Wordie [wûrd • ē]
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first listed by:
edwardhenry (180 words)
appears in these lists:
Rime Riche, by colleen
miscellany, by patchouli
poetic notions, by rolig
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The octave, containing 7 steps or intervals, is an instance of the so-called "Law of Seven" (see enneagram) in the Sufi/Gurdjieff system of cosmic dynamism. Any process/evolution whatsoever never proceeds in a straight line without some kind of intervention, accidental or willful, at two places in the otherwise unvarying flow. This can be illustrated by the musical octave where there are 2 intervals which are only "half tones" (between mi-fa and ti-do, i.e., where there are no "black keys" on the piano keyboard, between E-F and B-C)compared to the other whole-tone steps (which do have "black keys"). Without these seeming anomalies there would be no need for a "sharps" and "flats" system when playing tunes in differing keys. Suffice it to say that any process winds up becoming its opposite if unchecked in its normal flow because of the Law of Octaves (or Law of Seven). The change of direction at the incommensurate intervals shifts the direction subtly, and with accumulation grossly, making the original purpose unrecognizable: thesis becomes antithesis. In nature, mechanical "shocks" (augmentations in the vulnerable-to-shift intervals) by other, transecting processes, can keep an evolutionary purpose on course toward a particular goal. In the Gurdjieffian system, only conscious, willful effort must be made for an extraordinary evolution of one's being toward greater awareness and understanding of the universe.