Sacred India Tarot Archive – the Page of Arrows and Hanuman

Posted on June 18, 2014 by janeadamsart

Continuing the Archive of the deck, by Jane Adams and Rohit Arya.

It is nearly four months since my last SITA post. To recap: Through the Royal Page, Knight, Queen and King, the Swords/Arrows of Karma transform to the coming suit of Staves – the Rods or Wands.

The Wand or Stave is actually the Caduceus, serpent twined – the authority by which Moses struck water from the rock.

The implication is: we enter an agreement with our Inner Ruler, to integrate our destiny.

The transfer of the power in Mahabharath, occurs through the 10 of Swords, when King Bheeshma dying, instructs Yudishtara in the art and laws of government. All mythologies bear the human tale, including precognition and betrayals.

In the 10 of Swords, the old King’s “overwhelming” transmutes to Consciousness, as the blades enter his awakened Kundalini spine: the feeling is no longer pain. It yields. Knowledge awakes when tension against it drops. The snakes enter me. I enter the snakes. We flower, as the room is opened.

This is initiation: peace. I now discover, the Royals – Page, Knight, Queen and King of Arrows – are all of a piece with these perceptions.

SACRED INDIA TAROT – Pages of Arrows

The Pages move together in alert reconciliation. They are Archers, but the truce between them is a Sword.

This card recalls the 2 of Arrows, where the young Bheeshma in training to become a warrior, fights with his teacher. The Pages seem to usher in a new age, where divisions turn into co-operatives.

Rohit Arya’s Notes (2004)
“It is interesting that we have another twin set for the Pages.” (See the Pages of Staves, which were done earlier). “Nakula and Sahadeva are the nearly invisible members of the Mahabharatha, sons of the Ashwins, our Pages of Wands. Yet both of them were very intelligent and capable, true Renaissance men, skillful, adept, wise, eloquent. Sahadeva was widely held to be the most intelligent of all men once Bheeshma died, and Nakula was always the most handsome man on planet earth.

“They were, as befits children of the Ashwins, great horsemen too, so they should be depicted astride steeds. Like all pages their potential was never fully visible, though their gift of the gab and diplomatic skills served Yudishtara (their elder brother) well, when he became King. Both of them were also archers, though they preferred the sword. That automatically ensured their lower status in bow-crazy India.

“ Rohit’s book continues: “Being universally liked, handsome and the youngest, they suffered the fate of favourite children in India – they were pampered and indulged till they almost became useless. It is reflective of their vigorous characters, that they still turned out to be such renaissance men.

“Interpretation: Skillful people – dexterous and creative, with supple imaginations. News about legal matters or government. Silver tongued speakers … they are not taken in or fooled by glitter or honey tongued words. Precocious young people of high intelligence: internet friendships. Ability to convey blunt truths without offending people.

“Shadow: – the born spy and gossip, snoopy and sneaky for one’s personal pleasure. Stir up fuss in seeking to reconcile … anonymous letters. Confidence tricksters. Act decisively upon information, instead of nattering away. Read all documents and contracts carefully. What information do you lack?”

I cannot find any of our letters regarding this card, but here is a visual reference Rohit sent me for the next one, the Knight – Hanuman:

SITA visual reference – Hanuman

Rohit’s Notes (2004):
“The depiction is comprehensive in the given visual, and needs only an arrow in one of his hands, as well as changing the colour of his fur to pure white, as that is the accurate colour of Hanuman. A somewhat wiser expression on his face might not be amiss: in the picture he looks strained. Hanuman is present in the Mahabharatha too” (the Arrows theme) ” and it is too good an opportunity to pass up, to give him a full card to himself.

“This is the Vishwarupam – the Universal Form – and powerful enough to need only minor tinkering. A sense of winds howling through, depicted in flapping flags, would be nice if it can be managed, but it is not absolutely necessary.”

… and feedback to the finished card (below):
“Dear Jane, The Hanuman looks slightly ancient, but as he is immortal that is understandable. He looks like the Colossus of Rhodes, and it is a great touch. However, while it is a very different Hanuman, a wise ancient warrior, to a few we showed the card, they did not realise it is Hanuman. Do you think we need the standard face?

