The Solitary Way
“Who has vocation hears the voice of the inner man; he is called.” — Carl Gustav Jung
AUTHOR’S NOTE: In recent years I haven’t been much of a “joiner” since I usually find both the quality and the availability of the communal experience to be lacking. This wasn’t always the case, since at one time (and with a little effort) I could discover local groups of like-minded seekers who enjoyed getting together periodically to share ideas. But the world has gone “remote,” and face-to-face contact is no longer the preferred form of engagement; when it does happen, one is almost always expected to pay for the privilege since in these mercenary times everything has a price tag.
I admit to getting some value from my online presence, but it is a rather pale approximation of being able to look someone in the eye while talking to them. I’m not a particularly social person at the best of times, but I do rise to the occasion when there is a chance to learn and share metaphysical knowledge. I’ve long considered it to be my “calling,” but the voice of external evocation has grown small and faint, leaving me to focus on the “inner man.” These days when I craft my essays I’m mainly having a stimulating conversation with myself (my wife often catches me mouthing the words as I type because I’m intent on making the written dialogue seem naturally effortless to the “mind’s ear”). The challenge, of course, is not to become too enamored of my own thoughts to the exclusion of more objective input.
During my early study of esoteric subjects it was impressed upon me that the path to spiritual enlightenment is almost entirely a solitary one, only occasionally requiring the constructive intervention of teachers and mentors. However, by its very nature, tarot reading is ideally conducted as an interactive art, and trying to perform it in a detached (e.g. online) environment is for the most part an intuitive exercise in mind-reading. I’m long past the stage where I require the constant guidance of wise authority figures, so my perpetual learning occurs when reading for other people, during which I regularly discover inventive ways of delivering the familiar messages expressed by the cards. While I typically experience tarot reading as emotionally energizing, I find doing it without the immediacy of having a live sitter across the table to be tedious. Remote reading, beside being of dubious credibility, is far more cerebral or analytical and just doesn’t offer the same electrifying thrill of mutual discovery that I find in a live session.
While that level of direct, personal involvement ever return as more than sporadic episodes? I’m not holding my breath because it is much less convenient than its electronic counterpart (you actually have to get dressed, make it out the door and travel somewhere), regardless of how sterile the latter seems in comparison. Those who have known nothing else don’t seem to appreciate the irony in this arms-length exchange of feelings when they are so obviously pining for a physical and emotional connection. If they never leave the house (or don’t look up from their phones) in search of such fulfillment, they’re never going to find it no matter how many YouTube tarot readers tell them otherwise.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on December 27, 2023.
