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.

Lucy Harmer’s Shamanic Astrology Forecast – October 23 to November 21: SNAKE

“Lucy Harmer’s style is simple and her astrological information amazingly accurate… her book is an inspiration to us all.”
– Mark Woodley, schools director of the British Astrological and Psychic Society

Welcome to Lucy Harmer’s Shamanic Astrology monthly forecast for the Northern Hemisphere! Each month Lucy will share inspiration and ideas for the coming weeks from her book Shamanic Astrology: Understanding Your Spirit Animal Sign.

Shamanic Astrology is based on the study of the movement of the sun and the moon during the different seasons of the year. There are twelve astrological “signs” which are represented by twelve different spirit animals. To find out your own personal spirit animal sign (the sign you were born under), please check the table of spirit animals at the end of this article. Shamanic Astrology teaches us that inner power derives from knowing the properties, characteristics, and qualities of each spirit animal (known as their “medicine”), and applying this in our own lives.

Each month I will focus on the spirit animal for that month, and describe the “energy” of the month itself and also the influence of the moon. I will also indicate which other spirit animal signs will find this month to be particularly beneficial, and why.

October 23 – November 21: SNAKE

Month of Frosts and Transformation

Spirit Animal Sign of the Month:
Snake is the spirit animal which corresponds to October 23 – November 21 (in the northern hemisphere). If you were born at this time, your spirit animal sign is Snake and you share Snake’s strengths of being imaginative, accommodating, passionate, strong, charismatic, discerning and tender. You may also share some of Snake’s weaknesses and can have a tendency to be headstrong, jealous, secretive, hypercritical, compulsive and grudge-bearing.

Medicine: Snake’s medicine is the ability to accept change easily, to adapt, and to live each experience to the fullest. This can be used in any situation to let go and welcome change with joy.
Element: Water
Stone: Malachite and Copper
Color: Burnt Orange
Plant: Thistle

Energy of the season:
Snake’s month is the time of frosts and transformation. The sun has now lost most of its strength. Dead leaves cover the ground, starting to turn into mulch to replenish the earth; the process of death and transformation has started. Growth slows down and energy is driven inward. This month is a good time for understanding the past and taking stock of the things that matter, so as to prepare for the start of the new cycle. It is a favorable time for breaking free from old bonds, leaving the past and moving in a different direction. It is propitious for reflecting on how to use your energy and inner resources in the future.

Energy of the moon:
Snake’s new moon started on October 18th and the full moon is on November 2nd. The period from October 23rd until November 2nd is the ideal time for recharging your batteries and transforming the things that no longer work in your life. It is a good time to clear clutter and transform old patterns of behavior. After the full moon, from November 3rd until November 15th, the time is favorable for taking stock of your relationships; it is a time for releasing any emotional bonds that are holding you back. November 16th brings the new moon in Owl; this is the ideal time for designing or launching projects that you have wanted to set in motion for some time. It is an excellent time for breathing new life into existing projects, as we move from a water moon into a fire moon.

This month is particularly favorable for the following signs:

Snake:
If your sign is Snake the energy of this month is very favorable because it corresponds to the month and the moon of your birth. A new cycle is about to start in your life and this is the best time to start planting seeds. Use the sun’s energy to take stock and head off in a new direction.

Woodpecker/Wolf:
If your sign is Woodpecker or Wolf this is a very lucky month for you, with lots of harmony because you are in your own water element. A multitude of opportunities will open up for you in this period and this is the best time to give destiny a helping hand!

Brown Bear/Snow Goose:
For Brown Bear and Snow Goose people, this is a very dynamic month, full of energy which favors the conception and birth of new projects. You will feel new motivation and a renewal of your energy at this time.

Table of Spirit Animal Signs:

To find your spirit animal sign, just locate your birthday from the dates below, according to your place of birth. If you were born north of the equator (e.g., USA, Canada, Europe), then look for your date of birth in the column headed “Northern Hemisphere.” If you were born south of the equator (e.g., Australia, New Zealand, South Africa), then look for your date of birth in the column headed “Southern Hemisphere.”

