The Cormorant Totem – Morvran – Morfran – Bilidowcar

Cormorant is a contraction probably derived from Latin corvus marinus, “sea raven”; in the early 19th century, the similarly derived spelling “corvorant” was sometimes used. Cormoran is the Cornish name of the sea giant in the tale of Jack the Giant Killer. Indeed, “sea raven” or analogous terms were the usual terms for cormorants in Germanic languages until after the Middle Ages. The French explorer André Thévet commented in 1558: “the beak [is] similar to that of a cormorant or other corvid”, which demonstrates that the erroneous belief that the birds were related to ravens lasted at least to the 16th century.”

Of late we have had a cormorant on the bank of the pond between it and the river. Today there were two, they looked to be a breeding pair. At the same time heron the larger has been in the water. The heron is more nervous than the cormorants who must be Breton morvran. Having a pair in the garden is a first for us. I can get within twenty metres when they are on land. They just watch me. The heron would have flown off if I get that close. Cormorants fly better than herons and take off is quicker.

I should look to the cormorant totem.

Cormorants are diving birds at home in water and air. They dive deep into the watery depths. They co-parent. They shit good fertilizer. The Chinese train them to fish for them. They are at the smart end of the bird family.

Depending on whom you read this totem is about diving deep into the unknown confident that you will find morsels there. It is about looking deeper for solutions and answers. Looking deeper to fathom more profound meaning. It also about balancing air and water.

I am a little bit puzzled because it is tricky for me to imagine something which is far into the unknown for me. Perhaps I am blasé. I have had some experiences that many might consider strange, weird etc…

At first pass whatever it is that might be unknown seems likely to be proximal unknown as opposed to distal unknown. That is the sort of unknown which lies well within the normal remit of human folly and various sociopolitical interaction. There may be unexpected but that can differ from completely unknown.

Personally I have no pressing things which need to be solved. I am not in need of answers or explanations.

Upcoming on the cards is, for now, still my hip operation. This could bring up something unknown from the depths and need hidden reserves from me. I am due another prostate specific antigen test and a whole heap of preoperative blood tests. I expect that my iron levels will have increased a bit more in line with the general rustiness of my body.

An obvious unknown or rather a forgotten might be living without pain in my right hip.

The thing about the unknown is that it is by definition unknown. The deep unknown lies close in perceptual “space” to the unknowable. That would be an interesting turn up for the books. I am game.

Something which is just another unfamiliar variant of human folly is the more likely.

We shall see…

Are Prophecies Powerful?

Insofar as they have a huge hold on the wish-life of human consciousness, yes. They also add spice to the narratives in fiction and cinema. Who has not heard of the four horsemen of the apocalypse? The prophet Higgs foretold a boson which now bears his name, billions of dollars later. The newspaper red tops like to quote the utterings of a blind eastern European woman. We may need to excise and inspect the entrails of an ox. The tea leaves foretold a dark handsome stranger though they did not mention his HIV status.

People can look to prophetic fulfilment and imagine that they are acting in accord with a pre-ordained destiny if they strive to manifest what they think a prophecy means. How they try to manifest  prophecy may suit their preferences and biases. They may refer to their holy books and say, “God ordained that this was our land”. This as if a human authored text is binding in a court of international law. Proof of authorship my Lord? We can get into arguments as to whose God is bigger, harder, more omniscient and more important. Whose God has shares in Lockheed Martin. Many people have died according to human interpretation as to what God is alleged to have said, wished and desired. One could say that it comes down to whose imaginary friend is the more potent. One may seek to precipitate Armageddon because it was written. One has no idea as to which prophecies people are trying to enact or are perhaps beholden to.

