New Books Just in Time for the Holidays

The holidays are fast approaching and it is time to start thinking about gift giving (and receiving). With every topic covered from the Mayan calendar to metaphysics, Buddhism to health and healing, North Atlantic Books has the perfect book to match your loved ones’ interests, and some you’ll want to add to your own holiday wish list. You’ll find something for everyone among our newest titles this season.

To order, please visit www.northatlanticbooks.com.

_____

The Cracking Tower: A Strategy for Transcending 2012
by Jim DeKorne

With the end of the legendary Mayan “long count” calendar looming on December 21, 2012 and recent threats of a worldwide economic collapse triggering widespread apprehension and a search for answers, The Cracking Tower offers an arsenal of strategies to turn these fears into an opportunity for spiritual and personal growth. Shaping the discussion is the fascinating metaphor of the cracking tower, an apparatus for distilling gasoline, as a vehicle for distilling our awareness. Rather than speculating on what might occur in 2012, DeKorne proposes vigilance of a more introspective sort. “The important thing,” he says, “is to ignore the finger and strive to comprehend the moon,” to see what our apocalyptic tendencies reveal about ourselves.

$16.95 US/ $21.00 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-816-5
232 pages, 6 x 9
On Sale November 3, 2009

_____

Uncommon Happiness: The Path of the Compassionate Warrior
by Rinpoche Dzigar Kongtrul

From 2005 to 2007, Dzigar Kongtrül Rinpoche gave classes on Shantideva’s The Way of the Boddhisattva. His commentaries revealed such a deep understanding that Marcia Binder Schmidt decided to collect them for other students of Buddhism as an independent work. This book is the result. Kongtrül Rinpoche examines different aspects of Shantideva’s text, always relating the teachings to individual experience. He explores the training of the four immeasurables—equanimity, loving kindness, compassion, and sympathetic joy—and discusses the importance of wholehearted engagement in the process. In the words of the editor, “Dharma needs to be trained in, integrated into our lives, and embraced by wisdom.” Uncommon Happiness contains the guidance to undergo that training with the right attitude of clarity and commitment.

$16.95 US/ $19.95 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-962-7341-63-5
192 pages, 5-1/2 x 8-1/2
On Sale November 10, 2009

_____

Rhythm and Touch: The Fundamentals of Craniosacral Therapy
by Anthony P. Arnold, PH.D.

With its low-impact, nurturing approach to working with the spine, the skull, the diaphragm, and the fascia to release pain in the body, Craniosacral Therapy has become an increasingly popular healing method. Rhythm and Touch explains in detail how it works, following a simple, step-by-step instructional model. Part one guides the practitioner in discovering the craniosacral rhythm and learning how to interpret and respond to its cues. Part two offers a thorough review of the brain’s protective and nourishing environment, the cranium. This section describes the bones of the mouth and face, their interrelationship and motions, and how to assess and release the results of injury. The final chapter offers reflections and recommendations for using this vast array of knowledge effectively.

$27.95 US/ $34.00 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-819-6
280 pages, 7 x 9-1/4
On Sale November 17, 2009

_____

Meditations on Nature, Meditations on Silence
Edited by Roderick MacIver

Meditations on Nature, Meditations on Silence is a collection of hundreds of quotes on the beauty and mystery of the natural world by writers and thinkers, including Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Edward Abbey, Rainer Maria Rilke, Henry David Thoreau, Louise Dickinson Rich, and Lewis Thomas. Through their inspirational poetry and other writings and Rod MacIver’s beautiful watercolors, Meditations on Nature, Meditations on Silence offers readers a retreat from our complex, fast-paced world. This book explores the beauty, strange cohesion, and complexity of the natural world and universe, drawing on sources as diverse as ancient Chinese poets, contemporary songwriters, wilderness adventurers, homesteaders, and modern scientists.

