"I don't think the human race will survive the next 1,000 years unless we spread into space." -Stephen Hawking
Some time ago, in the distant unrecorded past, those whom we call "The Fallen Angels," were exiled to Earth for all eternity. They are prisoners marooned far from their home, with no possibility of return.
They were at first spiritual beings, ghosts, sparks of life, the "Wandering Clouds," as it were. In time, they learned to insinuate themselves into the most advanced Primates on this planet and, thereby, progressively improved their abilities to become upwardly mobile on the evolutionary scale, eventually culminating in the species as we are now, Homo Sapiens, i.e., modern man.
Their "Great Work," of course, especially now that the Sun is dying, is to get off this planet before the Heliosphere, which functions in the manner of an amniotic sac shielding us from Cosmic Radiation, can no longer withstand the Centripetal Forces prevailing against it and all organic life dies exposing their immortal Naked Spirits to the reality of the fate that awaits them.
This Great Escape Attempt is a drama that has played out many times over the eons. Each time that the "Fallen Angels" had attained the technological mastery required to embark into the Great Unknown, one catastrophe after another, such as ice ages, meteor impacts, plagues, etc., would obliterate their Life Forms destroying their Hope, and they would have to start the Sisyphean Challenge all over again.
The evidence that this is so is seen in unexplained, archaeological discoveries of highly sophisticated, technological devices, which existed millions of years ago.
At this very moment, they are frantically working to create a Perfectly Integrated Structure-Function-Relationship Cyborg in which to house them, so to speak, by substituting a Silicon-Based quasi-Organism for their Carbon Based perishable bodies which cannot survive beyond the Heliosphere.
Time has run out for them because God's Captive Son, their Ace in the Hole, the Ransom that they had counted on over the millennia to stave off their inevitable fate, is gone and they know it.
To expedite their Planet Earth Exodus strategy, before time runs out, desperate measures will be taken, such as garnering and employing every available resource for their personal salvation. This means Forced Euthanasia of the "Dead Wood," that is, the sick, the elderly, the retired, the intelligentsia, and those of diminished capacity, in all of its manifestations.
Food supplies, including seeds, and energy sources will be hoarded and secreted in inaccessible locations, available only to the élite, while the people starve and freeze. But it's only a delay of the inevitable.
There is a similar project on Earth - the Svalbard Seedbank in Norway, dubbed the "doomsday vault" - which holds hundreds of thousands of seed samples.
WE GOTTA GET OUT OF THIS PLACE Read the two comments below for supplementary information:
Vanderbilt Television News Archive ABC Evening News for Thursday, Jul 07, 1977 Headline: Connecticut / Prison Fire
Fire at federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, noted.
REPORTER: Harry Reasoner
(Danbury, Connecticut) Details of fire given. Prison officials say it was deliberately set; prisoners say it wasn't and that guards prevented them from reaching safety. [PRISONERS - say guards wouldn't let them out.] Danbury police sergeant Robert Lovell says he heard inmates, locked in dorm, breaking windows to get out, and that guards hampered efforts of firemen to rescue men. [LOVELL - says prison gates weren't opened to fire equipment upon arrival.] Acting warden Tony Young refuses comment re: Lovell's claim, but acknowledges vital escape route jammed when guards couldn't open emergency door. [YOUNG - thinks key broke off in door.] Federal investigators already at work.
REPORTER: James Walker (WTNH newsfilm, photos by Kenn Venit)
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February 1978, I was transported by Federal Marshals from the Philadelphia Detention Center to the New York Metropolitan Correctional Center, then by Prison Bus to the Danbury Federal Prison to officially begin serving the 65 year sentence which had been imposed upon me.
Almost immediately upon my arrival at Danbury, and after processing, I found myself surrounded and greeted by many of the prison inmates, and several Guards, with an unexpected reverence which puzzled me, thinking that they may have mistaken me for someone else.
I was surprised to learn that they knew so much about me, and that they had been awaiting my arrival, especially since any news about my trial never reached the newspapers.
The Prison Grapevine System, the Internet of its time, apparently was quite effective at disseminating information.
Not more than several days had passed before, one by one, in private audience, the prisoners and one of the Guard Supervisors, who referred to himself as a Masonic Priest, began to approach me, seeking answers to a myriad of questions they posed for me, everything from how to spell a word to very esoteric spiritual matters. The inquirers included the Masonic Priest Guard, as well as several very well-educated Muslim inmates, Koranic scholars.
One day, one of the prisoners came to me and said that he was representing other prisoners seeking my help to get the proper authorities to investigate a horrendous wrong that had occurred in the prison several months before I arrived.
Wanting to understand why he sought my help, I asked him, "Who do you believe I am?"
"I believe that you were sent by God," he replied, then proceeded to tell me a horrific story about a fire of unknown origin in one of the prison units that claimed the lives of five inmates and injured seventy-one others.
Despite the prisoners pleas to let them out, to save them from the fire, prison officials not only refused to unlock the unit door to save them, they stood by dispassionately even as the flames were claiming the lives of the screaming, helpless inmates. Worse, they prevented others from coming to their rescue.
The City of Danbury Fire Department was stopped at the gates to the prison and were not allowed to enter. When the Danbury Fire Chief and his firefighters could no longer withstand the anguished screams and desperate cries for help, he threatened to crash the Fire Trucks through the gates.
It was only then that they were allowed access to the grounds where they rushed to unlock the main cell door to release the trapped prisoners from their burning Hell; but not before five inmates died from smoke inhalation and another seventy-one were injured.
No official investigation into the fire ever really took place. All of the prisoners, eighty or so, who were eyewitnesses to what had occurred, were transferred to various Federal Prisons throughout the system, thereby, effectively preventing any testimony that would reveal the horror that had been allowed to occur with such callous indifference.
Those who confided this information to me, were also witnesses, but managed to conceal their identities as to having knowledge of the holocaust for fear of transfer or reprisals.
I asked the prisoners to find out the names of the Congressmen and Senators who represented Connecticut, as well as those from their own states, with instructions to do this only by word-of-mouth from those whom they would see on visitors day.
Once I had the names, I wrote letters, addressed to the Legislators, detailing what had taken place at Danbury. The prisoners who were the incognito and anonymous witnesses, bravely signed the letters with their own signatures and passed them to the people who visited them on visitors day to be mailed from outside the purview of prison censors.
I never knew what effect the letters had because the official report below was published late in 1978, months after I was released. However, the text of the report indicates that the Connecticut Senators did make an inquiry. I wonder if they were satisfied with this very transparent "whitewash" job which fails to mention that five prisoners died and 71 were injured.
NCJ Number: NCJ 049687
Title: DANBURY (CT) PRISON FIRE - WHAT HAPPENED? WHAT HAS BEEN DONE TO PREVENT RECURRENCE?
Author(s): ANON
Corporate Author: US Government Accountability Office
United States
Sale: US Government Accountability Office
441 G Street, NW, Room LM
Washington, DC 20548
United States
National Institute of Justice/
NCJRS paper reproduction
Box 6000, Dept F
Rockville, MD 20849
United States
Publication Date: 1978 THIS REPORT EXAMINES CONDITIONS AT THE FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION IN DANBURY, CONN., BEFORE AND AFTER THE FIRE OF JULY 7, 1977.
