Thank You to the Adversaries!

Praise for the Unexpected Helpers and Teachers!

THANKS TO MY ADVERSARIES!

(excerpted from my book ASTROLOGY IS REAL)

My career as a syndicated astrology columnist might never have happened if it weren’t for a Taurus astrologer named Robert Cole.

Before I dreamed of writing horoscopes myself, he was creating a weekly horoscope column for the Good Times in Santa Cruz.

I read it on occasion. He wasn’t a skillful writer, but I appreciated how he playfully departed from the same old boring format of conventional horoscope writers. “A Sagittarius with a big nose and big feet will approach you with an invitation to drink coffee next to a redwood tree,” he once wrote for Aquarians.

As Robert Cole grew more confident of his value to the Santa Cruz community, he decided to assert his Taurus prerogative and ask Good Times publisher Jay Shore for a raise in pay. Shore refused, and Cole quit in a huff.

Shore immediately placed an ad in the classifieds section of his paper, advertising for a replacement. Luckily for me, my bicycle had been stolen. As I perused the “For Sale” section of the Good Times classified, I spied his solicitation for a new astrologer.

I dashed off my audition column, leading with my perfect spelling and grammar. Were there other applicants? I didn’t know and still don't. Two days later, Shore hired me. The following Thursday, he published my first offering in the Good Times without a single edit. My long career had begun.

But wait! There were complications. Robert Cole was incensed that I had dared to become his substitute. He wrote letters to the editors of three Santa Cruz newspapers, each of which published his complaint.

Cole ranted against Jay Shore and me. Shore was a “capitalist pig,” and I was a scab who had colluded with the greedy boss. Although Cole knew nothing of my astrological training, he called me a fraud with no skill in the ancient art.

That wasn’t sufficient revenge for him, though. Somehow, he found out where I lived and mailed me a series of five angry letters. Early on, he demanded that I resign from my new job and stand with him in solidarity against the capitalist pig. “No compromise!” he told me.

But I didn’t quit. He got so agitated that he condemned me to everlasting obscurity and insignificance. “You’re a flash-in-the-pan, Brezney,” he wrote in one of his personal letters to me, spelling my name wrong. “You’re a brief toxic blip on the scene. You’ll never last. You’ll fade into oblivion. You’ll lose your powers. I will still be here inspiring readers with my astrological advice long after you’re gone.”

This message felt like an old-fashioned curse. But it didn’t debilitate me. It didn’t fill me with fear and trembling. Rather, it energized me. I was motivated to make sure his maledictions would never come true. I resolved to prove him wrong.

Over the years, his curse turned out to be a wonderful influence in my life. It was by no means my sole or even primary stimulus to make myself into a great horoscope writer. But it helped. It played a role in galvanizing me to continually go deeper in my understanding of astrology and improve at the art of writing.

My self-appointed competitor got a job writing horoscopes for another weekly newspaper in Santa Cruz. He also published a book, The Book of Houses: An Astrological Guide to the Harvest Cycle in Human Life.

In 1992, at age 44, he died, failing to see his hex come to pass. I felt no joy in his demise. On the contrary, I was and have always been grateful to him for assisting me in fulfilling my soul’s code.

Amazingly, Robert Cole was an important catalyst in my life.

The early days of my gig as a horoscope writer benefited from another use of the via negativa.

Other than Robert Cole, there were no role models in the astrological community who cultivated a frisky, amusing approach. Many of them felt defensive about being dismissed as kooks, which is why they overcompensated by being ponderous and tediously serious.

I had heard of one astrologer who had a more lighthearted style. The Cosmic Muffin, also known as Darrell Martinie, did a spirited radio show on Boston’s WBCN. I never actually tuned in—that was before the internet made all stations available globally—but a few friends on the East Coast had told me it was charming.

Were there any horoscope columnists who avoided being generic and bland? I didn’t know any.

“You want to have a good time, so go along with the ideas of buddies you like and be happy,” advised syndicated astrologer Carroll Righter in one of his daily horoscope columns.

“Be direct, take initiative, and strive to get to the heart of matters,” admonished famous horoscope writer Sydney Omarr.