The notion of prophecy and things foretold runs through human history, human imagination and human religion. Were it not for the dreams of the pharaoh and Joseph, the Egyptians would have starved. Foretelling is an attractive notion. People hold prophecies in their religious texts as gospel, literally. There is something otherworldly about prophecy and even the ardent sceptic senses something, a hint of it, wafting on the breeze. Prophecy around the campfire and by candlelight enraptures more, a sophisticated ritual oracle becomes near definitive. The shaman says and so it will be. People may resist the prophecy only for it to manifest verbatim in a totally unlikely and perhaps infeasible way. To doubt prophecy is to spit arrogantly in the eyes of the Fates, to defy the will of Olympus.

Humans may not be as scientific and rational as they profess. Some things run primordial in our veins.

Of course the most powerful prophecies are the secret ones, hidden, far from the eyes of the profane. These secret prophecies are only for the adepts, the in-crowd and the big cheeses. They are written in arcane runic script by the Bards for eyes of their Kings. They are etched in stone and jewel. And these prophecies are often about power and things of global import. They speak to the fate of the planet, of kingdoms and of mankind. The prophecies of climate change are discounted because they lack the shaman’s hocus pocus. They have spectacles and beards, simulations and error bars. They are cold and graphical. Time will tell on the incoming disasters wrought by human folly, the belief that there is always tomorrow. If true the foretold will come around no matter what the nay-sayers wish. It was written and prophesised thus and in peer reviewed journals.

A flavour of the enticing nature of prophecy can be found in The Secret Doctrine.

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Yet this secrecy and this profound mystery are indeed disheartening, since they alone – the Initiates of India and Tibet – could thoroughly dissipate the thick mists hanging over the history of Occultism, and force its claims to be recognized. The Delphic injunction “Know Thyself”, seems for few in this age. But the fault ought not be laid at the door of the Adepts, who have done all that could be done, and have gone as far as Their rules permitted, to open the eyes of the world. Only while the European shrinks from public obloquy and the ridicule unsparingly thrown on Occultsists, the Asiatic is being discouraged by his own Pandits. These profess to labour under the gloomy impression that no Bija Vidyǎ, no Arhatship (Adeptship), is possible during the Kali Yuga ( the “Black Age”) we are now passing through. Even the Buddhists are taught that the Lord Buddha is alleged to have prophesised that the power would die out in “one millennium after His death”.  But this is an entire mistake. In the Digha Nikǎya the Buddha says:

Hear, Subhadra; The world will never be without Rahats, if the ascetics in my congregations well and truly keep my precepts.

A similar contradiction of the view brought forward by the Brahmans is made my Krishna in the Bhagavd Gita, and there is further actual appearance of many Saddhus and miracle-workers in the past, and even in the present age. The same holds good for China and Tibet. Among the commandments of Tsong-Kha-pa there is one that enjoins the Rahats (Arhats) to make an attempt to enlighten the world, including the “white barbarians”, every century, at a certain specified period of the cycle. Up to the present day none of these attempts have been very successful. Failure has followed failure. Have we to explain the fact by the light of a certain prophecy? It is said that up to the time when Pban-chhen-rin-po-chhe (The Great Jewel of Wisdom) condescends to be reborn in the land of the P’helings (Westerners) and appearing as Spiritual Conqueror (Chom-den-da), destroys the errors and ignorance of the ages, it will be of little use to try to uproot the misconceptions of P’heling Pa (Europe): her sons will listen to no one. Another prophecy declares that the Secret Doctrine shall remain in all its purity in Bhod-yul (Tibet), only to the day that is kept free from foreign invasion. The very visits of Western natives, however friendly, would be baneful to the Tibetan populations. This is the true key to Tibetan exclusiveness.

Page 396, The Secret Doctrine, Volume V, Adyar Edition, (1950), H.P.Blavatsky,

The Theosophical Publishing House, London UK.

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Written long ago she writes of Tsongkhapa and the Panchen Lama. The succession in Tibet now of political import after the invasion decades after her writing. Now there are “two” Panchen Lamas and an ageing Dalai Lama.

The problem with prophecy is that political narrative can be adapted to fit and thereby claim provenance. Human resourcefulness remains. The desire to spin and use propaganda is strong and a prophetic belief in supremacy can fuel war and destruction. The crusader set sail to the {un} Holy Land to claim some turf in the name of his God. Imagined Divine right fertilises the soil with blood, bone and sinew. The cleavage of body by sword and munition seems justified in the minds and perhaps hearts of the brutal, punitive and primitive.

