According to Mark, the future is always mutable, never set in stone, and can be changed by our own individual input. He claims that new scientific discoveries support his theory. The Universe changes by us looking at it and mere thought has the power to create change in another galaxy – hence it could be argued that beholding the future will alter it since it alters our thoughts about it.
I can see where he is coming from with this but I thought I
would play the Devil’s advocate and ask the Wildwood itself if certain events
are perhaps still fated and therefore unavoidable. I pulled one card and got
the Guardian (trad. The Devil). This deck definitely has a sense of humour!
In the Wildwood, we see the skeleton of a great bear
guarding a cave. I remember Mark saying that if you poke this scary creature,
you will find that it falls apart since bones do not have ligaments any more
when they reach this stage of whiteness. What we fear dissipates when we have
the courage to face it, in other words.
So how does this card relate to my question about fatedness
and the Wildwood’s ability to foretell the future? I think the answer lies in
Mark’s own words about the card:
“A challenge has arrived in your life. (…) It may manifest
itself in the form of profound inner realignment or the facing of some outer
predicament. Whether from the labyrinth that is the human mind or from some
external source, the challenge that presents itself must now be seen for what
it is: an opportunity.”
Sometimes challenges arise from an external source. Something has been set in motion; forces equal to
the ones moving the tectonic plates on the ocean floor have been at work for
some time and have brought about an unavoidable situation. Something is going
down and there is nothing we can do about it except accept it as a positive
challenge.
Students of astrology know that certain aspects of our lives
are intimately tied in with the movement of the planets. This does not mean
that every detail of our lives is ruled by the planets but some major
life-changing events have been mapped out on a cosmic level. Certainly, our
time of entering and exiting each incarnation is mapped out beforehand. Some of the people we meet, we have already ‘arranged’
to meet before we incarnated. Some of
the lessons we agreed with our spirit guides to learn will come about, one way or another.
That said, knowing the future will alter the future, if in
no other way then at least in how we choose to align ourselves spiritually,
mentally and emotionally. An earth quake will go off no matter how much
positive thought energy we put into keeping the tectonic plates stable. We live
on the planet earth and that is what The Guardian is here to remind us. The
limitations of time and space are in place and only those who have the courage
to enter the cave will find ways of transcending the fears that these
limitations bring. Ultimately we all die and ultimately there is nothing to
fear. The limitations are as illusory on the other side as they seem real here.
11 comments:
Very well thought out and point. Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
you're welcome, andy :) glad it made sense to you!
Oh here we go again, see this is one of the reasons I did not to spend all that money to go to the conference :P, not that I had it in the first place. We can change certai things, we can affect others. Thought - emotion - action. We cannot change getting a virus, we cannot change being dumped, we cannot change being hit by a car from behind, for example. Irritating that people are trying to completely strip the Tarot of what it was originally meant to do, entertain and divinate. I stop now before I rant on :S
Oh u must be kidding my post just got erased when I logged in ffs. I said this is the reason that I would not have spent all that money for the conference (not that I had it). We can change certain things of course. Thought - emotions- actions. But not everything is changeable, we cannot change: getting a virus, being hit from a car behind us, being dumped, fired etc...influencing the outcome can work but not always. I really find it irritating and somehow sad that people are more and more stripping out the Tarot of its real meaning and goal: entertain and divinate. it is becoming a trendy thing now counsellors abound, NLP diplomas for 10$, come on really...
hehe... rant away, Anton! i really enjoyed the talk by Mark though and i'm pretty sure you would have too. for me, it was the highlight of the conference. he's both entertaining and thought provoking - a great speaker and obviously the brain behind the gorgeous wildwood tarot deck so i have nothing but admiration for the man. it's ok to respectfully agree to disagree on certain aspects of the tarot.
Dear Lisa,
Thank you for your thoughtful report from the conference and Mark Ryan's wisdom. I tend to agree with what he says from a psychological, metaphysical as well as quantum physics point of view.
In essence, trying to predict the future is a form of hedging against projected possibilities. If one is proactive, the information can be used to prepare for such possibilities, but in most cases, people are reactive, fearful, or wanting their circumstances for which they feel victimized to change. Knowing the future, whether it be accurate or not, will not change such mindsets and ultimately is not useful information. It is how one receives and works with insight that opens the “doors of perception.”
I'd like to share my impression of what wisdom The Devil may be sharing with us in light of your question. Believing that the future is one-dimensional or solid is the very illusion that XV is challenging us to wake up to understanding. When I add the Wildwood Tarot thoughts you posted, “What we fear dissipates when we have the courage to face it.” I believe this message can also be applied to those who fear facing that life, the earth, the future, are not solid.
Yes, I can predict that the sun will rise tomorrow and that I’ll be dead in 100 years, but even with 99.9% certainty, these facts are not solid. They are tendencies based on past experience, just as Tarot cards contain concepts based on history and observations about life. The more we expand our awareness and free our concepts of what is possible, the more constricting and limiting fortune-telling appears.
Like The Devil, I challenge us all to see where our preconceived or tried-and-true practice may be limiting us from receiving more meaningful guidance from working with Tarot.
In Light & Love,
Katrina
Dear Katrina,
Thank you for commenting and sharing your point of view. I would have loved it if you challenged some of the points I made in my post. It makes it tricky for me to reply constructively when you choose to come at it from the very broad angle of “psychological, metaphysical as well as quantum physics point of view”… To me they are, in fact, three separate points of view.
Having studied psychology myself at Uni and also obtained a Level 3 Counselling Certificate in Person-Centred counselling, I can definitely understand your argument from a psychological point of view. Fear is easily induced when people are faced with future possibilities as the future inevitably brings change and yes, as you say “in most cases, people are reactive, fearful, or wanting their circumstances for which they feel victimized to change.”