“Routine jobs can be cleared away at last,” counseled syndicated astrologer Joyce Jillson, adding, “Go through your residence and start cleaning closets and drawers.”

One widely published horoscope columnist offended me more than the others: Jeane Dixon.

Her use of astrology was everything I didn’t want mine to be: obsessed with celebrities, expressed with cliché-ridden language, and rife with pandering to her readers’ narcissism.

Her political beliefs were anathema to me, as well. Among the right-wing politicians she counseled were racist Senator Strom Thurmond and Republican Thug Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

I didn’t hate Jeane Dixon. On the contrary, I loved her for providing such a lucid symbol to define myself in opposition to. In studying her approach, I got good ideas about how not to shape my own career in astrology. She was a perfect choice to serve as my anti-role model.

(excerpted from my book, ASTROLOGY IS REAL)

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THE HEALING POWER OF DREAMWORK

Why do so few people draw on the healing revelations bestowed by nightly dreams?

More and more people call on meditation and mindfulness in quest of psychological vigor, but bypass dreamwork.

Meditation is often a great healer. It may clear away our compulsive inner chatter and tune us into intriguing alternatives beyond our habit mind’s default modes.

Dreamwork can help us do that and more. Disclaimer: It’s not easy. The subtle art of decoding the alien laws and languages of the depths takes practice and training. But with devoted practice, it becomes an unparalleled method for transmuting the unripe and wounded twists within us.

Bonus! It provides access to dormant potentials and hidden treasures. As it teases out our personal genius dreamwork, it may serve again and again as a miracle cure .

This cultural blind spot, the neglect of our dreams’ treasure, is a blight. Millions of us choose not to use a freely available source of invigorating insight that can make us smarter about redeeming our darkness, purging psychic toxins, and developing dormant brilliance.

If dreamwork were a widespread practice, some of our massive collective problems would diminish.

Here’s our hypotheses:

1. As we stop projecting pathology onto others and negotiate with it in ourselves, we act with greater moral equanimity toward everyone.

2. If we become less driven to attribute gifted potency to others and claim our own gifted potency, we are less likely to surrender our sovereignty to charismatic saviors.

That’s why we regard dreamwork as a potential key factor in political activism. Our efforts to wrangle with our shadow selves can refine our efforts to redeem the world.

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Now we call in back-up from three authors whose work has been nurtured by their dream lives.

1. Andrew Harvey writes: “An activism that is not purified by profound spiritual and psychological self-awareness will only perpetuate the problem it is trying to solve, however righteous its intentions.”

2. Alan Watts writes: “Our best efforts for civil rights, international peace, conservation of natural resources, and assistance to the starving of the earth—urgent as they are—will destroy rather than help if made in the present spirit.

"Peace can be made only by those who are peaceful, and love can be shown only by those who love. No work of love will flourish out of guilt, fear, or hollowness of heart, just as no valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.”

3. Anthropologist Charles D. Laughlin writes: “Modern post-industrial societies tend to produce un-sane populations—multitudes of people who are unbalanced in their adaptation to the destructive stress of daily existence.

“One of the symptoms of this un-sanity is the loss of contact between the waking ego and the depths of the self, a contact that requires involvement in dream experiences and information.

“Cultures generally resist change, and modern materialist societies are no different in this respect. Devaluation of dreaming and other spiritually efficacious experiences is part of the foundation of “false consciousness” required by capitalist/ materialist political economies.

“Materialist cultures require that the focus of awareness be upon the material conditions of life and away from involvement with the inner being which is the only road to spiritual maturation.”

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image: This image was originally a black and white wood engraving done by an unknown artist. It first appeared in a book by Camille Flammarion in 1888. The coloring of this art is done by a contemporary artist, Roberta Weir.

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ARTISTS WORKING WITH DREAMS?

Wait! We have another tragic dearth to report.

A small minority of artists, musicians, and authors work with dreams as a wellspring of their creative practice.

In the 16^th century , painter Hieronymus Bosch left us a body of work influenced by dreams. But since then, prominent artists drawing on dreams are scarce. Here are a few we know of: William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Leonora Carrington, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, plus André Breton and a few other Surrealists.