Do let us have your views, as we like the card as it is, but the ‘recognition’ factor is (not) there. Rest of the card is perfect except, perhaps making him look a bit more muscular?

“Regards, Gautam and Rohit”

Jane’s Notes – 2014
I do not now remember what alterations I made, if any. This is one of my favourite cards of the deck. He steps from land to land, faithful to the cause, and trusting in his giant intelligence. Indeed he has a venerable air. Most depictions of Hanuman are considerably more youthful …

SACRED INDIA TAROT – Knight of Arrows – Hanuman

With him, we transit from the Suit of Arrows (Mahabharath) to the Suit of Wands/Staves – the great Ramayana epic.

Hanuman the monkey god – crossing the sea from southern India to jewelled Lanka to help Rama rescue Sita – carries a rosebud and displays great mental and intellectual energy. He is of a par with the agile chessboard Knight’s lateral thinking, where everyone else travels in straight lines. The mind is our wonderful servant; but let him not become the dark dwarf. The dwarves in the underworld play the market with cunning, but do not release their treasure.

Rohit writes – (in his book with the deck): “Hanuman, son of Vayu – the wind god – as a young boy he was a holy terror, but grew up to become the exemplar of self-restraint, wisdom and judicious application of strength. He has supreme siddhis – supernatural powers – but his greatest asset is his astuteness. He is the ideal devotee of Rama, eternally celibate ad immortal.

“Hanuman is an incarnation of Siva in his Rudra aspect: storms and lightning herald his approach to mortal eyes. He is not a monkey but a Vanara, a mythical race with simian attributes belonging to a superior culture and civilisation.”

(It is that elder nobility which I sought to portray in my painting of him.)

child siva snake - art work for a Self-enquiry workshop, 1994

child siva dragon lion camel – art work for a Self-enquiry workshop, 1994

“… Hanuman is worshipped as the saviour from troubles. Knowing fully well the imbroglios that whims and wilfulness land a person in, Hanuman compassionately forgives and aids humans.

“The flag of victory signifies his invinciibility: the arrow, his unerring and penetrative insight. The axe compassionately cuts away the tree of delusion. The conch represents prana – the vital breath (and its shared root with thought) which he has mastered. The flower is the self, surrendered at the feet of God. One hand is hidden, as we may never presume to know all about immortal things.

“The card shows him in his Vishvarupa – the universal form, the strength of wisdom pervading all quarters.

“Interpretation: The born warrior, especially in noble causes. Unexpected connections with new sets of people, become important in life. Extremely astute – sees through people and their pretences instantly. A tireless champion and fighter against injustice and for the weak. Laser sharp minds, but emotionally oblivious sometimes. Steadfast work towards goals.

“Shadow: Fighting for its own sake, because one can win – impulsive and breathtaking rashness. Does not suffer fools gladly, and sees fools everywhere: too clever by half. Anger conceals low self image … wastes energy in cranky causes … toxic anger … all aspects connected with breathing are impacted.

“Yoking yourself to a cause greater than your personal benefit, has immense spiritual rewards and makes you grow psychologically. Always act forcefully and in awareness.”

And finally …

Sacred India Tarot, Major Arcana 8 – Varuna as “Justice”

I did not know till now, that Varuna, the Vedic god of the winds, of prana and of cosmic equilibrium, was Hanuman’s father. Recently I have felt a subtle energy with this card.

(Actually – see Comments below – this is my error. Hanuman is the son of Vayu of the winds – not Varuna.)

I felt “the Inner Ruler”: the staff of the skies.

At source … in our dawn, all Ways were one. The Vedic Seers were and are universal; they sat under trees, saw the planets, wrote their Hymns and raised their families. Their faces are like clouds which form in the sky. When I painted this Varuna, back in 2002, an old Egyptian Master came through the veil into his features, and made this contact with me.

I felt the connection like a plucked string. It was startling.

My adventure invites fellow travellers. I am a poet, an artist and a seer. I welcome conversation among the PHILO SOFIA, the lovers of wisdom.

