Beauty & Truth Press

Astrology Is Real

Oracular Soul-Making

Astrology Is Real: Revelations from My Life as an Oracle is the first astrology book from Rob Brezsny, longtime author of the globally syndicated weekly column "Free Will Astrology."

$22.00   print edition

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Is astrology real? Of course! Yes! Astrology is very real—although not in the same sense that the orange vermillion steel towers of the Golden Gate Bridge are real, or the lavender soap you used for your last shower, or the great horned owl you saw roosting in a juniper tree. 

Astrology is real in the way that an Emily Dickinson poem is real, and psychology's theory of the unconscious mind, and the dream of your dead ancestor you had last night, and the myths of Gilgamesh and Inanna, and the story Toni Morrison told in her novel Beloved. 

Is astrology true? Of course! Though it's not true in the same sense that the binomial theorem is true. Not true like the speed of light is 186,282.39 miles per second or like every molecule of water is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Astrology is not true in the same way as the fact that 55 big American corporations pay no federal taxes. 

But astrology is intensely and intimately true in a trillion other ways. It's as true as the epiphany you had when you realized you wanted to move to a new location or get married to a person you loved.  

Astrology is true like the mix of delight and melancholy that seeps into you as summer turns to autumn. True in the same way that you feel cheerful and frisky when the first spring leaves appear on oak and maple trees. As true as the fact that you are sleepier in the depths of winter than at other times of the year. 

Astrology is very much true, deeply and gloriously true, in the sense that Patti Smith is true as she sings her song "Radio Ethiopia.” True like the inspiration Georgia O'Keeffe tapped into as she painted Flowers of Fire. True like the wrathful hope that motivated Martin Luther King Jr. to write his "I Have a Dream" speech. True like the Indigenous Anishinaabe trickster spirit Nanabozho, an unruly, gender-changing hero whose job it is to learn the names of all creatures. 

Astrology is as real and as true as your imagination. As real and as true as the story you tell yourself about your life. As real and as true as your never-ending cavalcade of yearnings. 

 