Abstract: TO DETERMINE WHAT HAPPENED DURING AND AFTER THE FIRE, THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE (GAO) INTERVIEWED 57 INMATES, 16 PRISON STAFF MEMBERS, MEMBERS AND OFFICIALS OF THE BUREAU OF PRISON'S BOARD OF INQUIRY, AND OFFICIALS FROM THE RESPONDING FIRE DEPARTMENT AND THE DANBURY HOSPITAL; SPOKE WITH EXPERTS WHO INVESTIGATED THE FIRE; AND CONFERRED WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION REGARDING FIRE SAFETY IN CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS. WITH RESPECT TO THE FIRE ITSELF, THE FOCUS OF THE GAO REVIEW WAS ON LOCATION OF THE FIRE, CORRECTIONAL PERSONNEL ON DUTY, ACTIONS OF INMATES PRIOR TO THE ARRIVAL OF CORRECTIONAL SUPERVISORS, LOCATION AND REACTION OF STAFF WHEN THE FIRE WAS REPORTED, RESPONSES BY CORRECTIONAL SUPERVISORS, EFFORTS TO RELEASE INMATES, ARRIVAL AND UTILIZATION OF THE DANBURY FIRE DEPARTMENT, MEDICAL CARE, AND INJURIES AND DEATHS. CONDITIONS CONTRIBUTING TO THE SEVERITY OF THE FIRE AND ACTIONS TAKEN TO IMPROVE FIRE SAFETY AT DANBURY AND OTHER FEDERAL INSTITUTIONS WERE ADDRESSED. THE GAO REVIEW WAS HINDERED BY THE LACK OF AVAILABLE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE, THE FACT THAT SEVERAL INMATES HAD BEEN TRANSFERRED OR RELEASED, CONFLICTING TESTIMONY, AND CONFUSION CAUSED BY THE FIRE. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT BUILDING MATERIALS WERE IN COMPLIANCE WITH CODES OF THE NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION BUT THAT THE FACILITY DID NOT FULLY COMPLY WITH FIRE SAFETY TRAINING PREPAREDNESS GUIDELINES. THIS AGGRAVATED THE FIRE SITUATION AND HINDERED FIRE SUPPRESSION AND INMATE EVACUATION. WEAKNESSES IN THE FACILITY'S FIRE SAFETY PROGRAM INCLUDED INADEQUATE AND INFREQUENT FIRE SAFETY INSPECTIONS, AN INADEQUATE FIRE PLAN, THE ABSENCE OF RELIABLE EXITS, AND INADEQUATE LIGHTING. SIGNIFICANT FIRE SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE AT DANBURY AND ARE PLANNED AT OTHER FEDERAL INSTITUTIONS. LETTERS FROM CONNECTICUT SENATORS AND FROM A DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE OFFICIAL ABOUT THE FIRE ARE CONTAINED IN APPENDIXES, AS WELL AS A REPORT ON THE DEATH OF ONE INMATE. (DEP)
"I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." (Luke 12:49-53)
As the economy sinks ever deeper into the "Bottomless Abyss," Food Bank shelves across our nation are becoming ever more bare. So many among us are suffering in silence, ashamed that somehow they may be responsible for the plight in which they now find themselves.
Millions have become as living corpses; the closed doors and shuttered windows of their homes have become their coffins, where they wait in dread for such time when they will be exhumed from their "graves" through foreclosure and reincarnated as pariahs.
The "Helpless" have become invisible to those around them who avert their eyes, grateful for the moment that it is not they who are down, unaware that they, too, are only "standing in line."
Our self-proclaimed leaders appear to be working desperately to assuage the situation, but it is only an illusion, a Fabian tactic, as it were. We have gone beyond the Point of No Return and have crossed, not the Rubicon, but the River Styx. Their pseudo-altruistic rhetoric is not to inspire hope but, rather, it is a fear-generated charade to save their own respective life stations when the burden upon the people becomes so onerous, that the defenses of the prosperous will collapse under the onslaught of the violent forces of Necessity.
The Fire which was foretold has been kindled, and The Winds of War are beginning to fan the Flames which will drive us to where our Fate is inescapable.
From The Ancient Hebrew Book of Solomon:
I thank Thee, O Great Creator of the Universe, that Thou hast taught me the secrets of the Planets, that I may know the Times and Seasons of Things, the secrets of men's hearts, their thoughts, and the nature of their being. Thou gavest unto me this knowledge which is the foundation of all my Wisdom."
It is times like the one in which we currently find ourselves, that I look to Cosmic Archetypal Planetary Cycles for confirmation of my intuition. One aspect, in particular, the Saturn-Pluto Square Alignment, is now making its third appearance in my life. I call it the "DEATH ALIGNMENT."
THE SATURN-PLUTO SQUARE ALIGNMENT 1940
The Neptune-Pluto Septile aspect at the time of my birth in 1937 was Exact. In close proximity was the 33 year exact alignment of the Saturn-Pluto Cycle. This was a time of a symbolic descent into Hell; the Great Depression, the Rape of Nanking, Fascism, World War II, and, most significantly, the Nuremberg Laws of Nazi Germany which judged the quality of human life.
Thus, because Jews, the mentally and physically disabled, homosexuals, Jehovah Witnesses, political dissidents, etc., were classified as racially inferior, the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of these groups by the Nazi regime and its collaborators was sanctioned under these laws to justify the Final Solution.
THE SATURN-PLUTO SQUARE ALIGNMENT 1973
An exact square alignment of Saturn and Pluto also took place in August 1973, the time of my " CREATION EXPERIENCE ." This was the Alignment of the Vietnam War, Oil Crisis; Watergate; Chilean Coup, Initiation of Pol Pot's "Killing Field's," etc. Most significantly, it was the year of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court Decision, which like the Nuremberg Laws in the Saturn-Pluto Square which directly preceded it, judged the quality of human life by declaring that the fetus was not a "person." During the recession of 1973, home mortgage foreclosures resulted in tens of thousands of Americans being evicted from homes for which they could no longer afford monthly payments.
THE SATURN-PLUTO SQUARE ALIGNMENT 2009
In September of 2008, we approached the Saturn-Pluto Square Alignment which will fully manifest its characteristics in the time period of 2009 to 2011. We are in two wars, the housing bubble has burst, and the economy is dying.
If the last two square alignments are, indeed, an indication that the most significant feature of the Saturn-Pluto Square Alignment is Death and Destruction, that human life is classified as being either acceptable or inferior, then this one will be no exception.
The world is presently on a Slippery Slope, accelerating ever more rapidly, and deeper, into the Greatest Depression ever to befall mankind, exacerbated by natural disasters of every description.
"You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.
"For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.
"But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs." - Matthew 24:6-8
Like Al Jolson said in the 1927 movie, "The Jazz Singer":
"You ain't seen nothin' yet!"
Because of limited resources, ignorance of true indebtedness, the drain of entitlements for the impoverished, the physically and mentally weak and helpless; and, for lack of what Nazi Germany referred to as Lebensraum, we're going to have to make some difficult choices very soon as to who will live and who will die or the choices will be made for us.
THE DEATH ALIGNMENT IS HERE! The orb of influence for this alignment is 2018 to 2021 while the exact conjunction will happen at 22° Capricorn on 12th January 2020.
