If there is anything compelling about existence it is that while we can sit in certainty of the predictable, it is, at the edges, where predictions falter, that life holds some of its greatest challenges and greatest rewards.
The quest for certainty, for predictability, can be compelling – especially when we are in the midst of not knowing but wanting to.
The desire for an outcome, to be released from the pressure and the tension that results from a state of uncertainty, can push us to seek answers to our questions from outside of ourselves.
The question of how far outside is really the topic of this post, because the degree to which divination – a communication with the divine – is really beyond us is the question.
The unconscious is the only available source of religious experience. This in certainly not to say that what we call the unconscious is identical with God or is set up in his place. It is simply the medium from which religious experience seems to flow. As to what the further cause of such experience might be, the answer to this lies beyond the range of human knowledge.
Carl Jung
As Jung’s quote implies, while the source is really unknowable in it’s essence, it is through the medium of the unconscious that such communication takes place.
Are the divinatory arts then material devices and systems that are physical elements that can act like a canvas on which to project the contents of our own unconscious.
There is a difference to be noted here too, that there is a distinct difference between seeking answers from our own unconscious and reaching out for help form another. The implications and potential for exploitation, manipulation, and extortion can be high. This is true when ever we give our power away to another. In certain historical contexts this role, performed first by the shaman and holders of the medicine in ancient social structures, would have been contained within the community. Such people stood and fell by their reputation within the group. thier integrity was paramount.
Scroll forward into broader social structures with more defined hierarchies and we see a priestly cast emerging. The role of spiritual counsel and moral guidance became their domain.
In part, a group of souls dedicated to the spiritual wellbeing – and for this I am happy to include emotional and mental wellbeing as well – is not by itself a bad thing if they are exemplary models of what they preach, and whose quality of life is genuinely enhanced as a result. In such cases they can share their wisdom and help to level up the soul growth of the collective.
Where this slips out of kilter is when charlatans get involved, those who would prey on the weakness of others.
Perhaps there is a case to be made that ultimately, unless all such practices are attempting to reconnect us to the element of the divine that resides within us, they are potentially exploitative.
In pragmatic terms this means that the responsibility of all systems, priests, shaman, etc., is to help all who can to reconnect with the divine within themselves. To advocate then for the reconnection to the mystery within – via the personal unconscious – that aspect of the psyche that guides our life in a way that is often beyond our conscious mind to comprehend.
We might even call it faith.
Perhaps, in these terms, faith in God or Gods, is faith in the elements of the psyche at both a personal and collective level, to resolve things out for the best. Especially when we believe that that is what it has both the potential to do, and is configured to do.
Scroll on to the last 500 years or so and see how, more and more, people have tried to reconnect with the unconscious and notions of the divine, or the mystery – the hidden (of this read occult).
The forces of the unconscious being what they are issues can arise when due regard and respect are not paid in appropriate measure. Tampering with the unconscious is not a hobby. There can be some serious implications if and individual tries to forces their will on the instinctual drives that lie at the heart of their root. Better to serve such a God (or gods) than try to trick, force, or cajole them or their minions into serving the personal whims of the ego.
Be that as it may, those who seek answers in systems from Tarot to tealeaves are really often seeking predictability and a release from the tension caused by not knowing what to do next – either because they find themselves situated between two or more equally meaningful or desirable options, two or more equally terrifying options, or feeling like one has no options at all.
Love, health, wealth, and/or status are the usual domains where this uncertainty resides. The motivation to seek answers then is a desire to free oneself from the tension created by not knowing.
Some parallels can be drawn to the practice of the Psychotherapist, at least those who work in depth, those who recognise that the psyche is a living system, most of which operates behind the scenes.
I could go into more depth, but for another time.
For now I shall leave you with the follow video. Any questions, please feel free to ask.
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