The Sky is Falling... Save Your Bacon!
During Burning Flipside 2007's First Work Weekend (WWI) @ Flat Creek, we laid out the footprint of our effigy (does this remind anyone else of the Maginot Line?) ...and right before I left, I consulted the I Ching at the center of the effigy space (The Axis Mundi: nexus at the center of our world, where microcosm & macrocosm become one)
The first hexagram: "Withdrawl"
As cultured people, we keep petty people at a distance... without wrath or disdain, preserving our dignity.
Under the sky there are mountains (indicating withdrawl to a solitary place when conditions are unfavorable).The mountain rises up under heaven, but owing to its nature it finally comes to a stop. Heaven on the other hand retreats upward before it into the distance and remains out of reach. This symbolizes the behavior of the superior man toward a climbing inferior; he retreats into his own thoughts as the inferior man comes forward. He does not hate him, for hatred is a form of subjective involvement by which we are bound to the hated object. The superior man shows strength (heaven) in that he brings the inferior man to a standstill (mountain) by his dignified reserve ("Never argue with a fool - people might not know the difference.").
Much of the teaching of the Book of Change is concerned with the wisdom of restraint or withdrawl as the best way of achieving our goal under certain circumstances; so this hexagram is not necessarily unfavorable to the wise.
Although Burning Flipside offers a completely different experience than Burning Man, you will find definite similarities & relationships between people & ideas at both festivals. One of the crucial experiences that many people encounter on the playa is one of profound isolation... in such an alien landscape, which is completely inhospitable to life, one becomes significantly more aware of one's own individuality and personal needs for survival. Ironically, this also often leads people to recognize one another's needs: although each of us must be radically self-reliant, we also recognize respect & particpate in communal efforts. People can certainly recognize this relationship in any environment, but it is perhaps more prevalent in the stark wasteland of the Black Rock Desert than it is in the relatively lush, if scrubby brush & trickling creeks of the Tejas Hill country.
I am also reminded of the Carnival/Mardi Gras lead-up to Lent: during this season people engage in Bacchnalian activity until they reach a climax, followed by a more introspective period (dénouement/resolution)... perhaps in order to get a more wholistic perspective on one's place in the cosmos? And there is another important tradition from Carnaval: "What happens at Carnaval stays at Carnaval." There are a number of different aspects to this parable that can easily be applied to any festival! Perhaps the most often employed interpretation of this wisdom is that we don't want to get people in trouble by spreading stories about what they did while they were indulging themselves in carnal pleasures, whether sexually or otherwise intoxicating themselves at a festival.
There is also an idea that we can enjoy the freedom we experience at festivals more, if the environment has some contrast with the rest of our lives. Many traditions even refer to this sort of contrast as a way to make our experiences in both environments more sacred and more beneficial. There may be some wisdom in not attempting to live one's life year-round as if it is a great Bacchnalian orgy? Various cliches come to mind along the lines of "The candle that burns twice as hot burns half as long." Our experiences at festivals also often involve an entirely different state of consciousness, which we might not want to engage in while operating heavy machinery, or even when cooking with gas.
In fact, I would like to suggest that we may be able to enjoy altered states of consciousness more if we get a sense of perspective from "ordinary reality" with which to compare it to. To paraphrase one of my favorite Robert Anton Wilson quotes comes to mind: "Just as the Ancient Celts used to say, 'Do not give a sword to someone who cannot dance,' also do not give a wand to someone who cannot handle ordinary reality" Even a discipline like holotropic breathwork can certainly put one in an altered state of consciousness that we probably wouldn't want to engage in while driving at 200 k.p.h. on the Autobahn. "Moderation in all things, even moderation, just don't miss anything."
This is the year of the fire pig, and I have heard a new Gospel!
The Book of Changes has spoken (I'm not making this up) ...another way to interpret this hexagram is:
Save your bacon!
There is an image of a pig running away.
Sometimes, you are the hunter who has to chase after the things that sustain your life. The pig is a symbol of luxury and fruitfulness - chase after the richness of your life! Don't ever let them escape, they are too valuable! One single idea or love that escapes can mean that you miss all the subsequent generations of ideas and loves it would have triggered into life.
Sometimes, you are the pig, running for your life. The more you live others lives, the more piggies of your own you will lose. And eventually you will be eaten yourself. Withdraw from all things that are not compatible with your hopes for life. Making a real life is not only making it - the largest part is escaping from losing it. If you cannot manage to stay away from other people's ideas, it is the end of your life. You will literally be eaten. One of the most important things in living with people is, to stay oneself. Opposition is no option, because it means one is even more involved than by giving in. To be oneself means to be free. Free from the negative as well as positive. To decide oneself what to let in. Not to live up to anybody's expectation, but always consistent to oneself. That is more important than to be consistent to others. Sometimes, arrogance is needed. Not inside, but in one's attitude, just to ward off tenacious people. Inside one stays free, following only one's own conscience. Do not want anything that makes you need the world. Then your mind can stay free of the world's ideas. Money or power has only one value: to buy one's freedom. It looks as if life happens in society, but it does not. It happens where people are alone. Find your own degree of loneliness, it is different for everybody.
