All Text, Music, and Illustrations, including Paintings, Photographs, and 3D models, Copyright © 2022 by Jim Robbins.

Prisoners

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APT. 12

   Room 12 contains a model of an amusement park where crowds watch endless variations of every imaginable entertainment. Visitors gawk at action heroes who battle with villains while, nearby, gourmet chefs reveal exotic dishes, and dinosaurs drink from a pond. Vampires, werewolves and zombies are caught in various stages of descending upon their victims while singers compete with each other, the audience poised to vote. Wrestlers twist and turn into bizarre positions, their muscles straining and rippling. Dead bodies wait for detectives, and the mafia gets ready for a gun battle as aliens peek through windows. At the edges of the park are battles and mass graves and concentration camps and people starving, which some gaze at in horror or curiosity or secret amusement. Tired of murders and corruption, a few wander off alone--while, here and there, a few people observe them.

(You realize that you are still on the right path because next to the model of the amusement park you find an old wooden box with Chapter Three of Rooms that Dream....)

Tree of Life

ROOMS THAT DREAM:

CHAPTER THREE

   Justin woke at two-thirty in the morning, but he came very close to drifting off again by three-thirty. By then his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and the streetlight casting thin bars of light on the walls seemed so bright that he began to realize that attempting to sleep was probably an exercise in futility. At that moment, he had the sense, as perhaps most people do when approaching old age, that he hadn’t accomplished much with his life, and he knew then with certainty that he wouldn’t sleep anymore that night, thanks to that one thought. Oddly, though, Justin suspected that even if he had become emperor, he would still feel the same lack of satisfaction, a thought which, though giving him a strange and unexpected sense of liberation, did not help him get back to sleep.
   As these thoughts were whirling around in his head, Justin heard a woman screaming and cursing as if from deep inside a cave, and he believed for a moment, irrationally of course, that his thoughts had somehow caused her to despair. Like attracts like, and Justin suspected that he felt comfortable around people who cannot hide the damage that life has done to them. That was no doubt one reason that he had ended up in Sin City, a place where the damaged, one step away from homelessness or jail, came to hide or die, or in rare cases, recover. Originally known as the El Dorado District, Sin City had the highest poverty rate in the state. Celia, the drunk in Apt. 105, occasionally howled in the early morning hours until the police or an ambulance arrived, so Justin knew he wasn't dreaming. The people in his apartment complex just couldn't hide their strangeness, which was strangely comforting to him. Shirley, downstairs, a housewife, was a living skeleton who always had a friendly smile, as if no one could see her condition. Kevin next door would take half a bottle of baby aspirin for a rush if he didn’t have any crank. Albert, who was terribly obese, had boasted that he had dodged the police once already for credit card fraud--Albert had loaded what little furniture he owned into his station wagon and disappeared one night. His rent three months over due, Jackson, a small, sickly man, loaded over twenty rifles into his van at two in the morning and drove off, never to be seen again.
   Justin shared an interest in music with his next-door neighbor Tom, the wildest-looking man Justin had ever encountered, and they jammed together occasionally in Tom’s living room--Tom's entire apartment containing only a mattress, two chairs, and a motorcycle. Justin had the urge to offer something that might help him in some way, but he was always afraid that he would appear presumptuous if he tried, so he usually just remained polite.
   And in the early morning hours, he would sometimes hear what seemed to be a howl from one apartment which then morphed into pained, ecstatic groans from another, so that he wasn’t quite sure how to react. The voices would fade away or stop before he could tell where they were coming from. Even though they might have been coming from next door, the voices seemed far off, from another world, like the voices in his head that sometimes told him what would happen that day or decades later. Justin suddenly recalled the time he was lounging next to a remote mountain stream with a friend when he heard a man close by loudly singing in another language. Justin exclaimed, “Wow, that’s incredible,” and ran down the stream to find the singer, leaving his friend behind. Justin couldn’t find anyone else even though the singer seemed to be right on the other side the creek, belting out one perfect song after another. A few months later, Justin mentioned the singer to his friend, and his friend looked at him and asked, “Are you crazy? What the hell are you talking about? There was nobody singing there!” Justin secretly concluded that he had heard an angel, but he didn't mention it to anyone else. Other people in the apartment complex were like Justin, in a way. They weren’t sure what they were seeing or hearing, if anything at all, so they didn’t get involved, even if a stranger ran naked and screaming down the stairs in broad daylight right in front of them.
   At first light, moans and curses turned into blood-curdling screams. Justin peered out his window to see an old woman strapped down to a stretcher, clawing the air, weeping and groaning as she was wheeled out to an ambulance.
   Peter had stepped out into the courtyard to observe. Justin stepped out of the door behind Peter. "The most vulnerable are already starting to lose it. That’s what happens when the owner raises the rent thirty percent. Most people here, I suspect, are already a month or two behind."
   "May dad says she's just a crazy old drunk. Is that true?" Peter asked.
   "Yep, but that old gal has suffered a lot in her time. She was once a music teacher who lost her job after slapping an incorrigible child--at least that's the story she told me. Other people have told me that after she lost her job she started drinking heavily and neglected her own child, who was eventually taken away from her. Then she started drinking even more and began resorting to prostitution. I once invited her to my apartment for dinner because she looked like she needed a decent meal. She didn’t touch a thing I served, and later she started asking me what I really wanted. I told her that I just wanted her to feel better, and she started weeping bitterly and insisting that I wanted something from her. She finally just went home."
   Peter dashed over to the woman and grabbed her hand. The old woman, who had been screaming and moaning, suddenly relaxed and closed her eyes as Peter held her hand.
   Cashing squinted, staring at Peter, and followed them over to the ambulance. Suddenly Peter beamed at Cashing. "You know, I had an idea last night. Can I tell you about it?" Peter looked over at Cashing’s apartment.
   "Sure, come on over," Cashing motioned to his apartment.
   "You see, I’ve had other visions too," Peter mentioned when they got inside.
   "I should have known! Go on."
   "Well, once I had a vision of a golden, equal-armed cross. Then I had a vision of a golden crown on my head. Another time I had a vision of a golden plate and chalice on a brilliant white tablecloth. They all seemed to go together. When I had these visions, I felt like these things were not just for me but for everybody. What do you think they mean?"
   "What do you think they mean? That’s what’s important," Cashing insisted.
   "I think they are all good things that we all have inside us," Peter said.
   "Very good things indeed," Cashing replied.
   "Why do you think everything was golden?"
   "Well, gold, because it is incorruptible, is often a symbol of the spirit. White, by the way, not only symbolizes purity--it also suggests unity since white is a combination of all the colors."
   Peter continued, "Last night I started imagining the people I know with a golden crown on their head, a golden cross in their heart, all seated at a table with a white tablecloth, covered with golden plates and chalices. I felt like I was helping them somehow."
   Cashing looked Peter in the eye, "Well, maybe you did help them in one way. It seems to me that you were seeing them all as magnificent spiritual beings with divine harmony in their hearts, seated at a banquet of spiritual abundance. Just looking at other people that way helps you to have more reverence for them."
   Peter looked seriously at Cashing. "But it seemed like more than that. Like these symbols were magical and were actually helping them. I don’t know how to explain it."
   "You mean that concentrating on these symbols was actually affecting those people somehow, as if we are all connected to each other on some level?"
   "Yeah," Peter paused for a moment. "I’ve had a vision of a black cross too, a real cross, the kind you see everywhere, not an equal-armed cross."
   Cashing smiled, "You mean a Calvary cross?"
   "Yeah, I guess so. Anyway, I imagined giving all of my pain and all of the bad things I’ve done to it. I could see all the blackness leaving me and going into this cross, and then I felt much better. It was like magic."
   Cashing looked surprised. "Okay, wait a second. You’re suggesting that these symbols exist in some other dimension but that we can use them here in our lives? I have to confess that I’ve never thought of using archetypes in quite that way before. In other words, the black cross exists on a different plane to take away our sin and suffering and create harmony in our lives. It would have to be the astral plane, by the way, because that is where the archetypes and symbols appear in picture form for our subconscious mind. According to our occult friends, the higher spiritual planes are formless."
   Peter looked puzzled.
   "Okay, wait a minute," Cashing blurted out. "I’ll be right back." Cashing trotted to a closet in his bedroom and came back with a book.
   Cashing held up the book. "This is a picture of the Tree of Life, a very ancient glyph, or composite symbol. Legend has it that an angel gave it to humanity. Notice that in the center of the Tree there is a yellow sun, and in the center of the sun is a black Calvary cross. This central sphere with the cross is the Christ center, the center of equilibrium. I think I understand what you're saying--by God, the black cross is literally a magical symbol. If you’re right, savior figures have experienced the archetypal sacrifice to establish the black cross in the center of equilibrium, the sphere of balance, and it remains there for all of humanity. In other words, we can give our negative energy to the cross in order to re-establish balance and harmony in our lives. I had considered it as essentially a symbol of the transmutation of force into form, or vice versa, depending on which way you are travelling, up or down on the Tree. The sun is not only a symbol of life--it is a symbol of purification, the cross within the sun symbolizing the cleansing of the soul. Why, this is, at least, a wonderful idea!"
   "Anyway I was thinking that we could use it to help other people. I don’t mean your average person who is doing all right. I mean like that old woman who might die or go crazy."
   "You mean we shouldn’t try to help a person unless the person can’t help herself?"
   "Yeah, something like that. I mean maybe you only have the right to use it without asking if somebody is really in trouble. You might also have the right to use it without asking if somebody is going to harm you or a lot of other people, you know, someone like the landlord."
   "We have to respect free will, in other words? We shouldn’t interfere with someone else’s karma unless we can keep something really terrible from happening?"
   "Yeah, something like that."
   Cashing wiped his eyes. "You know, some people believe that interfering with another person's karma has bad consequences, even if you're trying to help that person, so we need to be careful. What do you propose that we do?"
   "I don't know if that's true, but there is one thing that I would like to try. Maybe we could meditate together, and we could ask the Christ force to take the blackness away from the old woman. Then we could imagine the blackness leaving her body and going into the cross and her whole being filling with light. Then maybe we could do the same for the landlord."
   "That is a beautiful idea. I’m willing to try it. Unfortunately, right now I have a few things to take care of. Can you come back in a few hours?"
   Peter nodded.
   "Great," Cashing said. "Why not try it--you know, it couldn't hoit."

