{"id":644,"date":"2011-07-14T16:41:03","date_gmt":"2011-07-14T23:41:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/?p=644"},"modified":"2021-01-30T23:04:03","modified_gmt":"2021-01-31T06:04:03","slug":"the-ithaca-oracle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/the-ithaca-oracle\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ithaca Oracle"},"content":{"rendered":"

The emerging world culture calls to all:\u00a0 Take Your Stand In The Inevitable!<\/em><\/p>\n

It is an unvoiced mantra that calls people together in pockets of spiritual activism dedicated to embodying spiritual principles in enlightened acts of social evolution.<\/p>\n

One of the foremost such centers of the emerging world culture is Ithaca, New York.<\/p>\n

My collaborator, Martha Ramirez-Oropeza, and I recently had the honor of talking about The Toltec I Ching<\/em> with several dozen such spiritual activists in Ithaca.\u00a0 It was a wide-ranging discussion during which we touched on the growing need for greater harmony between people, nature and spirit\u2014especially as regards how the Oracle, as the voice of the One, views our condition.<\/p>\n

Toward that end, we conducted a group Oracle to address some of our shared concerns.\u00a0 We began by asking for a question from the folks gathered there, opening up the process by inviting everyone to add their perspective to the question in order to accommodate multiple points of view.\u00a0 With the question in mind, I then handed three coins to the person closest to me on my left and asked her to concentrate on the question and throw the coins once on the floor in front of her.\u00a0 After she read off the number of heads and tails, I asked her to pass the coins to the person to her left.\u00a0 This procedure we followed, having six persons at random throwing the coins in order to build up a group Oracle.<\/p>\n

The question we asked of the Oracle was suggested by a young woman named Anna and added to by others in the group\u2014<\/p>\n

Many people feel we are standing on the precipice of some profound transformation and, with the approach of 2012, there is concern both about what constructive actions we ought to take and whether we as humans will survive all the consequences of our collective actions.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The result of the six coin tosses was Hexagram 16 Renewing Devotion and included no changing lines.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Image:\u00a0 On the platform of a pyramid, a group of male and female warriors greet the dawn with ceremonial fire, drum, and song.\u00a0 Out among the surrounding vegetation, a bird greets the dawn with two speech glyphs, one of which represents a flower and the other a song.<\/p>\n

Interpretation:\u00a0 The pyramid is a symbol of the sacred mountain at the center of all things and means that you are part of the collective work striving to mirror the handiwork of nature and the divine.\u00a0 The dawn is a symbol of the daily renewal of creation and greeting it with companions means that you have others with whom you share the song of your beliefs, the drumbeat of your passions, and the fire of your creativity.\u00a0 The surrounding vegetation is a symbol of the natural order and means that you are in harmony with the spirit of the world.\u00a0 The singing bird represents the winged, transcendent, essence of nature and means that you are free to spontaneously give voice to the pure joy of life.\u00a0 The flower and song glyphs represent the spirit warrior\u2019s philosophy of life and mean that you have the courage to confront the eventual passing of everything beautiful, as well as the dignity to honor each passing both before and after it occurs.\u00a0 Taken together, these symbols mean that your sincerity, trustworthiness and persistence will bring you success, vindication, and contentment.<\/p>\n

Action:\u00a0 The feminine and masculine halves of the spirit warrior unite to carry out past decisions.\u00a0 This is not the time for questioning the correctness of inner decisions such as your commitments to your beliefs, values, and viewpoints\u2014nor is it the time for second guessing the wisdom of outer decisions such as your commitments to your duties, goals, and loved ones.\u00a0 It is, rather, the time for honoring your sense of honor\u2014the time for renewing your devotion to the higher purpose guiding your life.\u00a0 Sometimes it is not a question of what we have faith in, but that our faith is strong and unshakeable.\u00a0 Likewise, it is not always a question of who or what we are faithful to, but that our faithfulness is pure and unbreakable.\u00a0 Your future circumstances are created out of today\u2019s actions, so set aside all thoughts of changing direction. Your future character is created out of today\u2019s motives, so set aside all self-doubt.\u00a0 You have taken a stand:\u00a0 do not permit the opinions or actions of others to move you off center.\u00a0 Keep in mind that your decisions each have a symbolic value and represent part of your relationship with the whole of creation\u2014by daily renewing your heartfelt devotion to acting with integrity, you will achieve the kind of consistency, firmness, and clarity that brings the highest benefit<\/em> into your life and the lives of those around you.<\/p>\n