Some must die so that others may live, so you must fight for your own survival... this is radical self-reliance, even if it means to cooperate with others (q.v. Lord of the Flies)!
--
The second hexagram: "Thunder"
By serious devotion it is possible to safeguard the heritage and the land, thus acting in a role of sacred leadership
Thunder -- success! Thunder comes with such a terrible noise, laughing and shouting in awesome glee and frightening people for a hundred miles around. The sacrificial wine is not spilt (This suggests that the holder of the the sacrificial vessel is not easily alarmed, or else that he is very wise and able to distinguish between the apparently dangerous and the really dangerous).
This symbolizes not just thunder, but the powerful natural forces which lead to the growth and fruition of everything. Such forces, though terrifying in their manifestations, are beneficial in their results -- except when their activity is untimely
Thunder indictes success; its terrible roar is frightening, but this leads to happiness (Fear is often a good mentor; by causing us to change our ways, it leads to happiness). It laughs and shouts in fearful glee, yet afterwards everything is in order. It frightens people for a hundred miles round, startling those afar, and terrifying those close at hand. That the sacrificial wine is not spilt indicates that someone now appears who is capable of guarding the temple of the anscestors and the shrines of the harvest gods, one qualified to be the leader of the sacrifices (The ancient Chinese took these matters seriously. In modern parlance, we should say that someone appears who is capable of looking after and protecting those principles and objects which excite our deepest reverence).
When a man has learned within his heart what fear and trembling mean, he is safeguarded against any terror produced by outside influences. Let the thunder roll and spread terror a hundred miles around: he remains so composed and reverent in spirit that the sacrificial rite is not interrupted. This is the spirit that must animate leaders and rulers of men - a profound inner seriousness from which all terrors glance off harmlessly. The Superior Man in fear and trembling seeks to improve himself.
As the theme this year is Symphony of construction, here is a musical metaphor:
When people are playing in an improvisational ensemble, it is often customary for one person to take a turn soloing in the spotlight, and then return to the chorus... allowing another person to take a turn. At other times, people who are adept at this sort of interchange may manage to share the spotlight, "trading licks," as it were (I love the sound of that!)... but the essential theory is the same. When people are engaged in sharing limited resources of space & time, there must be mutual respect for one another's equal rights. We are planning to use the effigy for this exact purpose this year. The effigy is able to support a small group of people inside, and a much larger number outside of its dimensions. And if everyone at Burning Flipside were to divide up the time during the festival equally, then we would each get a little over two minutes. Obviously, people can share their time & space to some degree; but there are limits to how far such quantifications can be stretched. So, the simple solution seems to be for us to take turns conducting. One might also think of the proverbial conductor's baton as a conch shell or talking stick (what was that... the "conductor's baCon?), whether or not there is a physical representation of such involved.
Another one of the best suggestions that people have come up with for how to help organize events around the effigy this year involves an alternation of scheduled events with blocks of time for spontaneous improvisation.
I have studied many texts for inspiration and interpretation of the I Ching in this situation, including:
"The I Ching, or Book of Changes," by Richard Wilhelm & Cary F. Baynes
"Yi Jing, book of sun and moon," by LiSe Heyboer
"I Ching: The Book of Change," by John Blofield
"I Ching: The Book of Change" by Thomas Cleary
"The Portable Dragon: A Western Man's Guide to the I Ching," by R.G.H. Siu
"Total I Ching: Myths for Change," by Stephen Karcher
"The Tao of I Ching," by Tsung Hwa Jou
"The Pristine Yi King," by Louis Culling
--
This year, I am interfacing between DaFT, Rev. Dkr. Duby (Our Procession Leader), & the rest of you freaks... in order to facilitate, coordinate & otherwise syncretize events throughout Burning Flipside, all the way up to & including burn night, with the procession & the burning of our effigy!
I know that some folks can't make it to Church Night on Wednesdays... so, please remember that you can join us @ the Warehouse on Sunday afternoons, also! We would really love to have a representative from each of the major camps participate in planning the procession. And we will soon begin discussing other events during Flipside.
With that frame of reference, i would like to conduct an opinion poll, to get as many different possible answers as we can come up with for a fairly abstract question, at this point:
Q: If you were in an arcade that enabled you to design ritual for yourself without money or electricity... then what would you use, instead of currency, to play?