Go on a different adventure.

 All Text, Music, and Illustrations, including Paintings, Photographs, and 3D models, Copyright © 2022 by Jim Robbins.

Ancient Path next to House Pits and Pounding Stone

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APT. 11

   A faint path leads under the bed. You move the bed and follow the path to the closet. Behind a stack of boxes is a door that you have never noticed before. After prying the door open, you follow the trail as it meanders under sofas and tables, into other bedrooms and closets. The trail leads through endless rooms; occasionally a door will open onto a trail that leads you through ruins and then back to rooms where people still appear to dwell, but the trail goes on and on through all the stuff of the tribe, and you realize you might never find the ideal rooms you had halfheartedly hoped to find--or your way back to those first rooms that you now recall with nostalgia.
   Finally, a path leads you into the woods where you follow another network of trails, all connecting creeks and the pounding stones of a tribe gone for over a century. Pestles still remain in the mortars of some of the grinding stones. Occasionally you hear a sound like laughter or feel someone staring at you, but looking around, you find no one. As night approaches you sit down on a ridge in a galaxy of flowers, which slopes down towards the lights of the city--a thin constellation which spreads out towards constellations of stars.

(You realize that you must be following the right path because you find a metal box containing the second chapter of the novel that you discovered in Apt. 10.)

Poppies and Lupine near Ancient Village Site

ROOMS THAT DREAM: CHAPTER TWO

   Peter was painting a picture of a gray, horizontal figure-eight when Chuck walked into the bedroom without knocking. 

   "What the hell kind of crap is that?" Chuck scoffed. 

   "It’s the symbol of infinity." 

   "Oh, that’s what it is.  I thought you were just painting like a monkey," Chuck laughed, scratching his ribcage.  "Why DO you paint, anyway?" 

   "Because I’m trying to develop myself emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, but you probably wouldn’t know anything about that." 

   "Oh, C’mon, everyone knows why you paint." 

   "Yeah? Why’s that?" 

   "Because you’re ‘different,’" Chuck made quotation marks with his fingers. 

   "What are you trying to say?" 

   "You’re a sissy. You're gay, obviously." 

   "That’s it.  Get out of my room!" 

   "Make me.  It’s my room too, jerk off." 

   Peter lunged at Chuck, who easily shoved him to the ground. 

   "Why don’t you focus on developing yourself physically, for a change, so you’re not such a little girl?  Act like a man instead of a sissy, and stop painting this stupid shit.  Everybody thinks you’re a sissy, and they’re starting to wonder if I’m weird, too, because a’ you."  Chuck held up a threatening fist. 