ARIES: A martial arts competition on ESPN TV featured a macho dance-off, in which rivals took turns brandishing their high-octane warrior choreography. At one point the announcer waxed poetic as the eventual winner pulled off a seemingly impossible move: “And that was a corkscrew illusion twist rodeo spin!” I invite you to use that phrase as an incantatory invocation in the regular pep talks you give yourself. Ask yourself every now and then, “What will be my next version of the Corkscrew Illusion Twist Rodeo Spin?” + TAURUS: Your body is holy and magical and precious. I advise you not to sell it or rent it or compromise it in any way. I invite you to attend to your sweet flesh and blood and nerves with consummate care. Find out exactly what your amazing organism needs to feel its best. Lavish it with pleasure and healing. Treat it as you would a beloved child or animal. I also hope you will have intimate conversations with the cells that compose your body. Let them know you love and appreciate them. Tell them you want to collaborate with them to create maximum well-being. Ask them for their counsel. + GEMINI: Of all the people in the world, you Geminis are the best at skipping, scampering, springing, capering, hustling, and hippety-hopping. You are also incomparable when it comes to twirling, pivoting undulating, gyrating, and rub-a-dub-dubbing. Bonus! No other sign of the zodiac has such an extravagant capacity to rumble, romp, rollick, cavort, and zip-a-dap-doodle. Congratulations! On the other hand, few of you Twins ever develop an expertise in shuffling, drooping, mumbling, and wallowing. You’re most likely unskilled at the low arts of dawdling, sniveling, pigeonholing, or pussyfooting. But that’s a good thing! Congratulations again! + CANCERIAN: Why are Australian sand wasps so skilled at finding their way back home after being out all day? Here’s their trick: When they first leave the nest each morning, they fly backwards, imprinting on their memory banks the sights they will look for when they return later. In addition, their exiting flight path is a slow and systematic zigzag pattern that orients them from multiple directions. The sand wasps remind me of you Cancerians. One of your key lifelong tasks is to keep finding your way back to your spiritual home, over and over again. + LEO: You are destined to become a genius of controlled burning. It’s your birthright to be skilled in the fiery arts: to kindle and illuminate and energize and warm. With each passing month, you know more about when it’s smart to turn the heat up high and when it’s right to simmer with a slow, steady glow. You’re a student of luminosity: learning to wield your flames with discernment and compassion rather than with pride or rage. You practice and refine your talent for the creative destruction that burns rot and dross. + VIRGO: By the time my Virgo acquaintance Cal was seven years old, he was lit up with a desire to know how things work. Sometimes that caused problems. When he dismantled the toaster to examine its innards, for instance, his parents reprimanded him. In a working-class family of 12 kids, losing a valued appliance caused a financial crunch. But Cal kept taking things apart to understand them better. In time his research led him to develop a skill for putting things back together again, often in better shape than they were before he got a hold of them. That is the mark of an evolved Virgo. P.S. As an adult, Cal creates interactive robots that perform in shows all over the world. He's a skillful builder. + LIBRA: You’re like an estuary, where the salt water of the sea mingles with the freshwater of a river. Your power spots are the boundaries where cumulus cloud and blue sky join; where the grey-brown oak trunk joins the brown-grey earth; where your shadow overlaps your companion’s shadow in the rich double darkness. Rejoice twice! Life authorizes you to brandish and celebrate potent dualities. You thrive on being two-toned and bicultural. You’re a synergized fusion of the yes and the no, the give and the take, the lyrical and the well-ordered. In the description of poet Robert Frost, you’re not confused, you’re well mixed. In the words of the midwife muse in my dream of your rebirth, you’re both the reflection of the white rose in the mirror and the rose itself. Do you agree but also disagree? Excellent! That’s you being true to yourself. Your assignment is to be a humming juxtaposition, not a jagged contradiction. If you do your sacred duty, you’ll never get crushed by the squeeze of opposites because you’ll be faithfully massaged by oscillating complements. + SCORPIO: In the TV science-fiction show Doctor Who, the title character lives in a Tardis, a time machine that is also a spaceship. From the outside, it appears to be barely bigger than an old-fashioned phone booth. But once you venture inside, you find it's a spacious chateau with numerous rooms, including a greenhouse, library, observatory, swimming pool, and karaoke bar. This is an excellent metaphor for you Scorpios. Anyone who wants your love or friendship must realize how much you resemble a Tardis. They’ve got to understand that you’re far bigger on the inside than you seem on the outside. If they don’t, it’s unlikely the two of you can have a productive relationship. As a public service, I invite you to make sure everyone you're involved with knows this fact. + SAGITTARIUS: Walk your wisdom walk, Sagittarius. Talk your wisdom talk. Dream your wisdom schemes and stream your wisdom memes. Excite us with your wisdom uproars and your wisdom surprises. Gaze out at our broken world with your wisdom eyes. Play your wisdom tricks and risk your wisdom jokes and erupt with your wisdom cures. We need you to be a radiant cascade of irresistible wisdom. We ask you to conjure a restless flow of wisdom exploits and wisdom interventions. What are your wisdom mistakes? Your wisdom aches? We want those, too. And please note: You don’t have to wait until the wisdom is perfect. You shouldn’t worry about whether it’s eminently practical. Your job is to trust your wisdom body, to unleash your wisdom wails, to revel in your wisdom resurrections. + CAPRICORN: "Most humans have an absolute and infinite capacity for taking things for granted," declared author Aldous Huxley. That's the bad news. The good news is that you Capricorns are the least likely sign of the zodiac to fall under that bad spell. If you choose to develop your natural potential, you can make it a habit to regularly renew your passion for and commitment to all your familiar pleasures and fundamental supports. You will be consistently aware of the everyday miracles that allow you to thrive. You will express your appreciation for the sources that nourish you so reliably. + AQUARIUS: More than any other sign of the zodiac you have a knack for collecting and making savvy use of ah-ha! moments. Why? I think it's because you have an extra willingness to periodically drop your fixed beliefs about how everything works. You're more likely to respond to surprises as welcome catalysts rather than annoying inconveniences. No one else has a greater inclination to say, "I love to get my curiosity spiked, my hair mussed, my awe struck, my goose bumps roused, my dogmas exploded, and my mind blown.” + Pisces: The Japanese term wabi-sabi refers to an interesting or evocative imperfection in a work of art that makes it more beautiful than if it were merely perfect. Duende is a Spanish word referring to a work of art that astonishes and thrills its viewers because it's so emotionally rich and unpredictably soulful. One of your special potentials is to be a work of art exuding an abundance of these two qualities. Notice that in the last sentence we suggested that your life itself might be a tour de force masterpiece. Your wabi-sabi gives you the je ne sais quoi to free yourself from hyper sleekness and excessive refinement in the quest for unruly beauty. Your duende provides you with the lyrical ingenuity to be a maestro of surprise and creative flair.