$16.95 US/ $21.00 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-916-2
96 pages, 8-1/2 x 8-1/2
On Sale November 18, 2009

_____

Where Pharaohs Dwell: One Mystic’s Journey Through the Gates of Immortality
by Patricia Cori

In this thought-provoking book, Patricia Cori focuses on her past-life experiences in ancient Egypt. The book begins with the traumatic recall of a past Egyptian life, when Cori relives a horrifying death by suffocation—from being buried alive. This experience propels her on a journey of exploration into the question of human immortality, leading her back to Egypt where she unravels the origins of the ancient Egyptians’ obsession with the resurrection of the soul. This exciting book weaves strands of science, history, and metaphysics into a shimmering tapestry of personal discovery.

$16.95 US/ $21.00 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-830-1
264 pages, 6 x 9
On Sale November 24, 2009

_____

The Circle of Fire: The Metaphysics of Yoga
by P.J. Mazumdar

The Circle of Fire examines the eternal metaphysical questions “What is God?” and “What is the purpose of life?” The book discusses the answers to these questions given by Western science and different schools of Indian thought, specifically detailing the answers to be found in India’s two most developed atheistic traditions, Hinduism and Buddhism.

Representative of a generation of Indians who have grown up with the best in scientific education and spiritual values, author P.J. Mazumdar takes a hard look at religion, science, and how two seemingly divergent bodies of knowledge can be brought together. Acknowledging the metaphysical insights to be found in both Western science and Eastern spirituality, Mazumdar pays special attention to the highest school of philosophy of Hinduism, Advaita, and its application to practical spirituality through the teachings and practice of Yoga.

$22.95 US/ $27.95 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-670-3
400 pages, 6 x 9
On Sale November 30, 2009

_____

The Intent On
by Kenneth Irby

Kenneth Irby has practiced his craft at the center of the American poetry scene for decades. An associate of the legendary Black Mountain poets, he was a close colleague of writers such as Robert Duncan, Ed Dorn, and Robert Creeley. This comprehensive collection marks the first time the full range of Irby’s artistry has been presented in one place.

Irby’s early career, starting in the 1960s, paralleled the late Beat era and the counterculture, and his blend of innovative wordplay with personal and political themes made him an important voice of that era. At the same time, he was able to forge his own path, conjuring a style that was both universal and distinctly American. Critics and other poets especially have noted his avant-garde use of sound, silence, and unusual sentence structure to seduce readers.

$40.00 US/ $49.00 CAN
Hardcover
978-1-55643-833-2
704 pages, 6-3/4 x 9-1/4
On Sale December 1, 2009

_____

Ortho-Bionomy: A Path to Self-Care
by Luann Overmyer

Ortho-Bionomy is based on the premise that the body inherently knows how to heal and self-correct, given the opportunity. This user-friendly guide by one of the pioneers of the approach presents positions, postures, and movements designed to release tension and ease pain. Positions for each part of the body are clearly described in lay terms and illustrated with photos and drawings. Quick fixes for sciatica, suggestions for dealing with menstrual cramps, and exercises to address posture, scoliosis, and flexibility of the spine are just a few among 150 techniques described. The book also includes simple exercises to increase ease, function, strength, and flexibility once the pain has subsided. Rounded out with human-interest stories and client examples, this accessible work can be used quickly and effectively by anyone with pain.

$26.95 US/ $33.00 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-791-5
344 pages, 8 x 10
On Sale December 15, 2009

_____

Heart Lamp: The Heart of the Matter and Lamp of Mahamudra
by Tsele Natsok Rangdrol

Tsele Natsok Rangdröl is renowned in the Kagyü and Nyingma schools of Tibetan Buddhism for his brilliant scholarship, profound exposition, and meditative accomplishment. This collection presents four essential Buddhist strands of philosophical viewpoint and meditation technique: the teachings of the Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) body of literature; the philosophy of the Middle Way; Mahamudra meditation; and Dzogchen teachings and practice. The focus is on how to realize that essence through “effortless” training based on the four techniques. Since the training is unbound by cultural or temporal limitations, the truth the book conveys is as valuable today as it was in centuries past.

