Monday, October 31, 2011

About Gratitude

© Copyright 2011  Judy Jennings

Sometimes writing can be a tricky business.  Coin a clever phrase or come up with an idea that works well in a story, and the temptation to try it again can be seductive.  That road leads dangerously close to the neighborhood of Trite, though, so it’s a good thing that when I tried to think of a Tarot card representing the spirit of Thanksgiving I came up blank. 

Of course that particular holiday wouldn’t have been known by the ancients, but that’s not the point.  Strip down to the best aspects of Thanksgiving and you find food, family, friendship and gratitude.  Gratitude, such a virtue.  What does it mean that there’s no major arcana to represent the virtue of gratitude?


If we look closely, will we find gratitude tucked away as one of many forces at work in the cards?  An essential ingredient in the metaphysical ecstasy of the Hermit, perhaps?  Cards 1-7 of the major arcana represent high ideals that an enlightened mind must incorporate.  In those cards we find the quality of cognitive thinking and the spirit of cooperation, for example.  I’m baffled by the absence of  gratitude, but a visit to the trusty dictionary provides a clue.  


By definition, an ideal is a standard of perfection; a principle to be aimed at.  A virtue, on the other hand, is a quality considered to be morally desirable in a person, or behavior showing high moral standards.  With this comparison one thing becomes obvious.  The ideals expressed in the major arcana are about powers that exist outside the individual personality.  Virtue, then, is a positive reaction to those forces.  Turns out gratitude lives in the human heart, it’s an intimate emotional response to universal forces at work.


As I walk through this line of reasoning, a thread of connection appears.  In his book The Tarot, A Key To The Wisdom Of The Ages, there’s a point that author Paul Foster Case makes repeatedly.  It is our INTERPRETATION of events that creates the patterns of our experience.  In other words, it is the attitude with which we greet the circumstances of our lives that creates our own Karma. 


With that, a light clicks on and I get it.  Gratitude is a uniquely human key to a positive, meaningful life.  It’s an ingredient each of us must find inside ourselves, because without gratitude there is no embodiment of higher ideals.


Gratitude by definition is the readiness to show appreciation and return kindness.  That works any time of the year.

Monday, October 24, 2011

All Souls United (Will Never Be Defeated)


© Copyright 2011  Judy Jennings
Halloween is almost upon us, and just after that, my favorite local holiday.  Fiesta de los Muertos is a Mexican-based celebration of those who have passed before, and the All Souls Procession is the Tucson version.  Even though the event draws a big crowd these days, the procession retains an undeniable home-spun magic.  On this evening, the Underworld of the collective human subconscious takes to the streets of the Old Pueblo.

This is the best costume event of the year in these parts, but it’s much more than that.  Started in 1990, The All Souls Procession hasn’t become touristy or commercialized, but instead retains the authenticity of real human emotion and experience.  According to the All Souls Procession web site, “What started out as an intimate personal expression is now an enormous hyper-creative vehicle for release and integration of grief and loss for many 10’s of thousands of individual participants”.  

 
With that in the air, this seems like a good time to take a look at a couple of cards in particular.  Let’s start with the Death card.

I think it’s fair to say that people can find the name of this arcana to be off-putting, so let’s clear something up right off the bat.  This card isn’t about physical demise.  There’s actually another card, the World, that is associated with moving on to a Universal state of consciousness and seems far more likely to indicate a person’s last days.  However, there’s so much joy associated with that card that no one fears it.  It represents Nirvana, and we all know that’s a good thing.

Death, on the other hand, is about loss and grief, and the incredibly transformative creative energy that can come out of that.  In this case, Death is all about the living.  The state of mind expressed in this card is that of a person who longs to connect with Universal Spirit.  To feel an example of that longing in action, join in with the All Souls Procession, even if only for a few blocks.

The Devil is another card that is often given a bum rap, but he just thinks it’s funny.  This card embodies the spirit of mirth and incongruity.  Humor, generally provoked by shortcomings, produces laughter which has the power to purify the subconscious mind and infuse the human spirit with joy.  That’s not only funny, it’s healing.  The Devil also expresses the human longing for freedom and the first stage of spiritual enlightenment, where we begin to realize that our limitations are imaginary and self-imposed.

In a simple way, our customs around Halloween here in the United States play out that theme of longing to be free.  Kids routinely dress up as super-heroes who possess powers stronger than school-yard bullies and their parents put together.  Seemingly large numbers of men dress up annually as women, having been granted a license on Halloween they're denied the rest of the year.  This is a holiday whose soul has long been commercialized,  but even so, vestiges of true incongruity remain.
 
