PAN International 78
PAN Provisional Astroshamanic News
Ezine of the Sacred
Editorial Director:
© 2008
This Easter and Spring Equinox issue of PAN focuses on the healing power of the current seasonal shift, the gap between Pisces and Aries, which this year incorporates the mystery of the Holy Week. PAN 78 also includes an article on forgiveness and the start of a brand new series dedicated to the Tarot.
The official outset of spring is on
The Holy Week and the days preceding the Spring Equinox can be a most precious preparation and launching pad for any sacred vision or goal that we deeply treasure. In this process it is vital to discriminate between ego’s achievements based on separation and goals inspired by a genuine connection with God.[i] Prayer, meditation and other spiritual practices help us to promote this crucial distinction and create the conditions for the highest course of action. In certain situations, however, it is hard to understand what belongs to the ego and what pertains to our true divine nature. As a result we can become paralysed and stagnant, unable to take any initiative for fear of making mistakes or being on an ego trip. Ironically this is sometimes one of the best strategies the ego employs to preserve its domain.
While Pisces teaches us to strengthen the visionary level and sustain our inner relationship with God, the challenge with Aries is to become living expressions of that holy connection, taking risks and embracing our visions through visible actions in the outer world. As St Teresa of Avila (Sun and Ascendant in Aries) writes - “Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no feet but yours, no hands but yours. Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ is to look out on a hurting world. Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which he is to bless all now.” (click here for a video on a dance with the above lyrics)
Often the only way to find out about the nature of our visions, and whether they come from the ego or God, is to learn through direct experience, taking the risk and committing to see where it leads. The ego never truly commits because it does not know what it wants. The ego only knows what it does not want. This is the only thing of which it is clear. Indeed the ego is afraid to find out and get what it wants. And this is why many people by thinking about what they do not want and refusing to take action for fear of making mistakes, miss their major purpose in life.
Embracing Aries involves having the courage to go for what emerges through our spiritual practices and recurrent insights, yet in situations in which we are not completely sure or people and the environment do not support us. This requires an investment in trust. What motivates us is a deep inner passion and guidance. What blocks is the fear to make mistakes. Yet on the spiritual path there is no way to proceed unless I am available to face errors and use them as most healing opportunities for correction.
“The mistake people make is to wait for something to happen to them before they begin searching. They want the voice of God, or something, to tell them to get started. Or maybe they know they should be doing something but they procrastinate, hoping that tomorrow they'll have more conviction and be more determined. What they forget is there may be no tomorrow for them.” (Richard Rose, After the Absolute).
Aries is motivated by an ongoing and straightforward rapport with God. His prayers are direct and express instant availability, such as A Course in Miracles puts it: “What would You have me do? Where would You have me go? What would You have me say, and to whom? … Let Him tell you what needs to be done by you in his plan for your salvation. He will answer in proportion to your willingness to hear His Voice.” (ACIM, W71:9)
The dates of the Astroshamanic Summer Gathering in
The New Statesman, a classic British current affairs weekly magazine, features an article on astroshamanism, published in “The Faith Column”, on 11 and 12 March 2008, divided in two pieces under the title “Encountering Astroshamanism” (click here for details) and “Journeying through the Unseen” (click here). Although the original article I sent has been edited by the magazine, and there are now slight inaccuracies, I believe the basic message still serves the purpose.
The Prodigal Son Revisited by Franco Santoro
As the Holy Week unfolds I address once again forgiveness, an ongoing theme on PAN. In the previous articles (“The Dynamics of Forgiveness”, PAN 74, and “The Ego’s Plan of Forgiveness”, PAN 76), I explored forgiveness referring mainly to A Course in Miracles. Here I consider it also from more traditional Christian perspectives, which are indeed the most accessible for most human beings.
In the past I have often had very biased views on traditional Christianity and the official Church. Regretfully this attitude is still quite common for many friends I meet on the path. Some of them, although born in Christian countries, hardly have any notion about Christianity apart from what they have heard or read in alternative spiritual environments and some pallid childhood memories. While I do not resonate with the rigid fundamentalism and arid theology that I perceive in certain aspects of traditional Christianity, this does not mean that the baby has to be thrown out with the bath water. As a matter of fact, learning to discriminate between the baby and the bath water is the crucial lesson in forgiveness. And if I become a fundamentalist towards what I perceive as being fundamentalism this is surely not going to help.
There is no way in which we can manage to tread on the healing path unless we cease to condemn one another or focus on what we perceive as wrong in others. Seeing the Face of Christ (meant as our highest central collective spiritual identity) in all our brothers and sisters is the goal of A Course in Miracle and, since much earlier times, of all traditional religions and Christianity.
When I face strong grievances in one tradition, just as with my family or a friend, the first temptation is to criticise or leave that tradition, family or friend, and find alternative ones. On a spiritual path grievances are part of the package and it is inevitable that I will encounter them no matter where I am or go. At the same time God goes with me wherever I go, which implies that unresolved grievances continue to follow me until they are cured with the help of God. Now and then for educational purposes it can be beneficial to leave one’s tradition, family or friend, in order to explore alternative expressions of grievances and cures. And perhaps the most relevant learning in this respect is to realise in the end that there is only one grievance and one God. The grievance is separation, or the absence of Love, and the God is Unity, or the presence of Love, whose healing aid is forgiveness.
Traditional Christianity provides abundant references as regards forgiveness. One of the most significant and widely known appears in the New Testament and is the trilogy of the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Parable of the Lost Coin and the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The latter parable was part of the Catholic mass reading on Saturday 23 February. Since this was the day I started the two-week Foundation Training in Astroshamanism at Findhorn I took it as a guiding reference for the whole event. The parable appears in Luke 15:11-32 and, as you know, tells the story of a man with two sons. The younger claims and gets the share of his inheritance while his father is still alive, and then moves to a remote country, where he squanders all his resources. He then suffers misery and hunger, until he comes to his senses and decides to return home. “I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.” So he returns home to his father and “while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.” The son says: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” Yet the father does not pay any attention to his words and in full excitement calls his servants and says: “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” Hence they all begin to celebrate. The older brother is jealous at his father’s attitude towards the unfaithful brother and complains: “All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!” But the father responds: ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!”
