or "What the fuck?!" may not be sufficient to capture the full impact of the aha! moments.

To get you launched in the right direction, I'll suggest a few fresh exclamations. They're not designed to become tried-and-true replacements for the lazy phrases you're using now, but are rather meant to jog your imagination and inspire you to conjure up a constantly changing variety of ever-fresh invocations. Now see how these roll off your tongue: "Great Odin's raven!" "Radical lymphocytes!" "Cackling whacks of jibber-jabber!" "Frosty heat waves!" "Panoramic serpentine!"
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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.

Russia has more psychic healers than medical doctors. Research done by the World Health Organization says so. While licensed physicians number around 640,000, there are 800,000 witches and wizards who use occult means to perform their cures. Personally, I prefer a more balanced ratio. I feel most comfortable when there are equal amounts of officially sanctioned practitioners and supernaturally inspired mavericks. In fact, that's my guiding principle in pretty much every situation. I want as many unorthodox rebels who mess with the proven formulas as serious professionals who are highly skilled at playing by the rules. That helps keep both sides honest and allows me to avoid being led astray by the excesses and distortions of each. May I recommend a similar approach for you in the coming week?

Somewhere there's a treasure that has no value to anyone but you, and a secret that's meaningless to everyone except you, and a frontier that harbors a revelation only you would know how to exploit. Why not go in search of those things? For inspiration, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE for the coming week. You can also still hear your long-term preview for the rest of 2011. Get educated!

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A friend gave me a live rosebush in a planter for my birthday last June. After a few weeks, its five red flowers withered and turned brown but didn't fall off their stems. I left them there, perversely fascinated by the dead blooms that wouldn't let go. Months later, in late November, five new flowers blossomed. Then the bush displayed a mix of the living and the dead.

Would you have plucked off the dried-up old blooms, or would you find it more beautiful with both the living and the dead together?
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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.

"The most frequently leveled criticism of Jimmy Fallon is that he laughs too much." So begins a New York magazine profile of the late-night talk show host. "He laughs before jokes, after jokes, during jokes." He is "TV’s most inveterate cracker-upper." Cynics point to this as proof that he's suffering from a profound character defect. But there is another possibility, says New York: "Fallon laughs so much because he’s just having a really good time." According to my reading of the astrological omens, Pisces, you're primed to have a Fallon-like week -- a period when the fun is so liberating and the play is so cathartic and the good times are so abundant that you'll be in a chronic state of amusement. In response, people addicted to their gloom and doom might try to shame you. I say: Don't you dare let them inhibit your rightful relief and release.

When they say "Be yourself," which self do they mean? Certainly not the self that wants to win every game and use up every resource and stand alone at the end of time on a mountain of pretty garbage. So which self is it? For guidance, tune in to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE for the coming week. You can also still hear your long-term preview for the rest of 2011. Get excited!

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In his book Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud, historian Thomas Laquer suggests that the clitoris may have been unknown to male anatomists until 1559. In that year, Renaldus Columbus, a professor at the University of Padua in Italy, announced his discovery of the "seat of woman's delight," and declared his right to name it the "sweetness of Venus."

Is there a sublime pleasure whose existence you haven't discovered? Where is it? How can you find it?
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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.