I START ASKING IT QUESTIONS
My first question was a personal one. A Libertarian-leaning friend I’d had since we were freshmen in college broke off our friendship via a sharp, brief note in late December 2020, over the political-bent of my 2019 Christmas card. I had sent a brief note of apology to her, and I asked the Oracle of KAZ, ‘will R & I ever be friends again?’ The answer was ‘All the influences are good or encouraging. And if your question can be answered with a yes or no, then it’s yes, yes, yes!’ My immediate reaction was doubt. R told me back in college when she breaks off a relationship with someone, it’s permanent and she makes it clear the relationship is over. I take R at her word. Things were not off to a good start with this oracle. I was expecting it to tell me something along the lines of, no, give it up and move on. Instead, I felt it was telling me what it perceived I wanted to hear. The most generous assessment I could assign this answer was ‘unproven.’
My second question was a follow-up to the Epiphany Day putsch at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. a few days before. I asked ‘will right-wing groups attempt another putsch this month?’ The answer was ‘Any form of speculation needs particular care, as the influences are not favorable. In fact, the more care you take, the better your result, whatever your problem is.’ Applying that answer to the question I asked, I interpreted it as, ‘if right-wing groups in the U.S. attempt another putsch this month, they will have to be far more prepared than they were for the first one, because the energies are starting to go against them.’ Then again, it could’ve meant ‘the answer to that is still up in the air, because ill-feeling by said right-wing groups is still very strong and they’re still planning and plotting. But provided the proper care is taken, no further such trouble is necessarily fated to happen.’ Okay, so these two possible interpretations were more believable than the previous one.
Nervous on January 19th about the possibility of trouble at the Inauguration the next day, I asked the Oracle of KAZ, ‘will there be a Biden Inauguration attack?’ Following the established procedure, the answer I received was, ‘Although there is nothing wrong with being light-hearted, try to be a little more serious in what you are asking. Use your sense of humor on the answer, not on the question.’ ‘WHAAAT!!’ I responded. ‘That question was as serious as a hand-grenade! Whaddaya mean my question isn’t serious?! Look, this can’t be the answer. It has to be one of these other answers under 1110. Therefore, I’ll roll again.’ I rolled a five. ‘What you lose on the swings, you can gain on the roundabouts, but you must be prepared to take the rough with the smooth.’ This second answer was better than the previous one, but equivocal. I interpreted this as ‘it’s going to be two-steps-forward, one-step back situation with the incoming-administration. There will be rough spots and smooth spots. Be ready for this.’ This overshot my question about possible terrorism at the Inauguration, and seemed to address what sort of progress the Biden administration could expect to make. Perhaps I should’ve started-over with this question, phrasing it differently. Now I wonder if the Oracle of KAZ was just joking with me, telling me not to catastrophize and take the matter so seriously.