Month: September 2009

Spider’s Lady and Rupture in Language

After a few seconds of silence, she managed to find some words. “Joe, are you familiar with the phenomenon Samuel Delany calls ‘rupture’?”
“Hey, I never get that carried away.”
“There it goes again. Rupture occurs when you think you are in the middle of a conversation with someone. . . and suddenly discover that you’ve merely been making noises at each other, that there is a previously unsuspected chasm between you beside which the Marianas Trench is a pothole. We have come to a point
of rupture, Joe. You don’t know what I mean, and I’m not sure I understand what you said. I think we must be using different maps.”
“Oh yeah?”
~”Either that, or you’re a real jackass.”
I did what PIs always do when insulted: shrugged, and went for a wisecrack. “Not much point in being a fake jackass, is there?”
“Ask the man who sent you here.” –
That reminded me that The Man would be upset with me if I blew this commission-and he had succeeded in scaring the shit out of me. “TouchÈ. Okay, let’s rewind to where we went wrong and start over. What were you really asking me to do, when I thought you wanted me to ‘Rent-A-‘Rection’?”
She shook her head. “It won’t help, I tell you. We’ve got different maps. The street I’m pointing to doesn’t exist on yours.”
“Okay. How do I get one of your maps?”
“You’ll just- have to draw your own, I’m afraid.”
I sighed. “Look, Lady, I’m not trying be to difficult. But how the hell am I supposed to do that?”
Priscilla spoke up. “Map-making isn’t hard. Just tricky.”
“I’m listening,” I said politely.
“Four stages. The obvious three are: look around you carefully, record what you see, and integrate it. It’s the very first part that’ll trip you up, and it’s the most important of all.”
“It’s the whole thing,” Lady Sally corrected. “The other three happen automatically; you couldn’t stop ’em if you tried-once you do the first thing.” –
Damn it, the P1 isn’t supposed to be the straight man. “Whichï is?” –
– “Throw out all the old maps you already have in the glove compartment,” Priscilla said.
Lady Sally nodded. “Forget all the reports of earlier explorers. You can’t discover America if you keep shying away from the edge of the world. And if you do find it, you’ll waste years asking to be taken to Kublai Khan.”

Lately, I’ve been watching quite a few videos on youtube. I find many of the discussions that the more thoughtful videos engender to be quite instructive. I wonder at times if people really listen to each other’s words either in the videos themselves or in theirt comments and replies. I find some of the debates fascinating. Questions such as whether suffering is objective or subjective. Do we create our own universe and everything in it or do we perceive reality as being objective and/or consensual?  When we conceptualize our perceptions do we use language or does language come as an expression of those perceptions? I find all of these questions to be fascinating.

At times it seems apparent that for at least some of the people discussing these issues, the opposing points of view cannot even be conceived. It appears to me as if they cannot map the opposing viewpoint onto their view of reality. At the point in the discussion where these areas get hit on each other’s maps, the conversation is what science fiction writer Samuel Delaney called rupture.

In the now unfortunately out-of-print novel Lady Slings the Booze , Spider Robinson has his characters discuss the term rupture and how to deal with maps that may be different from our own.

“After a few seconds of silence, she managed to find some words. “Joe, are you familiar with the phenomenon Samuel Delany calls ‘rupture’?”

“Hey, I never get that carried away.”

“There it goes again. Rupture occurs when you think you are in the middle of a conversation with someone. . . and suddenly discover that you’ve merely been making noises at each other, that there is a previously unsuspected chasm between you beside which the Marianas Trench is a pothole. We have come to a pointof rupture, Joe. You don’t know what I mean, and I’m not sure I understand what you said. I think we must be using different maps.

….

” The street I’m pointing to doesn’t exist on yours.”

“Okay. How do I get one of your maps?”

“You’ll just- have to draw your own, I’m afraid.”

I sighed. “Look, Lady, I’m not trying be to difficult. But how the hell am I supposed to do that?”

