Time is a very important part of our motion/growth on the path, but, in my
experience, it is so omnipresent it gets little consideration. It is very
powerfully symbolized in Key 0 as the belt that holds the dark cloak of
ignorance about the Fool, covering the YHVH undergarment that is exposed on the
male figure in Key 20. How is the Fool's belt removed? The element of time is
very important in human interactions but rarely considered consciously as it can
be and its value generally goes unrecognized. How do you see time and its
effect on your pathmanship? In our interactions? Over a lifetime? Your own
words, please. N.J.
I recently had an experience that got me thinking about the nature of Time
and its representation in the Tarot Keys.
Not to get too specific, but I'm in a situation where there is something I
want, but I'm being forced to wait for it, to the point where there's some doubt
as to whether or not it's going to happen at all.
Now this situation brings to my mind Key 14 where the Holy Guardian Angel (HGA)
is pouring water(12) from the vase onto the Lion (fire). I see being made to
wait for something as a test. Is your intention (14) strong enough to pass the
test of being made to wait? My egoity and "wanting it now" is being
tested/doused as a form of verification (as opposed to wrath which would be the
torch in the HGA's other hand). What is being made to wait other than the
passage of Time? So we have the associations:
Water (Keys 2, and K12)
Water poured on Fire (K14) and Being made to wait
Waiting = Passage of Time
I also recall that time can be likened to a flowing river. You never step
into the same river twice, because the water flows down stream. Ann Davies once
likened Evolution as a river flowing down to the sea. Also I recall that in Key
0 the Fool wears a girdle which represents time which is an artificial
construct.
So putting all these thoughts together:
Could "time" be just the flow of the fluidic mind stuff as it
appears from the perspective of the physical plane? The flow starts from the
dress of the High Priestess, and flows through all the keys until it comes to
rest in the sea of K20 which is The PERPETUAL (forever-timeless) Intelligence.
In Key 12 (Water) the suspended man hangs above a dry watercourse. Why is it
dry? Is the Suspended Mind also suspended Time?
Also note that with the passage of time, most of us grow old and die. Look at
Key 13 (Death). There's a big river in the background which flows from down from
the North to the South but then turns to the East (3). Also it was stated that
K12 is the doorway to K13. The suspension of time and changing the direction of
the flow of the fluidic mind stuff - could they be the same? How to change the
direction of this flow? (The Imaginative Intelligence = using the imagination)
So as we learn to reverse/change the flow of the currents of the fluidic mind
stuff via reversal/meditation (12/17) and imagination (3/13) do we also overcome
death and thus Time?
Elaine and Rey make some good points about time and discrimination, BUT the
connection seems to be more related to repetition of experience than to time.
Sure, the more time you have, the more opportunity you have to gain additional
experience, and thus discernment, but this is not directly related to time
itself.
For example, if I'm aware, I can gain much discernment in a short time.
However, if I'm not aware, it can take eons to gain the same level of
discernment.
[WARNING: long post follows. Skip it if you don't have TIME ]
My take on time is that time is our relative perception of the flow of the
Cosmic Mind-stuff. By analogy then, if you are standing in a stream of
water, you can feel the friction of the flow against your body and you are aware
of a difference between your stationary position and the moving of the
water. This is analogous to our perception of time - the apparent motion
created by our self-conscious (separate) awareness which is like a little eddy
in the overall flow of the cosmic mind stuff. In Genesis, when Adam and
Eve were ejected from the Garden, God said that they would experience death -
the result of no longer being in unity consciousness with the cosmic mind stuff.
When you are floating down stream with the flow, however, you have no
perception of there being any difference between yourself and the water. When
you are flowing in union with the flow, then you are in the ever-present NOW.
There is no longer any perception of relative motion between yourself and the
flowing stream - thus no perception of time.
Using this hypothesis, (that time is the perceived relative motion between
our self-conscious level of awareness and the flowing stream of the cosmic
mind-stuff ) we can note what the various Tarot keys say about time:
Key 0: The Fool Before time. The cosmic mind-stuff frozen on the
mountain peaks.
The Fool's belt represents time, which is that girdle which keeps his
decorated cloak (personality) in place. Time holds the personality to the Self.
The Fool represents the SELF, yet he still wears the cloak of personality. Thus,
even at the level of Super-Consciousness we still retain our individuality.
Within the greater flow of the Cosmic Mind-Stuff, there are still individual
swirls and eddies that represent our individualities. It is this relative motion
between the eddy (my personality) and the larger flow that makes me an
individuality. Without this relative motion, this little swirl in the big pool,
I would not exist as an individuality. So as long as there is this relative
motion between various aspects of creation, there will be individuality. This
relative motion is the belt that keeps the personality (little swirl) attached
to the Self.
The big clock, having been wound (Kether - Intention), now proceeds to unwind
(Attention)- thus creating ALL. One lesson states: "Attention is the
direction of a current of energy outward towards some thing of condition in our
environment. Attention has to do with location in time or space"
So this unwinding (relative motion) begins when the ONE directs it's
attention into manifestation.
Now is this relative motion, when viewed from the Self-conscious awareness,
the same as Time?
