Good Omens...And Bad: Prophecy in Theory and Practice, Lab Nine

[a-phale.livejournal.com]

Friday, November 10, Second Period

Along with the usual spread of hot drinks and pastries, there are carefully arranged boxes of little coins, sticks, and other sundry divination accoutrements.

"Today we're doing an exercise in a specific type of bibliomancy, divination through the I Ching. There are a number of ways to accomplish this, some of them quite complex. For today's lab exercise, you're going to work with your partner and these handouts. Choose a casting method and try a few passes to see what you come up with.

"There will be no homework assignment today, unless you count my expectation of seeing all of you on the bus this afternoon for our field trip."

Syllabus
Class Roster
Classes Linkdrop
Lab Partner List

[ooc: Any supplies you might need for the various casting methods: turtle shell, yarrow sticks, etc, are available in the classroom. Please wait for OCD threads are up, class is in session!]

Comments

Re: Lab Exercise

[likethegun]

"Yeah, I think it's going to be fun. Unless I have to break my brother out of jail while we're there, in which case it will be both exciting and yet horrifying."

Re: Lab Exercise

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

"Why would it be horrifying? Jail ain't so bad."

Re: Lab Exercise

[likethegun]

"You've been to jail? Or have you broken someone out?"

Re: Lab Exercise

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

"Both."

Re: Lab Exercise

[likethegun]

Sam added that to his growing mental list of Fun Facts About Pippi. "Wow. I'm totally impressed now. Maybe I'll have to enlist your help if Dean gets into trouble."

Re: Lab Exercise

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

"I'm always glad to help." Pippi nodded. "So, shall we make our upcoming expedition the focus of our project today?"

Re: Lab Exercise

[likethegun]

"That sounds like a good idea. Did you want to use coins?" he asked, pointing to the ones she'd been playing with when he sat down.

Re: Lab Exercise

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

"You can cast them." Pippi said handing them over. "I was just messing around."

Re: Lab Exercise

[likethegun]

"Okay." Sam took the coins and followed the instructions, getting 8, 6, 7, 7, 9, and 8. "I don't know what that means though," he added, glancing through the handouts again.

Re: Lab Exercise

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

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"Hexagram 13..." Pippi says reading from wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Ching_hexagram_01) her handout. "Hexagram 13 is named 同人 (tong2 ren2), "Concording People". Other variations include "fellowship with men" and "gathering men". Its inner trigram is ☲ (離 li2) radiance = (火) fire, and its outer trigram is ☰ (乾 qian2) force = (天) heaven.

The Lines:

Line 1- Union at the gates. The time for union is before emabrking on a journey, before differences can arise.

Line 2- Fellowship within the clan. There is a danger of elitism or exclusivity here.

Line 3- He hides weapons in the grass. He climbs a high hill. For three years, ther is no movement. A time of mistrust. The more one plots, the more one sees the world as plotting against him.

Line 4- He climbs upon the wall, but does not attack. The fact that he cannot fight, will lead him to a reconciliation.

Line 5- First lamentation then laughter. Join together, combine forces to overcome obstacles.

Line 6- Fellowship in the meadow. Men join in fellowship, but their influence is limited. There is no blame, but not all goals are attainable."