The Broken Prison

Atu XVI is commonly called “The Tower” or more fully “The Blasted Tower”. My own chosen alternate title would be “The Crumbling of The Prison Walls” or more simply “The Broken Prison”. The key idea is that An Established Stable Edifice becomes Utterly Destabilized! The stability of this established edifice is our own conviction in the certainty of our given sensory data. Things Are What They Are, according to our senses; and their apparent consistency encourages our conviction in that certainty. Wobbles of that certainty are what is usually called “delusion” or “illusion” — and never for a moment is that panorama of sensory-convinced consistent certainty ever considered the “actual illusion” or “actual delusion”. Such a consideration would be utterly unnerving for “ordinary living”.

But remember, all Tarot freaks, that Atu XVI is well advanced in the Trump Series. We have gotten well beyond “ordinary living”. The ‘later’ pages (cards) of the Trump Series deal with describing factors necessary-of-consideration for those who have “done work” on themselves. Atu XVI deals with the awful revelation of The Delusion of One’s Own Self-Crafted Prison Walls. The effect does come off like “a force on-high” “descending” and “devastating the solid edifice” “below”. (The ‘above/below’ metaphor is an antique left-over.) The full effect does not require your actual Sensory Perception to “become wobbly”. The devastation is in Your Conviction of ‘Its’ Certainty. In its essence it is A Drastic Change of Mind and Attitude, and the “revelation” is equivalent to “an onslaught”. For those Addicted to Certainty, it would feel like “a violation” and “a violence”. The “breaking” of these “prison walls” is in the otherwise ordinary underlying belief in their certainty. These “prison walls” can still maintain their ‘ordinary appearance’ during this mental conversion. What is “destroyed” or “disturbed” is the resident comfort of their certainty; and the awful cognizance that “what is called real” IS a “curtain” or “veil”. And this revelation does not even have to take on ‘metaphysic’ proportions: the simple comprehension that “the perceptual curtain” is composed of only a portion of the total potential signal-energy output of even every “physical” manifestation, is sufficient.

So, when this card appears in an “ordinary reading”, the reader should be compelled to break the news to the client that some “sacred cow of certainty” is at risk. The usual tactic appears to have been to merely give some ‘frightening trepidation’ about “a violation”, without indicating “the real victim” of “this violation” — a sacredly-held ‘certainty’. For those readers who have dared such, I applaud you.

All of this gives a clue as to why I question the now-classic attribution of this page (card) to only the astrological planet Mars. The much more preferable attribution would be directly that of the astrological planet Pluto. Pluto may be commonly given the metaphors of “death & resurrection”, but the seed idea is that of “transformation” — and, especially read “TransFormation”. The “death & resurrection” metaphors are attempts to give markers-of-definitiveness to a process that rather actually reeks of “in-between-ness”. And it is not unwarranted to say that when the Sense of Certainty has “been violated” or becomes rather abrogate, a feeling of “in-between-ness” ensues. In the Trump Series, Atu XVI represents when the Construct of Certainty has been Torn Asunder, but as yet no “alternative” has been offered (that is the ‘later’ Trumps).

(There are those who also associate the astrological planet Uranus to this page (card), which I cannot wholly disagree yet for one key exception, that I tend to view Uranus as much more ‘purely’ of ‘mental’ orientation — the archetype of “Change Your Mind” in-and-of-itself.)

To me, the astrological planet Mars is much more appropriately associated with Atu IV “The Emperor”. The now-classic astrological attribution to Atu IV is the zodiacal sign Aries; which in my outlook is also valid. Mars is in its core a rather “defiant” stance of “Selective Independence”. There is an insistence on “Me, Myself, and I” (the three ‘truly’ best friends). But this “defiant” stance of Mars is not a matter of ‘pushing away others’; it is simply the extreme perspective of Insisting on Self. Both Mars and Atu IV are merely the notion of “in the wholistic context of Nature, What Is My Place?” Atu IV is the “awful” revelation of a cognizant entity, co-involved in the collective concourse of Nature, to dare to ask such an heretical question as “how do I fit into all this?” Atu IV is distinguished from Mars due to ‘the animal factor’ (of which ‘the human factor’ at this stage is a sub-set).

The core idea of Mars as “Selective Independence” becomes rather abrogate with Atu XVI. “Selective Independence” requires a Sense of Certainty in that notion of “Independent Existence”; a ‘Sense of Certainty’ in that ‘Sense of Separation’ from the surrounding ‘Co-existing Context of Nature’. Atu IV is the most primal act of “I Am I”. With Atu XVI, the sense of “I Am I” is not violated. What is violated at Atu XVI is any certainty of “what is this that Surrounds ‘I’?” What is violated at Atu XVI is “how do I define what Separates ‘I’ from the rest of the surrounding?”

As those who are consistent with “wholistic cognition” do cognize, eventually that “sense of separation” evaporates. But not yet here at Atu XVI.

