OshoZen 7 of Clouds (swords)

Briar Rose

OshoZen 7 of Clouds (swords) :T7S:
Politics

The look of a canniving figure holds smiling mask. A snake is coiled around both. Green is the color of the clothing.

Although it's a favorite color of mine, the old saying goes, 'wearing green, shame to be seen.'

Not that I am!

However, this card is a reminder to be true to life.
 

Judith D

I find this card very clear and very clever - but I emphatically do not agree totally with the blurb that goes with it. I don't think all politicians and priests are hypocritical and venal and cunning. It is very true that the religious leaders of the middle ages kept control of the masses by withholding education to keep control, and of course far earlier than that (third century was it?) the political and religious leaders chose the books of the bible that we would be entitled to read and believe, again to keep control, and it worked wonderfully for hundreds of years, until worldwide communication connected us. And I agree that many politicians are corrupt and in it for the money. But not all, and not all priests either ,and I find the generalisation unworthy.
However, I do believe it to be very true that we constantly wear masks in front of others, and in front of ourselves, and hide our true natures - also to ourselves at times.
I have drawn this card for myself before - and was quite shocked at it. But I used it to look deep inside to see what face I was wearing, whether I was trying to fool others (or myself), and it was a very useful, if painful, exercise. It is very true indeed - 'whatever you might achieve in this way will just turn to dust in your hands'.
I find it interesting that the cloudy, forked-tongue snake covers up the heart area, and also the throat (communication). The rattling tail-end shows danger.
Comparison to the traditional RWS is difficult. That card is the thief (perhaps) stealing away with the swords. The theme of the card could be an act of bravery which leads to a change of consciousness - here perhaps the comparison could be the fact of looking at ourselves honestly to see the masks we wear and peel them away to find the truth. That could certainly lead to a change of consciousness.
 

Grizabella

The caricature of the politician's face is very definitely a caricature of Ronald Reagan, it seems to me. This is one of two cards that reveal the agenda of Osho very clearly. He hated politicians and society's restrictions on people. Another card that shows this is the Morality card. The Oshos also had a very free and not very healthy sexual thing going on. At least when they were here in Oregon, anyway. I guess Ma Deva felt it necessary to throw their agenda in strongly in this deck, but she did say that Osho had a very great influence in her creation of this deck and I'm surprised it isn't more evident in all the cards.

As far as the message of the card goes, I do agree that we all have our masks that we show the world. Jung said we have the persona and shadow, persona being the face we show the world, which is who we wish we were, want to see ourselves as, and more importantly, want the world to believe we are. Then there's the shadow, which is who we truly are and which is often shown in our creative efforts. Our art, writing, music and other creative outlets.
 

Alan Ross

Judith D said:
Comparison to the traditional RWS is difficult. That card is the thief (perhaps) stealing away with the swords. The theme of the card could be an act of bravery which leads to a change of consciousness - here perhaps the comparison could be the fact of looking at ourselves honestly to see the masks we wear and peel them away to find the truth. That could certainly lead to a change of consciousness.
Here is Thirteen's interpretation of the traditional RWS Seven of Swords (excerpted): "This is the 'Thief' card. It implies that someone is stealing something from you, your honor, your ideas, your time. They may be spreading gossip about you." This interpretation, similar to many I've seen, seems to me to connect very clearly with the Osho Seven of Clouds. I have also seen this card associated with deceit, sneakiness, subterfuge, and guile, more qualities that are associated with political and religious hypocrites.

Some positive interpretations of the traditional RWS Seven of Swords I've seen include being daring and clever, and using strategy instead of brute force to achieve goals. Those seem to me to be utterly absent from the Osho Seven of Clouds. The Seven of Clouds is one of the nastiest cards in the entire deck. It is also one of the most brilliant. I couldn't imagine a better depiction of the negative qualities signified by this card.

The attack on politicians and priests is typical for Osho. The Wikipedia entry for Osho has the following: "In his discourses, Osho consistently attacked organizational principles embraced by societies around the world – the family, nationhood, religion. He condemned priests and politicians with equal venom, and was in turn condemned by them."
 

squeakmo9

I'd have to be pretty crafty, myself, to get around this guy and his snake, lol!
We all have a number of reasons why we remain behind the mask, and I guess the key is not to judge. I think if given enough time, and closeness that mask dissolves. The truth of a person's character will surely give way, given enough time.
 

Alan Ross

squeakmo9 said:
I think if given enough time, and closeness that mask dissolves. The truth of a person's character will surely give way, given enough time.

I really believe that's true. Some put a lot of effort into maintaining their masks, but sooner or later, everyone reveals their true self. This reminds me of an anecdote about the Buddha.

On one occasion, he and a Rajah were watching a procession of holy men. the Rajah asked the Buddha, "Do you think any of those are awakened or have reached the path to awakening?" The Buddha responded, "This thing is impossible to know, Rajah. For it's by dealing with someone for a long time that you come to know the virtue. It's by association that you come to know the integrity. It's in times of trouble that you know the fortitude, and it's by deep talking that you know the wisdom."

It's a good thing the Buddha replied as he did, because some of the holy men in the procession were actually spies for the Rajah.
 

firecatpickles

This card confused me when it came up in a reading, so reading these posts --especially the one about the Osho's political views-- have helped.

The problem I have with this card is that I firmly believe that politics are the stuff of nations. I cannot take politics personally.

Still trying to figure out how to work this card into a reading, but the persona/shadow dichotomy certainly makes sense.

The gist of the card as I see it so far is that there are always two sides to the story, so I need to be careful making hasty judgment calls.
 

Master_Margarita

Oooh, what a card. I didn't realize, until I read the commentary, that the pattern of the snake's markings consisted of clouds. They weren't gray, so I didn't make the connection.

I also see that the commentary is not saying only that politicians are evil, but it is also saying that we are all politicians in some way. Vesting the evil in certain politicians who are not us is projection, plain and simple. And in talking about priests isn't Osho also talking about himself?

In addition, the snake in Buddhist symbolism refers to anger, one of the Three Poisons that keep us travelling on the Wheel of Life. I might think the symbolism of this card is accidental were it not for the use of the rooster (also one of the Three Poisons) on the previous card. Now I'll have to look on the rest of the cards to see where the pig (the third symbol) appears.