Love Everyone?

What does it mean when someone tells us, "Love everyone"?

LOVE EVERYONE?

Some people tell me we should love everyone—even Nazis and white supremacists and misogynists who would deny women power over their own bodies.

What does that mean? How would we "love" someone who perpetrates cruelty and destruction? Of what does the love consist? How is it expressed?

Do we imagine the killers and devastators as they were when they were helpless babies? Is that love? Do we feel sorry for the torments they endured while growing up, which turned them into sick thugs? Is that love?

Do we wonder if someday they may realize their errors and seek atonement? Do we imagine them on their deathbeds, stung with epiphanies about their atrocities? Does our love consist of not wishing them to get terminal cancer or be struck by a truck?

If those are ways we might "love" Nazis, I am willing to consider such actions. But here's the crucial caveat: None of those expressions of "love" must dilute my determination to fight them, resist them, jail them, and overturn their horrors.

I won't gaze tenderly into their eyes. I won't try to engage them in reasonable conversation. I won’t be polite to the bystanders who endorse their actions. I won't excuse their violence by citing the traumas they experienced early in their lives. I won't dilute my efforts to convince anyone who listens that they need to be stopped.

Here's my understanding of the strongest, truest version of love: I express it by neutralizing the evildoers who threaten our common good. I fight against them, find ways to counteract them, and work diligently to strip away their power.

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EXPLORE THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE

with my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Second Half of 2022.

How can you exert your free will to create the adventures that will bring out the best in you, even as you find graceful ways to cooperate with the tides of destiny?

To listen to my IN-DEPTH, LONG-TERM AUDIO FORECAST for YOUR LIFE during the next six months and beyond, go here, then register and/or sign in:

https://RealAstrology.com

After you log in through the main page, click on the link "Long-Range Forecast for Second Half of 2022."

The horoscopes cost $7 apiece. Discounts are available for multiple purchases.

You can also listen to your short-term forecast for the coming week by clicking on "This week (July 14, 2022)."

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CRAFTY OPTIMISM

Every optimist moves along with progress and hastens it, while every pessimist would keep the world at a standstill.

The consequence of pessimism in the life of a nation is the same as in the life of the individual. Pessimism kills the instinct that urges people to struggle against poverty, ignorance and crime, and dries up all the fountains of joy in the world.

—socialist, anti-militarist, labor rights activist, suffragist author Helen Keller

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Prayer — by poet Aurora Levins Morales

Say these words when you lie down and when you rise up,
when you go out and when you return. In times of mourning
and in times of joy. Inscribe them on your doorposts,
embroider them on your garments, tattoo them on your shoulders,
teach them to your children, your neighbors, your enemies,
recite them in your sleep, here in the cruel shadow of empire:

ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE

Thus spoke the prophet Roque Dalton:
All together they have more death than we,
but all together, we have more life than they.

There is more bloody death in their hands
than we could ever wield, unless
we lay down our souls to become them,
and then we will lose everything.  So instead,

imagine winning.  This is your sacred task.
This is your power. Imagine
every detail of winning, the exact smell of the summer streets
in which no one has been shot, the muscles you have never
unclenched from worry, gone soft as newborn skin,
the sparkling taste of food when we know
that no one on earth is hungry, that the beggars are fed,
that the old man under the bridge and the woman
wrapping herself in thin sheets in the back seat of a car,
and the children who suck on stones,
nest under a flock of roofs that keep multiplying their shelter.

Lean with all your being towards that day
when the poor of the world shake down a rain of good fortune
out of the heavy clouds, and justice rolls down like waters.

Defend the world in which we win as if it were your child.
It is your child.

Defend it as if it were your lover.
It is your lover.

When you inhale and when you exhale
breathe the possibility of another world
into the 37.2 trillion cells of your body
until it shines with hope.

Then imagine more.  

Imagine rape is unimaginable. Imagine war is a scarcely credible rumor
That the crimes of our age, the grotesque inhumanities of greed,
the sheer and astounding shamelessness of it, the vast fortunes
made by stealing lives, the horrible normalcy it came to have,
is unimaginable to our heirs, the generations of the free.

