I just finished the section of Rachel Pollack's 78 Degrees of Wisdom that deals with the Major Arcana. Coupled with Thirteen's explanation on AT I can see the spiritual journey much better now.
I envision this journey starting at the Hermit, the grizzled man who has been so beaten down by life he wants to escape it all and retreats to the caves only to emerge wizened by his solitude with a new perspective of life thanks to timeless truths he never knew until they were remembered.
He glimpses the infinite majesty in the Wheel and understands with Justice, he is the creator of the path he is walking, has walk and will walk. He knows that in forgiving himself, he will forgive the others who previously "wronged" him. This readies him for meditation on the mysteries and truth he first pondered with High Priestess and glimpsed with the Wheel.
Our Hanged Man climbs down from the tree a changed man and recognizes that a part of himself has died. A new birth has begun. With this Death he realizes he must balance both sides of his person, the material and the spiritual, since both live within himself.
He continues on his journey learning he must find Temperance in all. He wonders how to blend good and bad, material and spiritual. How to reconcile love and sex. He shouts at the Devil and blames him for his own inability to marry these opposites.
The man is shown that only we can imprison ourselves. Only we can choose Enlightenment over Darkness. That our vices of money, drink and sex make obedient servants but are harsh masters.
Everything the man has known and held true about good or bad, right and wrong is shattered. The Tower of Society he helped construct and lived in for so long before coming to the caves, violently crashes to the ground around him. He no longer knows who he is. What is right? What is wrong?
Walking in his dispair one night the man looks up and gazes at a twinkling Star. It's glow shines down upon a rippling lake. The calmness soothes the man. The Star's illumination heartens him. He feels recharged. He knows his journey must continue.
The next night sky is cloudless and a Full Moon gazes down upon the sleeping man. Rather than peaceful rest he is turning fitfully. Images come unbidden. Nightmares. Dreams never realized. Disappointments intrude upon his rest. He realizes these images are parts of himself.
He wakes to a bright Sun and understands last night's dreamscapes were just an illusion. The images of him as son, as husband, as father, as hermit are all labels. They are not who he really is. He is strong in spirit. He has made it to the end of his journey. Or has he?
The man stops to gather his belongings, readying to leave when thoughts once again descend upon him. Unlike the images that attacked him yesterday; however, he does not fear these. He watches the movie in his mind recall his life. The good and the bad. The innocence and the guilt. The victories and the losses.
Instinctually the man knows he is supposed to pass Judgement on his life. On his and others. Instead the man smiles and accepts all he sees. In his mind's eye and with his own eyes everything he sees is part of the Great World. They are perfect and they are one ... just as he is.
The man smiles.
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