Powerful forces are always trying to confuse things, making us believe things are the opposite of what they are. They take advantage of our ignorance, poking at our lack of discernment, making us doubt our own lived experience.
Here in Guadalajara, going to the Sacred Arts Museum, 90% of the paintings are of Christ in pure agony, dying on a cross. There are very few pictures of Christ in pure life, living and teaching.
It's common to hear phrases like "Jesus Christ died for your sins." Perhaps the truer line is "Jesus Christ lived for your sins" - teaching, and leading a way out of suffering, leading a path to greater wisdom and happiness. Death can only be a part of life, and a death is only significant because a life is significant.
In the 20th century, they took the swastika. If you look at the origin of the word "swastika", we find it means something like "good thing" or "good luck charm". In Thailand, they took the Sanskrit word "svasti" meaning "goodness" and pronounce it in Thai as "sawasdee", wishing you well.
The symbol itself means many good things - of course good luck, the sun, Buddhahood, and even God. Yet in English when we say "swastika" or a see a swastika, we think of evil. We have been fooled into thinking that good means evil.
In the past few months, they have turned hugs and handshakes upside down. They tell us that hugs and handshakes, symbols and acts of family, friendship and peace are evil.
Another symbol that people try to pervert is the fool, or the clown. People started using the clown to show how upside-down things are, to point out the absurdity of the world, and poke fun at it a little. The saying goes, if you want to tell people the truth, you'd better make them laugh. So of course, the symbol of the clown must be portrayed as hateful.
People poke fun at comedian Joe Rogan, making memes about him asking every guest on his podcast whether they've tried DMT. Rumour has it that Joe Rogan has been taking the responsibility of giving many people DMT, and many of them are also comedians - jesters.
I've heard a few stories about people having visions of jesters or trickster spirits while under the influence of DMT. Rogan describes one experience where he was surrounded by them, all laughing at him and flipping him the bird.
The jester is such an important symbol, and a kind of paradox. The jester is a symbol of absurdity, but it is also the cure to absurdity. The fool is the one who can point out absurdity. The fool is the one who can correct falsehoods, by telling untruths. Yes, a fool can say something entirely false as a joke, to provoke the realisation of greater levels of truth.
In the world, things may be chaotic, bizarre, and absurd. More so when we don't have the tools to provide context.
In difficult times, the sensible thing to do is look within - any form of introspection: prayer, meditation, just sitting and thinking without the need of objective.
Things are pretty weird out there... Are they weird in here?
In the past month I've been doing a lot of Facebook Live videos with the intention of calming the fear that's present all over the world. I hope you tune in, and I hope they bring you greater peace and perspective in your life.
Original title image by Adrian Malec from Pixabay
