Discover more from Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
My new book is ASTROLOGY IS REAL: REVELATIONS FROM MY LIFE AS A HOROSCOPE COLUMNIST
Below you will find two excerpts from it.
But first, as I did last week, I’ll tell you a key reason why I wrote the book:
YOU NEED MAGIC AND DELIGHT EVERY DAY
Every day, you wade through a relentless surge of soul-less facts. The experience tends to shut down your sense of wonder.
Every day, you're over-exposed to cynical narratives that have been sucked free of delight and mystery. That's why you have to make such strenuous efforts to keep your world enchanted.
I want to enlist you in a conspiracy to champion the sacred cause of feeding our sense of wonder and enchantment. In that spirit, I offer the oracles below.
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AUGURIES FOR YOU
ARIES: Bless your appetite. May it be voracious and unapologetic.
I send you much respect for your buried needs and half-conscious yearnings. May they flow into clear view for you to embrace and celebrate.
Congratulations for your willingness to name the unspeakable truths and acknowledge the embarrassing fears.
May you be willing to rebel against your self-image for the sake of gaining access to deeper reserves of mojo and inspiration.
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TAURUS: Philosopher Alan Watts said the whole world is wiggling all the time. Clouds, trees, sky, water, humans: Everything's constantly shimmying and jiggling and waggling.
One of our problems, Watts said, is that we're "always trying to straighten things out." We feel nagging urges to deny or cover up or eliminate the wiggling. "Be orderly," we command reality. "Be neat and composed and predictable."
But reality never obeys. It's forever engaging in what it does best: flickering and fluctuating and flowing.
In accordance with your astrological potentials, Taurus, I encourage you to rebel against any tendencies you might have to resist the eternal wiggle. Instead, relish it. Rejoice in it. Align yourself with it. It's your birthright to do so.
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GEMINI: In the version of astrology I find most interesting, reincarnation is a foundational hypothesis. In each lifetime, a soul chooses a particular astrological sign because the qualities of that sign are what the soul wants to learn about.
In other words, being born a Gemini doesn’t mean you’re automatically a consummate wizard at being a Gemini. On the contrary, in this lifetime you’re a Gemini in order to learn the art of being one.
You're here to get the hang of what it’s like to be smart and versatile and adaptable and changeable. Your assignment is to keep yourself endlessly entertained and build a strong center of gravity as you weave your life together with a variety of lively activities and ideas and friends.
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CANCERIAN: The ancient Greek mythic hero Orpheus possessed an abundance of what we call emotional intelligence. His feelings were profound, well wrought, and lyrical. He had a virtuoso talent for rousing sublime passions in others.
The music he played on his lyre inspired warring soldiers to stop fighting. Wild animals listened raptly. Workaholics ceased their compulsive toil. When he gave concerts in the underworld, even the cold-hearted rulers of that infernal realm were charmed.
Was Orpheus a Cancerian? I think so.
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LEO: Why do people love you? What attracts them to you? Can we identify the qualities in you that provoke adoration?
It's hard to generalize or summarize, of course. But one factor that generates excitement in others is your role as a radiant benefactor of uplift and inspiration.
Below are epithets I have dreamed up to refer to Leo people who have provided me with that blessing.
• Succulent Dazzle
• Molten Luminosity
• Splashy Fire Bliss
• Reverent Reveler
• Shimmering Joy Beam
• Opulent Delirium
• Passion Donor
• Incandescent Rapture
• Wild Soul Throbber
• Fluidic Gleam Blessing
• Sacred Heart Salvation
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VIRGO: Eighteenth-century painter Joshua Reynolds said that a "disposition to abstractions, to generalizing and classification, is the great glory of the human mind."
To that lofty sentiment, his fellow artist William Blake responded, "To generalize is to be an idiot; to particularize is the alone distinction of merit."
So I may be an idiot when I make the following generalization, but I think I'm right. Now and then—not frequently—it may be in your best interests to rely on crafty generalizations to guide your decisions. Getting bogged down in details at the expense of the big picture—missing the forest for the trees—is a potential pitfall that you can and should avoid.
On the other hand, you are the zodiac's champion particularizer. It's your birthright to express that predilection in all its glory. Have at it!
