CHAPTER SEVEN:

THE FIELD OF CREATIVE PLAY

EDWARD TARABILDA: I hope we can begin applying the principles learned in the last dialogue to our interactions in all future dialogues.

TM MEDITATOR: I see where I have been guilty of some of the things talked about in the last dialogue, and hope to improve. When one is taught that a particular spiritual approach is better than all the rest, it is easy to extend that type of thinking to other fields of living. The result can be a failure to honor legitimate differences in how to approach many of life's problems. I'm beginning to understand better the concept of the "true believer", and even how a subtle form of fundamentalism pervades everything in the world today for those who remain on the surface of spiritual life. I thank you for that.

EDWARD TARABILDA: Thank you for your openness. It is refreshing to find someone committed to a particular path who can take a fresh look at other approaches without feeling threatened.

TM MEDITATOR: What exactly do you mean by this term "creative play"?

EDWARD TARABILDA: When we aren't working, studying, taking care of family, or meeting whatever other obligation we may have, then we are naturally inclined to play. Play helps balance a life beset by too many duties and responsibilities. Through play we rejuvenate ourselves. The word "recreation" means to re-create, replenish, and rebuild.

People with a weak play nature tend to either play too much, or take play too seriously, creating the opposite of rejuvenation. If they are fortunate, then they find friends with strong play natures who help them override this imbalance. They end up having fun despite themselves!

This strategy of joining others in order to overcome a weak spot applies to each field of living. For example, if someone is not good at earning income and achieving wealth, he or she should join groups who are trying to achieve this objective in common. Then the individual weaknesses are ameliorated by the strengths of the group. I can't emphasize this strategy enough!

This is also the value of group spiritual practices. Such activities help keep a person from sinking into despair or lethargy at moments of crisis or doubt, and can greatly enhance the effects of any spiritual practice.

PSYCHOLOGIST: When I think of creativity, I think of a dimension of life that is more than just idle play.

EDWARD TARABILDA: But all the great artists, scientists, and inventors agree that their moments of greatest creativity are when they are the most relaxed, when they have given up on the problem, when they are less serious about the whole situation confronting them. I find that people with strong creative play natures do very well in times of crisis. A crisis requires a creative solution which transcends the problem, and the only way to transcend a problem is not to treat it too seriously.

PSYCHOLOGIST: In my field we would say, "Don't let your awareness become too localized, too bounded". Different words, same idea! Highly successful people often seem to have a sense of humor even in the most trying circumstances. In fact, the trying circumstances seems to draw out their sense of humor. And what, after all, makes for humor? It is the unexpected twist or turn from a path that appears quite predictable. The situation is transcended!

EDWARD TARABILDA: And creativity does not always involve our personal efforts. It often only demands that we tap into the infinite reservoir of creative intelligence which exists in all of nature. This is why the most basic form of human creativity is the ability to have children.

PSYCHOLOGIST: Ah-ha! So, would you say that when this field of living is weak, the person is unable to have children, or that the children die, or that there is a poor relationship with the children?

EDWARD TARABILDA: You have hit it right on the head! Perfect examples of what you suggest are demonstrated in the star configurations of Joseph and Rose Kennedy. Both parties have afflicted planets governing the field of creative play, which signifies loss of children and great tragedy through children.

If the planets governing creative play were weak, then children would be denied altogether. That was not the case here.

PSYCHOLOGIST: Would a weakness in this field of living also signify problems with regard to children?

EDWARD TARABILDA: Yes. Depending on the planet involved, the parent will be either under or over-indulgent, or will not gain a lot of happiness from raising a child. But they might also be attached to having children.

The most important quality for raising a child successfully is a sense of play. When we can play with the child without losing our perspective as an adult, we create a perfect relationship with the child. This is what creative child-rearing really means and why good parents love what they do.

There is another problem when a prospective parent has a weak planet governing this field of living -- they are sometimes drawn like a magnet to having a child under the illusion that this will bring great happiness. A weak spot means a blind spot -- an area of life one cannot see clearly. I am an excellent example of that!

PSYCHOLOGIST: In what way?

EDWARD TARABILDA: I have a very weak Saturn governing this field of creative play. Saturn likes hiking, camping, and other reclusive or minimalist activities. In the past I used to fantasize a lot about such activities and the pleasures they would bring, only to find out that they promised a lot more than they delivered.

PSYCHOLOGIST: So a weak spot draws you to it and then induces disappointment, rather than happiness?

EDWARD TARABILDA: In some cases this is what happens. In other cases it brings temporary happiness, but a happiness born of attachment, which is bound to let us down at some point. Fortunately, I have a strong Jupiter closely conjunct this weak Saturn, which helps ameliorate the problem. I manage to play fairly well with other people; I just don't do so well by myself.

