Chaos Tarot Layout:

The diagram below shows the Chaos Tarot reading layout, which allows you to create a properly derived i-Ching Hexagram. A more detailed explanation of how the layout works is given below the illustrations.

Layout Theory:

THE LINEAR TIME EFFECT

Before we can examine the non-linear time relationships in Chaos Tarot layout, we have to first address the issue of how to define and understand linear time. The question of the "arrow of time" has plagued physicists and philosophers since the dawn of language. Why does time appear to move from past to future, and why does it seem only to move in one inalterable direction?

In the diagram (linked above), the Yin trigram represents processes and properties in the physical world. The Yang trigram refers to the functions of consciousness and spirituality.

Separately, each realm offers only a limited-use model for approaching the world. Many epistemological systems use a dualistic approach which draws an artificial distinction between physical and metaphysical, mind and body, concept and content. These are incomplete. A self-consistent map of how change occurs in reality is possible only when consciousness and physics are considered complementary parts of a unified system.

Unified reality is the result of processes which travel seamlessly between physical and consciousness-based qualities. As seen in quantum physics, the role of the observer plays a crucial part in determining how physical phenomena unfold.

The trigrams represent the actual substance that makes up each realm. In physics terms, the "space" of the Yang is more or less equivalent to the "space" in which we perceive consciousness to exist, while the Yin space is equivalent to space-time in a physics model.

Phenomena unfold into reality as the result of two balanced waves propagating in a double spiral formation across non-linear time. In the classical Tai Chi diagram, these waves are black (yang) and white (yin).

The Yang wave originates in the Past Time Yang section of the Trigram, and sweeps into the physical realm of Yin. When the Yang Wave enters spacetime, it deforms spacetime. In other words, the Yang Wave manifests itself in the Yin world first as gravity, which is then further iterated into the two primary forms of matter and energy.

The Yin Wave originates in the Future Time Yin section of the Trigram, and sweeps into the Yang consciousness space as information, which is also iterated into two forms — sensory input and abstraction. (The iterative processes will be discussed in further detail later in the text.)

These waves occur through time without regard to the sequential ordering of past, present and future. The "linear" sequence is relevant primarily to the observer perspective. Our perception of change can be represented on this chart by drawing a line between the white dot of the Tai Chi and the black dot. In fact, what we consider to be linear time is actually a somewhat misleading side- effect of the yin-yang dynamic.

The interval perceived by consciousness as "now" is a volume of spacetime stretching from the trailing edge of the past to the leading edge of the future. Our physical bodies lie perched on the border between past and present. Our mental selves are poised between the present and the future.

Physical objects (bodies) have entropy, which is perceived as inertia. Mental constructs (minds) have negative entropy, which perceived as velocity. The Yang wave sweeping over the physical "now" pushes the locus of self into the receptive Yin Wave encompassing the mental "now," creating the sensation that we are traveling along an irrefutable stream that runs from past to present.

Once the mechanics of Yang pushing us forward from the past into the flexible Yin future are understood, in the context of the diagram, it is possible to consider issues such as how present decision might influence past and future events. Under this model of reality, the function of consciousness can change events which have already happened.

The retroactive power of consciousness has already been experimentally proven at the subatomic level in quantum physics. The yin-yang dynamic charted here holds out the possibility that the same mechanics can be effectively applied to large-scale phenomena, allowing us to influence events retroactively in time, opening new possibilities for the alteration of reality. In short, the model allows magic to happen, and it offers the possibility of a new framework for a deeper understanding of how and why magic works.

TO BE CONTINUED...