Please try to think outside of the box & interpret this from as many different perspectives as you can ;~} There is not one right answer... all replies are correct!
The first hexagram: "Withdrawl"
As cultured people, we keep petty people at a distance... without wrath or disdain, preserving our dignity.
Under the sky there are mountains (indicating withdrawl to a solitary place when conditions are unfavorable).The mountain rises up under heaven, but owing to its nature it finally comes to a stop. Heaven on the other hand retreats upward before it into the distance and remains out of reach. This symbolizes the behavior of the superior man toward a climbing inferior; he retreats into his own thoughts as the inferior man comes forward. He does not hate him, for hatred is a form of subjective involvement by which we are bound to the hated object. The superior man shows strength (heaven) in that he brings the inferior man to a standstill (mountain) by his dignified reserve ("Never argue with a fool - people might not know the difference.").
Much of the teaching of the Book of Change is concerned with the wisdom of restraint or withdrawl as the best way of achieving our goal under certain circumstances; so this hexagram is not necessarily unfavorable to the wise.
Although Burning Flipside offers a completely different experience than Burning Man, you will find definite similarities & relationships between people & ideas at both festivals. One of the crucial experiences that many people encounter on the playa is one of profound isolation... in such an alien landscape, which is completely inhospitable to life, one becomes significantly more aware of one's own individuality and personal needs for survival. Ironically, this also often leads people to recognize one another's needs: although each of us must be radically self-reliant, we also recognize respect & particpate in communal efforts. People can certainly recognize this relationship in any environment, but it is perhaps more prevalent in the stark wasteland of the Black Rock Desert than it is in the relatively lush, if scrubby brush & trickling creeks of the Tejas Hill country.
I am also reminded of the Carnival/Mardi Gras lead-up to Lent: during this season people engage in Bacchnalian activity until they reach a climax, followed by a more introspective period (dénouement/resolution)... perhaps in order to get a more wholistic perspective on one's place in the cosmos? And there is another important tradition from Carnaval: "What happens at Carnaval stays at Carnaval." There are a number of different aspects to this parable that can easily be applied to any festival! Perhaps the most often employed interpretation of this wisdom is that we don't want to get people in trouble by spreading stories about what they did while they were indulging themselves in carnal pleasures, whether sexually or otherwise intoxicating themselves at a festival.
There is also an idea that we can enjoy the freedom we experience at festivals more, if the environment has some contrast with the rest of our lives. Many traditions even refer to this sort of contrast as a way to make our experiences in both environments more sacred and more beneficial. There may be some wisdom in not attempting to live one's life year-round as if it is a great Bacchnalian orgy? Various cliches come to mind along the lines of "The candle that burns twice as hot burns half as long." Our experiences at festivals also often involve an entirely different state of consciousness, which we might not want to engage in while operating heavy machinery, or even when cooking with gas.
In fact, I would like to suggest that we may be able to enjoy altered states of consciousness more if we get a sense of perspective from "ordinary reality" with which to compare it to. To paraphrase one of my favorite Robert Anton Wilson quotes comes to mind: "Just as the Ancient Celts used to say, 'Do not give a sword to someone who cannot dance,' also do not give a wand to someone who cannot handle ordinary reality" Even a discipline like holotropic breathwork can certainly put one in an altered state of consciousness that we probably wouldn't want to engage in while driving at 200 k.p.h. on the Autobahn. "Moderation in all things, even moderation, just don't miss anything."
This is the year of the fire pig, and I have heard a new Gospel!
The Book of Changes has spoken (I'm not making this up) ...another way to interpret this hexagram is:
Save your bacon!
There is an image of a pig running away.
Sometimes, you are the hunter who has to chase after the things that sustain your life. The pig is a symbol of luxury and fruitfulness - chase after the richness of your life! Don't ever let them escape, they are too valuable! One single idea or love that escapes can mean that you miss all the subsequent generations of ideas and loves it would have triggered into life.
Sometimes, you are the pig, running for your life. The more you live others lives, the more piggies of your own you will lose. And eventually you will be eaten yourself. Withdraw from all things that are not compatible with your hopes for life. Making a real life is not only making it - the largest part is escaping from losing it. If you cannot manage to stay away from other people's ideas, it is the end of your life. You will literally be eaten. One of the most important things in living with people is, to stay oneself. Opposition is no option, because it means one is even more involved than by giving in. To be oneself means to be free. Free from the negative as well as positive. To decide oneself what to let in. Not to live up to anybody's expectation, but always consistent to oneself. That is more important than to be consistent to others. Sometimes, arrogance is needed. Not inside, but in one's attitude, just to ward off tenacious people. Inside one stays free, following only one's own conscience. Do not want anything that makes you need the world. Then your mind can stay free of the world's ideas. Money or power has only one value: to buy one's freedom. It looks as if life happens in society, but it does not. It happens where people are alone. Find your own degree of loneliness, it is different for everybody.
