Darmok

[russell]

I just watched the Star Trek episode Darmok, in which the enterprise crew tries to communicate with the Tamarians, who only speak in historical metaphor. “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra,” for example, means cooperation; and “Shaka, when the walls fell” means failure. This is exactly what I believe much of the I Ching to be; if we only understood all the references. (“Feng was so dark that the polestars were visible at noon” = an eclipse, possibly a very historically important one, for example.) To top it off, the Tamarian captain performs a ritual where tosses three little objects twice, as if in divination, and has a little book with him.

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/06/star-trek-the-next-generation-rewatch-darmok

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Tamarian_language

Dragon flying in the sky!

—Russell

 

[svenrus]

Before the 18' of june 1815 this sentence: Meeting his Waterloo would have no meaning, but it still has today, at least for westerners....
It's one of the things I like at Alfred Huangs Complete I Ching, that he gives historical references to the hexagrams.
Maybe in a thousands of years from now one would ask: "Who is Waterloo - his son/daughter/dog ?".....

 

[pocossin]

Years ago Hilary commented on this episode, but I am unable to find the comments.

 

[russell]

I was thinking someone must have noticed it before, but I searched and couldn’t find anything.

Troi’s example was something like, “Juliet on the balcony.”

 

[Trojina]

I just watched the Star Trek episode Darmok, in which the enterprise crew tries to communicate with the Tamarians, who only speak in historical metaphor. “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra,” for example, means cooperation; and “Shaka, when the walls fell” means failure. This is exactly what I believe much of the I Ching to be; if we only understood all the references. (“Feng was so dark that the polestars were visible at noon” = an eclipse, possibly a very historically important one, for example.) To top it off, the Tamarian captain performs a ritual where tosses three little objects twice, as if in divination, and has a little book with him.

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/06/star-trek-the-next-generation-rewatch-darmok

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Tamarian_language

Dragon flying in the sky!

—Russell

Steve Marshall wrote a whole book about this didn't he called "The Mandate of Heaven" so manyof the references have already been researched and understood.

I was looking for a review of it here, but can't seem to find the reviews


http://cloudking.com/artists/joel-biroco/why-did-feathers-fall.php

ah


http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-12299-3/the-mandate-of-heaven


and taken from the above link

The Mandate of Heaven focuses on the story of the I Ching's origins. The book is attributed to King Wen, who died before he could succeed in overthrowing the tyrannical Shang dynasty. His son, King Wu, eventually triumphed over the Shang and established the Zhou dynasty as the legitimate royal house. According to the tradition, these events are in some ways alluded to in the earliest layer of commentary in the I Ching, but no sound historical basis has been discovered to substantiate this claim. Consequently, since the 1930s sinologists have discounted the value of this tradition. Marshall uncovers an account of Wu's conquest in an important, previously overlooked passage that tells of a solar eclipse believed by the King to have been an omen from Heaven to immediately march against the Shang. Marshall is able to match this account with a scientifically verified solar eclipse that took place on June 20, 1070 B.C., just one of his many historical readings that show how the earliest layer of the I Ching has preserved a hidden history that has remained undetected for three millennia.

 

[pocossin]

Years ago Hilary commented on this episode, but I am unable to find the comments.

OK, I found it. It's at MidaughtersIChing, message 2196, July 21, 2001.