Thursday, September 2, 2010

Rob Breszny's FreeWill Astrology: Cosmic Energies

Hippie, cockeyed optimist, poet and musician, and a Cancer (birthday June 23), Rob Breszny is many things, but not a traditional astrologer. His weekly column, syndicated mostly to counterculture newspapers, was once called "Real Astrology." Maybe because he offers instead of real horoscopes self-described "oracles," Breszny's enterprise is now named "Free Will Astrology." His weekly Sun-sign messages provide readers with, like, a spiritual Tic-Tac, mostly to remind them that they are not powerless and the world is not hopeless.

Breszny is an "intuitive" or "improvisational" astrologer. This kind simply feels some vibes and shares what comes to mind. Astrologers who use calculations and charts call these people "fortunetellers" or fakes. Brezsny says he thinks of "horoscopes as love letters to my readers," and hopes to guide them by issuing them self-fulfilling prophecies of a positive, uplifting kind. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not astrology.

My own cosmic vibes hint to me that for each zodiac sign Breszny does not consult a chart but instead pulls a card from the Vertical Oracle deck, a strange and beautiful 40-card deck not at all like the classic Tarot. He then posts it with his weekly oracle, maybe advising Aries to go with the flow this week, or telling Pisces to make beautiful mistakes.

Whatever Breszny calls himself, he's an entertaining New Age writer. Breszny's big purple slab of a book, Pronoia is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World is Conspiring to Shower You With Blessings, typically asserts, "This is a perfect moment. . .You are a gorgeous genius. . .Glide through life as if all of creation is yearning to honor and entertain you." Those living in a tent or yurt because they want to will like the book. Those living in Tent City underneath a drop cloth will think the author is a nut.

For the purposes of this review, I give Free Will Astrology site zero stars out of five, because I can't see any genuine astrology even between the lines of its weekly oracles --but I don't want to discourage visitors who might find Breszny's approach liberating, appealing, or visionary.

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