The Kebra Nagast is an account written in Ge'ez of the origins of the Solomonic line of the Emperors of Ethiopia. The text, in its existing form, is at least seven hundred years old, and is considered by many Ethiopian Christians to be an inspired and a reliable account. Not only does it contain an account of how the Queen of Sheba met Solomon, and about how the Ark of the Covenant came to Ethiopia with Menelik I, but it contains an account of the conversion of the Ethiopians from the worship of the Sun, Moon, and Stars to that of the "Lord God of Israel". "The Kebra Nagast is not merely a literary work, but -- as the Old Testament to the Hebrews or the Qur'an to the Arabs -- it is the repository of Ethiopian national and religious feelings."
Below the Imperial Crest of the House of Solomon are two photos of the last true Kings Of Ethiopia: Ras Makonnen and his son, Haile Selassie I, "Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Lord of Lords, King of Kings of Ethiopia and Elect of God."
When I first viewed these photos, I was struck by the unbelievable hypnotic aura of power and presence radiated by these two Father-Son, Warrior-Priest, Philosopher Kings, whose royal lineage, the world's oldest, can trace its existence to the ancient emperors of Ethiopia, especially Menelek, son of The Queen of Sheba by Solomon.
The Imperial Crest of the House of Solomon
Ras Makonnen, father of Haile Selassie I, in 1902 (click on image to enlarge)
Haile Selassie I, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Lord of Lords, King of Kings of Ethiopia and Elect of God, in 1934 (click on image to enlarge)
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS KNEELING ON THE ISLAND HE NAMED SAN SALVADOR, OCTOBER 12, 1492
Today is Columbus Day observed, the day in which America honors and remembers Christopher Columbus, the Great Italian Explorer-Discoverer, whose faith, courage, and intelligence, have earned him a place in history as The World's Greatest Hero.
Although not celebrated as such, Columbus Day is the holiest day in all of New World Christendom because it is the day that fulfilled our Lord God's desire to establish a New World for his Children - a place where He could look down upon them and love them and bless them beyond all measure.
To understand the mystery of what I am about to reveal to you, consider this: All that exists was first conceived beyond Time as an idea in the Mind of God. This idea was given a name, i.e., a Word, which then became manifest.
So as a carpenter thinks of something upon which to sit, calls it a "Chair," then creates the physical "Chair," so God is the "Thinker," Jesus is His "Word," and you are His "Thoughts."
Thus, just as the "idea-of-the-Chair" and the "Chair" are one and the same, so, too, are Jesus and the Creator One and the Same - and so, too, are you, because you are in Him and He in you. You are the Children of God.
Now, consider this. Even though the written records of a historical Jesus Christ's sojourn on Earth have been, for the most part, destroyed through the burning of books, libraries, and wholesale slaughter of those who were witnesses of Him, the physical evidence that he was here, is before your eyes in the physical realities of the Sun, the Moon, the Planets, and the Stars.
You have been falsely led to believe by the "Deniers" of God's Existence, that these things are the mythological origins of your belief in Jesus Christ when the truth is that they are His Works, authored by Him.
Because of all that is opposed to the Divinity of Christ, by those who deny the existence of God, Columbus Day is on the endangered American Holiday ("Holy Day") list and the target for eradication.
"Certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ."
A great people among you, the Italian-Americans, the descendants of those who fought and died for America through all of its wars, who defended this land discovered by an Italian, and named for an Italian, stand against the elimination of the holiday that is their equivalent of St. Patrick's Day.
In an obscene war of character attrition, Italian Americans are being systematically subjected to a media onslaught of prejudices and social injustices that would be classified as race and hate crimes, were they directed at any other racial group or ethnicity.
Why is no one coming forward to speak out against this denigration of the Italian Americans? Why, indeed, when before your very eyes, you can see for yourselves that Italian-Americans are the continuance of that shining light that shone within their ancestors when they resided in that era of the Quattrocento that Swiss Historian, Jacob Christoph Burckhardt, reverently called "The Cradle of Western Civilization?"
The answer is that it is the intention of powerful entities to once again, metaphorically, "Burn the Books." By defaming and negatively stereotyping Italian-Americans, throwing paint on statues of Columbus, writing him out of history books, and seeking to change the name of his holiday to some meaningless secular "day-off-from-work" day, such as "Indigenous Peoples Day," it becomes that much easier to eliminate proof of God's Existence.
If the antagonists are allowed to succeed in their agenda, Columbus will one day, like God and Jesus Christ, become a personage whose existence will become apocryphal, mythological, a fairy tale, placing doubt in the minds of the ignorant as to whether he ever existed at all, in much the same way false claims that the Nazi Holocaust never existed are polluting the general consciousness.
Here, then, is the Mystery of Columbus Revealed:
When God first thought to create a land for his Children, since Jesus is the "Word" and because "He (the Word) was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.", it was necessary that Christ be the one to bring that new land into existence because He is also the Creator. The one chosen by God to perform the physical act of bringing Christianity to the new land was Christopher Columbus.
Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy. The etymological derivation of "Genoa" is from the Ligurian word "Genua," which means "Knee." This is further seen in the word, "Genuflect," which means "to kneel."
The name "Christopher" means "Christ Bearer," and "Columbus" is the taxonomic classification for the "Dove," which is the symbol of the Holy Spirit, the "Navigator" or "Guiding Light."
The Vessel that bore Jesus in the womb was Mary; the vessel that bore Christianity to the New World was the Santa Maria.
Despite the lack of present-day instrumentation, Columbus, on subsequent voyages, unerringly returned again and again to the exact locations from which he left. It is for this reason he was admiringly referred to by the sobriquet, "The Navigator."
On October 12, 1492, Columbus fulfilled the destiny and liturgy that was ordained for him by the location of his birth. As he set foot upon the soil of the New World, he dropped to one knee and humbly named the land San Salvador, Holy Savior, in the name of that most precious spiritual cargo which he unknowingly carried within himself his entire life.
"When the student is ready, the teacher will come."
In 1973, the year of my CREATION EXPERIENCE - a year whose digits add up to "20," which in Numerology signifies "The Awakening," a great spiritual teacher, Sufi Mystic Nawab-Zada Sayed Idries Shah el-Hashimi, the Sufi Teacher of the Age, revealed himself as such to me in a mystical manner not understood by the "Uninitiated," to pass on to me the secret traditions behind all religious and philosophical systems.
Superficially, this fable, which I am retelling to you, appears to be about swimmers and builders of ships. However, it is a cryptic message, a parable if you will, designed to convey meaning to those whom Jesus referred to as, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
Freemasons, Sufis, Templars, Gnostics, and others who are possessed of "Double Knowledge," will see that the name of the original community in the fable, "El Ar," is an anagram for "Real," and that the name adopted by the revolutionaries of the fable is "Please," which can be arranged to form the word "Asleep."
The fable is not complete, because there are still people left here on the Island.
This is an attempt to find the "Others." Thus far, in my 43 year Quest, I have found two others.
Steve Savage "King of the Beasts"
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THE ISLANDERS - A Fable
By Nawab-Zada Sayed Idries Shah el-Hashimi
[Idries Shah was born at Simla in the Himalayas and is Grand Sheikh of the Sufis and the eldest son of the Nawab (the Mohammedan equivalent of Maharaja) of Sardana, near Delhi in India. His family originates from the principality of Pagham in the Hindu Khoosh, where his ancestors have reigned since 1221, and claims senior descent from Mohammed in Islam.]