Not a lot changes. Humans do the same thing over and over. They may even cite the supposed glory of victorious precedent. It is not very evolved.

The impact of prophecy on human doings and history is profound. So yes, prophecy is powerful. It is also very weird in the magical sense of the word weird. Prophecy is a harbinger of portent. It is a messenger of sorts. Of course all good prophecies need to be vague and to an extent open to interpretation.

These ones always comes true.

The Glamour of Secret Knowledge

In the film “Bullet Proof Monk” a bunch of Nazis go to what looks like Tibet in order to gain a magical scroll which will grant them secret knowledge and near super-powers. The ageing guardian of the scroll is shot in the raid and the burden of keeping it safe and secret passes to a younger monk. There is a magical transference of sorts.

In real life an SS sponsored mission did go to Tibet in 1938-9 and the lead, a Dr Schaefer, was interrogated at the end of the war by USFET Military Intelligence

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Tibet Explorer & Scientist With SS-Sponsored Scientific Institutes
(Including Answers to USFET Special Interrogation Brief No. 104)

United States Forces – European Theater
Military Intelligence Service Center
APO 757 Final Interrogation Report (OI-FIR) No. 32 Feb. 12, 1946
.

Schaefer was a member of Das Ahnenerbe, the organization founded by Himmler in 1935 to investigate a variety of scientific and pseudo-scientific problems raised in Germany following the Nazi ascension to power. He belonged also to the Freundeskreis, which included many high SS leaders and German industrialists. Through the success of his last Tibetan expedition of 1938-1939, which was sponsored mainly by Nazi organizations, Schaefer became an outstanding representative of National Socialist science and of considerable propaganda value for the SS. After his return to Germany from this expedition, he was welcomed personally by Himmler. Subsequently he headed the following three scientific organizations: the Sven Hedin Institute, the Instruction and Research Foundation for Horse-Breeding, and the Instruction and Research Institute for Plant Genetics, all of which were connected with Ahnenerbe.

Now he claims that he used the SS solely to obtain the means for his scientific work. He is very helpful in all matters which do not involve himself, and his statements seem to be reliable. The information contained in this report has been confirmed by Miss Friedlieb of Homburg and Mrs. Lehmann of Frankfurt Ginbach, Schaefer’s former secretaries, who were interrogated at their homes.

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Schaefer was able to correspond with Reting Rinpoche the regent of Tibet and the Nechung Oracle who was relatively new to the post Ta Lama Lobsang Namgyal. The oracle had been involved with the finding the 14th Dalai Lama in ~1937.

All of whom are characters in the film Kundun.

The photo of the oracle on Wikipedia is Schaefer’s. So, he must have been very welcome if he was allowed to get close enough to photograph. See the text caption.

It is reported that he took back to Germany a copy of all 108 volumes of the Tibetan canon, the Kangyur.

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Out of a fact often comes extrapolation.

There are many stories about Hitler and his interest in the occult and esotericism. In my experience Germanic efficiency is efficient and organised. It is likely that Hitler and his nasty pals, if they were interested, would have kept records, archives.

People who lust after power also lust after short cuts. It is pretty obvious that Hitler did not bat on the same team as Jesus. It is not a stretch to deem him evil, a nasty piece of work.

So, what happened to Hitler’s occult archives, did they find their way to Moscow, were they shipped to Argentina or Brazil, or did they go to US or UK intelligence services?

The problem is that a scroll or a document cannot grant its owner, whether rightful or not, powers. The guide book, the grimoire needs practice and skill. To wield “magic shit” the person needs discipline, training and practise. There is probably no “ta-dah” moment when some talisman or other grants powers. Life is not like that. Even dark power must be earned. There is no fairy god mother.