© Copyright 2009 Lucy Harmer

Shamanic Astrology is available for purchase directly through NorthAtlanticBooks.com, as well as major book stores and online retailers.

CLICK HERE to learn more about courses, seminars and workshops offered by Lucy Harmer.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Shamanic Astrology.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Discovering Your Spirit Animal.

Outstanding New Books for October

This month’s titles are all about becoming aware, releasing negativity, and embracing a more positive lifestyle. To understand more about yourself, the people around you, and how we all fit together, check out Shamanic Astrology to make sense of why we behave as we do, or Slow Sculpture for a science fiction approach to human (and extraterrestrial) interaction. Need to assertively yet respectfully confront a loved one about a delicate situation? Finding the Words will help you to find the right words. The Raw Food Lifestyle will give you something to gnaw on if you’re hungry for information about the health and healing aspects of the Raw Food Movement. Or perhaps your personal or professional space is littered with negative energy. Sweep it away with Spiritual Clearings. As you endeavor to become more aware, to let go of the negative, and to dwell in positivity this month, keep in mind the newest books that North Atlantic has to offer.

To order, please visit www.northatlanticbooks.com.

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Finding the Words: Candid Conversations with Loved Ones
By Susan Halpern

Finding the Words offers principles and practical suggestions for those moments in relationships when one wants to be kind but also must discuss a sensitive matter. In thoughtful prose, Susan Halpern explains how to communicate with care in order to strengthen and increase our loving connections. The principles provided in the book—speaking from the heart, stating intentions, and deep listening—enable readers to navigate difficult encounters.

Halpern draws on her years of experience as a psychotherapist, wife, and mother to suggest possible, scripted solutions and positive outcomes for a wide range of situations. An essential book for finding one’s way back to intimacy from conflict, nagging discomfort, and anger, Finding the Words teaches methods of responding, negotiating, and compromising. While there are numerous guides to relationships, no other book presents life situations—along with actual words that can be used to cope with them—with such vitality and wisdom.

$14.95 US/ $18.95 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-838-7
248 pages; 5-1/2 x 8 1/2
On Sale October 6, 2009

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Spiritual Clearings: Sacred Practices to Release Negative Energy and Harmonize Your Life
By Diana Burney

A blend of spiritual and practical material, Spiritual Clearings offers a comprehensive checklist of circumstances that may require ritual clearing—whether the situation involves confronting illness, feeling “stuck” in life, having trouble selling a home, or high employee turnover. Diana Burney discusses different categories of energy, its presence in the invisible world, and the unseen influences or beings that may be drawn to discordant energy. Through spiritual clearings, Burney proposes, we can release our own negativity as well as guide unseen negative forces toward the light. The book’s clearing rituals include prayers that invoke the assistance of higher beings such as archangels and Ascended Masters, incantations and chants from different spiritual traditions, the visualization of divine light and the violet flame, and the expression of gratitude. Spiritual Clearings provides readers with a clear path to fulfilling their potential and creating a personal environment of confidence, creativity, love, and acceptance.

$16.95 US/$21 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-815-8
184 pages; 6 x 9
On Sale October 13, 2009
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The Raw Food Lifestyle: The Philosophy and Nutrition behind Raw and Live Foods
By Ruthann Russo

Ruthann Russo has been a vegetarian and vegan for more than 20 years, and in 2007 became a passionate raw-food enthusiast. She brings that passion to the pages of this comprehensive introduction to raw and live food. In simple, encouraging language, she conveys a wealth of information, from the philosophy of raw-food nutrition, to how it affects the body, to how to transition from a regular diet to one that promotes physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

Using examples from her own life, Russo lays out a practical plan for making the switch that starts with realizing the need to change one’s diet (and health), and then stresses small dietary changes to discover what raw foods work, and assessing reactions. She profiles food preparation and supplements (superfoods, vitamins, green products), and emphasizes the spiritual aspects of the movement, exploring meditation, yoga, Buddhism, peacefulness, and fasting.

