CELESTIAL LIVING ARTS
How best to enjoy the art of living for April 2006
© Liz Howell
Aloha to all,
I have been pondering the eclipses of March with particular attention to the Solar Eclipse of March 29, 2006 at 8 degrees of Aries. Not only does this event set the stage for the month of April ahead - we can expect to feel its influence for months to come.
With that in mind, I have excerpted some entertaining and insightful notions from the writings of visionary astrologer Rob Brezsny, and, with his Rowdy Blessings granted to me, am going to share some of this with you.
Since this recent eclipse speaks to our capacity for new beginnings, I thought it would be helpful to revisit some of the core teachings and lessons each of the zodiac signs brings to the planet.
A little bit about the selections drawn from Rob Brezsny's "PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings:"
According to Rob, Psychiatry and psychotherapy obsess on what's wrong with people and give short shrift to what's right. The manual of these professions is a 943-page textbook called the DSM-IV. It identifies scores of pathological states but no healthy ones.
In 2002, Rob began to complain about this fact, and asked readers to help him compile material for a proposed antidote, the Anti-DSM--a compendium of healthy, exalted, positive states of being. As their entries came in, those at the Beauty and Truth Laboratory were inspired to dream up some of their own. The result: an Anti-DSM-IV, a/k/a: The Outlaw Catalog of Cagey Optimism.
And below, I have taken poetic license to apply some of this cagey optimism to the apropos zodiac sign for your monthly contemplation.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
* HIGHWAY EQUANIMITY. Feeling serene, polite, and benevolent while driving in heavy traffic. (Suggested by Shannen Davis.)
* AGGRESSIVE SENSITIVITY. Animated by a strong determination to be receptive and empathetic.
Aries: Also read Libra
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
* LYRICAL CONSONANCE. Experiencing the visceral yet also cerebral excitement that comes from listening to live music played impeccably by skilled musicians. (Suggested by Susan E. Nace.)
* INADVERTENT NATURE WORSHIP. Experiencing the rapture that comes from being outside for extended periods of time. (Suggested by Sue Carol Robinson.)
Taurus: Also read Scorpio
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
* BIBLIOBLISS. Transported into states of transcendent pleasure while immersed in reading a favorite book. (Suggested by Catherine Kaikowska.)
* LEARNING DELIGHT. Experiencing the brain-reeling pleasure that comes from learning something new. (Suggested by Sue Carol Robinson.)
Gemini: Also read Sagittarius
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
* EMANCIPATED SURRENDER. Letting go of an attachment without harboring resentment toward the stimuli that led to the necessity of letting go. (Suggested by Timothy S. Wallace.)
* AUTONOMOUS NURTURING. Not waiting for someone to give you what you can give yourself. (Suggested by Shannen Davis.)
Cancer: Also read Capricorn
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
* IMPULSIVE LOVE SPREADING. Characterized by a fierce determination to never withhold well-deserved praise, inspirational encouragement, positive feedback, or loving thoughts; often includes a tendency to write love letters on the spur of the moment and on any medium, including napkins, grocery bags, and skin. (Suggested by Laurie Burton.)
* LATE LATE-BLOOMING. Having a capacity for growth spurts well into old age, long past the time that conventional wisdom says they're possible.
Leo: Also read Aquarius
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
* COMPASSIONATE DISCRIMINATION. Having astute judgment without being scornfully judgmental; seeing difficult truths about a situation or person without closing your heart or feeling superior. In the words of Alan Jones: having the ability "to smell a rat without allowing your ability to discern deception sour your vision of the glory and joy that is everyone's birthright."
* BOO-DUH NATURE. Dwelling in the blithe understanding of the fact that worry is useless because most of what we worry about never happens. (Suggested by Timothy S. Wallace.)
Virgo: Also read Pisces
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
* LYRICAL CONSONANCE. Experiencing the visceral yet also cerebral excitement that comes from listening to live music played impeccably by skilled musicians. (Suggested by Susan E. Nace.)
* ECSTATIC GRATITUDE. Feeling genuine thankfulness with such resplendent intensity that you generate a surge of endorphins in your body and slip into a full-scale outbreak of euphoria.
Libra: Also read Aries
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
* INGENIOUS INTIMACY. Having an ability to consistently create deep connections with other human beings, and to use the lush, reverential excitement stimulated by such exchanges to further deepen the connections. A well-crafted talent for dissolving your sense of separateness and enjoying the innocent exultation that erupts in the wake of the dissolution. (Suggested by Sue Carol Robinson.)
* ALIGNMENT WITH THE INFINITY OF THE MOMENT. Reveling in the liberating realization that we are all exactly where we need to be at all times, even if some of us are temporarily in the midst of trial or tribulation, and that human evolution is proceeding exactly as it should, even if we can't see the big picture of the puzzle that would clarify how all the pieces fit together perfectly. (Suggested by Meredith Jones.)
Scorpio: Also read Taurus
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
* IMAGINATIVE TRUTH-TELLING. Conveying the truth of any specific situation from multiple angles, thereby mitigating the distortions that result from assuming the truth can be told from a single viewpoint.
* CRAZED KINDNESS. Having frequent, overpowering urges to bestow gifts, disseminate inspiration, and perpetrate random acts of benevolence.
Sagittarius: Also read Gemini
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
* HOLY LISTENING. Hearing the words of another human being as if they were a direct communication from the Divine Wow to you.
* BASKING IN ELDER WISDOM. A state of expansive ripeness achieved through listening to the stories of elders. (Suggested by Annabelle Aavard.)
Capricorn: Also read Cancer
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
* COMIC INTROSPECTION. Being fully aware of your own foibles while still loving yourself tenderly and maintaining confidence in your ability to give your specific genius to the world. To paraphrase Alan Jones, Dean of Grace Cathedral: following the Byzantine ploys of your ego with compassion and humor as it tries to make itself the center of everything, even of its own suffering and struggle.
* FRIENDLY SHOCK. Welcoming a surprise that will ultimately have benevolent effects.
Aquarius: Also read Leo
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
* BLASPHEMOUS REVERENCE. Acting on the knowledge that the most efficacious form of devotion to the Divine Wow is tinctured with playful or mischievous behavior that prevents the buildup of fanaticism.
* LUCID DREAM PATRIOTISM. A love of country rooted in the fact that it provides the ideal conditions for learning lucid dreaming. (Suggested by Kenneth Kelzer, author of *The Sun and the Shadow: My Experiment With Lucid Dreaming.*)
Pisces: Also read Virgo
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For more on Rob Brezsny, his Free Will Astrology and his recent book, "Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia," visit http://www.freewillastrology.com.
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Please send your questions or comments to Liz Howell at: 
