“Those meticulous researchers who insist upon tying up a medium until the poor creature resembles a fowl trussed for roasting, or who glare their suspicions at him before the lights are lowered, do not realize that they are like people who add moisture to gunpowder and then expect to explode it. They ruin their own results, and then when those results do not occur imagine that their own astuteness, rather than their own lack of understanding, has been the cause.” Sir Aurthur Canon Doyle, The Land of Mist, pg 300
Grateful to have an opportunity to share with an audience whose main interest is a subject I have no practical experience with, it dawned on me that I might make a contribution to the dialogue unfolding here by focusing on what I’ll call the attitudes of approach; some prefer intentionality.
As Jung notes in his forward to the I Ching, “Whatever happens in a given moment possesses inevitably the quality of the given moment.” Wilhelm/Baynes, I Ching, pg. xxiii. One of those qualities giving rise to each moment we participate in is the subjective factor. The idea here to reckon with is that just as the specific cards which emerge through a reading make up the particular details of the moment, so do the attitudes of those participating.
“Synchronicity takes the coincidence of events in space and time as meaning something more than mere chance, namely, a peculiar interdependence of objective events among themselves as well as with the subjective (psychic) states of observer or observers.” ibid, pg. xxiv
The question then becomes one of finding the correct attitude of engagement. If we’ve had any experience of the compensatory role of the unconscious we then can relate how being off in ones attitude of approach might constellate a certain type of response. Like ballast in a ship, the unconscious tends (though not always) to overly depreciate an ego inflation and vice versa; like helium in a balloon it will at times try to lift an undervalued attitude or a depression.
Regardless of the personal factors which might be unconscious to the seeker, Jung highlights the role of expectation in gaining valuable results.
“Lack of interest and boredom are negative factors; enthusiasm, positive expectation, hope, and belief in the possibility of ESP make for good results and seem to be the real conditions which determine whether there are going to be any results at all. In this connection it is interesting to note that he well-known English medium, Mrs. Eileen J. Garrett, achieved bad results in the Rhine experiment because, as she herself admits, she was unable to summon up any feeling for the “soulless” test-cards.” Jung, Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle, CW VIII, par. 838
Which leaves us with the question of preparing ones intentionality. The poet Charles Olson shares a fascinating African hunting ritual that prepares a tribesman to find success in the hunt. “One draws a ‘picture’ on a bare spot on the ground, 4 palms size. Just as the sun rises you fire an arrow into the picture.” The hunter then moves off into the savanna to encounter the embodiment of his “picture.”
It feels right to me to emphasize the usefulness of paying attention to preparation. I’ll go so far as to advocate that one render the questions one takes to any form of divination in a ritualized fashion. Perhaps this requires some special paper or notebook. Perhaps it’s signified in the supplicants mode by libation. Many at-risk students I work with have learned to use white sage as incense while attending a wilderness therapy program. Larry D. Olsen of the Anasazi Foundation puts the process thus: the making of an asking.
Clearly each needs to make such an activity one’s own. As my teacher of the I Ching stressed with me: one must spend as much time preparing the question as interpreting the oracle’s answer.
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As a postscript, I’d like to inform folks here of a seminar sponsored by the C. G. Jung Foundation titled Jung and Tarot: Symbolic Bridge for an Archetypal Journey led by Jane Selinske, Dec. 5th 2009 in New York City.
About the Author
Richard Reeve is a first year candidate at the C. G. Jung Institute of New York where he is training to become a Jungian analyst. He is the Executive Director of the Family Foundation, an organization focused on the needs of at-risk teens and their families. He blogs at Catskill Cottage Seed.
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Fantastic! I was just waxing poetic about Jung a couple of hours ago. Of course, we both know that there is no such thing as coincidence. There is only synchronicity. In fact, only two posts back, I was eluding to Jung’s observations in association with the, “EPS Paradox.” Also, I too believe that preparation is only as necessary as a given individual would deem appropriate to enhance their conduciveness. Great post!
Love and Light,
Bulal
Great point. Lack of preparation is not wrong. Many can come into a moment of engagement and become present like turning on a light switch. A certain threshold is crossed whereby the participation is authentic. I love the example of Mrs. Garrett who couldn’t relate to the “soulless” esp cards, and I think that situation provides the context of considering attitudes of approach.
Thank you for sharing this article.
As a counselor I have read most of Carl Jung’s work and find such a deep connection with his thoughts. It can be hard finding articles that connect his work and the tarot. I felt that author represented Jung well, I just wish that I could go to the conference to here more.
Thank you again
Thanks for the feedback. It was intruging to gather the elements for this piece. At each turn the Tarot made it’s distinct presense known to me.
Richard – thank you for raising awareness about the environment, atmosphere, intention, and, I would add, personality of the people involved with the reading. Much like in physics when one asks “Is it a particle or a wave?”, the less dualistic we are in our awareness, the more we tap into the “field” of the reading (or any setting), the more we are able to honor the true teaching and gift of the Tarot. In my “Transformative Tarot Counseling™ Certification Program” I include a class titled “Counseling Skills and Ethics for Metaphysical Consultants and Alternative Health Practitioners”. One of the main text books for the class is Dr. Amy Mindell’s “Metaskills: The Spiritual Art of Therapy” (New Falcon Pub.). Her thesis focuses on the feeling attitudes which affect what is happening. Her husband, Dr. Arnold Mindell is a Jungian who developed his own modality of psychotherapy known as “Process Work”.
Thanks for the feedback and pointing out you practice and the texts you reference.It’s fascinating when we open ourselves to the “field” that gets constellated.
For example, while hiking In the desert this past week, at a point where I was merging with the environment, suddenly three Russian speaking male runners charged into the space. My reaction I noticed at once was different than if the same experience were to occur on a city sidewalk, for I moved physically perhaps fifty yards as they approached. Likewise, across the canyon, a big horn sheep was moved a similar distance by the experience.