Maps of consciousness : I Ching, tantra, tarot, alchemy, astrology, actualism

171 Pages·1976·43.75 MB·English

by  Metzner

$3.95
Maps of RALPH METZNER
I Ching, Tantra, Tarot, Alchemy, Astrology,
and Actualism: How they work, how they
may be applied as explorations of the mind,
and what they can contribute to the search
for meaning and growth toward individuality.
Consciousness
MAPS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Ralph Metzner
MAPS OF
CONSCIOUSNESS
1 CH1NG TANTRA
•
TAROT ALCHEMY
•
ASTROLOGY ACTUAL1SM
•
Collier Books
A Division of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.
NEW YORK
Collier Macmillan Publishers
LONDON
Copyright © 1971 by Ralph Metzner
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
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Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 78-142346
First Collier Books Edition 1971
Fourth Printing 1976
Maps of Consciousness is also published in a hardcover
edition by Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.
Printed in the United States of America
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
For quotations from The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, ed. by G. Adler, M.
Fordham, H. Read, translated by R. F. C. Hull, Bollingen Series XX, vol. 13,
Alchemical Studies (copyright © 1967 by Princeton University Press); vol. 14,
Mysterium Coniunctionis (copyright © 1963 by Princeton University Press);
vol. 16, The Practice of Psychotherapy (copyright © 1954 and 1966 by Prince­
ton University' Press); passim quotes are reprinted by permission of Princeton
University Press.
For quotations from the I Ching: or Book of Changes, translated by Richard
Wilhelm, rendered into English by Cary' F. Baynes, Bollingen Series XIX
(copyright © 1950 and 1967 by Princeton University Press); passim quotes
are reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press.
The prose and verse quotations in the Actualism chapter are reprinted by
permission of the author, Russell Paul Schofield. The prose passages quoted are
from an unpublished manuscript “Transmutational Mergence as Taught in the
School of Actualism.” All verse quotations are from Imprint Unmistakable,
published in 1970 in Los Angeles, California. All rights reserved by Russell
Paul Schofield.
Illustrations:
In the I Ching chapter, “Eight Trigrams in Context of Nature” is used courtesy
of Rebekah Lowden.
In the I Ching chapter, "Eight Trigrams in Primal Arrangement” and “Eight
Trigrams in Inner World Arrangement” are used courtesy of Jose and Miriam
Arguelles.
In the Tantra chapter, four photographs are used courtesy of Alan Atwell.
In the Tantra chapter, the illustrations of the mudras adapted for western sit­
ting posture are used courtesy of George Kukar.
In the Tantra chapter, illustration of Siva Ardhanarisbara and, in the Actualism
chapter, Dance of Siva are reprinted courtesy of the Archaeological Survey of
India.
In the Tarot chapter, with the exception of the Empress and the Temperance
cards, which are from the Waite Deck, the Tarot Cards are reproduced from
the B.O.T.A. Deck, by permission of Builders of the Adytum, 5105 Figueroa
Street, Los Angeles, California.
In the Tarot chapter, the cards of the New Tarot are reproduced from T: The
New Tarot, the Tarot for the Aquarian Age, copyright © 1969 by Rosalind
Sharpe Wall and John Star Cooke. By permission of Western Star Press.
In the Astrology chapters, geometric diagrams and charts are used courtesy of
Wes Buist of Technical Graphics, San Francisco, California.
In the Astrology II chapter, original drawings “Three Water Signs” and “Three
Fire Signs” are used courtesy of Emile Pierre.
This hook is dedicated to
The teacher—who provided the keys—
and to
Rebekah—most precious counterpart—
and to
You, dear reader—in the hope that you may find
in it something of what you seek—
and to
God-Children everywhere
with
Light and Joy
PREFACE
This book is an exploration of consciousness. other methods of changing consciousness and
In such a venture we necessarily confront the expanding awareness, including oriental yoga,
limiting effects of fixed mental, emotional, per­ Gurdjieff’s self-observation, Reichian bioener­
ceptual, and behavioral patterns, conditioned getics, Gestalt therapy, psychosynthesis, en­
into each level of consciousness. Maps and tech­ counter groups, psychodrama, and others. I
niques, devised to free consciousness from these found most of these methods valuable in some
limitations, are the subject of this book. Since I ways, but limited.
cannot pretend to be completely free of bias, it During this time, the writings by and about