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LIBRA: I stumbled upon an engineering textbook for undergraduates. There was a section on how to do technical writing, as opposed to the literary kind. It quoted “To Helen,” a poem by Edgar Allan Poe:
“Helen, thy beauty is to me / Like those Nicean barks of yore / That gently, o’er a perfumed sea, / The weary way-worn wanderer bore / To his own native shore.”
The book then gave advice to the student: “To express these ideas in technical writing, we would simply say, ‘He thinks Helen is beautiful.’”
But it’s best for you Libras not to take shortcuts like the engineering textbook. For the sake of your emotional health and spiritual integrity, don't indulge in treating the world as if it were stunted, abbreviated, or sterilized.
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SCORPIO: I will name three tasks that are among the hardest any human can attempt. They are more difficult for you Scorpios than they are for other astrological signs. Paradoxically, you also have the greatest potential to excel at them and perform them with maximum verve.
Here they are:
• Interrupt and overthrow negative trains of thought in the midst of their flow through your mind.
• Negotiate partial solutions to complex problems. Do the half-right thing when it's impossible to do the totally right thing.
• Understand that to graduate from weird karma that has persisted, you must accept the situation as it is, acknowledge any role you might have played in precipitating and prolonging it, and feel gratitude for all it has taught you.
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SAGITTARIUS: Over the years, you've explored expansive ideas about what characterizes a good time. You have a fertile imagination as you dream up interesting ways to amuse and please yourself. I like that about you.
Sometimes it gets extreme, true, but it's a valuable capacity.
In the coming years, I'm guessing you will add to this colorful tradition with further novel variations of the definition of "pleasure" and "happiness."
My advice: Enjoy your experiments without apology. Explore the inexhaustible possibilities. Be willing to play and improvise as you add to your repertoire of bliss and joy and excitement.
To paraphrase the Wiccan credo: As long as it harms no one—including yourself—anything goes.
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CAPRICORN: No one knows the scientific reasons why long-distance runners sometimes get a "second wind."
Nonetheless, such a thing exists. It enables athletes to resume their peak efforts after seemingly having reached a point of exhaustion.
Metaphorical versions of this happy event occur for you Capricorns more often than they do for all other zodiac signs. You are the champion of second winds.
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AQUARIUS: Aquarian chemist Spencer Silver was a co-inventor of Post-it notes, those small pieces of paper you can temporarily attach to things and then remove to attach again and again.
Speaking about the process he went through to develop this crafty convenience, he said, “If I had thought about it, I wouldn’t have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can’t do this.”
I’d like to make him one of your patron saints. Like him, you have vast potential to make practical breakthroughs that may seem unlikely.
With Silver as your inspiration, I hope you periodically ignore conventional wisdom as necessary—even your own. One of your main assignments in life is to respect your intuition when it suggests you consider improbable accomplishments.
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PISCES: In the autumn, the sweet gum tree in my yard is a paradoxical sight. As its green leaves turn red and fall to the ground, it seems to announce that it's slipping into a state of dormancy.
But at the same time, it sprouts hundreds of spiky, bright green balls full of seeds, as if to declare it's bursting with irrepressible vitality.
This phase of the sweet gum's life is an apt metaphor for the way you Pisceans periodically mix endings and beginnings. You have the potential to develop a knack for growing in vitality as a part of you fades away.
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Here’s another excerpt from my book ASTROLOGY IS REAL: REVELATIONS FROM MY LIFE AS A HOROSCOPE COLUMNIST:
THEORY OF DIVINATION
Quoting Greek philosopher Plotinus, astrologer Richard Tarnas writes, “The stars are like letters that inscribe themselves at every moment in the sky. Everything in the world is full of signs. All events are coordinated. All things depend on each other. Everything breathes together.”
So it’s not just the distant globes whose movements and relationships serve as divinatory clues. If we’re sufficiently attuned to the gestalt of creation and pay close attention to its unfolding details, we can read the current mood of the universe in any and all phenomena. The theory of divination proposes that everything reflects everything else.
Let’s say that when you’re done drinking a cup of tea, you tear open your tea bag and randomly scatter the wet leaves on your saucer. The theory of divination says that their seemingly random arrangement tells a story. It’s a precise microcosmic reflection of the entire macrocosm—a miniature symbol of the way the whole system is currently arrayed.
But it’s unlikely you have developed experience or skill in collating analogies between tea leaf patterns and the rhythms of your personal life and world history. You wouldn’t know how to discern macrocosmic meanings from this particular microcosmic event.
