You Are a Lucky, Plucky Genius

So Let's Celebrate!

It’s time to RE-GENIUS YOURSELF!

Hear the instructions:

Read the instructions:

Although we are all born geniuses, the grind of day-to-day living tends to de-genius us. That's the bad news. The good news is that you have the power to re-genius yourself.

I'm going to give you a ritual you can use to jump-start the process.

The Greek philosopher Plato long ago recognized that in addition to eating, drinking, sleeping, breathing, and loving, every creature has an instinctual need to periodically leap up into the air for no other reason than because it feels so good.

Please face south, leap up in the air, and say these words: "From the south, I purify, electrify, beautify, and fructify this sacred space."

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When I was a kid I used to love to go out in the middle of a meadow and whirl around in spirals until I got so dizzy I fell down. As I lay on the ground, the earth and sky and sun kept reeling madly, and I was no longer just a pinpoint of awareness lodged inside my body, but rather I was an ecstatically undulating swirl in the kaleidoscopic web of life. I invite you to feel that way right now.

Spin yourself around until you topple over. And while lying on the ground, face west and say these words: "From the west, I sanctify, unify, clarify, and intensify this sacred space."

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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 right now wherever you are?

Jump off the ground and snap your heels up against your butt. Then face north and say these words: "From the north, I immunize, psychoanalyze, satirize, and exorcise this sacred space."

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In one sense each of us is an intriguing, intricately unique individual, justifiably proud of and in love with our own personal story. In another sense, we are all one body, descended from the same primordial mother and made of identical stuff -- the calcium in all of our bones and the iron in all of our blood originally forged in a red giant star that died billions of years ago.

Rotating slowly in a clockwise direction, look down at your belly as you imagine that at this moment, everyone in the world is breathing along with you. Then face east and say this: "From the east, I lubricate, pollinate, consecrate, and emancipate this sacred space."

Now it's time to confess the truth about who you really are.

Gaze upward and stretch your arms out high. Say the following: "I am a genius."

And say this: "I am a lucky, plucky genius."

And say this: "I am a lucky, plucky, good-sucking genius."

Thank you for finally confessing the truth. It's about time you admitted that you are a miraculous work of art.

You came into this world as a radiant bundle of exuberant riddles. You slipped into this dimension as a shimmering burst of spiral hallelujahs. You blasted into this realm as a lush explosion of ecstatic gratitude. And it is your birthright to fulfill those promises.

I'm not pandering to your egotism by telling you these things. When I say, "Be yourself," I don't mean you should be the self that wants to win every game and use up every resource and stand alone at the end of time on top of a Mt. Everest-sized pile of pretty garbage.

When I say, "Be yourself," I mean the self that says "Thank you!" to the wild irises and the windy rain and the people who grow your food.

When I say, "Be yourself," I mean the rebel creator who's longing to make the whole universe your home and sanctuary.

When I say, "Be yourself," I mean the dissident bodhisattva who's joyfully struggling to germinate the seeds of divine love that are packed inside every moment.

When I say, "Be yourself," I mean the spiritual freedom fighter who's scrambling and finagling and conspiring to relieve your fellow messiahs from their suffering and shower them with rowdy blessings.

Now let's move on to the next stage of your confession.

Squat. While patting and massaging the ground or floor in front of you, say this: "I am insane."

And say this: "I am an insane hurricane."

And say this: "I am a highly trained, entertainingly insane hurricane."

Thank you for finally confessing the truth, which is that you are constitutionally incapable of adapting nicely to the sour and crippled mass hallucination that is mistakenly called "reality." You are too amazingly, blazingly insane for that.

You are too crazy smart to lust after the stupidest secrets of the game of life. You're too seriously delirious to wander sobbing through the sterile, perfumed labyrinth looking in vain for the most ultra-perfect mirror. Thank the Goddess that you are a fiercely tender throb of sublimely berserk abracadabra.

You will never get crammed in a neat little niche in the middle of the road at the end of a nightmare.

You refuse to allow your soul's bones to get ground down into dust and used to fertilize the killing fields that proudly dot the ice cream empire of monumentally demeaning luxuries.

You're too brilliantly cracked for that.

You're too ingeniously whacked.

You're too ineffably godsmacked.

Now stand up and make a series of small jumps, rotating a quarter turn in a clockwise direction with each jump. And as you do, say this: "I am a lucky, plucky, good-sucking genius and a highly trained, entertainingly insane hurricane."

