The Art of Illusion
Image of Dorothy & Co. pulling the curtain back on the mighty Wizard of Oz, 1939
Every year in a row Pisces season schools us in the art of illusion. Its deep waters distort our senses and pool our assumptions. The whirlpool of our emotions, particularly those feelings that will not submit to sense or reason, breach the surface of our lives and we find ourselves all at sea.
Whether you have been living in Neverland, under the protection of the Holy Catholic or Methodist church or self serving governance that tells you it has your best interests in mind, the curtain has been drawn back. Our world is mired in a horrifying grand reveal that is cracking its stalwart structures. And what happens on the world stage is always echoed in some way, shape or form in our own little theatre of life. We are not islands. Humanity is an archipelago.
When we are forced to see something we don't want to and tracking reluctantly to its inevitable conclusion, we are plunged into cognitive dissonance. Things don't add up anymore and our world view quakes. From our core, the panic rises. The vexing shrinks our amygdala, the emotional processing centre of our brain, literally narrowing our mind. We are stuck in no mans land, between the rock we thought we knew and the hard place we are being dragged unwillingly towards.
All of a sudden those long held beliefs have become a binding that holds you fast, whose discomfort is choking. Maybe they aren't yours. Maybe they are a story to tell yourself, a broken record on repeat. The unbearable friction this causes is the fulcrum that tips you towards a new view. Hurtling into something else borne of what you have learned and the ripple effect of what you now cannot unsee.
The lightning has struck and the imprint of what was lit up sticks. The change is in progress. Your ability to peer through illusion is too a function of perception. Peering inward seriously damages your ignorance. Looking forward expands your consciousness and thus your world view. It polishes your lens and blows the shit out of your snorkel.
In The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde wrote that the truth is rarely pure and never simple. Your ability to see it is inherent. Your willingness to do so is the kettle of fish that is Pisces season.
Words c. Kerrie Basha 2019