Likewise, you could theoretically learn to read the up-to-the-minute mood of the universe in the display of sandals sold at the drug store or the fluttering of sunlight and shadow on a mimosa tree or the scatter of soap suds in your sink after you've finished washing the dishes. But there is no collection of data from people who have studied such correlations in the past. You won’t have useful information to draw on.
Using astrology as a divination tool is very different, though. There’s a rich trove of data gathered by thoughtful, imaginative researchers for hundreds of years. They have worked to correlate the heavenly bodies’ movements with patterns of world affairs and individual destinies.
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Most Indigenous cultures study natural phenomena to discern illuminating clues about the rest of their world. Those include the movements of stars and planets but are not confined to them.
When acacia flowers start to bloom, for example, the Yanyuwa people of Australia know that sea turtles and dugongs (a marine mammal) are getting close to being as fat as they ever get, and are therefore ready to be hunted.
In the 17th century, prominent Italian astronomer Galileo asserted that the movements of the moon were unrelated to the ebb and flow of tides on the earth. But the Indigenous Yolngu of Australia knew better, even back then. They had acquired detailed knowledge of how the lunar phases were linked to the ever-changing tides. This wisdom enabled them to travel efficiently by water and predict the optimal availability of seasonal foods.
The Yanyuwa and Yolngu studied the signs of heaven and earth to make inexact but reliably approximate deductions with practical value.
Some modern people who spend a lot of time in the natural world have similar prowess. For instance, renowned outdoors person and author Tom Stienstra makes long-term weather forecasts by analyzing seemingly trivial details like the quality of red onion skins. He also attests that he can tell what each spring is going to be like by observing the thickness of winter coats on coyotes.
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Astrology works because it has resemblances to the divinatory practices of Stienstra, Yanyuwa, and Yolngu. The planets, the sun, and the moon are signatures in the sky that tell stories about everything else in the world.
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Are there causal relationships between the thickness of coyotes’ winter coats and the quality of red onion skins and upcoming spring weather? Do blooming acacia flowers somehow have a role in fattening the dugongs and sea turtles? Of course not. They are signifiers for each other, not influential agents.
The movements of the moon are causal in the behavior of the earth’s tides. As far as we know, though, 17th-century Yolngu people had no theory about this relationship that would be accurate by the standards of modern science. They simply deciphered lunar behavior to gather useful information about their environment. They noticed connections.
The situation is comparable to astrology. The heavenly bodies provide correlative signs to understand the lives of individuals and the patterns of history. But they don’t cause events to happen. They don’t shape our personalities using long-distance magical vibes.
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The theory of divination proposes that everything reflects everything else. Plotinus again: “Everything in the world is full of signs. All events are coordinated. All things depend on each other. Everything breathes together.”
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Free Will Astrology
Week of October 19
© Copyright 2023 Rob Brezsny
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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I'm not enamored of Shakespeare's work. Though I enjoy his creative use of language, his worldview isn't appealing or interesting. The people in his stories don't resonate with me, and their problems don't feel realistic. If I want to commune with multi-faceted characters dealing with fascinating dilemmas, I turn to French novelist Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850). I feel a kinship with his complex, nuanced understanding of human nature. Please note I am not asserting that Shakespeare is bad and Balzac is good. I'm merely stating the nature of my subjective personal tastes. Now I invite you to do what I have done here: In the coming weeks, stand up unflinchingly for your subjective personal tastes.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): As much as I love logic and champion rational thinking, I'm granting you an exemption from their iron-grip supremacy in the coming weeks. To understand what's transpiring and to respond with intelligence, you must partly transcend logic and reason. They will not be sufficient guides as you wrestle with the Great Riddles that will be visiting. In a few weeks, you will be justified in quoting ancient Roman author Tertullian, who said the following about his religion, Christianity: "It is true because it is impossible."
