2012.12.12 19:00 - IChing of Preparation

 The Guardian for this meeting was stevenaia Michinaga. The comments are by stevenaia Michinaga.

Aphrodite Macbain, Ewan Bonham and Santoshima Resident join me this evening.

stevenaia Michinaga: hi Aph
Aphrodite Macbain: Hiya
Aphrodite Macbain: changing?
stevenaia Michinaga: sitting
stevenaia Michinaga: waiting for you to rezz
Aphrodite Macbain: you are looking elegat in winter whites
Aphrodite Macbain: elegant
Aphrodite Macbain: swellegant
stevenaia Michinaga: keeps me warm when Storm brings the snow here
Aphrodite Macbain: yes- me too-
stevenaia Michinaga: you look ready for winter
stevenaia Michinaga: nods, how have you been?
Aphrodite Macbain: yes- the sable makes me sneeze but it does keep me warm
Aphrodite Macbain: I've been OK
Aphrodite Macbain: thanks
stevenaia Michinaga: not faux sable?
Aphrodite Macbain: well ...
stevenaia Michinaga: virtual sable
Aphrodite Macbain: it's about as faux as faux can get
stevenaia Michinaga: smiles
Aphrodite Macbain: no dead sables went into making this
stevenaia Michinaga: perfec t
Aphrodite Macbain: How are you doing? Will it be an OK Christmas?
Aphrodite Macbain: considering the losses
stevenaia Michinaga: no christmas here :)
Aphrodite Macbain: no form of "seasonal celebration"?
stevenaia Michinaga: well feast of lights, but that something else
Aphrodite Macbain: solstice
Aphrodite Macbain: same celebration, different culture
stevenaia Michinaga: hehe, they do tend to merge in strange ways
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
stevenaia Michinaga: but yes, many losses, it's been a sad year, but I suspect at this age it will contnue
Aphrodite Macbain: I'm organizing a solstice celebration on my little Italian sland - Rocca Sorrentina
stevenaia Michinaga: but the joys that have always been there remain
stevenaia Michinaga: is that where you tend Bar?
Aphrodite Macbain: I am going to light bonfires all along the shore and put out mulled wine and hot chocolate, and have Tarot readingds and fortune telling for 2013
Aphrodite Macbain: tyes it is- Aphroditye's Cafe
stevenaia Michinaga: nice, a friend of mine read my cards recently
Aphrodite Macbain: Aphrodite's
stevenaia Michinaga: (RL)
Aphrodite Macbain: what were the results?
stevenaia Michinaga: nice to have your own place
Aphrodite Macbain: Is the IChing over for the year?
stevenaia Michinaga: complex results, generally good, I don;t have them read that often
Aphrodite Macbain: nods
stevenaia Michinaga: iChing workshop has been retired, run its course
Aphrodite Macbain: Well you are welcome to join me in Melioeria. It's not mine but I am a resident of it like I am for Bieup
Aphrodite Macbain: we can do fortune telling there
stevenaia Michinaga: I may do that sometime, thanks
Aphrodite Macbain: yw
Aphrodite Macbain: we even hasssvve a chrystal ball that tells the future!
stevenaia Michinaga: it was interesting the difference between iChing and Tarot
Aphrodite Macbain: yes?
stevenaia Michinaga: haven;t done either in SL
Aphrodite Macbain: What is the main difference apart from all those numers?
Aphrodite Macbain: numbers

--BELL--

Aphrodite Macbain: You begin each year throwing the IChing, dont you?
Aphrodite Macbain: oops
stevenaia Michinaga: iChing is more poetic, rather then interperative
stevenaia Michinaga: I haven;t iChinged the new year in as a tradtion... but it;s a good idea
Aphrodite Macbain: I remember you telling me how important it was to you.
Aphrodite Macbain: It helped you start in the right direction
stevenaia Michinaga: I love having others remember for me, what didi I say?

