Cult of Tarot Forum

Raven wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 03:23 I confess that I can't help seeing the missing Death card in a more ominous light.

As I read what you wrote, I saw Death out in the world like the proverbial riders of the Apocalypse, the angel of death cutting a swath through the world.

dodalisque wrote: ↑24 Mar 2020, 21:53 But what a perfect reading! And with an unshuffled deck! The RWS skeleton astride a white horse is the force of death sweeping away all human life in its path: kings, queens, priests, mothers and young children. Sounds like the Covid-19 virus, doesn't it. My daughter and I had been talking about the virus, and I had been considering doing a tarot reading about it on CoT. The point is: Death is missing. That's the clearest possible message direct from the tarot that I and my nearest and dearest will escape death. The unshuffled nature of the cards perhaps also suggests that movement, i.e. going out into the world, should be eliminated as much as possible. "If you sit tight, then all will be well." The missing Death card in this context is about the most cheerful tarot reading imaginable.

Diana wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 07:41
Reading Raven's response, I was wondering when you decided to do this reading, were you specifically thinking about you and your loved ones? Or was it a more general reading? Because that would make all the difference. If it was for your loved ones, I'd go along with your interpretation. That you'll be safe and sound. All of you. But if it was a more general reading, then I'd go along with Raven's interpretation.

Diana wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 08:45 Well, apocalypse means revelation. "An unveiling or unfolding of things not previously known and which could not be known apart from the unveiling".

From the beginning, I've been trying to look at the big picture, as many people do, instead of just the actual virus - which is just an effect, not the cause. Much is being revealed about the state of the world. That were evident before - horribly evident - but everyone was just hoping the train would miraculously stop before crashing. It didn't. Of course it didn't.

So let the Arcane XIII, the one Without A Name, reveal what we so many were denying.

I am going to have people raise their arms in horror when I say what I'm going to say now. I don't care though. I think this virus, if the lessons are learned, is one of the best things that's happened to the planet and the world for a long time. I'm smiling at its apparent ugliness. Through my spiritual practices and journey, I've learned not to judge by appearances.

Raven wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 19:45 There is definitely a big picture, here, that we cannot possibly see since we're in it ourselves. I'm going out on the unpopular, albeit proverbial limb and ask: is this nature/the universe rebalancing itself? Even a "culling of the heard", so to speak?

I am tempted to attempt an archetypal reading regarding Covid-19.

Diana wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 07:41 Reading Raven's response, I was wondering when you decided to do this reading, were you specifically thinking about you and your loved ones? Or was it a more general reading? Because that would make all the difference. If it was for your loved ones, I'd go along with your interpretation. That you'll be safe and sound. All of you. But if it was a more general reading, then I'd go along with Raven's interpretation.

That is if we do want to consider this omen of a missing card as something significant. And why not after all. The Tarot works in mysterious ways. As does Dean. But sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Dean must still exist somewhere. Maybe he has a facebook page or something and you could write to him to ask him what happened to the card. Maybe he still has it and can return it to you.

Joan Marie wrote: ↑26 Mar 2020, 04:02

Raven wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 19:45 There is definitely a big picture, here, that we cannot possibly see since we're in it ourselves. I'm going out on the unpopular, albeit proverbial limb and ask: is this nature/the universe rebalancing itself? Even a "culling of the heard", so to speak?

I am tempted to attempt an archetypal reading regarding Covid-19.

I've heard a lot of people saying this and things to this effect. I have to say I'm not so sure I can buy into this view.

Don't forget, there were people saying the same thing about the AIDS epidemic in the 80s. That it was a "cull."

"Culling" in this sense, then and now, implies the ridding of a scourge, a "social cleansing for the greater good."
But the virus doesn't pick out the bad people and leave the rest. Not even close.
Alarmingly, people are starting to weigh the possible value (or at least see no big loss) in this virus eliminating certain portions of society.

This point of view feels decidedly anti-humanist to me. Yes, humans do a lot of bad and stupid things and are fucking up the planet. But isn't it the actions of humans that are the problem and not humans themselves?

To this end, I would say the quarantine is much more healing to the Earth than the tragic deaths and suffering caused by virus or any "culling". The quarantine is causing us to sharply limit our activities and causing us to rethink if we even really need to do all this stuff the same way once we're freed.

