XII The Stillpoint : Where Eternity and Time meet

XII The Stillpoint
Major Arcana - Sacred Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck

Major Arcana Card XII The Stillpoint

(traditionally The Hanged Man)

 Being here, behind the Veil of Wisdom, we have to become

a part of the illusionary reality in order to truly transform our

perceptions and understanding.   This world can be likened to a

web, a matrix, birthed by the Mother of the World.  She has

to devour us so that we can truly become a part of Her

and in return, we will see the world through Her wise and

all-loving eyes.

The ancients taught that we have to enter the cauldron of Ceridwen

and that she will boil us down till only the bones remain.

At first we may be blinded and enchanted by

her spell or we may be disenchanted from day one.

Either way, we will come to know this world as a place of

both pleasure and pain and we may feel that we are being tortured without

any good reason. In Mary's story we witness her absolute loss as her beloved

Son is crucified and dies in front of her eyes.

The sacrifice that this experience of reality demands from each

one of us, can be regarded as a sacrament.  Sacrament is a word derived from Latin which means

sacred, hallow, to make sacred, mystery or solemn oath.

In the Christian mysteries a sacrament is regarded as a visible sign of Grace.

And indeed, this is what The Stillpoint card is :

a visible sign of Grace.

In order to enter The Stillpoint and to access the Grace of Bliss,
we have to sacrifice the enchantment of Time.

Hildegard of Bingen speaks of the 'happy fault'.

In the same way that the fall of Lucifer was a happy fault

or a blessing in disguise, are we blessed with the stillpoint of sacrifice

and the gift of Grace.  The highest price that is demanded

of us, more than once during the course of our lives,

is the sacrifice that is required in order for us to receive what

we truly want.  An artist cannot create without destroying

something which exists.  You cannot eat to survive without

killing something, even if you are only killing plants.

Often you cannot honour yourself and your own journey without

disappointing another.  Some sacrifices seem lesser than others.

Some sacrifices seem easier than others.

One can regard birth into this world in which the Light

is not easily visible, as a sacrifice and a sacrament.

The Birth of Jesus also tells the story of the Soul

or the True Self, Isa.  In the Isa Upanishad we follow

the journey of Isa, the true Self.  The Arabic

word for Jesus is Isa.  

Jesus, the likeness of the Soul or Self,

was born in a cave, hidden from the view of those

who meant him harm.  There were many obstacles

and challenges to both Mary and Joseph

and their Son Jesus' birth and childhood.

In a similar way is the birth of the Soul into this world

a precarious and precious event in each person's life story.

Childhood are fraught with emotional and psychic danger and

disappointment and betrayal.  Most people grow up never really

falling in love with themselves or even accepting the self

for who they are and who they can be.

And thus we experience the pain of becoming

part of the soup in Cerridwen's cauldron;

being boiled down to nothing.  We have to become

nothing.  We lose all sense of self-value;

we become completely disenchanted with this world

and the people who live in it and we die

to all that is dear and important to us.

But the image of the crucifix offers us the understanding
and illumination that by sacrificing our personal
drive into the exterior world of time and space and by
 entering the Stillpoint within, the highest sacrifice
will bring us absolute rebirth and transformation
and we will experience life from a different reality.

an extract from The Major Arcana, The Sacred Mysteries of Mary Tarot

a work in progress to be published 2016/7

You may be interested in following my annual
art novena to Our Lady of Lourdes starting
on 3 February 2016 at Cloister of the Heart
http://pathofdivinelove.blogspot.com
Nine days of art and sacred intent

blessings
Hettienne