The idea of secret knowledge, the holy grail, is salacious to humans. This is because people are lazy. It is very glamorous and makes for entertaining movies. The more secret something is the more exciting it is, for some. Knowledge from the past unearthed by Harrison Ford or Angelina Jolie is unlikely to change the balance of power geo-politically. Magic from the days of Atlantis is best kept buried beneath the waves which it called forth.

It stands to reason that there will be some surveillance of things like the occult. The USA even had a programme looking into “Remote Viewing”. On the off chance that telepathy, telekinesis and things like remote viewing work it would make sense to keep an eye on them. Even if that eye is sceptical.

What are the crazy mystical Russians doing?

Why did China invade Tibet the home of the so-called Masters of Wisdom?

China has a long occult history.

What exactly are in the vast Tibetan libraries?

It is said that knowledge is neutral. It can be used for good or evil dependent upon the user.

If people were not interested in “secret knowledge” Harry Potter would have been a flop.

Secrecy is exciting for some; it hints at power over others. But secrecy leads to darkness and in the darkness strange things grow…

Humans struggle to resist temptation…

Confirmation Bias and Conditional Transactional Interactions

The previous post is an I Ching consultation and I will use it to inform any interactions upcoming which I might have in 2025. I am aware that confirmation bias is a widespread phenomenon. One of the lines speaks about someone withdrawn from the world being seen as aloof by others and not caring about what others think or say about him. That fits me, maybe. Now is my confirmation bias wanting to see that fit or is it by way of an accurate description, an oracle which arises out of six shakes of three coins. It could be a fluke. It is suggesting an increase in interaction. If that happens my confirmation bias might say “look the I Ching is right”.

My confirmation bias, if indeed it is that has found numerous good fits between I Ching consultations and “reality” during the near thirty five years I have been consulting it. I could be delusional. But If I am I am detached and delusional.

For most people interpersonal interaction or “relationship” is of a conditional transactional nature. This time of year, people send Christmas cards and exchange presents. Good behaviour in children is rewarded by a nice present, if finances allow. This is a transaction. “If you are good, you can have a nice bike.”  If we send someone a Christmas card and they don’t return the favour, they may get left off next year’s card list. If don Corleone does you a favour, you owe him one back. If you fund the Trump election campaign you might get the nod for attorney general. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.

One could say that this normal socio-political behaviour. We could call it conditional because the conditional if is implied if not explicit. Taken too far this behaviour is corruption. Gifts to politicians to curry favour need to be transparent, but a bribe is still a bribe. Bribery is an expectation and a norm in some countries. The confirmation bias of a norm fails to see illegality. “That is the way we do things around here.”

Nearly always with favour is a returned favour expected. People have a confirmation bias that this is the way of the world. Few acts are genuinely unconditional. There is some kind of price, or reward and maybe temptation or manipulation.

If you look back at the I Ching consultation it suggests that some might offer sexual favours easily to gain power. This theme is throughout human interactional history.

Out of the blue we had visitors yesterday. They asked us if we had plans for tonight New Year’s Eve. We don’t. The lack of drama in the festive period in this house is notable in comparison to much of the world. Are we ruining the illusion of Christmas like the grinch? No, it is calm and drama free. Which for some is difficult to understand.

If you live by the mantra of scratch my back… and someone did something unconditional your confirmation bias would imagine that they wanted something back. Recently I asked someone for their opinion on a course of action I was considering and he said I should use the lens of “what is in it for me?”

That is not at all how I think. Our orientation towards the world differs.

I am coming around to an opinion / hypothesis that the majority of people do not understand unconditional behaviour or acts. Most people are on the make, most of the time. They are after something; they want some thing or other. Which means they can be leveraged, by favour, money, kudos, apparent friendship or a New Year’s Honour.

My confirmation bias is that I am unlikely to be on the New Year’s honours list and sure enough we have not yet received anything from The Cabinet Office.

I told you so.