$17.95 US/ $21.00 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-962-7341-60-4
224 pages, 5-1/2 x 8-1/2
On Sale December 15, 2009

_____

Art as a Way of Life
by Roderick MacIver

Filled with elegant watercolors and inspirational prose, Art as a Way of Life offers reflections on art and creativity, empowering us to discover and nurture the creative spirit within. It is an encouraging book for people wanting to live, work, and love in the creative spirit.

A wide range of creative innovators, including Carl Rogers, Robert Henri, Tom Jay, Henry David Thoreau, Ansel Adams, and Vincent van Gogh, contribute poignant and moving thoughts, quotes, sayings, interviews, and poems on the beauty of love and art. Through these contemporary and past theorists, musicians, artists, writers, and poets, Art as a Way of Life explores what it is to be passionate, inspired, and blissful.

$16.95 US/ $21.00 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-920-9
96 pages, 8-1/2 x 8-1/2
On Sale December 15, 2009

Rob Brezsny’s Free Will Astrology for December 2009

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
December
© Copyright 2009 Rob Brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): When Carolee Schneeman was a kid, her extravagant adoration of nature earned her the nickname “mad pantheist.” Later, during her career as a visual artist, she described her relationship with the world this way: “I assume the senses crave sources of maximum information, that the eye benefits by exercise, stretch, and expansion towards materials of complexity and substance.” I hope that you’re attracted to that perspective right now, Aries. To be in most productive alignment with the cosmic rhythms, you should be in a state of nearly ecstatic openness, hungry to be stretched — like a mad pantheist.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “Dear Rob: Last night my son and I were star-gazing. When we focused on the constellation Cassiopeia, an owl started hooting. Then a brilliant shooting star zipped by as a huge bat flew right over our heads. Was this a bad omen? Bats are creepy — associated with vampires. And in Greek mythology Cassiopeia got divine punishment because she bragged that she and her daughter were more beautiful than the sea god’s daughters. But I don’t know, maybe this blast of odd events was a good omen. Owls are symbols of wisdom and shooting stars are lucky, right? What do you think? Are we blessed or cursed? -Spooked Taurus.” Dear Spooked: The question of whether it’s good or bad luck is irrelevant. Here’s what’s important: You Tauruses are in a phase when the hidden workings of things will be shown to you — the mysterious magic that’s always bubbling below the surface but that is usually not visible.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The weeks ahead will be a ripe time to pull off magic reversals. May I suggest that you try to transform dishwater greys into sparkling golds? Or how about recycling the dead energy of a lost cause in such a way as to generate raw fuel for a fresh start? I’m confident, Gemini, that you’ll be able to discover treasure hidden in the trash, and that you’ll find a way to unleash the creative zeal that has been trapped inside polite numbness. Now ponder this riddle, please: Do you think there’s any mystical significance in the fact that the word “stressed” is “desserts” spelled backwards?

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Lately you remind me of the person Robert Hass describes in his poem “Time and Materials”: “someone falling down and getting up and running and falling and getting up.” I’m sending you my compassion for the times you fall down, and my admiration for the times you get up, and my excitement for the times you run. It has probably become clear to you by now that the falling down isn’t a shameful thing to be cursed, but rather is an instrumental part of the learning process that is teaching you marvelous secrets about getting back up and running.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “I burn for no reason, like a lantern in daylight,” writes poet Joseph Lease. I think that’s a succinct formulation of one of your central issues, Leo. Burning for no reason, like a lantern in the daylight, can be the cause of either failure or success for you, depending on subtle differences of emphasis. This is how it can be failure: When you’re mindlessly and wastefully burning through your prodigious reserves of fuel without any concern for the benefits it may provide you and others. This is how it can be success: When you are exuberant and self-disciplined in shining your light and radiating your warmth just because it feels so good and so right and so healthy, and without any thought about whether it’s “useful” to anyone.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In one of his short poems, John Averill (twitter.com/wiremesa) describes a scene that I think captures the essence of your current astrological omens: “Today is the day of the photo of moonrise over Havana in a book on a shelf in the snowbound cabin.” Here’s a clue about what it means: The snowbound cabin is where you are right now in your life. The moonrise over Havana is where you could be early in 2010. How do you get there from here?