This story is most touching because many of us can identify with the Prodigal Son, and feel God as an unconditionally loving father. Here forgiveness comes instantly. The father is not at all interested in hearing the confession and repentance of his son. All he wants is celebration. A conventional idea about forgiveness is that it can only come after a full confession of all sins, payment of indemnity through sufferance or other compensations, guarantee that the sin will not be committed again and a time of test aimed at proving the penitent. This is the idea of forgiveness that is often projected upon the Catholic Church or other traditional denominations. Yet it is a most outmoded concept, which was definitely released since the Second Vatican Council and does not apply anymore to the Church.
What is more striking in the parable is the fact that when the father sees his son arriving far away, he rushes to meet him with embraces and kisses. He is not interested to hear any confession or word or repentance. What counts is that the son has returned. He does not need to implore any forgiveness since he has already been forgiven. What is unveiled here is a loving God who sees us as sinless. As far as he is concerned there is nothing to forgive. Here forgiveness depends on our own initiative to return to God, and not on God’s mercy.
In a Catholic homely broadcasted by an American radio on the same Saturday I listened to another relevant reference to forgiveness. Surprisingly it was not from the Bible or a Christian text, but from Zorba the Greek, the famous novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, made also into a very popular movie starring Anthony Quinn.
Zorba is a most vibrant and earthy old man incorporating the orgiastic spirit of Dionysus, the archetype of ecstasy, sensuality and exuberance. When I was an Osho sannyasin I often heard Osho talking about Zorba as the model of the new man and his unorthodox spirituality in contrast with ordinary religion. For Osho the new man is Zorba the Buddha, a combination between Zorba the Greek and Gautama the Buddha. “He will be Christ and Epicurus together. Religion failed because it was too other-worldly. It neglected this world. And you cannot neglect this world; to neglect this world is to neglect your own roots.” (Osho, The Times of
"I think of God as being exactly like me. Only bigger, stronger, crazier. And immortal, into the bargain. He's sitting on a pile of soft sheepskins, and his hut's the sky. […] In his right hand he's holding not a knife or a pair of scales - those damned instruments are meant for butchers and grocers - no, he's holding a large sponge full of water, like a rain cloud. […] Here comes a soul; the poor little thing's quite naked, because it's lost its cloak - its body, I mean - and it's shivering. [...] The naked soul throws itself at God's feet. 'Mercy!' it cries. 'I have sinned.' And away it goes reciting its sins. It recites a whole rigmarole and there's no end to it. God thinks this is too much of a good thing. He yawns. 'For heaven's sake stop!' he shouts. 'I've heard enough of all that!' Flap! Slap! A wipe of the sponge, and he washes out all the sins. 'Away with you, clear out, run off to
What both the Prodigal Son and Zorba have in common is the stress on unconditional love and the discount of sorrowful penitence. This can cause grievances and uneasiness for those who see forgiveness in relation with pain and sacrifice. What can be difficult to accept is the idea of a God who loves unconditionally, without expecting anything in return. This triggers the contrast with the love that comes only as the result of having done something to deserve it, a love that depends upon measuring the quantity of sins and good deeds. Yet God’s love is not calculating, it does hold a knife or a pair of scales like a butcher or grocer, as Zorba puts it. His love comes free of charge, no matter whether we believe to be worthy of it or not. And even if we refuse to receive this love, it will continue to be available for us until we choose to accept it.
“God does not forgive because He has never condemned. The blameless cannot blame, and those who have accepted their innocence see nothing to forgive. Yet forgiveness is the means by which I will recognize my innocence. It is the reflection of God’s Love on earth. It will bring me near enough to Heaven that the Love of God can reach down to me and raise me up to Him.” (ACIM, W, L60, 1)
Forgiveness, including the traditional Absolution of Sins (as it is conceived by the Catholic Church with the new Rite of Reconciliation approved in 1973) is not bringing about something that was absent before. On the contrary it is the acknowledgment and acceptance of God’s love as already and eternally present. It is not the endowment by an authority following contrition or admission of sins. It is the unveiling of a Love that “was in the beginning, is now and will be forever, world without end.” What triggers the awareness of this Love is simply the act of facing God and choosing not to hide from Love anymore. The entrance is free of charge, yet in order to enter I need to agree to enter. It is the Prodigal Son’s decision to return home, and not his words of repentance or compensations that activate that Love. The son does not have to explain or prove anything to his father to receive his love, yet if he continues to hide from his father he will never receive it. And as soon as the son decides to return, even if he is still a long way off, his father sees him and runs to him, embracing and kissing him, and setting up celebrations.
Forgiveness is a celebratory act, a rejoicing feast that involves all who have been on the same journey of the Prodigal Son. It encompasses both the unseen vertical axis (non-HAC) and the horizontal level of our human reality (HAC). Having experienced unconditional love through the vertical connection with God, we are given the power to expand it horizontally, forgiving ourselves, and all our brothers and sisters, everyone and everything, as part of this communal web of life. This is the sublime banquet of forgiveness at which all are invited.
On that same Saturday I was also confronted with another story on forgiveness, this time drawing from my long forgotten memories:
I was surfing the internet in search of a song to use during the workshop. I wanted something with the theme of the Benedictus (the chant of Zachariah used daily in the morning Liturgy of the Hours), I typed “Benedictus” in iTunes and I received several songs. They were all classical religious hymns, apart from one classified as “rock”, i.e. Benedictus by the Strawbs, an English folk rock band of the late 60s-early 70s. I immediately downloaded an excerpt. As soon as I heard the first notes, it all sounded very familiar. I checked the information details and upon seeing the album artwork I retrieved an elapsed episode in my life.