$16.95 US/$21 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-837-0
256 pages; 6 x 9
On Sale October 20, 2009

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Shamanic Astrology: Understanding Your Spirit Animal Sign
By Lucy Harmer

In this thoughtful book, Lucy Harmer shows readers how to find their spirit animal. She provides detailed descriptions of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the twelve spirit animals—for example, falcon is enthusiastic and adventurous but can be impulsive and impatient, while deer is sociable and eloquent but can be lazy and superficial. Once readers determine their spirit animal, they can better understand their relationships with family, friends, and associates. Readers will be able to uncover the hidden treasures of their personalities and their secret talents, as well as the color, plant, and totem stone corresponding to each spirit animal. For readers who want to take shamanic astrology to the next level, the book includes the first complete lunar calendar for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres to help them determine their spirit animal rising sign and discover how the moon influences their daily life.

$16.95 US/$21 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-826-4
264 pages; 6 x 9
On Sale October 20, 2009

Click HERE for the author’s website.

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Slow Sculpture: Volume XII: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon
By Theodore Sturgeon

Theodore Sturgeon was a model for his friend Kurt Vonnegut’s legendary character Kilgore Trout, and his work was an acknowledged influence on important younger writers from Harlan Ellison and Robert Silverberg to Stephen King and Octavia Butler. His work has long been deeply appreciated for its sardonic sensibility, dazzling wordplay, conceptual brilliance, memorable characters, and relentless treatment of social issues. Sturgeon also authored several episodes of the original Star Trek TV series and originated the Vulcan phrase “Live long and prosper.”

The last in North Atlantic’s series reprinting Sturgeon’s complete short stories includes classic works such as the award-winning title story, which won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 1971, and “The [Widget], the [Wadget], and Boff,” a creative exploration of the human ability to achieve self-realization in response to crisis. The book includes a new Foreword, Story Notes, and a comprehensive index for the entire series.

$35 US/$43 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-834-9
312 pages; 6 x 9
On Sale October 20, 2009

Rob Brezsny’s Free Will Astrology for October

Ok, it’s official. Rob Brezsny’s revised and expanded edition of Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings just hit bookstores.

WHAT IS PRONOIA?

DEFINITION: Pronoia is the antidote for paranoia. It’s the understanding that the universe is fundamentally friendly. It’s a mode of training your senses and intellect so you’re able to perceive the fact 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.

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.

DISCLAIMER: The material in PRONOIA may be too intense and controversial for some readers. It contains graphic scenes of peace, love, joy, passion, reverence, splendor, and understanding. You should therefore proceed with caution if you are a jaded hipster who is suspicious of feeling healthy and happy. Ask yourself: “Am I ready to stop equating cynicism with insight? Do I dare take the risk that exposing myself to uplifting entertainment might dull my intelligence? If you doubt your ability to handle relaxing breakthroughs, you should stop reading now.

Intrigued? Grab a copy of the book and enjoy! In the meantime, here are Brezsny’s “Free Will Astrology” forecasts for the month of October.

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
October
© Copyright 2009  Rob Brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Is the electron a wave or a particle? Physicists had to conduct thousands of experiments to arrive at the definitive answer, which is that it’s both. In other words, the solution to one of the fundamental questions about the nature of reality is a paradox. I think this strongly suggests that the correct response to many other riddles about the ultimate truth might be two seemingly opposing explanations. Could the Unitarians and Buddhists both be right? Socialists and capitalists? Mystics and scientists? In the upcoming days, Aries, you will be offered lots of practice in adopting this approach as you deal with a personal dilemma that’s very much akin to “Is the electron a wave or a particle?”