   Peter looked up with tears in his eyes.  He darted out of the room, got on his bike and pedaled furiously.  Since it was Saturday and he had finished his chores, he headed east toward the foothills.  He felt tired most of the time, but occasionally when he was on his bicycle, he could pedal for miles.  Now he was determined to keep going as far as he could, possibly never turning back. 

   At about two o’clock, he reached the end of the grid, where the road suddenly veers northeast and curves gently into the lower foothills.  He crossed the Friant-Kern canal, which contains the water of the San Joaquin River flowing south now instead of west and then north in its natural course. Then he stopped, watching the swallows loop above the water, in figure-eights, he imagined.  He took a slug of water and chewed awhile on a granola bar.  He had a package of energy bars in his backpack that might last him a couple of days.

Ancient Village Site near Friant-Kern Canal

   About a hundred yards from the canal, Peter noticed several large, flat stones that contained circles from which grass was growing.  He got off of his bike and rolled under the barbed wire.  He found a Native American village site next to the road on a slight rise above a narrow stream that emptied into a marsh next to the canal.  Imagining that he was a Native American standing by the pounding stone, he gazed a long time at an egret, a white question mark reflected in the shallow water, while he listened to faint, tranquil buzzes and chirping noises.  He crossed the road and climbed to the top of the rise where he found two more pounding stones.  Whoever had made the road had just plowed right through the village site, probably removing pounding stones and destroying house pits which were also graves.

   Peter had written a report about the Yokuts people after he had found several village sites one day while he and his stepfather and brother were looking for a fishing hole on private property.  The creek was too small for decent fishing, so they wandered around the trails in the area, terrifying the cattle.  Peter had been the first to notice something unusual about the ridge. The earth was more disturbed, less even.  Then he noticed the holes like cups in the stone and faint paths that led to indentations in the ground.  They followed a path and found another village site.  His dad sneered, "This is what happens to you when you’re weak."

   Peter checked his watch again: almost three o’clock. Then he pedaled to a more wooded area, where hiding from passing cars would be easier.  Deciding that he should try riding his mountain bike on the trail, Peter heaved his bike over sagging barbed wire and then rolled under.  The main paths in the area were smooth and easy to travel.  Every now and then, however, he would encounter a rock or a branch or an incline that would force him to get off of the bike and hike.  He finally curved down toward the floodplain of the creek.   Between two small hills, he found a pounding stone with eleven pestles on top.  He got off of the bike and rested in the shade.  The sun was beginning to sink toward the western horizon.  He was getting very close to the moment when he would have to decide whether or not to go home.

THE WORLD: Saturn

   He took out his pack of Tarot cards and decided to examine the last the last card in the Major Arcana, known as THE WORLD.  In the center of the card, a naked woman floats in what might be a large mirror fringed with leaves of some kind.  At the top and bottom of the mirror, a red ribbon twists into a horizontal figure-eight that holds the victory wreath together.  In each corner of the card is a head: in the upper left corner the head of a man, in the upper right an eagle, in the lower left an ox, and in the lower right a lion.  The previous night he had read that they represented the four elements of Air, Water, Earth, and Fire respectively.  He had read also that card twenty-one, THE WORLD, represented the thirty second path--the path between the material world and the lower astral plane.

   Peter closed his eyes and cleared his mind.  The woman floating in the mirror might represent the soul in the center of the elements, spirit manifested in matter.  Since the body is floating, however, Peter thought, perhaps it represents the soul detached from matter, a ghost floating in another dimension, on a different plane.  She appeared to be ascending; perhaps the soul can only ascend if it has mastered existence--if, totally centered, it has mastered the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of life. 

   Peter began to wonder how he could possibly master all those aspects of existence.  Only the material plane seemed reflected in his life, or perhaps it was the other way around--his life only reflected the material plane.  The only things that connected him with those other levels were art and meditation and now the Tarot cards.  Peter looked around at the pounding stone, where the pestles seemed to have been abandoned only yesterday, then at the one strand of barbed wire still linking the leaning fence posts, then at the smog obscuring the creek in the distance, the earth tranquil and quiet. 

   Maybe Cashing could help him understand it.  Peter got back on his bicycle and pedaled home, making it just in time for bed.

Go on a different adventure.

All Text, Music, and Illustrations, including Paintings, Photographs, and 3D models, Copyright © 2022 by Jim Robbins.

The 11th Path: The Fool

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TEMPLE OF THE TREE OF LIFE

   Apartment 10 appears nondescript on the outside, but when you step through the door, you smell incense and notice paintings of gods and angels on the walls. The apartment is deeper than you imagined, with ten rooms, each with a different color scheme, and each displaying different archetypal symbols. You wander into a room that has a blue color scheme, a painting of an opulent king on a brilliant throne, and a table with a pure white tablecloth, on which is set out a golden plate and chalice, with a golden, equal-armed cross floating above them. You suddenly feel magnificent, full of harmony and abundance, but then you also begin to develop a sense of superiority and become aware of the hints of hypocrisy and gluttony and tyranny in your nature. You move to the room across from it and discover a red color scheme, with a painting of a fierce warrior king in a chariot and weapons everywhere, a fire raging in a pit in the center of the room. Suddenly you feel strong, unafraid, full of energy, ready to take on any problem, any foe, but then you become overpowered by thoughts of cruelty and destruction. Each room, you discover, contains a different subtle energy represented by images and symbols, and each subtle energy has a virtue and a vice, a spectrum with a positive and a negative pole. The longer you stay in a room, the more the subtle forces influence you, and the more you understand the need to maintain harmony in your psyche. The key, you realize, is remaining balanced. Once you have achieved balance in all of the rooms, you finally reach the inner sanctum, where you are impressed by an overwhelming sense of power and eternity, and you notice a painting of a fool about to step off of a cliff.
   Suddenly you understand the Fool: he is either about to fall into the manifested world or into the Abyss. You somehow know that he is full of the most divine wisdom and the most blinding innocence, for he is the eternal child who experiences all and remains spiritually free. If the fool is falling toward the manifested world, he is going to know all the contrasts and challenges and beauties of the Kingdom. While there, He will feel separate and fragmented at times but whole and connected to the Source at others. Within the Kingdom he is going to experience the underlying unity of consciousness and to know complete and utter loneliness and terror. He is less than the dust one moment and a king the next. He is a tiny cog in the machine and a hub whose spokes touch the edges of the cosmos. He is the observer, the observed, and the act of observation. He is a beast and a God.
   If, on the other hand, he is falling into the Abyss and rises toward the Crown of Creation, he is going to experience the transcendent act of Union, which means that he will retain the human experience but be completely translated into something else.
   As you gaze at the painting, your personality vanishes. You blaze with the subtle light of unified consciousness.