The forces embodied in The Devil tout the idea that we are victims of circumstance, but if you look closely you will find clues about ways to free ourselves from that belief.  The Devil also tells us that happiness is a choice.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Four Score

© Copyright 2011  Judy Jennings


Four seasons.  Four directions.  Four corners.  Four square walls.  The qualities found in the number four are forces that help to secure us in the world around us.  Numerology assigns the number four the values of calculating intelligence, order, organization and attention to detail.  There are four suits in the Tarot as well, called the minor arcana.  
The cards numbered four in the minor arcana all refer either to the celebration of accomplishment or a period of reevaluation.  The fourth card of the major arcana, The Emperor, is about the powers of the personality.  All of these relate to our well-being in the material world.  
Paul Foster Case wrote about the connection of the Tarot with the ancient Hebrew Kabbala.  In that discussion he posits that the sacred Hebrew word for the Universal Life-Force translates to a four-letter word when written in English lettering.  That word is pronounced Jehovah and written IHVH.  Each of those letters represents a different universal force, and those same qualities are also reflected in the four suits of the Tarot.  Once again we see ancient knowledge hidden amongst the cards.
The fourth major arcana moves us from the formation of a healthy psychological foundation that was shown in the first three cards and into a stage of interaction with the world around us.  You might say that The Emperor represents the face with which we greet the world.  This is a card that speaks to the personality issues of all of us, despite the strong gender assignment of the image.  The Emperor embodies the setting of boundaries, steady growth and  gifted management ability.  The forces that come together in this card form the platform on which our achievements in the world are built.  

Friday, October 21, 2011

Ying-Yang and the Holy Trinity

 © Copyright 2011  Judy Jennings



The most widely accepted theory about the origin of the Tarot is that the cards were developed as a pictorial book designed to help preserve occult knowledge throughout the rise and fall of various cultures.  The Rider deck incorporates a number of different world philosophies.  For example, the seven Chakras of the Hindus and Buddhists are represented in The Star, astrology and numerology are prominent influences, and there are repeated references in the major arcana to early Sun-God worship.  There are two other concepts featured throughout the deck that are intrinsic to a dynamic understanding of the cards, and these are the ideas of Duality and Trinity.

Most popularly known these days as Ying-Yang and The Holy Trinity, both are spiritual ideals that have been embraced by human societies for ages.  The concept of duality is embedded in our American culture with phrases like “Opposites attract” and is a fairly easy idea to grasp. 

The three-fold concept is a psychological homage to the three phases of the Sun.  Dawn, noon and dusk are aspects that play out constantly in our lives, both on a daily basis and over the span of years.  Christians espouse the Father-Son-Holy Ghost trinity,  Pagans in the Dianic tradition honor the Mother-Daughter-Crone, and Hindus find their trinity in Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.  According to astrologer Alan Oken the Persians, Babylonians and Egyptians also had their trinities, all of them ultimately relating back to the Sun as the primary Universal Life-force.

The first three cards of the major arcana eloquently express both of these principles.  The Magician and The High Priestess are of different natures, the former representing calculating intelligence and the conscious mind, while the latter is rooted in the subconscious.  You might even say they represent the two hemispheres of the human brain.   The message of this pairing is a prominent theme throughout the major arcana:  A meaningful life is based on a foundation of harmonious exchange between the conscious and subconscious minds.

The addition of the third arcana transforms Duality into Trinity.  The auspicious forces at work in The Empress are full of promise, but can only thrive in a personality that has incorporated the qualities of the first two cards.  Often interpreted as a very feminine card, The Empress has other meanings as well.  This card represents the perfect balance of Ying and Yang, the perfect union of male and female and the One Universal Unisexual Parent.  Thus is born creative imagination and the generation of ideas.

If you’d like to take a closer look at the principle of Duality in the Tarot, lay out the cards of the major arcana side by side and consider how each card expresses qualities that are opposite from the card before.  In another discussion we’ll take a look at the power of four that is also represented in the cards.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Just Stop Thinking About It

