~ Chapel Perilous ~

[Malaclypse 666]

GRUMMET

Malaclypse sat zazen with Appendix Gimmel open before him. He had known the result before he had even let the book fall open; but had consulted the treatise on the five stages of history as an exercise in confirmation.

History as Sirius knew it was about to end.

Of course, it would take only a few beats of the Cosmos heart, and the Cycle of History would begin to repeat again; yet it seemed that Grummet was exiting the stage with a vengeance this time. Malaclypse began to read the Appendix entry for Grummet:

The fifth stage, Grummet or aftermath, represents the transition back to chaos. Bureaucracy chokes in its own paperwork; mind is at the end of its tether; in desperation, many begin to deny the logogram and follow the biogram, with varying degrees of success.

Bureaucracies all across Sirius were indeed choking, and spewing out mindless restrictions on freedom.. Embargos and tariffs on trade, restrictions on access, licenses to trade on nearly everything but fertilizer and food, kneejerk reactions to any and all perceived threats. This created a situation ripe for dissent and outright disobedience to these oppressive and crushing moves.

This correlates with Hermaphrodite; with I Ching hexagram 59, Huan, dispersion, dissolution, foam on the water; with the number 5, union of male and female; with the 6th trump of the Tarot, the Lovers, indicating union; and with the sun. On the Zodiac: Virgo.

Ahh, theres some consolation, Eris. Theres a Five in there for You, at least Malaclypse continued to read the entry on Grummet..

The age of Grummet begins with an upsurge of magicians, hoaxers, Yippies, Kabouters, shamans, clowns, and other Eristic forces. The relevant I Ching hexagram is 59, Huan, dispersion and dissolution. The gentle wind above the deep water is the Chinese reading of the image, with associations of loss of ego, separation from the group, and "going out" in general. Yin lines dominate all but the top of the hexagram; the forces leading to a new Verwirrung stage are pushing upward toward release.

New groups and new relations seemed to be forming every day, in every House of Sirius, in response to the crushing bureaucracies. Mal could think of half a dozen groups which had formed to push back this rise in the Hodge. But, of course, the Aneristic militaries and groups merely responded with more restrictions on human freedoms. Mal was reminded of another Discordian Catma: Imposition of Order = Escalation of Chaos.. a vicious circle which humanity seemed destined to continue.

This is also called Paralysis by the Illuminati, because, objectively, nothing much is happening; subjectively, of course, the preparations for the new cycle are working unconsciously.

Here again, Malaclypse could see parallels in the news every day. A number of major Factions had become less active, as if purposely waiting for some new development which might change the game at any moment. Mals Pineal was in agreement to a degree. The increase in rumors about a completely new area of the Sector were too persistent to ignore. Obviously, other leaders had heard the same rumors, and were biding their time until they were either confirmed or disproved.

The mystic number is 5, union of male (3) with female (2) and final resolution of conflict between Verwirrung and Zweitracht.

Mal smiled, and made the Holy bike/trike sign with his left hand. Two fingers raised for the bike, thumb and two fingers closed for the trike.

The governing Tarot trump is number 6, the Lovers, in which the woman looks upward at the angel (Eris, the bio-gram) and the man looks at the woman (the logogram, yang, reaches synthesis with biogram, yin, only through reconciliation with the female). Hence, the upsurge of feminism in such periods, together with a renewed emphasis on clans, tribes, and communes.

Again, the evidence for this feminine upsurge was as plain as the nose on your face. More and more women were choosing sides, taking arms and ships, and making their statements in ways commonly reserved for the male primates. Even the Fnordettes were growing in numbers, and taking more of a role in TAZ affairs besides cooking pies and hauling cargo.

After Grummet, of course, authority has collapsed entirely, and the biogram stands on equal footing with the logogram. Hodge and Podge being once again in dynamic balance, a new Verwirrung period begins, and the cycle repeats.

It was more than the rumors, more than a newly discovered yet mysterious minefield in Orkney, more than the choking bureaucracies, and more than the upsurge in splinter groups and amazon women warriors

It was his strong belief in Appendix Gimmel, and a pressure between his eyes which told Mal that history was very soon about to end..

..and to begin again.

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