Blue Fox Shaman

Captain’s log, stardate 100732.01. Our training mission continues as we introduce our Chief Engineer, Second Officer, and Chief of Security.

Or, seen in the light of the stories of the Eight Trigrams whose combinations and interactions make up the 64 Hexagrams of the I Ching, we’ll introduce Middle Daughter (離 li Fire/Radiance) and Middle Son (坎 kan Water/Abyss). You may note that I mentioned three characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation, and two in the I Ching. Be patient and I shall reveal all.

First, meet Tasha Yar, our Chief of Security. A bit of a fire-brand, isn’t she?! She would encourage us to get right to the point, so I think the best way to introduce her would be to introduce the other characters whom Middle Daughter has played. The associations will speak volumes: Athena, the Morrigan, Brunhild (and all the Valkyries), Jiutian Xuannü, Inanna, the High Priestess (Tarot), … The list goes on.

In the old stories, she is often the hero’s, or the king’s, tutelary spirit and guardian. She “trains his hands for war” and she doesn’t flinch from “telling it like it is”. Even when death may be the outcome, she reminds him that it is a good day to die. In the personality, this faculty points out the things we need to notice. (Ever feel like you must be missing something and you need to take another look? Uh huh.) Before you can even form the word “snake”, she points out the one that is just off the trail to your left and is coiling, getting ready to strike. (For those of you who like cognitive science, this is our faculty of perception and recognition that operates at the pre-verbal level. Hold that thought for a moment…)

[Reminder/Note: I’m speaking in gendered terms here because those ideas (and biases) have infiltrated the stories that have been passed down to us. I’ll do my best to avoid perpetuating the biases, and Fox promises to hit me upside the head whenever she notices me doing it. In this particular case, it’s not as much of an issue because Middle Daughter is a badass and can take care of herself, thank you very much!]

While Middle Daughter is pre-verbal, Middle Son is all about words. Words, words, words. And more words. But, actually, we could assign him any symbolic system, including Mathematics. (All of the systems that are useful for communication, and also calculation.) Let me introduce Geordi La Forge, our Chief Engineer. So then, to cut to the chase, the other characters whom Middle Son has played include: Mr. Spock (mixing generations, oh my!), Wayland the Smith, Hephaistos, Loki, Odysseus, Data (our Second Officer, wait, what?), Hunin and Munin (the crows of Odin), Nakula and Sahadeva (you do know the Mahabharata, don’t you?), Prometheus and Epimetheus…

Ah, the twins! [“We was wondering when you’d introduce us, boss!”] Duality at its finest. “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.” (James 3:9 NIV). With language, mathematics and science we are truly building Heaven on Earth, and Hell too, just two doors down. Ah me!

[Fox says: “So what are you going to do about it, buddy? Looks like nothing at the moment. Shape up! Give the people the rest of the story!]

Yeah, we won’t dwell on that here. At least not yet. There will be lots more stories coming with all these characters soon. But it might serve our purpose here very well to point out a certain trend in the divinatory system of the Tarot. The middle children in the scheme of the Eight Trigrams are represented there by the Suit of Swords. All those cards are a piece of work. Can you find anything positive? Well, okay, the Six of Swords, kinda. It will be instructive to lay them out briefly:

Ace of Swords: All the aces are basically the raw potential of the Suit, which in this case represents language, perception and thought (in the sense of that inner dialogue we are constantly carrying on with ourself, whether in language, or with imagery ultimately built on perceptions). [Hexagram 38. Double Vision, Fire::Lake]

Two of Swords: Look before you leap! Get more information before you act. [Hexagram 21. Taking a Bite, Fire::Thunder]

Three of Swords: Them’s fightin’ words! [Hexagram 30. The Net, Fire::Fire]

Four of Swords: Let’s take a breather before you try to get it right… again! [Hexagram 35. Advancing, Fire::Earth]

Five of Swords: Someone is a dirty, lying cheater! [Hexagram 5. Waiting, Water::Heaven]

Six of Swords: Go to the showers! We’ve gotta find a new approach. [Hexagram 48. The Well, Water::Wind]

Seven of Swords: Thief! Thought you could hide that?! [Hexagram 29. The Abyss, Water::Water]

Eight of Swords: And he’s down for the count. Gather your will and get up, get up, you…! [Hexagram 39. Impeded, Water::Mountain]

Nine of Swords: Worrying doesn’t help, but you’re going to do it anyway, aren’t you? [Hexagram 64. Not Yet Across, Fire::Water]

Ten of Swords: You know all those times you asked, “what’s the worst that can happen?” Well… [Hexagram 63. After the Crossing, Water::Fire]

We’ll save the Face cards for another time. Things do brighten up there a bit (as far as the Tarot is concerned; the commentaries on the I Ching Hexagrams aren’t anywhere near so negative to begin with).

What you trainees should know about these divinatory symbol systems is that we are building them with a limited vocabulary, a limited set of symbols. To allow the messages to come through from the Collective Unconscious, we randomly select from a set of cards, or construct a Hexagram using a series of coin tosses. [In our case, Fox and me, we use dice, astragalomancy, as we’ve mentioned before. Glad to teach it to anyone who would like to learn.] What this means, in practical terms, is that you basically get one, or a limited few, of the symbols as a starting place for further contemplation (and the more advanced technique which uses the inner dialogue). Then you try to apply it to the situation you asked about, as best you can. We can’t do much better because… we’re working with a limited vocabulary. And we all have our biases, which must be taken into account. But you get better at it as you practice. And if you’re lucky, Middle Daughter will take notice of you and train you–if you’ve got the kishkes for it.

[“Pssst! Here’s a secret that he’s not telling you–the Collective Unconscious doesn’t know everything. You still gotta a job to do. How did that guy say it? Test the spirits! Take it from us, Hunin and Munin. But this guy’s a loser anyway. What kind of blog post is this?! He quotes a few random facts and hopes everyone will think he’s wise as Socrates. What a loser!”]

Okay, guys, behave! Geez Louise. Go start a war somewhere else.

Since the guys mentioned Socrates, let’s wrap this up with him. The oracle at Delphi called him the wisest guy, and, after contemplating it for a while he realized it meant that he was the wisest because he knew he wasn’t the wisest- a nice little koan to take on the road, because “the truth is out there”. And sometimes, when the paths of Knowledge (Middle Daughter/Fire) and Understanding (Middle Son/Water) come together, you catch a glimpse of Wisdom, obscured though it may be, through the mists.

[“Yeah, but you’ll never find it, loser. You knew we’d get in the last word, di”nt ya! That’s our job.”]