Filling the Cup
AUTHOR’S NOTE: First a disclaimer. Although I’m unmoved by most pop-culture forms of psychological navel-gazing masquerading as spiritual revelation, I firmly believe that all legitimate attempts at fortune-telling embody an element of psychic sensitivity based on my own assumptions about “how divination works” (discussed ad nauseum in other posts). So I’m not an arch-enemy of the “Woowoo Generation” of diviners, just an annoying gadfly.
Among the more mystical practitioners of the subtle arts are many who subscribe to the tenets of affirmation and manifestation: envision the object of your desire with enough conviction and it will be yours. My personal belief is that we can wish all we want for something we crave, but in the end we must fill the cup with contents of our own making; longing for fulfillment without striving for it in some way may predispose us to achieve our goal, but I’m skeptical of the idea that anything will come of it unless we actively exert ourselves toward the objective.
By all pragmatic measures, the phenomenal Universe is a mechanistic affair: we press on one end and get a reaction from the other end. Setting aside the inconclusive findings of telekinetic experimentation, this usually involves some form of concrete action in the mundane world that is more productive than vainly trying to “push a string.” Advances in physics have brought us to the point of extreme subtlety in our understanding of the nature of matter and energy, which suggests that both may be more susceptible to mental manipulation than previously assumed, but I think that “hard” proof still lies in the realm of speculation. People may point to the power of focused intention (for example, prayer, positivism and ritual exhortation) as irrefutable evidence, but it’s more likely that they simply aligned themselves with universal forces that were going to deliver results anyway, and their psychic attunement merely gave them a presentiment of its arrival.
Ceremonial magicians have made all sorts of claims about the effectiveness of their methods in getting astral entities to do their bidding, but I suspect any meaningful alterations in the fabric of reality occurred within their own psyches and not in the material realm. The goals of alchemy are instructive here: the “Stone of the Wise” (or “Philosopher’s Stone”) is a euphemism for spiritual attainment; it is the alchemist’s consciousness that is to be transmuted, not just the inert substances in the laboratory vessels.
The “magic” in metaphysical aspiration lies in being able to predict what is likely to happen and position ourselves to take advantage of it, not necessarily to try bending it to our will if it isn’t already leaning in that direction. Thus, we can make changes in our posture to adjust to the circumstances of a forecast, and perhaps put plans in motion to steer our way through projected events with minimal friction, without actually being able to cajole or “muscle” the situation to our liking. We may be able to figure out the schedule in advance and climb aboard the train at the right stop, but we aren’t going to make a difference in the progress of the journey unless we step up and grab the throttle (or if necessary, the brake).
Anyone who is serious about the practice of divination and is not just dabbling in “the power of positive thinking” recognizes that “there is no free lunch;” the Cosmic Ledger typically balances out, and we obtain from our expectations only what we are willing and able to invest in terms of applied effort. Precognition can help us put our initiative to the best use and avoid wasting our time on idle exercises in wishful thinking, but in the final analysis we will usually receive our just desserts according to how worthy or wanting we are found by the Celestial Accountant based on our track record in making the right moves, not on the intensity of our desires. Faith alone won’t guarantee success, it only makes us feel better until it comes up empty and we need to find a new paradigm. Personally, I’ll take the tenuous certainty served up by ambiguous evidence over the blind optimism of unsupported belief any day.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on September 3, 2023.