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): An estuary is a bay where the salt water of a sea mixes with the fresh water of rivers. These days you remind me of such a place. You are two-toned, Libra. You’re dual-purpose and double-tracked. You’re a hybrid blend of the yes and the no, the give and the take, the extravagant and the traditional. And somehow this has been working out pretty well for you. You’re not so much a dysfunctional contradiction as an interesting juxtaposition. You’re not being crushed by a squeeze of opposites so much as you’re getting massaged by the oscillating throbs of complementary influences. Keep doing what you’ve been doing, only more so.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Big shiny egos with flashy tricks may be mucking around in everyone’s business, calling narcissistic attention to themselves as they pretend to do noble deeds. Meanwhile, I hope you’ll be doing the hard, detailed work that must be done to serve the greater good — quietly and unpretentiously improving people’s lives without demanding major tribute. That approach will stir up some sleek, silky karma that will come in handy when you undertake the building of your masterpiece in 2010.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “Dear Rob: I love to be proven wrong. That’s not an ironic statement. I actually get excited and feel creative when I acquire new information that shows me I’ve been operating under a misunderstanding. One of my very favorite life moments occurs when I am convincingly liberated from a negative opinion I’ve been harboring about someone. As you can tell, I’m quite proud of this quality. The way I see it, emotional wealth and psychological health involve having so much self-respect that I don’t need to be right all the time. -Sagittarian Freedom Fighter.” Dear Freedom Fighter: Thanks for your testimony. The capacity you described is one that many Sagittarians will be poised to expand in 2010. And this is an excellent time for them to start getting the hang of it.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In an early version of the tale of Pinocchio, friendly woodpeckers chiseled his nose back to its original size after it had grown enormous from his incorrigible lying. From a metaphorical perspective, Capricorn, a comparable development may soon occur in your own life. A benevolent (if somewhat rough) intervention akin to the woodpeckers’ assistance will shrink an overgrown, top-heavy part of your attitude, allowing you to proceed to the next chapter of your story with streamlined grace.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “There is light enough for those who wish to see,” wrote French philosopher Blaise Pascal, “and darkness enough for those of the opposite disposition.” I’m hoping you will align yourself with the first group in the coming weeks, Aquarius. More than ever before, what you choose to focus on will come rushing in to meet you, touch you, teach you, and prompt you to respond. Even if all the smart people you know seem to be drunk on the darkness, I encourage you to be a brave rebel who insists on equal time for the light.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): White dwarfs are small and extremely dense stars. They’re typically no bigger than the Earth but as heavy as the sun. You currently have a resemblance to one of those concentrated balls of pure intensity. I have rarely seen you offering so much bang for the buck. You are as flavorful as chocolate mousse, as piercing as the scent of eucalyptus, as lustrous as a fireworks display on a moonless night. Personally, I’m quite attracted to your saucy and zesty emanations, and I think most people with strong egos will be. But some underachievers with lower self-esteem may regard you as being more like astringent medicine. My advice: Gravitate toward those who like you to be powerful.

Homework: Go to YouTube and watch me give some pep talks and crazed lectures. Start here: http://tinyurl.com/lyr99n

CLICK HERE to learn more about Rob Brezsny’s “Free Will Astrology.”

CLICK HERE to subscribe to Rob Brezsny’s newsletter.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Rob Brezsny’s book, Pronoia is the Antidote for Paranoia, Revised and Expanded.

Author Symposium: ALL ABOUT CHI

An acupuncturist, a Reiki teacher, and two artists who work with chi and creativity and chi gung will present their healing arts on Saturday, Nov. 21 from 2-4 p.m. at Berkeley Public Central Library in downtown Berkeley. This is the second author panel in the free series Get Well! Alternative Practitioners Talk With You About Healing, sponsored by North Atlantic Books and Berkeley Public Library.