O-A-Hum
OPD

[added May 15]

There is another factor, concurrent but only appears to be a ‘separate’ consideration.
The devastation of “The Blasted Tower” is very much connected to the Separation of Identification with One’s Temple-Shell. The “Be Here Now” of Atu XIX is the completion of this indicated separation; Atu XVI is the so-called ‘real beginning’ of this separation. To use metaphors from cinematic stories, Atu XVI is The Initial Unplugging from The Matrix, and The Separation from The Avatar. You cease to attach your Sense of Identity with the Vessel, the Machine, the Vehicle that You Are Piloting or Driving. Then, the statements such as “IT Moves” and “IT Feels” and “IT Thinks” become actual, and not merely novel notions. All external descriptions of this attitude pale in comparison to actually experiencing this attitude.

There is yet another concurrent factor, even ‘weirder’ than the above.
There is a genuine sense of how All The Surrounding Construct is A Collection of Information. The “Tower” Crumbles not because chunks of material mutually separate and dissociate from each other — the bodily form remains intact. It is “the reality” of those ‘building blocks’ and of ‘the overall structure’ that is utterly thrown into question, the Sense of Their Stability. To have the vision of how All This is “Congealed Information” is more devastating to The Old Sensibility than can be imagined for ‘ordinary living’. You do not question the movements and happenings of “reality”; but while you observe yourself and your surroundings, your “view” of it has been drastically altered. And it is a “view” that cannot be shared with others, unlike when two people can point to a rock and agree on ‘its’ existence — even if you happen to be with another who also has shifted “view”. I that case, at best, the two “view”-shifted individuals can mutually chuckle over the “it’s just information” humor.

How I use the 3 Card Spread

If I am not mistaken, the common view of the 3-Card Spread has the basic model of a “Before / During / After” methodology. The method is entrenched in a time-based causal-linear mode. One flanking card is described as “leading up to” or “preceding”, and the other flanking card is described as “following after” or “succeeding” — or otherwise similar metaphors.
But I have found it more ‘profitable’ to take the mind out of such a causal-linear model in the initial stage, and then subsequently consider a causal-linear image to make the possibilities of the ‘prediction’-picture “fuller”.

“What the hell does he mean by all this?”
There is a way of viewing the Houses of Astrology in terms of four clusters of three phases (yes, I get that this is not new, but just be patient), and the three phases can be described with ideas that lend to divorcing from a causal-linear mind-set, even though the ideas in that context still do apply to an “input / output” model. The three metaphors used are an “Entry phase”, an “Assimilation phase” and a “Preparation phase”. What I found fascinating was to shift the mind from the “input / output” model to a “condensation / evaporation” model. (Fans of classic alchemical metaphors will find a parallel by taking “solve et coagula” and inverting it to “coagula et solve”.) There is a “coalescing” and a “dissolution”. This process is intimately bound to my own conception of YIN and YANG in terms of “enfolding” and “unfolding“. To steal terms from ‘wave dynamics’, there is a “compression” and there is an “attenuation”.

The central card still retains its description as “the central consideration”. It is the focus of the theme. The flanking cards are auxiliary to this “central theme”. That does not change. What changes is the beginning assumption that the flanking cards describe “before / after”, “preceding / succeeding” causal-linear determination. This is where the reader’s mind is challenged. How does the “condensation” to the “central issue” not “precede”, and the “evaporation” of the “central issue” not “succeed”? The reader is forced to face an intrinsic time-based causal-linear bias; which, in my opinion, ‘limits’ the possibilities of what can be delivered with the reading. The reader can still eventually consider a time-based causal-linear description — it just might best not be the primary mode.

“So how do you get out the time-based causal-linear mind-set?”
I do no have a convenient ‘cookbook’ answer to that. (Actually, I do, but that is way beyond the simple considerations here.) The key is simply “change your mind”. You do not have to go into any “cosmic jim/jane” mode to get there. Just dare to consider a way of viewing the picture without a “before / after” model. The best way to describe the mind-set is to really take the “Be Here Now” attitude to heart. The entire event is concurrent. It is like sending a message, and getting a response ‘before’ the message-receiver might have received the message, but ‘after’ you sent the message; or, receiving ‘the response’ just as you ‘send the message’ — as if “they read your mind” (or some similar soothing explanation). When Uncle Einstein described the ramifications of ‘general relativity’, he described how when the vehicle “slows down” and the passenger’s body ‘falls forward’, it is caught in a ‘gravitational field’. The usual causal-linear mind-set thinks “brakes applied”=”make gravitational field”. What really messes with the causal-linear mind-set is to first consider “gravitational field”=”brakes applied”, then to wonder “did ‘gravitational field’ make the ‘breaks applied’ phenomenon?” Now you are getting closer, but no less confused.

I choose to view the flanking cards as if one of them is like an enfolding to the “central issue”, and the other is like an unfolding of the “central issue”. As with any Card Spread, it is up to the reader how to determine which card ‘means’ which. If you choose to do a ‘controlled spread’ and have the cards placed ‘side-to-side’, or ‘above-to-below’, is entirely up to you as the reader. If you choose to discretely place a card before you and call that one “the central issue”, and then wildly fling one card one way in the room and call that one “the enfolding“, and then wildly fling another card another way in the room and call that one “the unfolding” — so be it!

I happen to have another novelty, which really gets in touch with “random Mercury”. I am the one who does the thorough shuffling, and then the querent is the one who divides that shuffled deck into three sections. When the querent divides the deck into the three cuts, I “mentally determine” which segment is which group. Then from each of those sections, I randomly choose a card thereof, by ‘wildly’ poking my finger into each of the designated groups, and pulling the according card.