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Have you ever mused on the fact that your body is actually a kind of furnace? And that your whole life depends upon it? Food and oxygen are constantly combusting inside you, generating fiery energy that fuels your every movement, thought, and feeling. This awareness of fire as a source of vitality, not a destroyer, would be valuable for you to cultivate in the coming days. Your steady, earthy rhythm needs a shot of radiance and luminosity and fervor.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Several couples I know keep lists of the five celebrities they’d be allowed to boink if the chance ever presented itself. My friend Jim, for instance, will incur no karmic repercussions with his girlfriend Alicia if he ever spends a night of carnal delight with the following people: Lady Gaga, Sarah Silverman, Karen O, Shakira, or Halle Berry. Alicia’s permitted to enjoy liaisons with Johnny Depp, Chris Rock, Marilyn Manson, Jimmy Fallon, and Portia de Rossi. I bring this up, Gemini, because I believe you’ll soon be the beneficiary of some extravagant cosmic luck that could offer you a close brush with an exotic form of pleasure. This might not exactly take the form of a one-night stand with a famous fox, but it could be almost as extraordinary.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I’m happy you’re getting back to fundamentals and shedding pretensions and nourishing your roots, but I also want to make sure that you don’t get too funky and lowdown. I’d hate to have to be hoisting you up out of the gutter next month, or counseling you on how to cover for the fact that you’ve compromised your own highest standards. So please resist any temptations you might feel to descend toward the lowest common denominator, Cancerian. As you deepen your center of gravity, make sure you keep your attitude elevated.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “I may not love you,” wrote R. R. Doister, “but I can certainly love my fantasy about you.” Personally, I’ve been guilty of embodying that attitude toward certain people in my life. There have also been allies to whom I could have said, “I do love you, although I love my fantasy about you a little more.” And it has even been the case on numerous occasions that I’ve been proud to declare, “I love you even more than I love my fantasy about you.” What about you, Leo? Where do you stand on the issue? This is an excellent time to get on the righteous side of the great divide, which is to say: Adore your special people for who they really are more than for your fantasies about them.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In a puckish fantasy, the poet Linh Dinh imagined a hypothetical scenario in which it would be uncool to be too cool. “In an effort to inject more pep and resolve into its lethargic citizens,” he waxed with prophetic longing, “the government is mandating the use of an exclamation mark at the end of each sentence, spoken or written. ‘It looks like rain!’ for example, or ‘I must sleep!’” I suggest that you take his vision, Leo, and turn it into reality for the immediate future! You would really benefit from getting more excited than usual! Who knows, maybe a simple thing like imagining every one of your sentences ending with an exclamation mark could make your whole being more thrillable!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Is there a big difference between your current job and your beloved career? Do you suffer from the unsettling feeling that your calling hasn’t called you yet? Are you under the impression that your main reason for being here on Earth may reveal itself at some unknown time in the future, but not anytime soon? If you answered no to all those questions, congrats! You are more than halfway toward living a victorious life. But if you answered yes to at least one question, it’s high time to take action. Start by formulating an intention to find out what you need to know in order to deal with the problem more aggressively. The cosmic forces are arrayed in such a way as to reward you for doing so.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The Indian guru known as Amma has hugged over 30 million people during her three-decades career. I’ve known people who’ve received blessings from her, and they tell me that she can magically undo your karmic knots with her spiritual power, freeing you from having to suffer indefinitely for the bad decisions you made in the past. Amma rarely does a complete unraveling of all karmic knots in one sitting, however. Your negative conditioning might be holding you together, after all, and a sudden super-fix could cause you to fall apart. That’s the situation I suspect is true for you right now, Scorpio: You’ll be wise to undo some, but not all, of your karmic knots.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The coming weeks will have something to offend and agitate everyone — except you. Whines and moans and yelps will ring out across the land, even as you’re emanating poise and aplomb. You may be tempted to brazenly exploit everyone’s vulnerability and seize control of your corner of the world, but I think that would be shortsighted of you. A better strategy for capitalizing on your advantage would be to dole out large doses of mercy, making sure that the people who will be important to your future don’t lose their way.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “The bear must deal with 20 obstacles, and each one of them involves pears,” says the Sufi proverb, “because the bear adores pears.” That’s a twisty truth worth meditating on, Capricorn. I suspect that the gifts coming your way will bring their own unique problems; the dreams you’re in love with will generate new dilemmas to solve. By no means does this imply that you should avoid accepting the gifts or pursuing your dreams. Part of the fun of doing great things is dealing with the changes they generate!