Rooms that Dream

   Suddenly you notice a box in the corner. You lift the lid and find what appears to be the first chapter of a novel.  The pages smell fusty as though the story was left in the temple long ago. You decide to take a few moments to read it.

ROOMS THAT DREAM

   Peter paused before the punished door of the apartment. His mom was vacuuming while his brother was watching the tube. Where was his stepdad, though? Peter listened a few more seconds. When he peeked through the door, his mother was vacuuming with her back to the living room, so Peter tiptoed toward the bedroom, his stepbrother mesmerized by the TV. Peter caught a glimpse of his stepdad lounging on the back porch, a beer can next to his chair, the aroma of grilled hot dogs and hamburgers wafting through the screen door.
   Peter slipped into the bedroom and closed the door as quietly as he could. Then he dropped his backpack on the floor, stretched out on his bed and emptied his mind. The day before, after meditating for over an hour, he had envisioned a gray, horizontal figure eight floating above his head. He had seen it and the wall and ceiling so clearly that for a second he thought he might have opened his eyes without realizing it. So he blinked, and the figure eight disappeared. Now, the dull roar of the vacuum and the jabbering of the TV set destroyed Peter’s ability to fall into the void.
   Then Peter heard his mother and brother talking. A few seconds later, his mother peered into the bedroom.
   "Why don’t you come out here and make yourself useful?" she asked.
   "Why don’t you have Chuck help you? He’s just watching TV," Peter moaned.
   "At least he’s doing something. You’re just being a lazy bum. C’mon, get out of bed and help me with dinner. I need something from the store. Why don’t you ride your bike over to SAFEWAY and get a bag of salad and some ice cream?"
   On his way to the grocery store, Peter stopped in front of a hole-in-the-wall bookstore called THE GOLDEN CHALICE. He immediately glimpsed a pack of Tarot cards in the store window and suddenly felt the urge to check out the store; when he got inside, he noticed his neighbor reading a book.
   "Hey, Mr. Cashing, how ya’ doin’?" Peter blurted out. Since Peter was normally shy, his sudden friendliness surprised both himself and Cashing.
   "Just great, thanks. How ‘bout yourself?" Before Peter could answer, Cashing glanced at Peter and smiled, "I didn’t know you're interested in esoteric philosophy."
   "I didn’t either. I’m just on my way to the grocery store, and I noticed that deck of cards," Peter pointed at the store window.
   "So you want to tell the future, eh?" Cashing laughed in an amused, slightly ironic tone.
   "Sure, why not! Is that really what they’re for?"
   "That, and much, much more, from what I understand," Cashing replied.
   "Maybe you can help me pick out a good deck," Peter blurted out.
   "Here’s a good one, and it’s used, so it’s half price. Only ten dollars. Better check it to make sure you’ll be playing with a full deck." Cashing opened it and looked carefully at the cards.
   Peter appeared nonplussed. "Ten dollars. Wow, that’s a lot. I only have five. Darn it."
   "Don’t give up so easily. Give me your five and wait here. Let’s see if we can make a deal." Cashing ambled over to the register, unobtrusively slipping out his wallet. He pointed at Peter and chuckled. The cashier put the deck in a paper sack. Cashing walked over and gave the bag to Peter.
   "Wow, you got it. How’d ya’ manage that?"
   "I’ve got friends in all the right places," Cashing laughed.
   "Wow, really, I owe you one. Maybe you could show me how to play these cards sometime. I got to go now, though. Thanks again!"
   "Don’t mention it, really," Cashing replied quizzically. "Have a good evening."
   After dinner, Peter took a look at the cards. To his great surprise, a gray, horizontal figure eight floated above the head of a figure in a card called THE MAGICIAN and above the head of a woman in a card called STRENGTH.
   It was exactly like the figure eight Peter had seen in his vision during meditation two days before. Peter could not believe his eyes. He stared at both cards a long time. "I’ve got to ask Cashing about this," he murmured to himself.
   The next day after school, Peter made a bee-line to Cashing’s apartment and hammered on the door.
   "Well, hello again," Cashing said.
   "Yeah, well, I wanted to thank you again and ask you a couple of questions, if this is a good time."
   "Sure. Come in. Come in."
   Peter stepped into a dim room. As his eyes adjusted, he could tell that Cashing made minimal effort to keep his apartment tidy.
   "Please, don’t mind the mess. Come in and sit down. Now what can I do for you?"
   Peter sat on a dingy couch. "Well, you know those cards I bought--we bought--yesterday? I was hoping you could tell me a little bit about them."
   "Sure, I suspected that you might have questions. Fire away."
   Peter pulled out the pack. On top were the two cards that contained the gray figure eight.  "I was hoping you could tell me what these are."
   "Why, they’re called lemniscates. The lemniscate is the mathematical symbol of infinity. They are floating above the heads of these figures to suggest their awareness of the infinitude within. In other words, they recognize that they are eternal, spiritual beings."
   Peter stared speechless at the cards, then at Cashing.
   "Is something wrong?" Cashing asked.
   Peter hesitated. "Well, I’m not sure I should say this, but...ah, but I was meditating a couple of days ago, and I saw the same symbol floating above my head. It was gray too and everything."
   Now Cashing looked surprised. "You had a vision of a gray infinity symbol?" Cashing whispered.
   "Yeah, I guess. You don’t think I’m crazy, do you?"
   "Oh, no, on the contrary. Tell me more about it. You can’t be more than sixteen. What made you start meditating?"
   "Fifteen, actually. Well, you see, I need to rest a lot. I have this problem, food allergies. Anyway, I lie down a lot even though my parents think I should always be doing something. So I got this book on meditation because I guess I wanted to look like I was doing something when I was just resting. Anyway, it said that a person should mentally cleanse the chakras, which are energy centers in the aura. So I did. I imagined each chakra as a turning margarita glass. Then I wiped out each one mentally with a white cloth. When I was finished, I started having visions."
   Cashing tried not to look startled. "What kind of visions?" Cashing asked.
   "You really don’t think I’m crazy?" Peter paused. Cashing shook his head. He too had experienced visions during meditation, but he didn't want to mention it just yet. Peter continued, "Well, when I was done clearing the trash out of my crown chakra, which took hours, I had a vision of a pure white, four-petaled flower, which suddenly blossomed into a brilliant white flower with lots and lots of petals. I thought it was a rose, but then I kept hearing the word ‘lotus’ in my head. I did some research the next day on the internet and discovered that the thousand-petaled lotus is associated with the crown chakra."
   "My God. Have you told anyone else?" Cashing asked.
   "I told my family at dinner, and they just kinda’ looked at me strange. My stepbrother called me gay for the thousandth time."
   "He’s probably just jealous. Typical sibling rivalry," Cashing replied.
   "Yeah, well, he likes to beat me up. I don’t know how typical that is."
   "Sometimes older brothers just like to beat up younger brothers. All I can say is try not to let him discourage you. This is remarkable. It's one of those things that force people to entertain the possibility that there is something beyond the physical realm."
   "What is so strange about this, I mean the figure eight, is that I saw it in my vision several days before I actually saw it in the cards. How do you explain that?"
   "I’m no expert, but I’ll tell you what I think. The mind, during meditation, sometimes slips into a timeless state and can see basic patterns, or archetypes. Then, through what some call synchronicity and others call coincidence, the inner vision or mental state is sometimes reflected in the physical world. Most people assume that what one thinks is the result of what one experiences in the physical world. Others would say that what we feel and think ultimately manifests in the material realm, which is basically a reflection of our inner state. Others say that the mind and the physical realm, the self and the non-self, form a combined reality reflecting each other."
   Peter looked puzzled.
   "Okay, maybe I’m not explaining this very well. Let me try again," Cashing paused. "Imagine that there are different dimensions of reality. There is the physical dimension that we all know and love. But imagine that there are other dimensions that we can’t perceive with our senses. Some people believe that there are other dimensions behind physical existence. Behind the physical is the foundation of all physical manifestation, known as the etheric plane. Behind that is a dimension of force known as the astral plane. Behind the astral is the archetypal world, which contains the basic patterns for all the forms in existence. And behind the archetypal plane is the spiritual plane. The spiritual ‘world,’ so to speak, generates the basic ideas, which manifest as archetypes, which then manifest as diverse forms on the astral plane, which ultimately manifest in the physical realm as the physical objects and events that we perceive with the five senses. Are you following me so far?"
   "Is this the asoteric philosophy you were talking about yesterday?" Peter asked.
   "Esoteric, yes." Cashing smiled. "Esoteric means 'for the few' and is often associated with the word 'occult,' which means ‘hidden.’"
   "These ideas are hidden from the average person?"
   "Exactly," Cashing replied. "I think most people would agree that there are at least four dimensions to our being. Even college professors, I think, would agree that we are physical, emotional, and mental beings. Our esoteric philosopher friends would say that there is also a spiritual dimension which sometimes intrudes in strange ways upon our sense of reality. Look at it this way. You’re an artist, right?"
   Peter nodded.
   "When you create, you usually start with a basic inspiration, right? Then you create some kind of basic pattern, which as you develop your ideas usually turns into a more complex, concrete idea, which ultimately manifests as an image on the canvas, right?"
   "Yeah," Peter replied.
   "Well, according to our friends, God works pretty much the same way, except his canvas is the world, or more precisely, the cosmos. According to our esoteric friends, we use the same process because we are made in God’s image."
   "So I’m seeing basic patterns--what did you call them, arc of something...?"
   "Archetypes. I believe you might somehow be tapping into the archetypal energies of the cosmos, possibly because as an artist you have developed your inner vision," Cashing paused. "Another explanation is that the archetypes are part of the collective subconscious, and we can access them through our own subconscious, the way one might find a channel from a lagoon out to the ocean. In any event, what you have experienced is a kind of synchronicity which cannot easily be explained or explained away. But by all means don’t let anyone make you feel like you’re crazy when you have visions. It’s a gift, a very special gift."
   "I doubt anyone else would think so. What do you think I should do?" Peter asked.
   "Like I said, I’m no expert. I think, though, that you should continue working with the Tarot cards since something or someone appears to have pointed you in that direction. Memorize them, visualize them, meditate on them. They are rich in symbolism, in archetypal energy, so to speak. Come back and tell me what you think, if you feel like it. I would be very interested in hearing what you have to say."
   "Thank you," Peter said, as he was leaving, sincerely grateful. "I’ll let you know--if anything happens."