How do we perceive time? As time passes:
a) I have more memories of experience. Without memory, there can be no
perception of time.
b) I notice changes in my environment. I get older, I experience changes in
my various physical, mental, emotional, vehicles, and see things change around
me. Without Attention there can be no perception of time.
So, the perception of time requires both Memory (cosmic mind stuff) and
Attention. We notice "differences" in the cosmic mind stuff. I
look at one place in the record of memory and see one set of data. I look at
another place in the record of memory and see a different set of data.
These relative differences are perceived as "time".
Now, I can only notice "differences" if I separate my awareness
from the NOW in order to bring my attention to some other place in the cosmic
mind stuff. Thus time is the sensation caused by me noticing the difference
between "my now" and "THE NOW" (or some other stream of the
cosmic mind-stuff). Using my attention (K1) in order to manifest creates
my own unwinding stream of manifestation for me, just as THE ONE uses it's
attention to create. As above, so below.
Key1: Magician's belt of eternity. "The girdle is a blue-green
serpent which symbolizes eternity because it swallows its tail. Observe
that the idea of eternity symbolized by the Magician's girdle is in contrast to
the idea of time symbolized by the girdle of the Fool."
Eternity means endless. No perception of time.
When we FULLY direct our attention to something, we have no perception of
time. This is because we are creating "our own now" and thus do not
perceive any relative motion. We create our own unwinding stream within the
larger stream of the Cosmic Mind-stuff.
Ever get really involved in something that takes all of your attention, and
then later wonder where all the time went? You notice time only AFTER you
came out of your own now, and once again stood in the stream of the greater
current of the Mind-stuff. You noticed the relative motion.
Yet as most of us realize, just because we're really engrossed with something
and don't notice the time, time still takes it's toll on us. My hypothesis
is that this is because "our now" is still not yet aligned and
synchronized with THE NOW. There is still relative motion, whether we're
aware of it or not. And where there is relative motion, there is friction,
resistance, and thus Change(K13) (and the wearing down of form).
Key 2: The Stream Begins . . . . From the robe of the High Priestess
begins the flow of the stream. She is the underlying substance of all. She
is set in motion by the unwinding of manifestation (scroll). Yet at this point,
there is only one pure stream, thus no relative motion yet between different
aspects. She is as yet pure; virgin.
Key 3: Time Begins. Behind the Empress the smooth flowing stream
cascades over a waterfall, mixing and churning. With the addition of individual
Attention upon the cosmic mind-stuff, individual eddies and streams are created
in the cosmic mind-stuff. Thus there is relative motion between the streams
created by the union of attention and memory (K1 + K2 = K3). With
individual Creation there is time. So long as our creations are not in harmony
with the larger stream of the Cosmic Mind-stuff, there will be relative motion
(time), and thus friction, resistance, and change (death).
Key 4: Time Management. The Emperor overlooks the swift moving stream.
The Emperor is very much aware of time, and uses his self-conscious insight to
see the various streams, eddies and flows which have been created, and uses
Sight and Reason to eliminate those which are in error.
How does one manage time? Is it not by managing our attention, by
eliminating those creations and distractions which go against the TRUTH (the
greater flow of what is).
Key 7: Time Traveler. The Charioteer resides in his chariot,
while behind him flows the stream. The personality as a vehicle used by the
higher self for its pleasure, growth, and experience. The personality has been
likened to a swirl or eddy in the greater flow of the Cosmic Mind-stuff.
This swirl ,or temporary disturbance in the flow, provides a vehicle for the
Self to navigate, create, and experience aspects of itself. From the perspective
of the vehicle itself, feeling this relative motion between itself and the
larger flow, it perceives it as time. Thus from the personality level, there
will always be the perception of time. Time ceases to exist only when this
relative motion stops, either because one is in perfect harmony with the larger
flow, or because the flow itself and everything in it has stopped.
K12: Suspended Time. The watercourse under the hanged man is devoid of
water. The flow has been stopped or suspended. Thus in samadhi, there is no
time. In samadhi, one's personal flow of attention has been arrested, and
thus one's own individual creation of other streams of thought have ceased and
thus there is no longer any relative motion between one's own stream and the
greater stream. No individual thought creation, no relative motion, no time.
K13: Time Warp. The stream makes a radical turn. From out of the
North it now flows East. The skeleton's spine also has two twists in it. One at
the Mars center, and another at the Venus center.
If it is true that death is the result of the "wearing out" caused
by our attentions/creations being out of synch with the larger flow, then this
change of direction points the way to a new dawn. Our desires must be
purified and motivated by love, as opposed to the personal volitionary drives.
If we want to change the direction of time, we must change our attention and
thus our creations. They must be under the direction of the Venus center -
Love. As Love overcomes death, so to does it overcome time. Love is
timeless.
This key also shows the normal result of time. This relative motion wears
down form (form being the denser manifestations of the cosmic mind stuff) thus
freeing the stuff up. Like a small whirl or eddy being finally overcome by
friction and thus being subsumed with a larger stream or current. Yet in this
the eddy gives up it's energy (it's knowledge, wisdom, and understanding) to the
larger stream, eddy or current.