Some must die so that others may live, so you must fight for your own survival... this is radical self-reliance, even if it means to cooperate with others (q.v. Lord of the Flies)!
--
The second hexagram: "Thunder"
By serious devotion it is possible to safeguard the heritage and the land, thus acting in a role of sacred leadership
Thunder -- success! Thunder comes with such a terrible noise, laughing and shouting in awesome glee and frightening people for a hundred miles around. The sacrificial wine is not spilt (This suggests that the holder of the the sacrificial vessel is not easily alarmed, or else that he is very wise and able to distinguish between the apparently dangerous and the really dangerous).
This symbolizes not just thunder, but the powerful natural forces which lead to the growth and fruition of everything. Such forces, though terrifying in their manifestations, are beneficial in their results -- except when their activity is untimely
Thunder indictes success; its terrible roar is frightening, but this leads to happiness (Fear is often a good mentor; by causing us to change our ways, it leads to happiness). It laughs and shouts in fearful glee, yet afterwards everything is in order. It frightens people for a hundred miles round, startling those afar, and terrifying those close at hand. That the sacrificial wine is not spilt indicates that someone now appears who is capable of guarding the temple of the anscestors and the shrines of the harvest gods, one qualified to be the leader of the sacrifices (The ancient Chinese took these matters seriously. In modern parlance, we should say that someone appears who is capable of looking after and protecting those principles and objects which excite our deepest reverence).
When a man has learned within his heart what fear and trembling mean, he is safeguarded against any terror produced by outside influences. Let the thunder roll and spread terror a hundred miles around: he remains so composed and reverent in spirit that the sacrificial rite is not interrupted. This is the spirit that must animate leaders and rulers of men - a profound inner seriousness from which all terrors glance off harmlessly. The Superior Man in fear and trembling seeks to improve himself.
As the theme this year is Symphony of construction, here is a musical metaphor:
When people are playing in an improvisational ensemble, it is often customary for one person to take a turn soloing in the spotlight, and then return to the chorus... allowing another person to take a turn. At other times, people who are adept at this sort of interchange may manage to share the spotlight, "trading licks," as it were (I love the sound of that!)... but the essential theory is the same. When people are engaged in sharing limited resources of space & time, there must be mutual respect for one another's equal rights. We are planning to use the effigy for this exact purpose this year. The effigy is able to support a small group of people inside, and a much larger number outside of its dimensions. And if everyone at Burning Flipside were to divide up the time during the festival equally, then we would each get a little over two minutes. Obviously, people can share their time & space to some degree; but there are limits to how far such quantifications can be stretched. So, the simple solution seems to be for us to take turns conducting. One might also think of the proverbial conductor's baton as a conch shell or talking stick (what was that... the "conductor's baCon?), whether or not there is a physical representation of such involved.
Another one of the best suggestions that people have come up with for how to help organize events around the effigy this year involves an alternation of scheduled events with blocks of time for spontaneous improvisation.
I have studied many texts for inspiration and interpretation of the I Ching in this situation, including:
"The I Ching, or Book of Changes," by Richard Wilhelm & Cary F. Baynes
"Yi Jing, book of sun and moon," by LiSe Heyboer
"I Ching: The Book of Change," by John Blofield
"I Ching: The Book of Change" by Thomas Cleary
"The Portable Dragon: A Western Man's Guide to the I Ching," by R.G.H. Siu
"Total I Ching: Myths for Change," by Stephen Karcher
"The Tao of I Ching," by Tsung Hwa Jou
"The Pristine Yi King," by Louis Culling
--
This year, I am interfacing between DaFT, Rev. Dkr. Duby (Our Procession Leader), & the rest of you freaks... in order to facilitate, coordinate & otherwise syncretize events throughout Burning Flipside, all the way up to & including burn night, with the procession & the burning of our effigy!
I know that some folks can't make it to Church Night on Wednesdays... so, please remember that you can join us @ the Warehouse on Sunday afternoons, also! We would really love to have a representative from each of the major camps participate in planning the procession. And we will soon begin discussing other events during Flipside.
With that frame of reference, i would like to conduct an opinion poll, to get as many different possible answers as we can come up with for a fairly abstract question, at this point:
Q: If you were in an arcade that enabled you to design ritual for yourself without money or electricity... then what would you use, instead of currency, to play?
Please try to think outside of the box & interpret this from as many different perspectives as you can ;~} There is not one right answer... all replies are correct!