The Tao in the Tarot
Page 15
When the Buddha attained enlightenment it is said that he became a Bodhisattva: one who chooses to remain on earth (or return to earth) until all humanity has also achieved enlightenment. I guess it will be a long time! One could say that Jesus filled the same role in Christian terms, returning to Earth from God to suffer on the cross for the sins of humanity.
Our Elite Yang Traveller on the spiritual path, having attained to the highest spirituality available to mankind, cannot turn round and say, “Thank you very much” and move on, because he has absorbed the compassion of the Yin which unites him with all living beings. The Sun-Moon experience of the Abyss aroused his compassion and combined it with the light of wisdom and understanding, creating a ‘Being of Light’ who is fundamentally aware of the dependency between all living things and therefore is unable to turn away from his fellow men. We are all part of a whole and a truly enlightened being cannot be another ‘whole’ without everything being incorporated.
We may not aspire to be Bodhisattvas but each kindly thought, word and deed may inspire the recipients to also think, speak and act in a more kindly way – and so the world improves from the very first step taken by the first person. It may equally deteriorate when hate, unkind words and actions inspire the recipients to respond similarly. It is our duty to nurture the Light, not only for our own sake, not only for the sake of the Light itself, but for the sake of the whole world and all that lives in and on it. We each have to carry our own small light in every aspect of our lives.
The Exhortation: Care for the Light!
Judgement/Enlightened is twinned with
Hexagram 13. Tung Jen: Universal Brotherhood
Upper Trigram: Ch’ien: heaven, male, creative, (sky, cold, light). Father; Larger Yang.
Lower Trigram: Li: fire, brilliance, beauty, (sun, dependence, lightening) Middle Daughter; Lesser Yin. Summer.
SYMBOL This hexagram symbolizes heaven (the sun) and fire representing a pair of lovers. The Superior Man [Elite Traveller] treats everything in a manner proper to his kind.
It is the moving line in Hexagram 30 as translated by Blofeld: His tears streamed forth as though to extinguish his piteous sighs… that leads us to Hexagram 13. It is the compassion for the world absorbed by the creative spirit that inevitably falls like tears onto the rest of mankind. The great goddess of compassion is Kuan Yin, whose name literally means ‘One who hears the cries of the world’. The original Sanskrit word for her name is karuna, which truly describes an ability to relate so completely to another that their sorrow is our sorrow – their cries are our cries. Kuan Yin and her male counterpart Avalokitesvara1 symbolize the embodiment of true wisdom and purity as a necessary requisite for the embodiment of true compassion and light.
Blofeld translates the title of Hexagram 13 as: Lovers, Beloved, Friends, Like-minded Persons, Universal Brotherhood. The commentary on the text tells us:
This hexagram indicates that someone weak comes to power, occupies the centre of the stage and responds to the creative force. Such a one is called the beloved … the work of the creative principle which has a strong refining influence.
The Beloved in this case is the Bodhisattva who has attained the spiritual state of being able to move out of the circle, perhaps even out of the spiral, and achieve Nirvana. But because of the infinite compassion in the depths of his being, he remains connected with the earth until the whole world is in harmony. There may have been various Bodhisattvas throughout history working for the benefit of Mankind, but I am afraid we do not see much evidence of their results! I do wonder sometimes if there are beings that are rarely seen, the equivalent of Bodhisattvas, working to help us all without our being aware of it. We may think of them as angels, or as our departed grandmother, or as extra-terrestrials!
I am reminded also of the great world civilizers of our myths and legends who would seem to have once been real people but have become deified in our world culture, for example: Osiris, Thoth, Viracocca, and Fu Hsi the original creator of the I Ching.
Wilhelm translates the title of Hexagram 13 as Fellowship with Men, which is appropriate to our theme, for the emphasis of the Tarot card is that we are all in this together. The trigrams for heaven and sun combined are more indicative of the idea behind the hexagram than is the actual translation, for in themselves they symbolize clarity or purity within and strength on the periphery.
The character of a peaceful union of men … True fellowship among men must be based upon a concern that is universal. It is not the private interests of the individual that create lasting fellowship among men, but rather goals of humanity … But in order to bring about this sort of fellowship, a persevering and enlightened leader is needed – a man with clear, convincing, and inspiring aims and the strength to carry them out … [The Bodhisattva]. Fellowship should not be a mere mingling of individuals or things … that would be chaos, not fellowship. If fellowship is to lead to order, there must be organization with diversity2.
Here we are not simply talking about having compassion for our fellow man and doing good works. This is a deeply felt commitment that comes from the knowledge of the dependency that exists not only between all human beings but also between everything that exists in the world.