Priscilla spoke up. “Map-making isn’t hard. Just tricky.”

“I’m listening,” I said politely.

“Four stages. The obvious three are: look around you carefully, record what you see, and integrate it. It’s the very first part that’ll trip you up, and it’s the most important of all.”

“It’s the whole thing,” Lady Sally corrected. “The other three happen automatically; you couldn’t stop ’em if you tried-once you do the first thing.” –

Damn it, the PI isn’t supposed to be the straight man. “Which is?” –

– “Throw out all the old maps you already have in the glove compartment,” Priscilla said.

Lady Sally nodded. “Forget all the reports of earlier explorers. You can’t discover America if you keep shying away from the edge of the world. And if you do find it, you’ll waste years asking to be taken to Kublai Khan.”

Why would we wish to open our minds or maps to new territories we haven’t accepted before? Why travel anyplace new? I can think of several reasons. Perhaps we wish to learn whatever the new outlook may teach us and in my experience there exist  few viewpoints, opinions, philosophies or places that have absolutely nothing to teach us. Even what may seem to be an  absurd notion to us may lead to some fascinating paths or fancies. Perhaps the more points of view that we can understand, the more comprehensively we can defend our own .Perhaps as the Danish physicist Niels Bohr said “The opposite of a correct statement is an incorrect statement, but the opposite of a profound truth is another profound truth.” . and  It might be that the ‘profound’ truths that oppose our own may be the hardest for us to map.

No matter the reason, I find it difficult to understand how people have these troubles entertaining viewpoints that seem to be in opposition to their own. After all if the metaphor of mapping new territory does hold up, wouldn’t most people enjoy a free trip, no matter where it might lead?

Tarot-Star Reading

Again–The idea of 1 (or 2) spreads for each major arcana card is taken (as are the spreads) from Rachel Pollack’s excellent book Tarot Wisdom. As often as possible I am using the textual definitions from Ms Pollack’s book as otherwise there exists a possibility of skewing the meanings to serve my own ends rather than get any insight into what the cards are showing me. Recently I have also been taking (for the minor arcana) cards some of the textual definitions from Eileen Connolly’s Tarot: The First Handbook for the Master. Way back when I started working with the cards Ms. Connolly’s Tarot for the Apprentice was one of the first books I used.

Lately tho, I have had a new insight. That if the goal of these readings is a greater internal knowledge and understanding these forces then subjectivity may just be the way to go. Still I will give Ms Pollack’s and Ms. Connolly’s definitions because I feel it may be useful for anyone reading this to follow along. By all means feel free to comment.

1) Hope The Star (Rev) The Star
2) Guidance Temperance (Rev) Temperance
3) Peace The Hierophant Hierophant
4) Healing The Devil The Devil

4 Cards-4 Majors–This one appears to be deep. Stay tuned for the Interpretation which I will start posting tomorrow.

Interpretation

4 major cards came up — and pretty interesting choices–this also seems like it may be more of a personal reading so….

1) Hope -The Star (Rev)

“Reversed, the star most commonly means a lack of hope. Negativity.”

“It can simply mean doubt or pessimism. Another possibility is a false hope. Something we have counted on or believed in may not come to pass” If the reading concerns healing, it may take longer than expected, or some particular approach or method may turn out less effective than what a person hoped”

“The reversed Star card can mean a shy person, not ready to show themselves to the world, Sometimes a person needs to do this, either because of a hostile environment at home or at work, or because she or he has not fully developed what they will share with people”

“The reversed card might suggest some problem with body image…Such possibilities can become stronger if the Star reversed appears with the Devil, Vof Swords or VIII of Swords”

Yes boys and girls, that is the Devil appearing elsewhere in the same spread and one of the things going on for me recently is definitely gym issues, After over 2 years of hitting the gym an average of 3-4X a week for over 2 years, a combination of health and time issues have caused me to take some time off. That and chronological issues have definitely had an effect  on my body image. Tho how my physical body appears has become much less of a priority than it was,  I intend to restart my workouts at the gym perhaps reduced to 2-3X a week.

