Art Rosengarten

Out From The Zone

On the night of October, 17, 1989, high in the mountains of North India, down the long corridor of the main estate, past the hanging tiger skins and photos of The Royal Family, surrounding the small round black table at the very end, the newly designated "divination zone" (as I called it), had become the most trafficked corner of the entire Palace of Taragahr. I suspect because only there, within the metaphysical ripples of Tarot divination, could one find what was needed the most: a natural and dispassionate level of intelligence (i.e. awareness) amidst the chaos, a system of living symbols that easily illustrated and elucidated a wide range of human possibility, and an individualized set of behavioral directives that connected the particulars of each human story to universal lessons and wisdom principles. In short, the zone translated narrow situational effects into an accessible map of consciousness.

As I have written previously, we now live in times of fluctuating brinksmanship. At any moment, one senses, things could turn south at great velocity. Terrorism, extreme weather, diminishing resources, rogue states, suitcase nukes, religious fundamentalism, you name it. Accordingly, one piece of advice is certain: when chaos explodes like a volcano over the sleepy plains of business-as-usual, individuals must first and foremost "put their heads on" properly before taking action-the rest is moot. Better yet, let's put our heads on properly before it erupts. A classic Zen teaching says it well: "It is necessary for your footing to be firm and solid, accurate and sure. Taking control and being the master, you become one with all different situations, like space without barriers."

There is no time, no space for dalliance when the ground begins to crumble beneath you. Philosophically, we might argue, the ground is always crumbling beneath us, imperceptibly the sands of time are racing to the bottom of the hourglass as the laws of impermanence and the certainty of change are the central conditions of existence. You don't have to be a Buddhist to see that nothing sticks around for very long. But in this discussion, we are speaking of actual global realities known to our thoughts and senses. This late in the game, it is no longer enough simply to survive, that is, not if we care to reverse the karmic chain of deterioration and actually improve upon the human condition. No time, no space for dalliance when real events assault us, not even indirectly--as we read today about the ghastly prisoner abuses of Abu Ghraib.

At such times, I believe, one must connect quickly to a higher and clearer understanding of their true nature, even in the smoke and fire of the chaos, less one is lost to the moment. Short of this, one falls further into the problematic "chicken-with-their-heads-cut-off" pandemonium, the "tit-for-tat" reactivity and "eye for an eye" counter-aggression that actually make situations far more dangerous than the precipitating causes themselves.

In all major crises, particularly in the short-run, reality and the perception of reality appear virtually indistinguishable, as both are filtered through the instinctive emotions of self-preservation, the so-called "fight or flight response"--fear, aggression, regression, blame, guilt, depression, and paranoia. The nobler side of humanity no longer stands a chance. Fight-or-flight emotions, in turn, produce the key ingredients of what cognitive psychologists neatly call "catastrophizing"-the distorted thinking process that narrows the band of possibility to a single strand of inescapable negativity. Some will argue that the process goes in the reverse: catastrophizing creates the emotions of fight-or-flight. Another moot point, as you can't have one without the other.

To my mind, this is of greater concern than the precipitating events themselves for as the history of disaster teaches us, distortion begets further distortion. This nuance is included in my phrase "karmic chain of escalating hostilities." Moreover, this is why it is no longer enough simply to survive. We must do more--"survivors" are really Neanderthals (and you know what happened to them, right?). We must not merely survive, we must thrive. Whatever disaster befalls us, what blows up in our face, come hell or high water (or hurling asteroids from behind the shadows of the sun) is really secondary. First and foremost, we must decide how best to interpret and utilize hostile situations with a clear mandate to break the karmic chain at its root. Can we establish a response-strategy that is skillful, sophisticated, growth-producing, and transformative? Must the psychotic karmic cycle of escalating hostilities play itself out to the end? As seen today in the Middle East and elsewhere, we seem more bound and determined than ever to repeat, not transform, the causes of violence, hatred, and vengeance to suicidal proportions. Unfortunately, the ante gets "upped" on each go around.

In all cases the problematic tendencies of human beings suffering "crisis-exasperation" are predictable: relative perception and misattribution (the "myth of good guys and bad guys"), cognitive distortion, false identification, and shadow projection (the "they/it did this to us, the bastards!"), and reflexive counter-aggression, vengeance, and violence (the "now it's our turn") and so forth. No matter that bad things get worse, we seem to be hard-wired to this archaic response. As Sam played it again and again: "It's still the same old story, a fight for love and glory, A case of do or die."

The results are insidious: a karmic chain of escalating hostilities, fueled by hatred, greed, and delusion, on course for brutality, death, and destruction. The outright predictability of this course puts it curiously on the same footing as addictive disorders like alcoholism. In fact, the insidious karmic chain of escalating hostilities is an addictive disorder, and as we've learned with alcoholism, the only thing that seems to work is turning it over to a higher power.

Oddly, for all our impressive modern psychology, science, and law, the world is no closer today in breaking out of the cycle than it was a thousand years ago. Americans, in fact, as a whole, seem more fascinated by and accepting of the ultimate failure in human relations-war-than in previous decades, though they don't like to admit this to themselves. It comes out more in their cultural obsessions and fantasies. Films and video games depicting heroic armies, vast futuristic battle scenes, countless espionage thrillers and street cop escapades, high tech killing machines and superweapons, super-buffed black-belted ninja commandos, ad nauseum, hold tremendous fascination and sex appeal for more than just teenagers. Outcomes begin in the imagination. "Peace," on the other hand, has today become something of a dinosaur throw-back, viewed on a par with unshaved armpits, hippy communes, and zig zag papers, relegated to the failed fantasy creations of the 1960s counterculture. The trend is disturbing.