Go on a different adventure with Mr. M.

 All Text, Music, and Illustrations, including Paintings, Photographs, and 3D models, Copyright © 2022 by Jim Robbins.

The 12th Path: The Magician

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ALLIES OF MERCURY

   "Wow, Mr. M, that woman is a magician! Can I be a magician too when I grow up?"

    “Of course! This path connects the Crown of all Creation with the Emanation known as Understanding, which is associated with the feminine manifestation of form, so it is fitting on this path for a woman to be the magician here. And she is a great magician in control of all the energies within herself, with the knowledge that those energies all emanate from One Source. Like a god, The Magician aligns the creative energies so that there is no conflict within herself or with the Source, bringing the energies down through the planes into manifestation in the Kingdom. Notice that the symbolic flame at the top of her wand is emanating light; in her ritual, she is bringing that light down to the symbolic flame at the bottom of the wand, bringing light into manifestation, in other words. She wears a headband to suggest that there is sweat involved, and her belt is a snake biting its tail to suggest that she operates from the perspective of eternity. Lilies and roses mingle in her garden, suggesting unity of consciousness, purity of intention, passion and beauty. She is an inspired soul who carries on the first, primal creative act within her own domain.”

   "How did she become such a great magician, Mr. M?

   “Legend has it that The Book of Thoth, a book containing powerful spells and wisdom, was hidden in many boxes, the keys to which were spread throughout ancient Egypt, and legend has it that the knowledge of the mysteries in this lost book found their way into the Tarot, which is now sometimes itself referred to as the ‘Book of Thoth.’ Thoth, the great God of wisdom and magic, as you might recall, is associated with the Greek Hermes and the Roman Mercury, so you find Mercury as the planet associated with this path. Thoth is also associated with Ptah, the creator God, and the Logos, the Word that begins the process of creation. Also, Saturn is associated with the Emanation of Understanding; on the Pillar of Severity, Mercury is Saturn on a lower arc, in the sphere of the conscious mind. 