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): On behalf of all us non-Aquarians, I’d like to express our appreciation for the experiments you’ve been performing. Please don’t be discouraged just because the results thus far have been inconclusive and left you feeling a trifle rudderless. We feel confident that sooner or later you’ll come up with discoveries that will have bottom-line value to both you and the rest of us. We’d also like to apologize for the shortsighted and timid types among us who are accusing you of being unrealistic or overly optimistic. Please keep trying those novel approaches and making those imaginative forays.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): While reviewing the work of Angelina Jolie in the film Taking Lives, A. O. Scott called her “the flesh-and-blood actress most likely to be mistaken for a computer-generated special effect.” I don’t expect you to rival Jolie’s odd talent anytime soon, but I wonder if maybe you’ll be seeing a lot of that kind of stuff in the world around you. Some of the characters who will be advancing the plotlines in your life story may seem to be able to breathe fire, walk through walls, or change the weather at will. At the very least, you’ll witness phenomena that resemble optical illusions. My advice: Try to get these exotic outbreaks to work for you rather than against you. Embrace them, don’t fear them.

Homework: Are you doing anything in particular to kill the apocalypse and usher in the Great Awakening? Testify at 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.

Rob Brezsny’s Free Will Astrology for September

“I dig Rob Brezsny for his powerful yet playful insights, his poetry, and his humor . . . I salute him for his dedication to inspiration.”
—Jason Mraz, singer-songwriter

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
September
© Copyright 2009 Rob Brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): What I wish for you in the coming weeks is that you won’t be satisfied with mediocre truths; that you’ll be a fussy perfectionist focused on cutting out waste, fraud, and delusion; that you’ll be itchy to know more about the unacknowledged games that are being played. Frustration, I hope, will be your holy fuel. Unsweetened lemonade, I trust, will be your rejuvenating drink. These are blessings, Aries, not curses! I pray that you’ll pick one of your scabs until it bleeds so the healing process can start over — the right way this time.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): What have you always wanted to yell from the pinnacle of the hill in the distance? This is the time to go there and yell it. What is that safe way of getting high that you’ve always wanted to try but never had the time for before? This is the time to try it. What is the alluring phenomenon that is always going on just outside the reach of your ordinary awareness — the seductive pull you have always somehow resisted? This is the time to dive in and explore it. (Thanks to John Averill for his inspiration in composing this horoscope. His tweets are at twitter.com/wiremesa.)

