ACTS OF WILL

My apologies for being so long away!  It looks like I really need more Will Power to keep at blogging.  So, on the subject of Will Power, I’ve been thinking about how it relates to different tarot cards, including the Emperor, Strength, the Chariot, and various of the 5s and 7s in the Minor suits.

Consider, for example, the 7 of Wands, and how its energy and determination apply to the Acts of Will needed to bring about change.  To bring about change, you need to disrupt some conditions of “homeostasis,” which refers to the tendency of things—including the Body-Mind as well as other types of systems—to seek a state of balance where everything stays in place.  Unfortunately, sometimes systems will settle into a state of balance that can be unhealthy or unsatisfactory, and all of the elements within that system seem to conspire to maintain it at that low-functioning level. 

Due to the Body-Mind’s tenacity at preserving its homeostasis—even when the conditions are bad—people who try to make changes for the better, in any area of life, often find that a thousand little things will arise to try to frustrate their efforts.  We can see a hint of this in the Rider-Waite-Smith illustration of the 7 of Wands, which shows a man trying to beat down a number of other wands that are being thrust toward him.  Because of the Body-Mind’s powers of resistance, you have to bear down on yourself in order to stick with any sort of self-improvement program.

The Buddha addressed this problem in the Vitakkasanthana Sutta: after explaining different techniques to get rid of distractions, he said that if they’re still not working for you, you just have to clench your teeth and “crush mind with mind.”  In the graphic illustration included my last blogpost, (November 24, 2012), on “Tarot Card Images for Meditation,” we can see the challenge of distracting thoughts in the background of the Zen Osho deck’s 4 of Cups.

The good news is that sometimes making even a very small change somewhere in your life or in some other sort of system can disrupt the homeostasis enough to reset the elements in that system to function together in a way that is more beneficial.

TAROT CARD IMAGES FOR MEDITATION

Now that we are into the winter months, I am no longer doing my casual first Sunday workshops, so I want to thank everyone who dropped by.  I am especially impressed by those of you who came more than once, because it means you were willing to put up with my Aspergerisms!

So, as gray winter days are a good time to curl up and meditate, I’ve been thinking about tarot card images as an aid to contemplation.  As mentioned in my post of June 16^th that discussed a tarot spell for “Hanged Man” type situations, sometimes new artists’ renditions of the tarot cards allow you to come up with card juxtapositions that bring up some striking graphic interrelationships.  While playing around with the Osho Zen Tarot, (put out by the Osho International Foundation in Switzerland, with illustrations by Deva Padma, and manual edited by Sarito Carol Neiman), I found the layout below to be helpful for focusing the mind on meditation:

This is a layout where the card images flow well together, due to coloring plus the mirroring of images.  Notice also how facial imagery in the background is also part of the flow. 

If you have this deck, you could use this arrangement as a focusing exercise, by first laying down the “Turning In” card, (corresponding to the 4 of Cups).  The Osho write-up describes this as a person who “is just watching the antics of the mind.”  The act of watching the mind is the first step in Buddhist meditation training, because it helps you to understand the restless habits of your own mind, which is always in motion.  As the mind settles, however, it can then open to insight.  The Osho deck here also presents an interesting alternative image for the 4 of Cups--capturing the tensions inherent to this card, where the moving, fluid, emotional quality of Water contends with the settling quality of Earth.

To complete the layout, place “Silence” (The Star) above “Turning In,” then place the flanking images, “Inner Voice” (the High Priestess) and “Beyond Illusion” (Judgment) to show the progression from a receptive to an awakened mind.

As an alternative—perhaps if you don’t like the background images of discordant thoughts in the “Turning In” card, you could substitute the “Receptivity” card (corresponding to The Queen of Cups), or place “Receptivity” over “Turning In,” to get the card combination below:

Fairy Tale Tarot and Paradigm Shifts

I have been going through my different fairy tale decks, which are “The Fairy Tale Tarot” by Lisa Hunt, The “Fairytale Tarot” by Karen Mahony (art by Alexandr Ukolov and Irena Triskova ), Isha and Mark Lerner’s “Inner Child” cards (illustrated by Christopher Guilfoil ), and “The Whimsical Tarot” by Mary Hanson Roberts.  (I know of at least one other fairy tale themed tarot deck that I don’t have, and there may well be others.)  The Hunt and Mahony decks use illustrations from tales and legends for all of their cards; the “Inner Child” and “Whimsical” decks use them for the Major Arcana and some, (not all), of the Minor Arcana.  I will bring them to the workshop tomorrow, in case anyone wants to work with them in the Tarot Round Robin or the Fairy Tale Village exercise.  Although I’ve had a longtime appreciation of fairy tales and folk legends, I find there are some stories represented in these cards that I’m unfamiliar with, and I have to refresh my memory regarding others, so I shall also bring the books that go with them.

In reacquainting myself with these fairy tales, I’m also considering different themes.  Among other things, I want to revisit the Western fairy tales to see if there are any cases similar to in Asian lore, where demons, monsters, goblins, etc. are converted into guardians and helpers, (and even holy men and women).  This reflects a different worldview than the Western dualism we’ve grown up with, that views everything through the lens of GOOD vs. EVIL, where the unredeemable forces of Absolute Evil are always out to get us.

In regions with a Buddhist sensibility, there are also different types of demons, goblins, and monsters—many of them quite horrifying—but when they do evil, it’s not that they are inherently committed to the destruction of everything good, but because they are ruled by their unrestrained senses and driven by greed, hatred, and delusion.  Of course, the core of the Buddha’s teaching is that all beings suffer from greed, hatred, and delusion, so everyone is enjoined to reflect, “I myself am not free of greed, hatred, and delusion …” so if I judge others, I must do so compassionately, with these things in mind.