PSYCHOLOGIST: I take it then that people with a weak planet governing creative play are happiest when they have a lot to do through one of the other fields of living. If they have a lot of free time on their hands, then they are not so happy.

EDWARD TARABILDA: Generally speaking that is the case. But there can be exceptions. I recently consulted a woman who has a weak Moon governing creative play, but she also has a Saturnine spiritual nature, which means she values time alone. In her case the weakness of not knowing how to spend her free time creatively is compensated for by another field of living. But the weak spot still makes her overly indulgent in her manner of play, and she was the first to recognize that.

Sometimes I have to search for just the right words to show clients how a weak spot manifests, especially since they lack clarity in that area. I remember one woman who was determined to have a child through natural conception and childbirth, even though it had proven impossible up to that point. I tried to change the focus to whether she would be a good and happy mother, and not over-indulgent . I'm not certain I succeeded. Sometimes experience is not only the best teacher, it is the only teacher.

In summary, a weak planet can make us overly preoccupied with the related field of living. That preoccupation results in an imbalance among all eight fields, possibly even an addiction to healing one's weak area at the expense of other fields. The unhappiness spreads to the neglected areas of life, and spiritual progress suffers drastically. This is why the sages warned us about undue attachment to anything!

AN ARTIST: I'm interested in how each planet relates to creative gifts and skills. Please try to be as specific as possible.

EDWARD TARABILDA: If you look at any work of art, whether a poem, a painting, or a musical composition, you will find six fundamental elements of artistic greatness:

1. The Moon gives a sense of organic wholeness to the work.

2. Mars gives a dominant theme.

3. Mercury gives variation of theme.

4. Jupiter brings balance to the composition.

5. Venus brings a sense of evolution to the theme.

6. Saturn gives the right choice of materials or techniques to express the theme -- what some art critics call the creation of a hierarchy of values.

AN ARTIST: What about the Sun?

EDWARD TARABILDA: The Sun always gives the same ability no matter what field of living it relates to -- integration of the other various planetary gifts through some charismatic display.

ARTIST: Are you then suggesting that when the Sun governs creative play, the artist will be able to use all six principles in a creative way?

EDWARD TARABILDA: Any great work of art will reflect all six principles, but the Sun will bring a very progressive, even avant-garde display of these principles.

A wonderful example of this is in the work of Amadeus Mozart.

ARTIST: Ah! Now I see what you mean. And you have already pointed out how the motifs of Richard Wagner signify the creative gifts of a Mars-type influence. What about the Moon?

EDWARD TARABILDA: The musical compositions of Anton Dvorzak reflect a lunar creative influence. But all of these examples point to very subtle distinctions, and will have significance only for people with great artistic sensitivity.

Let us not lose sight of the fact that the same planetary significations brought out in the last dialogue can be applied to this field of living in any number of ways.

ARTIST: You mean where you talked about the Sun being the charismatic leader, the Moon the motherly nourisher, etc.?

EDWARD TARABILDA: Yes. These various attributes of the planets can guide us in defining both our play nature and our parenting style. But I would like you to try to come up with some examples yourselves. This way you will start developing the facility of using astrological principles in your life.

Let us take the planet Mercury, for example. If a strong Mercury governs the field of creative play, what would that mean for your play nature and for your parenting style?

ARTIST: Mercury doesn't like to do anything for very long, so I suspect that an eight hour hike up a mountain might not be Mercury's favorite way to play. Mercury would like quickly changing forms of play, like going to the park for an hour or two, then to a restaurant, and then reading a good book, or having a good chat on some deep subject -- something like that!

EDWARD TARABILDA: That is a good answer. And what about the parenting style?

PSYCHOLOGIST: You indicate that Mercury is very flexible and adaptable, so I assume these qualities would be brought to bear on the children. One would have the ability to treat each child in a unique and different way. Verbal skills with the children would be a strong point. One might even get a point across through a good pun. At the same time parenting could tire one out, since Mercury is a neuter in terms of its energetics. Is that last comment a correct interpretation?

EDWARD TARABILDA: It is an excellent interpretation. You both have some genuine astrological ability.

PSYCHOLOGIST: I have studied the subject a little.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: What about creative play in the world horoscope?

EDWARD TARABILDA: A weak Mercury governs the field of creative play in the world horoscope. This brings strained relationships between parents and children because the parents don't know how to communicate with the kids, and vice-versa. The parent's communication is poor partly because parents can't see how today's children are different from when they were children.