© Copyright 2011  Judy Jennings


Today’s discussion is about not thinking.  Sounds easy, doesn’t it?  That’s what I thought, too.  Even though I‘m a fan of logic and “cerebral” is a word I routinely use to describe myself, how hard could it be?  
My early attempts at not thinking were like being naked in the woods in the middle of summer.  My thoughts buzzed relentlessly and would have nothing to do with being stilled. Doubtless any student of meditation knows what I’m talking about.  Still, I persisted.  I decided to try a method I came across in a book about the Tarot that I was re-reading for the umpteenth time.
Dr. Paul Foster Case was an adept and renowned authority on the Tarot who lived during the first half of the twentieth century.  He founded a metaphysical group called Builders Of The Adytum (B.O.T.A.) in the 1920’s that is still in effect today.  Dr. Case says that we have to quiet the mind in order to make the way clear for the unveiling of truth.  In his book The Tarot: A Guide To The Wisdom Of The Ages, he describes a type of meditation based on the 22 cards of the major arcana.  
This method assigns a color and a direction to each of the major arcana, and when the visualization is complete one finds oneself inside a brilliant cube in space.  This meditation has led me to a much deeper understanding of the cards, and I’ve also found it to be helpful with controlling anxiety and reversing negative thinking.
My other favorite authority on the subject of controlling one’s own thoughts is not a psychic, she’s a neuro-scientist.  Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor was in her thirties and working as a researcher at Harvard University when she suffered a stroke.  Her eloquent description of her state of mind as she observed her left brain become silent while her right brain took over completely is poignant, funny and extremely thought-provoking.  The effects were profound, and though Dr. Taylor is working again as a neuro-anatomist, her message is highly metaphysical.  Hear her tell her own story in this You Tube video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyjU8fzEYU
One of the things Dr Taylor points out is that the right brain thinks in pictures, not words.  Dr. Case said the same thing (although without the distinction between right and left).  The left brain is the source of calculating intelligence, the power of thought and the self-awareness of “I am”.  The left brain is represented by The Magician in the Tarot.  The right brain is where we go to stop thinking.
I’ll leave you with a challenge from Dr. Bolte Taylor, who urges us to “purposefully step to the right of your left hemisphere”, as well as this quote:
“Who are we?  We are the life-force power of the universe with manual dexterity and two cognitive minds.  We have the power to choose moment by moment how we want to be in this world.  I believe that the more time we spend choosing to be in the deep inner peace circuitry of our right hemisphere, the more peace we will project into the world and the more peaceful our planet will be.”

Monday, October 17, 2011

Controversial Cards

By Judy Jennings

© Copyright 2011


Death.  The Devil.  A lightening-struck Tower.  These are images with the ability to strum a chord of anxiety in a person, but let’s look a little closer.  Psychologically these cards express states of mind that we humans share universally.  All of us have grieved, we’ve all felt the longing for freedom, and every person has had an illuminating flash of insight at one point or another.  Without these cards, the Tarot would have no real grip on the human condition and a reading would be reduced to the metaphysical equivalent of “Have a nice day!”.

Another card that tends to push buttons is the Hanged One.  The ideals expressed in the image of a person hanging upside down on a cross are acceptance, tolerance and a willingness to give oneself up to a larger cause.  However, many people feel an instinctive fear of loss of control when they see this card.  
Imagine that the Tarot is a metaphysical amplifier.  When you consult the cards they will magnify and reflect whatever is already in your mind, and that includes both the conscious and the subconscious minds.  If your fear of loss of control is strong, you may have to work to get past that in order to understand the more positive aspects that are being shown to you.  Look to the surrounding cards for perspective.  None of these forces act in isolation in our lives, nor do they in a reading.  The ability to see the patterns of how surrounding cards relate to each other is every bit as important as knowing the meanings of the cards themselves.                                                                                                                          
There are those who say there are no negative cards among the four suits, and I’d agree.  I much prefer the term “neurotic”.  There are fourteen cards in the minor arcana that indicate the possibility of some kind of mental distress.  “Possibility” is a key concept here.  All of the cards in the Tarot have the possibility of three types of expression in a reading:  Integration, disintegration and equilibrium.  These are a few examples of the many nuances that make it possible for 78 cards to tell countless human stories, each original and specific to the moment.
Try meditating on the Death card for the release of fear.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Tarot in the Time of Tech


By Judy Jennings
© Copyright 2011

Seriously,Tarot in this day and age?  Why bother with actual cards, when I can install a widget on my Mac that gives me a card for the day with a click?  On the other hand, when was the last time somebody told you they received divine guidance from their computer?
“Divine guidance”, now that’s a hefty term, so let’s take a moment to talk about that.  Henceforth, for the purposes of this blog and already in use by enlightened minds everywhere, the meaning of the word “divine” shall be defined as Higher Power, Universal Consciousness, Inner Voice and anything else you want to call the force of Spirit.  Astrologer Alan Oken defines the soul as “the link between Spirit and matter”.  So the next--or the first--time that you sit down to the cards, feel free to call the source of insight anything you enjoy and that comforts you, but be sure to check your dogma at the door.
That’s probably the thing I love the most about the Tarot, the way it’s inclusive rather than sectarian.  But enough about me.  The most important thing to know about the Tarot is that it’s a tool designed to help a person understand the most positive direction in which to go forward.  It’s also a tool to help quiet the mind.  Try to hack that!