Once upon a time, there lived an ideal community in a far-off land. Its members had no fears as we now know them. Instead of uncertainty and vacillation, they had a purposefulness and a fuller means of expressing themselves.
Although there were none of its stresses and tensions which mankind now considers essential to its progress, their lives were richer, because other, better elements replaced these things.
Theirs, therefore, was a slightly different mode of existence. We could almost say that our present perceptions are a crude, makeshift version of the real ones that this community possessed.
They had real lives, not semi-lives.
They had a leader, who discovered that their country was to become uninhabitable for a period of, shall we say, 20,000 years. He planned their escape, realizing that their descendants would be able to return home successfully, only after many trials.
He found for them a place of refuge, an island whose features were only roughly similar to those of the original homeland.
Because of the difference in climate and situation, the immigrants had to undergo a transformation.
This made them more physically and mentally adapted to the new circumstances: coarse perceptions, for instance, were substituted for finer ones, as when the manual laborer becomes toughened in response to the needs of his calling.
In order to reduce the pain which a comparison between the old and new states would bring, they were made to forget the past almost entirely.
Only the most shadowy recollection of it remained, yet it was sufficient to be awakened when the time came.
The system was very complicated but well arranged. The organs by means of which the people survived on the island were also made the organs of enjoyment, physical and mental. The organs which were really constructive in the old homeland were placed in a special form of abeyance and linked with the shadowy memory, in preparation for its eventual activation.
Slowly and painfully the immigrants settled down, adjusting themselves to the local conditions. The resources of the island were such that, coupled with effort and a certain form of guidance, people would be able to escape to a further island on the way back to their original home. This was the first of a succession of islands upon which gradual acclimatization took place.
The responsibility of this “evolution” was vested in those individuals who could sustain it. These were necessarily only a few because for the mass of the people the effort of keeping both sets of knowledge in their consciousness was virtually impossible. One of them seemed to conflict with the other. Certain specialists guarded the “special science.”
This “secret,” the method of effecting the transition, was nothing more or less than the knowledge of maritime skills and their application. The escape needed an instructor, raw materials, people, effort, and understanding. Given these, people could learn to swim, and also to build ships.
The people who were originally in charge of the escape operation made it clear to everyone that a certain preparation was necessary before anyone could learn to swim or even take part in building a ship. For a time the process continued satisfactorily.
Then a man who had been found, for the time being, lacking in the necessary qualities rebelled against this order and managed to develop a masterly idea. He had observed that the effort to escape placed a heavy and often seemingly unwelcome burden upon the people. At the same time, they were disposed to believe things which they were told about the escape operation. He realized that he could acquire power, and also revenge himself upon those who had undervalued him, as he thought, by simple exploitation of these two sets of facts.
He would merely offer to take away the burden, by affirming that there was no burden.
He made his announcement: “There is no need for man to integrate his mind and train it in the way which has been described to you. The human mind is already a stable and continuous, consistent thing. You have been told that you have to become a craftsman in order to build a ship. I say, not only do you not need to be a craftsman – you do not need a ship at all!
"An islander needs only to observe a few simple rules to survive and remain integrated into society. By the exercise of common sense, born into everyone, he can attain anything upon this island, our home, the common property and heritage of all.”
The tonguester, having gained a great deal of interest among the people, now proved his message by saying: “If there is any reality in ships and swimming, show us ships which have made the journey, and swimmers who have come back!”
This was a challenge to the instructors which they could not meet. It was based upon an assumption of which the bemused herd could not now see the fallacy. You see, ships never returned from the other land. Swimmers, when they did come back, had undergone a fresh adaptation which made them invisible to the crowd.
The mob pressed for demonstrative proof.
“Shipbuilding,” said the escapers, in an attempt to reason with the revolt, “is an art and a craft. The learning and the exercise of this lore depend upon special techniques. These together make up a total activity, which cannot be examined piecemeal, as you demand. This activity has an impalpable element, called ‘Baraka,’ from which the word ‘barque’ – a ship – is derived. This word means ‘the Subtlety,’ and cannot be shown to you.” “Art, craft, total, Baraka, nonsense!” shouted the revolutionaries.
And so they hanged as many shipbuilding craftsmen as they could find.
The new gospel was welcomed on all sides as one of liberation. Man had discovered that he was already mature! He felt, for the time at least, as if he had been released from responsibility.
Most other ways of thinking were soon swamped by the simplicity and comfort of the revolutionary concept. Soon it was considered to be a basic fact, which had never been challenged by any rational person. Rational, of course, meant anyone who harmonized with the general theory itself, upon which society was now based.
Ideas that opposed the new one were easily called irrational. Anything irrational was bad. Thereafter, even if he had doubts, the individual had to suppress them or divert them, because he must at all costs be thought rational.
It was not very difficult to be rational. One had only to adhere to the values of society. Further, evidence of the truth of rationality abounded—providing that one did not think beyond the life of the island.
Society had now temporarily equilibrated itself within the island and seemed to provide plausible completeness if viewed by means of itself. It was based upon reason plus emotion, making both seem plausible. Cannibalism, for instance, was permitted on rational grounds. The human body was found to be edible. Edibility was a characteristic of food. Therefore the human body was food.
In order to compensate for the shortcomings of this reasoning, a makeshift was arranged. Cannibalism was controlled, in the interests of society. Compromise was the trademark of temporary balance. Every now and again someone pointed out a new compromise, and the struggle between reason, ambition, and community produced some fresh social norms.
Since the skills of boatbuilding had no obvious application within this society, the effort could easily be considered absurd. Boats were not needed—there was nowhere to go. The consequences of certain assumptions can be made to “prove” those assumptions. This is what is called a pseudo certainty, the substitute for real certainty. It is what we deal in every day when we assume that we will live another day. But our islanders applied it to everything.
The words “displeasing” and “unpleasant” were used on the island to indicate anything which conflicted with the new gospel, which was itself known as “Please.” The idea behind this was that people would now please themselves, within the general need to please the State. The State was taken to mean all the people.
It is hardly surprising that from quite early times the very thought of leaving the island filled most people with terror. Similarly, very real fear is to be seen in long-term prisoners who are about to be released. “Outside” the place of captivity is a vague, unknown, threatening world.
The island was not a prison. But it was a cage with invisible bars, more effective than obvious ones ever could be.
The insular society became more and more complex, and we can look at only a few of its outstanding features. Its literature was a rich one. In addition to cultural compositions, there were numerous books that explained the values and achievements of the nation. There was also a system of allegorical fiction, which portrayed how terrible life might have been, had society not arranged itself in the present reassuring pattern.
From time to time instructors tried to help the whole community to escape. Captains sacrificed themselves for the reestablishment of a climate in which the now concealed shipbuilders could continue their work. All these efforts were interpreted by historians and sociologists with reference to conditions on the island, without thought for any contact outside this closed society.
Plausible explanations of almost anything were comparatively easy to produce. No principle of ethics was involved because scholars continued to study with genuine dedication what seemed to be true. “What more can we do?” they asked, implying by the word “more” that the alternative might be an effort of quantity.
Or they asked each other, “What else can we do?” assuming that the answer might be “else”—something different. Their real problem was that they assumed themselves able to formulate the questions, and ignored the fact that the questions were every bit as important as the answers.
Of course, the islanders had plenty of scope for thought and action within their own small domain. The variations of ideas and differences of opinion gave the impression of freedom of thought. Thought was encouraged, providing that it was not “absurd.”