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EGO’S AMBITION VERSUS SOUL’S AMBITION

When we talk about ambition and the drive for success and the pursuit of excellence, it is crucial to discriminate between the soul’s ambitions and the ego’s ambitions, between the soul’s drive for success and the ego’s drive, between the soul’s pursuit of excellence and the ego’s pursuit.

How does all that play out in you? Maybe your ego wants to own 10 million dollars and have a stunningly attentive lover and win awards for the work you do.

Your soul, on the other hand, may be less interested in that stuff. Your soul might want to create elegant environments, or heal the wounds you suffered in childhood, or get into a dynamic relationship that teaches you how to love. Your soul might want to conquer your fears or travel widely or develop a close connection with nature.

So here’s the thing: If you want to develop an indomitable drive to create the destiny you want, make sure it’s the destiny your soul yearns for. As long as you are obsessed with your ego’s goals, you may never be able to access the core fuel of your ambition.

There may, of course, be an overlap between the destiny your ego wants and the destiny your soul wants. If your soul wants to heal the wounds you suffered in childhood, such a longing could be compatible with your ego’s desire to be rich and famous. Maybe you could write a bestselling book about how you healed the wounds you suffered in childhood.

But the soul’s vision must be primary: your highest priority.

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In the case of my story, my ego longed to be a famous rock star, whereas my soul mostly just wanted to create and play and perform music. And I got what my soul wanted, but only got a part of what my ego wanted.

To be candid, I have come to believe that if my ego had gotten what it wanted—if I had become a famous rock star—it would have been harder for my soul to get what it wanted, which was simply to exult in making music.

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The Soul’s Code: In Search of Character and Calling by James Hillman

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MAYBE SOCIETY NEEDS TO BE HEALED OF ITS POWER TO HURT US

One of my primary teachers has been psychologist James Hillman, author of The Soul's Code. He writes: "The theories of psychotherapy make every problem a subjective, inner problem. And that's not where the problems come from.

"They come from the environment, the cities, the economy, the racism. They come from architecture, school systems, capitalism, exploitation.

"They come from many places that psychotherapy does not address. Psychotherapy theory turns it all on you: you are the one who is wrong.

"What I'm trying to say is that, if a kid is having trouble or is discouraged, the problem is not just inside the kid; it's also in the system, the society."

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More Hillman: "The therapists in the trenches have to face an awful lot of the social, political, and economic failures of capitalism.

"They have to take care of all the rejects and failures. They are sincere and work hard with very little credit, and the HMOs and the pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies are trying to wipe them out.

"So certainly I am not attacking them. I am attacking the theories of psychotherapy."

More James Hillman: https://scott.london/interviews/hillman.html

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Related thoughts:

The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Maté and Dabniel Maté: https://tinyurl.com/MythOfNormal

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

Week beginning July 20

Copyright 2023 by Rob Brezsny

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Leo theologian Bernard McGinn defines mysticism as "the consciousness of the immediate presence of God." In other words, people having a mystic experience are filled with a visceral sensation of the divine intelligence. It's not just an idea or concept; it's a deeply felt communion infused with intimate tenderness. You Leos will be more likely than usual to have such contact in the coming weeks—if you want it. If you don't want it, or don't believe it's real, or don't think it's possible, well, then, you can of course resist it. But why not give it a whirl? There’s nothing to lose, and it could be fun.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Here's a parable for you. Once upon a time, there was a woman who could read the future in the night sky. She regarded the planets and stars as her divine informants. On one moonless evening, she took a walk down a dirt road near her home. It was so dark she could barely see two feet ahead of her. Oops! She should have brought a flashlight. Lost in wonder, she gazed up at the heavenly bodies, watching and listening for revelations they might have for her. Then one of the lights, the planet Saturn, whispered, "Stop and look down, friend." The woman turned her eyes from the sky to the ground just in time to find she was two strides away from stepping into a deep, muddy hole. What’s the moral of the tale? Here are some possibilities. 1. Sometimes the heights provide useful information about the depths. 2. Soaring visions may help you tune in to practical details. 3. To become aware of important facts you’ve overlooked in your daily rhythm, consult your higher mind.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): A Libran writer I know received many rejection notices when he launched his career. I was amazed at how undaunted he was. In fact, he was the opposite of undaunted. He taped copies of his rejection notices to his bedroom wall. Seeing the evidence of his failures motivated him. It drove him to improve his writing and churn out even more articles. It fueled his search for a wider array of publications that might host his work. During the fourth year of this approach, luck and fate turned in his favor. Within the next eight months, 12 of his pieces appeared in print. My muses tell me, Libra, that you need to hear this story right now.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The cartoon character Bart Simpson is one of the stars of The Simpsons animated TV show. According to him, “Life is a paradox. You're damned if you do and damned if you don’t.” While that principle may sometimes be true, I believe you will be exempt from it in the coming weeks. In fact, I suspect you will be as free as it’s possible for a human to be of grueling contradictions, frustrating oppositions, clashing truths, and paralyzing contraries. There’s a good chance you will also outwit and avoid annoying incongruities and silly arguments. Congratulations in advance, Scorpio! Take full advantage of this phase of simple clarity.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The dragon has appeared in the myths and legends of many cultures. Europe, China, and Mesoamerica are just a few places where the fire-breathing flying reptiles have fascinated the human imagination. In some traditions, they are dangerous and predatory. In China, though, they have been harbingers of good fortune and symbols of great power. Emperors claimed the dragon as their special emblem. In assigning the dragon to be your soul creature, Sagittarius, I am drawing from Chinese lore. What would you like to accomplish that would benefit from you having access to fierce, dynamic, indomitable energy? Call on the dragon for help and power.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): "There is a world of people who will love you for who you are," writes author Cheryl Strayed. "A whole, vibrant, fucked-up, happy, conflicted, joyous, and depressed mass of people." In the coming months, one of your prime tasks is to specialize in communing with these folks. Make it your intention to surround yourself more and more with interesting, imperfect, ever-changing life-lovers who appreciate you for exactly who you are—and who inspire you to grow more and more into the full idiosyncratic glory of your authentic self.

