The Creative Contrarian

Part IIIUse Your Wise Fool Know-How

“The cleverest of all, in my opinion, is the person who calls himself a fool at least once a month.”

— Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian Novelist

1. Ask the Wise Fool Oracle

One of my favorite ways to use the Wise Fool Strategies is to consult them as an oracle. This gives me a “quick hit of inspiration.” Let's take a moment to understand what an oracle does.

Over the millennia, many cultures have developed their own versions of this intuitive tool. Some examples: the ancient Chinese I Ching, the Egyptian Tarot, the Nordic Runes, the North American Indian Medicine Wheel, and the Creative Whack Pack. Perhaps you have benefited from using some (or all) of these tools.

Most oracles consist of a series of messages from which the questioner randomly selects one or several. The purpose of querying an oracle is not so much to foretell the future as it is to enable questioners to delve more deeply into their own intuition when dealing with a problem. Here is an example of some of the elements involved in consulting an oracle.

There once was an Indian medicine man whose job included creating hunting maps for his tribe. Whenever game got sparse, he would lay a piece of fresh leather out in the sun to dry. Then he would fold it and twist it in his hands, say a few prayers over it, and smooth it out.

The rawhide was now crisscrossed with lines and wrinkles. ...