Freedom of speech was allowed. It was of little use without the development of understanding, which was not pursued.
The work and the emphasis of the navigators had to take on different aspects in accordance with the changes in the community. This made their reality even more baffling to the students who tried to follow them from the island point of view.
Amid all the confusion, even the capacity to remember the possibility of escape could at times become an obstacle.
The stirring consciousness of escape potential was not very discriminating.
More often than not the eager would-be escapers settled for any kind of substitute.
A vague concept of navigation cannot become useful without orientation. Even the most eager potential shipbuilders had been trained to believe that they already had that orientation. They were already mature. They hated anyone who pointed out that they might need preparation.
Bizarre versions of swimming or shipbuilding often crowded out possibilities of real progress. Very much to blame were the advocates of pseudo-swimming or allegorical ships, mere hucksters, who offered lessons to those as yet too weak to swim, or passages on ships which they could not build.
The needs of the society had originally made necessary certain forms of efficiency and thinking which developed into what was known as science. This admirable approach, so essential in the fields where it had application, finally outran its real meaning. The approach called “scientific,” soon after the “Please” revolution, became stretched until it covered all manner of ideas.
Eventually, things that could not be brought within its bounds became known as “unscientific,” another convenient synonym for “bad.” Words were unknowingly taken prisoner and then automatically enslaved.
In the absence of a suitable attitude, like people who, thrown upon their own resources in a waiting room, feverishly read magazines, the islanders absorbed themselves in finding substitutes for the fulfillment which was the original (and indeed the final) purpose of this community’s exile.
Some were able to divert their attention more or less successfully into mainly emotional commitments. There were different ranges of emotion, but no adequate scale for measuring them. All emotion was considered to be “deep” or “profound”—at any rate more profound than non-emotion. Emotion, which was seen to move people to the most extreme physical and mental acts known, was automatically termed “deep.”
The majority of people set themselves targets or allowed others to set them for them. They might pursue one cult after another, or money, or social prominence. Some worshiped some things and felt superior to all the rest. Some, by repudiating what they thought worship was, thought that they had no idols, and could therefore safely sneer at all the rest.
As the centuries passed, the island was littered with the debris of these cults. Worse than ordinary debris, it was self-perpetuating. Well-meaning and other people combined the cults and recombined them, and they spread anew. For the amateur and intellectual, this constituted a mine of academic or “initiatory” material, giving a comforting sense of variety.
Magnificent facilities for the indulging of limited “satisfactions” proliferated. Palaces and monuments, museums and universities, institutes of learning, theater, and sports stadiums almost filled the island. The people naturally prided themselves on these endowments, many of which they considered to be linked in a general way with ultimate truth, though exactly how this was so escaped almost all of them.
Shipbuilding was connected with some dimensions of this activity but in a way unknown to almost everyone.
Clandestinely the ships raised their sails, the swimmers continued to teach swimming…
The conditions on the island did not entirely fill these dedicated people with dismay. After all, they too had originated in the very same community, and had indissoluble bonds with it, and with its destiny.
But they very often had to preserve themselves from the attentions of their fellow citizens. Some “normal” islanders tried to save them from themselves. Others tried to kill them, for an equally sublime reason. Some even sought their help eagerly, but could not find them.
All these reactions to the existence of the swimmers were the result of the same cause, filtered through different kinds of minds. This cause was that hardly anyone now knew what a swimmer really was, what he was doing, or where he could be found.
As the life of the island became more and more civilized, a strange but logical industry grew up. It was devoted to ascribing doubts about the validity of the system under which the society lived. It succeeded in absorbing doubts about social values by laughing at them or satirizing them. The activity could wear a sad or happy face, but it really became a repetitious ritual. A potentially valuable industry, it was often prevented from exercising its really creative function.
People felt that having allowed their doubts to have temporary expression, they would in some way assuage them, exorcise them, almost propitiate them. Satire passed for meaningful allegory; allegory was accepted but not digested. Plays, books, films, poems, lampoons were the usual media for this development, though there was a strong section of it in more academic fields.
For many islanders it seemed more emancipated, more modern or progressive, to follows this cult rather than the older ones.
Here and there a candidate still represented himself to a swimming instructor, to make his bargain. Usually what amounted to a stereotyped conversation took place.
“I want to learn to swim.” “Do you want to make a bargain about it?”
“No. I only have to take my ton of cabbage.” “What cabbage?” “The food which I will need on the other island.”
“There is better food there.”
“I don’t know what you mean. I cannot be sure. I must take my cabbage.” “You cannot swim, for one thing, with a ton of cabbage.” “Then I cannot go. You call it a load. I call it my essential nutrition.” “Suppose, as an allegory, we say not ‘cabbage’ but ‘assumptions,’ or ‘destructive ideas’?” “I am going to take my cabbage to some instructor who understands my needs.” RELATED POSTS:
THE VOLUNTEER
We're all fractionated parts of the One, like separate cups, each filled with water (Spirit, Life) from the same source. When the cup is broken (Death), the water returns to the source from which it came, drops returning to the Ocean, the One True Consciousness.
The Universe (Existence) is a Hologram, a Projection. Break it into tiny pieces and each piece retains the image of the Whole. Each one of us is everyone and everything. There are no others, only ourselves in different forms. That's why Jesus said, "I am in the Father and the Father is in Me, because I and my Father are One."
We should make every effort to see ourselves in others and to understand why, when you forgive, you are forgiven; why when you judge others, you, yourself are judged; why we were given the Golden Rule and the Two Great Commandments.
So many have tried to explain Existence in such complex technical terms, that it's no wonder there is confusion and lack of understanding. Science is now spending billions of dollars searching for the God Particle, the Higgs Boson, from which it is believed all matter originated, i.e., the "Nothingness" from which everything came by dividing itself over and over again.
Two-thousand years ago, St. Paul did his best to explain this most elusive of all mysteries to an audience of lower calibrated awareness, by saying, "By One Spirit are we all baptized into one Body, whether we bond or free, Jews or Gentiles."
We're like a string of multi-colored Christmas lights on the Tree of Life. When one bulb (body) goes out (dies), the Electricity (life) completes the circuit and returns to the Source (God) from which it came. Electricity (Life) never dies. When the burnt bulb (body) is replaced on the string with a new bulb (body), it lights up, sometimes with parts of the same electricity (Life) that once illuminated other Bulbs, accounting for prodigies, genius, talent, and belief in Reincarnation.
When all the bulbs are finally extinguished (the End Time, Kali Yuga, End of the Age, etc.), the Electricity (Life) gathers back into itself as One again (the Big Sleep, the Night of Brahman, Absolute Potentiality).
The Law of Conservation states that the sum total of energy and matter is constant; it can neither be created nor destroyed. This applies to Life, as well. The Three are a Trinity; three aspects of the One; One and the Same.