Though Hilma af Klint’s inspirations were often dream-like, they arrived through seances, meditations, and trances rather than nightly dreams. She testified she communed with supernatural beings to create her paintings.

We are puzzled and aghast. Many creators want to vault free of ordinary consciousness and incite their imaginations—but they are most likely to do so with drugs and alcohol, not with the help of dreams.

Arthur Rimbaud was a notorious champion of this strategy. Vincent van Gogh relied on absinthe and digitalis. Thomas Kincaid consumed alcohol and valium. Amphetamines were Andry Warhol’s favorite stimulant. Photographer Nan Goldin has used heroin, cocaine, and OxyContin. By some estimates, 12 percent of all musicians use drugs.

In the 21^st century, multitudes of famous and lesser-known creators turn to drugs and alcohol to spur inspirations, perhaps even microdosing psychedelics daily.

But only a handful explore the treasures available through their dream lives. This is a spectacularly inexplicable myopia!

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IN-DEPTH, LONG-TERM AUDIO FORECAST for YOUR LIFE

Who do you want to become in the coming months? Where do you want to go and what do you want to do? Will there be opportunities disguised as challenges?

EXPLORE THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE with my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Second Half of 2024.

How can you exert your free will to create adventures that'll 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, go here, then register and/or sign in:

https://RealAstrology.com

After you log in through the main page, click on the link "Long-Term Forecast for 2nd Half of 2024."

You can also listen to your short-term forecast for the coming week by clicking on "This week (June 25, 2024)."

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The Expanded Audio horoscopes cost $7 apiece. There are discounts for the purchase of multiple reports.

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

FOR THE WEEK OF JUNE 27

CANCER (June 21-July 22): You are entering a phase when you will be wise to question fixed patterns and shed age-old habits. The more excited you get about re-evaluating everything you know and believe, the more likely it is that exciting new possibilities will open up for you. If you are staunchly committed to resolving longstanding confusions and instigating fresh approaches, you will launch an epic chapter of your life story. Wow! That sounds dramatic. But it’s quite factual. Here’s the kicker: You’re now in prime position to get vivid glimpses of specific successes you can accomplish between now and your birthday in 2025.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): How many different ways can you think of to ripen your spiritual wisdom? I suggest you choose two and pursue them with gleeful vigor in the coming weeks. You are primed to come into contact with streams of divine revelations that can change your life for the better. All the conditions are favorable for you to encounter teachings that will ennoble your soul and hone your highest ideals. Don’t underestimate your power to get the precise enlightenment you need.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Border collies are dogs with a herding instinct. Their urges to usher, steer, and manage are strong. They will not only round up sheep and cattle, but also pigs, chickens, and ostriches—and even try to herd cats. In my estimation, Virgo, border collies are your spirit creatures these days. You have a special inclination and talent to be a good shepherd. So use your aptitude with flair. Provide extra navigational help for people and animals who would benefit from your nurturing guidance. And remember to do the same for your own wayward impulses!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): We have arrived at the midpoint of 2024. It's check-in time. Do you recall the promises you made to yourself last January? Are you about halfway into the frontier you vowed to explore? What inspirational measures could you instigate to renew your energy and motivation for the two most important goals in your life? What would you identify as the main obstacle to your blissful success, and how could you diminish it? If you’d like to refresh your memory of the long-term predictions I made for your destiny in 2024, go here: tinyurl.com/Libra2024. For 2023’s big-picture prophecies, go here: tinyurl.com/2023Libra.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio-born Gary Hug was educated as a machinist and food scientist, but for many years he has worked primarily as an amateur astronomer. Using a seven-foot telescope he built in the backyard of his home, he has discovered a comet and 300 asteroids, including two that may come hazardously close to Earth. Extolling the joys of being an amateur, he says he enjoys “a sense of freedom that you don’t have when you’re a professional.” In the coming weeks, Scorpio, I encourage you to explore and experiment with the joys of tasks done out of joy rather than duty. Identify the work and play that feel liberating and indulge in them lavishly.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Your power spots will be places that no one has visited or looked into for a while. Sexy secrets and missing information will be revealed to you as you nose around in situations where you supposedly should not investigate. The light at the end of the tunnel is likely to appear well before you imagined it would. Your lucky number is 8, your lucky color is black, and your lucky emotion is the surprise of discovery. My advice: Call on your memory to serve you in amazing ways; use it as a superpower.

