It was interesting to hear the Nazis described in a recent history programme as a cult and not a political party, the difference being that in a cult you hand over power completely to the leader ("Fuhrer") instead of practising individual choice or vote. In German, "voice" and "vote" are the same word: "Stimme". So, in a cult, you don't have a voice or individual expression. You don't want to be "it". You keep looking for "it" somewhere else. Hitler was seen as some kind of messiah by his followers, as are all cult leaders. Last week we explored "Me and It". Now "me" needs to become "it", instead of following "it". Not that "it" is always as extreme as Hitler. Nevertheless......!
One warm day in early April, when our daughters were still young, they decided it was warm enough to go barefoot. In fact, I think that was the spring that they and their friend swam in the local pond in early April. Charque, half teasingly, half seriously, pointed out that the ground might not yet be very warm and that he had not been allowed to go barefoot as a child before May 19th, his sister's birthday and known in his family as "National Barefoot Day". Our older daughter's response to such a ruling was "What a lot of rot!" At which point, Charque decided that the girls owned their own feet, not an insignificant thought when they later did ballet which is tough on feet. Owning your own feet, as well as your thoughts, your beliefs, yourselves, your lives, your world is the Emperor card in Tarot. You don't hand over power to some other Emperor, even a benevolent and well-intentioned one. Or as Buddha once said "be a light unto yourself". To hand over power to someone else is to unbalance them as well as yourself. "Power corrupts", as they say, "and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Being "it" means putting yourself at the centre of your world. God or The Big Universe has in "Its" joy created you as part of the Great Jah or Shout of Joy that brought and still brings creation into existence. You are part of Existence, part of its becoming, the part of creation that is yours to express, or in other words, your own Great Jah. It's a somewhat alien thought for all of us, especially when we let life get to us and we are weighted down with pain and guilt, as well as an over exaggerated sense of responsibility and conformity to the "it" on the outside, instead of the "it" on the inside. Then the Great Jah becomes more of a big sigh, or, worse still, a moan of pain. You do not need to squelch what is in you, even if others don't like or accept it. The Judgement card in Tarot is about awakening, responding to and expressing what you feel and know within. Traditionally the Day of Judgement or Last Judgement is associated with arising from the tomb at the blast of the Angel Gabriel's trumpet. So the Tarot Judgement depicts this awakening. God or The Big Universe does not judge. Only we judge.....ourselves and then each other. A Course in Miracles says that the Last Judgement is the last and final time that you judge yourself. What a radical thought!
Belief is a strange thing, but it is the key to unlocking the hidden treasure. If you don't believe in yourself, if you don't believe in your essential right to existence, you will attack yourself and deny your joy. You will believe that someone else knows better, or that tradition dictates (as opposed to just suggesting!) Belief can take you into some strange and convoluted spaces, even lifetimes. We've all had them! And many of them are still unforgiven by us. But belief also allows it all to fall away as you see it differently. Descartes said "I think, therefore I am." We would amend that to say "As I think, so I am". None of it is cast in stone. That is what waking up is all about: removing the blinders or blindfold from your eyes and seeing anew. "God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." So says II Timothy 1:7. That quote was given to me many years ago by a friend.....the reminder to seek constantly a sound mind. It doesn't happen if you give that power to someone else.