Joan Marie wrote: ↑26 Mar 2020, 04:02

Raven wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 19:45 There is definitely a big picture, here, that we cannot possibly see since we're in it ourselves. I'm going out on the unpopular, albeit proverbial limb and ask: is this nature/the universe rebalancing itself? Even a "culling of the heard", so to speak?

I am tempted to attempt an archetypal reading regarding Covid-19.

I've heard a lot of people saying this and things to this effect. I have to say I'm not so sure I can buy into this view.

Don't forget, there were people saying the same thing about the AIDS epidemic in the 80s. That it was a "cull."

"Culling" in this sense, then and now, implies the ridding of a scourge, a "social cleansing for the greater good."
But the virus doesn't pick out the bad people and leave the rest. Not even close.
Alarmingly, people are starting to weigh the possible value (or at least see no big loss) in this virus eliminating certain portions of society.

This point of view feels decidedly anti-humanist to me. Yes, humans do a lot of bad and stupid things and are fucking up the planet. But isn't it the actions of humans that are the problem and not humans themselves?

To this end, I would say the quarantine is much more healing to the Earth than the tragic deaths and suffering caused by virus or any "culling". The quarantine is causing us to sharply limit our activities and causing us to rethink if we even really need to do all this stuff the same way once we're freed.

stronglove wrote: ↑26 Mar 2020, 09:16

Joan Marie wrote: ↑26 Mar 2020, 04:02

Raven wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 19:45 There is definitely a big picture, here, that we cannot possibly see since we're in it ourselves. I'm going out on the unpopular, albeit proverbial limb and ask: is this nature/the universe rebalancing itself? Even a "culling of the heard", so to speak?

I am tempted to attempt an archetypal reading regarding Covid-19.

I've heard a lot of people saying this and things to this effect. I have to say I'm not so sure I can buy into this view.

Don't forget, there were people saying the same thing about the AIDS epidemic in the 80s. That it was a "cull."

"Culling" in this sense, then and now, implies the ridding of a scourge, a "social cleansing for the greater good."
But the virus doesn't pick out the bad people and leave the rest. Not even close.
Alarmingly, people are starting to weigh the possible value (or at least see no big loss) in this virus eliminating certain portions of society.

This point of view feels decidedly anti-humanist to me. Yes, humans do a lot of bad and stupid things and are fucking up the planet. But isn't it the actions of humans that are the problem and not humans themselves?

To this end, I would say the quarantine is much more healing to the Earth than the tragic deaths and suffering caused by virus or any "culling". The quarantine is causing us to sharply limit our activities and causing us to rethink if we even really need to do all this stuff the same way once we're freed.

as someone who has been right in the middle of the AIDS ‘epidemic’ (which it actually wasn’t, because hiv wasn’t spread that easily) i thank you for this comment. i have seen and heard too much of these theories based on people’s gut feelings and felt and lived the enormous detrimental and damaging impact they can have on (groups of) people who are affected by the virus, whether it be hiv or covid-19 or ebola. watching this crisis develop i am constantly reminded of what went on in the eighties, of all the deaths but especially all the misinformation and fear and ostracizing that went on, especially with gay men. while hiv was nowhere near as infectious as covid-19. so please don’t go there, however much you think you need to. already people who have lived through covid-19 are being shunned and yelled at, even though they are immune now. the last thing they need is to be made to feel that they were supposed to die because this world needs culling. or that covid-19 is the best thing that could have happened to them and to this world.

Diana wrote: ↑26 Mar 2020, 04:13 I agree with Joan Marie that it's not a culling of a herd. But there is possibly a question of nature rebalancing itself and that human beings are just caught up in that inadvertently. I don't know enough about that. There is that whole Gaia theory which I've never followed too closely, but it doesn't seem crazy to think that the Earth is a living conscious organism.

I would go for more the "one reaps what one sows". In fact, it looks very much to me like that. It's not a divine punishment (the divine cannot punish) nor a culling. Sowing and reaping with a bit of a stroke of the Wheel of Fortune (bad luck this time) and this together was a recipe for disaster. But inevitable. If it wasn't covid-19 it would have been something else. Now or at another date. I hope my reaping and sowing is not deemed too political.