Unfortunately, science, politics, and religion (as they are presently comported), offer insufficient knowledge, technology, or expertise in teaching "the basic lesson" effectively-- how best to interpret and utilize hostile situations with a clear mandate to break the karmic chain at its root? To the contrary, their talents are more commonly employed in the very service of furthering the karmic chain of escalating hostilities. It's where the big bucks are. But breaking out requires something mainstream institutions no little about-the real identity and destination of the human race.

This is why I believe metaphysical tools such as the Tarot can and should be applied at the highest levels of decision-making. We have much to learn about our true natures, and there's little time. Tools that can quickly provide a natural and dispassionate level of intelligence (i.e. awareness) amidst the chaos, provide a system of living symbols that easily illustrate and elucidate this intelligence in real situations, and moreover, supply a specific set of behavioral directives that can connect the particulars of each situation to universal lessons and wisdom principles-would be a very valuable thing indeed.

Back At The Palace

The night was getting quite late, I was pretty tapped emotionally from so much reading, and in need of some replenishment myself. I decided to attempt one final experiment--my own. But rather than a personal question (as much had been answered vicariously in the readings of others), I thought a larger and more comprehensive question would be the perfect sendoff to this altogether extraordinary day. The question came easily: "How can all beings benefit in the future from the lessons of today?" The following cards emerged:

Query: How can all beings benefit in the future from the lessons of today?

1. Working For: Wheel of Fortune (10)
2. Working Against: The Sun (XIX)
3. The Known: The Priestess (II)
4. The Unknown: Hanged Man (XII)
5. Now Needed: The Chariot (VII

Synopsis:

In Position 1--Working For, The Wheel of Fortune (Trump X). Signifies: timing, change, cycles, karma, luck, and destiny. In context, the image affirms the reality of impermanence and the cyclical nature of change. Crises may actually benefit beings, the card suggests, when learning to flow harmoniously with it becomes the only option. As such, change (even change borne of crisis) holds hidden opportunities when we learn to skillfully ride the wave. Beings will benefit by utilizing the secrets of change.

In Position 2-Working Against, The Sun (Trump XIX). Signifies: consciousness, reason, activity, energy, power. In context, the image discourages a reasoned and active response at this indeterminate phase in the process, underscoring the better strategy of adjusting (like water) to the process of change (i.e. flowing) rather than responding to it actively. More benefit is found in riding the horse in the direction it's going, rather than consciously attempting to control, overpower or redirect it.

In Position 3-The Known, The Priestess (Trump II). Signifies: deep memory, intuitive knowing, subtle wisdom, forbidden secrets. In context, the image suggests the answers are veiled but already known; mastered (but forgotten); beneath the veil, the profound secrets are accessible only through intuition and reflection. As one remembers this original nature, this lost innocence, a more natural and subtle intelligence can be applied to the complexities of worldly concerns.

In Position 4-The Unknown, The Hanged Man (Trump XII). Signifies: surrender, detachment, awareness, dis-identification, suspension, witnessing. In context, the image suggests the emergence of a hidden talent and strategy-a crucial piece which completes the puzzle, namely, awareness (mindfulness, or dis-identification). Viewing from outside the constructions of time and space. The ability to be sufficiently ego-detached (during crises), to suspend the instinctive urges of self-preservation; to witness and observe events without reaction, is the necessary talent that brings great benefit to all beings.

In Position 5-What Is Now Needed, The Chariot (Trump VII). Signifies: pursuit, quest, directed action, communication, global intent. In context, the image describes the need for new global attitude and quest concerning a higher planetary destiny, the representation of a higher "mission statement," the aggressive pursuit of a new language of global goals, directed skillfully to the planetary family as a whole. Disaster, as we see, has precipitated this wake-up call.

The Right Conditions

In closing, I would offer a poem written down from the mountain, some months after my return from India, when left to ponder this small Tale Of Two Cities. The poem is my attempt to re-create something of the recipe of essential ingredients that reluctantly stewed in their own juices in the cauldron of happenstance at the Palace of Taragahr. In the end, with Tarot's assistance, let it be said that a truly satisfying meal was served. The poem is entitled:

The Right Conditions

When there is incongruity
between feeling and event,
a certain uncertainty, puzzlement,
or discernable moodiness
in the half-tones of the moment.

Or else conflict too cumbersome to grasp or tie,
a paradox, enigma, or Gordian knot,
a sign of silk in a bed of soil.

Or when news is sketchy,
pandemonium has spilled over the affected areas
and the epicenter has been closed off,
sealing shut frantic windows of unknowing.

When the mind keeps turning left,
re-orbiting a familiar eight ball,
or else differently--
a sudden stroke of cognitive slippage
or mischief cuts one's allegiance to logic,
words sound like words without meaning
or again the opposite-strangely fantastic luck--
love, light of angels, lust,
the thrill of improbability,
mental powers seducing and surprising you,

Or when hanging--(indeed clutching)-to a bubble
or sinking in one's stomach,
or fading to oblivion
or when stuck in a head-vice
or left oscillating in ambiguity
with a strange suspension of time,
with split conditions and mixed messages,
when both are true and false...

When both spill onto the night pavement
without closure or conclusion...

Yet a web of mystery beckons and
you feel strange gravities to enter,
to catch and be caught by it,
to make mirrors of molecules and
craft outcomes from serendipity
and flow freely with
the untold forms of the moment
that rise up inside like a warm willing gust
of benevolent and ghostly presence--
These, and many more, are the right conditions for a reading.