I must emphasize that nowhere am I claiming that a time-based causal-linear interpretation is ‘incorrect’. I simply feel that it is a limitation of an otherwise richness that can be offered even by a simple 3 Card Spread.

O-A-Hum
OPD

The Ultimate Pilot

Atu XX is called “The Aeon” in the Crowley-Harris Tarot. Crowley’s use of the term is difficult and misleading, especially for “the beginner”. He ‘distorted’ the idea of “an epoch” to conform to his desire to ‘create a new religion’ ( a huge mistake in my opinion). One is better off investigating the use of that term with regards to “Gnosticism”. (I have yet to read Jung’s book by that title.) The ‘classic’ full title is “The Last Judgment”, which is infinitely superior to the foreshortened “Judgement”; but one is much better off dissociating the “X-tian connection” to that phrase.
Crowley’s design of Atu XX, even by his own description, is claimed to be a portrait of “the Hierarchy of the New Aeon”, which is technically correct but, again, misleading by the presented wording. Instead of “back-pedaling” and then “forward-pedaling”, I’ll just jump right in.

The Developing Human has gone through the entire adventure as described by the Trump Series — from the initial “Abandonment of the Previous” of Atu 0 unto the eventual “Discovery of the Fuel Chamber” of Atu XIX. Atu XX is a portrait of a new Vehicle of Incarnation (a schematic if you will), and is “the rebirth” unto “a new human”. (I want to say “new being”, but let’s keep this within ‘humanity’.) The Seated Central Deity is “the new person” placed at the Captain’s Chair of the New Space-Time Vehicle. The “Wand of Power” in one hand is “the shifting-stick of the transmission gear-box” controlling “the velocity”. The other hand is “steering the vehicle” controlling “the orientation” (the phrase “I have crushed an universe, and nought remains” is a groovy technical phrase). The Ghostly Twin Sibling is what is commonly called “the astral body” of the physical pilot. In another sense, this is the gnostic Daemon in relation to the seated Eidolon. The Surrounding Goddess (Nuit) is not only the Shell of the overall Vehicle, but also the Distortion of Space-Time about that Vehicle, whereby “point A” and “point B” are ‘curved’ into coincidence. The Basic God-Focus (Hadit) is multi-aspect: the “point A+B” coincidence, the “fuel source”, and (to use a ‘disneyland’ metaphor) the monorail track of the Vehicle.
The complex image at the very base of the portrait, the “hebrew-letter-shin” with the “three children”, and the flames surrounding, I will not get into except that they refer to the ‘classic’ version of this card — yet beyond the average considerations.

For those not acquainted with “space-time travel”, I simply invite you to search for the presentation given by ‘the heretic-scientist’ Bob Lazar, who actually ‘back-engineered’ one of the “extra-terrestrial vehicles”.

This “New Vehicle” is a complete violation of “what we are supposed to be” according to Nature. (Atu VII “The Chariot” is the Vehicle “we are supposed to be” according to Nature.) For those who pretend that “human evolution” is “better”, you should double-check with Nature “who prefers you that you subscribe to ‘her’ parameters”. Nature does not want the “new human” described in this portrait. The stage depicted with this portrait requires a “real grown-up attitude”, when you are cast out of the gestating house and unto a real ‘wild abandon’. “You are now A God.” This is very different from ‘answering to a god’. The “Children of Nature” have a much ‘easier’ time with the matter of ‘living’. All you have to do is “stay asleep” within the ‘bed-chamber’ of “mother”s choosing. Animals are very much friendly with this tactic. And “sleeping humans” are very much entrenched in animal life.

I was reluctant to use the term “resurrection” with this card, rather than “rebirth”, so I ran to my ‘trusty’ dictionary. The following three definitions are offered: a) “the act of rising again after death” (ok); b) “a bringing back into use” (ok); c) “a body snatcher” (HA! There It Is!). Atu XIV also qualifies as a “resurrection” of sorts; so how was that to be distinguished from Atu XX? Actually, in the “long analysis”, there is definitionally “no difference” — so the difference is only to be cognized within the Trump Series. But there is a huge difference between the “Temperence” stage and the “Aeon” stage, given the various ‘trans-terrestrial’ stages between those two (Atus XVI, XVII, XVIII and XIX).

O-A-Hum
OPD

“Timing”? with Tarot?

Time-based predictive behavior is an inherent capacity in Astrology. Time-based predictive behavior with any other form of divination is tricky at best, and is entirely dependent upon “intuition” or “other-vision” — which reeks of subjectivity, so it is fine for self-reading, but gets sloppy when reading for others.

Before going any further with this, let’s get something out of the way. It is utterly useless to attempt to derive any “timing” with the Trumps and the Courts. Their intrinsic “meaning” does not lend to any “quantification”. This examination will focus on using the Number Cards as “timing” devices.