Moderator for the Nov. symposium is Lindy Hough, Co-Founder and Publisher of North Atlantic Books in Berkeley.
The panelists:
- Kaleo and Elise Ching, Chi and Chi Gung;
Authors of Chi and Creativity: Vital Energy and Your Inner Artist
- Don Beckett, Reiki healer;
Author of Reiki–The True Story: An Exploration of Usui Reiki
- Robert Johns, Acupuncturist;
Author of The Art of Acupuncture Techniques

Authors will describe their practices and theoretical framework and read from their books. Audience questions will be followed by a book signing.

Kaleo and Elise Ching live and practice in El Cerrito, Robert Johns practices in Berkeley, and Reiki teacher Don Beckett is from Mesa, Arizona.

“We’re interested in helping people understand how these modalities work and how effective they are. Hearing how our authors, who are also practitioners, treat different diseases helps people see whether a given modality might be helpful with their own troublesome conditions or something a loved one is struggling with.” Most people who don’t use alternative medicine find it hard to distinguish how these different systems work. “The goal of the November panel is to have the audience come away with a clearer idea of how chi energy works in Reiki, acupuncture, chi gung and creative work,” Hough said.

“The Berkeley Public Library is excited to be working in partnership with North Atlantic Books to better serve the interest in mind/body/spirit their readers are seeking,” said Douglas Smith, Deputy Director of the Library. “We’re pleased to be expanding our programming, outreach, and collections in these important directions.”

ALL ABOUT CHI
Get Well! Alternative Practitioners Answer Your Questions About Healing series
Saturday, November 21, 2009
2pm-4pm
Berkeley Public Central Library
3rd Floor Community Meeting Room
2090 Kittredge Street
Berkeley, CA 94704

Do you plan to attend this event?

Wheelchair accessible. To request a sign language interpreter, real-time captioning, materials in large print or Braille, or other accommodations for this event, please call (510) 981-6107 (voice) or (510) 548-1240 (TTY); at least five working days will ensure availability. Please refrain from wearing scented products to public programs.

“Alternative” Medicine – the Real Alternative to the “Health Care” Crisis

Don Beckett, the author of Reiki: The True Story, offers a poignant look at the realities of modern medicine, health care, and how to promote harmony in your life.

“Alternative” Medicine – the Real Alternative to the “Health Care” Crisis
By Don Beckett

First of all, let’s acknowledge that much of what is passed off as Reality nowadays is just the opposite. For example, any kind of medicine except pharmaceutical drugs, nuclear radiation, and surgery, is commonly called Alternative Medicine. The implication is that drugs, radiation, and surgery are Real Medicine, and any other kind of medicine is Fake Medicine. People easily accept this notion, especially because most of us have such a profound ignorance of history. The slightest glimpse into the past will show anyone that the so-called Alternative Medicines are, in reality, the traditional, natural, time-tested ones. The pharmaceutical approach is truly the Alternative – and whether it even fits the definition of medicine is questionable, to say the least. (Webster’s Dictionary defines medicine as: “the science and art dealing with the maintenance of health and the prevention, alleviation, or cure of disease” – which are not things accomplished or even intended by the use of pharmaceutical drugs.)

In the U.S.A. we’ve been simmering for months in a big debate over “Health Care” reform. And, again, the reality is just the opposite of what the words would lead us to believe. “Health Care” is really not about health, it is post-Orwellian code for the maintenance of disease. Pharmaceutical Medicine takes a materialistic and microscopic view of life; therefore, it cannot understand the origin of disease; therefore, it cannot possibly heal disease.

There was a time – before the use of pharmaceuticals became so overwhelming – when Medical Doctors had at least a desire to heal disease, and when their treatments often did allow the patient’s body to heal itself. The healing occurred not so much from what the doctor did as from what the doctor refrained from doing. It was understood that, in most cases, the body could heal itself if the patient merely stopped whatever behavior had created the disease in the first place. The doctors’ famous oath – including the pledge to “do no harm” – illustrates the traditional understanding of exactly this fact. But nowadays this pledge has become increasingly a travesty, as modern medicine has become synonymous with pharmaceutical medicine, and as the harmful effects of pharmaceuticals have become undeniable. In fact, “medical treatment” is now among the top causes of death in America (some say it’s Number One; and even the Journal of the American Medical Association has listed it as Number Three).