Raven wrote: ↑26 Mar 2020, 16:36

As I mentioned in my last two posts on this thread, I really do apologize for using that term. I really don't think I realized the exact meaning of that word and its implications. It was a most unfortunate, and in hindsight, stupid choice on my part and, in no way, reflects my feeling or my way of being in the world.

I believe that the whole universe is a living, conscious entity. I agree, too, that it's not divine punishment. Goodness does not indulge in cruelty.

I definitely agree that it might well be linked with the idea of "one reaps what one sows". Whatever the cause, the fact is that it is forcing us to think and look at ways of doing nearly everything differently.

I'm not an astrologer myself, but I find it interesting what astrologers say about Pluto and Uranus having entered Capricorn at the beginning of this year and how this astrological configuration is supposed to spell disaster or cataclysmic events.

I, for one, don't feel that your comments are ever too political and I agree that it would have been something else at some point. "Now or at another date". That is definitely supported by my short research into the history of pandemics.

Raven wrote: ↑26 Mar 2020, 16:24 I have scarecely stepped into this forum, so no one knows me. If you did, you would know that the phrase I use was a definite faux pas and not the reflection of what I think or what I am as a human being.

The Red Hand Files has always been a space in which I could offer dubious existential notions, religious meditations, unsound advice, millennial senilities and general annoyances, while hopefully simultaneously extending a little human kindness and compassion. However, these sorts of ruminations came from a more privileged and fortunate time, when we had the oxygen to muse and to play. Things have changed, we are faced with a common enemy — impartial, unfeeling and of immeasurable magnitude — and it is no longer a time for abstractions. Now is the time to be cautious with our words, our opinions.

A friend called our new world ‘a ghost ship’ — and maybe she is right. She has recently lost someone dear to her and recognises acutely the premonitory feeling of a world about to be shattered — and that we will need to put ourselves back together again, not only personally, but societally. In time we will be given the opportunity to either contract around the old version of ourselves and our world — insular, self-interested and tribalistic — or understand the connectedness and commonality of all humans, everywhere. In isolation, we will be presented with our essence — of what we are personally and what we are as a society. We will be asked to decide what we want to preserve about our world and ourselves, and what we want to discard.

Eventually these questions will become of acute significance, but they are not for now. Now is a time to listen to those in more informed positions and to follow instructions, as difficult as that may be, as we step into the unprecedented unknowable. We should be careful about the noises we make — especially those with a public voice — and should not pretend to know what we do not. From within the clamour and tonnage of information and misinformation, of opinions and counter-opinions, of blame-games and grim prophecy and the most panic-inducing version of ‘Imagine’ ever recorded, emerges a simple message — wash your hands and (if you can) stay at home.

Love, Nick

Diana wrote: ↑26 Mar 2020, 16:50
I didn't take you literally. I realised that you were not really meaning that. I read your post between the lines that I knew were there.

Yes, everything is Consciousness. Some people believe that Gaia is going to leave the earth soon though. And leave it to us. I don't know what they mean by soon. Is it 20 years or 200? But I really don't know anything about things like that. Who knows what the truth is and what isn't. With our limited minds we can only conceive of a grain of sand of truth and what life is really all about.

God/Goodness is not cruel. When people made God in their image, they naturally made her/him cruel. But they got it the wrong way round. They're made in her/his image. And since they got it the wrong way round, they're sort of puzzling as to how She/He could allow such terrible things to happen. The fact that they're puzzled and that they have never found an answer, should give them a clue that their premise is maybe wrong.

But Karmic Law is Karmic Law. If you're going to for instance let a third of the world live in slums, something's bound to happen. And we've built these cities with millions and millions of people in them. That surely wasn't meant to be.... They are a recipe for disaster. Stuff like that. But all the other stuff that we all know due to the 99% for instance (what happened to that movement??)

Raven, this morning when I went out to do some shopping.... something had changed in the air. In the atmosphere. It was like the virus is going away. At least in our city. Everything felt strangely lighter and purer. I thought maybe I was imagining things, but when I went for my daily hour walk late in the afternoon, I felt it too. It was like there was a bounce in the "air" that wasn't there before. It was strange. But it was so strong.