It happened in autumn 1971, when I was 14 and about to start high school. In those times I was fascinated by British pop music. Truly, rather than the music itself, to which I hardly had the chance to listen, what attracted me was the mystery evoked by the album artworks and the titles of the song. Since my English was extremely poor I didn’t have any clue about what they meant, and this added to the mystery.
I regularly visited the record section of supermarkets and spent a lot of time browsing through the records. One day I was enraptured by the cover of a single. Its captivating pull was such that I could not let go of it. I realised that I had left my purse at home and did not have any money with me. Yet the lure had totally trapped me and all I could anxiously think of was how to steal the record. Once the tension reached its climax, I swiftly put the single under my sweater and walked out. I ran for a while, and then I stopped sure that nobody was chasing me. As I did so, two sturdy guards emerged shouting at me. It was too late to escape. They grabbed me and conducted me to the supermarket office. I was threatened, intimidated and pressed to confess whether I had stolen other items before. Then they told me that they would first call my parents and then the police. I implored them not to call my parents, yet there was no way to convince them.
It was like a crucifixion, with the difference that instead of being Jesus I was one of the thieves, and moreover Jesus was not even there, which meant no chance of being saved. The scene of the officer calling my father was the most shocking I had ever experienced. As the officer explained what had happened I could sense ice moving through my veins. There was no way in which I could try to justify or make sense of my misdeed. What a disgrace for my family! Moreover we were not poor at all, and I had money to buy all the records I wanted.
Finally my father arrived. His face was white as a nuptial sheet, well… I mean a nuptial sheet before a newlywed couple lies in. After a long series of degrading remarks that my father had to bear, the officer decided not to call the police and, following the payment of a fine, allowed us to leave.
My shame was paralysing. I do not recall whether I babbled a few words or not. What I do remember was my father’s silence, which rendered the situation even more dramatic. I envisaged the design of most severe punishments and admonishments, while I plummeted to my doom, prepared to bow to any verdict. Then, unexpectedly, my dad held my hand and, after a brief gap of silence, he said: “Don’t tell anything to your mum.” He did not add anything else, nor did he require any explanation. He did not express any verbal or non-verbal reproach. He simply continued to be silent until we arrived home. Through his silence I could heed the most loving poetry, blessing my heart as a gift both from Heaven and the Earth. When we finally arrived home and met my mum, he behaved ordinarily as nothing had truly happened. He never referred to this episode again.
As I write all this I realise I am now revealing a secret, which I trust it is a legitimate act since both my beloved mother and father are not in this world anymore. After having blessed me with Their physical presence and taught me how to see Their Face, They have left me in the care of my divine Father and Mother, who support me, protect me, and direct me in all things. Their care for me is infinite and stays with me forever. I am eternally blessed as Their Son.
And what about the record? Since the mere idea of it was enough to make me shiver I kept hidden in a drawer until, after several months or perhaps some years, I found it by accident. I then played it and loved the music and the voice, yet I did not understand the words, nor did I have any clue what the song was about. I believe the record went lost since I have not seen it around for at least 30 years. When last Saturday I listened to that song, I could finally understand the lyrics. They follow below, which is what concludes this blessing trilogy on forgiveness.
Benedictus by Strawbs
The wanderer has far to go / Humble must he constant be / Where the paths of wisdom
Distant is the shadow of the setting sun.
Bless the daytime / Bless the night / Bless the sun which gives us light /Bless the thunder
Bless the rain / Bless all those who cause us pain.
Yellow stars may lead the way / All diversions lead astray
While his resolution holds / Fortune and good will will surely follow him.
Bless the free man / Bless the slave / Bless the hero in his grave
Bless the soldier / Bless the saint / Bless all those whose hearts grow faint.
Movies with Prodigal Son’s themes: Godspell. The Prodigal. We Own the Night. Boiler Room. Boogie Nights. Legends of the Fall. Overboard.
The Mighty Gap by Franco Santoro
"I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.” (Ezekiel 22:30)
In ancient times cities were built with high walls around them as defence against enemies. If a part of the walls was destroyed the enemy could easily access the city through that gap. Hence standing in the gap required lot of courage because this was the most unprotected and dangerous position. In the above passage God was looking for someone to stand in the gap of the walls in
Between Pisces and Aries there lies a gap, a Mighty Gap, which is the quantum leap from one realm to another, a cross-road leading either to a joyful radical redefinition of our nature or to yet another forlorn change within the same looping story. And it is at this gap that mankind seemingly continues to miss its chance of redemption as cultures reach their apex and then fall again into darkness. Pisces represents both the peak of human consciousness and the bottom of ignorance, just as Aries depicts both the beginning of a new age of light and loss of awareness or going back to square one. Aries stands as the resurrected Jesus, yet it is also the crucifixion, the elimination of the physical Christ and his absence from the outer world, which is the return to darkness for those who are unable to see His light within.
Pisces and Aries are respectively the last and the first of the 12 signs. The 12 signs are in shamanic terms the 12 fragmented parts of our soul or, in Christian language, the 12 apostles. With Pisces the sequence of the signs is completed, which means that I have had an experience of all 12 parts. This does not imply that these parts have been fully retrieved and integrated. And even if I have managed to regain them, I can still lose them again. The retrieval process is exemplified by the sequence of numbers progressing from 1 (Aries), 2 (Taurus) and finally to 12 (Pisces). Yet when I reach 12 (Pisces), the linear sequence is challenged, and instead of moving to 13, it goes back to 1 (Aries).