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden because of an incident involving an apple, right? Wrong. Many biblical scholars suspect the fruit in question was either a fig, grape, or pomegranate. I mention this, Gemini, because I think you’d be wise to review your own personal myth of exile. It’s time to question the story you have been telling yourself about how your paradise got lost. Evidence you discover in the coming days just might suggest that everything you’ve believed is at least half-wrong — that your origins are different from what you imagine. And as for the forbidden fruit that supposedly led you astray: You may realize that it was actually a precious medicine.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The coming weeks will be prime time to perform minor miracles without trying too hard. You’ll probably have maximum success if you refrain from hoping and worrying about achieving maximum success. The cosmic currents will be likely to bend and shape themselves to accommodate your deeper needs if you proceed on the assumption that they know, better than your little ego does, what’s best for you. To get yourself in the proper frame of mind to do challenging tasks without expending strenuous effort, you might want to check out this photo spread of people practicing drunk yoga: tinyurl.com/n5z533.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Are you familiar with the phenomenon known as a fire whirl? It happens on rare occasions when a fire produces a tornado-like vortex that rises up vertically, spinning madly. It’s beautiful to behold but is not something you ever want to be close to. I bring this to your attention in the hope that you will not let yourself turn into the human equivalent of a fire whirl in the coming weeks. You’re not yet close to being one, but there are signs you’re headed that way. With just a modicum of adjustment, you can ensure that you’ll be more like a blaze in a fireplace or a wild but controlled bonfire on a beach — not a fire whirl.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I was listening to a sports talk show on the radio. The host had recently discovered Twitter, and was pleased with how many fans he had already accumulated. But he was not at all happy with the words “Twitter” or “tweet.” Too effeminate, he said. Not macho enough for a he-man like himself to use comfortably. In fact, he promised that he would never again refer to his Twitter messages as “tweets,” but would hereafter call them “spurts.” Instead of “Twitter,” he would say “Twister.” I encourage you to draw inspiration from his example, Virgo. You’re in an astrological phase when you can and should reconfigure anything that doesn’t suit your needs or accommodate your spirit, whether it’s the language you use, the environments you hang out in, or the processes you’re working on.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Years ago, a TV sitcom called The Andy Griffith Show ran for seven seasons on CBS. Its star, Andy Griffith, played a mild-mannered sheriff in a small town in North Carolina. His sidekick was Barney Fife, a bumbling deputy with a sweet disposition. Shortly after he left the show, Griffith had a dream in which he thrashed and pummeled his co-star. When he asked his psychiatrist about the meaning of this dream violence, the shrink speculated that he was trying to kill off his old image. I recommend that exact strategy to you now, Libra. Don’t actually wreak any real-life mayhem. Rather, see if you can have a dream or two in which you destroy a symbol of the life you’re ready to leave behind.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): What life will you be living at noon on September 1, 2014? Who will you be? How thoroughly will your dreams have come true? What kind of beauty and truth and love and justice will you be serving? Will you look back at the time between September 1 and September 21, 2009 and sigh, “If only I had initiated my Five Year Master Plan at that ripe astrological moment”? Or on September 1, 2014 will you instead be able to crow, “I can truly say that in these past five years I have become the president of my own life”?

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): If at some future time you sell your life story to a filmmaker who makes it into a feature film, it may have a lot to do with adventures that kick into high gear in the coming weeks. The fun will start (I hope) when you decide not to merely lie back and be victimized by your signature pain any longer. This brave act will recalibrate the cosmic scales and shift the currents of destiny that flow through you. Soon you will be making progress in untangling a mystery that has eluded your insight for a long time. You will be able to uncover the guarded secrets of a source that has for some time been tweaking your personal power without your full awareness.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In his book From Heaven to Earth: Spiritual Living in a Market-Oriented World, Aaron Zerah riffs on the Hebrew word “nabal.” It describes someone who’s so staunchly concentrated on practical concerns that he becomes impractical. Please don’t let this be your fate anytime soon, Capricorn. For the ultimate benefit of the bottom line, disregard the bottom line for a while. Fantasize like a teenage poet. Be as whimsical as a mystic clown. Be a sweet, fun-loving fool so you won’t turn into a sour, workaholic fool.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): A woman living in China’s Jilin province got married in a wedding gown with a train that was 1.4 miles long. Lin Rong’s dress was decorated with 9,999 red silk roses and took three months to sew. In the spirit of her record-breaking ritual, Aquarius I encourage you to be extravagant and imaginative as you celebrate a great union in the coming weeks. You have an astrological mandate to think big as you carry out a rite of passage that will lead to an upgrade in the role that collaboration and symbiosis play in your life.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Close your eyes and imagine you’re in a meadow as rain falls. Inhale the aroma of the earth as the ground is soaked. Dwell in the midst of that scent for a while, allowing it to permeate your organs and nerves. Feel its life-giving energy circulating through you. Give yourself to the memories it evokes. In my astrological opinion, experiences like this are what you need most in the coming weeks. Can you think of some others that would speak directly to your animal intelligence? It’s a perfect time to please and excite the part of you that is a soft, warm creature.

Homework: Make up a story about an adventure you might go on someday. Imagine all the details. Testify at FreeWillAstrology.com.

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