One day the Big One will come. The Big Pandemic I mean. This is a practice run. We'll have learned a lot on how to contain and from our mistakes. Since the very very beginning, I've had this strange feeling that this is just one big Exercice in Real Time. We've even got the armies in to help out. We may one day be grateful that we had this opportunity to figure what works and what doesn't. I remember writing to some friends at the very beginning of the outbreak in China saying that I know they'll think I'm crazy, but I had the impression that it was One Big Exercice. Not a conspiracy, but it looked and sounded like some kind of War Game.

Joan Marie wrote: ↑26 Mar 2020, 17:20

Raven wrote: ↑26 Mar 2020, 16:24 I have scarecely stepped into this forum, so no one knows me. If you did, you would know that the phrase I use was a definite faux pas and not the reflection of what I think or what I am as a human being.

I am absolutely sure of this. I never for a minute thought badly of you. This is something that I hear a lot of people saying right now and I am sure that most of them are people who have been concerned about our world and the impact humans are having.

But I think it's something we have to be careful of and thoughtful about how we express ourselves, and to help each other understand. Especially now.

I'm going to post something here that came into my email inbox yesterday. And I think it explains in beautiful words something very helpful. It was an answer to a question posed to Nick Cave at The Red Hand Files. The question: "What do we do now?"

The Red Hand Files has always been a space in which I could offer dubious existential notions, religious meditations, unsound advice, millennial senilities and general annoyances, while hopefully simultaneously extending a little human kindness and compassion. However, these sorts of ruminations came from a more privileged and fortunate time, when we had the oxygen to muse and to play. Things have changed, we are faced with a common enemy — impartial, unfeeling and of immeasurable magnitude — and it is no longer a time for abstractions. Now is the time to be cautious with our words, our opinions.

A friend called our new world ‘a ghost ship’ — and maybe she is right. She has recently lost someone dear to her and recognises acutely the premonitory feeling of a world about to be shattered — and that we will need to put ourselves back together again, not only personally, but societally. In time we will be given the opportunity to either contract around the old version of ourselves and our world — insular, self-interested and tribalistic — or understand the connectedness and commonality of all humans, everywhere. In isolation, we will be presented with our essence — of what we are personally and what we are as a society. We will be asked to decide what we want to preserve about our world and ourselves, and what we want to discard.

Eventually these questions will become of acute significance, but they are not for now. Now is a time to listen to those in more informed positions and to follow instructions, as difficult as that may be, as we step into the unprecedented unknowable. We should be careful about the noises we make — especially those with a public voice — and should not pretend to know what we do not. From within the clamour and tonnage of information and misinformation, of opinions and counter-opinions, of blame-games and grim prophecy and the most panic-inducing version of ‘Imagine’ ever recorded, emerges a simple message — wash your hands and (if you can) stay at home.

Love, Nick

I really couldn't agree more.

stronglove wrote: ↑26 Mar 2020, 18:19 hi raven, just to let you know, i really dislike the thank you button and do not use it on principle, but i just thanked you for your reply, so that means i truly and really appreciate what you said. (actually the third time i ever used the damned thing i believe ) (might as well not use it if i am going to add a reply anyway )
and welcome to this forum, please don’t let this keep you from sharing your thoughts and ideas with us

Raven wrote: ↑26 Mar 2020, 17:48

So true!! Our minds are limited and we can only conceive of a glimmer of truth and the meaning of reality. I believe our organs of perception often mislead us, too.

I agree with you. When it comes to my own spirituality, I try to live according to the "advice" of the Buddha, am inspired by Sufi thought and am now exploring the non-duality of Advaita Vedanta. We are made in her or his image, not the other way around. Yes, when it comes to the material plane, karma is certainly at play. I think it is time for a paradigm shift and it is, by the looks of things, now being imposed upon us.

This is so encouraging, Diana! I am happy you felt that. I believe that people who share a common interest as we do here at CofT have heightened intuition and other gifts, so I'm sure that your perception is accurate. If I may, what part of the world do you live in?

There is, of course, the intimation that this is, or could become the Big One. From your own experience this morning, though, it would seem to indicate that that is not the case. If it is a wargame, it is an important one because we do have to be prepared. We haven't been that well prepared in the past, nor even, today, by the many shortages of equipment in the hospital, etc., etc.

