How do you have a life of your own when you are part of the oneness of humanity?
I was reading recently about the wave/ocean relationship that is often bought up to illustrate your point.
It seems that we in the West are conditioned (by one means or the other) to identify waves as individuals ie that wave is big that one small etc. Whereas the Pacific Islanders are more apt to say 'look the ocean is waving at us'.
(I had a moment in lodge last night, where the individuals faded away and we were all one, and in my mind's eye the Sacred Lamp moved from its usual place to the centre of the Mosaic Pavement. Wonderful experience. I noticed afterwards that no-one was in a hurry to go home despite the late hour - everyone just wanted to sit around and share thoughts and experiences)
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting…trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home -Wordsworth
‘OZ’ stands for Oscar Zoroaster. The Wizard of Oz’s full name is ‘Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs’ O.Z. P.I.N.H.E.A.D.
...and...Those Ubiquitous Masons
We can also look at The Wizard of Oz with a Masonic lens. Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty are said to be the “three grand pillars of Masonry.” A learned Freemason recently delivered a paper saying that each of us meets Beauty, Strength, and Wisdom on their inner journey. Could this be the journey down the yellow brick road? After all, it is no big stretch to say that the Scarecrow represents Wisdom because of his desire for a brain, the Tin Woodman Beauty because of his wish for a heart, and the Lion Strength for even more obvious reasons.
We could further point out that the witches of the East and West-the horizontal axis, the material plane-are evil, while the witches of North and South-the vertical axis or spiritual dimension-are good. In the book, Dorothy begins in the east and travels to the center, thence west, then back to the center, then south to consult the good witch there. It is noteworthy that she does not visit the north, the place of darkness.
It may be worth noting that the author was a Theosophist and therefore the symbolism was probably intentional.
I introduced our new EA's to the symbolism of the Wizard of Oz last night in the hope that it would induce them to look more closely at each and every thing they see in a Masonic ceremony.
I opened the floor to input on what they thought parts of the story might mean. I learned a lot . I had not considered previously that the Bad Witches monkey army might be symbolising our Monkey Mind.
Did you know that there were two good witches, even though only one appears in the movie? The bad witches were of the East and the West, the horizontal or earth arm of a cross, and the good witches were of the vertical arm of a cross, the Heavenly or Spiritual connection.
Dorothy's three companions represent personal choices (brain), love and intuition (heart), fearless, unwavering faith in yourself (courage).
Ever notice that ToTo is never wrong? What would he represent? Intuition? Still small voice within?
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting…trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home -Wordsworth
Adolf Hitler was triskaidekaphobic. A specific fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia. Tetraphobia is the fear of the number 4 in China, Japan, and Korea. Why would people fear a number? Why would some countries fear a particular number and others not?
Apparently the word for 'four" and the word for "death' are almost the same in these languages, hence the superstition. To give four somethings to an Asian somebody means you wish them dead.
Another silly superstition is the length of noodles. At New Years, one serves uncut noodles (very awkward to eat) because it means you wish people a "long life". It has now gotten to be so prevalent a superstition that now Asian noodles are NEVER cut. We had a Chinese person over for dinner and I actually made a point of asking him if he had a problem with me serving him broken-short noodles, since I always break them up for my partner, who has trouble with his teeth and so finds it difficult to eat long noodles. I didn't want the friend to think we wished him a SHORT life!
"Truth is the best spiritual practice in this the Black Aeon" Shri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Question: If Reality is One, how can numbers have a life of their own?
Remember: ALL numbers are made up of ONES. If you meditate on the Tree of Life you will find out about the "life of numbers"! i never had any interest in numbers UNTIL I began working on the TOL again. Now, we have a MUCH better relationship!
"Truth is the best spiritual practice in this the Black Aeon" Shri Ramakrishna Paramahansa