Aug 08 23
The Devil (reversed)
45. Gathering Together [Massing]
These first few lines are the general aphoristic returns for the week. They are raw and uninterpreted; there to use how you’d like. (The specific readings follow.)
From “C.A.R.G.O.”: In light of this week’s book fair — we’d like to ask the Oracle a related question. How important is the method of conveyance — method of conveyance meaning, a book, a site, a painting, a film, an oration, a tarot/I Ching reading, etc., etc.? It is our inclination (belief even) that the medium is the message; for us this implies that the cactus is of the desert, humans are of the earth, clothing is of the weather, ultimately, form is of the function...
A method of communication should strive to be somewhere between an intention and a question. If it goes too much toward the former, then dogma, control or mere one-sided teaching may be the result. If the latter dominates, then there simply aren’t enough boundaries/forces for something to legibly/sensibly appear.
As well, communications are not frequently selfless/open enough and either cloak authoritarian conceits, or unimaginatively utilize an a priori skill (so that it’s all medium and no message). So yes, it seems that the medium is the message — transcendentally so.
The method should be what is needed, not what is wanted or what is easy.
Complete Reading
This week we pulled the Devil. Whether upright or reversed, the card bears reference to the Adam and Eve myth. Though we are not remotely religious, we do admire many religious metaphors — a favorite being the one where Adam and Eve are expelled from the garden of Eden, for eating from the tree of knowledge. For us, the attraction being that it speaks to the double edge of coming into awareness — on the one side you have knowledge (which is like the fundamental ingredient of all manner of procreative power) on the other side, you have the reality that knowing cannot be undone (like, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle). The upright image of the card is a reference to this earthbound-ness — the difficulty of a human’s servitude to knowledge. When reversed, as it is here, it points to a very interesting place, something like the liberation from knowing.
Our first and only hexagram this week is #45, Gathering Together (Massing). Here we have something like a pros and cons list of the gathering together of people (and some related qualifications). All great undertakings require accord and/or the individually contributive work of large groups. Whilst conversely, large groups of people, should they freak out (collectively desire short term release) cause massive damage (or reverse a lot of their hard-won work). For the sensitive, motivated, strong oversight of masses of people, a person of uncommon selflessness and self-collectedness, is required.
- be open to a reversal of knowing (like un-knowing, not like the opposite of something)
- do not blindly pursue understanding
- seek union with groups guided or founded by strong, but deeply unselfish, leaders (or stand apart and wait for such a situation to occur)
From “C.A.R.G.O.”: In light of this week’s book fair — we’d like to ask the Oracle a related question. How important is the method of conveyance — method of conveyance meaning, a book, a site, a painting, a film, an oration, a tarot/I Ching reading, etc., etc.? It is our inclination (belief even) that the medium is the message; for us this implies that the cactus is of the desert, humans are of the earth, clothing is of the weather, ultimately, form is of the function...
A method of communication should strive to be somewhere between an intention and a question. If it goes too much toward the former, then dogma, control or mere one-sided teaching may be the result. If the latter dominates, then there simply aren’t enough boundaries/forces for something to legibly/sensibly appear.
As well, communications are not frequently selfless/open enough and either cloak authoritarian conceits, or unimaginatively utilize an a priori skill (so that it’s all medium and no message). So yes, it seems that the medium is the message — transcendentally so.
The method should be what is needed, not what is wanted or what is easy.
Complete Reading
This week we pulled the Devil. Whether upright or reversed, the card bears reference to the Adam and Eve myth. Though we are not remotely religious, we do admire many religious metaphors — a favorite being the one where Adam and Eve are expelled from the garden of Eden, for eating from the tree of knowledge. For us, the attraction being that it speaks to the double edge of coming into awareness — on the one side you have knowledge (which is like the fundamental ingredient of all manner of procreative power) on the other side, you have the reality that knowing cannot be undone (like, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle). The upright image of the card is a reference to this earthbound-ness — the difficulty of a human’s servitude to knowledge. When reversed, as it is here, it points to a very interesting place, something like the liberation from knowing.
Our first and only hexagram this week is #45, Gathering Together (Massing). Here we have something like a pros and cons list of the gathering together of people (and some related qualifications). All great undertakings require accord and/or the individually contributive work of large groups. Whilst conversely, large groups of people, should they freak out (collectively desire short term release) cause massive damage (or reverse a lot of their hard-won work). For the sensitive, motivated, strong oversight of masses of people, a person of uncommon selflessness and self-collectedness, is required.