The Marathon Bombings of Boston: it seems as if we are back at "the lessons of the unavoidable" yet again. Of course, the nation should and will take measures to prevent such excesses of human violence, just as 90% plus of you wants some form of gun control. Amazingly, but not, given the intensity of pain and loss of New Town, some very forceful, articulate and compelling speakers are coming forward in the form of the Sandy Hook parents and lobbying to "cut the crap" in Congress over gun control. It seems that Paulo Coehlo's Elijah in "The Fifth Mountain" is on to something when he says that the destruction of Akbar needed to happen "so that all could awaken the forces that lay dormant inside their own being." This is the Tower card in Tarot which pictures the tearing down of structures, with a view to reforming, revitalising and change. It's not just saying that "Shit happens!" It's not even asking why (although that too is important), but actually doing something about it. Then you might see just what that "shit" is doing for you, both individually and collectively. The image of the lotus growing on the muck and mire at the bottom of the pond comes to mind. There are already some amazing stories coming out of the Boston Bombings, just as there were out of 9/11: stories of courage, caring, tenacity etc. Why do we have to go to such lengths to find these qualities within ourselves? Or maybe, why, in the more mundane, everyday aspect of our lives, do these qualities get pushed aside by worry, fear, frustration and their kind?

It seems that much of life runs in a kind of passive, inert, day-to-day survival gear. Well, would it run at all in a passive, inert gear? Probably not, but habit and survival are more passive and inert than their opposite. So it takes an "event" to make us come alive, feel, love, express, act, make a decision, get off the fence. The Universe is not a quiet place. Things are popping all through space: supernovas, black holes, quasars and the like. In our world, Nature can pop too with its weather conundrums, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and more. There is Mother Gaia down under at Yellowstone, holding her massive caldera or super volcano in check for the time being. Thank you Mother! How do you get in touch with energy before it gets in touch with you first? Or is that possible? Or even necessary? Elijah would probably say, it's going to get in touch with you anyway, one way or another.

Another drama is going on right now on the other side of the Atlantic with Margaret Thatcher's death. I am not/was not a fan of her policies, but she was democratically elected, indeed three times. She was given a mandate by the country to lead and therefore to act.....and yes, she did just that, forcefully, aggressively, articulately. A lot of people didn't like it. She also hurt certain segments of the population and caused them suffering. So now she is being personally vilified and a portion of the country wants to party and dance on her grave.....which actually seems quite helpless and impotent. On the other hand, others are coming forward and debating her policies, not cowed into submission by the social demands of death. In 1970, when Egyptian President Nasser died and everyone, including those that didn't like his politics, were eulogising him, Charque commented that all you had to do to get accepted was die! Not so with Thatcher. I don't think that she would have a problem with people speaking out against her policies. But she does not need to be personally vilified and called "evil", even if some of the rhetoric to that effect is quite funny. There is nothing "evil" in acting in accordance with whatever ideal it is that you follow. But the rest of us have to act back, or in a democracy, vote (back), in any case, do something with or about what is going on that we don't like.

I found a rather amazing, to my mind at least, tweet from the Dalai Lama this last weekend, which reads as follows: "It's unrealistic to think that the future of humanity can be achieved only on the basis of prayer, what we need is to take action" (His Holiness the Dalai Lama). Move over Hamlet, with all of your comings and goings about life and whether "To be or not to be, that is the question. Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them" and so "end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to" ("Hamlet" Act 3 Scene 1). In other words, Hamlet is debating whether to give up because life is too freaking difficult. Back in the 80s, when Butler (Pa) was in the throes of economic woes, a relative of ours lamented "I don't know how people keep going." Charque's response: "how are they going to stop?" Most people keep going. And not only do they keep going, they find some of those "forces that lie dormant in their own being", that Elijah is talking about, to keep going with. The Dalai Lama is no longer sitting atop his mountain in Tibet in "splendid isolation". Rather he has had to face off with the Chinese. And he has been circumnavigating the globe, teaching and radiating compassion, courage, tenacity, humour, and a host of other good qualities that we might not be so familiar with if he were still atop his mountain in Tibet.

In Tarot, it is the Magician who takes up space and acts in the world. In the Osho Zen Tarot Deck, this card is called "Existence" and pictures a woman sitting on a lily pad out in space. The explanation is that she/you have a right to existence just like the stars, planets, trees, plants, animals and all of creation. But of course you have to take up that existence. And you have to move with it. That is the Chariot in Tarot. Yesterday (Monday, April 15, 2013) was, in numerological calculation, a Chariot day. The Chariot is number seven in the major arcana, a number that balances the trinity of Spirit or the Heavens with the square of the Earth. This is not necessarily an easy encounter or meeting ground. Heaven and Earth don't always see eye to eye about what is going on in the world or in the universe. The minor arcana sevens are about coming to a crossroad, pausing to take stock, then making a decision and moving forward i.e. not sitting forever in the crossroad. As in the reverse 7 of Swords, you have to get off the fence, confront whatever it is that is in front of you and take up life. "Time is the means of making actual what is potential" (I Ching Hexagram 1). Or you might say, Life is the means of making actual what is potential. Life is the tool to awakening and becoming conscious