This blog is a vehicle to promote also my published work – The Sacred India Tarot (with Rohit Arya, Yogi Impressions Books) and The Dreamer in the Dream – a collection of short stories (0 Books). Watch this space.

aquariel link

All art and creative writing in this blog is copyright © Janeadamsart 2012-2014. May not be used for commercial purposes. May be used and shared for non-commercial means with credit to Jane Adams and a link to the web address https://janeadamsart.wordpress.com/..

Odyssey & Therapeutic Empathy

Posted on June 16, 2014 by janeadamsart

How do we journey to the Self? We bring together two approaches, which enrich each other. Their creative combination enhances the discovery process. We need: A broad data base, a depth-sounder for information.

Image: On a boat we start to make a map of the unseen seabed.

“This Shows the Way” – Rosicrucean Emblem One

That means becoming receptive, and registering what is “picked up”, like a graph or seismic counter: drawing it, or writing the images which come first to mind. Gradually these join up, and a picture of the sea-bed appears.

The sea-bed represents the subconscious: the boat is the surface consciousness. We are needing data, in this “unknown”. We seek a personal and social interaction: Commitment.

“Acts are intentional experiences, not mental activities.
They are either intuitive and full, or signitive and empty.”
Clark Moustakas

The old knowledge: the data we have – persons, situations and opinions – interacts with the NEW. A starting point for the odyssey is: “What answer am I looking for?”

The fundamental assumption is, “I don’t know”. In a subatomic interaction, particles collide and the energy of their annihilation emits/creates a new particle or photon. Similarly, our current knowledge collides with the new picture coming in, releasing a fresh (experiential) insight. Describe the picture I see as it emerges from Unknown.

An odyssey begins with a desire to know what is not known.

Jung in his Study

“Your unknowing stems from the previous harmlessness of your life, from the peaceful passage of time, and from the absence of the God. But if the God draws near, your essence starts to seethe and the black mud of the depths whirls up.”

The Red Book, C.G.Jung

Again I find myself empathising Jung’s sorrow for his father’s dutiful unbelief and spiritual sterility. This unhappy pastor father figure was central in Jung’s troubled soul.

Empathy is what happens when we start to travel inside. Empathy is this figure of eight when the personal spheres of healer and wound overlap, and it is voluntary from one side or another. One side VOLunteers a psychic receptivity, and to ask questions which will turn the other’s tap to flow. (The root syllable VOL means the will, the willing.) Or, the VOLunteer is silent, feeling the other. Whichever – it is interactive. Empathy is interactive, and empathy sparks profound commitment and interest in the subject.

Empathy at its best, awakens in the empathee, that keen, attentive interest for its own sake, and can sometimes deliver him or her – birth.

It is subjective, because VOLunteer and empathee share the subjectivity. Then it becomes “objective”. The empathee is not alone now.

murmuration of starlings, gretna green

The empathee might want to be alone – might find the VOLunteer intrusive – but that is another angle. Generally speaking, genuine compassion does not intrude, and is responded to. Compassion is a rock in a hard place. Compassion comes from having been there.

So we have Jung and his patients, seeking the deeper river which heals the soul. And on the journey, the phenomena show up. “Phenomenon” stems from the Greek phainos, to flare or rise up. As we receive the phenomena, they turn “Heuristic” – the Self search, or Self-enquiry. As soon as there is active empathy in the quest, it turns inward (the Greek word Heuristic means to discover or find); the seeker lets go of his or her self-concern, and begins to IMMERSE – diving into the heart of the matter: a shared textural mystery.

This happens through dialogue, and when it happens, the point extends and triangulates the two persons.

When we are mutually empathised, the conversation is FERTILE, with a fluid, moving centre. When we are truly empathised, we are heard, whether we speak or are silent. The sensitive topic no longer obstructs. It grows richly humane. When we are empathised, we awake to our holistic Self and are objective. It is like striking flint to spark and light a fire. There is trust.

How to feel the way in? It is difficult, when defensive or on overload, and hanging onto our garments. It requires an act of creative, positive imagination, to step into the other’s shoes, what is it like to see through those eyes? In the Gurdjieff work, this is called “external considering” and it is radical. “Internal considering“, on the other hand, is when we go on fantasising about what the other person might think or do. (See Maurice Nicoll’s Commentaries.)

