Rob Brezsny | |
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| Occupation | Astrologer Author Musician |
| Nationality | American |
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Rob Brezsny is an American astrologer, author, and musician. His weekly horoscope column "Free Will Astrology" – formerly "Real Astrology" – has been published since 1980, [1] and by 2010 was syndicated in around 120 periodicals. [2]
Brezsny uses first-person narrative in his horoscope columns, as well as a more literary approach than conventional horoscopes use. [3] He conceives of astrology not as a science but as "a poetic language of the soul", comparing it to "a Neruda poem, Kandinsky paintings or a Nick Cave song." [4] The Utne Reader described the column as "a blend of spontaneous poetry, feisty politics, and fanciful put-on", [3] and The New York Times called it "glib, hectoring, oblique", and said that it appeals primarily to urban professionals "who turn to it for irreverence as much as for insight." Brezsny is quoted as saying "I'm on a mission to save people from the genocide of the imagination," and told the Times that his "secret agenda" is "to be a poet who gets paid for writing poetry." Brezsny said "I predict the present. I don't believe in predicting the future." The head of the mainstream New York Astrology Center called Brezsny's column "silly". [1]
In the 1970s and 1980s, Brezsny was a singer and songwriter for Santa Cruz, California bands such as Kamikaze Angel Slander and Tao Chemical, and then, in the early 1990s, for the band World Entertainment War, [5] for whom Brezsny wrote the song "Dark Ages", which was later recorded by Jefferson Starship for their 1995 album Deep Space / Virgin Sky . [6] [7] Jefferson Starship also recorded the World Entertainment War song "In A Crisis" on their 2008 album Jefferson's Tree of Liberty . [8]
Brezsny contributed to the writing and soundtrack of the 1995 science fiction independent film The Drivetime . [9]
Brezsny is author of the books Images Are Dangerous (1985); [10] The Televisionary Oracle (2000), [11] a novel; [12] and a self-help book, [13] Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring To Shower You with Blessings (2005), which derives its name from the concept of pronoia. [14] [15]
Astrology is a pseudoscience that claims to divine information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the movements and relative positions of celestial objects. Astrology has been dated to at least the 2nd millennium BCE, and has its roots in calendrical systems used to predict seasonal shifts and to interpret celestial cycles as signs of divine communications. Many cultures have attached importance to astronomical events, and some—such as the Hindus, Chinese, and the Maya—developed elaborate systems for predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations. Western astrology, one of the oldest astrological systems still in use, can trace its roots to 19th–17th century BCE Mesopotamia, from where it spread to Ancient Greece, Rome, the Arab world and eventually Central and Western Europe. Contemporary Western astrology is often associated with systems of horoscopes that purport to explain aspects of a person's personality and predict significant events in their lives based on the positions of celestial objects; the majority of professional astrologers rely on such systems.
Pronoia is a neologism coined to describe a state of mind that is the opposite of paranoia. Whereas a person suffering from paranoia feels that persons or entities are conspiring against them, a person experiencing pronoia feels that the world around them conspires to do them good. In 1993 the writer and Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder John Perry Barlow defined pronoia as "the suspicion the Universe is a conspiracy on your behalf".
Now, also known as NOW Magazine, is a free alternative weekly newspaper and online publication in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The Detroit Metro Times is a progressive alternative weekly located in Detroit, Michigan. It is the largest circulating weekly newspaper in the metro Detroit area.
An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting local people and culture. Its news coverage is more locally focused, and their target audiences are younger than those of daily newspapers. Typically, alternative newspapers are published in tabloid format and printed on newsprint. Other names for such publications include alternative weekly, alternative newsweekly, and alt weekly, as the majority circulate on a weekly schedule.
Sydney Omarr was an American astrologer and an astrology consultant to the rich and famous. His daily Sun Sign Horoscope column appeared in more than 200 newspapers and his annual forecast books for each sign of the zodiac sold over 50 million copies.
Metro Newspapers, also known as Weeklys, is an American newspaper company based in San Jose, California. It publishes five free alternative weekly newspapers in Northern California: Metro Silicon Valley, Good Times, the Pacific Sun, East Bay Express and the North Bay Bohemian; and eight community newspapers: the Gilroy Dispatch', the Hollister Free Lance, the Morgan Hill Times, the King City Rustler, Salinas Valley Tribune, Aptos Life, The Pajaronian and Press Banner.
Conversations with Eternity is a book by John Chambers, published from a series of notes by Victor Hugo. It "set out to present the Hugo family's table-turning seances in Marine-Terrace on the island of Jersey between 1853 and 1855". Chambers translated the original notes, which dealt with themes of spirituality.
World Entertainment War was an American funk rock band, formed in 1986. They recorded four records before disbanding in 1993, and then played reunion concerts in 2000 and 2001, and again in 2009. The band describes itself as “a benevolent media virus programmed to prevent the entertainment criminals from stealing your imagination."
Antero Alli is a professional astrologer who has authored books on experimental theatre, astrology and Timothy Leary's 8-circuit model of consciousness. He lives in Portland, Oregon, where he conducts workshops and stages theatrical productions, some of which have been released as films.
Boulder Weekly is an alternative newsweekly that publishes every Thursday in Boulder, Colorado. The paper is a member of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (AAN) and is owned and published by Stewart Sallo.
Donald Baldwin is an American drummer best known as a member of Jefferson Starship and its continuation Starship (1984–1989).
The Drivetime is a 1995 science fiction film directed, written, and produced by the Finnish-American filmmaker Antero Alli.
Good Times is a free-circulation weekly newspaper based in Santa Cruz, California. Good Times is distributed in Santa Cruz County, a coastal area that includes Capitola, Rio del Mar, Aptos and Watsonville. It is owned by the Northern California-based Metro Newspapers. Dan Pulcrano is the CEO and executive editor.
Darby Marie Gould is an American vocalist best known for her work with Jefferson Starship and World Entertainment War. Over the years she has developed a loyal following based on her passionate, soulful vocals and intense stage presence.
Daniel Vee Lewis is an American musician and bass player, perhaps best known as the bassist for the Santa Cruz, California-based group World Entertainment War. His current projects include Dreambeach, with cofounder & vocalist, Pipa Piñon, and performance work with Solcircle, The Joint Chiefs, and The Al James Band.
Kevtone is an American musician, percussionist, and songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Performing live and in studio, his rhythm style may best be described as improvisational, melodic, progressive, and bluesy, over a wide variety of styles; reflecting influences from many genres of music.
George Earth is an American musician, guitarist, songwriter, composer, music producer, comic book artist, and talk show host from Echo Park, California. He is perhaps best known as the lead guitarist for both World Entertainment War and Switchblade Symphony, later touring and recording with Angel Corpus Christi, Stolen Babies, and other bands before forming Los Angeles-based Small Halo in 2008. He publishes a semi-regular comic book series and hosts a regular talk show, The Talk Show, in which he also leads The Talk Show Band.
Steven Forrest is an American astrologer, author and lecturer. He is the author of nearly a dozen astrological books and one of the founders of the school of Evolutionary Astrology, described by Forrest as "a form of psychological astrology which is integrated with metaphysics. Where a twentieth century psychological astrologer might focus on the dynamics of childhood, the evolutionary astrologer focuses on the childhood of the soul—prior lifetimes, and the issues left unresolved from them."
The AstroTwins are American astrologers and authors. Together, they have written four books on astrology, they are the featured astrology columnists for Elle.com, Refinery29, Elle Australia and MindBodyGreen, and they publish their own website, Astrostyle.com.
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