Aphrodite Macbain: lol
Aphrodite Macbain: just what I said. I dont remember the details
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
Ewan Bonham: 's current display-name is "Ewan".
Aphrodite Macbain: Ewan is on his way
stevenaia Michinaga: evening Ewan
Aphrodite Macbain: waves- hiya Ewan
Ewan Bonham: Hi Folks..
stevenaia Michinaga: everyone has a direction, nice to have a bit of insight as to what to do with it
Aphrodite Macbain: I'm sorry I was unable to come to the I-Ching meetings; it was always a bad time for me
stevenaia Michinaga: I missed the last one
Aphrodite Macbain: I like the way everyone contributed
stevenaia Michinaga: but reading the logs is nice
Aphrodite Macbain: hmmm I dont do that very often either
Aphrodite Macbain: How are you this eveing Ewan?
Ewan Bonham: Smile...I don't either ... but would love to hear your impressions...:)
Aphrodite Macbain: of the I-Ching meetings? You must ask Stevenaia
stevenaia Michinaga: you can ask pila for access to the logs if don;t have access to them
Ewan Bonham: Yes... Steve... would love to hear..
Aphrodite Macbain: I find that sometimes it is useful to have an exterior force/incluence that gives you an alternate perspective on something; it can jog your mind in new directions
Aphrodite Macbain: or reinforce something
Ewan Bonham: yes... and let something bubble up that we did not know was there..
stevenaia Michinaga: I like that it is such an old wisdom that can be so relevent
Aphrodite Macbain: yes
stevenaia Michinaga: they worked hard to make it timeless
Aphrodite Macbain: allowing for a multitude of interpretations
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, eventhough the original meaning may have been lost, it has been reinterperated so many times
Aphrodite Macbain: I might take that book you sent me to where I'm celebrating Christmas this year. We can all try it
stevenaia Michinaga: like the Tao de Ching, poetry
Aphrodite Macbain: Will it be enormously compplicated?
Aphrodite Macbain: dont know about the poetry
stevenaia Michinaga: it is the first few times, but the readings are usually not done for someone else, like Tarot, but I guess they could be
Aphrodite Macbain: we dddddddddid it as a group when I did it with you here
stevenaia Michinaga: I like the feeling of the coins and the questions asked, there is a connection to the physical, then to the reading
Aphrodite Macbain: nods
Aphrodite Macbain: I'll have to read it a bit first
Ewan Bonham: Hmmm... I am only familiar with the tao in theory and very much embrace it..
Aphrodite Macbain: Tao means 'way" right?
stevenaia Michinaga: jsut handling the coins when thinking about the question establishes a link
Ewan Bonham: But this sounds like something different... like something used to foresee the future?
stevenaia Michinaga: yes
Aphrodite Macbain: I can understand that- something tangible, weighty and clinky
Aphrodite Macbain: yes
stevenaia Michinaga: not a predictor, ewan, more of a perspective offered
Aphrodite Macbain: that can be uinterpreted in many ways

