My mind was floating around in other dimensions and I needed something to bring me back, so to speak, so when I spied the dictionary on my desk, I was blissfully struck with the idea of doing a stichomancy. It's been a long time since I've done a stichomancy. Heck, I'm sure it was sometime last year.

I didn't want to get up to get my unabridged dictionary so, for expediency's sake, I grabbed my paperback copy of the American Heritage Dictionary and let my fingers do the walking. This is the word that came up:

Departure - 1. The act of leaving, 2. A starting out, as on a trip, 3. A divergence.

Now isn't that interesting? For further clarification, I looked up the word, divergence:

Divergence - Diverge: 1. To extend in different directions from a common point, 2. To differ, as in opinion, 3. To deviate, as from a norm.

I emboldened the third definition because that's the one I like best. A departure from the norm is how the norm changes.

Do you like how the first and second definitions of departure are somewhat opposites? A departure can be a leaving, which can be sad, but it can also be a starting out, which can be very exciting.

I can't help but think of an airport. At an airport there are repeated arrivals and departures. They go hand-in-hand. A plane arrives and you have an arrival. The people get off the plane and then more people get on the plane and the plane leaves and you have a departure.

It also reminds me of birth and death. Every birth is also a death and every death is also a birth. How you take it depends on which airport you're at.

So I think the third definition of "divergence" clearly shows the polarity inherant in the departure/arrival racket. But, of course, polarity is far more ubiquitous than that. Indeed, the very nature of this density is to diverge.

But before I get carried away with metaphysical mumbo-jumbo let me go back to the idea of "departing from the norm." I think that is key. I think that is the mantra for 2006. This is definitely the year we all will be departing from the norm. And I mean that on many different levels.

Whether we're departing or arriving, the important thing is that we're making movement. 2006 is a year of making movement. Making movement can seem very difficult for someONE stuck in a rut. They seem to be moving but they're not getting anywhere. That's because they're stuck in the norm. So to initiate movement it is beneficial to ask, "How can I depart from the norm in this matter?"

Those familiar with Taoist philosophy know that yin and yang spin furiously in a circle, each chasing the other's tail; each becoming the other and, in turn, becoming the other, and, in turn, becoming the other, etc. Whatever the norm is, it gets to a point where it turns into its very opposite. That's the nature of this particular physical duality; a perpetual vacilation, or oscillation, between opposites.

So, if one were going with the natural flow of things one would never hold onto the norm. One would be in a constant state of "departure from the norm". Of course, there is nothing wrong with "the norm." But "the norm" is never static. It's when we hold onto "the norm" for dear life when movement stops. That's when we get bogged down and don't seem to make any "advancement" in our journey.

Move it, or lose it. How's that for a catch phrase?

No matter what comes up for 2006--and plenty will surely come up--we can ask ourselves, "How can my response to this be a departure from the norm?" This will help us go with the flow of magnetic reversal, which is a major theme of the energies of 2006. Everything will slowly become its opposite. We can resist this or go with the flow, knowing that flow, in its ceaselessness, will repeatedly bring us back around to balance time and time again.

The "glorious golden new age" is already here. We're just waiting for everyone to depart the old age. Many, many are still holding onto it with all their might. We're afraid to depart.

Or are we afraid to arrive? Or are we just afraid of movement? Where does the fear come from that makes departure a sad thing? Why do we fear new things? Why do we love Norm so much? And why does everyone at the bar know his name?

Departure was a great stichomancy, don't you think?

So let's try it out. For the next month or twelve, whenever some decision comes up, ask yourself, "How can my response to this be a departure from the norm?" That doesn't mean we have to choose that response, but at least we can include it in our options. Perhaps, a few times we can try it just to see what happens.

Every departure involves putting one foot out in front of the other. Every departure is taking a step forward. Every step forward is a departure. Can you see what a delightfully delectible word departure is?

Imagine sitting in a train at the station. You are dressed in your finest for you are embarking on an important and momentous trip. You sit at the window looking out at all the people milling about in the train station. You are filled with emotions but, more importantly, you are filled with feelings (and therefore your memories of the event are forever burned upon the skein of time and space). Excitement fills you as you imagine unimaginable new worlds. Sadness, also, tugs at your sleeve as you think of things left behind. As the train starts moving....

....you depart.