In this Mighty Gap between Pisces and Aries, as I stressed in the previous article (“The Kiss of Judas”, PAN 77), there is a zone of dissolution. The traditional sequence cannot move further than 12 and there is no space for the 13th, which is bound to be sacrificed so that 1 can return and pave the way for another repetition of the previous cycle. This is the nature of our separated reality: an ongoing loop, the same soap opera replicated over and over again, a dream of inevitable captivity with no chance of liberation unless we wake up from the dream.
The 13th is the sign of awakening, and as such it does not belong to the dream. As soon as it emerges, I acknowledge the dream as a dream, and no compromise is possible: either I embrace the 13th and get out of the dream, or I continue to sleep, as the 13th shifts into 1 (Aries). Here Aries represents both the 13th and the 1st. The Ram rises as the Agnus Dei, the sacrificial Lamb of God that atones for the sins of mankind. It is Jesus Christ, the 13th sitting among the 12 apostles at the Last Supper, who as the Apostle’s Creed reads, “was crucified, died, and was buried, he descended into hell. On the third day he rose again, he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, he will come again to judge the living and the dead.”
In ancient numerology the number 12 represents the structure that makes up our 3rd-dimensional reality, or HAC, while number 13 is the portal to the multidimensional realm, or non-HAC. As such, the 13th exemplifies the dissolution of ordinary reality and a radical paradigm shift which shatters the conventional laws of the world. 13 is the reawakening of a perception that drastically reveals the illusory nature of our separated reality, threatening the survival of the ego. This is why the number 13 has been regarded with suspicious and fear throughout the ages. There are abundant traditions and myths that narrate about a 13th member of a group who is betrayed, oppressed, sacrificed, killed or transfigured. The most known, besides Jesus and his 12 apostles, are King Arthur and the 12 Knights of the Round Table, the god Baldur and the 12 deities of the Valhalla, Mithra, Philip II of Macedon, etc.
In the zodiac signs the shift between each signs and their number is sequential, i.e. 1-2-3-4-etc., up to 12 where the sequence stops and all goes back to 1. It is in this shift that the mystery of the 13th dwells. It is here that the unseen is provisionally unveiled and become available only to those who have ears to hear and eyes to see.
In Christianity the Mighty Gap is exemplified by the Holy Week from Palm Sunday to Easter. Easter in Western Christianity is observed on the Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. Since this year the Equinox is on
The Spring Equinox exemplifies the opening of the Horizontal Axis, just as Maundy Thursday represents its conclusion with Jesus’ sitting among the 12 apostles, washing their feet and dispensing the Eucharistic gift. The Triduum is the dramatic setting of the Mighty Gap, a quantum leap into the Vertical Axis, the alignment of the 12 apostles, representing the 12 separated parts of the soul, with the multidimensional identity, the Christ, the Holy Trinity, the three Worlds. Each day of the Triduum is associated with one of the three worlds: Good Friday - Crucifixion (Middle World), Easter Saturday - Descent into Hell (Lower World), Easter Sunday - Resurrection (Higher World). Pisces and Aries are the Lenten preparation to this multidimensional climax.
The Holy Week is a most extraordinary healing time. Like other major religious events, it is powerful because it connects personal with collective or mythic history. This is the first stride on the way of healing since human sufferance and problems are basically due to individualism and separation from collective awareness. Individualism leads to a perception of life devoid of any relationship with the web of life. What collective consciousness teaches, for example, is that if I feel very sad, it is not because there is something wrong with me or because someone has treated me badly. I am simply experiencing a collective force that expresses through sadness. The problem about sadness, or other emotions, is not about their content, it is about the judgment and interpretation I ascribe to them. Sadness can reveal its gifts once I accept that it plays a function in the web of life and see it in a wider context, where instead of being isolated I am sharing that same emotion with all mankind. Here further empowerment follows, and this is the second giant stride on the healing path, when I decide to direct my emotions and feelings towards the highest good, when I accept the state I am in, and yet I firmly resolve to let it go, offering it as fertiliser aimed at fortifying what I deeply love, which is ultimately my communion with God.
The Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday, on
On Holy Monday, Jesus cleared the temple, overturning the tables of the merchants, driving out those who were buying and selling there. On Holy Tuesday Jesus addressed his disciples on the Mount of Olives. Holy Wednesday, also called Spy Wednesday, is the day attributed to Judas Iscariot's agreement to show his enemies where they could capture Jesus. Maundy Thursday is associated with the Last Supper, Jesus’ Agony in the Garden, and his arrest. Maundy derives from the Latin mandatum (commandment). At the Last Supper, Jesus gave the commandment, "Love one another as I have loved you." Hence, Maundy Thursday is traditionally celebrated as the day of brotherly love. It is also the day when the sacrament of the Eucharist was manifested.
The Eucharist is derived from ancient rituals representing the mystical marriage in the Western Mystery traditions. In the Greek Mysteries celebrated at Eleusis, Demeter was associated with bread and Dionysus with wine, just as the early Christians represented bread by Mary and wine with Jesus. In most
The Eucharist is a foremost example of a shamanic incorporation ritual, unveiling the mystery of transmutation and shape-shifting. In ancient times it was preceded by many hours of ecstatic trance dances aimed at promoting release and communion with God, as well as harmony between Higher (Father) and Lower (Holy Spirit) through the mediation of the Middle (Son). Since the 12 apostles are emblems of the 12 zodiac signs, the Eucharist also represents the full retrieval of the 12 fragmented parts and their final connection with the centre or core multidimensional identity (CMI; or Jesus, the 13th).