Sadly, doctors have increasingly become little more than delivery mechanisms of pharmaceutical drugs. And even the makers of these drugs have stopped pretending that pharmaceuticals are capable of healing anything; their admitted function is merely the suppression of physical symptoms. This in itself is contradictory to the pledge of doing no harm. The suppression of symptoms actually prevents the body from healing itself. The energies of disease are driven deep into the body and trapped there. People feel better, because the symptoms have been hidden; and they make the mistake of believing that the drugs have healed them.

Until recent years, this was not such a dangerous mistake. When I was a child, for instance – and even after that – doctors did not generally prescribe a drug for extended periods of time. Drugs were seen (accurately) as emergency measures; they were taken for relatively short times, only until the body could regain sufficient balance that the suppression of symptoms was no longer necessary. Then, without the continued intake of the drug, the body could bring the original disease to the surface and release it, and also (eventually) rid itself of the drug toxins. But nowadays the whole strategy is to get as many people as possible taking as many drugs as possible, every day for the rest of their lives! (Ka-ching, ka-ching – listen to the Song Of The Cash Registers!)

What people are not seeing in this picture (though I can’t imagine why) is that, after years of daily pill-taking, the body eventually breaks down to such a point that it can no longer hold the trapped and destructive energies of the mountains of pills that have been consumed. These extreme energies finally break loose and create havoc in the body (and people say things like, “I don’t understand it – I haven’t been sick a day in the past 20 years, and now suddenly, overnight, my whole body is full of cancer!”) … and, at that point, nothing can overcome them.

Thanks to this campaign by the drug industry, it has now become a life-and-death matter that we not succumb to their brainwashing! Despite the nonstop advertisements urging us to “Ask your doctor if *^%#@()()+&$$ is right for you!” … it’s crucial that we see pharmaceutical medicine for what it really is – extreme, emergency treatment – and that we use it only in that way. Any pills taken for long periods of time will have unintended and dangerous consequences. Therefore, it’s important that we take them for no longer than truly necessary.

Health Care … or Disease Maintenance…?

Yes, we’re having this big debate over “Health Care” reform – but the only reform will likely be in who pays for the drugs and the doctor visits and the high-tech tests and procedures, all of which are merely disease maintenance. And the reality is, these things have become so expensive that no one – not patients, employers, insurance companies, or government – can afford to pay for them any longer.

This is actually quite a blessing in disguise – because it will force us to get real about health care. It will force us to focus on health and healing instead of on disease!

One more false appearance we’ve been seduced by – and this goes back way before pharmaceuticals – is that there are many diseases. This leads to the belief that we need many different remedies. However, in reality, there is only one disease and one remedy.

We are not materialistic, biological machines, even though we give that appearance. Each of us – and every living being – is a projection of the One Spirit, the one and only Source, the true Self. Everything in our world is composed of vibrating photons of light, projected from the Source. We humans have been given the luxury, and the awesome responsibility, of controlling our energetic vibrations – and one thing we have done with that is to create disease: in ourselves and in the world around us.

There is only one disease, and that is the result of creating vibrations that are not in harmony with the vibration of the Source. This one disease manifests in various forms, as various symptoms. We mistake the variety of symptoms for a variety of diseases – which we call cancer, heart attack, pneumonia, AIDS, kidney failure, swine flu (also earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, droughts, pollution), etc. – but in reality the only disease is disharmony between our vibration and Source vibration. Compared to infinite Source, we are infinitesimal; guess which one (Source or us) is most affected by the disharmony!

Seen accurately, pharmaceutical-surgical medicine is emergency medicine. In life-or-death situations, drugs and/or drastic mechanical procedures are sometimes the only things that can keep us in the physical body – and I’m grateful to them for saving my life, at least three times. But we must realize the difference between such emergency provisions and real healing.