I don't think you're crazy at all. If we don't keep learning, one day we will become extinct. It seems we have the unique gift of self-awareness.

It seems to me that we cannot afford to let it go to waste.

• The Call - the agitation that prompts us to embark (courageously, albeit, in this case, unwillingly) on a new journey.
  
  The card that appeared in this position is III The Starborn, one of the archetypes of self.
  
  It is clear to me that this refers to us: "divine" children, the destined, ourselves or, better, our higher selves. That which we can become if we attended more to our spiritual nature, our self-awareness and our sense of purpose. This is humanity. being called to a greater understanding beyond the mundane. Called, by our present circumstances, to see and approach life with more reverence and more illumination. To tap into our collective dream for a better "nest", our world; a dream that resides in each of us, but that many don't see because of being caught up in the illusory world of material success. A world of acquisition, having rather than being and with little regard for the spiritual which is what we really are. Called, also, to trust in the transformation that must happen.

• The Threshold - what is holding us back from moving on to a more awakened way of being in the world, and has been holding us back many times.
  
  The card that appeared in this position is LXIII The Venom, one of the cards Krans terms a tool.
  
  Well, this seems to point to the toxicity of the world: the metaphorical and literal venom that we've collectively spread through our less than stellar behaviour towards each other, ourselves and our environment. I think this alludes to the greed and lack of empathy that seem to prevail and encompass things like hate speech, the Orwellian tendency to double speak, dishonesty and disregard. In other words, the harm we do to others, be they human or not, through our selfishness and lack of vision. These are all the things that hold us back. Furthermore, it seems that this "venom" can only be healed and dispelled through greater self-realization lamentably engendered by suffering. A suffering not visited on us by anything else but ourselves. Harming others means harming ourselves which, according to this card, has cosmic consequences.

• The Ordeal - the profound challenge or dilemma we face along the way. The lurking shadow that will reveal itself so we can grow.
  
  The card that appeared in this position is XLVII The Storm, one of the cards Krans terms a place.
  
  This card is like The Tower in Tarot. It speaks of chaos and the undoing of what is. Everything that was solid, known and relied upon is stripped away by the winds of fate. It is the great equalizer. We are overcome by anxiety and the only thing to do is to wait it out. We need to go within and settle in the eye of the storm, so to speak, which is hard for many to do. This card is associated with meaningful annihilation. The intention of this chaos? To re-balance because of the precariousness of the world right now. Will we be up to the challenge of having what we thought we held so dear laid bare by the truth? Are we willing to see what is important which is to live with respect and "right understanding" as the Buddha suggested?

• The Boon - the wisdom, skill, or blessing we will attain from this journey. The mystical gift.
  
  The card that appeared in this position is XLIX The Faultline, another place card.
  
  This card definitely points to the redefining of what is important. After the ordeal, comes the understanding of the need for transformation. Also, the fact that we can no longer deny that the way we were living before Covid-19 visited us needs to be examined and rectified if we don't want total collapse. Maybe the greatest wisdom we can derive from all of this is that we need to be open to change rather than walk on pretending all is well in the world. There will also be the understanding of many more of us that a fundamental shift must take place. The reward is a crack in the fabric of complacency. A waking up.

• The Return - what we can expect to encounter upon "homecoming". How we can integrate meaningful change and what we learnt from our present experience,
  
  The card that appeared in this position is XLIII The Castle, another place card.
  
  Unfortunately, according to this card, the spell of materialism will still overtake many of us and there won't be as much change as one could hope for. However, for many others what occurred will be a motivating force to break away from the status quote, from the thought patterns and habits that we have been used to entertaining. There will be a shift in paradigm. From this card, I believe that there will be a breaking free and a greater sense of community. More collaboration. More appreciation of each other and of the things that really matter. The breaking down of walls.

Diana wrote: ↑26 Mar 2020, 19:01

Raven wrote: ↑26 Mar 2020, 17:48

So true!! Our minds are limited and we can only conceive of a glimmer of truth and the meaning of reality. I believe our organs of perception often mislead us, too.

