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May love and joy flow to you

May you be blessed with stupendous bliss

Rob Brezsny

Mar 28, 2023

Beautiful friend:

May love and joy flow to you —

May you be blessed with stupendous bliss

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My upcoming book is titled

Astrology Is Real: Revelations from My Life as a Horoscope Columnist.

I’m offering sneak peeks to paid subscribers of my newsletter. This week I’m publishing the ninth installment.

Start here to read my first-ever astrology book: https://tinyurl.com/RealAstrology1

Read Part 2: https://tinyurl.com/RealAstrology2

Read Part 3: https://tinyurl.com/RealAstrology3

Read Part 4: https://tinyurl.com/RealAstrology4

Read Part 5: https://tinyurl.com/RealAstrology5

Read Part 6: https://tinyurl.com/RealAstrology6

Read Part 7: https://tinyurl.com/RealAstrology7

Read Part 8: https://tinyurl.com/RealAstrology8

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SHADOW WORKERS

The people I trust the most are those who are always tenderly wrestling and negotiating with their own shadows, making preemptive strikes on their personal share of the world's evil, fighting the good fight to keep from spewing their darkness on those around them.

I aspire to be like that, which is why I regularly kick my own ass. Will you try that?

If you’d like to see demonstrations of how to kick your own ass, watch my video. Ass-kicking lessons begin about 6:52 in: https://tinyurl.com/KickYourOwnAss

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SPIRITUAL BYPASSING

Psychotherapist John Welwood coined the term "spiritual bypassing" in the early 1980s, and referred to it in his book, Toward a Psychology of Awakening.

He defined it as a "tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks."

Read the interview with John: https://tinyurl.com/2p8hyd2p

Here's an excerpt from John Welwood: "From my perspective as an existential psychologist, feeling is a form of intelligence.

“It’s the body’s direct, holistic, intuitive way of knowing and responding, which is highly attuned and intelligent.

“Unlike emotionality, which is a reactivity that sweeps you away, feeling helps you go within and connect with where you are."

John Welwood's wife Jennifer Welwood was my psychotherapist for many years. She's a brilliant spiritual teacher who helped me undo my own tendencies to engage in spiritual bypassing. Jennifer is at jenniferwelwood.com

Here's my favorite poem by Jennifer Welwood:

Willing to experience aloneness,
I discover connection everywhere;

Turning to face my fear,
I meet the warrior who lives within;

Opening to my loss,
I am given unimaginable gifts;

Surrendering into emptiness,
I find fullness without end.

Each condition I flee from pursues me.
Each condition I welcome transforms me
And becomes itself transformed
Into its radiant jewel-like essence.

I bow to the one who has made it so,
Who has crafted this Master Game;
To play it is pure delight,
To honor it is true devotion.

Here are other poems by Jennifer Welwood:

https://tinyurl.com/2fauabyx

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TELL ME THE STORY OF YOUR SCARS

I invite you to play the game called "Tell me the story of your scars." It's best to do it with a skilled empath who is curious about your fate's riddles and skilled at helping you find redemption in your wounds.

"How did you get that blotch on your knee?" he or she might begin, and you describe the time in childhood when you fell on the sidewalk.

Then maybe he or she would say, "Why do you always look so sad when you hear that song?" And you'd narrate the tale of how it was playing when an old lover broke your heart.

The questions and answers continue until you unveil the history of your hurts, both physical and psychic. Treat yourself to this game soon.

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GOING CHEERFULLY OUT OF OUR MINDS

Hypotheses: Periodically, we benefit from going cheerfully and enthusiastically out of our minds. It's healthy if one part of us remains forever untamed, uncategorizable, and unsubjugated by routine.

We express compassion for ourselves by staying intimately connected to all that's inexplicable and mysterious about our lives.

At the same time, we need to keep our unusual urges clear and ordered. Discipline our wildness, in other words, and don't let it degenerate into careless disorder.

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NEW WAYS TO EXPRESS IRE

The English language is in a state of rapid ferment. New words are barging into the dictionary at an unprecedented rate, even as old familiars fall into disuse.

There's one exception to this trend: profanity. Old favorites like "fuck," "shit," and "asshole" have gained an acceptance unthinkable 30 years ago, but fresh curse words are rarely coined.

At the Beauty and Truth Lab, we find the overused classics inadequate for expressing our evolving rage at injustice, ignorance, and ugliness.

Furthermore, as deadening clichés, they don't satisfy the pronoiac mandate to use language with sonorous precision.

There's another problem. Anger has become one of the trendiest emotions of all. In moderation it can be a righteous force for constructive change.

But its hackneyed omnipresence means the vast majority of its outbreaks are trivial. The paucity of colorful obscenities is aggravated by an abundance of frivolous fury.

