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The I-Ching (pronounced E-Jeang) is an ancient Chinese system that is not unlike the western Tarot. Sticks or coins are thrown and they Mean Something.
For the E-Jing-A-Ling Thing, we took the I-Ching and created Discordian answers that had some similarity to the Chinese meanings (albeit, in some cases it is a stretch, but the Goddess TOLD us to do it).
If you don't know how to use sticks, simply think of a question you would like to ask the E-Jing-A-Ling Thing and flip a coin six times, recording Yang for each "heads" and Yin for each "tails". Find the appropriate hexagram in the table below and click to see what Eris suggests. To use the table, look for the first three results in the top section and the last three results on the side.
There are 4 sections that should be studied and meditated upon for each throwing. The hexagram itself, the name of the hexagram, the quote or image that applies to that name, and our explanation of the hexagram's meaning. Each one of these is just as important to understanding the hexagram as the other is, so don't ignore the first three by any means.
We thought about creating a system that uses Pentagrams instead of Hexagrams (for obvious reasons), but figured we would duplicate and feed off of the old chinese sage's wisdom first. When we feel up to it, we may create another E-Jing-A-Ling that relies on Pentagrams.
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Hexagram 00003
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3. Cosmogony
1. Before the beginning was the Nonexistent Chao, balanced in Oblivion by the Perfect Counterpushpull of the Hodge and the Podge. 2. Whereupon, by an Act of Happenstance, the Hodge began gradually to overpower the Podge -- and the Primal Chaos thereby came to be. 3. So in the beginning was the Primal Chaos, balanced on the Edge of Oblivion by the Perfect Counterpullpush of the Podge and the Hodge. 4. Whereupon, by the Law of Negative Reversal, the Podge swiftly underpowered the Hodge and Everything broke loose. 5. And therein emerged the Active Force of Discord, the Subtle Manifestation of the Nonexistent Chao, to guide Everything along the Path back to Oblivion - that it might not become lost among Precepts of Order in the Region of Thud. 6. Forasmuch as it was Active, the Force of Discord entered the State of Confusion, wherein It copulated with the Queen and begat ERIS, Our Lady of Discord and Gross Manifestation of the Nonexistent Chao. 7. And under Eris Confusion became established, and was hence called Bureaucracy; while over Bureaucracy Eris became established, and was hence called Discordia. 8. By the by it came to pass that the Establishment of Bureaucracy perished in a paper shortage. 9. Thus it was, in accord with the Law of Laws. 10. During and after the Fall of the Establishment of Bureaucracy was the Aftermath, an Age of Disorder in which calculation, computations, and reckonings were put away by the Children of Eris in Acceptance and Preparation for the Return to Oblivion to be followed by a Repetition of the Universal Absurdity. Moreover, of Itself the Coming of Aftermath waseth a Resurrection of the Freedom-flowing Chaos. HAIL ERIS! 11. Herein was set into motion the Eristic Pattern, which would Repeat Itself Five Times Over Seventy-three Times, after which nothing would happen.
This hexagram represents beginnings. It has historically been read as a bad sign, but this is because the ancient Chinese did not understand the positive aspect of chaos. During times of growth, everything is in motion and struggling to attain form - creating a chaotic maelstrom of potential growth and inspiration. Revel in the chaos and use it to further your own ends.
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Hexagram 000pi
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Pi
Sometimes 3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399 etc...
This is the only hexagram displayed here that was not in the I-Ching. We felt it was important to add a hexagram in case a stick or coin ends up on its edge. This Hexagram stands for uncertainty in the quantum reality. The authors of this sacred tome recommend that if you get this hexagram you either poison a cat or don't in a box where no one can see it to divine the correct path to take. Under no circumstances should you record the results of this experiment, or even try to discover for yourself the results of this experiment, since that will drastically change its outcome, and there will be a 50% chance that you will therefore be reading the results of the experiment incorrectly.
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Hexagram 00004
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4. The Bobbies
GOD spelled backwards is DOG, but BOB spelled backwards is still BOB!
This hexagram indicates youthful folly - and therefore implies a temporariness that can be overcome. Be conscious of your inexperience and seek out a teacher. The teacher does not have to be a person, as long as it teaches discipline. Remember, discipline is not drill. Discipline itself is a very useful tool, while drill is an Aneristic waste of time. The first thing that comes to mind is the self-effacement practised by Drake in the Illuminatus! Trilogy. One might also, if the previous example is too labor-intensive for your tastes, study the works of Mr. Crowley, especially Diary of a Drug Fiend, keeping in mind, of course, that the man was mentally deranged.
