What a 4000-Year-Old Disembodied Intelligence Told Me About The Corona Virus
If you’re not familiar, the I-Ching is a 4000 year old divination system based on Taoism. It is thought of by some, including me, as a disembodied intelligence. That means, when requesting an oracle from it, you approach it the same way you would a 4000 year old sage — with respect and humility. You approach it with a willingness to learn and with the same precautions you would approach a living, breathing person — realizing their answers can be peppered with anything from sarcasm to irony.
The I-Ching isn’t really made for yes/no questions or specific answers (What day is the quarantine going to end?). Instead, supplicants are encourage to ask for “oracles,” or broad and general thoughts that relate to the topic of the question in mind. It answers through a series of Trigrams that are translated through what is often referred to as The Book of Changes
I asked the I-Ching for a general oracle on the Corona Virus. Here’s a direct quote from my answer:
The symbol of the trigram Sun is the tree, which stands firm even though it stands alone, and the attribute of Tui is joyousness, which remains undaunted even if it must renounce the world.
“Tuis” is just the name of one of the Trigrams that the reading produced — it is also referred to as “the joyous lake.”
What was immediately obvious to me, though, is the references to standing firm even though you stand alone and remaining undaunted even if it must renounce the world.
Is there any better description of choosing to be quarantined to your house than “stand alone” or “renounce the world?” I was amazed at how clearly it spoke to our current situation. It appeared, in no uncertain terms, to encourage us to steer into the advice we’re getting from medical professionals to socially isolate.
It said other things. Things I’m still processing. There was one bit that could be interpreted as talking about a vaccine, but I’m still parsing that. At any rate, the takeaway, to me, the really valuable bit, which isn’t news, by any means, but still bears emphasizing — STAY HOME! SOCIALLY ISOLATE.
I’m taking the I-ching at it’s word that that’s the best way to come through this.
