Track By Tracks: The Shiva Hypothesis - Ouroboros Stirs (2018)


1. Enkindling:

The lighting of the lantern of wisdom, the spark that sets the Ouroboros into being to start the endless cycle of death and rebirth. Is it more reasonable to assume that an endless process has always been in place or that it must have had an initial spark?

2. Ananda Tandava: The Destruction of the World by Water:

"There have been, and will be again, many destructions of mankind arising out of many causes; the greatest have been brought about by the agencies of fire and water, and other lesser ones by innumerable other causes." –Plato 

Shiva, as Nataraja, has two different divine dances by which he destroys and rebuilds the world; the Ananda Tandava and the Rudra Tandava, the peaceful dance of water and the violent dance of fire. 

Here we see the former, which is the dissolution, the surrender or suspension. Life goes to sleep and awakens into a brighter realm. This is the transition of the hanged man of the tarot to the universe; “12 to 21, in brilliance of motion”

Placed on top of each other, the Ankh of eternal life is assembled in the green light of Tau.

3. Caduceus:

The caduceus is the staff of Hermes Trismegistus, the patron of alchemy, the god of magic and the matured form of the magician in the tarot.

By retreating from the world and devoting himself to meditation, reflection and introspection, he has become the hermit, the manifestation of wisdom. He is now able to create everything he once attempted to, but has no more need to do so. He is exalted above the mundane world and will only interact with it to teach others who would seek his enlightenment.

4. Praedormitium:

In the dark, oppressive night, the soul is forced into a journey. Although the path should be clear, the wanderer is blinded by the frightening shadows of the night, causing him to lose his way. Will he reach enlightenment or descend into madness?

5. Maze of Delusion:

The magician of the tarot is unhindered, unfiltered action, the pure creative force. Yet it is unstable and immature. The way in which this magician alters perception is merely prestidigitation. Action without reflection, without consideration, is sterile. Thoth, in his baboon form, guards the transition from the mundane into the transcendental, but the magician will never make this transition unless he turns to introspection and makes his journey towards becoming the hermit.

6. Build Your Cities on the Slopes of Mount Vesuvius:

This quote from Nietsche is an advice to live dangerously and face the perils and obstacles of life. In this image, Bacchus stands at the foot of the volcano. This can be seen as symbolising a life of frivolity in the face of danger or the ability to face the hardships of life without fear.

7. Carrying off the effigy:

As described by sir Frazer in "The Golden Bough", the people in sixteenth century Bavaria and many other cultures had a custom to welcome springtime by constructing an effigy of death out of straw. They then carried the effigy out of the village to throw it into the river, burn it or beat it with sticks. This was said to keep death out of the village for the year. In the eastern parts of the Netherlands, we can still see a remainder of such traditions in the easter bonfire, which is also meant to herald in the spring. A barrel of straw on a pole is placed on top of the pyre and people watch until it falls down and burns. With the introduction of christianity, this barrel was dubbed the Judas, who needed to be punished for his betrayal.

However elaborate these spring rites might be, they never seem to have stopped winter from returning.

8. With Spirits Adrift:

Many tribes used to believe in a soul that was detachable from the body. It came out at night, to live out the dreams of the sleeping host. These dreams were not without danger, for the soul could die or become trapped to never find its way back to the body. When they were suddenly woken up during a dream in which they were far away from their own home, they believed that the bond between body and soul had been severed, causing them to die soon after. Medicine men sometimes "caught" spirits to sell them back to their owner.

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