The only real healing comes from getting ourselves back into harmonious vibration with our Source, the infinite Self. In a word, Self-realization. All roads lead to Self-realization … because there is nowhere else to go! We are all continuously being healed, as we are drawn inevitably to Self-realization – though some roads are quicker and more pleasant than others, and we can choose our own road.

We can choose the pharmaceutical-surgical road (which will eventually get us there, by leading to something better) … or we can choose a road more in harmony with Source, to begin with. We can choose a road such as Meditation or Yoga, Martial Arts, Conscious Breathing, Affirmations, Macrobiotics, Johrei, Reiki, etc. (and many variations of most of these). In doing so, we are choosing real Health Care instead of disease maintenance.

Do you agree with Don Beckett’s analysis of our Health Care system?

CLICK HERE to learn more about Don Beckett’s book, Reiki: The True Story.

CLICK HERE to read Don Beckett’s story behind the writing of Reiki: The True Story.

CLICK HERE to visit Don Beckett’s website.

Rob Brezsny’s Free Will Astrology for November

One of our favorite new consciousness websites, RealitySandwich.com, is now featuring excerpts from Rob Brezsny’s Pronoia is the Antidote for Paranoia, Revised and Expanded. Want to get a taste of Brezsny’s optimistic outlook? CLICK HERE to read “Glory in the Highest, Part One.”

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
November
© Copyright 2009  Rob Brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): There was a time when wetlands were considered dismal and unproductive. At best they were thought to be a waste of space, and at worst stinky breeding grounds for insect pests. For over 200 years, many marshes, bogs, and swamps were filled with dirt and transformed into places suitable for farms, houses, and recreational areas. But all that has changed in the last 30 years. Science has rehabilitated the reputation of wetlands, showing how crucial they are. They clean toxins from water, help control floods and soil erosion, and are home to more biological diversity than any other ecosystem. The coming weeks would be an excellent time for you to make a comparable conversion, Aries. Something you once demeaned or underestimated could become an inspirational catalyst.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In the coming weeks, you will have the potential to articulate what has never been spoken before and to name truths that everyone has been avoiding. Uncoincidentally, you may also be able to hear what you’ve never been able to hear up until now and tune in to truths you’ve been oblivious to. As you might imagine, Taurus, you must fully activate both of these capacities in order for either to function at its best.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Nature’s rhythm is cyclical. Everything alive waxes and wanes. If you’re smart, you honor that flow by periodically letting parts of your world wither or go to sleep. If you’re not so smart, you set yourself up for needless pain by indulging in the delusion that you can enjoy uninterrupted growth. According to my reading of the astrological omens, Gemini, this is your time to explore the creative possibilities of ebbing and slackening. Ask yourself the following question, which I’ve borrowed from the Jungian author Clarissa Pinkola Estes: “What must I allow to die today in order to generate more life tomorrow?”