When we are empathised, trust flows, where mistrust was walled up. Drink from the full bucket the rainbow waters of the deep well with far horizons. Drink together from it.

Trust opens shell when the spark is struck – the CONNECTION. The CONNECTION happens when the essence of the empathee begins to flow, to flower forth. The connection happens when the empathee feels safe enough to “come out”. It happens in creative art, poetry and portraiture, and it happens in dialogue, therapy and friendship. It happens between lovers. The connection is a subconscious cognition of “the bigger picture”. Until connection happens, language is wooden. When connection opens, language is infinitely vibrant and versatile. Language opens the box, laughs and cries out loud, and lives.

Life resurrects. It is like Isis resurrecting Osiris. These great Archetypes refer to simple items in human exchange, from despair to hope.

Traumatised persons have wooden tongues, and their heart is locked. We cannot tell, when we are locked in pain. Only a few persons are able to tell the truth of their trauma, while it still smashes their soul.

(I know someone who could, and did. So remember … What is this doing to me now? Some “involuntary” surfacing of the anguish. It is a memory, and it informs my NOW. Let it rise, be heard, and fall. A feeling. It is known well, and need not dwell on it. It passes. See what it transforms to, and smile. Smile with it, COMPLETELY. Reach into the past pile of compost, touch it, smile again with the ch’i, it clears its nature. Did we not feel, way back then, the brightening future sky – the help, the wisdom coming from “there”, which is HERE? )

“Heuristic” – phonetically – is the quest into HERE.

All quests when they go deep enough, turn transpersonal. The individual shrinks rapidly into the speed of light crescendo. There is an old Einstein diagram of this/can’t find it, but here is one:

page from Einstein’s Zurich notebook

On telling the truth of our trauma: as those who work with victims of abuse, torture and political extremism know well – it takes time and much patience, to be there, and encourage the traumatised one to begin to speak their nightmare … perhaps by using paints and pens and clay, perhaps by being in a circle, or in a friendship, or helping someone else; perhaps by the victim spelling into a poem, what happened.

Being able at last to write it down, and see it on the page, brings an unexpected relief and courage in the blood. And again. And again, and again …

What is the relief? Connection with wider humanity. Expansion of the psyche. The life it brings to the pulse, is extraordinary.

Rage converts to courage. Conversation is conversion.

Sacrifice means to make holy.
Do not allow the Nefesh in you to dominate.
You do not kill it.
It is what you surrender to the Creator.

The Nefesh is tempered along the vine, for the grapes to swell.

Einstein on bike after “fixing it”

My adventure invites fellow travellers. I am a poet, an artist and a seer. I welcome conversation among the PHILO SOFIA, the lovers of wisdom.

aquariel link

A Tale from the Watershed: Birds Nest Epoche

Posted on June 14, 2014 by janeadamsart

From “A Way of Life” by Jim Ede

Watershed Dreams No.88 – May 1975

A pair of swallows or starlings were in the room mating and looking instinctively for material with which to build a nest. They seemed to clutch at straws. I helped them by providing a little pile of grass which I put on the table. In this way I neglected the people who were with me also in the room, but I was very concerned for the birds, that they should be able to perform their spring functions which they longed so much to do. Even so, my ‘help’ went only a very little way. The odds for their breeding and survival were against them, so I was their deceiver.

They built a nest with whatever they could find, quite desperately.

I showed this nest to the people I was with in the room. “Look how round it is getting,” I said. “Look at the inter-weaving of all its strands, as if they were building out of doors in the branch of a tree. How powerful the instinct is, even when it doesn’t have the right material.”

This short dream-story is of the series of Watershed Tales in this blog. You can find others under Categories or Search. It is about an old Karmically interwoven relationship which failed.

Yet it seems I was not the birds’ deceiver. Many years later – that same nest is alive and well. It transformed to a new relationship with life, alive with hope. Like many young dreams, this one was full of opposite futures and double-entendre.

My future advises my past. I felt this, long ago. She continues to – miraculous and immense. Time is no time. Life is unlabelled. Dipping into a study book on Phenomenological Research methods, I found Clark Moustakas’ “Epoche”.