2025 I Ching Consultation

Please comment on the nature of 2025 for me…

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44. Kou / Coming to Meet

above CH’IEN THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN
below SUN THE GENTLE, WIND

This hexagram indicates a situation in which the principle of darkness, after having been eliminated, furtively and unexpectedly obtrudes again from within and below. Of its own accord the female principle comes to meet the male. It is an unfavourable and dangerous situation, and we must understand and promptly prevent the possible consequences. The hexagram is linked with the fifth month [June-July], because at the summer solstice the principle of darkness gradually becomes ascendant again.

THE JUDGMENT

COMING TO MEET.

The maiden is powerful.
One should not marry such a maiden.

The rise of the inferior element is pictured here in the image of a bold girl who lightly surrenders herself and thus seizes power. This would not be possible if the strong and light-giving element had not in turn come halfway. The inferior thing seems so harmless and inviting that a man delights in it; it looks so small and weak that he imagines he may dally with it and come to no harm. The inferior man rises only because the superior man does not regard him as dangerous and so lends him power. If he were resisted from the first, he could never gain influence. The time of COMING TO MEET is important in still another way. Although as a general rule the weak should not come to meet the strong, there are times when this has great significance. When heaven and earth come to meet each other, all creatures prosper; when a prince and his official come to meet each other, the world is put in order. It is necessary for elements predestined to be joined and mutually dependent to come to meet one another halfway. But the coming together must be free of dishonest ulterior motives, otherwise harm will result.

THE IMAGE

Under heaven, wind:

The image of COMING TO MEET.

Thus does the prince act when disseminating his commands
And proclaiming them to the four quarters of heaven.

The situation here resembles that in hexagram 20, Kuan, CONTEMPLATION (VIEW). In the latter the wind blows over the earth, here it blows under heaven; in both cases it goes everywhere. There the wind is on the earth and symbolizes the ruler taking note of the conditions in his kingdom; here the wind blows from above and symbolizes the influence exercised by the ruler through his commands. Heaven is far from the things of earth, but it sets them in motion by means of the wind. The ruler is far from his people, but he sets them in motion by means of his commands and decrees.

Nine in the fifth place means:

A melon covered with willow leaves.
Hidden lines.

Then it drops down to one from heaven.

The melon, like the fish, is a symbol of the principle of darkness. It is sweet but spoils easily and for this reason is protected with a cover of willow leaves. This is a situation in which a strong, superior, well-poised man tolerates and protects the inferiors in his charge. He has the firm lines of order and beauty within himself but he does not lay stress upon them. He does not bother his subordinates with outward show or tiresome admonitions but leaves them quite free, putting his trust in the transforming power of a strong and upright personality. And behold! Fate is favorable. His inferiors respond to his influence and fall to his disposition like ripe fruit.

Nine at the top means:

He comes to meet with his horns.
Humiliation. No blame.

When a man has withdrawn from the world, its tumult often becomes unbearable to him. There are many people who in a noble pride hold themselves aloof from all that is low and rebuff it brusquely wherever it comes to meet them. Such persons are reproached for being proud and distant, but since active duties no longer hold them to the world, this does not greatly matter. They know how to bear the dislike of the masses with composure.

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Changing to:

32. Hêng / Duration

above CHEN THE AROUSING, THUNDER
below SUN THE GENTLE, WIND

The strong trigram Chên is above, the weak trigram Sun below. This hexagram is the inverse of the preceding one. In the latter we have influence, here we have union as an enduring condition. The two images are thunder and wind, which are likewise constantly paired phenomena. The lower trigram indicates gentleness within; the upper, movement without. In the sphere of social relationships, the hexagram represents the institution of marriage as the enduring union of the sexes. During courtship the young man subordinates himself to the girl, but in marriage, which is represented by the coming together of the eldest son and the eldest daughter, the husband is the directing and moving force outside, while the wife, inside, is gentle and submissive.

THE JUDGMENT

DURATION. Success. No blame.
Perseverance furthers.
It furthers one to have somewhere to go.

