Dyads and Dualities

To understand dyads and dualities, I labeled twelve pennies with the dyads listed on Table One.  I chose a variety from several groupings to discern any emerging patterns.  After testing by different manners of throwing – all at once, one at a time, and so forth, I recorded the results on Table Two.

TABLE ONE

Dyads/ Dualities

Chinese Taosim

Yin         Yang

Earth                    Heaven

Feminine              Masculine

Negative              Positive

Darkness              Light

Wiccan

Goddess              God

Mother                Father

Isis                        Osiris

Artemis                Apollo

Moon                   Sun

Crescent              Horns

Spiral                    Staff

Cat                        Stag

Dog                       Wolf

The results from the various throws are on Table Two.  I refer to the receptive side as “Yin” and the dominant one as “Yang”. This duality seems fitting in this exercise. The Yin side appeared more than the Yang side.  The most throws were “Artemis”, “Isis”, and “Darkness”.  It is notable that the two Goddesses appeared with “Darkness”.  The three mesh well together, since both Goddesses deal in shadows.  In contrast, Apollo, one of the least throws, is my “shadow” God Patron, since He pushes me beyond my comfort zone.  He is associated with “Sun”, and “Light” in mythology.  (These two Gods have been two dualities in my life.  In my life, Artemis (as Diana) is “Light”, while Apollo is “Shadow” even though in myths, They have the opposite attributes.

The balanced pairs pointed to a male-female balance which seems to be stable.  “Artemis”, who represented by “Stag” was partially balanced in this way.  However, “Apollo” was neither “Light” nor “Sun”, and therefore remains imbalanced.

TABLE TWO

All Throws

Yin: 56

Yang: 40

(Total: 96)

Appeared Most: Artemis, Isis, Darkness (All Yin)

Appeared Least: Apollo, Osiris, Light (All Yang)

Balanced Pairs:

Feminine/Masculine

Negative/Positive

Mother/Father

Cat/Stag

Unbalanced Pairs:

Darkness/Light

Iris/Osiris

Artemis/Apollo

I decided to explore further whether handedness affected what side appeared.  As a left-handed person, I am aware that “left” is receptive, while the opposite is true for me.  Of course, the right hand would pose the same dichotomy.  The results are listed in Table Three and Table Four.

For the throws of each hand, the results of these throws mirror the other.  The Left hand had twenty-four “yang” throws while the Right hand had twenty-four “yin” throws.  This to me indicated balance within myself between the two dualities (left/right and dominant/recessive).

Looking deeper at the throws done by the Left hand, it revealed an interesting pattern.  “Artemis”, which received the most throws, was paired with “Father”.  The male and female duality was still retained in this odd pairing.  Moreover, “Artemis” in my case matched the dominant and recessive qualities of a dominant left hand.  (However, the least amount of throws did not include “Apollo”.) The male/female duality was retained.

TABLE THREE

Left Hand (dominant)

Yin: 15

Yang: 24

(Total: 39)

Appeared Most: Artemis (Yin), Father (Yang)

Appeared Least: Negative (Yin), Mother (Yin), Masculine (Yang)

Balanced Pairs:

Darkness/Light

Cat/Stag

Unbalanced Pairs:

Mother/Father

Artemis/Apollo

Examining the Right hand showed another surprise.  None of the sides which had the most throws were among the main list of Table Two.  No dualities appeared.  They simply reinforced the “Yin” aspects of my right hand.  However, the balanced pairs did reflect the duality that “Earth/Heaven” has with “Darkness/Light”.  The Right hand had less to with the male/female than with the yang/yin dyad.

TABLE FOUR

Right hand (recessive)

Yin: 24

Yang: 15

(Total: 39)

Appeared Most: Negative, Spiral, and Dog (all Yin)

Appeared Least: Staff, Wolf (all Yang)

Balanced Pairs:

Earth/Heaven

Darkness/Light

Unbalanced Pairs:

Negative/Positive

Spiral/Staff

Dog/Wolf

I conclude from this exercise that the dualities try to assert themselves in subtle ways.  In the micro-sense of the Left hand/Right hand, “Mother” and “Masculine” asserted themselves through the “Artemis” and “Father” results.  Looking at Left hand versus Right hand, “Negative” which received no throws for the Left hand appeared the most for the Right hand.  In the macro-sense, the two hands mirrored each other.  Only when both hands (eighteen throws) were used in throwing did the “Yin” throws outnumber the “Yang” throws.  I have no idea as to why unless it was in reference to my sex and handedness.