   "The Hebrew letter Beth, also associated with this path, is the first letter of the bible, implying, since it is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, that a first cause or prime mover exists before the primal act of creation. Beth means ‘house,’ which suggests form enclosing force, and the twelfth path connects the Crown, the Source of manifestation, with Understanding, the sphere associated with form, so on this path you see, on one level, the first act of creation, which is echoed in all other acts of creation, with the Emanation known as the Crown as the actual Source of all creative acts.”
   “So whenever we create, we are like Thoth working with the Source.”
   “In one sense, yes. The transpersonal spiritual source of your being is the catalyst for all effective creation, and the energy of creation is brought down through the planes into the Kingdom through a conscious act of will. Notice that the magician holds up a wand with one hand and points toward the earth with the other, signifying her intention to bring spiritual energy into manifestation. On the table in front of her are the symbols of the four elements, Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, which are reflected in the triplicities of the zodiac. In other words, three astrological signs of the zodiac are Earth signs, three are Water signs, three are Air signs, and three are Fire signs, suggesting that, like Thoth, the magus works with the elemental energies within creation.”
   “So inspiration and emotion and ideas and imagination are all important, right Mr. M? Like when I create music.”
   “Very good. And ultimately the music manifests on the physical level as a musical score and eventually as a band or orchestra performing the music for an audience. Remember the elemental symbols are also associated with the planes of individual being: the spiritual, mental, astral, and physical levels. The mental and physical planes are planes of form. The spiritual and astral planes are planes of force. Thoth combines force with form in all creative endeavors. A created form without inspiration or emotion is inevitably abortive. Powerful ideas and creations spring from inspiration and emotion. In other words, all planes are involved in effective acts of creation, as suggested by the four elemental symbols.”
   “Why is the act of creation emphasized so much on this path, Mr. M?”
   “This path reveals the first cosmic act of creation which continues every second, day or night. In other words, on the macrocosmic level, the Source is always creating. On the microcosmic level, the personal level, we are also always creating, whether we are aware of it or not. We are involved in that first, primal act of creation because we carry it on every second with our inspirations, thoughts, emotions, and actions. The trick is to use the power of the will, the power of intention, to align the spirit with the other levels of being in order to create effectively for the highest good. In that way we become co-creators with the Source. If your head battles with your heart, you’re going to experience inner conflicts and difficulties. You must become clear about what you want to create, then align all aspects of your being so that your spirit, intellect, and emotions lead to effective creative actions within the realm of the Kingdom.”
   “What if your actions are effective but they harm people.”
   “That is where karma comes in. We can create a perfect cathedral or a perfect concentration camp. When I say ‘effective action,’ I mean action inspired by the higher knowledge that everything is connected, that we are all part of One consciousness. If you harm another person, you are harming yourself. If you harm the planet, you are harming yourself. It's best to strive for the highest good.”
   “Is that why the figure eight floats above the magician’s head?”
   “Indeed. The infinity symbol suggests the knowledge of the infinitude within, which includes the recognition that all energy is part of One awesome and holy tapestry of life.”

Eight of Wands: Mercury in Sagittarius

   "Look at those eight wands flying across the sky, Mr. M. Where did they come from?" 

    "I cannot see who threw them, but they are descending together at the same angle and almost the same rate to the Earth, which, considering the heaviness of the wands, is a masterful feat of coordination. Mercury is the messenger of the Gods, the God of the communication of the spirit with the conscious mind. Together in flight, the wands reveal the proficiency and focus of the mind, a quality of Mercury, but suggests also a mastery and knowing that flows from a place deeper than the conscious mind, recalling the way a Zen master, shooting an arrow in almost total darkness, hits the bulls-eye. Our friends who threw the wands are also feeling the influences of Sagittarius. Sagittarians enjoy exploration because their minds are open to new dimensions of thought. In terms of the Tree of Life, it is no wonder then that the path of Sagittarius lies between the Foundation, the Emanation of the Moon, which is associated with the subconscious mind, and with Beauty, the Emanation of the Sun and the Higher Self. Sagittarius is an archer, and the flight of his arrow suggests the ascent of the mind to higher realms. Mercury also, in his role of the messenger of the Gods, suggests, as I mentioned, the quick and sometimes unexpected intuitions that are communicated to the conscious mind from the spiritual dimensions. The fact that we don't know where the wands are coming from suggests this difficulty in identifying exactly where intuitive knowledge originates--from the personal or the transpersonal, from a God or from a divine dimension of the self."

Three of Cups: Mercury in Cancer

   "Wow, Mr. M, those dancers are so graceful!" Claire exclaims.

   "Our friends dance before us like the Three Graces, like the Goddesses of splendor and abundance who preside over banquets, dances, and other pleasurable events, and they bring joy and goodwill to both Gods and mortals alike. Like the Muses, they endow artists with the ability to create stunning works of art.  Here, we feel the influence of both Cancer and Mercury. We must engage with our emotions as well as with the sympathetic imagination to appreciate the arts.  The influence of Cancer stimulates the subtle senses and the imagination, which manifests as an abundant inner life. When the mind and heart remain open, a person becomes more psychic, more open to an abundance of spiritual influences as well.  The influence of Mercury, the messenger of the Gods, is necessarily linked to harmony and abundance, a state which cannot manifest without a conscious pursuit of the righteousness of beauty, the inspirations for which are often communicated from the depths of the psyche.  As your allies lift their golden cups, you can feel the emotional, mental, and spiritual inebriation of the inspired life."

Six of Swords: Mercury in Aquarius

   "When I look at those people in the boat, Mr. M, I feel a little worried, for some reason."

   "Don't worry. Our friend is maneuvering the small boat across the water with expertise. Six swords stick up within the boat on both sides of the passengers as if to indicate some kind of danger, but the swords might instead be protecting them. On one side, the water is slightly disturbed by the boatman’s efforts to propel the boat forward. On the other side, the water remains still and calm, revealing the boatman’s skill and coordination. Through his training and experience the boatman makes the crossing look easy. Our friend has developed the ability to focus, a quality of Mercury, which can help to maintain and protect the most basic form of connection, such as between a parent and child, or lead to new shores for the individual and humanity in general, a quality of Aquarius. Willful, conscious focus is the key to getting from one point to another. The shore is in view, the destination not in the picture, but there is no stress, only evidence of quiet skill and concentration. The boat continues to flow smoothly across the water. The quietness of the scene also hints at an aspect of Mercury’s role as the messenger of the Gods. The conscious mind sometimes receives unexpected knowledge or insights from deep in the subconscious, where the higher self resides, when the mind is still. The boatman’s pole quietly goes deep into the water to push the boat forward again."

Three of Cups: Mercury in Cancer

Mars in Geburah (Severity)

   "Those poor people must be suffering terribly, Mr. M," Claire groans.

   "The tragedy is that we allow some people to fall into that condition. Ovid, the Roman poet, tells a tale of Mercury and Jupiter disguising themselves as peasants before visiting a town and asking for a place to sleep. Everyone in the town treats the Gods with disdain, except for an impoverished couple who generously extends hospitality beyond their means. After their act of generosity, Mercury and Jupiter end up providing the couple with a comfortable life and destroying the town and everyone in it.