Three years ago on Maundy Thursday I held a Christian trance dance and this was an opportunity to realise how the deep content of a myth develops spontaneously and discloses its teachings simply as a result of being celebrated. On that occasion the Holy Bread (a wheat-free one) was placed under a rudimental altar covered by a table cloth (a blank sheet that the Findhorn Astroshamanic Circle after one year transformed into the Astroshamanic Healing Sheet, a sheet depicting the 12-Sector circle and used for healing purposes). As for the Holy Grail, I asked Lucia, the eldest and most senior resident at
Good Friday is the day of Jesus’ crucifixion, with the term “Good” being a bit baffling. According to Gnostic teachings Jesus appeared to John, the Beloved disciple, and laughed at the dismal scene of his crucifixion, unveiling the nature of his mystery. Jesus then told the disciples to dance, saying, "He who dance not, know not what is taking place." (The Acts of John: 94)
Holy Saturday marks the completion of the Holy Week as well as of the 40-day season of Lent. It is the period between the crucifixion and the resurrection, the time when Jesus travels in the Lower World, establishing a bridge with the Middle World where he will return on Easter with the Resurrection and the Higher World, where he will definitely move 40 days later with the Ascension on 4 May.
Easter is the most important feast (festum festorum) of Christianity and also its greatest mystery, as well as the mystery of all preceding spiritual traditions. Observing Easter is a way of expanding our awareness into the deepest meaning of life, awakening the confidence that Love is bound to prevail and that Joy is eventually everlasting. Major blessings on Easter!
Tales from the Benevolent Ego in Pisces moving into Aries, The Observer by
Once upon a time there was so much light! So much love! For it was one and the same. Golden. Abundant. So powerful; so beautiful. So incredibly dazzling! An all-singing-dancing carnival of love-light. It was all of existence; it was existence. It shone like the brightest star imaginable, seeming to grow and grow in intensity. Until…. something happened… difficult to explain, describe but it reached a point of luminous ecstasy so intense it dissolved into itself and in doing so, expanded outwards for both directions were one and the same. Like a gigantic, cosmic sigh, it overflowed. This rocked the senses of the Abundance. It called out to itself and in doing so, another kind of energy was born. One that rippled and moved in streams. The Abundance focussed deep within itself and discovered a new way of seeing; a kind of optical illusion. Things started to look fuzzy; a kind of fragmentation was occurring, as though the wholeness had actually been an infinite number of tiny individual parts held together. This was of course ridiculous, but the Abundance enjoyed witnessing it. It was interesting. Like the opposite of looking at one of those optical illusion pictures, where random dots suddenly make a picture. This was a picture, a wholeness, that suddenly looked (if you squinted and took a step back) like dots! How funny! The Abundance suddenly had another new thought, a kind of joke really and made the “dots” call out to “each other”. “I am here!” “I am here!” And called back “Don’t be silly, of course you are, “we” know!” And the dots/Abundance giggled.
And it didn’t matter because it was just a joke and the “parts” were all really one and the same and part of the whole. And the overflowing and fragmentation continued and the parts kept calling for a while, but then they stopped, for they knew they were all still here, still together. Of course they were. And a joke is only funny for so long. But ions passed. (Another kind of dimension that we call time.) And they stopped calling: “I am here” and they stopped hearing “Of course you are”. And they Forgot. And the Abundance allowed this to happen. Allowed itself to dissolve a little, as it expanded. And the “dots” started to rotate on their own axes although they were still held by the stream to the whole. And some even started to pay attention to what appeared to be in between them, apparent gaps in the light, and they called this darkness as though it too was a something that had a separate existence.
And then something even stranger happened. The stream changed, vanished. It didn’t really, but they had forgotten how to “see” it. They started to actually believe in separation. And in doing so they started to act “as if” they really were separate. The “parts” started to gravitate away from one another randomly. A new kind of energy was born, one that was the polar opposite of the stream that had held them together. This was exciting at first, but then they started to feel strange and after a while it wasn’t fun anymore. There was an awful lot of this darkness! They became desperate to “come back together”, but of course to believe that this was necessary, only confirmed the idea of separation. And so they tried to do it “on their own”, which was a tautological cosmic joke. In failing to see the funny side they fell further “away” from one another. Now there was a serious problem. The expansion had become a random out-flowing. The intensity of the Abundance, an intensity of movement away, away from unity. And when the poor fragmented parts met by accident, they didn’t even recognise one another, and indeed, even repelled one another. They started calling out: “I am here”, “I am here”(even when they believed there was no one listening or even out there at all).
A few parts cried out mournfully to their cellular memory of the Abundance.
“I am alone, I am separated, I am lost”
And it replied with a thoughtful sigh:
“You are here”
And it showed them a map. One in merely three dimensions. A map which pandered to their sickness, one which used the very symbolism of their deluded hearts. It understood that it needed to speak their language to get them to listen at all. A map in which everything was indeed separate and they could find themselves and each other and the way home. It went back to basics! Indeed it had to create them for the purpose.
Alright… now pay attention please. This…is “Up” and this is…”Down”…er… and this is the most important bit… align to this first please! Yes, good!
Now you are tuned in to the Abundance again. Now…turn around slowly… yes that’s very good! No, keep your back pressed against the tree for now, so you don’t get lost again! Start to move slowly round…we’ll start with four directions for the time being and then we’ll do 12.
You need to travel to each of the 12 directions. As you do this you will remember a little more each time. But keep coming back to the centre, to the Tree! What do you mean, “It’s a bit Dark?” “Dark??” Ah…I see.
Well, it gets er.. “darker” the further “down” you go and “lighter” the higher “up” you go. And in the middle it’s sort of “ambient” like you had invited a girl round and were on a promise. You need to go down and up to see and understand this. And you need to visit the 12 as you do this.
But most important of all… you have let go of every separated thought you have ever had.
“But how do we do that?” they cried.
The Abundance smiled- “Look!”