Card 21: The World/World Dancer (Yin)
The World or (as I prefer to see it: the World Dancer) is a card of joyous achievement. The opposites are not overcome but combined and perfect balance achieved. We see the world with eyes of wonder and delight. Though still within the world, nothing is disturbed by the Dancer's steps. The steps are light because the dancer is filled with Light.
My own image describes an androgynous figure that has achieved perfect poise and balance, and can dance lightly through life. Here it is seen dancing around an ancient stone circle in the form of a spiral. The card symbolises complete harmony within the world, and the human being’s place within that harmony, for the opposites are completely absorbed into each other. Movement is very much a part of this card, which is why the person is dancing. It is measuring time, dancing in tune, keeping pace; and it is recalling the nature and formation of the dance. Dancing is a right-brain function that sends information to the left-brain for storage, so the World Dancer is a complete-brained person. At number 21, it is the combination of the 2 of the High Priestess and the 1 of the Magician.
Dance, particularly the participation in group dances, transfers information without words and was used specifically for this purpose in ancient times. It does so in a form that simultaneously transmits joyousness even to the extent of forgetfulness of ones own persona in ecstatic moments when, in the losing of individuality, consciousness of a collective identity may occur. Dancing has been portrayed in some of the earliest cave paintings drawn by mankind and has been performed throughout history in every culture. Even in times when it has been prohibited, it was still practiced in secret.
Dancing requires harmony, poise, balance, rhythm, and a rapport between people. These are all attributes we have been trying to develop on our journey through the Tarot. It involves music and counting, and through mime can be a wonderful way of telling a story. Throughout history and going right back to the oral transmission of knowledge prior to the written word, song and dance have been a way of transmitting knowledge, and a surprisingly good way at that.
There is no doubt that the megalithic stone circles that abound in the British Isles and Europe were used as sites for sacred dances, and may well have been a way of remembering important measurements connected with the world and its proportions. The earliest of stone circles - formed during the huge time-range of 4000 BC and 2000 BC - appear to be flattened at one end, and no one has quite understood why this should be. It is certainly a type of circle rather than one or two that have gone wrong, because their proportions are those of the pentagonal relationships, or Phi (Φ), and are connected with the Fibonacci numbers and spirals. Nor are they ‘a one-off’ for Professor Thom estimated there were around 150 of them in the British Isles alone.
A well-known flattened circle is Long Meg in Cumbria. This circle, the sixth largest in the British Isles, originally with 70 stones of which 27 still remain standing, and a tall single outlier incongruously named Long Meg, for it is obviously a phallic symbol – (should it be Long Peg)? On this stone a spiral is carved as well as incomplete concentric circles (open circles) and a cup and ring mark. A large area surrounded by an earthen enclosure faces the flattened side (though this has been closed with smaller stones). A recent visit to Long Meg stone circle made me very much aware of the entrance (near the outlier) through which folk would have danced into and then around inside the circle in an anti-clockwise, female, Yin, earth-source direction: downhill first of all to get up momentum. Then they would have danced out through the opening of the flattened side and on uphill (heavenwards) around the outside of the circle to the starting point where stood the tall, phallic, outlying stone. There they would have danced clockwise in a male, Yang, heavenly direction. This figure-of-eight dance would have combined the male and female concepts and reinforced the connection between the two. At mid-winter sunset, like a parting gift, the shadow of Long Meg falls across the circle to strike a large stone on the eastern side. At Beltane the shadow falls directly through the entrance to strike the other side of the circle. The opposites combined.
It would seem that pre-Bronze Age man was very much aware of the nature of his place in the world and the universe, almost to the obsession of knowing the proportions of everything and remembering them. Without more sophisticated means, measurements would be remembered through the length of a foot, the length of a step. So many steps one way would measure a certain distance. It would seem that his religion was to do with keeping the world in balance, keeping it on an even keel, and not doing anything to disrupt the harmony.
Since then we have progressively distanced ourselves from our world. We care nothing if we disrupt its harmony and only think of what we can take from it. Our whole attitude has changed and we can never return to that harmony so long as we live out of touch and out of tune with nature. Earth, Air, Fire, and Water are the elements of life. There are so many of us that we must live on top of each other, literally, in places where our feet never touch the soil. This is our separation from Earth. The air we breathe is passed through ducts to our air-conditioned or heated apartments. This is our separation from Air. We are afraid of our sun and cover ourselves with cloth or sunscreen if we go out of doors for fear of the sun’s rays on our skin. This is our separation from Fire. We flock to the seaside for our holidays, but we prefer to swim in chlorinated, concreted pools. Our water sources are chlorinated and fluoridated before the water even reaches our houses. This is our separation from Water. We are thus completely out of harmony with our world. We have dis-ease to the extent that doctors have become our priests and hospitals are our sacred places where we go for healing.