How can you purge the clichéd ire that dilutes the useful, inspired stuff?

One good method is to make fun of it by expressing it bigger than life. Try this. Go alone to a place where it's safe to feel blind rage. Envision a person or thing you love to feel upset by, then unleash the following mantra 15 times in the most vulgar tones possible:

"You miasmic heap of shaved-off cemetery warts. You mangled preen of politicians' tongue scabs. You brackish tripe of experts' ego tinkles. You fragile crap of orphaned tyrants. You demented cluster of fickle weasel vows. You curdled slosh of rotting fracas-spawned opinions."

Now how about if you get to work helping us coin a new generation of profanities?

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CHANGING THE MEANING OF OLD OBSCENITIES

Listen to the song:

1×

0:00

-3:18

Below are the lyrics:

I’d like to enlist your trouble-making help
as we change the meanings
of some rotten old worn-out obscenities

That’s right, beauty and truth fans
The best cure for censorship
is the same as the best cure for lazy thinking

Which is to change the meaning of the dangerous words.

So for instance if we say “you asshole”
What we will really mean from now on is
“my beautiful friend”

And when we say “goddamn you,”
We actually mean
“love and joy to you”

And if we say “go fuck yourself,”
What we really mean from now on is
“May you be blessed with stupendous bliss”
“May you be blessed with stupendous bliss”

So let’s try it out. Are you ready?

You asshole, goddamn you, go fuck yourself
You asshole, goddamn you, go fuck yourself

What we REALLY mean by that is this:

My beautiful friend
Love and joy to you
May you be blessed with stupendous bliss

My beautiful friend
Love and joy to you
May you be blessed with stupendous bliss

OK. Let’s do it again, and really air it out this time.

You asshole, goddamn you, go fuck yourself

What we REALLY mean by that is this:

My beautiful friend
Love and joy to you
May you be blessed with stupendous bliss

You asshole, goddamn you, go fuck yourself

What we REALLY mean by that is this:

My beautiful friend
Love and joy to you
May you be blessed with stupendous bliss

My beautiful friend
Love and joy to you
May you be blessed with stupendous bliss

My beautiful friend
Love and joy to you
May you be blessed with stupendous bliss

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WANT TO GET YOUR ASTROLOGICAL CHART READ?

If you want your personal chart done, I recommend a colleague whose approach to reading astrology charts closely matches my own. She's my wife, RO LOUGHRAN. She's at https://www.roloughran.com.

Ro utilizes a blend of well-trained intuition, emotional warmth, and technical proficiency in horoscope interpretation. She is skilled at exploring the mysteries of your life's purpose and nurturing your connection with your own inner wisdom.

In addition to over 30 years of astrological experience, Ro has been a licensed psychotherapist for over 20 years. She integrates psychological insight with astrology's cosmological perspective.

Ro is based in California, but can do phone consultations and otherwise work with you regardless of geographic boundaries.

Check out Ro's website at https://www.roloughran.com

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

Week beginning March 30

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Sometimes, I give you suggestions that may, if you carry them out, jostle your routines and fluster your allies. But after trying out the new approaches for a short time, you may chicken out and revert to old habits. That’s understandable! It can be difficult to change your life. Here’s an example. What if I encourage you to cancel your appointments and wander out into the wilderness to discuss your dreams with the birds? And what if, during your adventure, you are flooded with exhilarating yearnings for freedom? And then you decide to divest yourself of desires that other people want you to have and instead revive and give boosts to desires that you want yourself to have? Will you actually follow through with brave practical actions that transform your relationship with your deepest longings?

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You have done all you can for now to resolve and expunge stale, messy karma—some of which was left over from the old days and old ways. There may come a time in the future when you will have more cleansing to do, but you have now earned the right to be as free from your past and as free from your conditioning as you have ever been. APRIL FOOL! I lied. In fact, you still need to spend a bit more time resolving and expunging stale, messy karma. But you’re almost done!

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Businessman Robert Bigelow hopes to eventually begin renting luxurious rooms in space. For $1.7 million per night, travelers will enjoy accommodations he provides on his orbiting hotel, 200 miles above the Earth's surface. Are you interested? I bet more Geminis will be signing up for this exotic trip than any other sign. You're likely to be the journeyers most excited by the prospect of sailing along at 17,000 miles per hour and witnessing 16 sunsets and sunrises every 24 hours. APRIL FOOL! In fact, you Geminis are quite capable of getting the extreme variety you crave and need right here on the planet’s surface. And during the coming weeks, you will be even more skilled than usual at doing just that.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to become the overlord of your own fiefdom, or seize control of a new territory and declare yourself chieftain, or overthrow the local hierarchy and install yourself as the sovereign ruler of all you survey. APRIL FOOL! I was metaphorically exaggerating a bit—but just a bit. I do in fact believe now is an excellent phase to increase your clout, boost your influence, and express your leadership. Be as kind you can be, of course, but also be rousingly mighty and fervent.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In his poem "The Something," Charles Simic writes, "Here come my night thoughts on crutches, returning from studying the heavens. What they thought about stayed the same. Stayed immense and incomprehensible." According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you Leos will have much the same experience in the coming weeks. So there’s no use in even hoping or trying to expand your vision. APRIL FOOL! I lied. The truth is, you will not have Simic's experience. Just the opposite. When your night thoughts return from studying the heavens, they will be full of exuberant, inspiring energy. (And what exactly are “night thoughts”? They are bright insights you discover in the darkness.)