Duration is a state whose movement is not worn down by hindrances. It is not a state of rest, for mere standstill is regression. Duration is rather the self-contained and therefore self-renewing movement of an organized, firmly integrated whole, taking place in accordance with immutable laws and beginning anew at every ending. The end is reached by an inward movement, by inhalation, systole, contraction, and this movement turns into a new beginning, in which the movement is directed outward, in exhalation, diastole, expansion. Heavenly bodies exemplify duration. They move in their fixed orbits, and because of this their light-giving power endures. The seasons of the year follow a fixed law of change and transformation, hence can produce effects that endure. So likewise the dedicated man embodies an enduring meaning in his way of life, and thereby the world is formed. In that which gives things their duration, we can come to understand the nature of all beings in heaven and on earth.

THE IMAGE

Thunder and wind: the image of DURATION.

Thus the superior man stands firm
And does not change has direction.

Thunder rolls, and the wind blows; both are examples of extreme mobility and so are seemingly the very opposite of duration, but the laws governing their appearance and subsidence, their coming and going, endure. In the same way the independence of the superior man is not based on rigidity and immobility of character. He always keeps abreast of the time and changes with it. What endures is the unswerving directive, the inner law of his being, which determines all his actions.

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44 Keou / Venir à la rencontre
En haut K’ien : Le Créateur
En bas Souen : Le Doux, le Vent

L’hexagramme indique une situation où le principe obscur se réintroduit secrètement et de façon inattendue de l’intérieur et d’en bas après qu’on l’avait écarté. L’élément féminin vient de lui-même à la rencontre des hommes. C’est une situation dangereuse et non favorable à cause des conséquences possibles qu’il importe de reconnaître à temps et, par suite, d’enrayer. Ce signe est rattaché au 5e mois (juin-juillet) parce qu’avec le solstice d’été le principe obscur recommence peu à peu son ascension.

Le Jugement

VENIR À LA RENCONTRE.
La jeune fille est puissante
On ne doit pas épouser une telle jeune fille,

L’ascension de l’homme vulgaire est représentée sous les traits d’une jeune fille effrontée qui se livre facilement et prend ainsi le commandement. Cela ne serait pas possible si, de son côté, le principe fort et lumineux n’était pas venu. Lui aussi, à sa rencontre. L’homme vulgaire paraît si inoffensif et si doucereux que l’on s’en fait un ami. Il paraît si petit et si faible que l’on pense pouvoir plaisanter avec lui sans inquiétude. L’homme vulgaire ne s’élève que parce que l’homme noble ne le tient pas pour dangereux et lui prête de la puissance. Si on lui résistait au début, il ne réussirait jamais à acquérir de l’influence. Mais le temps où l’on vient à la rencontre a cependant encore un autre aspect qui mérite examen. Si la règle ne doit pas être que le faible vienne au-devant du fort, cette attitude revêt cependant à certaines époques une signification considérable. Si le ciel et la terre viennent à la rencontre l’un de l’autre toutes les créatures prospèrent. Quand le prince et son ministre viennent à la rencontre l’un de l’autre, l’ordre s’établit dans le monde. Il est indispensable que des principes destinés l’un à l’autre viennent l’un vers l’autre. Cette démarche doit seulement être libre d’arrière-pensées, sinon ce serait mauvais.

L’image

Sous le ciel est le vent :
Image de l’acte de VENIR À LA RENCONTRE.
Ainsi fait le prince quand il publie ses ordres et les fait proclamer aux quatre points cardinaux.

La situation est analogue à celle de l’hexagramme Kouan « la contemplation » (n° 20). Là le vent souffle sur la terre, ici il souffle sous le ciel. Dans les deux cas il entre partout. Mais, là, le vent était sur la terre, donc en bas, et symbolisait le souverain prenant connaissance des conditions du royaume. Ici le vent souffle d’en haut ; cela indique l’influence que le souverain exerce par ses ordres. Le ciel est éloigné des choses qui sont sur la terre, mais il les meut par le vent. Le souverain est éloigné du peuple, mais il le meut par ses ordres et l’expression de ses volontés.