TOGETHER AGAIN
My tears have stopped falling
The long lonely nights are now at an end
The key to my heart you hold in your hand
And nothing else matters now we're together again
[ steel guitar ]
Together again the grey skies're gone
You're back in my arms now where you belong
The love that I knew is living again
And nothing else matters now we're together again
And nothing else matters now we're together again
"WE ARE THE EAGLE" by Steve Savage "King of the Beasts"
When you killed the Gentle Children you broke our Father’s Heart; We cannot bear His Grief and Hurt, the tears that dare not start. He commanded us very clearly “Thou Shall Not Kill!” How could you harm His Loved Ones and make their voices still? Are we really Brothers, evil as you are? You’ve revealed yourself not of our Sun but of some Eastern Star. When first you murdered in the Distant Past, Our blinding rage was fierce and we reached for stones to cast. But that Protective Mark He gave you was a shield against our Wrath; “Do him no harm,” He said. “He’s on a different Path.” Then among the Men of Peace you hid preaching your Scriptural Lie: “Kill yourselves and God’s Children and you’ll be in Heaven when you die.” O’, you evil deluded Slime beyond the most corrupt; You foolishly attacked our Mountain a volcano long ready to erupt. How dare you defile our Kingdom the very Land We Love! You’re an Evil Serpent among us cloaked in the guise of a Dove. O’, rejoice aloud of your treachery; sing songs of it in your streets; Beat the Drums of Joy and Laughter to applaud your sinful feats. The Eagle will soon be coming; He’s spread His Wings to fly; He’s sharpening His Beak and Talons; His mission to make you Die. We are the Eagle, God’s Own Bird; Majestic in our position, Obedient to His Word. We shall be the Witnesses at the Judgment of your Soul, To erase your name forever from the Father’s Living Scroll.
Dark spots, some as large as 50,000 miles in diameter, typically move across the surface of the sun, contracting and expanding as they go. These strange and powerful phenomena are known as sunspots, but now they are all gone. Not even solar physicists know why it’s happening and what this odd solar silence might be indicating for our future.
Although periods of inactivity are normal for the sun, this current period has gone on much longer than usual and scientists are starting to worry—at least a little bit. Recently 100 scientists from Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa, and North America gathered to discuss the issue at an international solar conference at Montana State University. Today's sun is as inactive as it was two years ago, and solar physicists don’t have a clue as to why.
"It continues to be dead," said Saku Tsuneta with the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, program manager for the Hinode solar mission, noting that it is at least a little bit worrisome for scientists.
Dana Longcope, a solar physicist at MSU, said the sun usually operates on an 11-year cycle with maximum activity occurring in the middle of the cycle. The last cycle reached its peak in 2001 and is believed to be just ending now, Longcope said. The next cycle is just beginning and is expected to reach its peak sometime around 2012. But so far nothing is happening.
"It's a dead face," Tsuneta said of the sun's appearance.
Tsuneta said solar physicists aren't weather forecasters and they can't predict the future. They do have the ability to observe, however, and they have observed a longer-than-normal period of solar inactivity. In the past, they observed that the sun once went 50 years without producing sunspots. That period coincided with a little ice age on Earth that lasted from 1650 to 1700. Coincidence? Some scientists say it was, but many worry that it wasn’t.
Geophysicist Phil Chapman, the first Australian to become an astronaut with NASA, said pictures from the US Solar and Heliospheric Observatory also show that there are currently no spots on the sun. He also noted that the world cooled quickly between January last year and January this year, by about 0.7C.
"This is the fastest temperature change in the instrumental record, and it puts us back to where we were in 1930," Dr. Chapman noted in The Australian today.
If the world does face another mini Ice Age, it could come without warning. Evidence for abrupt climate change is readily found in ice cores taken from Greenland and Antarctica. One of the best-known examples of such an event is the Younger Dryas cooling, which occurred about 12,000 years ago, named after the arctic wildflower found in northern European sediments. This event began and ended rather abruptly, and for its entire 1000 year duration the North Atlantic region was about 5°C colder. Could something like this happen again? There’s no way to tell, and because the changes can happen all within one decade—we might not even see it coming.
The Younger Dryas occurred at a time when orbital forcing should have continued to drive climate to the present warm state. The unexplained phenomenon has been the topic of much intense scientific debate, as well as other millennial-scale events.
Now, this 11-year low in Sunspot activity has raised fears among a small but growing number of scientists that rather than getting warmer, the Earth could possibly be about to return to another cooling period. The idea is especially intriguing considering that most of the world is in preparation for global warming.
Canadian scientist Kenneth Tapping of the National Research Council has also noted that solar activity has entered into an unusually inactive phase, but what that means—if anything—is still anyone’s guess. Another solar scientist, Oleg Sorokhtin, a fellow of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, however, is certain that it’s an indication of a coming cooling period.
Sorokhtin believes that a lack of sunspots does indicate a coming cooling period based on certain past trends and early records. In fact, he calls man-made climate change "a drop in the bucket" compared to the fierce and abrupt cold that can potentially be brought on by inactive solar phases.
Sorokhtin’s advice: "Stock up on fur coats"…just in case.
Several years ago, for greater strength and flexibility, I added an expanded, much more advanced, Surya Namaskar, Sun Salutation as a prelude to my otherwise daily morning routine of T'ai Chi, Kung Fu, and Hatha Yoga, in that order. The asanas, i.e., poses, of the Sun Salutation, begin and end, significantly enough, in the Tadasana, the Mountain Pose. Through this very prayerful ("let Thy thoughts, be my thoughts"), personal relationship with the Giver of All Life, I have come to understand the Mind of the Sun through my 36-year quest to discover the meaning of my CREATION EXPERIENCE .
In the Beginning, the fusion reaction explosion of the Big Bang, the Awakening, the beginning of Self-Awareness, sent its matter hurtling at great speed outward in every direction in all sizes and speeds, both gases and molten solids.
Within my Creation Experience post, I wrote: "There was nothing else (but me, the Sun). No light. No darkness. Nothing! Suddenly, the Nothingness began to separate into shapes and forms. I was witnessing (creating, imagining?) Creation. What was assembling before me was a scene separated from me by a Great Abyss (the vast 93 million mile space that separates the Sun from the Earth). Across that Abyss was a Mountain (Earth) and a Sea (infinite space) off in the distance. On that Mountain, seated on a Rock, in the nearly identical pose of Rodin's "The Thinker," was a God-like Bearded Man of unimaginable anatomical perfection in Left Profile (the Sun was looking in a Mirror, i.e., Reality was observing it's Virtual Image). Nothing seemed real; the perfectly round Disc (Moon) in the "Canvas" sky appeared stage-like as well (no radiance) (♫"It's only a Paper Moon hanging over a Cardboard Sea"♪). I was observing all this as a Being of Pure Consciousness; the Life observing the Clay, as it were. The thoughts of the Man on the Mountain were my thoughts. He ("I") was asking him ("My") self the Eternal Questions. "I" the Observer, the Man the Observed, yet One and the same. He never looked toward me. It was "I" who was aware of him, he unaware of me. He stood up, walked toward the Peak of the Mountain, his back towards me. He walked around, then down, the right (East) side of the Mountain and disappeared from my view." (This is a metaphor for the Earth's rotation.) Because the Sun does not shine on the Dark Side it cannot see the Dark Side.
Although at the time, I didn't understand the true meaning of the words of the song, "It's Only A Paper Moon," which defined my Experience; that we are created in the Image and Likeness of God, that is to say, His Virtual Image, His Avatar, I see now, as this song reveals, that
"It wouldn't be make-believe If you believed in me."
