The Book Of Three

                                                        The Book Of Three

                                  On Interpreting the Ternary Trigram

Ternary trigrams are triples of ternary logic values; that is, they are triples (k,l,m) of values, each one of which is drawn from the set {t,i,f}; three-valued logic. i = the "intermediate", "inner", or "imaginary" logic value. The inner value 'i' solves paradox; it equals its own negation:

i         =        not i

For this essay, I shall denote "false" by -, "inner" by 0, and "true" by +.

There are 3*3*3 = 27 ternary trigrams. This is between the I Ching's 8 trigrams and 64 hexagrams. We find a trigram by rolling a die three times:

    1 or 2 = - ;  3 or 4 = 0 ;  5 or 6 = +

          There are other methods involving drawing cards, flipping coins, etc. Because of the random nature of these methods, their user should expect them to yield novelty, not information; questions, not answers. Have fun but don’t believe.

The three components of the trigram are the three "voters":

Curly  =  Majority Rule  =  Heart

Curly ranks Logic < Power < Fairness

Larry  =    Consensus    =  Mind

Larry ranks Power < Fairness < Logic

Moe    =    Monarchy     =  Spirit

Moe ranks Fairness < Logic < Power

Thus the Ternary Trigrams involve both Liar Paradox and Voter's Paradox.

The three core trigrams:

--- = Falsehood.

The Bottom. Soul's Midnight. Disaster; perversity rules. Misery and death; all fall down. I am not.

C says: 10,000 hovels to support a palace.

L says: One equals zero. Fatal error.

M says: My enemies rejoice at my defeat.

000 = Paradox.

The Inner. Soul's Dawn and Dusk. Status quo; the same old chaos. Seed of self; origin of being. The vague center. This sentence is false; I am not I.

C says: All men vainly seek advantage.

L says: Order within chaos; chaos within order.

M says: I will be what I will be.

+++ = Truth.

The Top. Soul's Noon. Supreme success; consensus of heart, mind and spirit. Breakthrough to peace, love, and joy. I am I.

C says: In unity there is strength.

L says: Truth is beauty, beauty truth.

M says: I celebrate our success.

The 27 ternary trigrams:

--- = Falsehood

--0 = Pride

--+ = Cruelty

-0- = Despair

-00 = Ignorance

-0+ = Privilege

-+- = Weakness

-+0 = Logic

-++ = Wisdom

0-- = Shame

0-0 = War

0-+ = Power

00- = Bondage

000 = Paradox

00+ = Freedom

0+- = Humility

0+0 = Peace

0++ = Hope

+-- = Folly

+-0 = Intuition

+-+ = Strength

+0- = Fairness

+00 = Knowledge

+0+ = Courage

++- = Justice

++0 = Faith

+++ = Truth

These can be matched to the 8 corners, +2 edges, 0 faces, and + body of a cube. The corners are the boolean triples, the edges are the triples with a single 0, the faces are the triples with two 0's, and the body matches to the triple 000.

The 8 corners:

--- = Falsehood

--+ = Cruelty

-+- = Weakness

+-- = Folly

++- = Justice

+-+ = Strength

-++ = Wisdom

+++ = Truth

The 12 edges:                   Connects:

--0 =Pride              Falsehood, Cruelty

-+0 = Logic            Weakness, Wisdom

+-0 = Intuition       Folly, Strength

++0 = Faith            Justice, Truth

-0- = Despair          Falsehood, Weakness

-0+ = Privilege       Cruelty, Wisdom

+0- = Fairness        Folly, Justice

+0+ = Courage       Strength, Truth

0-- = Shame           Falsehood, Folly

0-+ = Power           Cruelty, Strength

0+- = Humility       Weakness, Justice

0++ = Hope            Wisdom, Truth

The 6 faces:                     Connects:

-00 = Ignorance     Falsehood, Cruelty, Weakness, Wisdom

+00 = Knowledge  Folly, Strength, Justice, Truth

0-0 = War              Falsehood, Cruelty, Folly, Strength

0+0 = Peace           Weakness, Wisdom, Justice, Truth

00- = Bondage       Falsehood, Weakness, Folly, Justice

00+ = Freedom      Cruelty, Wisdom, Strength, Truth

The 1 body:

000 = Paradox                  Connects to all.