18 – The Ghost – Decay – Wind at the Foot of the Mountain
As the corpse is lowered into the Earth, a disembodied spirit rises forth. What happened once will surly happen again as the ghost repeats the experiences of its physical life in the attempt to understand and resolve the lingering Karma. The wise man knows that this is a good time to break from routine and possibly take an internal or external voyage of renewal.
1st – Sacrificing to the Ghost – The child takes charge of the family holdings and places three sticks of incense upon his fathers grave. The wise man takes responsibility for the mistakes of those-who-have-come-before and rectifies the trouble as his own.
2nd – The Mothers Ghost – Placing flowers on his mothers grave, the wise man seeks to complete that which was left undone. This responsibility is small, yet necessary. A calm, balanced approach should be taken.
3rd – The Fathers Ghost – Placing a gold doubloon upon his fathers grave, the wise man forgoes his own responsibilities. Have no regret when expending resources to balance past affairs. In the end, all will be attained and all shall be free of blame.
4th – Fighting the Ghost – The boy does nothing as the angry ghost indiscriminately destroys the home. There is a time each for sacrifice, tolerance and adversary. Now is the time to stand up against destructive spirits and exorcise them without remorse as would a priest a devil.
5th – Embracing the Ghost – Following the direction of his fathers ghost, the boy comes upon a healing spring and is bestowed honors by the people. The wise man does not fight the whispers in his head, but rather understands that All is One and accepts what is offered. It may be more than we expected.
6th – Merging with the Ghost – Taking all into himself, the wise man realizes that he is alone and stands on top of a pyramid. As long as action is taken without hesitation or stopping to take council from others, our will can now usurp even the king.
All Six – Freeing the Ghost – Through a heartfelt sacrifice and correct action, the ghost is freed from its ceaseless wandering and allowed a final rest. All deals are finished, delivered and paid for. This is the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. We are free to advance in any direction we may choose, as all now be equal. Choose wisely!
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