Fatum Operandi

 
 
 
"The Glass Bead Game is thus a mode of playing with the total contents and values of our culture; it plays with them as, say, in the great age of the arts a painter might have played with the colors of his palette. All the insights, noble thoughts, and works of art that the human race has produced in its creative eras, all that subsequent periods of scholarly study have reduced to concepts and converted into intellectual values the Glass Bead Game player plays like the organist on an organ. And this organ has attained an almost unimaginable perfection; its manuals and pedals range over the entire intellectual cosmos; its stops are almost beyond number. Theoretically this instrument is capable of reproducing in the Game the entire intellectual content of the universe."

-- Hermann Hesse, Magistar Ludi

The method of self-assessment at Fatum Operandi is unusual and challenging. Assessment is merely a means of finding out if you have grasped the concepts of an Order's degree, have studied adequately enough to proceed on to the next degree, and how well you understand what you have learned. In other metaphysical programs, this comes in the form of arcane questions that often have no clear answer. However, we feel it's also something that can be faked; one of the first lessons one learns in grade school is that cramming before a test helps you pass. The second lesson is to figure out what answers the testers are looking for, and give it to them. The test method can and is undermined by both of these basic methods, which fails to give a really good idea of your knowledge.

But how to really test yourself, even when you may tilt the process in your own favor as a form of self-encouragement? Out of a fortunate encounter, the concept of the Glass Bead Game came as the answer. The game itself comes from a novel of fiction called Magistar Ludi by Hermann Hesse. It is a game where unilateral links, joining and associations make the winning moves, with anything and everything as the game pieces. Prose, quotes, whole disciplines, music, people, smells, places... the list is endless, as long as it relates. The more creative, detailed and insightful the move, the better it is.

The game is played on a variety of boards, which are blank spaces where moves are placed that are linked to other spaces in different ways. If one places an idea or song on one space, it must relate in some way to any other filled space on the board that is linked by a line to the spot you've just put a move on. It's that simple. Or is it?

The way the self-assessment (and the game) works is deceptively simple. Grab a board out of the downloads area or a link below and start playing against yourself or with a friend. If you are seriously wanting a challenge, ask us for a board. Then you will be given a board with any number of blank moves on it... and some are pre-filled in by us. Your task is to complete the board, with your moves relating to those already in place. You may take as long as you want, use whatever resources you need, to complete this task. That's it. It's not an assessment that can be faked. Period. Finish a board with one word moves or halfhearted linkings and you will not get encouraging feedback. The quality of your linkings is what the assessment is judged on. The thought put into your moves and how they flow (in whatever direction) with the pre-defined ones is your showing of how well you understand what you are learning. You may learn even more about yourself in the process of your assessment, even.

We generally do not accept assessment requests until the minimum time for each degree has passed for the student. However, if you feel you understand all the material in a degree and wish to be assessed before the minimum suggested, or you've been studying life on your own and wish to participate as an Iarri, contact us. State your reasons clearly and we will work out a board for you. We must stress on this: there is little difference in this program between you doing a board yourself, or you getting a board from us to fill in. The second option merely reduces your own bias (and you gain the collective biases of the group of us, but hey!)

Glass Bead Game Resources For much more information on the Glass Bead Game and variations, we've provided these resource links:

Last modified: Saturday, 15 August 2009, 01:21 PM
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