CARD OF THE DAY: March 11, 2022

 

The Persona

The Wisdom Well

by Ivarna Kalinkova

 

March 11, 2022: Here's a card from The Wisdom Well, a highly non-traditional oracle deck inspired by the visionary psychoanalytic teachings of Carl Gustav Jung.

With this card, The Persona, Ivarna Kalinkova explores the performative outer self we often show the world. Subject to our willful control, our outer mask obscures the true inner self which, we fear, might not meet with approval or get us what we want or think we need in life.

This Persona has a wonderful image, invoking that moment when a circus clown makes one final check of his/her/their reflection in the dressing room's light-ringed mirror before heading out to the stage.

As our Card of the Day, The Persona suggests we pause to consider if we actually need a disguise or code switch for our protection or advantage--something we may deploy merely out of habit--or if we can afford to greet the situation at hand with courageous authenticity.

Are you facing a legitimate and useful "fake-it-'til-you-make-it" moment? Is it better to shapeshift and blend in for now and do what the Romans do? Or should you bravely show your true face to the world, come what may?

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Catch up with updated CARD OF THE DAY posts here: https://hummingwitch.blogspot.com/2021/11/a-good-weekend-to-catch-up-with-our.html

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James Hillman, 85

James Hillman, Therapist in Men’s Movement, Dies at 85
by Benedict Carey, The New York Times, October 27, 2011

When you're ready to move beyond Oprah...

The gorgeous, always imaginative Rubin Museum of Art is well into a series of seven Wednesday evening conversations called Tibetan Book of the Dead Book Club in association with its special exhibitions, Bardo: Tibetan Art of the Afterlife and Remember That You Will Die: Death Across Cultures. Each Wednesday, curator Ramon Prats explores the TBD from different perspectives with an expert representing a particular discipline. They inquire: Does the TBD have relevance, wisdom and practical application for us today?

This week, I attended Prats's talk with Jungian psychoanalyst Morgan Stebbins on "The Analysis of Dreams," a topic of perennial relevance. According to Tibetan Buddhist beliefs, dreams will always be relevant as long as humans exist, as long as humans remain unenlightened. Enlightened beings do not dream. They no longer have to, for to dream is to open onto an altered level of awareness in which we come face to face with avoided, unknown or normally inaccessible issues.

Stebbins discussed how Tibetan ideas and traditions around this heightened state of awareness parallels the theories and practices of Carl Gustav Jung. Jung's psychoanalytic approach, he said, represents a journey into the "totality of one's being--the Buddha nature" where one can gain information on unconscious patterns of behavior, insight into so-called symptoms that are actually "symbolic attempts to get to somewhere new." Dreams herald a shift towards liberation.

And the TBD considers this liberation through hearing, as Prats mentioned, in his intriguing introductory remarks. Why hearing, I wondered? One sentence from a TBD passage read later suggested the reason: "So, recognize what I show you without distraction." We are simply too distracted by illusion to get with reality. Like children in school, we have to be brought to attention and made to hear. The Bardo afterlife process, Tibetan Buddhists believe, first brings the soul to that required place of attention and learning before it can move on in its journey. But dreams offer powerful opportunities for growth within our lifetime.

And what of the images of deities of wrath, featured in so much Tibetan art? And what of our own terrifying nightmares?

"Psychologically speaking, nightmares are great news," says Stebbins. "Wake up! Look at this! It has a lot of energy. You have a lot of energy you're not using. Change is scary."

Upcoming TBD Book Club sessions will feature Rabbi Neil Gillman on "The Death of Death" (July 28), Brooklyn Museum curator Edward Bleiberg on "The Egyptian Book of the Dead" (August 11), medium Jesse Bravo on "Channeling the Dead" (August 18) and Roshi Enkyo O'Hara on "How to Die" (August 25)--all at 7pm. Click here for full information and tickets, and promptness--in both ticket purchasing and showing up to get a good seat--is strongly advised.

Rubin Museum of Art

150 West 17th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues), Manhattan

Directions

Forever Jung

Dreamy Sales of Jung’s ‘Red Book’ Surprises Book Industry
by Motoko Rich, The New York Times, December 24, 2009

The Holy Grail of the Unconscious

The long-concealed mystery of Carl Gustav Jung’s “Red Book” is about to be revealed. Read The Holy Grail of the Unconscious by Sara Corbett, The New York Times Magazine, September 20, 2009.