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BRAINSTORM ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE

with my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Second Half of 2023.

In the coming months, what areas of your life are likely to receive unexpected assistance and divine inspiration?

Where are you likely to find most success?

How can you best cooperate with the cosmic rhythms?

What questions should you be asking?

To hear my LONG-TERM AUDIO FORECAST, register and/or sign in here:

https://RealAstrology.com

After you log in through the main page, click on the link "Long-Range Forecast for 2nd Half of 2023."

You can also listen to your short-term forecast for the coming week by clicking on "This week (June 27, 2023)."

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

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"Your audio horoscopes are somehow both a balm for my soul and a call to action. How do you do that?"

—David G., Coral Gables, FL

"Your audio horoscopes fill in the gaps in my imagination. They wake up the fun plot twists that have been just on the tip of my ability to visualize."

—Ani Kraft, Brattleboro, VT

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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Happy Unbirthday, Capricorn! It’s time to celebrate the season halfway between your last birthday and your next. I hope you will give yourself a fun gift every day for at least the next seven days. Fourteen days would be even better. See if you can coax friends and allies to also shower you with amusing blessings. Tell them your astrologer said that would be a very good idea. Now here’s an unbirthday favor from me: I promise that between now and January 2025, you will create healing changes in your relationship with your job and with work in general.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): While sleeping, my Aquarian friend Janelle dreamed that she and her family lived in a cabin in the woods. When dusk was falling, a strange animal put its face against the main window. Was it a bear? A mountain lion? Her family freaked out and hid in a back bedroom. But Janelle stayed to investigate. Looking closely, she saw the creature was a deer. She opened up the window and spoke to it, saying, “What can I do for you?” The deer, who was a talking deer, said, “I want to give you and your family a gift. See this necklace I’m wearing? It has a magic ruby that will heal a health problem for everyone who touches it.” Janelle managed to remove the necklace, whereupon the deer wandered away and she woke up from the dream. During subsequent weeks, welcome changes occurred in her waking life. She and three of her family members lost physical ailments that had been bothering them. I think this dream is a true fairy tale for you in the coming weeks, Aquarius.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): A psychologist friend tells me that if we have an intense craving for sugar, it may be a sign that deeper emotional needs are going unmet. I see merit in her theory. But here’s a caveat. What if we are currently not in position to get our deeper emotional needs met? What if there is at least temporarily some barrier to achieving that lovely goal? Would it be wrong to seek a partial quenching of our soul cravings by communing with fudge brownies, peach pie, and crème brûlée? I don’t think it would be wrong. On the contrary. It might be an effective way to tide ourselves over until more profound gratification is available. But now here’s the good news, Pisces: I suspect more profound gratification will be available sooner than you imagine.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): This may sound weird, but I think now is a perfect time to acquire a fresh problem. Not just any old boring problem, of course. Rather, I’m hoping you will carefully ponder what kind of dilemma would be most educational for you—which riddle might challenge you to grow in ways you need to. Here’s another reason you should be proactive about hunting down a juicy challenge: Doing so will ensure that you won’t attract mediocre, meaningless problems.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Now is an excellent time to start learning a new language or to increase your proficiency in your native tongue. Or both. It’s also a favorable phase to enrich your communication skills and acquire resources that will help you do that. Would you like to enhance your ability to cultivate friendships and influence people? Are you interested in becoming more persuasive, articulate, and expressive? If so, Taurus, attend to these self-improvement tasks with graceful intensity. Life will conspire benevolently on your behalf if you do. (PS: I’m not implying you’re weak in any of these departments; just that now is a favorable time to boost your capacities.)

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Barbara Sher and Barbara Smith wrote the book I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It. I invite you to think and feel deeply about this theme during the coming months. In my experience with Geminis, you are often so versatile and multi-faceted that it can be challenging to focus on just one or two of your various callings. And that may confuse your ability to know what you want more than anything else. But here’s the good news. You may soon enjoy a grace period when you feel really good about devoting yourself to one goal more than any other.