I don’t believe that lack of hope or negativity could be used to describe me. I cultivate hope in myself and others. That would be my intent. Would I like to feel like I accomplish more faster? Yes! Would I like to have a raw food diet irrespective of what my family eats? Yes! Would I like to stick to a schedule and find time to handle family duties, ie get Zev ready for school, clean, meditate, write, exercise, correspond and everything else I have to do without the thousand and one distractions? Yes to all of the above Would I like to improve my computer skills and take a course or two? Would I like to make positive changes in the world on a daily basis? Yes to all the above. It will all come. I’ve learned that things happen in time and sometimes seeds have to sit in the ground for awhile before they sprout. I have all the precursors for patience without having developed patience itself. In time, perhaps in time patience will come 🙂 On the bright side, the fact that the Star came up in its own reading, the card whose meaning would be hope came up in the position of hope, reversed, true but there gives hope. I just have to let that healing energy flow….

2) Guidance– Temperance Reversed

“Reversed, we become intemperate, extreme, given to excessive behavior. This becomes strongest alongside the Devil right-side up”

“Something may have gotten out of balance”

“Sometimes, reversed Temperance becomes a recommendation, for  some situations call for extreme reactions, the way a parent might take risks to protect a child.In less dramatic situations, Temperance reversed may call on us to relax our guard, go wild, take a chance on something.”

Something may be touching a nerve, I found myself joking quite a bit while typing that out, my usual defence mechanism, Again a definition dependent on the Devil being in close proximity 🙁

So have I been going to extremes behaviourly? possibly, tho it doesn’t feel like it. I definitely have a tendency to go off in a direction fully to the exclusion of anything else, yet since we adopted Zev seven years ago, that has been moderated severely. When you have a household and kids, your focus gets automatically split-not a complaint- I see it as part of the circle of life

So let’s look at the other suggested meaning, especially given that the placement for this card is Guidance and the meaning suggests that in its advice to know when it is necessary to go to extremes. Sometime in the next while I might be called on to take some risks, to act more extremely than I have in awhile. How will I know when the time is right and avoid the excesses of the other meaning? I don’t know and have to be ok with that. Meditate, reflect and trust my inner voice I guess.

3) Peace – The Hierophant

“…a path that the querent is expected to follow. It may be what is socially approved or come from family or a partner or friends. This is the traditional way that does not require thought or independent action but simply following”

“The Hierophant can mean a particular teacher or the educational system in some way.”

“The Hierophant can indicate the experience of benediction, that is of giving or receiving some sort of blessing”

ok, so my decision to return to academia and pursue a degree through an online university would seem to be a good one tho will that bring me peace. It will scratch an itch or a couple but…

lately, i have also decided to pursue other avenues of learning also. There seem to be teachers popping up all over, perhaps there maybe one whom working with will be of benefit to both of us?

Then the meaning I keep avoiding. So many readings now have said pretty clearly, my family is my strength, following the path of house husband and dad actually focuses me more and gives me more strength and tho it may seem from the outside to be an unconventional one–still for me it tends to be pretty conventional. …

4) Healing-The Devil

“Recently I asked some friends what card may signify jokes. We agreed on the Devil”

“More commonly the Devil means oppression of some sort, or addiction, whatever chains us. Often these things have a quality of illusion about them”

“The Devil can mean illusions of any kind, mistakes, errors, clinging to values or situations that can harm you”

Does this heal me? 🙂 OK, looking at the (rather unconventional) meaning of jokes, laughter does heal. What can also heal me is letting go of some of the harmful illusions that I let myself go with on occasion.  So laugh more, enjoy more, and let some of the other things fall to the wayside….Tho part of me would really like to believe the card indicates that nothing would be quite as healing as giving in short term to a week or month of debauchery….:)

So if anyone who reads this has anything to add, feel free to comment. This reading definitely hits areas that may fall into my blind spots. Next week on to the Moon reading….