Remember that child-rearing is based on the ability to enjoy play with children, but a weak Mercury signifies forms of play which are becoming increasingly passive. We end up watching people do things, rather than participating in them ourselves. This is true of the arts, the sciences, sports, and virtually every recreational activity we can think of. Television is a great influence in making us spectators rather than participants, and more and more parents find ways to put the kids in front of the TV when they are tired or wanting private time.

As a general rule today, children do not measure up to what parents expect, and the children sense the parents' disappointment. This causes tension in their relationship.

Nor are the children good at knowing what pleases the parents. In addition, children break from the parents' religion, adding to the disappointment of the parents.

PSYCHOLOGIST: What can parents do to help improve things?

EDWARD TARABILDA: They can try to deepen the communication while at the same time strengthening the child's confidence. Today's children feel timid and even impotent in dealing with adults, and they aren't open in expressing their feelings. The parents, in return, are at a loss of how to deal with the kids.

One of the most dangerous tendencies of our society in terms of creative play is in the field of education. More and more schools are dropping art programs and telling parents to seek private instruction in the arts for interested children. This is an added burden many parents don't want to assume. Thus, there is a growing tendency for children to develop logical, objective learning skills, but not subjective ones. But a human being is a combination of thinking, feeling and willing, and the arts cultivate and strengthen feeling. Without feeling there is no buffer between thinking and willing, and soul development is held back. Cold, callous, indifferent children are the result.

PSYCHOLOGIST: We see so much of this in schools today, but the cost of art and music education is a problem.

EDWARD TARABILDA: Waldorf schools are a good model for all primary and secondary education. The teachers know the importance of the arts in child development, and they never sacrifice the arts for more mundane concerns.

ARTIST: You are referring to the schools started by the Anthroposophic movement under the guidance of Rudolph Steiner?

EDWARD TARABILDA: Yes. There are almost six hundred Waldorf schools throughout the world guided by the pedagogical principles established by Rudolph Steiner.

It is my feeling that if more schools would adopt some of the Waldorf principles of education, our children would have fewer problems of all sorts, especially social and emotional problems . But there are serious obstacles. Steiner's whole teaching is imbued with spiritual principles, and that's anathema in countries which separate church and state.

What we need in today's world are classes in spiritual science where children can be exposed to the teachings of all the major spiritual figures, including people like Rudolph Steiner, Madame Blavatsky, and Christian Rosenkreutz. I specifically mention them, because one could study all the major world religions and never come across any of these people, as traditionalists would not consider them part of the main stream of religion.

Classes in spiritual science could also include writings by those who doubt the efficacy of spiritual science. Agnostics and atheists would not be forced to accept anything in the name of spiritual science, but people of spiritual inclination would not be restricted to study only materialistic views. And this is exactly what Ahriman and the fallen angels now roaming the earth want, to trap humanity into focusing only on the physical. Steiner warned that even the legal system will be used to keep spirituality from peoples' awareness.

PSYCHOLOGIST: It seems very sticky to me!

EDWARD TARABILDA: It will be sticky, unless we keep the teachings in spiritual science open-ended. Pro's and con's from every religious and spiritual persuasion should be allowed a voice, so that no particular religious view is taught as doctrine, but spiritual science is lively in every student's awareness. The spiritual and the material are the two poles of human existence, even though the spiritual pole is deemed by some to be no more than the unified field of physics! Give both poles a chance to flourish.

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: That openness is what we are seeking to accomplish.

EDWARD TARABILDA: No, you are seeking the establishment of your version of the Christian religion at the expense of all the other approaches to God, including those who deny any approach or goal.

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: Let others seek their rights; we only seek ours.

EDWARD TARABILDA: I would rather the law remain as it is than have your brand of religion forced down our children's throats. But I do see a third possibility: an open-ended spiritual science which students study as they see fit, whether that study takes the form of skepticism, optimism, or neutrality. This is greatly needed in our time. I know there are strong arguments for keeping such study in the hands of parents, but how can parents teach it if they have no background in it themselves?

Religion, education and culture are all best handled by the Brahmin caste. The notion that children should be taught only material concepts as part of their schooling is abhorrent to those who understand the nature of caste. The state should not be involved in schooling except for funding and ensuring equality of access, and students should be allowed to study what they want, including spiritual concepts and practices.

PSYCHOLOGIST: What you say makes a lot of sense. How did government get so entangled in education?

EDWARD TARABILDA: Through the loss of caste, both individually and collectively.

PSYCHOLOGIST: And now I see how one field of living interacts with another. We talk of creativity and the relationship of a parent to a child, and that leads us to the field of education, and the field of dharma and caste, specifically how the administrative and governmental caste (Kshatryas) naturally interacts with the cultural and religious caste (Brahmins). It is all very fascinating!

EDWARD TARABILDA: This is a good place to bring this dialogue to a close.