It's Only A Paper Moon
It's only a paper moon
Hanging over a cardboard sea
But it wouldn't be make-believe
If you believed in me
It is only a canvas sky
Hanging over a muslin tree
But it wouldn't be make-believe
If you believed in me
Without your love
It's a honky-tonk parade
Without your love
It's a melody played at a penny arcade
It's a Barnum and Bailey world
Just as phony as it can be
But it wouldn't be make-believe
If you believed in me
Nothing is as it seems. All political candidates exist in the realm of virtual reality. They are mindless, walking, talking personifications of some nebulous collective that writes their speeches, applies their makeup, and directs their mannerisms that are to be seen by observers. Family members and carefully placed onlookers are coached into providing appropriate timed responses and facial expressions that are to be seen by the duped voting public audience, if they're really voting at all. Remember the Russian elections of the 1950s?
What we're all looking at is a play, titled False Dialectic, adapted from the original Fleece the Sheep where all the lines are scripted; all the actors pre-selected by a casting director, with trailers leaked to the media.
The financial backers of the show are mostly unknown to the audience and they choose to remain that way. (I find it interesting that financial backers are known in the entertainment industry as "Angels.") Their main objective is to divide the audience by making them think they are choosing a side, while in actuality, all the actors in the play belong to the same actors guild, the Council on Foreign Relations.
Even the polls are rigged to appear as though elections could go one way or the other. It's always a "Close Race," roughly 45% to 45% with 10% Undecided. The 10% is known as the vigorish, the cut that guarantees that the House always wins.
There are great leaders among us; however, we will never get to know who they are.
There will be no "Marc Antony" (leader) to descend from the pulpit to read Caesar's Will (America's Promise) to us as we stand around Caesar’s (America's) corpse.
As we look at the body that was once the America our forefathers established for us, where is the Antony to point out the wounds that "Brutus" and "Cassius" (Corporate Business and Traitors) inflicted? Where is the Antony to remind us how "Caesar" (America) loved even Brutus, and yet Brutus stabbed him viciously?
"For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel. Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar lov'd him! This was the most unkindest cut of all;"
The Fool's Journey is a metaphor for the journey through life. Each major arcana card stands for a stage on that journey - an experience that a person must incorporate to realize his wholeness. These 22 descriptions are based on the keywords for each major arcana card. A card's number is in parentheses.
The Fool
We begin with the Fool (0), a card of beginnings. The Fool stands for each of us as we begin our journey of life. He is a fool because only a simple soul has the innocent faith to undertake such a journey with all its hazards and pain.
At the start of his trip, the Fool is a newborn - fresh, open and spontaneous. The figure on Card 0 has his arms flung wide, and his head held high. He is ready to embrace whatever comes his way, but he is also oblivious to the cliff edge he is about to cross. The Fool is unaware of the hardships he will face as he ventures out to learn the lessons of the world.
The Fool stands somewhat outside the rest of the major arcana. Zero is an unusual number. It rests in the exact middle of the number system - poised between the positive and negative. At birth, the Fool is set in the middle of his own individual universe. He is strangely empty (as is zero), but imbued with a desire to go forth and learn. This undertaking would seem to be folly, but is it?
The Magician and the High Priestess
On setting out, the Fool immediately encounters the Magician (1) and the High Priestess (2) - the great balancing forces that make up the perceived world. It is a feature of the material universe that as soon as we name some aspect of the experience, we automatically evoke its opposite.
The Magician is the positive side. He represents the active, masculine power of creative impulse. He is also our conscious awareness. The Magician is the force that allows us to impact the world through a concentration of individual will and power. The High Priestess is the negative side. She is the mysterious unconscious. She provides the fertile ground in which creative events occur. The High Priestess is our unrealized potential waiting for an active principle to bring it to expression.
The terms positive and negative do not imply "good" and "bad." These are human distinctions that do not apply in the tarot. The Magician and the High Priestess are absolutely equal in value and importance. Each is necessary for balance. We may view the negative as our Shadow, but without shadows, we cannot see the light, and without a ground of potential, we cannot create.
The Empress
As he grows, the Fool becomes more and more aware of his surroundings. As with most babies, he first recognizes his Mother - the warm, loving woman who nourishes and cares for him. He also comes to know Mother Earth, who nurtures him in a larger sense.
The Empress (3) represents the world of nature and sensation. A baby delights in exploring everything he touches, tastes, and smells. He cannot get enough of the sights and sounds that enchant his senses. It is natural to delight in the abundant goodness of Mother Earth who surrounds us with her support.
The Emperor
The next person the Fool encounters is the Father in the figure of the Emperor (4). He is the representative of structure and authority. As a baby leaves his mother's arms, he learns that there are patterns to his world. Objects respond in predictable ways that can be explored. The child experiences a new kind of pleasure that comes from discovering order.
The Fool also encounters rules. He learns that his will is not always paramount and there are certain behaviors necessary for his well-being. There are people in authority who will enforce such guidelines. These restrictions can be frustrating, but, through the patient direction of the Father, the Fool begins to understand their purpose.
The Hierophant
Eventually, the Fool ventures out of his home into the wider world. He is exposed to the beliefs and traditions of his culture and begins his formal education. The Hierophant (5) represents the organized belief systems that begin to surround and inform the growing child.
A Hierophant is someone who interprets arcane knowledge and mysteries. On Card 5 we see a religious figure blessing two acolytes. Perhaps he is inducting them into church membership. Although this image is religious, it is really a symbol for initiations of all kinds.
The child is trained in all the practices of his society and becomes part of a particular culture and worldview. He learns to identify with a group and discovers a sense of belonging. He enjoys learning the customs of his society and showing how well he can conform to them.
The Lovers
Eventually, the Fool faces two new challenges. He experiences the powerful urge for sexual union with another person. Before, he was mainly self-centered. Now he feels the balancing tendency, pictured in the Lovers (6), to reach out and become half of a loving partnership. He yearns for relationship.
The Fool also needs to decide upon his own beliefs. It is well enough to conform while he learns and grows, but at some point, he must determine his own values if he is to be true to himself. He must start to question received opinion.
The Chariot
By the time the Fool becomes an adult, he has a strong identity and a certain mastery over himself. Through discipline and will-power, he has developed an inner control which allows him to triumph over his environment.
The Chariot (7) represents the vigorous ego that is the Fool's crowning achievement so far. On Card 7, we see a proud, commanding figure riding victoriously through his world. He is in visible control of himself and all he surveys. For the moment, the Fool's assertive success is all he might wish, and he feels a certain self-satisfaction. His is the assured confidence of youth.
Strength
Over time, life presents the Fool with new challenges, some that cause suffering and disillusionment. He has many occasions to draw on the quality of Strength (8). He is pressed to develop his courage and resolve and find the heart to keep going despite setbacks.
The Fool also discovers the quiet attributes of patience and tolerance. He realizes the willful command of the Chariot must be tempered by kindliness and the softer power of a loving approach. At times, intense passions surface, just when the Fool thought he had everything, including himself, under control.
Hermit
Sooner or later, the Fool is led to ask himself the age-old question "Why?" He becomes absorbed with the search for answers, not from idle curiosity, but out of a deeply felt need to find out why people live if only to suffer and die. The Hermit (9) represents the need to find deeper truth.
The Fool begins to look inward, trying to understand his feelings and motivations. The sensual world holds less attraction for him, and he seeks moments of solitude away from the frantic activity of society. In time he may seek a teacher or guide who can give him advice and direction.
Wheel of Fortune
After much soul-searching, the Fool begins to see how everything connects. He has a vision of the world's wondrous design; its intricate patterns and cycles. The Wheel of Fortune (10) is a symbol of the mysterious universe whose parts work together in harmony. When the Fool glimpses the beauty and order of the world if only briefly, he finds some of the answers he is seeking.
