Passing Threshold Guardians

“As a myth, the death-instinct is a counterpart to the Devil, the Devil, like the death-instinct, is the Spirit that continually negates. Both constructs point to something devoted to spoiling the quality of life. ” “…the human soul is divided against itself, as much, perhaps, in love with death as with life. Against all claims of reason, self-interest and morality stands the insidious lure of the death-instinct. Above and beyond politics and ideology, steeped in the hidden byways of our civilized way of life, is something else with which we have to reckon: the thanatos conspiracy. ” – — Michael Grosso, Philosopher, from his book The Final Choice This card is inspired by a dream I had earlier this morning. In the dream a person I know in the waking life, a person known to have many dark, neurotic qualities, is berating someone and attacking their sense of self-worth. I am in an upper story of the house where this is happening and I am filled with a desire to tell certain people about the sadistic behavior of this neurotic person. The urgency awakens me, but as my waking personality and awareness kick in I realize, in a figure-ground reversal [...]

“As a myth, the death-instinct is a counterpart to the Devil, the Devil, like the death-instinct, is the Spirit that continually negates. Both constructs point to something devoted to spoiling the quality of life. ” “…the human soul is divided against itself, as much, perhaps, in love with death as with life. Against all claims of reason, self-interest and morality stands the insidious lure of the death-instinct. Above and beyond politics and ideology, steeped in the hidden byways of our civilized way of life, is something else with which we have to reckon: the thanatos conspiracy. ” – — Michael Grosso, Philosopher, from his book The Final Choice This card is inspired by a dream I had earlier this morning. In the dream a person I know in the waking life, a person known to have many dark, neurotic qualities, is berating someone and attacking their sense of self-worth. I am in an upper story of the house where this is happening and I am filled with a desire to tell certain people about the sadistic behavior of this neurotic person. The urgency awakens me, but as my waking personality and awareness kick in I realize, in a figure-ground reversal [...]

When you attempt to reach a new level of knowledge, self-awareness, empowerment, creativity and freedom from past enslavements, addictions and entanglements, you are very likely to encounter threshold guardians, which may take the form of sabotaging characters (within or without) or other adversaries and adversities that test your will, perseverance, and worthiness to advance to the next level. I have often encountered threshold guardians at the start of a valuable journey or life change. I used to regard these encounters as setbacks or hardships, but now I am often able to recognize threshold guardians as signs that I am on the right track. When threshold guardians appear it is a sign that there is treasure beyond the threshold. Summon your will to keep following the path with heart.

“Crossing the great stream” is a phrase that recurs often in the I Ching. Change is our only constant, and as life changes we come to intervals of transition, times that demand significant inner and/or outer change from us. The problem is that organisms tend to be conservative; they try to defend the old equilibrium, the homeostasis, the status quo, and resist change. We need to move with the cycle of change or else we are overwhelmed by it, or fall into stagnation, dithering at the edge of the great stream, imprisoned by doubt, fear, or lazy inertia. Depending on the position of this card, this is a propitious time to cross the great stream, to move with the curve of change, make the transition and discover what is on the other side. Often it is our own inner resistance that is the toughest obstacle to overcome. Sometimes other people or forces are what most resist us making the change. Inner or outer forces may seek to defend the status quo and archetypally we call these forces “threshold guardians.” The famous test pilot, Chuck Yeager was the first person to break the sound barrier flying the experimental X-1 in 1947. [...]

“Crossing the great stream” is a phrase that recurs often in the I Ching. Change is our only constant, and as life changes we come to intervals of transition, times that demand significant inner and/or outer change from us. The problem is that organisms tend to be conservative; they try to defend the old equilibrium, the homeostasis, the status quo, and resist change. We need to move with the cycle of change or else we are overwhelmed by it, or fall into stagnation, dithering at the edge of the great stream, imprisoned by doubt, fear, or lazy inertia. Depending on the position of this card, this is a propitious time to cross the great stream, to move with the curve of change, make the transition and discover what is on the other side. Often it is our own inner resistance that is the toughest obstacle to overcome. Sometimes other people or forces are what most resist us making the change. Inner or outer forces may seek to defend the status quo and archetypally we call these forces “threshold guardians.” The famous test pilot, Chuck Yeager was the first person to break the sound barrier flying the experimental X-1 in 1947. [...]

“I know this steak doesn’t exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize? Ignorance is bliss.” Cypher, from The Matrix Are you willing to trade the essential truths for imaginary steak? Will you succumb to the blue pills that promise to make you comfortably numb? The Babylon Matrix,the realm of Maya, is always tempting you toward infatuation with its lesser rings of power, inviting you to eat of its pathologized tissue, and internalize the fever hallucinations of the consensual reality. One matrix to rule them, and in the darkness bind them. Only you can decide whether you take the blue pill and follow the woman in the red dress. Consider this a propitious time to take the red pill and follow the rabbit down the rabbit hole, and find out how deep it really goes.

Sometimes it is appropriate to chase storms, to choose to enter the dangerous terrain. You may choose this path to find out what is really going on in some inner or outer turbulent zone. In some cases you may even choose to enter the zone and alter the weather there. Often just observing what is really going on is enough to alter the weather. Some people have the counter-phobic tendency, the tendency to go right into what scares them the most. This can be a powerfully developmental path, strengthening us in relation to core fears, and casting light on the dark side of the moon. It can also be a chance to get your head handed to you, especially if you are attracted to the fear zone out of some secret longing for death or castration. Use wary discernment before chasing storms. Know what part of you seeks the storms, and be sure that it is a part of you that you trust with your life. If your deepest self tells you to chase a storm, then summon your will to do so.

In the Garden of Eden story, forbidden fruit is a metaphor for the awareness that would take us out of the state of infantile ignorance and create an empowered awareness that threatens forces that feel entitled to control us. In Genesis 3:5, the serpent tells Eve, “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” From the Gnostic point of view, eating the forbidden fruit is like choosing the red pill and finding out how deep the rabbit hole really goes. The alternative is to be a blind meat puppet eating the imaginary steak of the Babylon Matrix. The Zap Oracle presumes that the querent wants to eat the forbidden fruit and follow the path of the red pill. Throughout human history, patriarchal forces have forbidden certain types of knowledge and awareness. Censorship was ubiquitous, and many books and other cultural artifacts were taboo. In the present era, unless you live in a truly totalitarian country like North Korea or China, fruit that was once forbidden is widely available. The internet is the greatest forbidden fruit delivery system ever created. Even so, we [...]

This is a propitious time to face down your fears. Don’t run from them, run them down. Use the energy of fear as energy to do your best. Feel the fear and keep taking constructive action anyway. You can take it. As FDR said, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.”

When you attempt to reach a new level of knowledge, self-awareness, empowerment, creativity and freedom from past enslavements, addictions and entanglements, you are very likely to encounter threshold guardians, which may take the form of sabotaging characters (within or without) or other adversaries and adversities that test your will, perseverance, and worthiness to advance to the next level. I have often encountered threshold guardians at the start of a valuable journey or life change. I used to regard these encounters as setbacks or hardships, but now I am often able to recognize threshold guardians as signs that I am on the right track. When threshold guardians appear it is a sign that there is treasure beyond the threshold. Summon your will to keep following the path with heart.