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Pregnant women sometimes have unusual cravings. From the fourth to sixth month of her daughter’s gestation period, for example, my friend Marta was on occasion beset by the longing to eat toothpaste. I’ve known other women who fantasized about nibbling on mud, coffee grounds, and chalk. Fortunately, they all resisted the urge, which is what health practitioners recommend. Instead they tried to figure out if their bodies were trying to tell them about some legitimate deficiency of vitamins or minerals. I offer this to you as a metaphor to keep in mind. As your own special creation ripens, you may experience odd desires. Don’t necessarily take them at face value.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): It might be tempting to turn your home into a womb-like sanctuary and explore the mysteries of doing absolutely nothing while clad in your pajamas. And frankly, this might be a good idea. After the risks you’ve taken to reach out to the other side, after the bridges you’ve built in the midst of the storms, after the skirmishes you’ve fought in the Gossip Wars, you have every right to retreat and get your homebody persona humming at a higher vibration. So I say: Be meticulously leisurely as you celebrate the deep pleasures of self-care.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “Hey Rob: I was having trouble finishing my novel  — typical writer’s block. So I sidetracked myself into making silly creative projects — papier-mache chickens, masks made out of junk mail, collages incorporating bottle caps and dryer lint. I can’t say any of it is ‘art,’ but I feel creative again and my house is full of colorful stuff I whipped up myself. If you wait to be perfect, I concluded, you’ll never make anything. I tried something I knew I’d be bad at, so failure didn’t matter. Now I’m branching out with my inadequacy — not waiting for Mr. Perfect but having a beer with Joe Flawed, forgetting to be right all the time, admitting that I haven’t a clue. I’ve become smilingly, brilliantly dumb. -Inappropriate Virgo.” Dear Inappropriate: Congrats! You’re doing exactly what I want to advise all Virgos everywhere to try.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): At a yard sale today, I paid a dollar for a stained, pocket-sized horoscope book with many of its pages missing. The reason I made such an odd investment is that it had a forecast for Libra for the first part of November 2009, and this forecast struck me as even more useful than the horoscope I had composed for you. As a public service, I’m providing it here. “The graceful dragonfly lives for just a few months. But a sequoia tree’s time on earth can last 2,000 years. In the same way, some bonds, some creations, some worlds, endure for a mere blink in eternity, while others are destined to outfox the ravages of time. What will be the lifespan of the dream you recently hatched, Libra? It is time to decide and take action.”

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Your anti-role model — the person you should be the opposite of — is the Scorpio warrior, U.S. General George Patton, also known as “Old Blood and Guts.” He once said, “Practically everyone but myself is a pusillanimous son of a bitch.” That’s an attitude you should especially avoid in the coming weeks, since your success will depend on you seeing the best in people — even if they sometimes don’t seem to warrant it. P.S. It may be OK to think of yourself as “Old Blood and Guts” if and only if you dedicate your ferocity to the service of smart love and ingenious collaboration.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Congratulations, Sagittarius! Free Will Astrology’s Task Force on Creative Suffering has confirmed that your current dilemmas are exceptionally interesting and useful. You have demonstrated an impressive talent for getting embroiled in riddles that promise to bring out your dormant reserves of vitality and ingenuity. The dumfounding questions you’ve been wrestling with are high-caliber tests that have drawn you closer to the heart of the reasons you’re here on Earth. Take full advantage of this beautiful mess, my dear. Chaos this fertile is hard to come by.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): When Dante was nine years old, long before he became one of Italy’s supreme poets, he fell in love with Beatrice, an eight-year-old girl he met at a May Day party. They never had a close relationship. In the years after their initial encounter, they met infrequently, and both eventually married other people. But Beatrice played a crucial role throughout Dante’s life, although she died at the age of 24. She was not just his muse, but also his “beatitude, the destroyer of all vices and the queen of virtue, salvation.” Dante even wrote her into his Divine Comedy in the role of a guide. Is there any person or influence in your life equivalent to Beatrice? Any once-upon-a-time blessing that might be ready to give you the fullness of the gifts it has been waiting all this time to deliver?

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I would love it if you could find a sword that could cut itself. Or a fire that could burn itself. Or some water you could wash. But even if you can conjure the magic to attract an experience that simply resembles one of those marvelous paradoxes, it would set in motion a series of epiphanies that would liberate you from an inferior paradox — a confusing absurdity that is not worthy of you and that has been draining your life force.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The planets are aligned in such a way that suggests you may be able to experience an orgasm solely by meditating. This rare cosmic alignment also means that it’s conceivable you could generate money or attract new resources by following your holy bliss, or that you might stumble upon the tricky treasure you’ve been looking for in all the wrong places. But I can’t say for sure that you will actually be able to capitalize on any of these remarkable opportunities. It will depend on whether you can more fully express one of the skills that is your birthright as a Pisces: being wild and disciplined at the same time.

Homework: I invite you to launch a crusade to raise the level of well-being everywhere you go. Report results to FreeWillAstrology.com.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Rob Brezsny’s “Free Will Astrology.”

CLICK HERE to subscribe to Rob Brezsny’s newsletter.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Rob Brezsny’s book, Pronoia is the Antidote for Paranoia, Revised and Expanded.