Dr. Fadiman responded: \u201cSophia University<\/em><\/a> it is. Already enrollments are up, especially in the PH.D. program which had been slipping as well as most of the masters programs. We have been approached by universities in China and Switzerland for student\/faculty trades and close affiliation. It looks like being the \u201cfirst transpersonal university\u201d was a good decision. How does that sound to you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSophia is the Gnostic Goddess, who is God\u2019s other half.\u201d I complained that I and others had been working hard to get the transpersonal concepts out into the world. Why not change the name to something with the words transpersonal and university in it. But, not one to carry on and stick to my guns when there is nothing more that can be done, I signed \u201cOh, well, change happens.\u201d Then I told him that I can\u2019t travel much due to the recession and mentioned the Bay Area Tarot Symposium<\/a> where I will be a presenter.<\/p>\n James wrote back, \u201cRight you are. I always forget that monotheistic Christianity has a few Goddesses\u2019 tucked away in odd corners.\u201d He was sorry I couldn\u2019t attend the schools festivities and thought the conference I was attending sounded great. He continued, \u201cI assure you that the transpersonal is not being lost but actually will no longer confined to \u201cpsychology,\u201d a word with a lot of connotation\u2019s about other things. Bob and I never intended it to be limited to psychology, but we had to start somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n Not one to be deterred easily, I said, \u201cHow about the \u201cUniversity of Transpersonal Studies\u201d which, \u201cI\u201d thought was much better suited to the school and its subjects. I continued, \u201cSophia is not a Goddess tucked away in odd corners\u2026she is quite prominent in history\u201d and corrected, \u201cI believe that Gnostics are Gnostics and not Christian, although, the first Christian church was founded by Gnostics who were going against the grain.\u201d Then I relented, \u201cWell,\u201d I said, \u201cI shouldn\u2019t criticize because I am not there and doing the work.\u201d I felt a final shift of a let go and said, \u201cGood luck on your endeavor.\u201d<\/p>\n James responded, \u201cWe are all doing the best we can. Your idea was one of those considered by lots of people and didn\u2019t make the final cut. Let us pray to Sophia for wisdom and let the rest of the work be done by them who are paid to do it.\u201d Then he asked, \u201cDid you do a Tarot spread to see what ITP\/Sofia will need from you?\u201d He went on to reminisce about a reading he did for a woman who later became his wife. He said, \u201cPowerful stuff in them little decks\u201d and then admitted that he is \u201coften the Fool flying off that cliff.\u201d<\/p>\n I wrote back that, the little deck was indeed powerful and that I use it in wellness counseling that usually guides people to consult their higher Nature and that it was, indeed, quite empowering. I also said that I knew the Fool archetype well, that is why I ended up as an ITP student. I also took his advice and did a Tarot spread and asked the question suggested. I used \u201cWizards Tarot\u201d<\/a> deck by Corrine Kenner.<\/p>\n An hour later, I reported the results of my reading to James:<\/p>\n First card, Past: King of Pentacles a rather grumpy looking King, which I thought was me about the name change (see picture above).<\/p>\n Second card, Present: 4 of Pentacles (reversed). This was me willing to accept the name change and move on.<\/p>\n Because my moon is in the 10th<\/sup> house, I felt reminded that, indeed, I\u2019m here, at this place and time, to be a teacher of lunar magic.<\/p>\n This felt incomplete for the question and so I drew the next card: Ace of Cups, which I understand to be the purest aspect of heart.<\/p>\n I wrote to my friend about the spread and then wrote, \u201cI guess what ITP\/Sofia needs from me is love.\u201d<\/p>\n Jim liked the reading and the answer and likened my statement to a popular song with a similar refrain: \u201cAll We Need is Love\u201d.<\/p>\n He went on to write about his adventures into LSD therapy sessions and his use of the Rider Waite Smith deck. \u201cAt the end of the sitting for someone LSD therapy session, when they were about to go home, I\u2019d give them one Tarot card and ask them to tell him about it.\u201d I wondered if he had recorded the reactions of people, on LSD, to the card images. I would love to read about this!<\/p>\n When the conversation felt done, I drew a card from the \u201cSustain Yourself\u201d<\/a> deck by James Wanless. I drew \u201cPurification\u201d also entitled \u201cCreative Chaos.