Description

This article is from the Firesign Theatre: Lexicon FAQ, by Niles D. Ritter ritter@earthlink.net with numerous contributions by others.

Firesign Theatre Lexicon [I]

I CHING: "The Book of Changes". A Chinese fortune telling device,
involving the tossing of coins or (more traditionally) the dividing and
counting of yarrow stalks,called {POOH STICKS} by some. The binary
patterns which come up are used in looking up the corresponding pattern
in an I CHING dictionary of patterns. In "Return for Regrooving" on the
{ELECTRICIAN} album, the Hippie Republic of China reported, "We threw I
Ching... out the window! We are now unanimous!"

There was also a Sally I CHING who just turned 12 today on {DWARF}.

By far the most insightful translation of the I Ching is one by Richard
Wilhelm, with introduction by C.G. Jung. In fact this is the trans used
by FT, as the wording on the albums IS the Wilhelm wording.

The Firesign Theatre, in writing their {EVERYMAN} plays, had a
tradition of throwing the I CHING before and after each of their plays.
For example, in {BOZO}'s, the first words we hear are "Biting
Through...", which is an I CHING.

The {TWO PLACES} album uses The Army hexagram, where Nick Danger says,

NICK: Well, Bradshaw -- It's like in The Army, you know--The Great
Prince issues commands, founds states, vests families with fiefs.
Inferior people should not be employed

BRADSHAW: Nick, I can't know success, but you still put me through
too many changes.

(This last remark refers to the fact that the "I Ching" means "Book of
Changes")

The last line of {NICK DANGER} in {TWO PLACES} may also be found in the
Unix version documentation for ching(6), under "DIAGNOSTICS", which is
based upon the Wilhelm translation. In fact, using "ching" we can
determine the exact configuration that was thrown for the {TWO PLACES}
album. In the liner notes for one of the CD's it was noted that they
threw the hexagram "The Army", with the changing line leading to
"Youthful folly".

The way all this stuff works is, you throw some yarrow sticks (also
called pooh sticks) or coins, and derive a set of six numerical
values, between 6 and 9. The even numbers represent the -- --
broken line, and the odd numbers represend the ------ solid line.
Also, lines which came from the numbers 6 and 9 are called changing
lines; if there are any changing lines then they are considered
unstable, and will turn into their opposite. So, you have to
also use the hexagram resulting from flipping the changing lines.

Now, The Army is: And Y. Folly is: So the configuration was:

    --  --                ------                   6    (change)
    --  --                --  --                   8    (no change)
    --  --                --  --                   8    (no change)
    --  --                --  --                   8    (no change)
    ------                ------                   7    (no change)
    --  --                --  --                   8    (no change)

So, let's go to our favorite unix-box and throw the Firesign Theatre's
exact hexagram:

$ /usr/games/ching 878886

7. Shih / The Army

          -- --
          -- --     above     K'un   The Receptive, Earth
          -- --
          -- --
          -----     below     K'an   The Abysmal, Water
          -- --

The Judgement

The Army. The army needs perseverance
And a strong man.
Good fortune without blame.

The Image

In the middle of the earth is water:
The image of the Army.
Thus the superior man increases his masses
By generosity toward the people.

The Lines

Six at the top means:
The great prince issues commands,
Founds states, vests families with fiefs.
Inferior people should not be employed.

4. Meng / Youthful Folly

          -----
          -- --     above     Ken    Keeping Still, Mountain
          -- --
          -- --
          -----     below     K'an   The Abysmal, Water
          -- --

The Judgement

Youthful Folly has success.
It is not I who seek the young fool;
The young fool seeks me.
At the first oracle I inform him.
If he asks two or three times, it is importunity.
If he importunes, I give him no information.
Perseverance furthers.

The Image

A spring wells up at the foot of the mountain:
The image of Youth.
Thus the superior man fosters his character
By thoroughness in all that he does.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

An interesting sidelight; note the reference to Ken, Keeping Still.
If any of you have read the FT's Big Mystery Joke Book, the last
play is one called "The Dream Play, (for Monkey, Dreamer, Mudhead
and Snake)" written by Phil Austin. It starts out with the Dreamer
reciting:

Once upon a time, when time was nothing like it is today,
you must imagine that you sat still, upon the side of a
mountain called Keeping Still. You have clear eyes and
they are very strong and they see a great land and beyond
it a great sea and above it a great sky...

I'm pretty sure that "Ken" is actually K'en, which was the name of
one of the characters Phil {PROCTOR} played in {DWARF}.

Unforturnately, we don't know the changing lines for the other hexagram
thrown for {BOZO}s, "Biting Through", so we cant get the exact
judgement. In any case, this is what we get with all the changing lines
activated (we'll ignore the changed hex, since it could have been
any of the 63 others):

% /usr/games/ching 966969

21. Shih Ho / Biting Through

          -----
          -- --     above     Li     The Clinging, Flame
          -----
          -- --
          -- --     below     Chen   The Arousing, Thunder
          -----

The Judgement

Biting Through has success.
It is favorable to let justice be administered.

The Image

Thunder and lightning:
The image of Biting Through.
Thus the kings of former times made firm the laws
Through clearly defined penalties.

The Lines

Nine at the beginning means:
His feet are fastened in the stocks,
So that his toes disappear.
No blame.

Six in the second place means:
Bites through tender meat,
So that his nose disappears.
No blame.

Six in the third place means:
Bites on old dried meat
And strikes on something poisonous.
Slight humiliation. No blame.

Nine in the fourth place means:
Bites on dried gristly meat.
Receives metal arrows.
It furthers one to be mindful of difficulties
And to be persevering.
Good fortune.

() Six in the fifth place means:
Bites on dried lean meat.
Receives yellow gold.
Perseveringly aware of danger.
No blame.

Nine at the top means:
His neck is fastened in the wooden cangue,
So that his ears disappear.
Misfortune.

Now *there's* something to chew on! :-)

Final note: Peter {BERGMAN} remarks that as far as he can remember,
there was no particular hexagram for the other two albums.

ITNWYOYO: In the Next World You're On Your Own. An FT album.

ITWABOTB: I Think We're All {BOZO}S On This Bus. One of the
cornerstones of FT philosophy and viewpoints, and the fourth in the
FT's {EVERYMAN} cycle of plays.

INSANE: See {NOT INSANE}.

 

Continue to:

• prev: Firesign Theatre Lexicon [H]
• Index
• next: Firesign Theatre Lexicon [J-K]