Cheering You On

Thanks for Being You, Beloved Champions

WE ARE IN CHARGE

We are in charge of imagining and discovering and animating a redeemed new world.

To do that holy work, we can't let the ruling fools of the dying world consummate their curses. We've got to rise up and fight their deranged logic; defy, resist, and prevent their tragic magic; unleash our sacred rage and supercharge it.

But overthrowing the psychopathic leaders is not enough. Protesting the well-dressed planet-rapers is not enough. We can't afford to be consumed with our anger; can't be obsessed and possessed by their danger.

Our mysterious animal bodies crave delight and fertility. Our ancient imaginations demand ever-fresh tastes of infinity.

In the new culture we are hatching, we need lusty compassion and ecstatic duty, ingenious love and insurrectionary beauty.

We need radical curiosity and reverent pranks, voracious listening and ferocious thanks.

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FREEDOM FROM COSMIC COMPULSION

"Dear Oracle: With the help of a flood of pithy coincidences, I've become aware that the Universal Mind recently lost Her train of thought. I believe we are now under the care of a substitute 'Universal Mind,' and that therefore the laws of karma are not being enforced as strictly as usual.

"Cosmic SLACK is available in extravagant amounts. Tell your readers so they may take advantage of it by aggressively reconfiguring their little slice of reality to reflect their deepest needs and their longings to give generous gifts."

—Opportunistic Slywoman

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Dear Slywoman: Good catch. I agree with your assessment. As you suggest, karma now has a reduced power to whip our fates this way and that; our willpower has more room to maneuver. I suggest we call this holiday "Freedom from Cosmic Compulsion."

Art by Cameron Gray

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I’M CHEERING YOU ON!

I'm cheering you on, my Beloved Champions! I would love you to know and fulfill your soul’s code!

As I compose horoscopes, I like to imagine how I might inspire you to know and fulfill your soul’s code. I would love you to get a steady gaze at your life's blueprint. 

My aspiration is to see you ripen into the most interesting and colorful version of your deep self.

Maybe it will take a year. Maybe it will require five years, even longer. But in a sense, it’s irrelevant how long it will take. That’s not your concern, or at least it’s not under your control.

What you can manage, and what is your concern, is to develop a vigorous, rigorous drive to live the life that best expresses your soul’s code.

How do you do that? The most important thing is to know the destiny that your soul yearns to live.

Please note that the destiny your soul yearns to live may be at least somewhat different from the destiny your ego wants to live. It probably is at least somewhat different.

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IT’S AN ASTONISHING MOMENT TO BE ALIVE

Poet Jorie Graham writes:

What I tell my students, when they feel singularly unfortunate to be born in this moment, is this is your moment, the moment your soul showed up incarnate. In this world. It is an astonishing moment to be alive. You could have been born into a lull — instead you were born into a tipping point.

It’s your one life and you’ve entered it at a flexion point — a point when everything you do matters. How often in history does a soul get to live in such an era? Don’t waste it. Show up for it.

With everything you’ve got. Some will invent, some will organize, some will witness, some will grieve, some will console. Live this life now. Even if in fury and grief, live it.

You don’t want to die not having lived. It’s incredibly easy to find a way around experience rather than through it. But you will have cheated yourself out of your only possession: your life.

You are here now. Now is the time to live fully, not hide, not escape.

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OFTEN A SWEETNESS COMES

Often a sweetness comes 
as if on loan, stays just long enough 
to make sense of what it means to be alive, 
then returns to its dark 
source. As for me, I don’t care 
where it’s been, or what bitter road 
it’s traveled 
to come so far, to taste so good.

—Stephen Dunn

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My old teacher Norman O. Brown used to say that "the proper response to poetry is poetry." With that in mind, I reply to Stephen Dunn's poem with one of my own:

A HONEYED TANG ARRIVES

a honeyed tang arrives
a consoling gusto
a dreamy grace

as if consigned to our care
for a brief embrace
not to be cradled or hoarded

only redeemed for a glimpse
of how much fun it is
to be alive

and then released
so it might rejoin
the shadows
from which it sprung

I'm not mad
it can't stay forever

not sad it may have
roosted in desolate welcome

or marinated in wild grief
on its way to me

am only grateful
it chose me

for a while

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SOMETHING LOVELY TRYING TO BE BORN

Anne Lamott writes: When a lot of things start going wrong all at once, it is to protect something big and lovely that is trying to get itself born—and that this something needs for you to be distracted so that it can be born as perfectly as possible.

