Destiny & Free Will, #2 [Period 1, Monday, July 14]

[atreideslioness]

The class met in the Danger Shop today, as handwavily ordered.  The room was set to a giant circle, with plenty of overstuffed pillows for laying on in the center.  Along the edges were small round tables, each with two chairs and various items placed upon them. 

Once the bell rang, Ghanima looked up from where she was sprawled on the floor playing with some cards and smiled.  "Destiny," she began with preamble, dropping the cards and pushing to her feet.  "Refers to a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. It is a concept based on the belief that there is a fixed natural order to the universe." 

"Destiny may be seen either as a fixed sequence of events that is inevitable and unchangeable, or that individuals choose their own destiny by choosing different paths throughout their life."  Ghanima paused to smile at them briefly.  "Confusing, isn't it?"

"Many Greek legends and tales teach the futility of trying to outmaneuver an inexorable fate that has been correctly predicted. This form of irony is important in Greek tragedy, as it is in Oedipus Rex  or Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey, where in spite of all the character's attempts otherwise, it does not preclude a horrible fate," she said,  wandering the room to pass out a handout on Oedipus.

"Some believe that one's destiny may be ascertained by divination. In the belief systems of many cultures, one's destiny can only be learned about through a shaman, babalawo, prophet, sibyl, saint or seer. In the Shang dynasty in China, turtle bones were thrown ages before the I Ching was codified. Arrows were tossed to read destiny, from Thrace to pagan Mecca. In Yoruba traditional religion, the Ifá oracle is consulted via a string of sixteen cowries or oil-palm nuts whose pattern when thrown on to a wooden tray represents the 256 possible combinations whose named "chapters" are recited and verses interpreted for the client by the babalawo."  Ghanima grinned and waved her hand in the international 'blah blah blah' manner.  "Every society has their own way of fortelling a future, from worm entrails to crystal balls.  My empire put its fate in the hands of a family that can walk the veils of time, forward and back, to see what lies beyond, and now they're stuck with the future that the Mahdi chose.  Oracles can be a tricky bunch, and you must always assume that they may have a hidden agenda of their own."  

"Today, it's time for you to face your destiny."  Ghanima gestured to the tables ringing the room.  "Pair up, wander around, and pick a method of divination that speaks to you.  Read your own destiny, or that of your partner, and then discuss if you agree or disagree with the results you obtained."

[OOC:  Please wait for the OCD to go up!]

Comments

Sign In #2

[atreideslioness]

In the futuristic fashion!

Re: Sign In #2

[withoutverona]

Romeo Montague, who will be much scruffier in the future.

Listen to the Lecture

[atreideslioness]

Talk, pass notes, take notes...it's your destiny!

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[withoutverona]

Romeo listened carefully, wondering if it was at all possible to escape destiny.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[ihaveniceteeth.livejournal.com]

About halfway through the lecture Gwen's brain started getting melty. Destiny was confusing in the extreme.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

Helen found all of this fascinating!

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

Listening to all that, John wasn't sure he wanted to know his future.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

Jen listened to the lecture with her visual scanners on to hide the fact that her gaze kept darting between Wes and Alex.

This was interesting to say the least, considering she had very vivid memories of an older Alex telling an older Wes that his father would die of injuries sustained in Ransik's attack on Bio-Lab, and that Wes's destiny was to succeed his father in running the company. And, after that proclamation had been shattered by Mr. Collins's survival, there had been Alex's declaration that Wes and Eric were fated to die in 2001, in defense of Silver Hills -- completely derailed when Jen and the others defied orders to return from the year 3000 and save them. And then of course there was Alex's death, reversed or prevented, however unwittingly, by Jen's own actions in the past.

All of these things could have been compelling discussion points in the class -- and she couldn't use them.

Stupid destiny. Stupid quantum physics.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[walks-two-paths.livejournal.com]

Savannah was taking notes... very thorough ones

Class Discussion: Oedipus Rex

[atreideslioness]

Sound off! Look over your handout, and discuss the fate of Oedipus. What does the playwright say about destiny and free will?

Re: Class Discussion: Oedipus Rex

[withoutverona]

"It seems as though Sophocles thought Oedipus was doomed," Romeo said, not sounding as though he quite agreed. "The prophet spoke it, and so it had to be. Laius tried to ensure the prophecy could not be, and yet it had to be."

Re: Class Discussion: Oedipus Rex

[ihaveniceteeth.livejournal.com]

"Seems if they'd been a bit more laid-back about this prophecy, then they'd have been in a much better fix," Gwen said eventually.

Re: Class Discussion: Oedipus Rex

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

"In many cultures there are stories of how the act of trying to prevent destiny actually set it in motion," Helen said.

Re: Class Discussion: Oedipus Rex

[likethegun]

"If Laius had ignored the prophecy it wouldn't have come true, but then you have to wonder if there would have been a prophecy to begin with," Sam said. "Maybe that's the only way he would have been able to make his own destiny."

Re: Class Discussion: Oedipus Rex

[not-that-gentle.livejournal.com]

"Despite all action to the contrary, the prophecy had to go through, because it was foretold as such," Susan said slowly. "Perhaps even Laius' actions to prevent it were a part of the prophecy."

Activity: Pair Off!

[atreideslioness]

At various stations around the room, Ghanima has set up various fortune telling equipment. Tarot cards, books on chiromancy, crystal balls, the I Ching, and various types of runes. Pair up, and either try to divine your own destiny, or that of your partner, and discuss.

[OOC: As it says, have fun! Feel free to handwave, mod the equipment on your table, or use the power of the internet to get a reading for your character.]

Re: Activity: Pair Off!

[withoutverona]

Romeo found a deck of tarot cards and started playing with them, mostly examining the designs as he waited for a partner.

Re: Activity: Pair Off!

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

Helen was fascinated by all of it, but was quite intrigued by all the designs and meanings of the tarot cards. She went through them carefully as she waited for a partner to find her.

Re: Activity: Pair Off!

[ihaveniceteeth.livejournal.com]

Gwen poked at the rune tiles with one finger, before starting to build them up into little towers. Kind of like fortune telling legos.

Re: Activity: Pair Off!

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

Remembering the last time he let someone do a reading on him, John was slightly concerned about what new truths he could hear. He stood near the I Ching table, hoping for something nice.

Re: Activity: Pair Off!

[likethegun]

Sam had some bad experiences with tarot cards, so he went to one of the stations with runes instead. He wondered if he could get away with looking at someone else's future, and not at his own.

Re: Activity: Pair Off!

[walks-two-paths.livejournal.com]

Savannah was sifting through the runes at her station.

Talk to the TAs

[atreideslioness]

Once they ping in.

Re: Talk to the TAs

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

Dawn was there, rereading Oedipus and trying not to think of the Oracle at Delphi as a hack.

Talk to Ghanima

[atreideslioness]

She's here, playing with a strange tarot and giggling madly.

OOC

[atreideslioness]

I'm all for ending the world on a Monday, actually.

Re: OOC

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

And I continue to love your classes like whoa. <3