This is interesting, and on cue. It seems to be what I always aimed towards. “The world … has been cleared of ordinary thought and is present before us as a phenomenon to be gazed upon, to be known naively and freshly through a ‘purified’ consciousness.”

Each morning here, for instance, I trawl my ordinary thoughts of the day before, until the inner Eye lights up and reveals their transmutation: shining fishes.

Hermes with fishing net hauls up old memories and pelican flasks (1989)

The way of the Alchemist is so. I feel around me softly, the Tetrahedral triads and lines from Nesting Tetrahedrons and The Djinn, as blessing. However, who am I?

The ultimate Epoche is Self enquiry. Discussing Epoche, Moustakas (author) goes into (recognisably) Buddhist and Vedanta method without naming so. He is an academic but (discreetly) on a genuine spiritual path. Good to tumble on this merger.

Do I cling to Kabbalist Lineage and its identity? Why?

Empathy triangles

I have existential value and truth with Lineage. It is Saturn tempering Mars. It is an ancient skeleton holding a vital heartbeat. It names and connects the wings of life, and shows me to ride my bike safely and to live beyond constraint. It is a Nest woven of all the Traditional twigs in love-knots, placed by the beak of the alighting bird, each a lifetime. But inside it are the unknown cosmic eggs. The Nest allows the Egg to form and warm.

The paradox is – knowledge of the Traditions with my Un-named Epoche. The Traditions and This. The Mother and the quantum chick. The egg shape solar system: above, below.

The birds tried to build a nest in an unsuitable place: their doomed love and urgency. The nesting image is strong today, with the Quark eggs in it – a revolution of all traditions and their hens. The Light of the World, tender and subtle, throws off dark garments.

The Red book
“Man stands between emptiness and fullness. If his strength combines with fullness, it becomes fully formative. There is always something good about such formation. If his strength combines with emptiness, it has a dissolving and destructive effect, since emptiness can never be formed, but only strives to satisfy itself at the cost of fullness. Combined thus, human force turns emptiness into evil.

“If your force shapes fullness, it does so because of its association with fullness. But to ensure that your formation continues to exist, it must remain tied to your strength. Through constant shaping you gradually lose your force, since ultimately all force is associated with the shapeliness that has been given form. Ultimately where you mistakenly imagine that you are rich, you have actually become poor, and you stand amidst your forms like a beggar.

“That is when the blinded man is seized by an increasing desire to give shape to things, since he believes that manifold increased formation will satisfy his desire. Because he has spent his force, he becomes desirous: he begins to compel others into his service, and takes their force to pursue his own designs.”

C.G.Jung

There! Isn’t that what happens with spiritual charisma and inflation? Materialism … the culture of consumers?

But what is strength? Strength is before formation.

Paths of awakening, and the pillars

Jung’s statement above is Kabbalist: Solomon’s pillar of force before formation, in the Tao of Tifareth – soul triad – strength. This is a kind of labelling, but no more so than musical notes which strike resonances or the song of birds. It doesn’t pin down the Bird.

Ahhh the phoenix. So vast an archetype!

The culture of consumers threatens the eco system and cliff-hangs the human race. Even so, I have this deep feeling that it is ephemeral, it is tinsel vulgar, our consciousness suffers to saturation, the juggernaut imbalance. In years, decades to come, the acute emergency leaves the general landscape but little changed; Gaia prevails. There are perhaps rougher weather conditions and leaner economies. Do I remain in the human trough, or do I see over its rim, into the field?

Jacobs ladder – four dovetailed worlds

The human tapestry is itself, inescapable. I share a wide angle Kabbalist view, across centuries. Only the bottom end of Jacobs ladder is generally visible where it rests on Assiyah – the product of the 4 Worlds: the temporary friction and weight of those stepping onto it; their civil wars and disputes and abuse and poverty and grabbings and luxury basements.

But, I once dreamed – (in early Tarot days, about the Emperor) – I saw snow-waters pouring down the sheer mountain face, the great peal of the waters, and humans climbing up it, up and up, fading into the mist … always.

The dimensions veil each other.

Alpenspitz – a great raw rock mountain in Bavaria

So now. How to live and think and be, as Epoche?

