A metaphysical nexus is defined as a shadowy, reactive juncture of two of more things. The two things in this instance are the metaphysical concepts of Good and Evil, two terms that are much more difficult to define. Philosophers have been trying for years with diverse results. For our purposes here, we associate good with the dominant presence of order and evil with the dominant presence of disorder or chaos.
Like everything in the universe, these two concepts may be expressed in terms of frequency and vibration. Good is among the higher order of frequencies and evil is among the lower, e.g. good is love, evil is hate. Good is healing; evil is destructive. Confidence and calmness are good; fear and loathing are evil. The reason we humans now find ourselves staring down this nexus is because the levels of fear, hate and disunity in the world are off the charts. By my historical reckoning, in the past such extraordinary levels of fear and hate were last experienced during and immediately prior to the American Revolution, the Civil War and the twin crises of the Great Depression and World War II.
In Chrysalis there are, by design, no low-frequency negative archetypes. Several cards, such as Bella Rosa and Ariadne, symbolize the shadow or dark side of the psyche, which we each possess. Spiritual growth (a good thing) requires that we integrate our shadow-self and not repress who we really are. Since shadow work is not the upshot of this piece, here’s a helpful introduction to the topic.
Kali (left) is the Hindu mother-goddess archetype of creative destruction, which can be envisaged as the crafty yet measured use of chaos to kick start some eventual greater good or higher purpose.
I used to think that a measured use of chaos was precisely what lies ahead in these stormy days and it still may well be. However, what I now intuit is a far greater and unrestrained triumph over good by the dragon of evil, as shown above. So the upshot of this blog is to offer suggestions on how to cope with this darkness and perhaps even how to mitigate it.
Holly wisely included the all-seeing Third Eye of Horus in our Kali art – don’t let Kali’s string of skulls frighten you, they symbolize higher consciousness. The Third Eye when activated represents our first and foremost coping mechanism for the chaotic times we are experiencing today. We discuss how to activate your Third Eye a few paragraphs below.
Time can be reckoned in one of three distinct ways: chaotic, cyclical or linear.¹ To focus your Third Eye on what lies in the offing, what we call Kali’s Crazy Puzzle, we must appeal to cyclical time; prophecy and precognition are in part a reinterpretation of historical patterns filtered by a healthy dose of intuition. The Third Eye (6th chakra) is the mystical conduit for human intuition.
From our Chrysalis Companion Book: [Kali’s] Third Eye reminds us to use intuition and always to remain open to new ways of thinking. Such openness is the key to locating the all-important cornerpieces in Kali’s Crazy Puzzle. Cornerpieces can help you identify situations in life, e.g. people, beliefs, bad habits, etc., that have become obstacles to self-fulfillment. Kali will then motivate you to act appropriately and in your best interest. Like a jigsaw puzzle, Kali hides her solutions in plain sight.
“Our lives are shaped by creative and subjective forces that can only be intuited by the Third Eye. The unicorn’s horn symbolizes the bridge of perception that connects our world to the Otherworld.”
Recall that the word Otherworld refers to the spiritual Akashic Field, a vast unseen storehouse of information situated in the aether. The Third Eye can gain access, the consciousness can not. When activated, the Third Eye can glean the immediate future with varying degrees of clarity via meditation, prayer, yoga and other “bridge of perception” relaxation-response techniques.
As you know, Chrysalis Tarot was designed to help you develop your innate intuitive skills and creative imagination. In Chrysalis, the Suit of Scrolls corresponds to the element of Air. In traditional tarot this suit is called the Suit of Swords. Chrysalis’ Scroll cards represent the fine qualitative balance between the intellect – your attitudes and beliefs – and intuition. As I noted above, the intellect should remain open to new ideas and new ways of thinking in order to stimulate spiritual growth and encourage self-awareness so that you can make sense of your life.
In times of chaos, events unfold in no discernable path; the essential nature of chaos is randomness. This is surely one reason many of us feel ill at ease in these days. There is no way to foresee where today’s hate and fear will lead. The only thing we know for certain is that it’s better not to go there.
If you are one of the many among us experiencing trumped up levels of fear and hate, do try to chill out and regain perspective. The ego-driven incivility and cultural contempt infecting media and the body politic is repulsive. Moreover, it is dangerous not only to one’s personal health – both physical and spiritual – but to society as a whole.
¹A book about historical cycles you might enjoy reading: The Fourth Turning
© Toney Brooks 2021
The engraving pictured above is familiar to most everyone but few know what it’s about. Titled “The Flammarion Engraving,” the artist is unknown, but most likely was Camille Flammarion himself; the art was for a book he published in 1888. It depicts a missionary (a seeker of truth) who unexpectedly discovers where Earth and Heaven meet. More precisely, he came upon the liminal space (threshold) between them. That’s the stated objective of Chrysalis Tarot’s Papa Legba: to aid you in your discovery of 
Chrysalis Tarot 