So what is to be “quantified”? Humans have gotten into the habit of measuring “time” with discrete “time-measuring” devices — clocks, calendars, etc. These are artificial constructs of artificial constructs, derivative of derivatives. Those devices in particular are derived from the Sequential Recurrence of the apparent Solar Cycle, which is the original artificial construct. (Yes, yes, “it” is considered a “natural phenomenon”; just follow along for now.) So let’s say you pull the 7 Wands. Do you disregard that it is a Wand card, focusing on the 7, so that you might as well have pulled any other 7 card? Fine — then 7 what? Minutes, hours, days, months, years? Let’s say you decide to determine that one Suite represent one type of “time-period” and another Suite represents another type. Do you see how you are getting deeper and deeper into artificial constructs of artificial constructs? Given that the presiding ‘deity’ of tarot divination is “Mercury”, “he” will have a blast with this technique, completely befuddling the reading. Sure, you will get a ‘definite’ reading, but will it match “real-time” events?

There is a way out of this swamp: go back to ‘original’ artificial constructs that are much more “intimate” — Actual Living Occurrences.

The numbers themselves, of course, provide the “quantification”. So it is up to the Suite to determine the type of ‘event’ to be “sequentially measured” or “quantified”.

I propose these four ‘classes’:

Wand = a “high-impact” experiencial moment or instant;

Disc (Pantacle) = a discrete physical condition (bodily and/or environmentally);

Sword = a “thought-package” or discrete mindset;

Cup = an “emotion-package” — but better, a discernible Cycle or Period (this one is the trickiest).

All of these qualify as discernibly discrete ‘events’ that can be “sequentially measured” ‘in time’. They serve as a much better “personal clock” (if you will). This tactic will be much more effective with a self-reading; and yet, by direct contrast, all the more difficult with reading for another!

Then, amidst the general spread, the Trumps and Courts, by juxtaposition, can serve as “qualifiers”.

I hope this moment of entertainment may prove ‘useful’.

I myself have never used the cards for “time-based predicting”. For such, I refer to Astrology, but that is a completely different symbol system.

O-A-Hum
OPD

A Disturbing Experiment

I’m going to present the items of an experiment, here in reference to the Seven-to-Ten of Swords. These factors have no direct relation to the other ‘higher’ Sword-Numbers, which portray matters ‘above-and-beyond’ these simple points. The experiment and its results are “disturbing”, but the outline of events are very salient to comprehending the ‘lower’ Sword-Numbers.

   The 7 Swords
a) A group of scientists placed 5 monkeys in a cage and, in the middle, a ladder with bananas on the top.
b) Every time a monkey went up the ladder, the scientists soaked the rest of the monkeys with cold water.
c) After a while, every time a monkey went up the ladder, the others beat up the one on the ladder.

       The 8 & 9 Swords
d) After some time, no monkey dare to go up the ladder regardless of the temptation.
e) Scientists then decided to substitute one of the monkeys. The 1st thing this new monkey did was to go up the ladder. Immediately the other monkeys beat him up.
f) After several beatings, the new member learned not to climb the ladder even though it never knew why.
g) A 2nd monkey was substituted and the same occurred. The 1st monkey participated on the beating of the 2nd monkey. A 3rd monkey was changed and the same was repeated (beating). The 4th was substituted and the beating was repeated and finally the 5th monkey was replaced.

    The 10 Swords
h) What was left was a group of 5 monkeys that even though never received a cold shower, continued to beat up any monkey who attempted to climb the ladder.
x) Then the speculation:
If it was possible to ask the monkeys why they would beat up all those who attempted to go up the ladder….. I bet you the answer would be…. “I don’t know – that’s how things are done around here”
Does that sound familiar?
Why do we continue to do what we are doing if there is a different way out there.
———-
If it appears that I have ‘robbed’ these ‘lower’ Number Cards of any “spirituality”, then I was successful. In dealing with the Seven-to-Ten of any Suite, any so-called “spiritual” considerations must remain very auxiliary to the primary implication of the card’s appearance in a reading.

O-A-Hum
OPD

The Cup Knight

The Cup Knight has been given so many analogies of “Loving” and “Caring” and “Devotion”, and then consonantly accused of “not taking care of the details”. He has been Hyper-Romanticized as some “Divine Seducer”, then by extension some “Great Lover”, and then the relatively modern “Knight-in-Shining-Armor” metaphor; yet then quickly accused of “ignoring ‘the real'”. He will take you to Passion Unending — until “the rational” appears, and then that “passion unending” come to a traumatic end. The receivers of the zeal of ‘his’ attitude feel immediately swept into some fantasy, and then eventually see that as mere fantasy. These are all the usual mundane interpretations of the character described by this card.
The Cup Knight is The Active Believer. ‘He’ Actively Traps ‘Himself’ into Passionately Feeling Something. ‘He’ Must Feel on an Emotional Scale. There must be an Overwhelming Aesthetic Quality in ‘his’ attention. ‘He’ is the Waves That Erode the “solidity” of the surrounding, churning that into a mud which is then assimilated into the very substance of ‘his’ “water”. ‘He’ takes “the other” and consumes that into ‘his’ very Aesthetic Being. The assimilation must have an Aesthetic Quality to it. When ‘he’ likes “something”, it is all.
When ‘he’ dislikes “something”, it is “nothing”. Of all the Cup Court Roles, ‘he’ is quite absolute with ‘his’ process of Valuation. Anything that counters That Valuation will be swept aside.
And even in the frenzy of Valuation, anything that is considered unvaluable will be completely dismissed, swept aside as expendable, unconsidered in the assimilation process. And remember, with this one, considerations must have an Aesthetic Quality.
At one extreme, ‘he’ can be considered The Dangerous Zealot who will “kill the infidel” without a second thought. At the other extreme, ‘he’ can be considered the most “heartless bastard” turning a deaf ear to anyone who counters ‘his’ belief.

