Predicting The Present

by Daniel Kelley

  It's easy to assume, because of the limitations of language, that the above process requires conscious manipulation by the aspirant approaching it. This view isn’t entirely wrong, for without volition we wouldn’t even try. But right effort leads to the cessation of effort itself. You can't recall a dream from the previous night if you're too preoccupied with remembering it, but you can relax into an armchair and wait to see if it pops up effortlessly into awareness. That would be right effort, which is no effort at all! But it becomes an effort for most of us because to sit quietly even for a few minutes is a rather daunting task.

  But let's take this one step further, shall we? In this book, we'll encountered this subject time and time again:

  How to live in the world and yet be untouched by it?

  What's the reason for this repetition, you ask?

  The reason is simple:

  For spiritual awakening to come to balanced fruition it must become capable of living in the world creatively, courageously, and compassionately. It's important to understand that your ego isn't separate from the world it seeks to redeem or renounce. The so-called external world and the realm of mind are one and the same thing, both from the sociological standpoint and the standpoint of all-encompassing Spirit. It may be true that Spirit is transcendent of the biosocial self, but not vice versa.

  But how does this fit in with Tarot?

  It must be remembered that Tarot is a device, not for telling the future, but for self-remembrance in the midst of everyday life. You can approach it with an ego-stained question such as, "Is my spouse cheating on me?" But the value of the answer you receive isn't going to be found in how accurate the answer is. Rather, it’ll be found in the response it generates within you. You’re advised to bear witness to your immediate responses to the information obtained, for through your watchfulness you're changing the outcome of the situation. At the very least, you're changing how you’d normally react to it. So the issue of how to carry this balanced state into the realm of everyday life is of the utmost importance. Remember:

  It's detrimental to to create a split between meditation, magick, and the rest of your life.

  In the various religions of the world there are many precepts and rules of conduct laid out for the religious seeker to follow. We're not concerned with these for their own sake but wish instead to come upon them naturally, as a direct result of a growing sensitivity. This doesn't mean that we stand idle, expecting these "fruits of the spirit" to emerge spontaneously as grace from some deity. Nor does this mean that we're to superimpose the practice of virtue over a life of vice. People have done that for centuries and have arrived nowhere. We'll learn from their example what not to do!

  What we want to do is learn what our unconscious tendencies and impulses are through a process of introspection carried into daily (and nightly) life. This practice differs from what we attain in nondual awareness in that there's a definite distinction between the observer and the observed. This distinction is made deliberately, with the innate knowledge that in reality there's no such distinction possible. For example, let's assume that you're a person prone to self-centeredness. Your spouse asks you to help with the groceries at a moment when you're preoccupied watching your favorite program on TV. There are three ways you can respond.

  You can ignore your spouse and continue watching TV.

  You can continue watching TV while "tapping into" the witnessing self to evade any sense of guilt that may arise.

  You can help your spouse with the groceries, all the while observing your inner state of agitation at having to think of someone other than yourself.

  In the first option nothing changes, and you remain on the same level as the common dog. In the second option you're an uncommon dog who's learned an interesting mental trick. In the third option, and the one to which I’m presently referring, you've not only learned something about yourself---and the key is to watch without condemnation or blame---but you've also opted for a manner of behaving that perpetuates true order because you're living in a way that allows you to live in the world religiously while not escaping from it.

  That's not to say that life must become a boring affair! It only means that life shouldn't become a cumbersome affair. There's nothing wrong with sex, for example. But when you’re ruled by the sexual impulse you’re bound to run into trouble. Sex is natural, but lust is not. Anger is natural, but wrath is not. Lust is sex gone mad. Wrath is anger gone neurotic. These impulses---I use them only as examples---go mad when there's no sensitivity functioning behind them. So you can manufacture loving-kindness, certainly, but you can't manufacture compassion. For compassion to exist there must be loving-kindness with awareness. You can hide your face from the world, but you can't hide your face from yourself, not for long. You may succeed for a while, but in the end the first will be the last, and all that you've been hiding will be revealed. In the present card, Ma'at holds two scales upon which are suspended the Greek letters Alpha and Omega (beginning and end)

  With this in mind, we can now look at how Adjustment interacts with the four eights of the Minor Arcana:

  Adjustment/Eight of Wands: When I look at this card I see energy: direct, penetrating, energy. It's the energy of a mind without conflict. It's the swift application of insight resulting in the effortless balancing of the Will. This card-combo also suggests immediate action as opposed to procrastination. It's the timeless communication of all levels of being without resistance.

  Adjustment/ Eight of Cups: This card-combo issues a very helpful warning. It reminds us to be wary of any effort and emotion that fatigues the mind. All wrong thought and effort depletes vitality, whereas true and right action gives light to the mind and relaxation to the body. This pair also highlights the danger of the pathological need to control everything. Acquiring balance is achieved through sensitivity and clear sightedness, not rigid perfectionism or overwork.