Intent:\u00a0 If we look for reasons to doubt the perfection of all creation, we will find them.\u00a0 Because the perfect nature with which we are born is overwhelmed by the collective self-doubt produced by human history, we come to doubt our own vision and are increasingly influenced by the prevailing viewpoint of the world as inhumane and, therefore, imperfect.\u00a0 It is this social indoctrination that creates an artificial viewpoint which obscures our original vision and, much like a mask covers the real face, creates in us an artificial sense of an imperfect nature.\u00a0 When we become aware that our true birthright is usurped when we are too young to defend the perfect nature we bring into the world, then we come to understand the old stories about the royal child who is hidden away until it comes of age and can reclaim its rightful place in the world:\u00a0 once we recognize our true self as that part which was hidden in order to protect it until was strong enough to fend for itself, then we view the world through the eyes of our innate perfect nature and no longer remain blind to the perfection of all creation.\u00a0 Renewing their devotion to perfection every day, spirit warriors are tireless in their effort to remain aware that nature is spirit\u2014and unfaltering in their decision to rejoice in the fact that they are a vital part of that perfect unity.<\/p>\n

Summary:\u00a0 Work to continually renew your heart-felt dedication to fulfilling the first ancestor\u2019s vision of the human spirit, especially when surrounded by others who lack the awareness and sensitivity to appreciate the presence of spirit everywhere.\u00a0 Stay true to your road and destination.\u00a0 At this time, influencing others is more proper than allowing them to influence you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In interpreting this reading, it is essential to keep in mind that the Oracle is responding to a group of people who have taken up a lifeway of personal and social <\/em>transformation<\/em>. <\/em>From that perspective, the Oracle is clear:\u00a0 those who hold everything sacred simply need to renew their devotion to the principles they have already accepted as being beneficial to all.\u00a0 This is a particularly strong statement of Spirit’s trust in this generation’s determination to turn the tide on the long-standing degradation of nature, civilization and the human soul. <\/em><\/p>\n

In this sense, Hexagram 16 Renewing Devotion appears to be an answer to the first part of the group’s question:\u00a0 “<\/em>Many people feel we are standing on the precipice of some profound transformation and, with the approach of 2012, there is concern both about what constructive actions we ought to take…”<\/em><\/p>\n

The fact that there are no changing lines in Hexagram 16 means that the direction of change is moving naturally and spontaneously in progression through the sequence of hexagrams\u2014in this case, to Hexagram 17 Guiding Force.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Image:\u00a0 Above, a male warrior descends through twilight, reaching for the light of the daytime sun.\u00a0 Clinging to his back is his shadow, who he carries with him.\u00a0 Below, his shadow reaches for a black sun as he walks through a bright place of scattered bones and approaches a living skeleton.\u00a0 In this place, the warrior clings to the back of his shadow, who carries him and guides him through the unfamiliar landscape.<\/p>\n

Interpretation:\u00a0 This hexagram depicts a journey into uncharted territory.\u00a0 The male warrior symbolizes the way of testing and training human nature that increases its versatility and fortitude.\u00a0 Descending through the twilight means that you take leave of the world of known and familiar experience.\u00a0 Reaching for the daytime sun means that you begin the journey believing that past experience can guide you through this new time.\u00a0 Carrying the shadow means that you have another half, a twin, that accompanies you everywhere, yet is so close and familiar to you that its presence is taken for granted.\u00a0 The shadow reaching for the black sun means that your other half is guided by a different, invisible, kind of light.\u00a0 Walking through a bright place of scattered bones means that your other half feels at home in the land of the ancestors, whose nocturnal sun turns the night to light.\u00a0 Approaching the living skeleton means that your other half visits with the spirit that does not die in order to return to the realm of the daytime sun with new knowledge and understanding.\u00a0 Being carried and guided by the shadow means that you increasingly trust the mysterious and hidden half of yourself to lead the way through unfamiliar and unforeseen experiences.\u00a0 Taken together, these symbols mean that you keep your bearings in even the most disorienting and confusing of times by believing in the strength, wisdom, and resourcefulness of your companion spirit.<\/p>\n

Action:\u00a0 The masculine half of the spirit warrior follows the guide when passing through times of crisis and change.\u00a0 While our day-to-day practice involves honing our ability to make insightful judgments and far-sighted decisions, there are times when the trials facing us are greater than the strength and knowledge we have accumulated over the course of this lifetime.\u00a0 At times like this, it is necessary to change our orientation:\u00a0 rather than pursuing our conscious decisions and goals, now is the time to follow up on coincidences and listen to our dreams.\u00a0 Facing in a new direction is not easy, however, since it means breaking habits of thought and feeling that have accrued over a long time.\u00a0 For this reason, it is necessary to rely on the transcendent intelligence of your spiritual ally, whose assistance is proof that selflessly benefiting others is the path of the evolving individual.\u00a0 By following your spiritual twin into new arenas at this time, you reach the goal you would have missed had you sought it directly.<\/p>\n