O-A-Hum
OPD

[added 03-22-12]
An excerpt from my new manuscript “The TARO Court Cards and Astrology”:

The Cup Knight — House 12

This card is a portrait of Water in the form of Turbulent Waves, and by extension, Water’s Power of Erosion.

The Violent Force of Water changes its surrounding landscape. It moves the material about according to its chosen direction. It is the Force of Water, as a “sinking” substance, subject to the ‘force of gravity’; which only emulates ‘anti-gravitational’ behavior by mere reactivity.

The Twelfth House — classically associated with Pisces

This phase of the Mundane Cycle involves the initial projection of One’s Expression unto One’s Environment. Yes, there is uncertainty as to how that will be received. But the classic interpretations get too fixated on whether your given expression will be rejected by the surrounding environment; and your reaction thereby. Thus you get all the spooky ghost-stories about psychological self-repression and silencing of “one’s truth”. I’m not denying this valid mechanism.

What is generally missed in all the classic interpretations of this House, can be clarified, ironically, by our ‘modern fast culture’. As one is driving a car along the roads, and we pretend that we are being ‘so very aware’ of all the other surrounding fast-moving considerations, we really end up not cognizing how very lucky we are. We conveniently forget that if something really out-of-the-predicable were to occur, we are really toast. We, in our fast cars, with our imagined perpetual awareness, are actually skirting the odds much greater than we dare to imagine. We are comprehensively taking a chance that everyone else is “as aware as I (imagine)”. One moment of ‘slumber’, and you (and others) are butter on the road. Every time you glance into the rear-view mirrors, to validly keep an overall awareness, you are diverting your immediate attention away from your direction of going. You are practicing a moment of Faith that the conditions will not change in that brief moment of attention-deviation – yet, at such velocity, it only takes a moment for conditions to change!

Surrounding conditions do not always answer to our desire for their accommodating our given expression. If I do a certain act, there is no guarantee that it will be received as I wish. The x-factor does not involve any “act of sabotage” or any such nonsense. The softest ‘apology’ is lack of coordination. But also, sometimes ‘there are those who lay in wait to sabotage’, and you will simply frustrate yourself trying to ‘plan around them’. Otherwise: “shit happens”.

As we formulate a given expression for a given moment, there is really so many things occurring in the surrounding environment to consider; and as you are ‘enraptured’ with your given momentary expression – well, sorry dude, you’re going to miss some of the details. Here is where the “unpredictability”=”Pisces” relation comes in. (And, by the way, here is also where the “Pisces”=”Jupiter”=”Luck” factor intrudes.)

So, if you are going to express what you really desire to express, yet have any cognizance that what you may express may not be ‘accepted’ amidst the surrounding ‘uncertainty’, then what is left? You have to Believe that your expression is valid. You have to Believe in “the Truth” of what you want to express. You have to Believe that ‘it is real’ for the context of that expression.

In the generality of merely Reactive Behavior, the expressor generally doesn’t give a damn about any ‘unpredictability’ of the surroundings. But when the surroundings seem to ‘deny’ one’s expression, you have basically “two” choices: Suppress or Believe; Do Not or Do.

This card happens to be associated with the legend of The Grail Knights, who persevered in their chosen actions to achieve their chosen goal, despite all evidence against their efforts, by their chosen Force of Faith.

This Belief “erodes” all barriers to that expression. It moves the surrounding material according to one’s chosen course. I will not bother to get into whether This Belief is “imaginary” (all Belief is imaginary). But if this Belief has The Force to “move matter”, then ‘it is real for you’. And who is to say that such doesn’t become ‘real for others’; Belief can be rather contagious.

To be specific, here is what can be called Active Belief. Here is a Belief Process that “radiates from a central source”. It fulfills one’s own passion, but can also ‘illuminate’ or ‘affect’ others. And, actually, here is quite a danger. Here is The Passion of Active Faith – which is actually the dangerous origins of “active God-Formations”.

The Multi-Faceted Beast

Psychology 101:
There is the legend of the Multi-Headed Beast. These heads may tend not to speak with each other. (To hell with the seven numeration with that myth-metaphor — that is of a special matter.)
So, given the circumstance, you respond “I am a carpenter”, or “I am an electrician”, or “I am a car mechanic”; or, “I am not happy”, or, “I am an asshole”‘, or, “I love you”; — or even more fundamental — “I am sleepy”, or, “I am happy”, …or, “I am sad”, or, “I am mad”; — and then even more fundamental — “I am walking”, and/or, “I am talking”, and/or, “I am feeling (something)”.

The Many Faces of “The Beast”. Another wizard used another metaphor — The Machine. ‘IT’ Thinks, ‘IT’ Feels, ‘IT’ Moves, etc. etc.

