This Bing wallpaper image popped up on my computer the other day suggesting a direction for my second piece in a series on how Chrysalis Tarot works. You’ll recognize this Buddha art as the inspiration for Chrysalis’ Three of Spirals, “Contemplation.”

You may also notice that the blog’s title was inspired by the movie “Contact,” which starred Jodi Foster. I watch it at least twice a year. In shortwave radio communication, and communication in general, the term CQ identifies a “general call.” Anyone who hears the call can respond.

Chrysalis is based on the premise that consciousness is non-local, a term in physics used to denote “action at a distance.” Examples of non-locality are gravity, electromagnetism, and tarot, indeed any action not explained by one object’s physical interaction with another.

Action at a distance became weird, or as Einstein put it, spooky, when quantum physics and the strangeness of quantum entanglement were introduced. When two protons, for example, are entangled, they can be located at opposite ends of the universe yet still remain connected or correlated. If you spin one proton clockwise, the other will spin counterclockwise instantaneously, although the two are separated by gazillions of light years.

Chrysalis Tarot works because the entire universe is connected by whatever defines the ground state of the universe. In the terms of quantum physics, this ground state is known as the quantum vacuum or zero-point energy. In theology, the ground state is, obviously, God; Paul Tillich asserted that God was the “Ground of All Being.” In the metaphysics of Chrysalis Tarot, the ground state of the universe is consciousness. That’s right. The universe is conscious of itself and growing more conscious of itself by the second. And the speed of consciousness pays no heed to the speed of light.

Another metaphysical tenet of Chrysalis is panpsychism, which asserts everything is conscious. Such a view is not exactly groundbreaking news: panpsychism is one of the oldest philosophies around. Plato was a panpsychist. The Greek goddess Psyche was a panpsychist. As a Chrysalis archetype, Psyche represents personal transformation and the Universal Mind.

The human brain is analogous to a radio. It tunes to different frequencies. When tuned to its own frequency, it experiences self-awareness, a good thing (visualize a self-reflective Buddha under a bodhi tree staring at his or her belly). Well, it’s a good thing as long as it also tunes to other frequencies – other humans, intuition, dreams, ancestors and even protons on the other side of the universe. “Come back!”

Chrysalis encourages you to tune to and contemplate the frequencies of relevant archetypes as a means not only of increasing your own self-awareness, but also to better comprehend the true nature of reality. Your spiritual growth and wellbeing depend upon your willingness to soar beyond society’s imposed intellectual constraints, most notably its petrified dogmas and Earth-bound ideologies.

© Toney Brooks