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THE DIVINE PENETRATES US

By means of all created things, without exception, the divine assails us, penetrates us, and molds us. We imagine it as distant and inaccessible, whereas in fact we live steeped in its burning layers.

—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

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I SEE MY BEAUTY IN YOU

I see my beauty in you. I become
a mirror that cannot close its eyes

to your longing. My eyes wet with
yours in the early light. My mind

every moment giving birth, always
conceiving, always in the ninth

month, always the come-point. How
do I stand this? We become these

words we say, a wailing sound moving
out into the air. These thousands of

worlds that rise from nowhere, how
does your face contain them? I'm

a fly in your honey, then closer, a
moth caught in flame's allure, then

empty sky stretched out in homage.
.
—Rumi, "The Glance: Songs of Soul-Meeting"

—translated by Coleman Barks

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KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

I'm awarding you all with silver and gold stars. You've been doing a damn good job living your life, despite all the challenges.

Keep up the good work and play! Don't let the bastards grind you down!

Remember to look up and drink in the sky on a regular basis! Dole out free compliments if the spirit moves you! Find something to praise at least once a day!

I love you!

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

Week beginning July 13

Copyright 2023 by Rob Brezsny

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The Simpsons animated show has been on TV for 34 seasons. Ten-year-old Bart Simpson is one of the stars. He is a mischievous rascal who’s ingenious in defying authority. Sometimes teachers catch him in his rebellious acts and punish him by making him write apologetic affirmations on the classroom blackboard. For example: “I will not strut around like I own the place. I will not obey the voices in my head. I will not express my feelings through chaos. I will not trade pants with others. I will not instigate revolution. I am not deliciously saucy. I cannot absolve sins. Hot dogs are not bookmarks.” In accordance with your unruly astrological omens, Cancerian, I authorize you to do things Bart said he wouldn’t do. You have a license to be deliciously saucy.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Early in her career, Leo actor Lisa Kudrow endured disappointments. She auditioned for the TV show Saturday Night Live but wasn't chosen. She was cast as a main character in the TV show Frasier but was replaced during the filming of the pilot episode. A few months later, though, she landed a key role in the new TV show Friends. In retrospect, she was glad she got fired from Frasier so she could be available for Friends. Frasier was popular, but Friends was a super hit. Kudrow won numerous awards for her work on the show and rode her fame to a successful film career. Will there be a Frasier moment for you in the coming months, dear Leo? That's what I suspect. So keep the faith.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The coming weeks will be a good time to seek helpful clues and guidance from your nightly dreams. Take steps to remember them—maybe keep a pen and notebook next to your bed. Here are a few possible dream scenes and their meanings. 1. A dream of planting a tree means you're primed to begin a project that will grow for years. 2. A dream of riding in a spaceship suggests you yearn to make your future come more alive in your life. 3. A dream of taking a long trip or standing on a mountaintop may signify you're ready to come to new conclusions about your life story. (PS: Even if you don’t have these specific dreams, the interpretations I offered are still apt.)

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In reviewing the life work of neurologist and author Oliver Sacks, critic Patricia Holt said he marveled at how “average people not only adapt to injury and disease but also create something transcendent out of a condition others call disability.” Sacks specialized in collaborating with neurological patients who used their seeming debilitations “to uncover otherwise unknown resources and create lives of originality and innovation.” I bring this up, Libra, because I suspect that in the coming months, you will have extra power to turn your apparent weaknesses or liabilities into assets.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): It’s a mistake to believe we must ration our love as if we only have so much to offer. The fact is, the more love we give, the more we have available to give. As we tap into our deepest source of generosity, we discover we have greater reserves of it than we imagined. What I’ve just said is always true, but it’s especially apropos for you right now. You are in a phase when you can dramatically expand your understanding of how many blessings you have to dole out.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Home computers didn’t become common until the 1980s. During the previous decade, small start-up companies with adventurous experimenters did the grunt work that made the digital revolution possible. Many early adapters worked out of garages in the Silicon Valley area of Northern California. They preferred to devote their modest resources to the actual work rather than to fancy labs. I suspect the coming months will invite you to do something similar, Sagittarius: to be discerning about how you allocate your resources as you plan and implement your vigorous transformations.