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): If there will ever come a time when you will find a gold bullion bar on the ground while strolling around town, it will be soon. Similarly, if you are destined to buy a winning $10 million lottery ticket or inherit a diamond mine in Botswana, that blessing will arrive soon. APRIL FOOL! I was exaggerating a bit. The truth is, I suspect you are now extra likely to attract new resources and benefits, though not on the scale of gold bullion, lottery winnings, and diamond mines.

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EXTRA HELP

Would you enjoy getting further insights into the intriguing twists and turns of your amazing journey? Are you ready to seek more help from me in solving the riddles that confuse you?

Check out your EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPE at https://Realastrology.com

Did you know that I also write daily horoscopes called Sunbursts, available as text messages? They're shorter than the weekly 'scopes, but more frequent. They cost 57 cents a day if you sign up for a subscription.

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

Click on "Daily Sunbursts" in the left-hand panel.

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

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Do you have a muse, Libra? In my opinion, all of us need and deserve at least one muse, even if we’re not creative artists. A muse can be a spirit or hero or ally who inspires us, no matter what work and play we do. A muse may call our attention to important truths we are ignoring or point us in the direction of exciting future possibilities. According to my astrological analysis, you are now due for a muse upgrade. If you don’t have one, get one—or even more. If you already have a relationship with a muse, ask more from it. Nurture it. Take it to the next level.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Dear Valued Employee: Our records show you haven't used any vacation time over the past 100 years. As you may know, workers get three weeks of paid leave per year or else receive pay in lieu of time off. One added week is granted for every five years of service. So please, sometime soon, either take 9,400 days off work or notify our office, and your next paycheck will reflect payment of $8,277,432, including pay and interest for the past 1,200 months. APRIL FOOL! Everything I just said was an exaggeration. But there is a grain of truth in it. The coming weeks should bring you a nice surprise or two concerning your job.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sagittarian poet and artist William Blake (1757–1827) was a hard-working visionary prophet with an extravagant imagination. His contemporaries considered him a freaky eccentric, though today we regard him as a genius. I invite you to enjoy your own personal version of a Blake-like phase in the coming weeks. It's a perfect time to dynamically explore your idiosyncratic inclinations and creative potentials. Be bold, even brazen, as you celebrate what makes you unique. BUT WAIT! Although everything I just said is true, I must add a caveat: You don’t necessarily need to be a freaky eccentric to honor your deepest, most authentic truths and longings.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Some of my friends disapprove of cosmetic surgery. I remind them that many cultures throughout history have engaged in body modification. In parts of Africa and Borneo, for example, people stretch their ears. Some Balinese people get their teeth filed. Women of the Indigenous Kyan people in Thailand elongate their necks using brass coils. Anyway, Capricorn, this is my way of letting you know that the coming weeks would be a favorable time to change your body. APRIL FOOL! It’s not my place to advise you about whether and how to reshape your body. Instead, my job is to encourage you to deepen and refine how your mind understands and treats your body. And now is an excellent time to do that.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I invite you to make a big change. I believe it’s crucial if you hope to place yourself in maximum alignment with current cosmic rhythms. Here's my idea: Start calling yourself by the name "Genius." You could even use it instead of the first name you have used all these years. Tell everyone that from now on, they should address you as "Genius." APRIL FOOL! I don't really think you should make the switch to Genius. But I do believe you will be extra smart and ultra-wise in the coming weeks, so it wouldn't be totally outrageous to refer to yourself as "Genius."

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Your body comprises 30 trillion human cells and 39 trillion microbial cells, including the bacteria that live within you. And in my astrological estimation, those 69 trillion life forms are vibrating in sweet harmony with all the money in the world. Amazing! Because of this remarkable alignment, you now have the potential to get richer quicker. Good economic luck is swirling in your vicinity. Brilliant financial intuitions are likely to well up in you. The Money God is far more amenable than usual to your prayers. APRIL FOOL! I was exaggerating a bit. But I do believe you now have extra ability to prime your cash flow.

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

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