People born under the cross of Tension have energy to push through, bite through, provoke and or get to depth to have a clearer understanding or deeper knowing. This combination of energies may not always feel comfortable to themselves or others, especially if it is taken personally, but it is a real gift because it is designed to enable us to work through things that may have us feeling stuck.
The energy is designed to help those born under this cross as well as those around them make progress through potentially difficult waters.
Here we have the mandala for J.R.R. Tolkien born under the cross of Tension. His books the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy enable the reader to examine several concepts that humankind has explored for thousands of years. Tolkien in his stories takes us very deeply in the topic of Good verses Evil. His imagery and imagination provokes the mind to delve deeper into this contemplation, and to examine the conflict of good and evil through the eyes of many species such as Elves, Hobbits, Wizards and Trees. With the ring, Tolkien directs our focus on the topic of power and the obsession to be in control of power. He also helps us examine the lure of being a God of sorts with the ability to disappear.
P.T. Barnum also born under the cross of Tension is probably best known for his circus which had many names but in the early years was called, “P. T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome,” a traveling circus, menagerie and museum of freaks. The presentation of these oddities is a classic cross of Tension ruse to get us to examine what is normal, what is special and what is weird with in our lives and for others.
Barnum was also involved in politics addressing racism and around 1850 was involved in a hoax that involved a weed that would turn black people white. He produced minstrel shows that used double edged humor and utilized satire of whites racist attitudes.
Barnum always said his shows were designed to line his coffers, but through his work he gave the public an opportunity to examine their understanding of their attitudes about people, places and things in life. His presentation was not always comfortable for everyone in the audience but underlying it was this energy of tension, with the potential to move us to a deeper place.
Here are the gate names, the I Ching names, followed by brief descriptions for the 4 gates of the cross of Consciousness.
- Gate 39 – Provocation – Obstruction – energy to needle or poke to get stuck energy unstuck.
- Gate 38 – Fighter – Opposition – energy to physically push through the struggle of understanding to a clearer place of knowing.
- Gate 48 – Depth – The Well – energy driven to go deep into detail or wide into breadth to clearly understand the logic of a situation or process.
- Gate 21 – Huntress/Hunter – Biting Through – energy to go get what we need and want.
Here are charts for J.R.R. Tolkien, Mel Gibson, and P.T. Barnum, all born under the cross of Tension. . The four gate of the cross of Tension are circled in blue on the chart for J.R.R. Tolkien. (Click on image for Larger image)