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): As a Sun-conjunct-Uranus person, I am fond of hyperbole and outrageousness. "Outlandish" is one of my middle names. My Burning Man moniker is "Friendly Shocker," and in my pagan community, I’m known as Irreverend Robbie. So take that into consideration when I suggest you meditate on Oscar Wilde's assertions that "all great ideas are dangerous" and "an idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea." Oscar and I don't mean that interesting possibilities must be a risk to one's health or safety. Rather, we're suggesting they are probably inconvenient for one's dogmas, habits, and comfort zones. I hope you will favor such disruptors in the coming days.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Some people might feel they have achieved the peak of luxury if they find themselves sipping Moët & Chandon Imperial Vintage Champagne while lounging on a leather and diamond-encrusted PlumeBlanche sofa on a hand-knotted Agra wool rug aboard a 130-foot-long Sunseeker yacht. But I suspect you will be thoroughly pleased with the subtler forms of luxury that are possible for you these days. Like what? Like surges of appreciation and acknowledgment for your good work. Like growing connections with influences that will interest you and help you in the future. Like the emotional riches that come from acting with integrity and excellence.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): There are over 20 solutions to the riddle your higher mind is now contemplating. Several of them are smart intellectually but not emotionally intelligent. Others make sense from a selfish perspective but would be less than a blessing for some people in your life. Then there are a few solutions that might technically be effective but wouldn’t be much fun. I estimate there may only be two or three answers that would be intellectually and emotionally intelligent, would be of service not only to you but also to others, and would generate productive fun.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Naturalist John Muir didn't like the word "hiking." He believed people ought to saunter through the wilderness, not hike. "Hiking" implies straight-ahead, no-nonsense, purposeful movement, whereas "sauntering" is about wandering around, being reverent towards one's surroundings, and getting willingly distracted by where one's curiosity leads. I suggest you favor the sauntering approach in the coming weeks—not just in nature but in every area of your life. You're best suited for exploring, gallivanting, and meandering.
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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
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ARIES (March 21-April 19): JooHee Yoon is an illustrator and designer. She says, “So much of artmaking is getting to know yourself through the creative process, of making mistakes and going down rabbit holes of research and experimentation that sometimes work out—and sometimes don’t.” She adds, “The failures are just as important as the successes.” I would extend this wisdom, applying it to how we create our personalities and lives. I hope you will keep it in mind as you improvise, experiment with, and transform yourself in the coming weeks.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Sometimes, we droop and shrivel in the face of a challenge that dares us to grow stronger and smarter. Sometimes, we try our best to handle a pivotal riddle with aplomb but fall short. Neither of these two scenarios will be in play for you during the coming months. I believe you will tap into reserves of hidden power you didn’t realize you had access to. You will summon bold, innovative responses to tantalizing mysteries. I predict you will accomplish creative triumphs that may have once seemed beyond your capacities.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini novelist Meg Wolitzer suggests that "one of the goals of life is to be comfortable in your own skin and in your own bed and on your own land." I suspect you won't achieve that goal in the coming weeks, but you will lay the foundation for achieving that goal. You will figure out precisely what you need in order to feel at home in the world, and you will formulate plans to make that happen. Be patient with yourself, dear Gemini. Be extra tender, kind, and accommodating. Your golden hour will come.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Some astrologers say you Crabs are averse to adventure, preferring to loll in your comfort zones and entertain dreamy fantasies. As evidence that this is not always true, I direct your attention to a great Cancerian adventurer, the traveling chef Anthony Bourdain. In the coming weeks, I hope you will be inspired by these Bourdain quotes: 1. "If I'm an advocate for anything, it's to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. Open your mind, get up off the couch, move." 2. “What a great way to live, if you could always do things that interest you, and do them with people who interest you." 3. "The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know, how much more there is to learn. Maybe that's enlightenment enough—to know there is no final resting place of the mind." 4. “Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown.”
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Author Iain S. Thomas writes, "The universe is desperately trying to move you into the only spot that truly belongs to you—a space that only you can stand in. It is up to you to decide every day whether you are moving towards or away from that spot." His ideas overlap with principles I expound in my book *Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings*. There I propose that life often works to help dissolve your ignorance and liberate you from your suffering. I hypothesize that you are continually being given opportunities to grow smarter and wilder and kinder. In the coming weeks, everything I've described here will be especially apropos to you. All of creation will be maneuvering you in the direction of feeling intensely at home with your best self. Cooperate, please!
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): "Never do anything that others can do for you," said Virgo novelist Agatha Christie. That's not a very Virgo-like attitude, is it? Many astrologers would say that of all the zodiac’s signs, your tribe is the most eager to serve others but not aggressively seek the service of others on your behalf. But I suspect this dynamic could change in the coming weeks. Amazingly, cosmic rhythms will conspire to bring you more help and support than you're accustomed to. My advice: Welcome it. Gather it in with gusto.
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You Need Magic and Delight Every Day
Thank you