   "Despite the god-like qualities and energies within all people, as revealed by the Tree of Life, we can all fall into such a tragic state due to adverse circumstances. Our friends know suffering in their very bones, yet they stay together, struggling through desperate times, passing, as if by chance, under a lovely stained-glass window with five glowing pentacles that suggest the top spheres of the Tree of Life, Emanations associated with the higher self. Each snowflake seems to batter them a little more. They cannot have illusions and survive the grinding, soul-crushing condition of poverty. Both of them pass by without looking up at the window, as if unable to believe that spirituality is anything more than an illusion, but one of them might still gaze up, as if for a moment open to the possibilities of higher awareness. Their condition starkly reveals the ugliness and horror of poverty, yet for this brief moment, a light shines for them through the window in the storm, suggesting that spiritual enlightenment is always possible, even in the worst conditions--if you don’t become consumed by pain and self-pity and remain open. Even though our impoverished friends could not be more humble, there is something heroic about them. The influence of Taurus suggests the potency of the life-force that manifests in their struggle for survival. And they remain together through the worst times. Even if they both ignore the spiritual signs of higher awareness, in their struggles they have the potential to manifest the virtue of Mars--courage, a quality of the higher self.  Mercury is also an influence. Thoth, the God of Magic, is the older, Egyptian version of Mercury. In the myth of Isis and Osiris, Thoth helps to resurrect Osiris so that Horus, the higher self, is eventually born of many trials." 

Ten of Pentacles: Mercury in Virgo

   "Look, Mr. M, that boy is pulling the dog's tail!" Claire exclaims. 

   "Yes, and no one in the group seems to notice the old man in a fancy robe or the golden coins, arranged like the Emanations of the Tree of Life, floating above the street. The pentacles, as you recall, symbolize the energies of the elements in balance and by extension the energies of the zodiac and their ruling planets--but only the dogs seem attracted to the old man who has magic sigils on his robe. Perhaps he is only a street performer, full of tricks. Nevertheless, he has an air of magic about him, doesn't he? Did he create an illusion or was the Tree of Life always there? Are we only now seeing it because like him we are paying attention to the ordinary world? Perhaps we have become for a moment like the magician, experiencing the magical energies that manifest in such an orderly way that almost everyone takes them for granted. The street is strange and miraculous and full of abundance and potential, yet no one else seems to notice, except for us and the old man. Like him, we can sense the presence of powerful forces in the everyday world. We don’t know if the old man or the Tree of Life has given us this second sight, but as we pass, we can at least wordlessly nod at our friend, hoping that our gratitude is understood."

   "And let me just say thank you to you as well, Mr. M." Claire smiles.

Go on a different adventure with Mr. M.

 All Text, Music, and Illustrations, including Paintings, Photographs, and 3D models, Copyright © 2022 by Jim Robbins.

The 13th Path: The High Priestess

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ALLIES OF THE MOON

   "She's wearing a strange crown, Mr. M."

   “Her mysterious crown suggests the phases of the moon. She is a Goddess who gloriously reveals the receptive feminine side of the psyche. She hears messages from the other side of the Abyss that she communicates to us. She can be a dark Goddess but she can impart great spiritual knowledge to us from both the higher and lower dimensions. She is comfortable with unity and multiplicity and harmonizes and balances all aspects of the psyche under the moon. Knowledge from the divine comes through her.”

   “The 13th path, known as ‘The High Priestess,’ is one of the most mysterious paths because in several key ways it belies our sense of logic. The moon and water symbolism of the path alludes to The Foundation, the ninth Emanation just above Malkuth, the Kingdom. But the 13th path connects Beauty, the Christ center, with the Crown of Creation high on the middle pillar, establishing the most direct route to union with the Source. Instead of sun symbolism, which suggests unity and spiritual awareness, you find moon and water symbolism, which suggests constant change, the multiplicity of phases, and the subconscious mind.”
   “On the very first path we took, the 32nd path, which connects the Kingdom with the Foundation, we had to go down before we could ascend. Does that have something to do with it?” Claire inquires.
   “On the 13th path, we have to go deep into the subconscious mind across the desert that separates the divine core of the self from the conscious mind. The highest that the conscious human mind can go is Mercy, the fourth Emanation on the Tree of Life. That is one reason why the Hebrew letter associated with this path is Gimel, which means ‘camel.’ The conscious mind cannot take us across this desert--some other inner force must carry us. The Source in the Crown of Creation, remember, contains the greatest unity that the human mind can know; the human mind in The Kingdom is much more used to dealing with polarity and division and the multiplicity of form.”
   “But all of these paths contain symbols to help us move across the Abyss, right?”
   “Remember that symbols are still part of the world of form; symbols are essentially forms that represent spiritual principles. But you are right. The other paths across the Abyss contain symbols that help us feel our way through the formless light. They form bridges to higher awareness. The spiritual abstractions above the Abyss are presented in The Foundation as symbols to our subconscious mind. We can create a bridge to the formless spiritual truths with the symbols in the ninth Emanation, which is hinted at in the moon and water symbolism of this path. The first connection with higher consciousness often consists of visions of symbols, such as an infinity symbol or an equal-armed cross. In other words, the higher self can project formless spiritual abstractions into the subconscious mind, which then represents the abstractions as symbols to the conscious mind.”
   “Didn't you say that higher knowledge is actually more intuitive, Mr. M?”
   “Yes, higher knowledge is formless, without symbols. You just know something is true or something is about to happen. That is where faith comes in.”
   “So is it possible to cross the Abyss?”
   “Yes, but remember: You cannot look upon the face of God and live. In other words, if you experience the absolute unity of the Source, your consciousness will be translated into a completely different state of being. You will not be annihilated--instead, your consciousness will totally transcend this plane. You will retain your human experience within the fire of the Source. Numerous lifetimes pass before a soul is ready for this transcendent experience.”
   “But the core of the self communicates intuitive knowledge to the soul, right, so we can still know God even while we live as human beings?”
   “Yes, as long as a path has been cleared between the divine core of the self, and the enlightened conscious mind, and the lower incarnated personality. That is why it is crucial that you purify yourself regularly. Negative energies garble and distort the messages.”
   “So the High Priestess channels those messages to us in pure form.”
   “Yes. The feminine side of the mind is much more psychic and receptive to spiritual intuition. Notice that the High Priestess sits between two pillars, one black and one white, which means that the High Priestess herself is essentially representing the middle pillar of the Tree of Life. She holds the Torah in her lap, a symbol of spiritual knowledge. Over her heart is a pure-white equal-armed cross, which symbolizes the unity and harmony of all of the elements of the Tree--before the white light is shattered into the many colors of multiplicity. In that sense, she is pure, virginal, and can sit before the veil of the Abyss communicating the messages of Spirit to us. Her white equal-armed cross is the opposite of the black equal-armed cross associated with The Kingdom, which suggests a different logic in the realms of unity and diversity, yet her feet touch the solid ground. She integrates the opposites of polarity, and the direct link to the Source is through Her.”