In the great god Pan of the Greek myths we catch a glimpse of a very early archetype of a being completely in tune with nature, with animals, and with the cosmos. Pan’s name means All and he was the greatest god of the old religion, though during the intervening centuries he has been much abused and misused. He is an extremely ancient nature god who made music on his naturally synchronised pipes and danced to his own tune through wooded glades, was in harmony with animals and trees and plants, and represented regenerative energy. Pan was Lord of the Dance, in harmony with all because his wisdom covered the right ordering of the ways of the world. The relatively ‘new’ ancient Greek world order relegated him to the guise of a silly bucolic, but in spite of this he has never really gone away and is to be found today as Jack in the Green hidden away in the carvings of country churches. He reappeared as Lord of the Dance around many a maypole in country villages and was remembered in secret circle dances in times of prohibition.
The following anonymous song of the Lord of the Dance contains references we can associate with the Tarot.
“When She danced on the water and the wind was Her horn
The Lady laughed and everything was born
And when She lit the sun and the light gave Him birth
The Lord of the Dance first appeared on the Earth.
"Dance then, where-ever you may be
For I am the Lord of the Dance," said He
"And I'll lead you all, where-ever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance," said He.
I danced in the morning when the world was begun
I danced in the Moon and the Stars and the Sun
I was called from the darkness by the Song of the Earth
I joined in the singing and She gave me Birth.
"Dance then….”
It was the prehistoric goddess Eurynome, or the High Priestess, who danced on the water and with the magical breath of wind (Ophion) produced all the bounty of the world. From the Empress’s bountiful Earth combined with the radiant light of the Sun evolved you and I who are the World Dancer or the Lord of the Dance in embryo. He is the archetype lying hidden deep within us all.
The Exhortation: Dance in harmony with the world!
The World Dancer is twinned with
Hexagram 16 Yu: Enthusiastic Repose
Upper Trigram: Chên: thunder, to arouse, shock. Eldest Son; Lesser Yin. Spring.
Lower Trigram: K’un: earth, female, receptive, (heat, dark). Mother; Larger Yin.
SYMBOL This hexagram symbolizes thunder over the earth. The ancient rulers venerated heaven’s gifts with solemn music and they sacrificed abundantly to the Supreme Lord (of Heaven) in order to be worthy of their ancestors.
Blofeld admits to having had difficulty in translating the title of this hexagram, and after much deliberation settled on Repose, though this gives a rather static feel to what is a hexagram full of energy. Wilhelm chose Enthusiasm. The image to me seems to combine the two, with the Enthusiasm of the upper trigram arousing thunder combining with the Repose of the lower trigram, the receptive principle, producing the calm confidence that Blofeld mentions.
These eminent scholars seem to have had some difficulty with the translation of this hexagram generally, which in itself is interesting for it shows a hard-to-grasp core meaning to the symbolism. As in the two different translations for Hexagram 25 Wu Wang for the Fool, we here again have Repose and Enthusiasm as the same translation for a single Chinese ideogram. I have to believe the sense combines the two ideas in one: an innate enthusiasm lying behind a reposeful exterior – or: outer enthusiasm masking an inner repose.
Turning to Wilhelm’s translation, I found that this dour old German whose translation of the I Ching usually emphasises advice to rulers and the outcomes of battles, starts writing quite out of character and with unexpected beauty about music and dancing!
When, at the beginning of summer, thunder – electrical energy – comes rushing forth from the earth again, and the first thunderstorm refreshes nature, a prolonged state of tension is resolved. Joy and relief make themselves felt. So too, music has power to ease tension within the heart and to loosen the grip of obscure emotions. The enthusiasm of the heart expresses itself involuntarily in a burst of song, in dance and rhythmic movement of the body. From im
memorial times the inspiring effect of the invisible sound that moves all hearts, and draws them together, has mystified mankind.
… Music was looked upon as something serious and holy, designed to purify the feelings of men. It fell to music to glorify the virtues of heroes and thus to construct a bridge to the world of the unseen. In the temple men drew near to God with music and pantomimes …1
This is inspired writing. It is not Wilhelm’s translation of the text or of other commentaries, so as he looked at the symbols something must have clicked in his own mind that could only be described with the analogy of music and dance.