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.

Upcoming Session—plus more about why spell casting is good for you

I am getting stuff together for the next magical chat, which will be on October 4th. In addition to seeking continued words of wisdom from the spirit mentors by using "collaborative tarot," I will demonstrate a tarot technique called “The Pentacle Quest.” Premised on the idea that we’re always on some kind of a quest, it takes you through the points of the Pentagram to show you some things about the nature of your current quest, including what stage you’re at in that quest. Then we will transform our readings into Pentacle Spells. Also, if time permits, I will demonstrate a tarot technique for identifying “Your Next Luck-Bringer.”

Now, to pick up on the previous idea of asserting the will to disrupt the bodymind’s stasis and establish a new regime: when we look at certain disciplines like Yoga, which have both physical and spiritual components, or when we look at traditional magic and healing practices, we can see that they often involve all sorts of actions which, by putting your through your paces, take you out of your homeostatic routines and force you to assert your will in ways both physical and mental, and large and small.

In the case of magic, different types of spells often require you to assemble special ingredients, and set time and space aside for little rituals; this can also involve repeating such rituals over an extended period of time. Magic rites have a transformative effect because even those spells which are intended to work changes in your outer world are a sort of self-enchantment: by acting on your bodymind they necessarily involve changes in consciousness.

As great sources of spells and rituals for self-enchantment, here let me plug my books “Tarot Spells” and “By Candlelight," which are designed to be nondenominational and provide simple rites and spells with anyone can do; for people who enjoy the ritual experience, there are added suggestions for things you can do to enhance these rites and spells. [I will add links to my books when I’m able to get around to it.] Of course, there are many other excellent ritual and spell books out there.

Furthermore, if you want to devote some time to spell casting, the spells you try your hand at don’t even have to apply to your larger goals in order to serve as acts of will. For example, your larger goal may be to lose weight or to quit smoking, but, as an exercise in will power, you could make a daily practice of doing spells to attract luck, promote prosperity, or send healing energy to a friend, or rituals to release stress or to honor your ancestors or the nature spirits—among the numerous other ritual actions that can serve as the basis for daily practice.

Training the Will

At the September 6 magical chat session, we were discussing how the Page cards of tarot can apply to taking on new disciplines, and one of the topics that came up in relation to this is the problem of will power. This is an issue addressed by Elmer and Alyce Green in their book, “Beyond Biofeedback.” They point out that our bodymind systems settle in to and try to maintain a “homeostasis,” which is a static condition of being that includes both the good and the bad. So, whenever we try to make a change—even if it’s a change for the better—our bodyminds reflexively rise to resist the change by throwing all kinds of obstacles in our way and undermining our willpower. However, if a person can persist and do enough to unsettle the status quo by introducing different sorts of changes and carrying out large and small acts of will, the bodymind’s efforts at maintaining homeostasis can be disrupted to the point where it is possible to establish new patterns. This allows the bodymind to eventually settle in to a newer, healthier condition of homeostasis. Also, because the bodymind is a unit, any things you can do to work on the body will also help the mind, and things you do to affect the mind will benefit the body.

Consequently, when you want to cultivate will power, think of different things you can do to exercise your will. These acts of will don’t even have to specifically apply to the sort of changes you want to bring about. As an example, the Greens cite Robert Assagioli’s suggestion of standing on a chair for ten minutes a day, just to be doing something different enough to be laying down a new discipline. (This is also an example of how unusual actions can make a special impression on the bodymind--which is why shamans often incorporate outlandish acts and gestures into their practices.)

Some simple things that a person can do as daily practice might include taking the time to brew and drink a cup of healthful herbal tea (especially if, like me, you’re the kind of person who would climb over a mountain of herbal tea to get at a cup of coffee), or greeting the rising sun (possibly with the yogic “sun salutation” exercise), or giving up a regular TV program in order to do something more productive, or doing various other things that are good for you but which you normally wouldn’t take the time or have the inclination to do. You could also make a practice of daily spiritual devotions, little magical spells, or other types of simple rituals. Reframing attitudes can also be part of daily practice. So, if you get into negative feedback loops by dwelling on regrets, push those thoughts out of your mind and replace them with positive.

This business of asserting your will in things both small and large is also an area where the tarot can help. You can approach the cards with a question like, “What can I do as an act of Will?” Then shuffle and cut, and pull the top card, interpreting it as a card of advice rather than a card of prediction. Think about how the card’s traditional meanings and its graphic imagery suggest actions that you can carry out. (This technique of interpreting the cards in terms of what suggestions they have to offer is the subject of my book, “Tarot, Your Everyday Guide.”) Alternatively—or in addition—you could go through your shuffled deck to find the Magician, which has a lot to do with asserting the will as a way of attaining mastery in the world. The Magician’s tools are the elemental powers of Fire, Earth, Air, and Water, so look to the cards flanking the Magician to see which elemental forces are highlighted, then consider how these, along with the flanking cards’ meanings and imagery might suggest ideas for entraining your will. You can turn your reading into a tarot spell by envisioning yourself as the Magician, carrying out the actions you want to incorporate into your routine.