Neuf à la cinquième place signifie :
Un melon recouvert de feuilles de saule.
Traits cachés.
Cela nous tombe alors du haut du ciel.

Le melon est comme le poisson une image du principe obscur. Il est sucré mais pourrit facilement ; c’est pourquoi il est recouvert de feuilles de saule protectrices. La situation est celle où un homme fort, élevé, ferme en lui-même protège avec patience les inférieurs dont il a la charge. Il possède en lui les traits fermes de l’ordre et de la beauté. Pourtant il ne les fait pas valoir. Il n’importune pas ses subordonnés par son éclat extérieur ou des avertissements fastidieux, mais il les laisse entièrement libres, faisant pleine confiance à la puissance transformatrice qui réside à l’intérieur d’une personnalité forte et pure. Et voici que le destin est favorable. Les inférieurs sont influencés et lui tombent comme des fruits mûrs.

Neuf en haut signifie :
Il vient à la rencontre avec ses cornes.
Humiliation. Pas de blâme.

Quand un homme s’est retiré du monde, l’agitation profane lui devient souvent insupportable. Il y a souvent des hommes qui, dans un noble orgueil, se tiennent loin du vulgaire et le repoussent avec rudesse s’il vient à leur rencontre.   De tels hommes sont réprimandés d’être durs et inaccessibles ; toutefois comme ils ne sont plus liés par le devoir d’agir dans le monde, cela n’a pas grande importance. Ils savent supporter avec calme l’aversion de la masse.

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Changing to

32 Hong / La Durée
En haut Tchen : L’Éveilleur, le Tonnerre
En bas Souen : Le Doux, le Vent

Le trigramme fort Tchen est au-dessus, le trigramme faible Souen, au-dessous. Cet hexagramme est l’inverse du précédent : là l’influence, ici l’union comme état durable. Les images sont celles du tonnerre et du vent qui sont également des phénomènes associés de façon constante. Le trigramme inférieur indique douceur au-dedans, le trigramme supérieur, mouvement au-dehors.
Si nous appliquons l’hexagramme aux rapports sociaux, nous sommes en présence de l’institution matrimoniale comme union durable des sexes. Lors de la demande en mariage, le jeune homme se tenait placé au-dessous de la jeune fille. Par contre, dans le mariage qui est représenté par la réunion du fils aîné et de la fille aînée, l’homme est à l’extérieur fournissant direction et impulsion, tandis que la femme demeure à l’intérieur, douce et obéissante.

Le Jugement

LA DURÉE.
Succès. Pas de blâme.
La persévérance est avantageuse.
Il est avantageux d’avoir où aller.

La durée est un état dont le mouvement n’est pas annihilé par les obstacles. Ce n’est pas un état de repos, car la pure immobilité est recul. La durée est plutôt un mouvement s’accomplissant suivant des lois déterminées, refermé sur lui-même et, par suite, se renouvelant sans cesse, d’un tout organisé et fortement centré sur lui-même, dans lequel toute fin est suivie d’un nouveau commencement. La fin est atteinte par le mouvement vers l’intérieur, l’inspiration du souffle, la systole, la concentration. Ce mouvement se change en un nouveau début dans lequel il est dirigé vers l’extérieur : c’est l’expiration du souffle, la diastole, l’expansion. C’est de cette manière que les corps célestes accomplissent leur course dans le ciel et peuvent en conséquence briller d’une manière durable. Les saisons se déroulent suivant une loi fixe de changement et de transformation et peuvent par suite œuvrer durablement. Ainsi l’homme qui a entendu l’appel incarne une signification durable dans sa manière de vivre et le monde reçoit par là une forme. A partir de ce en quoi les choses puisent leur durée, il est possible de reconnaître la nature de tous les êtres dans le ciel et sur la terre.

L’Image

Tonnerre et vent :
Image de la DURÉE.
Ainsi l’homme noble conserve une attitude ferme et ne change pas de direction.