Intent:\u00a0 When a situation is beyond our control, our unconscious connection to spirit keeps us from getting lost.\u00a0 External change transforms us internally\u2014and because change is constant, we are in a perpetual state of transformation.\u00a0 There is, however, another part of us that never changes, an essence that leaves the body just as it entered it.\u00a0 Difficult to find when sought, it emerges spontaneously when most needed:\u00a0 we look through our guide\u2019s eyes when we see the unchanging harmony underlying the world of appearances.\u00a0 Independent of the social and cultural upbringing that determines so much of how we experience the world and respond to it, this essence is like a spark of the spiritual sun\u2014arrived here from the source of light and life and love, it guides us through dark times, comforts us in fearful times, and draws us closer in solitary times.\u00a0 External change transforms us internally\u2014and because every transformation forces us to consider leaving some part of ourselves behind, every change reminds us of the great leave-taking at death.\u00a0 It is our spirit ally who maintains contact with the spirit world, providing us with the means to experience the wisdom and love of our predecessors.\u00a0 The closer we move to leaving this realm and entering the realm of the ancestors, the better we understand the importance of the two realms being governed by the same vision of universal peace and well-being:\u00a0 we feel with the twin\u2019s heart when we know that the realm of the living and the realm of the dead are in reality one and the same realm of spirit.<\/p>\n

Summary: Because you maintain great inner flexibility and adaptability, you pass through even the most trying and confusing of times without losing your bearings.\u00a0 Trust your hidden potential to come forth when needed and help solve problems beyond your conscious ability.\u00a0 Do not place limits on the limitless, do not lose touch with your own miraculous nature.\u00a0 Step into the flow of spirit\u2019s intention and it will carry you into the ecstatic life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hexagram 17 Guiding Force is immediately recognizable as the Oracle’s response to the second part of our group question:\u00a0 “…<\/em>whether we as humans will survive all the consequences of our collective actions.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Beyond this hexagram’s self-evident forewarning that we are truly stepping into the deep unknown, there lies an even more profound intent in the Oracle’s answer:\u00a0 Hexagram 17 is a barely-disguised retelling of the great creation story of how human beings were created and brought to life by Quetzalcoatl at the beginning of this, the Fifth Sun, or Fifth Age.\u00a0 This momentous event occurred when all of humanity was destroyed at the end of the Fourth Sun and <\/em>Quetzalcoatl descended into the Land of the Dead to retrieve the bones of the ancestors in order to bring them back to life in the form of recreating human beings.\u00a0 This quest proved to be more difficult than he could have imagined and he had to rely on the skill and knowledge of his spiritual twin, Xolotl, in order to succeed.\u00a0 This an exceedingly well-known myth from pre-Columbian Mexico and can be found in multiple sources both on- and off-line.<\/em><\/p>\n

The implication of Hexagram 17 Guiding Force as an answer to the second part of our group question cannot be easily ignored:\u00a0 We stand at the threshold of the ending of an Age, a time of unforeseeable change wherein our own survival depends on abandoning our reliance on past experience and returning to a deeper kind of knowing\u2014one that voluntarily sets aside self-interest in order to attune the human heart to the eternal harmony of nature and spirit.\u00a0 The inevitable defeat of humanity’s enemy-within opens the way the inevitable Golden Age of Humanity.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

The emerging world culture calls to all:\u00a0 Take Your Stand In The Inevitable!<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

~<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This group Oracle was cast on July 6th, 2011, at approximately 9:30 pm in Ithaca, New York.<\/p>\n

I welcome any and all comments on, and further interpretations of, this Oracle.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

~<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On behalf of my collaborator, Martha Ramirez-Oropeza, I wish to extend our gratitude to Rachel Hogencamp, Director of Rasa Spa, for all her kindnesses in hosting our talk in Ithaca and making it such a pleasant and meaningful experience.\u00a0 We are proud to call all the noble souls we met in Ithaca lifelong allies<\/em>.<\/p>\n

~<\/p>\n

The Toltec I Ching<\/em>, by Martha Ramirez-Oropeza and William Douglas Horden has just received a Silver Award in the 2010 Nautilus Awards<\/a>.\u00a0 It recasts the I Ching in the symbology of the Native Americans of ancient Mexico and includes original illustrations interpreting each of the hexagrams.\u00a0 Its subtitle, 64 Keys to Inspired Action in the New World<\/em> hints at its focus on the ethics of the emerging world culture.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to go to the main site to see sample chapters, reviews and the link to Larson Publications<\/a> for ordering the book.<\/p>\n

~<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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