Part of the Casswiki article series Psychology, Cassiopaean Experiment and Shamanism and archaic esotericism
“Petty tyrant” is a term that comes from the books of Carlos Castaneda. The Seers believed that a Tyrant was in charge of the world. On Earth, then, impossible people in positions of authority, which one has to deal with in life, were assigned the classification of “petty tyrants”.
Classifications
There are several subcategories of petty tyrants, as outlined by the Seer Don Juan Matus in The Fire from Within:
- The tyrant: the primal source of energy, and the one and only ruler of the universe; compared to the source of everything, all other kinds of tyrants are infinitely below this category.
- Petty tyrants: tyrannical rulers or authoritarians who actually wield power over the life and death of others.
- Minor petty tyrants: tormentors who can be fearsome and inflict misery, but who do not hold any real power over the life and death of others; there are two subcategories:
- Little petty tyrants: these are further divided into four categories, according to the means they use to torment others:
- Those who use violence and cruelty.
- Those who create unbearable apprehension through deviousness.
- Those who oppress with sadness.
- Those who provoke rage.
- Teensy-weensy or small-fry petty tyrants: tormentors who are just exasperating, bothersome to no end, and annoy to distraction.
- Little petty tyrants: these are further divided into four categories, according to the means they use to torment others:
This hierarchical structure is analogous to the service to self hierarchy in the Cassiopean material. The STS hierarchy is embedded within a hyperdimensional reality, with the apex of the pyramid being the STS thought center of non-being. At the lower levels, within the fourth and third densities, the various classifications of petty tyrants are explained as people who act destructively, channeling through them the energies of “the tyrant”, whether due to their nature and/or the influence of the environment.
The most severe petty tyrants are narcissists, psychopaths, and other character-disturbed people – particularly when in positions of power. However, the average person, whether an organic portal or a potentially souled person, can and often does come to play the part of minor petty tyrant in relations with others.
In large part, what is said about petty tyrants and dealing with them can also be extended to “the system” we find ourselves in. We live in a world fundamentally shaped by the greed and destructiveness of psychopaths – including culture and the overall conditions of life, through ponerization and the long-term influence of a succession of increasingly global and overt pathocracies. As such, to varying extents, the very institutions, bureaucracies, and external conditions we find ourselves having to deal with can also play roles similar to that of petty tyrants.
Facing petty tyrants
It is the task of seekers of knowledge to be able to hold their own vis-à-vis the petty tyrants in our lives who (often unconsciously) seek to distract, derail or deplete the seeker’s energy reserves (often through manipulation).
Don Juan explained that, without being able to hold one’s own in the face of petty tyrants, one cannot really face the unknown nor handle encounters with the unknowable. Putting this in Cassiopaean terms, one must learn the more basic lessons of third density before being ready to venture into more advanced things. Our lessons concern “karmic and simple understandings”, and a lot of that has to do with how to relate to people, for example practicing strategic enclosure and external considering.
He explained that one of the greatest accomplishments of the seers of the Conquest was a construct he called the three-phase progression. By understanding the nature of man, they were able to reach the incontestable conclusion that if seers can hold their own in facing petty tyrants, they can certainly face the unknown with impunity, and then they can even stand the presence of the unknowable.
“The average man’s reaction is to think that the order of that statement should be reversed,” he went on. “A seer who can hold his own in the face of the unknown can certainly face petty tyrants. But that’s not so. What destroyed the superb seers of ancient times was that assumption. We know better now. We know that nothing can temper the spirit of a warrior as much as the challenge of dealing with impossible people in positions of power. Only under those conditions can warriors acquire the sobriety and serenity to stand the pressure of the unknowable.”
Many fall victim to the petty tyrants of the world, and being defeated by one means a loss of one’s vital energies. The Seer Don Juan explained to Castaneda that it was the task of warriors to learn to face these petty tyrants with temperance and to prevail against their torments. Dealing with petty tyrants called for four qualities of warriorship: control, discipline, forbearance and timing. Whereas to be defeated meant to act in anger, and potentially join the ranks of the Petty Tyrants.
To illustrate the point, Castaneda’s Don Juan tells the story of his servitude as a worker in a mansion, under the supervision of a brutish slave driver who regularly worked his captives to death. He escapes once, being shot in the process, and is then found and healed by his to-be teacher and master. Years later, of his own accord following his master’s advice, Don Juan returns to the house, in order to derive further benefit from the petty tyrant. This time, Don Juan plays the role of a hard worker and devout Christian, to the point of leading a prayer circle among the servants. He attracts the attention of the owners of the plantation by his service and initiative, which can only infuriate the slave driver who thenceforth seeks for any opportunity to murder Don Juan. Finally, in the presence of the people of the house, including the owner’s wife, he insults the slave driver and flees into the stables. The furious man pursues him there and is kicked to death by a horse.
The point is made quite clear: Toiling without complaining under the supervision of a brute given to excess and violence and doing so without fear or resentment, simply biding one’s time certainly develops control over impulses, rids one of excess self-importance or vanity. Deliberately irritating the supervisor by reacting in an unexpected manner, being pious and exemplary and gaining favor constitutes stalking, where Don Juan effectively drives his quarry, the slave driver, to higher and higher levels of irritation and thoughtlessness, eventually leading up to him losing control of himself and running to his death. The final act is an example of perfect timing, recognizing and seizing the opportunity. Doing all this in a deliberate manner, biding one’s time until the right moment, all the while adapting to the situation cultivates patience and forbearance. Don Juan takes refuge in a ‘higher law’ by not engaging the slave driver at his own level in a fight and by doing all in broad daylight, eventually leading to the exposure and demise of the slave driver.
In Castaneda’s book, Don Juan even says that if one does not have a petty tyrant to begin with, one must go seek one out. In practice, diverse levels of petty tyrants occur naturally. They cannot always be confronted directly or bypassed. Castaneda gives an outline for how such a situation can be turned around and used as a catalyst for growth and how one can expose the petty tyrant while oneself maintaining the higher ground.
We can also compare Castaneda’s precepts to George Gurdjieff’s. Gurdjieff does not directly advise people to go seek impossible persons in position of power, but he certainly made his way past many of them on his adventures, for example during his journey from Russia in the midst of the Russian revolution. Gurdjieff is no stranger to using concrete danger, chaotic circumstances, and the idea of death as a catalyst for spiritual development. Gurdjieff also speaks of the value of maintaining external considering in difficult situations. We can see the petty tyrant as a source of friction, shocks, and negative emotions to be transformed.
Gurdjieff does not go as far as to saying that one should find a brute and manipulate him to run to his death simply because one can, as a show of mastery, though.
Castaneda makes valid remarks on dealing with danger and persecution and the allegoric story of the petty tyrant can be an inspiration. We enter into difficulties, however, if we try to apply it too literally.