The First Door: Beliefs Are Tools

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Stepping through the Door How does one cultivate the idea that beliefs are tools, and put it into practice? We are each different, and each of us finds different things to help an idea "sink in". Here's a sampler. Odin: The Wizard at the Well The wizard is an archetypal figure of myth and story. What makes a wizard a wizard? I fancy it is something very much like what I have called the First Door. The wizard has learned ideas from many times and places; perhaps he studies ancient tomes, perhaps he wanders to distant lands, or perhaps his imagination takes him into places most of us never see. The wizard, unlike the stay-at-homes he visits on his travels, knows that there are many ways to see things and many ways to do things. His age has brought him a certain perspective. He is no longer caught up in one particular belief system, or one particular worldview. Behind his inscrutible face, his mind plays with ideas like a deft juggler. That is why he always seems to produce the perfect wisdom for every occasion - he holds a great store of possibilities in his mind at all times. The original wizard in northern European culture was the god Odin, who sacrificed an eye to receive the wisdom of the well of Mimir. He would wander the lands in a wide-brimmed hat, cloaked and mysterious, dispensing words of wisdom to any who would listen. He is no doubt the prototype for wizards in literature, from Merlin to Gandalf. Can you imagine yourself as a wizard? Do you have just one answer for each question you hear, or do you have many answers? If you understand beliefs are tools, you can share with others the answer they need to hear, not the answer you feel compelled to speak. You can listen patiently to others defend their beliefs, ponder what those beliefs provide for them, and ask yourself how they might be of use to you and others - all this without needing to proclaim a verdict of true or false. A wizard listens. A wizard neither believes nor disbelieves. He learns and ponders. Mercury: Glib and Articulate In the Mediterranean world, the god corresponding to Odin is a somewhat different figure: Mercury or Hermes, messenger of the gods. He is a rascal, a patron of thieves and con artists, but also of craftsmen and merchants. He is also (by way of his son Asclepias) father of the healing arts and psychopomp, who conducts the souls of the dead to the afterlife. Modern astrology views Mercury as the planet of communication, and we all know how a retrograde Mercury messes with your email. We tend to think of him just as a talker, and miss the complexities of this character. He is as much a wizard as Odin (he lends his name to Hermes Trismegistus, the semi-historical founder of the Western magical tradition, and is equated with the wise Egyptian scribe-god, Thoth). But he is often a wizard at play, delighting in the foibles of humans who take words much too seriously. We easily think of Mercury as the ruler of Gemini, chatting on about both sides to any question that breezes by his mind. But he also rules Virgo, where his talents as craftsman come to the fore. Being adept with ideas is not inconsistent with the calling to make something tangible and useful. In fact, a good wizard selects his ideas based on their potential for yielding practical results. For Mercury too, ideas are tools. He is flexible, versatile, informed, and clever. If you are overwhelmed at the prospect of being Odin now and then, try being Mercury. It amounts to the same thing: listening, learning, and then pulling the right idea out of the hat when it's time to make something of it. Far from being a minor deity devoted to negotiations and party chat, Mercury is one of the great shapers of reality. Pause for a moment, and think what a different shape your life would have if the words and concepts you use to understand it were different, or gone. Homework In the spirit that it takes practice to work one's way up to believing six impossible things before breakfast, here are some beliefs to try on. Muse on them, or - if you wish to truly step up to your new calling as apprentice wizard, try actually believing them for a whole day and see what happens! The next person you meet will have a very important message for you, even if they do not realize it. Everything that happens today will remain in your memory forever. You are actually a character in a novel or movie. The world will come to an end tomorrow. Artificial light is a deadly form of radiation. You cannot read or write. You are being followed by a swarm of fairies, who always manage to hide whenever you turn around to look. Please note: I give these examples not because I necessarily recommend them to you as useful beliefs, but simply because "trying them on" may give you a particularly vivid awareness of how the beliefs we hold color and shape our lives.