94stranger
74. Resistance: group – will (2 red) [stage 2]
http://www.rainring.co.uk/Cards/Resistance/74.aspx
The Image
The scene is an interior, with both clothes and décor demonstrating elegance. Two women stand, one behind the other, facing towards us. The lady at the back has her gloved hands on the shoulders of the one in front. She wears an extravagantly large wide-brimmed hat, jewellery, and a tasteful gown in soft tones of red, trimmed with white. Her expression is sympathetic and concerned, in contrast to that of the woman in front, who leans forward, her hands resting on a table. She wears a two-piece gown in a strong red colour and looks angry and resentful. From the name of the card, we can easily surmise that she is resisting some suggestion or advice from the other woman.
The place of Resistance in the Process Cycle
Resistance: necessary opposition; friction of emotion against the unfettered impulse of spirit
Resistance can, but does not have to carry a negative connotation. Its appropriateness or otherwise must be judged on a case by case basis. In the process cycle, it represents the reaction of the Will against the ‘project’ as conceived by Spirit. This reaction is inevitable: we are dealing with the two polarities, which by definition are going to adopt extreme positions and then clash. It is the existence of strong assertion and counter-assertion which enables us, in stage three, to achieve a good balance. Polarisation causes problems which must later be overcome, but it is nevertheless indispensable and cannot be sidestepped. If the Spirit (Projection) has a clear bias towards thought, the Will exhibits a contrary one, towards emotion.[3]
The meaning
Your standpoint is that of fluidity, an affinity with the Unconscious which makes you reluctant to buy uncritically into the plans and projects of Spirit because of all the avenues that will be closed off. This is an inevitable paradox: to choose one road means that you abandon others. Your resistance may simply be the result of a visceral opposition to what is being proposed; more positively, however, it is a determination to work through the potential consequences. Spirit’s enthusiasm has got the creative juices flowing, but you are aware that it can lead to naïve optimism, flawed reasoning, unjustified assumptions. Or Spirit can be very cerebral in its approach, and you see at once that the human touch is lacking, the feeling dimension has been sidelined.
In fact, it is Spirit that has the vision, the ability to imagine a line of conduct being imposed upon the infinite chaos of possibility. This is not your forte, but it is you who have the responsibility for exposing all the weaknesses and flaws in what has been proposed. What, you ask, will be the legacy of this project for the future? Is it just a product of inflated ego, or does it have enduring value? What is its creative potential: is it open-ended, promoting diversity, variety of expression, the introduction of original elements into the psyche? What will its impact be on relationships? Is this a male-dominated project which you feel will allow little or no freedom to the female side?
You are concerned with family matters. How will this project impact on children, on family life, on relations between men and women? Finally, how will it affect the community? Your ultimate concern is to promote desire. Are the expected outcomes desirable, and for whom? All too often, the spirit side initiates projects which, for all their intellectual brilliance, do not engage the passionate love and loyalty of feeling-sided people, because they lack ‘emotional intelligence’. If you are on the Will side, you want fun, enjoyment, amusement, entertainment, pleasure, especially sex.
The world in which we live is still very much dominated by negative aspects of Spirit – for example, devising ways of killing each other – to the detriment of the terrible pain felt by the Will. The desire for enjoyment, on the contrary, carries overtones of frivolity, immaturity, low intelligence, weakness of character. One definition of Resistance is this: ‘an underground organization of a conquered or nearly conquered country engaging in sabotage and secret operations against occupation forces and collaborators’. (Merriam-Webster) This quite closely describes the position of the Will on Earth at present. Unless and until these two forces of Spirit and Will come into a better balance, we will not have well-being in the psyche.
Emotional expression creates space for the light of Spirit. Opposition to emotion means opposing the expansion and development of Creation – it means favouring destruction.
The card Resistance will typically come up when there is ‘an opposing or retarding force’ (Merriam-Webster) – the normal definition: in other words, when such a force is coming either from you or to you. This word also means: ‘a psychological defence mechanism wherein a patient rejects, denies, or otherwise opposes the therapeutic efforts of a psychotherapist’. So, Resistance spans the whole range from necessary resistance to emotional repression all the way to denial of the truth about yourself: each instance must be evaluated individually.
Divination summary
resisting, opposing, acting as a brake – particularly in regard to over-intellectual schemes and projects; championing pleasure relative to duty, emotion vis-à-vis thought; supporting flexibility against rigidity, freedom of the individual against central control; showing concern for the future effect of present projects; protecting the interests of children, family, community; denying or being unwilling to recognise your personal faults or neuroses; refusal to listen to wise advice, being closed to feedback.
