Tarot Meditation Card for Today - Osho Zen Major Arcana - Thunderbolt (16)

Drawing the Thunderbolt card is not for the weak of heart; in a traditional deck this card is represented as the Tower.  I find the card a fitting one to draw on the anniversary of what I want to henceforward refer to as my Spiritual Awakening.  And for me it was very much a Thunderbolt event, a lightening strike that utterly obliterated who I was previously.  I am still sifting through the rubble and building a new self.  I definitely feel the fire burning in my heart chakra from day to day as the natural kundalini awakening and subsequent rising occurs with the Uranus Opposition.  If I were to designate a card as the Uranus Opposition, this card is the one I would choose.  The lightening strike is the awakening and the fire burning at the base of the spine upward is the rising.  Since most of us in the West have no knowledge of kundalini, and thus no preparation, we get a Thunderbolt experience.

Again, I will refer to the Liquid Light of Sex: Kundalini, Astrology, and the Key Life Transition by Barbara Hand Clow.  This book is a must read for anyone between the age of 35 and 40 in preparation for the Thunderbolt that will be the Uranus Opposition.  What does it mean to have a self decimated in a single extreme moment?  And how do you choose to move forward.  As Clow points out in her book, many people return to the former self, failing to take full advantage of the kundalini opening and opportunity.  If it is particularly frightening, then a return to the familiar is not surprising, but it is spiritually devastating.   We, in the West, have largely lost touch with or never even had a eye on spiritual development and the natural phases of the process.  Astrology shows us a map of development.  Whether it is the 12 year cycle of Jupiter or the nearly 30 year cycle of Saturn, there are Spiritual key moments.  The only one we deign to recognize these days is the yearly Solar Return, on our birthday.  And we don't recognize it spiritually as much as we do materially (how many gifts did I get, what gift do I want).  The first Saturn Return (28 to 30) is a tune up for the Uranus Opposition (40 to 42), which is a tune up for the Chiron Return (49 to 51), which is a tune up for the second Saturn Return (58 to 60).

The story of the Major Arcana is the story of spiritual development.  After Thunderbolt comes Silence:

More contrasting cards could not appear next to each other in the story.  After Thunderbolt, you need Silence; only through obliteration can you hope to hear true Silence.