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Prayer for You
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Craft/Work
SIGNUM editor Tiffany Lee Brown talks with Rob about online astrology, divination, and the right way to approach a reading. TIFFANY LEE BROWN: Do you think oracles such as Tarot, runes, or the I Ching really work? Do you think astrology really "works"? ROB BREZSNY: I think divination techniques like Tarot, the runes, the I Ching, and astrology are just as likely to provide useful, transformative information as 90 percent of all the other data you encounter. Get your cards read even by a mediocre reader and you'll probably be more motivated to get off your ass and change something about your life than if you scoured the newspaper from back to front. The poet Muriel Rukyser once said that the world is made not of atoms, but of stories. I take that to mean that the supposedly factual articles appearing in, say, the New York Times, are no less and no more stories than the myths you glean from a divination. Whether a story in the NY Times "works" for you or whether an I Ching divination "works" for you should be judged entirely by how it affects your ability to shape your own life with creativity and love. You have a choice about what kinds of stories you want to create your world out of. TLB: Can a person get a proper oracular reading over the telephone? RB: Yes, especially if the soothsayer knows a lot about human nature, is skilled at getting clues about character from vocal clues, and is acting more out of a desire to heal than a desire to impress you with his or her mystical powers. TLB: Can a person get a real reading using a computer-- a) if a real person does the reading for them via e-mail or similar Internet text exchange? b) if a computer program randomly picks the elements of the reading for them, i.e., if the computer program itself randomly chooses the cards in a tarot "reading"? c) if the querent gets to "pick" electronic Tarot "cards," can the computer program then deliver a proper reading? RB: I've personally never gotten many useful shocks from computers doing oracles, but then again, who knows? I'm a big fan of the alchemical dictum that you should look for treasure where everyone tells you that you can't find it. A crumpled piece of paper you pick up out of the gutter could accidentally/synchronistically give you the info you need exactly when you need it. Likewise an ad on the side of a bus, or a conversation overheard in a checkout line. The Rosicrucian vow is: "I will regard every event I encounter as a particular dealing of God with my soul." As for the question addressed in (a) above: I think it's possible for a skilled reader to give a useful divination via e-mail, but you'll probably get better results from a phone or in-person reading. In my experience, much of the juiciness of an extended reading depends on the psychically moist human interaction between reader and client. Without belaboring the point, let me give an example of two people born at the same hour, same day, same year, same hospital. They have identical astrological charts. Yet one could turn out to be a serial killer and one a saint, because each might activate different levels of the archetypal forces charted in the horoscope. I feel that in order for an astrologer to know best what level a client is activating her chart on, that astrologer should interact with her. TLB: Briefly, how does a psychic astrology reading work? Can you do a real reading over the phone, through e-mail, or without ever meeting the querent? RB: First, be clear that a "psychic" reading and an "astrology" reading ain't the same. Most psychics aren't astrologers, and vice versa. As to how a one-to-one astrology reading works, I can only tell you how I do it. I think it's essential to establish from the beginning that the reading is a collaboration between me and the client. Unless she is passionately engaged in the quest, the reading will be flat and generic. To the degree that the client tries to project the image onto me of an all-knowing expert, she obstructs access to her own inner teacher. That's why I insist that the client formulate three or four questions that she wants addressed. Proceeding from this focus, I turn the reading into a conversation, a conspiracy to uncover not the future per se, but the hidden and unconscious patterns at work in the present. TLB: Do you use any particular computer programs or Internet sites for astrology readings or information? Can you tell me any particular programs or sites that either suck terribly or are really cool? RB: The three best sites I know for astrological information: www.StarIQ.com www.moutainastrologer.com www.spiritualintrigue.com For good mini-reviews of many astrological Web sites: www.mountainastrologer.com/plumb600.html For a list of many other links to astrology-related sites: www.mountainastrologer.com/links.html TLB: Can you recommend any Internet sites or computer programs that give readings, such as Tarot or Runes? RB: miva.zodiacal.com/oracle.mv www.sabian.org/oracle.htm TLB: Do you consider yourself "religious"? If so, to what "religion" would you align yourself? Are there favorite resources for your religion(s) of choice on the Internet? RB: Religion is a form of social control I don't subscribe to. (Unless it's in the form Krishnamurti imagined it: six billion unique religions, one for every person on the planet.) Storming the queendom of heaven (not the kingdom), on the other hand, is a full-time spiritual job for me. To aid in this work I borrow elements of the Western Hermetic tradition (including Qabala, Tarot, alchemy, and astrology), Wicca, Tantra, Goddess- based spirituality, Buddhism, esoteric Christianity, and my extensive experience as a shamanic janitor. Suggested resources: The Builders of the Adytum at www.bota.org/main.html The Servants of the Light: www.servantsofthelight.org/ The Golden Dawn at www.hermeticgoldendawn.org/index.shtml Terence McKenna at deoxy.org/mckenna.htm TLB: What, in your experience, is the biggest mistake that curious newcomers make when they start approaching oracles, rituals, or magic for the first time? How should a newcomer approach her first reading, in your humble opinion? RB: Biggest mistake: assuming that the fortuneteller is an all-knowing source of divine infomania. Try to keep a sweet balance between eager receptivity to magic and shrewd discrimination towards the slipperiness of all things magical. Believe with not all of your heart, but with maybe 70 percent of it. And always keep checking in with your inner teacher, that quiet voice within, to see if what the soothsayer is saying resonates with your depths. |
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© 1995-2008 -- Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved
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