Meditation for April 22nd, 2016
Four Sons
I just finished a Seder dinner for Passover. In the readings telling the story of the Jews leaving Egypt is an explanation of the four kinds of sons. The Wicked Som, The Simple Son, The Wise Son & The One Who Does Not Know How To Ask. They all represent the different kind of foolishness of being human. It almost seems like The Fool in the Tarot card should be four figures. What lessons can we learn?
The Wise Son is the person that sucks up all the air in the room talking about everything he or she has learned. If the Wise Son asks questions, it is just to flex the intelligent fortitude. The question is unanswerable or answered within the question itself. Wisdom is had, but at the cost of being disconnected from the human experience. Math proves that, but does not feel it.
The Simple Son is just dumb. It isn’t ignorance is bliss, it is ignorance is fact. The Simple Son will try to copy The Wise One with questions, but it all comes out simple and sophomoric. “What is this?” is not a complicated question to learn about the mysteries of life. The Simple Son will never think themselves as Simple Sons.
The Wicked Son is the one full of cynicism and mistrust. They liken the past’s struggles with his own, as if no one has ever struggled before. The Wicked Son has a huge impact on others. The very hope of the human race is dismantled by the jeering Wicked Son. Chaos is comfort and can’t stand the comfort others find in structure.
The One Who Does Know How To Ask is the most common one. If it isn’t asked it can not be known and therefore innocent. He does not know how to ask the wise one questions to learn from others’ mistakes, she does not know how to ask the Simple Son to elaborate on what he is trying to ask or how to ask the Wicked Son if she is lying or being sarcastic. The world is being torn down at the seams and she can’t ask why or what can be done hoping to walk away an innocent person.
The fool walks into a dreamscape and find that their very character will keep them from ever truly loving another, appreciating the world around them, knowing ones limitations or how to be responsible for ones part.
Prayer
Prayer of the Wise One
Hear me,
I teach the ignorant
And the amatures.
I need to teach.
I need to be heard.
Only I know the whole story.
Only I can change the whole world.
Amen.
The prayer of the Simple Son
Please?
Amen.
The prayer of the Wicked Son
You do not exist.
It is more important that you do not exist
Than borrow from the imagery and symbolism of your existence.
It is more important to belittle others’ pain.
Than to treat mine with a prayer.
It is more important to me that I am right and you are wrong.
I am an extremist anti-extremist.
The world is black & white,
Yet I am gray.
You are classified,
I am not.
Fuck Amens.
The One Who Does Not Know How To Ask’s prayer
…
Craft
Take a tarot deck and shuffle four times.
Cut
Shuffle again
Cut again
Lay out five cards.
One in the middle and the four from the corners in a clockwise direction starting at “one o’clock”.
This will let you know what kind of a Son you are.
Cups are The Wise Son’s domain
Pentacles is The One Who Doesn’t Know How To Ask’s domain
Swords is the Simple Son’s domain
&
Wands is the Wicked Son’s domain
The major arcana will take some reading and interpretation, but should be straight forward.
Goal
It is always fun to match symbolism with us. This is why horoscopes are so fun, or what Chinese New Year we were born in or what our names mean. Religion is a terrible institution, but the spiritual meaning is beautiful. It just has been used by the rich and powerful to keep the idiots who are poor from thinking for themselves. That doesn’t mean it isn’t interesting.
Build an altar with things that has meaning for you.
Burn down a church.
Quite nice.