Don’t waver. Don’t let despair sink its sharp teeth
Into the throat with which you sing.  Escalate your dreams.
Make them burn so fiercely that you can follow them down
any dark alleyway of history and not lose your way.

Make them burn clear as a starry drinking gourd
Over the grim fog of exhaustion, and keep walking.

Hold hands. Share water. Keep imagining.
So that we, and the children of our children’s children
may live


—Aurora Levins Morales
https://www.rimonim-liturgy.org/

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Words by Catherine of Siena

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REFRAMING HOW WE THINK ABOUT THE UTERUS

Naia Archer has written an interesting essay that reframes the way we think about the uterus.

Excerpts:

THE FUNCTION OF THE WOMB IS TO PROTECT THE PARENT'S LIFE. The very structure of the womb very firmly prioritizes the life of the parent over the life of the fetus.

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"Someone who chooses to get pregnant, stay pregnant, and carry a fetus to delivery is legitimately choosing to risk their life to do it. Nobody else has the right to make anyone do that, and nobody should be punished or vilified for not wanting to do it."

Read more: https://tinyurl.com/yzjhx364

Naia Archer is here: https://www.facebook.com/naia.archer

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Pregnancy and childbirth are hard on the body. No one should be forced to sustain these harms. https://tinyurl.com/ywzatxzx

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NATURAL ABORTION IS VERY COMMON

Just to be clear and exact, MANY embryos are conceived that are never born because of natural abortion.

Mayo Clinic says: Miscarriage (natural abortion) is the spontaneous loss of a pregnancy before the 20th week of pregnancy.

About 10 to 20 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage, or natural abortion. But the actual number is higher because many miscarriages occur so early in pregnancy that a woman doesn't realize she's pregnant.

Natural abortion is a relatively common experience.

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My research shows that at least 50% of all conceived embryos expire before they transform into actual human beings. This is how it has always been.

The implication is that if we now have 7.5 billion people on the planet, there have been upwards of 3 billion fetuses that never became people in the last 80 years alone.

An article at New Scientist in July 2018 quotes new research that says, “Women have more miscarriages than live births over their lifetime.”

More: “Most fertilized eggs miscarry rather than develop into healthy babies. However, most miscarriages usually occur very early in pregnancy, without a woman even being aware she was pregnant.

“A few previous studies have suggested that miscarriages are the most common outcome of conception. Now a meta-analysis claims to have ‘unambiguously’ confirmed it.

“For women in their 20s, conception is as likely to end in miscarriage as it is in a live birth, says William Rice, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara.”

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We are creating new embryos all the time. Over half of them die of natural causes before they're even close to being complete human beings ready to exist outside their mothers' bodies.

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If we could borrow the evangelicals' Fake Christian point of view, we might say that "God" is the single most prolific provider of abortions.

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SOLACE FOR THE ROUGH LIFE

Life has been rough recently, both personally and collectively. But this magnificent view out a favorite window provides solace and nourishment.

I invite you to send photos or descriptions of what provides you with solace and nourishment.

Truthrooster@gmail.com

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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:

From Google to the NFL, major companies are confronting the labor crunch through deep partnerships with HBCUs. https://tinyurl.com/yckthkzt

The Whimsical Skywalks of Rotterdam. By connecting the city’s rooftops, the floating bridges pay homage to under-appreciated urban spaces. https://tinyurl.com/4ymytxzr

How One Nigerian State Overcame Vaccine Hesitancy and Eradicated Polio. As much of Nigeria struggles to contain a polio outbreak, traditional leaders in Cross River have made sure their local constituents embrace the vaccine. https://tinyurl.com/48nehftd

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For a lot more pronoiac resources and ideas, read my book Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings

Available at Bookshop.org: https://tinyurl.com/548hp8y8

Available at Powells: https://bit.ly/PowellsPronoia

Available at Barnes & Noble: https://tinyurl.com/PronoiaBN

Available at Amazon: https://bit.ly/Pronoia

A free preview of the book is available here: https://tinyurl.com/PronoiaPreview

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Please tell me your own nominations for PRONOIA RESOURCES: Truthrooster@gmail.com.

