Justice VIII & The Hermit IX
Interactive Workshop
led by Helen Reddin
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CPD Points will be awarded for this event
In our world Justice more often than not means conformity with the social, civil and religious laws in conjunction with what is politically expedient. It is influenced by our prejudices and emotional preferences. It is the rule of law. This kind of morality works, if it does, only within the bounds of our waking lives; it does not have access to the unconscious regions of death or sleep. In other words our morality usually does not go beyond the limits of our waking ego-consciousness. It doesn’t encompass the totality of ourselves. If we are honest we know that we are capable of anything if pushed far enough, that our virtues are at best a dishonest pretension. We have abdicated our responsibility to develop an inner code of ethics and so evil runs amok in the world.
To set out on the journey to wisdom we need first of all to examine our our moral values to see the truth of them. This is the first precept of any wisdom path. We have been used to employing the ego for equilibrium, structure and regulation in our lives now we are required to let something else other than the ego bring us measure if we are to succeed on our journey. This is the Archetype of Balance, Justice VIII in the Tarot.
To set out on the journey to freedom we need to come to some sort of balance with the Natural Laws and with the Laws of the Self because we can no longer afford to waste our energy going against them, energy that can be more productively applied to fuel our spiritual transformation.
‘We must not waste our energy which is dissipated in most cases by men and women who do not understand the laws of life.’ Swami Abhedananda Yoga Psychology.
Justice VIII is the regulator of energy as sacred custom, divine law, right, truth. She is concerned with the destiny of the individual as the regulatory process of evolution.
In this workshop we will be exploring the Laws of the Self and the Energy Laws of the psyche. We will also explore Justice's representation in mythology to better understand her objectives and function in our lives.
The Hermit IX is that gift of divine spirit within us that is ready to begin the next stage of our human experience. We seek out the Hermit IX because it is in our archetypal nature to do so and also because we are driven towards him by the anxieties and emptiness of modern life. We are fed up with the political and social conditions, tired of our circumstances and the heartache of family situations.
The journey to wisdom is an inherently Natural journey and the Hermit IX represents this natural instinct, this ‘law of nature,’ that compels us out of the collective to Consciousness like a chick is compelled to break out of its shell, a butterfly to break out of its chrysalis, or like a child is compelled to stand and walk. The Hermit IX is the Archetypal Guide, a symbol of the wisdom of the Self. He holds the light of our consciousness. With the attitude of calm and focused awareness we direct our attention within to the contents of the unconscious to transform our life experiences
by conscious effort. The Hermit IX is that inner attention awakening within us because we have come into accordance with the Higher Laws of Justice VIII and so fewer and fewer of our actions will arise out of the limited desires of the ego or from the unconscious desires of the complexes.
In this workshop we will explore these two Archetypes and how they can help guide us to consciousness.
'Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.’ Robert Frost ‘The Road Not Taken’ 1920