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FURTHER INSPIRATION

Would you like to discover more about the hidden factors and unconscious patterns that are influencing you?

Do you want to uncover secrets that maybe you've been concealing even from yourself?

If you'd like more help and support in your quest to live your best possible life, listen to your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE.

Go to https://Realastrology.com

The cost is $7 per reading, with discounts for bulk purchases.

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If you think you might enjoy getting regular bursts of inspiration from me to illuminate your adventures, register and/or sign in.

Click on "Daily Sunbursts" in the lefthand panel.

If you need help, contact my tech support team at freewillcs@gmail.com

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Meme words by Frederick Buechner

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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I'm tempted to call this upcoming chapter of your life story "The Partial Conquest of Loneliness." Other good titles might be “Restoration of Degraded Treasure” or “Turning a Confusing Triumph into a Gratifying One” or “Replacing a Mediocre Kind of Strength with the Right Kind.” Can you guess that I foresee an exciting and productive time for you in the coming weeks? To best prepare, drop as many expectations and assumptions as you can so you will be fully available for the novel and sometimes surprising opportunities. Life will offer you fresh perspectives.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): By 1582, the inexact old Julian calendar used by the Western world for 13 centuries was out of whack because it had no leap years. The spring equinox was occurring too early, on March 10. Pope Gregory commissioned scientists who devised a more accurate way to account for the passage of time. The problem was that the new calendar needed a modification that required the day after October 4 to be October 15. Eleven days went missing—permanently. People were resentful and resistant, though eventually all of Europe made the conversion. In that spirit, Aquarius, I ask you to consider an adjustment that requires a shift in habits. It may be inconvenient at first, but will ultimately be good for you.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Piscean novelist Peter De Vries wrote, "Sometimes I write drunk and revise sober, and sometimes I write sober and revise drunk. But you have to have both elements in creation—the Apollonian and the Dionysian, or spontaneity and restraint, emotion and discipline." In the coming weeks, you Pisces folks will be skilled at weaving these modes as you practice what you love to do. You'll be a master of cultivating dynamic balance; a wizard of blending creativity and organization; a productive change-maker who fosters both structure and morale.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Many astrologers enjoy meditating on the heavenly body Chiron. With an orbit between Saturn and Uranus, it is an anomalous object that has qualities of both a comet and a minor planet. Its name is derived from a character in ancient Greek myth: the wisest teacher and healer of all the centaurs. Chiron is now in the sign of Aries and will be there for a while. Let’s invoke its symbolic power to inspire two quests in the coming months: 1. Seek a teacher who excites your love of life. 2. Seek a healer who alleviates any hurts that interfere with your love of life.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): It’s high time for some high culture! You are in a phase to get rich benefits from reading Shakespeare, listening to Beethoven, and enjoying paintings by Matisse and Picasso. You’d also benefit lavishly from communing with the work of virtuosos like Mozart, Michelangelo, and novelist Haruki Murakami. However, I think you would garner even greater emotional treasures from reading Virginia Woolf, listening to Janelle Monáe’s music, and enjoying Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings. For extra credit, get cozy with the books of Simone Weil, listen to Patti Smith’s music, and see Frida Kahlo’s art. If you read between the lines here, you understand I’m telling you that the most excellent thing to do for your mental and spiritual health is to commune with brilliant women artists, writers, and musicians.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The French phrase j'ajoute (translated as “I adjust”) is a chess term used when a player is about to adjust their pieces but does not yet intend to make a move. J'ajoute might be an apt motto for you to invoke in the coming days. You are not ready to make major shifts in the way you play the games you’re involved in. But it’s an excellent time to meditate on that prospect. You will gain clarity and refine your perspective if you tinker with and rearrange the overall look and feel of things.

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Homework: What’s the best gift you could give yourself right now? Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

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