Card
number eight – fire - 3rd
Chakra, worldly domination.
When
connected to 4th, 5th and 6th Chakras, the expansive spiritual powers
of compassion, truth and perception
arise.
The
picture in the Rider deck would be well used as a circus side-show
bill, advertising a woman lion-wrestler. And she would draw a crowd
of paying customers, to be sure, the masses are attracted to displays
of physical strength, but the image on this card conveys so much
more. Her psychic command is also visible, as she has the lion
subdued by her touch, her subtle powers of persuasion – but these
alone are not necessarily an indication of any altruism, in fact it
is precisely the honing of these skills that is practiced by those
who would gain superiority for the express purposes of acquiring
dominance and position in the world.
Strength
but
how we perceive, acquire and put to use power is the question
at hand. The lion represents brute strength, but it's interesting
that it is a female shown as the subduer - this says right away that
we are not contemplating here military training or body-building.
The
lion-tamer is a woman; the Empress, the Dakini, the one who through
invocation of divine forces and persistence of will conquers and
brings under submission untamed raw male forces which would run
rampant in the world without her tempering powers. Emotional control,
psychic energies, directed consciousness – these are the qualities
that healthy people and societies keep the balance with and thrive
upon – brute force is the lowest, basest quality that can be used
in order to get what is wanted and is destructive in every way. It's
a sad fact that we even have to state this seemingly obvious truth,
but the world is such that violent means still trump and obliterate
any true progress. True progress would mean the permanent and sincere
cessation of violent means to achieve ends - but this shows no signs
of abating any time soon. So, we who have chosen to study and to
follow the spiritual arts rather than the tactics of war, must
persevere in deepening our understanding of what non-violence is and
how it works.
But
we're not only focusing on violence here - to act and operate from
our higher mind is what we're considering as we contemplate
'Strength'. To cultivate the arts, to raise a healthy family, to
excel in our chosen field – all these good things come about
through exerting our concentration of will and directing our minds
toward these ends. All worthy
aspirations
require a great deal of skillful means as we face resistance and the
countless obstacles which do arise. The symbol of infinity floating
over the head of our heroine is the giveaway that sends the
significance of this card into the stratosphere and beyond. That
cosmic, supernal consciousness is attainable, and that there is no
limit to what can be realized through fully harnessing our potential
as human beings – this is what lies at the innermost heart of this
most important card.
By
Ananda G. Brady copyright 2011
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