Two of stones, fool and wise man

The two-of-stones. Challenges, duality, balance. Representing both the suffering, and the learning, from struggle. In Wildwood Tarot, it presents imagery of two hares engaged in a forever conflict. For me this seems most reflected right now in my identity as a writer. I began writing a blog in 2021. A number of entries followed until things went dormant and a long hiatus followed. This year had me coming out of my writing cocoon. I decided yesterday, to look through my old blog posts from 2021, still on my professional website, only to recoil in embarrassment. I had some good stuff in there, but my tone was so proselytizing and condescending to my perspective as a reader now. One of the posts that I was most conflicted about was titled Epimetheus. 

Epimetheus is the god of hindsight. He is well intentioned, but extremely impulsive. Naturally, given that significant character flaw, he is assigned to great responsibility. He is tasked to mete out natural advantages to each creature in the world. In his impulsivity, he gives everything away, completely forgetting to give any advantages to humans. Fortunately, his brother Promethius steps in and gives humanity the gifts of creativity and fire. 

Prometheus is the brother of Epimetheus and the god of foresight. He represents the ability to detect patterns and to make conclusions about the future. They together are seen as the parents of humanity and we humans, a fusion of them both. Epimetheus and Prometheus. Hindsight and Foresight. It paints a humbling picture of how we move through the world, and of my writing life. Me, doomed to write blog posts with the best foresight I can muster, only to deploy hindsight years later to discover my blind spots as a writer. I start anew, and the process begins again, and the epic of the fighting hares continues. 

Of course, the tension that the two-of-stones represents can speak to so many aspects of the human experience, but I wanted to explore the tension between our Promethean and Epimethean selves. It’s so enticing for me to hate Epimetheus and to favor Prometheus. The ignorance and blind impulsivity of Epimetheus can be understood as the bedrock of human suffering. Epimetheus is fated to sprint towards the light, only to end up in the dark forest. How I wish I could be a purely Promethean creature! Imagine if I could move through life avoiding all the detours and collisions caused by many blind spots. Imagine if I could write a timeless piece that I might never look back on with notes or doubts!

The two-of-stones though, it honors Epimetheus. Yes, he foolishly runs into the unknown, yet how brave! He may not anticipate the many mistakes he will make along the way, the pain that he and others will have to endure on the track of his path. And yet from all of that pain, he will become hindsight, and he will feed Prometheus the information he needs to become wise and to develop foresight. If I was Promethean alone, would I take any risks? Or would I remain devoted solely to my own safety and comfort? Gone would be the call to adventure, and the willingness to trade suffering for growth and wisdom. 

Epimetheus and Promethius. Fool and wise man. Locked in the push and pull, forever reflected in the two-of-stones. What a painful, beautiful dance.

This piece was written by prompt from Jianna Heuer's Substack Such A Good Listener | Jianna Heuer | Substack