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

Week beginning July 14

Copyright 2022 by Rob Brezsny

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Your memory is SUBSTANTIAL. Your sensitivity is MONUMENTAL. Your urge to nurture is DEEP. Your complexity is EPIC. Your feelings are BOTTOMLESS. Your imagination is PRODIGIOUS. Because of all these aptitudes and capacities, you are TOO MUCH for some people. Not everyone can handle your intricate and sometimes puzzling BEAUTY. But there are enough folks out there who do appreciate and thrive on your gifts. In the coming weeks and months, make it your quest to focus your urge to merge on them.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): I love these lines by Leo poet Conrad Aiken: "Remember (when time comes) how chaos died to shape the shining leaf." I hope this lyrical thought will help you understand the transformation you're going through. The time has come for some of your chaos to expire—and in doing so, generate your personal equivalent of shining leaves. Can you imagine what the process would look and feel like? How might it unfold? Your homework is to ponder these wonders.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): A British woman named Andie Holman calls herself the Scar Queen. She says, "Tight scar tissue creates pain, impacts mobility, affects your posture, and usually looks bad." Her specialty is to diminish the limiting effects of scars, restoring flexibility and decreasing aches. Of course, she works with actual physical wounds, not the psychological kind. I wish I could refer you to healers who would help you with the latter, Virgo. Do you know any? If not, seek one out. The good news is that you now have more personal power than usual to recover from your old traumas and diminish your scars. I urge you to make such work a priority in the coming weeks.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Ancient Roman philosopher Seneca wrote, "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." But a Spanish proverb suggests a different element may be necessary: "Good luck comes by elbowing." (Elbowing refers to the gesture you use as you push your way through a crowd, nudging people away from the path you want to take.) A Danish proverb says that preparation and elbowing aren't enough: "Luck will carry someone across the brook if they are not too lazy to leap." Modern author Wendy Walker has the last word: "Fortune adores audacity." I hope I've inspired you to be alert to the possibility that extra luck is now available to you. And I hope I've convinced you to be audacious, energetic, well-prepared, and willing to engage in elbowing. Take maximum advantage of this opportunity.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Many Scorpios imagine sex to be a magnificent devotion, a quintessential mode of worship, an unparalleled celebration of sacred earthiness. I endorse and admire this perspective. If our culture had more of it, the art and entertainment industries would offer far less of the demeaning, superficial versions of sexuality that are so rampant. Here's another thing I love about Scorpios: So many of you grasp the value of sublimating lust into other fun and constructive accomplishments. You're skilled at channeling your high-powered libido into practical actions that may have no apparent erotic element. The coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to do a lot of that.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): A Sagittarius reader named Jenny-Sue asked, "What are actions I could take to make my life more magical?" I'm glad she asked. The coming weeks will be a favorable time to raise your delight and enchantment levels, to bask in the blessed glories of alluring mysteries and uncanny synchronicities. Here are a few tips: 1. Learn the moon's phases and keep track of them. 2. Acquire a new sacred treasure and keep it under your pillow or in your bed. 3. Before sleep, ask your deep mind to provide you with dreams that help generate creative answers to a specific question. 4. Go on walks at night or at dawn. 5. Compose a wild or funny prayer and shout it aloud it as you run through a field. 6. Sing a soulful song to yourself as you gaze into a mirror.

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BRAINSTORM ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE

with my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Second Half of 2022:

https://RealAstrology.com

What will be the story of your life during the rest of 2022? How can you exert your free will to create the adventures that will bring out the best in you, even as you find graceful ways to cooperate with the tides of destiny?

If you'd like a high-octane boost of inspiration to fuel your quest to create your most interesting and meaningful destiny, tune in to my meditations on your long-term outlook.