\u201d Perfect. The card is about questioning everything and doing things in an un-premeditated and unpredictable way\u2026just like this conversation. The image on the card depicted letters flying off one page and into space\u2026.probably the internet where they would compose themselves again on the other end. The accompanying little book counsels the querant to \u201cget out of your mind and follow the spontaneous impulse. Acknowledging your body and its feelings and its crazy wisdom\u2014the genius of the fool.\u201d Somehow there was a spontaneous harmony, a creative chaos to the exchange. I felt listened to and I was ready to move on.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Also see this article about James Fadiman \u201cThe Heretic\u201d<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Fool\u2019s Report As a concerned alumnus, I revisited the web site of the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (ITP) to see where things were in regards to its transition that includes a name change to Sofia University. Apparently, change was … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tonigilbert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/King-of-pentacles-001-187x300.jpg\" "\\"King")
<\/a>Still in fool mode, I bluntly told him I didn\u2019t like the change and asked: Why a Goddess name? I was also curious as to why the name change would affect enrollment. Dr. Fadiman wasn\u2019t aware of it being a Goddess name and instead told me the name was selected because it was a Greek name meaning wisdom<\/em> and an Arabic word meaning beauty<\/em>. He carefully explained that enrollment was up because people would rather attend a University instead of an institute, and because the word institute rarely means a place to get a graduate education. He also reported that the name change was the most trivial part of the expansion and upgrading that was under way. \u201cFor openers,\u201d he said, \u201cwe are doubling the physical size of the school.\u201d Then he said, \u201cAs so many former students were sure that the name change would destroy the school forever, it is nice to see what is actually happening.\u201d and happily wrote \u201cBob Frager and I see this as finally moving ahead on our larger and original vision.\u201d Lastly, he asked if I was coming to the festivities in October to celebrate the changes. \u201cBob and I will be doing an event called, Extending the Vision<\/em> on the 18th of October. The Official event will be on the 19th, both probably in our new Auditorium next door to the current campus.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tonigilbert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/The-Moon-card-kenner-192x300.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/a>Third card, Future: Moon of the major arcana. The author\u2019s interpretation was read after I gleaned any intuitive hits from the image on the card. When I read her interpretation, certain things stood out. The woman on the card was called \u201cProfessor of Lunar Magic\u201d that embodies the qualities of the maiden, mother and crone. Even though she is ready to give birth, her hair is silver (That\u2019s me. Except for the long lanky sexy look and those shoes would kill my feet.). In her right hand is the talisman for Pisces (my rising sign) representative of intuition and psychic ability. In her left hand is the Hebrew letter goph which means \u201cthe back of the head\u201d a reminder, according to the author, that things can be felt and not seen. The interpretation also prompts one to be aware of the shadow side of the moon. A concept that must be kept in mind at all times.<\/p>\n![\"James](\"https:\/\/tonigilbert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/blog-pic3.png\" "\\"blog-pic3\\"")
<\/a>James Fadiman, <\/em><\/strong>B.A.<\/em> (Harvard) M.A., Ph.D. (Stanford) has held a variety of teaching consulting, training, counseling and editorial positions. He has taught in psychology departments at Brandeis and San Francisco State, design engineering at Stanford, and for the past three decades, at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology that he co-founded. He has written textbooks, professional books, a self-help book, a novel, and a series of videos, Drugs: \u201cThe Children Are Choosing\u201d for National Public Television. His books have been published in 8 languages. He had had three solo shows of his nature photography. He sits on two non-profit boards as well as having been the president of several small natural resource companies. He has been involved in researching psychedelic experience when it was legal and subsequently and recently published \u201cThe Psychedelic Explorer\u2019s Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys\u201d<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n