is only fair to the reader to make clear some of Gurdjieff were a constant source of inspiration.
these factors which have influenced my own Also very valuable and illuminating were the
thinking so that any remaining bias can be “up works of Buckminster Fuller, Teilhard de
front.” Chardin, Hermann Hesse, Wilhelm Reich, Carl
Fifteen years ago, at Oxford, I studied the Jung, Lama Govinda, Aldous Huxley, Alan
linguistic philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Watts, Frank Herbert, Joan Grant, and of
Gilbert Rvle, John Austin, and their followers. course, the incomparable I Clung.
Wittgenstein once said, “Philosophy is the dis­ About three years ago, some unusual personal
ease for which it should be the cure.” This experiences began to steer me in the direction
taught me respect for the perplexities of the of what is known as the “psychic” or the “oc­
relationship between experience and language. cult”—an area academically unfashionable, but
Later at Harvard, I imbibed heavy doses of otherwise very popular. I began to see how
psychoanalysis and behaviorist learning theory, astrology, the Tarot, and others of the esoteric
which I found a rather unpalatable and in­ systems were originally intended to be used as
digestible mixture at the time. Both interests maps for the path of the evolutionary develop­
came abruptly to an end, when, in March 1961, ment of consciousness.
I took my first psychedelic drug. I shall always In 1968 I met Russell Paul Schofield and since
be grateful to Harvard for providing me with that time I have had the privilege of being a
that extremely educational experience. student of Agni Yoga as taught in the School of
During the next six years I explored the Actualism, of which he is the founder. From him
extraordinary inner worlds opened up for me and Carol Ann Schofield I have learned more
by the psychedelics. I learned a very great deal than I could even begin to enumerate. This book
from these experiences, and from the many has benefited immeasurably from their wisdom,
fellow-explorers who allowed me to share them; and from the perspectives which the practice of
especially from those two remarkable individu­ the methods they teach has opened up.
als Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (now Valley Center, California
Baba Ram Dass). I also investigated various Spring Equinox, 1970
CONTENTS
Preface vii
INTRODUCTION: The New Renaissance 1
1 CHING: Change—The Evolutionary Constant 14
TANTRA: The Exaltation of Experience 30
TAROT: Signposts on the Way 54
ALCHEMY: The Chemistry of Inner Union 83
ASTROLOGY I: The Celestial Scenario 106
ASTROLOGY II: The Planetary Perspective 121
ACTUALISM: The Actual Design of Man as a Cosmic Being 141
MAPS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
INTRODUCTION
The New Renaissance
It is becoming increasingly evident
that today we are living in a period of spiritual
renewal. Just as the European Renaissance of five
hundred years ago was marked by a sudden, dra­
Let him who seeks, not cease seeking until matic extension of physical exploration and an
equally profound extension of perception leading
he finds, and when he finds, he will be
to a spectacular flowering of the arts and sci­
troubled, and when he has been troubled, ences, so now again we are witnessing the simul­
taneous expansion of our world in both outer and
he will marvel. . .
inner directions. Emerging out of the darkness of
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THOMAS the machine-dominated industrial age into the
speed and brilliance of the electronic epoch, man
has, for the first time, physically left Earth’s grav­
ity field and reaches for the stars. At the same
time, enlightened with a new clarity of per­
ception, man faces with amazement the vast, un­
explored interior spaces that open up beyond the
hitherto accepted yet artificially created bound­
aries of his consciousness.
The new renaissance greatly exceeds the old
in range and depth, for it is no longer a question
of simply expanding our inner and outer hori­
zons. We are completing a cycle: the era of
partial views, of divisive ideas and ideologies is
waning. The first photographs of the whole earth
returned from space signaled the beginning of
the new cycle of all-inclusiveness: there she
hung like a blue-green jewel in the velvet black
of deep space, laced with sparkling atmospheric
veils—our spaceship, our mother, our planet. The
world is one. We are all together now.
The vision of the unity of our physical world
has been repeatedly proclaimed in our time. On
the basis of his evolutionary studies, Teilhard de
Chardin, the eminent French Jesuit paleontolo-