However, this is not an argument against the possibility of foretelling the future. My grandmother read coffee grounds for the villagers up north in Sweden. She was good and people started travelling from far and wide to see her. Unfortunately fear stopped her from using her gift. People were brave enough to see her and they wanted to know their fortunes. I think a person in the harsh north of Sweden in the 1920’s and 30’s knew that life was a balance between the ups and the downs of the Wheel of Fortune and if something was going down they would rather be in the know.
My grandmother once saw that a friend of hers would lose the baby she was carrying and she couldn’t find a way of telling her. Perhaps Spirit prompted her not to speak through her fear in this case. Can fear not be an ally at times? Fear, after all, is what keeps us from jumping off high cliffs even when we feel like flying. The prediction came true and it was after that my grandmother decided to stop her fortune telling work. She was a true seer though and her gift didn’t stop completely. She was happy to stick to the little things after that, such as putting the kettle on before unannounced guests arrived – something that never failed to astound me as a child when I stayed with her during the summer and Christmas holidays.
It could be said that I was hardwired to believe in second sight. I also inherited her gift to some degree.
I am not sure what your metaphysical point of view is, Katrina, and would love to hear more about that. All I know is that it is trendy for psychics to become less and less predictive and to instead spiritualize everything. To me, I see a huge risk of spiritual bypass here since people stop dealing with what actually is – something The Devil will never let us get away with, bless him.
As for the quantum physics point of view, I would love to know more about that too. I am not a physicist myself but I watch Dr Brian Cox on BBC and I find physics fascinating. I do suspect that it would take many years of science studies to even begin to grasp quantum physics though and as it is a new field of study, I would not be surprised if the scientists themselves are humbled by their findings.
Essentially, I work with people’s needs as a seer. My forte is that I am pretty unflappable these days – a good quality to have in combination with the counselling skills. Just like my ancestors, I know that life is full of swings and roundabouts and I, for one, would rather have signs for the roundabouts. I trust that the people who come to see me for the purpose of fortune telling are of that ilk and also that Spirit guides me as to what is appropriate to share with them. We must always meet our clients where they are and in this I am skilled, even though I am not a quantum physicist.
Bright blessings,
Lisa
Dear Lisa,
I’m not against fortune-telling or predicting the future per se. In many cases it matches the expectations of the clients. I advocate learning as much of Tarot as one can, including predictive techniques, but especially deeper intuitive skills. A problem I perceive is Tarot is usually limited to the realm of fortune-telling in popular culture. I feel like a small voice that hopes to let the world know there is more than one way to experience Tarot. In fact, I know there is a great depth to Tarot that is rarely tapped.
If one has a special gift, such as your grandmother, my hope is that they can offer their service without fear. And, as you have always known, I resonate with and admire your counseling background and integrating it into your Tarot work.
As for psychology, metaphysics and quantum physics, they are intricately connected in my world. Dr. Arnold Mindell developed Process Work (Process-oriented Psychology/Dreambody Work), studied at the Jung Institute in Zurich, and started his career as a physicist at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), a famous US University with some of the nation’s leading physicists. My 24 years of psychotherapy training in Process Work is steeped in quantum physics, Jungian psychology (which is fairly metaphysical itself) and my own contribution of blending Tarot and other metaphysical studies.
Meta-physics is the dreaming of physics that is later proved, in theory, by modern physics. Both at their core are systems for understanding life, the universe, and/or God. Many metaphysical arts, such as alchemy, represent pathwork to discovering one’s soul, the “gold” or “Philosopher’s Stone.” Carl Jung recognized this pathwork as a metaphor for what he called the “Individuation” process, another model for re-membering and discovering one’s soul, our inner gold. Tarot represents this “World Soul” in trump XXI The World.
As you may know, there is now “The Tarot of Physics” deck, several Jungian influenced Tarot decks, an Alchemical Tarot deck, and more. There is a trend here for those who deeply study Tarot realize the many earthly and universal connections reflected in our favorite oracle. It is an oracle, but it is also a book of universal wisdom and so much more. Why else would it be such a powerful reflection of life?
These ideas are introduced in some of the articles on my websites and spoken about in more detail in my book, “An Introduction to Transformative Tarot Counseling.”
Thanks for asking and I appreciate you keeping the dialogue open and inclusive.
In Spirit,
Katrina
Thank you, Katrina. It is wonderful that people who study the tarot deeply for personal and spiritual growth find ways of cross-pollinating various disciplines. I just hope that the depth is of equal measure in ALL disciplines where this sort of thing takes place. Jung's work is popular these days and so is talking about quantum physics. If anything, I feel that the trend is to put fortune telling down, which is a shame. Predictions do not always match the expectations of the client. If this were the case, fortune tellers would not be needed. The tarot truly is the Book of Life... and all answers are found therein. BB, Lisa
Thank you for this! The Devil card has always been confusing to me. I never feared it in the traditional sense, but I always had an association with over-indulgence, and misinterpreting (maybe) as it being "the chain we wear freely" to bad things that happen to us (ie we chose those situations out of our control). Now I realize that it is the fear itself that the card represents, like those dreams of horrible creatures but if you actually stop and talk to one of them he invites you in for tea. Now I find a lot of comfort in dividing things into Conditions of the World We Live In and God (not in any specific religious sense, but in the benevolent energy of the universe). The world we live in has been created with a certain set of laws, and God is the energy that moves us through, internally, despite those physical laws.
Thus, the Devil card is not a chain you wear to a Conditional event (a car crash, an accident, a health problem), but how you VIEW or ACT THROUGH this condition.
Very helpful.
yes, exactly Jenny! you said it better than me! :D
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