--BELL--

Aphrodite Macbain: sorry about my typing- my cat's tail keeps getting in the way as it wafts over my keyboard
Ewan Bonham: Lol..
Ewan Bonham: So, a means of self exploration and discovery?
stevenaia Michinaga: I think what is good or bad ahead is a matter for interpretation, but advice guides us
Santoshima Resident: 's current display-name is "s a n".
stevenaia Michinaga: my arrangement , me cat keyboard, cats head is between my arms with his head on my left arm
Santoshima Resident: aww
Aphrodite Macbain: aww
stevenaia Michinaga: not moving
Aphrodite Macbain: Hi San
Santoshima Resident: hello :)
stevenaia Michinaga: his little paw is over my wrist
Ewan Bonham: Hi san..
stevenaia Michinaga: hi San
Ewan Bonham: Smiling..
Aphrodite Macbain: going up and down as you type!
stevenaia Michinaga: a little
Aphrodite Macbain: I found some snow San
Santoshima Resident: oh good
stevenaia Michinaga: snow everywhere here
Aphrodite Macbain: It's all over my roof and grass
Aphrodite Macbain: rather lumpy like the snow plough has been by
Ewan Bonham: Yes, and even at this pavilion...:)
Aphrodite Macbain: yes
Aphrodite Macbain: Bruce has built a beautiful cabin with all the snow that would pile up in a wintry wood
Aphrodite Macbain: I was inspired
stevenaia Michinaga: so, relating iCHing to the weeks theme of preparation... I think it;s a perfect description, it prepares, not so much predicts
Aphrodite Macbain: yes
Aphrodite Macbain: perfect
Ewan Bonham: Prepares seems like a process that originates within...to touch that which is without..
stevenaia Michinaga: yes
Aphrodite Macbain: (we have been talking about the role IChing can play in our lives San
Santoshima Resident: oh, ok
stevenaia Michinaga: a better description then trying to resolve all potential eventualities, to have non of them present themselves
stevenaia Michinaga: (preparation)
Aphrodite Macbain: ? How can we do that Stevenaia?
Aphrodite Macbain: to ensure they aren't present
stevenaia Michinaga: I mean, some prepare by worrying
Aphrodite Macbain: ah
stevenaia Michinaga: that part seems futile
Aphrodite Macbain: unless you come up with a good idea
Aphrodite Macbain: Time for din dins, That's a good idea!
Aphrodite Macbain: Bye everyone
Ewan Bonham: Nice to see you, Aphro...
stevenaia Michinaga: enjoy Aphrodite
Aphrodite Macbain: byee all- good to spend time with you
Santoshima Resident: bye Aph
stevenaia Michinaga: nice seeing you
stevenaia Michinaga: sometimes what I often "get" from my iching reading is not what to expect, but a course of how to react to whatever it is
stevenaia Michinaga: I find that helpful
Santoshima Resident: yes, that seems a way
Santoshima Resident: can be very useful
stevenaia Michinaga: offering wisdom and insight
stevenaia Michinaga: often you don;t have time to ask for that
stevenaia Michinaga: so it becomes something you bring forward

--BELL--

Ewan Bonham: Well.. folks I must go... thanks for the stimulating chat..:)
stevenaia Michinaga: thanks for coming
Santoshima Resident: bye
Santoshima Resident: iChng coins a familiar sight around my house, although i myself don't know how to read them or know the iCHing text very well. kind of a rhythmic association of sound and sight: drop look {mark down the marks} scoop lift ... repeat, compare marks to book ...
Santoshima Resident: frequent sound of coins around here
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
stevenaia Michinaga: it was originally done with sticks , but I haven;t ever seen that
Santoshima Resident: oh, right
Santoshima Resident: Pila mentioned that once
stevenaia Michinaga: I understand it takes a bit longer
Santoshima Resident: why longer?
stevenaia Michinaga: more steps
stevenaia Michinaga: I've read about it
Santoshima Resident: hmm
Santoshima Resident: what about tortoise shells
stevenaia Michinaga: it;s in the book that Pila edited
Santoshima Resident: that seems to be in my recollection as well
stevenaia Michinaga: not sure
Santoshima Resident: oh, what book?
stevenaia Michinaga: let em get it, one moment
Santoshima Resident: ok ty
stevenaia Michinaga: http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Ching-Anniversary-Translation/dp/1594773858/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
Santoshima Resident: thanks! will have a look
Santoshima Resident: for it
stevenaia Michinaga: maybe not editied but offered the author guidance
Santoshima Resident: oh, ok
Santoshima Resident: i wish that the iChing workshop could begin again, this time to have a cours on the actual iChing
Santoshima Resident: i suspect Pila is done with that
Santoshima Resident: as it was a 3 year venture already
stevenaia Michinaga: he began with teaching how to do that, the first year
stevenaia Michinaga: then discussed readings
stevenaia Michinaga: you can access the logs on the website if you ask for access
Santoshima Resident: i like the Table of Contents pictographs ... easy to locate the um ...whatamacallits
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
Santoshima Resident: pictograms
Santoshima Resident: *
stevenaia Michinaga: hexagrams (gau)
Santoshima Resident: yeah, those
Santoshima Resident: very inviting book
stevenaia Michinaga: Pila is thanked on page xiii
stevenaia Michinaga: (Bill)
Santoshima Resident: nice

--BELL--

stevenaia Michinaga: bedtime for me, enjoy your evening
Santoshima Resident: thanks, Stevenaia, you too :)
Santoshima Resident: bfn
stevenaia Michinaga: bye