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I always interpreted the Fourth Power of the Sphinx as "don't speak to others about ongoing magic".
First and foremost because what is really going on (inside/outside) lies beyond the lexicon and cannot be put into words.
Often, you just end up changing and mutating what is really going on. Like with any oven: if you open the door too quickly the heat goes away. And the cake collapses. We are the oven. Whatever boils or cooks happens on the inside.
Secondly, those "Frankensteinean" verbal attempts at piercing together experiences, rituals and spells for the ears of someone else may scare them or leave them puzzled. Reminder: they should see the result, not the way it took us to get there.
But let me get to the point.
There is this curious thing that happens when you pass negative judgments or criticize people/things without knowing how the other feels about them.
I will illustrate this with two anecdotes, and afterwards it will become clear what the consequences are for practitioners of the high arts.
One day last year I sat down with a neighbour in our garden. We sat under the peach tree and ate a slice of cake. At one point she asked how I felt about Eros Ramazzotti (I had mentioned earlier that I speak Italian). I said, well in fact, there is this one song with Tina Turner that I enjoy a lot. She then ended up sharing a touching story about how she and her son would always sing that song together while doing the dishes. Imagine the distance I would have created by passing a negative judgment (!) Of course Eros Ramazzotti is rarely on play in my house, but why would this be relevant? Not only would she have never shared that anecdote, we would also have failed to foster a deeper connection that afternoon.
Another instance happened more recently, but this time in the other direction. I don't know how we got there exactly, but another neighbour mentioned, out of the blue, her hate of the Italian language. She went on a long rant of how it all sounded so ugly to her ear. Yes, she concluded, to her it was... the most ugly language in the world! I did not tell her I lived in Italy for five years and that my sister-in-law is Italian. Nor did I mention that, phonetically, almost all Italian words end in a vowel (a singer's dream!) and that Italian evolved exactly along lines that make it easy and fluid to pronounce, for instance by erasing consonant clusters ("administration" becomes "amministrazione")
Keeping your harsh judgments to yourself (or: choosing wisely when to be more reserved) creates a fertile ground for others to open up.
When the moment comes, you will realize what your silence has given you, and what your voice would have overpowered.
Listen, and the world will speak, revealing many secrets.
Speak too much, and the world will remain silent, and recoil in horror.
May the Serpent bite her Tongue.
{ROM
OLO
MOR}
First and foremost because what is really going on (inside/outside) lies beyond the lexicon and cannot be put into words.
Often, you just end up changing and mutating what is really going on. Like with any oven: if you open the door too quickly the heat goes away. And the cake collapses. We are the oven. Whatever boils or cooks happens on the inside.
Secondly, those "Frankensteinean" verbal attempts at piercing together experiences, rituals and spells for the ears of someone else may scare them or leave them puzzled. Reminder: they should see the result, not the way it took us to get there.
But let me get to the point.
There is this curious thing that happens when you pass negative judgments or criticize people/things without knowing how the other feels about them.
I will illustrate this with two anecdotes, and afterwards it will become clear what the consequences are for practitioners of the high arts.
One day last year I sat down with a neighbour in our garden. We sat under the peach tree and ate a slice of cake. At one point she asked how I felt about Eros Ramazzotti (I had mentioned earlier that I speak Italian). I said, well in fact, there is this one song with Tina Turner that I enjoy a lot. She then ended up sharing a touching story about how she and her son would always sing that song together while doing the dishes. Imagine the distance I would have created by passing a negative judgment (!) Of course Eros Ramazzotti is rarely on play in my house, but why would this be relevant? Not only would she have never shared that anecdote, we would also have failed to foster a deeper connection that afternoon.
Another instance happened more recently, but this time in the other direction. I don't know how we got there exactly, but another neighbour mentioned, out of the blue, her hate of the Italian language. She went on a long rant of how it all sounded so ugly to her ear. Yes, she concluded, to her it was... the most ugly language in the world! I did not tell her I lived in Italy for five years and that my sister-in-law is Italian. Nor did I mention that, phonetically, almost all Italian words end in a vowel (a singer's dream!) and that Italian evolved exactly along lines that make it easy and fluid to pronounce, for instance by erasing consonant clusters ("administration" becomes "amministrazione")
Keeping your harsh judgments to yourself (or: choosing wisely when to be more reserved) creates a fertile ground for others to open up.
When the moment comes, you will realize what your silence has given you, and what your voice would have overpowered.
Listen, and the world will speak, revealing many secrets.
Speak too much, and the world will remain silent, and recoil in horror.
May the Serpent bite her Tongue.
{ROM
OLO
MOR}