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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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Did you know that I also write daily horoscopes, 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.

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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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): What psychic or prophet is most popular with a-list celebrities? I can assure you it’s not me. Few of my millions of readers are world-famous. What about the planet’s most scientifically accurate astrologer? Who might that be? It ain’t me. I don’t regard astrology as a science, and I mistrust those who say it is. In my view, astrology is a mythopoetic language and psychospiritual system that nurtures our souls and helps liberate us from our conditioning. We shouldn’t try to get “scientifically accurate” information from it. Now I encourage you to do what I just did, Aquarius. Have fun telling people who you are not, what you don’t believe in, and which goals you aren’t interested in pursuing.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): To come up with your astrological reports, I study the positions of the sun, moon, and planets in relation to your sign. That's the technical part of the work, the framework within which I unleash my intuition and imagination. To augment this work, I meditate and pray, asking higher powers to guide me in providing useful information for you. I often consult books written by my favorite astrology writers. (Currently reading Steven Forrest’s The Elements Series.) I also ask my deep mind to slip me info that might not be accounted for by traditional factors. How about you, Pisces? How do you do the work that you love and care about? Now is a good time to take inventory and make necessary adjustments.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Your deep psyche will soon well up with extra creativity and fertility. I hope you will eagerly tap into these gifts. You should assume that you will be more imaginative and ingenious than usual. You will have an enhanced ability to solve problems with vigor and flair. In what areas of your life would you love to gently erupt with a burst of reinvention? Which of your habits might benefit from being cheerfully disrupted? Give yourself permission to change whatever bores you.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): My teacher Paul Foster Case said the color yellow is midway between warm, exciting red and cool, calming blue. “Yellow has an equilibrating influence,” he wrote. “It stimulates the finer functions of the brain, is of assistance in developing alertness and discrimination, and helps to establish emotional balance.” According to my astrological analysis, Taurus, you should emphasize this hue in the coming days. If you call on yellow to help strengthen the qualities Case describes, you will place yourself in sweet alignment with cosmic rhythms.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Because I enjoy joking with you, I am slightly tempted right now to give you one of the following nicknames: Fidgety, Twitch, Jittery, Quivers, or Shakes. But I will take a more serious tack. Let’s instead see if we can influence you to slow down, stabilize your rhythm, get really steady and secure, and stand strong in your foundational power spot. Would you consider adopting any of the following nicknames? Anchor, Unshakeable, Sturdy, Rock Solid, Staunch, Steadfast, Resolute.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The sometimes overly clever author Oscar Wilde said, "When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers." I reject that warped view of reality and assure you it will have no bearing on your life in the coming weeks. If you formulate your prayers with care and discernment, they will lead you to rewards, not problems. Maybe not the exact rewards you imagined, but still close to your hopes and helpful in the next chapter of your life story. (PS: No sloppy, lazy, careless prayers, please. Be precise and clear.)

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Homework: Is there anyone you love that you could or should love better? Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

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