Using the Power of the Imagination . . .

. . . to remake the world

Jul 19, 2022

WE SHALL OVERCOME

We are dissident bodhisattvas rebelling against forces that feed fear and destroy human rights.

We are spiritual freedom fighters rising up to protect nature and create peace and demand justice.

We are subversive mystics stoking the cool blue fires of poetry and lobbying for the liberated imagination.

We are militant ecstatics invoking the transformative powers of pleasure to sanctify and beautify our one and only Earth.

We are mutinous purveyors of grace who redistribute the wealth so that all creatures may have the means to thrive.

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VOW

I, [put name here], born [date and place], do voluntarily and wholeheartedly join my fate to The Clandestine Indigenous Alliance of Luminous Wild Things. I am thrilled and daunted by the prospect of perpetrating fertile chaos and convulsive beauty and sacred transgression.

From now on my home is everywhere. I will change my name every day. I understand that my body is not only a grunting, sweating, crying, excited, sleepy, desire-driven vessel of flesh, but also a four-dimensional hologram telepathically in touch with all sentient beings simultaneously, as it was before the Big Bang banged.

I promise that hereafter I will be alive in an eternity and infinity of fucking heart amazement. If for some reason I falter in maintaining faith in these true hallucinations, I will watch movies of animals being born until I am cured.

I recognize that the glorious and exacting task of perpetrating fertile chaos and convulsive beauty and sacred transgression will require my constant rebellion against the sour and crippled mass hallucination that is mistakenly referred to as "reality."

It will be fun but not easy. It will be a monumental responsibility and an ecstatic privilege. I will have to regularly re-learn the art of breaking taboos that are so taboo that almost no one realizes they are taboo.

Am I disciplined enough to go crazy in the name of creation not destruction? Yes, I am.

Am I cagey enough to keep washing my own brain, thereby protecting myself from the ongoing genocide of the imagination? Yes, I am.

Am I dangerous enough to use my nightmares to become incandescent and effervescent? Fuck yes.

I hold this truth to be self-evident: All the things I believe in are at least half-wrong, and yet I still have as much power as people who curse and manipulate and commit mayhem in the name of their ideas.

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REMAKING THE WORLD

Some people put their faith in religion or science or political ideologies. English novelist J. G. Ballard placed his faith elsewhere: in the imagination.

"I believe in the power of the imagination to remake the world," he wrote, "to release the truth within us, to hold back the night, to transcend death, to charm motorways, to ingratiate ourselves with birds, to enlist the confidences of madmen."

How do you use the power of imagination to remake the world?

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THE REDEMPTION GAME

Life is a bitch and then you die. The more you suffer, the more you learn. If you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit. If all else fails, manipulate the data. Don't be nice to people unless you want something from them. Lie and cheat if it helps you become more moral.

JUST KIDDING!

All the assertions I made above were dirty lies. I was messing with you. I was acting like a tricky teacher who tests the resiliency of your skepticism before delivering a core truth.

And the core truth in this case? It's this: The very thing about you that is most fucked-up may be the key to you tapping into hidden reserves of creative brilliance.

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DREAM GUIDANCE

Dream author Robert Moss wrote all the words in this section: Long before Europeans arrived, the People of the Longhouse, or Haudenosaunee, taught their children that dreams are the single most important source of both practical and spiritual guidance.

The first business of the day in a Haudenosaunee village was dream-sharing, as dreams were messages from the spirits and the deeper self. They might contain guidance for the community as well as the individual.

The early Haudenosaunee believed that in dreams, we routinely travel beyond the body and the limits of time and space, can visit the future or the past, and may enter the realms of the departed and of spiritual teachers on higher levels.

The ancient teaching of the Haudenosaunee people is that dreams also reveal the wishes of the soul, calling us to move beyond our ego agendas and the web of other people’s projections into a deeper, more spirited life.

In dreams we also discover where our vital soul energy may have gone missing—through pain or trauma or heartbreak—and how to get it back.

The early Jesuit missionaries marveled that the Haudenosaunee would make life-or-death decisions on the basis of dream reports.

Read the essay by Robert Moss, from which this post was excerpted: https://tinyurl.com/yxww35ny

Robert Moss writes that among the Haudenosaunee people, the term kateraswas means “I dream.” It also means, “I dream as a habit, as a daily part of my way of being in the world.”