And ‘pity’ the past humans. There was always this desperate search for some “hidden divine pilot” buried deep within that machine of Many Personas. “There must be some ‘singularity’ reconciling the ‘multiplicity’ ?! So-called ‘psychology’ is a continued addiction to that myth-metaphor. The stumblers-in-the-dark tried to resurrect certain ancient practices. But they ignored certain records.
At the time of the Buddha Advent, there was the desperate search for “The Atman” (the inner pilot). The Buddha (some three thousand years ago) came to his fellow seeking brethren and broke the awful news: “There ain’t no such thing! Give it up!” His main message was “An-Atman” (without Atman). He then proceeded to teach his fellow seeker-brothers the techniques to discover how to verify the absence of that myth, as he himself had found. He faced an entrenched cultural indoctrination that “there must be an Atman”.
Jump forward some two-three thousand years. Physicists were thoroughly convinced that “there must be an ether which conducts light”. It was a ‘cultural’ given. There was an experiment in the late 1800’s to verify the existence of that ether. The experiments failed to verify such ether existence. Then some young ‘upstart’ dared to challenge the established assumption. His name was Einstein. He dared to tell the establishment: “The experiment does prove something — that there is no ether necessary to conduct light.” He then proceeded to demonstrate such. However, the ramifications of his demonstration also proceeded to destroy many other assumptions of classic physics.
The Buddha destroyed many presuppositions about ‘classic’ suppositions of Human Behavior. So too Lao Tzu in his realm; so too The Nazarene in his realm. So too the so-called ‘grandfather’ of Modern Psychology, Freud. And then look at what his direct protegé, Jung, attempted! And then the inheritors of those techniques thereafter?
But as with many awesome attempts, there is the initial propulsion — and then there is a fade into “the given”. Will humans never learn? — maybe not!”

But back to the original proposition: the Many Heads of the Beast-Machine, and the desperate search for the so-called “inner pilot”. The many heads biting each other, surrounding the mythic central ‘inner pilot’. This is rather the most terrible revelation-to-self for those addicted to the delusion of ‘a continuous self’. Yes, the physical form changes during the growth process, yet there is a perceived ‘continuity’ of ‘sameness’. That must translate into the ‘psychological’ arena, eh?
I still hear many humans who stumble with some metaphor of ‘a contract’ made by the ‘individual’ with “the universe” (or with “God” or with their otherwise transpersonal deification). Then they go on to imagine that the ‘contract’ involves all the various encounters of interpersonal dynamics somehow defining some ‘meaning’ to the alterations of personal behavior thereby resultant. It must be part of the ‘contract’ that we ‘learn lessons’, eh?
During a recent discussion, it was asked whether that “learn lessons” method was part of the ‘contract’. I stumbled with that idea, and attempted to describe that if you want to subscribe to the ‘contract’ metaphor, then keep it within the so-called ‘biologic contract’. There are certain properties of one’s biologic construct which can ‘remain consistent’, and then will lend to the delusion of some consistency. As to the Behavioral Properties: those involve perpetual ‘re-wording’ of the ‘contract’. The youngling proclaims “I will be a fireman” or “I will be a policeman”. The elderling then proclaims “I am an accountant” or “I am a disaster relief specialist”. The youngling struggles with the multi-headed beast-machine with the “I will be…” metaphor. The elderling struggles no less, but the metaphor is transformed into the “I am…”.

The nature of the Beast-Machine, with its many heads, is directly associated with the Behavioral Properties. The bio-machine may have some ‘contractual’ consistency. But each step we take in the concourse of the multiverse changes the Behavioral Properties, which were never grafted ‘permanent’ into some ‘contract’.

O-A-Hum
OPD
originally published Oct. 31, 2010

Desperate Planning

   

We humans (animals) tend to perceive structure (eye, ear, etc.), and from those, many tend to project from that a desire for some fantasy of “pattern”, and even further, the fantasy of “design”. Some passively accept this “design” model; but many others go further to then fantasize that there MUST BE A “DESIGNER”.

This Search-Desire for “A Designer” takes on many fascinating models, which unfortunately for many humans has produced the Fantasy of “A God”. Even my legacy-organization The Freemasons attempted a ‘renaming’ of that method by the term “The Grand Architect” — a desperate attempt to separate the “Great Designer” metaphor from the stupid ‘Control Freak’ monster they saw destroying the idea. But even they made a miss by clinging on to some ‘Grand Planner-Coordinator’ metaphor mixed in with some idea of centralized ‘control’.

Return to the ‘simplified’ method of ‘the’ YIN-YANG process: Enfolding & Unfolding. Sub-Atomic Processes enfold into Atomic Structure, and thereby unfold unto some ‘endurance’. Atomic Structure enfolds-combines into Molecular Structure, and thereby unfolds unto some further ‘endurance’ for those otherwise virtual sub-atomic ‘particles’. Molecules enfold into Cellular Structures, which even further unfold the ‘endurance’ of those very virtual sub-atomic ‘particles’ so deeply resident in the now growing complex structure. This “ladder” continues to cascade unto more complex structuring by serial enfoldings-combinations of the scale elements, and thus further unfolding of ‘endurance’.

Does this process describe “pattern”? Yes, according to our perception. Does this process describe “order” and/or “design”? Not necessarily ! The above described processes do not require any imaginary “Grand Planner”. Just because some “sentient being” perceives pattern and then projects a preconceived notion that such pattern MUST involve so-called “intelligent design”, is no proof of such a “Grand Planner”. It is simply proof of The Prover’s Obsession with their Model of Control. This all must, must, must make sense, yea?

