OshoZen; Fire, Success 6 of Wands

Briar Rose

Osho Zen; Fire, Success, 6 of Wands

This is the card with the woman and the Tiger. Now we've experienced participation, the totality of taking time to do a task right, and now we've got:

Success.

To me this card means persevance is the way to achive my success.

They say if you can bite a tiger on it's tail you can do anything!
 

Judith D

The cards are definitely progressing aren't they!
This makes me think of the old limerick - 'Here comes the tiger, decidedly plumper; what's that in its mouth? Oh, it's Agatha's jumper!'
Nonsense, but true too - if you are going to ride that tiger, take care it does not bite you and swallow you up completely. Success comes with its dangers as well as its euphoria and celebration. And if you can go so high - then you can also expect the depths. And the reminder that 'this too will pass' is so necessary.
The rider with his tickertape parade and absolute enjoyment of the moment does not see the smirk on the face of the tiger, whose gentle paws - no claws out as yet - are padding over a globe - I am struggling to find a meaning with that. More thought required.
 

Briar Rose

I was looking at the Spiral Tarot card, Major Arcana, #8, Strength

It reminded me of the 6 of Wands from the Osho Zen Tarot we are studing, with the woman and the Tiger. The Spiral book said that it's taming of the Tiger.
 

Grizabella

I just posted on the 7 of Fire about my crash. Well, it came after my "riding the tiger" of having gone from food stamps to almost a six figure income in my first five years of sobriety.

It's very true in life in general that there are highs and there are lows, just like the waves on the ocean. I described a major low coming after the major high I mentioned here, but there are all degrees of highs and lows.

I used to think there was going to be this ultimate high place I could get to and then, once there, life would be good and I'd always stay there. In sobriety, I've learned that's not true. It's a roller coaster or, as in Osho, a riding the waves up and down in life.
 

Alan Ross

Judith D said:
The rider with his tickertape parade and absolute enjoyment of the moment does not see the smirk on the face of the tiger, whose gentle paws - no claws out as yet - are padding over a globe - I am struggling to find a meaning with that. More thought required.

I see the globe as representing the rider's feeling that he is on top of the world. As for the tiger's smirk, I see the tiger thinking, "You can ride me for a short time, but you do not own me." No one owns the tiger!

Like everyone else, I've had times when I've struggled and times when I've ridden the tiger of success. The peaks and valleys of my life may not have been as extreme as they've been for some - I've lived a modest and fairly uneventful life - but even small setbacks and slight windfalls can have a dramatic emotional impact.

The funny thing is, the most emotionally trying times for me have not been during those periods when I've struggled, but rather at the moment when my time riding the tiger is just coming to an end. It is so easy to cling and to try to make the good times last forever. So difficult to just relax and go with the flow.

I once read a description of a poster that I would love to have. In this poster is a wise-looking guru dressed in flowing white robes. He is on a surfboard, surfing in the waters off some tropical beach. The caption reads something like, "You cannot eliminate the waves of life, but you can learn to ride them skillfully."
 

Judith D

Thank you, Alan - on top of the world. That is perfect
 

squeakmo9

I think there have been several times when I had thought that I've "arrived", but they all proved to be false. So I guess the success is as true as the person riding atop of that tiger, lol.
With one half of the guy in shadow, I think that there are some unforseen circumstances that the victor is totally unaware of. I don't know where I read it, but there was a passage about living half asleep, and that whatever you are unaware of (subconscious behavior) will make a puppet out of you. In the next card-7 of Fire, that does seem to be the case.
 

armonia

oshozen 7 of fire: success

Oh the ephemeral quality of success!! The tickertape parade is a great metaphor, as we all know a parade can't last all day, and has to end some time. Sometimes the hardest part for me to be successful, is then to later allow myself to slip and fall, a bit, here and there. This is success in the making when you allow for the fact that you need to fall a bit, in order to get back up and try again, and then to be a success again. Despite the pressures that may be placed on you (internally or externally by family or friends), there is no shame in allowing for the process of growth, in between successes.
 

Master_Margarita

"Circumstances are always neutral." It's easier to call this philosophy forth during bad times than good, but it applies equally to good fortune and bad. The artist/author are sticking fairly close to the RWS meaning of the Six of Wands with this interpretation though.

I'd pair this card with the Wheel of Fortune, if I were in a pairing mood.
 

ThtDancerGuy

Osho Zen; Fire, Success, 6 of Wands

This is the card with the woman and the Tiger. Now we've experienced participation, the totality of taking time to do a task right, and now we've got:

Success.

To me this card means persevance is the way to achive my success.

They say if you can bite a tiger on it's tail you can do anything!

I feel that the symbolism behind this character riding the tiger over the entire planet is saying that while success can and usually will feel like you are "on top of the world," do not get too heady with it because it can all turn on you in a moment's time, just as the tiger could easily turn and rip the character limb from limb. It also says that while you feel like you do not have to, keep a very keen eye out for that and those which have helped you to create this success, because there will always be that threat that will be held over you – seen or unseen – of falling down the ranks due to external influences.