Kateraswas also carries the connotation that "I bring myself luck because I am able to manifest good fortune and prosperity through my dreaming."

The term watera’swo (dream) also means, "it brings good luck."

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This is the Last Week the Big-Picture Audio Horoscopes Will Be Available

EXPLORE THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE

with my Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Second Half of 2022. This is the last week they will be available.

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 19, 2022)."

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CULTIVATING THE IMAGINATION

I love my weekly psychotherapy sessions via Zoom with Leslie Davenport. She often leads me through guided meditations, in which I go within and consult my inner guides about a particular question.

Here are two of her books, which I highly recommend:

Transformative Imagery: Cultivating the Imagination for Healing, Change, and Growth

Healing and Transformation Through Self-Guided Imagery

Leslie Davenport also specializes in how we can personally deal with the impact of the climate crisis. Her book is All the Feelings Under the Sun: How to Deal with Climate Change.

Leslie also wrote a book for other therapists helping their clients deal with the climate crisis: Emotional Resiliency in the Era of Climate Change.

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ENLIGHTENMENT TIPS

My guess is there's no such thing as "enlightenment." No one can permanently own a perfect realization of the nature of reality.

But if anything resembles "enlightenment," it's a visceral sensation of feeling close to all living things, buoyed by an ever-renewing empathy.

"Enlightenment is intimacy with all things."

—Thirteenth-century Buddhist priest and writer Dōgen Zenji

"Holiness is an infinite compassion for others," wrote author and activist Olive Schreiner.

"The soul is awakened through service," said author Erica Jong.

I agree. I say the quest to align one's personal life with the highest good is at least as much about helping to alleviate the world's suffering as it is about attaining a transcendent level of awareness or making pious displays of devotion to a deity.

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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:

Family Left Stunned When Their Dog Escaped–Only to Return Later With a Ribbon From a Dog Show. https://tinyurl.com/2p93m5ek

Vitamin D Could Help Protect Women Against and Even Reverse Ovarian Cance. https://tinyurl.com/yc77enya

Carpet Cleaner With Autism Has Learned 40 Languages – Watch His Talent in Action. https://tinyurl.com/4syrrm5d

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

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

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WANT TO GET YOUR PERSONAL 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. Her website is 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 35 years of astrological experience, Ro has been a licensed psychotherapist for 22 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.

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

Week beginning July 21

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): A Leo astrologer I've known for years told me, "Here's a secret about us Lions. No matter what happens, despite any pitfalls and pratfalls, my ego will stay intact. It ain't gonna crack. You can hurl five lightning bolts' worth of insults at my skull, and I will walk away without even a hint of a concussion. I believe in myself and worship myself, but even more importantly: I trust my own self-coherence like I trust the sun to shine." Wow! That's quite a testimony. I'm not sure I fully buy it, though. I have known a few Leos whose confidence wavered in the wake of a minor misstep. But here's the point of my horoscope: I encourage you to allow a slight ego deflation in the coming days. If you do, I believe it will generate a major blossoming of your ego by August. And that would be a very good thing.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo poet Claude de Burine described how one night when she was three years old, she sneaked out of the house with her parents' champagne bucket so she could fill it up with moonlight. I think activities like this will be a worthy pursuit for you in the coming days. You're entering a favorable phase to go in quest of lyrical, fanciful experiences. I hope you will make yourself available for marvels and curiosities and fun surprises.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): There is a distinction between being nice and being kind. Being nice is often motivated by mechanical politeness, by a habit-bound drive to appear pleasant. It may be rooted more in a desire to be liked than in an authentic urge to bestow blessings. On the other hand, being kind is a sincere expression of care and concern for another. It fosters genuine intimacy. I bring these thoughts to your attention because I think that one of Libra's life-long tasks is to master the art of being kind rather than merely nice. And right now is an especially favorable phase for you to refine your practice.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You sometimes feel you have to tone down your smoldering intensity, avert your dark-star gazes, conceal your sultry charisma, dumb down your persuasive speech, pretend you don't have so much stamina, disguise your awareness of supernatural connections, act less like a saint and martyr in your zealous devotions, and refrain from revealing your skill at reading between the lines. But none of that avoidance stuff usually works very well. The Real You leaks out into view. In the coming weeks, I hope you won't engage in any of the hiding behavior I described. It's a favorable time to freely pour forth your Scorpionic blessings.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): There could be interesting and important events happening while you sleep in the coming nights. If a butterfly lands on you in a dream, it may mean you're prepping for a spiritual transformation in waking life. It could be a sign you're receptive to a breakthrough insight you weren't previously open to. If you dream of a baby animal, it might signify you're ready to welcome a rebirth of a part of you that has been dormant or sluggish or unavailable. Dreams in which you're flying suggest you may soon escape a sense of heaviness or inertia.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): How to be the best Capricorn you can be in the coming weeks and months: 1. Develop a disciplined, well-planned strategy to achieve more freedom. 2. Keep clambering upwards even if you have no competitors and there's no one else at the top. 3. Loosen your firm grasp and steely resolve just enough so you can allow the world to enjoy you. 4. Don't let the people you love ever think you take them for granted. 5. Be younger today than you were yesterday.