This is where many make a miss in interpreting Atu III: The Empress. “She” is the Pure Happenings, which precede all considerations of the desperate attempts of all so-called ‘cognizant entities’ to make sense of the perceived patterns; and precedes the phase of Atu IV: The Emperor, who then attempts to configure his world as “Ruler” — ironically, “ruler” = “measurer”, “interpreter”. This newly-enthroned Emperor-of-one’s-own-empire MUST evaluate, coordinate, consolidate the vast array of otherwise non-sensical data into some semblance of order. The poor fool is now entirely dependant upon the ‘instructions-from-above’, to properly construct the empire.

This is here the danger of Atu V: The Hierophant. This figure has the awesome responsibility to properly instruct the Young Emperor on how to construct and conduct His Empire. If this figure-head has been poisoned with some Dæmon of Deception, the Young Emperor is now summarily cursed with the same poison, and the Empire is summarily distorted into that configuration. And this Hierophant does not get simple pass for ‘misunderstanding’. To achieve the Role of An Hierophant is not a light matter, and to bring poison to all the Young Emperors is HIGH CRIME. The simple Emperion of one’s own Empire is the business of that Emperor. Manipulation by the Hierophant deviant to the success of an Individual Empire, in favor of some Trans-Empire Poisonous Imagination is, again, High Crime in the Hierophantic Art.

All the “Priests of Plan” are Criminals, in the opinion of this ‘humble’ Mad Wizard. To promote the deception of any necessity for some “Grand Designer” to the Young Emperor desperately constructing one’s empire, is a direct violation of the time-honored Hierophantic Art. The tools of some ‘basic coordination’, and some hints at self-acceleration are the principal instruments — and then watchful instructions as the youngling stumbles.
And by the way, I would go so far to say that the Genuine Hierophants might be watchful of the Abberants who would poison the Young Emperors, and maybe take a blade to the necks of those Pretend Hierophants who would so joyously corrupt the Young Emperors into some Blind Allegiance with Their Dæmon. To be very clear — the “false path” is any ‘belief’ in some ‘Controlling Deity’.

O-A-Hum
OPD
originally published Sept. 4, 2010

A Comment on Atu I

The so-called Magus. But there is the Juggler Metaphor.
If I remember Crowely correctly, he descibed The Great Magus as giving a ‘death hug’ to The Princess, tearing her body into ribbons and shreds, by his Razor-like fingers.
To terribly discover that you terribly bias your perception of ‘reality’ ?
“How did I ‘create’ This ?”
Oh now, this terrible admission to Self.
‘The Magus’, occurring at the Beginning of the Tarot Sequence, ‘is’ ‘The Great Deceiver’.
This is how we tell ourselves that We Are Correct. Who are ‘We’? Well, that is necessary to Construct ‘Righteousness’. There must be ‘A We’ to justify this Constructed Righteous Behavior; because this cannot occur in a vacuum!
The ‘Great Deceiver’ is ‘How We Construct Our “Reality”‘.
“Are ‘We’ Correct ?” “Do ‘We’ have a Consensus ?”
Am I constructing my ‘reality’ in consensus with your ‘reality’? Or, more important ! Are you constructing your ‘reality’ in consensus with My ‘Reality’ ?
The Magus (in this ‘downward’ delineation) is the ‘terrible’ revelation of how You Construct Your Own Reality. You ‘create’ the ‘parameters’ of What Is Possible. You ‘create’ the ‘perimeters’ of What Is Allowable. The beginner is ‘forgiven’ of such violations, but the ‘mature’ have no such legitimate excuse.

O-A-Hum
OPD
originally published Dec. 14, 2009

A Revisit to The Book of TARO

[This was my second attempt to ‘objectify’ my comprehension of “the Tarot”. It appears as if I “dropped the ball” after Atu XIV; but rather, I was attempting to hone a presentation that dealt more immediately with the Adventure of A Developing Adept.]

Summer Solstice 2010

The Initial Partition
00 The Fool has taken the plunge into the previous Unknown — all previous programming does not quite synchronize with the “New Notions” suspected by the altered cognisance.
— there are some initial stages the poor fool must stumble through —

01 The Integral Part
The first genuine wonderings of “Why I AM Here-Now”.
Once you have given up the previous expectations, whether based only on your own as-developed substantial imaginations, or in combination with the substantial imaginations of those surrounding your initial psyche-somatic development, you are faced with a very-compromising impasse of deciding if you might want to ‘see-&-hear’ an indication that you ‘have’ a ‘unique path’, that is truly ‘all-your-own’.

02 The Integrated Wholistic System
The “warm hug” of ‘feeling’ some sense that “All Belong Together”.
If you actually achieve that sense of ‘unique path all-your-own’, then you risk sensing also the ‘all-your-not-own’. The fish sensing the water-current beyond its local position. That trans-local sensation does not yet ‘determine’ the following specifier factors — this is simply the “shock” of ‘wholism’.