K14: Tempered by Time: The HGA (Holy Guardian Angel) pours water from
the jar of personality onto the lion. Pouring water on fire. The HGA pouring
time on the fiery nature in order to temper it. We are all tempered by time.
Time serves the role of helping us to perceive our creations relative to the
greater creative stream, thus giving us the opportunity for modification and
growth.
K17: Time Standing Still. In meditation, the normally flowing cosmic
mind stuff is stilled and made solid. When one meditates they partake of
the greater flow of the cosmic mind stuff, thus one's attention is directed to
some aspect of the greater flow. While in that tributary, there is no relative
motion between one's own creation and that particular stream - no sense of time.
K18: From the Past to the Future. A crawfish crawls out of a pool of
water. Out of the larger pool of creation, an individual emerges. This crawfish
thus begins it's own path of attention/creation and thus it's own story. It's
individual path or life-stream is measured in space -the space from the pool to
the mountaintop. But time is only perceived by the crawfish as it makes it's
way.
K20: End of Time. Finally the stream comes to an end, joining
the sea. There is direct perception of the 4th dimension. Ones own personality
(individualized eddy in the greater flow of the cosmic mind-stuff) is now in
perfect harmony with the greater motion of the ONE. There is no longer any
relative motion, thus no longer any time for them while in this state.
K21: Time Lord. One now moves as the ONE moves. A person in this
state is ONE with the great unwinding clock of manifestation. For them
there is no time. To us, they are the timeless source of time. They control and
administrate the flow of manifestation, and thus to our senses, time as well.
"Time seems to exist only in Assiyah, that is, when >we are embodied.
But I catch various authors writing about God as though he does things in some
time order."
There are many ways to order things:
Spatial Order
Logical Order
Chronological Order
Hierarchical Order
What may be chronologically ordered here in the physical plane, may be
ordered differently on the higher causal planes.
More observations about time:
I was listening to the A.D's tape on K21 (The World). Something was mentioned
about - Saturn is the Father of Time. Time - perceiving things in chronological
order is a form of limitation.
Some personal observations:
You can FEEL the passage of time when you're forced to wait or when you're
otherwise unoccupied and just standing there watching the clock. It's like
standing in a river and Feeling the flow of water brushing past you.
On the other hand, when you're "in the flow" of things, time flies.
In other words, you are traveling WITH the flow of the Cosmic Mind Stuff. There
is no relative motion between you and the river of flowing mindstuff from the
High Priestess's robe.
Also, note that a river will eventually wear down an outcropping rock that
sits stationary in the midst of the flowing water. Perhaps when we are not in
the flow, our bodies are also worn down and worn out. Note that K13 = Death =
Scorpio = A WATER sign!
And is not our task to make our vehicles (body and personality) into
unobstructed vehicles for the flowing expression of the One Will?
_______________________
: 07 May 2001, 11:42:29 AM
At 08:55 AM 5/7/01 -0400, you wrote:
A thought about "time" to contemplate: It is easy to see that we
carry the past with us in what we call the present. The present is the
consequential result of all that has gone before, recorded in memory --at least
that is the appearance. We could say, in this context, that past and present are
one. Can we not project the possibility of the future into the same
"now" context with which we regard the past--that all is connected and
simultaneous in the great chain of cause and effect? That all 3 of
"our" divisions of time are in "present" awareness?
Mercifully, our future is almost totally obscured from our awareness as most of
us would quail with foreknowledge of what we will go through to realize
Ourselves. Not only would we quail, but we would chicken out--at such a fowl
process. (These impulses overtake me sometimes. Forgive?) When i say
"almost' totally obscured, I recognize that most of us are occasionally
given flashes of future events and states. Past, present, and future are NOW, as
the Ageless Wisdom states. Reasonable? But our delusion of 3 divisions of time
is useful. I leave you with this question : Can you say why and how our delusion
is useful? Joseph
_______________________
Why "time" is a useful delusion:
No time, no separation
No separation, no darkness
No darkness, no delusion
No delusion, no compression
No compression, no ignition
No ignition, no expansion
No expansion, => Stagnation
Stagnation, => Death
But the ONE PRIMAL WILL, LIVES!!!
Therefore, delusion.
Another Paradox.
Desire for more aliveness drives the Universe. The Self's Desire encounters
SELF made limitation (ignorance/delusion/space/time). The resulting compression
creates increased capacity for more aliveness.
Basically the One creates the piston (Desire) and the cylinder
(Delusion/Limitation) so that it can compress and ignite particularized centers
of expression of itself.
Delusion is the dark womb of manifestation. The formative matrix out of which
comes understanding & realization.
Red Lion
_______________________
Nutshellology: Time exists as the perspective between what has happened and
what will happen. Space is the perceived separation between objects. Time and
Space are then the doctrine of separation involving events and objects. Joseph
_______________________
Where there is will, there is motion. (Prime Mover)
Where there is differentiation, there is precipitation and separation.
Where there is separation, there is perspective. (Frames of reference)
The relative motion between perspectives is experienced as time.
The One Mind stirs the One Thing into motion out of which precipitates space
& time.
