EC 470 Hiermalgamated  History
© Eso A.B.
Hiermalgamy (The Dead Cat Bounce)

Hieros Gamos means Holy Marriage, and ‘hiermalgamy’ means a forced or unholy marriage by secular authorities of people to government through the act of taxation or any other violent joining or divorce.

When a stock collapses and hits the bottom of its decline, some traders caution novices not to be in haste to buy, because the stock is sure to do “a dead cat’s bounce”. That is to say, that when dropped hard and fast enough, even a dead cat or dead weight rock will make appear that it bounces back up. The same is sometimes said to people who instead of showing signs of personal interest in someone’s welfare, come Christmas or birthdays, never fail to send a card. This may go on for decades. If the card is meant to be a dead cat bounce, why does not some artist show a dead cat bouncing? Many decades ago, Dale Carnegee got increased attendance to a fundraiser after he sent gold rimmed invitation cards to prospective attendants. He claimed the ‘trick’ did wonders for his career, even though I tend to think that his only success was to remember the ‘trick’s’ failure and salvaging what he could by using it as padding in what became a best selling book. So much for our gullibility.

Or am I misinterpreting, and a dead cat bounce in reality is  a Zen Buddhist koan?

A rough joke that I remember from years ago asked: “What is the height of expectation?” The answer (probably from horse and buggy days): “A sparrow sitting on a horses ass waiting for breakfast.” Yes, I suspect that most everyone has heard it and there is little novelty in it. However, it may lead to other stories and other outcomes.

For example, many of us who have a cat and an aquarium with gold fish, have seen Tom sitting for days quietly and patiently next to the aquarium and watching the fish with what seems endless fascination. Some of us may have a bookshelf just above the aquarium, and then the cat will chose to sit on the very edge of the shelf, its nose a few inches from the surface of the water, and patiently watch the fish move back and forth below him. On occasion,Tom will permit himself a swift swipe of the paw, and every so often a fish follows the trajectory of the paw. If so, the cat and the fish may hit the floor as if in one motion. Who is to say that the endless hours of sitting and watching made no sense? Am I to call the cat a fool?

We all are smart enough to infer that both above anecdotes are based on successful outcomes. At least some of the sparrows got their oats and some cats got their fish.

But what about those of us who regularly play the lottery where the initial pot starts with some few millions of dollars or euros just to interest such fools as me and perhaps you? I, for one, have never won scratch, but are lottery players really fools?

Of course, I realize that the odds against me winning are huge. This is probably why last night, I dreamt that I was standing at the edge of a small garden pool, and on the opposide side of the pool, also standing at its edge was a small cat. As I was watching, the cat jumped into the water and to my amazement disappeared below the surface. No, it did not drown (there were no sins of a struggle). Instead, it was clear that the cat was diving after fish, apparently because none had come either to the surface or near it.

I was not only amazed, but more than a little chagrinned, because the cat refused to rise to the surface, but continued to fish underwater. As I looked, the surface of the pool remained smooth. It did occur to me whether I should jump into the pool after the cat, but I did not do so. Then I briefly saw appear under water a large grey carp with a golden belly. All the same, it soon disappeared, but the cat did not surface. I then awoke and wondered whether the cat and I were one and the same, and where the fish went.