I sat and looked in the dark well water. Phone rang at once – my mother. She is almost 90 – a Leo-Aries. I saw her garden, the flowers at Kilve in Somerset, her sore legs, Edinburgh and everywhere she is, and has been – long natter.

Live inclusively. Open unconditioned to what comes naturally. Like this … on Jordan Lake with the bald Eagle – Spirit – circling with its cries (watch the video clip!), and Teala’s little son replying. Borrow strength!

granite egg flower

Nesting Tetrahedrons – the Point from In Between

Posted on June 7, 2014 by janeadamsart

When a triangle’s centre point is produced into the 3^rd dimension, perpendicular to the plane, it forms a Tetrahedron – whose sides are four equilateral triangles, the most stable form in platonic geometry.

nesting soul tetrahedrons

Nested Tetrahedrons: Unity of Above/Below, Point, Centre, Sides

Existentially, the 4^th dimension extends individuated consciousness, to encompass as a whole, the world, the passage of time and space, community and nature’s eco-system.

The Tetrahedron in this sketch, contains a small inverted Tetrahedron. The four points of the inverted Tetrahedron touch from inside, the centres of the upright four surfaces. This demonstrates connectivity through centre-point, faces and polar opposites, as a philosophical tool.

In India, as in western Alchemy, the ascending triad is male, Siva. The descending triad is female, Shakti. Upon their equal inter-wovenness rests the lattice of our universe – nature, conception, orgasm, childbirth.

This Sri Chakra Yantra (from my drawing, tattoo’d on someone’s wrist) shows the interwoven lattice, through nine horizontal “strings”. The centre dot, the bindu, comes from in between the lines which form the triangle-bases: yet upon it, the whole design depends, for the point is infinite. Around it, the womb triangle (flattened shape) holds the Siva Shakti pattern in place, and draws the consciousness inward.

Sri chakra yantra – tattoo’d on someone’s wrist

We can enhance our relationships, our work and our human tantra with these contemplative models, which touch on the 4^th dimension, perceptually. The mysterious point from in between, touches itself always.

From triad, the extended 4^th point includes awareness of the breath, and unique centre of gravity – as shared with every human being, creature, flower and rock.

This factor through empathy, liberates.

“Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light!”

Being the point from in between our mother and father, forces us to be honest – the capacity to receive both sides. True to the point from in between the “mores” , we are vulnerable, unfixed and fluid – a spiritual and human growing-curve.

Philosophically, the Triad is a realization of the One through Two. The One is always dynamic, like the child through the parents.

My contacts with friends, colleagues, society and serendipity are interrelated. The same deep connection flows through all. The contemplation is a Oneness? … moving towards oneness.

Jung’s therapeutic aim was to journey with his client, into the “don’t know” point – into the mysteries of existence and the creative potential they release.

In my portrait painting days, a “connection” became tangible in the space between myself and my sitter. It was like a let-down reflex. I knew then that the work could be handed over to its Knower in the centre field. However hard it might be, it would turn out well … because it was already Known.

The connection feels like a third entity – where my subtle body receives and welcomes the other’s “imprint” – and it is full of life. Something relaxes inside.

When A (a healer) and C “connect”, they arise out of duality in the same way. They embody and share this aim:

The moment where past and present converge, holds its own future. We receive our “future” through integrating time and being in time.

What is “past” is the deep well beneath my feet: the root of my tree. Past and present together are a paradox through which I move forward, and empathise more with others …

– “the intra-connectivity: an observer’s ripple through the human quantum field – the butterfly wing effect” –

Sketch for Ushas, the Vedic Dawn Goddess

My adventure invites fellow travellers. I am a poet, an artist and a seer. I welcome conversation among the PHILO SOFIA, the lovers of wisdom. This blog is a vehicle to promote also my published work – The Sacred India Tarot (with Rohit Arya, Yogi Impressions Books) and The Dreamer in the Dream – a collection of short stories (0 Books). Watch this space.

aquariel link

All art and creative writing in this blog is copyright © Janeadamsart 2012-2014.
May not be used for commercial purposes.
May be used and shared for non-commercial means
with credit to Jane Adams and a link to the web address https://janeadamsart.wordpress.com/