Our five senses mislead us most of the time, don't they? Because of their limitations. Take our hearing for instance - we only hear certain frequencies. Animals hear different frequencies and therefore different sounds. Also we think the sky is blue. But it's only blue because our eyes see it as blue. A cat or a dog doesn't see the sky blue. Who is right? The cat/dog or the human? None of us are "right". We can't rely on our five senses at all. Well, sometimes yes. I mean they do save us and also sometimes give us pleasure. We feel a burn and we remove our hand, we taste something pleasant, we're happy. But there's so much more out there. Heck, some people see auras. I went on a course once to read auras many eons ago. The woman was hopeless though and I left no wiser than before. I've never seen an aura.

My principal spiritual mentor/teacher reminds me often that whatever we see, hear, touch, taste or smell is not reality. And this would include auras too.

I believe that, too. Our form is different from our Self. According to nondualism, we are the witness that experiences life through personhood - the person that is our form. We are the imperturbable sky and our thought mere clouds that come and go. A nuisance, really, if we don't control them. So, yes, the aura is only a concept. I'm sorry that you had a bad teacher. I believe that you would have acquired the ability had you had someone who was skilful.

I agree with you. When it comes to my own spirituality, I try to live according to the "advice" of the Buddha, am inspired by Sufi thought and am now exploring the non-duality of Advaita Vedanta. We are made in her or his image, not the other way around. Yes, when it comes to the material plane, karma is certainly at play. I think it is time for a paradigm shift and it is, by the looks of things, now being imposed upon us.

Oh I love the Sufi path. And who can't not like Buddha? One of the sayings attributed to him always reminds of the Tarot: You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself.

I love that quote!! One of my favourites. I have a feeling that we are probably of like mind about quite a few things.

Regarding Sufism, have you ever watched Llewellyn Vaughan Lee's interview for the film called I think "The One"? When they asked the same twenty questions to some important spiritual leaders and teachers? If you haven't, I'm sure you'll be delighted and thrilled. I've watched it at least five times. Each time a feeling of deep peace comes over me. Or rather rises from within.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gby6y4i4ljU&t=524s.

No, I haven't! I am going to watch this because I know it will be very interesting. Thank you so much. What about this film? Is it available?

The shift you speak of actually begun I believe some time ago. I mean, it's not just me who believes this. It's kind of evident too. Also it's written in the stars isn't. We've moved into the new zodiacal age it would seem. This is just an aftershock. Or rather an inevitable part of the transformation. Transformation can sometimes be brutal. The Arcane Sans Nom XIII - death - is here to remind us of that. Whoever said that dying would be easy? The world is waking up. It's not always nice to be woken out of a dream abruptly. Especially when we realise that it was just a dream. Neo in the Matrix when he was born to the new world - that was a pretty gruesome experience. Birth and death are both pretty hardcore. My concern is that there will still be lot of people who will prefer to take the blue pill. I prefer the red pill and I would reckon everyone on this forum would too. But I think more and more people will refuse the blue pill. It won't happen overnight. It's not going to be a revolution. But there will be a shift in consciousness on many levels for a number of people and that will be good and permanent. I'm very hopeful you see about all this. (I do regret though that there won't be a revolution. I've always wanted to be part of a revolution and storm the barricades and take over the Bastille of the time and chop the aristocrats' heads off. I'll have to wait for another life to do that - lol - . Or maybe I did take part in the French revolution and am just nostalgic. Even more lol).

I was probably right there with you in Paris. I think it will affect some people, but I don't know how many. I think the situation would have to become very dire for great change to come about. I do have faith in all of us and I think that what we've already experienced will bring about great change in our attitudes, behaviours and appreciation of what we have and where we live.
Now, you bring up my favourite film of all time. I would definitely take the red pill!! Most definitely. It would be great to see reality with new eyes; the eyes of enlightenment.

I'm linking to the Wake Up scene in the Matrix, but it's kind of nightmarish if you recall so if you're wanting to remain bright and chirpy, don't watch it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOdOF_x-VSA&t=142s

Love that scene!!! Thank you. Speaking of the antithesis of chirpy, ten days ago, I crunched the whole Chernobyl miniseries on HBO. Incredible and completely unnecessary but for the political ambitions of one or three men, human greed and one of the worst and most reckless decisions made by any human being.

This is so encouraging, Diana! I am happy you felt that. I believe that people who share a common interest as we do here at CofT have heightened intuition and other gifts, so I'm sure that your perception is accurate. If I may, what part of the world do you live in?

