The Tritone: Impetus

impetus, motivation, compulsion, urgency Ratio: 7:5

While the Initiating Force makes itself known within many of the dyads, it is within the Tritone that it is most purely expressed: Tritones are pure fire, pure Yang. Their numerological properties and their significance in music theory -- and in Muzoracle cosmology -- are dizzying. They are the fuel in the Muzoracle system: they propel us from one key center to another, interlacing ascending and descending scales and bringing the scalepoints to life; they set the Harmonic Engine in motion.

In the Middle Ages of Europe, the Tritone was considered evil: it was the diabolus in musica, the “devil in music,” and was forbidden. This, of course, only testifies to its power and mystery. Tritones are both profoundly dissonant and leading; they cannot sit still, nor will they allow us to. In a casting, they represent impetus: they set things in motion, they speak of transformation in process. They often manifest as adversity or seem too hot to handle, but they can lead to greener pastures just as easily as not. In order to navigate them successfully we must penetrate their source. If operating unconsciously, they can manifest as obsession, compulsion, or knee-jerk reaction.