Go here: https://RealAstrology.com. Then register and/or log in and click on this link:

"Long-Range Forecast for Second Half of 2022"

You can also listen to your short-term forecast for the coming week by clicking on "This week (July 14, 2022)."

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"Your long-range audio horoscopes encouraged me to think bigger about my life. As I listened, I could feel my shrunken expectations melting away."

—Therese Pembroke, San Diego

"I love the soothing kindness of your long-range audio horoscopes. I also love their invigorating encouragement and surprising inspiration!" —Franny Kaiser, Minneapolis

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The horoscopes cost $7 apiece. Discounts are available for multiple purchases.

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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Being able to receive love doesn't come easy for some Capricorns. You may also not be adept at making yourself fully available for gifts and blessings. But you can learn these things. You can practice. With enough mindful attention, you might eventually become skilled at the art of getting a lot of what you need and knowing what to do with it. And I believe the coming weeks will be a marvelous time to increase your mastery.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): "If I don’t practice one day, I know it; two days, the critics know it; three days, the public knows it." This quote is variously attributed to violinist Jascha Heifetz, trumpeter Louis Armstrong, and violinist Isaac Stern. It's a fundamental principle for everyone who wants to get skilled at any task, not just for musicians. To become a master of what you love to do, you must work on it with extreme regularity. This is always true, of course. But according to my astrological analysis, it will be even more intensely true and desirable for you during the coming months. Life is inviting you to raise your expertise to a higher level. I hope you'll respond!

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In May 2021, Jessica and Ben Laws got married on their dairy farm. The ceremony unfolded smoothly, but an unforeseen event interrupted the reception party. A friend who had been monitoring their herd came to tell the happy couple that their pregnant cow had gone into labor and was experiencing difficulties. Jessica ran to the barn and plunged into active assistance, still clad in her lovely floor-length bridal gown and silver tiara. The dress got muddy and trashed, but the birth was successful. The new bride had no regrets. I propose making her your role model for now. Put practicality over idealism. Opt for raw and gritty necessities instead of neat formalities. Serve what's soulful, even if it's messy.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): With a fanciful flourish, Aries poet Seamus Heaney wrote, "I ate the day / Deliberately, that its tang / Might quicken me all into verb, pure verb." I'd love for you to be a pure verb for a while, Aries. Doing so would put you in robust rapport with astrological rhythms. As a pure verb, you'll never be static. Flowing and transformation will be your specialties. A steady stream of fresh inspiration and new meanings will come your way. You already have an abundance of raw potential for living like a verb—more than all the other signs of the zodiac. And in the coming weeks, your aptitude for that fluidic state will be even stronger than usual.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): According to Arthurian myth, the Holy Grail is a cup that confers magical powers. Among them are eternal youth, miraculous healing, the restoration of hope, the resurrection of the dead, and an unending supply of healthy and delicious food and drink. Did the Grail ever exist as a material object? Some believe so. After 34 years of research, historian David Adkins thinks he's close to finding it. He says it's buried beneath an old house in Burton-on-Trent, a town in central England. I propose we make this tantalizing prospect your metaphor of power during the coming weeks. Why? I suspect there's a chance you will discover a treasure or precious source of vitality. It may be partially hidden in plain sight or barely disguised in a mundane setting.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I'm pleased to authorize you to be extra vast and extensive in the coming weeks. Like Gemini poet Walt Whitman, you should never apologize and always be proud of the fact that you contain multitudes. Your multivalent, wide-ranging outlook will be an asset, not a liability. We should all thank you for being a grand compendium of different selves. Your versatility and elasticity will enhance the well-being of all of us whose lives you touch.

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Homework: Ask a friend or loved one to tell you a good secret. Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

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Submissions sent to Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter or in response to "homework assignments" may be published in a variety of formats at Rob Brezsny's discretion, including but not limited to newsletters, books, the Free Will Astrology column, and Free Will Astrology website. We reserve the right to edit submissions for length, style, and content.

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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright 2022 Rob Brezsny

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