This is a reason I find Asian fantasy genres, such as anime, (I’m a great admirer of Hayao Miyazaki, who I feel deserves more credit and honor as the new Disney), to be much more satisfying than the Good-vs-Evil, End-of-Days themed scenarios that American films and TV series have limited themselves to and seem unable to transcend.  Although our dualistic worldview has shackled the American imagination, a huge segment of the younger generation has grown up with anime.  This is something that the larger establishment seems unaware of, but I think it likely that this will eventually result in a paradigm shift that will affect all of our imaginative enterprises.

Fairy Tale Adventures on October 7th

For this upcoming Sunday, October 7^th, I plan to bring my “Fairytale Village” playset to the Triple Goddess bookstore in Okemos, so we can explore some of the ways that fairy tale archetypes play out in our lives.  The last time I did a public demonstration of this technique was in September of 2010, so if you haven’t previously had a chance to participate—or even if you have—come and join the fun.  (For more on using playsets in conjunction with tarot, see my article on the Dollhouse Oracle in the list of article links.)   We will also do the Tarot Round Robin, and I will bring along four different fairy tale decks in case anyone wants to try them out.

FINDING YOUR TEACHER on September 2nd

As always, the first Sunday of September coincides with the Labor Day weekend, and I shall be back at the Triple Goddess for another free-and-casual magical chat / mini-workshop.  I come in for these special sessions even when the first Sunday is part of a holiday weekend, because there are still people who enjoy dropping in on our activities.  By the way, if you have weekend visitors who are open-minded, this is something you can take them to, where they can have a novel experience.

The theme for September is in line with back-to-school: we’ll explore ways that you can manifest / connect with a special teacher for this upcoming semester in the School of Life.  We’ll be working with Corrine Kenner’s “Wizards’ Tarot,” where every Major Arcana card represents a professor in a magical academy.  (If you have your own copy of the Wizards’ Tarot, do bring it along—if not, you can use my copy or a demonstrator deck.)  Don’t feel that you are too old or sophisticated to benefit from a teacher, because new learning experiences are always available if we are willing to open to them.  After identifying which teacher will be most immanent for you in the months to come, we’ll also look at what sort of learning situations may apply, even what type of “school supplies” you may be needing.  Additionally, we’ll explore a special technique for identifying the teaching personality that emerges in you as a result of these experiences.

Because some of the other themes we’ve explored this past year have included the magic of shining, the magic of opening, the magic of flowering, and the magic of interconnectedness, I will be curious to see if any of these ideas will be found to tie in with the magic of teaching and the magic of learning, as these archetypal influences express themselves in our readings.

Sunday’s activities will also include the “frontal lobes supercharge,” a bind-rune for mental potency, and the Tarot Round-Robin.  As mentioned in previous posts, I’m trying to keep the sessions shorter so that people don’t get fatigued, but I think the items on the agenda for Sunday will go relatively fast.

--And oh, by the way, I have been invited to demonstrate some tarot techniques at the Pagan Pride Day celebration, which will be on September 22^nd, in Valhalla Park, in Holt, so I also hope to see you there!

Lammas Themes for Workshop on Sunday, August 5th

Because the first Sunday in August falls close to Lammas, (with its old pagan focus on the grain harvest and bread baking), I typically do something focused on The Mysteries of the Grain, which also gets us into Ancestor World connections and The Magic of Interconnectedness.  So, for a simple, fun activity for this Sunday at the Triple Goddess bookstore in Okemos, I will bring out the Animal Cracker Oracle, which is a fortune telling exercise that was inspired by old Prussian ritual bread baking traditions, and uses animal symbolism for fortune-telling.

For the special card reading exploration activity, I’m bringing along two types of oracle decks: Brian Froud’s “Faeries” Oracle, and Mason and Franklin’s “Fairy Circle” cards to demonstrate readings that explore ancient connections with the fairy folk.  (If you happen to own one of these decks, you are welcome to bring it along for your own use—otherwise we just take turns with the decks I have brought, or use demonstrator decks.) We will also do the Tarot Round Robin.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I am trying to trim the length of these sessions so they don’t get fatiguing, and I believe the above activities won’t run too long.  As always, these workshops are free and casual, so people can drop in and drop out as they feel like.

Planning for Shorter Sessions

I am making preparations for Sunday, August 5^th, at the Triple Goddess.  However, I have noticed that these sessions have started to run rather longer, which may be asking too much of everybody’s endurance—especially in this hot weather.  I had intended these sessions to be more like “magical chats” where people could drop in, sit around and talk, and just come and go.  However, due to my obsessive-compulsive nature, I started packing in activities, and they became more like formal workshops.  On top of that, we have started doing the Tarot Round Robins as a regular thing, which people seem to like because everyone gets a “mega reading,” (and which I like, because it allows us to work with a greater variety of card decks), but this also takes up a good amount of time.

Therefore, I am thinking that I should trim back the activities to just one major theme activity plus the Tarot Round Robin, and then maybe one other short activity if the first theme activity wasn’t very long.

I do worry about pacing, because I don’t want to run through things so fast that I forget some of the major points that I wanted to share.  I also would like to be more open to my intuition, so that I can better respond to people’s questions and concerns.  One of the problems I have as an Asperger’s person is that my thoughts are always falling over each other, which makes it harder to stay attuned.  So, if you are a visitor and have asked me a question, or if we are going over your reading and you are wondering if there is more that could be said, be bold about battering me with questions to keep me in focus.  Feel free to hold my feet to the fire.