Everybody I Ching Tonight

I have known for years that I share my first and last names with Richard Wilhelm, the German sinologist who translated the I Ching – The Book of Changes from Chinese into German.

Since last October, I have received several voice mails from Author Reputation Press LLC. In these messages I’m told that ARP can help me market my book, I Ching, by setting up radio interviews and bookshop placements, among other services.

No one at ARP has done the research that would reveal the I Ching is a classic book of philosophy that has existed for thousands of years, and that its German translator, who is not me, has been dead for 93 years and no longer has any need for publicity.

Here’s the crazy thing: Richard Wilhelm’s work influenced his friend Carl Jung’s thinking, which includes his theory of synchronicity. Jung’s synchronicity led to the Police’s Synchronicity, which led me to Jung’s synchronicity.

Jung’s synchronicity maybe even played a role in Repo Man’s “plate of shrimp” scene. That scene illustrates the power of the “lattice of coincidence”, which is one of the guiding principles of my creative life.

So the fact that there are people out there who think that I am the Richard Wilhelm who translated the I Ching is one crazy plate of shrimp.

~217~