  Adjustment/Eight of Swords: Here, we have the great enemy of clear thought, called distraction. This distraction may come from others or from yourself. Whatever the case, in this card-combo you’re frozen. Those zigzagging sabers of distraction are interfering with Ma’at’s downward pointing sword of clarity. In order to regain an advantageous position, you must re-strategize. Really, that’s what this card-combo is all about! Whether you’re playing Chess or studying for a college exam, a change in approach (or attitude) is needed.

  Adjustment/Eight of Disks: This is a beautiful consolidation of all right- mindfulness and action. The flower of virtue blooms in this garden of natural growth. Prudence reminds us that nature is beyond our limited understanding of what's fair or unfair. Here, it isn’t time that heals all wounds, but timelessness and the patience that this implies. Imagine a gardener growing her own food. To reap a good harvest, the gardener must take care to provide the right soil, the proper amount of sunlight and water, and a good amount of patience and perseverance to get the job done.

  So what's the take-home message of the eight trump, Adjustment?

  In the "Book of Thoth," Crowley says of blue Venus (located at the feet of The Hierophant):

  "This woman represents Venus as she now is in this new Aeon; no longer the mere vehicle of her male counterpart, but armed and militant."

  And again of Adjustment he writes:

  "This is again a hieroglyph of 'Love is the Law, love under will'. Every form of energy must be directed, must be applied with integrity, to the full satisfaction of its destiny."

  The key to these two paragraphs can be found in the word integrity. Who is Venus in our Tarot deck? And who is her "male counterpart"? Obviously, this a mystery concealed within The Empress and The Emperor. And if we’re to complete the circle of understanding we must include the union of these two sovereigns, which occurs in The Lovers card.

  But wait:

  If the key to this mystery is to be found in integration we must also include Art, for as we’ve seen, Art is but The Empress and The Emperor combined (The Lovers).

 
; We’ve already visualized the goddess Ma'at of Adjustment standing invisibly behind the figure of Artemis in the Art trump. You'll also recall that the symbol of the Orphic Egg---seen in The Lovers in the process of fertilization and Art in the process of incubation---is a mystery of birth, death, and rebirth; namely that of The Fool, The Magus, and The Hierophant, respectively. One thing we haven't discussed, however, and what's essential to this particular contemplation, is the inner state of The Hermit as he’s seen in The Lovers (the officiating priest). His mindset is that of Adjustment. This is important to know because not only does The Hermit fertilize the Orphic Egg, he also helps incubate it.

  Remember that The Hermit is a mature form of The Magus. The Magus, as we've seen, is the organizing principle of the psyche or self-system called rationality, which is really just the capacity to take perspectives. He juggles the entire Tree of Life. The reader will note the similarities in demeanor between the central figures in Adjustment and The Magus, namely the act of poising upon tiptoe. In this we can see the inherent distractibility of the mind. We also see a vast difference in how the advanced meditator deals with this, and how the unskilled mind deals with it. When a skilled meditator sits down to meditate, the first change to happen is that her psyche is no longer lost in the content of thought. This isn’t the case of the average person. For most people, thought is always moving toward some objective. However, during meditation, thought becomes itself the object of observation: observation without mentation. If this doesn't occur, The Magus falls victim to the Ape of Thoth and remains below the Abyss. If successful, this change of focus allows the psyche to be more creative, objective, and balanced. This creative observation is the very root of rationality. Put simply:

  A balanced mind can better respond to the challenges placed before it.

  When this balance has reached a certain level of refinement, we can say that The Hermit has successfully penetrated the Veil of Paroketh and has become The Hierophant, a card in which can be found blue Venus herself: a soubriquet of the goddess Ma’at of Adjustment (tough love). Venus "armed and militant," is quite simply the intensity of an awareness that’s been awakened to Purpose. She's a reference to the form which that Purpose will take. The Holy Guardian Angel can at times be the most silent thing in existence, and yet it acts in a most intelligent way. This is all done in the interest of fulfillment. It's a date with love and death simultaneously.

  The formula is this:

  Whenever something arises from beyond the narrow confines of the self-system the aspirant's first task is to acknowledge the congeniality of the force and give way to it, despite any imagined foreignness of the thing. This is a knack, an inner feeling. This is why Ma’at wears a mask. She's looking impartially at that which is happening within. In this no energy is dissipated. When no energy is dissipated it can be released into higher spheres of consciousness.

  So now we can ask the question:

  Is a refined consciousness an infallible consciousness?

  The answer is no. An enlightened mind has no value in and of itself. It's non-utilitarian. What matters is whether or not the enlightened mind is moving into enlightened action. The greater part of any spiritual awakening happens in action, not away from it. This process is a dangerous one with many risks. Falling again and again into forgetfulness one slowly begins to awaken in the face of it. One day, at the moment of forgetfulness, one suddenly becomes uninterruptedly aware. It doesn't help at all to wait aimlessly for the grace of some God in heaven to redeem you, or to pray night after night for spiritual gifts. Who are you to ask for what you haven't earned? If you had earned it, then it would be yours already and there’d be no need to ask for it!