And they looked and they started to smile too for they saw something they had long forgotten. It was the stream. And it moved in swirling, spiralling movements around the centre. And it pulled the pain and the fear and the other unmentionable and mentionable energies that they had created in their long exile to keep themselves company. And these energies and creations moved into the centre and out from the spiral came a beautiful golden light that filled their emptiness. And slowly, ever so slowly, some of them came to believe they were, themselves, the Abundance. They were so golden, so very bright and beautiful. And the others saw this and were drawn towards the spiral. The stream flowed the other way again. And the flow of the stream started to pull others back into awareness too. And they remembered they were the abundance and the steam flowed even more strongly. And the Abundance grew brighter and brighter until it reached that same original point of ecstasy and once again it dissolved into itself and started to overflow and the process started again (although really it had never stopped). And it overflowed again and again…
“Well, that’s all very well but what’s the bloody point?” snapped fragmented part 8 x 10 to the trizillion power. She shifted her HAC-ness a little, raised a pert buttock and farted. “It’s all very well to witter on about unity and one-ness and the great cosmic flow of existence, but why bother at all? If unity is so great why are we going through this tedious exercise? Why go on a journey if we are already at our destination?”
Because it is only the movement of the stream that matters. The stream must flow, must wax and wane and change polarity. Like the movement of the tides, the very breaths we take. All of existence is in this energy of ebb and flow. Nothing that is static and unchanging can truly exist. Permanence is actually constant change, constant flow. The cosmic breath.
Separation: I am alone in the darkness. I have been here for all of my memory. There is only this. And I am afraid. Yet I have had moments when I have glimpsed light. These moments move in and out of my awareness. Part of me does not believe in them at all. They are the hallucinations of a diseased mind. For I am also separated within myself. I do not even know where to locate this thing I call “I”. A cry of the wounded animal in the darkness. I look for these glimpses of light as I rotate on my axis, believing, not believing. And then I make a decision. I choose to believe. And in the choosing the light becomes more tangible. And I see a spot of light hovering in the darkness and move towards it. It is so luminous, so beautiful. And I draw closer and closer. But as I draw ever closer the light disappears. And I am in darkness again. I repeat this process over and over again. And then I stop. And I listen. And in the darkness I hear something. It is my own breath. Yet it is more. And suddenly I see the light again, but it is within me. And I move towards it in an act of no-movement. Of complete surrender and acceptance and forgiveness.
Unity: I am the Abundance. I am the light. I am everything and nothing. In essence I am merely the flow. There is no effort, no movement, no goal, nothing to achieve. I simply am flow. And I breathe out and allow my light to expand until its fullness. Then a gap. A gap of peak luminosity and darkness. Of fullness and emptiness where a transmutation occurs. And then it passes and without any will, the expansion reverses and all comes back towards the centre. And so it continues.
The Emperor (Aries): An Astroshamanic Voyage into the Tarot
Tarot cards have filled me with great wonder since I was a child. In my Bolognese circle of relatives, food and tarot cards constituted the major source of fun and celebration. Family gatherings usually took place on Saturday evenings or Sunday afternoons. First there was the outer mystery of eating a copious meal. This was something I could take part in and also fully understand. Then the lunch table was tidied as a subtle anticipation of an upcoming inner mystery: the cards. This bit was not allowed for children, although they could watch, as long as they were silent and respectful. The ritual was officially announced by my grandmother or another family elder crying out Bestia! This term is the Italian for “beast”, which here was pronounced with the sibilant consonant “s” turned into an emphasized “sh”, as it is typical of the Bologna’s dialect.
The table was covered with a green cloth, while participants would gradually sit around in solemn excitement and start constructing a wee citadel made up of little piles of coins. Then the cards were distributed in three rounds. After a moment of fervent silence, some players would knock on the table three times. This act appeared to convey the entitlement to a privilege, given the fact that those who did not knock looked rather disappointed. Yet at the end of each game, a more striking dissatisfaction was visible in those who had to release parts of their citadel and give them to the player who had shouted Bestia at them. This on the other hand was delighted since he could increase the size of his citadel.
Calling out “Bestia” was obviously associated with power. As I could not see any beast in the room, I assumed that only adults could detect it. I also believed that a participant was entitled to say “Bestia” only when he was touched by this mysterious animal, or perhaps it was the other way around, if you were touched by the beast the first who saw it could say “Bestia” and then get parts of your citadel. Well, frankly I do not know. As I explained, I was just a child and had not received initiation to the cards. All this happened in the
This game called Bestia, was very complex and definitively out of bound for children, who could however play other games, such as Briscola and Scopa. It was from my grandfather in
This article is the first of a series devoted to the Major Arcana, yet it could also be the last. This will depend on your interest. Hence if you wish these articles to continue, please let me know.
For general information on the Tarot and the Major Arcana, please refer to the abundant web-pages and books available in the marketplace. In this regards I recommend: 78 Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack, Mystical Origins of the Tarot: From Ancient Roots to Modern Usage by Paul Huson, The Tarot: History, Symbolism and Divination by Robert Place, and Meditations on the Tarot by Anonymous (to which I refer below). Here I would also like to mention Il tarocco intuitivo: una chiave di lettura tra psicologia e magia (In Italian) by two Osho sannyasin friends, Swami Prembodhi & Swami Anand Rajendra, which was one of my first most passionate readings on the topic.
. In this series I intend to cover only the astroshamanic and mystical elements of the Tarot. For this purpose I will use three decks: the Rider-Waite-Smith, the Thoth tarot deck and the Tarot of the Saints, yet I believe I will also refer to other decks. This first article is devoted to The Emperor, traditionally associated with Aries.
