Blue Fox Shaman

Fox: [answers the phone] Hey girlfriend, wassup? … Oh, well, yes I suppose. I’ve got an outfit that will do, but I’ll need to borrow his stuff, of course… Okay, sure thing. This Monday, 12 midnight? … got it. Hey, would it be okay if I brought Bärchen along? … Uh huh. Yeah a real educational experience… You’re welcome! Okay then, ta ta!

Bärchen: Who was that?

Fox: That was Persephone. She needed someone to take over a soul-harvest for Death this coming Monday, he’s got someplace else he’s gotta be. I told her I’d do it. Is that okay with you?

Bärchen: Sure thing, sweetie.

Fox: And I asked if I could bring you along, if you’d like to go.

Bärchen: Uh…ooh. Sure, why not! Who is it? The soon-to-be-dead person, that is?

Fox: Don’t know, and couldn’t tell you if I did. Company policy.

Bärchen: No worries.

Fox: I do know that if Death himself was assigned this soul-harvest it will be interesting. That’s how seniority works.

Bärchen: Okay, then.

[…in the Dark Forest Between Worlds, a pale, waning moon shines between the boles of the ancient trees… a Dark robed figure stands in a clearing, in a pool of moonlight. His bony hands hold a long, sharp scythe… enter Fox and Bärchen…]

Death: Hey, Fox! Persephone said she would send somebody. So glad you could make it, that’s so awesome! And you brought somebody with you… a new trainee?

Fox: Death, meet Bärchen, Bärchen, Death.

Bärchen: My pleasure. Hey, that’s some grip you’ve got. Cold as… hmmm!

Death: Likewise. Oh, yeah, the grip is part of the job description, sorry!

Fox: Bärchen and I are taking the Middle Path.

Death: You don’t say! That’s a rarity nowadays. So, will he be… okay… with all the stuff about to go down?

Fox: He should be fine. I’ve already scared all the shit out of him that I can manage. Where are you off to?

Death: My cousin is graduating from the Infernal Law School. It’s only taken her about 500 years, so I wanted to be there for her.

Fox: How nice! Send her our congratulations.

Death: Will do. Okay, here’s the Scythe and the Deck. You can just leave them here when you’re done. Thanks again!

Fox: Have fun!

Bärchen: Good to meet you!

[…Death exits… Fox opens a strange, battered old deck of cards and lays them out on an embroidered, white cloth on the ground, then she takes the cards and deftly shuffles them…]

Fox: Sit here where you can see everything clearly, sweetie. You should watch and learn. And you can ask me questions once the Soul departs.

Bärchen: Got it. Man! this place is eerie!

Fox: Isn’t it great! Oh, here they come now.

[…a ΔΑΙΜΟΝ enters, leading a Soul…]

ΔΑΙΜΟΝ: Greetings, Death… er, ΔΑΙΜΟΝ?!

Fox: Greetings, ΔΑΙΜΟΝ! Greetings, Soul! Yes, I’m a ΔΑΙΜΟΝ as well. I’m covering for Death tonight.

ΔΑΙΜΟΝ: Got it. [to the Soul] Sit, oh Soul and understand the Course of thy Life!

[…Fox deals…]

Soul: Discard two… ah!

Fox: Place your bets…

Soul: 25

Fox: See and raise 2.

Soul: Call.

Fox: Reveal!

Soul: Two pairs.

Fox: Three of a kind. House wins. Next hand…

[…Play continues for some time… then a distant clock begins to strike the hour of Midnight…]

Fox: Final round. High card wins. All in.

Soul: [picks top card] The Magician

Fox: [picks next card] The Chariot.

[…As the hour strikes Midnight, a white light appears. Fox takes the Scythe and severs the Silver Thread…]

ΔΑΙΜΟΝ: Come, oh Soul. Thy game is ended. [whispers to Fox] Thank you!

Fox: Of course! The Blessings of the Great Mystery be upon you both.

[…The ΔΑΙΜΟΝ and Soul head toward the light and disappear, Fox and Bärchen head back to where they parked the Alpha…]

Fox: So, Bärchen. What do you think?

Bärchen: I’m at a loss for words, frankly. So… what just happened there? I thought we would see a movie of the Life of that Soul, only like sped up like 3000 times, or something.

Fox: We did, basically.

Bärchen: But you were playing poker… with Tarot cards!

Fox: Uh huh. That’s a close enough equivalent.

Bärchen: Sorry, I don’t understand.

Fox: That was the Final Game. A recapitulation of the Game of the Soul’s Life, condensed into a few significant hands.

Bärchen: The Game of the Soul’s…?!

Fox: Life is a game. I’ve told you that.

Bärchen: I had never taken it quite so literally, but okay.

Fox: Did you observe the hands that were played?

Bärchen: Yes. I wondered in particular about that one where they had the King and Queen of Hearts, and the King of Spades. They were trying for three of a kind, and they did get the King of Diamonds in the draw. But I found myself asking, was that the right move, to discard the Queen of Hearts, even if that did win that hand?

Fox: Right. Good catch.

Bärchen: “Ok, Lucy, ‘splain!”

Fox: Ok, Ricky. You shouldn’t play to maximize profit; you’re going to lose it all in the end anyway. It’s more important to play some interesting hands. The amount you bet is the effort you’re willing to put in to play that hand to the end. And sometimes you can bluff a bad hand and get a payout, but, knowing the Universe, and the way the Deck was shuffled in the first place, means you’ll probably end up losing that sometime later.

Bärchen: You mean the Deck is always stacked against you?

Fox: Not exactly. From the standpoint that you’ll lose everything in the end, okay. From the standpoint of “do I have Free Will?” you bet you do, and you damn sure better use it to act according to the Great Dharma. Don’t you look for someone else to blame for your bad behavior. But, anyway, the secret is that you’re allowed to have fun. And from that angle, sometimes it pays to lose a little bit of capital to be able to play a hand, instead of folding. And I think some of the Judgment about which way you go in the End may depend on how much fun you had. Real fun, that is, not stupid adolescent pranks. Just don’t draw to an inside straight, or do stupid
shit like that. And, the Wise have Secret Knowledge of the ways the remaining part of the deck might be reshuffled to be more in your favor. But you know all that already, no need for me to “‘splain” all this to you.

Bärchen: Yes… that was just all so different from what I expected.

Fox: Sorry for talking your leg off like that…

Bärchen: We’re both nerds; I have no problem with that.

Fox: Hey, we’re back already… So, after all that, are you tired? Or are you interested in a little game of our own, before we hit the sack?

Bärchen: Sure, why not. I’m not too freaked out, I guess. What do you have in mind?

Fox: How about a couple hands of strip poker?

Bärchen: [blushing] Ummm… sure! Hah! Now I am definitely freaked out.

Fox: [laughing] You always know the right things to say, sweetie. [winks] Let’s have some fun!