30 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 14-20, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com FACE TO FACE A good horoscope writer is a twin brother of a poet, tasked with mastering what can be seen as its own literary genre. Weekly horoscopes are written in prose, but one of California’s favorite astrologers, Rob Brezsny—who started in 1980 and by 2010 was syndicated in around 120 periodicals, including the Weekly—soaks them in music, dreams and poetry. “Human life sometimes features sudden reversals of fortune that may seem miraculous,” to quote one, written in 2023 for Taurus. “A twist in my own destiny is an example. As an adult, I was indigent for 18 years—the most starving artist of all the starving artists I have ever known. Then, in the course of a few months, all the years I had devoted to improving my craft as a writer paid off spectacularly. My horoscope column got widely syndicated, and I began to earn a decent wage.” There. That is a basic story of Rob Brezsny, the astrologer, and a sample of one of hundreds of ways in which Brezsny communicates each week with his massive audience. More about his story can be discovered in his new book, Astrology Is Real: Revelations from My Life as an Oracle. In addition to horoscope writing, Brezsny has been a musician, singer and songwriter for bands such as Kamikaze Angel Slander, Tao Chemical and World Entertainment War. Weekly: The origin story. Where is home? Brezsny: Raised in the Midwest then the East Coast. I was a village idiot on the East Coast. I came into my own and found my true home on Earth when I moved to California in my late 20s. The punk scene blended with the hippie scene in Santa Cruz, where I moved. I felt like I was a blend of both. Here, a freedom to express multigenre, out-of-the-box artists’ expression was welcomed and encouraged. You found your current job, the job that made you a syndicated astrologer, when you were looking for a new bicycle. It was an act of grace unparalleled. I would wish for everyone they would be able to discover their calling and best way to express their soul. Would I have become an astrologer if my old bike wasn’t stolen? The very fact that it happened has a lot of rich implications for how we live—that the loss of the bike turned into my fortune and joy. Is there a sign that you dread writing each week? The great advantage of my job is that I can learn from the archetypal powers and liabilities of each sign. The sign that I’m the least like is Capricorn, but I study Capricorns with great fondness and intensity because I realize that there’s more I can learn from them than from any other sign. Tell us about your process. I meditate and I work on my dreams. Over the years I’ve developed relations with a community of inner sources. You can call them muses, or you can call them angels, spirit guides. They love me writing these horoscopes. They feed me information. When I walk on the path along wetlands, I talk to myself all the time and take notes on my phone. Grounding in my dreams is important. Just like going into nature, going into the dreamland is another space that I inhabit. I take notes every night. Will you read us your dream note from last night, please? “I really do believe a new civilization is being born out of the wreckage of the old civilization. I know things look dire, partly because a lot of storytellers are focusing on what’s falling apart, but I see resurrection, redemption and creation everywhere. I have faith.” And that’s the background for every horoscope that I write. You call yourself a poet in disguise. How do you feel about traditional poetry? I have felt now and then that if not for astrology, I would have followed a career as a poet. But that’s not likely to reach that many people; I’m glad to reach my mass audience with my “disguised” poetry. On the other hand, I still feel that I will resume as a poet. My daughter is a poet. Astrologers have daughters? I have a wife, too—who is an astrologer. She was one before I was. So Zoe grew up with two astrologers. She came to appreciate it. You mentioned 20 writing projects you are working on. It sounds ridiculous. I’ve been working on them for more than 10 years. I have seven tables with chapters of books in order. Four are poetry books; two are novels; 12 are astrology books, one for each sign. Read more (and order books) at freewillastrology.com, and check your weekly horoscope in the Weekly. Sign of the Times Astrologer-poet Rob Brezsny weighs in on sudden reversal of fortune and his new book. By Agata Pop˛eda “I’m not sure if I would have been able to become myself if I hadn’t moved to Santa Cruz,” says astrologer Rob Brezsny, who grew up in the Midwest and first moved to the East Coast before coming to California. COURTESY OF ROB BREZSNY Breakthrough Men’s Community is a non-profitorganizationfoundedin1987 to teach men skills to free themselves from non-productive, painful, or unworkable patterns in their lives. Donate at: www.breakthroughformen.org LIFE TOOLS FOR MEN to Live FULLY ALIVE Transforming lives and communities better dads, better partners, better friends Now registering in person workshops for the fall and spring! For dates and more information, email enrollment@breakthroughformen.org Or visit www.breakthroughformen,org
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