In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck The Emperor is portrayed as an established and stern ruler holding a sceptre and firmly sitting on a throne adorned with four sculptures depicting the ram (i.e. Aries in Latin), set in a sulphurous red background. This tarot trump card is the fourth of the Major Arcana, traditionally assigned to the Hebrew letter Heh, (window) and the astrological sign of Aries. The Emperor holds the Egyptian cross, or ankh, as a sceptre, which in other decks is the globus cruciger, the symbol of authority of Christian Roman emperors and kings aimed at representing the dominion of their religion on the planet. In Robert Place’s Tarot of the Saints, the Emperor is interpreted by St Constantine holding the labarum, the emblem he dreamt of, while hearing the voice “In hoc signo vinces” (In this sign you will win), and that he then ordered to put on the shields of his soldiers so as to win the battle against the anti-Christian emperor Maxentius. As a result of this victory Christianity became the official religion of the
In the Aleister Crowley’s Thoth tarot deck the Emperor is portrayed with crossed legs, which is a characteristic this card shares only with another Major Arcana, the Hanged Man (associated with
A detailed description on the Emperor’s authority appears in Meditations on the Tarot, one of the most profound studies on Western esotericism. The book, written by an anonymous author (identified as Valentin Tomberg), has attracted abundant praises in the Christian and Catholic environment and features even an afterword by Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar, one of the greatest Catholic theologians of the 20th century.
For the Unknown Friend (the term the anonymous author uses to refer to himself) God, similarly to The Emperor, is powerful only when his authority, far from being imposed with force, is freely recognised and accepted. “Prayer is the act of such recognition and acceptance. One is free to be believing or unbelieving. Nothing and no one can compel us to have faith – no scientific discovery, no logical argument, no physical torture can force us to believe, i.e. to freely recognize and accept the authority of God. But on the other hand, once this authority is recognized and accepted, the powerless becomes powerful. Then divine power can manifest itself – and this is why it is said that a grain of faith is sufficient to move mountains.”
Spiritual practice is shown here as the way to awaken from our dormant consciousness and unveil the mystery of our true nature. The Major Arcana of the Tarot, similarly to the Gospels or the Cabbala, are spiritual exercises that need to be deeply practiced, rather than intellectually explored. The use of the Major Arcana as spiritual practice is not meant to provide knowledge of new elements, but allows acquisition of knowledge only when needed. This knowledge is stored in the deep reservoir of the Mighty Gap (see article above), until when the time comes it is acted out and becomes visible through Aries, The Emperor and the start of the new year cycle. Winter shelters the seed of knowledge, which eventually emerges with spring.
“The initiate is one who knows how to attain knowledge, i.e. who knows how to ask, seek and put into practice the appropriate means in order to succeed. Spiritual exercises alone have taught him – no theory or doctrine, however luminous, may in any way have rendered him capable of ‘knowing how to know’… Thus, Hermetic philosophy does not teach what one ought to believe concerning God, man and Nature, but it teaches rather how to ask, seek and knock in order to arrive at mystical experience, Gnostic illumination and the magical effect of that which one seeks to know about God, man and Nature. And it is after having asked, sought and knocked – and after one has received, found and gained access – that one knows. This kind of knowing … is the Emperor; this is the practical teaching of the fourth Card of the Tarot.”
In order to achieve true knowledge our mind, which is the apparent organ of knowledge, needs eventually to surrender to the heart, which is the organ of love, meant as complete knowledge. This act of surrender is implemented through spiritual practice, yet in a way, as the solid and pragmatic aspect of the Emperor exemplifies, that is fully rooted in reality. Spiritual practice is here an unbending commitment to reality. A pragmatic individual is someone who is utterly responding to reality, which is also the true meaning of being grounded. This involves moving and being in the physical world with the firm intent to uncover the mystery of life and death, incessantly pursuing a quest for meaning and truth.
"And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Luke 11:9-10)
Authentic pragmatism is not about dealing with ambitions, career, money or other provisional aspects of life. It is about systematically seeking, asking and knocking so as to unfold the true meaning of our life and the ultimate mystery, who I call God. This God is the core of all reality, including the reality of our identity. Through spiritual practice we ground ourselves into reality and get rid of all illusions. Complying with the expectations of others and what they consider to be real has nothing to do with being grounded in reality. With spiritual practice I actively embrace the mystery of reality and choose to firmly anchor myself in its power. It is the supreme way of liberation or, as Osho puts it, “the first and last freedom”. Spiritual practice has the power to dispel all fears. Love casts away all fears. And it is this love, who is God, which spiritual practice is meant to unveil in the depth of our being.
The first month of spring, with the Sun in Aries, is an excellent time to start and commit to a spiritual practice. In the Wikipedia, the biggest multilingual encyclopaedia on the Internet, “spiritual practice” is defined as any activity that one associates with cultivating spirituality. “Spirituality” is described as concerning spiritual matters, i.e. those “involving humankind’s ultimate nature, not only as material biological organisms, but as beings with unique relationship to that which is beyond both time and the material world.”
Spiritual practice is a true commitment to the essence of reality and authentic dedication to what is ultimately meaningful in life. It is what allows direct experience, cultivation and visible emergence of Spirit in this world. Through spiritual practice I release all my rigid and biased ideas, including those related with spirituality and God. I enter into the inner desert, the Cloud of Unknowing, where my heart is cleansed and recovers its genuine sense of amazement. Access to the mystery requires a childlike awe, a wonder rooted in the experience of ecstatic beauty, which is what ancient initiates sought to ground through spiritual and philosophical investigations.
Embracing the unbiased nature of a child emerges as the absolute requirement for penetrating the mystery of spirituality. “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the
The previously mentioned eminent Cardinal von Balthasar, author of 16 hefty encyclopaedic volumes and many other complex theological works, in one of his last books (Unless You Become Like This Child), written as a sort of last will, describes Christian childlikeness as “paradoxically the highest maturity possible to man.” admitting that the central message and mystery of Christianity, “is our transformation from world-wise, self-sufficient, adults into abiding children of the Father of Jesus by the grace of their Spirit. All else in the Gospel - the Lord's Incarnation, his hidden and public lives with their silences, miracles and preaching, his Passion, Cross and Resurrection: all else has been for this.”
The sense of wonder is an inherent part of childhood. Children are constantly amazed by what adults take for granted. They live as pioneers in a newly inhabited world, where everything, no matter how big or small, becomes a source of revelation and awe. And this innocent attitude is also the basic feature of Aries, the first emerging child of the zodiac.