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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

This is the last week they'll be available!

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 19, 2022)."

"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

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

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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In the next seven to eight weeks, I'd love for you to embody an attitude about intimacy articulated by author Hélène Cixous. Here's her aspiration: "I want to love a person freely, including all her secrets. I want to love in this person someone she doesn't know. I want to love without judgment, without fault. Without false, without true. I want to meet her between the words, beneath language." And yes, dear Aquarius, I know this is a monumental undertaking. If it appeals to you at all, just do the best you can to incorporate it. Perfection isn't required.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I periodically consult a doctor of Chinese Medicine who tells me that one of the best things I can do for my health is to walk barefoot—EVERYWHERE! On the sidewalk, through buildings, and especially in the woods and natural areas. He says that being in direct contact with our beloved earth can provide me with energetic nourishment not possible any other way. I have resisted the doc's advice so far. It would take the soles of my feet a while to get accustomed to the wear and tear of barefoot walking. I bring this up, Pisces, because the coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to try what I haven't yet. In fact, anything you do to deepen your connection with the earth will be extra healing. I invite you to lie in the sand, hug trees, converse with birds, shout prayers to mountains, and bathe in rivers or lakes.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): You are entering the Season of Love's Renewal. To celebrate, I offer you a poem by eighth-century Tamil poet Andal. Whatever gender you may be, I invite you to visualize yourself as the "Snakewaist woman" she addresses. Here's Andal, bringing a fiery splash of exclamation points: "Arouse, Snakewaist woman! Strut your enchantment! Swoop your mirth and leap your spiral reverence! As wild peacocks shimmer and ramble and entice the lightning-nerved air! Summon thunderheads of your love! Command the sentient wind! Resurrect the flavor of eternal birth!"

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Tips to get the most out of the next three weeks: 1. Work harder, last longer, and finish with more grace than everyone else. 2. Be in love with beauty. Crave it, surround yourself with it, and create it. Be especially enamored of beautiful things that are also useful. 3. Taste the mist, smell the clouds, kiss the music, praise the earth, and listen to the moon in the daytime sky. 4. Never stop building! Keep building and building and building: your joy, your security, your love, your beauty, your stamina, your sense of wonder.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini astrologer Astrolocherry says that while Geminis "can appear naive and air-headed to onlookers, their minds usually operate at light speed. They naturally absorb every surrounding particle of intellectual stimuli. They constantly observe their interactions for opportunities to grow their knowledge." I believe these qualities will function at peak intensity during the next four weeks, Gemini—maybe even beyond peak intensity. Please try to enjoy the hell out of this phase without becoming manic or overwrought. If all goes well, you could learn more in the next four weeks than most people learn in four months.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Naeem Callaway founded Get Out The Box, an organization that mentors at-risk youth in low-income and rural communities. Here's one of his central teachings: “Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. Tiptoe if you must, but take the step." Even if you don't fit the profile of the people Callaway serves, his advice is perfect for you right now. For the time being, I urge you to shelve any plans you might have for grandiose actions. Focus on just one of the many possible tasks you could pursue and carry it out with determined focus.

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Homework: To heal yourself, bestow two blessings, one on a human and one on an animal. Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

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Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter

Using the Power of the Imagination . . .

. . . to remake the world

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