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Hexagram 00006
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6. The Original Snub
It seems that Zeus was preparing a wedding banquet for Peleus and Thetis and did not want to invite Eris because of Her reputation as a trouble maker.This made Eris angry, and so She fashioned an apple of pure gold and inscribed upon it KALLISTI (To The Prettiest One) and on the day of the fete She rolled it into the banquet hall and then left to be alone and joyously partake of a hot dog. Now, three of the invited goddesses, Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite, each immediately claimed it to belong to herself because of the inscription. And they started fighting, and they started throwing punch all over the place and everything. Finally Zeus calmed things down and declared that an arbitrator must be selected, which was a reasonable suggestion, and all agreed. He sent them to a shepherd of Troy, whose name was Paris because his mother had had a lot of gaul and had married a Frenchman; but each of the sneaky goddesses tried to outwit the others by going early and offering a bribe to Paris. Athena offered him Heroic War Victories, Hera offered him Great Wealth, and Aphrodite offered him the Most Beautiful Woman on Earth. Being a healthy young Trojan lad, Paris promptly accepted Aphrodites bribe and she got the apple and he got screwed. As she had promised, she maneuvered earthly happenings so that Paris could have Helen (the Helen) then living with her husband Menelaus, King of Sparta. Anyway, everyone knows that the Trojan War followed when Sparta demanded their Queen back and that the Trojan War is said to be The First War among men. And so we suffer because of the Original Snub. And so a Discordian is to partake of No Hot Dog Buns. Do you believe that?
This hexagram represents conflict and opposition, and suggests that there will be considerable force applied against you. It also suggests that, like Eris did in the case of the party, one should use cunning to overcome the opposition. Discordians are usually pretty apt at cunning, since it takes much cunning to merely survive as a Discordian in today's world, so further description should be unneccessary.
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Hexagram 00024
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24. Saint Bobo
There walked into the room a chimpanzee, shaggy and grey about the muzzle, yet upright in his full five feet, and poised with natural majesty. He carried a scroll and walked to the young men.
"Gentlemen," he said, "why does Pickering’s Moon go about in reverse orbit? Gentlemen, there are nipples on your chests; do you give milk? And what, pray tell, Gentlemen, is to be done about Heisenberg’s Law?" He paused. "SOMEBODY HAD TO PUT ALL OF THIS CONFUSION HERE!"
And with that he revealed his scroll. It was a diagram, like a yin-yang with a pentagon on one side and an apple on the other. And then he exploded and the two lost consciousness.
This hexagram is the turning point, the transformation of old into new, just as Saint Bobo's appearance transformed Omar and Mal's mind from demented, drooling cabbages into the finely tuned instruments they were upon the writing of the Principia. Of course, transformation can go the opposite way too...
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Hexagram 00030
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30. The Christian
Exodus 20:13 "Thou shalt not kill." Leviticus 24:17 "And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death." Hosea 13:16 "they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with children shall be ripped up."
This hexagram represents a clinging compliance, or an unthinking, voluntary dependence on something. If that's your bag, shit, go for it. More power to you - drop out of the human race and send all your money to evangelists for all Eris cares. I'm guessing, though, since this is a Discordian E-Jing-A-Ling Thing after all, this is not something you enjoy having pointed out to you. Still, the E-Jing-A-Ling thing doesn't lie. Get out on your own and foster your individuality, cabbage.
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Hexagram 00031
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31. The Primer For Erisian Evangelists
A PRIMER FOR ERISIAN EVANGELISTS by Lord Omar The SOCRATIC APPROACH is most successful when confronting the ignorant. The "socratic approach" is what you call starting an argument by asking questions. You approach the innocent and simpy ask "Did you know that God’s name is Eris and that He is a girl?" If he should answer "Yes." Then he is probably a fellow Erisian and so you can forget it. If he says "No." then quickly proceed to: THE BLIND ASSERTION and say "Well, He is a girl and His name is ERIS!" Shrewdly observe if the subject is convinced. If he is, swear him into the Legion of Dynamic Discord before he changes his mind. If he does not appear to be convinced, then proceed to: THE FAITH BIT: "But you must have Faith! All is lost without Faith! I sure feel sorry for you if you don’t have Faith." And then add: THE ARGUMENT BY FEAR and in an ominous voice ask "Do you know what happens to those who deny Goddess?" If he hesitates, don’t tell him that he will surely be reincarnated as a precious Mao Button and distributed to the poor in the Region of Thud (which would be a mean thing to say), just shake your head sadly and, while wiping a tear from your eye, go to: THE FIRST CLAUSE PLOY wherein you point to all of the discord and confusion in the world and exclaim "Well who the hell do you think did all of this, wise guy?" If he says, "Nobody, just impersonal forces." Then quickly respond with: THE ARGUMENT BY SEMANTICAL GYMNASTICS and say that he is absolutely right, and that those impersonal forces are female and that Her name is ERIS. If he, wonder of wonders, still remains obstinate, then finally resort to: THE FIGURATIVE SYMBOLISM DODGE and confide that sophisticated people like himself recognize that Eris is a Figurative Symbol for an Ineffable Metaphysical Reality and that The Erisian Movement is really more like a poem than like a science and that he is liable to be turned into a Precious Mao Button and Distributed to The Poor in The Region of Thud if he does not get hip. Then put him on your mailing list.