As we start this new cycle of the year, we have the opportunity to return as children and retrieve our instinctive urge to unfold the mystery of existence. The embracement of simplicity and a childlike enquiring nature require great courage in a world focused on productivity, acquisition, ambition and rigid assumptions. Yet, Aries is the first step of a brand new voyage and, when the old journey is over, regularly returns to herald a novel opportunity.
Aries teaches us that we can keep the innocent integrity of our heart as a way of genuinely moving on through all the challenges of life. And once Aries opens his childlike heart and acknowledges the God within, his authority is bound to reign supreme. The Emperor firmly dwells in his lucent throne, holding the sceptre of his one-pointed sacred Intent and celebrating both the start and the end of the Game.
Astroshamanism Book I: A Journey into the Inner Universe and Astroshamanism Book II: The Voyage Through the Zodiac feature the core teachings of astroshamanism. They are available, together with various drumming and trance dance CDs, from Franco and by mail order from the Phoenix Shop at store@findhorn.com or +44(0)1309-690954.
The Operative Training in Astroshamanism (OTA) is a certificate course in core astroshamanism which allows you to study at home as part of an ongoing interactive training. Participants will learn a wide range of techniques, exploring all aspects of their soul, individual and collective, as they are reflected in the astroshamanic cosmology of the 12 Sectors, the 4 Directions and the 3 Worlds. They will receive initiation into specific healing and ceremonial practices according to each zodiac sign, integrating shamanic experiences with information drawn from astrology and other esoteric sources. The OTA can ideally be integrated with the One Year Course in Astroshamanism and the Astroshamanic Practitioner Training. For information contact: info@astroshamanism.org
Donations for PAN and Astroshamanic Healing activities: PAN is available free to anyone who has attended astroshamanic events/sessions or simply wishes to receive it. If you find PAN useful, inspiring, appealing or perhaps even revealing, any donation (small, medium or big) would be greatly appreciated (for further details contact info@astroshamanism.org). Donations will encourage us to continue on this path. Also articles and other forms of contribution are much appreciated.
PAN on-line: You can find an abridged edition of the latest issues of PAN on-line at http://panissue.blogspot.com/. The abridged Italian edition is at http://panitalico.blogspot.com/, while the full edition is available on request. The abridged Spanish edition is at http://panhispano.blogspot.com/ and the full edition is available on request.
Forthcoming Astroshamanic Events
Please be aware that new events may be added with short notice. For further details or information please contact Franco info@astroshamanism.org or click here,or alternatively go to www.astroshamanism.org
To book Findhorn Foundation workshops, please contact bookings@findhorn.org or Bookings, The Park,
Cupramontana (Ancona, Italy) 29-30 March 2008: Multidimensional Portal of the Senses - One Year Course in Astroshamanic Healing Touch: The Touch of Fire (in Italian and English): During this seminar participants are initiated into basic astroshamanic healing touch, with particular reference to the spirit body and the element of fire. This is the second workshop of a One-Year Course on Astroshamanic Touch, consisting of five workshops. It is possible to take part in this workshop also if you are not attending the one-year course, provided you have attended previous events with Franco. The workshop takes place in the Eremo dei Frati Bianchi (see image), a splendid medieval monastery partly built on caves. (For a video on the Eremo dei Frati Bianchi, click here.) The international Astroshamanic Practitioner Training group programme will launch on 28 March 2008 afternoon, followed by the above workshop.
Findhorn, 10-16 May 2008, The Blessed Way of Passion: Astroshamanic Touch, Christian Healing and Soul Retrieval: A special most recommended Pentecost edition of this classic workshop. Participants will employ advanced applications of healing methods and receive an experiential introduction to astroshamanic bodywork and touch, including the Christian practice of laying hands. In this workshop we will discover ways of employing physical contact to foster expanded states of consciousness reawaken healing talents and integrate them in everyday life.
Findhorn, 17-24 May 2008, Working with The Spirit of Cluny Garden with Cluny Garden Master Sverre Koxvold and Franco. Deepening trust in the guidance that comes from the nature realm.
Findhorn, 14-21 June 2008, The Original Quest: An Astroshamanic Journey into Space and Time
Cupramontana (
This workshop takes place in the woods and mountains of Assisi, the birthplace of Saint Francis. Its primary focus is the healing connection between Earth and Heaven, body and spirit, through astroshamanism, shamanic Christianity and mysticism. The event is held in English and Italian. This workshop requires previous participation to an astroshamanic workshop.
The workshop is in English and Italian. Income related price: Euro 495 or £ 378; Euro 465 or £ 356 (payable by participants with low income). The cost includes half-board (breakfast and dinner), accommodation in two or three-bedded rooms with bathroom and kitchen. The Gathering starts at
For information contact: Letizia Mocheggiani +39 0731206687 or 3489231998 or zone25@tele2.it or letizia@astroshamanism.org.
Findhorn, 2-9 August 2008, Astroshamanic Trance Dance and Drumming
Disclaimer: All information provided in PAN is presented solely for inspirational or recreational reading, and it is not meant to substitute the recipient’s direct experience and investigation. The information is also given to strategically exemplify the different features of astroshamanic cosmology and is not intended to reflect Franco’s opinion or astroshamanism in general. Franco does not necessarily endorse any of the ideas and views expressed in this literature, including his own.
[i] God in PAN is always meant as Core Multidimensional Identity, Undivided Self and Unconditional Love, and does not denote identification with a specific creed or gender. What counts here is the experience of God, rather than the term we employ. Hence if the term God causes grievances, please feel free to substitute it with another word. Yet here I wish to stress that astroshamanism and any deep spiritual work, as I see it, will however confront us with all grievances we hold towards the term God with the aim of healing them.
posted by Franco Santoro at
1:38 pm
|
0 Comments