Le tonnerre roule et le vent souffle. L’un et l’autre représentent un phénomène extrêmement mobile, si bien que leur apparence est à l’opposé de la durée. Toutefois leur apparition et leur disparition, leur mouvement d’aller et de retour suivent des lois durables. Ainsi l’autonomie de l’homme noble ne consiste pas en ce qu’il serait rigide et immobile. Il suit toujours le temps et se transforme avec lui. Ce qui dure est la direction ferme, la loi interne de son être qui détermine toutes ses actions.

Science and Divination

My book on Mo the Tibetan System of Divination by the polymath Jamgon Mipham arrived last night and I have had a quick scan through. Like many things Tibetan when something has negative aspect they don’t hold back.

“The Demon of Death – If RA PA – the demon of death – appears, then the symbol is destruction.

I’ll speculate that if you were to ask most physical scientists if there is any merit in divination techniques, they might say it is a bit of fun but there is no reality to the predictions, divination is a superstition

I have published in Physical Review Letters, Chemical Physics and Faraday Transactions. This is evidence that at least at one time I was able to “do” modern science at a fair level.

In the early nineties I was in a bookshop in Tring and this copy of the I Ching literally fell off the shelf and onto the floor by my feet.

You could argue that this was purely coincidental or that the universe was telling me something. One could say that the I Ching wanted me, was seeking me out. I have consulted on an off for three decades. I have done consultations for myself and for others. In some cases, people’s faces have gone white with the “accuracy” of how the oracle fits life circumstance. Some of these were scientists! In the late nineties I went on my first “New Age” course with Jay Ramsay a co-author of “I Ching the Shamanic Oracle of Change”. People on the course were suspicious of me because I was a “scientist” from a hardcore science and technology university.

What is safe to say is that a consultation nearly always opens up a new approach, or a new way of thinking about a situation, dilemma or problem. It adds a perspective.

In some cases when approached with the right attitude the fit of the advice to circumstance is uncanny. If you are a dick with the oracle, it can tell you so. Of course, this perceived fit could be my confirmation bias. I am not a premature conclusion sort of person and tend to keep an open mind. I have allowed consultations to alter my actions and orientation. Just like I do with dreams.

There are many that might consider this mumbo-jumbo.

I attended a foundation course in North American Indian shamanism. As a part of that we looked a Scandinavian Runic Shamanism. I carved my own set of runes out of slate. I was accustomed to wear runes around my neck on a cord. I gave lectures on physical chemistry wearing my home made runes. There is a divination system based on runes in which one blind selects the appropriate rune from a bag to advise on a question. The selected rune is compared to a guide book and the intuition invoked to answer the query.

Astrology does not light my candle.

But I do like Tarot and Numerology. I am not drawn to typical Tarot spreads, preferring only to use the major arcana.

Maybe I should go on “Fesshole” and confess to doing Tarot whilst at Imperial College…

In my Tibetan Dice dream I throw One One or Dhi Dhi

A little later I see two dice. I see that they are carved out of a deep root of a tree and shaped and polished. It is a long process and a labour of love. These are my Tibetan dice. They are perfect cubes with sharp edges and corners. I hold them in my hand and throw the dice, and I see two faces each with a singular dark blue dot. I have thrown two. They are made of root and Tibetan. The workmanship is exquisite. I know the meaning of two and its significance.

The Jewelled Banner of Victory

If DHI DHI – the hoisted banner of victory – appears, then you are victorious and excel, like the raising of the banner of victors over every direction.  You are able to accomplish whatever activity you wish to do.”

DHI DHI is increasing and DHI transcendental wisdom, multi-coloured, mind and thoughts.

To dream an auspicious oracle is probably auspicious.

Up in the orchard there is a fallen Walnut tree, taken out by Tempest Ciaran on the first of November last year, the morning I had the dream. Some of the roots are exposed. I could fashion for myself two dice out of the root. Walnut is a very decorative wood.

I have been wondering what to do about the roots of late…

Until I have made the dice, I won’t consult the Mo.

The dream has pointed me at another method to explore…..