I'm in Switzerland. French speaking part. The Canton I live in, Vaud, is I think second or third with the highest rate of infection with Basel and the Tessin. The Tessin was badly hit as they're next to Italy and there are a lot of Italian workers who cross over to Switzerland to work every day. There have been deaths naturally and the Cantonal university hospital is pretty much saturated. But everyone is behaving very nicely. The Swiss are a docile, obedient people and also very organised. A bit like their Swiss watches, Switzerland works sometimes a bit like a clockwork. The police do occasionally have to intervene - mostly with the youth who don't always respect the no more than 5 person per gathering - but generally speaking, things are peaceful and calm. And the youth - well it's part of their nature to feel invincible isn't it. Also our shops are stocked with everything. No shortage and they filter everyone at the entrance and we have to disinfect our hands before going in and all. Buses and trains are near empty too. I know I'm hugely lucky. I look in dismay at certain countries - Venezuela, India, Pakistan, Somalia... and all the other places .. the USA too which has such widespread poverty and people who don't have medical coverage. And I certainly take all these places deeply into my meditations. What more can one do?

I absolutely love Switzerland. Lived there for a few years in different places because I worked for Swissair. You have a gorgeous country. One would think that a place like the US would be as well organized because it has so many resources, but it is fast becoming the epicentre of the pandemic. Canada is way better, thank goodness.
Ahhh, youth, Yes, invincible. Do you remember when we were like that? LOL

You know, I wish some of us, here, at CofT (those who would like to) could meet virtually on Zoom for example. It would be great to be able to see each other and talk virtually.

There is, of course, the intimation that this is, or could become the Big One. From your own experience this morning, though, it would seem to indicate that that is not the case. If it is a wargame, it is an important one because we do have to be prepared. We haven't been that well prepared in the past, nor even, today, by the many shortages of equipment in the hospital, etc., etc.

I don't believe it's the Big One. There would be many many more dead if it were.

We're not done yet...

And also they'll find a vaccination and medicine that works. It won't take that long. About ten or so of the biggest pharmaceutical companies have formed a consortium and they are working together (for once!!!!) on a cure.

I'm sure of that, too. Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't think the cards ever lie and my reading definitely pointed towards a prophylactic of some kind.

I think the Big One will come at another time. But then, what do I know. We all base ourselves on history, on the workings of pandemics, our experience and our intuition. The rest... well the rest will be history one day. That being said, even if it had spread even more and caused many more deaths because no attempts were made to control it, I still don't think it's the Big One. And it seems anyway that one becomes immune when one has caught it so that's a helluva good news. No, the Big One will be as bad as Ebola I think. There will be no spontaneous remissions. I hope as a society we manage to escape from it. It's up to us to build a proper and decent civilisation for everyone first though. The last one is dead and in ruins so let's pull up our sleeves and get to work.

Definitely build a proper and decent civilization, as you say. Ebola would be absolutely terrible. Nothing to be done there, I think, if it became a pandemic. Could well spell the end of human civilization. We need to raise our collective consciousness (and the unconscious, too). Really, really raise it. Perhaps we need other beings who inhabit the universe to visit us and help us.

I'm probably sounding crazy again, but I cannot help believing that we can possibly be the only (relatively) intelligent species in the vastness. I'm terrible at math, but, surely, the laws of probability contradict there only being one sentient, intelligent form of life in our universe.

I don't think you're crazy at all. If we don't keep learning, one day we will become extinct. It seems we have the unique gift of self-awareness.

It seems to me that we cannot afford to let it go to waste.

We may become extinct one day as a species. But that's okay. You with your spiritual practices, you probably know that no-one ever dies. Do go and watch that interview with Llewellyn Vaughan Lee, Raven. I really think you'd love it.

I'm sure we will. The same way that I'm sure that our sun will go supernova one day and that will be that for our solar system.

I have to smile at what you say, because I definitely believe that our very essence never dies. We are the wave that rises out of the ocean of consciousness - the great emptiness - and returns to it. I'm off to watch the interview and will share my thoughts with you once I have. Thank you so much, again.

I so enjoyed this conversation with you, Diana, and look forward to more opportunities to exchange ideas with you.