Nine of Wands: Moon in Sagittarius
Lord of Great Strength

   "That guy looks really messed up. He seems a little dizzy."

   "Yes, our friend is still standing up straight after suffering a blow to the head. He might be a little dazed, but the other wands standing up straight behind him suggest his great strength. Perhaps he has many allies who can come to his aid, or perhaps the wands signal deep strength on the different dimensions of the psyche represented by the Tree of Life. Our friend remains unwavering  under the influence of the Moon in Sagittarius in the Emanation known as Yesod, The Foundation. On the cosmic level, one of the two main characteristics of The Foundation is strength. The other quality, which might seem contradictory at first, is the flux associated with water and the Moon. The strength inherent in the flux of The Foundation can be understood more easily in terms of a body of water like the ocean, with its constantly shifting waves and deep currents. The tides and waves and currents keep changing, but the the ocean remains a vast, powerful force. The Moon, also associated with the depths of the subconscious mind, is a strong influence on our ally on a personal level. His strength stems from a subconscious, spiritual source. The suit of Wands symbolizes the plane of spiritual will, which is sometimes buried deep within the subconscious mind of the individual. The sun shines on the moon, which in terms of the Tree of Life symbolically suggests the Higher Self stimulating the subconscious. Sagittarians are known for having strongly idealistic natures that can suffer many disappointments because of their passion for truth and justice. They tend to fight for causes they believe to be just, and are usually on the side of the underdog. Whether our friend is aware of it or not, these qualities stem from the Higher Self.

Four of Cups: Moon in Cancer

Lord of  Blended Pleasure

   "He looks like he is meditating with his eyes open, Mr. M," Claire whispers.

   "Yes, our friend sits at the foot of a tree in a posture of meditation, recalling the Buddha who meditated under a Bodhi tree until he attained enlightenment. Our friend is having a vision: an ethereal hand extending from a cloud offers him a golden cup. His eyes appear to be open, but he is concentrating intensely, perceiving the cups before him with the psychic third eye. As many who meditate know, visions of archetypes and symbols often appear as real as anything in conscious, waking vision. Your ally is experiencing the influence of Cancer, which stimulates psychic powers as well as the powers of sympathetic imagination. The Moon, also associated with psychism and the subconscious mind, is also a powerful influence. Even though your ally may give the impression of being down-to-earth, common, even simple, in this state influenced by the Moon and Cancer, he can experience great insights that reveal the magnificence, harmony and abundance of the spirit (characteristic of Jupiter), even possibly, like the Buddha, inspiring generations with his wisdom."

   "He makes me want to meditate, Mr. M!"

Two of Swords: Moon in Libra

Lord of Peace Restored

   "Look, she is glowing in the moonlight, Mr. M!"

   "Or her soul is glowing. She crosses her arms, grasping a long sword in each hand. Since the swords are so long and heavy, this balancing act obviously requires great strength and concentration. Our friend wears a blindfold, which perhaps is helping her to concentrate. If you think back, you might remember that she is like the figure of Justice, who does not wear a blindfold, which suggest that true justice sees all. So our friend appears to represent something besides the forces of karma and justice. Since she is in the second Emanation known as Wisdom, a state of almost unimaginable energy, she is concentrating on balancing powerful forces, an act of great discipline in such a dynamic sphere, which is a quality of Libra. On the Tree of Life, the second Emanation balances the forces of the Source, establishing equilibrium. Our friend wears a blindfold to suggest that the force of equilibrium is at this stage a blind, primal state “above” nature, just as Wisdom is a supernal Emanation "above" manifestation, and she wears white to suggest how all colors together form one unified state “above” or “beyond" the diverse forms of creation. The sense of primal unity, willful balance and stability within the dynamic powers and flux of creation, suggested by water and the Moon, is what our friend manifests."

   "I see why she is glowing, Mr. M."

Seven of Swords: Moon in Aquarius

Lord of Unstable Effort

   "Look, Mr. M, those swords must be hurting his hands!"

   "Yes, I'm sure those swords are sharp, but our friend is gleefully stealing them from the enemy’s camp. He resembles a jester more than a soldier, and his attitude suggests that he is performing a prank rather than attempting to seriously harm the enemy. He is alone, and his actions have minimal impact on the opposition, yet his prank suggests that humor is potentially a kind of weapon that can force the mind to examine different points of view. He cannot carry all of the swords, which suggests that it would have been wiser to involve others in the scheme--if he were actually attempting to destabilize the enemy. His efforts are unstable (a quality of both the Moon, which constantly changes, and Venus on the lower planes), but there is the suggestion of a deeper principle: conflict, which usually stems from desire or emotion, often causes instability. His prank resembles a jest before a king who unwisely insists on dragging a society into war, into open conflict which stems from unstable emotions and desires and ends up causing even more instability. Your ally is out in the open, committing a theft, which is less evil than killing. He doesn’t even seem to mind that he might be seen. “Look at me,” he seems to be saying. “My actions are less crazy than yours!” His awkward theft points to another basic motivation for conflict: stealing property. Our friend reveals a facet of The Fool, a divine madness that forces the people in power and the community to confront its own irrationality and impetuousness and greed."

   "He seems like a wise fool, Mr. M. I like him!"

Six of Pentacles: Moon in Taurus

   "That man seems super-generous, Mr. M!"   

   "Yes, he is manifesting the generosity that the life-force manifests in many ways. With one hand he is giving money, a form of energy; in the other he holds scales as if to determine how deserving the supplicants are. The master resembles the life-force with its inherent sense of balance, from which abundance is obtained through a desire for development and improvement. Each of us receives spiritual impulses, inspirations that we can manifest down through the planes through the use of imagination, technical knowledge and skill. Those with a strong desire to develop their talents and use their abilities to realize their dreams are supported and rewarded on some level. Those who do not develop their talents lose what they already have through lack of initiative. Individual talents, like muscles, atrophy if they are not used."

   "I won't ignore my talents, Mr. M."

Go on a different adventure with Mr. M.