This hexagram represents a strong influence - whether it be yourself doing the influencing or someone else. Maybe even this E-Jing-A-Ling Thing, if you don't mind getting meta with us for a second. It also signifies that now is the time for wooing and courtship - in the area of love OR intellect.
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Hexagram 00040
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40. The Illuminatus! Trilogy
"Like virtually everyone else, I read this book in high school after I had finished Umberto Eco's _The Name of the Rose_ and _Foucault's Pendulum_, which I greatly enjoyed. I forced myself to finish it simply to prove that I could. Here's the way it is folks: Robert Anton Wilson (RAW - as he refers to himself) is an infant, and he wants to be treated like a screaming brat infant. Give him a slap! His admirers, all suffering from attention-deficit hyper-activity disorder (AD/HD) after reading this book are infantile too. The "philosophy" (certainly not meriting that dignified epithet) behind this book is nothing more than a series of self-competitive hedonistic nonsense progressively aiming to outdo each previous iteration of its own ridiculousness in hopes of achieving something revolutionary - a series of baubles used to amuse three year old babies. However, there is no synthesis, nothing is produced from it. Rather, it would have us all robots driven outside of our minds by every blind and base impulse imaginable in a hedonic frenzy, all the while engaging in remorseless rape of the language to achieve some sort of verbal ecstasy. To overcome the ennuie which immediately ensues we are provided with grandiose puzzles (paradoxes) to contemplate with ever increasing absurdity. This sort of mental hedonism can lead to only one thing, total and complete destruction. It is not the highest in man; rather, it is in fact his lowest. Instead of seeing this as a product of euphoriant intoxication or mental disorder (let's not give it that much credit folks, even drugs or mental disease would produce more profound effects), I prefer to look at it as the product of a reasonably intelligent mind that has chosen to systematically disengage its will. This philosophy comes complete with a means of self-identification among its anarchist followers, through the presence of the word "fnord" appearing at various places in their reviews. As you can tell by reading some of the reviews here many of Wilson's disciples seem to have mastered the art of sesquipedalian obfuscation - an iterative procedure to generate pseudo-profundities by the successive manufacture of nonstandard grammatical combinations through the use of excessively big words." -zosimos, Amazon Book Review
This hexagram represents the beginning of deliverence - but just the beginning. In order to benefit from the deliverence, you must work toward it yourself and not wait for it to be handed to you.
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Hexagram 00051
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51. Mr. Crowley
CHEN: Fire! Beware, but smile with mein divine! Let nothing scare thee into spilling wine! Here's trouble; watch thy ways, but drink thy wine! Take lofty ground; the tide will ebb and flow. Distraught? May danger teach thee low to go! Fight fire with fire, or sink in mud supine! Troubles mean profits for the men who know.
Caution! Foresee the action of the foe!
This hexagram was very complicated in the original I-Ching, standing for arousal, but also terror, shock, fear, and trembling. The classic situation suggested above would probably be the virgin bride on her wedding night. Explore the possibility of interpreting your situation by using that image. This is the hexagram that Crowley did not agree with and changed (thus its name here). Crowley suggested changing its meaning to "Fight Fire With Fire". Therefore, to Discordians, this hexagram stands for the bold and self-important.
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Hexagram 00058
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58. The Buddha
This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path to peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech,
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with duties, and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, wise and skillful,
Not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove....
...By not holding to fixed views,
The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision,
Being freed from all sense desires,
Is not born again into this world."
- Karaniya Metta Sutta (the sutta on loving kindness)
This hexagram represents joyousness, and a gentleness that rests on firmness and strength. It suggests contentment. If this is directly opposite from how you feel now, try to foster the gentleness described above.
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Hexagram 00060
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60. Mornington Crescent
- - - Not quite: given that all critical eigenstates are open,
- - - a path to the absolute plane can be made, which satisfies
- - - it. (Check the rules.)
- - Classic misunderstanding of Rushton's condition. It's only
- - satisfied if the path passes through the majority of critical
- - eigenstates - which is, as you say, easy to do - and *at
- - least six* non-critical ones. This latter aspect of the
- - condition is not satisfied, but it is not proven unsatisfiable
- - either.
- That's pre-Featherstonehaugh rules; it changed in 3154 to
- eliminate the non-critical eigenstate requirement unless
- the subject/object mapping is inverted (which is clearly
- not the case here).
and was promptly reverted by Rushton himself in 3192.
we're not playing a game using exclusively those rules
commonly used between 3155 and 3191, are we?
This hexagram refers to limitations and the need to limit (or destroy completely) limitations. Break barriers and strive to move the sticks forward and prevent stagnation or a situation that binds with rules. In the case of Mornington Crescent, we choose an example where limitations imposed can be broken fairly easily and without much thought at all.
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