03 Life
The Realm of Happening, of mere Re-Action.
Nature Happens. Many of us are taught to view these Happenings as somehow “magically, mysteriously planned” by some ‘controlling factor’ (a “magic hand” or some other non-sense). There is no need for a “God-Model” for all this Happening to occur. From the very ‘essential’ arisings of ‘may-be’ sub-atomic particles, they happen to exist long enough to combine into atomic structure; then those combine into meta-atomic structure; then those combine into molecular structure; then those combine into cellular structure … ! This comprehensive ‘ladder’ of constructive combinations apparently conduces to the ‘extension-of-existence’ of what ‘begins’ as Virtual Particles of Mass.”The Empress” represents that “invisible hand” ‘behind’ the construction of that ‘ladder’, for those who still imagine the “invisible hand” metaphor.For those who have truly ‘stepped off the cliff’, the “invisible hand” eventually disappears.

04 Effort
The First Realm of Make-Happen — the First Sense of Action.
Here is the first sense that something Different Must Happen. There is no ‘certainty’ associated with this stage, except that you must plant yourself firmly into the Focus of some Intended Action. You take the Throne of some Empire that you May Construct.

05 Aim
The Second Realm of Make-Happen — the First Sense of Construction.
There are those who have walked the path you look toward. Once you set into the Throne of Power, there are plenty of others who can provide many clues as to How You Might Accomplish. They are qualified, if you have ‘open eyes-and-ears’, to provide the rudiments for you to build your empire. They bring the ‘tools’ and some basic ‘instruction’. Then they leave the wanna-be Emperor to build the Empire. As the Emperor developes, the Teacher(s) of that Emperor are always available for consultation.

06 Orientation
The Third Realm of Make-Happen — the First Sense of Direction.
The Emperor has the ‘tools’ and ‘instructions’ by the Teacher(s) — they have given the Emperor the Arrow.
But they cannot instruct What Direction that Arrow must Go. Here is a horizon between the pre-construct and the post-construct of the developing Adept — the first necessity of the ‘student’ to take some ‘initial self-making’. The ceremonial tradition is to Bind and Hoodwink the Candidate walking fresh into “The Process”.
Only the ‘Individual’ can figure the Direction of the Aim.

The Second Partition of the TARO (07-14) is entirely involved with the Orientation of the Arrow-Aim.

07 Somatic Orientation
The Somatic Vehicle (The Body) ‘contains’ an ‘orienter’ which, because we stand ‘perpendicular’ to the ‘gravity well’, aims with the ‘parallels’ of the Planetary Matrix, and thus square to the Bio-Neural Column. ‘It’ behaves as a ‘torrent’ expanding bi-laterally from the “belly”-‘visceral center’ of the Body Structure, aligning this bio-physical Vehicle with its home-planet.

08 Psychetic Orientation
The Psychetic Vehicle (The Mind) ‘contains’ an ‘orienter’ which, because we stand ‘perpendicular’ to the ‘gravity well’, aims with any ‘perpendicular’ to the Planetary Matrix, and thus square to our Visceral Orientation. ‘It’ behaves as a ‘vortex’ contracting bi-longitudinally into the Bio-Neural Column of the Body Structure; contracting ‘from’ the vast Local Environment, unto contracting ‘further’ to ‘point’ to the focus of the immediate gravity well.

09 Focal Orientation
Once you become consonant with the Basic Planetary Navigation Dynamics, you might ‘feel’ that you are a Vortex of Purpose. This Personal Vortex is omnidirectional.

10 Local Orientation
As you ‘feel’ the Vortex of Purpose, you will ‘feel’ concurrently the Torrent of Context, also omnidirectional. Here occurs the personal awareness of One’s Participation in the Realm of Accident: to actually perceive how you re-actively participate in the Accidental Happenings of Nature-Dynamics. This is probably the hardest ‘slap-in-the-face’ to the evolving Adept. We like to imagine that we are ‘purposely acting’ in all our movements.

11 Desire Orientation
Here is the moment of transition from Just Happening to Actual Doing. Genuine Change is always born of some sense-of-frustration, catalyzing a ‘violent’ re-orientation. Here the Different Must Happen transforms into the Different Must Intentionally Occur.

12 Work Orientation
Now the genuine teachings of the genuine teachers take solid hold upon the ‘new’ Desire Orientation. The Adept generates the Conviction to Do Genuine Work. Here is Self-Generated Discipline: taking the instructed techniques and enfolding them into necessary exercises, for personal benefit. Here you become your own teacher — for now, thinking that personal teaching is the ‘be-all-end-all’ method — unsuspecting of the Path you have chosen.

Orientation is basically complete, and now follows the post-orientation traumas.

13 The Strip-Down
The techniques given to the evolving Adept, genuinely exercised, produce a ‘surprising’ result: That Which You Thought You Were is Utterly Destroyed ! Now you are entirely naked and exposed, and your sense is exposed to finding any-some recover.

14 The Re-Dressing
From some ‘mysterious avenue’, you are provided a New Suit. This is probably the most ‘dangerous’ period in the adventure. There are many ‘tailors’ waiting in the periphery to provide New Suits to the naked-and-exposed. Here is the danger in finding One’s “Holy Guardian Angel”. The Adept must be very watchful of the offering ‘tailors’. You must have “given yourself to the Beloved” to find the genuine “Re-Tailor”, or you will ‘re-dress’ into the suit of a trans-personal “usury entity”.

The Third Partition of the TARO (15-21) is involved with the Assimilation of That Arrow-Aim with the Concourse of All.

O-A-Hum
OPD
originally published June 19, 2010