_________________________________________________
[3] This picture is complicated by the fact that Spirit, too, may show resistance: opposing the input of the Will, refusing to modify its projects in the light of feedback from the female side.
http://www.rainring.co.uk/Cards/Resistance/74.aspx
The Image
The scene is an interior, with both clothes and décor demonstrating elegance. Two women stand, one behind the other, facing towards us. The lady at the back has her gloved hands on the shoulders of the one in front. She wears an extravagantly large wide-brimmed hat, jewellery, and a tasteful gown in soft tones of red, trimmed with white. Her expression is sympathetic and concerned, in contrast to that of the woman in front, who leans forward, her hands resting on a table. She wears a two-piece gown in a strong red colour and looks angry and resentful. From the name of the card, we can easily surmise that she is resisting some suggestion or advice from the other woman.
The place of Resistance in the Process Cycle
Resistance: necessary opposition; friction of emotion against the unfettered impulse of spirit
Resistance can, but does not have to carry a negative connotation. Its appropriateness or otherwise must be judged on a case by case basis. In the process cycle, it represents the reaction of the Will against the ‘project’ as conceived by Spirit. This reaction is inevitable: we are dealing with the two polarities, which by definition are going to adopt extreme positions and then clash. It is the existence of strong assertion and counter-assertion which enables us, in stage three, to achieve a good balance. Polarisation causes problems which must later be overcome, but it is nevertheless indispensable and cannot be sidestepped. If the Spirit (Projection) has a clear bias towards thought, the Will exhibits a contrary one, towards emotion.[3]
The meaning
Your standpoint is that of fluidity, an affinity with the Unconscious which makes you reluctant to buy uncritically into the plans and projects of Spirit because of all the avenues that will be closed off. This is an inevitable paradox: to choose one road means that you abandon others. Your resistance may simply be the result of a visceral opposition to what is being proposed; more positively, however, it is a determination to work through the potential consequences. Spirit’s enthusiasm has got the creative juices flowing, but you are aware that it can lead to naïve optimism, flawed reasoning, unjustified assumptions. Or Spirit can be very cerebral in its approach, and you see at once that the human touch is lacking, the feeling dimension has been sidelined.
In fact, it is Spirit that has the vision, the ability to imagine a line of conduct being imposed upon the infinite chaos of possibility. This is not your forte, but it is you who have the responsibility for exposing all the weaknesses and flaws in what has been proposed. What, you ask, will be the legacy of this project for the future? Is it just a product of inflated ego, or does it have enduring value? What is its creative potential: is it open-ended, promoting diversity, variety of expression, the introduction of original elements into the psyche? What will its impact be on relationships? Is this a male-dominated project which you feel will allow little or no freedom to the female side?
You are concerned with family matters. How will this project impact on children, on family life, on relations between men and women? Finally, how will it affect the community? Your ultimate concern is to promote desire. Are the expected outcomes desirable, and for whom? All too often, the spirit side initiates projects which, for all their intellectual brilliance, do not engage the passionate love and loyalty of feeling-sided people, because they lack ‘emotional intelligence’. If you are on the Will side, you want fun, enjoyment, amusement, entertainment, pleasure, especially sex.
The world in which we live is still very much dominated by negative aspects of Spirit – for example, devising ways of killing each other – to the detriment of the terrible pain felt by the Will. The desire for enjoyment, on the contrary, carries overtones of frivolity, immaturity, low intelligence, weakness of character. One definition of Resistance is this: ‘an underground organization of a conquered or nearly conquered country engaging in sabotage and secret operations against occupation forces and collaborators’. (Merriam-Webster) This quite closely describes the position of the Will on Earth at present. Unless and until these two forces of Spirit and Will come into a better balance, we will not have well-being in the psyche.
Emotional expression creates space for the light of Spirit. Opposition to emotion means opposing the expansion and development of Creation – it means favouring destruction.
The card Resistance will typically come up when there is ‘an opposing or retarding force’ (Merriam-Webster) – the normal definition: in other words, when such a force is coming either from you or to you. This word also means: ‘a psychological defence mechanism wherein a patient rejects, denies, or otherwise opposes the therapeutic efforts of a psychotherapist’. So, Resistance spans the whole range from necessary resistance to emotional repression all the way to denial of the truth about yourself: each instance must be evaluated individually.
Divination summary
resisting, opposing, acting as a brake – particularly in regard to over-intellectual schemes and projects; championing pleasure relative to duty, emotion vis-à-vis thought; supporting flexibility against rigidity, freedom of the individual against central control; showing concern for the future effect of present projects; protecting the interests of children, family, community; denying or being unwilling to recognise your personal faults or neuroses; refusal to listen to wise advice, being closed to feedback.
_________________________________________________
[3] This picture is complicated by the fact that Spirit, too, may show resistance: opposing the input of the Will, refusing to modify its projects in the light of feedback from the female side.