  If an enlightened man through his enlightenment has become infallible it means only one thing: that he's not human! It's useless to set your eyes on the horizon of enlightenment for you'll not recognize it when it comes. Anything you can see on the horizon is bound to be an illusion, so stop looking. Focus instead on awakening itself. In awakening there's bound to be first the perception of imbalance. Then, if we've understood right-order, there's the correcting of imbalance through right-action.

  You can't begin the process of awakening by having another unconscious dream. You have to see the dream and wake up within it. Then, when another dream arises in place of the old, you awaken in the face of that one too. Spiritual life isn't against dreams. It's a jump into an entirely different dimension, one in which dreams have their place, but how can you see the totality of something when you're unconscious? The only way is to wake up! Simply be the whole, don’t analyze it. Analysis has its place, certainly, but you can't apprehend the significance of that place unless you first live consciously within it and then beyond it. I say live beyond it because you, as a part, can't see beyond it. To live beyond your limitations is to be free. And what is freedom if not the capacity to be totally immersed in life, all the while completely free of attachment to any of it? As a matter of fact, let me introduce you to a very reclusive friend of mine. He goes by many names, but in Tarot he’s known as The Hermit.

  The Hermit:

  The Prophet of the Eternal

  The Magus of the Voice of Power

  Trump #9

  Zodiacal Trump of Virgo

  Mercury Rules—Mercury Exalted

  Path: #20 (Chesed to Tiphareth)

  Letter: Yod (hand) *(Numerical value: 10)

  Helpful Quotes:

  "Wander alone; bearing the Light and thy Staff! And be the Light so bright that no man seeth thee! Be not moved by aught without or within: keep Silence in all ways!"

  -Aleister Crowley

  "Friend, please tell me what I can do about this world I hold to, and keep spinning out! I gave up sewn clothes, and wore a robe, but I noticed one day the cloth was well woven. So I bought some burlap, but I still throw it elegantly over my left shoulder. I pulled back my sexual longings, and now I discover that I'm angry a lot. I gave up rage, and now I notice that I am greedy all day. I worked hard at dissolving the greed, and now I'm proud of myself. When the mind wants to break its link with the world it still holds on to one thing."

  -Kabir

  "Finding the proper time and place for inner work is important. We don't need to face our problems all at once, and we don't need to do so in every circumstance. As with all aspects of nature, there is a proper place for our hearts and minds to grow."

  -Jack Kornfield

  "A seeker of silences am I, and what treasure have I found in silences that I may dispense with confidence? If this is my day of harvest, in what fields have I sowed the seed, and in what unremembered seasons?"

  -Kahlil Gibran

  Contemplation

  It may seem strange to place The Hermit in the sociocentric phase of our story, but there’s a good reason why he serves as Priest in the marriage ceremony of The Lovers. As the philosopher Kierkegaard pointed out, the dance between individuality and the endless variations of its social environment, is the very dichotomy of selfhood. That is to say, the discovery, creation, and maintenance of your individuality alongside the innumerable pressures of your environment is the challenge which eternity places on your soul.

  Bear these facts in mind while studying The Hermit.

  The Hermit is located on the path of Yod. He’s leaving the extravagance of Chesed (Jupiter) and moving toward the balanced sphere of beautiful Tiphareth. However, The Hermit seems to be risking a great miss (sin). The Hebrew letter Yod means "hand". The card following The Hermit in sequence, called Fortune, is associated with the Hebrew letter Kaph, meaning "palm of the hand," and represents the concepts of Destiny and Fate. In addition to this, Fortune (Wheel of Fortune) is attributed to the planet Jupiter. So we can see how The Hermit may find himself moving in a vicious circle if he's not mindful!

  In developmental terms, The Hermit represents a turning back from the Sociocentric phase of development to revisit the Egocentric phase and refine any “slacking” capacities of your self-system. This is done i
n favor of achieving a more Worldcentric and potentially transpersonal stage of development (See: Introduction to this book). In the tenth trump, Fortune, the opportunity to stay psychologically centered while running on this hamster’s wheel is hidden in the symbol known as Centrum In Centri Trigono (C.I.C.T.), which is represented mythologically the Art card as the androgyne deity. In the Fortune card, C.I.C.T. is situated in the background/center of the Wheel of Time. The central figure within C.I.C.T. is none other than the sun (Tiphareth) itself, united with the moon.

  With these things in mind, how are we to approach The Hermit from the all-encompassing Spirit? Knowing what we know about The Hermit and his relationship to The Priestess, The Lovers, The Magus, etc., how are we to approach him with and from an all-encompassing Embrace? We must first change our terminology and our focus. We can't approach this card from the standpoint of "Spirit" because we don't know what that is. We might approach Spirit theoretically, but that doesn't mean we know what Spirit is. Neither can we approach The Hermit from the standpoint of "all-encompassing Embrace" because approach as such will narrow the all-encompassing; any movement toward Spirit is bound to be a movement away from the immediate apprehension of it. After all, any movement toward Spirit is a movement of Spirit. So we can't approach The Hermit using those concepts. He's too raw for that!