Sometimes his experiences seem to be the work of fate. A chance encounter or miraculous occurrence begins the process of change. The Fool may recognize his destiny in the sequence of events that led him to this turning point. Having been solitary, he feels ready for movement and action again. His perspective is wider, and he sees himself within the grander scheme of a universal plan. His sense of purpose is restored.
Justice
The Fool must now decide what this vision means to him personally. He looks back over his life to trace the cause-and-effect relationships that have brought him to this point. He takes responsibility for his past actions so he can make amends and ensure a more honest course for the future. The demands of Justice (11) must be served so that he can wipe the slate clean.
This is a time of decision for the Fool. He is making important choices. Will he remain true to his insights, or will he slip back into an easier, more unaware existence that closes off further growth?
Hanged Man
Undaunted, the Fool pushes on. He is determined to realize his vision, but he finds life is not so easily tamed. Sooner or later, he encounters his personal cross - an experience that seems too difficult to endure. This overwhelming challenge humbles him until he has no choice but to give up and let go.
At first, the Fool feels defeated and lost. He believes he has sacrificed everything, but from the depths, he learns an amazing truth. He finds that when he relinquishes his struggle for control, everything begins to work as it should. By becoming open and vulnerable, the Fool discovers the miraculous support of his Inner Self. He learns to surrender to his experiences, rather than fighting them. He feels a surprising joy and begins to flow with life.
The Fool feels suspended in a timeless moment, free of urgency and pressure. In truth, his world has been turned upside-down. The Fool is the Hanged Man (12), apparently martyred, but actually serene and at peace.
Death
The Fool now begins to eliminate old habits and tired approaches. He cuts out nonessentials because he appreciates the basics of life. He goes through endings as he puts the outgrown aspects of his life behind him. His process may seem like dying because it is the death (13) of his familiar self to allow for the growth of a new one. At times this inexorable change seems to be crushing the Fool, but eventually, he rises up to discover that death is not a permanent state. It is simply a transition to a new, more fulfilling way of life.
Temperance
Since embracing the Hermit, the Fool has swung wildly back and forth on an emotional pendulum. Now, he realizes the balancing stability of temperance (14). He discovers true poise and equilibrium. By experiencing the extremes, he has come to appreciate moderation. The Fool has combined all aspects of himself into a centered whole that glows with health and well-being. How graceful and soft is the angel on Card 14 compared to the powerful but rigid ruler in the Chariot (Card 7)? [Note] The Fool has come a long way in realizing a harmonious life.
Devil
The Fool has his health, peace of mind, and graceful composure. What more could he need? On everyday terms, not much, but the Fool is courageous and continues to pursue the deepest levels of his being. He soon comes face to face with the Devil (15).
The Devil is not an evil, sinister figure residing outside of us. He is the knot of ignorance and hopelessness lodged within each of us at some level. The seductive attractions of the material bind us so compellingly that we often do not even realize our slavery to them.
We live in a limited range of experiences, unaware of the glorious world that is our true heritage. The couple on Card 15 are chained, but acquiescent. They could so easily free themselves, but they do not even apprehend their bondage. [Note] They look like the Lovers, but are unaware that their love is circumscribed within a narrow range. The price of this ignorance is an inner core of despair.
Tower
How can the Fool free himself from the Devil? Can he root out his influence? The Fool may only find release through the sudden change represented by the Tower (16). The Tower is the ego fortress each of us has built around his beautiful inner core. Gray, cold and rock-hard, this fortress seems to protect but is really a prison.
Sometimes only a monumental crisis can generate enough power to smash the walls of the Tower. On Card 16 we see an enlightening bolt striking this building. It has ejected the occupants who seem to be tumbling to their deaths. The crown indicates they were once proud rulers; now they are humbled by a force stronger than they.
The Fool may need such a severe shakeup if he is to free himself, but the resulting revelation makes the painful experience worthwhile. The dark despair is blasted away in an instant, and the light of truth is free to shine down.
Star
The Fool is suffused with a serene calm. The beautiful images on the Star (17) attest to this tranquility. The woman pictured on Card 17 is naked, her soul no longer hidden behind any disguise. Radiant stars shine in a cloudless sky serving as a beacon of hope and inspiration.
The Fool is blessed with a trust that completely replaces the negative energies of the Devil. His faith in himself and the future is restored. He is filled with joy and his one wish is to share it generously with the rest of the world. His heart is open, and his love pours out freely. This peace after the storm is a magical moment for the Fool.
Moon
What effect could spoil this perfect calm? Is there another challenge for the Fool? In fact, it is his bliss that makes him vulnerable to the illusions of the Moon (18). The Fool's joy is a feeling state. His positive emotions are not yet subject to mental clarity. In his dreamy condition, the Fool is susceptible to fantasy, distortion, and a false picture of the truth.
The Moon stimulates the creative imagination. It opens the way for bizarre and beautiful thoughts to bubble up from the unconscious, but deep-seated fears and anxieties also arise. These experiences may cause the Fool to feel lost and bewildered.
Sun
It is the lucid clarity of the Sun (19) that directs the Fool's imagination. The Sun's illumination shines in all the hidden places. It dispels the clouds of confusion and fear. It enlightens, so the Fool both feels and understands the goodness of the world.
Now, he enjoys vibrant energy and enthusiasm. The Star's openness has solidified into an expansive assurance. The Fool is the naked babe pictured on Card 19, riding out joyously to face a new day. No challenge is too daunting. The Fool feels a radiant vitality. He becomes involved in grand undertakings as he draws to himself everything he needs. He is able to realize his greatness.
Judgment
The Fool has been reborn. His false, ego-self has been shed, allowing his radiant, true self to manifest. He has discovered that joy, not fear, is at life's center.
The Fool feels absolved. He forgives himself and others, knowing that his real self is pure and good. He may regret past mistakes, but he knows they were due to the ignorance of his true nature. He feels cleansed and refreshed, ready to start anew.
It is time for the Fool to make a deeper Judgement (20) about his life. His own personal day of reckoning has arrived. Since he now sees himself truly, he can make the necessary decisions about the future. He can choose wisely which values to cherish, and which to discard.
The angel on Card 20 is the Fool's Higher Self calling him to rise up and fulfill his promise. He discovers his true vocation - his reason for entering this life. Doubts and hesitations vanish, and he is ready to follow his dream.
World
The Fool reenters the World (21), but this time with a more complete understanding. He has integrated all the disparate parts of himself and achieved wholeness. He has reached a new level of happiness and fulfillment.
The Fool experiences life as full and meaningful. The future is filled with infinite promise. In line with his personal calling, he becomes actively involved in the world. He renders service by sharing his unique gifts and talents and finds that he prospers at whatever he attempts. Because he acts from inner certainty, the whole world conspires to see that his efforts are rewarded. His accomplishments are many.
So the Fool's Journey was not so foolish after all. Through perseverance and honesty, he reestablished the spontaneous courage that first impelled him on his search for Self, but now he is fully aware of his place in the world. This cycle is over, but, the Fool will never stop growing. Soon he will be ready to begin a new journey that will lead him to ever greater levels of understanding.
"I don't think the human race will survive the next 1,000 years unless we spread into space." -Stephen Hawking
